USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Springfield > An address, delivered in the new court house, in Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, at the dedication of the same, April 28, 1874 : containing sketches of the early history of the old county of Hampshire and the county of Hampden, and of the members of the bar in those counties, with an appendix > Part 5
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The clerkship of Mr. Bates was spent partly in the law school at Litchfield, under the charge of Hon. Tapping Reeve, and partly in the office of Hon. Joseph Lyman, who was then a practising lawyer in Westfield, but afterwards removed to North- ampton. Mr. Bates remained in practice until 1825 ; when, having initiated me into the mystery of making writs and deeds, and renewing executions, referring me to Oliver's Precedents of Declarations and Chitty's Pleading, he set me down to the study of Blackstone's Commentaries and Bacon's Abridgement, and betook himself to what he most enjoyed, the cultivation of his farm ; leaving me to " come up" as a lawyer, wise or otherwise, as the Fates or my own industry should decree.
THE HON. GEORGE BLISS
was the senior member of the bar, at the time of my connection with it. He was called Master George, because he had been accustomed to have a number of students, and was reported to have been more than usually attentive to their instruction. I have understood that he prepared a course of law lectures, upon the different branches of the law, which he was accustomed to deliver to them. He appeared to be an old man, in 1825 ; and yet he was graduated in 1784, and died in 1830, at the age of 65. I never saw him in the common pleas. It was said, that, when that court was organized, in 1820, he desired and expected an appointment as one of the judges ; and he was grievously disappointed at the nomination of Judge Howe, "one of the boys," for a situation to which he supposed himself so much better entitled. Therefore it was that he abandoned his practice in that court, and would not even give it his countenance. As a consequence, his practice fell off in the supreme court ; for the public seems to expect, that if a lawyer is not willing to devote himself to their interests, in any legal tribunal, he is not the person to resort to for counsel. I do not know that he was ever a candidate for any judicial office, or would have accepted an appointment as a judge of either court. His friends, who estimated his knowledge of the law, attributed the neglect to ap- point him, to his religious opinions ; and the dissatisfaction that he felt with the constitution of the court, may have arisen from the fact that the judicial offices were given to those who were not so well qualified as he was, without even the compliment of
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an offer of the office to him. He was, undoubtedly, a most thorough and erudite lawyer, as his arguments in the reports show, and as his reputation has come down to us. But he was far from being an eloquent man. He was no orator to steal away the hearts of the people, or to delight and astonish popular audiences. He had-
" Neither wit nor words,
Action, nor utterances, nor the power of speech, To stir men's blood."
When addressing the jury, or the court, his hands were usually behind him, his head was bowed down and his language dry and terse ; but he was so clear and direct, his reasoning so close and just, that he arrested and kept the attention of his audience, and, especially, of the court. As a technical lawyer, he was without a peer ; and it was said, that he was fond of displaying his technical learning. I heard it related, that, having subjected an opposing lawyer to the imposition of terms, by a successful plea in abatement, the latter, in reading a writ, read as follows : " For that the said defendant, in the year of our Lord and Sav- iour, Jesus Christ,"-"What," said the judge, " is the occasion of that profanity?" " Why," said the witty relative, "I thought that if I did not allege what Lord it was, my Cousin George would plead in abatement !"
Soon after my admission to the bar, I commenced an action of covenant-broken, upon the covenant in a deed of warranty of lands in Virginia, for a failure of title. The case was com- plicated ; and my father advised me to go to Springfield and consult Mr. Bliss ; " for," said he, "when you have a difficult, knotty case, there is no so good man to unravel it as Master George." Accordingly, I went to his office, took from my satchel a large bundle of transcripts of trials, and judgments in Virginia, and opened my case. I waited to hear the responses of the legal oracle. In a few moments, he raised his head, and, in a petulant manner, inquired, " What did you bring this knotty case to me for ? " "Because," said I, "my father told me, that when I had a difficult, knotty case, there was no so good a man to unravel it as Master George Bliss." The old gentleman,-for he looked old, and was always called old ; but, if his head had not been so filled with Coke and Littleton, and the old black letter folios, he would then have been young,-gave a hitch in his
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chair. and a sort of a half-gratified smile seemed almost to break out upon his face, as he said, "Well, that is just the way ! If a lawyer has got a complicated case, that nobody can under- stand, then it is all 'Master George ! Master George!' but if it is a plain matter, then off he goes to Oliver, or George, or Willard ! But come, let me see your brief !" He went over it with me, step by step, examining the transcripts of judgment, the records of evidence of ouster and eviction, sometimes sug- gesting striking out unnecessary parts, and again adding to its particularities, until I could but wonder to what a perfect training his mind had been brought, with the peculiarities of a new case, new in its association of facts, but depending on principles as old as the English Justinian. My conference continued with the kindly, genial gentleman,-for when the crust was broken, I so found him,-for nearly an half day, when he told me he guessed I'd get along ; that he didn't see how the defendants could dodge a verdict.
