Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1857-02-21
NJ | S C L L L A N Y.
THE FIRST CLIENT.

WITH INCIDENTAL GOOD RECEIPTS FOR INCIPIENT
ATTORNEYS.
sat in my new attorneys office. had Just
been admitted 10 the venerable fraternity of the
Blank Bar. AS | turned my admirng gaze
from one part to another, thought perhaps
it was prejudice-ihat | never saw a room in
TO which, as from a natural taste and instinct,
the wronged and oppressed portion of the COM
inunty would flock more readily. 1t seemed
exactly suited to the circumstances and wants
of that numerous and highly respectable class
of our fellowctizens. 1t was large, well-light-
ed, and Of easy access. 1t had no carpet, or
any other sign of comfort or taste, both of which
are generally esteemed incompatible with ex-
Ttensive legal attainments. One side was occu-
pied by a large bookcase, the green silk be-
hind whose glass doors made an impenetrable
mystery of the learning within, and whose ma
hogany had assumed sympathetic slmilitude
of hue with law-sheep.
And here let me indulge in few words of
advice To the young counsellor who is lowering
in eager uncertainty between "that large and
commodious office, recently occupied BY Increase
$. Sawder, ESQ.," and THAT peasan, apart
ment, equally suitable for the artist or man Of
business, and whose situation, within stones
throw of the post-office on the one hand, and
the courthouse on the other, renders il so Pc
culiarly eligible" You are in fntierng hur-
ry of doubt. You know that your fellow stu
dent, Joe Bangs, is on the lookout. The hope
of catching some stray clients of the CRATE Mr..
Sawdcr, who belong to that excellent class who
having once found their way, by occident or
-. dpsUn int attnrncv'S off t,i,o
same forever thereafter, patronizing rather the
locality than It's happy possessor, and fully sat.
listed of the excellence of the law administered
there, provided the bust with the very dirty
nose (the cabalstic term Cicero" imprinted
thereon being, they firmly convinced, some
classical allusion TO the merits ofGeneral Wash
ington as patriot and solder) still maintains
its dignifed stand on the book. shelves-ihe
hope, ! say, of securing the patronage of some
of these almost decides you. At the same time
you cannot but acknowledge the eligible situa-
lion of the other office, "whose windows look
upon yard tastefully decorated with lilac and
other Towering shrubs, thus combining the Pc
culiar advantages of town and country life. ~
and others for which "see advertisement -
You feel a secret, but unwillingly acknowledge
ed conviction, that, ifthe vicinity to the eating
houses had been sci forth in the advertisement,
you would have beea overcome. AS it is, you
consult your friends. Factions arise, illusions
40 meeting at Phiippi are considered in order,
and you are farther from your decision than
ever.
Now hsten to an expert as we say. Al
ways take the advice of the bookcase. You
stare, but | am perfectly serious. II Jacques
could "ind books in running BROOKS" l will
Jay ten to one that he would be puzzled to find
Them on the shelves of half the young lawyers
in practice, or in their heads either. Now one
Of the two is necessary, the shelves perhaps the
most so. There is everything in the air of
bookcase. Never choose an Office where there
is bookcase with foolish face. There is
as mnch difference ia them as 10 their employ
ers. One which, 10 the experienced eye, may
appear of unexceptionable character, shall yet
seem uneasy, and, as ii were, blush when a
client stares at ii, thereby exposing IFS vacuty
by look Of conscious guilt. Another just as
empty, shall stand boldly up. and look bursting
with unnumbered and uncomfortable volumes of
Coke and Blackstone. and other ponderously
learned works, of which most practitioners bare
" H.,
shall make the unwary client believe you have
at your fingers ends. Mine is one of these.
In one remote and lonely corner of il nesiles
my economical law library, while its erudite
air seems TO assert positively that the few seat
tered volumes on my desk were crowded GU,
for want of room.
This is one of my hobbies, and see il has
taken the bit between lis teeth | am not free
to assert that bookcase is ALL | only rive
1t the chief place, and my Young friends NAV
be assured that green hooby of bookcase
VIII eventually blunder out the secret entrusted
to lis charge. Next To them. in my Judgment.
stand fre-prooi safes, Get an office with a
sale In 1t, if possible. If empty now il has We,
prophetic fulness. 1t has at any rate paul.
oposiinture air Of papers too valuable TO be
iighliy risked. There is dignity in them. at
Inc least, and an iron door left aiar with dis.
et''n'na''ng and deliberate carelessness, and
o'se'"sing h'e OF papers secured with red lape,
may perhaps SOW good seed in the imaoioa.
uon OF client, and fills his mind with vague
IDEAS Of future elevations TO red cushioned bench.
o. In the most useless point Of view. safes
are worth having. The locks are constructed
WIN snch nicely that it is often both exhilara.
tug ana instructive to turn the holt hack md
for'h' and lo hide the beautifully polished kew
winch secures such an infinite deal of nothing
IN some unfndable spot
There Is much mystery in whiskers, also