When grappled in the law's embrace,
Who first betrayed an anxious face
And fain would shield me from disgrace?

My Lawyer.

Who told me I should not confess,
That he would all my wrongs redress
And set me free from all distress?

My Lawyer.

When, sick in jail, I senseless lay,
Who took my watch and case away,
Lest prowling thieves on me should prey?

My Lawyer.

Who to my wealth tenacious clung,
And for me wagged his oily tongue,
And at my foes hot embers flung?

My Lawyer.

Who told me he was dreadful smart
And knew the law-books all by heart,
And always took his client's part?

My Lawyer.

Who, in the court, with peerless pride,
My rights affirmed, my guilt denied,
And swore the State's attorney lied?

My Lawyer.

And when twelve men, in one compound,
For me a guilty verdict found,
Who came to stanch the bleeding wound?

My Lawyer.

Who said my time within the wall
Would be exceeding brief and small,
The minimum, or none at all?

My Lawyer.

And when the judge my doom proclaimed,
And three long years of exile named,
Who looked indignant and ashamed?

My Lawyer.

When, at the sheriff's stern command,
I for the train was told to stand,
Who longest shook and squeezed my hand?

My Lawyer.

Who, when he had me safe confined,
No more concerned his crafty mind,
Nor was, for me, to grief inclined?

My Lawyer.

Who closed the mortgage on my lot,
And drove my family from my cot,
And left them homeless on the spot?

My Lawyer.

Who, when of prison clothes I'm stripped,
And from these walls am homeward shipped,
Will get himself immensely whipped?

My Lawyer.

[Written by Mr. George Gilbert, who died on the 9th of June, A. D. 1890.]