The Lawyers' Ways

I 've been list'nin' to them lawyers     In the court house up the street,     An' I 've come to the conclusion     That I'm most completely beat.     Fust one feller riz to argy,     An' he boldly waded in     As he dressed the tremblin' pris'ner     In a coat o' deep-dyed sin.     Why, he painted him all over     In a hue o' blackest crime,     An' he smeared his reputation     With the thickest kind o' grime,     Tell I found myself a-wond'rin',     In a misty way and dim,     How the Lord had come to fashion     Sich an awful man as him.     Then the other lawyer started,     An' with brimmin', tearful eyes,     Said his client was a martyr     That was brought to sacrifice.     An' he give to that same pris'ner     Every blessed human grace,     Tell I saw the light o' virtue     Fairly shinin' from his face.     Then I own 'at I was puzzled     How sich things could rightly be;     An' this aggervatin' question     Seems to keep a-puzzlin' me.     So, will some one please inform me,     An' this mystery unroll--     How an angel an' a devil     Can persess the self-same soul?