USA > New York > Erie County > Buffalo > Memorial of the city and county hall opening ceremonies, Buffalo, N.Y. > Part 12
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Sincerely yours,
A. P. LANING.
E. C. SPRAGUE, Esq., and others of the Committee.
Gen. L. W. Thayer, of Warsaw, Wyoming county, was called upon to speak as hailing from a section of the country near where Mr. Laning came from. The General complied and spoke as follows:
ADDRESS OF GEN. L. W. THAYER.
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Bar of Erie County: Al- though highly appreciating your invitation to join you upon this festive occasion, I was at a loss to imagine any cause to which I could attribute it. I had never been a member of your Bar, or held any judicial position that could in any way entitle me to any such distinction. In this dilemma it occurred to me as barely pos- sible that in view of the fact that my name had been mentioned in connection with a judicial position in which you were interested, that with your usual foresight and precaution, you thought prudent at least, in view of my possible appointment, in that way to remind me of your friendship and confidence. If so, I beg to assure you there is not the slightest danger of your being placed in any posi- tion where my official action can be of the least importance. Besides I am already under too many obligations to the Bar of Buffalo, which I can never discharge, to require any further manifestations of your friendship and confidence.
I remember, and shall never forget, that nearly twenty years ago when a candidate for a high judicial office, of receiving in this county the enormous majority of six thousand votes over an oppo- nent who afterwards became
ONE OF THE MOST EMINENT JURISTS
in the State. I attributed that gratifying result in no small degree to the influence of the Bar of this city. Four years ago, upon the
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recommendation of two distinguished members of your Bar (one, alas, now no more) and the eminent jurist alluded to, and wholly unbeknown to me, my name was sent to the Senate, to fill a vacancy in the highest court of the State. But what I chiefly wish to refer to is the active efforts that were made by both the Bar and press of both parties to procure my confirmation, being a Democrat, by a Senate largely Republican. To those efforts on the part of Repub- lican judges and lawyers as well as the Republican press of this city, my worthy friend, Mr. Lewis, then Senator, and to whom I am deeply indebted for his own efforts, can fully testify.
Your friendship and confidence has again and but recently been equally manifested in relation to the judicial vacancy now existing in the district, and with the same disregard of party. Indeed, I am inclined to think that the large support I have received from my Republican friends, not only in this city, but throughout the district, may be one cause of my unpopularity in another quarter, but I assure you that I value it none the less on that account.
Now, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I have availed myself of this occasion, and probably the only one I may ever have, to refer to these many evidences I have received of the friendship of your Bar, in order to assure you how fully I appreciate them, and to say from the depths of my heart how sincerely I thank you.
Mr. Chairman : Having lived all my life in an adjoining county I have not been an indifferent observer, either of the rise and emi- nence of the Bar, or the growth and prosperity of your beautiful city. I have watched the advancement of both nearly half a cen- tury with the deepest interest. But I am compelled to admit that there is one event, and but one, in your history that I have never enjoyed. Although
IT OCCURRED OVER FIFTY YEARS AGO,
its history has been told and repeated with short intervals ever since. It has been celebrated in prose and immortalized in poetry. The more I have read, even the poetry, as beautiful as it is, the less I have enjoyed it. And yet I can hardly tell why, unless it be in the name. Whether I was in any way interested in that event, I have never deemed it profitable to inquire. Indeed, in view of that event, I have adopted the advice of the poet Saxe, and have never sought to trace my family line for fear it might
" End in a loop of stronger twine, To plague some worthy relation."
I have contented myself by denying any relation to any of the name in this county, and consoled myself with the reflection that if three of the same name were hung, that three of the same name came over (as is always the case) in the Mayflower, or some other vessel. I need hardly say I allude to that great and memorable event in your history, the conviction and
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EXECUTION OF THE "THREE THAYERS."
