Yale University Law School - Yale Law Reporter Yearbook (New Haven, CT)

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'l'lll'I YAI.l'l SlllNKll.l'1. 21 pushed the book over to me, whispering, Don't object to that question, there is the statute which covers it and makes it admissible. A less noble soul would have waited till I had stated my objection and then annihilated My young friend, whose ignor- ance of the statutes is only equalled by his ignorance of the law in general. So I say, keep your practice up to a high stone, it is the noblest in the world. Let me tell you what Chief Justice Andrews says of it: It is not enough for an attorney that he be hon- est. He must be that and more. He must be believed to be honest. It is absolutely essential to the usefulness of an attorney that he be entitled to the confidence of the community wherein he practices. If he so conducts in his profession that he does not deserve that confidence, he is no longer an aid to the court nor a safe guide to his clients. A lawyer needs, indeed, to be learned. It would be well if he could be learned in all the learning of the schools. There is nothing to which the wit of man has been turned that may not become the subject of his inqui- ries. Then, of course, he must be specially skilled in the books and the rules of his own profession and he must have prudence and tact to use his learning, and foresight, and industry. and courage. But all these may exist in a moderate degree and yet he may be a creditable and useful member of the profession, so long as the practice is to him a clean and honest func- tion. But possessing all these great faculties, if once the practice becomes to him a mere 'brawl for hire, or a system of legalized plunder where craft and not

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29 Tllli YALE SlllNGl.li. wish you could feel as deeply as I feel it. In your practice you can never qfora' to be less than gentle- men. ' You will soon be members of an honored pro- fession--of a manly profession. See that you quit yourselves like men in your conduct of it. You will need to be strong to do this. In your early practice, the temptation will be great to descend to the level of your probable opponents and be a blackguard against a blackguard. Stop at 'l'ouehstone's first degree of good manners, give the Retort Courteous, avoid the Reply Churlish. I never felt more highly compli- mented in my life than when, in a trial where I was counsel, a juryman told me he had never seen a trial conducted in a more gentlemanly manner. I do not mean that you should remain quiet and submissive under your opponent's attacks. By no means. Kill him if nec-essary, but do it with a rapier, not a hatchet. Cultivate a high tone in your profession. You have chosen a life where you must iight your best friends every day. Fight fair, don't hit below the belt, or when your antagonist is on the ropes or down. Then when you whip him, he will think well of you: if he whips you, he will still respect you. As long as I live I shall remember a kind act which a great and gentlemanly lawyer did to me. It was in the heat of a trial, an important witness was testifying. My opponent asked a question which seemed to me clearly inadmissible under the common law of evidence. 1 was just about to jump up and object in no uncertain tones when he leaned over and whispered, Wz1it a minute. Ipaused. He opened the statutes and

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22 'l'lIl'I YAIJC SIIINGLE. conscience is the rule, und where falsehood and not truth is the means by which to gain his ends, then he has forfeited ull right to be an officer in any court of justice or to be numbered among the members of an honorable profession. May you all be a credit to that profession, an honor to the class of '94 and to the Yule Law School. IQIJWARIP G. l5UeK1.ANn. X liii W4 Jr, ,. li1viZ ' w 'iri R .-:Q if