The benefit of Going to Law

Two beggars travelling along,
One blind, the other lame,
Pick'd up an oyster on the way
To which they both lay claim:
The matter rose so high, that they
Resolv'd to go to law,
As often richer fools have done,
Who quarrel for a straw.
A lawyer took it straight in hand,
Who knew his business was,
To mind nor one nor t'other side,
But to make the best o' the cause;
As always in the law's the case
So he his judgment gave,
And lawyer-like he thus resolv'd
What each of them should have.
Blind plaintiff, lame defendant, share
The friendly law's impartial care,
A shell for him, a shell for thee,
The middle is the lawyer's fee.


(Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) Poor Richard's Almanac,
1733. (The last four lines are taken from Matthew Prior,
1664-1721, The Lame and the Blind disputing the right to
an Oyster found; The Lawyer decides the controversy, 1720)