Now, I have never wondered that your city should cherish that great event as an epoch in its history. When it occurred you were a mere village without a history, and an event of that importance could not be forgotten. But now as it seems to me, having become a great and prosperous city, with a history made up of events of far more value, and to me at least far more interesting, I should not wonder if you would continue to prosper and advance, even if you should let the "Three Thayers" sleep quietly in their graves for, say, the next half century.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I desire to express my fullest concurrence in the high encomiums that have been pro- nounced to-night upon those distinguished members of the profes- sion of this county, who have done so much by their learning, integrity, ability and liberality to give to your Bar the high and enviable position it has attained. I knew nearly all of those dis- tinguished gentlemen personally as well as professionally, and tes- tify from my own knowledge of them.
To the younger members of this Bar I wish to say that upon you will soon devolve the honor and responsibility of maintaining that high reputation of your Bar which will be intrusted to your keeping. That you can and will do it, I have seen ample proofs here to-night. You can hardly hope to raise it higher. If you transmit it unimpaired to your successors in the profession, it ought to satisfy your most laudable ambition, and with that result you may well be satisfied.
LAW STUDENTS.
The chairman said he was glad to recognize several law students present, young men that were preparing to enter the profession that had been so highly eulogized this evening. He called upon. Mr. James Fraser Gluck, to speak in behalf of the students of the Bar of Buffalo. Mr. Gluck responded and said:
SPEECH OF J. F. GLUCK.
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Bar of Erie County: In rising I thank you most sincerely for the honor you have conferred, not upon me, but upon the law students of this city by this public recognition of them, on this, the first social gathering of the Bar of Erie County.
The world has indeed moved forward since the time when many of those here present were treated, by those in whose offices they studied, as copying hacks and message boys. It moves further for-
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ward to-day when this public recognition is taken of law students in your presence, and the presence of their honors, the judges of this State and county.
But, sir, I hail this, not as an innovation in that most conservative of professions, the law, but rather as a return to its best usages, in its palmiest days, in that nation, distinguished above all others for legal learning and acumen. For, daily, in the streets of Rome, the Imperial City, the great jures-consult might be seen accompanied by their students -- by them considered their rarest ornament-en- gaged in the intervals between cases, in answering their questions and in imparting to them that knowledge of legal principles which books alone could never, can never give.
And, to-night, sir, I forget not the kindnesses which personally it has been my good fortune to experience, when I venture to ex- press the hope that this public recognition is but an earnest of what will in the future be done elsewhere. I would not insult you, sir, nor the learned and dignified assembly here present, by filling up the short time I wish to speak, with glittering generalities or empty platitudes. I have no such desire. I have a purpose in speaking. I have a plea to make, and I stand here to-night and plead, as a student for students, not for better pay, not for more books, not for ampler digests, but for that personal fellowship on the part of mem- bers of the Bar, that kindly interest, that willingness to commu- nicate to students that knowledge which reading alone does not afford, which experience alone has given to you all.
B
No lawyer here present would be willing to admit that he would receive into his office those he deemed unworthy of the profession; knowing them worthy, it is in his power to render them, it is his duty to endeavor to make them ornaments to the profession. It is a mere truism, though seldom fully realized, that the profession is just what its members choose to make it; as they honor the bench, the world will honor it; as they respect themselves, the world will respect them. And the lawyer who honors the bench and respects himself does well; but he, better, who, while carrying with honor the torch of justice, as he runs his own brief race, looks well to it, that he to whom he knows that torch must be handed when he is gone, is not unworthy of that noble task. Surely, if it be man's primal duty to endeavor to leave the world better than he found it, he does much to elevate his profession, and through it, the world, who, by generous sympathy, does all he can to stimulate and en- courage those who will one day constitute that profession.
But the first advance should come from the superior. There is thereby no loss of dignity. He indeed honors himself more than him whom he serves, who descends from his own clear and sunny perceptions of the law to the student, lost in the fog-land of text- books and the confusion worse confounded of our early law.
But enough of this. Let me speak on a more pleasant theme. Let me assure you, sir, that this kindness in inviting us and ac- cording us recognition to-night as students will not be without its
ir
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effect upon us. To-night we have had recalled to our minds by the venerable men who have spoken, those who are our ancestors-the great and good men of the past ; our ancestors, I say, for there is a lineage of mind that is truer than that of blood; we have listened to the record of their noble deeds, we are roused to emulate the glory of their characters ; and we dedicate here to-night, our energy, our enthusiasm, our loftiest ambition to the upbuilding of a noble profession, a purer and grander republic.
