l-*^ <'^'^' V ^^ *.^'^^4 Legal Philadelphia Comments and Memories By ROBERT DAVISON COXE Of the Philadelphia Bar U Philadelphia WILLIAM J. CAMPBELL 1908 cuss/A AAc- iVu.i J.. OOHY A. i Copyright 1908, by William J. Campbell CONTENTS Preliminary and Dedicatory 7 Social side of the profession 9 A dramatic chapter in the criminal pro- cedure of Pennsylvania 23 The old conveyancers of Philadelphia. . . .37 Philadelphia Judges 48 Constant and Victor Guillou 60 judges Thompson, Allison, Hare and Pratt 66 Judge John Cadwalader 82 Judge George Sharswood 88 Women lawyers 92 Forensic oratory loi David W. Sellers 117 John Dolman 131 Horatio Hubbell 136 MacGregor J. Mitcheson 140 George W. Thorn 144 Edward Hopper 152 Miniatures — short-biographical sketches 156 Official robes jg2 Court clerks j gq The right of Pennsylvania lawyers to practice in all the courts 196 A Pennsylvania principality 205 Anecdotes 212 PRELIMINARY AND DEDICATORY. Let me venture to believe that almost a half-century's membership of the Philadel- phia bar, including occasional appearances in other Pennsylvania jurisdictions, and of other States, as well as observation of foreign courts, may serve as my adequate credentials, in the present emergency, in view of some asperities of expression. Within little more than a twelvemonth, without the intermediary of a tipstaff, bear- ing my visiting card, or any ceremony what- ever, I was cordially welcomed to the private office in the City Hall of a younger member of the Philadelphia judiciary. My visit, a professional one, was brief, solely because of my inability to accept the courteously tendered hospitality of the judge and an as- sociate in chambers. OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS In the confident hope that this unwonted and commendable treatment of a brother lawyer and officer of their courts, heralded a new and desirable dispensation, I take pleas- ure in respectfully dedicating these modest utterances to the honorable judges whose humanity and civility are thus gratefully chronicled. SOCIAL SIDE OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION. Fairmount Park, in Philadelphia, in its early days, before the inexorable require- ments of the public weal made impossible unimpeachable conviviality and resultant genteel good-fellowship on the part of those who conscientiously complied with Victor Hugo's sensible dictum : **Buvons pour avoir de I'esprit Et non pour le detruire :" — was the scene of cheerful Sundays and bright summer holidays, both at Belmont and Strawberry Mansion ; when and where was wont to congregate a coterie of lawyers, nearly all of whom have since joined the great majority. The recollection of these incomparably enjoyable episodes compels the thought that the picturesque and gen- uinely social side of our professional life is OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS no longer a distinguishing feature of it. There is recalled of the choice spirits at these gatherings: David W. Sellers, Victor Guillou, Samuel S. Hollingsworth, E. Greenough Piatt, Thomas Hart, Jr., John Samuel, Sam- uel Dickson, James Parsons, Alexander D. Campbell, James T. Mitchell, E. Coppee Mitchell, and others ; all in the vigorous prime of manhood and foremost at the junior bar. I am not aware that such sociability and cordial mutual personal identification are so conspicuously a feature of professional life to-day. Conditions have, in the mean- time, so completely changed that it is more than likely that such meetings no longer take place. Nothing militated against their con- tinuance more than the now fully prevailing system of legal education. It is open to question whether the Law School turns out as good lawyers as were the best types of lO SOCIAL SIDE OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION those who served their undivided appren- ticeship in the old-fashioned and sufficiently equipped and conducted law office. In truth, there is nothing like the associations of youth ; and no attachments can take firm root in the lecture room or the moot court like those developed in the intimacy of the front office. Read Mr. John Samuel's de- lightful paper on John Cadwalader's office, to gain an adequate idea of the salutary influences that pervaded the atmosphere of such a place. The old style hand-made lawyer had his individuality efifectively fos- tered in such an environment. Almost in- variably, there was a daily affectionate inter- course between what was, really, a preceptor, and what were, really, pupils ; of incalculable service in the development, formation and perfection of the personal, not less than the professional character. One substantial evi- dence of this is found in the unquestionable 1 1 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS fact that the lawyers of to-day are, in the main, of a monotonous pattern. Of course, their work is well enough done ; but in court and out of court the individuality has de- parted and the picturesqueness of the social side of the life has left it. Perhaps, the in- creased number of courts, with no practical connection with each other, has contributed to impair the sentiment of close relationship ; and then, too, the rapid increase in the num- ber of lawyers has rendered impossible the continuance of the spirit of brotherhood that imparted such an interest and such a charm to the old order of affairs. The university's annual output of machine-made lawyers, unavoidably, though surely, exercises its in- fluence in effecting the lamentable change. One indisputable fact, adverted to in no invidious sense, but which it may be fairly urged proves that the law-office was more successful than the law-school as an agent 12 SOCIAL SIDE OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION in maintaining a standard of conduct is this : the several individuals, who have, of late years, been disbarred for unpardonable viola- tions of professional ethics, were, without ex- ception, the exclusive products of the law- school. There is in this no intended or im- plied censure of the Law Department of the University, for moral training cannot, of course, be a part of the law-school's curricu- lum. On the other hand, an unprincipled or dishonest youth is speedily discovered and unmasked in the unintermitted inter- course of the law office. It has, indeed, con- sequently happened that such an undesirable student is checked at the very threshold of his career, and the profession relieved, be- times, of subsequent embarrassment and dis- grace. Chief among the very agreeable memories of the not very distant period when genuine sociability was an adorning trait of the law- 13 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS yer's life in Philadelphia, is that of the annual Easter excursion. This peculiarly enjoyable event was customarily arranged for by those excellent lawyers and whole- souled gentlemen, E. Coppee Mitchell, Rich- ard P. White and David W. Sellers. It gen- erally comprised either a trip to Atlantic City or Cape May or Washington. Did the weather prove auspicious the party would number some forty to fifty ; not an insignifi- cant contingent, considering that as late as 1 88 1, the full membership of the Law Asso- ciation did not exceed four hundred, and these were, by no means, all active lawyers. These annual professional outings were necessarily discontinued, when the bar had so increased in numbers that there was in- curred too great a risk of offending the sensibilities of many worthy practitioners, who, in the nature of things, were unavoida- bly excluded from participation. These in- 14 SOCIAL SIDE OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION formal assemblages were very effectual in maintaining the spirit of professional com- radeship. They were fairly representative of the whole body of the active bar. The Lawyers' Club seems to struggle anemically, and the yearly meetings of the Pennsylvania State Bar Association serve a commendable purpose in the particular work it has so well undertaken ; and, occasional bar banquets are pleasant enough, in their formal but ephemeral way. There is, however, neither social cement nor an unalloyed democratic spirit in either institution. The Easter excursion, although, presuma- bly, not designed with that object in view, exercised a potent influence in uprooting a curious condition of affairs, which prevailed among Philadelphia lawyers, and was main- tained quite up to the period of the break- ing out of the Civil War. A large and practically controlling section, though really 15 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS a minority of the bar, successfully arrogated to itself the claim to be the representative element of the profession. The members of this section were, beyond dispute, able and respected lawyers. They exacted, not at all, however, on account of their professional ability, but entirely, for social reasons, a peculiar deference from the rest of the bar, and from the courts, as well. Remarkable as it may now seem, this respectful consid- eration was generally accorded. The extra- ordinary attitude of this clique, the mainte- nance of which was attended with such suc- cess, was, in large measure, the outgrowth and survival of the narrow spirit of social preju- dice which formerly separated Philadelphia into well-defined districts, at once mutually hostile and envious ; and which, indeed, has not been wholly eradicated. To recall the period of impassable lines of professional caste is like reading a chapter out of "Cran- i6 SOCIAL SIDE OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION ford." But whatever of justice may still linger in the reproach of provinciality that is occasionally cast upon the fair fame of Philadelphia, there is no possibility, what- ever, of a recurrence of the peculiar mani- festation of narrow-mindedness exhibited by too many of the otherwise irreproachable leaders of the old bar. In our day, as was not the case at the time referred to, a lawyer does not have to wait ''till he come to forty year" ere recognition is vouchsafed him. Some of the most conspicuous and genuine successes have been the richly merited destiny of young men whose novi- tiate is still a recent episode in their career. And yet, another reason, of itself, and with- out more, would make the revival of the earlier custom impossible. What may with sufficient accuracy be designated as profes- sional individuality has almost disappeared, in these days of law-firms and sky-scraping 17 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS law-offices. There was such a thing as a personal distinction in the days when the lawyer had a front-offlce, and especially when it was a part of his own home and fireside. The difference between the occu- pant of his individual house and home and the modern cliff-dwellers in flats, is not more marked. The removal of the professional centre from the neighborhood of the old State House to the vicinity of the City Hall had its very great share in disturbing, not to say destroying, previous most pleasant condi- tions. It was not generally believed that when the several courts and public offices were transferred to the City Hall, or Public Buildings, as it was, for a while, the clumsy fashion to call it, the entire profession, practically, would so soon follow. In a few years, however, a large majority of the active lawyers had abandoned the classic neighbor- i8 SOCIAL SIDE OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION hood ; and the places that knew them once knew them no more. A fraction remained and some still are fortunately able to linger in the still attractive ancient precincts. The two atmospheres are radically differ- ent It cannot be questioned that in the change of locality, there was occasioned, un- consciously, but inevitably, a complete trans- formation in the social and friendly relations of lawyers with each other. The convenient and most agreeable custom of first-fioor offices, the comparatively small number of lawyers, the proximity of the two beauti- ful parks, Washington and Independence Squares, and the State House itself, with their wealth of historic associations, were the chief agencies that gave birth to and con- served the peculiar sociability and abiding personal interest that distinguished the in- tercourse of Philadelphia practitioners quite up to the period of removal. 19 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS Another most delightful recollection asso- ciates itself with the unique life of the old neighborhood. Until a very recent time, the region always appropriated by lawyers adja- cent to the State House premises was one of the most desirable and attractive of residential sections. Reminders of these characteristics of that portion of the city are still, happily, to be found in South Fourth street, on Walnut street, and on Washington Square. The attorney, constantly passing in his various visits to the courts and the "row" offices, on his way from his office through Independence Square, had his attention, again and again, most pleasantly distracted by visions of female grace and beauty in the members of the excellent families dwelling in the vicinity. It was a purely professional neighborhood; with no trace of the commercial or general business character in it. There must have been a subtle element in such a refined en- 20 SOCIAL SIDE OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION vironment which favorably affected the pro- fessional standard of conduct. However keen the legal warfare waged by as able lawyers as ever practised at the Philadelphia bar, in those modest, severely plain, and in- significant old court rooms, the mutual courtesy which was, with the rarest except- ions, the dominant note, found its pregnant germs in the superior air they were privi- leged to breathe. One may be permitted, even while still recognizing and obeying the imperative re- quirements of a more — I will not say, earnest, for such is not the fact — but strenuous era, to indulge in regret that the delightful con- ditions thus dwelt upon in entrancing retrospect, no longer exist. With their per- manent departure, the picturesqueness and graciousness of professional life, already commented upon, became irrevocable inci- dents of the past. The once happy family 21 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS of lawyers, forced to forsake their intimately located professional homes — for they were, indeed, more than mere offices — with their opportunities for closer personal identifica- tion than has since been possible, was dis- persed, never to be reunited. Lawyers' clubs are indispensable conveniences, but in a city like Philadelphia, where the essential spirit of club life is a fiction, — if it were ever any- thing else than a visionary thing — they will never help to either revive or maintain a sentiment of professional brotherhood. 22 A DRAMATIC CHAPTER IN THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE OF PENNSYLVANIA. Franz Berschine, not much more than twenty-one years old, well educated and of good character, living with his parents on the ancestral estate in Krain, the extreme Western province of Austria, fourteen years ago, became enamored of Maria Kersek, a peasant and farm servant in the employ of his parents. He proposed marriage, and she accepted him. There was inflexible op- position on the parents' part, due, princi- pally, to the difference in social station of the parties ; and the sequel established the fact that the refusal of the older folk to agree to the proposed marriage was wise and just. But the human heart is a cryptic thing, and no rule of ethics forbids the susceptible 23 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS son of an Austrian landed proprietor from falling in love with a handsome peasant. This particular youth had, indeed, the prece- dent of the illustrious Goethe before him, and the great poet-philosopher, aristocrat incarnate though he was, in his mature years married the most rural of rural maidens, Christine Vulpius, after having loved her for years. And so, Franz Berschine, unheeding and disdaining parental opposition, and being unable to marry at home without parental consent, fled to America with his betrothed. Upon their arrival they took up their residence at Olyphant, in Lackawanna county, in this State, with a colony of mining compatriots. Before, however, they had completed their arrangements to be married, the girl, suddenly and capriciously, an- nounced to Berschine that she had fallen in love with another man, whom she would shortly wed. 24 A DRAMATIC CHAPTER In his frenzied despair, Berschine pro- duced a pistol and endeavored to blow out his brains. He had procured this pistol the day before, having been told by a relative of Maria that she had discarded him. He then determined to put an end to his life, if Maria confirmed this story. As he placed the muzzle of the cocked pistol against his forehead, the weapon was pulled away by the girl, so that the bullet went into the man's chin. In the ensuing struggle for the pistol it was again discharged, and the result was the death of Maria Kersek. Berschine was arrested, indicted for mur- der in the first degree and promptly tried in the Lackawanna county court at Scranton. He was defended by able counsel. They were, however, seriously handicapped by their client's ignorance of English, in their earnest efTort to procure his acquittal, based upon their faith in his story as above related, 25 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS and as communicated to them by Edmund A. Bartl, an architect and civil engineer, in high repute in Scranton, and a native of Austria. At the trial Berschine was placed on the witness stand in his own defense. He re- lated in his own language the circumstances already briefly detailed which attended the death of Maria Kersek. Most unfortunately, however, the official court interpreter was a German, and wholly unfamiliar with the language or dialect (Krainisch) spoken by Berschine, which speech is in no degree allied with the German or any language kindred to the Teutonic. In consequence there was given to the Court and jury a wretchedly inaccurate translation (if, indeed, the bungling performance of the misinter- preter could be called a translation at all) of Berschine's testimony. Besides this, a woman witness produced by the prosecution swore 26 A DRAMATIC CHAPTER that she saw Berschine running away from the scene of the tragic occurrence, and that in his haste to escape he stumbled and fell over a barbed wire fence, the wounds from which, she said, and it was contended by the prosecution, caused the scars on Ber- schine's chin. As an inevitable consequence, the jury brought in a verdict of murder in the first degree, and Berschine was on the last day of December, 1894, sentenced to death. An appeal in his behalf was taken to the Supreme Court, but, under the evidence as given at the trial, there could be nothing but an affirmance of the conviction, which decision was announced at the close of the summer of 1895. At this critical juncture, and through the direct agency of Mr. Bartl, the attention of the Minister for Austro-Hungary at Wash- ington, Mr. Ladislaus von Hengelmiiller, was 27 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS directed to what was, apparently, a grievous miscarriage of justice. With the business- like promptness and generous kindhearted- ness characteristic of Mr. von Hengelmiiller, qualities which have made him one of the most popular of foreign representatives at the national capital, he instructed me, through the then Consul for Austro-Hungary at Phila- delphia, the late A. J. Ostheimer, to assist the counsel at Scranton, Messrs. Colborn & Horn, in an appeal to the Board of Pardons, at Harrisburg, in Berschine's behalf. To this particular end there was prepared and presented to the Board of Pardons a very full statement of the different languages and dialects spoken under the Austro-Hun- garian flag. It was shown that there are not less than eight distinct speeches there spoken, wholly dissimilar in origin, structure, character and other peculiarities, not to speak of innumerable dialects. It was fur- 28 A DRAMATIC CHAPTER ther made plain by competent testimony that between German, even Austrian Ger- man, and "Krainisch" (the language of the Province or District of Krain), Berschine's native tongue, there is absolutely no lin- guistic relationship whatever. The elaborate exposition of the remarkable confusion of tongues prevalent in Austro- Hungary was of effect to create a doubt, at least, in the minds of the members of the Pardon Board, as to the trustworthiness of the court interpreter's version of Berschine's testimony. His sentence was, accordingly, commuted to imprisonn.ent for life. And here, apparently, and viewing the matter in the light of precedent, there was a definite end to Berschine's chances for ultimate vin- dication. But the rest of this story is a most credita- ble part of the annals of the Pennsylvania Bar. The late Andrew J. Colborn, of the 29 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS Scranton Bar, was the senior counsel for the defense in the case of Commonwealth vs. Berschine. He was an active criminal prac- titioner ; in excellent standing in civil prac- tice, as well. He was a man of family and, being only a modest, hardworking lawyer, while prosperous, had always been far from wealthy. Nevertheless, amid the cares and struggles incident to his varied responsibili- ties, domestic and professional, Mr. Colborn did not permit himself to despair of this poor friendless Austrian youth's final release from imprisonment and disgrace. And it is a pathetic circumstance that the aged mother of Mr. Colborn, a sterling woman of old Pennsylvania Scotch ancestry, partook in generous measure of her son's faith in the innocence of his client; and so abiding and fervent was her belief in that innocence that upon her very deathbed she secured a solemn promise from her son that 30 A DRAMATIC CHAPTER he would leave no stone unturned to secure Berschine's vindication. What a combina- tion of impulses to inspire a man ! A vow to a sainted mother and the conscientious advocate's adequate and consuming sense of his professional responsibility. Who shall say that the law is a mere business, with in- cidents like this to refute the accusation ? For several years after the decision of the Board of Pardons, Mr. Colborn, in season and out of season, confronted by countless obstacles, patiently pursued his investigation. As, up to this time, he had been obliged to meet the necessary expenses out of his own not too plethoric purse, and for other obvious reasons, he felt justified in communicating by letter to Berschine's father, in Austria, a full report of the case. In his letter, Mr. Colburn expressed his faith in the son's in- nocence, giving his reasons therefor, and emphasizing his belief that the father would 31 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS be glad to aid in establishing his son's inno- cence by at least contributing toward defray- ing the incidental expenses. Mr. Colborn was astounded and shocked by the father's reply that, as his son had disgraced himself by his identification with Maria Kersek, he had forfeited all claim to his father's affec- tion or consideration, and that his son's fate was a matter of complete indifference to him. It is worthy of especial comment that upon one of Mr. Colborn's visits to Berschine in the Eastern Penitentiary, where the pris- oner was employed as a nurse in the hospital, the then superintendent of the penitentiary volunteered the remarkable statement that he was confident that Berschine was an in- nocent man. And the superintendent went on to observe, in substance, that his long ex- perience with prisoners and criminals enabled him to differentiate between the two classes ; and that there was a subtle something, elud- 32 A DRAMATIC CHAPTER ing analysis, that convinced him that Ber- schine was not a murderer. Likewise, a prominent at-one-time government official, and a former prosecuting officer, who, while an inmate of the Eastern Penitentiary and suiTering from typhoid fever, was nursed by Berschine, subsequently contributed a written and most eloquent testimonial in Berschine's favor to the Board of Pardons, observing that it was incredible to him that such a young man could ever have committed murder. In his explicit reliance upon Berschine's explanation of the scars upon his chin, Mr. Colborn could not but discredit the circum- stantial story told by the woman witness who testified at the trial as to their origin. He was, accordingly, encouraged to endeavor to obtain, if possible, a contradiction of her tale, if not from independent sources, then from the woman herself. He learned 33 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS that she was a particular friend of the man for whom Maria Kersek had discarded Ber- schine ; and that she had been, evidently and consequently, much prejudiced against Berschine. This witness had in the mean- time left the neighborhood of Olyphant, and a long time elapsed before any trace of her could be found. Finally, however, it was ascertained that she had wandered from place to place until she had died in a small town in the State of Ohio. With only this feeble clue, Mr. Colborn repaired to this town, and, knowing the woman to have been of the Roman Catholic faith, he successfully sought an interview with a priest who had been present during her last moments, Mr. Colborn thinking that she might have con- fessed her perjury to this cleric. But here the zealous advocate was again more than embarrassed by the reflection that the secrets of the confessional are inviolable. 