St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-01-03
Caledonia County Bar.

active service AT cach term Oh the court.
The exceptions are. David Chadwick.
of Burke. who died during the past
Centre. removed to Massachusetts :.
B. Mattocks is cashier of the Bank of
Lyndon. Theron Howard is court au-
ditor: \. +. Rankin is clerk of the
court &. :. Dana is i'll the /. :. Reve-
nue. service. and b. b. Clark has gone
into other business. \ few other names
of men appear on the docket, who have
passed from the more active duties of
the profession from age and bodily i'll
tirmaties, to the quiet and simple ser
vice of office practice. Among these
are the names of George e. Cahoou, of
Lyndon, and Mordica Hale, of Peacham.
Both of these gentlemen have had a
long practice at the bar of the county.
They have witnessed the retirement,
by death. of Mattocks, Paddock, Bell,
Fletcher, Davis, Slade, Cahoon, and
Potts, all of them, if not giants in their
profession, excellent lawyers and per
haps others, whose names do not now
occur to us.
Their places, in IL numerical sense,
have been more than filled. by Young
men, and others who have become resi-
dents of the county. The number of
attorncs at the bar is considerably
larger than it was eight and ten Years
ago. We speak of residents of the
county. A few attornies from adjacent
counties may he frequently seen i'll our
county court, trying cases of their own,
or in assisting in others Powers, Lamp
son, Circuit and Rogers. and now and
then some one else. Comparisons are
said to he odiouS, therefore as we do
not feel inclined to do an odious thing.
will here institute none between these
aliens and the gentlemen composing our
ing. they are men of such legal learning.
ability and grntlcmanly demcanor, their
presence, according to our observations.
is no diShouor to the bar.
And in ragard to our own bar we feel
constrained to say, that there is IL
marked improvement noticeable, i'll
more than one respect, as compared
with what it WAS some Years ago. The
number of attornieS, of decided legal
.,liIit, l,r,r,.r. tbnn
it has often been, and in moral aspect
likewise, there has been IL gratifying
advance. The bar is composed, mainly,
of men of character. If there are eX
ccptions-wc would not say that there
are EVERYDAY knows it, for black
sheep are easily detected amongst Il
flock of white ones and can make their
own comments We only know there
should he none, and prefer to hope there
may not he any. The county may well
indulge in some pride on account of the
present character of its bar. 1t should
always he of il high character, for to it
the people resort for justice and equity.
In the past our bar has sometimes been
the subject of criticism, and not always
to its honor. We are sure that now
there is much about it to commend.
Whoever within the bar. or without it,
lahors to secure purity in our courts III
they are among the high places of the
land is doing good work. Each
member can do much to give to it honor
and secure for it public respect and
confidence. so can each one do some
thing to degrade and degenerate it.
OF the court we have heretofore
spoken of the chief Judge will just
say that the assistant Judges discharge
their duties with entire satisfaction.
The people have made no mistake i'll
placing them i'll the position they "c-
cupy. 1t is highly proper and just to
observe that the modest and Yet efficient
manner in which the high sheriff of the
county discharges his duties, meets the
appreciation of every one. While we
wish to keep out of his hands, we feel
sure he would handle us as gently as
the law would allow. should we. I'M
fortunately he seized 10y him, according
to law.
We regard as a Islander the assertion
so often made, that no lawyer can be
an honest and pure man. The reverse
NAV be, and often is, the truth. Men
profound in legal lore. ought to he, and
are, if the science of the law is allowed
to exert its legitimate influence upon
them lifted high in the scale of man
hood. The history of the ancients
proves that such men have lived in the
world, and III modern times more than
one Matthew Hale have gloritied the pro-
fession. If all lawyers do not pattern
after the great lawgivcr. Moses, and
stand upon Il pedestal of purity and of
glorious command, they ought. at least,
to draw nigh to the Mount. and receive
a baptism of purity and of high moral
aims, that they may he fitted to help
lift the world to a higher plane, and
shape il for a nohler destiny.
The jurors. serving the state at this
term, are intelligent men. If their yer
diets have not always pleased all the
parties to the cases they have acted
upon. they have almost uniformly won
the appreciation of disinterested listen
crs. In reaching Il verdict, as they
IL L., 1
time of writing. they have done their