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346 Body's Miterary ase.
(Written for Dodge's Literary Museum} —Slander. Mr, Glendye for the plaintiff,; Many witnesses were examined as to the ; with rage. Ilis eyes were bloodshot, and
NEW ENGLAND TREES.
BY ANNA M. BATES.
Tue trees of our New England!
How beautiful they seem,
When young Spring blends her tender leaves
With the pine’s fadeless green;
When bright the stately chestnut flowers
By the maple’s fringe of red,
Aud yiolets round the grand o)d roots
In loving beauty spread.
How cafm the stately forest,
And sweet the woodlark’s lay,
Where the sunshine’s roxy arrows
Ifeap the emerald moss all day;
And the breeze’s solemn anthem
Amid the answering pines,
When the golden moon of even
Lights the dew-pearled leaves and yines.
The trees of our New England!
They crown each slope and bill,
_ And away in the untrodden woods
The deer is wandering still.
~ Yet no more through the drifted leaves
“°" ‘The Indian seeks his foe—
_Mis barks have vanished from our streams,
© "From our woods, his form and bow!
oA song for our New England,
The Pilgrims’ place of rest
The green earth holds their reverend forms
-. Softly within her breast.
Like their trust in Heaven eternal,
Firm as the forest tree,
May our love to God and native land
True and unchanging be! ‘
Buxcoox, N. IL, October, 1854.
~ MY , DEBUT AT THE BAR.
[We haye laughed so heartily at the following g
story, that, notwithstanding its length, we present
it for the entertainment of our readers. It is one of
a series called “ Sketches of the Flush Times of Ala-
bama,” in the Southern Literary Messenger.’ It is only
necessary to premise, that the hero’s client had been
falsely accused of stealing pigs; that the action was
laid to recover damages for the libel, and that the
young lawyer had been unexpectedly called to con-
duct the case, owing to an elder member of the bar
being “taken suddenly drunk.”}
NV Y client was a respectable butcher; his ,
opponent a well-to-do farmer. ~On
getting | to the court-house, I found the
court in ‘session. The clerk was just read-
ing ‘the minutes. My case—I can well
speak j in the singular—was set the first on
the docket for that morning.
‘I looked around, and saw old Kasm, who
had somehow found out I was in the case,
with his green bag and half a library of old
books on the bar before him. The old fel-
low gave me a look of malicious pleasure—
like that of a hungry tiger from his lair,
cast upon an unsuspecting calf browsing
near him. JI had tried to put on a bold
face. . I felt that it would be very unprofes-
sional to let on to my client that I was at all
scared, though my heart was running down
like a jack-screw under a heavy wagon.
My conscience—I had not practiced it away
then—was not quite easy. I couldu’t help
fecling that it was’ hardly honest to be lead-
ing my client, likeFalstaff his men, where, he
was sure to be peppered. But then it was
my only chance; my bread depended on it;
and I reflected that the same’ thing had: to
happen in every lawyer’s practice.
I tried to arrange my ideas in form, and
cogitate a ‘speech } they flitted through my
brain in odds and ends.. I could: neither
think or quit thinking. I would lose myself
in the first twenty words of the - opening
sentence, and stop at a partciple;' the trail
run clean out. I would start, it again with
no better luck; then I thought a moment of
the disgrace of a dead ‘bre eak-down; and.
then I would commence again with “ Gen-
tlemen of the jury,” cte,, and go on as be-
fore. ,
At length the Judge signed the minutes,
and took up the docket : seat
“ Special case—Hig, inbotham ¢ vs. - Swink
Mr. Kasm for defendant. Is Mr. Glendye
in court ?. Call him, sheriff.”
The sheriff called three times. He might
as well haye called the dead. No answer,
of course, came.
Mr. Kasm rose and told the court that he
was sorry his brother was too much (strok-
ing his chin and looking down and pausing)
indisposed, pr otherwise engaged, to attend
the case; but he must insist on its being
disposed of, etc.; the court said it should
be. Ol
I then spoke up, (though my voice seem-
ed to me very low down, and very hard to
get up,) that I had just been spokén to in
the cause; I belicved we were ready, if the
cause must then be tried; but I should
much prefer it to be laid-over, if the court
would consent, until the next day, or even
that evening.
