Was Lincoln Right?

• Author: Augustus Richardson
• Pages: 29-41

[29]

Was Lincoln Right?

auGustus riChar dson

A quaint note has survived from one of Lincoln’s civil case s in the 1850s. “If you set-

tle I will charge nothing for what I have done, and thank you to boot. By set tling

you will likely get your money sooner, and with much less trouble and expen se.”

— .  1

Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbours 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 oppor-

tunity of being a good man. T here will still be business enough.

—  2

“  ”—or rather, the barriers to access—ha s become a con-

stant and recurring topic of concern in the past two decades. T he princi-

pal barrier is t he steep and unregul ated rise in legal fees. Cl ients of large

1 “The Law yer as Peacemaker: Law a nd Community in Abra ham Lincoln’s Slander

Cases” (1995) 16:2 Jour nal of the Abraha m Lincoln Associat ion at 4–5.

2 Abraham Lincoln’s “Notes for a L aw Lecture,” online: showca se.netins.net/ web/

creative/l incoln/speeches/ lawlect .htm. The website states , “This docume nt frag-

ment was dated July 1, 18 50 by Abraham Lincoln’s Wh ite House secretaries , John

Nicolay and John Hay, who collect ed many of his manusc ripts after his de ath. The

note in the Collected Works of A braham Lincoln indicates that L incoln could have

written the se observations severa l years later than 1850 . It is not known, however, if

Lincoln ever delivered t his lecture.”