which we must especially guard. The mere man of business is "a man of
one idea,"[141] and his solitary idea has its root in no generous
or humane desires, but in selfishness. He lives for himself alone.
He may send his freights to the most distant quarters of the earth,
and receive therefrom returning argosies, but his real horizon is
restricted to the narrow circle of his own personal interests; nor does
his worldly nature, elated by the profits of cent per cent, see with
eye of sympathy, in cotton sold or sugar bought, the drops of blood
falling from the unhappy slaves out of whose labor they were wrung. In
the mere man of business the individual is lost in the profession or
calling, thinking only of that, and caring little for other things of
life. He is known by the character that business impresses upon him.
He is untiring in its pursuit, but with no true progress, for each day
renews its predecessor. Benevolence calls, but he is deaf, or satisfies
his conscience by a dole of money. Literature exhibits her charms, but
he is insensible. And innocent recreation makes her pleasant appeal,
but he will not listen. He is absorbed, engrossed, filled in every
vein by the "one idea" of business with new methods of adding to his
increasing gains, as the mouth of the money-seeking Crassus was filled
by the Parthians with molten gold.
[141] At the date of this Lecture the Abolitionist was constantly
taunted, especially by business men, as "the man of one idea."
We learn to deride the pedant who sacrifices everything to the
accumulation of empty learning, which he displays at all times, as a
peddler his wares. The image of Dominie Sampson, in Scott's novel of
"Guy Mannering," is a happy scarecrow to frighten us from his "one
idea." But the merchant whose only talk is of markets, the farmer
whose only talk is of bullocks, and the lawyer whose only talk is
of his cases, are all Dominie Sampsons in their way. They have all
missed that completeness and harmony of development essential to the
balance of the faculties and to the best usefulness. They have become
richer in this world's goods; but they have sacrificed what money
cannot supply,--a general intelligence, an independence of calling or
position, and a catholic, liberal spirit. In the prejudices engendered
by exclusive devotion to a single pursuit, they have lost one of the
most important attributes of man,--the power to receive and appreciate
truth.
It is a common saying, handed down with reverence in my own profession,
where it is attested at once by Bacon and by Coke, that "every man
owes a debt to his profession." If by this is meant that every man
should seek to elevate his profession, and to increase its usefulness,
the saying is a truism, although valuable as at least one remove
from individual selfishness. But is it not too often construed so as
to exclude exertion in any other walk, or to serve as a cloak for
indifference to other things? Important as this debt may be,--and
I will not disparage it,--not for this alone are we sent into the
world. There are other debts which must not be postponed. Man was
not thus fearfully and wonderfully made,--the cunningest pattern of
excelling Nature,--endowed with infinite faculties,--traversing with
the angels the blue floor of Heaven,--ranging with light from system
to system of the Universe,--descending to the earth and receiving
in bountiful largess all its hoarded treasures,--girdling the globe
with the peaceful embrace of commerce,--imposing chains even upon the
lawless sea,--making the winds and elements do his bidding,--summoning
to his company all that is and all that has been the good and great
of all times, exemplars of truth, liberty, and virtue, all the grand
procession of history,--formed to throb at every deed of generosity
and self-sacrifice, and to send forth his sympathies wider and sweeter
than any south-wind blowing over beds of violets, until they reach the
most distant sufferer,--formed for the acquisition of knowledge and of
science,--gifted to enjoy the various feast of letters and art, the
breathing canvas and marble, the infinite many-choired voices of all
the sons of genius who have written or spoken, the beauty of mountain,
field, and river, the dazzling drapery of the winter snow, the glory
of sunset, the blushing of the rose,--man was not made with all these
capacities, looking before and after, spanning the vast outstretched
Past, penetrating the vaster unfathomable Future, with all its images
of beauty, merely to follow a profession or a trade, merely to be a
merchant, a lawyer, a mechanic, a soldier.
