The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-07-02

yard. Edinburg. the children whistle
through the bars OF the tomb. crying:
Bloody Mackenzie. come out II Won aaur
Lift the sneck and draw the bar.
No other profession more needs the
grace OF God TO deliver them in their
temptations. to comfort them in their
trials. to sustain them in the discharge of
their duty. While / would have you bring
the merchant to Christ, and while
would have you bring the farmer
to Christ. and while would
have you bring the mechanic TO Christ. l
address you now in the words of Paul to
Titus. Bring Zenas. the lawyer" BY 80
much as his duties are delicate and great.
by so much does he need Christian slim
illus and safeguard. We all become eli
ents- / do not suppose there is a man
nifty years OF age who has not been af-
fiicted with a lawsuit. Your name is as
sauited. and you must have legal protec-
ton. Your boundary line is invaded. and
the courts must re-establish IL. Your
patent is infringed upon. and you mus,
make the offending manufactures pay the
penalty. Your treasures are taken. and
the thief must be ~apprehended. You want
to make your will, and you do not want
to follow the Nampl of those who. for
the sake of saving 500 from an attorney.
imperil $50. 600 and keep the generation
following for twenty years Quarreling
about the estate until il is all exhausted.
You are struck at by an assassin. and
you must invoke for him the p~enitentiary.
All classes of persons in course of time
become clients. and therefore they are all
Interested in the morality and the Chris
tidn integrity of the legal profession.
Bring Zenas the lawyer"
A BAD CAUSE.
But how is an attorney to decide as to
what are the principles by which he
should conduct himself in regard to his
clients? On one extreme Lord Broug-
ham Will appear. saying: The inno-
cence or guilt Of your client is nothing TO
you. You are to save your client regard
less Of the torment. the suffering, the
destruction of all others. You are TO
know but one man in the world-your eli
ent. You are to save him though you
should bring your country into confusion.
emit So says Lord ~Brougham. but no
right minded lawyer could adopt that
sentiment
on the other extreme Cicero will come
to you and say. You must never plead
the cause of a bad man." forgetful of the
fact that the greatest william on earth
ought TO have a fair trial and that an at
tOrney cannot be judge and advocate at
the same time. 1t was grand when Lord
Erskine sacrificed his attorney general
ship for the sake of defending Thomas
Paine in his publication of his book call
ed THE Rights of Man" while at the
same time he, the advocate, abhorred
Thomas Paine's irreligious sentiments.
Between these two opposite theories of
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 thone of God there is perpetual, rev
erential and prayerful communication.
That attorney Will never make an ire
parable mistake. True to the habits of
your profession, you say, Cite US some
authority on the subject" Well. L quote
to you the decision of the Suprpmc court
of heaven, IF any lack wisdom. let him
ask of God. who giveth to all men liberal
ly and upbraideth not, and it shall be
given him"
What a scene is the office of a busy
attorney! In addition to the men who
come to you from right motives, bad
men will come to you. They will offer
you a large fee for counse! in the wrong
how they can escape from solemn mar
tial obligation. They come to you want
ing to know how they can fail advan-
tageousiy for themselves. They come 20
you wanting to- know how they can make
the insurance company pay for a destroy
ed house which they burned down with
their own hands. or they come to YOU on
the simple errand of wanting to escape
I'm of their honest debts. Now, it
is no easy thing to advise settlement
when by urging litigation you could strike
easy thing to dampen the ardor Of an in
famed contestant when you know
through a 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 Il will in the
surrogate's court because you know the
ltSldlOI "dS VI SOulIu lllld dllh bOdg
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.
I overheard the conversation when he
said, John. you can go on with this
lawsuit, and I will see you through as
we'll as | can. but | want to tell you
before you start that a lawsuit is equal to
a fire" Under the tremendous tempta-
tons that come upon the legal profession
there are scores of men who have gone
Inup an6 Snron of thayr, from hnino tho
pride of the highest tribunal of the state
have become a disgrace to the Tombs
courtroom. Every attorney. wants the
sustaining power of the old fashioned re-
ligion 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. Controversy
may be incidental of accidental with us,
but with you it is perpetual. You get so
used to pushing the sharp question
Why? and making unaided reason SUI
perior to the emotions that the religion of
Jesus Christ. which is a simple matter of
faith. and above human reason. although
not contrary to it. has but little chance
with some of you; A brilliant orator
he announced this sentiment. AN honest
God is the noblest work of man." Skepti-
cism is the mightiest temptation of the
ItSdl pIOltSSloH, anu tHdl Ildu WHO can
stand in that profession, resisting all So
licitations 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 a dying race. then on his way
home from the convention, on a cold day,
took off his warm cloak and threw it
over the shoulders of a thIhly clad mis-
SiOnary. saying, Take that and wear 1t.
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 con-
graduation and encomium.
o men of the legal profession, let me
beg of you to quit asking questions in re-
gard to religion and begin believing! The
mighty men of your profession. Story and
Kent and Mansfield. became Christians.
not through their heads. but through
their hearts. Except you become as a
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.