The ancient Lombard kings, as they placed upon their heads the iron crown of their kingdom, were wont to say, "God has given it me ; let him beware who would take it from me." And so each of us to-night, resisting the insane thirst for wealth, and the insidious whisperings of a corrupt and time-serving ambition, place upon our heads the ideal crown of a pure professional life; and exclaim like the kings of old, " God has given it me ; not all the world shall take it from me!"
In response to repeated calls, Mr. Geo. Wadsworth said:
ADDRESS OF GEO. WADSWORTH, ESQ.
Mr. Chairman and Brethren : I think that the orange has been squeezed, and the juice and pulp distributed, and that calling me up, at two o'clock in the morning for a speech, is like asking me to make some delectable beverage from the rejected and despised rind of the fruit.
The praises of our new Court House have been sung here this evening, but little or nothing has been said about the old one; this is natural, the dead are soon forgotten, we smooth down their rest- ing places, and go our way, and they soon pass from our memories, and so it seems as if
OUR VENERABLE OLD COURT HOUSE
were forgotten already; we have been to its funeral; allow me to say a few words about it.
When I came to Buffalo, in 1852, the old Court House was stand- ing in almost precisely the same condition it is now, the so-called new Court House, on the corner of Clinton and Ellicott streets was nearly new in fact, as well as in name.
Small, narrow, contracted and insufficient for the business of to- dav as the old Court House is, and especially as it seems to us when contrasted with the superb Hall, into which we have removed, yet when erected, it was more than sufficient for its designed purposes.
I am told by James D. Sheppard, Esq., the pioneer in the pro- fession and business of music here, that in the year 1827, he could not find a suitable place in the village of Buffalo in which to open his music store, and that John G. Camp, then sheriff of Erie county, leased to him the north-east corner room on the ground floor of the old Court House for that purpose, and that he carried on his busi-
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ness of a music dealer there for some time; whether his music had charms to soothe the savage breasts of the counsel and litigants who thronged the other rooms of the old building we are not told, but it may have had its share in bringing about that amelioration of the manners of the Bar, which has been spoken of.
You will remember that the chairman of our meeting on Satur- day mentioned many of the lawyers who flourished here in the in- fancy of Buffalo; among them he named Hon. Henry E. Davies, late Judge of the Court of Appeals, who was City Attorney and clerk at the time of the great controversy concerning the location of Commercial and Water streets, which Mr. Babcock also mentioned; that controversy left a long legacy of litigation to the city; even so late as the year 1860 or 1861, when I was City Attorney, I argued in the Court of Appeals, a case which was originally brought in the year 1844 by the city against Jonathan Sidway, and which grew out of the Commercial and Water street matter, and when the facts were stated at the opening of the argument,
JUDGE DAVIES AROSE AND LEFT THE BENCH,
saying that he could not sit in the case, as he had been attorney for the city in those matters.
F
I have thought that a brief mention of the changes which have taken place in the Bar might interest you. The list of attorneys in Buffalo in 1856, comprises one hundred and seventy names; of these fifty-one are dead, thirty-four have removed to other localities, three remain with us, but are not in practice, and of ten others I have no knowledge, leaving but seventy-two who are still connected with the profession, either on the bench or at the Bar. Our present roll of attorneys includes over two hundred names. Thus it appears that nearly two-thirds of the lawyers of this city have commenced their professional lives within the last twenty years, and that, while our city has doubled in wealth and population, the number of mem- bers of our profession has not increased in anything like the same proportion.
And now that "Ichabod" is written upon the portals of the old Court House, now that its glory has departed, and we bid fare- well to it, and to all the memories and associations which cluster so thickly around it, let it be our aim to maintain and if possible ele- vate still higher the honorable position which the Bar of Erie County has always sustained, and see to it that the dignity and honor of our profession suffer no detriment at our hands, in the elegant surroundings of our new Temple of Justice, to which we go with mingled feelings of sorrow for the past and gladness and hope for the present and the future.
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Mr. Box was called for, and spoke as follows :
SPEECH OF H. W. BOX, ESQ.
