It was said by Dryden of a great lawyer in English history,--Heneage
Finch,--
"Our laws, that did a boundless ocean seem,
Were coasted all and fathomed all by him."
But the boundless ocean of that age was a "closed sea," compared with
that on which the adventurer embarks to-day. In Howell's Familiar
Letters there is a saying of only a few short years before, that
the books of the Common Law might all be carried in a wheelbarrow.
To coast such an ocean were a less task than a moiety of his labors
whom we now mourn. Called to administer all the different branches of
law, kept separate in England, he showed a mastery of all. His was
Universal Empire; and wherever he set his foot, in the various realms
of jurisprudence, it was as a sovereign,--whether in the ancient
and subtile learning of Real Law,--the Criminal Law,--the niceties
of Special Pleading,--the more refined doctrines of Contracts,--the
more rational system of Commercial and Maritime Law,--the peculiar
and interesting principles and practice of Admiralty and Prize,--the
immense range of Chancery,--the modern, but important, jurisdiction
over Patents,--or that higher region, the great themes of Public and
Constitutional Law. In each of these branches there are judgments
by him which will not yield in value to those of any other judge in
England or the United States, even though his studies and duties may
have been directed to only one particular department.
His judgments are remarkable for exhaustive treatment. The Common
Law, as every student knows to his cost, is found only in innumerable
"sand-grains" of authority. In his learned expositions not one of these
is overlooked, while all are combined with care, and the golden cord of
reason is woven across the ample tissue. There is in them, besides, a
clearness which flings over the subject a perfect day,--a severe logic,
which, by its closeness and precision, makes us feel the truth of the
saying of Leibnitz, that nothing approaches so near the certainty of
geometry as the reasoning of the law,--a careful attention to the
discussions at the bar, that nothing should be lost,--with a copious
and persuasive eloquence investing the whole. Many of his judgments
will be landmarks in the law: I know of no single judge who has set up
so many. I think it may be said, without fear of question, that the
Reports show a larger number of judicial opinions from Story, which
posterity will not willingly let die, than from any other judge in the
history of English or American law.
There is much of his character as a Judge which cannot be preserved,
except in the faithful memory of those whose happiness it was to enjoy
his judicial presence. I refer particularly to his mode of conducting
business. Even the passing stranger bore witness to his suavity of
manner on the bench, while all practitioners in the courts where
he presided so long attest the marvellous quickness with which he
seized habitually the points of a case, often anticipating the slower
movements of counsel, and leaping, or, I might almost say, flying, to
the proper conclusion. Napoleon's perception, at the head of an army,
was not more rapid. Nor can I forget the scrupulous care with which he
assigned reasons for every portion of his opinions, showing that it was
not _he_ who spoke with the voice of authority, but the _law_, whose
organ he was.
In the history of the English bench there are but two names with
combined eminence as Judge and Author,--Coke and Hale,--unless, indeed,
the "Ordinances in Chancery," from the Verulamian pen, should entitle
Lord Bacon to this distinction, and the judgments of Lord Brougham
should vindicate the same for him. Blackstone's character as judge is
lost in the fame of the Commentaries. To Story belongs this double
glory. Early in life he compiled an important professional work; but
it was only at a comparatively recent period, after his mind had
been disciplined by the labors of the bench, that he prepared those
elaborate Commentaries which have made his name a familiar word in
foreign countries. They who knew him best observed the lively interest
which he took in this extension of his renown. And most justly; for
the voice of distant foreign nations comes as from a living posterity.
His works have been reviewed with praise in the journals of England,
Scotland, Ireland, France, and Germany. They are cited as authorities
in all the Courts of Westminster Hall; and one of the ablest and most
learned jurists of the age, whose honorable career at the bar has
opened to him the peerage,--Lord Campbell,--in the course of debate in
the House of Lords, accorded to their author an exalted place, saying
that he "had a greater reputation as a legal writer than any author
England could boast since the days of Blackstone."[117]
[117] Hansard, LXVIII. 667.
