The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1897-07-02

direction They want to know from you
how they can escape from solemn mar
ital obligation. They come to you want
ing to know how they can fail advan-
tageously for themselves. They come to
you wanting to know how they can
make the insurance company pay for
destroyed house which they burned
down with their own hands, or they
come to you on the simple errGnd of
wanting to escape payment of their
honest debts Now, it is no easy thing
10 advise settlement when by urging
litigation you could strike a mine of
remuneration. 1t is not 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 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 1 once
heard an attorney do in an Office in a
western city.
| overheard the conversation when he
said, John, you can go on with this
lawsuit, and will see you through as
well as / can, but l 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-
tion "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
you. A brilliant orator wrote book,
on the first page of which he announced
this sentiment, can honest God is the
nobIest work of man." Skepticism is
the mightiest temptation of the legal
protest. on, and that man who can stand
in that profession, resisting all solicita-
tions to infidelity, and can be as brave
as George Briggs of Massachusetts, who
stepped from the gubernatorial chair to
the missionary convention, to plead the
cause of 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 thinly 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 supreme court
room of the United States on to the
anniversary platform of the American
Sunday School union, its most powerful
orator, deserves congratulation and en-
comium.
o mep 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 We become as a little child ye 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 i'll re-
gard to God and Christ and the immor
tality 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
10 days. The evidence is all in. 1t 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-
ton 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 a hundred that
can withstand the temptation to break
the Lord S day under such circumstances.
And yet if he does he hurts his own
soul. What, my brother, you cannot do
before IL O'Clock Saturday night or
after 12 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. My 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
tried in New York the court adjourned |