Mr. Chairman and Brethren of the Bar : At a banquet where so much has been appropriately and eloquently said, I confess I am em- barrassed in attempting to add a single word.
I am profoundly grateful to the movers of this re-union of the Bar of Erie County.
We have been made to feel to-night that ours is a glorious pro- fession, and to rank well with its best members is no ordinary priv- ilege. Surely, a little self-glorification on such an occasion as this is pardonable; besides, self-praise has one great element of advantage over all other kinds of praise, it is always convenient; and if we do not take it in sufficient doses, the fault is our own.
I am sorry the world has not always held so high an estimate of our profession as we place upon it ourselves to-night.
CROMWELL'S BAREBONES PARLIAMENT
cherished no such exalted notions concerning our profession, and regarded the whole fraternity with suspicion.
But, gentlemen, whatever may have been the prejudices against lawyers in the early days of our civilization, it is certain none exist to-day. No pursuit in life appears more captivating to the aspirant for fame than the profession of the law as it is followed and rewarded in our American courts.
It is the great avenue to political preferment and reputation; its honors are among the most splendid which can be attained in a free country, and its emoluments and privileges are prizes to be con- tested for by all its members. The rolls of our own County Bar celebrate many individuals who have risen from the humblest ranks by patient labor to wealth and station.
If the younger members of this Bar imagine they perceive in the elevation of these men much due to fortuitous circumstances, they are sadly deceived. These men are the architects of their own respective fortunes. Let us submit ourselves to the same tests, the same unremitting toil ; if we do not attain their greatness, we can acquire distinction. The dream of indolence must be dissipated; we must awaken to the truth that there is no excellence without great labor.
The young men here to-night will soon be called to take the places of the sages of the Bench and Bar whose splendid achieve- ments they now daily witness with admiration and surprise. In remembrance of the past, who would dare venture a prediction as to who present will occupy the future places of honor, trust and emolument! The genius at the college, think you? The young gentleman who answered every question asked by the examining committee for admission ? The young man of high family position ?
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The child of wealthy parents? The history of the past furnishes no affirmative answer.
We have seen the genius sink and perish in poverty, obscurity and wretchedness, while on the other hand we have observed the mediocre plodding his slow but sure way up the hill of life, gaining steadfast footing every step, and mounting, at length, to eminence and distinction, an ornament to his family, a blessing to his country.
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS SAID:
"If a man has great talents industry will improve them; if he has but moderate abilities industry will supply their deficiency." The Spartan youth who complained to his mother that his sword was too short, was told to add a step to it; and so must our scant ca- pacity be increased by diligence, and a more earnest determination. If it be not literally true that "nothing is denied to well directed labor," it is certain that "nothing is to be obtained without it."
To those of my young professional brethren who have just en- tered upon the practice of the law, and who scarcely know where the next installment for board is to be obtained, take courage from the success of your seniors who have triumphed over similar obsta- cles and reached the highest positions in our profession. They ap- preciate your embarrassments and annoyances, they sympathize with you, and in their heart of hearts bid you God's speed.
Learn to labor and to wait, and you shall verify the truth in your own lives of the declaration of the great dramatist:
" Sweet are the uses of adversity, Which like the toad, ugly and venomous, Wears yet a precious jewel in its head."
Mr. E. C. Pattison was called upon, and his address was as fol- lows:
ADDRESS OF E. C. PATTISON, ESQ.
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: As we have left the old Court House, and, professionally speaking, left it forever, it seems to me that the occasion requires and is entitled to a poet; and, although I've not been published as one whom the Muse has looked upon with favor, still I cannot let the opportunity pass without contribut- ing my verse. But I trust, gentlemen, you will not lay aside your Shakespeare, Milton, Byron and Burns, to welcome
A POET FROM THE BUFFALO BAR.
I say the occasion demands a song, celebrating it, as we do around this festive board, and those venerable old buildings should by right be embalmed in verse, for, be it known, they must be embalmed in something to keep them together, although I fear my verse won't preserve those old benches and bars from the decay that will visit them from henceforth.