"So God created man in his own image; in the image of God created he
him." The image of God is in the soul, and the young must take heed
that it is not effaced by the neglect of any of the trusts they have
received. They must bear in mind that there are debts other than to
their profession or business, which, like gratitude, it will ever be
their pleasure, "still paying, still to owe,"--which can be properly
discharged only by the best employment of all the faculties with which
they are blessed,--so that life shall be improved by culture and filled
with works for the good of man.
In no respect would I weaken any just attachment to the business of
one's choice. Goethe advised every one to read daily a short poem;
and in the same spirit would I refine and elevate business by the
chastening influence of other pursuits, by enlarging the intelligence,
by widening the sphere of observation and interest, by awakening new
sympathies.
In the faithful husbandry of time, in the aggregation of all its
particles of golden sand, is the first stage of individual progress.
With the living spirit of industry, the student will find his way easy.
Difficulties cannot permanently obstruct his resolute career. He will
remember "rare Ben Jonson," one of England's admired and most learned
bards, working as a bricklayer with a trowel in his hand and a book in
his pocket,--Burns, wooing his muse as he followed the plough on the
mountain-side,--the beloved German Jean Paul, composing his earliest
works by the music of the simmering kettles in his mother's humble
kitchen,--and Franklin, while a printer's boy, straitened by small
means, beginning those studies and labors which make him an example to
mankind.
Seek, then, occupation; seek labor; seek to employ all the faculties,
whether in study or conduct,--not in words only, but in deeds also,
mindful that "words are the daughters of Earth, but deeds are the
sons of Heaven." So shall you eat of that fabled fruit growing on the
banks of the river of Delight, whereby men gain a blessed course of
life without one moment of sadness. So shall your days be filled with
usefulness,--
"And when old Time shall lead you to your end,
Goodness and you fill up one monument."
There is a legend of Friar Roger Bacon, so conspicuous in what may be
called the mythology of modern science, which enforces the importance
of seizing the present moment; nor could I hope to close this appeal
with anything better calculated to impress upon all the lesson I have
sought to teach. With wizard skill he had succeeded in constructing a
brazen head, which, by unimaginable contrivance, after unknown lapse
of time, was to speak and declare important knowledge. Weary with
watching for the auspicious moment, which had been prolonged through
successive weeks, he had sought the refreshment of sleep, leaving
his man Miles to observe the head, and to awaken him at once, if it
should speak, that he might not fail to interrogate it. Shortly after
he had sunk to rest, the head spake these words, _Time is_. But the
foolish guardian heeded them not, nor the commands of his master, whom
he allowed to slumber unconscious of the auspicious moment. Another
half-hour passed and the head spake the words, _Time was_, which
Miles still heeded not. Another half-hour passed, and the head spake
yet other words, _Time is past_, and straightway fell to the earth,
shivered in pieces, with a terrible crash and strange flashes of fire,
so that Miles was half dead with fear; and his master awoke to behold
the workmanship of his cunning hand and the hopes he had builded
thereupon shattered, while the voice from the brazen throat still
sounded in his ears, TIME IS PAST!
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE LATE JOHN PICKERING.
ARTICLE IN THE LAW REPORTER OF JUNE, 1846.
It was a remark of Lord Brougham, illustrated by his own crowded life,
that the complete performance of all the duties of an active member
of the British Parliament might be joined to a full practice at the
bar. The career of the late Mr. Pickering illustrates a more grateful
truth: that the mastery of the law as a science and the constant
performance of all the duties of a practitioner are not incompatible
with the studies of the most various scholarship,--that the lawyer
and the scholar may be _one_. He dignified the law by the successful
cultivation of letters, and strengthened the influence of these elegant
pursuits by becoming their representative in the concerns of daily life
and in the labors of his profession. And now that this living example
of excellence is withdrawn, we feel a sorrow which words can only
faintly express. We would devote a few moments to the contemplation of
what he did and what he was. The language of exaggeration is forbidden
by the modesty of his nature, as it is rendered unnecessary by the
multitude of his virtues.
