Lincoln the Lawyer
BY Z. A. MUDGE (Adapted)
He
delighted to advocate the cases of those whom he knew to
be wronged, but he would not defend the cause of the guilty.
If he discovered in the course of a trial that he was on the
wrong side, he lost all interest, and ceased to make any
exertion.
Once, while engaged in a prosecution, he discovered that his
client's cause was not a good one, and he refused to make
the plea. His associate, who was less scrupulous, made the
plea and obtained a decision in their favor. The fee was
nine hundred dollars, half of which was tendered to Mr.
Lincoln, but he refused to accept a single cent of it.
His honesty was strongly illustrated by the way he kept his
accounts with his law-partner. When he had taken a fee in
the latter's absence, he put one half of it into his own
pocket, and laid the other half carefully away, labeling it
"Billy," the name by which he familiarly addressed his
partner. When asked why he did not make a record of the
amount and, for the time being, use the whole, Mr. Lincoln
answered: "Because I promised my mother never to use money
belonging to another person."
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