34 A DRAMATIC CHAPTER Discouraged, but not abandoning hope, he contented himself, after confirming his sus- picion that the woman had confessed before her death to this priest, with inquiry of him whether, from what he, the priest, had learned from the woman at any time, he believed Franz Berschine was guilty or innocent of the death of Maria Kersek. To this ingeni- ously devised question, the canons of the Church did not deny the priest the right to reply that he was satisfied that Berschine was innocent of the murder. Further, the priest consented to make oath to his state- ment to that effect. With this affidavit Mr. Colborn returned to Scranton. His next step was to procure an order from the proper authorities permitting a surgeon to visit the Eastern Penitentiary and make an examina- tion of the scars on Berschine's face. It should be observed that a request for such an examination was refused, and no 35 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS doubt properly, under the evidence as it went to the jury, by the judge at Scranton on Berschine's trial. The result of the sur- gical examination thus had at the Eastern Penitentiary was the extraction from Ber- schine's chin of a pistol bullet of the same calibre as that of the pistol with which Maria Kersek met her death. Proudly equipped with these most con- vincing of independent and circumstantial proofs, Mr. Colborn appeared before the Board of Pardons at their next meeting. Upon the presentation of the respective affi- davits of the priest and of the examining surgeon, the Board of Pardons immediately and without formal consultation, directed the immediate and unconditional release of Franz Berschine. Since then Berschine has been in the employment of Mr. Bartl, whose continued interest in his behalf was such an important factor. There is every reason to believe that he has before him a career of respectability and honor. 36 THE OLD CONVEYANCERS. The old conveyancers of Philadelphia, al- though not always members of the bar, had, as a class, an intimate and not merely a technical or unscientific familiarity with the law of real estate and of decedents, of which the best of contemporary lawyers would have been proud. Among the most prominent of these conveyancing practitioners were Thomas S. Mitchell, the dean of the profes- sion in his day ; J. Warner Erwin, whose handsome face and dignified person typified a class for many good reasons, regrettably departed ; Charles Rhoads, whose com- modious offices in North Seventh street be- tokened a large and profitable business; James H. Castle, a scholar and gentleman in the exactest sense of the designation ; 37 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS Charles M. Wagner, a sound real estate lawyer with a most extensive conveyancing practice in the old Northern Liberties Dis- trict, Andrew D. Cash, Thomas and Pass- more Williamson, Philp Wagner, Alexander Thackara, Jonathan K. Folwell, Daniel M. Fox, J. Hays Carson, Mahlon D. Liven- setter, and many others equally worthy of honorable mention. How the mere repeti- tion of these names conjures up a now quite forgotten picture of a phase of business life in our city, which was a vitally integral constituent of our daily affairs ! No section of Philadelphia has any more valid claim to "first family" pride than the old Northern Liberties district. It is note- worthy that the majority of the old convey- ancers had their abode and their prosperous business in that part of the city. Their clients were their conservative, industrious and successful neighbors, whose numerous 3^ THE OLD CONVEYANCERS and extensive real estate transactions kept these skilful and experienced practitioners constantly occupied. It was frequently a matter of inheritance, and the ''good will" of an established conveyancing ol^ce was a very material and enviable asset. The con- veyancer was commonly, too, the depository of clients' title papers, wills and other docu- ments. In this section, as indeed, through- out the city generally, the relation between the parties was peculiarly confidential and sacred. It bred an exceptionally high type of men ; and the prosperity of the corporate enterprises which supplanted them was due in large measure to the honorable traditions which substantially embodied their legacy to their successors. The establishment of trust companies, of which the Fidelity Trust Company was the first, was of comparatively speedy effect in impairing and ultimately destroying the 39 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS old established business of conveyancing in our city. It had been, up to the period in- dicated, a very remunerative and most hon- orable occupation. William E. Littleton, an excellent lawyer and a conveyancer in high repute, was among the earliest in his calling, in which he had been very successful, to recognize the changing condition of things, and to discern the portent to the conveyancer it carried with it. He frequently expressed his apprehension to me, that the business of conveyancing by individuals, was, under the impending new corporate system, certain to dwindle and absolutely disappear. As he, therefore, graphically put it, he proposed to "hedge" betimes, by investing as rapidly as his means permitted him, in the stock of the new company. Subsequent developments, with which we are familiar, but which many conservative souls failed to foresee, con- clusively afifirmed the shrewdness and wis- 40 THE OLD CONVEYANCERS dom of Mr. Littleton's anticipations. The not insignificant contingent who were want- ing in such foresight, saw, too late, their business slowly and surely depart from them ; and more than one unfortunate victim of the new dispensation was compelled by the pressure of disastrous circumstances, to ac- cept clerical positions in the new organiza- tions whose creation quickl}^ followed. All the elaborate and time-consuming labors incident to the taking out of searches in the various courts and scattered public places of record, the drafting and engross- ing of deeds and mortgages and other in- struments, were speedily and forever done away with, under the system inaugur- ated by these new title and trust com- panies. In the matter of the preparation of deeds and mortgages alone, the introduction of the type-writer, an innovation long re- sisted, practically, and even after the busi- 41 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS ness was transferred to these corporations, caused the art, as it is fitly entitled, of engrossing, to become as completely a thing of the past as the writing of letters and legal documents by hand. Corporation deeds and some other formal papers are still, to a limited extent, prepared in the ancient way, but this only serves to emphasize, by con- trast, the departure from the earlier and centuries prescribed manner. It is not a fanciful or extravagant conjec- ture, by the way, that before many years elapse, the pen itself will be wholly superseded by the typewriter. My individual experience, in view of the ease with what at a quite recent period, I have myself, personally, substituted it for pen and ink, serves to encourage and sustain the prediction that at the end of the ensuing half-century, there will be in general use, devices in the nature of portable ma- chines of this character, adapted to all sorts 42 THE OLD CONVEYANCERS of correspondence, business, domestic, and personal. It will be an incalculable relief from the annoyance and uncertainty that at- tends the deciphering of the average distorted chirography, and it will tend, — venturing again to speak from personal experiment, as well as from general observation, — to secure clearer and more concise expression. Nearly every person systematically or professionally engaged in literary work is now employing the type-writer ; and it has been abundantly demonstrated that, with its help, literary composition is accompanied with greater facility. Thus, it would seem that the pen, even the fountain pen, is ultimately doomed. Who can doubt, indeed, viewing the sub- ject, not from the empyrean of sentiment but from the solid earth of every day fact, that, though it be the final evolution of the type- writer, it will become the means of communi- cation between lovers, "warm from the soul 43 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS and faithful to its fires," and that on it will be wafted their sighs from Indus to the Pole. It is within the memory of some, still living, that the steel pen, when first employed, was considered an unbusinesslike, unsenti- mental and unpoetic substitute for the more romantic quill ; and the argument to be de- duced from this historic fact in behalf of the type-writer and its products is too obvious to elaborate. The praiseworthy conception of the great opportunity and inestimable utility of the new trust and title institutions was almost entirely the inspiration of Nathaniel B. Browne, the founder, practically, and first President of the Fidelity Trust Company. Mr. Browne was a real estate lawyer of ex- ceptional ability and had been somewhat active in the political field. He was for some time, and prior to the incorporation of his company, a State Senator from one of 44 THE OLD CONVEYANCERS the Philadelphia districts. The scheme thus originated by him, found much encourage- ment in its promotion and the reaHzation of his progressive ideas, in the numerous defal- cations of individual fiduciaries for several years prior to the establishment of the Fidelity Trust Company. With the consequent gradual disappear- ance of the conveyancers, upon the estab- lishment of the trust companies, an im- portant and fairly remunerative branch of the business of the legal profession, itself, likewise ceased to exist. This was the ex- amination of briefs of title. It was, to be sure, a practical monopoly in the hands of a comparatively small number of capable specialists. The principal of these were Henry Wharton, Eli Kirk Price, Edward Olmsted, Joseph B. Townsend, William Henry Rawle, George M. Wharton, and sev- eral others not so much sought after by con- 45 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS veyancers for opinions on titles. Any deed would be unhesitatingly accepted with the favorable opinion of one of these authori- ties ; and a brief of title with such an opin- ion annexed to it was an indispensable part of the muniments of title. There was an extensively prevalent notion in the profes- sion, at large, as well as among the laity, that the emoluments of this department of practice were particularly lucrative. Yet, I have learned from a surviving relative of one of the leading practitioners in this special branch, that this accomplished law- yer's annual professional returns never ex- ceeded the sum of ten thousand dollars ; and were, frequently, much less. It was a laborious and most exacting calling, requir- ing a phenomenal faculty of unwearying scrutiny and a devoted attention to an infin- itude of details ; based, too, upon the most thorough familiarity with the technically, 46 THE OLD CONVEYANCERS difficult and abstruse law of real estate and its kindred studies. Without qualification accordingly, each of the gentlemen named, was a veritable mine of the extensive lore applicable to the subject of their investiga- tions. 47 PHILADELPHIA JUDGES. Somewhat extended opportunities for con- sidering the official attitude and demeanor of judges on both sides of the Atlantic, authorize the observation that there has been and continues to exist a peculiar, exceptional, and, it may be said, amusing sentiment of personal exaltation on the part of our Phila- delphia judiciary ; the origin or the justifica- tion for which it would be as idle as it is dif- ficult to deduce or explain. Of course, the judicial magistrate incarnates the majesty of the law and justice : and deference and homage are of right the indisputable tributes to that high majesty ; but these should, in- variably, be voluntarily accorded, never pre- sumptuously or tyranically exacted. In the Philadelphia jurisdiction, however, with but rare and isolated instances to the contrary, 48 PHILADELPHIA JUDGES an arrogant high-aloofness on the part of the judges in all their relations with practi- tioners is a characteristic which unpleasantly and unfavorably individualizes, and radically differentiates them from the administrators of justice in other sections of our state and country, as well as in the english and con- tinental courts. A wholly different atmosphere is that of the english tribunals. For example, the english judge courteously and aiTectionately addresses counsel as "brethren," and his treatment of them is the visible embodiment of his language. In such a forum, the ex- perienced observer is impressed with the conviction that both magistrate and lawyer are engaged in equal measure and on a common level, in interpreting the law and enforcing its mandates. Much nearer, and close at hand, in neigh- boring jurisdictions in our own state of 49 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS Pennsylvania, and in New Jersey, this auto- cratic behavior of the local bench has no counterpart ; and in their courts, there is a prevalent mutuality of cordial intimacy and regard on the part of attorney and judge, which effectually suppresses, nay, renders impossible, any inclination in a judge to treat the lawyer as if he were a subject and not an equal. A remarkable and inexplicable feature of the Philadelphia situation is that the average newly elected judge, fresh from daily and hourly close identification with his brethren at the bar, too often becomes immediately infected with this grand lama of Thibet contagion, and is, thenceforth, a permanent, chronic victim of its virulence. The bar of Philadelphia is not altogether without reproach for the continuance of these unnatural and unnecessary conditions. Realizing that copious doses of adulation 50 PHILADELPHIA JUDGES are, such is the force of habit, eagerly and gratefully welcomed by even the most learned and efficient magistrates, it has become too much of a custom for the speakers at bar meetings and similar gatherings, to refer to the "great and exalted" judge, and, in gen- eral, to indulge in such ascriptions of com- pliment and abject praise as are only em- ployed by inferiors in their communications to superiors. It were uncharitable and un- just, perhaps, to assume, in respect of this, that in such contingencies, an unworthy and selfish purpose to woo and win, at any cost, the partiality or especial tavor of the judi- ciary, is the potent inspiration for such ex- travagance of utterance. It is, rather, with greater justice, to be attributed to the habit which has been, unconsciously, let it in charity be assumed, forced upon the profess- ion by the judges themselves. A little more courage on the part of the lawyers 51 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS would have in time prevented tiie develop- ment of this judicial pretentiousness, and would, now, stimulate the growth and fruition of the conviction on the part of our courts, of the absolute absurdity of this arbitrary and unjustifiable attitude. Under existing conditions, however, a Philadelphia practitioner would incur the danger of proceedings against him for con- tempt of court, should he venture to take the independent stand of a New Jersey lawyer, of which I was a witness, quite recently. This prominent and highly es- teemed member of that bar had justly secured the acquittal of a client charged with a crime, which, the proofs showed, had been committed out of the state jurisdiction. The judge, before whom the case was tried, there- upon announced that he would hold the de- fendant for a requisition. Counsel forthwith and courageously replied : "Your Honor 52 PHILADELPHIA JUDGES will do nothing of the kind !" and directed his cHent to leave the court room. And, that was the end of it, so far as that tribunal was concerned. When the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit was installed in the City of Philadelphia some years ago, Mr. Justice Bradley, speaking for the new court, and for courts, generally, took occa- sion to read a lesson of manners to the assembled bar. The most impartial and dis- interested hearer of this address must have been struck with its want of tact and with its unwarranted severity. It was an undigni- fied performance, and out of keeping with a purely ceremonious occasion. It was a most fortunate circumstance, for the event and for the profession, that Mr. Wayne MacVeagh was present, to speak on behalf of the bar. He had come, of course, prepared to present his graceful oratorical contribution to an 53 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS historical event, Mr. MacVeagli is one of the most accompUshed thinkers on his feet, and his necessarily impromptu reply to this unexpected impeachment of the conduct of lawyers, was trenchant and vigorous, but withal respectful, manly and convincing. The isolation so sedulously cultivated by too many of our Philadelphia judges does in no manner serve to enhance their fitness or capacity. In a democratic community like our own, the study and intimate know- ledge of human nature is an essential equip- ment of an efficient magistrate ; and he is materially handicapped in the effectual dis- charge of his functions, who neglects this beneficial study. Especially is this the un- toward result when he is transferred to another field of public responsibility. There is, unfortunately, in the recollection of every one, a melancholy illustration of the re- sultant disadvantage and prejudice to a 54 PHILADELPHIA JUDGES good man and learned judge, suddenly becoming the executive magistrate of a great commonwealth, "cabined, cribbed and confined" in the illiberal and narrow-minded conceits which a long career upon the bench, under the self-imposed, but censur- able limitations which, by reason of Phila- delphia conditions, hedge and dwarf the man that the judge still continues to be. '* When men are too much confined to professional and faculty habits," said Ed- mund Burke, "and as it were inveterate in the recurrent employment of that narrow circle, they are rather disabled than qualified for whatever depends on the knowledge of mankind, on experience in mixed afi^airs, on a comprehensive connected view of the various complicated external and internal interests which go to the formation of that multifarious thing called a state." There comes to mind, in this connection, 55 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS the case of another Philadelphia judge; a man of singular purity of character, and a jurist of notable attainments. During a pleasant summer spent in his most agree- able company on the New England coast, the frequent topic of our conversation was the characters and characteristics of fellow-mem- bers of our bar. I was astounded, chagrined, and perplexed to discover that this very ac- complished interpreter of the law was, with very few exceptions, deplorably ignorant of the personality of those officers of his court, the practitioners habitually appearing before him. Too often, it gave me serious and sad concern to find him attributing habits or peculiarities, indeed shortcomings and worse, to divers of his and my legal brethren of which my necessarily more intimate know- ledge of them enforced the abiding convict- ion that they could not justly be accused. In other words, my much esteemed judicial 56 PHILADELPHIA JUDGES friend was a pitiful prey to most extraordi- nary prejudices that had no warrant for their existence beyond his own distorted imagina- tion. This peculiar and reprehensible state of mind could never have possessed this otherwise fair and upright minister of the law, had he not accustomed himself from his early advent on the bench, to that separ- ate, distant and exclusive attitude which the Philadelphia judiciary have, too long for their own good, made the fashion. It was one of his chief duties to know his brethren at the bar better than he did ; and his neglect of this imperative obligation was a blot on his magisterial escutcheon, and unavoidably im- paired his judicial usefulness. "No judge," truthfully observed Dr. Johnson, "can give his whole attention to his affairs. No man would be a judge, upon the condition of being totally a judge." And, as an unques- tionable corollary, it may be asserted that a 57 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS judge does himself and the bar injustice in devoting his abundant leisure to fostering an extravagant sense of his importance as a representative of the law. That there are, as already remarked, distin- guished instances of unexceptionable judi- cial deportment in several members of our courts, whose sufficiently dignified but considerate attitude is a material contribu- tion to that spirit of mutual good fellowship which should prevail on the part of judges and lawyers, is a circumstance, gratifying and commendable as it is, which, after all, but serves to emphasize, in the contrast, the regrettable shortcomings of the majority. It is conceivable that the average judge is quite unconscious of the objectionable characteristics which have been animad- verted upon. However that may be, might it not be well for such a judge to modestly reflect that in the fulness of his functions, 58 PHILADELPHIA JUDGES he does but represent, after all, one-twentieth of the majesty of local jurisprudence ? Thus considered, it is not an overwhelming or consuming responsibility ; and in the gen- erous division and partition of the common burden which the constitution and the statute make in this behalf, there is, it is evident to the candid and impartial mind, not enough left to each participant to warrant the notion that a good judge is anything more than a much respected public servant. 