The Continental Monthly, Vol 2, No 6, December 1862: Devoted to Literature and National PolicyVarious
History
The Continental Monthly, Vol 2, No 6, December 1862: Devoted to Literature and National Policy
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century -- Periodicals
'GRACCHUS,' as the town called him, was a broken-down lawyer, who, as he
got old, had prostituted the talents of his early days to the meanest
kind of pettifogging and rascality. Everybody did their best to keep out
of his clutches, and his 'make up' was seedy enough; yet he managed to
keep in court half a dozen 'cranky suits,' in which, to be sure, he
figured as a party himself, on one side or the other. The circumstances
of one of them, which have just come to our memory, are perhaps worth
jotting down:
For some quarters, GRACCHUS had not paid any rent, and his landlord made
repeated requests of him to move out. Even a promise to cancel all
arrears would not make him stir. A writ of ejectment would have
delighted this 'legal spider;' but Mr. R. knew 'when he was well off,'
and refused to resort to that. ' My dear sir, you _must_ go,' said he
one day, annoyed at the fellow's obstinacy; 'I have a man coming in
right away, who will pay me a good tenant's rent, and I am going to have
the office repaired for him. So just make up your mind to quit this
afternoon.'
As Mr. R. turned to go out, he examined the window nearest him, and
poked his cane through the decayed sash and crumbling glass in two or
three places, with the remark: 'A pretty condition this for a business
man's office to be in!' Nobody was surprised to hear that evening that a
suit had been brought against Mr. R. for damages in trespass.
Mr. R.'s counsel told him that the best thing he could do would be to go
to trial as soon as possible, and if he got out of it with a small sum
for damages and no further annoyance, he would be lucky. GRACCHUS had
secured 'Squire SWEET to argue the case to the jury--probably 'on
shares.' To hear SWEET 'warm up' before the panel, you would have sworn
that the 'palladium of justice' and the other 'fixtures' had their
salvation staked on the success of his client. And if there was anything
he thought himself competent to 'operate largely' on, it was a damage
suit. On this occasion, the vivid picture he drew of an unwarrantable
intrusion upon this aged and indefatigable servant of the public, the
injury inflicted upon his 'valuable health,' and his generous conduct in
contenting himself with the paltry sum of eighty dollars by way of
damages, was to be set down as the 'Squire's best effort.
The jury went out just as the court was on the point of adjournment, and
received orders to seal up their verdict for the morning. Each man had
to 'chalk' what in his judgment was a sufficient sum for damages. They
ranged all along in the neighborhood of three or four dollars, except
one or two individuals, who had believed the whole of the plaintiff's
complaint, and went in for something more than nominal damages. One in
particular, who always swore by SWEET, aimed so high that the average
came above the $13.33 that was necessary to carry costs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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