# The English von Bauhr explained — Orley Farm

> Chapter companion for Orley Farm by Anthony Trollope.

## What happens

Felix Graham and Augustus Staveley engage in a heated debate about the English legal system during the Birmingham congress, with Graham criticizing its archaic and unjust practices while Staveley defends it. The chapter also explores Graham's personal circumstances, his idealism, and his potential romantic future with Sophia Furnival.

## Themes in this chapter

### Justice and Injustice

Graham argues that the English legal system is fundamentally unjust, protecting the guilty through technicalities and archaic practices.

### Truth and Deception

Graham condemns lawyers for lying on behalf of clients, advocating for a system that seeks truth rather than concealing guilt.

### Law and Morality

The debate highlights the tension between legal procedures and moral principles, with Graham insisting that law should serve truth and honesty.

## Character check-ins

### Felix Graham

Debates legal reform with Staveley, criticizes English jurisprudence, and is described as an idealistic and impoverished writer.

### Augustus Staveley

Engages in debate with Graham, defends English customs, and humorously complains about hotel food.

### Mr. Furnival

Mentioned as a defender of the English legal system at the congress, rousing himself to divine wrath.

### Sophia Furnival

Identified by Staveley as a potential match for Graham, described as having a sharp tongue, pretty face, and money.

### Judge Staveley

Makes an elegant and eloquent speech at the Birmingham congress.

## Key lines

> Those practices in which we most widely depart from the broad and recognised morality of all civilised ages and countries are to us the Palladiums of our jurisprudence.

We treat our most immoral legal customs as sacred and untouchable.

_Graham criticizes the reverence for outdated legal traditions._

> A lawyer who does not do that—who does the reverse of that, has in my mind undertaken work which is unfit for a gentleman and impossible for an honest man.

A lawyer who obscures the truth is neither a gentleman nor an honest man.

_Graham's ideal of legal practice as a pursuit of truth._

> If luck will carry him through the hot ploughshares, we let him escape though we know him to be guilty.

We allow guilty people to go free if they are lucky enough to exploit legal loopholes.

_Graham compares the legal system to a medieval ordeal._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/orley_farm_se/chapters/xviii-the-english-von-bauhr
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/orley_farm_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/orley_farm_se/chapters