A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 97

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188

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We call up in review before us the life of Coke with alternate emotions of regret, shame, sorrow, pride and consolation. Was that life as a journey of a day? If so, it was by path- ways through dreary and desolate wastes, over Sorbonnian bogs, each footstep sinking in the slime, but occasionally leading up to Alpine heights, glowing with celestial light and beau- ty. It was a life often marred by want of moral

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tone; often redeemed by elevated sentiments ; full of distortions and contradictions. As the Speaker when in Parliament, under Elizabeth, he was shamefully subservient; as a crown officer, extorting confessions from prisoners put to the torture, he was pitiless; as uttering reproaches and accusations against Sir Walter Raleigh, on trial for his life, he was fierce and brutal. His devotion to study and his mastery of the law were unprecedented ; his assertion of his rights as a judge, against royal intru- sion, was admirable; his intrigue to regain royal favor by the marriage of his daughter to the brother of Buckingham was intolerable; his independence, virtue, courage, devotion in Parliament, under James I and Charles I gave special grace and value to the history of the times. But our sensibilities are touched when we find him a prisoner in the Tower of London. The room in which he is confined, long devoted to ignoble uses, becomes sacred. We enter with reverence, as upon holy ground. He is absorbed in his work on the Commentar- ies. As he writes the hand is tremulous; but that hand had never been polluted by accepting bribes.

In some aspects of life and character Coke appears to greater advantage than Bacon. Both were insatiate in their ambition, implac- able in their resentments. The one was rough in manners, arrogant in speech, ready to strike terrible blows openly; but poor in feigning and clumsy in changing his ground. The other was courtly, plausible, serene, had a gentle touch, even when that touch boded ruin, was an athlete in fencing with cunning words, had the facial adroitness of a trimmer, was covetous, to his own disgrace and ruin. Those who dislike the one may well despise the other. For neither of them can we feel the love and sympathy we have for Sir John Fortescue and Sir Thomas More. In scientific speculation, no jurist has commanded as much respect as Bacon. In exact and profound knowledge of the old common and statute law, none could rival Coke. But, in view of the times in which they lived, the work allotted, and the materials in which they wrought, it would be unjust to weigh and estimate their labors with reference to the more enduring and fruitful services of the great English jurists and statesmen of later days. In the freedom of judicial inquiry and direction, in the temper of the people, the condition of trade and commerce, and in the character of legislation, there had been a great advance between their time and that of Hard-

wick. Coke and Bacon could not for any prac- tical purpose have adapted their work to the coming and higher civilization. As in the nat- ural world we have progress and rotation, each season performing its appropriate office, so in the intellectual, social, and political life of a people events are marshalled in due order and relation-a gradual development. What was easy of achievement when the times were ripe for it would have been impossible if at- tempted prematurely or out of season. When Mansfield moulded and illustrated our con- mercial law the materials were at hand, plastic and ready for use.

In another part of this work mention was made of the unusual honor paid to Mr. J. S. T. Stranahan in seeing his own statue erected by the people among whom he had lived and labored for so many years. A similar honor was, on May 8, 1895, paid to Benjamin D. Silliman, long the Nestor of the Brooklyn bar, and whose death in 1901 removed from public life a figure that had been active in Brooklyn's affairs for nearly two generations. On the. date mentioned a marble bust of Mr. Silliman, from the studio of William Ordway Partridge, was unveiled and presented to the New Eng- land Society. It was the occasion of a brilliant gathering. Gen. Stewart L. Woodford, Will- iam M. Evarts and the Rev. Dr. Storrs were among the speakers. Mr. Silliman was born at Newport, R. I., in 1805, and was graduated at Yale in the class of 1824. He studied law in the office of Chancellor Kent and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1829. Thenceforth his life was bound up in his profession and he sought relaxation in literary pursuits. His home in Brooklyn was the constant scene, until the weight and infirmities and changes of years forced him to abandon all sorts of ex- citement, of pleasant and intellectual gather- ings. Though often urged to enter political life, he invariably refused, except when he served a term in the State Legislature. In 1873 he was prevailed upon to become the can- didate for Attorney General of the State on the Republican ticket. The ticket was defeat- ed, and while Mr. Silliman mourned the blow

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to his party, he was personally glad to escape what to him were the annoyances of public office, for as United States District Attorney, which office he resigned in 1866, he knew that even legal officials had to submit to much that made political life repulsive.

