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'SQUIRE BAGLY'S PRECEDENT.
Mr. T. W. S. Kidd, of Springfield, says that he once heard a lawyer
opposed to Lincoln trying to convince a jury that precedent was superior
to law, and that custom made things legal in all cases. When Lincoln
arose to answer him he told the jury he would argue his case in the same
way.
"Old 'Squire Bagly, from Menard, came into my office and said, 'Lincoln,
I want your advice as a lawyer. Has a man what's been elected justice of
the peace a right to issue a marriage license?' I told him he had not;
when the old 'squire threw himself back in his chair very indignantly,
and said, 'Lincoln, I thought you was a lawyer. Now Bob Thomas and me
had a bet on this thing, and we agreed to let you decide; but if this is
your opinion I don't want it, for I know a thunderin' sight better, for
I have been 'squire now for eight years and have done it all the time.'"
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Stories and Anecdotes About the Life of Abraham Lincoln
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