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 Memoir of Nicholas Hill, a member of the 
 
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8ra£iH<MikA§ imniiLo 
 
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 m m m & x an 
 
 NICHOLAS HILL, 
 
 A MEMBER OF THE BAE OF NEW YOKK, 
 
 WHO DIED 
 
 h ff)6 Gift) of Slbqnu, 
 
 OJST TZHZE 1st OIF" ZMI^_T 7 1839. 
 
 PREPARED AND PUBLISHED 
 
 BY A 
 
 ffiommittee of t&e 3Sar of t&e ffiitj? of Ncto ¥orft. 
 
 1859. 
 
Xmtmoiv. 
 
 fICHOLAS HILL was born in Florida, Montgomery 
 Mm County, in the year 1805. His grandfather, a 
 native of Derry, Ireland, came to this country dur- 
 ing the Colonial period, and settled in Schenectady. On 
 the breaking out of the Revolution, his two sons, Nicholas 
 and Henry, the former fourteen, the latter twelve years of 
 age, ran away from home and joined the American army, 
 with which they remained till the close of the war. It 
 was the fortune of Nicholas to serve under the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, Washington, with whom he was at the 
 final victory of Yorktown, and from whom he received a 
 testimonial under his own signature, (now in the posses- 
 sion of the family) of his faithful services. 
 
 After the war, he settled in Florida, Montgomery 
 County, where he remained till his death in 1856. In the 
 middle period of his life, deeply impressed with religious 
 sentiments, he became a preacher. He was a man of great 
 
 physical strength, of great force of character, stern in 
 
 3 
 
principle, pure in purpose, simple, yet impressively eloquent 
 and earnest. 
 
 His son, Nicholas, inherited these traits ; and his inde- 
 pendent spirit and individuality of character led him to 
 abandon home at an early age, and seek his fortune. He 
 maintained himself by teaching school, surveying farms, 
 &c, while he studied law, first in Montgomery County, 
 afterwards in Schoharie, till, in August, 1829, he was 
 finally admitted to the profession, and entered into part- 
 nership with Deodatus Weight, in Amsterdam. Shortly 
 afterwards, Judge Cowen, of Saratoga, who was engaged 
 in the preparation of notes to Phillips' Evidence, asso- 
 ciated Mr. Hill with him. The work, which was the fruit 
 of their joint labors, is one of great erudition, and of pro- 
 portionate value to the profession. To Mr. Hill, the asso- 
 ciation with Judge Cowen was of important influence in 
 the formation of his character, offering that example of 
 singleness of purpose, devotion to his profession, and un- 
 wearied industry, upon which he modeled his own career. 
 He became associated with Sidney J. Cowen, a son of the 
 Judge, with Thomas J. Marvin, with "William A. Beach, 
 and with Mr. Belding, his brother in-law. On removing 
 to Albany, he again became associated with Deodatus 
 Weight, and with Mr. Nash ; but in the latter part of 1840 
 he was appointed State Eeporter, which place he held till 
 1845, publishing, during this term, a series of volumes 
 
which constitute some of the most valuable of the New 
 York Reports. 
 
 On the termination of his ofBce, he entered into part- 
 nership with Peter Cagger, and the firm, with which John 
 K. Porter was soon afterwards associated, continued till 
 his death. He so systematised his business as to be able 
 to devote all his time and thoughts to the higher pursuits 
 of the law. He gave to it all his faculties and all his 
 heart , and, loving it for its own sake, and not for its re- 
 wards, achieved in it a position commensurate with his 
 devotion. Though at one time nominated for representa- 
 tive in Congress, and at another for Judge of the Court of 
 Appeals, he was never an aspirant for office, and was only 
 interested in politics as they involved the great consti- 
 tutional questions with which his studies made him fa- 
 miliar, and to the understanding of which his mind had 
 been trained, or as they enlisted that strong sentiment of 
 patriotism which he inherited from his revolutionary 
 father, and which nothing ever effaced. 
 
 The fame achieved in professional life leaves behind it 
 but few records ; and even the notes of decisions and the 
 volumes of reports furnish very inadequate means of judg- 
 ing of the comparative standing or success of lawyers. It 
 is not too much to say that, by the common consent of the 
 bar, Mr. Hill stood foremost among the first. He was 
 associated in all the leading cases that arose in his time, 
 
and especially in those in which the Court have been 
 called upon to define the limits of constitutional power, or 
 defend the rights of citizens and communities. 
 
 Of late years, the habit of profound legal research grew 
 upon him ; and with the feelings of a true lawyer, he gave 
 himself up to the study of each case before him, without 
 reference to the amount or magnitude of personal interests 
 at stake, so much as to the delicacy of the questions pre- 
 sented, and the character of the legal principles involved. 
 When devoting himself to such questions, the labors of a 
 long day were often prolonged far beyond midnight, to re- 
 commence anew in the morning, and be thus continued for 
 months. And yet, with all this devotion to his profession, 
 he was not indifferent to social life, nor incapable of ap- 
 preciating and contributing to its pleasures. He preserved 
 his youthfulness of feeling, his freshness of heart, his noble 
 simplicity of character to the last. The perfect purity of 
 his life, and his singleness of ambition, in which he was so 
 successful, placed him above all temptations. He could 
 not be petty or unfair, or disingenuous. He could not 
 espouse a bad cause, nor take an unfair advantage of an 
 opponent, nor mislead the Court. He did not court wealth 
 or power. He loved good men, and natures frank like his 
 own. He loved good books, and often turned aside from 
 his studies to commune with the great thinkers by whom the 
 
questions of eternal life, " fixed fate, free will, foreknow- 
 ledge absolute," are discussed. 
 
 The style of his writing was characteristic of the man. 
 His points of argument indicated great powers of analysis 
 and remarkable labor ; but his argument was simple, lucid, 
 forcible, enriched by illustrations from history and litera- 
 ture, and imbued with the spirit of legal philosophy. 
 
 In spite of his devoted labors, his life was a happy one. 
 He loved his profession, and was successful in it. He 
 drew around him the ablest men in its ranks, and enjoyed 
 their affection and confidence. 
 
 Though occasionally his mind gave signs of weariness, it 
 never failed, after a brief interval of leisure, to resume its 
 accustomed elasticity ; and it was only when it gave way 
 altogether that his friends became conscious of the over- 
 wrought tension to which it had been subjected. He died 
 on Sunday morning, May 1st, 1859, in the fifty-fourth year 
 of his age, after an illness of a few days, the first threaten- 
 ing symptoms of which appeared to give way, affording 
 hope of recovery, until that last moment in which his spirit, 
 serene and clear in its faculties, suddenly took flight. 
 
 He was buried on the third day of May, 1859, the 
 Judges of the Court of Appeals and the members of the 
 bar from Albany, and from other cities of the State, 
 attending his remains to the grave. 
 
 He was not old when he died, yet he was so superior 
 
JWUmotr of Nicholas ffiill. 
 
 and yet so simple in his nature, and so pure in character, 
 that venerating hands bore him to his hearse, and reverent 
 footsteps followed him to his tomb, as if the sanctities of 
 age had hallowed his life before its close ; and yet warm 
 hearts will cherish his memory with all the ardors of 
 youthful love and remembrance. 
 
Wtettt&iw *f t\u §w %m% $tv. 
 
 ^T a meeting of the bar of the city of New York, 
 held at the Hall of the Supreme Court, on the 26th 
 'jg(g day of May, 1859, convened in consequence of the 
 death of Nicholas Hill, Esq., at Albany, 
 On motion of Mr. John McKeon, 
 Mr. Justice Nelson, of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States, was called to the chair. 
 On motion of Mr. John Van Bitken, 
 Judge Betts, United States District Court ; Mr. Justice 
 Roosevelt, Presiding Justice Supreme Court ; Chief Jus- 
 tice Bosworth, Superior Court; and First Judge Daly, 
 Common Pleas, were appointed Vice-Presidents. 
 On motion, 
 
 Mr. Charles Tracy and Mr. Daniel D. Lord were 
 appointed Secretaries. 
 
 MR. JUSTICE NELSON, 
 on taking the chair, addressed the meeting as follows : 
 
 Gentlemen of the Bar : We have met to pay our 
 respects to the memory of our deceased brother, Nicholas 
 
IB 
 
 Hill, whose unexpected death occurred within the last few 
 days. I have known Mr. Hill ever since he came into the 
 profession, and have witnessed his advance to distinction 
 until he had reached and stood in the very front rank of 
 the bar of New York. He was a man of a bright mind, 
 and of most indefatigable industry — an industry and devo- 
 tion to his profession which may well be regarded as an 
 example to the junior members of the bar. And eminent 
 and distinguished as he was in his profession, he was, if 
 possible, still more so in the walks of private life, for high 
 social qualities, especially when mingling with his profes- 
 sional brethren, and, under all circumstances and in all 
 places, for the sternest integrity and honor. We deplore 
 his loss, and take a melancholy pleasure in presiding over 
 a meeting of his professional brethren, assembled to do 
 honor to his memory. 
 
