below his eye was
forming into saucers; and his hair had become grizzled; and on his
shoulders, except when in court, there was a slight stoop. As seen in
his wig and gown he was a man of commanding presence,--and for ten
men in London who knew him in this garb, hardly one knew him without
it. He was nearly six feet high, and stood forth prominently, with
square, broad shoulders and a large body. His head also was large;
his forehead was high, and marked strongly by signs of intellect; his
nose was long and straight, his eyes were very gray, and capable to
an extraordinary degree both of direct severity and of concealed
sarcasm. Witnesses have been heard to say that they could endure
all that Mr. Furnival could say to them, and continue in some sort
to answer all his questions, if only he would refrain from looking
at them. But he would never refrain; and therefore it was now well
understood how great a thing it was to secure the services of Mr.
Furnival. "Sir," an attorney would say to an unfortunate client
doubtful as to the expenditure, "your witnesses will not be able to
stand in the box if we allow Mr. Furnival to be engaged on the other
side." I am inclined to think that Mr. Furnival owed to this power of
his eyes his almost unequalled perfection in that peculiar branch of
his profession. His voice was powerful, and not unpleasant when used
within the precincts of a court, though it grated somewhat harshly on
the ears in the smaller compass of a private room. His flow of words
was free and good, and seemed to come from him without the slightest
effort. Such at least was always the case with him when standing
wigged and gowned before a judge. Latterly, however, he had tried his
eloquence on another arena, and not altogether with equal success. He
was now in Parliament, sitting as member for the Essex Marshes, and
he had not as yet carried either the country or the House with him,
although he had been frequently on his legs. Some men said that
with a little practice he would yet become very serviceable as an
honourable and learned member; but others expressed a fear that he
had come too late in life to these new duties.

I have spoken of Mr. Furnival's great success in that branch of
his profession which required from him the examination of evidence,
but I would not have it thought that he was great only in this, or
even mainly in this. There are gentlemen at the bar, among whom
I may perhaps notice my old friend M