Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-07-02
TALMAGE'S SERMON
INTERESTING THEME BY THE
WASHINGTON PREACHER.


lie wrr. an Trial For Ills Life lie
Would Prefer a Jnry Of Bsrristsrs
Rather Than one of Cisrgymens
Trxr: Bring Zcnas the lawyer Titus
ill.,. ~.
The profession III the law Is herr intro
duced. aud within tive days In the Capital
City 303 young men Joined Il. aud al this
season Ia various parts ~ IN" land other
hundreds arr taking their diplomas torthat
illustrious profession. and i Il not apYro-
pirate that address such young men from
a moral and religious standpoint, a. upon
them are now rolling tn" responsibilities Of
that calling represented In the text 10y
Zenas the lawyer?
We all admire the heroic aud rigorous
side OF Paul's nature. a. when he stands
eoolly deliberate on the deck nj the corn
ship while the jack tar- of the Meditcr-
ranean are covering In the cyclone; "a
when he stands undaunted amid the
marbles Of the palace before thick nccked
Nero, surrounded with his twelve cruel
lirtOrs; as when We find him earning his
livelihood with his own needle, sewing
haircloth and preaching the gospel in the
interstices; as when we find him able to
take the thirty-nine lashes. every stroke of
which fetched the blood vet continuing in
his missionary work; a. when we find him,
delivering a temperance lecture to Feliz.
the Government inehrate. But sometimes
we catch a glimpse of the mild and genial
side Of Pauls nature. II seems that he had
a friend who was a harrister by profession,
His name was Zenas and he wanted TO see
him. Perhaps he had formed the acquaint-
ance Of this lawyer in the courtroom. Per
haps sometimes, when he wanted to ask
some question in regard to Roman law, he
INF 20 ba In 70
he had warm attachment for the man,
and he provides for his comfortable escort
and entertainment as he writes to Titus,
Bring Zenas the lawyer
This man of my text belonged to pro-
fesson in which are many ardent supper
tiers of Christ and the gospel among them
Blackstone, the great commentator on Eng
fish law, and Wilberforce the emancipator.
and the late BENJAMIN +. Butler, attorney
general of New York and the late Charles
Chauncey the leader of the Philadelphia
bar, and Chief Justices Marshall and Ten
terden and Campbell and Sir Thomas More.
who died for the truth on the scaifOld, say
ing to his aghast eXecutioner: Pluck up
courage. man, and do your duty. My neck
is very short. Be careful, therefore, and
do not strike awry.'
Among the mightiest pleas that ever
have been made by tongue of barrister
nave bttn peas Ill htlldl OF the BlIlt ana
Christianity, as when Daniel Webster stood
in the supreme Court at Washington plead
ing in the famous Girard will ease, de.
nOuncing any attempt to educate the PEG.
pie without giving them at the same time
moral sentiment as low, ribald and vulgar
deism and intldeity;" as when Samuel l..
Southland, of New Jersey, the leader of the
forum in his day, stood on the platform at
Princeton college commencement advocat
ing the literary eXcellcncy of the Scrip
lures: as when Edmund Burke, in the fam.
GUS trial of Warren Hastings, not only lie
behalf of the English government but il
behalf Of elevated morals, closed his speech
in the midst of the most august assemblage
ever gathered in Westminster hall by say.
ing: Il impeach Warren Hastings in the
name of the House Of Commons, whose
national character he has dishonored; |
impeach him in the name of the people of
India, whose rights and liberties he has
subverted; impeach him in the name of
human nature which he has disgraced.
In the name OF both sexes, and of every
rank, and of every station, and Of every
situation in the world, | impeach Warren
Hastings"
Yet, Notwithstanding all the pleas which
that profession has made in behalf Of God
and the church and the gospel and the
rights of man, there has come down
through the generations among many peo-
pie an absurd and wicked prejudice against
1t. SO long ago as in the time of Oliver
Cromwell it was decided that LAWYERS might
not enter the parliament house as members,
and they were called sons of Zeruiah"
The learned DR., Johnson wrote an cpitaph
for one of them in these words;
God works wonders now and then
Here lies lawyer, an honest man,
Two hundred years ago a treatise was is.
sued with the title, "Doomsday Approach
| ing With Thunder and Lightning for Law.
! yers. A prominent clergyman of the last
! century wrote in regard to that profession
| these wor!s: There is among us a society OF
| men bred up from their youth in the art Of
| proving, according as they are paid, by
| words multiplied for the purpose, that
white is black and black is white. For cy-
ample: If my neiGhbor has mind to my
COW, he hires lawyer to prove that
| he ought to have my COW from IL. ! must
hire another lawyer to defend my right, it
! being against all rules of law that man
should speak for himself. In pleading they
do not dwell upon the merits of the cause,
/ but upon circumstances, foreign thereto.
For instance, they do not take the shortest
methods to know what title my adversary
has to my cow but whether the COW be red
| or black her horns long or short or the
like. After that they adjourn the cause
| from time to time, and in twenty years they
come to an issue. This society likewise has
peculiar cant or iargon of their own, in
which all their laws are written, and these
| they take especial care to multiply where
by they have so COMPOUNDED truth and false
hood that it will take twelve years to decide
whether the field left to me by my ances-
tors for six generations belongs to me or to
| one 800 miles on
| | say these things to show YOU that there
has been prejudice going on down against
| that profession from generation to genera
| ton. | account for 1t on the ground that
they compel men to pay debts that they do
not want to pay, and that they arraign
criminals who want to escape the conse-
| quences of their crime, and as long as that
is so, and it always will be so, just so long
! there will be classes of men who will affect
at any rate to despise the legal profession.
| | know not how it is in other countries but
! ] have had long and wide acquaintance
with men of that profession. | have found
them in all my parishes. | tarried in one
of their offices for three years, where there
came real estate lawyers, insurance lawyers
| criminal lawyers, marine lawyers, and |
| have yet to find class of men more genial
or more straightforward. There are in that
| OcupatiOn as in all our occupations, vmen
utterly obnoxious to God and man, but If |
were on trial for my integrity ormy life and
| | wanted even handed Justice administered
to me | would rather have my case submit
ted to IA jury of twelve lawyers than to a
! jury of twelve clergymen. The legal pro-
fession, believe, has less violence of preiu-
dice than is to be found in the sacred call
ing.
There is, however. no man who has more
temptations or graver responsibilities than
the barrister, and he who attempts to dis.
charge the duties of his position with only
earthly resources is making very great
mistake. Witness the scores of men who