Litchfield enquirer., 1858-07-15
THEEsSGLTsH BAR. AND THE ENG-
 LISH BENCH. K. ss X

LISH BENCH. ssts
 Notone can read the remarks of Mr Justice Coleridge on taking leave of the Court of. Qaeeu's Bench, in which he has occupied scat for more than forty years, without a feel i9g of Increased respect for what, take it for all in all, must be regarded as the finest judi ciai organization in the world. After judi cial service of Unprecedented duration, and af ter acquiring a fame which allies him to all that is most renowned in England's judicial his tory, he is called to syethigher dignity, where his labors will be better accommodated to his years, and where, by tAe enlargement of his sphere of action, his usefulness may be better proportioned to his experience and wisdom Upon the threshold of this translation, the bar of England, which for three centuries has sup piled her Parliament with it's greatest states men and her throne with its ablest supporters, come forward to pay him their parting tribute of respect. Such an occasion, SO improy ed, gives incalculable dignity to one of the noblest of professions, and is calculated to inspire it's members with a lasting sense of new and ill., creased responsibilities.
 But nothing iA-the scene, impressive as it all was, is more significant or more ereditable both to the speaker and the hearers, than the few worlssof advice specially addressed by the venerable jndges to the junior members of the profession, who were to follow in the path which he had so successfully trodden. With Lord Drongham's plausible but most pernicious doc trne ill their memories, and perhaps bound up in the convention of some of them, that the lawyer should know nobody but his client, and no interest but his clients interest, Mir. Justice Coleridge's caution must have fallen with start ling effect These are not your severest -tri- als," said he, referring to the more familiar difficulties ill the profession, they are those which are most insidious which beset you in the ordinary path of your daily duty :; those which spring from the excitement. of contest, from the love of intellectual display and even from all exaggerated sense of duty to your clients. @
 "Gentlemcn, especially my younger friends, suffer me, without offence, to put you on your guard against these. We can well afford to bear traditional pleasantres upon us from with out, but we cannot afford that underlying these there. should exist among thoughtful persons a feeling that our professional standard of honor is qnestionable-that we as advocates, will say aud d0.in court what we, as gentlemen. would scorn to do in the common walks of llfe.- Sometimes, I-confess, it seems to me, that We lend support to such feeling by the lightness with which We ilnpute ungenerous conduct or practices to, each. other. Surely no case is so sacred, no client so dear, that ever an adyo- cate should bsscaled upon to barter his own self respect If that be our duty, our great and glorious profession is no calling for a gen tleman"
 The most valuable lesson which wise man learns as he grows old is that which is so deli catey and so affectionatly inculcated in this brief paragraph, simple faith that, if we do our duty, we shall have much better care taken of us than we can take of ourselves, by de- fecting from the right, to avoid what seems an obstacle to success The Brougham dogma about lawyers duty to his client coming from man so much and justly admired for his tal- ents, has done infinite mischief to the legal professions It has reconciled many of it's wor- th.est members to a code of morals which is just as unsuitable for the legal as for any ott- CT profession orscalng Justice Colcridge has most ftly concluded his distinguished career as an active member of that profession by put ting the heel of his reproduction upon senti- mcnt which is wholly unworthy of liberal profession. -Ereaiag ? st.