graced the bench of this or any other country. His love for the rights of the common people was unsurpassed by any man who has figured in the history of our State. The bill was seconded and supported in the Senate by Andrew J. Miller, father of our distinguished brethren of Augusta. In the Senate it was unanimously adopted and passed. When the bill went to the House it was supported by George W. Fish, then of Bibb, and the father of Hon. Wm. H. Fish, who now graces the Supreme Bench of the State; by James A. Nisbet, also of Bibb, brother to Judge Eugenius A. Nisbet, whose eloquent words have been heard more than once on the Supreme Court bench in support of this hight and constitutional right; by Joel A. Terrell, a great man and the great uncle of our present attorney-general; by Thomas S. Howard, James A. Pringle, Robt. P. Trippe, who after wards became judge of the Supreme Court (and without whose kindly aid when I was a boy struggling for an education, I could not now make this address), and by that noblest Roman of them all, Charles J. Jenkins, afterwards governor of the State, and who preserved and kept the great seal of the State from dishonor when General Meade, a military satrap, with his army invaded its sacred precincts, and demanded a surrender of all its archives. This is the history of the act which is now sought to be destroyed by those who believe that virtue, wisdom and justice reside rather with the learned judge than the common people. In saying this I do not wish to be understood, nor must I be understood, as criticizing the judiciary of our State or Federal courts. I revere them and honor them, and I say that no other country has ever been blessed with so wise, conservative and honorable judges, both State and Federal, as our own; but what I do say is this, while our judges are wise, conservative and honorable, they may possess just as much, but they do not possess more virtue, than the common people from whom our jurors are selected. What juror could resist the charm of manner and persuasive eloquence of the loved and learned Bleckley in the expression of an opinion from the bench. Very admiration would incline some to go with him, right or wrong; and many would deem it an honor to surrender their opinions in deference to his.

As well speak of a girl resisting honeyed words, as they fall from the lips of her lover; and yet the story to which that girl listens may be the "Syren's song" luring her to ruin. If all judges were of that equipoise and as learned in the law as our beloved guest of honor, it would largely remove the objection to the expression of an opinion from the bench. Certainly so far as the Georgia Bar Association is concerned, for many of us believe him too wise to err, and we all know him too good to be unkind.

The learned judge closeted with his books, rather than with the common affairs of men, errs in his measurement of human conduct, rather than the common juror, accustomed as he is, by personal contact, to look upon the motives of his fellows, which cause them to act in every phase of life. I submit that such a juror would reach a more correct conclusion, unhampered by the opinion of a judge for whom he had respect and reverence, or overawed from fear by reason of his power. How often have lawyers, after spending months and months in the preparation of a case, had jurors give them a correct reason for their finding, which had never occurred to counsel on either side.

Regarding, as I do, untrammeled trial by jury as one of our most sacred rights, guaranteed by the Constitution, my voice shall ever be heard, not only against its abolishment, but against its abridgment in the least degree. Whenever this right has been abridged, oppression has followed, and the people have suffered. When unrestricted they have enjoyed their greatest free

dom.

OPPOSING COUNSEL.

This brings me to the last division of my subject, your adversary and his client. And here is the "winter of your discontent." No profession like the law has a man on the other side, just as smart and as shrewd as you are, to expose your mistakes, your ignorance and your wrongs. Think of it, my friends, not the smartest man you ever saw, but a man who is actually as smart as you are, watching with eagle eye and keen delight

Only think how

to expose your errors and your ignorance. you could expose the other fellow and put him upon the rack, and then you may see yourself exposed and writhing. And you must take it all in public and in silence, for your pocket is not yet so plethoric as to risk a fine from the irate judge for interrupting your adversary. Nor can you flee. You are an officer of court, and not only the interest of you client but the court demands your presence until the business about which you are engaged is concluded. "The court simply holds, while your adversary skins."

PROCRASTINATION.

You have either

Well, you have lost or won your case. routed your adversary, or he has routed you. If the latter, congratulate him, and be as as cool as you can. There is always one safety-valve of escape between yourself and your client-you can now whisper, when chambered alone. with him, that which you dared not do in open session-you can curse the court. If you are victorious and have routed your adversary, the most needful thing in all your practice yet lies before you. You must follow up your victory. Now must be the time of your greatest activity. Whatever may have been your delays in the past, let there be no procrastination now. It has been said of old that procrastination is the thief of time. This is a mistake. Nothing robs time, but time is the possessor of all things, and is always present. Even while I make this statement some time is gone, but, like the circumambient air, other time has rushed in and taken its place. But procrastination robs you of all things except time. It robs you of body, of brain, of business and of reputation. Procrastination leaves time as your only stock in trade, and it is procrastination which "makes men have more time than money." I despise the man who says he has no time to do a thing. This is not the excuse of the business man, but the idler. He renders it not because he has no time-this is his only worldly possession-but because time has no place or use for him. You have read in your philosophy that nature abhors a vacuum. The one thing, or rather no

thing, in this universe which nature, God and the law abhor is an idler. Jurisprudence takes from nature, and the ever busy, constantly active universe, one of its oldest and truest maxims: “The law rewards the diligent, but despises the indolent and the sleepy.

Finally, that lawyer who shall be true to himself, true to his client, true to the court, true to the jury, true to his adversary and his client, is more than apt to be blessed intellectually with law and logic, and to have in his heart and home love, which is the fulfilment of the law.

APPENDIX L.

THE GEORGIA LAWYER AS VIEWED BY A
WOMAN,

PAPER BY MRS. J. RENDER TERRELL, of Greenville.

I shall claim the privilege accorded to all prisoners at the bar, of making my statement not under oath, that my hearers may believe me or not at will. However, I am not fearful of being wholly disbelieved, as a woman can generally make a man believe anything she chooses. What a blessing that the lawyer does not possess the same tyrannical influence over the courts and juries of our land!

To establish my identity and give good reasons for being here and not at home where woman rightly belongs, I must waive all preliminaries and say that in answer to the complimentary summons from your distinguished president, I come as the humble prisoner of the Bar Association, and crave the mercy and consideration of this tribunal. Hesitating as to what verdict such a prisoner would receive from you, I searched the records of the Bar Association to know what judgments, if any, had been rendered in the past concerning the woman at the bar. I found on record only one trial case, headed, "The Future of Woman at the Georgia Bar," a paper read by Chief Justice Bleckley before this Association, at Rome, Ga., eight years ago. In his own original way the honored Chief Justice demonstrated woman's advent to the Georgia bar very much on the plan of a complicated geometrical theorem, and proceeded to solve the mysterious creature of the future. I quote from the decision. handed down by the Chief Justice. To begin with he says that