* * * * *
JOHN PICKERING, whose recent death we deplore, was born in Salem,
February 7, 1777, at the darkest and most despondent period of the
Revolution. His father, Colonel Pickering, was a man of distinguished
character and an eminent actor in public affairs, whose name belongs to
the history of our country. Of his large family of ten children John
was the eldest.[142] His diligence at school was a source of early
gratification to his family, and gave augury of future accomplishments.
An authentic token of this character, beyond any tradition of partial
friends, is afforded by a little book entitled "Letters to a Student in
the University of Cambridge, Massachusetts, by John Clarke, Minister
of a Church in Boston," printed in 1796, and in reality addressed to
him. The first letter begins with an honorable allusion to his early
improvement. "Your superior qualifications for admission into the
University give you singular advantages for the prosecution of your
studies.... You are now placed in a situation to become, what you have
often assured me is your ambition, _a youth of learning and virtue_."
The last letter of the volume concludes with benedictions, which did
not fall as barren words upon the heart of the youthful pupil. "May
you," says Dr. Clarke, "be one of those sons who do honor to their
literary parent. The union of _virtue_ and _science_ will give you
distinction at the present age, and will tend to give celebrity to the
name of Harvard. You will not disappoint the friends who anticipate
your improvements." They who remember his college days still dwell with
fondness upon his exemplary character and his remarkable scholarship.
He received his degree of Bachelor of Arts at Cambridge in 1796.
[142] The reporter, Octavius Pickering, was so named from his being the
_eighth_ child.
On leaving the University he went to Philadelphia, at that time the
seat of government, his father being Secretary of State. Here he
commenced the study of the law under Mr. Tilghman, afterwards the
distinguished Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, and one of the lights of
American jurisprudence. But his professional lucubrations were soon
suspended by his appointment, in 1797, as Secretary of Legation to
Portugal. In this capacity he resided at Lisbon for two years, during
which time he became familiar with the language and literature of the
country. Later in life, when his extensive knowledge of foreign tongues
opened to him the literature of the world, he recurred with peculiar
pleasure to the language of Camoens and Pombal.
From Lisbon he passed to London, where, at the close of the last
century, he became, for about two years, the private secretary of our
Minister, Mr. King, residing in the family and enjoying the society and
friendship of this distinguished representative of his country. Here he
was happy in meeting with his classmate and attached friend, Dr. James
Jackson, of Boston, then in London, pursuing those medical studies
whose ripened autumnal fruits of usefulness and eminence he still lives
to enjoy. In pleasant companionship they perambulated the thoroughfares
of the great metropolis, enjoying together its shows and attractions;
in pleasant companionship they continued ever afterwards, till death
severed the ties of long life.
Mr. Pickering's youth and inexperience in the profession to which he
afterwards devoted his days prevented his taking any special interest,
at this period, in the courts or in Parliament. But there were several
of the judges who made a strong impression on his mind; nor did he
ever cease to remember the vivacious eloquence of Erskine or the
commanding oratory of Pitt.
Meanwhile, his father, being no longer in the public service, had
returned to Salem; and thither the son followed, in 1801, resuming
the study of the law, under the direction of Mr. Putnam, afterwards a
learned and beloved Judge of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, whose
rare fortune it has been to rear two pupils whose fame will be among
the choicest possessions of our country,--Story and Pickering. In due
time he was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of the law
in Salem.
