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LEDGER,
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AND DAILY TRANSCRIPT.


PHILADELPHIA, TUESDAY, OCT'K. I.
SMALL LAWYERS The Philadelphia Bar is
deservedly celebrated for the acuteness, intelligence and gentlemanly demeanor of its members. No class of men can be found in this city
who possess in a higher degree the advantages
of cultivated minds and refined manners. In
these respects many of them are truly pre-eminent. But even the Philadelphia bar is not free
from reproach. The unhappy facility of admission to its privileges has introduced not a few
into the profession who are wholly unworthy of
such honorable association. Men of rude and
undisciplined natures, i,norant,uneducated, almost uncivilized, quitting the paths in which
they were qpalified to tread, have of late years
forced themselves into the ranks of the bar, and
by their presence lessen the dignity which formerly characterized it. Others, also, of better
conduct, but miserably weak in all mental qualities, have erwled in, and, by their puny and
abortive efforts, excited general contempt
among the lookers-on. And thus it has happened
that while in the front rank there are many who
would reflect credit and lustre upon any Situation, however lofty, there will be found in the
rear rank, and clinging to their skirts, no inconsiderable number who either provoke ridicule
by their imbecility, or disgust by their bru.
tality.
It is a sad thing to see a respectable and useful profession thus infested. It is a sadder
thing to know that those who thus infest it, by
means of their undeserved position, accomplish
much of serious mischief. Accumulated litigationexasperated passionthe waste of funds
properly belonging to infinitely more important
usesthe wear and tear of all human feelings
these are but small evils compared with the
higher atrocities which an unworthy lawyer
may aid in achieving. Crime encouragedvillains maintained and urged onward in their villaniesthe law frustratedjustice defied, and
her sacred temple converted into a sanctuary
for the vilest and worst of human reprobates
such are the results of their endeavors who sell
their labors to the outcasts and pests of society,
and who count it no shame to share the spoils
of successful guilt. lithe cells of our prisons
could speak, of how many base conspiracies
against public justice, between the accused and
his counsel, would they be eloquentwith what
a sonorous and indignant voice would they tell
of bribes and gifts, of the fruits of sin convert.
ed into defences against punishment, of unblushing villany offering the spoils of crime,
and still more unblushing and brazen-faced el
fm.ntery grasping them as the wages for demoralizing service
It is the privilege of every man charged with
a violation of the law to be heard in his own de.
fence, both by himself and his counsel, and it is
the duty of counsel to tender such aid to those
who seek it as they can honestly bestow. In
such relations we desire not to interfere. Eve.
ry man is presumed to be innocent until he is
proved guilty, and as his guilt must be established according to certain legal forms, it is
'the business of his professional adviser to see
that those forms are strictly complied with.
10f this no one should complain A tenacious
adherence to the strictest requirements of pe.
iia1 statutes, however in particular cases it may
eem to be otherwise, ultimately promotes the
bebeficent purposes ofjustice, and we find no
fault with those who scrupulously insist on all
technical formalities- So far they but fulfil
their duties, and though through such means
the guilty may occasionally escape, the evil is
more than compensated by the safeguards which
they yield to the innocent. Against the lawyer,
then, who engages in the defence of a criminal
no matter how atrocious the crime may be
with which he is charged, and who brings to
that defence all the aids which thorough familiarity with the piofession bestowswho insists upon a fall compliance with all the usages
and ceremonials of the lawwho avails himself
of all defects in the many formal parts of the case
and who steadily asserts the innocence of his
client until his guilt be legally established, we
Utter no censure. It is his business to see that the
prisoner, whose interests are confided to his
care, shall receive the full advantage of all
things that can work in his favor, whether they
be of substance or simply of form, and in discharging this his duty never may question his
right, nor should any impeach his purposes.
but of those who knowingly uphold desperate
and abandoned men in their evil courseswho,
with a full foreknowledge of the sources whence
they are derived, accept the spoils of theft and
forgery and house-breakingwho, for wages
which they in their inmost hearts believe have
been acquired by force or fraud, undertake to
avert deserved punishment, and by trick and
chicanery and deceptive statements, and the
base and despicable arts to which none but the
abandoned resort, seek to obtain the release of
great criminalsof sich we entertain a hearty
detestation, and against such, and the practice
of such, we would warn the public.
But can it ht possible that in this community,
famed for its love of justice, and at the bar of
this city, famed for its general integrity, there
can be found any such persons as we have described? Let those who doubt go to the keep.
ers of our prisons, and ask them for their experience. Let them attend the sessions of our
Criminal Courts and watch the course of some
M those who occasionally up pear there. Le
them mark those who, without any direct and
visible means of subsistence, year after year indulge in every extravagance, and who, by their
luxurious style of living, shame their humbler
neighbors. Let them note the acknowledged
and oft detected villain boldly appearing in the
face of day, secure in the protection which has
been thus afforded to him; and weighing and
comparing these things, they will have no difficulty in arriving at a conclusion.
Are there no means by which the bar can be
purged of such impuritiesno means by which
these worthless and wicked men, members of
an ancient and serviceable profession, can be
cast off from those to whom they bring shame
and discredit? Undoubtedly there are, and at
a proper time we shall set them forth for the
benefit of those who are interested

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