名人故事（雙語）：正直的林肯

正直的林肯

Lincoln was delighted to advocate the cases of those whom he knew to be wronged, but he would not defend the cause of the guilty.

If he discovered in the course of a trial that he was on the wrong side, he lost all interest, and ceased to make any exertion.

Once, while engaged in a prosecution, he discovered that his client's cause was not a good one, and he refused to make the plea. His associate, who was less scrupulous(小心謹慎的), made the plea and obtained a decision in their favor. The fee was nine hundred dollars, half of which was tendered(償付) to Mr. Lincoln, but he refused to accept a single cent of it.

His honesty was strongly illustrated by the way he kept his accounts with his law-partner. When he had taken a fee in the latter's absence, he put one half of it into his own pocket, and laid the other half carefully away, labeling it "Billy," the name by which he familiarly addressed his partner. When asked why be did not make a record of the amount and, for the time being, use the whole, Mr. Lincoln answered, "Because I promised my mother never to use money belonging to another person."

林肯非常樂意為那些他認為受到冤屈的人辯護，但是他卻拒絕為那些確實有罪的人辯護。

如果在審判中發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的立場錯誤，就立刻都案件失去興趣，不再辯護。

他參與了一起起訴案件。當他發(fā)現(xiàn)他的客戶動機不良時，便拒絕為其申辯。他的一位做事不太謹慎的同事參與了辯護，并得到對他們有利的判決。辯護費為900美元，這位同事把其中的一半給了林肯，但是林肯一分錢也沒拿。

林肯的誠實在下面的例子里得到最好的證明。他與他的伙伴記有詳細的賬目。但他的伙伴不在時，他僅拿走所得收入的一半，把另一半仔細地保存，寫上同伴的名字：“貝利”。當被問到他這樣做的原因，林肯回答道：“因為我曾經(jīng)答應我的媽媽永遠不拿屬于別人的錢。”