The Camden weekly journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1853-1861, 1853-06-28
LAWYERS, and Lawyers Fees.

Lawyers, and Lawyers Fees.
The Editor of the Philadel phia Register gives
the following as his experience with the dealings
Of lawyers :.
We not only respect lawyers, but have lively
admiration for them. Who ever heard of one of
them taking fee in an unjust cause or doing
a hard.hea thing or saying what lie did
not believe? or encouraging litigation or mis-
representing evidence to the jury or brow beat
I ing modest witness or saving villain BY
legal public quibble? De Tocqueville rightly
says they are the aristocracy, that is, tn, best
men Of the United States. Ourown admiration
of them is founded on a large experience of
their virtues. Let US call up, for moment,
from our pleasantest memories of the past, the
images of a few lawyers OF our own acqualn-
tance.
There is our friend at Columbus, Mississippi,
who never varies from his scale of charges, even
for friends. We sent him once for collection, a
bill, of nine dollars against subscriber. He
collected it the same day and sent us, by return
mail, his own BILL for fee of fifteen dollars, with
polite dun for the unpaid balance Of six. We
RENTED nstanter, thanking him for his prompt
Eess.
Then, there is an eminent counsellor, at Lake
Providence, who charged us two hundred dollars
Oh A bill of exchange for two thousand which
had been paid on presentation. We remonstra-
ted and he consoled us for not having collected
through bank, BY the assurances, that if pro-
fessional etiquette did not forbid, he would Ger.
| tain,y reduce his original charge, which he
was kind enough to admit was rather too heavy.
A still better man was a Texas lawyer, to
whom we entrusted disputed land claim OIL an
arrangement called the halves very common in
that part of the country. A facetious dog was
Smith. About eighteen months elapsed with
out our hearing from him. He then wrote us,
in answer of our twentieth epistle, that he had
done remarkably well with the claim, having
compromised it for half the value Of the proper
ty; that he had pocketed the half for his fee;
and that we were really, not indebted to him
for any thing besides the cost Of suit he had
commenced and discontinued We could have
fairly huggcd the fellow for lis gay and careless
humor.
He did not give US half the trouble we had
with lawyer out at Jefferson city, who hadc
lected for us a claim of several hundred. Pune
tual as the correspondent, he advised us, by the
first mail, Of the receipt Of money, adding that
the mails were made very irregular by the over
flowing of the river and lie did not think it 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 announcement to get his paper to the
bank where he usually had it cashed. Two sea-
sous passed by, and innumerable letters were
iuterchangcd 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 water. He was an
honest creature at heart, and sent it, forgetting
to add the two years interest, but deducting
twelve per cent, for his fee.
LAWYERS will be little lazy sometimes but
can we blame man for physical inaptness or
inactivity The LATEST one we ever knew lived
at Shawnectown Illinois. He had promised for
a year or two, to remit to Louisville some mo-
new he had collected for us. Business-like de-
mands, caolery, persuasions, argument and me-
mace had no effect on him. He would write no
more. At last, we sent him in full the anccdotc
of the man who was so lazy that he eat apples
off the tree, not being energetic enough to raise
his hand to pluck them. This touched the right
spot, and he rOuSed nllllSell SO ar as 10 Send us
the money The effort NAV have killed him
for we have never heard of him since.
In no profession is there a 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 lawyer of Lit
tie Rock, Arkansas. He had maintained most
obstinate silence for more than year after re.
ceivng for us the full amount of a claim. Toa
letter in which we demaudsd an immediate and
satisfactory adjustment of the matter, he an
swered that our former letters were too Yankee
like, but he was ready to give us satisfaction at
once; he ended by requesting us to name our
friend and weapons, as he would come on
and fight us on our own ground. We wrote
him, by return post, to put Pickwickian con-
struction on the offensive letter After applying
to some forty lawyers to collect the claim from
our begerent attorney-all of them refusing
the business on the plea of professional delcacy
we succeeded in retaining one, on promise
of twenty per cent. As the warlike ones charge
was twelve, sixty-eght per cent, was all that
ever came in Our possession.
New York lawyers are noble and dsshng.