Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-07-02

I Your treasures are taken. aud the thief
must be- appr,hended You want 10 make
| your will. aud Won do not want % follow
| the examulc 81 those who, for the sake oi
/ saving 500 from an attorney, imperl s2J0,-
/ 600 and keep the generation following Tor
twenty years guarreling about the estate
| until il Is all exhausted. You are struck az
by au assassin, aud YOU must invoke Tor
/ him the penitentiary. Al classes ni per
] sons Ia course nj time become clients anu
I therefore they are all interested in the NOR
ality and Christian integrity ~ the legal
/ profession. Bring Zenas the lawyer
! But how i an attorney 70 decide a. 10
what are the principles by which h" should
/ conduct himself ia regard To his clients'
/ On one extreme Lord Brougham will ap-
pear. saying: The innocence or guilt OF
| your client l. nothing To- YOU. You are To
| save your client regardless Of the torment,
I the suffering. the destruction 81 all others.
| You are to know but one man In the world
/ your client. You are to save him though
/ YOU should bring your country into confu-
| sion. At all hazards YOU must save your
/ client" So says Lord Brougham. but no
right minded lawyer could adopt that SEN
| timent.
On the other extreme Cicero will come
/ To you and saw. you must never plead the
| cause Of bad man. forgetful Of the fact
| that the greatest villain on earth ought to
| have a fair trial and that an attorney can
/ not be Judge and advocate at the same
| time. II was grand when Lord Erskine
/ sacrificed his attorney gcneralship for the
| sake of defending Thomas Paine in his
| publication Of his book called The Rights
/ Of Man" while at the same time he. the
| advocate, abhorred Thomas Paine's ire
/ ligious sentiments. Between thesef two
| opposite theories Of what is right what
shall the attorney do? God alone can
/ direct him. To that chancery he must be
| appellant. and he will get an answer in an
| hour. Blessed is that attorney between
/ whose office and the throne of God there is
! perpetual. reverential and prayerfu com
munication That attorney will never
make an irreparable mistake. True to the
habits of your profession, YOU say, Cite
us some authority on the subject" Well,
quote to you the decision Of the supreme
! court of heaven, IT any lack wisdom let
/ him ask of God, who civcth to all men lib
orally and upb.1ideth not and ii shall ice
given him.
What a scene is the Office Of busy at
/ torneyl In addition to the men who come
to you from right motives. bad men will
come to you. They will offer yon large
/ fee for counsel in the wrong direction.
| They want to know from YOU how they
can escape from solemn marital obligation.
! They come to yoU wanting to know how
they can fail advantageOusly for them
| selves. They come to Won wanting to know
/ how they can make the insurance com
panv pay for destroyed house which
they burned down with their own hands
or they come to YOU on the simple errand
Of wanting to escape payment OF their
| honest debts Now, il is no easy thing
| to advise settlement when by urging litl-
cation you could strike a mine Of remuncr-
| alton. 1t is not very easy thing to
/ dampen the ardor of an infamed contestant
| when you know through prolonged law
suit you could get from him whatever you
asked. II is no easy thing to attempt to
discourage the suit for the breaking Of n
will in the surrOgates court because you
know the teStator was OF sound mind and
| body when he signed the document. II re-
| Quires no small heroiSm to do ~ ! once
heard an attorney do in an oilice in "A
| western city.
| overheard the conversation when he
| said. John. YOU can 20 on with this law
suit, and will see you through n well as
| can, but | want to tell You before you start
that a lawsuit is equal TO a fire Under
the tremendous temptations that come upon
the legal profession there are scores Of men
[ who have gone down. and some of them
from being the pride Of the highest tribunal
OF the State have become disgrace to the
Tombs courtroom. Every attorney, in ad-
dition to the innate sense of right, wants
the sustaining power OF the old fashioned
religion Of Jesus Christ. Bring Zenas the
lawyer
There are two or three forms Of tempta-
tion to which the legal profession is espe-
cially subject. The first Of all Is skeptcism.
Controversy is the lifetime business Of that
occupation. Controversy may be incidental
or accidental with Us. hut with you it Is
perpetual, You get SO used to pushing the
sharp question Why and making nm
aided reason superior to the emotions that
the religion of Jesus Christ. which is n sim
pie matter of faith and above human rea-
son, although not contrary to it, has but
little chance with some Of YOU. A brilliant
orator wrote "A book. on the lrst page Of
which he announced the sentiment. An
honest God is the nOhlest work
Of man Skepticism is the might
lest temptation Of the legal profess
sion, and that man who can stand
In that profession, resisting all sulicita-
tons to intldelity. and can be A. brave rs
George Briggs Of Massachusetts, who
stepped from the guhprnatorial chair to
the missionary convention, to plead the
cause of a dying race. then on his way
home from the convention. on cold day.
took off his warm cloak and threw it over
the shoulders OF a thinl" clad missionary,
saying, Take that and wear it; it will do
you more good than it will me, or like
Judge Mclean, who can step from the SUI
preme court room of the United States on
to the anniversary platform of the Ameri-
can Sunday-school union, its most power
full orator, deserves congratulation and en-.
| COmium.
men Of the legal profession, let me beg
of you to quit asking questions in regard
to religion and begin believing The
mighty men of your profession, story aud
Kent and Mansfield became Christians not
through their heads, but through theil
hearts. Except we become as little
child We shall in no wise enter the kingdom
Of God" If you do not become "A Christian
o man Of the legal profession, until vow
can reason this whole thing out in regard
to God and Christ and the immortality c
the soul, you will never become a Christian
at all. Only believe. Bring Xenas tn,
lawyer"
Another mighty temptation for the lcga
profession Is sabbath breaking. The tria
has been going on for ten or fifteen days
The evidence is all in. 1t is Saturda,
night. The judges gavel falls ON the desk
and he says, "Crier, djourn the court unit
10 o'clock Monday morning On Monda,
morning the counselor is to sum upthe ease
Thousands of dollars, yea, tine reputation
and life of his client, may depend upon tn
success of his plea. How will he spend tn
| intervening SuuldN! lhttt II NOT one wv
yer out of a hundred that can withstand tn
temptation to break the Lords day unde
such circumstances. And yet il he does h
hurts his own soul What, my brother yo,
cannot do before II o'clock SATURDAY night o
after ~ o'clock Sunday night God does no
want you to do at all. Besides that vu'
want the "a hours of Sabbath rest to civ
you that electrical and magnetic tore
which will he worth wo"a to Won t.r'~
the jury than all the elaboration Of you
case on the sacred day. My intimate an,
lamented friend the late Judge Nelson, il
his interesting "reminiscences OF Ruff
Choate says that during the last case tina
gentleman tried in New York the cour
adjourned from Friday until Monday o
account Of the illness of Mr.. Choate bu
the chronicler says that on the ntervenin,
| Sabbath hn uum T,onI, L., a.,