59 CONSTANT AND VICTOR GUILLOU. That the prosaic law-firm epoch tends to destroy individuality is apparent from the in- stances of the Guillous, father and son ; each a difficult subject to make a pen pic- ture of. To those that knew Victor Guilloii well he was the most fascinating of com- panions, and with many of the points of an excellent lawyer. His father, Constant Guil- lou, was a very great all-round lawyer, alert and resourceful in every professional emer- gency, a discreet and sound adviser, and a wonder before juries. His versatility was extraordinary. He was a stenographer, he did his own printing, he was an excellent mechanic, and possessed no slight skill in sleight of hand. Victor Guillou had many accomplishments, but in the earlier day his personality, positive 60 CONSTANT AND VICTOR GUILLOU though it was, was inevitably overshadowed by that of his remarkable parent. Victor Guillou had a constitutional aversion to the contests of the forum, and although a fluent and bril- liantly epigrammatic talker, he was not suffi- ciently attracted by juries to become interest- ing or convincing. The exacting responsibil- ities of a large office practice were more to his taste, and he was a wise and conservative coun- sellor. Victor Guillou was a Roman Catholic, by inheritance only, and he once told of Judge W. A. Porter's reply to Victor's ques- tion, why he was chosen master, by agree- ment of counsel, in a certain litigation be- tween two branches of the Presbyterian Church. Judge Porter's answer was : "Vic- tor, we have gone over the wTiole bar list and can find no one with a more virgin mind on the subject of religion than yourself, and, therefore, consider you exceptionally disin- terested." 6i OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS His father died when Victor Guillou was comparatively young. Thrown on his own resources, completely, his development was marked ; and in every respect, with the ex- ception of the conduct of trials, he was his distinguished predecessor's worthy successor. In the inner circle of his attached friends he was an unequalled conversationalist. His exquisite humor was spontaneously abundant, and seemed to flow from an unfailing spring. As a table companion he was quite unsur- passed, and he was the very embodiment of the true spirit of refined conviviality. It re- sembled the high grade wines of which he was an appreciative connoisseur, and finer, far, in its spirituality than the insincere talk of the average post-prandial babbler. His character assimilated itself, insome respects, to that of Charles Lamb, and particularly in his literary predilections and in the matter of friendly correspondence. Victor Guillou 62 CONSTANT AND VICTOR GUILLOU wielded a facile and graceful pen, a quill, always, by the same token ; and he was especially happy in his short personal notes. It is cause for sincere regret that of the vast number of these delightful productions, of which I was the grateful recipient for twenty years or more, but one has been preserved. This was written but a few months before his death, and which is plainly foreshadowed in it. It is as follows : 1 124 Girard Street, March 22, 1903. Dear Bob Coxe : Yours of Wednesday sent to me up here where I have been housed for a long dreary week with another bronchial at- tack. I have had a hell of a time and bothered good Fred Keene to death by awakening him in the dead of night to run after doctors and things, but he has been an angel and don't show the least disgust with 63 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS me. I am getting along very well and the foolish old heart has come back into traces again and now trots fairly well. If the rain hadn't turned up — or rather turned down — I would have gone down to the office to-day and dispensed wisdom at reduced rates. I remember well the **Chapeau de Paille" and damned funny it was, but alack ! and alas ! do not mind me of the author. It was a ''Palais Royal" farce, of course, and was done into English by Gilbert, and played at the old Chestnut what time Gemmill was on deck and called "The Wedding March" and funny then too. I wish I could help you but I cannot. Do you remember the speech of the old "Chef de Police" in "La Boulanger a des ecus" of Offenbach? He saith, "Je suis, chef de police de cette ville, et je con- nais tout ce qui arrive dans cette ville ex- cepte le nom de I'amant de ma femme;" — that makes me laugh, all alone as I am. 64 CONSTANT AND VICTOR GUILLOU Come and see a fellow and talk of deaths of kings and the dear old days and God be with you meanwhile. Yours all the time, Victor Guillou. 65 THOMPSON, ALLISON, HARE, PRATT. I wonder whether the average present day judge's stock of patience and philosophy would endure the strain of the extraordinary diverse and heavy burdens which a great magistrate like Oswald Thompson modestly bore. There was a typical faithful public servant ! Think of his responsibilities as common law judge, as chancellor, as an orphans' court judge, and as an exponent and interpreter of the criminal law. No official stenographer and type-writer was ever at his disposal. All the laborious clerical work which his manifold duties entailed upon him was done with his own hands. With him, almost invariably, a long day in court was followed by a night of arduous labor at home. Outside of the halls of justice the public saw and knew little of him. He was 66 THOMPSON, ALLISON, HARE, PRATT the victim of a physical deformity which frequently occasioned him acute suffering ; but this did not interfere with the thorough performance of his obHgations. The high- est praise that can be accorded him, is com- prised in the statement that in his superb modesty, he identified himself so completely with the law of which he was the minister, that the dominant thought of the practition- ers before him was of Thompson, the judge, rather than of Thompson, the man. I recall no judge or similar public official in whom the mere personality was more entirely merged in the function. Self-effacement like this marks the ideal judicial magistrate. It was the more praiseworthy in that to the few friends that his engrossing and unremitting labors permitted him to cultivate and cherish, he proved that in general scholarship, in genuine and deeply felt interest in public affairs, as well as in conversational qualifica- 67 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS tions, he was fully equipped to shine as bril- liantly as the most popular of his fellow citizens. The memory of another great judge and contemporary of Oswald Thompson is simi- larly to be cherished for his life-long mani- festation of an inflexible purpose to sacrifice social allurements to public service. Joseph Allison's labors on the bench were no less arduous and diversified than were those of his distinguished associate, Thompson. Judge Allison was especially conspicuous for a trait which is more infrequently exhibited than is, perhaps, fully realized, and that is a faculty of patient, unwearying and attentive listening. He was the quietest and least demonstrative judge that ever sat in this jurisdiction. Absolutely devoid of personal or offtcial vanity or conceit and a faithful exemplar of the simple life, he was, as it seemed to me, the closest approach to the 68 THOMPSON, ALLISON, HARE, PRATT incarnation of justice I ever knew. After his well-earned retirement from his judicial labors, to live upon the modest competence which his economical habits had enabled him to set aside from his small salary, he gave to me, in a few words, the key to the secret of his success as a judge. His language on this occasion did not imply that this most unpretentious of men had any more elevated idea of his life-work than that he had con- stantly striven to do his duty. It was rather for others to speak of his career as a success- ful one. Judge Allison told me, at this time, that at the very beginning of his period of judicial service he adopted as a control- ling principle of conduct that behind every lawyer was the client, and that however in- differently or however negligentl}^ the client's interests were championed, he, the judge, would endeavor, as far as was within his power, to protect and secure the rights of 69 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS the client, whose all, in many a case, might be at stake. Thus, Judge Allison went on to say, he found it incumbent on him, in the application of this principle, to subject him- self to a discipline of perfect self-control as a listener. Those who knew him during the many years of his public activity, must re- member how admirably he always held him- self in hand in this regard. Amiable, con- siderate and equable, he was the rarest of interrupters. His attention suffered no abate- ment of concentration, whether it happened to be directed to the dullest or most prolix of counsel or of witnesses, or to the intricate details of testimony in an important issue, or to the ingenious and weighty arguments of learned lawyers. This strict self-enforce- ment of discipline contributed in large measure to make him the impartial judge that he was. And Judge Allison's example lends strong support to the theory that 70 THOMPSON, ALLISON, HARE, PRATT judges like poets are born, not made ; for he came upon the bench with a rather scanty equipment as a lawyer. By an accident, almost, he was placed upon the bench by the tidal wave of ''Know Nothingism," which, for a period gratifyingly brief, over- whelmed all other political parties. It was hardly a profession of partisan faith of which an ordinarily trained lawyer should have been proud of adopting, or could have adopted. It was narrow-minded, visionary, and in the highest sense, unpatriotic. Under such circumstances, no one was justified in anticipating a distinguished future for a young judge so apparently handicapped .with such bigoted prejudices. Nothing, however, in his subsequent career, gave any indication of lack of mental breadth or spiritual equipoise. Henceforward, he dwelt in the elevated and serene atmosphere which, as all his numerous published opinions be- token, was his constant environment. 71 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS On the other hand, Judge John Innes Clark Hare, with far greater attainments than Judge AlHson possessed, was, by no means, his equal in judicial essentials. Hare was not born a judge. He had, no doubt, a greater educational endowment; he was, con- spicuously, industrious, upright, and as im- partial as his peculiar disposition permitted; and he was a judge to whom prejudice was an inconceivable human quality. He had, too, an enduring sense of the dignity and solem- nity of the judicial function. He was the personification of high-bred courtesy, which becoming attribute never forsook him, even in the taxing and trying experiences of the criminal court, in which, somewhat late in his official existence, it became his duty to serve. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that it was not his nature to be a good listener. Evidence was constantly over- looked or unintentionally disregarded, as 72 THOMPSON, ALLISON, HARE, PRATT well as inadvertently misconstrued by him. Nor were his conclusions models of judicial determination. They were, too often, dis- cussions rather than decisions. Judge Hare was, however, the most learned lawyer that ever administered justice in the courts of Philadelphia. His great work on the Law of Contracts has an enduringly merited celebrity in every country in which our system of law prevails. It is a splendid contribution to the department of philosophic legal commentary and interpretation. Judge Hare came upon the bench of the old District Court in the early period of his professional life, and remained there, the guileless gentleman nature had constituted him, until the infirmities of advancing years rendered retirement necessary. His trans- parent simplicity of character, with that noble dignity of personal conduct which never for- sook him, made it possible for him to exhibit 73 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS a certain independence, which, in others, might have been justly matter for unfavor- able criticism. A noteworthy illustration of this freedom of action was presented in his singular custom of occasionally leaving Court, when held in the old District Court room at Sixth and Chestnut Streets, crossing the street, taking a drink of whiskey at a neighboring public bar, and returning to his judicial duties. It was done without ostentation, and, of course, without any at- tempt at concealment. In the saloon, he was treated with the unqualified reverence and respect which both his position and his gentlemanly demeanor unconsciously ex- acted; and gossip did not and could not ven- ture a breath of unfavorable comment. There was a curious development in the period of his final cessation from judicial labors, for which the Herbert Spencerian in- quirers may have a sufficient explanation; in 74 THOMPSON, ALLISON, HARE, PRATT Judge Hare's exclusive preference for light literature. Meeting him, as I did, on more than one occasion, during this time, at the Philadelphia Library, he confessed to me that he had become an omnivorous consumer of current fiction. It was an observation of the late distin- guished Henry Wharton that Philadelphia voices had undergone an unpleasant change in his day and generation. He attributed it to various causes, chief of which, in his opinion, was the influence of the Pennsyl- vania Dutch, with their sharp, nasal utter- ance. However this may be, listening to the speech of many counsel and of some judges, too, in our Philadelphia and in Pennsyl- vania Courts, generally, is not, always, an agreeable experience; for the average human vocal organ, there, seems to indicate that its owner is without taste or musical sensibility, however eminent and enviable he may be in 75 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS Other professional attributes. Now, of all the men of his time, on or off the bench, I think that in his delivery Judge Hare had no superior. It was refined, melodious, unaf- fectedly clear and distinct, always well- modulated, never too rapid, and under per- fect control. No pleasanter memory can be cherished of the departed, than that of the individual voice when it is as acceptable to the ear of refined taste as was that of Judge Hare. With such a recollection it is always easy to conjure up a welcome vision of its fortunate possessor. Judge Hare was a man of singular kind- ness of heart. With a majority of the judges of the Philadelphia jurisdiction, he held that the statutory provision for sentence in crim- inal cases is rigidly mandatory; and that, consequently, the practice of suspending sentence, in particular instances of great hardship, is beyond the judicial province. 76 THOMPSON, ALLISON, HARE, PRATT It is related of Judge Hare, that in a case tried before him in the Quarter Sessions, in which after discovered evidence made it clearly apparent to him that the female de- fendant had been wrongly convicted, he still felt himself compelled to sentence her. How- ever, after fixing the term of imprisonment at three months, the minimum of punishment determined by the act of assembly, he sent for the woman's counsel; and, expressing to him his sorrow that the law allowed no other course, he handed over to counsel the sum of ten dollars, with the request that the prisoner should be informed that it was transmitted to her by the judge by whom she had been sentenced. On the bench in the Court Common Pleas No. 2 of Philadelphia in Judge Hare's time, was Joseph T. Pratt, and whom these refer- ences to Judge Hare serve to bring forcibly to mind, as the sequel to this mention of his 77 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS now quite, if not altogether forgotten junior, will explain. Judge Pratt was born in Western New York, whence he enlisted at the outbreak of the civil war as a private soldier, subsequently serving as a scout with the Army of the Potomac. He left the service with an excellent record; came to Philadel- phia, and obtained a position as prefect in Gi- rard College, so that he might have a liveli- hood during the study of the law to which he applied himself, in the office of Mr. George W. Biddle. On coming to the bar, he iden- tified himself with the criminal practice. For this he had an adequately efifective equipment in his impressively sonorous voice, attractive presence and great courage. He rapidly attained a commanding position in this branch of the law, and, before long, became actively concerned with local politics. This identification with political matters, led to his quite unsolicited nomination as a candi- 78 THOMPSON, ALLISON, HARE, PRATT date of the Republican party, for a vacancy in the Common Pleas Court No. 2. He was elected, and took his seat in this court, of which Judge Hare was president judge, and Judge James T. Mitchell, the present Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl- vania, the other associate. Unfortunately for Pratt, his practice in the civil courts had been very limited; and he was not, either by instinct or enforced habit, a general student. Beyond this, Pratt was by nature a gladi- ator, rather than an umpire. He had, how- ever, a quick intelligence, capacity for work, and was extremely conscientious. After he had been some time on the bench, he ad- mitted to me, in the confidence of the close intimacy which had long existed between us, that the unwonted strain upon him incident to judicial work was far more severe than he had anticipated. And he told me, also, that were it not for the help, kindly and gener- 79 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS ously extended to him by Judge Hare, he would have been strongly tempted to return to practice. Judge Pratt had taken a resi- dence on Locust Street near Seventh, and, in compliance with Judge Hare's invitation, Pratt spent, for a long period, almost every evening with Judge Hare in his office on Washington Square, for the purpose of a thorough "coaching" by the president judge. Pratt most feelingly, gratefully, and eloquently spoke of Judge Hare's amiable and unselfish efforts to fairly qualify the as- sociate judge for his, to him, most onerous responsibilities. But, there is reason for asserting that the deficiencies inseparable from his initial inadequate preparation for a civil court, were never to any great degree, removed; even with the invaluable assistance of so devoted and so capable a tutor. There is no doubt, that the admittedly terrible ten- sion was too much for even Pratt's strong 80 THOMPSON, ALLISON, HARE, PRATT constitution. This ultimately broke down, while he was still in the very prime of life. His comparative failure bears with it an in- structively suggestive lesson for every lawyer, animated by an ambition for judicial honors, who is not certain as to his sufficient quali- fications. 