The Batesburg advocate. [volume] (Batesburg, S.C.) 1901-1911, 1907-08-30
A STORY OF
1.-THE LAW.
tOriginal. IL

centrhtlOn OF tnougnt Is one diSadvan-
tage. Such concentration leads the
thinker to place an undue relative
value upon the subject of his thought
A specialist in throat diseases Is apt to
refer all the Ills man is heir to to the
throat. The professor of ancient Ian
guages cannot understand how man
can be properly equipped for any pro-
fession without a knowledge of Greek
and Latin. TO the merchant the chief
end Of man Is to buy cheap and sell
dear
In the legal profession this species of
tends to make the court
room tournament of lawyers. The
real object of Il court, to dc justice, is
buried under rank professionalism
that has grown up like weeds in
flower garden.
Edward Avery, brilliant young
lawyer. was especially under the infiu-
ence of this professionalism. Having
been elected state attorney, he consid
cred 1t his duty to convict alike the
innocent and the guilty. AS soon as
his duty TO the state had ended and he
became an Independent attorney he
considered 1t his duty to secure the
acquittal of any client, whether innO-
cent or guilty. His friends used to re-
monstrate with him on the want of
elasticity OF his principles, hut with
out avail. He was intensely logical
and could give the best of reasons for
his deductions. He forgot that logic
is but n machine which will grind out
anything that is put into 1t.
One day while Avery was practicing
OH his own account Il man whose trial
for hHrglary was To come off imme-
diatcly sent for him and asked him to
make his defense.
But know nothing about the case"
Don't want " to know nothin' about
the case. The more you know about
1t the wo'se for me-"
Avery's fancy was ticllcd ut going
into court to conduct Il case he didn't
know anything about. lie prided him
self on his readiness ana resource. He
would add another To his already large
number of stories that he was used to
telling his friends illustrative Of these
faculties. The accused man had but
So To give him for retainer. but
Avery was not after money. His OBJ
ject was TO have an opportunity to
show what he could do impromptu
The case came off the same after
noon. Avery was somewhat surprised
to see In the courtroom several of his
eh,tms- .-u,oStly of tlp legal profession.
was t~ld that they had heard he had
taken case he didn't know anything
about, and they We're curious 10 see
how he would handle it, Avery was
pleased. This meant that they were
there To witness bit of professional
fireworks.
Avery in summer lived in hand
some suburban residence. In winter
he shut 1t up, went to the city and lived
in apartments till spring. When the
prisoner was brought into court and
the witnesses We're got together the
counsel for the defense was surprised
TO SEQ among the latter faces of his
ncighbors In the country. But what
was his nstonishmcnt when the pros
ecution brought out the fact that the
robbery had n committed in his own
house
Avcry's friends were watching him
and when this fact dawned upon him
they Snickcrcd. The young attorney
saw ut once that they had placed him
in position TO defend his client from
rObbing him. But he was game. Not
the slightest change of countcnnnce in
dicatcd that his professional eQuanim-
ity had been dis siUrbed. He listened
calmly t. the evidence against his eli.
ent. while the expression of his face
and Guick tashings in his eyes told
that he was straining his brain To find
some weak spot in the prosecution.
some tcchnicali;y by which he might
secure the ucquittni Of his !icnt
The burglar hNd been seen coming
down trellis from an upper story bv
a man with whom Avery was we'll nc
qualntcd. He had been chased. but on
the way had contrvcd to get rid of
some valuable articles When appre.
hended. lie had nothing on him TO con.
vict him of theft. or course the jury
were entirely ignorant of the situation
that had been brought about by Av.
cry's friends. When the prosecutors
evidence was all in Avery took the wit
ness who had seen the burglar descend
the trCllis and asked him how he knew
the prisoner was the same person. The
witness could not swear that he was
He had seen him run. and he had been
followed by n policeman and several
citizen but the witness had merely
y descend the trellis What
'n..l hc C',. not know. Avery trapped
him into saying what threw doubt on
the fact of the identity between the
man who had descended the trellis and
The prisoner, then showed how easy II
would be ipr the one to be mistaken
for the other. He closed by powerful
argument against running a mans life
by evidence that was defective and q
pathetic appeal for the prisoner The
Jury brought in verdict Of not guilty.
There was dinner served that night
II the bar association club rooms. Civ
I'll by those who had played the Joke |
ID Avery. He revealed the fact chat !
he had lost articles that had bcrH i'm !
MS family for 200 years by securing
he acqGittal of his client. hut thlt he |
H"uld rather have suffered the loss than |
10 so unprOfeSsiOnal an act a, 10 turn /