 Mr. J. W. Edmonds offered the following 
 
 Resolved, That in the death of Nicholas Hill, an 
 eminent member of our profession, distinguished as the 
 leading counsel in our court of dernier resort,, the profes- 
 sion throughout the whole State have to deplore the loss 
 of a brother, endeared to most of them by professional as 
 well as personal relations, and whose exalted merits as a 
 
 lawyer were known to and estimated by all. 
 10 
 
Resolved, That in .the recollection of his untiring in- 
 dustry, his uniform courtesy of deportment, his sterling in- 
 tegrity, and the acuteness and expansion of his legal mind, 
 he has left us a memorial of professional attributes worthy 
 alike of our admiration and our imitation. 
 
 Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with the Judges of 
 the Court of Appeals, and with our brethren of the bar at 
 the capitol, in the loss which they and we have alike sus 
 tained, and that we will unite with others in asking at the 
 hands of that Court a proper testimonial of our common 
 regard to his memory. 
 
 Resolved, That a committee be appointed, on behalf of 
 the bar of New York, to communicate to that Court the 
 sentiments here expressed. 
 
 MR. CHARLES O'CONOR, 
 in seconding the resolutions, addressed the meeting as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Mr. Chairman : In the death of Nicholas Hill, our 
 profession and the circle of our private friendships have 
 suffered a great loss. I would fain indulge in silence the 
 emotion it excites ; but this may not be. His eminent vir- 
 tues demand a public tribute, and though incapable of 
 doing full justice to them, I must contribute my mite to 
 
 the present testimonial. 
 
 11 
 
Mr. Hitx was born in the year 1805 ; and at the age of 
 twelve years, relying for the means of advancement upon 
 his own unaided industry, he went forth from the home of 
 his youth, intent upon a career of honorable usefulness. 
 Our profession was his chosen pursuit ; and even in the 
 associations of his novitiate, he developed the same wisdom 
 which marked his actions in after life. The library of 
 Daniel Cady, the foremost lawyer in northern New York, 
 was the theatre of his earliest studies. That he was noi 
 less modest, patient and assiduous, than enterprising, is 
 proven at every stage of his journey through life. He ab- 
 stained from taking an admission to practice as an attor- 
 ney until twelve years of diligent study had thoroughly 
 stored his mind with the principles of judicial science. He 
 took the first degree in 1829, and was admitted to the bar 
 in 1833. 
 
 He commenced his professional practice in a remote 
 country village ; but he soon removed to Saratoga Springs, 
 where, amidst a circle of learned and laborious jurists, 
 with their example to cheer him onward, and their vast 
 libraries to feed his increasing eagerness for the acquisition 
 of knowledge, he laid the deep and solid foundations of 
 that learning for which he became so distinguished. 
 
 Twenty-five years only of professional life were accorded 
 
 to him ; but in that space how much he accomplished. 
 
 First, let us contemplate the long term necessarily occu- 
 12 
 
pied by the young lawyer in approving himself as worthy 
 of confidence, by the severe test of aotual experience, under 
 the eyes of the bench, the bar, and the public ; then the 
 progres. ion, steady and gradual, as it must always be if 
 accomplished at all, from an estimation, merely local and 
 partial, to extended fame — the indispensable basis of high 
 professional success. In some instances these steps seem 
 to be achieved rapidly, each as it were at a single bound ; 
 but in our profession an advance of this kind is generally 
 unreal. In Mr. Hill's career each step was taken de- 
 liberately and on firm ground ; each advance was marked 
 with substantial fruits. 
 
 Whilst at Saratoga Springs, he performed a large part 
 in that gigantic task, the Notes upon Phillips' Evidence. 
 Whole libraries were taken up, and their contents repro- 
 duced in a form the most useful to the bench and the prac- 
 titioner that could have been devised. Years of incessant 
 toil were requisite to the completion of this work. 
 
 We next find him as State Eeporter, immersed in the 
 irksome task of bringing forth order from chaotic masses 
 of that hardly legible manuscript in which our law papers 
 were usually prepared at that time. Seven volumes of re- 
 ports, prepared with unsurpassed judgment and fidelity, 
 attest his skill, learning and diligence, during this period. 
 They have incorporated his name with the judicial history 
 
 of our State. 
 
 13 
 
But it was after most of these labors had been performed 
 that Mr. Hill reached the personal eminence as an advo- 
 cate and a juris-consult, which brings home most distinctly 
 to us the deep feeling of regret we this day experience. 
 Retiring from the office of Reporter, Mr. Hill thenceforth 
 devoted himself exclusively to practice at the bar. 
 
 This was his true position. The qualities here exhibited 
 may not carry his renown to future times as effectually as 
 his contributions to our legal literature, but they won for 
 him the universal admiration of his cotemporaries, and the 
 love of all who were so fortunate as to enjoy his society. 
 
 When summoned from earth, though he had only at- 
 tained his fifty-third year, he held confessedly the first 
 place at our bar. 
 
 A purity of life that knew no blemish, an integrity that 
 no man ever impeached, even in thought, a love of justice 
 that shone out in every word he uttered, as an advocate, or 
 as an adviser, a calm, clear-sighted investigating intellect — 
 ripened to fullest maturity and energy by fixed habits of 
 intense application — which never left, in any case, a rele- 
 vant fact undiscovered, or overlooked a pertinent legal 
 principle : these, Mr. Chairman, were some of the qualities 
 which secured Nicholas Hill the applause of all, and the 
 unhesitating confidence of our highest judicial tribunal. 
 
 Commanding universal respect, the field of political 
 
 eminence was ever open to him ; but with characteristic 
 H 
 
modesty lie shunned its invitations. To the urgency of 
 parties for his acceptance of nominations to office, he con- 
 stantly returned denials. His official experience was in- 
 deed remarkable. Over-persuaded to take the office of 
 District Attorney, whilst residing in Saratoga County, he 
 soon relinquished it. Assuming, at the earnest solicitation 
 of the Court, the honorable though painfully laborious 
 office of State Reporter, he resigned it at the first moment 
 a capable successor would be found. When it was thought 
 fit to revise the existing practice of our courts, Mr. Hill 
 was chosen by the Legislature as one of the Commissioners. 
 -For once he assumed office with readiness. His active 
 benevolence saw an opportunity to do the people service, 
 and he sat down to the task with the alacrity which always 
 marked bis entrance upon any field of useful labor. He 
 spread out before his capacious mental ken the whole exist- 
 ing practice. He determined " to subject it to a free and 
 thorough, though discriminating process of revision and 
 amendment, retaining such parts of it as experience had 
 proved to be really useful, and rejecting or reforming the 
 rest." I use his own words. Different views, however, pre- 
 vailed, and Mr. Hill resigned. " I am unwilling," said 
 he, " to remain longer in a position where it is impossible 
 for me to render any valuable service to the State." Those 
 who concur in his views of expediency will see in this 
 
 another proof of his far-seeing sagacity. All must concede 
 
 15 
 
Jlroctftrtnfls of tfjt 
 
 to him the merit of having acted with the most pure and 
 patriotic motives. 
 
 He never subsequently accepted any public station ; and 
 the ten succeeding years formed the most brilliant portion 
 of his life. Constantly occupied in the court of ultimate 
 resort, and holding a brief on one side of every important 
 cause before that high tribunal, lie was brought into 
 intimate professional and social relations with the whole 
 bar of our State. And here it was that his merits shone 
 out with their highest lustre. To the admiration which 
 had been won by extensive learning, profound judgment 
 and unwearied industry, was now added love for his kind 
 and amiable character. How he gained upon all hearts, I 
 have not language to describe. In the signs of emotion 
 exhibited around me, I feel that the memory of my hearers 
 recalls the proof, and amply supplies my deficiencies. 
 
