USA > New York > The bench and bar of New-York. Containing biographical sketches of eminent judges, and lawyers of the New-York bar, incidents of the important trials in which they were engaged, and anecdotes connected with their professional, political and judicial career > Part 27
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So faithfully did he discharge the delicate and re- sponsible duties committed to him, that no political influence, no party dissension or popular clamor tainted the proceedings of the trial ; proving that an intelligent, enlightened judiciary is the most impos- ing, authoritative, and protective branch of a free government "that while partizan zeal expends itself on transient interest, which derives its chief import- ance from its fealty to party, it is the province of the judiciary to apply those solemn and universal laws of justice on which the life and liberty of every indi- vidual essentially depend."
With such a judiciary, the jury teaches every man "not to recoil before the responsibility of his own actions, and impresses him with that manly con- fidence without which public virtue cannot exist, and invests each citizen with a kind of magistracy."
The address of Mr. Spencer to the jury in the case of Mather, without the passionate invective of Sheri- dan in his effort against Warren Hastings, was, in reason, unity, force, and intellectual energy, equal, if not superior to that remarkable legal oration.
At last the case was given to the jury, who, after a protracted consultation, rendered a verdict of not guilty. This result considerably irritated Mr. Spen-
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cer, for he believed Mather guilty; but those who look on that trial, after the lapse of over forty years, with no knowledge of the passions, the malevolence, the prejudice of the day, will regard it as one of those leading cases in our reports, establishing many philo- sophic and reasonable precedents; those who turn back the page of history and learn the great public excitement amid which the trial took place, will regard our legal system with veneration-will look upon it as a rock against which the waves of popular commotion will beat in vain.
Not contented with the verdict of the jury, and the various rulings of the court, Mr. Spencer removed the case to the General Term of the Supreme Court, and in September, 1830, it was argued before that tri- bunal. There, Mr. Spencer contended with all his energy and ability for a new trial; there he again made one of those singularly effective forensic efforts, the result of the amplitude and fertility of his intellect ; but a majority of the court was against him, and he was again defeated. With this decision the case of Mather rested for ever.
His trial, however, developed circumstances which pointed strongly to the guilt of others, and the case of the People v. Jewett was tried at Lockport. In this case, William L. Marcy, then one of the justices of the Supreme Court, presided, and a scene of turbu- lent popular excitement again exhibited itself; but it was repelled with calm dignity - with unsurpassed judicial impartiality, by the gifted judge who pre- sided.
This time, the accused was in the grasp of the law, his conviction seemed certain ; but the witness who alone could reveal his guilt, with sealed lips stood mute before the court-locked the story of the prison- er's guilt in his own breast, and, rather than reveal the fate of Morgan, calmly listened to that sentence of the court which immured him in a gloomy dungeon.
Again was John C. Spencer foiled in his attempt to L
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bring the dark conspirators to justice. But his confi- dence in his future success was unimpaired ; his secret emissaries had revealed to him other guilty persons, and he prepared to proceed with other prosecutions. But to enable him to do so with any hope of success, he demanded of the State the sum of two thousand dollars. This sum, he insisted, was necessary to ena- ble him to procure the attendance of the necessary witnesses, employ special detectives, and to carry into operation the plans which he had matured for dis- charging successfully the duties of his office.
But, to his chagrin and astonishment, the governor refused to listen to his demand, and he instantly ten- dered his resignation, retired from a field on which he believed he was soon to be victorious ; and the fate of Morgan rests for ever amid the inexplicable mysteries which from the first surrounded it.
At this time, political Anti-Masonry, which had lurked in private dwellings-gathered strength by the fireside-drew nurture from pamphlets and newspa- pers, began to exhibit itself in strong and threatening proportions. Mr. Spencer and his friends believed that Governor Throop refused the pecuniary assist- ance demanded, fearing that the discovery of Morgan's fate would enhance the growth of the new party up to a strength sufficient to render it a dangerous rival to the Democratic party. This belief led John C. Spen- cer to unite his fortune with the Anti-Masonic party.
