I was aware that this phenomenon arose from the fact that I myself was older.  And various barristers, who fifteen years since were handsome, smooth-faced young men, had now a complexion rough as a nutmeg-grater, and red with that unhealthy colour which is produced by long hours in a poisonous atmosphere.  The Courts at Westminster, for cramped space and utter absence of ventilation, are nothing short of a disgrace to a civilized nation.  But the most painful reflection which they suggest to a man with a little knowledge of the practical working of law, is, how vainly human law strives to do justice.  There, on the benches of the various Courts, you have a number of the most able and honest men in Britain:  skilled by long practice to distinguish between right and wrong, between truth and falsehood; and yet, in five cases out of six that come before them, they signally fail of redressing the wrongs brought before them.  Unhappily, in the nature of things, much delay must occur in all legal procedure; and further, the machinery of the law cannot be set in motion unless at very considerable expense.  Now, every one knows that delay in gaining a legal decision of a debated question, very often amounts to a decision against both parties.  What enjoyment of the summer days has the harassed suitor, waiting in nervous anxiety for the judgment or the verdict which may be his ruin?  For very small things may be the ruin of many men.  A few pounds to be paid may dip an honest man’s head under water for years, or for life.  But the great evil of the law, after all, is, that it costs so much.  I am aware that this may be nobody’s fault; it may be a vice inherent in the nature of things.  Still, where the matter in question is of no very great amount, it is a fact that makes the wise man willing rather to take injustice than to go to law.  A man meets with an injury; he sustains some wrong.  He brings his action; the jury give him ten or twenty pounds damages.  The jury fancy that this sum will make him amends for what he has lost or suffered; they fancy that of course he will get this sum.  What would the jury think if told that he will never get a penny of it?  It will all go (and probably a good deal more) for extra costs; that is, the costs the winning party will have to pay his own attorney, besides the costs in the cause which the losing party has to pay.  No one profits pecuniarily by that verdict or that trial, except the lawyers on either side.  And does it not reduce the administration of justice to an absurdity, to think that in the majority of cases, the decision, no matter on which side, does no good to the man in whose favour it is given.