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ning to recede.
" I
am a ra th er elderl y man " are his and the story's fi rs t
words. His career h as lasted thirty years. A bit la ter he revea ls in
pass ing tha t h e is "no t far from sixty." His n eed for an additional
scrivener arose when he o btain ed " the good o ld offi ce, now extinct in
the Sta te o f New York , of a Mas ter in Ch an cery" - extinct because
abroga ted by a n ew constitution . H aving es tablished himself as an easy
and peaceful man , he gives way to petulance in describing the loss of
this o ffi ce and its profits-he "h ad counted upon a life-Iease" - and
there is a spurt o f such words as "dangerous indign a tion ," "wrongs
and ou trages," "rash " and "vio lent," cu lmin a ting in a strong expres–
sion which Melville obscures by a con vention al dash ; these are his only
powerful emo tions unconnec ted with Bartl eby. His age and a ttach–
ment to obso lescent institutions, his resentment o f bureaucra tic re–
forms, his ingenuous pride in having been empl oyed by J ohn J acob
As tor , who came to America in 1783 and retired from business in
1839-all describe a man o f a time and place tha t are fading, no t of
the Wall Street to come. Stri ving for calm reconcilia tion to Bartleby's
unending presence, the lawyer " looked a little into 'Edwards on the
Will ,' and 'Pries tl ey on Necessity. ' " The first , publish ed in 1754, was a
class ic sta tement o f Calvinist p redetermina ti on ; the second , an argu–
ment for a determinist theory of vo lition , ap peared in 1778. At a time
preceedin g Wa ll Stree t's full er emergence as a center of capital forma–
tion , the lawyer struggles to appl y to Bar tl eby an ethic more redo lent of
developed commerce th an of capitalism .
We see him successfull y appl yin g this ethi c in the long o pening
passages tha t descr ibe Turkey and N ippers, his two scriven ers of long
standin g. T o lerating their recurrent failings - on e is ill-suited to work
in the mornings, the o ther in the afternoons-the business o f his offi ce
runs smoo thl y as " their fits relieved each o ther like g uards," n ever
cumul a ting. "This was a good n a tural arrangement," h e remarks.
It
is
a picture of mora l accomplishment in crea ting a socia l order in which
person al obliga tions o f a kindl y but bl and texture coexist eas il y with
the requirements o f business . Turkey's temperament turns somewha t
manic after the noon hour , causin g him to make mistakes . Des iring
n evertheless to keep him on , the lawyer hints " very kindl y tha t p erhaps
now th a t h e was grow ing o ld, it might be we ll to a bridge his la–
bors .. . he need no t come to m y chambers after twelve o'clock bu t
... h ad bes t go home ... and res t himself till tea-time." Turkey
refuses, and , elsewhere in the story:
"But th e blo ts, Turkey," intima ted
I.
"Tru e,-but, with submi ss ion , sir, behold th ese ha irs! I am getting