Here begins the long, unbroken series of his labors in literature and
philology, running side by side with the daily, untiring business
of his profession. It is easy to believe, that, notwithstanding his
undissembled predilection for jurisprudence as a _science_, he was
drawn towards its _practice_ by the compulsion of duty rather than by
any attraction it possessed for him. Not removed by fortune from the
necessity, to which Dr. Johnson so pathetically alludes, of providing
for the day that was passing over him, he could indulge his taste
for study only in hours secured by diligence from the inroads of
business or refused to the seductions of pleasure. Since the oration
for Archias, perhaps no lawyer ever lived who could have uttered with
greater truth the inspiring words with which, in that remarkable
production, the Roman orator confessed and vindicated the cultivation
of letters: "Me autem quid pudeat, qui tot annos ita vivo, judices, ut
ab nullius unquam me tempore aut commodo aut otium meum abstraxerit,
aut voluptas avocârit, aut denique somnus retardârit? Quare quis tandem
me reprehendat, aut quis mihi jure succenseat, si, quantum cæteris ad
suas res obeundas, quantum ad festos dies ludorum celebrandos, quantum
ad alias voluptates, et ad ipsam requiem animi et corporis conceditur
temporum, quantum alii tribuunt tempestivis conviviis, quantum denique
aleæ, quantum pilæ, tantum mihi egomet ad hæc studia recolenda
sumpsero?"[143]
[143] Pro Archia, c. 6.
In his life may be seen two streams flowing side by side, as through a
long tract of country: one fed by the fresh fountains high up in the
mountain-tops, whose waters leap with delight on their journey to the
sea; while the other, having its sources low down in the valleys, among
the haunts of men, moves with reluctant, though steady, current onward.
Mr Pickering's days were passed in the performance of all the duties
of a wide and various practice, first at Salem, and afterwards at
Boston. He resided at the former place till 1827, when he removed to
the metropolis, where two years afterwards he became City Solicitor,
an office whose arduous labors he continued to discharge until within
a few months of his death. There is little worthy of notice in the
ordinary incidents of professional life. What Blackstone aptly calls
"the pert dispute" renews itself in infinitely varying form. Some
new turn of litigation calls forth some new effort of learning or
skill, calculated to serve its temporary purpose, and, like the manna
which fell in the desert, perishing on the day that beholds it. The
unambitious labors of which the world knows nothing, the advice to
clients, the drawing of contracts, the perplexities of conveyancing
furnish still less of interest than ephemeral displays of the
court-room.
The cares of his profession and the cultivation of letters left
but little time for the concerns of politics. And yet, at different
periods, he filled offices in the Legislature of Massachusetts. He was
three times Representative from Salem, twice Senator from Essex, once
Senator from Suffolk, and once a member of the Executive Council. In
all these places he commended himself by the same diligence, honesty,
learning, and ability which marked his course at the bar. The careful
student of our legislative history will not fail to perceive his
obligations to Mr. Pickering, as the author of important reports and
bills. The first bill for the separation of Maine from Massachusetts
was reported to the Senate by him in 1816, and though the object failed
for the time with the people of Maine, the bill is characterized by the
historian of that State as "drawn with great ability and skill."[144]
The report and accompanying bill on the jurisdiction and proceedings
of the Courts of Probate, discussing and remodelling the whole system,
were from his hand.
[144] Williamson, History of Maine, Vol. II. p. 663.
In 1833 he was appointed to the vacancy, occasioned by the death of
Professor Ashmun, in the commission for revising and arranging the
statutes of Massachusetts, being associated in this important work with
those eminent lawyers, Mr. Jackson and Mr. Stearns. The first part,
or that entitled _Of the Internal Administration of the Government_,
corresponding substantially with Blackstone's division _Of the Rights
of Persons_, was executed by him. This alone entitles him to be
gratefully remembered, not only by those having occasion to consult
the legislation of Massachusetts, but by all who feel an interest in
scientific jurisprudence.
His contributions to what may be called the literature of his
profession were frequent. The American Jurist was often enriched by
articles from his pen. Among these is a review of the valuable work of
Williams on the Law of Executors, and of Curtis's Admiralty Digest,
where he examined the interesting history of this jurisdiction; also an
article on the Study of the Roman Law, where, within a short compass,
he presented a lucid history of this system, and the growth in Germany
of the historical and didactic schools, "rival houses," as they may
be called, in jurisprudence, whose long and unpleasant feud has only
recently subsided.
