On one occasion my father's strong sympathy in the cause of justice led him to act as a legal counsel for a widow, and plead her cause before a court of referees. These gentlemen were Hon. Linus Child, Gov. William Washburn, and Hon. Uriel Crocker.

Unknown to my father, the opposing party had employed a lawyer to present their cause. He expressed his surprise at this circumstance, on being requested by the court to open the case.

"I came here as a friend to Mrs. ___," he said, "to make a plain statement of facts to these gentlemen, feeling sure we all wish to do exactly what is right. I had no idea a lawyer was to appear against me. I am little used to the shrewd practice of lawyers; however, I feel sure that Mr. ___, for whom I have a great esteem, has the same end in view, - a desire for justice."

He then proceeded to a full and clear statement of the case, a minute report of which has been kindly forwarded me by one of the referees.

It was my privilege to be present during the three days of the session of the court, and never shall I forget the expression on my

father's face when, on being called as a witness, he was requested to hold up his right hand and take the customary oath.

Addressing the referees, he said, with considerable emotion, -

My taking the oath will make no difference in what I say. I am perfectly willing to do so if it is necessary; but I thought we were all Christians; and that it was a matter of course that we should tell the truth."

His tall, commanding figure, the expression of perfect guilelessness on his open countenance, impressed all present. The lawyer, however, repeated his equest, and raising his hand, my father took the oath with a solemnity I never saw equalled.

During the progress of the trial, one of the witnesses expressed surprise at some fact which came out, at which my father's eyes opened wide with astonishment. He knew nothing and cared nothing about the quibbles of law. He had taken his oath to tell the truth, and the whole truth, and nothing should prevent him from keeping his word. He arose at once and said earnestly to the witness, -

"Why, Mr. ___, don't you remember how you and I have often talked of it... and lamented it; and how you said __"

"Out of order," called the lawyer, motioning father to his seat.

At this moment the faces of the referees would have been a study for an artist. There was such an effort to maintain proper dignity, while their features were convulsed with mirth. It was

certainly unusual to appeal to the opposing party for corroboration of the most important facts in the case; but my dear, frank father, never dreaming he had done anything out of the way, quietly proposed that the next witness be called.

Toward the close of the third day the lawyer opened the defence, and, to quote from the paper of the referees, "built up a high structure, but Dr. Woods, in a very skilful manner, while closing the defence, pulled out the underpinning, and the building fell to pieces."

The referees then requested to be by themselves. Father and the oppsoing counsel went out of the room together, when the lawyer with a laugh exclaimed,-

"Dr. Woods, I'll never be in a case with you again, unless we are on the same side."

My father and I had scarcely reached home, in a drenching rain, when he was sent for to return. He told me that the referees warmly complimented him on his maiden plea, and informed him that he had won the case.

They afterwards said that his perfectly fair, ingenuous, unsophisticated manner of dealing with witnesses and testimony would be ruinous to any legal opponent.

On another similar occasion, when my father was called upon as a witness, he gave his testimony in what seemed to the hearers such a frank, open, and unguarded manner that the judge, before

whom the case was being tried, went to him in private, and said, -

"You tell too much, my friend. When you are cross-examined, the lawyers may be able to trip you up."

"I don't understand you, sir," exclaimed my father, fixing his mild blue eyes full upon the speaker's face. "Of course, the more they cross-examine me, the better I shall like it. I have bound myself, by a solemn oath, to tell the whole truth as far as I know it. If my memory fails me in regard to any fact, I can refer at once to my opponent, who certainly, whatever his shortcomings, is an honest, truthful man."

"But," exclaimed the judge, laughing heartily, "your opponent is not bound to corroborate your testimony, when it implicates himself."

"I can see no better way to get at the exact truth," remarked my father, decidedly.

And this course he really persued. Entirely unconscious that he was departing form the usual method, two or three times, during the trial, he appealed to the opposite party to correct him should his statements not exactly correspond with the facts. In vain the counsel on the other side shouted, "Not allowable! Inadmissable!" The harm had been done, and could not be taken back. But they all agreed that with his views of the solemnity attached to an oath, the less they had to do with him in court, the better.