The Opelousas courier. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1852-1910, 1897-10-30
The Legal Profession.

IN q recent ISSUE WO puO!lShed some
remarks under this heading, and as The
subject is fruitful, we renew it, feeling
satisfied that even members Of tho pro
fession may possibly have omitted tt
notice some of the matters to which we
desire to direct their moro careful at.
tentiOn.
A profession which ennobles al! those
who acorthily toUow it, cannot be made
the means of acquiring wealth eXclu-
sively. AS we said in our former arti-
Gle, ut least in substance, ancient law
yers were prohibited from exacting
fees +; that what tfry realized was
honorariun,, which, bNthe way, added
,l4 to their nf advantages .5; j" pec"niary
Cicero, who was fawyer, and the
most eloquent of Rnnlsh orators, is said
on credible authority, 10 have received
| gifts and beCuests aHgregating more
than one hundred and fifty thousand
poundc This, in his day was vastly
more in relative value, than it is to-day.
sion, and did by ND means impair its
like results follow :llike practice in our
times 7 We make all due allowance
for the customs that have superceeded
the practice of the Romans We con-
fess that, Omni0 mutdntur and that
"Nos mutdmur an iWis'; hut principles
endure forever. 1t may be necessary,
and it doubtless is, to modify them to
suit the changed conditions of society,
of people aud Of our entile country,
but they remain the same.
Hortensius. one of the students of
Cicero, emulating his superiority as an
orator, accumulated immense wealth,
but in doing SO, he never departed from
the noble example of his immortal pro
tOtype.
Coming down to modem times, we
find that in England, the profession is
divided into, attorneys, special plead
ers, bariisters and sergeauts. 1.-The
former two classes. (says an eminent
authority supplantins the briefs and
pleading and The latter Two dischargiDg
the duties OF advocates before the
courts!
A different practice prevails in the
United States, where all these different
duties are combined and dischared by
members of the bar, called attorneys.
In short, there is no division of labor.
In ancient times adr0cacy was of
prime Importance, and hence Cicero,
Hortensius and others of less dis
tinction, stood pre- eminent.
In our day uratory has lost much of
its power over mems minds, because of
the more general diffusion Of practical
information. Hence, he who relies on
his volubility of speech, and his imagi
native powers to influence Judges and
juries, appears as ridiculous to inteli-
gent men, as the sailor IN a fishing
smack Tho stands at the prov Of his
little craft and whistles to raise the
winds in calm on the waters. Many
of those who fancy themselves tritons
the minnows, endeavOr to mag
Nifty the Insignificant offsprings of their
brain, by indulging in Ornated express
sions. Such efforts fail, however boast
ful and seIf-satistied the authors may
feel, ander the charming dominion Of
their hallucination.
Seneca, tho greatest philosopher of |
his day. maintained that eft aUOrds are |
better than fine ones," and all the great |
modern orators, such as Webster, Clay, |
Calhoun. Brougiam, Burke and other
English orators evidently held a like |
opinion. Our Savior forcibly illustra-
ted it's correctness-and who will deny |
the simplicity and fitness of the apostle |
Paul, befOl the most noble Festus7
Some seem to believe that fippancy |
is eloquence, and indulge in it as II they |
thought conversion and conviction |
would necessarily be the consequences
Of it.
Words are not matter, and the attor- |
ney should realize that the testing duty |
Of the orator is to correct errors and to |
mpart truths whicE, furnish the mind |
with food for serious reflection. A
way of doing this forms one
Of the essential elements Of oratory.
To see an attorney gesticulatipg be-
fore the jury deliberating upon Sc
rious, n grave matter; giving wings to
and courting smile or
applause from an outside audience,
when he should use all his efforts in
reasoning with the jurors in a language
hey may fully comprehend; when be
should be bent on viDdicating vio-
ated law, Or protecting a dependent
md confiding client from a judicial
wrong to his property, or his liberty Or
ife, is not becoming, and is, on the
contrary, rerrehensible.
Have we such ..tnrnevs amoDgus
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