ness, that side which he must know to be
unjust, and the success of which will be a wrong to the opposite party.
Is he not then a participator in the injustice?

It may be answered in general:--

Every case is to be decided by the tribunal before which it is brought
for adjudication upon the evidence, and upon the principles of law
applicable to the facts as they appear upon the evidence. No court or
jury are invested with any arbitrary discretion to determine a cause
according to their mere notions of justice. Such a discretion vested in
any body of men would constitute the most appalling of despotisms. Law,
and justice according to law--this is the only secure principle upon
which the controversies of men can be decided. It is better on the whole
that a few particular cases of hardship and injustice, arising from
defect of evidence or the unbending character of some strict rule of
law, should be endured, than that general insecurity should pervade the
community from the arbitrary discretion of the judge. It is this which
has blighted the countries of the East as much as cruel laws or despotic
executives. Thus the legislature has seen fit in certain cases to assign
a limit to the period within which actions shall be brought; in order to
urge men to vigilance, and to prevent stale claims from being suddenly
revived against men whose vouchers are destroyed or whose witnesses are
dead. It is true, _in foro conscientiae_, a defendant, who knows that he
honestly owes the debt sued for and that the delay has been caused by
indulgence or confidence on the part of his creditor, ought not to plead
the statute. But if he does plead it, the judgment of the court must be
in his favor.

Now the lawyer is not merely the agent of the party; he is an officer of
the court. The party has a right to have his case decided upon the law
and the evidence, and to have every view presented to the minds of his
judges, which can legitimately bear upon that question. This is the
office which the advocate performs. He is not morally responsible for
the act of the party in maintaining an unjust cause, nor for the error
of the court, if they fall into error, in deciding it in his favor. The
court or jury ought certainly to hear and weigh both sides; and the
office of the counsel is to assist them by doing that, which the client
in person, from want of learning, experience, and address, is unable to
do in a proper manner. The lawyer, who refuses hi