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