Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 December 1900 — A Sarcastic Lawyer. [ARTICLE]

A Sarcastic Lawyer.

The late Henry W. I’ayue, of the Massachusetts bar, was once defending a charity case, in which a boy of 15 was charged with arson. He made a strong case to prove the defendant an idiot. After a charge from the judge, which was practically an order for acquittal, the jury brought in a verdict of guilty. The judge asked Payne If he would move for a new trial. "I thank you for your suggestion,” was the answer, “but I am oppressed with the gtavest doubts whether I have the rig* to move for a new trial. Vour honors I have already asked for and received for my idiot client the most precious heritage of our English and American common law—a trial by a jury of his peers.” l’nyne had an old quarrel with the Supreme Court, and never lost an opportunity of showing his contempt for that body. Once, riding from Boston to Cambridge with a load of law books, he was accosted by a young Harvard inan with the remark: “You have quite a load. Mr. Payne. Law books, I suppose?" “Oh, no,” was the answer, “only Supreme Court reports.”—New York Tribuue.