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 49
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did this great bereavement seem more near than to his brethren at the capital, who were the immediate as- sociates of his professional life, and who were bound to him by the nearer relations of friendship and af- fection. To give expression to these feelings of respect and regard for his character and sorrow for his death, they assembled together with mournful feelings, and adopted resolutions expressing in some slight degree their esteem for his worth, their admiration for his great character as a lawyer, and their regret for his sudden and untimely death. They gathered in rev- erent grief around his bier, and followed to its last resting place in silence and tears, all that remained on
· earth of one so loved and honored. They desire to preserve some memorial of their regard for what he was, and I now present the record of their proceed- ings, with a request that in respect to his memory, they be entered upon the minutes of this court. It was in this place that he spent the later years of his life, and it is upon your records that the most endur- ing monuments of his labors exist; and we feel it to be appropriate that upon the field of his professional fame, there shall remain a fitting testimonial to his great character. The last effort of his professional life was made in this presence. It terminated the labors of the last term of this honorable court, and with him it was the close of a career that will be looked to as an example of all that can be achieved by a lofty in- tellect and unremitting labor. It was also the termi- nation of a life crowded with all that is estimable in human character. I was with him as an adversary in his last public labor in the profession that he loved, and honored, and adorned. I was with him as a friend in almost the last hours that he spent in this life, and I come here to day to bring the tribute of his brethren to his exalted worth, and to add my own feeble ex- pression of admiration for him as a lawyer, my rever- ence for his character as a man, and my affection for a lost associate and friend.
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NICHOLAS HILL.
"It is not necessary in the presence of this court, to dwell upon the great qualities that formed the character of our lamented brother. You well know the measure of his luminous intellect, and the noble qualities of his great nature. You have been de- lighted and instructed with his eloquence and learn- ing. Every volume that records your Honors' judg- ments bears enduring evidence of the labors of Nich- olas Hill. No man at this bar ever spent more time in valuable discussion, and none ever brought to the consideration of any question a greater amount of exact legal learning, or presented in a more attractive and impressive form the severer logic of the law. He never undertook the discussion of any question that he had not fully investigated, and of which he had not by attentive study and reflection made himself the master. The leading thought of his life was his pro- fession. He loved its labors with enthusiastic devo- tion. No temptation could seduce him from its pur- suit. If he relaxed his severer studies, it was to be- guile an hour in the freedom of social enjoyment, or amid the delights of literature. His was a life of in- tellectual toil and of intellectual triumph. He was indebted to no adventitious aid for the honors that he won. They are the results of his own unaided intellect and of his own unparalleled industry. The reverence that we all feel for his great character is but the just tribute to exalted merit.
" His whole life was devoted to the loftiest of human pursuits.
"The administration of justice presents the noblest field for the exercise of human capacity. It forms, as has been well said, the ligament which binds society together. Upon its broad foundation is erected the edifice of public liberty. To lend humble aid in rais- ing this structure is a valued privilege, but to stand pre-eminent among those who at the bar or upon the bench have beautified and adorned the temple of justice, is among the loftiest positions allotted to man.
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From that proud eminence in the early morning of May Nicholas Hill descended to the tomb-closing a spotless life in the full maturity of his power, in all the warmth of his affections, and while yet the sun of his existence seemed at noonday. By those who value truth and honor manhood, who reverence intel- lect, and love all that is generous and noble in human character, his memory will be cherished as among the most precious recollections of life, and by the purest and greatest of those who survive him, his example may be viewed with profit; and it will be well with any, who at the close of life are worthy to fill a grave such as received all that was mortal of Nicholas Hill. "By most all of those with whom the name of our departed brother was familiar, he will be remembered only as a great lawyer. To some of us he will be cherished in a nearer and kindlier relation. Those he honored with his regard will prefer to think of him as he was when he withdrew from labor and surren- dered himself to the enjoyments of the hour. They will not forget his genial and generous nature, his graceful humor, the warmth of his friendship, and the thousand nameless qualities that made up the perfec- tion of his character. Those who knew him only as the acknowledged leader of an honored profession, knew but little of the man. It was when, in the chosen circle of his friends, he left behind him his books and his briefs, that you were made acquainted with the excellent qualities of his heart. To those who knew him not, he may sometimes have seemed austere and distant, but to those he knew and loved, he was 'sweet as summer.' I prefer to cherish him as a valued friend, who has too early left us for an undiscovered country. I shall long remember our last interview on the last day of his life. Disease had laid its heavy hand upon him, but his mind was clear, and the energy and warmth of his affections had suffered no abatement. He felt con-
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scious that he had been overtasked, and, I think, re- gretted that he had subjected his frail organization to such unremitting and exhausting toil. But he looked forward to the return of health, and to a season of re- pose ; and yet there was a lingering doubt in his own mind, if that day would ever come. Alas! it never came. Within a few hours he passed from sleep to death, and there remains of him but the record of his toils and triumphs, and the memory of what he was. He died in the meridian of manhood, a victim to his own ceaseless devotion to the profession that now mourns his loss.