From hearing his argumentation of a few cases, in the su- preme court, and more from my interview with him, I was per- suaded that he deserved the reputation with which he was ac- credited. The fact that he was a formidable antagonist of the late Gov. Caleb Strong, is strong evidence in his favor. There was, it was reported, a feeling among the old lawyers, that the old court, which contained among its members Simeon Strong and Moses Bliss, was inclined to favor their relatives. I re- member hearing repeated a poetical squib, which I was told was current at the bar, after the close of the Revolution, of which I only retain the last couplet :
The parties are fools, and the witnesses liars,
And Judge Moses' learning but troubles the triers.
It was also said, that one of the old judges was accustomed to sleep, at times, upon the bench ; and on a trial, the chief justice of that court, awaking him, inquired, "Who shall we give this case to, Caleb or George?" "Who had the last one?" inquired the sleeper. "George," was the reply. "Well, then, give this to Caleb !"
THE HON. SAMUEL LATHROP,
of West Springfield, was graduated at Yale College in 1792. I do not find on the record the date of his admission to the bar :
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but his name is inserted on the list, in the appendix of the ad- dress of Mr. Bliss, and it is presumed that he was duly admit- ted, in course. In 1825, he still continued in practice ; but it was partially interrupted by his long service in Congress, as a member of the House, and by his subsequent terms of service in the Senate of this Commonwealth. He was the son of the Rev. Dr. Joseph Lathrop, a man of a large frame, a dignified presence, and well calculated to impress himself upon those with whom he came in contact. He was able and attentive to his public duties, and, at different times, was nominated to the office of governor. He was said to have been a sound, well- read lawyer, and his arguments display his erudition, as they appear in our reports.
Next, in the order of seniority, of those who were in practice at the bar of Hampden county, in 1825, was the
HON. ELIJAH H. MILLS,
of Northampton. He was graduated at Williams College in 1797, admitted to the bar of the supreme judicial court in Northampton, in 1803, and was in large and leading practice. His election as a Senator of the United States interfered exten- sively with his professional practice; but, in the vacations of his professional duties, he had abundant retainers for the full power of his exertions. He was connected in business with Hon. John H. Ashmun, who was subsequently Royal professor of law in the University of Harvard, who was well able to pre- pare his cases, or to argue them, in case of the necessary absence of Mr. Mills. During the years 1827 and 1828, I was in the law school at Northampton, and was a clerk in the office of Mills & Ashmun. Of course I had the opportunity of ob- serving, to some extent, the mode of preparation of their cases. This was mostly done by Mr. Ashmun, during the absence of Mr. Mills. He prepared an elaborate brief, noting the antici- pated objections, and citing the authorities, and also setting down the objections to be made to the proposed evidence of the opposite counsel. This was done with a thoroughness, that I have no where else seen equaled in the practice of any other lawyer in my experience. The brief was submitted to Mr. Mills, who appeared to apprehend it instinctively, and with a slight conversation, he went forth equipped for the contest.
