From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst
May 28
In 1854 Lincoln represented James
Dunlap who had assaulted a newspaper editor by the name of Peter Selby. Selby
wanted $10,000 in damages. ‘There wasn’t much Lincoln could do about getting
his client entirely off the hook; Dunlap had in fact assaulted Selby. When the
time came for his turn to address the jury, Lincoln slowly stood, picked up a
copy of Selby’s motion, and then suddenly burst into a long, loud laugh
accompanied by his most wonderfully grotesque facial expression. The very sight
of this caused several members of the jury to snicker, at which point Lincoln
apologized. He said he had looked at the motion and noticed that the original
amount of the suit had been only $1,000, but that this had been crossed out and
replaced with the $10,000 figure. Lincoln snickered that, somehow, Selby had
had second thoughts and “concluded that the wounds to his honor were worth an
additional nine thousand dollars.” His little joke was calculated to rob the
assault case [and the plaintiff] of dignity. Apparently it worked; the jury
returned a decision for damages of only $300.’
- Brian Dirck
‘The
art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.’
-
William James
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