As a lawyer Mr. Silliman was rather dis- tinguished for his deep and thoroughi knowl- edge of the fundamentals of jurisprudence, for his complete mastery of the details of every case submitted to him, for the clearness and cogency of his arguments, than for his ora- torical ability. He was more conversational in his tone at the bar than impassioned or glow- ing, but when he laid down a point it was so clear, so logical, so matter-of-fact in its as- sumptions that he seldom failed to win his case. His knowledge of the "authorities" was most thoroughgoing and he could support his own views with an array of decisions that left little to controvert. As a chamber or consult- ing lawyer he was without a peer, and his cautious and conservative advice, his desire to arrange out of court all differences that could be so adjusted, and his honest appraisal of the legal status and prospects of his client, often effected settlements involving vast interests without the intervention and expense of liti- gation.

For his legal profession, as such, Mr. Silli- man had the most unbounded admiration. In addressing a graduating class at Columbia Col- lege he said :

In welcoming you, gentlemen, to the broth- erhood of the Bar, you may well be congratu- lated on the peculiar advantages you enjoyed in preparing for its duties. You have not been left to pick up, as you best might, here and there, scattered fragments of legal knowledge, but you have been systematically instructed in the principles and philosophy of the law. You have been guided and trained by eminent and learned teachers in a school that ranks second to none in the land for the completeness of its system and the thoroughness of its instruction. You come not as undrilled militia, but as grad- uates from the very West Point of the pro- fession.

Widely different have been (with few ex- ceptions) the opportunities of legal instruc- tion in this country until a comparatively re- cent period. The student was required to enter the office of a practicing attorney, and there to pursue his studies. He was at once engaged in the practice of that which he had not learned the principles. He became familiar by daily observations, and as a copyist, with the forms of conveyancing and phraseology of plead- ings, without understanding their reason. *

* * As a general rule, it was impossible for the attorney, in whose office the student was engaged, to give any material attention to his studies, and his progress and attainments, therefore, lacked system, and were slow, con- fused and uncertain. A formal and superficial examination finally passed him to the Bar, where he could rarely feel at home until he had acquired by subsequent laborious and anxious practice a knowledge of very much that he should have attained at the outset. * In Europe, on the other hand, full and careful in- * struction in the principles of law has ever been a pre-requisite to admission to the Bar, and the schools in which such instruction has been given have been organized, fostered, and more or less regulated by public authority. Regular schools of law were established in Rome, in the time of Augustus, at which those who aspired to the honors of the forum were assiduous stu- dents. None but the thoroughly learned and skilled could dream of such honors where Scaevola, Sulpicius and Cicero had been com- petitors, and where even the boys, according to Cicero, were taught the "twelve tables" as a necessary lesson (discebamus enim pueri XII tablulas ut carmen necessarium) to instruct them in so much of the laws as should be ob- tained by every Roman citizen. In France such schools existed as far back as the twelfth cen- tury. From an early period the law has been, and still is, most fully and elaborately taught by renowned professors in the Universities of Germany and Holland. In England the schools of law have been less regular and complete than on the Continent, but the qualifications of candidates for the English Bar have, neverthe- less, been measured by a very high standard.

We regard the annual reinforcement of the Bar by a class of accomplished and educated gentlemen who have been thus thoroughly taught in the principles of the law, and whose minds have been carefully disciplined and trained for its intellectual duties, as sure to elevate the standard of legal attainment, and

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to promote the honor and usefulness of the profession. * * *

A grand future beckons you, and you have the best preparation for the course. But we must bear in mind that other stout knights, who have had no such advantages as you have had, will enter the lists with strong lances, and compete with you for the higher prizes. The great lawyers who preceded us-the Hamil- tons, the Kents, the Jays, the Van Vechtens, the Spencers, the Hills, the Wellses, the Oak- leys, the Duers, the Woods, the Talcotts, the Ogdens, the Hoffmans, the Van Burens, the Butlers-had not such training as you have en- joyed. But what summits did they not attain ! I have spoken of this school as the "West Point" of the profession; but we have seen within the last six years that other soldiers than those who graduated at West Point won victories and received laurels-marched to the front with muskets on their shoulders and re- turned with stars on their shoulders.

