But one party employs a lawyer, because the other does. Defendant knows, that plaintiff has retained one, or two, or three of the ablest counsel in the country, to employ every art of reasoning, and every resource of learning against him. He knows, that judges and juries are men of like passions as the rest of mankind, and that the force to be applied to their minds against him, must be counteracted, by precisely the same force, to be applied in an opposite direction; and therefore he retains as many and as able counsel on his side.

Again, in order to carry a cause through the courts, certain technical forms must be observed, with which the mass even of the intelligent portion of the community are wholly unacquainted. A man may know in general the law of the land, in which he lives, and for want of a technical knowledge of the forms, in which justice is administered, be wholly unable to right himself when injured. In some countries, this evil exists much more than in our own, and in some parts of our own, it is much greater than in others. It is however, in every part of the civilized world so great, as to make it utterly impossible for any man, not a lawyer, to procure justice for himself in a court of law, without legal advice and professional aid.

It has been a general complaint, in all countries, that the lawyers have rendered these forms unnecessarily numerous and complicated, with a view to retaining the monopoly of the administration of justice in their hands. It was so much so in Rome, that one of their number, who, treacherous to his fraternity, published the register, and thereby facilitated the access of suitors to the courts, was thought to have made an era in the administration of justice. In England, it was among the oppressions of William the Conquerer, that he ordered all the pleadings to be in a language, not understood by the people. It was then, according to Hume, that " law became a science, which at first fell into the hands of the Normans, and which, even after it was communicated to the English, required so much study and application, that the laity in those ignorant ages were incapable of attaining it, and it was a mystery almost solely confined to the clergy and chiefly to the Monks." Under the Commonwealth we are informed, that the judicial proceedings were ordered to be in the English tongue. The lawyers objected, because they could express themselves more concisely in the old law language, and in 1730 every lawyer in parliament, voted against the English law-bill.

We do not deny that business ought to be transacted in the courts, according to certain forms, that a certain technical language must grow up there, as everywhere else, and that it consequently becomes necessary or highly convenient, that professional assistance should be employed, in carrying a case through the courts. We maintain, however, that these forms ought to be as simple, instead of being

as complex as possible and that the tendency ought to be to make them as intelligible, not as mysterious, as the nature of things admits.

But all history shows, that it is the natural tendency of the legal profession to increase the complexity and mystery incident to the administration of the law. And as no one, not a lawyer, can easily devise a remedy, from his ignorance of what is essential and what is superfluous, what promotes justice and what merely establishes professional monopoly, it is next to impossible that the evil should be lessened.

In saying this we cast no particular reproach on the profession of the law. It is a vice of human nature. The same thing is witnessed in every other profession and association of men, from the most powerful established church down to the humblest gild. This is more curiously illustrated in the medical profession than perhaps any other; for while the regular members of that profession are constantly waging a natural and salutary war against quacks, they employ in all their prescriptions against an unintelligible jargon and character; which is the essence of quackery.

But, as we said before, we admit, that business must be done, in the courts of law, in proper form, and that causes require to be explained to the court and jury, by counsel learned in the law-and yet, with this admission, we deny that the present controversial and ex parte agency of counsel is necessary.

Suppose a competent number of lawyers, designated by the Executive, or chosen by the people, receiving fixed salaries, in like manner as the judges, were appointed as solicitors for the people. As the reputation of these men and their salaries would not be promoted by increase of litigation, which, on the contrary, would bring them nothing but new trouble, they would very often, by plainly showing to a party, that the right was on the other side, dissuade him at once from an action. We do not mean to intimate that this is not often done by high minded counsel at present. We know it is. But under the present system, it is not, on the whole, the interest of the counsel to discourage litigation; on the system proposed, it would be their interest. In every profession, almost every man takes a bias according to interest, and most men a strong bias.

Where the action was inevitable, it would be the interest of the counsel, on both sides, to bring it to a close as directly as possible; to get at the truth by the shortest process. They would consequently aid and co-operate with each other; useless delay would be avoided; no advantage taken of technical informalities; no trial of strength, nor encounter of wits. In short, instead of making each other as much, they will make each other as little trouble as possible. The number of these solicitors, attached to each court, should be regulated by the legislature, according to the amount of business to

be transacted. They might be divided into classes, according to age, or talent and learning, in order to furnish a regular school of advancement for the profession; the court to assign to each party a lawyer to manage his cause, or it might be left optional with the suitor to choose one; the court to decide from which class the counsel for a given cause should be chosen.

Under such a system, nearly all the inducements existing at present to protract suits would be removed. Counsel would be under precisely the same motives to despatch and facilitate business that courts are, and a less degree of skill and learning would be requisite to conduct a cause, because the administration of justice would not be controversial.

