Those in any court, high or low, who hope for a reappointment
know that the best way to obtain it is to secure the good will of
the bar. The reputation of a judge depends on the opinion which
the lawyers have of him. The general public may be deceived as
to his character, ability and attainments; the bar cannot be.

In the public sessions of court there are few judges who are not
impressed with the necessity of maintaining the dignity of their
position as representing the power of the State. The lawyers
recognize this feeling as just. It is common for them to rise as
a body when the judge enters the bench. They find no difficulty
in using the conventional style of address of "May it please the
Court," or "May it please your Honor." When a ruling is made in
the course of a trial the lawyer, whose client is adversely
affected by it, accepts it without further discussion, simply
reserving his exception, if he have one, for purposes of review
in a higher court. If, in addressing the jury, counsel exceed
the bounds of professional license in commenting on testimony or
alluding to the character of the parties, the court will check
them without hesitation.

Less outward respect was shown toward the courts by the bar in
former times than now, and it often received less courtesy of
treatment from the bench. An incident occurring in Massachusetts
about the beginning of the nineteenth century may serve as an
illustration. Robert Treat Paine, a signer of the Declaration of
Independence, resigned his seat on the bench of the Supreme
Judicial Court in 1804, at the age of seventy, largely on account
of deafness. Naturally somewhat imperious in temperament, his
bearing toward the bar had seemed harsher from this infirmity.