USA > New York > New York City > History of the Court of common pleas of the city and county of New York : with full reports of all important proceedings > Part 9
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Eminent as the bar of Albany then was for the ability and eloquence of its leading advocates, it may well be doubted whether it was not equally strong in the learn- ing, the industry, the acuteness, the skill and the vigi-
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lance of those who, according to the English classifica- tion of our profession, would have been known only as attorneys and solicitors.
Such men as Mr. Cagger, Mr. Van Schaick and Mr. Robinson, were powers, not only in their several offices, but in the Courts, where they seldom appeared, and even in general business and public affairs. Each performed great labors and discharged with success great responsibilities. If, as has sometimes been the fact, the public, not knowing whose were the real labors that contributed so much to the triumphs of the bar, gave the fame and reputation to those whose voices had been heard there, rather than to those who had, in fact, but in private, done so much both to deserve and to command those successes, it was not strange. I am sure that none of the gentlemen I have named ever experienced a pang of disappointment, or felt anything but the desire to accomplish, in their several spheres, all that was possible to protect and promote the rights and interests of their clients.
Soon after the close of Mr. Van Buren's term of office as attorney-general, he and Mr. Robinson removed to this city. Here Mr. Robinson, though still disin- clined to appear in the Court room, became well, if not widely, known for his great learning, his quick per- ceptions, his instant grasp of the points of a case, his logic, his power of legal statement; in short, for all that marks the lawyer and the judge.
As a consequence, he was sought as a referee. It was not at all the patronage of Judges, but the free choice of attorneys and parties, that made his offices to resemble rather a crowded Court room than the
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chambers of a very modest, quiet and retiring member of the profession.
Scarcely had Mr. Van Buren retired from active practice when those engaged in the litigated business of this city seemed to discover, as by common consent, that here was a great lawyer and a great Judge ready at their hand. The labors and studies of his early life had borne their fruit. And some years later, when this Court was reorganized, this verdict of the profes- sion was ratified by that of the people, and he was placed on the bench of this Court.
In what manner he discharged the duties of his high office needs not be told in this place or this presence. On his own part, with what assiduity and faithfulness; with what fulness of learning; with what wide re- search; with what quickness of perception; with what patience; with what gentleness of demeanor and kind- ness of heart; with what singleness of mind and simple purpose to perform every day the duties of that day; and on the part of others, with what genuine, univers- al confidence in his uprightness, his purity, his un- selfishness, his supreme love of right and truth and justice, I do not attempt to speak. For are not all these things recorded in all that he has done in this Court, and engraven on the memory of us all?
Let me, rather, say a few words of his personal character, as it impressed itself upon me during a friendship of many years.
It was my good fortune to become his friend at the very beginning of my own professional life; to have seen much of him while we dwelt in Albany; to have followed him thence to New York at an early day, and
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in no small part because of his advice; to have had my own chambers, for some years thereafter, almost in common with his own; and during that time, and always afterwards, to have regarded him with affection and esteem.
Few men were better adapted to inspire esteem or affection.
The same qualities of the mind and the heart which seemed to withhold him from the forum made him delightful as a companion. Genial, quick, ready, keenly appreciating wit and humor, as ready and as strong in conversation as in the use of the pen, sincere, simple in tastes and pleasures, of a memory quick, ready and correct, how could he be other than he was- the charming companion, the friend, faithful, trusting and trusted, loving and beloved ?
That trait which has to me seemed, perhaps, the most noteworthy in the character of our departed brother, was the quickness, the clearness, the direct- ness of every operation of his mind and heart. What with others was a process, with him seemed oftentimes to be a result. What other minds sought by induc- tion, and with pains and labor, he appeared often to reach as if at a glance. And this quickness and purity of his mental operations was joined with, if not in large part derived from, the quickness and purity of all the feelings of his heart. His sympathies were ready. He was himself last in his own thoughts. And so he was considerate of the rights and interests, the enjoyments and pleasures of all around him.
In reviewing the career now closed, so long, so full of honor, and of all useful service, public and private,
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one is, I think, reminded of a somewhat similar career, long since passed into the history of our pro- fession.
