Mountjoy's Dayplanner

[Charles Blount]

Completed Threads

 

April 4:

Arrived back in London.

Conversed with George Hardwick and Francis Kirk in Queen's Chamber: Patience-Persistance-monday

Met with Ursula: Embers of Emotion  

April 5

Had dinner with Heneage: Solitude of Emotion

April 6

Midmorning, Spoke with Darlene Hamilton in my office: The Paperchase

April 7

Morning. Stopped by Cumberland's office and spoke to Beverly St. leger: An Apt Meeting

Afternoon. Attended House of Lords session: Let Us Make War

April 8

Morning/Afternoon. Attended Good Friday Services: Good Friday Services

Evening. Attended social evening with the Queen: A Rousing Evening with The Queen

 

April 9

Attended Easter Time Services: Saturday Services

April10

Attended Easter Services with Ursula. Easter Sunday

Evening. Easter Dinner and discussion with Ursula. Shall Life Imitate Art

April 11(Monday)

Received invitation to go riding on Wednesday from Beverly: letter

Sent letter to Lord Basildon  to meet at the Woolsack on Wednesday: Letter

Breakfast with Ursula: Breaking Dawn

 

Edited December 19, 2020 by Charles Blount

[Charles Blount]

Pending or in Progress Threads

 

April 11 (Monday)

 

April 12 (Tuesday)

 

April 13 (Wednesday)

Morning. Meet at Brooke House to go riding.

Afternoon. Meet Louis at The Woolsack to discuss Heneage.

 

Future 

Stage coupe and become King.

Edited December 19, 2020 by Charles Blount

[Charles Blount]

Ex Libris

Posting here to begin a character development story arc.

 

 

Charles was a busy man. He had his duties as Solicitor General and Master of Horse for the Queen, was active at Court and in the Lords and often engaged in his hobbies of hunting and collecting porcelain. But he was an active man so in addition he was a voracious reader and a one time author. Soon after Oxford and joining the bar he took advantage of the information he had complied during the legal battles with his de Courtenay relatives and had written a book containing a history of the land transfers in the County of Devon which he cleverly titled ‘A History of Land Transfers in the County of Devon.’  Although not an original book it had become a helpful reference tool for aspiring Solicitors and Barristers. He now sought to pen a complimentary volume giving voice to the practical knowledge he had gained in the intervening years and had finally sat down to begin his next work. As he had garnered a bit of a reputation for researching and arguing cases regarding land and inheritances he thought to build on what he knew best and impart some of his stratagems and practices for aspiring estate solicitors.

 

Before him were many folders, court records of cases past and his notes from his various property cases each piled in meat stacks according to subject and legal principle. Oliver would soon be dispatched to Westminster to copy other cases and he had also reached out to the Inner Temple for access to their own documents on the subject so soon would have a multitude of sources to consult annotate and expand upon. But first one had to define the scope of his endeavor and in writing a book that meant choosing a title. He wanted something catchy yet also descriptive and after several false starts came upon a title that would fit the bill and wrote boldly on a blank piece of paper the following:

 

A Treatise on the Law of Tenure and Property

Partaking bothe of a Real and Personal Nature;

Comprising the Law Relative to Annexations to the Freehold in General and Entail in particular, and also Emblements, Bequeaths and Charters for the conveyance of such bothe by Deed, Will and Testament

With an Appendix containing practical Rules and Directions respecting the Removal, Purchace and Valuation of suche property to ease its Legal Conveyance

 

He then optimistically added:

Volume 1.

 

Satisfied with the way the title rolled off the tongue he smiled at the joy it would give countless law students as they diligently read long into the night hours to discover the knowledge and instruction he was about to impart and the relief and comfort that would be imparted to countless Dons and Professors as they corrected and graded the numerous essays that they surely would require from their students.

 

The next step was to compose a dedication. The obvious choice was Heneage Finch the elder his longtime mentor and respected member of the Bar. This part was easy as he eulogized Finch’s education at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford and his acceptance at the Inner Temple, an educational course that Mountjoy himself emulated, and his subsequent distinguished career at the Bar and his service in Parliament, as Solicitor General, Attorney General and Lord Keeper cumulating in a Peerage and appointment as Lord Chancellor. He then went on to praise the Chancellors intelligence, integrity and eloquence in legal matters going so far as to name him the father of equity in British law and after adding several more paragraphs filled with admiration and tributes declared that this book would not have been possible but for the generosity and tutelage of such a capable and well respected man.

 

He leaned back and reached for a penknife to reform his quill wondering if such a dedication was too soppy and reeking of sycophantry. After consideration he decided to leave it as it was for although fairly gushing with praise it was praise well earned by considerable legal prowess and any flattery was honest gratitude for what the elder Finch had done for him in advancing his own career and providing a worthwhile roll model. He sprinkled sand on the pages and instead of blowing it off the meticulous Blount curved the papers and poured the sand into a dish where it could be efficiently disposed of.

 

Now the easy part was done. Next was the compilation of masses of data which would take many hours of labor and much paper and ink. He stood. The secret of completing a mammoth task was to do it piece by manageable piece for by that method and with some dedication an enormous task would be chipped away at piece by piece until it was done. He had done enough for tonight. He would come back tomorrow and do a little more.

 

Later, when a servant was tiding up the study she emptied out the saucer of used sand by dumping it out on the floor for the parlor maid to sweep up.