At last, familiarly drawing my chair behind his screen, I sat down and said: "Bartleby, never mind then about revealing your history but let me entreat you, as a friend, to comply as far as may be with the usages of this office. Mortified as I was at his behavior, and resolved as I had been to dismiss him when I entered my offices, nevertheless I strangely felt something superstitious knocking at my heart, and forbidding me to carry out my purpose, and denouncing me for a villain if I dared to breathe one bitter word against this forlornest of mankind. Not only did there seem to lurk in it a certain calm disdain, but his perverseness seemed ungrateful, considering the undeniable good usage and indulgence he had received from me.Īgain I sat ruminating what I should do. It was rather weak in me I confess, but his manner on this occasion nettled me. "At present I prefer to give no answer," he said, and retired into his hermitage. "What is your answer, Bartleby?" said I, after waiting a considerable time for a reply, during which his countenance remained immovable, only there was the faintest conceivable tremor of the white attenuated mouth.
He did not look at me while I spoke, but kept his glance fixed upon my bust of Cicero, which as I then sat, was directly behind me, some six inches above my head. "But what reasonable objection can you have to speak to me? I feel friendly towards you." "Will you tell me any thing about yourself?" "Will you tell me, Bartleby, where you were born?" "Bartleby," said I, in a still gentler tone, "come here I am not going to ask you to do any thing you would prefer not to do - I simply wish to speak to you." "Bartleby," said I, gently calling to him behind his screen. Cartoons by Alex Williams, author of 101 Ways to Leave the Law.Home Bartleby the Scrivener E-Text: Section III: (pp 25-38)Į-Text Bartleby the Scrivener Section III: (pp 25-38) For more information visit and to read past posts visit. Some things, as they say, really are behind the pale.īabyBarista is a fictional account of a junior barrister written by Tim Kevan whose new novel is Law and Peace. I guess the only lesson to take from this is that you can push even the most pompous of barristers so far, but never ever even dream of not making them coffee. Literally ran out of chambers and up the lane and hasn't been seen since. Then when he reached the door he slipped quietly through it after which he apparently fled. Such was the volume and force of this outburst that Bartleby slowly inched towards the kitchen, presumably fearing violence if he were to provoke OldSmoothie further. But, as far as I'm concerned, one activity to which it will never, and I repeat, never apply is the making of regular coffees for any member of chambers who so requests." The European Convention of Humam Rights may have entered many parts of our lives. But let me tell you one thing and hear this clearly. However, I realise that my own view isn't in vogue at present and that many chambers now treat their pupil with kid gloves, particularly ones such as yourself from whom they fear some sort of vexatious action. They should be there solely to further the slightest whim and general caprice of their overbearing pupilmaster. As far as I'm concerned pupils should have no rights at all. "Young man, I have been hearing about your somewhat eccentric impertinence and can only conclude that you simply have no desire for a career at the Bar and therefore intend to go out with a bang through some piece of litigation or other. Others were more defensive and insisted that chambers set up a sub-committee to discuss the legal implications of this stance and whether they could actually enforce their requests or not.īut when the same response was given to OldSmoothie's request for a coffee the other day, the refusal was not given such a patient hearing. To start with, this was taken by some with surprisingly good humour.
So when his pupil master asked him to write an advice, he replied simply, "I would prefer not to." So, too, when HeadClerk instructed him to do a case in Slough, though this, it must be said, was more understandable.
You see, Bartleby is famous for answering every request with "I would prefer not to." This simple stance of polite but firm defiance in the face of all authority provided such inspiration to one of our poor down-trodden pupils that he decided to give it a go for himself.
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