St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1896-02-21

MIN, n q term or two IN the Acad-
envy, he was to be henceforth in edu-
cation a law unto himself. What
wonder that he never endured the
rigorous discipline which makes a
reasoner, never became a thorough
lawyer. He had that lazy, moody
strength which, after each great
effort, lapses into long periods of
indolent repose wherein the brooding
genius nourishes itself for another
fight. On idle summer days he
would sit from morning till night
before his office door, stepped in the
mellow sunshine, oblivious to all
that has passed around him. And
yet he loved his books, knew his
Blackstone well, and could plant his
feet, at need, on the solid founda-
tions of the law. 1t seems to have
been a favorite device with him to
give an important case interest and
dignity by clearly Identifying it with
some Fundamental principle"
which, as he would proclaim in
sounding phrase, "underlies the
whole fabric of jurisprudence,-th
vindication OF which has twice del
uged England with blood, and more
recently our own fair land in frater.
nal gore" We shall be apt to smile
at the Buzfuzzian period. Perhaps
his rival smiled, too, but he did so at
his peril. 1t did its work. 1t i'm
pressed the imagination of his jury,
and tempted them to turn from the
confusion of claims and counter
claims they hardly understood back
to a broad and simple truth where
the mind felt that it could rest in
safety. His style must often have
been pompous, grandiloquent. Yet
no n could more deity prick an
overblown bubble for an opponent.
| think it was Stoddard B. Colby,
an accomplished advocate of that
day. who nee sat down after an
impressive appeal which left the jury
on the verge of tears. Bartlett rose
and began in funereal tones. with
imperturbable gravity: Dearly be-
loved brethren, let US continue these
solemn services by reading a brief
portion of the original writ" The
strain was too intense, the spell was
snapped and tears gave way to
laughter. This faculty of reducing
his antagonists position to absurdi-
tv, by saying such a simple thing in
such A solemn way" was character
istic of him and often did him veo.
man service. Ossian Ray. then a
young lawyer, was summing up a
case of assault and battery against
Bartlett's client. In an unhappy
moment he declared, I'VE do not
demand an exorbitant sum. We
do not ask for a million dollars
The defendant sat within the bar,
shabbily dressed, %unkempt, g picture
of poverty. Bartlett rose slowly to
reply. Il knew my brother Ray as
a boy. He was a generous, noble
spirited lad. He has grown to be a
generous, magnanimous man. He
says he does not demand a million
dollars Of my client. am glad and
grateful that he does not. For if be
should demand it, and you, gentle,
men of the jury, should render a
verdict for that amount, and my
client should be compelled to pay it,
he would be- reduced to comparative
poverty it would certainly impair
his annual rents and profits" All
this spoken with digni6ed courtesy
no curl OF the lip, no twinkle in the
eye, not a suggestion in voice OF
countenance that he was conscious
OF any incongruity whateverbetwee
his ragged client and this stately
acknowledgment. The effect may ht
imagined it can hardly be described
II he vas not a power in congress:
his case was not the first proof that
eminence at the bar is no guarant,
of success in a deliberative body
Perhaps he was not specially fttec
to succeed there. But the reason
why he failed, to start with, lies il
this story. The 4th of July, 1851
was a gala day in st. Johnsbury
There was a big tent, and Bartlett,
was to be one of the speakers. IVA.
to be-" for nobody was. A crowd o
Dartmouth college students came ut
from Hanover, and, stationed will
tin horns at the opposite end of tn,
pavilion, drowned with their noisy
rivalry every voice that tried te