The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-06-21
HENRY W. PAINE.
wit and Wisdom of a Great New
ENGLAND Lawyer.

England Lawyer.
A Harvard student, seeing Henry w.
Paine. the great New England lawyer, read
inc a volume of the Massachusetts reports In
a Cambridge street car one day, said
sWhy, Mr.. Paine, I am surprised to see
that you find it necessary to read law In a
horse car" II;
81 am not reading law" was the reply. l.
am reading the decisions of the Supreme
Judicial Court Of Massachusetts,"
MI. Paine had a ready wit, and many
amusing stories are current among ms legal
brethren illustrating his qulckness ana
felicity of retort. One Of the best examples
Massachusetts, Judge who Interrupted hlm
him when he was making an argumen IN
court. with a remark which would nave
thrown a less ~self-possessed man OF his
balance. -,
"Mr! Paine, you know that is not law"
said the judge.
vocate with a d%eferential bow, 'but it was
law till your Honor spoke"
Being one day salufed by the name OF a
lawyer whose reputation wa badiy De
smirched he told the person who had made
the plunder who he was.
pardon me" said the stranger; II look
you for Mr.. D"
II excuse you," said Mr.. Paine, "but |
hope the devil, won't make the same mis-
take"
One of the most felicitous sayings was his
indirect, but cutting rebuke of a millionaire
client who had called one day to consult him.
Mr.. Paine had Just sent his colored servant
to q bank with 5000 or more in bank notes,
which the teller Of the bank, In paying some
railroad coupons, had overpaid. Mr.. Paine's
client, on hearing him narIate this incident,
exclaimed
ssWhat did you sent back the money fors
You are a fool. / wouldn't have lone 1t.
The banks never rectify mistakes"
"Why," quietly replied Mr.. Paine, u hap
pen to labor under a slight misfortune. l
have to shave myself, and | wouldn't like to
look in the glass every morning and see a
~scoundrel!"
When he was attorney for Kennebec
| County, Me-, a man whom he indicted for
arson was tried and acquitted on the ground
that he was an idiot. After the trial the
presiding Judge, suspecting chat the prose
| cutting attorney was dissatisfied with the
verdict, sought to reconcile him to it by
some consolatory remarks. Qh, / am quite
satisfied, your Honor. with the prisoners
acquittal," was the reply; IBIS has been tried
by a jury of his peers"
or prodigious learning In the law, Henry
William Paine was also a broad, general
reaaer. His memory was astonishing. In
truth, he was a living illustration OF an
| swered requirements, which the old mas
tiers attached TO tne pfolesoAon " Uue law.
1.-THE sparks of all the sciences, !" said Sir
Henry Finch. ''are raked up in the ashes
of the law Gritty tells the law student
| that he must only master the law itself but
| fiji up his leisure hours with the study of
anatomy, physiology, pathology, surgery,
| chemistry, medical Jurisprudence and police.
aOurs," wrote William Writ to a friend sixty
years ago, sis not a profession in which a
man gets along BY a hop, SKIP and Jump: T
legionary SOLDIER
A popularity Of the great advocate was
| the smallness of his chatges-in many cases
their ridiculous smallness-in comparison
with with those of other lawyers Of equal
ability.-Chtcago NelUS.