He associated on terms of the pleasantest intimacy with the young men,
and early evinced a liking for Bart, who, poor fellow, was ready to
like anybody who would permit him.
Mr. Giddings was at pains to impress them with the absolute
impossibility of even moderate success at the bar, without industry,
while with it, mediocrity of talents would insure that. "Of the whole
number who were admitted," he said, "about ten or fifteen per cent.
succeeded; and one in a hundred became eminent. Undoubtedly the
greatest lawyer in the world did not possess the greatest intellect;
but he must have been among the most industrious. Brilliant parts
may be useful; they are always dangerous. The man who trusts to the
inspiration of genius, or his capacity to get advantage by ingenious
management in court, will find himself passed by a patient dullard.
The admiring world who witness some of the really fine intellectual
performances that sometimes occur in court, haven't the faintest
conception as to when the real work was done, nor at all what it
consisted in; nor when and how the raw material was gathered and
worked up. The soldier in war is enlisted to fight, but really a small
part of his time is spent in battle; almost the whole of it is in
preparation, training, gathering material, manoeuvring, gaining
strategic advantages, and once in a while producing a field day, which
tests the thoroughness of the preparation. This illustrates the value
of absolute thoroughness in the preparation of cases.
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