The New Hampshire Gazette

The Lawyer's Prayer.

DETAINED to tread the thorny
ground.
Where few, I fear, are faithful found.
Mine be the conscience void of blame,
The upright heart, the polite's name,
The tribute of the widow's prayer,
The righted orphan's grateful tear,
To virtue, and her friends, a friend,
Still may my voice the weak defend!
Ne'er may my prostituted tongue
Protect the oppressor in his wrong,
Nor wrest the spirit of the laws,
To sanctify a villain's cause!
Let others with unsparing hand
Scatter their poison o'er the land,
Inflame dissension, kindle strife,
And strew with ills the paths of life.
On such her gifts let Fortune shower,
Add wealth to wealth, and power to power.
On him may favouring heaven bestow
That peace which good men only know;
The joy of joys, by few possessed,
The eternal sunshine of the breast.
Power, fame, and riches, I resign,
The praise of honesty be mine,
That friends may weep, the worthy sigh,
And poor men bless me, when I die.

For such a line of conduct practising attorneys in New-Hampshire are obliged, on admission, to promise under oath to observe.
The solemnity runs thus:

'I solemnly swear, that you will do no falsehood, nor consent that any be done in the court, and if you know of any, that you will give knowledge thereof to the justices of the court, or some of them, that it may be reformed; that you will not wittingly or willingly promote, see, or procure to be sued, any false or unlawful suit nor consent to the same as you shall delay no man for lucre or malice, but shall act in the office of an attorney within the court according to the best of your learning and discretion, and with all good fidelity as well to the court as your client. So help you GOD.'