8i JOHN CADWALADER For profundity of legal lore, John Cadwal- ader, for some years, judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, had no contemporary su- perior. His very great learning, paradox- ical as it may appear, seriously impaired his judicial capacity. He was, in fact, often blinded by the excess of light he threw upon the subject of what may, with propriety, be called his lucubrations. In his passionate eagerness to be just and fair in his conclu- sions, he frequently found it difftcult to de- cide a case of paramount importance. In the Credit Mobilier cases, he wrote, what he designated, a series of interlocutory opinions; magnificent legal essays, surely, but they were profound, even brilliant, discussions of every conceivable legal proposition appli- 82 JOHN CADWALADER cable to the issue, rather than concise and authoritative decisions. One of these inter- locutory opinions is, in substance, an ex- haustive and correspondingly instructive discourse on subrogation; a veritable treatise on this abstruse topic, in itself. In admiralty proceedings, Judge Cadwal- ader was accustomed to avail himself of the expert assistance of a retired shipmaster; nautical nomenclature being to him an ab- solutely sealed book, altogether beyond his ability to master. A precedent for this is found in the practice of the English admir- alty courts. This "assessor" as he is styled, was indispensable to Judge Cadwalader, as an interpreter and elucidator of maritime customs and expressions. Mr. John Heysham, a lawyer of some prom- inence in the early fifties, and before Mr. Cadwalader was appointed to the bench of the Federal Court, told this, to some extent, 83 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS possibly, fanciful story, as illustrative of Mr. Cadwalader's extensive legal scholarship and his fondness for minute consideration of every question. Leaving one of the old rovv-of^ces on Chestnut Street, one day, on his way to his midday luncheon, Mr. Hey- sham was confronted by Mr. Cadwalader. Mr. Heysham observed to his learned pro- fessional brother, that he, Heysham, had just been consulted by a client, the turn- buckles of whose house had been surrepti- tiously removed; and asked Mr. Cadwalader what he thought was the appropriate pro- ceeding in vindication of the client's rights. Mr. Cadwalader, in his customary kindly manner, took Mr.Heysham's arm in his own, and proceeded to walk him out Chestnut Street, delivering on the way, a learned pre- sentation of the law of turn-buckles, begin- ning away back in the days of Cro. Eliz. and the black letter reports. Continuing 84 JOHN CADWALADER the stroll around Broad Street to Spruce Street, and finally reaching Mr. Cadwalader's office in South Fourth Street, Mr. Cadvval- ader had reached a period but midway in his ambulatory essay. No conclusion had, however, been even approached; and the two pedestrians parted, with appreciative expres- sions on the part of Mr. Heysham. Next day, the two lawyers happened to meet again under similar circumstances; and the same journey on foot was taken, accompanied by a resumption of the consideration of the law of turn-buckles on the part of the gifted Cadwalader. His office was again, in due course, reached, modern courts and modern expositions of applicable law having been exhaustively adverted to. But, alas ! Mr. Heysham having missed two midday repasts, although inexpressibly impressed and over- whelmed by his friend's masterly contribution to the law of turn-buckles, was, nevertheless, 85 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS as much in the dark as to the precise remedy to be invoked, so far as any practical assist- ance Mr. Cadwalader had contributed, as Mr. Heysham was when he casually put the point of law to his friend. Judge Cadwalader's unusually active and suggestive mind made it quite impossible for him to conduct proceedings in banc in entire accordance with judicial precedent and custom. It was his habit to con- stantly interrupt counsel in their arguments, with discussions of questions and points, sometimes, it must be confessed, only inci- dentally and remotely connected with the particular matter before the Court. The prudent and experienced advocate wisely permitted the loquacious judge to indulge in his predilection to the fullest extent. Any attempt at interference by counsel, with this protracted participation by the judge in the argument, would more than likely seriously 86 JOHN CADWALADER prejudice him with the Court. It often re- sulted, indeed, that a more satisfactory ruling was reached through this unique fondness of Judge Cadwalader of arguing the matter himself, counsel, practically, contributing nothing, than had the more usual methods been observed and followed. 87 GEORGE SHARSWOOD It was quite the fashion, among his con- temporaries, at the bar, to esteem George Sharswood as the ideal judge. Perhaps, this generous estimate was somewhat exag- gerated. He was, doubtless, the superior, in certain essential qualifications of a judicial officer, to his associates on the bench; assum- ing such qualifications to be familiarity with legal principles and decisions. He was a patient, even-tempered judge, prompt and accurate in his rulings and an attentive listener. All his cases were carefully tried by him, and his charges to juries were ad- mirable and impartial condensations of the law and the testimony. Yet, he was neither broad nor sympathetic, and he was without enthusiasms. The purely technical side of the law appeared to have greater attraction to 88 GEORGE SHARSWOOD him than its comprehensive philosophic side. His judgments, as they are to be found in the Philadelphia Reports and in the Supreme Court decisions are, consequently, however ingenious and sound, neither illuminative nor profound. The character of mind of this, nevertheless, excellent man is well in- dicated by the statement once made by him, that there were few cases heard by him in the Supreme Court in which he could not have written a convincing opinion on either side. Sharswood was the plainest of men, and his tastes were correspondingly simple. Politically, he was a democrat, and his par- tisan bias controlled his rulings in questions that arose for determination by his court during the civil war, as it did, indeed, those of his associates and fellow judges, in other tribunals, in this jurisdiction, at least, re- publican, as well as those of Sharswood's 89 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS faith; but he could not be classed with that bastard democratic type which abounded in the Philadelphia of his day, with its pseudo- aristocratic and absurd assumption of social and professional superiority. He was thor- oughly in sympathy with the real people, but had none of the instincts of the dema- gogue. On and of^ the bench, this was pal- pable. If, as I happen to know, he preferred whiskey to champagne, this was one of the many indications of the genuine democratic spirit which inspired his conduct. Sharswood's great popularity was due to his unpretentiousness, the amiability that chronic physical suffering never diminished; to his unvaryingly courteous treatment of counsel, whether prominent and successful, or otherwise; and, above these sterling at- tributes, as the natural outcome of the general recognition of them, to a firmly-rooted public faith in the conscientiousness and the even 90 GEORGE SHARSWOOD and exact justice of his rulings. All this may be resumed in the statement, in which, it is true, no slight commendation is implied, that George Sharswood was a good, if not a great judge. 91 WOMEN LAWYERS The female contingent at the Philadelphia bar at present is an insignificant fraction of the full membership of two thousand, more or less. Nothing derogatory to the woman lawyer is implied in the observation that she has not yet made her definite mark in this jurisdiction. Our local conservative spirit, still a potent influence in certain direc- tions, has had its large share in discouraging the entrance of women into the profession. Not so many years ago, several of our Phila- delphia courts refused, on technical grounds, to recognize woman's right to practice. This principal barrier having been removed, the doors are now open to her; and, if the signs of the times are read aright, it will not be long before she will be freely availing herself of the opportunity. She has been 92 WOMEN LAWYERS for an extended period a welcome student at the Law Department of the University of Pennsylvania. There is no good reason why a woman should not become a lawyer. In the con- tentions of the forum incident to jury trials, in criminal cases and in divorce issues, espe- cially, an innate sense of delicacy may re- strain her from appearing. There have, in- deed, always, been those of the sterner sex whose inclinations or prejudices have kept them away from these fields of professional utility; while their success in other depart- ments has been unquestioned and complete. Women physicians have fully overcome op- position by their achievements, at no sacrifice of delicacy or decorum; notwithstanding the fact that there is greater risk of the impair- ment of those essentiallv feminine attributes in medicine, than in the law. As general counsellors, as Orphans' Court practitioners, 93 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS and in the conduct of equity cases, there can be no doubt that properly trained women lawyers would be, and, in fact are, as legit- imately successful, and in the same propor- tion, as their brethren. There are, now, some two thousand women at the American bar. There have been failures, of course, in the ranks of female practitioners of law; but the majority of them have been those who undertook to make a specialty of divorce and criminal assign- ments. When they hold to the cleaner and more reputable business, they seem to sur- vive and flourish. They are, not, as yet, in every jurisdiction, accorded fair and cour- teous treatment. They are obliged to fight their way, and it is, literally, as with men in this and other vocations, a survival of the fittest. More is apparently, demanded of a woman, at this stage of the experiment. She is still a novelty as a lawyer, and is expected to prove that her calling is sure. 94 WOMEN LAWYERS In the progressive emancipated West, women have attained genuine distinction at the bar; and in Denver, Colorado, one of the most active lawyers is a woman, Miss Mary F. Lathrop, whose position and practice might well be the envy of any lawyer. Miss Lathrop is an extensively recognized special- ist in probate and administrative law ; and, recently, an important contested will case was decided in her favor, to which result, her comprehensive brief in support of her clients' contentions, undoubtedly, in very large meas- ure contributed. In the essentials of femi- ninity, grace of manner and social attractive- ness, she easily holds her own in the most refined and cultured community ; and the very successful career effectually negatives the theory that practising law has a tendency to unsex a woman. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, one might be tempted to conclude, reason- 95 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS ing from the enlarged and ofttimes exag- gerated sentimentality which is such a con- stituent part of female nature, that there were inherent difficulties in the way of women's making a practical success in the law. Every woman, it might be taken for granted, would aspire to become a more or less picturesque Portia or Nerissa. Still, while we have to reckon by the illustrious precedent of Mary Somerville, whose en- grossing scientific studies and achievements lessened in no degree her capacity for the practical everyday concerns of life : so that she was as good a needlewoman, as devoted a mother and as skillful in the kitchen, as any other housewife: we can believe that a woman's intellectual powers applied to legal practice will not interfere with the attention which domestic affairs demand ; nor give a one-sided aspect to her existence. There has been quite recently published a volume 96 WOMEN LAWYERS containing the biography and essays of a Philadelphia woman/'' whose accomplish- ments and conquests in unfamiliar and diffi- cult fields of scientific inquiry, of which, perhaps the most noteworthy relate to chem- istry as associated with the development of plants, won for her world-wide fame, although she died at the early age of forty-seven. These extremely learned investigations, and her other purely literary work in poetry, sketches of travel, and philosophy, did not, in any sense, disqualify her for the discharge of her household duties ; and if, instead of the particular abstruse sciences to which she dedicated herself, she had applied her mind to the possibly less exacting study of the law, there is sufficient reason for believing that she would, at least, have been the pro- fessional equal of her brother, a successful member of the Philadelphia bar, now de- *Helen Abbott Michael. 97 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS ceased. Upon the whole, the ancient aversion to the higher education of women no longer prevails. Our own Bryn Mawr, whose educa- tional requirements and standards are more advanced than those of any other college for for women, turns out as thoroughly accepta- ble samples of perfect womanhood as could be desired. Some of the fair sex, it is true, are only born "to suckle fools and chronicle small beer," but, so too, a considerable part of mankind are destined from birth to be but drones and trifiers. The objection that the imperative obli- gations of household management forbid a woman's concerning herself with extraneous matters, is based more upon a theory than upon tangible conditions. Let it not be overlooked that an integral portion of woman's time is devoted to the shops; which, indeed, would cease to exist, without the in- dispensable female contingent thronging 98 WOMEN LAWYERS their aisles and corridors. Besides, there is a common error in the supposition that the average lawyer's duties appropriate every hour of a long working day. In the days before the blessed advent of the type-writer, a great deal more time was necessarily re- quired for merely formal matters, than, under modern methods and with other modern labor saving devices, such as the telephone, is now essential. Yet, even in Dr. Johnson's more deliberate day, as that observing person noted, — and what was then an accurate com- mentary is at least, none the less so at the present period — : " it is wonderful when a calculation is made, how little the mind is actually employed in the discharge of any profession. The best employed lawyer has his mind at work but for a small proportion of his time; a great deal of his occupation is purely mechanical." As long as women are interested in the 99 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS objects and results of litigation, because of the personal or real property rights with which they are invested, and as long as they are available, competent and mater- ially valuable as witnesses in courts and legal proceedings, generally, their actual presence before courts and juries is indis- pensable, and therefore, proper. And the issue as to the propriety or unbecomingness of their appearance on such occasions, has never been raised. What difference can there be, therefore, between this unavoid- able identification of the sex with legal contentions in this unexceptionable capacity, and the association of the professional sister- hood with the conduct, itself, of litigation.? lOO FORENSIC ORATORY The forensic orator has, obviously, be- come a traditional person. In the inaccurate and exuberant language of the callow and hysterical newspaper reporter, he is now and then chronicled as having appeared with much credit and glory to himself, in some legal contention of more than ordinary no- toriety. Impartial criticism, however, feels itself, in conscience, compelled to determine that the very best of such professional achievements no longer attain the high level of what was done long since by Erskine, Curran, Brougham, Webster, Binney, Pink- ney, and the countless others of even com- parativel}^ recent times. Speaking from personal observation, at least, so far as Philadelphia is concerned, this style of public speech has been out of lOT OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS fashion for over a score of years; and even for some time before, there was but a cor- poral's guard of those who successfully cul- tivated the art of eloquent utterance before juries. The late Mr. Justice M. Russell Thayer was, it has always seemed to me, our most accomplished speaker on such occa- sions. There were others, such as Lewis C. Cassidy, fervent, dignified, imposing and graceful, too; John P. O'Neill, a cultivated gentleman with a Trinity College, Dublin, degree, a delightfully fluent speaker, gifted with a handsome winning presence, possess- ing an educated Irishman's thorough com- mand of the very best English, and a fascin- ating delivery; Theodore Cuyler, from whose charmed lips fell, spontaneously, the choicest diction it has been my good fortune to hear in spoken words; and there were others their worthy compeers ; all forgotten as much as they. I02 FORENSIC ORATORY Yet, Mr. Cuyler not even excepted, Judge Thayer, considered as a forensic orator, was endowed with greater attainments, es- pecially in respect of general scholarship, than any of his professional oratorical con- temporaries. In the prime of his manhood, and of his busy professional career, his superb voice, clear, rich, sonorous and most musical as it was, his matchless Virginia inheritance, conjoined to his fine handsome presence, all helped to make him, far and away, the closest approach in our day, to the old time forensic pleader. His greatest achievement in this direction was in his defence of Thomas Washington Smith, in- dicted and tried about the year 1868 for the murder of James Carter, at the St. Lawrence Hotel on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. Were it not for the melancholy fact that the greatest lawyer's fame is as evanescent as the summer cloud, I should not hesitate to 103 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS call Mr. Thayer's summing up at this trial, historical. It embodied, I believe, the first presentation of the emotional insanity de- fence in this country. At all events it had never been so cogently urged with such wealth of legal learning as by Mr. Thayer on this occasion. The essential technical por- tion of this great address was of a pattern with the rest of Thayer's legal work, abun- dant examples of which are found in the state and county reports. The distinctly oratorical part of this summing up is without its superior in the performances in the courts of Pennsylvania since the period of its de- livery, at least. This apparently partial estimate long maintained, has been emphat- ically confirmed by the re-perusal of the contemporarily printed copy. This recent consideration of so splendid an effort sub- stantiates the assertion concerning the dis- appearance of forensic oratory. Surely, 104 FORENSIC ORATORY nothing akin to it, is ever heard in our present day tribunals. It is not forgotten that among Mr. Thayer's contemporaries were orators who had ac- quired great repute for their nisi prius efforts. Conspicuous among these was David Paul Brown, who, had, by the way, associated Mr. Thayer with himself, as junior counsel in the case referred to of Commonwealth vs. Smith. However, Mr. Brown had by no means, either the legal or general lore of Mr. Thayer. Mr. Brown's style of addressing juries, truth to tell, was pompous and ponderous. There was more of the actor than the forensic orator in his performances. I doubt that he ever reached a jury through the convictions of its members. He had, with a really meagre equipment, acquired a popular reputation as a great orator, and in his day, the prestige accompanying this preposterous estimate of him, had, undoubtedly, great influence with 105 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS juries. Such a theatrical poseur as Brown with his dandyfied manners, his conspicu- ously displayed gold snuff-box, the elaborate costume with which he clothed his bejewelled person, and his stilted and deliberate utter- ance, might amuse present day audiences and juries, but he would neither seriously entertain or control. Mr. Benjamin Harris Brewster was, with justice, entitled to share in the distinction which Judge Thayer enjoyed and deserved. Brewster had a beautiful voice, the tones of which he modulated with exquisite grace, and his language betokened the student and scholar that he was. His standard was that of the best of the great court orators who had preceded his period ; and he preserved and displayed, on occasion, the best traditions of the old school. It was always a delight to hear him. Yet, I cannot but reflect that his inordinate personal vanity militated against io6 FORENSIC ORATORY his complete success as a forensic speaker. It was too obvious that he found an intense satisfaction in hearing himself talk ; as, per- haps, why should he not. Still, this was a weakness and a defect ; and because of it, he was, too often, tempted to become discursive and prolix to a tedious and dreary extent. More than one cause in which he was con- cerned suffered defeat because of this fault. Mr. Brewster was a lawyer of high attain- ments in all branches, and he rendered dis- tinguished public service as Attorney General of Pennsylvania, and as Attorney General of the United States under President Arthur. Although not directly germane to the sub- ject, it is impossible to resist the temptation to advert to Mr. Brewster's series of brilliant addresses on the occasion of the opening of the Pacific Railroad. He was the chosen orator of the Congressional Committee. As occasional speeches, I recall nothing su- 107 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS perior. Each effort was a model of its kind. While no two were alike, they were, without exception, eloquent, sensible, original, phi- losophic and appropriate ; and on a high patriotic plane. They excited intense na- tional interest on their publication in the newspapers of the country. I am much surprised to find no mention of them what- ever in Mr. Savidge's interesting Life of Mr. Brewster. Daniel Dougherty enjoyed some fairly merited distinction, because of his evident ambition to perpetuate the glories of foren- sic oratory. His salient defect was his super- ficiality, the consequence of his inadequate scholarship. Mr. Dougherty was not a well- trained lawyer. His delightfully genial dis- position and his inherited Hibernian fluency, as well as his handsome person, were potent elements, nevertheless, in securing the sym- pathy and favor of the numerous juries be- io8 FORENSIC ORATORY fore whom, in the course of a very prosper- ous practice, he had occasion to appear. During the latter period of his life he was much in demand as a popular lecturer in various American cities. He was a man of high character, sincere and upright in all the relations of life. This brief record of his career would be incomplete without men- tion of his enkindling speech in nominating Mr. Cleveland for President, and, as well, of his success as a post-prandial speaker. In this most difBcult art, Mr. Dougherty was, conspicuously, a master. Furman Sheppard, a great lawyer in the most extended sense of the title, was, as well, a most accomplished forensic orator. His equipment as such comprised a strikingly impressive presence and sonorous voice — absolutely indispensable attributes of the perfect public speaker — and, as intimated, excellent legal abilities, which his splendid 109 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS intellect made it not difficult for him to foster and develop. Mr. Sheppard, thus liberally endowed, was, beyond all question, one of our foremost District Attorneys. His record of efficient administration of the important duties of that high office is among the most honorable annals of the Philadelphia bar. William Henry Rawle only lacked the outward personal requirements, physical and vocal, of the orator. The gift was in- nate. His magnificent effort on behalf of the plaintiff in the celebrated St. Mark's Church Bell suit, justly created a profound and lasting impression. It is to be found in the privately printed report of the proceed- ing, and richly repays perusal. It abounds in skilful expositions of the law ; and in wit, eloquence and poetry, in equal measure. With a command of graceful speech, an attractive presence, a melodious organ, and a facility in rapid mental analysis, Frederick I lO FORENSIC ORATORY Carroll Brewster, had his inclinations led him in that