The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1857-09-17
ANECDOTES OF THE SAA.

PORTSMOUTH, MT. l'Iulncr was autnttled 10
tho Now Hampshire bar in 1887, when the
administration Of the law was very different
from what it afterwards became. The
Judgments Of tho courts of New Hampshire
at that day were based rather upon that
systcn Of local law to which the circum-
stances Of tho country and the genius of
the people had given birth than upon the
principles Of English law. Most of the
Judges were not members of tho legal pro-
fession, and during the Revolution neither
Of the two persons filling the Office of At
torney General were lawyers!
Samuel Livormore was Chief Justice of
New Hampshire from 1882 to 1890, and
though bred to the law was not inclined to
attach much Importance to precedents, or
10 any merely systematic or technical rules
OF proceeding. In one Of his charges he
cautioned the jury against "payng too
much attention to the nicetics Of tile law,
to the prejudice of justice" Lie was him
self little governed by prcccdents. When
once reminded of his own previous decision,
in similar case, lie made no attempt to
reconcile it with his present ruling, but dis
missed at once the objection, with familiar
proverb, every tub must stand on its own
bottom" lie once decided that the Eng
lisL law reports, Of date prior to the Dec
l4ration Of independence, might be cited
III hls COURT not as authorities, Tut as en-
tightening by their reasonings the judgment
OF the bench, but that with English reports
since independence was declared we had
absolutely nothing to do!
Josiah Bartlett, physician, was Mr..
Llvcrmore's successor as Chief Justice. Of
him we are told that when the law was
with the plaintiff, and equity seemed to
him to be on the other side, lie was sure to
pronounce in favor Of the latter. The OBJ
ject of the law being in all cases to do JUS
tice, as between the parties, that must, he
said, be law which in any given case con-
duced to that end. 1t was, at any rate,
better to bc governed by right principle
than by wrong decision.
n' cou'I Heiu III CDariestown, n. H.,
soon after jeremiah Mason was admitted to
the bar, he put in plea of demurrer, in a
case in which Benjamin West, and oracle
of the law, was employed for the plaintiff.
West told the court that he did not know
much about demurrers. He rather doubted
whether they formed any rart of New
Hampshire law; at any rate, it was of evil
example to introduce so unusual mode of
proceeding. The Chief Justice said :"De.
murrers were no doubt an invention of the
bar to prevent justice, part of the COM
mon law procedure, but he had always
thought them cursed cheat" One of the
Associate Justices said that the effects os
demurrer, if he understood it, was to take
tho case from the jury, to be decided ON
some question of law by the Court" "If
that be SO" replied the Chief Justice, al
am clean against it, as being fatal to the
rights of the jury" "But, your honor"
said Mr.. Mason, there are, in this case, no
facts for the jury to find" $50 much the
better" replied the Chief Justice "they
will all the sooner bring in their verdict, if
the facts are undisputed." "Let ME advise
you, young man." he added, "not to come
here with your new tangled law and, above
all, not to suppose that you know how to
conduct suit better than Mr.. West. You
must try your cases as others do, by tie
court and jury"
Judge Harrington, of Vermont, a com.
nonsense but most unlearned Judge, is
reported thus to have defined demurrer :
"a demurrer" said Harrington, "why, a
demurrer, If understand it, is where one
party having told his story the other party
says ,ohat them"
MIR. Plumer's biographer narrates the
following anecdote on the authority of Mr..
Webster, who was present in court when
the occurrence took place. Mr.. Plumer
was examining noted quack doctor, whom
he pressed rather hard, and from whom lie
could, at last, get no other answer to his
inquiries than, al do not know, sir" Af-
ter this had been several times repeated,
the question came, "Can you say, Doctor,
that, as physician, you know anything 2"
Changing at once the tone of pretended
ignorance with which he had answered the
former inquiries, he drew himself up to his
'full height and said with great confidence,
! know, Squire Plumer, as much of medi.
cine asyou did Of divinity when you were
Baptist preacher" This sally drew smile
from court and bar, and seemed to the
audience to be very fair Lit. His exami.
ner said very quietly, "Wben found that
preaching was not my proper business l
had sense enough to leave it. Ifyou, Doc
tor, had possessed as much you would have
left on the practice of medicine years ago.
and saved me the trouble of exposing your
ignorance and presumption in this casan