Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1853-07-02
Selected Artitles.
From the Daily Register.
Lawyers and Their Fees,

1--WE not only respect Lawyers but have a
lively admiration for them. Who ever heard
of one of them taking a fee in nm unjust
cause? or doing a hard-hearted thing? or
saying what he did not believe? or eucour-
aging litigation? or misrepresenting evidence
TO the jury9 De Tocqueville rightly says
they are the aristocracy-that is, the best OF
men-of the United States. Our own ad-
miration of them is founded on n large ex-
perience of their virtues. Let us call up,
for a moment, from our pleasant memories
of the past, the Images OF few Lawyers of
our own acquaintance.
There is our friend at Columbus, Missis-
sippi; who never varies from his scale of
charges, even for friends. We sent him
once for collection our bill of 80 against
subscriber. lie collected il the same day,
md sent us by return mail, his own bill for
fee of SIS, with polite dun for the un-
paid balance of SO. We remitted instanter,
thanking him for his promptness,
Then there is the eminent counsellor at
Lake Providence, who charged us 5000 on
bill of exchange for $1,000, which had
been paid on presentation. We remonstrat-
ed, and he consoled us for not having col
Iected through bank, by the assurance that,
If professional etiquette did not forbid, he
would most certainly reduce his original
charge, which he admitted wns rather too
heavy.
A still better man was n Texas lawyer, to
whom we entrusted disputed land claim,
on an arrangement called the halves" very
common in that part of the country. A
facetous dog was Smith. About eighteen
months elapsed without our hearing from
him. tie then wrote us, in answer of our
twentieth episile, that he had done remark
ably we'll with the claim, having compro-
missed il for half the value of the property
That he bad poeketed the half for his fee
and that we were really not indebted to him
Tor anything besides the costs of n suit he
had commenced and discontinued. We
could have ihirly bugged the fellow for his
gay and careless humor.
lie did not give us half the trouble we
had with lawyer out at Jefferson City, who
had collected for us a claim of several hun
dred. Punctuul as n correspondent, he nd-
yised US, by the first mail, adding that the
mails were made very irregular by the over
flowing of the river, aud lie did not think il
safe TO remit. We waited until summer
time, until one could almost wade the Upper |
Missouri The river was so low then, he !
said, that he found it extremely inconveDient
10 get his paper to the bank where he usually
had il cashed. Two seasons passed by, and
innumcrabe letters were interchanged in
regard TO remtting, drafts and inundations.
Al last, being in need of funds, we wrote
that we must insist on having the money, ir-
respective Of the state of the water. lie was
an honest creature at heart, and sent it, for
getting to add the two years interest, but de-
ducting IL per cent. for his fee.
Lawyers will be n liule lazy sometimes: |
I'm IN lInmp n IN, for Illi giruI inupf. |
ness or inactivity? The LATEST one we ever /
knew lived at Shawneetown, Illinois. lie
Ind promised for year or two to remit to
Louisville some money he had collected for
us. Business-like demands, cajolery, per-
silasion, argument, and menace, had no effect
on him. lie would write 10 more. At last
we sent him in full the anecdote of the man,
who was SO lazy that he ate apples off the
tree, not being energetic enough to raise his
hand to pluck them. This touched the
right spot, and he reused himself SO far as to
send us the money. The effort nay have
killed him, for we have never heard of him
since.
In no profession is there more chivalrous
sense OF honor than in that of the law. We
have lively remembrance of having been
long kept in constant bodily fear by law
yer of Little Rock, Arkansas. lie had !
maintained most obstinate silence for more |
than n year after receiving of us the full |
amount of claim. To letter in which |
we demanded an immediate and satisfactory
adjustment of the matter, he answered that
our former letters were too Yankee-like, but
he was ready to give Us satisfaction at once.
lie ended by requesting us to name our
friend and weapons, us he would come OH
and fight lis OH our own ground. We wrote
Iim by return post, To put Pickwickian
construction OH the offensive letter. Alter
applying to some forty lawyers to collect the
claim from our belligeraut attorney-all OF
them refusing the business on the plea OF
professional delicacy--we succeeded in re-
mining one, on promise Of twenty per cent.
As the warlke one's churge was twelve, six
iy-eight per cent. was all tlIut ever came in
pur possession.
The New-York lawyers are noble and
dnshing practitioners Marmon never chnrg-
ed more spiritedly. Ii was only the other
day one OF them sent us bill of $50 for
seeing to a deposition of a few lines to prove
the style OF firm, adding that he would re-
tain the deposition until the bill was paid.
We hope he will find il good property; we
paid SIS for another.
But we have said enough. Our readers
Inay think of our article as Mr.. Brown does
Of newspaper criticism on the bar-that 4" il
Is time this thing was stopped" We have
shown why aud how we admire lawyers. -
Should any one of them dissent from our
views we will fee another to dispute wi'h
him, Why n0t2 Does not the accepted
theory make of lawyer moral gladiator
with ito lei" on his forehead? Does any
pns feel, when listening TO forensic elo-
"a ha0 ~ n mn md Il