To complete this hasty survey, I should allude to his excellences
as a Teacher of law, that other relation which he sustained to
jurisprudence. The numerous pupils reared at his feet, and now
scattered throughout the country, diffusing, in their different
circles, the light obtained at Cambridge, as they hear that their
beloved master has fallen, will each feel that he has lost a friend.
He had the faculty, rare as it is exquisite, of interesting the
young, and winning their affections. I have often seen him surrounded
by a group of youths,--the ancient Romans might have aptly called
it a _corona_,--all intent upon his earnest conversation, and
freely interrogating him on matters of interest. In his lectures,
and other forms of instruction, he was prodigal of explanation and
illustration; his manner, according to the classical image of Zeno,
was like the open palm, never like the clenched fist. His learning
was always overflowing, as from the horn of abundance. He was earnest
and unrelaxing in effort, patient and gentle, while he listened with
inspiring attention to all that the pupil said. Like Chaucer's Clerk,
"And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche."
Above all, he was a living example of love for the law,--supposed by
many to be unlovely and repulsive,--which seemed to grow warmer under
the snows of accumulating winters; and such an example could not fail,
with magnetic power, to touch the hearts of the young. Nor should I
forget the lofty standard of professional morals which he inculcated,
filling his discourse with the charm of goodness. Under such auspices,
and those of his learned associate, Professor Greenleaf, large classes
of students, larger than any other in America, or in England, were
annually gathered in Cambridge. The Law School became the glory of the
University.
He was proud of his character as Professor. In his earlier works he is
called on the title-page "Dane Professor of Law." It was only on the
suggestion of the English publisher that he was induced to append the
other title, "One of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United
States." He looked forward with peculiar satisfaction to the time which
seemed at hand, when he should lay down the honors and cares of the
bench, and devote himself singly to the duties of his chair.
I have merely glanced at him in his three several relations to
jurisprudence. Great in each, it is on this unprecedented combination
that his peculiar fame will be reared, as upon an immortal tripod. In
what I have written, I do not think I am biased by partialities of
private friendship. I have endeavored to regard him as posterity will
regard him, as all must regard him now who fully know him in his works.
Imagine for one moment the irreparable loss, if all that he has done
were blotted out forever. As I think of the incalculable facilities
afforded by his labors, I cannot but say with Racine, when speaking of
Descartes, "_Nous courons; mais, sans lui, nous ne marcherions pas._"
Besides, it is he who has inspired in many foreign bosoms, reluctant
to perceive good in our country, a sincere homage to the American
name. He has turned the stream refluent upon the ancient fountains
of Westminster Hall, and, stranger still, has forced the waters
above their sources, up the unaccustomed heights of countries alien
to the Common Law. It is he also who has directed, from the copious
well-springs of Roman Law, and from the fresher currents of modern
Continental Law, a pure and grateful stream to enrich and fertilize our
domestic jurisprudence. In his judgments, his books, and his teachings,
he drew always from other systems to illustrate the Common Law.
The mind naturally seeks to compare him with eminent jurists, servants
of Themis, who share with him the wide spaces of fame. In genius for
the law, in the exceeding usefulness of his career, in the blended
character of Judge and Author, he cannot yield to our time-honored
master, Lord Coke; in suavity of manner, and in silver-tongued
eloquence, he may compare with Lord Mansfield, while in depth,
accuracy, and variety of juridical learning he surpassed him far; if
he yields to Lord Stowell in elegance of diction, he exceeds even
his excellence in curious exploration of the foundations of that
jurisdiction which they administered in common, and in the development
of those great principles of public law whose just determination helps
to preserve the peace of nations; and even in the peculiar field
illustrated by the long career of Eldon, we find him a familiar worker,
with Eldon's profusion of learning, and without the perplexity of his
doubts. There are many who regard the judicial character of the late
Chief Justice Marshall as unapproachable. I revere his name, and have
read his judgments, which seem like "pure reason," with admiration and
gratitude; but I cannot disguise that even these noble memorials must
yield in juridical character, learning, acuteness, fervor, variety of
topics, as they are far inferior in amount, to those of our friend.
