those days. The slipshod methods of the present time are abominable."

"You seem to be a little hard," says the modern lawyer. "Justice ought
not to depend on forms."

"You can never have justice without formalizing and shaping the
dispute," says the lawyer.

"Quite true," says the modern, "but there has been too much attention
paid to the form of justice. Pleadings are the mere mechanics like
printing the program or laying the rail."

However, this is all a question that does not come up in the
court-room at a trial. Once or twice some reference is made to the
pleadings. Perhaps there is some such dispute as this. The defendant
attempts to swear that he "paid for the goods then and there." The
other lawyer jumps up and says, "I object, your Honor. In his answer
he does not plead payment. He only pleads a general denial." The judge
puts on his spectacles. The lawyers gather, business stops while
everyone looks at the pleadings.

Or again the plaintiff tries to show that when he was thrown from the
wagon he bruised his right elbow. The counsel objects there is nothing
about injuries to his right elbow in the Bill of Particulars,
therefore he can not prove it. The Bill of Particulars says that he
hurt his hand, scratched the forearm, and injured the right shoulder,
but says nothing about the elbow. Grave consultation by the learned
lawyers and the judge ensues. The defendant's lawyer is right, there
is nothing in the pleadings about the elbow.