"' So the struck eagle stretched upon the plain, No more through rolling clouds to soar again, Viewed his own feather in the fatal dart, That winged the shaft which quivered in his heart.'
"However distinguished we may be or have been in this life, upon the bed of death man returns to his in- dividuality. He must die unaided and unsupported by human effort. Neither the applause of his fellow men nor the affection of friends and kindred can sup- port him in that hour. All the honors of earth are then as valueless to the possessor as the withered leaves which the winds of autumn will scatter over his grave. Those who sit in the judgment seat and dispense human justice will in their turn bow to that fixed and unalterable law of being, which dedicates all that is mortal to decay and death. In view of that solemn hour, the impressive lesson of the life and death of him we mourn will not pass unheeded. It comes too near us to be viewed with unconcern. I need not pause to impress it upon the attention of those who but yesterday looked into the new made grave of him, who, according to the standard of hu- man judgment was entitled to "crown a life of labor with an age of ease ;" but to whom, in the mysterious Providence of God, it was not permitted to find rest
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from his labors, except amid the habitations of the dead.
" In that silent resting place, we leave him to the rewards which are promised to the pure in spirit, the blameless in life, and the upright in heart."
DANIEL LORD.
His name intimately associated with the Bar of the State .- Lord Brougham's descrip- tion of Percival applies to Mr. Lord .- Mr. Lord as a Counselor and Advocate .- His Birth .- A Son of Dr. Daniel Lord .- Character of Dr. Lord .- His Heroic Con- duct During the Prevalence of the Yellow Fever in New York, in 1798 .- The Early Home of Daniel Lord .- His love for it .- Daniel Prepares for College .- Studies the French Language .- His love of that Language continued through Life .- Continues to Read French Authors .- Describes Voltaire in a Letter to a Friend .- Enters Yale College .- Dr. Dwight .- The Books which Mr. Lord Read while in College .- His Love of the Bible .- Pleasing Incident on Board of a Steamboat .- Mr. Lord Believed to be a Distinguished Clergyman .- How the Mistake was Discovered .- A Pious Lawyer Found .- Mr. Lord Decides to Enter the Legal Profession .- Enters the Office of George Griffin as a Student .- De- scription of Mr. Griffin .- The Great Trial of the People v. Goodwin .- Mr. Griffin's Great Speech .- Scene at the Trial .- Mr. Lord Admitted to the Bar .- His Mar- riage .- His Discouraging Prospects as a Lawyer .- Prosperity Slowly Com- mences .- Death of a favorite Child .- Its Effect on Mr. Lord .- Mr. Lord Con- tinues his Struggles to Gain a Foothold in the Profession .- Mr. Lord and Charles O'Conor .- Anecdote Related by Mr. O'Conor .- Mr. Lord at last Gains a High Reputation in the City Courts .- His First Case in the Supreme Court .- Mr. Lord as a Chancery Lawyer .- The Case of Grover v. Wakeman .- Argues it against Abraham Van Vechten and William H. Seward .- Lord Succeeds .- Case Ap- pealed to Court of Errors .- Mr. Lord argues it in that Court against Samuel A. 'falcott and Benjamin F. Butler .- Talcott and Butler described .- Mr. Lord again Succeeds .- Result of his Success .- Important Cases in which he was Engaged, described .- Mr. Lord's Love of Literature .- Mr. Evarts a Student in his Office. -Anecdote of Mr. Evarts .- Mr. Lord's Habits .- His Domestic and Religious Character .- He unites with the Brick Church in New York .- Remark of Rev. J. O. Murray .- Mr. Lord Threatened with Paralysis .- Fears of his Family .- Touch- ing Scene in his Family Devotion .- The Dreaded Hour .- Scene of his Death.