There is still spared to us a renowned judge, at this moment the
unquestioned living head of American jurisprudence, with no rival
near the throne,--Chancellor Kent,--whose judgments and works always
inspired the warmest eulogy of the departed, and whose character as a
jurist furnishes the fittest parallel to his own in the annals of our
law.
It seems idle to weave further these vain comparisons, particularly
to invoke the living. But busy fancy revives the past, and persons
and scenes renew themselves in my memory. I call to mind the recent
Chancellor of England, the model of a clear, grave, learned, and
conscientious magistrate,--Lord Cottenham. I see again the ornaments of
Westminster Hall, on the bench and at the bar, where sits Denman, in
manner, conduct, and character "every inch" the judge,--where pleaded
the consummate lawyer, Follett, whose voice is now hushed in the grave;
their judgments, their arguments, their conversation I cannot forget;
but thinking of these, I feel new pride in the great Magistrate, the
just Judge, the consummate Lawyer whom we lament.
It has been my fortune to know the chief jurists of our time, in the
classical countries of jurisprudence, France and Germany. I remember
well the pointed and effective style of Dupin, in one of his masterly
arguments before the highest court of France; I recall the pleasant
converse of Pardessus--to whom commercial and maritime law is under a
larger debt, perhaps, than to any other mind--while he descanted on
his favorite theme; I wander in fancy to the gentle presence of him
with flowing silver locks who was so dear to Germany,--Thibaut, the
expounder of Roman law, and the earnest and successful advocate of a
just scheme for the reduction of the unwritten law to the certainty
of a written text; from Heidelberg I pass to Berlin, where I listen
to the grave lecture and mingle in the social circle of Savigny, so
stately in person and peculiar in countenance, whom all the continent
of Europe delights to honor; but my heart and my judgment, untravelled,
fondly turn with new love and admiration to my Cambridge teacher and
friend. Jurisprudence has many arrows in her quiver, but where is one
to compare with that which is now spent in the earth?
The fame of the Jurist is enhanced by various attainments superinduced
upon learning in the law. His "Miscellaneous Writings" show a
thoughtful mind, imbued with elegant literature, warm with kindly
sentiments, commanding a style of rich and varied eloquence. Many
passages from these have become commonplaces of our schools. In early
life he yielded to the fascinations of the poetic muse; and here the
great lawyer may find companionship with Selden, who is introduced by
Suckling into the "Session of the Poets" as "hard by the chair,"--with
Blackstone, whose "Farewell to his Muse" shows his fondness for poetic
pastures, even while his eye was directed to the heights of the
law,--and also with Mansfield, whom Pope has lamented in familiar words,
"How sweet an Ovid Murray! was our boast."
I have now before me, in his own handwriting, some verses written by
him in 1833, entitled, "Advice to a Young Lawyer." As they cannot fail
to be read with interest, I introduce them here.
"Whene'er you speak, remember every cause
Stands not on eloquence, but stands on laws;
Pregnant in matter, in expression brief,
Let every sentence stand with bold relief;
On trifling points nor time nor talents waste,
A sad offence to learning and to taste;
Nor deal with pompous phrase, nor e'er suppose
Poetic flights belong to reasoning prose.
Loose declamation may deceive the crowd,
And seem more striking as it grows more loud;
But sober sense rejects it with disdain,
As naught but empty noise, and weak as vain.
The froth of words, the schoolboy's vain parade
Of books and cases (all his stock in trade).
The pert conceits, the cunning tricks and play
Of low attorneys, strung in long array,
The unseemly jest, the petulant reply,
That chatters on, and cares not how nor why,
Studious, avoid: unworthy themes to scan,
They sink the speaker and disgrace the man;
Like the false lights by flying shadows cast,
Scarce seen when present, and forgot when past.
"Begin with dignity; expound with grace
Each ground of reasoning in its time and place;
Let order reign throughout; each topic touch,
Nor urge its power too little or too much;
Give each strong thought its most attractive view,
In diction clear, and yet severely true;
And as the arguments in splendor grow,
Let each reflect its light on all below.
