# Endnotes explained — The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

> Chapter companion for The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding.

## What happens

This chapter consists of endnotes that provide commentary, clarifications, and references for the main text, including explanations of ambiguous phrases, citations of classical and contemporary works, and remarks on social and legal practices.

## Themes in this chapter

### Social Class and Inequality

The endnote about attorneys oppressing the poor highlights class-based injustice and the exploitation of the legal system.

## Key lines

> This is a fact which I knew happen to a poor clergyman in Dorsetshire, by the villainy of an attorney who, not contented with the exorbitant costs to which the poor man was put by a single action, brought afterwards another action on the judgment, as it was called. A method frequently used to oppress the poor, and bring money into the pockets of attorneys, to the great scandal of the law, of the nation, of Christianity, and even of human nature itself.

The author recounts a true story of a poor clergyman in Dorsetshire who was victimized by an attorney's unethical practice of filing successive lawsuits to extract excessive fees, a common tactic to exploit the poor and enrich lawyers at the expense of justice and morality.

_This note criticizes legal exploitation of the poor, aligning with the theme of social class and inequality._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/chapters/endnotes
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/chapters