in Congress had extended his reputation, broadened his ideas, and given him a better knowledge of men and things, his practical value as a partner was recognized by the members of one of the most prominent law firms in Chicago, who invited him to join them; but he declined on the ground that his family ties as well as his professional connections were in Springfield, and he feared that his health would not endure the close confinement of a city office.
Among Lincoln's manuscripts after his death were found a few pages of notes evidently intended or, perhaps, used at some time for a lecture to law students, and which express in a very clear manner his opinions as to the ethics of practice. His words should be printed upon card-board and hung in every law office in the land.
" … Extemporaneous speaking should be practised and cultivated. It is the lawyer's avenue to the public. However able and faithful he may be in other respects, people are slow to bring him business if he cannot make a speech. And yet, there is not a more fatal error to young lawyers than relying too much on speech-making. If any one, upon his rare powers of speaking, shall claim an exemption from the drudgery of the law, his case is a failure in advance. Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser—in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker, the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough. Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this. Who can be more nearly a fiend than he who habitually overhauls the register of deeds in search of defects in titles, whereon to stir up strife and put money in his pocket? A moral tone ought to be infused into the profession which should drive such men out of it. … There is a vague popular belief that lawyers are necessarily dishonest. I say vague because, when we consider to what extent confidence and honors are reposed in and conferred upon lawyers by the people, it appears improbable that their impression of dishonesty is very distinct and vivid. Yet the impression is common—almost universal. Let no young man choosing the law for a calling for a moment yield to the popular belief. Resolve to be honest at all events; and if, in your own judgment, you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer. Choose some other occupation rather than one in the choosing of which you do, in advance, consent to be a knave."
Lincoln and McClellan first met three or four years before the war, when the latter was Vice-President and Chief Engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad and the former was attorney for that company. General McClellan, in his autobiography, gives an account of his relations with Lincoln at that time, but they were never intimate.
In 1859, when Lincoln appeared for the Illinois Central Railroad in a case which it did not wish to try at that term, he remarked to the court—
"We are not ready for trial."
"Why is not the company ready to go to trial?" remarked Judge Davis.
"We are embarrassed by the absence of Captain McClellan," was Lincoln's reply.
"Who is Captain McClellan and why is he not here?" asked Judge Davis.
"All I know," said Mr. Lincoln, "is that he is the engineer of the railroad, and why he is not here deponent saith not."
It has been frequently said that General McClellan refused to pay Lincoln a fee charged for trying a case for the Illinois Central Railroad, but it is not true. At the time referred to (1855) Captain McClellan was in the regular army and a military attaché in Europe during the Crimean War. It was, however, the only time that Lincoln sued for a fee, and the circumstances were as follows. By its charter the Illinois Central Railroad was exempt from taxation on condition that it pay into the State treasury seven per cent. of its gross earnings. The officials of McLean County contended that the Legislature of the State had no authority to exempt or remit county taxes, and brought a suit against the road to compel payment. Lincoln defended the company, won the case, and presented a bill for two thousand dollars. An official of the railroad, whose name has been forgotten, declined payment on the ground that it was as much as a first-class lawyer would charge. Lincoln was so indignant that he withdrew the original bill of charges, consulted professional friends, and later submitted another for five thousand dollars with a memorandum attached, signed by six of the most prominent lawyers in the State, giving as their opinion that the fee was not unreasonable. As the company still refused to pay, Lincoln sued and recovered the full amount.
Lincoln's theory regarding fees for professional services is expressed in the notes of the law lecture previously referred to, and was as follows:
"The matter of fees is important, far beyond the mere question of bread and butter involved. Properly attended to, fuller justice is done to both lawyer and client. An exorbitant fee should never be claimed. As a general rule, never take your whole fee in advance, nor any more than a small retainer. When fully paid beforehand, you are more than a common mortal if you can feel the same interest in the case as if something was still in prospect for you as well as for your client. And when you lack interest in the case the job will very likely lack skill and diligence in the performance. Settle the amount of fee and take a note in advance. Then you will feel that you are working for something, and you are sure to do your work faithfully and well. Never sell a fee note—at least not before the consideration service is performed. It leads to negligence and dishonesty—negligence by losing interest in the case, and dishonesty in refusing to refund when you have allowed the consideration to fail."
If a client was poor he charged him accordingly, and if he was unable to pay asked nothing for his services. It was one of his theories that a lawyer, like a minister of the Gospel or a physician, was in duty bound to render service whenever called upon, regardless of the prospects of compensation, and in several cases he offered his services without compensation to people who had suffered injustice and were unable to pay. As a rule, his fees were less than those of other lawyers of his circuit. Justice Davis once remonstrated with him, and insisted that he was doing a grave injustice to his associates at the bar by charging so little for his services. From 1850 to 1860 his income varied from two to three thousand dollars, and even when he was recognized as one of the ablest lawyers of the State his fee-book frequently shows charges of three dollars, five dollars, and one dollar for advice, although he never went into court for less than ten dollars. During that period he was at the height of his power and popularity, and lawyers of less standing and talent charged several times those amounts. But avarice was the least of his faults.
While he was President a certain Senator was charged with an attempt to swindle the government out of some millions. Discussing the scandal one day with some friends, he remarked that he could not understand why men should be so eager after wealth. "Wealth," said he, "is simply a superfluity of what we don't need."
An examination of the dockets of the Illinois Supreme Court shows that during a period of twenty years, beginning with 1840 and ending with his election to the Presidency, he had nearly one hundred cases before that court, which is an unusual record and has been surpassed by few lawyers in the history of the State and by none of his contemporaries. It was declared, in an oration delivered by one of his associates, that "In his career as a lawyer he traversed a wide range of territory, attended many courts and had a variety of cases, and in all his conflicts at the bar he was successful in every case where he ought to have been."
When he went to Washington to become President his debts were entirely paid and he was worth about ten thousand dollars in real estate and other property.
Copyright, 1900, by McClure, Phillips & Co.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN THE SUMMER OF 1860
From a negative taken for M. C. Tuttle, of St. Paul, Minnesota, for local use in the presidential campaign
A singular story is told of a case in which a good many prominent men were involved besides Lincoln. Abraham Brokaw, of Bloomington, loaned five hundred dollars to one of his neighbors and took a note, which remained unpaid. Action was brought, the sheriff levied on the property of the debtor and collected the entire amount, but neglected to turn the proceeds over. Brokaw employed Stephen A. Douglas, who collected the amount from the bondsman of the sheriff,