A state of things, such as we suppose would exist under this system, has been partially brought about, at times, under the present system, by the extraordinary vigor and acknowledged ability of a judge. We recollect when it has been currently said among us that it was not necessary to employ first rate counsel, that the court would see that the jury were not misled by able counsel on either side, and that all a man needed, to get justice, was, to have his cause managed correctly, as to the formal and business parts of it, which could be done with much less forensic talent than is now required.

The vast evils arising to the community from the low practices of pettifogging lawyers would be, to a good degree, avoided. There is a considerable number of the lower sort of the profession who live by stimulating petty actions. It has been estimated," according to a report of a late public meeting, "that, within the last twenty years, the costs that have accrued, in suits against insolvents, have amounted to one million of dollars, which has gone principally into the pockets of the attorneys and committing officers." This, while it is adduced and serves to illustrate the existence of other crying evils, shows how strong a bribe the present system holds out to pettifogging attornies.

The proposed system would save to the country a vast amount of mental force which is now wasted and lost. The profession of the law embraces nine-tenths of the active talent and learning applied to the conduct of social affairs. The present controversial mode of administering justice divides this force into two parts, and sets the two parties to pulling in opposite ways. Mr. Wirt exerts his brilliant powers to-day, to prove that to be true which Mr. Webster exerts his equally brilliant powers to-morrow to prove not to be true. The court is swayed one way to-day, in order to be swayed back again to-morrow; and supposing equal skill to be employed on both sides, the result will be the same as if the cause had been submitted on the evidence, without argument.

It may be thought that salaried solicitors, paid by the State, would not feel sufficient stimulus to do their duty. But they would have the same motives which now influence the court, and all other salaried officers. Suppose the court had the initiation of all actions, and received fees in proportion to the number of suits, and the length of time they lasted, would not the effect be ruinous? The present system, however, amounts to nearly the same thing. The services of counsel are as necessary as those of the court to the suitor for justice. He can no more do without the one than without the other; and it is the direct, immediate, pressing interest of counsel that litigation should abound. In a word, the object is to turn the operation of self-interest, which is now in favor of litigation, against it. If the plan suggested seem of doubtful efficacy, let it be remembered that the evil is of certain existence, and of enormous magnitude.

The principal alleged grievance of those who, only forty years. ago, took up arms against the public peace, in this most orderly commonwealth, was the abuse in the administration of the law; and their prominent demand, a new fee-table. When Barebone's parliament raised a committee to consider of a new body of law, not a lawyer was named upon it. It was not for want of lawyers in favor of the proposed measure, for there were as many lawyers among the ultra commonwealth men at that time as there were members of any other profession, and Cromwell was against the proposed committee.

It was for a long time illegal and deemed dishonorable to take a fee in Rome. The patricians transacted the law business of their clients, with scarce any study of the law, and before an elective judge, also not a professional man. This was an aristocratical institution, as are all institutions which provide mean salaries, or none at all, for public service. They throw offices into the hands of those who do not need salaries, that is, the rich. The proposed system is free from the objection; it provides an ample salary to be paid by the State. But what would be deemed an ample salary for a solicitor for a year would not pay the fees of counsel in one great cause. We have known a fee paid in some instances, and heard of it 'in many others, equal to the year's salary of the Chief Justice of the United States.

It may be said, that the expensiveness of going to law tends to diminish litigation. Perhaps not. It is one of the things that kindle the passions of the suitors on each side, and thus far it encourages litigation, as high stakes encourage gambling. This argument would prove too much, and might be used as an apology for making the law much more expensive than it is. This is actually the case in England, and there the same argument is used. Cutting off a joint

of the forefinger of each plaintiff who was nonsuited would discourage litigation. But this is tyranny. As things now go men will often abandon a valuable right rather than be at the trouble ad expense of a lawsuit; and this is tyranny. In England a man cannot appeal to the legislature, but with heavy expense. If it were proposed to abolish the present charges incident to presenting a memorial to the House of Commons, no doubt it would be urged that, if this were done, the house would be overwhelmed with memorials. They are presented gratis in Congress and all our State Legislatures, and no such evils result.

ELIJAH AND ELISHA.

THEY came to Jordan's holy flood-
The prophet and his follower came-

One to depart and be with God,

One to receive his master's flame.
Long they communed on heavenly themes,
While visions of the parting hour

Came o'er each soul, with shadowy gleams,
And touched their speech with burning power.

Profoundly still the waters lay,

Beneath the Spirit's brooding might;

Rich, in the beams of parting day,

Tinged deep and soft with purple light,

The Prophet's mantle gleamed like fire

Then smote the stream. From the veiled earth

The flashing waters back retire,

Cleft by the Power that gave them birth.

So on they passed; but when they turned,
To view the path, which faith had won,
The waves were rippling there, and burned,
Unbroken, to the setting sun.

So on they passed, and twilight gray

Her sober shade around them drew;
Night come with stars, whose restless ray
Dim radiance o'er their footsteps threw.

And still with fervent speech they talked,
Of glory past or to be given;

When sudden, o'er the path they walked,

A lightning flash stream'd down from heaven.