Poetry · Chapter
To an Insolent Attorney explained
The narrator launches a scathing poetic attack on Hall McAllister, a lawyer who has insulted the press.
What happens
The narrator launches a scathing poetic attack on Hall McAllister, a lawyer who has insulted the press. The poem contrasts the press's role in exposing corruption with the lawyer's willingness to lie for money, condemning the legal profession's hypocrisy and mercenary ethics.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Corruption
The poem attacks the lawyer's hypocrisy in condemning the press while engaging in paid lies and corruption.
Deception and Self-Deception
The lawyer's self-justification for lying as a trade is exposed as a form of self-deception.
Characters to notice
- McAllister
The insolent attorney being addressed and condemned for his mercenary lies and attacks on the press.
- Unknown
The speaker who defends the press and excoriates the lawyer's hypocrisy.
Key passages
“You whose profession ’tis to threaten, rail, Calumniate and libel at the will Of any villain who can pay the bill”
Your job is to threaten, insult, and slander anyone who pays you, regardless of their guilt.
Condemns the lawyer's willingness to serve any client for money.
“Happy the lawyer!—at his favored hands Nor truth nor decency the world demands.”
The lawyer is fortunate because society expects neither truth nor decency from him.
Highlights the lawyer's immunity from moral expectations.
“Who serves however clean a plan By doing dirty work, he is a dirty man!”
No matter how noble the cause, anyone who does dirty work becomes dirty themselves.
Final moral condemnation of the lawyer's role.