Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 01.pdf/414

To all these sufferers of the race,
This bag brings freedom, peace, and hope,
And lawyers wring full recompense
From those whose souls in meanness grope.

And thus it is and ever was,
Of all the powers in the world,
Justice has thundered from this bag
In tones as from Olympus hurled.
The weal or woe of all mankind
Has hung upon its grave mandate;
Nor Sphinx, nor Delphian oracle
E'er whispered so the voice of Fate.

And lawyers are the genii and
The guardian spirits of the bag,
Who tear the mask from flaunting vice
And show the world a painted hag.
Yet mean aspersions oft are laid
By those of canting, craven hearts,
Who charge that bag and lawyers too
Are full of naught but lying arts.

But even we—who have but passed
And in the outer chambers wait,
In this grand temple of the Law
Where, throned, she sits in sovereign state—
Know all full well the glories of
The triumphs of her majesty,
And know that her hand-maidens are
The virgins, Truth and Equity.

But in this day of light, the law
Needs not a vindication here;
Her sacred mission, Heaven-sent,
Hallows the world each cycling year.
Her peerless triumphs and her grace,
No humble, human e'er could sing;
His voice would falter in dismay,
His harp would fall a tuneless thing.

But while we bow in reverence
To law, "the State's collected will,"
A passing tribute we should lay
Upon a mem'ry verdant still.
The old green bag I came to sing,
That faithful, humble friend and stay,
Our proud profession's symbol still
While law maintains her regal sway.

When carried by our forefathers
It held the rights and hopes of men;
And may our hearts as truly hold
And keep them safely, now as then.
A nobler, prouder heritage
Than Norman castle, feudal lands,
Is this old bag that 's come to us
Blessed by those ancient sages' hands.

And, brothers, guard it sacredly,
And let it ever be for you,
A thing to shield and safely hold
Justice for men when e'er 't is due;
Broad as that "law which moulds a tear
And bids it trickle from its source,
That law preserves the earth a sphere
And guides the planets in their course."