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 43
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Being a senator, Mr. Dickinson was also a member of the Court for the Correction of Errors; and his legal opinions upon the questions adjudicated in that tribunal while he was a member of it were written with that ability and judicial precision which strongly commend them to the legal profession. Some of them clearly demonstrate the principles upon which the great leading cases then before the court of last resort turned. No one can read his opinion in the case of Stoddard v. Butler, reported in 20 Wend. 507, without
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being impressed with the ability, force, and profundity with which it abounds.
Mr. Dickinson retired from the Senate in May, 1840. At the Democratic State Convention, held in the following August, he was nominated for lieutenant- governor ; but as his party suffered a general defeat at the ensuing election, Mr. Dickinson shared its for- tunes.
" Well, Mr. Dickinson," said a friend, who met him after the result of the election was known, "how do you relish the result of the election ?"
"Oh, the people have very decidedly given me to understand that they do not desire my services, and I honor their judgment, and from the loop-holes of my retreat I will watch the progress of this great Whig game," was the reply.
Devoting himself to his profession with untiring energy, he left the political field, contented with the honors which he had won. He attended the various circuits in the State, and was often engaged in every important case that was tried at the term. He fre- quently appeared at the General Term, and in the Court for the Correction of Errors.
It has been said that Mr. Dickinson was not a close lawyer, meaning that he was not bound down to those forms which render the lawyer a mere servile copy- ist,-a creature of precedent, who hurls decision after decision at his opponent, and charges down upon him with statutes, simply because it happens to be in that case so made and provided : like Juvenal's gramma- rian, tremblingly alive to mood and tense, without a philosophic thought, or a liberal sentiment. For this kind of legal closeness Mr. Dickinson had no taste, and was therefore not a close lawyer. But if thorough reading, logical exactness, knowledge of mankind, clear views, perspicuity of thought, a liberal famil- iarity with legal principles as well as technical rules, joined to ingenuity in illustrating and enforcing his
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ideas, constitute a close lawyer, then Daniel S. Dick- inson was such.
It is true that he was a man of much imagination ; but, in his speeches at the bar, if he interpolated fan- ciful ideas or sentences, it was with . such perfect good taste, that it tended to strengthen and enlarge his subject.
Nothing disgusted him so much as a tawdry, grandiloquent, or labored speech. He was fond of relating the following anecdote of Lord Tenderden, who, though a man of fine imagination, and a poet, would tolerate no undue display of learning and sen- timent at the bar.
"It is asserted in Aristotle's Rhetoric," argued a pedantic barrister to his Lordship.
"I don't want to hear what is asserted in Aris- totle's Rhetoric," interposed the Lord Chief Jus- tice.
"It is laid down in the Pandects of Justinian."
" Where have you got to now ?"
"It is a principle of the civil law."
"Oh, sir, we have nothing to do with civil law in this court."
Lord Campbell insists that this pun of Tenderden, if it can be called one, was unintentional; like that of Blackstone, who remarks in his " Commentaries," that "landmarks on the sea shore are often of signal service to navigators."
Mr. Dickinson frequently remarked that there were many at the bar who would be highly benefited by practicing before a judge like Lord Tenderden. His quotations were always lively and appropriate, particularly those taken from the Scriptures. These he often used with elegance, force, and fine rhetorical effect.
From his earliest years he was an ardent admirer of the Bible, regarding it as " a history, the narrative of a multitude of miraculous facts, which skepticism has often challenged, but never disproved-a poem
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moral and didactic-a repertory of divine instinct- a collection of the deepest intuitions of truth, beauty, justice and holiness ; destined to command, to charm, to sublimate the mind of man ; which for ages has been exposed to the keenest investigation, -to a fire which has consumed contemptuously the mythology of the Iliad, the husbandry of the Georgic, the historical relations of Livy, the fables of the Shasters, the Tal- mud, and the Koran, the artistic merit of many a pop- ular poem, and the authority of many a work of philosophy and science."
