History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 156

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992

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employ it. A lawyer he was, complete as a man can become, in all the knowledge of his profession. He understood thoroughly the common law, and he therefore understood the relation borne to it by equity, when it was proper for its interposition, and what were its purposes, and its limits in such interposition.

David Paul Brown relates an anecdote of part of a conversation that occurred once between Judge Wash- ington and Richard Stockton, then one of the leading lawyers of the bar of New Jersey. It was in relation to the embarrassed position in which Governor Desha, of Kentucky, had been placed by a flagrant crime of his own son :

" Mr. Stockton inquired, ' Have you seen the mel- ancholy position in which Governor Desha, of Ken- tucky, has been placed by the crime of his son ?' ' It is a sad affair,' said the judge. ' But,' rejoined Stock- ton, 'the worst of it is that the son, having been con- victed, the Governor, his father, must now decide he- tween signing the death-warrant or a pardon.' 'And that you consider a difficulty ?' said the judge. 'Cer- tainly,' replied the interlocutor. 'Why, I would like to know what you, an upright, impartial, and in- flexible judge, would do in such a case?' ' Do?' was the reply; 'do?' his eye sparkling, and his little figure expanding by the side of his gigantic friend, ' why, sir, I would pardon him at once; the time has long gone by when it was deemed either natural or

Judge Mckean and Judge Washington. Yet the ; honorable to play the Roman father.' "

court as that of the former. Patient, courteous, but | time when mankind had not yet ceased to praise the

Such expressions coming from such a man at a horrible action of the elder Brutus, and other unnat- ural fathers who followed his example, were of ines- timable value to a better ascertainment of the duties of those who, while in public positions, are some- times called upon to decide upon questions on which it is only strange that the world should ever have entertained a doubt. It is, perhaps, a fact that that is the highest kind of courage that holds itself habitu- ally in reserve for great occasion wherever its exhi- hition may be found necessary. The thoroughly brave man is apt to be mild, quiet, unaggressive, modest, cool. If entirely upright, he must have a consciousness of integrity that not only does not fear to be led far astray from just action, but is indiffer- ent to whatever others may think of its possibilities. It is not easy to say what Judge Washington would probably have done in a case like that when Judge Mckean ordered himself to be summoned upon the posse to aid the sheriff in suppressing a riot, but it is probable that had Washington been upon the bench at the time, and his presence there were known to the crowd, the riot would not have occurred, or if it had, then out of the hearing of the court. It may well be said to be a happy thing both for the State of Pennsylvania and the Federal government that such a man as Judge Washington was upon the bench during the contest between these two powers iu the great case of Gideon

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Olmstead, wherein he was called upon to decide upon the issue clearly made by Pennsylvania with the Federal government, the Legislature of the former having solemnly ordered the Governor of the State to resist the execution of a judgment of the court of the latter. Nothing could exceed the cool courage with which the judge bore himself throughout this trial, that lasted for several weeks. Outside pressure upon the court was constant, and conducted in such a manner as to be dreaded by almost any man, how- ever solemnly convinced of his rights and duties. Threats had been made abundantly against the judge personally if he should dare to decide adversely to the defendants, whose cause the State had espoused. We believe that the records of courts may be sought in vain for a more consummate act of courage, pru- dence, and sagacity than that of the presiding judge upon the close of the arguments of counsel. The court was sitting at its usual place, in a house, the room on the ground floor of which was much more capacious than the court-room. A large and anxious crowd, that more than filled the latter, were on hand eager to hear the judgment of the court. Deter- mined to have in view as many as possible of those who had threatened his judicial authority wheu it became necessary to assert it, with as much mildness of manner as he had ever employed in the issuance of the most trifling orders, he said to the crier, " Ad- journ the court, to meet to-morrow morning in the room of the ground-floor of this building. This is an important case; the citizens manifest a deep inter- est in the result, and it is but right that they should be allowed, without too much inconvenience, to wit- ness the administration of the justice of the county, to which all men, great and small, are alike bound to submit."

