The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-08-10

ms admiration for the Southern law
yer IN more complimentary and dis
terms than the author of
The FOOLS Errand.' Some wears ago
there fell into my hands a COPY Of a
little book, With Gauge and Swal
low, by Tourgee. | had read his
Fools Errand' and other remarkable
novels, and had fallen as much in love
with his style as ! disapproved of his
political ideas. In that volume. made
OF the romance of law suits, Tourgee
has a story Of mystery. The Letter
and the Spirit" The scene is laid in
North Carolina, though the story does
not so state. and the celebrated case
is tried in the courthouse at Hills
boro, \. {. The great lawyer de-
scrlbed is the late Judge Thomas Ruff
fir (called in the story Mr.. BuforC).
who was in his prime when Judge
Tourgee rode the courts of that cir
cunt, trying law suits in the day and
connecting schemes for Republican po-
litical control of the state at hight.
He was hated when he lived among
us, for he was one of the carpet
baggerS who sought to put the bottom
rail on top and crush the spirit of d
proud people who had returned i'm
poverished from an unsuccessful war.
But he was the brains of North Car
Dina reconstruction, and learned af-
forwards that he and others of his
type were trying to make bricks with
out straw. The thrillingly interesting
story of how Judge Ruffin and the
Northern lawyer succeeded in uphold
ing a Photograph Will is not germane
to my reference. wish merely to
quote from it Judge TOurgee's esti-
mate of the Southern lawyer. He
knew no Southern lawyers except
those who practiced in the North
Carolina courts, and it is an honor to
the lawyers of all the Southern States
that Judge T~ourgee. though those he
described were of the same school as
the North Carolina laWyers-as in
deed they were. Here is the tribute,
as related by the Northern lawyer to
friends in telling the story of the case
years afterwards:
This was the first time I had beer
called to go outside the State on pro
} fessional business, and I was very ner-
Vous about appearing before a strange
court. During the three months that
1 interviewed | made a most exhaustive
, study of every question that can arise
[ on the issue of devisavit vel non, but
I more especially of the more limited
{ field of Photograph and other excep-
u tional te~stamentary forms. It is not
5 too much to say that when | finally
started for the county of North Caro-
; lima in which the issue was to be
e tried l knew all there was to be-
ISdI ( vi olI liz upISt ~
n~uncupative wills.
Il arrived a few days before thu
opening of the term, and found my as.
sOciate to be a man at least a dOZer
years older than myself, of slendel
form, with a calm blue eye, quiet, al
most reserved name and with moth,
ing about hin to indicate the hearth
ness which he a displayed in hi!
letters to me. There was no lack O
oCrdia1ifU in his Wo1c0~o hnf 7 fol
4 at once that his appreciation had bee,
won by the faithfulness with which
had served my client. rather thar
y from any sympathy with the result
,s Of my action. This discovery wa
something of a shock, since | was a
that time one of those absurd senti
! mentalistS who expect men reared un
o der the most divergent Influences t
49, show the same moral inclinationS.
was a brave man, and a lawyer VIII
20 had more than once riSked his hf
for a client, and had a natural admi
~ ration for one who did likewise. A
for the negro, he had no sympath
with the opinions or ~prejudices G
I; Northern SentimentaliStS in regard t
his rights or his wrongs. Such right
tc as the law gave whether to slave Q
10 freeman. he would willingly aid to en-
e force, but beyond that he did not 81
IS. This is the account he gave m
IN clear, cool tones ana IN the Hos
lucid and Succinct amer, Of the cas-
IN we had to try. I knew very little {
his standing at the bar, but he ha
r not uttered a dozen sentences befor
.e. | was fully satisfied of three thing:
First. that he could not be for an
lie considerable period a member of an
it bar without being one of the leadel
e. Of it; second, that he was profound
or interested in this case, and especial
in our client; and third, that he r.
TO garded with a feeling very close
e. resentment her persistent demand tn;
ve should hold a retainer in the cas-
los knew also that / should have gre;
lis difficulty in overcoming tins TENN
as He was not a man acceSSlple | II"
tery. nor one who would in any ma
no ner ald me In securing HIS Soou w
:. LIZ ..o.,ld no -nnlita Gracious al