Kasm protested vehemently against this ;
reminded the court of its peremptory order;
referred to the former proceedings, and was
going on to discuss the whole merits of the
case, when he was interrupted by the Judge,
who, turning himself to’ me, remarked that
he should be happy to oblige me, but that
he was precluded by what had happened;
he hoped, however, that the counsel on the
other side would extend the desired indul-
that this was a case in which he neither ask-
ed favors nor meant to give them. So the
case had to go on.
Several members ‘of the bar lad . their
hats in hand, ready to leave the room, when
the case was called up; but seeing that I
was in it alone, suffered their curiosity to
get the better of their engagements, and
staid to see it.out—a circumstance which
did not diminish my trepidation in the least.
I had the witnesses called up, posted my
client behind me in. the bar, and put. the
case to the jury. ‘The defendant had plead-
ed justification, and not guilty. I got along
pretty well, I thought, on the proofs. The
cross-examination of old Kasm did not seem
to me to hurt anything—though he quibbled,
misconstrued, and bullied mightily ; object-
ed to all my questions as leading, and all
the witnesses’ answers as irrelevant; but
the Judge, who was a very clever sort of a
man, and who didn’t like Kasm much, help-
ed me along over the bad places, occasional-
ly taking the examination himself when old
Kasm had got the statements of, the witness-
es ina fog.’ ,
Thad a strong case ; the So plaintift showed
a good character; that the lodge of Masons
had refused to admit him to fellowship until
he could clear up these charges; that the
Methodist church, of which he was a class-
leader, had required . of. him to haye these
charges judicially settled; that he had offer-
ed to Satisfy ‘the defendant that they ‘were
false, and proposed to refer it to disinterest-
ed men, and be satisfied, if they decided for
him, to receive a. written retraction, ! ‘in
which the defendant should only declare he |:
was mistaken; that the defendant refused
this proffer, and reiterated the charges with
increased bitterness and aggravated insults ;
that the plaintiff’ had suffered in reputation |
and credit; that the defendant had declared
he meant to run him off, and buy. his land
at his (defendant’s) own price; and. that
defendant was rich, and often repeated his
slanders at public mectings, and once at the
church door, ‘and finally, now justified. °
-. The defendant's testimony .was weak ; it
did not controvert the proof as tg the speak-
ing of the words,‘ or the matters of f aepraven
tion.
gence; to which Kasm immediately rejoined | ..
character of the plaintiff; but those against
us referred to what they had heard since
the slanders, except one, who was unfriend-
ly. Some witnesses spoke of butchering
hogs at night, and hearing them squeal at a
late hour at the plaintiff’s slaughter-house,
and of the dead hogs they had seen with va-
rious marks, and something of hogs having
been stolen in the neighborhood.
This was about all the proof. . The plain-
tiff laid his damages at $10,000.
I rose to address the jury. By this time
a good deal of the excitement had worn off.
The tremor left, only gave me that sort of
feeling which is rather favorable than other-
wise to a public speaker.
I might have made a pretty good speech
out of it, if I had thrown myself upon the
merits of my case, acknowledged modestly |
my own. inexperience, plainly stated . the
evidence and the law, and let the case go—
reserving myself: in the conclusion for a
splurge, if I chose to make one. But the
evil genius that presides over the first bant-
lings of all lawyerlings, would have it other-
wise. The citizens of the town, and those
of the country then-in the village, had
gathered in great numbers into the court-
house to hear the speeches; and I could not
miss such an opportunity for display.
Looking over the jury, I found them a
plain, matter-of-fact set of fellows; but I
did not note, or probably know a fact or
two about them, which I found out after-
wards. :
I started, as I thought, in pretty good
style. As I went on, however, my fancy
began:to get the better of my judgment.
Argument and common sense grew tame.
