News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-11-27
BILL NYE AS A LAWYER,
Tragic Death of His CIient-The Sorrow
Incident to an Active Practice

some years ago L was a member of the
legal profession, and he asks me to state,
if [ will, publicly, whether that is true,
and if so, why abandoned the profess
sion.
It is true gthat I did practice law in
the West, for short time, in very
quiet way. After few months, how
ever, I abandoned my lucrative practice
to accept the portfolio of the Laramie
city post-cffice- During my brief tenn
pestpous career as On attorney. paid out
| $40 for rent, and drew a chattel NOR.
gage, which l was never paid for, as
near as am able to Judge.
My principal reason, however, for
abandoning the profession, was the sud
den death of my client. When young
lawyer has assiduously satand looked out
of his Office window for two m omths and
client comes in and shows signs of in
trusting business to him, there springs
mp at once between the two warm
friendship. Such was the case with me.
A middle-aged gentleman came into my
Office one day and said he had been re-
ferred to me by party in town, and
asked me if had leisure to attend to
him. I said that I would lay aside other
matters and attend to him at once, if he
wished. He said it would be a great
accommodation if would allow my other
clients to accumulate in the hall for a
few moments, and in the meantime do
the business that was on his mind. He
had asked Charles Kitchen to give him
the name Of some poor young lawyer,
and Kitchen told him that I was about
the poorest lawyer he knew of, SO he
had como right to me.
I saw at once that he was a shrewd
business man, and I did all I could to
please him. He was delighted with the
promptness with which had done the
work, and said he would have moro for
me to do very soon, as he had purchased
the controlling interest in new silver
mine over at Jelm Mountain. On the
strength of this revival in trade, L went
down and bought half ton of coal.
I then opened set of double entry
books, which still retain, and which
are almost as good as new. had Just
got my new cliont fairly on the books
when he was killed by falling down a
shaft n distance of 200 feet in perpen-
dicular direction. [ then said that the
practice of the law was invested with too
much sorrow and sadness for me. 1
could not endure the constant sundering
of pleasant, friendly ties which an active
practice demanded. sold my Ro7ise.!
Statutes to new notary public at Last
Chance, and gave my other law books to
q warm personal friend.
Having thus disposed of my library, l
retired from the practice of my profess
sion by taking down my tin sign aud
mailing 1t TO the front door OF the pest
house at the close of beautiful summer
day. There is nothing that will dam up
the flood Of professional business so
quickly as a course like this-if you
have q flood to dam and wish to have it
but enough of that. A young lawyer
may be ever so popular and overworked;
no matter he can remove his library to
The smallpox hospital, and in week he
will have all the physical relaxation and
intellectual repose he wants.
So. like the swift flight of brilliant
meteor across the black sky, flashed
through the heavens, lighting up the
vide realms of space, and then disap-
reared forever. With thousands of other
people to select from, death sought out
the only client ever had and gathered
him in. With a world full of the aged
and the sick, to say nothing of China
men and Indians not taxed, the grim
reaper struck his sickle into a man III
whom l had wonderful interest. No one
knows, who has not seen his sole client
cut down before his face, the great sor-
row that settles down upon the heart at
such a time. How lonely my office
seemed after that. How still it seemed.
I could not endure it. I at once aban-
doned the profession to its fate.
Contrary to my fears, however. it soon
rallied. Young blood entered into the
practice, and in three months after I had
turned the key IN my office door one
would hardly notice that so recently
bright light in the legal profession had
been squelched, and a clarion voice that
had always rung out for eternal justice
and equity, at SO much per equity, had
eased to vibrate.
l was clear-headed and cool, but
normally conservative lawyer. was not
only conservative in my practice, but IN
my gross receipts. I saw at once that /
could not afford to pay forty dollars per
month rent, and depend upon book ac-
count of two-and-a-hxlf dollars to offset
it. While may say that l was passion
ately fond of the study and the practice
of the law. I felt most keenly the ostra-
cism and the depressing isolation which
it seemed to engender.