direction, would have had no superior as a court orator. No doubt the practical side of professional life appealed to him too strongly for him to be tempted to excel in oratorical display. He was de- void of personal vanity and desire for ap- plause, and his victories were the result of direct heart to heart talks with juries, rather than of eloquent appeals to them. Surely, however, he had, of all his contemporaries, the essential qualifications in richly abun- dant measure ; and which, had he deemed it worth the while, would have won for him oratorical distinction. Doubtless, with the acute and unerring perception which was a marked characteristic of his, in all the varied concerns of his strenuous life, he realized, also that the day of forensic oratory had passed. The conditions, public and profes- sional, had been undergoing a complete and III OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS radical change in his day and generation. Greater rapidity in the conduct of causes, inseparably incident to the pressure of busi- ness, had become an essential feature of the administration of justice. It had come to pass that the average juryman, however great his delight in effective occasional ad- dresses, would become impatient at any presentation by an advocate of his side of a cause that did not confine itself, without exuberance of speech, to the material facts of the issue to the determination of which he was summoned. And this was the con- dition of mind of the ordinary auditor. In the earlier and more deliberate time, people were wont to throng to court rooms to listen to favorite speakers, solely for the pleasure of hearing them. The sense of cynical humor, which is becoming, more and more, a national characteristic, has had much to do with thedis- continuance of forensic oratory. What would 112 FORENSIC ORATORY have profoundly impressed our people as late as two generations ago, might, now, contrib- ute to their amusement ; although it would, more likely, rather arouse their impatience than entertain them. However this may be, there is no question that as a thing of prac- tical utility, forensic oratory, whatever effica- cious service it may once have rendered, has gone, never to return. A strikingly con- vincing proof of this view, if any be re- quired, is afforded by a well-written paper by one of the younger jurymen in the Thaw murder trial in New York. This clever writer observed that, beyond the furnishing of passing, superficial, evanescent entertain- ment, the merely oratorical displays of counsel had no effect whatever upon the jury. The fundamental purpose of each member of the jury, to which it rigidly ad- hered — the writer, in substance, said — was to reach a conclusion upon the material "3 OLD TIME JUDGP:S AND LAWYERS facts as controlled by the law given to them bv the Court. Had Henry Armitt Brown been more ac- tively identified with purely professional labors, there can be no question that he would have effectively revived the best tra- ditions of forensic eloquence. He was the foremost orator of his day, of which claim his posthumously published addresses are the amply sufficient proof. None of his successors possessed, to the extent that he did, the variety and abundance of qualifica- tions requisite for the complete orator. The vibrant, manly voice, attuned, according to need, to perfect modulations, the fascinating presence, these — it cannot too often be in- sisted upon — indispensable natural gifts, he had in richer allowance than any Pennsyl- vanian, at least, of his own or subsequent times. His public efforts fully speak for themselves and challenge comparison with 114 FORENSIC ORATORY any similar productions. Recalling all this, the conviction of all who heard him must be emphasized, that Henry Armitt Brown, pre- maturely departing as he did at the age of thirty-four years, would have been easily chief in forensic contests had it been his lot to participate in them. It would be censurable neglect to omit from these memories of accomplished advo- cates, enthusiastic mention of the lamented Rufus E. Shapley. In the later years of his active practice, Mr.Shapley's appearances be- fore juries had been practically discontinued. His brethren of the present generation were thus deprived of the very great delight of hearing a consummately brilliant and forci- ble forensic gladiator. His imposing ap- pearance, his resonant voice, his com- plete mastery of expressive English, and his alert and acute legal mind, gave him con- spicuous and conceded advantage in a jury 115 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS trial, resulting in some of the most famous of nisi prius triumphs. In particular, there is remembered his strong and brilliant sum- ming up for Mayor Stokley, in a notorious but now forgotten action for damages brought against that official by a police- man. Mr. Shapley's effort on this occasion was worthy of any forum. Philadelphia orators, outside of the courts, still continue to impress and enlighten. Hampton L. Carson and James M. Beck, happily for us, of our bar and of our times, have gained national distinction through their most meritorious public performances. It is possible that these unexcelled public speakers, (so probably, did Henry Armitt Brown forecast the situation), have read ac- curately, and in time, the signs in the profes- sional firmament, and wisely concluded not **to give" to courts and juries ''what was meant for mankind." ii6 DAVID W. SELLERS Among the remarkable men and great lawyers it has been my privilege to know, I can recall no one more endearingly attractive than David W. Sellers. He was, from every point of view, a distinctively unique person- ality. He was a whole-souled, genuine hu- man being, whose instincts were liberal, manly and sincere. Meeting with him, whether in court, in his busy office, or on the public highway, brought with it, as it were, the invigoration of a wholesome breeze in springtime. To intensify the metaphor, the atmosphere of his vigorous presence in- sensibly communicated the delightful con- tagion of his hearty interest in all that was best and most inspiring in the world of men. He had such a catholic breadth of view, and such an abiding sympathetic concern for the 117 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS affairs of others, that even in memory, years after his keenly regretted departure, there is an intense consciousness of his existence, still. It seems that it was but yesterday that he left us. Such sterling characters do not leave this life without leaving an indelibly ineffaceable impress on the blessed circle of the survivors. Doubtless, it was impossible for him to escape repining, and it is more than likely that he had his intervals of sad- ness and depression. But, manly soul that he was, he never "wore his heart upon his sleeve for daws to peck at." Seemingly, he had himself under such perfect control, that you were impelled to the belief, in sure reliance, in his case, upon appear- ances, that the philosophic acceptance of life as a sphere to be only contentedly cheerful in, was a fundamental principle with him. Mr. Sellers was too candid, too straight- forward, despite his courageous maintenance ii8 DAVID W. SELLERS of his convictions, in public and in private, and too unaffectedly unassuming, to be what is known as a popular lawyer. His phenomenal endowment in every important branch of the law qualified him, with his splendid integrity, for public of^ce. Yet, beyond an assistant city solicitorship in the early part of his professional life, it did not fall to his lot to discharge any public func- tion. In this regard the community was surely a loser. To what extent may be con- jectured, in the light of his inestimable ser- vices as counsel for the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company; in which distinguished employment his triumphs, as betokened by the published reports of the numerous liti- gations in this behalf, with which he was concerned, as the representative of that corporation give us the measure of his capacity. In the preparation and presen- tation of his briefs in the appellate courts, it 119 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS was his custom to avoid embarrassing those tribunals with a multitude or a multiplicity of points, confounding and confusing the important with the comparatively unimpor- tant. Thus it was that he invariably selected the salient points of his client's cause, and impressively elaborated them; which feature, I am confident, is always welcome to willing and grateful ears too frequently wearied by advocates wanting in the sound judgment and intelligent discretion that marked our friend's efforts in the manner and direction indicated. Here Mr. Sellers, in this wise elimination of non-essentials, furnished sub- stantial confirmation of the truth of the observation of that great jurist, Benjamin Robbins Curtis, that the most important cause that could ever come before an appel- late court might be adequately argued in thirty minutes. Not every tyro may presume to adopt this venturesome method. Only I20 DAVID W. SELLERS with a genius like Mr. Sellers is it possible for it to be effectual. In the social assemblage of his friends Mr. Sellers was, admittedly, quite without a peer, with his exuberant spirits and inex- haustible fund of rare humor. He was the very best of story-tellers. In the relation of his numerous anecdotes he displayed great tact in avoiding the besetting fault of the majority of raconteurs, of too much elabora- tion. When Shakspere said that *'a jest's prosperity lies in the ear of him that hears, never in the tongue of him that tells it," he must have had in mind the discreetly con- densed story. Of another shortcoming of entertainers of this class, Mr. Sellers' innate gentlemanly modesty made it impossible for him to be accused. There was nothing akin to the actor's vanity in his recitals. He was as concise as he was clever, and the point was palpable when promptly reached. No 121 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS anti-climax spoiled any of his capital sto- ries. Let me record several, from his appa- rently inexhaustible budget. Mr. Sellers and the Honorable Jeremiah S. Black were opposed to each other in the argument of a cause before the Dauphin County Court at Harrisburg. Upon the conclusion of their respective professional efiforts, the afternoon being that of a pleasant day in the late spring, Judge Black sug- gested to Mr. Sellers that, as perhaps Mr. Sellers had no particular desire to return to dine at the hotel, and in view of the delight- ful weather, it might be more agreeable to take a stroll about the city. Judge Black further proposed that they should, at the end of their walk, take their meals at a boarding- house which he himself was accustomed to patronize when in Harrisburg, on account of the excellent cuisine for which the house was renowned; and which Judge Black en- 12 2 DAVID W. SELLERS thusiastically commended. Enticed by the double temptation of an afternoon of Judge Black's fascinating company and the certain prospect of a superior repast afterwards, Mr. Sellers gladly consented. The streets of Harrisburg had been thoroughly traversed by the two pedestrians, and the dinner hour having been reached, Mr. Sellers ventured to interrupt the brilliant flow of his compan- ion's engaging talk, with a suggestion of the inner man's needs. Judge Black hesitated an instant, looking up one street and down another, collected his thoughts, and, in an effort to stimulate his memory as to the ex- act locality of the boarding-house, remarked: ** If I remember rightly, it is down this street." This thoroughfare was accordingly followed for some distance, only to result in mutual disappointment. Then said the Judge : " I have made a mistake. Now, I recall, it is on such a street." Thither 123 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS therefore, journeyed the confident guide and his now wearied and famished companion. But, alas ! disappointment was again their portion; and Judge Black, per- plexed, with a discouraged glance about him, at length observed: "Oh! I have been confounding places. The house I was thinking of is in Baltimore ! " In an action of damages against the city of Philadelphia for injuries resulting in the death of one Christian Weller, occasioned by the defective condition of a highway, I was counsel for the widow plaintiff. Mr. Sellers appeared for the city. There was a verdict for the plaintiff and the usual motion and reasons for a new trial. What happened at this juncture, although no part of the record, was told to me by Mr. Sellers, long afterward. He was visited at his office, one afternoon, by a stranger, a German, who in- troduced himself as a friend of the widow. 124 DAVID W. SELLERS The visitor then unfolded this remarkable scheme : Mrs. Weller had an admirer who was willing to marry her, if what would practi- cally be her marriage portion, namely, the amount of the verdict in the suit, was appar- ently assured to her. But, as the mutual friend proceeded to observe, the ardent suitor had heard of the city's attempt to set aside the verdict, and the fervor of his wooing had, accordingly, sensibly abated. There was great danger of the marriage not being consummated ; and the practical purpose of the friend's call upon the assistant city solicitor, was to secure his valuable interven- tion against such a dire contingency. And this was the ingenious plan which he de- tailed : The motion and reasons for a new trial should be temporarily taken out of the files and erased from the court docket, so that the impression might be created that the suit was at an end, and the widow certain to 125 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS get her money from the city. Thus, lured into a feeHng of false security, the suitor would promptly wed the widow ; and, after that, as the mutual friend, in cold blood, suggested, the record could be restored to its original and proper condition. Needless to add, Mr. Sellers declined to be a party to such an extraordinary undertaking, and the disconsolate and unconsciously dishonest negotiator departed. Mr. Sellers was wont to repeat, with char- acteristic unction, his peculiar experience with another visitor, concerning one of the many suits for damages tried by Mr. Sellers on behalf of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. This action had been brought by an individual, Polish by nationality and Israelite in faith, and was based upon his claim for compensation for his alleged un- lawful ejection from a passenger train be- cause of his attempting to travel on an 126 DAVID W. SELLERS "expired" ticket. The plaintiff was repre- sented at the trial by a very prominent at- torney, justly celebrated, and feared by his opponents for his magnetic influence upon juries. There was a sufficient defence es- tablished, and the railroad company was fairly entitled to a verdict. In his summing up, however, the ingenious counsel for the plaintiff, as Mr Sellers was accustomed to re- late, metaphorically waved the American flag over the jury, and eloquently and feelingly dwelt upon the fact — technically immaterial and irrelevant, though, in the latitude that is sometimes allowed on such occasions, not objected to by Mr. Sellers — that this country was the home of the oppressed of all na- tions ; that the poor proscribed Jew had equal rights with the President ; that (pas- sionately beating his breast), he himself, the great orator, had been aforetime scorned and contemned for his religious opinions ; 127 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS but, thank God ! that day was past ; and so on and so on, in this impassioned strain, with the result that the susceptible jury brought in a verdict of four hundred dollars for the plaintiff. Upon Mr. Sellers' advice, notwithstanding the palpable injustice of the verdict, the company accepted it. As juries are in the main constituted, with the too frequent hopeless prejudice against corporations, a new trial might, probably, with so skilful and plausible an advocate as the plaintiff's coun- sel, have resulted in heavier damages. So there was a settlement for the amount of the verdict and costs ; and the cause was dis- missed by Mr. Sellers from his mind. Several months after this definite conclu- sion of the litigation, there appeared in the offtce of Mr. Sellers, an apparent stranger, who recalled himself to the lawyer, as the victorious plaintiff himself; and he informed Mr. Sellers that he desired to talk with him 12S DAVID VV. SELLERS about the case. An interview of the very peculiar character proposed was, naturally, declined by Mr, Sellers. The individual was also advised that any discussion of the mat- ter would be grossly improper and not to be thought of, and that the man's counsel, who was easily accessible, was the only one to whom he should address himself. But the man obstinately persisted in his request, despite Mr. Sellers' refusal and rebuke, and referred to a highly important document which he said he had brought with him, and which he wished to submit to Mr. Sellers' in- spection. Annoyed beyond endurance by the man's importunity, and realizing from his imperturbable and determined attitude that ordinary methods for securing relief from unwelcome callers would be of no avail in such an emergency, Mr. Sellers despair- ingly consented to take a mere cursory glance at the paper, without in any way 129 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS commenting upon it, and upon the positive promise of the man that immediately after such silent examination, he would leave the office. Thereupon, the mysterious writing was, with due solemnity, produced and shown to Mr. Sellers. This was, practically, the substance of it : Adolph Skupinski (let him be so designated) To Dr. i8— May — . To professional services in the case of Skupinski vs. Penna. R. R. Co., $1,000.00 By amount of verdict and costs recovered, 448.50 To balance due, $541.50 130 JOHN DOLMAN One of the most interesting of contempor- ary practitioners was the late John Dolman. His was an extraordinary career, indeed, and worthy of an enduring chronicle. He was always industriously engaged in his professional and public work, during the active years of his useful life in Philadelphia: and was doubtless, disinclined, chiefly, by reason of his genuine unaflfected modesty, to jot down his experiences for the benefit of those that should follow him. Had he done so, we should have, I am sure, another at- tractive contribution to that most fascinating department of literature, memoirs; and with it, rare and delightful entertainment. For Mr. Dolman had been by turns, actor, sailor, soldier, lawyer, court clerk, and municipal legislator. In each of these activities he was, indisputably, superior. My early recol- 131 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS lections of the old days of Wheatley and Drew's management of the Arch Street Theatre, embrace the sterHng performances of Mr. Dolman in lago and other Shaks- perian parts, Hawkshaw, the detective, in Tom Taylor's "Still Waters Run Deep", and is a varied line of comedy, melodrama and tragedy. He is vividly before me still, in these impersonations. They were meritori- ous el][orts,all of them. His reading charmed my youthful ears, with its clearness and its sonority. He was a leading member of an excellent stock company, to which the late Mrs. John Drew also belonged; and the diversity of parts successfully assumed by Mr. Dolman sufficiently attest his versatility. He much surprised me by the statement made to me a few years before his death, about ten years ago, that he had never been inside of a theatre since the termination of his comparatively brief dramatic career. 132 JOHN DOLMAN This, he went on to remark, was not because of any principle or prejudice in the matter, but solely for the reason that his domestic and professional duties developed a partiality for evenings at home, which completely sup- planted any fancy he might originally have cherished for the "play." His identification with the stage was after all, it appears, but a means of providing himself with a livelihood when preparing for the legal profession. Mr. Dolman came to the Philadelphia bar about 1 86 1. Not long after his admission, he was appointed to the responsible position of court clerk of the old District Court of Phil- adelphia county,abolished by the constitution of 1873; although he resigned his clerkship in consequence of a rapidly growing prac- tice, long before the discontinuance of that tribunal. Utterly free of anything like vanity, he made no claim to being a forensic orator; yet his dramatic training was of ef- ^33 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS fective service in his addresses in court. He was invariably impressive and convincing" before juries, and his victories were numerous and notable. I have among my papers the certificate of my admission to the District Court during Mr. Dolman's term of service as clerk. It is all in his own handwriting. His constitu- tional thoroughness is exhibited in the beau- tiful script of this certificate. It is artistic penmanship, indeed; and of which the most skilful engrosser would be proud. Mr. Dolman was a native of western New York state. Prior to the commence- ment of the Mexican War, in the spring of 1846, he entered the United States Service as a marine, and actively assisted in the great historic event of the occupation of Cal- ifornia by the national forces, symbolized by the raising of the flag by Commodore Sloat, at San Francisco, July 9, 1846. Subsequently, 134 JOHN DOLMAN young Dolman enlisted for military service in the same war, in several of the movements and engagements of which he participated as a private soldier. For a number of years, while Mr. Dolman was one of our busiest and most efficient lawyers, he still found time to discharge with great credit to himself and with inestima- ble advantage to the City of Philadelphia, the exacting duties of Select Councilman of the First Ward. In the municipal ser- vice he displayed the same painstaking and intelligent devotion to his work that was manifested in his achievements at the bar ; and in which service, Mr. Dolman can be best portrayed, as being as unpretentious as he was conscientious. In large and un- stinted measure, these were the predominant features of his character. Higher praise can be accorded to no man. 135 HORATIO HUBBELL Horatio Hubbell was a character. The arbitrary procrustean adjustment by which professional identity is now merged in law- firms, with their extensive clerical and other business appendages, has forever negatived the possibility of the monotony of the law- yer's existence being lessened or relieved by such individualism as was embodied in Mr. Hubbell. Hubbell was a gifted, but eccen- tric personage. Of excellent forbears, with superior early advantages, socially and edu- cationally, life, let it in all charity not be at- tempted to determine wherefore, had not gone well with him. Possibly, his own thor- oughly unpractical nature had its share in the untoward result. As the outcome of it all, he was, although the owner of a kindly, generous, sympathetic heart — and such are 136 HORATIO HUBBELL the too familiar contradictions and paradoxes of our poor human life — the most cross- grained, irritable person that ever came be- fore a bench of judges. He had, obviously, cultivated the art of being disagreeable to such an extent, that it was, clearly, a real luxury for him to gratify the perverse sec- ond nature which had grown into an instinct to be uninterruptedly unamiable in his in- tercourse with his brethren and with the judges. A frequent manifestation of it was his savage expression of dissatisfaction, when a decision was rendered against him. It was not at all in words, but there was a snort or a growl which imparted more than the most vigorous every-day speech, though stenography was inadequate to reproduce it ; and even had this been possible, it is doubt- ful if the most intolerant and least indulgent of judges would have had the heart to have 137 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS thereby secured material for disciplining the surly counsellor for contempt. Mr. Hubbell had a fairly good legal mind^ though system was no part of his nature. As a referee or as master, for which positions he was, at times, and all things considered, quite properly selected, one looked for, and obtained, in the procrastinated end, satisfac- tory determinations. Nevertheless, he was often the despair of counsel appearing be- fore him. He appointed meetings at which he capriciously neglected to be present ; and his demeanor and methods at such meet- ings as he held, would have been amusing if they had not been vexatious. His filed reports in such references were marvels of clerical shortcomings. Among the records from the old court offices there is doubtless one of those legal curiosities, a type of many of its fellows. The testimony and the opinion are entirely in Mr. Hubbell's 138 HORATIO HUBBELL own extraordinary handwriting, a vast chaotic mass of hieroglyphic matter, on sheets of paper of various shapes, sizes and colors, insufficiently paged and regardless of numerical sequence, and in divers kinds and hues of ink ; all of it tied together in a most slovenly fashion, by red tape. Coun- sel who had not prudently obtained, in time, their own memoranda of the testi- mony, would have derived little benefit from Mr. Hubbell's undecipherable scrawl. 