The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1853-05-30


We not only respect lawyers, but have a live
ly admiration for them. Who ever heard of one
Of them taking fee in anunjust cause! or
doing u hard-hearted thinglor saying what
he did not believe! or encouraging lItigation!
or misEspEesenting evidence to the jury! or
brow beating modest witness! or saving a
villain by legafpublic quibble! De Tockque-
vile rightly says they are the aristocracy, that
h, the best men of the United States. Our
own admiration for them is founded on a large
experience Of their virtues. Let Us ca up,
for a moment, from our pleasantest memories
Of the past, the images of few lawyers of
our own acquaintance.
There is our friend at Columbus, Mississippi,
who never varies'f ON his scale of charges,
even for friends. We sent him once, for col
lection, bill Of nine doiiars against a sub
scriber. He collected il the same day, and
sent Us, by return mail, his own bill for fee
of fifteen dollars, with polite dun Tor the
unpaid balance Of six. We RENTED instan-
ter, thanking him for his promptness.
Then, there is the eminent c0ssellor, at
Lake Providence, who charged u,t two han.
bred dollars on bill Of exchange tor two
thousa nd. which had been paid on presenta-
ton. We demonstrated, and he consoed Us
for not having collected through nix, by the
assurance, that if professional etiquette did
not forbid, he would certainly reduce his org,.
nal charge, which he was kind enough to adj
NIT was rather too heavy.
A still better man was Texas lawyer, to
whom we entrusted disputed land claim, on
an arrangement called the "halves," very
common in that part OF the country. ia.
cecious dog was Smith. About eighteen
months elapsed without our hearing from him.
He then wrote US, in answer to our twentieth
epistle, that he had done remarkably well
with the claim, having compromised it for
half the value of the property; that he had
pocketed the half for his fee; and that we were
really not indebted TO him besides the costs
of a suit he had commenced and discontin-
ued. We could have fairly Rugged the fellow
for his gay and careless humor.
He did not give us half the trouble we had
with lawyer out at Jefferson City, who had
collected for US q claim of several hundred.
Punctal as a correspondent, he advised US, by
the first mail, of the receipt of the money,
adding that the mails were made very irreg-
ular by the cverfowing of the river, and he
did not think it safe 10 remit. We waited
until summertime, until one could almost
wade the upper Missouri. The river was SO
low then, he said, that he found it extremely
inconvenient to get his paper to the bank
where he usually had it cashed. Two sea-
sons passed by, and innumerable letters were
|interchanged in regard to renting, drafts
and inundations. At last, being in need OF
funds, we wrote that we must insist on having
the money, irrespective Of the state Of the
water. He WIS an honest creature at heart,
and sent it, forgetting to add the two years
interest, but deducting twelve per cent. tor his
fee.
Lawyers will be little lazy sometimes;
but can we blame a man for ply sical mast
ness for activity! The LATEST one we ever
knew lived ut ShawneetowD, Illinois. tie
had promised, for year or two, to remit to
Louisville some money he had collected for
US. Rusiness-like d.mands, cajolery, persua-
sion, argument and menace had no effect on
him. He would write no more. At last we
sent him in full the anecdote OF the man who
was 80 lazy that he ate apples off the tree,
not being energetic enough to raise his hand
to pluck them. This touched tho right s OF,
and he reused himself so far as to send us
the money. The effort may have killed him;
for we have never heard of him since.
In no profession is there a more chivalrous
sense of honor than that OF the law. We
have lively remembrance of having been
long kept in constant bodily fear by lawyer
OF Little Rock, Arkansas. He had maintain.
ed most obstinate silence for more than a
year alter receiving for us the full amount of
u claim. To letter in which we demanded
an immediate and satisfactory adjustment OF
the matter, he answered thar our former let
ters were too Yankee like, but he was ready
to give us satisfaction at once; he ended by
requesting us to name our friends and wea-
| l. nd Ernf m
our own gfound. We wrote him, by return
mail, to put a Pickwickian construction on
the offensive letter. After applying to some
forty lawyers to collect the claim from our
belligerent attorney-all OF them refusi G the
bus ness on the plea of professional delicacy
we succeeded in retaining one, on promise
Of twenty per cent. AS the war'ike ones
charge was twelve, sixty-eight per cent. was
all that ever came into our possession.
| The New York lawyers are noble and DASH
| ing practitioners. Marmon never charged
more spiritedly. 1t was only the other day
one of them sent us a bill of sixty dollars
for seeing to q deposition Of few lines
to prove the style OF n firm, adding that
he would retain the deposition until the
bill was paid We hope he will fno it good
property; we paid 1--WE for taking another.
But we have said enough. Our readers
NAV think of our articles as Mr.. Brown does
of newspaper criticism on the bar-that sit is
time this thing was stopped" We have shown
why and how we admire lawyers. Should
any of them dissent from our views, we will
fee another to dispute with him. Why not!
Does not the accepted theory make OF law
yer moral gladiator, with "to let'' on his
forheads! Does any one feel, when lstering
to forensic eloquence, that there is man be-
hind it.
OJOliver Dufour and Cyrus F. Widup. of
Indiana, have been appointed to clerkships in