[From _The Life of John J. Crittenden_, edited by his daughter,
Mrs. Chapman Coleman (Philadelphia, 1871)]
At the opening of the court this morning, Mr. Crittenden, the
Attorney-General of the United States, addressed the court as follows:
"Since its adjournment yesterday, the members of the bar and officers
of the court held a meeting and adopted resolutions expressive of
their high sense of the public and private worth of the Hon. John
McKinley, one of the justices of this court, and their deep regret at
his death. By the same meeting I was requested to present those
resolutions to the court, and to ask that they might be entered on its
records, and I now rise to perform that honored task.
"Besides the private grief which naturally attends it, the death of a
member of this court, which is the head of the great, essential, and
vital department of the government, must always be an event of public
interest and importance.
"I had the good fortune to be acquainted with Judge McKinley from my
earliest manhood. In the relations of private life he was frank,
hospitable, affectionate. In his manners he was simple and unaffected,
and his character was uniformly marked with manliness, integrity, and
honor. Elevation to the bench of the Supreme Court made no change in
him. His honors were borne meekly, without ostentation or presumption.
"He was a candid, impartial, and righteous judge. Shrinking from no
responsibility, he was fearless in the performance of his duty, seeking
only to do right, and fearing nothing but to do wrong. Death has now set
her seal to his character, making it unchangeable forever; and I think
it may be truly inscribed on his monument that as a private gentleman
and as a public magistrate he was without fear and without reproach.
"This occasion cannot but remind us of other afflicting losses which
have recently befallen us. The present, indeed, has been a sad year for
the profession of the law. In a few short months it has been bereaved of
its brightest and greatest ornaments. Clay, Webster, and Sergeant have
gone to their immortal rest in quick succession. We had scarcely
returned from the grave of one of them till we were summoned to the
funeral of another. Like bright stars they have sunk below the horizon,
and have left the land in widespread gloom. This hall that knew them so
well shall know them no more. Their wisdom has no utterance now, and the
voice of their eloquence shall be heard here no more forever.
"This hall itself seems as though it was sensible of its loss, and
even these marble pillars seem to sympathize as they stand around us
like so many majestic mourners.
"But we will have consolation in the remembrance of these illustrious
men. Their _names_ will remain to us and be like a light kindled in the
sky to shine upon us and to guide our course. We may hope, too, that the
memory of them and their great examples will create a virtuous emulation
which may raise up men worthy to be their successors in the service of
their country, its constitution, and its laws.
"For this digression, and these allusions to Clay, Webster, and
Sergeant, I hope the occasion may be considered as a sufficient excuse,
and I will not trespass by another word, except only to move that these
resolutions in relation to Judge McKinley, when they shall have been
read by the clerk, may be entered on the records of this court."