 Still I must relate a single incident. When in the full 
 tide of his professional success, during one of the Spring 
 terms of the Supreme Court, held in this city, Mr. Hill 
 was placed upon the committee to examine applicants for 
 admission. Among the candidates were two young gentle- 
 men who, in the stern judgment of Mr. Hill's associates, 
 failed to exhibit the requisite acquirements. The decision 
 was undeniably just ; even Nicholas Hill could not argue 
 against its justice ; but he felt, and he said that it was 
 
 cruel. The young men were strangers to him, but thev 
 16 
 
were young men struggling with the trials of life ; and 
 this -was enough for Nicholas Hill. He was at once 
 transformed from the austere champion of justice, as he 
 was known at the bar, to the suppliant for a gentler result. 
 To his manly intellect there seemed to be conjoined a 
 woman's heart. He besought his associates to a kindlier 
 conclusion, as a mother would crave indulgence to the fail- 
 ings of a beloved son. 
 
 In the last dread trial to which he has passed, perhaps 
 that effort of his benignant and merciful temper may have 
 carried with it a far richer blessing than the lofty intel- 
 lect which secured him so many earthly triumphs. 
 
 It greatly deepens our regret at his decease that Mr. 
 Hill's capacity for professional labor seemed to have been 
 in no degree impaired. Many years of usefulness appeared 
 to be in store for him. During the last term of the Court 
 of Appeals he argued a greater number of cases than at 
 any previous sitting of the Court. On Saturday, the 23d 
 of April, he visited his office for the last time. At eight 
 o'clock in the morning, he commenced his preparation for 
 the argument of a cause at the ensuing term of the Court 
 of Appeals. Eleven hours of continuous application mani- 
 fested the unimpaired vigor of his mind and body. Upon 
 the following day, an indisposition occurred, which at first 
 created no alarm, and for a time improvement was hoped 
 
 for But he was unable to leave his house during the 
 " c, 17 
 
week, and suddenly, on the following Sunday, Ms spirit 
 passed from earth, apparently without a struggle. 
 
 Such, seniors of the bar, was the brother whose loss we 
 deplore. Such, juniors of the profession, was the bright 
 model of which you have been deprived. Such, gentlemen 
 students, was the friend of your class, whose kind spirit is 
 no longer left to encourage your progress, to smooth your 
 path onward, or, in the hour of trial, to cast in your favor 
 the weight of his influence. 
 
 The motion was further supported by 
 
 MR. JAMES W. GERARD, 
 who spoke as follows : 
 
 This is the first time that I have ever taken part in any 
 meeting of the bar, convened to pronounce eulogium upon 
 the memory of one of its deceased members, although they 
 have lately fallen around me like the autumnal leaves of 
 the dying year. I have always sat a silent listener to the 
 addresses of others, and have been content in the quiet 
 corner of the court room to reflect within myself upon the 
 passing scene, and upon the merits and memory of the de- 
 parted brother. 
 
 It requires a nicely balanced mind, and a well regulated 
 
 sympathy in a speaker, upon such an occasion. Too much 
 
 feeling will render the eulogist unequal to tne task, and 
 18 
 
Ncto ¥orft Ear. 
 
 his overcharged heart will not allow him to do justice to 
 the subject, while the words of him who has too little feel- 
 ing, will fall coldly and listlessly upon the ear. The just 
 medium must be carefully observed by which the speaker 
 shall refrain from fulsome compliment on the one hand, 
 and cold praise on the other. 
 
 It is therefore with a perfect consciousness of the deli- 
 cacy of the task that I have yielded to the solicitation of 
 the gentlemen who have convened this meeting, to cast my 
 stone upon the cairn which this meeting shall erect to the 
 memory of one whom none knew but to honor, whom none 
 spoke of but to praise. 
 
 The esteemed advocate who has preceded me has well 
 portrayed the legal acquirements, the unwearied industry, 
 the indefatigable energy of our deceased friend, by which 
 he justly attained the front rank in the championship of 
 the bar. 
 
 He has well described Mr. Hill as the profound lawyer, 
 the clear commentator, the accurate Reporter. He has 
 well painted that devoted fidelity to the interests of his 
 clients by which he made every cause his own ; and whether 
 it involved great or small pecuniary interest, was analyzed 
 with an industry, and weighed so nicely in the scales of 
 judicial authority, as to bring ont in bold relief its ele- 
 ments of success. He has adverted with touching truthful- 
 ness to that honorable ambition by which this enthusiast 
 
 ]9 
 
iii his profession carved his way to fame, but to which he 
 fell a victim, and was sent to an early grave. 
 
 It was my fortune, many years ago, to have encountered 
 Mr. Hill as an opponent, in the first cause of magnitude 
 with which he ever was intrusted ; and the zeal, intelli- 
 gence and legal knowledge which he evinced on that occa- 
 sion first brought him into public notice, and laid the 
 foundation of his future fame. It was an exciting contest 
 between antagonistic parents for the custody of an infant 
 child. It was a case which led to angry debate, and being 
 one which involved the novel question of parental rights, 
 largely engaged the public attention. The arena was the 
 shaded grove of Chancellor Walworth's mansion, in the 
 beautiful village of Saratoga Springs, and many strangers 
 who had congregated at that fashionable watering-place, 
 thronged the little court room, and eagerly listened to the 
 novel and exciting debate. Mr. Hill, representing the 
 father, had thoroughly stored his mind with all the book 
 learning of the common law of England, and piled his 
 authorities one upon the other mountain high, in favor of 
 the father's paramount claim to the custody of his child. 
 But the improved spirit of the age, the change in the tone 
 of society in regard to the domestic relations of husband 
 and wife, and parent and child, and the respect in the 
 present day conceded to woman's intelligence, prevailed 
 over the black letter law of past centuries, and the claims 
 
of the mother prevailed. (8 Paige R. 47, Barry vs. Mer- 
 cein.) Throughout the whole of that exciting law-suit, 
 which lasted for many years, on appeal through the several 
 courts of the State, and in very many other cases in which 
 Mr. Hill and myself were opposed, there had never passed 
 between us one angry word, or a departure from that deli- 
 cate courtesy and respect to his antagonist which so dis- 
 tinguished him in his professional career. Whether victory 
 perched upon the banner of the one or the other, our 
 friendship was never shaken by any exultation of triumph 
 over him who was defeated. 
 
 The last cause in which I encountered him in the legal 
 arena was one recently in the Court of Appeals, involving 
 a largo amount of property, and great questions of legal 
 interest. He was brought into the cause rather hastily, 
 and not long before the argument. Full points had been 
 sent to him. An ordinary lawyer would have done his 
 duty, and would have been satisfied to make the argument 
 upon the platform laid out for him. Not so Mr. Hill. 
 He threw them aside, and with infinite labor, in two days 
 produced new points, most scientifically elaborated, on a 
 case spread over a large volume. I had the last word in 
 the argument, and summoned to my side all the power I 
 was master of to beat down his views. "When I had 
 finished, he said to me, with a diffidence always allied to 
 merit, that he felt that he had not done justice to his 
 
procteMnfls of Uje 
 
 clients. The result showed that he was mistaken ; he suc- 
 ceeded and obtained the judgment of the court. 
 
 But it is superfluous to speak of and to eulogize our 
 friend's legal acquirements, the knowledge of which is co- 
 extensive with the State, and is familiar to every member 
 of our extensive bar. It is of Mr. Hill's character as a 
 man and as & friend that I would speak — of the qualities 
 of the heart, rather than the head — of his courteous de- 
 meanor as a high-toned gentleman — as one of nature's 
 noblemen — of one who had a soul — who possessed human 
 sympathy in an eminent degree, and whose heart overflowed 
 with love and kindness for his friends. These were traits 
 in his character beyond his profession which shone out 
 conspicuously to those who knew him best, and which gave 
 a lustre and a charm to his lcs;al learning:. 
 
 It was when he laid aside his legal harness, and in social 
 converse among his intimates in private life, that the fine 
 qualities of his character broke out, and a mind all intelli- 
 gence and a soul all sympathy rose superior to the black 
 letter lawyer of the courts. Then he threw from him for 
 the while his Cole and his Lyttleton, his Blaekstone and his 
 Bacon, and as the social gentleman and warm friend, would 
 discourse on topics of art or science, of taste and travel ; 
 and no man could be in his society and hear him philoso- 
 phise on such subjects, without improvement, as well as 
 pleasure. 
 
He would love to listen to accounts of Europe ; its 
 statuary, its paintings, its architecture and institutions, its 
 history and political associations, and would lament that 
 he had never had the time and opportunity of visiting 
 these scenes of his imagination, and judge of them for him- 
 self. His ardent desire was that he might one day be able 
 to revel amid those subjects which it was his delight to 
 read of, and hear described by those who had been among 
 them. 
 
 He had a passion for spending a large portion of almost 
 every summer at the sea-side, and I have often passed 
 pleasant days with him in social converse on the broad 
 piazza of the Pavilion at Rockaway. 
 