No name is more intimately associated with the bar of the State of New York than that of Daniel Lord-no name calls up more pleasing recollections than his; for in him were blended those qualities which are admired by the man of business, the scholar, the lawyer, the judge, and all who venerate virtue, religion, and talent.
As Lord Brougham said of Percival, "He was a warm and steady friend, a man of the strictest integ-
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rity and nicest sense, both of honor and justice, in all the relations of society wholly without a stain- though envy might find whereon to perch, malice it- self, even in the exasperating collisions of the bar, never could descry a spot on which to fasten."
As a counselor and advocate, his characteristic features were strength and originality of thought. His intellectual efforts brought with them, both in form and style, the stamp of his own mind and of mental independence. His mind was a well arranged legal library, where he could easily lay his hand upon whatever he desired. He was always strong before a jury, and in cases which called out all his faculties, he was eloquent, often impressive, occasionally ardent, though his ardor was rather the offspring of strong reason than the flow of imagination-the result of a strong prepossession of the justice of his case, than the power of sentiment or of ideality.
He made no claim to the external graces of the orator-no parade of learning. He did not en- ter any field of argument in the glittering panoply of science and erudition, wielding at pleasure all its arms; but like Hercules with his club, he used a single massive weapon familiar to his hand, smoothed and polished by frequent use, and that was the law. He entered the legal profession in the glow of youth- ful ambition, gradually winning his way to its high- est honors, -in the meridian of his life a chieftain ; in its decline a veteran-a champion with his armor on, still braced for the contest-moving triumphantly over that field of strife which he never abandoned for polit- ical distinction or the emoluments of office.
He was born at Stonington, Connecticut, on the second day of September, 1795. He was an only child of Dr. Daniel Lord, a physician of respectable attainments, but a man little calculated for the rough contacts and hard struggles of life. Dreamy and scholastic in his nature, with a book ever before him, he would forget his trials in the beautiful creations of
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the poet-in the realms of science, or in the scenes presented by the historian, where monarchs, heroes, and martyrs are actors; and, therefore, though he acquired a competence, he never amassed riches.
In the year 1797, Doctor Lord removed to the city of New York, where he entered into a practice which promised to be lucrative ; but at a period when his professional success began to have the appearance of certainty, he relinquished it, strange as it may seem, after having won public commendation for his heroic devotion to the sick during the prevalence of the yellow fever which raged so fearfully in New York in the year 1798.
The first victim of that appalling scourge was at- tacked on the 29th day of July, and died after a very short illness. Though his case was attended by most malignant symptoms, such was the healthiness of the city at the time, that his death excited no alarm. The deceased was a merchant whose store was in Front-street near Coenties-slip, and it was be- lieved he was taken ill at his store. A few days after his death, several persons in that locality were at- tacked with the same sickness ; but as their symptoms resembled a common cold, they did not regard the matter serious enought to call a physican. When at length medical aid was sought, they learned to their horror that they were suffering with the yellow fever, and beyond recovery. In a short time the dis- ease spread to New-slip, Cliff-street, John-street, and other parts of the city ; in some places not a family escaped its ravage ; death, terror and misery reigned on every side. For a time it seemed as though the death angel was hovering over the city, and many fled from it as from the caverns of destruction.
At first, funeral processions followed one an- other in rapid succession ; but at length this respect for the dead was abandoned, and they were hurried to the grave in carts and drays, with no ceremony what- ever.