We close this notice by the following, taken from the discourse of Judge Hopkinson, delivered after the death of this illustrious man :

"Few, very few men, who have been distinguished on the judgment- seat of the law have possessed higher qualifications, natural and ac- quired, for the station than Judge Washington. And this is equally true, whether we look to the illustrious individuals who have graced the courts of the United States, or extend the view to the country from which so much of our judicial knowledge has been derived. He was wiee, as well as learned, sagacious and searching in the pursuit and dis- covery of truth, end faithful to it beyond the touch of corruption, or the diffidence of fear ; he was courteone, considerate, and elow in form- ing a judgment, end steady, but not obstinate, in his adherence to it. No man was more willing to listen to an argument against his opinion, to receive it with candor, or to yield to it with more manliness if it con- vinced him of an error He was too honest and too proud to surrender himself to the undne influence of any man, the menaces of any power, or the seductions of any interest, but he was tractable as humility to the force of truth, as obedient as filial duty to the voice of reason. When he gave up an opinion he did it not grudgingly, or with reluctant quali- fications and saving explanations; it was abandoned at once, and he re- joiced more than any one at his escape from it. It is only a mind con- sciona of ite strength, and governed by the highest principles of integ- nity, that can make ench sacrifices, not only withont eny feeling of humiliation, but with unaffected satisfaction."1

! David Pant Brown, in the "Forum," makes n comparison between Judge Washington and Judge Tilghman. In his sketch of the latter he writes, " Yet with all his merits, and certainly he had no superior in

A leading character in the politics of the times before and some time after the Revolution of 1776, was John Dickinson. Like many others whose careers were spent mainly in Philadelphia, John Dickinson was a native of Maryland. Dr. Thomas Cadwalader, the councilor, whom we have sketched heretofore, had a sister who had married a rich Quaker, Samuel Dickinson, who had been the presiding justice in Kent County, on the Dela- ware. The country-seat of . this gentleman was named "Crosia," and located in Talbot County, Md., on the Choptank River. Here was born his son Jobn on 2d of November, 1732. After finishing his course at schools, he spent some time in the office of Lawyer Moland, in Philadelphia, and then went to Lon- don, where he spent three years in the further prose- cution of his law studies at the Temple. Showing an early liking for politics, he engaged ardently in them, particularly in the Lower Counties, where Benjamin Chew was his ablest opponent. In 1762 he was elected from Philadelphia County to the Assembly, and in the following year, being re-elected, was placed upon the Committee of Correspondence.

The family of Penn, with far less sagacity, as well as sense of justice, than their illustrious progenitor, had made and insisted upon so many unreasonable exactions, that a party arose which had for its object the annihilation of the proprietary government alto- gether, and the relegation of authority to the crown. The ablest man in this movement was Benjamin Franklin. Dickinson was as much opposed as any to these exactions of the Penns, but was intensely hostile to the movement of Franklin. He argued that the main cause of the daring of that family pro- ceeded from the sense of security which they had had in the approval of the British government in all their exactions, and that the removal of these petty oppressors would be followed by exactions the more oppressive, because made by a higher power, that was already resentful on account of what it deemed inadequate service rendered by Pennsylvania in the late war with France. But, through the man- agement of Benjamin Franklin and Joseph Galloway, the measure was carried.

Dickinson continued his hostility after the ad- journment. Through his exertions both Franklin and Galloway were defeated for the next Assembly, and himself returned. He could not prevail, how- ever, in his efforts to have the petition recalled, and Franklin, notwithstanding his defeat at the polls,

those respects, hie judicial manner was not equal to Judge Washington'e, though superior to any other man that ever held his seat upon a Penn- sylvania bench. They were equally learned in the law, or perhaps Tilghman's reading was the more comprehensive of the two. They were equally confided in by the public, but the advantage of Washing- ton over Tilghman consisted In his imperturbable composure, ' hie mas- terly inactivity,' until the hour of action arrived, when he struck an unerring end final blow. Whether he had less timidity than his great rival it is difficult to say, but he showed less, perhaps, than any man that ever held e similar poet."