It is now a little more than a hundred years since an English lawyer was promoted to the Court of the King's Bench, where he was long the associate and friend of Lord Mansfield, who desired him to be his own successor as Chief Justice. When Francis Buller was made Judge in the highest common law Court of England, it is said that the propriety of his appointment was questioned, because of his want of prominence and success as an advocate at the bar. But he adorned the bench of that Court for nearly a quarter of a century. He proved to be, almost, as it were, by nature and instinct, a great jurist, a great nisi prius lawyer, a great Judge. His book upon the practice at nisi prius was the first effort to state in a formal or scientific manner the principles of that part of the science of our profession. It has done much, especially in the writers whom he has led to treat of the same subject, to throw light upon what was in his day a very obscure, and must ever be a very important and difficult branch of practice.
Certainly it cannot be said that the elevation of Judge Robinson to the bench was anything like the experiment which the appointment of Mr. Justice Buller was at first thought by some to be, but which resulted so happily. For, at the time of his nomina- tion and election, Judge Robinson (almost unknown as he was in the more active walks of his profession) had really passed through a more careful professional and judicial training than was at all known to or appre-
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ciated by most of his brothers at the bar. His whole career upon the bench has shown how his great natural powers had been disciplined and supplemented, by long and deep study and large experience, to fit him for his eminence as a lawyer and a Judge.
Still, it seems to me, that in the tone and character of their minds; in the amplitude and readiness of their learning; in their fitness for judicial labors; in their fondness for and faithfulness in those duties; and in the ease and clearness of their legal statements, these two great Judges were very much alike.
Indeed, I think it may be said, that in respect of all those qualities which render a lawyer and a Judge really useful and great, Judge Robinson was singularly well endowed.
Happy was he that in his life he secured so much of the respect and the love of all who came within the sphere of his influence; and that, at his death, he is found to deserve so well the admiration of those who shall come after him.
ADDRESS OF JUDGE HOOPER C. VAN VORST.
The life and character of Hamilton W. Robinson, in whose memory the bar of New York is this day assembled, are interesting to contemplate and study.
There was a remarkable unity in the development of his life from its beginning to its close.
In college, although among if not the youngest of his class, his whole course was marked by a diligent and thoughtful attention to his studies and duties.
He properly, although then a mere youth, regarded this period of his life as truly formative, and as likely
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to give direction and character to his future career. Evil habits were avoided and good ones formed.
I have heard him in after years speak with much feeling of the preparatory training and discipline which he received from his father, whose heart seemed wrapped up in the life and future of his son.
He gratefully acknowledged the ever present and inspiring influence that his father exercised on him.
He had marked out for himself a life of devotion to the profession of the law, in the principles of which he was always deeply interested. He always loved his profession, and in his life honored it.
His early training had prepared him for a useful and successful career. But this he knew could only be realized by constant study and earnest application.
He never suffered himself to be drawn aside from his duties, or to miss the mark upon which his eyes were always fixed, by any pursuits or interests which would hinder his onward progress.
As his tastes would have preferred, so he was led into a plane of professional business important in its char- acter, and which gave full play to the excellent quali- ties of his mind. The interests of his litigations were generally large, and the legal questions involved serious.
While a junior to others, much of the effective pre- paration of cases fell upon him. He seemed to antici- pate and guard himself and his case against all difficul- ties likely to arise, and was prepared to meet unusual exigencies. He enjoyed the confidence of his clients to a large degree. This confidence was always merited and respected, and to the end of his life he held the
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esteem of all with whom he had held professional rela- tions.
He was fitted by education, training, and mental constitution to be a Judge.
And in the course of years, he was called to a place upon the bench of this honorable Court. But on the day he took his seat with his respected associates, he was in truth already an experienced and useful Judge.
He had been disciplined into habits of careful thought and sound judgment.
He was already fitted thoroughly to analyze evidence, and reach the truth amid conflicting statements, and to apply the controlling legal principles. He had an inborn love of justice and equity. He was always con- siderate and impartial. He was not hasty in his con- clusions, but accepted results only when his judgment and conscience were satisfied. He had a just regard for authority, which he had been educated to respect, and in decisions always remembered that it was the province of the Judge to interpret and not to make the law.