In the year 1842, Mr. Dickinson was again sum- moned from the duties of his profession to become the standard-bearer of his party in the campaign of that year. He was again nominated for lieutenant- governor, Mr. Bouck receiving the nomination for governor. The result of the election that year ex- hibits the mutability of politics in our government. The Democracy, which two years previously was pros- trated before the Whig party, was again triumphant. The entire Democratic State ticket was elected, and on the third day of January, 1843, he again entered the State Senate, this time as its presiding officer. His various parliamentary attainments and experience prepared him to discharge the duties of this position with rare ability.
In the quickness of his perceptions, in the rapidity and urbanity with which he decided the technical parliamentary questions which constantly occurred in the Senate, he resembled Henry Clay.
During the summer of 1843, he was engaged in conducting certain important actions connected with some mining interests in Pennsylvania. In October of that year, he delivered an address at the fair of the Queens County Agricultural Society. This production was spoken of by the New York papers as "highly able, ingenious, and eloquent."
"Practical agriculture," said he, "is coeval with the history of man. The children of Israel, on coming
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to the possession of the fair land of Canaan, after wan- dering in the wilderness forty years, addressed them- selves to its cultivation. When the prophet Elijah passed by and cast his mantle upon Elisha, he found him plowing in the field, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, himself with the twelfth; and the ser- vants and oxen of the affluent Idumean were engaged in the same pursuit when they fell a prey to the rapacity of the Sabeans. Many of the most interest- ing and poetic incidents of the Scriptures are touching the harvesting and gleaning of fields, and rural occu- pations, and its pages are replete with descriptions of the management of flocks and herds, sheep shearing, threshing floors, and the employments of hus- bandry.
"The mind of the professional man is engaged with his particular calling, striving to become emi- nent and useful, struggling, perchance, with rivalry on either hand, and realizing 'how hard it is to climb the steep where Fame's proud temple shines afar.' His mental vision is fixed upon a single object. His mind is accustomed to run in grooves fashioned by his pursuit -all else palls upon the sense, and he too often lives and dies the mere creature of his profes- sion. The merchant is buried in commerce, and the mechanic is absorbed with inventions and improve- ments. But to the farmer, devoted to no theories, and wedded to no systems, with the ample volume of Na- ture constantly before him, unfolding her mysteries and spreading out her allurements, the deep fountains of knowledge stand open, and all combines to inspire him with the love of the sublime and beautiful, to store his mind with that practical, useful knowledge which energizes the man's nature to loftier and nobler pursuits."
The campaign of 1844 was one of the most memo- rable political struggles which, down to that period, ever occurred in the nation. Under the lead of Henry Clay, whose many captivating qualities inspired his
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friends with fervid enthusiasm, the Whig party rallied in its strength, confident of victory, and there was a time when the defeat of the Democrats seemed inevitable ; but, at that moment, a few unfortunate sentences contained in a letter written by Mr. Clay decided the contest against him. The struggle was such as might have been expected by the antagonism of two such powerful parties.
In this campaign, Mr. Dickinson was peculiarly active ; he was one of the prominent Democratic ora- tors who aided in giving their party its victory.
As one of the presidential electors from the State of New York, in 1844, he gave his vote to the Demo- cratic nominee, James K. Polk, for president.
On the 7th day of May, 1844, Mr. Dickinson retired from the second office within the gift of the people of the Empire State. He closed his career as president of the Senate, in an address of unusual dignity and grace. Seldom has that Senate chamber been a scene of more absorbing interest, than on this occasion ; party strife and political feuds were forgotten in the impressive language of the lieutenant-governor, now about to become a private citizen, with no claim to power, save that intellect which gave him the place he had so ably occupied.
But he was not permitted long to remain the pri- vate citizen ; his party had other claims upon him, and his abilities were destined to be exercised in another and loftier sphere of action.
Early in the summer of 1844, a vacancy occurred in the United States Senate, by the resignation of Nathaniel P. Talmadge, one of the senators from the State of New York. As this event occurred during the recess of the State Legislature, Governor Bouck imme- diately appointed Mr. Dickinson to fill the vacancy. One of the first acts of the Legislature of 1845, was the ratification of his appointment, and Daniel S. Dickinson entered the American Senate as the asso- ciate and compeer of Webster, Clay and Calhoun.