At the same time he warned his auditors against indulging in practices which are apt to militate against legal ethics and defeat the ends of justice-practices which were then, and still are, often indulged in, especially by young lawyers in their desire to win a position quickly. He said : "No man can, consistently with personal honor or professional reputa- tion, misstate a fact or a principle to the court or jury. The man who would cheat a court or jury would cheat anybody else. Measured by the lowest standard, that of expediency, no lawyer can, in any case, afford to act meanly or speak untruly. He owes no such duty to his client ; an honest client would not be safe in the hands of a lawyer who would do either."

In speaking of the frequent popular denun- ciation of lawyers in defending cases-espe- cially criminal cases in which the guilt of the accused is evident to everyone who "reads the newspapers"-and succeed in getting a ver- dict actually or practically removing the ac- cused from the grasp of the law, Mr. Silliman laid down a ruling which must be accepted as just :

It needs but little thought to convince even the vulgar that the idea that the vocation of

lawyers is inconsistent with the strictest truth, is but vulgar error. In support of the charge, it is often said that counsel will not refuse to defend a prisoner whom he supposes to be guilty of the offense for which he is to be tried. The answer to this is plain: The accused person is not to be tried by the impres- sions, or even by the convictions, of any one man, whether lawyer or layman. The law of the land requires, not only for the sake of the accused, but for the safety of every citizen, that no man shall be tried and convicted ex- cept by a jury of twelve men. The question of his guilt or innocence calls for a division of labor in the process by which it is to be de- termined. It is made the duty of the counsel for the prosecution to conduct one, and of the counsel for the prisoner to conduct the other branch of the investigation; for the former to collect and present before the jury the evi- dence against the accused, and to state such views adverse to the prisoner as result from the whole testimony ; and for the latter to col- lect and present before the jury the evidence in favor of the prisoner, and to state all such views in his favor as result from the whole testimony.

If counsel assumes the guilt of an accused person before that guilt has been judicially as- certained, if he determines at the outset that the accused is guilty, he takes upon himself most unjustifiably the combined character and prerogative of accuser, witness, jury and judge; and if, because of such conclusions in his own mind, he refuses to conduct the de- fense of the prisoner, he throws the weight of his own character and convictions into the scale against him.

Of course were we attempting a complete chronicle of the bench and bar of Brooklyn many names would be included in the retro- spect, some of which have acquired a national measure of fame, but the aim here has been to select a few judges, attorneys, men of local fame as well as those whose names belong to the nation, who are representative of all ranks. of the greatest of all the professions.

But what a galaxy of brilliant men the story of whose lives the biographer who would aim to cover the bar of Kings County a decade ago could draw upon for illustrations ! Ben- jamin F. Tracy, statesman as well as lawyer,

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although now in practice in New York, was for years the leader of the bar in Brooklyn. Judge George G. Reynolds, Judge Alexander McCue, Major Gen. Duryea, Judge N. H. Clement, who succeeded the erudite Nielson, Judge S. D. Morris, who for 9 years was Dis- trict Attorney, Thomas G. Shearman, who was as well known as a publicist and political re- former as a lawyer. General J. S. Catlin, who won an enviable record in the field as a sol- dier ; Mark E. Wilbur, another distinguished lawyer-soldier; Judge T. W. Gilbert, who in 1865 was elected to the bench of the Supreme Court after being nominated by conventions of both the great political parties and held the seat until 1882, when the legal age limit compelled his retirement ; ; Judge Henry A. Moore, a graduate from the famous office of Lott, Murphy and Vanderbilt, and County Judge for some twenty-eight years; Asa W. Tenney, who for over a decade was Unit- ed States District Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Calvin E. Pratt, who fought at Bull Run and until 1891 carried in his cheek bone a bullet which had prostrated him at Mechanicsville, Va., while fighting un- der Gen. Porter, who was recommended for promotion to a brigadier generalship by Mc- Clellan and was promoted, succeeding Han- cock in the command of the 6th Army Corps, and .who on returning to civil life resumed his old profession of the law, and in 1869 was elected to the bench of the Supreme Court; but even the names alone which come up to memory would fill a chapter. De- tailed sketches of most of these appear in other sections of this work.

