The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-02-07

OlNl 1ELO fSOtettSLssI ls-IsNSSSsss1-
SIN. That attorneys-at-law sz vytnte
o1feii, belong properly 70 the class cJ 34-
CficIdL officers. . ! Nh Il.s yl.i g. t.1 -
9Th. Tint they derive their ofiee By
appointment. So 80
II these propositions be law withontI
going any further, do they not settle all
the Questions dn this casee Do they
not show beyond all question that an
attorney-at-faw IS not, only an ofieer,.
bat q ciTZ or public officer, within the
definition of that term, and in the sense
of the statute3. Is he not an officer oI
crust dts99, The term q t'See Gays LORD
general signification, it can hardly lose
the character fof a trust when applied
to the office of attorney-an office, IN
| fact. which in all its bearings and rela-
ions, both public and private, may pc
said TO possess the osdteiG of 2 trust OF
Rthe highest nature. - e t.ss1 :
It was claimed by SMr. Faulkner at
1.-The bar land, I think, with reasonl that
by some clerical or typographical mis-
| take, the words o fficeiof thrust, 2 as they
| now stand, were erToneously subStitu-
| ted in the statute for the words once
or trust" as theyToug hit to read! BE II
so. This cannot change the purport of
the statute. If nything, the ACT as
thus iiitefpolated, wop1di read more
7 strongly against the applicant; for then,
L,ifyeither: an officer or trustee, or II a
trustee and not an officer tif the thing
were possiblel he would be clearly em-
braced by its provisions. One or the
other, (either an officer ora trusteel ne
certainly is. InmY opinion he IS both
not oilfY an ofiicer, but an oficer of
trust in helargest sense. COM
mon ipslrl lance, may be said toibe aeon
.fidenca posed by some one in some one,
and for some pu blic or private purpose.
It is defined by Mr.. Story. TO be an equt-
table interest in Rpestate, as contra
distinguished from the legal title: u
can hardly be- supposed, however, that
the statute meant to use the term trust
1 In tlifs marrow sense. 1t ,wouldi scarce
Iy require the test oath of n tiductary IN
a mereb deed to Uses. and not exact It
nom an attorney on the ground that hls
Office, as such, was not trpst.u81.. = 7
! am OF opinion that an attorneytat-
law is not only an officer, but trustee
within the meaning of the statute.
iSzH he either, ,etected;Or dpnointed?
The term tefected,' generally speaking,
imports a popular election. The term
| appointed excludes that idea and re-
fers the office or trust to- some other
source. Every officer not elected may
well be said to be appointed. Under
the law of West Virginia the Attorney
General OF: the StRte apdia prosecuting
| attorney for each county are the only
attorneys who are elected. Even there,
it is their peculiar official relation
to the public, and not their o0fee as
attorney which is the subject of cleo
ton. With this exception, II it can be
| called one, no, attorney-at-law. can bs
said to be elected. Is he appointed p
| The law requires, that before resident
LAWYER can be admitted to practice, he
must first obtain a certificate of honest
| demeanor; that he is over the
I uk
| also obtain a license or certificate
| from three Judges that he is duly
authorized to practice in any of the
courts of this State. Is not this an ap-
| pointment? 1t is a license or permits
| sion to practice law without which he
would have no rightto practice it, with
out being subjected to heavy penalties.
| Is not this an appoiutment2-quite as
much SO as a'commission from the Gov
ernor, or Letters patentfrom the Grown.
| What is license or commission, or
| letters patent, but an appointments In
| England, before the statute of Westm.
| 2, chap. 10, all attorneys LeTe made 6J
| letters patent ltIldeT the Great Seal: ana
| ipere afterwards admitted by the Courts
| Bdeon's .Abr. page A. 1ftLe-AttoI-tley.
| In Virginia, they t1ere first commissioned
\ bU the Governor, bat the poI1eT TO appoint
4 attorneys gdS soon transferred from The
X Governor to tie Judges, IDhere Il Stttt e1-
| lists. take it, that an attorney now Ii
4 censed by our Judges, is as much an
4 appointed officer, within the statute,
as those who figured, during the colo
/ NAL history of Virginia, before the
4 statute lof Westminster. ANY other
construction would be quibbling up
1 on terms, instead of an application OF
principles to oconstructiop.Tr - ~
Lam ofthe opinion, therefore, that an
| attorney at law is an appointed ctvtt OIL.
| Ger or trustee, within the meaning OF
the act. ..r.s..,F.
that an attorney at law Is not a public
officer; and Leigh's case, 1. Munt 46s,
and 20, Johns.1 Rep. 492t We're cited in
support of this position: do not
Leigh's cases, decided 56 years ago,
two of the three Judges were divided
/ upon the question, and the third Judge
| Fleming, in fact, expressed no opinion
upon the point. The case in 20, Johns,
| decided in 1921 IS not only in conflict
but tOfth- the, phote eltIyent, s9ls dec7aSIo11 S
| York. See. eE PaTte Wood, l Hop
| kin's Ch. Rep. 6, Seymour Us. Ellison,
| 2 Oowen, Us, q Ray rS. Byrdseye, De-
nio, 6l9, eE pdrte Beakley 5 Paige Bill
Merritt Us. Lambert 10, Johns. Rep.
352. McKoune Us. Davies, 8 Barb. 1856.
Waters Us. Whittimore, 22Barb. 593. EI
pdrte Cooper, % New York Rep 81.
/ Upon the same point see also State Us.
Chapman, IL Ohio, $50. Rev. Stat.
Mass. 1896, $50 70 542. / Cunningham s
Law Dict. title attorney. Burns, Law
b. title attorney 9za r g, sss Ban1Td5sso1 TSa@o9
Raymond's Rep. Sc, 81, same case, Lev.
IS. Ken, $40, $50, ss7, $40, 55s, 6Is, 5
Mods Rep. ,4S2. Sid. 152, l Jacob &
! Walker, 40, Cropley Us. Parker.
Burrows 2061; 2FEWils. 225, Hobart
| III. 2 Atk. 2e5, Saunders Us. GLASS, Id.
\ 29S, Middleton Us. Hall, 1Cox Oh. cases,
II2 People US. Justices of DELAWARE
Johns cases, ISL. E1 PdTte Emmet,
| Gaines, 1856. Against this host OF
| high authorities it would seem to betoo
| late at this day to question the proposi-
| tion, that an attorney is public ot1-
| Ger. His status as such, and as nee
| essary appendage of the Court in the
4 Administrations of JUSTICE obtained at
! an early period, both in the Roman and
/ and in England, as early as the
4 reign of the first Edward. From
that time and as far back as his
| distinct civil status can be traced from
/ the prOcurdtor of the civil law dowuto
! an attorney under the code of 1850, he
/ Is treated as a public officer. The 4
Henry, 4, ch. 1s, recognizing him as 9
i public officer, and enlarg1ng and regu-
f lating his public duties, is the leading
\ act, and is the basis of all the English
/ as well as American legislation and de-
cisions on the subject.
] l. Next as to- his status under the
Ii Federal Government.
!. The Constitution of the United States
I Art. 6, Sec. 8, requires all judicial ano
texecutive officers of the Federal and
State Governments to take the oath tc
u I,,,,,,r,,t tT,a roratifntioT, oF tho limited