 There he would gaze upon the restless sea, and watch 
 the rolling billow as it came, and listen to its ceaseless 
 roar ; the sea. whose waves had rolled and rolled from 
 creation's dawn, and would not cease to roll till chaos 
 came again. There would his eye linger upon the setting 
 sun, casting far upon the waste of water its golden hues, 
 and lighting up with its tinted fires the crest of the rising- 
 billow. There would he watch wave chasing wave, from 
 the gentle swell that, far out at sea, first formed itself, and 
 growing as it approached, and raising its towering head, 
 would dash itself upon the shore, and then be lost for ever. 
 Such, he moralized, was human life ; new-born generations 
 chasing before them those who had just filled the high 
 
places of the world, until they in turn were overwhelmed 
 by those who pressed behind, and were lost upon the shore 
 of eternity. And then the departing sun (like the good 
 man whose character lives after him) would send upwards 
 far into the summer clouds its last setting beams, and 
 gild the upper sky by its reflected glories, long after it had 
 ceased to shine directly on the scene. 
 
 Let not the world suppose that the dusty volumes of the 
 dry law choke the imagination, eradicate sentiment, or 
 smother human sympathy. No man enjoys nature more 
 than the educated lawyer out of court. Just in proportion 
 as he is pressed down by the cares and anxieties of his pro- 
 fession, when the pressure is removed, his natural sympa- 
 thies and feelings will rise with increased elasticity. In a 
 word, we may say of our friend, humanly speaking, that 
 his professional and private character were perfect ; there 
 was no blot upon his escutcheon. 
 
 To the younger members of the bar who hear me, I 
 would hold up Mr. Hill as a marked example for their 
 imitation. I would impress upon their minds this great 
 truth — the possession of talents without private worth and 
 good character only serve to render the possessor a more 
 conspicuous mark for criticism and invective. That law- 
 yer who addresses a court or jury, to convince or persuade, 
 with a consciousness of a high individual character, feels 
 
 in that consciousness a tower of strength ; he is armed 
 24 
 
with mail, not vulnerable ; no, not even in the heel. And 
 the young lawyer will soon learn that a Judge and jury 
 will yield a deference to the opinions and arguments of 
 such an advocate, which gives him a mighty advantage over 
 the counsel upon whom and whose arguments the Judge 
 and jury look with prejudice. The law is a noble profes- 
 sion to pursue ; but the lawyer, by his power in that pro- 
 fession, may prove a curse or a blessing to his fellow-men; 
 a sword to pierce, or a shield to protect. Mr. Hill's 
 private character and private worth gave him great advan- 
 tages and commanding influence over juries and Judges, 
 whom he was in the habit of addressing. 
 
 To his immediate family, his sudden loss is irreparable : 
 no language of sympathy can soothe the agonies of its be- 
 reaved members. All we can say is, " let the stricken deer 
 go weep." A year since, I became acquainted with the 
 only son of our friend, like him in form and feature, and I 
 trust that he may be like him in character. I was most 
 favorably impressed by him. May his father's mantle fall 
 upon him ; may it fit him, and may he wear it gracefully. 
 
 Mr. JAMES T. BRADY said : 
 
 Mr. President : If I consulted my discretion alone, I 
 
 would abstain from speaking on the present occasion, but 
 
 this might seem to exhibit want of consideration for the 
 
 25 
 
committee, who did me the honor to request my presence 
 here, and I will utter a few words about our departed 
 brother. What I have felt, now feel, and must feel here- 
 after, in contemplating the decease of Mr. Hill, it is not 
 in my power adequately to express. I admired, respected, 
 loved him. He deserved in an eminent degree whatever 
 of either feeling might be entertained for him ; and from 
 our ranks, so often assailed of late by the fell destroyer, no 
 victim could have been selected by Death whose sacrifice 
 could awaken deeper or stronger sensations in our hearts. 
 
 Like many others present, I made the acquaintance of 
 our brother at a period when the terms of the Courts of 
 Errors and Chancery, and of the Supreme Court, brought 
 together lawyers from every part of our State. We had 
 then a State bar, ere changes, in this respect to be de- 
 plored, disturbed and perhaps terminated for ever the fra- 
 ternal associations which existed under our former judicial 
 system. We look back upon those by-gone days with 
 mingled pleasure and regret. They were to me the hal- 
 cyon hours of professional life, and from the retrospect 
 which relumes them, many a recollection gleams forth of 
 social and cheerful reunion. But as the light thus flashed 
 from memory swiftly dies out, there appear in the succeed- 
 ing gloom the names of the unforgotten departed, the com- 
 panions of our " golden prime," the eloquent and success- 
 ful Graham ; the terse and caustic De Witt ; the zealous 
 
 26 
 
and persevering Blunt ; the quiet and learned Dodge ; 
 but I will not complete the list of our brothers from the 
 bar of this city, passed away from us for ever and for ever. 
 With all these Mr. Hill was familiar ; by all of them he 
 was properly appreciated. All of us admired his fine in- 
 tellect, thorough research, untiring industry, clear analysis, 
 and mature judgment. All of us loved the genial, simple, 
 affectionate and truthful qualities of his kindly nature. 
 Who can ever forget his modesty ? Who has not seen him 
 when he rose entirely prepared to instruct and convince a 
 court to illustrate his power, enrich jurisprudence, and 
 adorn his own fame ? Who has not seen him at such a 
 moment with a blush upon his cheek, warm, truthful and 
 natural, as that which tinges the features of the startled 
 girl ? With how much gratitude do many of us remember 
 his generous conduct toward those with whom he was asso- 
 ciated in an argument. He spared no pains to make his 
 colleague acquainted 1 with all that his own masterly pre- 
 paration had secured. If that colleague faltered or stum- 
 bled, our brother cheered him on, and with strong intel- 
 lectual grasp upheld him, pointing ever to the right path, 
 and emitting over its every step, from the fullness of his 
 own enlightenment, " the gladsome lights of jurisprudence." 
 And now this great lawyer, warm-hearted friend, amiable 
 companion, kind and faithful brother, and excellent man, 
 
 is gone — gone far too early in life — gone while yet in the 
 
 27 
 
midst of his usefulness, and this because of excessive, un- 
 broken, severe labor. Thus have many of our number fal- 
 len, and thus we have reason to apprehend that others may- 
 go from us, unless admonished by frequent instances, they 
 let the over-tasked brain have occasional and refreshing 
 repose, and feel that attention to health is entirely compa- 
 tible with fully satisfying all the demands of duty. 
 
 To our cherished brother, Hill, let us breathe another 
 farewell, and utter the fervent prayer that as he was de- 
 servedly honored and loved in this life, so may he be happy 
 and glorious in the life to come. 
 
 Mr. STEPHEN P. NASH 
 
 then spoke as follows : 
 
 Mb. Chairman : The fact that while I was a student at 
 law, and for some years following, my relations with Mr. 
 Hill were quite intimate, and that what I then learned of 
 him may add something to the general estimate of his 
 character, will , I trust, be considered an excuse for detain- 
 ing this assembly a few moments longer. 
 
 I was still a school-boy when, about the year 1833, Mr. 
 Hill came to Saratoga Springs, to enter on the prepara- 
 tion of that edition of " Phillips on Evidence," with which 
 his name is now connected, and on which Judge Cowen 
 
 had already made considerable progress. He must then 
 28 
 
have been about twenty-six or twenty-seven years of age 
 and had been married but a year or two. He came from 
 Amsterdam, where he had practised law for a short time 
 with the Hon. Deodatus Weight, now of Albany, and 
 lately one of the Justices of the Supreme Court in the 
 Third District. 
 
 The work on which Mr. Hill was engaged was already 
 far advanced when I entered Judge Co wen's office as a 
 student. I was soon called upon to aid in the correction 
 of proof sheets, the verifying of citations, and other similar 
 labor, and was thus brought into close observation of Mr. 
 Hill's daily toil. In reference to this period of his life, it 
 is perhaps sufficient to say that it was one of incessant, 
 laborious and faithful industry. 
 
