|
EARLY RECOLLECTIONS BY WM. C. HOYT
June 7th, 1873
This is the place which I intended to make my home, and to follow the advice of the savant of my native village, "grow up with the place New villages, or new thickly settled towns, are good places for young practitioners of the law, and Milford was not an exception to the rule. My profession being a lawyer, of course I hung up my shingle, on which was painted in plain words, "William C. Hoyt, law office. " Clients flocked to see me and I commenced business with flattering prospects of success. Clients were plenty, but money was scarce. I soon became accustomed to the circumstances which surrounded me, and resolved to go ahead. The justices of the peace before whom I had the honor to appear were not learned in my profession, and were chosen from among the agricultural or mechanical employments. I remember distinctly about the first time I appeared before a justice of the peace; the official dignitary was somewhat conceited in his notions, and although he was willing to concede the fact that the young lawyer, who appeared before him from the city, was more learned in the law, but that he, the justice, was superior in common sense. The cause on which I was engaged was' a plain one, on a promissory note. The opposite counsel pleaded the usual plea, the general issue, and gave notice of set-off. After the witnesses were duly examined and the counsel, for the defendant had summed up, his opponent for the prosecution made his speech and brought before His Honor a large amount of law books, and in the course of his remarks quoted extensively from Blackstone, Kent, and Chitty, using several Latin quotations, such
as "ipso facto "fac simile, " "habeas corpus, " and "e pluribus imum.
Michigan
Page 4
|
|
Please consider making a donation to help keep these sites alive.
Thank you
|