7
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The latter was a man, in person, of full size, well formed, erect, and graceful in his carriage, with an eye, which, when lighted up with excitement, was as powerful as the eye of the Caliph Vathek upon the heart of a dishonest witness. He was con- nected with Judge Howe in the management of the law school at Northampton, but his health was then in a decline, and he gradually withdrew from the school, and at last from the active duties of the law office. When I first saw him, he appeared, to my boyish imagination, a most wonderful lawyer. At the courts in Hampshire, he was the adversary of Hon. Lewis Strong and Hon. Isaac C. Bates. The contests between them used to call together large audiences. The people seemed delighted to wit- ness the intellectual struggles of these eminent advocates. Mr. Strong rarely came to Hampden, but confined his practice to his own county of Hampshire. There he was at home, in the midst of his neighbors and his friends, and in a community that revered him, not more, perhaps, for his distinguished father's sake, than for his own. But Mr. Bates was a regular attendant at our courts in Hampden, and, in almost all impor- tant cases, both he and Mr. Mills were employed in opposition. If one of them was employed, the other, almost of necessity, was employed also.
No one, who is acquainted only with the style and manner of arguing cases, at the present time, can imagine the exhibition,- for such it often was,-of the counsel in those days in their addresses to the jury. Before the trial began, the case was thoroughly examined. The juniors brought to the aid of the leaders their whole stock of evidence, and all such suggestions as would properly aid in the presentation of the cause. Full briefs were made up ; and, when it could be anticipated, the clos- ing address would be to a great extent prepared. Usually, a large audience of the intelligent people of the town, the friends of the parties from their vicinity, and, by no means seldom, numbers of the reverend clergy were within the bar, or upon the side bench, to enjoy a rich, intellectual repast.
And it was rarely that they were not gratified. The argument of a cause was an argument for a cause. It was to vindicate and protect right. It was to sway and influence mind. It was to induce the impartial, and upright, and conservatorial portion of a judicial tribunal, to mete out equal and exact justice be-
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tween man and man; and if the advocate, perchance, glanced from the panel, towards whose hearts all his energies were bending, to " the sea of upturned faces " surrounding him closely on every side, and saw and felt-felt from their very silence-their answering sympathies, he could not but feel his own heart glow, with a new fervor, from their enkindling, The eloquence of the bar, compared with that of many popular lectures, or the dis- courses of some other assemblies, is entirely of a different character. It is not made up of high-sounding phrases, and metaphysical syllogisms, that require an accompanying diction- ary, or elaborate foot notes, to define and interpret. The client does not employ an advocate to amuse his audience with soft words, " in linked sweetness long drawn out," or to present them with sketches "that lead to bewilder, and dazzle to blind." It is his object, rather, to acquire and maintain substantial re- sults ; to protect virtue and to denounce vice ; and, however coolly and unconcernedly a wrong doer may repose under the homilies of the pulpit, to make him smart under the infliction, when the lawyer is the preacher.
HON. ISAAC C. BATES
was graduated at Yale College, in 1802, with the highest honors of his class. I have not found the date of his admission as an attorney of the common pleas, but he was admitted in the supreme court in 1807. He studied law in New Haven, and there he acquired that knowledge of general principles that served him so well in after years, in the place of continued study. Perhaps, as his friends thought, it was a misfortune to him that his tastes led him to some branches of agricultural pursuits ; and, for a time, he gave up to his partner the care of the office, contenting himself with arguing such cases as seemed to force themselves upon him. He had, however, those personal advantages,-that commanding presence, that rich, silvery voice, that graceful address, and that power of speech to stir men's blood,-that would not allow his powers to lie dormant. A speech of his before the Agricultural Society, in 1823, and an address before the Bible Society in New York city, about the same time, by the complimentary notices that they elicited, seemed to arouse his energies, and he devoted himself to the argument of important cases in the courts. His success was
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brilliant and rapid. Retainers poured in upon him, and success increased by each new effort. In the county of Hampshire, he rivaled Mr. Mills, as one of the two leaders of the bar; and in a class of cases he far exceeded him. He rose with equally rapid strides in this county, and after the illness of Mr. Mills, he was the acknowledged leader.