139 MacGREGOR ]. MITCHESON There can be no more lawyers like Mac- Gregor ]. Mitcheson. Here is indeed a vanished type, to which altered conditions render a return as impossible, as in the ani- mal kingdom, the plesiosaurus. And yet, singularly enough, he lived and practiced at the bar of Philadelphia, before his fitting and appropriate time. He was but an an- achronism that, with methods more in accord with those of the busy, unconventional, unceremonial period of which Theodore Roosevelt, that '* viking in a shirt collar," is the shining exemplar, would have found more honor and acceptance than was vouchsafed him, in his more deliberate and severely con- ventional day. I have been informed that a prominent Philadelphia representative on the Supreme 140 MACGREGOR J. MITCHESON Bench of this State, has said that Mitcheson was one of the best lawyers of his epoch. This high tribute to Mitcheson's merit is justified, if the estimate is based upon his combative qualifications. There never was an advocate who fought harder, or who merged his excessively egotistic personality more completely in that of his client. In another important sense was he entitled to great praise. He had a ready and instinctive perception of every essential fact in a case, in all its bearings, and a fine gift of memory for retaining them, in season and out of season. Thus he was able to rely upon his recollec- tion rather than his notes, which were only taken for prudential reasons, looking to bills of exceptions. He was not fond of books ; of law books, especially. He had an aver- sion, amounting to an idiosyncrasy, to in- formation to be gained by himself from the printed page. Nevertheless, he was quite 141 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS an adept in assimilating material knowledge thus obtained by others ; and if he did not always grasp the particular principle or doctrine, in its accuracy or its amplitude, he was, and sometimes to an amusing extent, adroit in utilizing the information thus vica- riously secured, to greater advantage than would, under similar conditions, many a more technically learned brother. MacGregor Mitcheson — it seems like a brutal amputation to bisect the sounding appellation — was the very incarnation of nervous activity. The life contemplative was an unknown sphere to him ; and he was the most persistent lawyer that ever laid siege to courts and juries. Like the pro- verbial American, he did not always know when he was whipped, in his frantically passionate eagerness to win. He would re- turn again and again to a hopeless struggle, especially with courts in banc, and very often 142 MACGREGOR J. MITCHESON in tears, too, and genuine ones at that, with the desperate energy of a pugiHst. This is, after all, the just conception of the advo- cate, and which is not, perhaps, as much exaggerated, as to more phlegmatic and un- partisan natures might appear. ** By their fruits ye shall know them ;" and his numer- ous professional achievements fully justified the frequent eccentric, but never repre- hensible, performances by which they were secured. 14: GEORGE W. THORN There has been no more rapid and com- plete change in characteristic features in any neighborhood of the City of Philadelphia, than that which speedily overcame the re- gion comprised in Fifth street, especially be- tween Chestnut and Spruce streets. Even from colonial days, and until the shifting of the legal centre to the vicinity of the City Hall, the indicated locality was practically surrendered to the profession. It abounded in old-fashioned but comfortable law offices, occupied by many of the most prominent members of the bar, notably, Edward Olm- sted, George W. Biddle, William B. Reed, Joseph A. Clay, Horatio Gates Jones, Charles Ingersoll, Henry M. Dechert, and Rufus E. Shapley. Farther north, above Race street, was the residence and office of George W. 144 GEORGE W. THORN Thorn, a sterling character in every sense. Grateful memory assists in conjuring up a picture of the interior of Mr. Thorn's office. It was the counterpart and type of the well- equipped and well-conducted professional interior of the period. It has wholly gone out of fashion, for no conceivable good reason. Lawyers now huddle together in characterless sky-scrapers, no doubt to the delight of those contemporary evolutionists who exalt the " group" at the expense of its members. Individualism made such law- yers as Mr. Thorn possible. Under existing conditions, he would simply be impossible. Perhaps there will be no division of opinion, that herein is cause for genuine regret. Mr. Thorn was a bachelor of very simple tastes, although he was very fond of good music, and was a regular attendant, as a stockholder, in the performances in the Academy of Music. His household affairs 145 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS were conducted by an unmarried sister. His offices comprised the *' parlors" of his plain, but substantial and commodious dwell- ing. The walls of these offices were crowded with a fine law library, on very simple pine shelving. The furniture and general equip- ment were as unostentatious as the propri- etor himself ; and the whole environment had quite a flavor of its own, be- speaking, instantly, to the intelligent ob- server, the workshop of a practitioner profoundly versed in the learning of his profession, and an advocate and adviser equal to every call upon his varied activities. Admittedly, you are duly impressed with a sense of the "business" importance of the present suite of law offices, but there is lack- ing the dignified and purely professional character of the class of offices, I endeavor to describe. The neighborhood of Mr. Thorn's office- 146 GEORGE W. THORN residence was not socially noteworthy, but it had a thoroughly decent and solid North- ern Liberties atmosphere of its own ; and that signifies much to a genuine Philadel- phian ; not, necessarily, the imitative speci- men who has dwelt all his life on the ''main line," but the citizen whose associations and memories go back at least to " consoli- dation." In that wholly clean, respectable section, where conservative adherence to locality, for generations, was a marked and commendable attribute of its residents, Mr. Thorn was born and passed his life. He was as amiable and refined and courteous as it is within the power of a man to be ; and he went from a brickyard to a law offtce. His great natural parts, his excellent ana- lytical mind and model character soon qual- ified him for the best service at the bar which distinguished his career. Mr. Thorn was a man of middle stature, 147 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS Spare of form and feature, with a fine intel- lectual head, an aquiline nose, a ruddy complexion, and the keenest of blue eyes. His habitual expression and demeanor un- mistakably betokened sincerity, promptness and accuracy of apprehension, and unaf- fected and spontaneous geniality; in a word, mental and moral honesty and vigor of the highest class. It would be a very im- perfect estimate of Mr. Thorn which neg- lected mention of his beautiful modesty. He was entirely devoid of vanity. These admirable traits did not, however, unfavor- ably affect his courage and self-confidence in the fulfilment of his obligations as an ad- vocate. The wealth of common sense, which was his priceless inheritance as a son of the people, and his soundness as a law- yer, made him the most trustworthy of coun- sellors, as they stood him, in efficient stead, in his work before courts and juries. A 148 GEORGE W. THORN convincing illustration of the simple mod- esty of his character was exhibited when, upon his being proposed as a judicial candi- date — and on the bench such a man could have had no superior — he confessed to me that he contemplated, with fear and trem- bling, the assumption of the responsibilities incident to a conscientious discharge of such a public duty. He would not, there- fore, allow his name to be used. A close intimacy existed between himself and the late Judge Hare, and they were often seen, of afternoons, in the saddle, in Fairmount Park. Personally, with every young lawyer whose friendship with Mr. Thorn was of in- estimably valuable professional advantage, I shall not cease to revere his memory. A good man and lawyer is, we know, by the world and the community, very quickly for- gotten. Yet there is immeasurable comfort 149 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS in the reflection that his memory actively survives with those fortunate ones whose lives he has richly benefited. It was my inex- pressibly good fortune to frequently spend with him the too brief fortnight of a sum- mer holiday which he allowed himself, in the fascinating sport of sheepshead fishing at Long Beach, New Jersey, the oldest resort on the coast, and a favorite with Judge Alli- son, that superb lawyer Henry S. Hagert, David W. Sellers, Thompson Westcott, G. Harry Davis, Richard P. White, the most formidable jury lawyer of his time, and other eminent legal contemporaries. Life has no happier retrospect than that which accom- panies the recollection of those memorable and delightful trips. Day after day, in a fishing boat on Tuckerton Bay, I was favored by Mr. Thorn's comments on law, man and matters. From the overflowing storehouse of his splendid memory, he en- 150 GEORGE W. THORN tertained me, hour upon hour, with the graphic and, of course, quite impersonal, re- lation of his manifold reminiscences. My sole regret is that I was not enough of a Boswell or Eckermann to have then and there made permanent record of what was so worthy of preservation. This excellent lawyer and very lovable man lived to a good old age, and was continuously engaged in a most remunerative practice ; and he was thus able to leave to his heirs, a large estate wholly, as may be inferred, of his own cre- ation. 151 EDWARD HOPPER One or two samples of the humor of Ed- ward Hopper to be found on these pages, should not create an impression that he was, primarily, a wit. He was, indeed, a most amiable man, and of a very cheerful disposition; and his genial pleasantry was but the outward manifestation of such a sunny temperament. His practice was large, and correspondingly exacting; and his life was, necessarily, a serious one. According to his deserts, he stood very high in the pro- fession, and he had a goodly share of the legal affairs of his brethren in the Society of Friends, of which he was a conspicuous and consistent member. The period of his pro- fessional activity embraced the years imme- diately preceding the Civil War, and with a few other lawyers, such as George H. Earle, 152 EDWARD HOPPER William S. Peirce, and Charles Gibbons, he was closely identified with the anti-slavery movement. The championship of so des- perate and so unpopular a cause demanded physical, no less than moral courage on the part of its advocates. The bar, as a body, conservatively gave it the cold shoulder, and Mr. Hopper and his associates were, in truth, the victims, frequently, of positively uncivil treatment at the hands of their brother law- yers. In the Passmore Williamson case, notably, Mr. Hopper encountered public and professional obloquy at every step of that historic cause. In David Paul Brown's " Forum," there is a fac-simile of the clear and sensible handwriting of Edward D. Ingraham, con- taining this sentiment: " to refute the com- mon slander of the handwriting of law- yers." Mr. Hopper's own manuscript was, likewise, admirably distinct and legible, like 153 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS that of Joseph B. Townsend, WiUiam B. Reed, Judge Sharswood and numerous others ; bringing forcibly to mind, Gellert's advice to his Leipzig students, reported by Goethe, that "a good handwriting led to a good style." Mr. Hopper's minutes as the Secretary of the Law Association for a num- ber of years were, invariably, from his own hand, and they bear potent testimony to his superior penmanship. In this type-writing epoch, it is difficult to say how lawyers write, if they write at all. The personally written communication has, practically, disappeared. In this sense, too, the individual has been eliminated by the machine; and in view of its certain permanent substitution for old-fash- ioned methods, it is plainly apparent that the handwriting expert will soon be without a vocation. A very sufficient proof of Edward Hop- per's prominence as a lawyer is afforded in 154 EDWARD HOPPER the circumstance that his very commodious offices on Arch street below Eighth street, were always filled with students. And it is evidence of his thorough devotion to every branch of his calling, that the contingent of successful lawyers who were favored by his excellent training, has been such a large one. Among them are recalled: Michael Arnold, William C. Hannis, E. Hunn Han- son, George M. Troutman, Joseph R. Rhoads, and Ellis D. Williams. 155 MINIATURES Notwithstanding that to the expert eye, no two lawyers are alike, it is, nevertheless, difficult to make biographical sketches of one's professional brethren, without insensi- bly becoming monotonous, despite every ef- fort in avoidance. Like those remarkable productions to be found on the walls of the Law Association, one portrait is very apt to look like the other. As to these corporate heirlooms, it is to be observed that the modern canon accepted by some of the most eminent in that branch of art, is, that a portrait need not, necessarily, be a resemblance, but that it must represent, primarily and absolutely, a human be- ing. We are told by Messrs. Sargent and Chase, for instance, that it will signify not, a hundred years hence, whether the 156 MINIATURES reproduction in oil on canvas of an indi- vidual, is a veritable likeness or not. The condition that will alone determine its en- during merit is that a real, live, mortal person confronts us from the frame which confines it. Tried by this test, posterity will experi- ence no embarrassment, in forming an esti- mate of the Law Association's art gallery. No impartial contemporary critic, in the most indulgent mood, is likely to concede that, saving a few illustrious exceptions, there is much actual resemblance in these portraits; the ''counterfeit presentments" are but few in number ; and the vital human essence is lamentably lacking in nearly all of them. There will be no controversy, in the years to come, as to whether any one of them was the work of Gilbert Stuart or Rembrandt Peale, or of any of the very ca- pable portrait painters of our own day, none 157 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS of whom, it is justly matter for regret, are represented in the Law Association. From this, what some amiable souls may, possibly, esteem a captious digression, it is a far cry to some fugitive notes of departed brother lawyers, made in the desperate hope of preventing their being completely for- gotten. Lewis Wain Smith, who died nearly a quarter of a century ago, after a short, but brilliant professional life, was an invalid from childhood. With wonderful cour- age, he fought his mortal ailment to the end; and, handicapped as he was, achieved such a success at the bar, that the obituary meeting in his honor was presided over by Judge Allison, and such eminent lawyers as Wayne MacVeagh, Richard L. Ashhurst, Hon. William A. Porter, William McMichael, William Henry Rawle and Judge Mitchell, delivered addresses. These were eloquent 158 MINIATURES and genuinely merited tributes to an extra- ordinary man. Mr. Smith had an unusually acute and active mind, quick perception, bravery amounting to audacity, at times, in one so young — he was but a little beyond thirty when he died ; — and he had, also, considerable claim to manly beauty of a classic type. He was a fluent, impressive speaker, and in the brief span of his inter- esting life, found time to devote himself to political matters, in the midst of the really engrossing practice that rapidly fell to his most capable care. George D. Budd, another phenomenally endowed young lawyer, was taken from us, betimes, he having scarcely attained his thir- tieth year. He had, however, already es- tablished for himself an enviably high repu- tation. His early success was all the more remarkable and praiseworthy, since, in his day, the juniors of the bar had not the op- 159 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS portunities that are now afforded them. As it was, Mr. Budd was associated with the leaders of his day in some of the most im- portant Htigations, and in his arguments he held his own with the most experienced col- leagues, as well as with the most formidable antagonists. Apparently, his premature death cut off a career which would have equalled in distinction that of the lamented Richard C. Dale, who likewise gave promise, at the threshold of his professional life, of the great future that crowned his life. There has never been associated in any Philadelphia law office such a constellation of gifted men as were the colleagues of that very great lawyer, St. George Tucker Camp- bell, during the busy decades of the sixties and seventies. There were, James E. Gowen, of equal force and capacity with his chief, but graced with a sweetness of disposition that the most untoward emergency did not i6o MINIATURES disturb, and a victim, in the very climax of his great usefulness, to the extraordinary strain of constant and most laborious devo- tion to arduous duties ; James F. Johnston, a tremendous legal engine, who likewise, pre- maturely broke down under colossal bur- dens ; and Edmund A. Mench, also untimely called away, on the threshold of a career full of auspicious promise to one so able, and so uninterruptedly amiable, withal. Thomas Hart, Jr., a gentleman of very great ability and application, and Alexander Dallas Campbell, were the sole survivors of that exceptionally busy office. Mr. Hart had, as the sequel made evident, an iron consti- tution which enabled him to successfully as- sume the weight of responsibility which, not to speak of other taxing demands, the pro- tracted Reading Railroad litigation cast upon his most capable shoulders. He was, of course, greatly assisted by Mr. A. D. i6i OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS Campbell, who is affectionately remembered by his contemporaries as one of the most cheerful souls that ever enlivened the prac- tice of the law ; and whose too early death was, indeed, an afflicting dispensation. Charles Follen Corson, long since dead, the victim of an appalling accident, in the prime of life, merits an especial tribute from me as a lawyer and man. He was as learned as he was unpretending. An experience with him, which it is very pleasant to recall, sufifices to indicate his genuine Christian character. In the course of certain litigation, in which we were opposed to each other, I received from Mr. Corson a letter which exhibited unnecessary temper and was, unquestion- ably, discourteous. Surprised as I was at its tenor, it coming from a gentleman as I knew him to be, I deemed it my duty to each of us to return the note to him, accom- panying it with a courteous intimation that 162 MINIATURES I was sure that, upon reflection, Mr. Corson would regret having written it. Immedi- ately upon the receipt of my acknowledg- ment of his communication, Mr. Corson came to see me and, with tears in his eyes, said to me that he had, unfortunately, an in- firmity of temper which sometimes got the better of him, and begged my forgiveness. Of course, there was no further discussion of the subject. We shook hands and parted, good friends as before, and thenceforward. In my attempt to do justice to the mem- ory of George W. Thorn, there is a refer- ence to some of the peculiar characteristics of the old Northern Liberties district, which continued to be displayed long after the municipal consolidation of 1854. There were other good lawyers identified with practice in that part of the city, and whose comparative distance from the courts and public offices did not militate against 163 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS their success. Robert M. Logan, whose office was on Third street near Noble street, was one of these lawyers. He was a stately, courtly gentleman of the old school, with a charm of manner, inseparable from the pos- session of a cultivated intellect and an exalted character. He enjoyed a good prac- tice, among the merchants and manufactur- ers of his neighborhood. His type, like that of Mr. Thorn's, is forever vanished. Seventh street, above Market street, had, also, for many years, its legal colony. The continued existence of these legal settle- ments was due to their being so readily ac- cessible to their particular and respective clients. Public transportation was not what it became later, and all intercourse, in the absence of the telephone and the local tele- graph, had to be personal and direct. Among the active practitioners in this neighborhood were John D. Bleight, Wm. 164 MINIATURES D. Bispham and Nathan H. Sharpless. Mr. Sharpless was well remembered even in later times ; and it is but a few years since his death. He was a clear-headed, studious, and industriously busy lawyer. He pursued the even tenor of the professional way, and was not conspicuous for eccentricity in the ordinary walks of life ; and yet, such are the contradictions in human nature, he was the one Philadelphian, I believe, who, appa- rently, in furtherance of a previously formed purpose, never visited the Centennial Exhi- bition during the six montiis of its continu- ance. There was never any reason assigned for this voluntary deprivation, for it must have been nothing less to this very intelligent and far from prejudiced or ascetic man. It was it would seem, much the case as that of Mr. Wakefield, in Hawthorne's remark- able psychological study. The original ca- 165 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS pricious impulse to absent himself, insensi- bly grew until it became irresistible. I have always thought that David Paul Brown, Jr., whose office was long in the classic Fifth street neighborhood, and who seemed to have a fair practice, was inevitably overshadowed by his more famous orator father, David Paul Brown. This should have not been so; for he was a far better lawyer than his superficial progenitor. They were dissimilar in every respect. The son was a hardworking lawyer in purely civil matters, conscientiously devoted to his com- paratively modest clientele. He was a quiet, unpretentious man, with much natural grace of manner, and a pleasant conversationalist, although no orator. In the same locality was the office of John H. Markland, who. Judge Sharswood was accustomed to remark, had no superior in legal and general scholarship at the bar, in i66 MINIATURES his time. Mr. Markland was not, however, an active practitioner, and in consequence, was personally known to but very few of his fellow lawyers. Sir Jonah Harrington, in his "Personal Sketches of His Times," relates how he came across an aforetime successful Dub- lin barrister, habited as a Turk, sitting cross-legged, selling dates, in a bazar, in Constantinople ; and in one of Hawthorne's tales, is a character who had graduated from the law into the soap-boiling busi- ness. Such versatility was exhibited in the instance of William L. Dennis, a member of the Philadelphia bar, long ago passed away. Dennis began life as a min- ister of the Baptist faith, wherein he was eminent and popular, but which vocation he forsook for the law. Apparently, the serious side of the law had no abiding attraction for him; and, beyond his grateful, though 167 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS perfunctory recognition of the frequent man- ifestations of judicial consideration in the very remunerative "audits" which came to him under the old order of things, it is not believed that he was at all concerned about legal matters. He never argued or tried a case. He was much in vogue as a public entertainer, and derived a material portion of his livelihood, from the delivery of humor- ous lectures, of some merit, in the city and surrounding country. He was a very curi- ous and amusing compound of Thackeray's Fred Bayham and the Rev. Charles Honey- man. An accurate analysis would, probably, have disclosed more of the latter than of the redoubtable " F. B." Dennis had a hand- some, portly presence, was the soul of good nature when things went his way, and was a shining light on a convivial occasion. His epitaph might rightly read : " He loved the 1 68 MINIATURES good things of this life and always had them." The bar of the present time suffered an irreparable loss in the death of J. Martin Rommel, of whom the highest conceivable praise that can be uttered is the indisputable assertion that he was quite of the pattern of the high class lawyer of the epochs which preceded his own. In him, the best and most approved traditions were happily ex- emplified. It was my privilege to have seen much of this accomplished lawyer and exemplary citizen, during the closing years of his beneficial existence. As an opponent, he was extremely skilful and an adept in every honorable method of warfare. He could have had a judgeship, for which position he had rare qualifica- tions; but he manfully resisted the temp- tation which the honor tendered him pre- sented, and he told me that he considered 169 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS the lawyer's career, on the full tide of which he had entered with so much deserved suc- cess, was far more attractive a vocation than the merging of his individuality as a mem- ber of a court. Henry T. King, a thoroughly good law- yer, although somewhat of a dreamer, and, by one of the numerous accidents of local politics. City Solicitor for one term, was a very handsome person, with a physiognomy marvellously resembling the portraits of the Saviour. Of this resemblance, those who knew Mr. King well, had reason to be- lieve that he was abundantly conscious. He was an acceptable public offtcial, performing his full duty to his municipal client in an undemonstrative manner. His abilities were more than average, but the personal vanity of which he was not entirely devoid, did not develop any professional conceit, and it was always as agreeable to have him either as 170 MINIATURES an associate or as an opponent. As intimated, he possessed an attractive exterior, the charm of which was intensified by his melodious voice, and he was at all times scrupulously well attired. Mr. King was the author of a rather clever volume of reflections on human existence and kindred topics, showing the writer to have been a real philosopher and thinker. The book is entitled **The Egoist," and is well worth perusal. Charles Buckwalter, a young lawyer, one of the many graduates of George W. Biddle's office, enjoyed great and deserved popularity as a public speaker. He had been a diligent student, and would have de- veloped into an efficient practitioner. Not that he did not identify himself with profes- sional work; he was fairly on the high road to success, when his early demise suddenly removed him from the stage of life. His ambition was, however, to be a national leg- 171 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS islator; and his best energies were unceas- ingly devoted to the reaHzation of that most honorable purpose, in one so generously equipped with the requisite qualifications. Had he belonged to the dominant political organization, there is no question that his desire would have been gratified. Unfortu- nately, in this regard, Mr. Buckwalter's un- compromising Democracy destroyed even the prospect of a possible fusion in his in- terest. Could he have gone to Congress, he would have distinguished himself, and would have been a credit and honor to his na- tive city. Philadelphia has had few good lawyers at the national capital, and Mr. Buckwalter's professional training was of the best, and his standard of, excellence in the law, as in other fields, was a high one. He was of old Pennsylvania stock, having been the ninth oldest son in the family succession. Mr. Buckwalter dying unmar- 172 MINIATURES ried when not much beyond his thirtieth year, this remarkable series of ancestral co- incidences was, of course, at an end. The personal intimacy existing between preceptor and students so pleasantly set forth in Mr. John Samuel's account of Judge Cad- walader's office, made it possible for the fame of the lawyer with numerous office students, to endure for a much longer period after his death, than under the new dispensation. Thus, the memory of Edward Coppee Mitchell, notwithstanding the twenty years which have elapsed since his most regretta- ble departure from us, still lingers with an abiding sweet fragrance in the minds and hearts of the host of lawyers whose thorough training at his most competent hands, was of very material help in the attainment of the high positions at the bar so many of them already securely hold. In the ripe vigor of his maturity, with a heart as young 173 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS and as sympathetic as when he entered upon the common struggle, with cHents and friends almost innumerable, there came the deplorably premature end. The densely crowded old District Court room on the oc- casion of the delivery of the beautiful me- morial address by Judge Mitchell con- clusively indicated the high esteem and affec- tionate regard in which Coppee Mitchell was held. My dear old friend James J. Barclay had an office for many years in the Athenaeum building on Sixth street. And what a pre- posterous pretence of an office it was ! The dust of ages, apparently sacred in Mr. Bar- clay's eyes, for never would he permit its disturbance, covered the myriad pamphlets and old documents in red tape, the effete text books of an earlier era, the crazy tables and chairs, and the carpet that had once a pattern, but which age had withered such 174 MINIATURES infinite variety it may have had. In this opaque environment — with the most palpa- ble of foxy wigs, a rusty suit and silk hat still rustier, but a dignified and cultivated gentleman in any garb, however poor and plain — Mr. Barclay seemed as cheerful and content as the most prosperous attorney in the most elaborately furnished suite. He was a lawyer by profession, and had been a student with one of the great men of his youth ; but I am sure he never had a client, and he would have been embarrassed, had one intruded upon the tomb-like quiet of that strange office. It is very certain, how- ever, that he would have been courteously received ; for Mr. Barclay, like all men whose lives are devoted to good works, was the kindest-hearted and most unselfishly considerate of mortals. The secretaryship of the Board of Managers of the House of Refuge, was his only ostensible vocation; 175 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS but he was identified with numerous chari- ties, public and private, and the tranquil life of this very happy man was spent in efforts to benefit his brother man. Many years ago, upon an early morning walk at old Long Beach, on the New Jersey coast, I overtook a quiet, reserved young man, with a pleasant Irish accent ; and with whom the stroll was agreeably continued. In the course of conversation, my compan- ion informed me that although he was still identified with mercantile business on Mar- ket street, Philadelphia, it was his purpose to engage in the practice of law, to the prep- aration for which he was zealously devoting all his spare time. This was my first ac- quaintance with Richard P. White, after- wards long the most active and the most suc- cessful of our 7iisi prills lawyers. There can be no doubt that Mr. White tried more causes than any of his contemporaries; and a true 176 MINIATURES history of local jury trials would record in his behalf, avast series of brilliant triumphs. In the midst of his busy career, Mr. White somewhat surprised me with the confes- sion, that he never sat down to try a case without a feeling of nervousness. Yet, upon reflection, there was no good reason for surprise. Dr. John Brown, of Edinburgh, has finely said that the physician should have sympathy as a motive and not as an emotion. This is no less true of the lawyer. And so, Mr. White's prelimi- nary nerve disturbance was, after all, but a salutary symptom of the intense conscious- ness of his responsibility, which possesses and inspires the really capable advocate as he enters upon the combat of a jury trial. When Mr. White had "warmed up" to his case, as he promptly did, he was as fearless as he was formidable. He was also a skilful sailor, whom it would be scarcely just to put 177 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS in the merely amateur class; and his per- sonal management of his yacht was notable for the display of the same intelligence, adroitness and courage which won for him his countless victories from juries. Seated at his desk, in his unpretentious office at the corner of Sixth and Walnut streets, with no array of students, or im- posing office equipment, Henry S. Hagert would have justified the conclusion by an ordinary observer, that the occupant was neither active, ambitious nor successful. Never could opinion be more erroneous. The simple personal life of Mr. Hagert was re- flected in his professional existence. No abler lawyer ever added honor to himself or his calling. This apparently indifferent person was, at all times, promptly and keenly alive to every demand upon his diversified activi- ties. Absolutely devoid of artificiality or affectation, his counsel was unqualified, pos- 178 MINIATURES itive and clear; and his addresses to juries, as well as his arguments to courts, were concise, quietly forcible, and attention-commanding. He scorned to "seem busier than he was ;" and although he had a good, remunerative prac- tice, there was nothing in his demeanor that bespoke it. It was a splendid manifestation of perfect self-control and philosophic poise. When Mr. Hagert became District Attorney, those who knew his sterling excellence, were not surprised at his distinguished career. Although he had not at all been concerned in litigation in the criminal courts, his great abilities speedily served to convince the bar and the community that as a public prose- cutor, he was an inestimably efficient public servant. His record in this important office is one of the glorious memories of the Phila- delphia bar. Simon Sterne, born in Philadelphia, in 1839, the son of very poor parents, became 179 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS a member of the Philadelphia bar in i860, having been a student of John H. Markland. A few years after Mr. Sterne's admission to practice, he removed to the city of New York, where his professional and public ca- reer won for him merited distinction. Al- though a busy lawyer, he was a close stu- dent of political economy and of public questions, generally. He was the author of a number of works on these topics. His ex- tensive politico-economical library was be- queathed by him to the New York Public Library. Mr. Sterne was one of the first to advocate the adoption of minority represen- tation, and some of the most important pro- visions of the Interstate Commerce statute are largely based upon his suggestions. He never held a public elective office ; but he served with advantage to the community, upon numerous state and national commis- sions. At the meeting of the bar of the city 180 MINIATURES of New York in honor of his memory, in 1893, Mr. Joseph H. Choate said of Mr. Sterne: " His enthusiasm — I might call it his intellectual enthusiasm — was a most marked trait, and made his life always fresh and interesting. It always seemed to me that he lived on a higher plane than most lawyers. Although his profession absorbed very much of his attention, it never absorbed his whole energy, which was very great. He loved it and labored and succeeded in it, but he loved other things better. He was always watchful of social movements, in the higher sense of the word, being a careful and constant student of those things in which the welfare of the community was involved." A fountain erected in the centre of metropolitan traffic, has this inscription : "In memory of Simon Sterne, a good citizen." 181 OFFICIAL ROBES The first formal discussion of the subject of judicial gowns in this jurisdiction, was had at a dinner given in the winter of 1885, at Augustin's, on Walnut street, Philadelphia, to the judges of the Supreme Court, by a com- mittee of the Law Association appointed to present the subject to the members of that court. Mr. Richard Vaux was chairman of the committee, and Chief Justice Mercur was the spokesman for the Supreme Court. Among other members of the committee, including myself, were Messrs. William Henry Rawle and Samuel W. Penny packer. Mr. Vaux may fairly be considered as the father of the judicial gown. It was his hobby. He thrust the subject so repeatedly and so persistently, upon the attention of the Law Association, that the action indicated 182 OFFICIAL ROBES was finally taken, but with no enthusiasm, and mainly to secure relief from Mr. Vaux's importunity. There was then no very active sentiment in favor of gowns, either among lawyers or judges. On the contrary, the subject was, generally speaking, often a matter of jest. At the dinner mentioned, the judges of the Supreme Court desired an expression of views on the matter from the several members of the committee. Mr. Vaux was the first to present his proposition. In one 'of his characteristic efforts, with its picturesque, peculiar and at times ar- chaic English, he elaborated the familiar ar- gument that the adoption of gowns — "the ermine" he always styled it — would enhance the respect of the bar and of the community for courts and their proceedings. He was followed by Mr. Rawle, who, rather irrele- vantly, told of his experiences when travel- ing on the English circuit, of the imposing 183 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS ceremonies attendant upon the judges' ar- rival at a city, their reception by the gor- geously arrayed sheriff and deputies at the city gates, the faitfare of the trumpets and all the ** pomp and circumstance" incident to the occasion ; but there was not a word of cogent persuasion in favor of judicial robes. Then, much to my surprise, at least, the best argument in support of the propo- sition of Mr. Vaux, was offered by Mr. Pen- nypacker, whose extremely plain and un- pretentious tastes — or notions is, perhaps, the better word — in the matter of costume itself, were obvious and notorious ; and from whom, of all men, an urgent insistency that our judges should assume the particular gar- ment, was least to be looked for. Then, it fell to my modest share, in the weighty dis- cussion, to present my own more or less crude ideas. The opinion was, accordingly, ventured, that the abiding esteem of the 184 OFFICIAL ROBES profession, and the consequent respect of the community for the majesty of the law as embodied in its courts, might be sufficiently and securely maintained and intensified by a high standard of judicial demeanor and effort. The judge who conducts the pro- ceedings directed by him, with propriety and dignity, constantly animated by the convic- tion that he is the incarnate representative of the law he is delegated to administer; who instinctively refrains from belittling his posi- tion by indulgence in frivolity or unseemly pleasantry ; who rigidly restricts his oiftcial utterances to the actual needs of the conten- tions over which he is the arbiter, and whose decisions are habitually lucid, intelligent, sound and impartial, requires no adventi- tious costume to fortify or emphasize or con- firm his decisions. On the other hand, no robe of office, however imposing, can be of effect to make the performances of an in- 185 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS competent, unworthy or undignified legal magistrate, acceptable to the bar, nor can it prevent on the part of the public, an inevi- table want of veneration for such a delin- quent. The twenty years which have elapsed since the custom of judicial uniform has prevailed in our tribunals, have served to emphatically affirm this view. The moral at- mosphere of these courts has in no degree improved during that period. Even the formalists who once claimed that gowns would efTect a magisterial transformation akin to that foretold in Scripture: " as a vesture thou shalt fold them up and they shall be changed," must have their doubts. Law- yers are not more courteous and respectful, nor are audiences better behaved. Certain of our judges, conspicuously eminent for the extremely decorous discharge of their functions, and whose admirable legal attain- i86 OP^FICIAL ROBES ments form a becoming background for the attractive picture their model official service presents, would be equally efficient, in every respect, unequipped with gowns. There are, and have been, others of their brethren, however, whose educational and personal disqualifications, or their incurable flippancy, — these shortcomings, sometimes, hopelessly conjoined — are rendered none the less reprehensible, if, indeed, they are not made more odious, by the silken gown which custom has prescribed for them. In the last analysis, it may with confidence, be urged, that after all, uniforms serve but the com- mon purpose of enforcing discipline. For soldiers, sailors and policemen, railway em- ployes and others of that class of servants, an appropriate and identifying garb is clearly an effective end in securing and maintaining satisfactory discipline and ser- vice. For a judge, however, rightly consid- 187 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS ered, it is no more necessary, nor is it more becoming, than if worn by a president or a governor. Justice, be it in candor con- fessed, was treated with great indignity, when it was inconsiderately pigeon-holed in that misfit architectural conglomerate, our City Hall. There is some vague talk about a separate court house in the future, on the Boulevard or somewhere. Until more re- spectable provision is made for the courts of Philadelphia, than is comprised in the ran- dom, happy-go-lucky method of scattering them through the murky corridors of the public building, — "a mighty maze and all without a plan," — it will require more than judicial robes to overcome and neutralize the unpleasant effect of their present accom- modations. These so completely and irre- mediably discredit law and justice, that not even the gowns can afford relief. 