Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1877-06-21
The RhGH BQWER,
II was JudeeJ .urlinpfon,s own eS

~ KIP
1t was JUDGE Lurlington's owu *
pression. - *
HaIfa, dozen lawyers, fresh from
their studies and Just admitted to the
bar, were listening to his advice The
old jnrist had q bottle. OF wine at bis
elbow, and was in a communicative
mood.
Young men, he said, whatever
may be your strait FtakeF q ease
before a jury, unless You gbaye your
right bower for Lead ElskE
If the reader sarnises from this that
the old Judge was. fond Of euehre he
will not have surmised amiss.
The young men looked at him in
quiringly.
Il fhean,' he added, that you shall
never advocate cause into the work
of which you cannot enter with a clear
conscience. You should heser sceept
q client whose cause you do not be.
lieve to be just
'Canytflat rule always be adhered top
asked one of his listeners. ~
'Dfcan,4 answered darlington. en-
phatically. Its lawyers firm rock
of foundation, and the only sure point
of departure to the respect and -eODiiy
dence of his fellows tHt sE
Have you always followed that rule,
Judge?'
Il was never tempted from it but
once, he replied; I will tell you the
story, il youwould like TO bear IT,
CiOf eonrse they would like to; and
having laid aside his pipe the old man
began:
'One day / was waited upon by q
man who gave his name as Laban Sar-
furt. j5He was of middle age, well
dressed, and at first sight appeared to
be gentleman; but the illusion was
dispelled when approaching business,
He was hard and unfeeling, and nafu-
rally a villain. Success in speculation
had saved him from Becoming thief
or highwayman. heard of him as
a heavy dealer in the up-river lands.
He asked me if was willing. to under
take p job V which would call me to
anything legitimate that would pay.
s'Mr. Lurlington,' said he, tapping
me Witt coarse familiarity lnpon the
arm, Il want to secure your services
you must not be engaged on the other
side.'
Il told bim if he would explain to
me the case might be better able Il
give him an answer. He took an enor
nous quid of tobacco from q black
plug, and having got it into shape be-
Tween his jaws, he went on with his
sto1yx ~ II G.I .H u
~ sfRe ease was one OF eject ment. An
elderly man, named Philip Act, n had
died, leaving q, large estate. There
: was nearlySa thousand acres of land,
!, with opportunities for developing i'm
, mense water water, and ere many
years that land would be worth more
than b million dollars. AT present
upon the estate, and claiming it as II
seon of the deceased, was a man calling
himself William Acton. n-----...-.----..--
sai EBHt,' said Sarfurt,' he is not lie.
gitfmate child at all. His mother was
). Betsy TotYoo at one time girl iD
Actof's eip ploy. Acton, know, was
never married. He brought, up the
boy and educated him, and now the
fellow thinks he will step into his pro-
tector's shoes. can prove that i am
the ailysliVing ralafive ofssPhilip Ae'
ton. lie was my uncle lmy mothers
you, there can be no difficultyin pro
nesSesSto your hand
He told me he would give me five
hundred dollars if Il would undertake
the case and an additioDal thousand i
1 gained. That was a big fee-fal
more than ! had then made In all my
pleading It was tempting. And yel
1 saw that jt vas not perfectly clear
not entirely honest The spr6babil;ts
was that this William Acton was Phil
ip's child; and Il was not lm possibI,
that Philip had married. Betsy Tot
wood! 1t struck me that I.aban Bar
furt was villain, and that he faneie<
that he had young Acton 80 far ID hi
power that he could eject him from fht
title. But what had particularly Il
do with thats II Iaccepted q client,
must serve him. l had no busines:
but to serve bis interest. finally tolC
Mr.. Sarfurt that ! would think tn,
matter over. should probably hav,
business in Shireton during the ses
sions of the Court, and I would call OF
him then and-eXamine more fully. J
could not take his retainer until ] haC
further light.
But said he, will you promise no
10 take up for the other side?'
Il told him 1 would do nothing with
out further consultation with him.
Al Becanse,' headed, 'if you are fol
me / am sure to win. Acton can't finC
lawyer that can hold candle to you
l know them ALL -, IS Fe
omatter whether I believed hin
or not, did not feel fiattered.'
Two weeks later l received lettel
from Sarfurt, promising me 5000 if
won.
ia'The 5000 was strong argument
Was not law really game of chance
in which tbe'strongest hand and long
estpurse must win? Il told mysel
yes. Yes-and sat down and wrote 9
reply, saying that l would take the
case. But did not mali it at once
That night l put it nnder my pillow
and slept over it, and on the fOllowins
mofnibg I threw it into the fire.
would not make up my mind until ]
had seen the other parties-until had
been on the grounds. And | wrote tt
Laban Sarfurt TO wait.
TWO week g laserz 4 sharnessed my
horse to the wsgen, and with my wife
and child started for Shireton. i had
been married two years, and our little
babe, a girl, was year old, our pride,
our pet and our darling. Shireton was
a distance of about thirty miles. We
had been having rainy weather Tor q
! week or so. and Ii had now ciesred OF
bright and beautiful We stopped and
took dinner at O. wayside inn,. four
miles beyond which wBs a1streaH,
whichtn must be forded. The iihHkeeJ,
aer told me that the stream was some
what swollen from the late rains, but
that il my horse was trusty there cod
be nod danger E
tuck river, / found the water indeed
risen and the current strong, but ] saw
that Others had recently gone over, and
/ resolved to venture. l knew my
horse and had faith in him. My wife
was ANXIOUS, but trusted my judgment.