Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1897-06-28

how they can escape from solemn mar
! ital obligation. They come to you want
ING ro know how they can fail advan-
tageously for themselves. They come to
YOU sfanting to know how they cal.
make che insurance company pay for a
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, it is no easy thing
| to advise settlement when by urging
| litigation you could strike mine of
remuneration. 1t is not a very easy
| thing to dampen the ardOr of an in
| famed contestant when you know
through prolonged lawsuit you could
| get from him whatever you asked. 1t is
no easy thing to attempt to discourage
the suit for the breaking of a will in the
surrogate's court because you know the
testator was of sound mind and body
when he signed the document 1t re-
quires no small heroism to do as once
| heard an attorney do in all Office in
western city.
I overheard the conversation when he
| said, "John, you can go on with this
| lawsuit, and I will see you through as
well as [ can. but I want to tell you
before you start that a lawsuit is equal
to fire. Under the tremendous temp
tations that come upon the legal pro-
fession 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 addition TO the innate sense of right,
wants the sustaining power of the old
fashioned religion of Jesus Christ.
"Bring Zenas the lawyer"
Temptation.
There are two or three forms of temp
tation to which the legal profession is
especially subject. The first of all is
skepticism. Controversy is the lifetime
business of that occupation. Controver-
sy may be incidental or accidental with
US, but with you it is perpetual. You
get so used to pushing the sharp ques
ton "Why?" and making unaided rea-
son superior to the emotions that the
religion of Jesus Christ, which is a
simple matter of faith, and above hu-
man reason, although not contrary to
it, has but little chance with some of
on the first page of which he announced
this sentiment, can honest God is the
noblest work of man. Skepticism is
the mightiest temptation of the legal
protest. on, and that man who can stand
in that profession, resisting all solieita-
tions to infidelity, and can be as brave
as George Briggs of Massachusetts, who
stepped from the gubernatOrlal chair to
the missionary convention, to plead the
cause of dSing race, then on his way
home from the convention, on cold
day, took off his warm cloak and threw
it over the shoulders of thinly clad
missionary, saying, E'Take that and
wear it; it will do you more good than
it will me,' or, like Judge Mclean,
who can step from the supreme court
room of the United States on to the
anniversary platform of the American
Sunday School union, it's most powerful
orator, deserves congratulation and en-
cOmium.
o men Of the legal profession, let
me beg of you to quit asking questions
in regard to religion and begin believ-
ing! The mighty men of your profess
sion, Story and Kent and Mansfield be-
came Christians, not through their
heads, but through their hearts. eek
cept ye 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 you
can reason this whole thing out in re-
gard to God and Christ and the immor-
tally of the soul, you will never be-
come Christian at all. Only believe.
"Bring Zenas the lawyer. -
Sunday Observance.
Another mighty temptation for the
legal profession is Sabbath breaking.
The trial has been going on for 10 or
Is days. The evidence is all in. It is
Saturday night. The judges gavel falls
on the desk, and he says, ''Crier, adj
journ the court until 10 o'clock Mon
day morning" On Monday morning
the counselor is to sum up the case.
Thousands of dollars, yea, the reputa-
tion and life of his client, may depend
upon the success of his plea. How will
he spend the intervening Sunday? There
is not one lawyer out of hundred that
can Withstand the temptation to break
the Lord IS day under such circumstances.
And yet if he does he hurts his own
soul. What, my brother, you cannot do
before 10 o'clock Saturday night or
after IL O'Clock Sunday night God does
not want you to do at all. Besides that
you want the "a hours of Sabbath rest
to give you that electrical and magnetic
force which will be worth more to you
before the jury than all the elaboration
of your case on the sacred day. Ny in
innate and lamented friend the late
Judge Nelson, in his interesting remi-
niscences of Rufus Choate, says that
during the last case that gentleman