USA > Wisconsin > History of the bench and bar of Wisconsin, Vol. I > Part 38
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At the expiration of his term, Mr. Carpenter was nominated by the caucus of republican members of the legislature for re-election, but was defeated by a combination of certain republican members with the democrats. In 1879 he was chosen to succeed Timothy O. Howe in the
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United States senate, and took his seat again in that body after an in- terval of four years. It may be worthy of remark in this connection that his celebrated "Janesville speech" was the great cause of his defeat in 1875: yet he considered that the best speech he had ever made, and carefully preserved a printed copy of it.
His return to Washington after his re-election to the senate was signalized by a popular demonstration that illustrated forcibly the en- thusiastic feeling, for which admiration is a cold term, in which he was held among those who had come to know him even by casual contact.
His most conspicuous effort during his second senatorial term was, perhaps, his argument in the case of General Fitz John Porter. Senator Logan, in a long and laborious speech, had reviewed the facts. Mr. Carpenter confined himself to the questions of law. With the impreg- nable logic and irresistible aptness of illustration that characterized him in dealing with legal issues, he combatted the pending bill. The result was notable. The friends of the bill had a clear majority when the debate was opened. After Senator Carpenter's argument they put for- ward their two ablest champions to reply. Both failed, and they did not deem it expedient to press the measure to a vote. The instances are rare in the history of legislation where a measure having the undivided support in its inception of the members of the majority party, rein- forced by some members of the minority, has been thus balked by a single speech.
In June, 1880, Senator Carpenter attended the republican national convention at Chicago, though not as a delegate, and addressed an open-air mass meeting that was called to promote the nomination of General Grant. But his health was greatly impaired, and he was not able to remain in Chicago till the close of the convention. In the campaign that followed his condition made it impossible for him to participate. When Congress assembled in December he was in his seat, but his attend- ance was irregular, and it was evident that the inexorable disease from which he was suffering was advancing rapidly to its dread consum- mation. His death occurred on the 24th of February, 1881. The grief that it inspired knew no boundaries in geography or partisanship, and
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the rush of events incident to the approaching incoming of a new national administration could not benumb the deep sense of bereave- ment that reached the remotest confines of the republic. At the next meeting of the judiciary committee of the senate of the United States the following resolution was adopted:
"During a period of nearly eight years' service on this committee, Senator Carpenter's intellectual ability, profound legal learning and re- markable industry commanded the admiration of all who served with him, while his uniformly courteous, kind and agreeable manners won and retained their affection."
The bar of the supreme court of the United States assembled on the 8th of March. Allan G. Thurman was chosen to preside, and, in taking the chair, delivered an address of high, if discriminating, eulogy, in the course of which he used this language, which could be justified on few occasions of like character:
"I am well aware of the proneness to extravagance that has too often characterized eulogies of the dead, whether delivered from the pulpit, in the forum, or in the senate-house. But I feel a strong conviction that, however exalted may be the praise spoken here to-day, it will not transcend the merits of its object, or offend the taste of the most scrupulous and truth-loving critic.
"Mr. Carpenter's whole career was honorable and brilliant. He was the architect of his own fortune and fame. He possessed the advant- ages of inherited poverty, and was thus in his youth thrown upon his own resources. He learned early the useful lesson of self-reliance, and the necessity of industrious self-exertion, receiving only such aid as his genial manners and bright and active mind gained from those generous friends who perceived in his youth the germs which promised future distinction and who were willing to extend a helping hand to struggling genius. He was a close student and loved books.