When to the close arrived, make no delays
By petty flourishes or verbal plays,
But sum the whole in one deep, solemn strain,
Like a strong current hastening to the main."
But the jurist, rich with the spoils of time, the exalted magistrate,
the orator, the writer, all vanish when I think of the friend. Much
as the world may admire his memory, all who knew him will love it
more. Who can forget his bounding step, his contagious laugh, his
exhilarating voice, his beaming smile, his countenance that shone like
a benediction? What pen can describe these? What canvas or marble can
portray them? He was always the friend of the young, who never tired
in listening to his mellifluous discourse. Nor did they ever leave
his presence without a warmer glow of virtue, a more inspiring love
of knowledge, and more generous impulses of action. I remember him
in my childhood; but I first knew him after he came to Cambridge as
Professor, while I was yet an undergraduate, and now recall freshly, as
if the words were of yesterday, the eloquence and animation with which
at that time he enforced upon a youthful circle the beautiful truth,
_that no man stands in the way of another_. The world is wide enough
for all, he said, and no success which may crown our neighbor can
affect our own career. In this spirit he ran his race on earth, without
jealousy, without envy,--nay, more, overflowing with appreciation and
praise of labors which compared humbly with his own. In conversation
he dwelt with fervor upon all the topics which interest man,--not only
upon law, but upon literature, history, human character, the affairs
of every day,--above all, upon the great duties of life, the relations
of men to each other, to country, to God. High in his mind, above all
human opinions and practices, were the everlasting rules of _Right_;
nor did he ever rise to truer eloquence than when condemning, as I have
more than once heard him recently, that evil sentiment, "Our country,
_right or wrong_" which, in whatsoever form of language it may disguise
itself, assails the very foundations of justice and virtue.
He was happy in life, happy also in death. It was his hope, expressed
in health, that he should not be allowed to linger superfluous on the
stage, nor waste under the slow progress of disease. He was always
ready to meet his God. His wishes were answered. Two days before his
last illness he was in court, and delivered an elaborate judgment on a
complicated case in equity. Since his death another judgment in a case
already argued before him has been found among his papers, ready to be
pronounced.
I saw him for a single moment on the evening preceding his illness.
It was an accidental meeting away from his own house,--the last time
that the open air fanned his cheeks. His words of familiar, household
greeting still linger in my ears, like an enchanted melody. The morning
sun saw him on the bed from which he never rose.
Thus closed, after an illness of eight days, in the bosom of his
family, without pain, surrounded by friends, a life which, through
various vicissitudes of disease, had been spared beyond the grand
climacteric, that Cape of Storms in the sea of human existence.
"Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit,
Nulli flebilior quam mihi."
He is gone, and we shall see him no more on earth, except in his works,
and the memory of his virtues. The scales of justice, which he so long
held, have fallen from his hand. The untiring pen of the Author rests
at last. The voice of the Teacher is mute. The fountain, which was
ever flowing and ever full, is stopped. The lips, on which the bees of
Hybla might have rested, will no more distil their honeyed sweets. The
manly form, warm with all the affections of life, with love for family
and friends, for truth and virtue, is now cold in death. The justice
of nations is eclipsed; the life of the law is suspended. But let us
listen to the words which, though dead, he utters from the grave:
"Sorrow not as those without hope." The righteous judge, the wise
teacher, the faithful friend, the loving father, has ascended to his
Judge, his Teacher, his Friend, his Father in Heaven.
THE WRONG OF SLAVERY.
SPEECH AT A PUBLIC MEETING IN FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON, AGAINST THE
ADMISSION OF TEXAS AS A SLAVE STATE, NOVEMBER 4, 1845.
The officers of this meeting were Hon. Charles Francis Adams,
President; James M. Whiton, Charles G. Hovey, and William I.
Bowditch, Secretaries. The President made a speech on taking the
chair. He was followed by Hon. John G. Palfrey, Charles Sumner,
Wendell Phillips, Henry B. Stanton, George S. Hillard, Rev. William
H. Channing, and William Lloyd Garrison. The meeting was thus
sympathetically described by the _Liberator_:--
"Faneuil Hall next had a meeting, more worthy of its fame than
the one which was held in it on Tuesday evening last, to set the
ball in motion for another grand rally of the freemen of the North
against the admission of Texas into the Union as a Slave State.