M
pror
ex te
ire it a int
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We've had many a happy time there, sometimes feeling keenly sensitive of our defects, at other times reveling in our triumphs. Justice has been meted out there, I hope, at all times with an even hand, and, as occasion required, it has been tempered with mercy, by those who have graced our Bench, as shining lights in the legal firmament, but who have now gone down the tide of returnless years; others have filled their places, and our Bench is now the pride and glory of the Bar, and one which we may justly feel proud of. But, sir, on this joyous occasion, celebrating our possession of the new City and County Hall, we can look back at the old Court House and say:
Farewell to the rooms, where Justice held sway, Farewell to walls, that begin to decay, Farewell to its Bench, farewell to its Bar,
Welcome, thrice welcome, our new "Temple Bar."
We've left the old Court House, entered the new, And look back over mem'ries bright as the dew, To where battles hard have been fought and won, And others been lost, to all and each one.
There scenes were acted we ne'er can forget, And hopes were blasted, bright suns were set ; There young legal lights have made their first plea, Proud of their triumphs, as gems from the sea.
There the Judge, Lawyer, Sheriff and Clerk, Met to solve problems that puzzled old Quirk ; Old Gammon and Snap have taken a hand In troubles of those who belong to our band.
The Fillmores and Havens, Gansons and Halls, Have wrestled for justice within those walls; Verplanck and Masten, Mullett and Grover, Have graced the old Bench, now left forever.
We left the old Court House, left it in pairs, And thought of the fun we've often had there;
Ah ! what's that glistens? a tear in the eye- Farewell, old homestead! we bid you good-bye.
Another call was made for the younger members of the Bar, and Mr. H. B. Greene answered for them, and made one of the best speeches of the evening. It was original, thoughtful, and instruct- ive. His address was sufficiently interlarded with anecdote to make it amusing and relishable, and it was listened to with the deepest interest.
Mr. Greene was followed by Mr. J. G. Milburn, another young, promising and rising member of the profession, who acquitted himself nobly in a manly and thoughtful address, that evinced extensive reading, and a well-stored mind.
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Mr. Perry G. Parker was loudly called for, and gave the follow- ing address :
ADDRESS OF P. G. PARKER, ESQ.
Mr. Chairman and Brother Lawyers: I have never delivered a Fourth of July oration in my life; never have read an essay or an address before an agricultural society, although the son of a farmer and brought up at farmers' work.
This is my native county, and this city has been my home during all my legal labors, and will be until those labors are ended. In September, 1841, I entered the office of Fillmore and Haven as a student-at-law, and remained there until I was admitted to practice in November, 1844, at the October term of that year held at Rochester, N. Y. Lucien Hawley, Isaiah T. Williams, James M. Haven and E. Carlton Sprague were associate clerks and students in the same office. Of Mr. Sprague I need not speak; he has done that for himself. Mr. Haven, a younger brother of S. G. Haven, died in April, 1844 ; he did not live long enough to be admitted to practice in his chosen profession. He was talented, kind-hearted, and amiable as a young woman. Hawley and Williams, were ad- mitted to the Bar at the same time I was, in 1844. Of Hawley, let me say he is a good lawyer, the incorruptible government offi- cial, an honest man-a valued friend. Williams was bound to succeed, and he has accomplished success,
STANDING IN THE FRONT RANK
of the profession in the city of New York, and has few superiors as an advocate. The friendships formed in our student life have existed ever since. The life of the student then was not what it is now. It was very rare that the student was allowed, like my brother Lewis to pettifog before he was admitted.
The lawyer has a profession which is second to none other; and in its ranks are to be found the ablest and the best in every com- munity of this enlightened country.
In 1842, Reuben Hyde Walworth, was Chancellor of the State; Samuel Nelson, was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; Nathan Dayton, Circuit Judge; Nathan K. Hall, First Judge of Erie County; Horatio J. Stow, Recorder of the City of Buffalo; Henry W. Rogers, District Attorney of Erie County. Among the old law firms of Buffalo I remember at that time, were Fillmore, Hall & Haven; Barker, Hawley & Sill; Potter, Babcock & Spaulding; Austin, Love & Vedder. This union of strength was desirable be- cause it permitted a division of labor, as every variety of business was done in each law office,-civil and criminal in law, equity and admiralty, through all the different stages of litigation.
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