The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1897-07-10


suit. Your name Is assaulted ant
you must have legal protection
Your boundary line is invaded. and thu
courts must re-establish it. Your pat
emit is infringcd upon. and you mus
make the offending manufacturer pa,
the penalty. Your treasures are taken
and the thief must be apprehended
You want TO make your will, and yot
do not want TO follow the example o.
those who. for the sake of saving slo'
from an attorney, imperil s25o,0oO. anc
keep the generation following for ~
years quarreling about the estate, un
| til it is all exhausted. You are struck
by an assassin. and you must invoke
for him the penitentiary. All classes
of persons in course of time become
clients, and there they are all inter
ested in the morality and the Christian
integrity of the legal profession.
Bring Zenas the lawyer
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 limo
cent or guilt of your client is nothing
TO you. You are to save your client
regardless of the torment, the suffer
ing, the destruction of all others. You
are 10 know but one man in the world
your client You are to save him
though you should bring your
country into confusion. Atall hazards
you should save your client" So says
Lord Brougham. But no right-minded
lawyer could adopt that senti-
ment On the other extreme, Cicero
will come to you and say, "You must
never plead the cause of bad ma n"
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.
1t was grand when Lord Ersltine
sacrificed his MISUNDERSTANDING for
the sake of defending Thomas Paine
in the publication of his book called
The Rights of Man. while, at the
same time, he, the advocate. abhorred
Thomas Paine's ,irreligious senti-
ments. Between these 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 an
swer in an hour. Blessed is that at
torney between whose Office and the
throne of God there is perpetual, rev.
erential and prayerful communication.
That attorney will never make an ir-
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 su-
preme court of Heaven: If any lack
wisdom, let him ask of God, Who CIV
eth to all men literally, and upbraid-
eth not, and it shall be given him"
What scene is the Office of busy
attorney! In addition to the men who
come to you from right motives, bad
men will come to you. They will offer
you 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 the mselves.
They come to you wanting TO know how
they can make the insurance company
pay for a destroyed house which they
burned down with their own hands.
Or they come to you on the simple err
rand 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
intiamed contestant, when you know
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 be-
cause you know the testator was of
sound midland body when he signed
the document. It requires no small
heroism to do as ! once heard at attor-
ney do in an Office in a western city. l
overheard the conversation, when he
said: John, you can go on with this
and will see you through as
we'll as l can; but 1 want to tell you
before you start, that lawsuit is equal
TO a fire." Under the tremendous
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 a
disgrace to the Tombs courtroom. Ev-
cry attorney, in addition to the innate
sense of right, wants the sustaining
power Of the old-fashioned religion of
Jesus Christ. bring Zenas the law
yer"
There are two or three forms Of temp
tation to which the legal profession is
especially subject. The first of all is
skcpticism. Controversy is the lifetime
business Of that occupation. Contro-
versy may be incidental or accidental
with us; but with you it is perpetual.
You get so used to pushing the sharp
question "Why2" and making unaided
reason superior TO the emotions, that
the religion of Jesus Christ, which Is a
simple matter of faith, and above
human reason, although not contrary
to 1t, has cut little chance with some
of you. A brilliant orator wrote q
book on the first page of which he
announced this sentiment: IAN honest
God is the noblest work Of manr'
Skepticism is the mightiest temptation