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The political questions which agitated that body, when he entered it, led to close and animated discussions among those orators and statesmen whose genius had inaugurated an intellectual era of unrivaled splendor, and whose speeches are brilliant elaborations of national policy and diplomacy.
As a recognition of his high reputation and his services in advancing the interest of his party, he was appointed to the responsible and honorable position of chairman of the Committee on Finance.
Mr. Dickinson was soon compelled to participate in the debates which occurred on the great questions then before the nation. His first speech in the United States Senate was delivered on the 2nd day of Febru- ary, 1845, " Upon the joint resolution providing for the Annexation of Texas." To use his own language, he delivered that speech under circumstances of peculiar embarrassment. The senators from New York had been called upon in the debates which preceded this speech, to respond to certain interrogations ; he could not, therefore, avoid acting up to the responsibilities of his situation, and he proceeded to discuss the ques- tion in a manner which won the approbation of his constituency and added to his influence in the Senate.
His next speech was delivered February 24th, 1845, on the Oregon question. On the 9th of April, 1846, he delivered his great speech "Upon the North-eastern Boundary ; the Right of Search ; and the Destruction of the Caroline," in reply to Mr. Webster.
" Mr. Dickinson, in his speech on the resolution for terminating the joint occupancy of Oregon, deliv- ered in the Senate, February 24th and 25th, 1846, re- ferred briefly to the course of the government on those subjects, and, in several particulars, criticised and condemned it. In speaking of the McLeod case, he alluded to statements made by the Honorable C. J. Ingersoll, in the House of Representatives, relative to the action taken thereon by the administration, Mr. Webster then being secretary of state. On the 5th
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and 6th of April, following, Mr. Webster addressed the Senate, in an elaborate defense of the Treaty of Washington, and in explanation of the other subjects referred to, with which he had been connected, as a member of the government. He denied and denounced in strong terms the statements made by Mr. Ingersoll, and complained of the use made of them by Mr. Dickinson;" his speech being characterized, in these respects, by a good degree of vehemence. Mr. Dick- inson replied, with equal earnesness.
The passages between the two senators in this de- bate, are understood to be the " occurrences alluded to with regret," by Mr. Webster, in his admirable and magnanimous letter, addressed to Mr. Dickinson at the close of the session of 1850, and by the latter in a corresponding spirit, in his reply thereto.
On the 12th day of January, 1848, Mr. Dickinson addressed the Senate on the question of "The Acqui- sition of Territory, and the Formation of Governments for the Territories ; The Doctrine of Popular Sover- eignty, &c."
His speech, "On Establishing a Government for California and New Mexico, and in reply to Honor- able John A. Dix, on the Wilmot Proviso," was de- livered in the United States Senate, February 28th, 1849.
One of the most remarkable speeches which he delivered, while in the Senate, was in reply to Mr. Clemons, of Alabama, in reference to the appointment of a military governor for California. This discussion took place on the 15th, 16th, and 17th days of January, 1850, and created much interest thoughout the nation.
Mr. Dickinson made several other speeches while in the Senate, which, with the reports and memorials presented by him during that period, give some idea of the position which he occupied in that body.
The following incident illustrates the manner in which the playful mind and lively wit of Mr. Dickin- son often exhibited itself in the Senate.
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One day, during the session of the Senate in 1850, while one of the senators was addressing that body, Senator Badger, of North Carolina, was seized with a fit of sneezing, so boisterous and immoderate as to cause great merriment, especially in the galleries. Mr. Dickinson took up a pencil, and in a few mo- ments the senator received the following :
" A noise in the Senate is quite out of place, If 'tis one that spectators are like to be pleased at ; And a member should know, if outsiders do not,
That the Senate in session is not to be sneezed at."