 The spot was favorable to such a life. Judge Cowen's 
 offices and library were at the foot of his garden, in a re- 
 tired part of the village. A stone building, between an 
 outer office fronting on the street, and a rear room opening 
 into the garden, held the library, Judge Cowen's pride, as 
 the fear of its loss by fire was his great anxiety. In the 
 outer office, Judge Cowen's son was engaged at such inter- 
 vals as the practice of his profession allowed him, in the 
 preparation of an enlarged edition of the Justice's " Court 
 Manual," which his father in early life had published. The 
 inner room was occupied by Judge Cowen and Mr. Hill. 
 In this quiet spot, Mr. Hill laid broad and deep the founda- 
 
 29 
 
^roceetrtnjjs of Uje 
 
 tions of that learning ; there cultivated that spirit of 
 patient and thorough research, that diligent and exhaustive 
 analysis, which became the sure guarantees of his future 
 fame. The library was a large one for the country, com- 
 plete, or nearly so, in English and American Reports, and 
 from these numerous volumes Mr. Hill, with pains-taking 
 diligence, selected the cases which bore upon his subjects 
 and by careful discrimination and thoughtful study com- 
 pelled, from conflicting decisions and distracted dicta, the 
 subtle principle that governed them. 
 
 Much has been said, sometimes disparagingly, of the 
 manner in which this work is constructed. Two large 
 volumes of discursive notes, appended to one volume of 
 text, seem indeed disproportionate, and the work would 
 undoubtedly have given more general satisfaction had it 
 been a fresh treatise. But portions of the notes had been 
 already printed when Mr. Hill began his labors, and the 
 materials increased upon the hands of both the editors to 
 an extent far beyond their original conceptions. But no 
 lawyer, it seems to me, can use this book long without 
 being conscious of its great practical value, and coming to 
 prize the clearness of its discussions, and the fidelity with 
 which the numerous cases cited are digested. There are 
 some heads of the law which are nowhere else so fully or 
 so ably treated, as, for example, the head of the conclusive- 
 ness of judgments and decrees, as affected by the jurisdic- 
 30 
 
tion of the tribunals rendering them, the subject-matter in- 
 volved, the parties named in the suit, and other kindred 
 topics contained in the second volume of the notes, the 
 volume in the preparation of which Mr. Hill had by far 
 the largest share. 
 
 This work on Evidence was not published till 1839. The 
 completion of it was interrupted by Mr. Hill's professional 
 avocations, as he had some years previously opened an 
 office in Saratoga Springs. This village was at that time 
 quite a centre of judicial and professional activity. While 
 Judge Cowen, at one end of it, was pursuing his laborious 
 career, Chancellor Walworth, at the other, was toiling 
 under the administration of the equity jurisdiction of the 
 State. Judge Willard, then Circuit Judge and Vice 
 Chancellor, also resided in the village. Many present 
 doubtless, recollect with pleasure the summer terms held 
 before the Chancellor, in his quiet office at the north end 
 of the village. These terms naturally brought much 
 equity business from abroad, and it was not long before 
 Mr. Hill's services were in requisition. In the summer of 
 1839, in the case to which Mr. Gerard has alluded, of The 
 People on the relation of Barry vs. Mercein, (reported in 
 8 Paige,) Mr. Hill was employed by the relator, Mr. 
 Barry. The proceeding was instituted by Mr. Barry to 
 regain the custody of his infant child, withheld by its 
 
 mother, who had left her husband, and was living with her 
 
 31 
 
parents. Mr. Barry had told with much feeling the story 
 of his wrongs, and had enlisted Mr. Hill's warm sympa- 
 thy. The reputation of the opposing counsel had preceded 
 them. Mr. Hill had never before, I believe, encountered 
 any of the leading lawyers of this city. He now threw all 
 his energies into his preparation for the argument of this 
 case, and well do I remember the pride which his younger 
 associates felt in seeing him matched against the most 
 eminent counsel at the bar, and witnessing the ability 
 which he then displayed. 
 
 The discussions in this case, and the controversy growing 
 out of Judge C owen's refusal to discharge McLeod on 
 habeas corpus, led to the valuable treatise on this writ, 
 published by Mr. Hill in the appendix to the third volume 
 of his Reports. 
 
 In 1840, Mr. Hill was appointed State Reporter ; and 
 after the preparation at Saratoga of one or two volumes of 
 Reports, removed to Albany, with Judge C owen's son, 
 Sidney J. Cowen. The early death, a few years later, of 
 this gentleman, at the opening of a brilliant career, left a 
 place in Mr. Hill's firm which I was called to take. 
 Again I became a witness to the same laborious honesty in 
 the preparation of his Reports which I had seen bestowed 
 on his earlier work. In selecting the cases to be reported, 
 he regarded chiefly the permanent value of the decision, re- 
 jecting, so far as he felt himself at liberty to do so, every- 
 
 32 • 
 
thing of only local and fugitive interest. In preparing the 
 cases for the press, he labored to compress the statements 
 of facts into the smallest space, and removed from the 
 opinions'of the Judges such details as his own narrative 
 rendered superfluous. He spent hours in condensing and 
 remodeling the syllabus or head-note, till it should suc- 
 cinctly, clearly and accurately express the very point of 
 the decision, and frequently added valuable discussions on 
 kindred topics suggested by the reported case. 
 
 His reports have been very generally considered as 
 models in every respect. No copyright price per volume 
 could tempt him to swell their number, to heap into them 
 masses of mere print, or to do his work hurriedly or negli- 
 gently. They will bear the most rigid scrutiny as speci- 
 mens of honest, faithful book-making. 
 
 Judge Cowen died early in 1844. His library had been 
 brought to Albany by his son ; and after the death of the 
 latter, the settlement of his estate rendered the sale of it 
 necessary. It was bought by Mr. Caggeb, who had just 
 then dissolved a long connection with the late Samuel 
 Stevens. This library was one of many inducements that 
 led to Mr. Hill's partnership with Mr. Caggeb. By this 
 arrangement Mr. Hill avoided the loss of the books which 
 had been so long his companions. The library has been 
 kept in his office ever since, and thus for over twenty-five 
 
 years it has been Mr. Hill's constant home. He had be- 
 e 33 
 
come almost " demi-natured " with its contents, not as a 
 mere book-worm, however ; he was rather an oracle of the 
 law, of which these books supplied the flame. 
 
 Mr. Hill's professional business now rapidly increased, 
 though the reputation of the late Samuel Stevens and of 
 Mr. Marcus T. Reynolds, of Albany, was still at its 
 height ; and in 1845 he resigned his office of State Re- 
 porter. From this time he took rank among the acknow- 
 ledged leaders of the bar, and his great merits as a lawyer 
 became widely known. It is not necessary, therefore, that 
 I should trace farther a career which has been justly charac- 
 terized in " words fitly spoken " by gentlemen with whom 
 it brought him in more direct contact. In looking back 
 upon this career, however. I am reminded of Milton's 
 lines : 
 
 " Fame is the spur the clear spirit doth raise, 
 
 (That last infirmity of noble mind) 
 To scorn delights, and live laborious days ; 
 
 But the fair guerdon when we hope to find, 
 ********* 
 
 Comes the blind Fury, with the abhorred shears, 
 And slits the thin-spun life." 
 
 Before his thin-spun life was cut short — a life that 
 always seemed to have but a slender hold upon his spare 
 and attenuated frame, Mr. Hill had found this " fair 
 guerdon " of fame, so much of it at least as waits upon 
 great lawyers ; but I never thought that fame — -such fame, 
 at least, as in " broad rumor lies " — was the spur of his 
 
 34 
 
effort. Rather, I think, he was drawn on and enticed by 
 an innate desire of perfection, of doing well and thoroughly 
 whatever he undertook. He used none of the arts by 
 which notoriety was accomplished. He forgot himself in 
 his work. 
 
 If I spoke of Mr. Hill's qualities of intellect, I should 
 probably betray some of that ardent admiration by which, 
 when a youth, I was carried away ; but the fond apprecia- 
 tion with which, as a student in his office, I looked up to 
 what seemed to me his great intellectual ability, and the 
 eminence which I then anticipated for him, are verified 
 to-day. 
 
 I have heard it surmised that Mr. Hill was a mere law- 
 yer. If by this is meant that his intellectual activity was 
 chiefly in the walks of his profession, it is true ; but it is 
 not true that he had no tastes outside of that profession. 
 He was familiar with the best English literature, and a 
 lover of good books ; and when he could throw off the 
 thoughts of his work, he was a most delightful and genial 
 companion. His tastes were refined, his sensibilities lively 
 and delicate, his nature frank, and without guile, his heart 
 warm and true. For myself, I can never forget how much 
 I am indebted to him for example, guidance, encourage- 
 ment, nor the unfailing kindness which, in boyhood, and 
 ever afterwards, I always received from him. 
 