Among those who were most influential in organ- izing that party, were Thurlow Weed, Frederick Whittlesey, and Bates Cook. These men and their able compeers, were rarely qualified for pioneers of the new party. Perfectly acquainted with the tem- perament of the people, they knew how to bear with their caprice, to be indulgent to their eccentricities, to foresee and forestall their wishes, to awaken their sympathies, and to produce
" The loud collisions of applauding hands."
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Few persons possess the executive abilities of Mr. Weed in conducting and managing the machinery of party. In the earlier period of his life, he learned those practical lessons of human nature, and gained that general information, which developed the ability of reading men-of penetrating their motives-of scan- ning the true spirit of the times, eminently qualifying him for superiority and influence as a politician. A strong, vigorous, and graceful writer, his pen was a source of strength, as well a defense to his party and himself.
Like all great party leaders, while he gained the admiration of many, and attached to himself strong and powerful friends, he incurred the censure of the envious, and those who could not, or would not, con- cur in his policy. Perhaps at no period of his active life, was he free from bitter enemies, in his own party, who, while they condemned him, acknowledged his ability, and his usefulness, when that party was facing the enemy and contending for victory.
When political Anti-Masonry was absorbed by the Whig party, he became one of the great lead- ers of that party. His judgment, experience and versatile knowledge aided its other leaders in ren- dering it a formidable and often a triumphant op- ponent to the Democracy in the State. When the Whig party was merged in the Republican party, no man was more active than he-none more influential in combining the material out of which it was formed, and in blending discordant interests in one absorbing scheme of political ambition-in one community of mutual interests. In adjusting, as he often did with the hand of a master, the nice and delicate machinery which is the motive power of political, and often legis- lative action, he made mistakes and fell into error; but on the whole, as we have seen, he was of immense advantage to his party ; and whatever were his faults, he was well aware that he who enters the political field as a leader must keep his eyes wide open to every
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movement of his own partizans as well as the move- ments of the common enemy-that vanity, spleen, self-love and ambition must all be held in abeyance before the multitude, fondly called by aspiring poli- ticians, "the dear people."
In the infancy of the Anti-Masonic party, Weed, Whittlesey, Cook, and their able partizans, sustained it, until William H. Seward, John C. Spencer, and other prominent men, united with it.
These accessions soon gave it power and vigor. For a time it assumed the proportions of a great po- litical party ; but, like all organizations founded on exciting popular themes, it soon withered away, or rather, was absorbed by the Whig party, which was founded on broader principles of State polity.
Mr. Seward was then developing those rare intel- lectual powers which have since rendered him an illus- trious statesman, who, amid his loftiest career, never forgot a friend, however humble-never ceased to labor for his advancement as long as he entertained the belief that he was worthy of his friendship and assistance. Thus he carried with him to his retire- ment from public life the heartfelt gratitude of many whom, during his long public career, he assisted in various ways.
Mr. Spencer again represented the county of On- tario in the Assembly of 1831. As jurisprudence is the complement of legislation, supplying what is left of the latter in the administration of justice, his con- nection with the revision of the statutes rendered his presence in this Legislature of the highest importance. He was, therefore, as chairman of the Judiciary Com- mittee, principally engaged in reducing the statutes to a more practical system of legal polity, and he mingled but little in debates.
He was re-elected in the fall of 1832, and at the opening of the session of 1833 he was a prominent candidate for speaker, but his party being in the minority, he was of course defeated.
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In the struggle to elect Francis Granger, the Anti- Masonic candidate for governor, Mr. Spencer took a conspicuous part. His party was overwhelmed by the election of Mr. Throop, but he continued inflexibly attached to it, and was one of those who aided in com- bining it with the Whig party. The strong, quiet grasp which the leaders of the former party had on the rank and file of those who composed it, enabled them to hold its component parts together, to effect the transfer, with singular facility, and to raise, on the mingled elements of a political revolution, a great party, sustained by unrivaled genius and states- manship, which carried it, for many years, through tangled theories and subtle details, commanding the respect and even the admiration of its enemies. Through all the vicissitudes of the Whig party, Mr. Spencer remained faithful to it. In 1838 it came into power in the State, and the Legislature of 1839 imme- diately appointed him secretary of state, in place of John A. Dix. In discharging the duties of this office, at a period when the duties were difficult and delicate, the talents of John C. Spencer shone out with much brilliancy. So successfully did he manage the con- cerns of the State, that his policy tended to increase his own popularity and give strength to his political friends.
