Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 20.pdf/129

 8o

THE GREEN BAG

deeply mired in the mud by the roadside. Feeling compassion for the 'porker,' his first impulse was to help the struggling animal out of its sad predicament, but, looking at the mud and then at his new suit of clothes, he reluctantly rode away, leaving it to its fate. As he rode on, however, he could not forget the pig, and the further he got away from it, the worse he felt. He finally turned around and rode back the nearly two miles, dismounted, built a passageway of old rails from dry ground to the pig, and with great difficulty extricated it, but not without soiling his clothes. Afterwards, when thinking about it, in an endeavor to analyze, as he said, the motive which prompted him to the act, he concluded that it was selfishness, and that he had to do it in order to take the pain out of his mind. "Should Mr. Lincoln fail to put in an appearance at any term of court in the circuit of Champaign, one of the eight counties embraced in the eighth judicial circuit of the state, the entire membership of the Bar felt disappointed, for all enter tained a warm friendship for him. His propensity for story telling, of course, at tracted people to him, but his great ability before a jury would, when it was known that he was to make an argument, invari ably fill the court room. Attorneys gen erally considered it a 'drawing card' to be associated with him in a trial. "Judge Davis, the presiding judge, quite frequently called Mr. Lincoln to take his place on the Bench, when he wished to retire to give himself a needed rest from the exhausting labors of the position, fo'r court opened promptly at 9 o'clock in the morning, every day, and was continued in session until 6 o'clock in the evening, and not infrequently a night session followed. This practice on the part of Judge Davis was for the purpose of expediting business and saving parties to the suits time and expense in attending court. Mr. Lincoln

always cheerfully complied with the judge's request to take his seat, although the legality of the appointment might have been called in question. Technicalities, however, were not then taken advantage of as in these days. "Mr. Lincoln always shunned and ab horred technicalities and would get down to the merits of the case without a very strict observance of the rules of pleading. Quite an amusing incident occurred one time, while he was thus holding court, which very forcibly illustrates this char acteristic. A demurrer had been filed in a case, which the attorney who had inter posed it requested the acting judge to turn to on the docket so that he might take it up. The demurrer, however, could not be found, and after a somewhat tedious search and a good deal of sparring between the opposing counsel, Mr. Lincoln asked the attorney to state the grounds of his de murrer. This having been done, and see ing that it was interposed merely for delay, he promptly overruled it in this facetious order: 'Demurrer overruled — if there ever was any,' which order was duly entered of record. "Frequently I was invited to join the groups of attorneys at the taverns in the evenings after the day's court duties were over, and I always gladly accepted, for the opportunity of hearing and enjoying the good stories, of which they all had an ample fund. "There was one thing I observed in these gatherings, which I wish to mention since it throws much light on the temperance habits of Mr. Lincoln. Some of the lawyers who were bibulously inclined had improvised a bar, and provided the liquors for all that wished to partake. Among these genial and happy fellows there were two who absolutely refrained from drinking. These two were Judge Davis and Mr. Lincoln. SAN DIEGO, CAL., January, 1908.