The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1874-05-23

Inc new cai-Dound law books that give
his shelves an imposing air, and litter his
table as with an appearance of business,
call up visions Of dead-and- buried lawsuits,
ghosts Of long-dcparted plaintiffs and
defendants who win never enter the legal
tilt.yard more,--estates rent into Rawlings
BY the lingual dexterity Of cunning and
voluble lawyem,-t5gether with a body of
established principles Of law aud equity,
that leave all parties to IN issue as much
in the fog as before the attorneys and
judges eonspired to develop such confusion.
Justice Courts furnish one Of the staple
entertainments Of country town, or vii
lage. On rainy days, they are peculiarly
interesting The male part of the popu-
lation is in state of what is styled "hlgh
coekolorum.' On the occasions when
these are held, there is leisure enough for
everybody, no matter what his trade or
occupation. The men cant work out in
the field; the tanners would hardly keep
dry around their sloppy watts III the oozy
yards there is no wood to be hauled to
the back-doOr; and the only talk at the
store is of approaching Court.
This is held either in the open bar.room,
or the more spacious hall above stairs, In
this particular Court it is where Mr.. Jen-
kins awakes to sense of his individual
glory, In the frowning presence of the
Justice Of the Peace, and of that miscel.
laneous tribunal whose applause he Graves
with such eagerness, he brow-beats, cross
examines, and habitually bullies timid
witnesses, male and female, and returns
to his coop of an Office after the days
work is done, secure Of the fame for which
he strives and about which he fondly
dreams.
If you could but behold him in that no
ticeablc hall Of justice, thus invested with
the high sense of his own importance, gag
ing so Sacantly over the crowd Of staring
spectators, running his hand SO carelessly
through his hair, hurting his high-keycC
interrogatories at the abashed witnesses
watching every chance to convulse the to-
ready auditory with laughter, bold ant
brazen in his address, rarely, if ever
thrown off his guard, compelling the vii
lagc Shallow behind the table to shrink
into the proportions OF submissive inferior
ity, running over at the mouth with legi
phrases and the technical lingo of lega
instruments, reclining entirely upon hi
own dignity, assured that, Of al the rest
he is nearly the largest toad in the entir,
town puddle, and, in fine, quite satisfied
with his cause, his audience, himself, ant
his prospects for the future
The character of the country lawyer
occupation cannot, of course, yield an,
large share Of refined social enjoyment
He cannot well afford, from the very ma
turc Of the case, to put his seusibilitie
out to school. He lives, and must hop,
to live, chiefly upon the unhappy differ
ences and diseords of the limited worlt
around him. The more his neighbors fall
out, the better it is for him. He watches
for new chances for lawsuit as sharpl,
US cat waits at a rat-hole. As for th,
finer sentiments of local friendship, he cal
Ill afford to indulge them. They are lux
uries which cost too much.
This is the thoroughbred pcttifogger
The work he performs is small drudgery
at the most 1t may be necessary, mucl
of it but that necessity even does not re
deem it from the imputation Of meanncss
Yet, il such a reflection ever stings him
he is consoled with the thought that he i
pursuing profession pursuing 1t JUS
as much greater mon have done befor,
him, aud with brand Of ambition blazing
somewhere in his heart He is struggling
for name scanning the political hori
zon, from time to time, as a mariner come.
up on deck aud studies the clouds; living
among, and altogether upon, his fellow
citizens, yet not Of them, in any true anc
hearty sense.
| He is in the full blaze Of his glory IN
the County Court term. If he cannot
bring n case before that court, he is es
teemed but ''scant pattern" Of lawyer
It is at that bar the country lawyer is in
full feather. The quiet little shire town
of the county, at these court terms, over
flows with rustic humanity, come to look
after its own and into everybody's else bus
iness. The accommodations Of the pail
Of rival tayerns are put to their severcsi
strain. Through the days, all the stalls
in the stable and the stands in the horse
sheds are occupied. The judge, lawyers
and witnesses, saying nothing Of the
hangers-on who attend court as regularly
as they do muster,-have monopolized
stables and dormitories The town car.
ries its head erectly now. Writs, sum.
mons, capiases, copies, mittimuses, execu-
tons, and the whole Of that sort Of legal
papcr-work, fly from hand to hand like
ballots at tight election. Sleepy crowds
stand or sit through the proceedings in
the courtroom, or discuss, out Of doors
the merits Of the cases and the lawyers,
as they come on. There is stream Of
male and female witnesses going up and
down stairs; and the lawyers are march
ing them in and out Of Hobbies and ante
rooms for preparatory drill in the science
Of giving in testimony. 1t looks as Il
large boys were playing at trials, and no
altogether Ike serious men, transactine
serious business.