OUR CRITICS.

BY JOHN C. BANE.

Being an address delivered by John C. Bane, of the Allegheny County Bar at an annual dinner of the Allegheny County Bar Association, February 21, 1908.

One of the lessons which Victor Hugo sought to teach in Les Miserables is, that, be it true or false, what is said about men often has as much influence on their lives, and especially upon their destinies, as what they do. There are many who accept this as true; and, it frequently happens, if men be somewhat lacking in courage, they will be concerned more about what may be said or written of their acts than about the faithful performance of the duties which lie before them.

The belief is almost universal, that if some Power the gift would give us to see ourselves as others see us, we would be freed from many blunders and foolish notions.

We can ascertain how others see us, only by what they say about us.

Lawyers have been the objects of and have been subjected to much severe criticism. For two hundred and fifty years, poets, dramatists, novelists, essayists, and all manner of humbler scribblers, have exhausted their vocabularies in search of words which would express their condemnation of the lawyers.

The author of Hudibras, in the seventeenth century, referred to the lawyers of his time in this language:

"The pettifoggers damn their souls,

To share with knaves in cheating fools."

Since those inelegant lines were written, many other writers have called us rogues, cormorants, harpies, plunderers, impudent quibblers, and casuists; have said that we indiscriminately defend right and wrong, until our sensibilities become so dulled and our hearts so hardened that we lose the power to distinguish right from wrong; and have charged that our interest in our work is measured by the ability and willingness of our clients to pay.

Only a few weeks ago the charge was made and published throughout the world, that many of the ablest lawyers in America devote their best professional efforts to devising ways and means whereby malefactors of great wealth may escape the penalties of the acts of Congress.

Others regard the profession differently. One has said that the law employes the noblest faculties of the soul, and exerts in its practice the cardinal virtues of the heart. Another, a great Englishman, expressed his admiration for the profession,-the bench and bar,—by calling it "a priesthood administering the rites of sacred justice."

In this age, the great majority of men give to the profession its full measure of credit for honor, integrity, patriotism, and fidelity to duty.

We are proud and should be proud of the fact that admission to the bar is, in effect, a certificate of good character. Exceptions, it seems, there must be; but when it appears that a man is a member of the bar, in good standing, this is enough, prima facie, to sustain a verdict that he is a truthful and an honorable man.

There is no confidence, anywhere among men, equal to that which exists between practicing lawyers; and nowhere do mutual faith and confidence shine more brightly than in the intercourse between the bench and the bar.

In the practice of law, men are confronted with many opportunities to do wrong, and to gain thereby an apparent personal advantage; and when we consider the large number of men in the profession, and the few who are ever guilty of violating their trusts, or of wrongful conduct therein, we are warranted in disdaining the opinions of those who attack the integrity of the bar.

Lawyers are hard-working men. We know the difficulties of even approaching a mastery of the essential and important principles of what Tennyson called

* *

the lawless science of the law,

That codeless myriad of precedent,

That wilderness of single instances."

Webster spoke the truth when he said: "Most good lawyers live well, work hard and die poor." But a man is seldom found who, after he once has fairly started in the practice of law, is willing to give it up for any other calling. There is a fascination about it, and a satisfaction in it, that no other work affords.

In the law, more than in any other vocation, a man is the architect of his own fortune. In almost every other calling, accident and opportunity affect the measure of a man's success; but at the bar, the man who is truly ambitious of success, and who will equip himself for the work, and who is industrious enough faithfully to do the work, cannot fail. Our success is limited only by our qualifications and our industry. Luck, wealth, and great influence may give a man an advantageous start, but they cannot long sustain

him here. Real success at the bar comes only to those who are ambitious enough and industrious enough to work for it.

That there is occasion for improvement in the profession, no man can doubt; it is far from perfection; it constantly has been, and is, becoming better; but it can never be improved, and cannot be greatly injured, by groundless, unjust and carping criticism.

It is certain that unjust criticism can never have an evil effect, where the true character of the bar is known. Goldsmith's sentiment applies directly here:

"Praise from a friend and censure from a foe

Are lost on hearers that our merits know."

So long as our critics address only those who have a knowledge of the profession, the answer is "Praise me not too much, nor blame me, for thou speakest to the Greeks who know me."

Our critics have been of two classes; first, worthy men who were wholly ignorant of the true character of the profession; and second, megalomaniacs who were so completely satisfied with what they conceived to be their own worth and greatness, that they were willing to attempt to draw an indictment against all mankind, a thing which Edmund Burke said he did not know how to do.

William George Hawkins, President Judge of the Orphans Court, Fifth Judicial District (Allegheny County), State of Pennsylvania, is the son of William G. and Margaret Dillinger Hawkins. He was born September 6, 1840, in Allegheny County.

After attending the public schools he matriculated at Jefferson College, in Washington County, and graduated as a member of the class of 1861. He at once engaged in the study of law under former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, James B. Sterrett, and John B. Penney, and on December 16, 1863, on motion of Mr. Penney, he was admitted to the Bar of Allegheny County.

Judge Hawkins has lived all his life in Allegheny County. Upon being admitted to the bar, he at once gained the confidence of all with whom he came in contact, and his close attention to his practice secured for him a good clientage and won him recognition as an able counsellor.

Although only 33 years old when the separate Orphans Court was created for Allegheny County, in 1874, he was appointed by Governor John F. Hartranft to be the first judge upon that bench. The appointment met with the approval of the bar and the public, and the same year he was nominated by the Republican party and elected for the full term of ten years; and he has been re-elected three times since without opposition.

Called to the presidency of a newly created court, he was required to prepare its rules and establish its practice, and guide the development of its jurisprudence. That he did his work well is shown by the fact that the citizens of Allegheny County have again, and again, and again, unanimously re-elected him to preside over this Court, to whose protection they knew their estates, their widows, and their orphans would be committed when they themselves were no longer here to care for them.

Although constantly required to hear and decide cases involving bitterly contested questions of both law and fact, the absolute fairness and impartiality of his decisions has never been questioned.

All who appeared before him knew that his fixed purpose was to "Do justice for truth's sake, and his conscience."

"Four things belong to a judge; to hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to decide impartially." All these qualifications Judge Hawkins has.

Courteous to all, patient to hear, learned, untiring in research, with high standards of honesty and with a strong sense of logic, he is an ideal Judge, who has won and keeps the respect and esteem of all.

Judge Hawkins was married to Jennie Hays, daughter of Richard Hays, formerly President of the Iron City National Bank. He is the father of seven children and resides at No. 423 Morewood avenue, East End, Pittsburg. He has one son, Richard, H. Hawkins, who practices at the Allegheny County Bar.