Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1845-01-31
From the Knickcrbocker for January.
ANECDOTES OF I HE BENCH AND BAR
OF YER MONT

Ihere are many excellent stories OF tne DenCn
and Bar of Vermont, very current among the good
people of the State, which, however, do not re-
member to have seen in print and which dare say
are very little known abroad Some Of these | shall
here set down precisely as | heard them from the
mouth of an old lawyer who is well known as the
Nestor of the gown and wig IN Vermont If it
should turn out, as it often happens in matters of
this sort, that any of the incidents here related
shall be claimed to have occurred somewhere else,
to the honor of some other of our sovereign States,
beg leave to declare, according to established
usage, that any such pretenson is wholly unbound
ed, and that any versions different from my own,
are altogether apochryphal.
1t was formerly custom in Vermont, although
now but little practiced, for lawyer, when promo
ted to the dignity of the bench, to follow up his
old retainers;" and accordingly whenever a case
came on in which his Honor concerned as
counsel, he Immediately dotted the ermine, resumed
the gown, and batted away among the attorneys,
in the old style. .4propos of the metainorphose in
question story is told of Judge Chase now many
years deceased The Judge a man of very
ardent temperament, and in debate was exceeding
y vehement and vociterous In an important cause
he was making the closing argument to the jury,
and with much warmth and earnestness OF manner,
insisting on verdict for the plaintiff friend
of the defendant, who had been listening to the
concluding part of the attorneys address, and who
supposed that he was acting in his judicial capac-
/
saw such abominabe Partially in his life Meet
ing the defendant in the street. he told him he might
as well go home at once, for The Judge hat charged
his case 10 The deUil, and the plaintiff to
recover
! Judge Chase was a man of excellent sense, and
wthal great stckler for the dignity of courts
A case of very trlfing importance, having well
nigh run the gauntlet of legal adjudication, came
up at length to the highest court in the State. The
counsel for the plaintiff was opening with the usual
apologies for frivolous suit when the subject
matter, to wit, one tluket of great value etc.
catching the ear Of the Judge, he called out, 'Mr
Clerk strike that case from the docket The Supreme
Court of The State of Vermont does not SIT here 10
determine The ownership of a tlUkeyP
There lives in the northern part of the State q
lawyer and eXjudgc, who is very famous for his
wit. He has kept respectable law school at his
chambers, on and off, for the last forty years and
is still teaching the elements of his profession tC
a knot of legal limbs having survived severa
suits begun within his remembrance in the English
chancery, and arrived through an honorable career
to the advanced age of eighty.six. Many instances
of repaTtee are related Of the old judge whicl
for genuine epgrammatlsm are scarcely inferior tC
} some Of the best of Pron and Talleyrand
When practising attorney, many years ago, he
happened, while arguing question OF some diff
Guilty, to illustrate point IN his case by pretty
free use of the vocabulary of the card table. The
presiding Judge abruptly inquired what ne meant
by addressing such language to the court?
Il meant, your Honor, to be understood was the
! reply.
} On another occasion, Judge, vexed with the diff
fculty, or irrated by the insgnicance of cause
+ which Turner was conducting, cried out: 'Slr
: why do you bring such case as this into court
Why not leave it out to some of your honest neigh
borsY Because, your Honor replied the barris
, ter we don't choose that honest men should have
any hing to do with it,
3 In the early days of Vermont jurisprudence thu
strict decorum which now very generally distln
: gushes the New England bar was comparative
a unknown. Nothing was more common than shar
u alterations between the Bench and Bar; sucl
t wranghngs indeed as would now be deemed con
a tempt of court were they to occur only betwee
: the lawyers themselves. On one occasion, Judg
n Turner who was then plain Esquire had address
Il cd sound argument to the court, and sat down.
d The Judge, who to argue the question rather tina
e decide it at once, replied in feeble argument
e which the lawyer in his turn demolished. TIL
a Judge reoined by repeating, without any materla
$ variation, his first reply; and then closed tn
! pleadings' by an adverse decision. Your Honor
o two arguments SAID Turner, addressing hlmse
h partly to the court and partly to the bar, remin
n me Of story. A foolish old woman in Connect
/, cut, being one eve ing at party, was greatly at
s. loss for something TO say. At length she venture
is to inquire of q gentleman who sat next to he
> whether his mother had any chdren? The ger
eman politely pointed out the absu dity of her In
o qujry. q beg PARDON exc.aimedthe old lady, pei
q ceiying her mistake; 'you don't understand me;
= mean TO inquire whether your grandmother ha
s. any children"
!. remember an anecdote of Judge Olin, father
h the distinguished President Of the Wesleyan I'm
st versity which is very characteristic of the maj
oi and is have 10 doubt authentic. AT a session
81 the court in Addison county, Judge DIN was vic
is emily attacked by young, and very impernel
O. attorney. To the manifest surprise of every bod
or present. the Judge heard him quite through, 1
q though unconscious of what was said, and made 4
lie reply. After the adjournment for the day, an
D. when all had assembled at the inn where the jude
g. and many of the courtfok had their lodgings, OF
he of the company referring to the rcene at coni
n, asked the Judge 'why he did not rebuke the in
ly pertinent iellowT Permit me- said the judg
W. = A mistake.