In the autumn of 1837, he removed from Canan- daigua to Albany, where he resided during the re- mainder of his life.
Mr. Spencer aided materially in the election of General Harrison. He stood foremost among the great party leaders, who guided the fortunes of the Whig party through that memorable campaign of 1840.
The death of Harrison occurred soon after entering on the duties of his administration, and John Tyler assumed the executive chair of the nation. Having been associated with Mr. Spencer in the Congress of 1819, when he presented to that body his memorable
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report against the United States Bank, Mr. Tyler conceived the highest admiration for his abilities as a statesman. This admiration never abated; and on assuming the duties of president, Tyler invited Mr. Spencer to enter his cabinet as secretary of war. The invitation was accepted, and he continued to discharge the duties of that position, until a change in the cab- inet rendered it necessary for him to assume the duties of secretary of the treasury.
At length the Whig party, under the guide of Mr. Clay, dissolved all connection with Tyler, but Spencer continued to adhere to the fortunes of the latter. "His extraordinary administrative abilities were invaluable to the incoherent and disorganized cabinet which Mr. Tyler, in his unexpected accession to the presidency, was compelled to rally around him."
He advocated the election of General Taylor, and at a later period, the election of General Scott. After the election of 1852 he never mingled in politics.
In the year 1849 he was appointed one of the codi- fying commissioners. The judiciary and the legal profession throughout the State warmly sanctioned this appointment, believing that, as one of the revisers of the statutes, he possessed peculiar qualifications for the duty of reducing the Code of Procedure to a prac- tical and useful system; but, much to the regret of the public generally, he declined to accept the ap- pointment, and retired to private life, the quiet of which was uninterrupted excepting when he emerged from it to enter the forum in defense of his venerable friend, Dr. Nott.
Mr. Spencer was characterized by a sound, cau- tious, discriminating judgment-by a singular pa- tience and perseverance of thought, and by habits of the most fixed and concentrated attention to liis own mental operations-endowments which, though not the most popular with the multitude, tended to enrich and to develop his mind.
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As a lawyer his authority and influence at the bar and with the bench were unexampled. His success as a legislator and a statesman was great. "An insa- tiable activity of mind, a knowledge of the widest scope, and aptitude for public affairs, inherited, and indulged in from youth, and disciplined through man- hood, rendered him so conscious of his fitness for public station as to close his thoughts to lesser con- siderations." As has been said of him by one who understood his character in all the relations of life, he took no belief on the credit of great names, or on the mere weight of authority. Subjects presented to him for decision were examined to the best of his ability ; and his opinion once formed, it was almost impossible to change it. This element in his character made his prejudices ; and they were few, but as strong as his opinions, and as difficult to overcome. Both he used aggressively as well as defensively ; so that by men who were of different opinions, he was not regarded with the esteem which his abilities demanded. Thus, when he first went to Canandaigua his political prin- ciples differed from a majority of the residents of the village. Party feelings ran high, and twenty years afterwards the effect could be seen in the social rela- tions between him and some of his neighbors.
Though his nature was self-reliant, it was generous. Beneath his cold exterior there existed a fountain of feeling and susceptibility, which those who were not thoroughly acquainted with him could not compre- hend. Though so fortunate in his pecuniary affairs that he was never compelled to borrow money but once in his life, and that at the commencement of his professional career, yet when he closed his business affairs at Canandaigua, he burned some six thousand dollars' worth of notes representing money loaned to relieve the necessity of his friends.
In his person he was tall and somewhat slender. His features were prominent and striking, suggesting the idea of reflection rather than emotion. The lines
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of his mouth were firm, and there was rather an ag- gressive poise of his head, while his whole appearance naturally impressed a stranger with his superiority ; and therefore, in a large assemblage, even while per- fectly silent, he always attracted attention.