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was elected to the commission to go with the paper to England.

The career of this remarkable man belongs to other fields rather than to this which relates the history of the bench and bar. His ardent nature led him to take active part in politics rather than pursue a profession in which, doubtless, he would have at- tained eminence corresponding to that which he won elsewhere, Notwithstanding his opposition to the Declaration of Independence, such was the confidence in his talents, integrity, and patriotism exhibited after its adoption, that about the year 1780 he was placed on the Supreme Executive Council, that had been created by the Constitution of 1776. This Couneil had been formed mainly upon the model of Penn's Provincial Coun- cil, established in 1683. This, as we have seen, was a judicial as well as po- litical post, the members being also members of the High Court of Errors and Appeals. The office of president of this Council was elective by its mem- bers. In 1782, Dickinson was chosen to it. During his administration as such president Dickinson Col- lege was founded, to which he had contributed largely of his abundant means. His wife was Mary Nor- ris, granddaughter of the councilor of " Fair Hill." Dickinson died Feb. 14, 1808.

In connection with him, it is perhaps most proper to mention here Joseph Galloway, who was, with Franklin, his leading rival in the political discussions of their times. Galloway was another of the many Marylanders the chief part of whose life in their most eventful periods was spent in Philadelphia. He was born near West River, on the Western Shore of Maryland, about the year 1729, the son of Peter Galloway and Mary, daughter of John Rigbee. He began the practice of law at a very early age, for at that of twenty-one we find his name appearing upon the docket of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Finding politics more inviting to his temper than law, he devoted himself to the former. His attitude toward independence when that great question came along was such as to drive him to expatriation. We shall see elsewhere the parts he enacted on this theatre and in that of letters. He died in 1803 at

Chitopikuson

the town of Watford, in Herts, England, the place of his residence. His residence while in Philadel- phia was at the southeast corner of Sixth and High Streets. Attainted of high treason in 1789, among other things done with his estate, this house was ap- propriated by the Legislature as a residence of the Supreme Executive Council. It was afterward bought by Robert Morris. Galloway's mother was Grace Growdon, daughter of Lawrence Growdon, the coun- cilor, before mentioned.

Francis Hopkinson, one of the most eminent men of his times, was the son of the Councilor Thomas Hop- kinson, by his wife Mary (née Johnson), of New Castle. This lady was of a distinguished English family, her grandfather, William Johnson, of Laycock Mills, having been granted in 1677, by Charles II., the reversion of the office of master of the rolls to sue- ceed Sir Harbottle Grims- ton. Francis was born in 1737 in Philadelphia. He was the first pupil to come forth from the College and Academy of Phila- delphia, studied law under the Councilor Benjamin Chew, and was admitted to practice in 1761. With- out having accomplished anything considerable by 1765, he then embarked for Europe, partly for the purpose of visiting his mother's relations there, among whom some, as the Bishop of Worcester, were in high positions, His principal object, however, was to obtain office of some sort from the Penns or the government. The office he songht mainly was that of one of the commissioners of the customs for North America. He maintained with leading persons rela- tiens pleasant in all respects, except in obtaining the office he desired. Upon his return he resumed the prac- tice of his profession, and at the same time engaged in merchandising on Race Street, above Third. In 1772 he obtained the office of collector of New Castle. Having intermarried with Ann, daughter of Joseph Borden, of Bordentown, N. J., he had the business at New Castle attended to by deputy, and for a while residing at Bordentown, was a member of the Pro- vincial Council of New Jersey. In 1776 he was chosen one of the State's delegates to the Continental Congress. Here he was one of the committee for drafting the Articles of Confederation, and favoring

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independence, became one of the signers. He was placed afterward at the head of the Navy Depart- ment of the newly-formed government, and was trea- surer of the Continental Loan Office.

