The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1886-08-07
be, he ought to be a bishop. How he

IVY council nSSemDleu, IOT tne uOctpr
was really much beloved by all his con-
nections; and his wife had so couched
her request for advice that 1t was ire
sistible. On keen March day, uncles,
cousins and friends met; and after din
ing at the Doctors hospitablc table.
they began to consider what career
would be most likely to assure Tom of a
happy and prosperous future. The
reverend cousin presided, ut the general
request; and he opened the subject as
follows:
"When got the letter which has
brought me here to-day, felt its appeal
so strongly that ! made immediate ar
rangements to be present. Tom has al
ways been an exemplary boy in con-
diet, though / must say his progress in
the classics is deplornbly slow. When
] was his age, l read Homer for the
pleasure 1t gave me; and had Horace
by heart. Now. scholar Tom never
will be; of that l have satisfied myself
before dinner in n private talk with
him. Well, the ground is so far
cleared. Tom can not be scholar,
ergo, he can not be Clergyman;
for of all things inappropriate, in my
my opinion, the extreme is an ignol ant
divine. In my profession, one ought to
be stepped in Greek, permcatcd with
Latin, and saturated with Hebrew. But
even if Tom were born student and
of serious order of mind, / could not
advise his parents to devote him to the
Church"
Something like blank fell on Tom 5
mother at the emphatic closure of the
t.exerend cousins speech. She had
hoped that Tom might have gone to Ok
fuyd, rs other grammar-school boys hal
doae, and thence to some pretty rcctory
as rural parson. While she sat in
silent depression, the rest of the COM
pnny talked in little knots. until the
reverend president stopped them by say
ing: Now, Uncle John, call upon
you. No one is better able to say if the
law promises fame and fortune for the
rising generation, as it has done for the
past generations since Ciccro's time.
Shall we make Tom an attorney or a
barristerp"
II am flattered by the manner YOU
esteem my humble Abilities" answered
uncle John. ut is strange coinci-
dence of thought. have also come
down from town expressly to deprccate
the putting of our young hopeful to my
profession. / believe | could lay my
reasons before my brother and his good
wife better by few spoken words, than
by any extent of correspondence; so
took an early train. Tom must not be
a lawyer. Why, proceed as briefly as
can to explain. First, the pro.
fession is more crowded than
the market-placc Second, the crowd is
daily increasing. because most every
family of the middle classes that has
thrivcn during the past twenty or thirty
years is sending boy into solicitor:
i Office. The business is supposed to bC
very lucrative, and it is esteemed highl,
, respectable, which allurcs the parvcn'
= mind AS to the fiction of the law be
ing Il lucrative pursuit, l can not un
derstand how it originated, still les
6 how it is maintained. A few solicitors
a with quite exceptional luck and gooC
connections, may attain to opulencc
! But the rank and file of the profession
a merely earn decent livelihood.
" you want to know what fortune doe
= for lawyers in England, read the re
i. port of wills and bequcsts in the news
If papers. While these are telling us O
: manufacturing, banking and tradin,
/ millionaires dying in all parts of til
country, they rarely record the denis
= of lawyer worth twenty thousan
> pounds. No, no; the law is not
y money-nlaking trade. But it will b
still less so. and that is why l war
- Toms parents against it.
: "Let me elaborate little. Since
1t was put on the rolls. Law Reform, us
IS is pleasantly called by certain polit
l. clans, has been hacking away at OH
fees continually, until now, certai
# branches of the profession are no longe
1t remunerative ut all. County court.
n for instance, have deprived me of hur
n dreds year. The Judcaturc act hi
t. damaged my practice still more ser
Y, ously. However, / am not hel
If to dwell upon my own mil
l. fortunes, but to prevent III
.. nephew Tom from having worse, by TO
d loving in my footsteps. Past law IT
a forms are trihes to what are comm!
ys In few years, the most respectable an
,r valuable department of my professio
n will be simply worthless. l refer I
.e conveyancng. Even now, it is sahl
l. shorn of its former proftableness. 500
,r it will be non est. Registration of titl'
o is bound to come; with it goes the ol
IS system of mortgage deeds and all ii
It costly methods of land transfer. AS
is America and the colonies, the tranfer
Id real estate will be merely the business
I'd government officials, and the vendt
L. and purchaser; lawyers will be elimil
n. ated from such attractions altogethc
n. Then, rs regards commercial cases
Chambers of Commerce will 90 on wit
Is the simple methods of arbitration an
I'd Cancellation, until ut last the courts wi
h. hear no more of traders contention
ID than if such did not exist.
4. LAST and worst of all, there is grow
is ing steady abhorrcnce of legal col
" tlicts in all ranks and classes. When
= was apprenticed, even the poorest fc
of low would rush into law against
ne neighbor or relative with the create
?, confidence; ay, and be ruined with
ar sort of grim satisfaction. In those day
s, every body delighted in law. Now, il
v: am not vastly wide of the mark, mi
to will submit to the rankest frauds NJ
st personal assaults rs meekly as the mo
or abiect Asiatics. Yes, really, the +
to glish race, once litigious to degree,
ed positively afraid of entering upon Il
30 most trumpery suit in the inferi
~ courts. Finally, the lowest of our bus
or ness, that of the criminal courts,
ye dwindling into insigniiicance. Judg
ou are holiday-making in maiden 9
of sizes all over the country; poll
he stipendiares are becoming sinecursi
:, | Whot with nonu lnr aducotion mild