Some of the present-day leaders of the bar are deserving of brief mention, for their public services 'are such as to show that the old pre- eminence of the City of Churches in the "forum of justice" is still maintained and that the legal profession is still prominent in all that stands for good citizenship,-honesty in public life, and in knowledge of and devotion to the legal system, which, after all, has been

the backbone of American liberty and which has stood amid all the political turmoils which have excited the people since the adoption of the Constitution for the freedom and equal- ity of the citizen, for free speech, freedom of contract, and the purity, potency and dignity of the source in these United States of all power-the ballot box which registers and de- termines the people's will.

Perhaps the most widely known exponent of all this at the present time is Justice Will- iam J. Gaynor of the Supreme Court, whose services in connection with the ballot-box frauds at Gravesend won for him the gratitude of every man who values liberty and popular government. Justice Gaynor was born in Onieda County, N. Y., in 1851, and spent his early years on a farm. He received his aca- demic training at Whitestown, and for a time was employed as a teacher in Boston, during which time he availed himself of every chance to add to his own education. In 1873 he settled in Brooklyn and studied law, maintain- ing himself at the same time by newspaper work. In 1875 he was admitted to the bar and soon had quite a large practice. He soon be- came known for his mastery of local questions and as a stanch and unwavering advocate of good government and came prominently to the front in public life as the counsel for Mr. William Ziegler in the contest against the city's purchase of the plant and assets of the Long Island Water Supply Company. All of Mr. Gaynor's legal points in this case were fully sustained by the courts and as a result the city saved a large sum of money. But apart from that saving, a principle was in- volved with which the whole cause of munic- ipal government was concerned. Besides this Mr. Gaynor appeared in several other cases in which the rights of the people were involved, notably against the system of giving away pub- lic franchises, which has lost not Brooklyn alone, but every American city so much in the way of the collection of practical assets which, created by the community, should be shared by

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it. Mr. Gaynor is a Democrat, but in public life has been known for his complete indc- pendence of party control, and it was this in- dependence, his stern assertion of right, his un- swerving devotion to high ideals in politics whether in county, in state or in municipality which won for him the wonderful majority by which he was elected to the bench of the Supreme Court, where he still presides.

Judge Gaynor's opponent in the contest for the Supreme Court Judgeship was a gen- tleman who has long enjoyed an enviable reputation in Brooklyn's legal circles, Mr. Thomas E. Pearsall. As representative of an old Brooklyn family Mr. Pearsall would be en- titled to a prominent position among the lead- ers of Brooklyn thought and society, even had not his own abilities and personal successes been such as to win for him an honored posi- tion among those who in the present day and generation are striving to make Brooklyn be regarded as the leading borough among those which make up the present City of New York. All his associations have been with Brooklyn. He was born there in 1842, studied in its pub- lic schools and then entered the law office of Judge Samuel Garrison, and at once diligent- ly entered on the study of his intended pro- fession. In such an office a student has an opportunity of learning in a practical manner the practice of law as well as its theory, office routine as well as general principles, and the application of these general principles and le- gal decisions to individual cases. By the time he had reached his 21st year Mr. Pearsall was so thoroughly skilled in the law that he had no difficulty in passing the examination at Pough- keepsie, which made him become a full fledged member of the bar. After getting his diploma, he continued his relations with Judge Garri- son for a time, hut finally concluded to engage in business on his account.

One of the first of his cases and of his suc- cesses was over the will of one Peter O'Hara, in which a large amount of money was in- volved upon the construction of several of its

clauses. Mr. Pearsall was retained by one of the heirs and the opposing counsel was the late Henry C. Murphy. After a considerable amount of litigation the case was settled in favor of Mr. Pearsall's client by a decision of the Court of Appeals.