 Doubtless he gave himself up too exclusively to that 
 
 35 
 
science which, noble as it is, needs the tempering of other 
 studies ; but Providence, in guiding each one of us to our 
 vocation, seems to indicate that in it should our chief use- 
 fulness be looked for; and the devotee of the law is dedi- 
 cated to a large obedience. To the high praise of Mr. 
 Hill it may be truly said, that he practised his profession 
 nobly, being above all low or sordid motives, all envy or 
 detraction, and that he won the high position he attained, 
 solely by the thorough, honest, faithful use of the fine facul- 
 ties with which he was gifted. 
 
 Whereupon the question being put by the chair on the 
 resolutions, they were unanimously adopted. 
 
 The chair appointed Mr. John W. Edmonds, Mr. Gil- 
 bert Dean, and Mr. Stephen P. Nash, as the committee 
 to communicate the proceedings of the meeting to the 
 Court of Appeals. 
 
 And the meeting then adjourned. 
 
 36 
 
Iwm&m0 of t\w %Xbm$ gar. 
 
 VERY large meeting of the bar convened in the 
 Court of Appeals room at 12 o'clock, noon. 
 Hon. Lyman Tremaine, Attorney-General, moved 
 that Judge Johnson, Chief Judge of the Court of Ap- 
 peals, preside, which was agreed to. 
 
 J. V. L. Peuyn, Esq., and Clark B. Cochrane, Esq., 
 were appointed Secretaries. 
 
 ATTORNEY GENERAL TREMAINE 
 
 then addressed the meeting as follows : 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Brethren : An acknowledged leader 
 of our profession has fallen ! He, whose varied and ex- 
 tensive legal attainments were universally acknowledged — 
 he, who in his professional contests was never defeated 
 when he was entitled to succeed by the merits of his cause 
 — he, who was the victor in so many hard-fought intel- 
 lectual combats — he, whose superior in all the element 
 that constitute the eminent lawyer and the accomplished 
 
 37 
 
jurist, can not, in my humble judgment, be found at the 
 American bar — has finally been arrested in his career ; and 
 in the struggle with an adversary more powerful than any 
 he had before encountered, has been vanquished and slain 
 upon the field of battle ! No enemy in human form has ac- 
 complished this work ! It required a superhuman foe — the 
 conqueror of princes and of emperors — of statesmen and of 
 orators — of warriors and of heroes — one more powerful 
 than Cicero or Demosthenes, than Cassar, or Alexander, ox- 
 Bonaparte ! 
 
 We, who are the mourning survivors in the profession 
 which had the distinguished honor of claiming Nicholas 
 Hill as one of its members, have assembled on this occa- 
 sion to take some suitable notice of our bereavement. 
 
 We have not met to pronounce that elaborate eulogium 
 upon the deceased which is so eminently due to his life and 
 character. To us, who knew him so intimately, that would 
 seem wholly unnecessary, either to perpetuate his greatness 
 or to preserve the memory of his virtues. We remember 
 his modest and untiring nature, and it seems to us that, if 
 his own wishes during life could have been consulted, they 
 would have pointed to a less ostentatious method of ex- 
 hibiting our affection and regard. 
 
 With such views we meet to-day. We would condole 
 with each other upon our great loss — we would derive 
 some consolation in this hour of affliction from the con- 
 
 38 
 
templation of his brilliant career, and especially would we 
 dwell upon the noble and manly virtues ihat clustered 
 around his brow. 
 
 We come as friends, as brothers, as members of the same 
 professional family. We come to mingle our sympathies 
 together — to sweeten the bitter contents of the cup that is 
 presented to our lips — to weave a few garlands of flowers 
 with the cypress branches to be laid upon his grave. 
 
 The occasion seems appropriate to make a brief allusion 
 to those traits of character which had placed Mr. Hill in 
 the high and commanding position at the bar, that he occu- 
 pied at the time of his death. When I first knew Mr. 
 Hill, he was in the full tide of an extensive and success- 
 ful practice, and had laid the foundations of that enviable 
 reputation which he finally attained. Both of us passed a 
 portion of our clerkship in the office, and under the in- 
 structions of the same lawyer. I remember well with what 
 earnestness and enthusiasm this gentleman was wont to 
 speak of the ability and tact that had been exhibited by 
 Mr. Hill during his clerkship in his office. He took great 
 pride in his professional success, and often alluded to it as 
 affording a complete fulfillment of his early predictions in 
 reference to one whom he pleasantly called his " boy." 
 
 From such a commencement, Mr. Hill advanced, step by 
 
 step, with sure and steady progress, by severe discipline 
 
 and persevering study, up through the different stages of 
 
 39 
 
tprocectrinjjs of tije 
 
 his profession, until at last he reached the highest round in 
 the ladder of professional eminence. I think I do no in- 
 justice to the eminent and illustrious lawyers who were 
 Mr. Hill's cotemporaries. in declaring the opinion that 
 when death marked him for his victim, he was retained to 
 argue more causes in the Court of Appeals than any law- 
 yer in the State, and that among his professional acquaint- 
 ances, and on the bench, he exercised an influence and 
 commanded a respect scarcely equaled, and certainly not 
 surpassed. 
 
 If the youthful aspirants for professional honors should 
 ask me by what means he reached this position and ac- 
 quired this influence, I should answer, that it was only by 
 severe study, by continuous untiring labor, and by the un- 
 remitting application of all the energies of a strong and 
 vigorous intellect to the profession which he loved. 
 
 He possessed a mind imbued with strong common sense. 
 He was, in moments of relaxation, overflowing with wit, 
 humor and pathos. In his forensic arguments, however, he 
 rarely availed himself of the aid which these qualities 
 furnished. In early life, he was deemed a most formidable 
 antagonist before a jury at Nisi Prius. Of late years, 
 however, he had abandoned the field to his younger part- 
 ner, and confined his labors to arguments before the 
 Court. Here he found congenial employment. Here he 
 
 was always at home. 
 40 
 
He never relied exclusively upon his own ideas of what 
 the law was ; but, like a true and devoted lawyer, he was 
 willing to subject his own impressions to the test of adjudi- 
 cation. He did not profess to be wiser than the great 
 luminaries whose wisdom and learning have been con- 
 tributing, for centuries, to establish and improve the body 
 of the Common Law. He did not believe that all wisdom 
 was monopolized by the present age and generation, nor 
 did he think he could reach conclusions with unerring ac- 
 curacy by intuition or his own unaided reason. He was, 
 therefore, in its fullest sense, a student. Possessing one 
 of the finest law libraries in this country, he never wearied 
 with digging among its hidden treasures for that know- 
 ledge which was necessary to satisfy himself, and particu- 
 larly to enable him to satisfy the Court. No miner was 
 ever more persevering and enthusiastic in searching for 
 gold than was he in his pursuit of learning. No lover was 
 ever more devoted to his mistress than was Mr. Hill to 
 his profession. Such industry produced its fruits. 
 
 He was a walking library. Never satisfied with his 
 search until he had traced a principle to its source, and 
 ascertained the reason upon which it was founded, and then 
 pursued it in all its ramifications and modifications, his 
 mind became a well filled storehouse of legal knowledge. 
 You could not apply to him for information upon any 
 
 branch of legal science connected with the Common, Civil 
 F 41 
 

 Statute, or Constitutional Law, without being at once im- 
 pressed with the' extent and variety of his attainments. 
 Indeed, my conviction of truth requires that I should add, 
 that if he erred at all, it was in the depth and extent of 
 his devotion to his profession. It was in allowing this 
 to become too absorbing, and thereby encroaching upon 
 the time which could have been conferred upon society 
 with so much advantage to it, and possibly too, disregard- 
 ing the laws of recreation and of health. He resolved, 
 however, to stand at the head of his profession, and long 
 since he had accomplished his purpose. 
 
 But while we do homage to his accomplishments as a 
 learned lawyer, what shall I say of him as a citizen — as a 
 companion — as a man ? No person can do justice to this 
 branch of my theme, unless he has had the high privilege 
 of associating with him in those occasional periods when 
 all care was thrown aside. Then the real goodness of his 
 nature was seen and appreciated. On such occasions he 
 resigned himself to the spirit of the hour with an abandon 
 that was charming. He became playful as a child. His 
 genial characteristics won your regard, while his cheerful 
 mirthfulness became irresistibly contagious. You saw be- 
 fore you not the grave lawyer whose ability and learning 
 swayed the decrees of Courts, but only the merry and 
 lively comrade whose gravity, if it was put on, was only 
 
 42 
 
assumed to give more point to an anecdote, or to carry a 
 jest home to its destination. 
 
