GENESIS OF LEGAL JOKES. By Irying Browne. TT was an ancient legal wag,
- To whom approached a youth,
Attracted by his bulging bag And air of modest truth.
Quoth he, "I'm on the 'Sunday Sun,' In charge of legal news, And now and then a little fun Our readers won't refuse.
"Some good, fresh stories, if you please, About the legal giants, Their ways, their wit, their heavy fees, Their selling out their clients."
That wicked ancient then began, With epitaphs and jokes Far back as human memory ran To stuff newspaper folks.
To chestnuts from the centuries back Too far for youthful view, He tacked the names of Jere Black And Chauncey M. Depew.
Jo Miller and Sir Matthew Hale Provided epitaph And jests to make the moderns rail, And shallow fools to laugh.
To Marshall, Webster, Lincoln, Choate, He fastens mouldy lies, And what his memory fails to note Invention shrewd supplies.