The weather was extremely unpropitious,--the rain pouring down
violently, the thunder roaring, and the lightning blazing vividly
at intervals,--emblematic of the present moral and political
aspects of the country."
The _Daily Times_, a democratic paper of Boston, in its account of
the meeting made the severe storm play an important part. Here is
something of what it said:--
"The elements seemed determined not to sanction any such
traitor-like movement, and interposed every obstacle to its
success. It was proper that such a foul project should have foul
weather as an accompaniment. The night was dark, and so were the
designs contemplated." To oppose the extension of slavery was
traitor-like, foul, and dark.
The Resolutions adopted at the meeting were drawn by Mr. Sumner,
although introduced by another. They were the first political
resolutions ever drawn by him, as the speech which follows was
the first political speech ever made by him. The Resolutions,
while condemning slavery and denouncing the plan to secure
its predominance in the National Government, start with the
annunciation of _Equal Rights and the_ _Brotherhood of all
Men_, as set forth in the Declaration of Independence, which Mr.
Sumner always, from beginning to end, made the foundation of his
arguments, appeals, and aspirations.
* * * * *
"_Whereas_ the Government and Independence of the United States
are founded on the adamantine truth of _Equal Rights and the
Brotherhood of all Men_, declared on the 4th of July, 1776, a truth
receiving new and constant recognition in the progress of time, and
which is the great lesson from our country to the world, in support
of which the founders toiled and bled, and on account of which we,
their children, bless their memory,--
"_And whereas_ it is essential to our self-respect as a nation, and
to our fame in history, that this truth, declared by our fathers,
should not be impeached or violated by any fresh act of their
children,--
"_And whereas_ the scheme for the annexation of Texas as a Slave
State, begun in stealth and fraud, and carried on to confirm
Slavery and extend its bounds, in violation of the fundamental
principle of our institutions, is not consummated, and may yet
be arrested by the zealous and hearty co-operation of all who
sincerely love their country and the liberty of mankind,--
"_And whereas_ this scheme, if successful, involves the whole
country, Free States as well as slave-owners, in one of the two
greatest crimes a nation can commit, and threatens to involve them
in the other,--namely, Slavery and unjust War,--Slavery of the most
revolting character, and War to sustain Slavery,--
"_And whereas_ the State Constitution of Texas, which will soon
be submitted to Congress for adoption or rejection, expressly
prohibits the Legislature, except under conditions rendering
the exception practically void, from enacting any law for the
emancipation of slaves, and for the abolition of the slave-trade
between Texas and the United States, thereby reversing entirely the
natural and just tendency of our institutions towards Freedom,--
"_And whereas_ the slaveholders seek annexation for the purpose
of increasing the market of human flesh, and for extending and
perpetuating Slavery,--
"_And whereas_, by the triumph of this scheme, and by creating new
Slave States within the limits of Texas, the slaveholders seek to
control the political power of the majority of freemen represented
in the Congress of the Union:--
"_Therefore be it resolved_, in the name of God, of Christ, and
of Humanity, that we, belonging to all political parties, and
reserving all other reasons of objection, unite in protest against
the admission of Texas into this Union as a Slave State.
"_Resolved_, That the people of Massachusetts will continue to
resist the consummation of this wicked purpose, which will cover
the country with disgrace, and make us responsible for crimes of
gigantic magnitude.
"_Resolved_, That we have the fullest confidence that the Senators
and Representatives of Massachusetts in Congress will never consent
to the admission of Texas as a Slave State, but by voice and vote
will resist this fatal measure to the utmost at every stage.
"_And furthermore, whereas_ the Congress of the United States, by
assuming to connect this country with a foreign state, have already
involved the people of the Free States in great expenditure for the
protection of the usurped territory by force of arms on sea and
land,--
"_And whereas_ a still greater outlay may hereafter be incurred to
maintain by violence what is held by wrong:--