When his judgments and decisions come to be con- sidered, they will be found to be reasonable and just in their scope and substance, and clear and logical in statement. He was patient in the hearing of causes, kind, considerate and courteous in his demeanor to counsel engaged. The cause of justice and the rights of parties were always safe in his hands. And although his life, measured by years, was not long, yet through its work and fruit it was complete and beautifully rounded.
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" That life is long which answers life's great end," and in this regard his work was thoroughly well done.
We may well deplore the loss of one so excellent as a man, so sincere and kind as a friend, and so upright and just as a judge.
ADDRESS OF CHIEF JUSTICE CHARLES P. DALY.
It is proper, gentlemen, that some expression should be given by this Court, of which Judge Robinson was a member, on the loss it has sustained in his decease. It is very gratifying to us, his late colleagues, to hear the tribute paid to his memory in the remarks which have just been made, and to witness the even much more substantial tribute paid by this large assemblage of the profession. It was at my particular request that Judge Robinson consented to become a candidate for the judgeship of this Court. We had reason to be par- ticularly gratified, as he had previously declined a nomination for Judge of the Court of Appeals, and at a period when his election to that position was deemed certain; an assurance which was confirmed by the very large majority accorded to those who were afterwards elected. I say we had reason to be particularly grati- fied as members of the Court that he consented to become a candidate for election, and were much more so with the association that followed upon his election. I have had some experience in judicial life; I have had some contact with Judges, and a large contact with members of the bar, and I only pay a just tribute to my deceased colleague when I say that no one with whom I have ever come in contact in the discharge of intellectual duties, fulfiled, in my judgment, all the
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requirements so much as he did. Gentle in his nature, painstaking, accurate and conscientious, there was no amount of labor that he was not willing to bestow, no attention that he was not prepared to give. Where industry is stimulated by exceeding conscientiousness as it was in his case, it naturally followed that great confidence was felt in his conclusions, springing as they did from so pure a motive, and after so diligent and laborious an exercise of all the qualities which are requisite to secure a sound judgment upon anything. It was not only in this respect that he was most valuable to us, but if I may be permitted to say what is not com- mon upon public occasions, he was very dear to us for other qualities. I think there is an old Russian proverb that says, "You never know anything of a man until you have made a campaign with him;" and my experi- ence is that you know comparatively little of a Judge unless you are associated with him in the discharge of official duties. You then see more clearly the motives by which he is actuated. You see a great deal which the world can never see. You get an insight into his finer and better qualities which is not perceptible to those outside; and it is this knowledge which makes the loss of Judge Robinson to us a very great one. We can all unite in the statement that during the period he was in the Court the greatest harmony prevailed in our intercourse with him, which was never in any way affected. When there was difference of judgment on his part there was always that kindly bearing which it is easy to remember, but difficult to express; a uni- formity and gentleness of character which was exceed- ingly attractive in official intercourse. He always met
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us with a pleasant smile, and such a thing as an unkindly word never passed his lips; nor so far as the human countenance is an index did he ever appear to harbor an unkindly thought. We are especially grate- ful to the gentlemen who have taken the trouble upon this occasion to call particular attention to the special merits of our deceased colleague-Mr. Marsh, Judge Birdseye and Judge Van Vorst. They have dwelt upon the intellectual and moral qualities by which he was dis- tinguished so fully that it is unnecessary for me to say anything more. I can only say, gentlemen, in con- clusion, that we feel his loss much more deeply than it is in our power to express, for those things are felt most which are beyond expression. We are exceedingly grateful for the tribute which has been paid to his memory, and none know better than we do how justly it has been bestowed.
The question was then put upon the adoption of the resolution that had been offered by Mr. Vanderpoel, and the resolutions were adopted.
Upon motion of Mr. Charles Tracy, the secretary of the meeting was directed to transmit a copy of the resolutions to the family of Judge Robinson, and also to furnish copies to the public press for publication.
The meeting then adjourned.