In 1867 Mr. Pearsall entered into partner- ship with Judge Samuel D. Morris, then Dis- trict Attorney of Kings County, and from 1868 until 1872 he acted as Assistant District At- torney, besides carrying on most of the private legal business of his firm. He was the prose- cutor in many noted criminal trials, including that of Fanny Hyde, a murder case which for many reasons was one of the most prolific of talk and rumor in Brooklyn and which is still of interest to the student of jurisprudence. But perhaps the most celebrated trial in which Mr. Pearsall has taken part was that of Tilton vs. Beecher, in which he appeared for the plaintiff. Associated with him in behalf of Tilton was a brilliant array of counsel-Sam- uel D. Morris, Roger A. Pryor, Austin Ab- bott, William Fullerton and William A. Beach -but to him fell the real work of the plain- tiff's case, the preparation of the evidence, its presentation, and the arrangement and sifting of the authorities upon the important and far- reaching points of law which were constantly coming up. His work in that case was really extraordinary and the value of his services was freely acknowledged by all his associates.

A stanch Democrat, and a gifted orator, he has always been regarded as one of the local leaders of the party, but cares little for public office. His own legal business and the many and varied and important interests com- mitted to his care are more than sufficient to occupy his time. But he believes that one of the tests of good citizenship is the interest a man takes in public affairs and the doings of his political party. So he has been active in politics, served on the local Democratic com- mittee, and willingly accepted an appointment from Gov. Hill to membership on the commis- sion of lawyers which he intrusted with the

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delicate task of revising the section of the State Constitution appertaining to the ju- diciary. He is a member of the Montauk, Carleton and Crescent Clubs and is prominent in Masonic circles.

Justice Goodrich of the Supreme Court, Second District, who presides over the Appel- late Division of that body, was noted in Brook- lyn for his ability as an admiralty and com- mercial lawyer for many years before he was elevated to the bench. He was born at Ha- vana, in Catharines Township, Schuyler County, N. Y., in 1833. After he was grad- uated at Amherst College, in 1852, he went to Albany to study for the legal profession. He attended the Albany Law School and after- ward entered the office of Hill, Cagger & Porter, and there remained until 1854, when he was admitted to the bar. On receiving his diploma he settled in New York with the view of building up a practice, but in the course of five or six years he removed his office to Brooklyn, and has since been identified in a marked manner with its affairs. A devoted Republican in politics, he soon proved a pillar of strength to the local ranks of that party, and in 1866 was elected a member of Assem- bly. In 1869 he was defeated by a small majority for re-election, but in 1871 he was again returned. When his term closed he re- turned to his law practice and devoted him- self to it closely, without at the same time losing his interest in political life as may be judged from the fact that in 1890 he was elected Chairman of the Republican General Committee. As a member of the Brooklyn School Board to which, in 1867, he was ap- pointed by Mayor Schroeder, Justice Goodrich rendered much effective service to the cause of education, and in 1889 he was privileged to perform some good work for his profession and the business interests of the county as a member of the International Marine Confer- ence which met in June of that year in Wash- ington.

Justice Goodrich is a member of the Phil-

harmonic Society and the Apollo Club and is more or less active in several of Brooklyn's charitable and social organizations.

For many years the name of Grenville T. Jenks was one of the best known and best be- loved among the members of the bar in New York and Brooklyn. He was a man of many brilliant parts, a thorough law student, a care- ful, conscientious adviser, an eloquent speaker, a skillful examiner of witnesses, a man of ready wit, keen perception, wide reading and a thorough knowledge of human nature, he would have come to the front in any calling to which he had chosen to devote himself. He studied law in the office of Lott, Murphy & Vanderbilt in Brooklyn, and afterward in that of Storrs & Sedgewick in New York, and it was while so engaged, in 1851, that he was called to the bar. On receiving his certificate he at once entered into practice in New York and soon attained a marked measure of success. On removing his office to Brooklyn success still attended him, and when he died, in 1870, at the early age of 40 years, he was regarded not only as one of the most brilliant members of the local bar, but as a man who would, sooner or later, have attained any professional honor to which he might have aspired.

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 97

Author: Ross, Peter. cn Publication date: 1902 Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1188

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188