The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1867-03-27
A Lawyer with Two Characters.

9 A Lawyer with Two Characters
One cold evening in November, ten yea
!, ago, a man wrapped in large cloak knocl
o ed at the door Of Mons. Dupin, one Of tn
It most able advocates Of Paris. He enters'
d and drawing from under his cloak . lare
q package of documents, laid them on tn
: table.
Monsieur I" said he, ain rich but
! lawsuit which is commenced against mi
: may ruin me utterly. At my age, los
j fortune is not to be re-made. The loss
Q this suit, therefore, would condemn me t
. the most frightful misery. / come to i'm
. plore your aid. Here are the papers whlc
explain my claims" ).
. The advocate listened attehtively will
his unknown visitor thus briefly explained
his business. Then. opening the bundle o
: documents, be went through them with tn
! searching rapidity Of his professional eve
: They were, at last, laid upon the table.
/ "'rhe action which is commenced against
t you for this property" said he, is baset
! upon justice and right legal and moral
The property belongs to your opponent
But, unfortunately, in spite Of the admira
bic elaboration Of our code, law and justice
do not always go together and here the
law is on your side. II, therefore, you resi-
your case entirely on the law, and use
without reserve all technicalities and quib
bles, and if the legal points in your favor
are all stated clearly and ably to the Court
you will inevitably gain your carse.
"No man living said the stranger, "can
do what you describe SO ably as yourself
| Might venture to hope that you would re-
duce your legal opinion to writing, and thus
render me ihvtlnerable :"
i The advocate reflected for minute OF
two, and then taking up again the docu-
ments, which at the first word OF request
he had roughly pushed away, he said be
would do as the stranger wished. On the
morrow, at the same hour, the legal opinion
would be ready.
! The client was pnnctual. The paper
was presented to him accompanied with
a demand, very abruptly made, for a fec Of
three thousand francs
He stood mute with establishment.
Your are at liberty to keep your mon
ey," said the lawyer. " and DIN at liberty
to throw my written opinion into the IRE. "
Advancing toward the chimney apparent
y for the purpose, he was stopped by the
visitor.
II will pay the sum-" he said. But l
must give you my written acceptance for
| it,"
"The money in gold,' said the advocate,
or you shall not have line"
The client saw it was inevitable, and,
taking his leave for the moment, returned
soon with the coin. He paid it--btt, in
revenge, after gaining his cause, he told
the story in every corner Of Paris. The
journals got hold of it. It was soon as
universal as the name and fame ofthe great
lawyer himself Iaments were made by the
editors over the grasping advantage thus
taken Of o client in bis extremity, and even
friends expressed their regrets to him for
this betrayal Of avarice. Bit he simply
shrugged his shoulders and as everything
is soon forgotten at Paris, it passed out OF
the public mind.
Ten years passed by; and, few days
since, at q celebration of which the Courts
Of Law formed part, the procession was
interrupted by woman, who suddenly
sprang from the crowd and seized the hands
OF Mons. Dupin, the Procureur General.
=" 1t is he ! 1t is he!" she exclaimed, as
she burst into tears, and covered his hands
with kisses {" this is my benefactor, my
friend, the angel by whose timely kindness
] was saved from ruin and spared to edu-
cate my children!'
I" Poor wonanw said N. Dupin, !" she
has lost her reason
But no she insisted on explaining to
the bystanders that there was reason in her
tears and gratitude. She stated it broken
". Ten years ago, after the death of her
husband, q claim was put in by relative
for the property upon which she relied to
support and educate her children, She re-
solved to defend her possession of that
which she knew to be her own, and had
already sold half her furniture to pay the
commencement Of the process when, one
day, q stranger called upon het. He alb
ruptly announced bis business. He told
her that the suit, for which she was running
already into expense, would be losing
ole-that the law was against her, though |
justice was on her side-that she had bet
ter abandon it and saved what she still pos
sessed. He then added, that, from having
been employed on the case, he had been
able to rescue some portion of what was
wrongfully taken from her, and that it was
contained in bag Of gold, which he laid
on the table abruptly taking his leave,
and giving her astonished senses no oppor-
tunity for thanks or inquiry. The three
thousand francs with which she was thus
enriched, enabled her to re-establish herself
with her children, and to commence time
ly support of them. And from that day
she had been trying in vain to discover
who was her benefactot. But His features
were engravtn on her heart, and, thank |
God, she recognized ana could thank him
nowp
And 90, after ten years Of tiisspprecia-
ton, Mons; Dupih's grasping avarics was
explained to his legal brethren and the
public, a. quite another thing!
->-~.S~>..-o--
Wholesale Poisoning
The Savannah Republican, 18th inst,
says:
The community ofsavannah was taken
by storm yesterday, announcing the CHI
mination ola tragedy supposed to have
been enacted on the corner of Bryan and
Ann streets. Investigating the matter, we
ound the following Sfate Of facts, which
nay be relied upor in every particular Il
Jacob Handy (colored} had had several al
creations with his wife, Fanny, who is in
ne employment Of Mr.. Erich, on thel
,orner OF Bryan and Ann streets. Jacob I
Handy, the husband, who had been separa-
ed from his wife for some time, returned to /.
ne house Yesterday, andmade preparation /,
0 carry out his hellish design. Il