As Mr. Webster and Mr. Dickinson differed in their political sentiments, there was at first naturally some coolness mingled in their senatorial, and perhaps in their social relations. The passage between them on the occasion of the reply of the latter to Mr. Web- ster in the Senate, has already been referred to. On the death of General Taylor, in July, 1850, and the accession of Mr. Fillmore to the presidency, Mr. Web- ster was appointed secretary of state. On his retiring from the Senate, he wrote the following letter, which fully illustrates the high esteem in which he held his distinguished Democratic opponent from New York.
"WASHINGTON, September 27th, 1850.
" My Dear Sir-Our companionship in the Senate is dissolved. After this long and most important ses- sion, you are about to return to your home, and I shall try to find leisure to visit mine. I hope we may meet each other again, two months hence, for the dis- charge of our duties in our respective stations in the government. But life is uncertain, and I have not felt willing to take leave of you, without placing in your hands a note containing a few words which I wish to say to you.
"In the earlier part of our acquaintance, my dear sir, occurrences took place which I remember with constantly increasing regret and pain, because, the
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more I have known you, the greater have been my esteem for your character and my respect for your talents. But it is your noble, able, manly, and patri- otic conduct in support of the great measures of this session, which has entirely won my heart, and re- ceived my highest regard.
" I hope you may live long to serve your country ; but I do not think you are ever likely to see a crisis in which you may be able to do so much, either for your own distinction, or for the public good. You have stood where others have fallen ; you advanced with firm and manly steps where others have wavered, faltered, and fallen back; and, for one, I desire to thank you, and to commend your conduct out of the fullness of an honest heart.
"This letter needs no reply ; it is, I am aware, of very little value : but I have thought you might be willing to receive it, and, perhaps, to leave it where it would be seen by those who shall come after you.
"I pray you. when you reach your own thresh- old, to remember me most kindly to your wife and daughter; and I remain, my dear sir, with the truest esteem, your friend and obedient servant,
"DANIEL WEBSTER.
"HON. DANIEL S. DICKINSON,
U. S. Senate."
It has been said, by an imaginative writer, that "letters have souls," and it is true. If genius has one attribute higher than the rest, one charm more winning than the others, it is the ability to combine in a letter-to express in it, with facility, what the heart dictates ; for, as has been truthfully said, epis- tles from one friend to another make a near approach to conversation, and we can see more of character displayed in them, than in any productions which are studied for public view. Thus, the foregoing letter and the following reply of Mr. Dickinson exhibit in a perspicuous manner the native generosity and high- toned characteristics of their minds.
-
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" BINGHAMTON, October 5th, 1850.
" My Dear Sir - I perused and reperused the beautiful note which you placed in my hands as I was about leaving Washington, with deeper emotion than I have ever experienced, except under some domestic vicissitude. Since I learned the noble and generous qualities of your nature, the unfortunate occurrences in our early acquaintance to which you refer, have caused me many moments of painful re- gret. and your confiding communication has fur- nished a powerful illustration of the truth, that to 'err is human, to forgive, divine.' Numerous and valued are the testimonials of confidence and regard which a somewhat extended acquaintance and length- ened public services have gathered around me; but among them all there is none to which my heart clings so fondly as this. I have presented it to my family and friends as the proudest passage in the history of an eventful life, and shall transmit to my posterity as a sacred and cherished memento of friend- ship. I thank Heaven that it has fallen to my lot to be associated with yourself and others in resisting the mad current of disunion which threatened to over- whelm us; and the recollection that my course upon a question so momentous has received the approba- tion of the most distinguished American statesman, has more than satisfied my ambition. Believe me, my dear sir, that of all the patriots who came forward in the evil day of their country, there was no voice so potential as your own. Others could buffet the dark and angry waves, but it was your strong arm that could roll them back from the holy citadel.
"May that benificent Being who holds the destinies of men and nations long spare you to the public ser- vice, and may your vision never rest upon the dis- jointed fragments of a convulsed and ruined confed- eracy. I pray you to accept and present to Mrs. Webster the kind remembrances of myself and family, and believe me sincerely yours,
"D. S. DICKINSON."
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After the death of Mr. Webster these letters came to the hands of Edward Everett, whose accomplished and gifted mind at once appreciated their merit and value; he sought the permission to "incorporate them with his labors."
