“Alas,” thought I to myself, “it is such sharp and improper conduct that makes men wish, like Shakespeare’s Dick, ‘to kill all the lawyers;’ makes them abuse those who are (or should be) the counsellors, secretaries, interpreters, and servants of Justice—the lady and queen of all moral virtues—and apply to the members of our profession the language of Congreve of old: ‘There’s many a cranny and leak unstopped in your conscience. If so be one had a pump in your bosom, we should discover a foul hold. They say a witch will sail in a sieve, but the devil could not venture aboard your conscience.’ But I can flatter myself that an honest lawyer, like myself, ‘is the life-guard of people’s fortunes; the best collateral security for their estate; a trusty pilot to steer one through the dangerous and, oftentimes, inevitable ocean of contention; a true priest of justice, that neither sacrifices to fraud or covetousness; and one who can make people honest that are sermon proof.’ He is one who can
Make the cunning artless, tame the rude,
Subdue the haughty, shake the undaunted soul;
Yea, put a bridle in the lion’s mouth,
And lead him forth as a domestic cur.”
FOOTNOTES:
[180] Nicholls v. Gt. Western Rw., 27 U. C. Q. B. 393; Boggs v. Gt. Western Rw. Co., 23 U. C. C. P. 573; Ellis v. Gt. Western Rw. Co., L. R., 9 C. P. 551; Johnston v. Northern Rw. Co., 34 U. C. Q. B. 432; Penn. Rw. Co. v. Beale, 9 Can. L. J. (N. S.), 298.
[181] Stubley v. London and Northwestern Rw., L. R. 1 Ex. 16; questioning Bilbee v. London, B., & S. C. Rw. Co., 18 C. B. (N. S.), 584.
[182] Winckler v. Gt. Western Rw., 18 U. C. C. P. 261; Dascomb v. Buffalo & State Line R. R. Co., 27 Barb. 221; Mackey v. N. Y. & C. R. R. Co., 27 Barb. 528.
[183] Pittsburg, F. W., & C. Rw. v. Dunn, 56 Penn. St. 280; Balt. & Ohio R. R. v. Breinig, 25 Md. 378; Skelton v. L. & N. W. Rw., L. R., 2 C. P. 631; Johnston v. Northern Rw., 34 U. C. Q. B. 439; Penn. R. v. Ackerman, 74 Penn. St. 265.
[184] Havens v. Erie Rw., 41 N. Y. 296; Grippen v. N. Y. C., 40 N. Y. 34; Parker v. Adams, 12 Met. 415; Johnston v. Northern Rw., supra; Bellefontaine Rw. v. Hunter, 33 Ind. 335; Miller v. G. T. R., 25 C. P. (Ont.) 389.
[185] Galena & Ch. Rw. v. Loomis, 13 Ill. 548.
[186] Hart v. Erie Rw. Co., 3 Albany L. J. 312. See also Tabor v. Mo. Valley Rw., 46 Mo. 353; S. C., 2 Am. Rep. 270.