If he cannot do a good
deal better, he is not compensated for going.
I had the pleasure of a
conversation last summer with one of the most eminent members of the
New York bar (Mr. O'Connor), on this very subject. It was his opinion
that western lawyers begin sooner to enjoy their reputation than the
lawyers in the eastern cities. This is true; and results from there
being less competition in newer communities. "A lawyer among us," said
Mr. O'Connor, "seldom acquires eminence till he begins to turn gray."
Nevertheless, there is no field so great and so certain in the long
run, in which one may become really a great lawyer, as in some of our
large commercial cities, whether of the East or the West. To admit of
the highest professional eminence there must be a large and varied
business; and a lawyer must devote himself almost exclusively to law.
And then, when this great reputation is acquired, what does it amount
to? Something now, but not much hereafter. The great lawyer lives a
life of toil and excitement. Often does it seem to "break on the
fragments of a reviving dream." His nerves are worn by the troubles of
others; for the exercise of the profession, as has been said by a
brilliant lawyer, "involves intimate participation with the interests,
hopes, fears, passions, affections, and vicissitudes of many lives."
And yet merely as a lawyer, he seldom leaves any durable vestige of
his fame behind him hardly a fortune. But if his fame is transient
and mortal, there is some equivalent in the pleasure of triumph and
the consciousness of power. There is no man so powerful as the great
lawyer. The wealth and the character of his fellow men often depend
upon him. His clients are sometimes powerful corporations, or cities,
or states. Crowded courts listen to his eloquence year after year; and
no one has greater freedom of speech than he. The orator and
politician may be wafted into a conspicuous place for a brief period,
and fall again when popular favor has cooled; yet the lawyer is rising
still higher, nor can the rise and fall of parties shake him from his
high pedestal; for the tenure of his power is not limited. He is, too,
one of the most serviceable protectors of the liberties of his
country. It was as a lawyer that Otis thundered against writs of
assistance. The fearless zeal of Somers, in defence of the seven
bishops, fanned the torch of liberty at the beginning of the great
English revolution. Erskine and Brougham did more as lawyers to
promote freedom of the press, than as Statesmen.
I cannot refrain from inserting here Mr. Justice Talfourd's
interesting analysis of the professional abilities of Follett: "It may
be well, while the materials for investigation remain, to inquire into
the causes of success, so brilliant and so fairly attained by powers
which have left so little traces of their progress.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 19 of 97
Words from 9305 to 9807
of 50597