"Mr. Carpenter possessed a fine person, was social, pleasant, and winning in his manners. As a speaker he was fluent, logical and elo- ·quent, and possessed in a high degree the charm of manner and mag- netic power over his hearers which are essential elements of popular 26
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oratory. He delighted and captivated popular audiences; but his oratory was not of the flowery and superficial kind. He was a man of learning and thought. He not only pleased by his style and manner, but his reasoning convinced his hearers. His independence of thought and character sometimes led him to advocate that side of questions which was unpopular with the people or with his party; and he was fearless in supporting any cause which he undertook to advocate. He defended Credit Mobelier and back pay. He acted as one of the leading counsel for General Belknap, on his impeachment and trial before the United States senate; and he appeared as one of the leading counsel for Mr. Tilden in the great contest for the presidential office before the electoral commission. His nature was genial, kindly and generous; he had no malice in his composition, and he did not excel in that lowest order of intellectual ability which impels its possessor to the use of invective and vituperation. The taste for such displays of his intellectual powers was wholly foreign to his nature, and perhaps fortunately beyond his ability. But in his whole public career, in the courts, in the senate, and in the popular discussion of political questions, he was animated in a larger degree with a spirit of chivalry, tempered by the elevating culture of 'modern civilization,' which throws a halo of honor and fame around the physical warfare of those knights of the middle ages who became famous for their prowess in battle and for their generous forbearance in the hour of victory."
The remarks of Mr. Jeremiah S. Black are given in full, not only on account of the standing of the speaker at the bar, but because of his peculiar intimacy with Mr. Carpenter and his systematic and accurate knowiedge of his ability and character.
"The American bar has not often suffered so great a misfortune as the death of Mr. Carpenter. He was cut off when he was rising as rapidly as at any previous period. In the noontide of his labors the night came wherein no man can work. To what height his career might have reached, if he had lived and kept his health another score of years, can now be only a speculative question. But when we think of his great wisdom and his wonderful skill in the forensic use of it, together with
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his other qualities of mind and heart, we cannot doubt that in his left hand would have been uncounted riches and abundant honor, if only length of days had been given to his right. As it was, he distanced his contemporaries and became the peer of the greatest among those who had started long before him.
"The intellectual character of no professional man is harder to analyze than his. He was gifted with an eloquence peculiar to himself. It consisted of free and fearless thought, given through expression powerful and perfect. It was not fine rhetoric, for he seldom resorted to poetic illustration; nor did he make a parade of clenching his facts. He often warmed with feeling, but no bursts of passion deformed the symmetry of his argument. The flow of his speech was steady and strong as the current of a great river. Every sentence was perfect; every word was fitly spoken; each apple of gold was set in its picture of silver. This singular faculty of saying everything just as it ought to be said was not displayed only in the senate and in the courts,-everywhere, in public and private, on his legs, in his chair, and even lying on his bed, he always 'talked like a book.'
"I have sometimes wondered how he got this curious felicity of dic- tion. He knew no language but his mother tongue. The Latin and Greek which he learned in boyhood faded entirely out of his memory before he became a full-grown man. At West Point he was taught French and spoke it fluently; in a few years afterward he forgot every word of it. But perhaps it was not lost; a language or any kind of liter- ature, though forgotten, enriches the mind as a crop of clover plowed down fertilizes the soil.
"His youth and early manhood was full of the severest trials. After leaving the military academy he studied law in Vermont, and was admitted, but conscientiously refused to practice without further prepa- ration. He went to Boston, where he was most generously taken into the office of Mr. Choate. He soon won not only the good opinion of that very great man, but his unqualified admiration and unbounded confidence. With the beneficence of an elder brother, Choate paid his way through the years of his toilsome study, and afterward supplied
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him with the means of starting in the west. The bright prospect which opened before him in Wisconsin was suddenly overshadowed by an appalling calamity. His eyes gave way, and trusting to the treatment of a quack, his sight was wholly extinguished. For three years he was stone-blind, 'the world by one sense quite shut out.' Totally disabled and compassed round with impenetrable darkness, he lost everything except his courage, his hope, and the never failing friendship of his illustrious preceptor. Supported by these he was taken to an infirmary at New York, where, after a long time, his vision was restored. Subse- quent to these events, and still under the auspices of Mr. Choate, he returned to Wisconsin and fairly began his professional life.