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Many of the physicians in the city, actuated by the love of life, fled to places of safety : in the course of time many others were stricken down by the dis- ease, leaving scarcely enough of the medical frater- nity to attend to the sufferers.
Amid this pestilence, which indeed walked in dark- ness, Doctor Lord devoted himself to its victims with unwearied energy and calm fortitude. In the homes of the wealthy, in the abodes of poverty, by night and by day, he was constantly at the side of the suffering and dying. Around him flew the invisible arrows of death. Still he adhered inflexibly to his duty, bravely continuing at his post. With scientific ob- servation he watched the effect of his prescriptions, carefully noting every phase of the disease; like a skillful general, valiantly resisting the attacks of his enemies, and preparing to repulse new onsets. He thus learned the nature of the disease and the mode of treating it,-and this knowledge subsequent- ly became of immense value to his professional brethren.
At length the pestilence passed away, health and prosperity returned to the city, and Doctor Lord re- tired from the duties of his profession and engaged in the occupation of a druggist.
Mr. Lord's mother was a superior woman, who exerted an excellent influence over him, and he ever regarded her with affection and veneration.
For a time, the business affairs of Dr. Lord pro- gressed favorably. His business, though not exten- sive, was sufficiently remunerative to enable him to educate his son, while it furnished him a respect- able livelihood. But in the decline of his life, pecu- niary difficulties overtook him, which swept away nearly all his property. Fortunately for him, his son, long before this, had entered the battle of life, and if his advance had not been brilliant, it was sure and certain ; he had already won a competence, and he prepared a home for his aged parents, where,
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through the remainder of their days, they were sur- rounded by every comfort, and their last years ren- dered happy. Dr. Lord died in 1845, and his wife survived him two years. If there was no other record of Daniel Lord than that of his filial devotion, his name would attract attention and respect.
When Dr. Lord removed to New York, he pur- chased a house which was situated on the corner of Old-slip and Water-street ; here he continued to live until it was destroyed by the great fire of 1835. This was the home of Daniel during his youthful days. Although unpretending, it was attractive and res- pectable. From the active scenes of life, from the triumphs of his professional career, Daniel Lord often looked back to this home of his childhood with inex- pressible emotions, born of a lively remembrance. How beautiful are the associations which bring such re- flections to the mind ; when the heart, "lone mourner of its baffled zeal," is calloused by ambition, avarice, pride-when, tired with tumult-baffled in hope- beaten by the storms of life, through many a vanished year they flash upon us as a dream of what we were, and carry us back to the scenes of our early days of innocence.
At an early age Daniel was placed in one of the best schools in the city, where he prepared for college. At this institution he gained a knowledge of the French ·language, which he never lost. Indeed, in the last years of his life he derived great enjoyment from French authors, particularly the tragedies and lively tales of Marmontel.
In a letter to a literary friend, with whom he occa- sionally corresponded, he speaks of Voltaire as fol- lows :
" The first name in French literature, during the period through which the Marmontel Memoirs extend, was unquestionably that of Voltaire ; and they con- tain a considerable number of anecdotes relating to him. The impression which I have formed of him
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from these is not unfavorable. He is represented to be more friendly and more genial than I had sup- posed-full of vivacity and impatience, to a degree of childishness and folly ; extremely changeable in his humor ; vain, satirical and ambitious, without mod- esty and without measure ; but he was a gifted and powerful writer. Had it not been for his abominable skepticism, his name would have been much brighter in history ; but, as an eminent modern writer has said of him, 'he had nothing of Mephistophiles in him. His fault was, that he was too humane; that is, too weak and too unsteady. Besides, we must remember, that in opposing religious opinion he was opposing the opinion of Monks and Jesuits. Fanaticism discon- tented him with Christianity. Observe the difference with which he speaks of the Protestant faith-with what gravity and respect. Had he been in England, I doubt if Voltaire had ever attacked Christianity. Had he been born two centuries before, I doubt whether his spirit of research and his daring courage would not have made him the reformer of the church, and not its antagonist.' "
It would indeed be difficult to obtain a better insight into the character of Voltaire than is here given. It is strong mental portrait, drawn by a master's a hand.