After the death of Judge Hamilton W. Robinson, who was succeeded by Judge Miles Beach, Judge Charles H. Van Brunt was elected to the Supreme Court in 1883, his successor being Judge Henry Wilder Allen. Judges Joseph F. Daly, Richard L. Lar-
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remore and Henry Wilder Allen had been re-elected for full terms in 1874. The next meeting of the bar, in the rooms of the Court of Common Pleas, was convened on the occasion of the retirement of Chief Justice Charles P. Daly, whose term of office expired December 31, 1885, and who was ineligible to re-election by reason of the constitutional limit as to age. This interesting event was the occasion of an immense gathering of members of the bar in the Gen- eral Term room. The proceedings are reported in full on the next page and the general expression of pub- lic opinion on the incident, as voiced by the press, will be found in the appendix.
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE BAR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK ON THE RETIREMENT OF CHIEF JUSTICE CHARLES. P. DALY.
A meeting of the bar was held December 30th, 1885, in the General Term room of the Court of Common Pleas at 3 P.M., for the purpose of uniting in an expression of respect for the character and services of Chief Justice Daly, on his retirement from the bench. The signers to the call for this meeting were: David Dudley Field, Wm. Allen Butler, Aaron J. Vanderpoel, Charles A. Peabody, Clarence A. Seward, F. R. Coudert, John M. Scribner, Isaac P. Martin, J. E. Burrill, Aaron P. Whitehead, M. W. Divine, James C. Carter, Luther R. Marsh, John L. Cadwalader. Wm. D. Shipman, Wm. G. Choate, Edw'd Patterson, George Zabriskie, Osborn E. Bright, Grosvenor Lowrey, Chas. M. Da Costa, Ch. Francis Stone, C. W. Bangs, Algernon S. Sullivan, Almon Goodwin, E. R. Robinson, Theron G. Strong, Elihu Root, Fordham Morris, Joseph H. Choate, Charles C. Beaman, George C. Holt, Francis Lynde Stetson, John W. Sterling, Duncan Smith, E. B. Hins- dale, Edward E. Sprague, Austen G. Fox, Cephas Brainerd, Henry H. Anderson, F. F. Marbury, W. M. Prichard.
Ex-President Chester A. Arthur presided, and on either side of him were the vice-presidents, ex-Judge
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Henry Hilton, Justices Van Brunt, Barrett, Brady and Van Vorst and ex-Judge Frederick W. Loew, all of whom have been Judges of the Court. Among those present, in addition to those who signed the call for the meeting were ex-Judge Edwards Pierrepont, ex-Governor John T. Hoffman, Henry L. Clinton, Abram Wakeman, Judge-elect Henry W. Book- staver, Amasa A. Redfield, Frank Loomis, Rufus F. Andrews, Robert Sewell, ex-Judge A. J. Ditten- hoefer, John O. Mott, Peter B. Olney, Frederick G. Gedney, Douglas Taylor, Rastus B. Ransom, John Sherwood, ex-Judge William H. Arnoux, Anthony M. Keiley and many others. Sitting with the Judges within the rail was Chief Justice Daly, the observed of all observers. He listened with heightened color to the warm encomiums passed upon him, but when he rose to reply he was as calm in manner and self-pos- sessed as if dealing with an ordinary motion. Ex-Presi- dent Arthur took the chair at the nomination of Algernon S. Sullivan.
ADDRESS OF EX-PRESIDENT ARTHUR.
GENTLEMEN OF THE BAR :- It is with no slight reluc- tance that I accept the office to which your generous preference has called me, for I cannot forget that these many years I have been a "truant in the law," and that at no time have I been worthy to be classed among its conspicuous practitioners. We have gathered here to pay our glad tribute of affection and respect to one who more than two score years ago,
" His years but young, but his experience old,
His head unmellowed, but his judgment ripe,"
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was called to the bench of our Court of Common Pleas. How admirably he has ever since discharged the duties upon which he then entered, this company of lawyers know, and some among you will to-day bear witness. Their province I shall not usurp. It is for them, and not for me, to dwell upon that love of truth and justice, that courtesy and candor, that wide and profound learning, that strict impartiality and stainless integrity which have ever distinguished Judge Daly's juridical life, and because of which his retirement from the bench cannot fail to be attended with deep and general regret. To whom else, indeed, could be more fittingly applied the encomium of Richard Baxter upon Sir Matthew Hale: " That pattern of Judges, entering upon, using and voluntarily surrounding his place of judicature with the most universal love, honor and praise ?" Gentle- men, what is your pleasure ?