"It would be interesting to know what effect upon his mental char- acter was produced by his blindness. I believe it elevated, refined and strengthened all his faculties. Before that time much reading had made him a very full man; when reading became impossible, reflection digested his knowledge into practical wisdom. He perfectly arranged his storehouse of facts and cases, and pondered intently upon the first principles of jurisprudence. Thinking with all his might, and always thinking in English, he forgot his French, and acquired that surprising vigor and accuracy of English expression which compels us to admit that if he was not a classical scholar, he was himself a classic of most original type.
"He was not merely a brilliant advocate, learned in the law, and deeply skilled in its dialectics; in the less showy walks of the profession he was uncommonly powerful. Whether drudging at the business of his office as a common-law attorney and equity pleader, or shining as leader in a great nisi prius case, he was equally admirable, ever ready and perfectly suited to the place he was filling. This capacity for work of all kinds was the remarkable part of his character. With his hands full of a most multifarious practice he met political duties of great mag- nitude. As a senator and party leader he had burdens and responsibili- ties under which, without more, a strong man might have sunk. But this man's shoulders seemed to feel no weight that was even incon- venient. If Lord Brougham did half as much labor in quantity and
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variety, he deserved all the admiration he won for versatility and patience.
"Mr. Carpenter's notions of professional ethics were pure and high- toned. He never acted upon motives of lucre or malice. He might take what he called a bad case, because he thought that every man should have a fair trial; but he would use no falsehood to gain it; he was true to the court as well as to the client. He was the least mer- cenary of all lawyers; a large proportion of his business was done for nothing.
"Outside of his family he seldom spoke of his religious opinions. He was not accustomed to give in his experience,-never at all to me. He firmly believed in the morality of the New Testament, and in no other system. If you ask whether he practiced it perfectly, I ask in return: Who has? Certainly not you or I. He was a gentle censor of our faults; let us not be rigid with his. One thing is certain, his faith in his own future was strong enough to meet death as calmly as he would expect the visit of a friend. Upwards of a year since his physicians told him that he would certainly die in a few months; and he knew they were right; but with that inevitable doom coming visibly nearer every day, he went about his business with a spirit as cheerful as if he had a long lease of life before him.
"I think for certain reasons that my personal loss is greater than the rest of you have suffered. But that is a 'fee grief due to my particular breast.' It is enough to say for myself, that I did love the man in his lifetime and do honor to his memory now that he is dead."
The obsequies consequent upon the death of Senator Carpenter at Washington, and subsequently at Milwaukee, were grand and im- posing; at the latter city almost the entire population were out on the occasion. Among the distinguished members of the committee of the senate who escorted the body to Wisconsin was Roscoe Conkling, upon whom it devolved to formally transmit the sacred trust to the care of the authorities who assumed the charge. On this occasion that dis- tinguished gentleman made use of the following beautiful sentiment, addressing Governor William E. Smith: "Deputed by the senate of
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the United States, we bring back the ashes of Wisconsin's illustrious son, and tenderly return them to the great commonwealth he served so faithfully and loved so well. To Wisconsin this pale and sacred clay belongs, but the memory, the services, and the fame of Matthew Hale Carpenter are the nation's treasures, and long will the sister states mourn the bereavement which bows all hearts to-day." To this Gover- nor Smith appropriately and feelingly responded. Mr. Carpenter was buried in the beautiful Forest Home Cemetery in the suburb of Mil- waukee, April 10, 1881.
The writer who shall attempt to analyze the life, talents and char- acter of Matt. H. Carpenter will perhaps find a key in the proposition that he was above all else a lawyer. This fact formed his moral con- stitution. It accounts for some of the most notable achievements and some of the errors that his most elaborate biographer will be called upon to record. His best speeches in the senate were delivered when he had to deal with legal questions and such as called for the essentially lawyer- like method of discussion. When the occasion arose for a broader grasp, and for a manner of treatment that may be called statesmanlike, in con- tradistinction to lawyer-like, he was sometimes disappointing. More- over, he seems at times to have expended less effort in keeping his party right than in showing how ingeniously it could be defended when it was wrong.