In the year 1811 Mr. Lord entered the sophomore class at Yale College, under the charge of Dr. Timothy Dwight, who, as has well been said, "possessed by nature one of the highest orders of mind-a mind in which the faculties were all great and all in harmo- nious proportions, forming a fine example of a well- balanced mind." A warm and agreeable friendship commenced between young Lord and Dr. Dwight soon after the former entered college. The influence which the doctor had upon him was manifested in many of the features of Mr. Lord's character-first in the col- lege student, and then in the lawyer and citizen.
That he gained the firm friendship of Dr. Dwight,
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is a sufficient guarantee of his success and abilities as a student; for, as the doctor himself was the imper- sonation of industry, he admired that quality in others, and had no patience with indolent students.
"I can tolerate a dull student," said he, "because that is a misfortune-an imperfection in organization- but indolence is a vice engendered by habit, and there- fore I cannot endure it."
Among the works Daniel read in college, were Campbell's Rhetoric, Paley's Theology, Gibbon's Roman Empire, Chastelleaux's Travels, Hume's His- tory of England, with a little of Moore's and Fal- coner's poetry, the Spectator, and the Vicar of Wake- field. The latter was always a favorite with him. He was serious, reflective and sincere, possessing great veneration for religion, though then not an avowed professor. The Bible with him was always a favorite book. He was delighted with the delicacy of senti- ment, the felicity of allusion and the force contained in the Psalms, and he regarded sublimity as a charac- teristic feature of Hebrew poetry, hightened by the splendor and magnificence of their sacred rites and their symbols of faith.
In the summer of 1845 the Rev. J. M. Sprague, a respectable clergyman who then resided in Buffalo, being in New York, took passage for Albany on one of the splendid steamers plying between the two cities. As soon as the boat was well under way, a party of young people on board prepared for a dance, and in a few moments "music arose with its volup- tuous swell," and the dance commenced.
Mr. Sprague not being particularly interested in the amusement, turned away, with the hope of meet- ing some person whose taste would be more congenial with his own. The saloons and cabins were filled with gay and happy people, some of whom were engaged in lively, cheerful conversation, while many were deeply absorbed over games of cards. For some time
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he wandered about the boat, finding no one whose ac- quaintance he desired to make.
At length he discovered a gentleman seated at a table in one of the cabins, engaged in reading a Bible which belonged to the boat ; his black broadcloth suit, his grave, thoughtful and intelligent face, convinced Mr. Sprague that he was a clergyman. Accordingly, he seated himself a short distance from him, took a paper out of his pocket, and began to read, deter- mined to make the stranger's acquaintance when he closed the book.
The latter continued to read for some time, occasion- ally making a note in a small blank book which lay on the table before him. At length he ceased reading, and taking a small piece of paper, placed it between the pages on which he had been engaged, closed the book, and walked to the other end of the cabin.
Curiosity impelled Mr. Sprague to examine the pages thus marked, and opening the Bible, he found the mark between the thirtieth and thirty-first chap- ters of Deuteronomy, in which Moses as a speaker addresses the children of Israel in a solemn and inter- esting oration, exhorting them by the most inviting promises to the observance of the covenant, and dis- suading them from the violation of it, by threats of the most exemplary punishment ; and for the purpose of impressing the same more forcibly on their minds, he afterwards embellishes the subject with the ele- gance of a poem which bears every mark of divine inspiration. The clergyman discovered several verses in these chapters marked with a pencil, among which were the first three verses of the thirty-second chapter, beginning with the words : "Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak ; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth."
After some time the gentleman returned, and as he took his seat, Mr. Sprague courteously addressed him. As he was pleasant, urbane, and intelligent, an agreeable conversation commenced, which was natu-
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rally connected with religious subjects and the Bible. The clergyman was delighted with his new acquaint- ance, and thoroughly believing him to be an eminent minister of the Gospel, was determined to ascertain who he was and where he was engaged in preaching ; but before politeness would permit him to make the inquiry, the gentleman was called to another part of the boat, and he did not see him again that evening nor during the passage.
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