kinds for the defendant, answered the door bell by day and by night, attended to the renting of rooms, hung paper, laid carpets, set up stoves in the fall and took them down in the spring and packed them away, took such steps as were necessary to render the beds and bedsteads untenable to the loathsome dimer lectularius and destroyed such of the species as were from time to time found therein, and did and performed all and all manner of house and chamber work and such other work as was necessary to be done in and about said premises and in and about the defendant's said business, and in reliance upon the promise of the defendant to marry the plaintiff and the benefits and advantages which would have accrued to plaintiff from such marriage. That the work, labor and services so rendered and performed by plaintiff for the defendant were and are reasonably worth the sum of nine hundred and eight dollars." (Laughter.)

Now, the seventh paragraph. "That during said period of time"-now I want to call your attention to the poetry in the law-“that during said period of time plaintiff nursed and tended the defendant when she was ill, helping her about when she was too ill to walk alone, watching at her bedside when she was ill in bed, and bestowing upon her the tenderest and most solicitous care and attention, willingly supplying her every want, cheerfully fulfilling her every desire, gladly meeting her every wish." (Applause and laughter.)

And yet the First Division of the District Court sustained a demurrer to this complaint and ordered a bill of particulars. Then he goes on to allege that by reason of his ability in the premises, or his services, this rooming business became worth at least the sum of one hundred dollars per month and that he was entitled to ten thousand dollars, I believe, as his share. Then the tenth allegation is:

"That this plaintiff is now fifty-seven years of age. That relying upon the promise of the defendant to marry him, and confiding therein, plaintiff has wasted and utterly lost six years. of his declining life and has wholly wasted and lost the large amount of work and labor done and performed during said period of time as aforesaid, wholly without any compensation or remuneration of any kind therefor. That by reason of the breach of the defendant's said promise to marry the plaintiff, plaintiff has wholly lost the said interest in the business of defendant which he would have acquired upon his marriage to defendant. That, relying upon the defendant's said promise of marriage, plaintiff had reason to, and did, look forward to the

enjoyment of the comforts of a happy home, to the companionship of a loving helpmeet in the evening of his life, to sympathize with him in sorrow, to cheer and aid him in his troubles, and to share with him his joys, of all of which joys and comforts plaintiff has been forever deprived by defendant's breach of her said promise, to plaintiff's great sorrow, suffering, anguish and damage. That the plaintiff is now of an age where he can not reasonably expect to marry any one else, and that by reason thereof and by reason of the breach of the defendant's said promise, he is now alone in the world, and his declining years will be lonely, sad and cheerless. Wherefore plaintiff demands judgment against the defendant for the sum of twenty thousand nine hundred and eight dollars," and yet, gentlemen, they tell us there is no poetry in the law. I have not time this evening to read the answer and set-off which we filed in that case.

I want to read you a definition of poetry and see whether or not it applies to a lawyer and especially to a court. I only looked up the Standard Dictionary. Under the heading of "poet" it says: "One especially endowed with imagination." Now, apply that to the nisi prius or the Supreme Courts of this state or of the United States. "One especially endowed with imagination." Why, gentlemen, I believe that the Supreme Court of this state would take the record which we have all seen filed be. fore us this evening and hand down a very learned opinion equal to that in the Packer case to which Colonel Morrison referred yesterday. The dictionary continues: "The power of rhythmical or metrical expression and the creative faculty or power of ar tistic expression." Now apply those definitions to any decision which we have had rendered by that court in the last year. "Hence an inventor or maker of metrical composition; one who writes poems; a maker of verse; one who by his powers of insight and expression in new, harmonious and beautiful forms; also one endowed with a vivid and poetical imagination." Now that is the definition which we have of poetry. Now, I don't know whether we members of the bar have much poetry in us or not. But I do know that it is a remarkable fact that all of the great poets of history have been more or less addicted to the legal profession, and that it is in the eternal fitness of things. Poetry is the expression of the highest emotions of mankind, and who has more experience, who uses and feels more of the emotions of humanity than the lawyer? We deal with them. They are our stock in trade; from day to day we see, feel and ex

press the emotions of humanity. And so, gentlemen, all of the great poets have been more or less lawyers. It is said that Shakespeare, the greatest poet that ever lived, has not a single character in all of his writings, who somewhere, at some point, does not give expression to some term which shows that he was more or less learned in the law. Sometime not long ago I had occasion to express my opinion as to the greatest poets and I said that I supposed that Shakespeare, because he had produced Sir John Falstaff, was the greatest poet in the world; that next to him I would rank Omar Khayyam and next to him Eugene Field. Those are the three great poets. They wanted to know why it was that Omar Khayyam was a great poet. It is because of one or two of his verses:

"Waste not your hour, nor in the vain pursuit
Of this and that endeavor and dispute;
Better be jocund with the fruitful grape
Than sadden after none or bitter fruit.