Mr. Carpenter's brilliant success at the bar and his conspicuous ser- vices in the arena of national legislation won for him a more than con- tinental reputation, and attracted to him in a high degree the attention of his fellow-countrymen, so that in his day he was one of the most con- spicuous of Americans. It is the fate of all who occupy so prominent a place in the public eye to be the subject of some popular delusions, and Mr. Carpenter did not escape. One of these is deserving of correction for the benefit of younger members of the profession. This impression assumed him to have been a gifted man of indolent habits, and his most eloquent utterances and most profound arguments to have been the easy products of something which it is common to call genius. Nothing can be farther from the truth. In his case, as it may be suspected in most
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cases, genius is the capacity and willingness to work sixteen hours out of the twenty-four. Mr. Carpenter did not fail to comply with the con- ditions prescribed by the great Roman lawyer, and dedicated twenty years to nocturnal studies. He was an indefatigable worker, and not- withstanding the thoroughness of his equipment and the readiness with which he commanded the best weapons in his arsenal, he devoted labored preparation to every cause in which he enlisted. It is to be wished that this may have some influence in impressing upon the young lawyers of Wisconsin that the profession reserves its highest rewards for those who "scorn delights and spend laborious days."
On this subject G. W. Hazelton said in a memorial address delivered before the Milwaukee bar that if any one doubts Mr. Carpenter's "mar- velous industry, let him examine the reports of the federal courts and the court of Wisconsin for the past thirty years. He worked out his results as a judicial student, as the artist works out his conception from the quarried marble. He burnt the midnight oil over his cases. He left no field unexplored which could shed light upon his path, and so, with the aid of a mind naturally bright and comprehensive and a strong physi- cal organization, he pressed his way by the most earnest application and thorough study, step by step to the front rank of a noble but exacting profession. He has not left behind him a more diligent, a more devoted student in the profession. The secret of his success at the bar may be inferred from what has already been said, but it will not be improper, I trust, to refer to some of his mental traits. He possessed the ability to grasp the strong points of a case, and great readiness and skill in analyz- ing and distinguishing, as well as applying, the vital principles or doc- trine of cases cited in support of or in opposition to the case under con- sideration. In this particular he was conspicuous and masterly. His subtle insight, his legal acumen, his ready ingenuity were never dis- played to a better advantage than when he was seeking to trace a legal deduction which he desired to establish from a mass of apparently con- flicting authorities. In this field, I venture to suggest he has left behind him no superior. To the qualities already mentioned should be added the potency of a marvelous personal magnetism, and a wit which seemed
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to be as much a part of himself as the fragrance is part of the rose. A wit, moreover, be it said to his credit, as free from malice as it was spontaneous and happy. It was displayed in private conversation, in the court room, in the senate chamber, and everywhere to the delight of his auditors. It was as sparkling as the choicest wine, and always coined upon the instant. 'Put him out!' shouted a friend of the senator, when some one near the door interrupted the speech he was making with an impertinent inquiry. 'No,' retorted Carpenter, in- stantly, 'don't put him out, change his drink!' During the delivery of the so-called 'Janesville speech,' the effect of which was a matter of some anxiety to Mr. Carpenter, a confusion occurred at the rear of the hall which diverted the attention of the audience for a moment from the speaker. Turning to the chairman with a quizzical expression and an inquiring tone, he said: 'Mr. Chairman, I observe some confusion near the door: I have been endeavoring to determine whether it is oc- casioned by those outside trying to get in or those inside trying to get out." A moment later he was dashing along on the current of his thought, like a yacht before the wind."
Among the many notable public efforts made by Mr. Carpenter he considered his celebrated Janesville speech the best he ever made; yet it is none the less true that the effect of this very speech, which was published at that time, was the means of defeating his re-election to the United States Senate in 1875.
