As chairman of the Committee on the Revision of the Statutes, I framed
and reported the amendments to the Revised Statutes, which were
afterwards incorporated in the edition of 1878, which I prepared by
the appointment of President Hayes after my term in the Senate expired,
which was made probably, upon the recommendation of Attorney-General
Devens and without any solicitation on my part, or by any of my friends,
as far as I know.
The edition of 1878 contains references to every decision of the Supreme
Court down to and including volume 194. It contains a reference to the
decisions of the Supreme Court, all arranged and classified under the
various sections, articles and paragraphs of that instrument. In doing
this work I was compelled to read all the opinions of the Court from
the beginning of the Government, so far, at least, as to understand
the character of each opinion.
The preparation of the index was the work of months. Its value is great
and the credit is due to Chief Justice Richardson who not only aided me,
but he devised the plan and gave direction to the work as it went on.
It was our rule to index every provision under at least three heads,
and in many cases there is a sub-classification under the general
designation. We avoided an error into which many writers fall--we
never indexed under the lead of an adjective, article or participle.