"The grape that can with logic absolute
The two and seventy jarring sects confute;
The sovereign alchemist that in a trice

Life's leaden metal into gold transmute."

There are many things from Eugene Field-I won't attempt to quote Shakespeare to you; you all know him, but there is one verse of Eugene Field's that I will call to your attention to demonstrate to the Western lawyer the truth of my estimate: "Give me no home 'neath the pale pink dome of European skies, No cot for me by the solemn sea that far to the southward lies, But away out West I would build my nest on top of a carmine hill,

Where I could paint, without restraint, creation redder still." (Applause.)

The Toastmaster:

Upon the program, gentlemen, there was the subject "Assorted Fees." In these times of depression we have been unable to find anybody who knew anything about fees except one. I will read you his letter of regret:

"Honorable Caldwell Yeaman: I regret exceedingly that circumstances entirely beyond my control will prevent my presence at the bar banquet to-night. Referring to the topic as

signed to me, I feel sure that there will be many persons who can talk humorously of assorted fees, and I should like myself to hear the experiences of others on that subject; but I especially regret that I can not participate "in the feast of reason and flow of soul" which other topics of the evening and the good fellowship there present will afford. Sincerely yours, J. F. Vaile. June 28, 1900."

Gentlemen, while we regret exceedingly that Mr. Vaile is not present to let us hear something about the fees which none of us have ever seen, at least I have never seen anything of them, it nevertheless gives us great pleasure to find absent a gentleman who will allow engagements for the sake of fees to interfere with his presence here to-night. I can not say that we regard the absence of any person who would absent himself for the purpose of obtaining paltry fees. We can say this with greater pleasure because we have not seen those things ourselves.

Gentlemen of the Bar Association, I suppose that three years ago it would have been impossible for any man, still less for a lawyer, to have prophesied the condition of this country at the present time. I suppose it was as difficult then as it would be now to prophesy for three years the condition of this country three years hence. Every man who cares for his country, who cares for the nation of which we are a part, is filled with anxiety at the condition of our foreign relations at present and at the possibilities of the future. We regret that they are such as they are; but we know that the relations of this country to other countries, the relations of the different parts of this country to itself, depend upon the conditions and the character of the people and of the country as it exists before us to-day. We have reason to thank God that at the present time it is possible for a new poet to arise in this country capable of thoughts and the power of expressing those thoughts which will lift our souls to higher things. Allow me to read "To My Country:"

"I would not have thee great on land and sea,
Nor proud, nor reveling in ruddy gold.

I care not for renown or history old,

For empires proud have ruled with harsh decree,

And in the progress of eternity

Have burst like bubbles. Swelling armies bold
And splendid pomp I care not to behold,
Nor greedy wealth, nor sensual luxury.

But, oh, my country, I would ask for thee
A brimming measure of that sacred fire
That breathed upon the earth, insureth light
And peace and joy; and stainless liberty

I ask, and sweet content, and motives higher,
And citizens whose strength is truth and right.”
(Applause.)

Gentlemen, I have the honor to introduce to you Mr. John L. Webster, of Omaha, who will speak to us of our "Nation." (Great applause.)

TOAST OF JOHN L. WEBSTER.

"THE NATION."

Mr. Toastmaster and Gentlemen of the Colorado Bar Association: I think I might avail myself of this opportunity to thank you one and all for the invitation which was extended to me by your body to speak this afternoon. I will say to you that it was a pleasure for me to be here. I have enjoyed the meeting with you, and if I have said anything that was entertaining or instructive to you, it was a source of deeper gratification to myself.

The toastmaster, in announcing the toast to which I am expected to respond, in two or three sentences gave me a line of thought. He spoke of the uncertain character and gravity of the questions which are likely to confront the nation in the future, and that no man could foretell what a few years might bring forth, as three years since no man could have prophesied the coming of the Spanish war and its results.

I grant the correctness of this statement, but perhaps as much uncertainty has at all times surrounded the future of the country from the creation of its government down to the present time; but out of every trial and tribulation it has risen with more of grandeur and more of glory than it possessed before. (Applause.) And evidently there is a destiny, a providential control, that brought about the creation of this country, and that same providential control will lead it to its future end successfully. (Applause.)

I remember but a few years since riding on a street omnibus through the old city of Genoa, with a Genoese beside me. We were unable to exchange a word in conversation, neither be