"Do you believe it right to lie for the purpose of circumventing justice?--yes or no?" "Do you believe it right to lie for personal gain--yes or no?" "Then why did you do both?" "A man who lies to beat the laws and fill his purse is--what?" "In defending a murderer did you ever misrepresent the character, acts, motives and intentions of the man that he murdered--never mind the purpose and effect of such misrepresentation--yes or no?" "That is what we call slander of the dead, is it not?" "What is the most accurate name you can think of for one who slanders the dead to defeat justice and promote his own fortune?" "Yes, I know--such practices are allowed by the 'ethics' of your profession, but can you point to any evidence that they are allowed by Jesus Christ?" "If in former trials you have obstructed justice by slander of the dead, by falsely affirming the innocence of the guilty, by cheating in argument, by deceiving the court whom you are sworn to serve and assist, and have done all this for personal gain, do you expect, and is it reasonable for you to expect, the jury in this case to believe you?" "One moment more, please. Did you ever accept an annual, or other fee conditioned on your not taking any action against a corporation?" "While in receipt of such refrainer--I beg you pardon, retainer--did you ever prosecute a blackmailer?" It will be seen that in testing the credibility of a lawyer it is needless to go into his private life and his character as a man and a citizen: his professional practices are an ample field in which to search for offenses against man and God. Indeed, it is sufficient simply to ask him: "What is your view of 'the ethics of your profession' as a suitable standard of conduct for a pirate of the Spanish Main?" The moral sense of the laymen is dimly conscious of something wrong in the ethics of the noble profession; the lawyers affirming, rightly enough, a public necessity for them and their mercenary services, permit their thrift to construe it vaguely as personal justification. But nobody has blown away from the matter its brumous encompassment and let in the light upon it It is very simple.