already existed. What work had already been done was honeycombed with defects, and much alteration and repairing was deemed necessary. Of course the old con tractors resisted and brought suits. Out side counsel of esteemed ability were em ployed, but the legal burden was nevertheless with Scott, who during several years plan ned and assisted in resisting the cormorant claims. In these contentions — as in all of his legal superintendences — of private or public nature — Mr. Scott remembered one of Bacon's most celebrated essays, and showed that tact in the lawyer was often more valuable to the client than even learn ing. Nearly all veterans of the profession "looking backward" recognize the truth and applicability of the Baconish wisdom just quoted. How often do other judicial Bacons see, especially at nisi prius, in stances of how tact in the advocate who possesses only mediocre knowledge of his craft, has vanquished the counsellor who is preeminent in legal principles and at readi ness for citing apt illustrative cases, or for combating inapplicable citations from his opponent. Or again, how often one of the latter class fails to impress jurymen because of his very lack of tact. That quality — which a keen observer has described as a subtle appreciation of the how and when to turn a current of thought, or a relation of worldly circumstances towards passing oc currences, into the pleasantest advantages of hearing or doing — is one which seems in herent in some men, but totally deficient in others. It, however, can be cultivated, and many a bungling young attorney before he concludes his professional life-work practically becomes entitled to receive at the hands of Fame a degree of S. T. D. — which may be rendered as " Doctor of Subtle Tact." The " when " to refrain from expressing a disagreeable thought, and the " when " to utter diplomatic words in proper tone and at appropriate time are perhaps more useful to the lawyer than even to the medical, or
the business man. Tact is so often the ac commodation of prejudice or sympathy to the ear of a listener, be he a client, juror or judge. But the tactful lawyer never loses control of his sequences of thought, or of his temper; and he is master of the carte and tierce which that unruly and too often unreliable weapon, the tongue employs in rhetorical passes on the duelling ground of the law court. Therefore in exhibiting Law yer Scott as a model professional tactician it will be safe to predict that he will become a charming exhibitor of that judicial tact of which Mansfield, Marshall, and Story were preeminent examples, and at nisi prius old Chief Justice Shaw in Massachusetts, old Chief Justice Hornblower in New Jersey, and ex-Chief Justice Charles P. Daly in New York. The lawyers of other states can doubtless find equally eminent similar in stances clinging to their memories. Not only did Corporation Counsel Scott have to meet aqueduct litigation during its construction, but at its finish a new crop of suits was to be harvested. The New York contractors, much after the usual fashion of their tribe when employed on public works — began actions for damages or for what they euphemistically styled " extra work." Counsel Scott won finally in the Court of Appeals a test suit between a contractor and theMunicipal Treasury — hisclient. So close were the arguments and principles and pre cedents involved, that he only won by one vote; and an average reader of the reported case might be puzzled whether to become most impressed by the prevailing or the dis senting opinion. Other (and numerous pend ing) damage cases possessed differing ques tions of fact for settlement; and the vast litigation remained still technically open. In cooperation, therefore, with the eminent as sociate counsel employed by the New York municipality, Mr. Scott, on the eve of this New Year, about to leave the pending suits to a successor — known as the " Joe " Choate of Harlem, who would have to freshly ac