 Death is rarely a welcome visitor. In this instance, 
 however, it is doubtful whether it could have come at a 
 ' period more unobjectionable, so far as relates to the repu- 
 tation of its illustrious victim. The loss will be mainly 
 that of his family, for whom he would have preferred that 
 his life could have been prolonged, and of the public, who 
 will scarcely be able to supply his place. He died in the 
 full zenith of his professional fame. He had reached its 
 summit. He died before the corroding finger of advanc- 
 ing age had touched his mental faculties, or dimmed the 
 clearness of his intellectual vision. He died, as I think he 
 would have preferred to die, in the field of his active labors, 
 and with the harness on. No long and wasting disease 
 preceded his dissolution ; but while he was full of hope for 
 recovery from illness, his spirit passed to the other world 
 quietly, peacefully, and like one calmly going to sleep. 
 
 Let us cherish the memory of his virtues. Let us strive 
 to imitate those rare qualities which enabled him to die 
 without an enemy. Let us cultivate that ingenuous frank- 
 ness which was one of the secrets of his influence and 
 power. I take this occasion to suggest to my brethren of 
 this city the propriety of obtaining a full length portrait 
 of Mr. Hill, to adorn the walls of this room, between the 
 portraits of Abraham Van Vechten and Daniel Cady. 
 
 43 
 
I concede that this is not necessary for the preservation of 
 his legal reputation. No 1 Mr. Hill's arguments, or so 
 much of them as has been preserved, his connection with 
 the leading cases for many years, the monuments of his in- 
 dustry and learning as an author and reporter, have identi- 
 fied his name with the legal history of this State, and there 
 it will forever remain. But our really great lawyers are 
 becoming so like angel visits, that it seems to me that we 
 should have Mr. Hill's likeness before us, in the Court 
 room, to stimulate the rising generation of lawyers to fol- 
 low his example. If the suggestion meets with your ap- 
 proval, it will afford me great pleasure to unite with you 
 in accomplishing that object. 
 
 We are forcibly reminded by this sad event of the tend- 
 ency to sudden death created by the confinement and ab- 
 sorbing nature of our professional pursuits. Is it not the 
 part of wisdom to pay more heed to the laws of health, to 
 play more and work less ? But especially, is it not our 
 duty to conduct ourselves in such a way that death will 
 never find us unprepared ? We believe that " the trumpet 
 shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and 
 we shall be changed. For this corruption must put on in- 
 corruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." 
 
 ' ' Determined are the days that fly 
 Successive o'er thy head, 
 The numbered hour is on the wing 
 That lays thee with the dead. 
 
 44 
 
Great God, is this our certain doom ? 
 
 And are we still secure ? 
 Still walking downward to the tomb, 
 
 And yet prepare no more ? " 
 
 In conclusion, I move that a committee of seven be ap- 
 pointed by the Chairman to report resolutions expressive 
 of the sense of this meeting. 
 
 45 
 
m 
 
 %wm®mt of tht Iwy §a*. 
 
 MEETING of the members of the bar of Rensselaer 
 County was held at the Court House, in the city of 
 ,y V ^ Troy, on the 6th instant, to express their regret at 
 the death of the late distinguished Nicholas Hill. 
 
 W. A. BEACH, Esq., 
 
 then addressed the meeting as follows : 
 
 The occasion which collects us is no ordinary one. Our 
 presence here is no unfeeling formality. Our offering to- 
 day is not mere lip service — the vacant ceremonial of cus- 
 tom. The calamities of life often arrest attention for a 
 moment, in our hurried and tumultuous progress. We 
 pause awhile, and look upward and beyond the transitory 
 things of earth, startled into deep but transient conscious- 
 ness of the immortal within us. The cares and aspirations 
 and duties of the world soon erase the impression. Care- 
 less of the monition, we quickly resume our place in the 
 long procession of earth-worshipers, and with heart as 
 light, and step as eager as ever, chase the gilded phantoms 
 
 of time. Not such will be the influence of the death of 
 
 4G 
 
Nicholas Hill. The shock of its startling suddenness 
 may pass away, but its moral will remain forever. In his 
 death we see, too, his life. The passionate sorrow of this 
 hour will subside, but his memory, with genial and en- 
 nobling influence, will abide with us while virtue shall be 
 respected and worth honored. "We shall remember him as 
 he moved among us in all the grandeur of his intellectual 
 nature, and remembrance will be keener as we think that 
 his step is silent forever. In his life there was influence, 
 but his death gives to the lessons of his noble career, high 
 emphasis and power. For many years we have seen his 
 enthusiastic professional devotion, and its efforts and its 
 triumphs. We have drawn inspiration from his example, 
 and felt the stir of exciting emulation as we watched his 
 brilliant achievements. But how more vividly, to-day, the 
 lustre of his great life beams upon us. Its teachings speak 
 to us with weightier significance. We see more clearly his 
 striking characteristics. We feel more deeply their value. 
 So true it is that Death gilds and intensifies the character 
 of real greatness. 
 
 In this presence, it is superfluous to speak of the profes- 
 sional character of Mr. Hill. With it all of us are 
 familiar. It needs no demonstration of eulogy. With 
 common accord we recognize it as the true standard of 
 excellence. Why speak of his varied acquirements, em- 
 bellishing the sterility of severe legal argument— of his 
 
 47 
 
»■'.-: i 
 faf 
 
 exhaustless and exhausting research — of the resource and 
 felicity of his illustration — of his terse, epigrammatic dic- 
 tion — of his enthusiasm, which rested not till it stood by 
 the limpid fountains of principle, and could read truth un- 
 erringly ? All these, are they not written on the hearts 
 of his brethren ? 
 
 Others may admire his genius and attainments ; may re- 
 member him as a gifted and glorious intellect, ennobling 
 and adorning both our profession and our common nature. 
 
 I prefer to think of him with fonder and more familiar 
 associations. 
 
 Long years ago, in the sunny day of early manhood, I 
 knew him. 
 
 Ere his name was carved by his own hand among the 
 highest aspirants along the rocky steep of professional re- 
 nown, we sported together at the base of the constellated 
 mount. From thence onward through the wasting years, 
 we have been linked in warmest friendship. Great as he 
 was in legal acquirements — symmetrical and graceful as 
 was his professional character — I loved and admired him 
 most as the companion and friend. After all, his greatness 
 was rather of his heart than his head. Prom his soul came 
 the instincts, animating and directing his mental exertion, 
 making him in all that was generous, truthful and noble, 
 the Bayard of our profession. No one truly understood 
 
 him who had not mingled sympathies in hours of social re- 
 
 48 
 
arrog i&ar. 
 
 laxation. He cast off then the discipline of studious 
 thought, and, with the playful spirit of boyhood, studded 
 the brilliant hours with the rarest gems of fancy and wit. 
 Not alone in the learning of his profession was his mind 
 enriched. Literature and poetry embellished it. Historic 
 lore dignified it : it was filled with the incidents and anec 
 dotes of biography : it had mastered the great truths of 
 governmental and political science. Scarce any depart- 
 ment of knowledge from which his unwearied indu try had 
 not gathered gems and flowers. From these copious stores 
 he garlanded the scenes of social and friendly intercourse. 
 With lively imagination, a keen apprehension and ready 
 retort, his pleasant hours were full of mental activity. 
 He loved the conflict of mind. The giant stooped to play 
 with the lighter armor of intellect, but his heart gave tone 
 to his merry satire. He was simple, guileless and cheer- 
 ful. Too lofty to be envious, and too kind to be harsh, 
 his racy humor and sportive sarcasm left no sting behind. 
 
 Such was he in his companionship. How trusty and 
 generous he was in friendship, many there be who can 
 bear him testimony. Whoever won his respect and love, 
 commanded his countenance and effort. His was not the 
 friendship of calculation or convenience : it sought con- 
 genial spirit. Disdaining meanness himself, his associa- 
 tions were with the noble and true of heart. His pure, 
 
 upright nature instinctively discovered the good, and wel- 
 
 g ' 49 
 
corned it with warmest fellowship. And so in all the pro- 
 portions of his full developed character, in head and heart, 
 his instincts and sympathies, his learning and its fruit, were 
 all goodness and truth. 
 
 Fitting is it, therefore, that we who honored and loved 
 him should stand in reverent grief beside his bier. Be- 
 coming is it that the hush of awe and sorrow should over- 
 spread the busy activities of life. No wonder that his 
 death should awaken a common emotion of profoundest 
 sadness and grief. The lofty and lowly, the gifted and 
 humble among us, have each and all a friend, a companion 
 an exemplar— to mourn. No more will his dim-closed 
 eyes flash upon us the radiance of his glorious immortality. 
 No more will his cold, pale lip enchant us with the melody 
 of thought. The kindly grasp of his honest hand will wel- 
 come us no more on earth. We call him dead ; and yet 
 he is not. With him death is but another life. Nay, it is 
 but manifold life ; life immortal beyond the grave ; and 
 life with each of us, so long as loving hearts can cherish 
 the memory of the good and great. 
 