Poetry and declamation, and, at last, pathos
and fiery inveetive took its place. I grew
as quotatious as Richard Swiyeller. Shaks-
peare suffered. I quoted, among other
things of less value and aptness, “ He who
steals my purse, steals trash,” ete. I spoke
of the woful sufferings of my poor client, al-
most heart-broken beneath the weight of
the terrible persecution of -his enemy; and
growing bolder, I turned on old Kasm, and
congratulated the jury that the genius of
slander had found an appropriate defender
in the genius of chicane and malignity. ~
Icomplimented the jury on their patience
—on their intelligence—on their estimate of
the value of character;‘spoke of the public
expectation—of that feeling outside of the
box, which would weleome “with thundering
plaudits the righteous « verdict’ the jury
would render ; and wound up by declaring
that I had never known a case of slander so
aggravated in the course of my practice at
that | bar, and: felicitated myself ‘that its
grossness and barbarity justified my client
in relying upon the youth and inexperience
of an unpracticed advocate, whose poverty
of resources was unaided ‘by’ opportunities
of previous’ preparation.” Mach niore I said
that happily has escaped me.
‘When I coneluded, Sam lieks and one
or two other friends gave a faint sigh of ap-
plause, but not enough to make any | impres-
sion,
I observed that old Kasm held his head
down when I was speaking. T entertained
the hope that I had cowed him. His usual
port was that of cynical composure, or bold
and brazen defiance. It was a special kind-
ness if he only: smiled ‘in covert’ scorn
that was his most amiable expression | ina
trial.
‘But when he raised up his ‘head, I saw
the very devil was to pay. ‘He face was of
a burning red. IIe seemed almost to choke
flamed out fire and fury. . His queue stuck
out behind, and shook itself stifily, like a
buffalo bull’s tail, when he is about making
a fatal plunge. I had struck him between
wind and water. There was an audacity
ina stripling like me bearding him, which
infuriated him. He meant to massacre me,
and wanted to be a long time doing it. It
was to be a regular audo da fe. Iwas to be
the representative of the young bar, and to
expiate his malice against all. The court
adjourned to dinner. . It met again, after an
hour’s recess.
By this time the public interest, and espe-
cially that of the bar, grew very great.
There was a rush. to. the privileged seats,
and the sheriff had to command order—the
shuffling of feet and the pressure of the
crowd forward was so great.
1 took my seat within the bar, and looked
around with an affectation of indifference,
so belying the perturbation within that the
same power of acting on the stage would
have made my fortune on that theater.
Kasm rose—took a glass of water; his
hand trembled a little—I could see that;
took a pinch of snuff, and led off in a voice
slow and measured, but slightly—very slight-
ly—tremulous. By a strong effort he had
recovered his:composure. The bar was
surprised at his calmness. They all knew
it was affected; but they wondered that he
could affect it. Nobody was deceived by it.
We felt assured “it was the torrent of
smoothness ere it dash below.”
I thought he would come down on, me in
a tempest, and flattered it would soon be
over. But malice is cunning. ‘Ie had no
idea of letting me off so easily.
He commenced by saying that’ he had
been some years in practice. He would
not say he was an old man; that would be
in bad taste, perhaps. The young gentle-
man who had just closed his. remarkable
speech, harangue, poetic effusion, or rigma-
role, or whatever it might be called, if, in-
deed, any name could be safely given to this
motley mixture’ of incongruous’ slang—the
young gentleman evidently did not think he
avas an old man, for he could hardly have
been guilty of such rank indecency: as to
have treated age with such disrespect,’ he
would not say with such insufferable imper-
tinence: and yet “I am,” he continued,
“ of age enough to recollect, if I had charg-
ed my memory with so inconsiderable an
event, the day of his- birth, and then I was
in full practice in this court-house. I confess,
though, gentlemen, I am old enough to re-
member the period when a youth’s first ap-
pearance at the bar was not signalized by
impertinence towards his seniors ; and when
public opinion did not think flatulent bom-
bast and florid trash, picked out of fifth-rate
romances and‘ namby~ pamby ‘rhymes, was
redeemed by the upstart sauciness of a raw
popinjay towards the experienced members
of the profession he: disgraced.’ “And yet,
to some extent, this ranting: youth may: be
right; I’ am.not old in that sense which
disables me from defending myself here, by
wards, ar elsewhere, if need be, by blows;
and that, this young gentleman shall ‘right
well know before I have done with him.
You owill” bear in mind, gentlemen, that
‘what I say is in selfdefense—that I did not
begin this quarrel—that it was forced upon
me; and that Iam bound by no restraints
of courtesy, or of respect, or of kindness.
Let him charge to the account of his own
rashness and ‘rudeness, whatev: er her receiy es
in return therefor, © 1 |
“Tet me retort on this youth that he is a
a
Spee