His addresses to the jury were studied and eloquent; and where the facts and law of a cause would authorize it, his influ- ence with the jury was omnipotent. Judge Howe, on his return from a term in Hampden, in narrating a speech of Mr. Bates, spoke of it as the most eloquent and effective speech to which he had ever listened; and Prof. Ashmun, in speaking of another argument, when he was upon the other side, said that he was so hurried along by the power of the advocate, that he, for the time, forgot on which side he was engaged, and that all his sympathies moved on with him in opposition to the case of his own client. I know that an eloquent address falls upon the ear of a young lawyer, with more of power and beauty, than in ma- turer years. But it has been my fortune to listen to the great orators of Massachusetts,-whom those of no other county or state have exceeded,-and I can safely say, that I have never heard more powerful addresses to the jury than from Isaac C. Bates. He was elected, and served for several terms in the House of Representatives, and for a period of five years in the Senate, and his eloquence in each body received high commenda- tion. Those who listened to, or read the glowing tribute to his memory at the time of his death, that was pronounced by Mr. Webster in the United States Senate, will appreciate how feel- ingly the words of the great senator portrayed the eloquence of one, whose lips were to be evermore silent.
THE HON. OLIVER B. MORRIS
was graduated at Williams College, studied law with Mr. Bliss, and was admitted to the bar in 1807. He married his daugh- ter, and commenced practice in Springfield, where he continued it, until, at a late period of his life, he retired from the profession, and devoted his time to antiquarian and literary pursuits. Early in life, he was the prosecuting attorney of the county; then he obtained the office of register of probate ; and, on the decease of Judge Hooker, he became judge of probate. He performed
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the duties of these various offices with industry and ability, without a suspicion of unfairness ever attaching itself to him. His law practice was large and profitable. He was an impulsive man, became intensely interested in his client, and labored with corresponding effort. After he retired from practice, his heart continued in the profession, and he loved to linger in the court- room, and watch the progress of events in a theater, in which he had formerly performed so leading a part. He died in 1871, at the ripe age of 88 years.
HON. ALANSON KNOX,
or General Knox, which was the title that he was known by, was admitted in 1810, and was a native of, and, during the greater part of his life, practiced law in Blandford. He had, at differ- ent times, many students in his office, among whom was his son-in-law, Hon. Reuben Atwater Chapman, afterwards chief justice of our supreme judicial court. In the latter years of his life, he removed to the State of Ohio.
ASAHEL WRIGHT
was a graduate of Williams College in 1803, settled in Ches- ter, married a daughter of the Rev. Aaron Bascom of that town, continued in the practice of his profession there until his death in 1830, at the age of 48. I have but a faint recollection of him. His professional business was small, but he was highly esteemed as a useful man, in the affairs of the town, and soci- ety, and his decease was felt to be a serious loss to the people.
HON. DANIEL WELLS
was a native of Greenfield, was graduated at Dartmouth in 1810, and was admitted to the bar in 1813. He is said to have been a most diligent student, and he certainly was a profound lawyer. For many years he was the leader of the Franklin bar, and was in a large and successful practice. He was for one year a State senator ; and there was an incident in his life, which shows the difficulty of special legislation.
A case was submitted to him for examination, and he found that an action could not be brought to try the right, at a court of law, without a special provision for the purpose. Being nom- inated as a candidate for the Senate, he consented to stand for
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the office, and was elected. As chairman of the judiciary com- mittee, he reported a bill, which passed to be enacted, and he went home and brought a suit under its provisions. At the hearing, at nisi prius, Judge Wilde ruled, that the act did not . provide for such a case ! Mr. Wells insisted ; and, as a conclu- sive argument, stated to the court that he drew the bill for the purposes of that case, and that such was the design of the com- mittee. "Then," said the judge, "you did not say what you ought to have said ; for such is not the meaning of the words of the act," and, on exceptions, such was the ruling of the whole court.
Mr. Wells had acquired such a reputation at the bar, that, in 1837, when a new judge was to be appointed, his friends pre- sented his name as a candidate, with a strong representation from the bar. Mr. Dewey, however, received the appointment, and he succeeded to the office of district attorney, made vacant by the elevation of Mr. Dewey to the bench. He continued in this office from 1837 to 1844, and during the period he devoted himself to the performance of its duties, with a faithfulness, a diligence, and a laboriousness, that has never been surpassed. At one time, during his term of office, he was called to attend a session of the court in Middlesex county, to conduct the pros- ecution of William Wyman, the president of the Middlesex bank, for the fraudulent embezzlement of its funds. The defence was conducted by Mr. Dexter, one of the ablest lawyers in the Commonwealth, assisted by Mr. Webster. It was a long and ably contested trial ; and the perusal of the history of it, as well as the account which is given of it, bears full testimony to the ability of Mr. Wells, as counsel of the Commonwealth.
