Portland gazette and Maine advertiser. (Portland, Me.) 1805-1818, 1810-09-03

/ he trial, that for tie suittayy and honest sd
vice give, by Mr. Btdwell, lie received che
,um of fdiyty pieces y si'ver, the value Of one
| ia 4 ed cenls each The Sherifirecevered
he land and tie poor deiuded Client came
II with the loss. not Of bis property only,
! but his rer utation also. How the reputation
r he lawyer agght 10 Je affected, the world
must Judge by the fact. There is one other
fact. which ought not to be omitted. Judge
Bacon, now co Senator with Mr.. 3idwelii
was Judge on the Bench at the foregoing
Trial The counsel fsr the Plaintiff was SO
cuiisgly severe, Ia his remarks upon the
malpractice Of Mr. Bldwe,l, III this case,
that lac snpe4ied to The Court for protection
ae ain,t what he was pleased TO call, abuse.
But the Judge, 10 his honour be It spoken,
silenced Mr.. BidWeips complaints by tel
ling him that no language had been used by
the Counsel on the other side, but such as
the tacls which had been given IN evidence,
would completely justtv. lie was therefore
compelled TO submit % the decorations OF
the tongue of one, who, on such occasions,
Is not spAiring Of his stripes. He was OBJ
Hged to sit patiently, and look on, while
picture Of himself was drawn, and helfUp
40 tiAo VIC w. Which, AL Dul1 OOuAA ltf -
~ be exceled by the pencil of a Hogarth.
an appeal was entered, but MIR. Bidwel,
very prudemtiy, determined not to prosecute
il ia The Supreme Court. The papers in
this important case were taken from the
files Of the Court, without the knowledge or
consent Of the Clerk, and have never been
returned. Mr. Bidwell, as well as others
had access to the files. He had more inter
est in the preservation or destruction OF
these papers than any one else ; and that is
all ne Can say about II.
Doctor r. Chard TIdmarsh, formerly of
Stock5ridge, the town where Mr. Bidwell
resides, died ntestate aud without heirs,
leaving a small real estate, worth few hun
dred pounds. M creditors appeared 10 adj
minister upon the estate and it reverted TO
the CommJnygea lth, unless some individual
more fortunate, or more crafty, than his
could divise some plan TO get
possession of it. It was Turing bate to
ay arice, nor was it suffered long TO emain
untouched The estate being in the Occu-
psncy of Mr.. ID wight, in the year 1871, he
was asked by Mr. Bidwell if ne had any
objection TO suffering suit TO DC common
ccd, by a creditor Of tho late Doctor It'd
marsh, against him, as executor, in his own
wrong Tie gentleman. being no Lawyer
himself, appealed TO Mr.. Eidwell to know
whether ne should be IN any way exposed
TO loss or iniery, by such a SUIT. On Mr..
BidwelrS answer in the negative, Mr..
Dwight told him that ne would by no means
wish to prevent the recovery OF 5onafide
debt, b. an honest creditor. Mr.. Bdwell
filed writ III favour of one Hubbard, and
when ne gave it to the officer, he enIoined
upon him the most rigid secrecy, because,
as he sad, Mr. ID wigat had particularly re-
guessed that il might be kept profound Sc
cret, as he was apprehenslve that, If 1t
should DE known In New-York, it might IN
lure his credit as merchant. The officer
faithful to his trust, performed the service
arreeably to his Instructions. But no
thoughts of such secrecy had ever entered
the mig nation or the heart Of Mr. Dwight,
and. tO The astOnishment of the confidential
officer, lie was the first TO diyulge Il. Let
il here be remembered, that the nominal
plaintiff resides in New Haven, in the State
Of Connecticut, the lawyer VINO brought
the sui,, in Stockbrldge, county of BERKSHIRE
where also the property lay, and that the
writ was returned in rhe county of W0rces-
ter, at the distance Of nearly one hundred
mllcs from either plaintiff, attorney or pro-
peety Nobody Appeared to defend, and
Judgment WAS obtained By default. SO far
he business of the coucern had succeeded
agreeable TO their most sangUne expecta-
lions. But the publicity of the transac-
ton voluntarily given by The very man who,
according to Mr.. BidwelI's account was
most anxious TO conceal IT, was the means OF
being taken out on the es-
tate. which was represented insOvent. BY
his unexpected measure, Mr.. Bidwell was
brought To tie sad dilemma, either to aban
don The favogrite. project, or present his
claim before The board OF Commissioners,
appointed BY the Judge of Probate. Avar-
ice oyerruled, and he appeared before the
Commissioners 10 support clam, founded
on the judgment obtained at Worcester.
Counsel was employed by The administrators
to defend The estate against tins surrepu-
tious claim, who closed hi> plea before the
Commissioners in the language VI honest
know not, said he, Gen
tlemen, ia what light you may view this
transaction, but had | myself been guilty of
SUCH pr3CtCe a. hdS dSlS uCCt ESt"llCH OS-
fore you, should expect that detection,
would damn tie little repu alton | may
possess, to all eternity" This was borne
without resentment Mr.. 3dwe.l was then
told by the CommIs toner's THAI judgment,
obtained IA hat way, WAS not, y their
minds, satisfactory evidence Of an honest
demand but That it lie would produce
regular account, with proper vouchers, they
would allow 1T. From this decision Mr..
Bidweh threatened a appeal But for rea-
sons which must be very obvious, he suffer
ed il T. rest, forever undisturbed b. him,
and i is presumed he would wish u have
il sleep in eternal oblivion. And % 1t
might have slept were rot disclosure
provoked, BY his bitter and malignant at.
t..cks, Oh The most yiFtuouS character in the
Community. Wien man, who is himself