In the Law Reporter for September, 1841, he published an article of
singular merit, on National Rights and State Rights, being a review
of the case of Alexander McLeod, recently determined in the Supreme
Court of New York. This was afterwards republished in a pamphlet, and
extensively circulated. It is marked by uncommon learning, clearness,
and power. The course of the courts of New York is handled with
freedom, and the supremacy of the Government vindicated. Of all the
discussions elicited by that interesting question, on which, for a
while, seemed to hang the portentous issues of peace and war between
the United States and Great Britain, that of Mr. Pickering will be
admitted to take the lead, whether we consider its character as
an elegant composition, or as a searching review of the juridical
questions involved. In dealing with the opinion of Mr. Justice Cowen,
renowned for black-letter and the bibliography of the law, he shows
himself more than a match for this learned Judge, even in these
unfrequented fields, while the spirit of the publicist and jurist gives
a refined temper to the whole article, which we vainly seek in the
other production.
In the North American Review for October, 1840, is an article by him,
illustrative of Conveyancing in Ancient Egypt, being an explanation of
an Egyptian deed of a piece of land in hundred-gated Thebes, written
on papyrus, more than a century before the Christian era, with the
impression of a seal or stamp attached, and a certificate of registry
in the margin, in as regular a manner as the keeper of the registry in
the County of Suffolk would certify to a deed of land in the City of
Boston at this day. Jurisprudence is here adorned by scholarship.
There is another production which, like the preceding, belongs to the
department of literature as well as of jurisprudence: his Lecture on
the Alleged Uncertainty of the Law, delivered before the Boston Society
for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Though written originally for
the general mind, which it is calculated to interest and instruct in
no common degree, it will be read with equal advantage by the profound
lawyer. It is not easy to mention any popular discussion of a juridical
character, in our language, deserving of higher regard. It was first
published in the American Jurist, at the solicitation of the writer of
this sketch, who has never referred to it without fresh admiration of
the happy illustrations and quiet reasoning by which it vindicates the
science of the law.
* * * * *
In considering what Mr. Pickering accomplished out of his profession,
we are led over wide and various fields of learning, where we can
only hope to indicate his footprints, without presuming to examine or
describe the ground.
One of his earliest cares was to elevate the character of classical
studies in our country. In this respect his own example did much.
From the time he left the University, he was always regarded as an
authority on topics of scholarship. But his labors were devoted
especially to this cause. As early as 1805, in conjunction with his
friend, the present Judge White, of Salem, he published an edition of
the Histories of Sallust with Latin notes and a copious index. This is
one of the first examples, in our country, of a classic edited with
scholarly skill. The same spirit led him, later in life, to publish in
the North American Review, and afterwards in a pamphlet, "Observations
on the Importance of Greek Literature, and the Best Method of Studying
the Classics," translated from the Latin of Professor Wyttenbach. In
the course of the remarks with which he introduces the translation,
he urges with conclusive force the importance of raising the standard
of education in our country. "We are too apt," he says, "to consider
ourselves as an insulated people, as not belonging to the great
community of Europe; but we are, in truth, just as much members of it,
by means of a common public law, commercial intercourse, literature,
a kindred language and habits, as Englishmen or Frenchmen themselves
are; and we must procure for ourselves the qualifications necessary
to maintain that rank which we shall claim as equal members of such a
community."
His Remarks on Greek Grammars, which appeared in the American Journal
of Education in 1825, belongs to the same field of labor, as does
also his admirable paper, published in 1818, in the Memoirs of the
American Academy, on the Proper Pronunciation of the Ancient Greek
Language.[145] He maintained that it should be pronounced, as far
as possible, according to the Romaic or modern Greek, and learnedly
exposed the vicious usage introduced by Erasmus. His conclusions,
though controverted when first presented, are now substantially adopted
by scholars. We well remember his honest pleasure in a communication
received within a few years from President Moore, of Columbia College,
in which that gentleman, who had once opposed his views, announced his
change, and, with the candor that becomes his honorable scholarship,
volunteered to them the sanction of his approbation.