The memoirs of Sir Henry Fielding Dickens (son of Charles Dickens, and a famous lawyer and judge in his own right; Wiki) are not very interesting, as memoirs go. My guess is they were dictated to his wife from the bottom of a highball and it took two nights.
But there was this gem.
One day Judge Dickens was working his criminal docket at the Old Bailey. There were men in need of sentences.
One of these defendants, a 'lag' as Judge Dickens would later call him, had something to say just before he received his sentence. This is not recommended, by the way.
The defendant turned to Judge Dickens and stated, "You're not a patch on your father."
The good-humored judge replied, "I quite agree with you! What do you know of my father?"
"Oh! I have read all his books."
"Where?"
"Well, I have read some in prison."
"Have you now? That's capital! For you will now have eighteen months in which to resume your studies."
-- From Sir Henry Fielding Dickens, Recollections, 1934.
#clews #truecrime #charlesdickens
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