The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-05-08

your honor, l took that for granted
last court and | lost my case"
When | went to oxford to live IN
1881, [ was wondering what and how
lawyers lived and did. l had heard
of Mr.. Lanier all my life as great
lawyer and he was then in full prac-
tice. Imagine my surprise when [
saw him one day riding down Main
street on top of his one-horse wagon
load of fodder. At the next term he
argued for Mr.. Hays, executor case
involving the construction of Rev.
Lewis Willie's will that gave the bulk
of his property to the widows and or
phans of deceased ministers of the
Presbyterian and M. j. Churches. Mr..
Lanier afterward told me that he
made a very peculiar bargain about
fees in that case. He said: 81 told
John (Hays) if I lost the case I'd
charge him good fee, but if / won it /
wouldn't charge him a cent"
In his manner he was simple as a
child in his thought he was as great
as the greatest. He was very fond of
humor, but told me he never liked
Dickens because it seemed to him
Dickens was all the time trying to be
funny. He said he had a discussion
with man once as to whether the
Savior tried to be humorous, and Mr..
Lanier maintained that the expression
"go we and tell that fox was intended
as a humorous caricature.
He never allowed his conscience to
become scared. In his old age he quit
the practice. One day the sheriff re-
minded him of privilege tax imposed
on lawyers, to which he replied that
he was not practicing. A few days
later he went to the sheriff and said:
Here, | don't want to cheat the State:
Arch Hicks paid me a fee yesterday
for some legal work and here it is. -
He died last Wednesday, April 27,
1904, at the age of sc, yet / don't think
| ever read a clearer brief than one
he wrote in the fall of the year 1900
when he was So. He was a very reli-
gious man. and was fond of the study
of the Bible. ] have heard that he
read it in Greek and Hebrew. He
never used rough or abusive language.
Once he was speaking to me of wit
ness in one of our cases, who was a
very common fellow. He described
him as ''a poor stick" In one case
the conduct of our adVersarieS was
bad. He spoke of them once as 'those
riscalS," wouldn't even call them ras-
Gals. A certain lawyer sued one OF
our clients to recover an acre of land
that was in dispute and laid his dam
| age for the trespaSS at $4,000. Mr.
Lanier said "that's so like E. He
! didn't recover an acre or a cent but
| had the costs to pay. Lawyers some
! times refer to "a Mark Lanier COM
promise" which is said to mean, that
plaintiff gets all he claims and de-
! fendant pays cost"
| He was a partner of Judge r. B
| Gillian for some time. Judge Gillian
was very popular and a great compro-
| miser. Mr. Lanier told me he saw
Judge Gillian get up out of chain
while reading a deed, and after stand
! ing before the fire a minute or so
| turned to lay the deed in the chair
and spit in the fire, but by mistake
| spit in the chair and threew the deed
! in the fire. Lawyers throughout the
| State would write him for opinions on
difficult questions. There was no
! higher authority. His power of con-
centration was great. He would never
think of eating or sleeping when at
work on a case unless reminded by
others I learned from him how to
study the law, to look for the authori-
| ties. and to some extent to conStrue
them. He told me to read each opin-
ion in the light of its own peculiar
facts; and that no case was an author
ity in any case unless the facts were
the same. [ wish he could have left
to me his mental faculties. He was q
pure man, and a great lawyer. I be-
lieve he lives now in realms of pure
reason and righteousness, where the
ourt makes no mistakes. l honor his
memory. r. T. HICKS.
Henderson, n. c., April 80, 1904.