ADDRESS OF MR. DAVID DUDLEY FIELD.
MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN :- When we see a man of three score years and ten wearing his faculties unimpaired, dwelling with satisfaction upon the past, enjoying the present, and looking cheerfully into the future, we congratulate him upon his serene old age. And if he has been as mindful of his public as of his private duties, helping to form and reform parties, to make and unmake magistrates, and to shape the policy and the fate of that wondrous organism, the body poli- tic, we call him a deserving citizen. If he has borne public office to public satisfaction, we commend him for the honorable performance of his duty to the common- wealth. And if the office has been judicial, and he has
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borne it long, and borne it well, so well, indeed, that no one blames, but all men praise him, we pronounce him thrice happy.
These conditions are fulfiled in the friend whom we are here to receive and greet on his descent from the bench. He has lived a manly and blameless life; he has been a faithful citizen of the dual republic into which he was born, that lesser republic the State, and that greater the Nation, to which the State belongs, and he has discharged the functions of high judicial magis- tracy for nearly half a century, without fear and with- out reproach.
This is not the place nor the occasion for eulogy, which would be as unpleasant for him to hear as it would be unbecoming in me to speak, but the most fastidious taste would not refuse me the privilege of saying that there must be something remarkable in one who has had the rare distinction of having been once appointed by the Executive and five times chosen by universal suffrage to the same high judicial office, who has walked unharmed over the hot plowshares of popular elections, and filled his station for nearly two- and-forty years, twenty-seven of them as the Chief Justice, to the general acceptance of all our citizens. Some details of his life are to be mentioned by the gentleman who will follow me. I will say no more than that he had the great advantage of beginning without patrimony, actual or expectant. He started in the race of life, free of the impediment which hinders so many of our youth; but he had a stout heart and a steady hand, and with these he went forth into the world. His first venture was on the sea, where he acquired
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that taste for travel and love of geography which have distinguished him since. In one of his voyages it was his good fortune to see the capture of Algiers by the French. Who of us would not have toiled hard to see the lifting of that curtain which had hung so long over the southern shores of the Mediterranean, and the open- ing of a new drama on the theatre of the Dark Conti- nent ? Returning from the sea to the land, he threw in his lot with the great and honorable company of mechanics, until the advice of a friend led him away to the law, where, as we all know, he has been an apt scholar and a great teacher.
Consider for a moment the nature of the judicial office. The judgment seat has been accorded in his- tory sacred and profane the chief place of honor. The praise of the greatest of men was that he sat in the " seat of judgment." If this was so in former days, how much higher has the seat been raised in our day and country. The ever-enlarging circle of civilization, the development of industrial arts, the strides of com- merce, the accumulation of corporate wealth; and above all the subordination of the law-giver to a written constitution, as the supreme will of the sovereign people, all these have invested the office of Judge with , a dignity and power the past never knew. What new responsibility do they not entail! What qualities of intellect and will, what laborious study, what patient forbearance, what self-control do they not require; and I will add, what increase of danger do they not bring !
I appeal, then, to all who hear me, whether our friend has not earned that good name, that affluence of
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respect, which by common consent he bears. He has held office by choice of the executive and votes of the people. He has lived under the old dispensation and the new. His half-century of service is a long link in that endless chain of law, which began with society and will end only when society is dissolved. With what unswerving honesty, what quiet dignity, what honor- able simplicity, he has discharged his great trust, we, who are his witnesses, can testify. Who has seen him indifferent to the duties of his place ? None. Who has seen him turn to the right hand or the left for any man's frown or any man's favor? None. Who has heard him discuss out of Court what was to be decided in Court ? Nobody. Who has believed him to be moved in his judgments by any consideration but the law and the testimony ? Not one. Let us then greet him as victor, coming to us from the arena; one who has honored himself and in doing that has honored us.
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