Upon the resignation of Chief Justice Williams, in 1844, Mr. Wells was appointed to the office of chief justice of the common pleas, and remained in the office for a period of ten years, till his death in 1854. As to the manner in which he discharged the duties of his office, there has been a difference of opinion. But, I apprehend, that there has been no doubt, in the mind of any one, of his conscientiousness, his impartiality, and his puri- ty of character. No man, who ever sat upon the judicial bench, could ever assume, with more propriety than Daniel Wells, that noblest motto of a judge,-
"No favor sways us, and no fear shall awe !"
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His errors arose, so far as they were errors, from his convictions of judicial duty. The court, in his opinion, was a place where justice was to be administered ; and it was the duty of a judge to see that it was properly done. He commenced his adminis- tration of the law with the presumption, that each party would entrust his case to his own lawyer, and abide the issue upon his skill. He likened a judicial trial to a tournament, where the opposing knights were to continue the contest, until the victory was won, while the judge was only to sit, like the arbiter of the tournament, and see that the counsel conducted the struggle with decorous fairness. But, as he afterward found that clients came to the most important trials, with counsel unequally matched, one of them, as he once expressed it, "like a large fish, swallowing his small adversary, case and all," he concluded that if it was his duty to see justice done, it was necessary to do something else than to sit still, and rule only upon the points of law raised by the counsel. It was necessary to interfere, to inquire, to suggest, and, to a certain extent, to take part in the trial of a case.
Whenever a judge commences acting upon this theory, he enters at once upon the field of discretion; and the exercise of judicial discretion depends upon individual temperament, the depth of moral convictions, and the correctness of judgment, as to the extent of the interference, that is necessary to secure the correct decision of a case. If a judge essays, not only to decide the questions that arise according to the law, but, by oc- casional suggestions, to prevent the skillful lawyer from taking an unfair advantage, there is no occasion for any complaint of magisterial interference. But if he adopts the conclusion that it is his duty, not only to hold the scales of justice between the parties fairly, but to weigh the talents and efforts of the respect- ive counsel, to balance the scales by his own aid to the weaker party, he at once makes himself a party to the cause, and does a greater injury to the opposing party, than if he were to leave the bench for a time, and assume openly the role of the advo- cate. So far, therefore, as his nice perceptions of what was right may have led him to overstep the line of judicious dis- cretion, he may have been amenable to censure ; but no one who knew the purity of his mind, and the justice of his heart, would ever suspect him of an improper motive.
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WILLIAM BLAIR,
a native of Blandford, was admitted in 1813, and settled in Westfield. During his clerkship, he had a high reputation as a young man of an acute mind, who bade fair to take a distin- guished rank at the bar. He was always an ingenious, pains- taking lawyer, in the habit of making a thorough investigation of the law and facts of his cases, and presenting them to the court in the best form. Early in life he had formed a habit which impaired his energies, and held him back from that emi- nence that his youth had promised. But he had an element in his character that no habit could impair, and that was his high sense of professional honor. He realized to the fullest extent his duties to others, and, except in one particular, his duties to himself. No temptation, however pressing, could ever swerve him from his duty to his clients, his profession, or to the world ; and no one ever heard from him a profane or indecent expres- sion. As may be inferred, he died poor, the victim of what may well be called a disease, against which he had long and faith- fully struggled, but which, it seems, he could not conquer ; and when he died, at a full old age, he received not only the commis- eration and pity, but the respect of all that knew him.
HON. JOHN MILLS
was settled in Southwick, and married the daughter of Col. Enos Foote. He was a native of Sandisfield, a student in the office of John Phelps of West Granville, and was admitted to the bar in this county in 1815. His business was extensive and well attended to, and he amassed a considerable property by his pro- fessional practice. His personal appearance was prepossessing. He was of medium size, rather burly in person, of a florid com- plexion, and his head was of a polished and glossy baldness. He early took to politics, and his fine appearance and his ur- bane manners aided his reputation for talent, so that he was, in 1826-1828, placed in the senatorial chair of the president. He is said to have made an excellent presiding officer.
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