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1842–1914

BY A DEFEATED LITIGANT.

Ambrose Bierce

Liars for witnesses; for lawyers brutes Who lose their tempers to retrieve their suits; Cowards for jurors; and for judge a clown Who ne'er took up the law, yet lays it down;

Justice denied, authority abused, And the one honest person the accused — Thy courts, my country, all these awful years, Move fools to laughter and the wise to tears.

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BY A DEFEATED LITIGANT. · Ambrose Bierce · Poetry Cove