his weakness of
intellect and character--was shown in all the difficulties germane to
his barren profession, and in all the ludicrous situations that came
natural to the man. Many of his quaint aphorisms are still remembered,
such as that, elsewhere recorded--"As my laundress makes my bed, so I
must lie upon it," and "The clerk brings down his master's grey
horsehair wig in sorrow to the Court." Yet he was not without
self-respect, not to say vanity, for on the occasion of a great
political crisis, when the resignation of the Ministry was impending,
"Mr. Briefless" somewhat injudiciously left his retreat at Gravesend and
came up to London, in order to be on the spot should he be called upon
to form or to join the future Cabinet. The only summons he received,
however, was from his tailor, and, with the unfailing judgment and good
sense that characterised him, he withdrew once more into the country.
"Mr. Briefless" and "Mr. Dunup," his friend, were creations that were at
once recognised, and were welcomed during the fifteen years of their
occasional appearance.

In 1843 his "_Punch's_ Heathen Mythology" followed Wills' chapters on
the same subject, and in the following year his "Comic Blackstone"--one
of the cleverest burlesques of its kind in the language--served another
purpose than to amuse his readers: it forced him to study the
commentaries--for the first time, it was facetiously said--and so made a
better lawyer of him, and helped to fit him for the magisterial bench,
to which he was soon to be summoned. His "Comic Bradshaw" was another
success, which Mr. Burnand repeated and improved upon years after in his
inimitable "Out of Town." Mr. Arthur a Beckett, speaking of his father's
work, tells me: "I remember on one occasion when my father had written a
drama descriptive of the mysteries of Bradshaw, Leech, to whom it was
sent for illustration, introduced a series of portraits of the author.
Lemon, noticing this, suggested that the drama should end by the hero
getting his head shaved, more clearly to understand the intricacies of
railway traffic. My father adopted the suggestion, and Leech followed
the 'copy.'"

It was not in these series that his chief work lay, however, but in the
enormous mass of matter he turned into _Punch's_ pages month by month.
He was by far the most prolific of all the contributors, almost up to
the time of his death. Articles humorous and pungent on every variety of
topic, verse graceful,