Mr. Hopkinson had great powers of ridicule, and no production of greater literary merit, it is probable, ever had more successful influence in the production of what was intended than his " Battle of the Kegs," written in relation to the attempt upon the British in Philadelphia, in 1778, by sending floating torpedoes down the Delaware. In the following year the Su- preme Executive Council of Pennsylvania appointed him judge of the Admiralty at Philadelphia. After the convention that formed the Federal Constitution, he wrote another humorous piece for another serious purpose. This was "The New Roof," and, like its predecessor in the same vein, contributed wonderfully to making that document acceptable among the people. The establishment of the District Court of the United States for the District of Pennsylvania drew to it the jurisdiction in Admiralty, and of this court President Washington appointed him judge. The name of Francis Hopkinson stands among the very highest upon that long list of distinguished Philadelphians who made the bench and bar of their city the most illustrious in the country during many years, and his numerous posterity may reeall with much pride the history of his actions. One of these, his son Judge Joseph Hopkinson, was perhaps fully his equal as a lawyer and judge, and his superior in literary culture.

Joseph Reed was one of the most distinguished men of his time. He was of a family that, many years before his birth, in 1741, had emigrated from Carrickfergus, Ireland, and settled near the town of Trenton, N. J. His father, Andrew Reed, married Theodosia Bowes, and was for most of his life a mer- chant at Trenton. Shortly after the birth of Joseph he removed to Philadelphia, but in the course of about ten years went back to Trenton. Joseph's col- lege education was at Princeton, where he took the first academic degree when he was only sixteen years old. After graduation he began the study of law under Richard Stockton, a leading lawyer of the province, and was admitted to the bar in 1763. Not satisfied with the advantages he had had in his legal studies thus far, he went to London after his admis- sion, and studied at the Middle Temple for two years, returning in 1765. Young as he was during this so- journ, he made himself thoroughly acquainted with the progress of the relation between the British gov- ernment and the American colonies, aud became an ardent opposer to the increasing oppressiveness of the former. Many of his letters written during this time have been preserved and printed in the work pub- lished by his grandson, William B. Reed, in 1847, entitled " Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed." On his return from London he began the practice of his profession. His services, destined to become so valuable in the trying times that were hastening their

approach, were for some time in danger of being lost to his native country on account of an attachment he had formed for the daughter of Mr. De Berdt, a prom- inent merchant in London, who had refused Mr. Reed's request to be allowed to marry her unless he would settle there. Some time after the latter's return, and while matters were discussed with great anxiety on both sides, Mr. De Berdt, who was a Dis- senter, concluded to accept the appointment of agent for Massachusetts "to solicit and pursue the petitions of the General Congress." This appointment seemed favorable to a degree to the hopes of the young lover, as it identified the family of the woman he loved more closely with his native country. The five years fol- lowing he devoted himself assiduously to his profes- sion, and though he had rapid, abundant success, yet he was ever debating the question of whether or not he must comply with the terms on which he could obtain the object of his affections. Finally, at the death of his own father in 1769, he embarked for Lon- don, yet uncertain of his destination. Arriving there he found that Mr. De Berdt had died shortly before. Reed soon thereafter married, and in the latter part of the year 1770 returned to Trenton, and immediately removed his residence to Philadelphia.

Like Dickinson, Mr. Reed became so prominently engaged in politics that the greater part of his ablest endeavors were spent in public affairs. His connection by marriage with some of the best Loudon society led to his intimate acquaintance with some of the leading statesmen of Great Britain, among them Lord Dart- mouth, who, on the resignation of Lord Hillsborough, in 1772, became Secretary of State for the Colonies. In the work of William B. Reed, before referred to, is given some very interesting correspondenee between Mr. Reed and this nobleman upon the exciting topics of the day. Along with this correspondence is that with Mr. De Berdt, Mr. Reed's brother-in-law, Arthur Lee, and others. The conclusion of his last letter to the earl we must insert here, although it has no refer- ence to the subject we have immediately in hand in this chapter. It was written Feb. 10, 1775, in Phila- deiphia. Mr. Reed had never disguised from his lord- ship his own views concerning the matters in dispute between the colonies and the mother-country. At this period matters had become so exacerbated that Mr. Reed felt himself bound to intimate that if the correspondence he had had with the secretary was becoming embarrassing to him, he would cease to write. "If so," he writes, " a word to Mr. De Berdt will be sufficient, and I shall forbear to trouble your lordship further, though I shall ever retain sentiments of the most sincere and respectful devotion and grati- tude for your condescension to myself, and the regard your lordship has often expressed for this unhappy country." After giving an account of the Provincial Convention that had met in Philadelphia, the recep- tion the king's speech on colonial affairs had met with, and other things pertaining to the situation, he con-