As has been said, he was austere and severe, but his austerity and severity were reserved for the bar, for legislative halls-for the public. In his family, with his particular friends, where it was his delight, and one of the great rewards of his unremitting labor, to unbend, he was amiable, simple, natural, cheerful, kind and affectionate.
"Mr. Spencer was in every sense a lawyer. The important trusts which he discharged at different pe- riods never permanently interfered with his profes- sional pursuits. To these he always returned with fresh zeal and a vigor, renewed by efforts which would have exhausted others. Indeed, the impress of his professional character was left upon every office he filled. He made them all subservient to that profes- sion, gathering knowledge from sources which many men would have neglected or despised. The pains of a disease which fastened upon him many years before his death did not cause him to suspend his labors. After retiring from his profession he worked on, chiefly in the peaceful retreat of his study, without complaining, seeming to think it was his duty as it was his pleasure, never to cease his labors while he had the strength to continue them.
"No person who knew Mr. Spencer well could fail to be impressed with his personal character and bear- ing. He despised everything small and mean, and admired, even in an adversary, whatever was noble and generous."
To his efforts the Albany Hospital owes its exist- ence, and, as has been said by another, "its interests and welfare never ceased to occupy his mind ; and I have no doubt that his agency in its foundation was one of the richest consolations on his bed of death."
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The State Asylum for Idiots is another institution which owes much to his influence and generosity. He was one of the earliest and most effective members of its board of trustees ; and from the day of its founda- tion to the close of his life he took a deep interest in all that concerned it.
He was proud of his native State-of its history- of the great events of which it has been the theater ; and his career forms an important and deeply inter- esting part of its history.
Mr. Spencer died in the city of New York on the 20th day of May, 1854, in the sixty-eighth year of his age.
23
JOHN BALDWIN.
Distinguisned for his Wit, Humor, and Sarcasm .- Born at Lebanon, Connecticut .- Settled at Geneseo, New York. - Studied Law with Samuel Miles Hopkins. - Character of Hopkins .- Baldwin Admitted to the Bar .- His Marriage .- Com- mences Practice .- Loses his Property .- His Love of Anecdote .- Popularity with the Profession .- Remark of Vincent Matthews .- Removes to Hornellsville. -A Partner of Judge Hawley .- Hornellsville .- Baldwin's views of its Improve- ment .- Singular Contrast .- The Allegany Justice .- The Trial .- The Court against Baldwin .- Amusing Scene .- The Contempt of Court .- Is Sentenced to Jail .- The Friendly Inkstand .- The Escape .- The Pursuit .- The Defense .- A Formidable Weapon .- The Second Escape .- Baldwin Indicted for a Libel .- The Arraignment. -Amusing Scene in the Court Room .- Singular manner of his Discharge .- Witty Retort to the District-Attorney .- Engaged in a Trial in the Allegany Common: Pleas .- Judge Griffin .- His Sharp Remark to Baldwin .- The Bitter Reply .- Baldwin again in Contempt .- Proposes to Test the Question of Contempt by an Amusing Comparison .- The Sentence .- General Characteristics.
THE name of this eccentric and able lawyer will not soon be forgotten in the counties of Livingston, Alle- gany, and Steuben. His, wit, his humor, his wither- ing sarcasm, have created a fund of anecdotes almost inexhaustible. If sometimes his wit descended to vul- garity-if occasionally he wielded a tarnished weapon, we can excuse him when we remember that the native mold of his mind was above such perverted use of his intellectual powers. His vulgarisms were like the rub- bish and offal which sometimes surround the polished and classic column, showing still the glory and the grandeur of a cultivated architecture.
He was born in Lebanon, in the State of Connecti- cut. While yet very young, Mr. Baldwin settled in Geneseo, intending to make that place his permanent residence. He had, on attaining his majority, received a competency from his father's estate, and possessed
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the advantage of a good education. Soon after settling at Geneseo, he determined to enter the legal profes- sion. At this time, the late Samuel Miles Hopkins, a distinguished lawyer residing at Moscow, Livingston county, invited Mr. Baldwin to enter his office as a student at law, an invitation which he readily ac- cepted.
