Rensselaer Union, Volume 2, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 September 1870 — A Legal Anecdote. [ARTICLE]

A Legal Anecdote.

In the early days of Vermont jurisprudence the strict decorum which now very generally distinguishes the New England bar. was comparatively unknown. Nothing was more common than sharp altercations between the bench and the bar; such wranglings, indeed, as would now be termed “contempt of court,’’ were they to occur only between the lawyers themselves. On one occasion Judge Turner, who was then plain “Esquire/’ had addressed a sound argument to the court and sat down. The Judge, who chose to srgue the question rather than decide it at once, replied in a feeble argument, which the lawyer in his turn demolished. The Judge rejoined by repeating, without any material variation, his first reply, and then “closed the pleadings” by an adverse decision. “Your Honor’s two arguments,” said Turner, addressing himself partly to the Court and partly to the bar, “remind me of a story. A foolish old woman in Connecticut, being one evening at a party, was greatly at a loss for something to say. At length she ventured to inquire of a gentleman who sat near her, whether his mother had any children. The gentleman politely pointed out the absurdity of her inquiry. T beg paMon,’ exclaimed the old lady, perceiving her mistake; ‘you don’t understand me; I meant to inquire whether your grandmother had any children.’”— Harper's Drawer.