So they were
obliged to wait for me. I was found with some difficulty
and went in and made a brief speech which I ended by saying:
"If I shall fail to satisfy you, the trust you have so freely
conferred you can as freely recall. If I shall fail to satisfy
myself, I shall at least have the comfort of reflecting that
it is by your free choice that this nomination has been conferred.
It has not been begged for, or bargained for, or intrigued
for, or crawled into. If elected I shall at the close of
the term lay down the honors of the office with the same cheerfulness
with which I now accept the nomination."
I expected to go back to my home and my profession at the
end of one term. My law practice was rapidly increasing.
Professional charges in those days were exceedingly moderate
as compared with the scale of prices now, and I had inherited
the habit of charging low fees from my partner and friend,
Emory Washburn. If I had the same class of clients now that
I had then, I could at the present scale of charges for professional
service easily be earning more than fifty thousand dollars
a year, and I could earn it without going to my office in
the evening, and also take a good vacation every summer.
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