Mr. Hopkins was not only distinguished at the bar, but he ranked among the eminent orators of western New York. He was a gifted politician, and under- stood how to handle and manipulate those wires which are touched behind the scenes, and which demand the hand of a master to adjust them. Keen and subtle in his appreciation of the popular sentiment, he under- stood when and how to move in the political field- when to make a feint, and when to attack,. the vulner- able points of the enemy being always known to him.
In the year 1813, he was a resident of Le Roy, New York, and represented the twenty-first Congressional district in the thirteenth Congress with marked abil- ity. He was at this time, and through life, a warm and confidential friend of the late Thomas J. Oakley.
In the year 1821, he represented Genesee county in the Assembly, one of his colleagues being the late Jesse Hawley. He was elected to the State Senate in the year 1822, as one of the representatives from the then western Senatorial district.
Mr. Hopkins subsequently removed to Albany, where, as a lawyer, he took a very high position, dis- tinguished for the force and weight of his arguments at the General Term and in the Court for the Correc- tion of Errors.
Mr. Baldwin continued with Mr. Hopkins until called to the bar, then commenced practice at Moscow. If he did not meet with flattering success there, still his professional career was encouraging, and bid fair to be prosperous and pleasant. Soon after he was admit- ted to the bar, he married a Miss Sage, the daughter of a respectable citizen of Geneseo. In the midst of his
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prosperity, through the failure of a brother, whose paper he had indorsed to a large amount, all the prop- erty which he possessed was suddenly swept away, and he was reduced to penury. He never again re- covered his pecuniary standing.
His profession being now his only means of sup- port, he entered more ardently and laboriously into the details of its practice, and soon rose to considera- ble eminence as a lawyer. He remained at Moscow but a year or two after his misfortune, having deter- mined to make Dansville his future home. Here his professional labor was rewarded by a fair, if not lucra- tive practice. As his business at the bar increased, he became distinguished for his witty sayings, his sharp repartee, and his humorous speeches. At length such was his notoriety, that whenever it was known that Baldwin was to advocate a cause, the court room was crowded with persons drawn together by his fame, and it often occurred that the judge, jury, and audience were convulsed with laughter at some palpable hit which his unlucky antagonist received from him.
While at Dansville, his practice gradually extended into the counties of Allegany, Livingston, and Steuben. His good humor, his never failing fund of anecdotes, joined to his acknowledged professional ability, made him a favorite with his professional brethren and with the people. At this time the income from his pro- fession rendered him independent. But Mr. Baldwin did not possess the faculty of accumulating. At that period the desire for making money had not become quite the all absorbing passion or mania that it now is. Like many of the most distinguished members of his profession, he possessed the ability to make money, but not of turning it to thrifty purposes. Vincent Matthews once said, "An impudent empty headed pettifogger will gain riches, while I grow poor, upon the same principle that a buzzard will fatten, where an eagle will starve. The one will wallow in, and eat carrion, offal, and all manner of unclean things; the
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other will turn away in disgust, and seek an atmo- sphere where such filth never comes."
He remained at Dansville until some time during the year 1835, when he formed a copartnership with the late Honorable William M. Hawley, of Hornells- ville, and removed to that village. This connection in business was attended by flattering circumstances, and gave Mr. Baldwin a gratifying assurance of the confidence he had inspired. The firm soon became distinguished for its ability, its fidelity to its clients, and for its success. As I have spoken of one of its members in another part of these sketches, suffice it to say here, that while it continued it had the entire confidence of the public. After his business relations with Judge Hawley were dissolved he continued to practice at Hornellsville, until some time in the year 1842, when he removed to Almond, at which place he resided until his decease, which took place in 1843.
While he was a resident of Hornellsville, that now thriving and beautiful village did not enjoy its present high reputation. Like most villages in a new country, it was infested by sharpers, tricksters, and roughs. The condition of society produced by such persons was not altogether agreeable to his taste, and he conceived a disgust for the place, which he often expressed in the most bitter language. It is related of him, that one morning while at breakfast with a large number of gentlemen at Elmira, where he was attending court, a lawyer at the table said,
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