On the eighth day of June, 1845, General Andrew Jackson breathed his last, at the Hermitage. "The event had been expected several weeks, but the shock it produced and the tribute of respect to his memory exhibited on every side," evinced the affection with which the American people regarded him.
Among those who publicly eulogized him was Mr. Dickinson. His eulogy stands as a model of classic purity, excellence, and scholarly beauty. Some por- tions of it rival the touching and graceful language of Hecuba when speaking of the death of Astyanax.
In the National Convention held at Baltimore in 1852, Mr. Dickinson received the vote of Virginia, and some other votes for president. Being himself a delegate and favoring the nomination of General Cass, whose name was before the convention, the former caused his name to be withdrawn. In declining the honor which was so unexpectedly tendered him, "he delivered an impromptu address, which proved con- clusively that the demands of political integrity have a firmer hold upon the heart and the intellect of the good man, than the enticements of ambition."
His address was received with great applause from the immense audience present, while the ladies showered upon him from the galleries such a profu- sion of bouquets, that one might have believed Flora herself had come to add her offering to the eloquence of the speaker.
It is true that his political opponents attributed the act of withdrawing from the convention, to any- thing but a magnanimous spirit. First, they alleged that he had but little hopes of the nomination, and no prospect of it; secondly, he believed that in with- drawing, he would produce results which in the end might give him the nomination, &c.
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But recent revelations have established the fact beyond a doubt, that had Mr. Dickinson made no pledge to General Cass, and early announced him- self as a candidate, as many of his friends insisted upon his doing, he would have received the nomina- tion for president.
In the division which subsequently occurred in the Democratic party in the State, he adhered with un- flinching zeal to the Hunker or conservative branch of the party. In this, he was of course bitterly assailed by the opposing faction, and was charged with forgetting his northern birth in his desire to serve his southern friends. The remark which he made, regretting that he was not born in Virginia, was eagerly caught up by the opposition press, and made the subject of many a bitter and censorious news- paper comment.
It is not strange that in his long and eventful po- litical career he often erred, that in the contests at the bar and in the political arena he incurred the enmity of many. Whatever were his convictions of duty, he followed them with the same unconquerable zeal which led Hempden and Sidney to their death.
It is difficult to form an impartial judgment as to the conduct of men who have recently been engaged in the conflicting scenes of political life. Their con- nection with party, and their habit of viewing subjects in reference to personal aggrandizement, too often obscure the noblest intellect, and convert into patrons of narrow views and temporary interests, those who in other conditions would have been the light of their age.
After retiring from the Senate of the United States, his natural love for the legal profession again led him to the bar. The promptings of his early youth never deserted him ; they stimulated him to action on that chosen field of labor and ambition which had cost him so many struggles, and he fell as the conquering sol- dier loves to fall, gloriously occupying the ground he
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won, with the sound of the conflict still ringing in his ears.
In the year 1852, Mr. Pierce nominated him for col- lector of the port of New York, and he was unani- mously confirmed ; but preferring the large income which he derived from his profession, he declined, though it is one of the most lucrative positions in the State.
He continued free from the trammels of office for several years, until after the great drama of the rebellion opened and closed. Almost with the first gun that inaugurated the civil war he sundered all party allegiance, and ranged himself under the banner of his country. In his own State, in Pennsylvania, and throughout New England, he addressed vast assemblages of people, impressing upon them the necessity of ignoring party and standing by their im- periled country.
Though the effect of his appeals can never be fully estimated, it is safe to say that they effectually aided in concentrating that power which overthrew the rebellion ; they. were as potent as those of Demos- thenes, in his Phillipics which so effectually aroused " the indignation of his countrymen against Phillip, the common enemy."
In the autumn of 1861, he was nominated for attor- ney-general by the Union party of New York, under the conviction that the crisis demanded a man of his long experience and varied legal attainments, as the chief prosecuting officer of the State, and as the adviser of its able executive. The nomination was reluctantly accepted, so averse was he to holding any official position. His election was a matter of course, and he entered upon the duties of the office in January, 1867.
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