The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1896-08-01
WHOLE NO.. 296.

liIS NhitN az NNlI slS lpI tlfd1, ItSICdI
statements and deductions. 1t was next
to impossible for a judge to detect an
error III any grounds that he assumed in
argument. Admitting his premises his
conclusions were irresistible" ="
His gradual success in the profession
was marked By the proportion of fail
ares and disappointments which beset
the path of any young man who makes
his living at the law. One John w.
Baddcley, living in Mclean county,
had employed John I. Stuart to repre-
sent him in the defense of a suit that
had been brought against him by one of
his ncighborS. When the term of court
arrived during which the case was to
be tried, Baddclcy was approached by
tall and rather ungainly young man,
clad III Il suit of i'll fitting clothes, who
had just driven into town and placed in
his hands a letter from Stuart, which
read:
srRiNGFuELp, Ms, April 3, 1872
John ". Baddcl'y ESD.
DEAR Sill cannot possibly attend the Nc
Lean court AZ this term, and | have therefore
sent my partner, Mr.. Abraham Lincoln, who
will hand you this note He will attend to the
"Fcll' suit and will try it well. Please state
/ your ease and bring your witnesses to him,
and you can pay him the balance of my fee.
| Very truly, JOHN I. STUART.
| Baddeloy, though living in primi-
tive county, had been reared i'll Eng
| land, where the courts We're conducted
! in more cercmoninus and less demo-
cratic style, and he was therefore in no
sense prcpoSscssod by the plain, unas-
suming if not uncouth, young advo-
cate who had handed him Stuart s note
In fact, he gave vent to his dissatisfac-
tion by abuse of Stuart and ridicule Of
his substitute and partner without
limit. Deeply vcxcd and disgusted, he
walked up to the hotel, and, instead Of
stating his case to Lincoln, employed
James A. McDougall, aftcrward United
! States senator from California, to repre-
sent him.
! Most of the stories told OF Lincoln at
the bar are, it is true, ridiculous and
represent him i'll anything but digni-
fed light, but they better than anything
else reveal the peculiar elements in his
makeup and they should therefore be
! preserved whenever there is good reason
to believe they are genuine. If proceed
ings III court dragged, on he felt that
his antagonist by his cloquence was
capturing the jury, he would resort to
some very clcverly planned and dramatic
interruption to break the gravity Of the
situation. If IL jury dared to grow sleepy
on his hands, he knew how to wake
them up. His antagonists We're thus kept
in constant fear of some adrOit stroke
! biS tn IL i,-o, In,
this respect lawyers Of this day would
scarcely dare initiate him. The Judge of
Il court before whom he tried case Of
some magnitude against Il great corpO-
ration tcstifcs that in the midst of an
elaborate argument-the court room
being crowded with visitorS-Lincoln
happened to look down on himself and
halted, as if he discovered something
wrong with his physical person He de-
libcratcly stopped his speech to the
jury, rcmarllinG, 'Wcll, gentlemen, /
find my gearing is out Of order, and /
may as wei. take up the tackling hitch
or two" He thcreupon opened his vest
and proceeded to rcadjust his suspenders
in plain view Of the court and specta-
tors Presently lie resumed his remarks
to the jury as calmly and gravcly as if
nothing had happened.
A colleague at the bar tostifies that he
met Lincoln for the first time in 1854
at Urbana. "Hc sat on the bench for
the judge awhile during the term, and
my first motion i'll court was made be-
fore him. / remember with what be-
nightly he acted at time which al
t,i1c thn pS1,l e = il,.,
bar. The next day he made some ar
rangemcnts about his horse and buggy
and took the train for IL point farther
northwest, where he had an appoint
mcnt to speak. | saw him start for the
train, Being obliged to ride over two
miles i'll an old dilapdated omnibus,
he was the sole occupant of the non
descript conveyance. He had somehow
secured and had in his hand a small
French harp, with which he was MAX
ing the most cxecrable music imagi-
nablc. | rallied him on this, to which,
stopping his concert, he replied: This
is my band. Douglas had brass band
with him in PEORIA but this will do
me. " And he resumed his uncouth solo
as the vehicle moved off. The primitive
strains, somewhat disturbed by the jolt
ing conveyance, fioatod out upon the air
till distance interyened. y
In 1851 while attending court at Pc
tersburg IA crowd gathered about him at
the tavern when lie was engaged in a
story telling bout with noted racon-
teur named Murray. a preacher in the
town, Rev. \. H. Goodpastlre, happen
ing to pass and seeing the crowd of idle
listeners, halted just long enough to re-
mark in the hearing of all, "Where the
great ones Of the earth are there will
the people be, " and moved on. "Ho,
parson, cried Lincoln, "a little more
Scripture, Where the carcass is there
will the eagles be gathered together. )"
In his jousts with fellow lawyers he
was always apt and expressive. To the
methods Of the opposing counsel in a
suit he entered strenuous protest, claim
ing that the testimony was irrelevant
why cannot the counsel for the plain
tiff he appealed to the court, "confne
themselves to the real issue in this case?
If l send a man to buy horse for me,
expect him TO tell me what his points
are, not how many hairs there are in his
tail. = OF a certain technical judge who
xyas famcI fc, bic o1cSa cnprtyu,t ion, "a