But it could not be said of him that he was a
learned lawyer. Perhaps in that branch of a solicitor's profession in
which he had been called upon to work, experience goes further than
learning. It may be doubted, indeed, whether it is not so in every branch
of every profession. But it might, perhaps, have been better for Mr.
Camperdown had he devoted more hours of his youth to reading books on
conveyancing. He was now too old for such studies, and could trust only to
the reading of other people. The reading, however, of other people was
always at his command, and his clients were rich men who did not mind
paying for an opinion. To have an opinion from Mr. Dove, or some other
learned gentleman, was the every-day practice of his life; and when he
obtained, as he often did, little coigns of legal vantage and subtle
definitions as to property which were comfortable to him, he would rejoice
to think that he could always have a Dove at his hand to tell him exactly
how far he was justified in going in defence of his clients' interests.
But now there had come to him no comfort from his corner of legal
knowledge. Mr. Dove had taken extraordinary pains in the matter, and had
simply succeeded in throwing over his employer.
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