As an evidence of the foresight of Mr. Carpenter it may, in justice to his memory, be said that he was one of the earliest to prognosticate the railroad monopoly that is now upon the country, and delivered an address upon that subject in 1874.
A. R. R. BUTLER.
The mere details of the career of this distinguished lawyer may be briefly stated. He was the eldest son of Dr. A. R. R. Butler, of the state of Vermont, an eminent physician of his day, and was born in that state on the 4th day of September, 1821. In the following year his father moved to Genesee county in the state of New York, where the
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son, after a thorough academic education studied law and subsequently, at the city of Buffalo, completed his course of study and was admitted to the bar in the year 1846. Upon his admission he determined upon the city of Milwaukee for his future home and there entered upon the practice of his profession in the autumn of that year. At that time the city of Milwaukee had but recently been incorporated and contained a population of about nine thousand. He has since resided there and has witnessed, participated in and contributed to the growth and ad- vancement of the city. At the outset of his professional career he had for competitors and as opponents in forensic strife those intellectual giants, Edward G. Ryan and Jonathan E. Arnold, and therein acquitted himself with honor, early establishing a reputation for ability, studious care and strict discharge of duty that won him high rank in the pro- fession. In the year 1849 he was called to the office of district at- torney, holding the position for six years and performing its duties with ability and success. He conducted the prosecution of several criminal cases which attained wide celebrity, either in connection with or in op- position to the distinguished lawyers named, and proved himself their peer in debate and in clear and vigorous presentation of the law. At the conclusion of his last term of office as district attorney he engaged in the general practice of his profession, declining all political prefer- ment, except that, in the year 1866, he was persuaded to serve a term in the legislature of the state, and in the year 1876 he yielded with re- luctance to the general desire that he should become mayor of the city, to which position he was elected without opposition. He retired from active practice in the year 1874 with a competence secured by prudent investments and by frugal living. He still survives to enjoy life-otium cum dignitate-not, however, in the least degree abating his interest in the profession which has been to him his chiefest delight. He was frequently urged by eminent members of the bar to accept judicial office-on one or two occasions that of chief justice of the supreme court-but he declined the proposed honors, preferring his place at the bar to official position, however high.
In personal appearance Mr. Butler is of erect and commanding
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mien, grave and dignified in carriage, gentle and pleasant in all social relations, without undue familiarity. He impresses one as a man who marks out his way with deliberation and with caution and, having determined the course, pursues it with energy and persistence.
It has been truly stated that "The fame of the advocate is ephemeral, fading with the memories of those who heard him. We write the record of our lives upon the sand, the incoming tide of a succeeding . generation blots out the record forever." And so it must be with re- spect to Mr. Butler's fame. The masterful pleas addressed by him to the court and jury during his thirty years of active professional life have unfortunately failed of permanent record, except as briefly noted in the reports of the supreme court of the state. His wonderful magnetic power in delivery, his intensity of conviction in the justice of the cause he represented, the forceful presentation of his propositions and the dramatic fervor with which he pressed them home to conviction upon the minds of court and jury, are retained only in the fading memories of his few surviving contemporaries and of those-now past middle life -- who sat at the feet of this legal Gamaliel to drink in inspiration of their profession. But perhaps better and more enduring than such exhibition of masterful power of advocacy is the example of his pro- fessional life with respect to the ethics of his profession. He relied not upon the inspiration of the moment. He made ready his cause with thoroughness and thoughtfulness, sparing neither time nor labor in its preparation. He was self-contained, self-reliant, never taken un- awares. He passed his word of promise with slow and cautious delib- eration, but the promise, once given, was inviolable. He looked for success-and he looked not in vain-in the ability to perform and in the conscientious performance of the professional duty committed to him. He deprecated the more recent methods of securing practice which in- tense competition has introduced, as undignified and unprofessional, tending to lower the noble profession of the law to a mere trade or business. Withdrawn these many years from active professional pur- suits, he yet survives, a bright example of a noble, able, learned lawyer and eloquent advocate, entertaining and illustrating in his professional
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