 " Can that man be dead 
 Whose spiritual influence is on his kind ? 
 He lives in glory ; and his speaking dust 
 Has more of life than half its breathing moulds." 
 
 50 
 
^vms&mp at t\u (ttmtt at ^yyah. 
 
 Albany, June 7, 1859. 
 
 fHE Court of Appeals met at the Capitol at ten 
 'X o'clock yesterday. Present : Judges Johnson, Com- 
 (§[§ stock, Selden, Denio, Strong, Allen, Gray and 
 Groyer. There was a very full attendance of the bar. 
 A number of prominent citizens, including Governor Mor- 
 gan, Comptroller Church, and others, were also present. 
 Immediately on the opening of the Court, 
 
 MR. JOHN H. REYNOLDS 
 
 rose, and formally announced to their Honors the death of 
 the lamented Nicholas Hill, coupling it with a tribute to 
 the character of the deceased, both professional and per- 
 sonal, so eloquent as to touch the hearts of all the auditory 
 with the deep emotions which the speaker himself evinced. 
 He spoke as follows : 
 
 May it please your Honors : Since the last meeting of 
 this Court, one who has been accustomed to welcome your 
 return has suddenly been called away. His place at this 
 bar is vacant, and will be filled by him no more forever. 
 
 51 
 
"While yet busy in the great labors of his life, and in the 
 Tery fullness of his intellectual stature, Nicholas Hill has 
 unexpectedly left the employments of earth, and entered 
 upon the realities of another life. His departure from 
 among us was so sudden, that those who were most inti- 
 mately associated with his daily avocations were scarcely 
 made aware of his illness before the sad intelligence of his 
 death was announced. An event so mournful could not 
 ail to arrest public attention, and spread deep sorrow over 
 the hearts of all who knew and honored him. To none 
 beyond his immediate family circle did this great bereave- 
 ment seem more near than to his brethren at the Capitol, 
 who were the constant associates of his professional life, 
 and who were bound to him by the nearer relations of 
 friendship and affection. To give expression to their 
 feelings of respect and regard for his character, and sor- 
 row 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 sud- 
 den and untimely death. They gathered in reverent 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 proceedings, with a request that, in respect to his 
 
 62 
 
memory, cliey 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 enduring monu- 
 ments of his labors exist ; and we feel it to be appropriate 
 that, upon the field of his professional fame, there shall re- 
 main 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 intellect and unremitting labor. It was also the 
 termination 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 al- 
 most the last hours that he spent in this life, and I come 
 here to-day to bring the tribute of his brethren to his ex- 
 alted worth, and to add my own feeble expression of admi- 
 ration for him as a lawyer, my reverence for his character 
 as a man, and my affection for a lost associate and friend. 
 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 na- 
 ture. You have been delighted and instructed with his 
 
 eloquence and learning. Every volume that records your 
 
 53 
 
Honor's judgments bears enduring evidence of the labors 
 of Nicholas 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 im" 
 pressive form the severer logic of the law. He never under- 
 took 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 profession. He loved its labors 
 with enthusiastic devotion. No temptation could seduce 
 him from its pursuit. If he relaxed his severer studies, it 
 was to beguile an hour in the freedom of social enjoyment, 
 or amid the delights of literature. His was a life of intel- 
 lectual toil and of intellectual triumph. He was indebted 
 to no adventitious aid for the honors that he won. They 
 were the results of his own unaided intellect and of his un- 
 paralleled industry. The reverence that we all feel for his 
 great character, is but the just tribute we pay 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 
 said, the ligament whith binds society together. Upon its 
 broad foundation is erected the edifice of public liberty. 
 
 51 
 
To lend humble aid in raising 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. Prom 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 exist- 
 ence seemed at noonday. To those who value truth and 
 honor manhood, who reverence intellect, 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. 
 
 To most of all 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 with- 
 drew from labor, and surrendered himself to the enjoy- 
 ments 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 perfection of his character. Those who knew him 
 
 55 
 
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 remem- 
 ber our last interview on the last day of his life. Disease 
 had laid its heavy hand upon him, but his great mind was 
 clear, and the energy and warmth of his affections had suf- 
 fered no abatement. He felt conscious that he had been 
 overtasked, and, I think, regret, 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 repose ; 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 toil 
 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." 
 56 
 
<&ourt of Appeals. 
 
 However distinguished we may bo, or have been, in this 
 life, upon the bed of death, man returns to his individual- 
 ity. He must die unaided and unsupported by human 
 effort. Neither the applause of his fellow men nor the 
 affection of friends and kindred, can support 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, ac- 
 cording to the standard of human 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 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 to the upright in heart. 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr. Reynolds' address, Judge 
 Edmonds presented the proceeding of the New York city 
 
 57 
 
rm 
 
 bar, on the same subject, accompanying the duty assigned 
 to him by appropriate remarks. 
 
 CHIEF JUDGE JOHNSON 
 
 responded on behalf of the Court, in the following words : 
 
 The warm and deserved tribute which has just been paid 
 to the memory of our deceased friend and brother, receives 
 an assenting response from the hearts of all those in whose 
 hearing it has been pronounced, and will receive the same 
 response from all who knew him. For more than twenty 
 years Nicholas Hill has occupied an eminent position at 
 the bar of this State. During the twelve years of the 
 existence of this Court, he has at all times been largely 
 concerned in its business, and of late has argued nearly 
 one quarter of the causes orally debated. With the charac- 
 ter of his mind, the Judges were thus made intimately 
 acquainted, while his admirable, moral and social qualities 
 warmed into affectionate regard the respect and admira- 
 tion which his intellectual abilities commanded. It is not 
 necessary, for the information of any who hear me, that I 
 should speak of the care and labor which he bestowed upon 
 the discharge of all his professional duties. He was never 
 satisfied until he had exhausted all the resources of learn- 
 ing and reflection upon any subject which duty required 
 him to examine. He made no parade of learning ; so much 
 
 53 
 
as the occasion called for was always at his command, and 
 so much he employed ; but thoroughly imbued with the 
 principles of the law, it was his delight to rest his cases 
 upon them. Ho had so great reverence for the law itself, 
 and felt so deeply its harmonious structure, that he would 
 rather have failed of success than have won it by trenching 
 upon a sound rule. His arguments were therefore marked, 
 no less by the masterly handling of legal principles, than 
 by the entire candor and fairness with which he encoun- 
 tered the difficulties standing in his way. 
 
 In his intercourse with his fellow lawyers, he was full of 
 courtesy and kindness, and was ever ready to sacrifice his 
 own convenience to their accommodation. He was a man 
 of entire integrity, of unflinching courage, of perfect truth, 
 and, therefore, adorned all the relations of life, and enjoyed 
 the esteem and regard which conduct so regulated is sure 
 to win. 
 
 With the members of the bar his business relations were 
 so extended, and his personal acquaintance so valued, that 
 the death of no one among their number would have 
 caused so much disarrangement of public business, or so 
 deep and wide-spread grief. 
 
 It is right and becoming that the death of such a man 
 should be marked by all the honors which it is in our 
 power to pay to his memory, not alone for the consola- 
 tion which is afforded to our own feelings, by the expres- 
 
 59 
 
sion of our sense of his worth, but also in order that what 
 he has achieved, and our appreciation of him as a lawyer 
 and a man, may go down together to those who shall 
 come after us, and may serve, so long as reverence for 
 the law shall endure, to stimulate virtuous ambition by the 
 teachings of his example. 
 
 We do, therefore, order, that the proceedings of the 
 several meetings of the bar which have been this day pre- 
 sented, be entered of record on the minutes of this Court, 
 with a relation of what has been said here on the part of 
 the bar and the court. 
 
 The following order was then entered on the minutes : 
 
 In the Court of Appeals, June 7, 1859.— The death of 
 the late Nicholas Hill having been formally announced 
 to this Court by John H. Eeynolds, the Judges deem it 
 proper to express their deep sympathy with the family of 
 the lamented deceased, his associates at the bar, and the 
 public, in which he lived and labored, for the great loss 
 all have sustained in this sudden and unexpected be- 
 reavement. 
 
 They also express their high estimate of his great legal 
 attainments and his exemplary deportment in all the social 
 relations. 
 
 They direct that these expressions be entered on the 
 
 records of this Court, and that a copy, signed by all the 
 
 Judges, be sent to the family of the deceased, 
 oo 
 
it