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cludes thus : "I am very sensible that the disposition I have mentioned may by some be imputed to timidity and apprehension of division among ourselves. That there are some in this province, and more in New York, who do not think with the Congress in all things is very true; but, on the best inquiry, the majority of a different opinion is too great, and the number of the dissenting too small, to make it a circumstance of material weight in any plan which may be formed. By what I have said your lordship will see that it is my opinion, if it can be reconciled with the dignity of the mother-country to express a desire of accommodation, and the present severities against Boston could be suspended on making satis- faction for the damage done the tea, the Americans may think it their interest to recede in some degree from the line of jurisdiction drawn in Congress. But this country will be deluged with blood before it will submit to any other taxation than by their own Legislature."

On the 15th of June, 1775, George Washington, then a member of Congress, was made commander-in-chief of the forces that had been raised when, after the battle of Lexington, the war of the Revolution had fairly begun. Shortly afterward Mr. Reed was made his military secretary. This action was surprising to his friends, who remembered how conservative he had been during all the preliminary public transactions concerning the difficulties with the mother-country. To one who warned him of the dangers to which he i in 1781, in the month of December, he retired, and was subjecting himself by his present prominent con- nection with the rebellion he coolly answered, "I have no intention to be hanged for half-treason. When a subject draws his sword against his prince, he must cut his way through if he means afterward to sit down in safety. I have taken too active a part in what may be called the civil part of opposition to renounce without disgrace the public cause when it seems to lead to danger, and have a most sovereign contempt for the man who can plan measures he has not spirit to execute." In June, 1776, Mr. Reed was appointed adjutant-general, an office which had just been made vacant by the promotion of Gen. Gates. The correspondence of Mr. Reed ever after his join- ing the army, especially with Gen. Washington and Mrs. Reed, is deeply interesting.1

In June, 1777, Reed was offered the post of briga- dier-general, but declined the appointment. So he

did with that of chief justice of the State of Penn- sylvania. The latter declination he made, giving among others as his reasons the some not yet ful- filled engagements he had with the commander-in- chief, which he could not relinquish. He was elected president of the State of Pennsylvania the following year, having resigned the seat which he had held in Congress for some time. The history of the succeed- ing three years of his life is the general history of Pennsylvania during that most important period. His connection with the judiciary was his being, by virtue of his office as president of the State, the president of the High Court of Errors and Ap- peals. "Thus," says his descendant, with honorable pride, " was the chief magistrate of the State, in these times of varied responsibility, directing legislation, administering an active executive trust, presiding in the highest court of justice, superintending the re- cruiting service and the discipline of militia troops, occasionally, as will be seen, taking the command in person and leading them to the field, and all this amidst the fury of party conflict, and in the agony of a civil and Indian war."

Mr. Reed had been elected chief magistrate of the State for three successive terms, the last of which expired just after the surrender of Cornwallis and the attainment of independence. The Constitution under which he had been elected had established in- eligibility for a longer period than three terins. So, the office devolved by election upon William Moore, who had been lately Vice-President. He at once went back to his profession of law, and with all the zeal possible to one whose health had been permanently injured by the enormous work he had done, and the exposures to every form of hardship that had befallen him. Much notoriety was attached to his employ- ment by the State as one of the counsel in the im- portant controversy between Pennsylvania concerning the right to certain lands in the Wyoming settlement. This exciting controversy had at last to be referred to Congress, which appointed a committee to sit at Tren- ton, and after hearing decide the case. Mr. Reed's associates in the case were William Bradford, James Wilson, and Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant. His speech in the trial was represented to be one of masterly ability.

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History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 156

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 992

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992