St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-04-24
Sunset Cos's FIRST Latv Case.

| In the year 1916 friendly contest arose
| in Cincinnati between another gentleman
and myself, which we mutually agreed to
have tried in court, each employing his own
counsel, The amount at issue was twenty
| five dollars.
| Little Sam Cox, as he was then called and
by which name alone knew him was a lad
| about seventeen years old, a law student in the
officeof Vachel Worthington. He was shrewd
little fellow, working hard as an Office boy,
| to pay the expenses of his education; and
everybody was his friend. I determined
partly in the spirit of fun, and partly to test
the boys capabilities to employ him as my
counsel. 1 made him well acquainted with
| the character of the case(a trial for debit
and the trial was to be held before old Judge
Snellbaker, father of Colonel Snellbaker, of
the theatre Comique in this city. Little Sam
worked like Trojan to master the proper
points, sitting up late at night to consult le-
gal authorities in which he had the assistance
of Stanley Mathews, now supreme Judge of
the United States; and at tbs converting of
the court he was ready for action, with le-
gal guns well shotted.
Witnesses were called and examined. NY
opponent strove hard, with the counsel, to
win, and little Sam was not whit behind
him in his efforts. His points tersely and
precisely presented, met every argument that
was presented by my opponent The boys
dream Of ambition nerved him on in the
| struggle. When his turn came to sum up
| the evidence and make his maiden plea he
entered upon it with a little timidity at first;
| but this he gradually threw off until he came
to his spread eagle peroration. AS nearly as
memory will serve and with help Of my
notes it was as follows:
''Your Honor, demand for my client on
ly simple justice! If you refuse him this
you will violate every rule of jurisprudence
rules as old as jurisprudence itself-which
have been undisturbed by the storms of fate
since the day when julius Caesar planted his
foot upon English soil, after the conquest of
Gaul, since the day when the first Indian
explored the western wilds of Ohio. Why,
sir, refuse justice to my client, and you will
shake the tabernacle of his soul and cause
him to tremble for the destinies of his coun
| try. Your Honor, the case to me is as clear
as the sun at MONDAY, then its beams pene-
trate, like shafts of living light, down to the
bottom of the mbering sea! The efful-
gence of that heavenly orb can fathom the
|
wide its portals that we may see its secret
workings.
''Clear as that crystal sun, the mind of
man penetrates the deep recesses of the
brain, where are opened wide to his prophet
ic vision thoughts which enable him to look
into the sealed book of fate, and, as he turns
owes the leaves Of that musty volume-mil-
dewed by the breath of time-leaves which
have been sealed to gaze of man since crea-
| toms earliest dawn he half expects to hear
| the voices of oracles of the departed ages
Casting his minds eye still backward, he be-
| holds the trillions and quadrillions of human
| beings that have passed away and prophetic
| vision sees the billions of billions yet to
| come-all of whom had, and all will have
| brightest hopes and aspirations fully equal
| to our own, and all uttering the universal
cry of 'iustice!"
'Justice, your Honor, blended with mercy,
should be set in a diadem high as the mid
night heavens and surrounded by halo of
brightest planets, there in letters of light to
shine perpetually, that the moon and the
stars in their regular rounds may pay obedi-
ence and bow in devotion to those talismanic
words, Justice and mercy
''Sir, the heather HotIentot and the Amer
| lean savage have those heavenly attributes
engrafted upon every principle of life and
action. They behold it in the sun, moon
and stars; they hear it in every wind that
blows. 1t will be the Magma Charta of all
generations of men. Why, sir, inspiration
and poetry spring from thoughts of Justice
and mercy; for blended with these is the
poetry of the heavens, when in the gorgeous
ness of light, the sun proclaims, voiced as
with OGDEN Tyre, the powers of the eternal;
| Of iorht u-ha fha nd cto mi
forth, in silvery accents, the same adoring
hymn. In these we find the poetry of the
sea when it speaks in rippled measures or
thunders in the voice of its own resounding
pillows, or in the storm or in green fields,
in waving woods and delightful gardens.
sYour Honor, justice is what demand
from you; that justice with which Armand
de Richelieu ruled France for fifteen years,
when he held her to his bosom in the dread
full strifes which desoated her,-held her
there, pillowed upon justice. Why, sir,
thoughts fly through my brain in numbers
like as blades of grass upon our boundless
western prairies-thickly as the hosts of Luz
offer when he marshalled his forces upon
the seashore to attack the angels, lin num-
bers as many as the autumnal leaves that
strew the rippled brooks on my own classic
Muskingum.'
With this, in part his maiden speech,
the young lawyer held the audience and court
spell bound for more than an hour, and when
it was concluded cheers upon cheers rang
through the old justice hall such as
were never heard there before, and Little
Sam was the hero of the hour.
His opponent arose and simply stated to
the court that as Cox had fairly covered the
grounds upon both sides of the case he had
nothing to say except that he knew his hon
or would decide the case by the strict rule Of
justice.
1t required but moment for the court to
| render decision. 1t was: Judgment in
| full for the amount claimed by the plaintiff
and costs to be paid by the defendant
The sum at issue and costs were at once
paid and all present, including the judge,
the officers of the court, the defendant and
counsel were invited by the plaintiff to walk
over to the Gait house to partake of basket
of champagne of choicest vintage. Many
were the toasts drank to little Sam Cox
When the time came for parting Cox was
asked what his fee was. With blashing tim
idity he asked:
SIS five dollars to much?"
/ 'sI well remember with what a frown I
regarded him for moment.
'sYoung man." said l." you will never
make lawyer; you do not know even the
first principle of the profession, You don't
know how to charge. Here, take the whole
amount awarded by the court''
This I placed in his hand and it was his
| Coz