Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-07-31

These plans were submitted to her as
a matter of course, and met her cordial
approval.
His reckless generosity had made
such inroads upon his fortune, that
barely enough remained to enable him
to acquire a profession in which his
exertions would suffice for support.
He had no time to lose, and as soon as
his health permitted, he entered the
office Of Judge Patterson Of New Jer-
sey, as a student of law. The regular,
mode of instruction adopted
by the judge did not accord with Col
onel Burrs anxiety to hurry into the
practice of his profession; and in the
spring of 1871 he left him to reside at
Haverstraw, in the family of Thomas
Smith, an eminent practitioner OF New
York. Here he devoted himself to stu
dy with an assiduity that few men ever
brought to bear upon the dry details
of that uninteresting science. 1t was
not an unusual occurrence for him to
pass twenty of the twenty-four hours
among his books, noting down the
doubtful and obscure points, and the
next day submitting them to his in
structor for solution. His close appli-
cation to the law did not prevent him
from writing regularly to Mrs. Provost.
Their letters, like their conversation,
were entirely devoid of those soft ex-
which give such charm
to the correspondence Of acknowledged
lovers. They were full Of keen criti-
cisms of Voltaire, Chesterfield, Rous-
seau, and other eminent writer's; but
they contained no burning avowals Of
affection; none Of the gushing tender
ness that sounds so sweetly In the ear
of beauty and comes so naturally from
a heart that is full of the gladness Of
requited love. Some tenderness there
certainly was, but it was the tender
ness of friendship; beyond that, their
was a communion of
the intellect alone, and II was so un-
derstood by both.
After six months of incessant appli-
cation, Colonel Burr repaired to Alba
ny, to apply for admission to the bar.
Here he was encountered by difficult
ty which, to a man less fruitful in re-
sources, would have proved insur-
He was informed that
a rule of the court required can
didates for admission to have
passed three years in the study
of the profession before examination.
To this he answered, that he had be-
gun to read law before the Revolution;
that he had abandoned his books to
take up the sword in his country's de-
fense; that when i'll health drove him
from the military service, he had re-
sumed his studies; that the rule did
not require a continuous application;
and that in point of that it was more
than six years since his legal reading
actually commenced. His arguments
did not satisfy the members of the
bar; but, resolving not to be thwarted,
he turned his attention to the presiding
Judge. To him he repeated all that had
proved unavailing with the others, and
added that it was an extreme hardship
to deprive a man of privileges he had
only lost through devotion to his coun-
try, besides being an example that
must work injury to the public SER
vice. The judge was so far influenced
by his persuasions that he agreed he
might make a motion for his own ad-
mission, and it, on examination, it ap-
peared that he was otherwise qualified,
the rule should be set aside in his be-
half. The motion was made. He pass
ed triumphantly through a severe and
prolonged examination, and in January,
1882, was licensed as an attorney.
Thus, at the age of twenty-six, he
entered upon a new field of action, de-
manding totally different habits, and
into play totally different quail
tiles than those through the exercise
of which he had heretofore won dis
tinction and renOwn. In other res
poets, however, his debut was made
under circumstances more favorable
than usually attended the young prac-
titioner. The legal disqualification of
the Tory lawyers had so thinned the
profession as to make competition
merely nominal. He had a wide repu-
tation as a patriot soldier, and an ex-
tensive acquaintance with that class
of men most certain to be useful to a
professional man. The Interruptions
and delays incident to the war had
caused an immense accumulation of
business, and almost from the very
first his practice was large and exceed
ingly lucrative. AS a practitioner he
never had superior There were 9TH
ers more profoundly read in the law;
there were others more eloquent and
more imposing in their address; but in
the skillful management of cause, In
careful preparation beforehand, in the
readiness with which he seized upon
every advantage against an adversary
and the consummate tact with which
he guarded every weak point on his
own side he was without an equal and
without a rival. Throughout his long
practice he never lost a case in which
he had been consulted before the suit
was instituted. His soldier life had
taught him the advantages of watch
fulness, and no adversary ever took
him by surprise.
Soon after obtaining his license. Col
onel Burr opened an office in Albany
and the first few months of his prac-
tice were so satisfactory that he deter
mined upon consummating his mar
riage with Mrs. Provost without delay
The arrangements were all made by
letter The style of that correspond
ence had nothing in it to recommend
1t to love-sick couple of the present
day. or of that day either. Everything
was written in a matter Of-fact, bus
mess like way, that was horribly unro-
mantle. Generally he assumed the pos
tive and decided tone of the HUSBAND
never that of the yielding and com
plaisant lover. At one time he tells
her to deal less in sentiment, and more
in ideas" He complains that her let
terS are too long. Again he says