“Yes,” I said, “and directed a verdict for the defendant.” I then looked up and said: “I thought your honor ruled incorrectly.”
He, with a kind smile, said: “What reason, Mr. Butler, have you for that?”
I said: “Because the note was negotiable when it was made, and remained so, and when the infant, when he became of age, promised to pay it, it then became a note precisely as it would have been if it had been made upon that clay. The note was sued upon as a negotiable note, then made, and it was not the promise passed by the indorsement, but the note.”
“That view of the case was not put to me by the counsel.”
“I observed it was not,” said I, “and as it has been my habit to do, I went to my office to look for an authority which I thought I remembered. I found it, and the exact case has been decided, and upon the reasons I have given.”
“When you go back to your office, Mr. Butler, can you send me up that authority?”
“No, your honor; I am the youngest in that office, and I have nobody to send, but I can bring it to you if you desire.”
“You will do me a great favor if you will do so.”
I went home and hunted up the authority in the “English common law reports,” and put in a mark, and gave it to the clerk of the hotel to hand to the judge.
I did not sleep much that night. I went into the court the next morning, and after some of the motions of course were passed upon, which was the habit in those days, the judge called the counsel who had tried the case the night before, and said to them: “Upon reflection, I think I made a mistake in the ruling I made last night, and as whichever way I rule I suppose the case will go up on exceptions, it will make no difference which way I rule except to myself. If you will consent, I will reverse the decision and have the jury give the verdict for the plaintiff, no business having intervened since.” The counsel seemed surprised, but consented. This comforting thought passed through my mind: “If you do not admit me now, judge, I will tell on you.” That thought was an unworthy one. The next thing that he said was: “Mr. Clerk, Mr. Butler was. examined by me for admission to the bar, and you can administer the oath and enter his name on the rolls. It is due him to say that ”