1 88 COURT CLERKS Among the absolutely ornamental public officials, a prothonotary stands conspicuously foremost. He continues to be selected by the Board of Judges, and conscientiously accepts the handsome emoluments of a practical sinecure. Under the experienced guidance of the thoroughly qualified and thoroughly hard worked Chief Clerk, he perfunctorily, and semi-occasionally, signs such documents as statutory requirements render obligatory. As in the case of a recent incumbent, he materially assists in maintaining the high dignity of his lucra- tive function, by wearing in his sanctum sanctorum, during his brief office hours, the silken robes that invested him on the bench, prior to his prothonotaryship. There must, naturally, be a head to every department of 189 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS human activity ; and so with the office of a court of record. Only, in this instance, the anomaly is presented of the head doing no work, literally or metaphorically. What would we do without the Chief Clerk? asks the appreciatively grateful pro- fessional person. How incalculably much the comfort, convenience and happiness of countless lawyers, living and dead or for- gotten, have been increased by the kindness, the courtesy, the ever ready practical sug- gestions, of such men as Benjamin R. Fletcher, of the old District Court, subse- quently of the present Common Pleas Court, and later, prothonotary of the Supreme and Superior Courts ; as Charles B. Roberts, or Thomas O. Webb, of the old Common Pleas Court! These are the gentlemen to whose honored memory portraits should also be placed on the walls of the Law Association. They have done more for the lawyers of 190 COURT CLERKS Philadelphia than have many of their breth- ren whose, with few exceptions, inartistic and unresembling effigies sometimes inter- rupt or disagreeably affect our meditations and investigations in the law library. The public services of each of these clerks, and of others of their grade, who happily sur- vive, and whom, therefore, it would be in- delicate to name, have been conspicuous for untiring, conscientious devotion to their manifold labors, always accompanied with an amiable disposition and temperament which no pressure of affairs, however over- whelming, affected or diminished. In dear old "Benny Fletcher," as he was affection- ately nicknamed by the lawyers whose pro- fessional paths were daily and hourly made smoother by his unselfish ministrations, there was in reality manifested the " Constant service of the antique world, Where service sweat for duty, not for need." 191 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS The refined technicalities of legal practice were far more intricate in his day than they are now ; but Fletcher was a richly furnished and readily exploited mine of information on all, even the most recondite, questions of practice; and of^cial kindness and offi- cial amiability were never more liberally exhibited than by him. He was the per- sonification of Christian self-sacrifice; and he set us, his inestimably favored contem- poraries and beneficiaries, a lesson of patient well-doing during his long life of good works, that must have left its enduring impress. To Charles B. Roberts, the Chief Clerk of the Common Pleas Courts, for so many years, and Mr. Fletcher's successor, the same genuinely cordial tribute is due. He gracefully bore the great burden of his ex- tremely diverse cares, so that the perform- ance of duty by him seemed to be a veri- 192 COURT CLERKS table delight. No inquiry, whether trivial or important, no matter how great his occu- pation or pre-occupation, whether presented by a blundering tyro or by an experienced practitioner, ever failed to be accorded prompt and civil consideration, and a satis- factory response. Undemonstrative prompt- itude was a signal characteristic of Mr. Roberts. Ambition, when rightly inspired, is a cardinal virtue; it can have no more commendable manifestation than in the ob- vious purpose of such a public servant as Mr. Roberts, to give the Commonwealth, the courts, and his profession, — for he was a lawyer and a good one, — the very best of which his exhaustless energy and uncom- mon capacity were capable. The old Court of Common Pleas of Phil- adelphia County, with its multiplicity of jurisdictions, necessarily required an exten- sive clerical force for its official work. Its 193 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS Chief Clerk, Thomas O. Webb, most agree- ably remembered by the older members of the bar, conscientiously and faithfully dis- charged his varied and exacting functions, for many years. He came from the old Southwark district, and belonged to a family in honorable repute. Mr. Webb was a dap- per, little man, surcharged with mental and physical activity to a high degree. In pop- ular parlance, he "ran the office." Not less than by the active practitioners, he was held in deservedly high esteem by the judges of his court ; and, I recall, particularly, a pleas- ant custom of more than one of them, of dropping into the prothonotary's of^ce after the sessions of the court, for a chat of an hour or two, with the intelligent and amiable clerk. Judge James R. Ludlow, especially, was an almost daily visitor ; and his friendly regard for Chief Clerk Webb was, of course, abundantly reciprocated by his subordinate. 194 COURT CLERKS Upon these occasions, members of the bar who happened to be present, availed them- selves of the opportunity afforded, for unre- strained social converse ; and such oft-recur- ring and delightful episodes were graphi- cally illustrative of the genial professional and judicial intercourse which, not so many years ago, added an attractive charm to the practice of the law. '95 THE RIGHT OF PENNSYLVANIA LAWYERS TO PRACTICE IN ALL THE STATE COURTS Pennsylvania is reprehensibly behind many of the other States of the Union in the persistent maintenance of the antiquated system which refuses a practicing lawyer the right to exercise his functions beyond the limits of the courts of his place of residence. He can, indeed, such is the anomaly, upon the observance of certain prescribed regula- tions, appear before the Supreme and Su- perior Courts, wherever they may be re- spectively holding their sessions. He may not, however, if he be a Philadelphia lawyer, as much as purchase a writ, say, in Mont- gomery or Chester county, if he be not, also, enrolled as a practitioner in the neigh- boring jurisdiction. This might have been 196 THE RIGHT OF PENNSYLVANIA LAWYERS natural and convenient enough, in the days of stages and canals; but it is unreasonable, inconvenient and unjust in the telegraph, telephone, trolley and railroad epoch. Our State Bar Association annually brings to- gether a large and influential delegation of Pennsylvania lawyers ; and its meetings are marked by the most cordial indications of unselfish professional brotherhood. It is devoutly to be desired that some practical outcome of so much good feeling might be devised in the shape of suggested action to the end of establishing the privilege of uni- versal practice throughout the State. Obviously, the existing order of things had its origin in the provincially jealous at- titude of the various local bars. This senti- ment, alone, however, could not determine the question, as against the plain provisions of the Acts of 1885 and 1887, which pro- vide for the admission of an attorney of one 197 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS jurisdiction by another, upon compliance with two important requirements, namely, the proof of the applicant's admission to the Supreme Court, and the presentation of a certificate of the presiding judge of his district or county, setting forth that such applicant is of "reputable professional standing and of unobjectionable character." In the case of Splane's Petition, decided by the Supreme Court in 1888, and recorded in 123 Pennsylvania State Reports, page 527, this seemingly wise, sound and necessary- legislation was unfavorably commented on by Chief Justice Paxson, in a peculiar opinion. This decision, apparently, worked no hard- ship or injustice in the particular case; the applicant, according to the reported facts, having no meritorious standing before the court. He was not, actually, in a position to avail himself of the provisions of the Act of 1887; and the lower court's refusal to admit 198 THE RIGHT OF PENNSYLVANIA LAWYERS him was, therefore, properly sustained. Ac- cordingly, it was not really obligatory upon the Supreme Court to include, in their opinion, a regrettable attack upon a well- conceived and beneficial statute. Not venturing to brand the statute of 1887 as unconstitutional, Judge Paxson discreetly limits himself to observing that the Court "are not willing to concede to the Act the full effect claimed for it," inasmuch as the admission of attorneys is a judicial and not a ministerial act, and, therefore, beyond the control of the Legislature. That " the Legislature has no judicial powers" is an elementary truism. But is not the act of Assembly, thus put under the ban by the highest court, a proper exercise of the prerogative of the law-making body ? It imposes no unjust obligation upon the local courts in providing, as it does, for the convenience of Pennsylvania attorneys at 199 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS large. It is as unobjectionable as the origi- nal statute (of 1834), which invested courts of record with power to admit '' competent persons of an honest disposition and learned in the law." An argument, similar in tenor and effect with that of Judge Paxson, might have been pressed against this very statute, contending that it was an attempt to control the courts, in its designation of the essential qualifications of attorneys. The Act of 1834 was a universally ac- cepted instance of the power of the Legis- lature to establish a general rule as to the requirements of admission. The Act of 1887, strictly following in the same line, only amplifies these requirements, without definitely changing their character. No more than in the first statute, is there any injustice or disrespect implied in the terms of the later act, in its amplification of re- quirements for admission. That the origi- 200 THE RIGHT OF PENNSYLVANIA LAWYERS nal act uses the language "the courts shall have the power to admit," and that the sub- sequent law employs the expression, "any attorney or counsellor shall be admitted," does not compel the conclusion that one is more objectionably mandatory than the other. An integral portion of the opinion of the Supreme Court in the Splane case may be quoted as an evidence of their inadequate consideration of the subject. Say the Court, through the Chief Justice, in conclu- sion: "It [the law of 1887] is as unwise as it is illegal. It is an imperative command to admit any person to practice law upon complying with certain specified conditions. Yet between the time when the applicant has obtained his certificate of good charac- ter from the judge of the district where he last resided and practiced law, and the pre- sentation of the same to the court which he 201 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS seeks to enter, he may have committed some act which would render him an unfit person to practice law, or even to associate with gentlemen." This characterization of the law of 1887 is not at all justified by its language. This statute expressly provides, in phraseology which could not be more explicit or une- quivocal, that the certificate of the presiding judge of the applicant's district or county must set forth a favorable contemporary re- port of the applicant's standing and char- acter. A "stale" certificate would not be warranted by this law, and the refusal to honor it by the court in which the applica- tion for admission might be made, would be right and proper, and, in no sense, in disre- gard of the statute. The Act of 1887 is not as much an inva- sion of the court's prerogative, as is this ex- trajudicial interference by the Supreme 202 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS Court with the rights of Pennsylvania law- yers. The Legislature, substantially adopt- ing as a precedent, the statute of 1834, has said, by the later act, that a Pennsylvania lawyer — and that title properly belongs to every member of the bar of the highest tri- bunal of the State — shall have the right to practice in every subordinate court in the State, under certain specified conditions. In this enactment it has but followed, too, the legislation of other States in this regard. Practically, the experience of the courts of these sister States affords no ground for the gloomy anticipations of Judge Pax son. While our own statute was inspired and jus- tified by the legislative and judicial prece- dents of other States, it is, of itself, a proper and desirable exercise of legislative author- ity, in that it provides for uniformity of practice in our courts. A just appreciation of the Act of 1887 finds in it, only, a com- «03 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS mendable purpose to assist these courts, as well as to legitimately advance the standard and extend the privileges of the legal pro- fession. 204 A PENNSYLVANIA PRINCIPALITY The romance of history has never been much exploited in Pennsylvania, notwith- standing its wealth of available material. It should all be rescued, betimes, else hope- less oblivion will overwhelm it forever. There are abundant episodes of absorbing interest in the early annals of the Common- wealth, and few more entertainingly unique than that, the particular scene of which was the locality where Philipsburg, in Centre County, now stands. This comparatively modern lumber and mining town on the Tyrone and Clearfield Branch of the Penn- sylvania Railroad, takes its name from one Hardman Philips, a famous personage in his day, and the protagonist of a remarkable drama. Philips was an Englishman by birth, who, 205 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS trustworthy contemporary report af- firmed, had been obHged, in early manhood, to emigrate to this country, about the be- ginning of the nineteenth century. It was, however, neither asserted nor implied that his involuntary residence here was the con- sequence of the commission of any crime by him. It was the prevalent belief that either domestic disagreements or family troubles had compelled the permanent change of domicile. As it was, Philips, who was a gentleman by inheritance and educa- tion, brought with him considerable means. Almost immediately after his arrival in the United States, he purchased a large tract of land, part of which, as intimated, is now the site of Philipsburg. He erected a substan- tial and commodious stone mansion house on the commanding side of the mountain, overlooking the present town. This edifice, of agreeable proportions, is still intact, in ex- 206 A PENNSYLVANIA PRINCIPALITY cellent condition, and is the thoroughly comfortable home of his successors in the title, although not his descendants. All the appurtenances and incidents of an old-country landed estate, including farm- buildings, tenantry, imported high-grade stock of all kinds, and extensive agricul- ture, were, in the course of a few years, of effect, under Mr. Philips' intelligent and masterful management, to transform the wilderness into the semblance of an impos- ing manorial seat. In those earlier days of infrequent, limited and defective methods of transportation and communication, this section of Pennsylva- nia did, by no means, partake of the homo- geneous character with which railroads, tele- graphs, telephones, daily newspapers and con- stant mails have since invested every part of the State. In the light of the primitive con- ditions thus denoted, it was not at all a dififi- 207 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS cult undertaking for Hardman Philips to establish and maintain, as he practically did, on his great domain, what was, in substance, an imperuim in hnperio within the borders of the so to speak inchoate commonwealth. It was his princely pleasure to exercise, but, of course, without duly prescribed legal warrant, the functions of an autocratic suze- rain over the territory thus secured by him, and the village communities that became its inhabitants. If not exactly the arbitrary dispenser of life and death to the scattered residents of this secluded and remote region, he, at least, asserted, and with success, as the sequel showed, his right to act as umpire in every dispute; and he was, generally, ac- cepted as the ultimate authority in all the concerns of these, his actual subjects. The fear and respect, felt and accorded in equal degree by these people for their soi-disant lord paramount, were the outcome of his 208 A PENNSYLVANIA PRINCIPALITY imperious temperament, not less than of the wealth which was a potent instrument in the gratification of his passion for rule. His means, his education, and his social graces fully qualified Philips to act the host. The stranger, therefore, whose manners jus- tified it, invariably received hospitable treat- ment. It is a particularly noteworthy cir- cumstance that the judges of the Supreme Court on their protracted and wearisome journeys to and from Pittsburgh, were accus- tomed to make a sojourn of some duration at the Philips mansion ; and, no doubt, among the unpublished correspondence of some of these judicial visitors, there can be found appreciative comments upon the kindly and bountiful cheer that distinguished the occasional appearances of these honor- able guests of the homestead. No more convincing illustration of the absolutism that characterized Mr. Philips' 209 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS sway over the land, can be adduced than the fact, which appears to be undisputed, that in his arrogant and exaggerated sense of his power, authority and importance as a great landed proprietor, he, at last, seriously con- templated the establishment by law of a sep- arate dominion of which he should continue to be de jure the ruler as he had been de facto. Impelled by this essentially feudal purpose — what appears, now, to be a wild and erratic conceit on his part, but which may not have seemed so under the simple conditions of the various communities of which he was the chief — he did, in all seri- ousness, desire the Pennsylvania State Leg- islature to pass a statute, drafted in his be- half, exclusively investing him with all the incidents and powers of the government of his little principality. Needless to state that, although such a bill was actually introduced, 2IO A PENNSYLVANIA PRINCIPALITY no such law is to be found in the records of legislation. The more recent and more familiar his- tory of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania abounds, indeed, with instances of equally autocratic sovereignty in the department of practical politics; and there have been — per- haps the present tense might here be more accurately employed — political leaders as indisputably absolute in the entire State as was Hardman Philips, within his own ex- tensive precincts; but, obviously, no formal confirmatory legislative enactment has ever been invoked or needed to sustain the high prerogative of the political magnate. 211 ANECDOTES As provided by the Schedule annexed to the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1873, the then twelve judges of the old District Court and Court of Common Pleas, drew lots to determine their respective assignments to the four new courts created by that Consti- tution. It so happened that Hon. William S. Peirce drew for Court No. i, and Hon. James Lynd was allotted to Court No. 3. Not long after this provision of the Sched- ule had been fulfilled, in the method pre- scribed, these two distinguished jurists met. Judge Peirce, who was quite a humorist, joc- ularly remarked to Judge Lynd that he had been placed, like the grocers did the mack- erel. "How is that?" inquired Judge Lynd. "Why, the small fish in No. 3," replied Pierce. "Ah, yes!" was Lynd's prompt 212 ANECDOTES and witty retort, ** and the fish with no heads in No. I !" Edward Hopper always wore the plain gray Quaker garb. Thus attired, with a slouch hat on his head to match this cos- tume, he was accosted by a stranger, a fellow-sojourner at a New England seaside resort, with the inquiry: "My friend, are you a skipper?" *'No," was the paralyzing reply, "I am a Hopper!" In a suit tried in the old District Court in Philadelphia, involving a disputed book ac- count for wines and liquors sold and deliv- ered, Mr. B. H. Brewster represented the de- fendant. In his summing up to the jury, he took occasion to dissect and criticize the plaintiff's statement of claim. One of the items was, so many "gallons of fine French brandy at one dollar per gallon." Shaking 213 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS the bill in the faces of the jurymen, this was Mr. Brewster's incisive and vigorous com- ment on this item : " Fine French brandy at one dollar a gallon ! Great God! Think of it! Think of it, your Honor! Fine French brandy at one dollar per gallon ! Why, a man should have a copper kettle for a stomach and a stove-pipe for a throat to drink such stuff as that !" In the construction of a trolley railway upon a main highway in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, a flag-stone crossing was, without authority, taken up and carted away by the contractor. The matter was brought to the official attention of a local justice of the peace, unlearned in the law, to the end of getting his opinion as to the proper course to pursue to secure the re- turn and replacement of the missing cross- ing. After a desperate struggle with the 214 ANECDOTES antiquated volumes of his meagre library, this modern Dogberry gravely announced that the offending contractor could be ar- rested for '^highway robbery f^ Henry M. Phillips, one of the leaders of the bar from the period immediately pre- ceding the Civil War to many years later, was a member of Congress for one or two terms, and was also socially pre-eminent and popular, both for his genial manners, and his distinguished legal ancestry. He told, with much enjoyment, the following story. His Congressional district had a marked Democratic complexion ; so that a nomina- tion was equivalent to an election. A dele- gation of leading politicians, made up of the typical "unwashed" Democracy, called upon him to tender him this nomination. In doing so, the spokesman informed Mr. Phillips, that although there was a strong 215 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS sentiment in the district in favor of Mr. Ed- ward Ingersoll as a candidate, they had con- cluded to ignore his claims, because he was a "gentleman." And Mr. Phillips was fur- ther advised, in the district leader's vernacu- lar : " We don't want no gentleman for our candidate, and so we have come to you." In the old District Court of Philadelphia, a suit was being tried before good old Judge George M. Stroud, of sainted memory. The defence was in the hands of an incompetent and conceited attorney ; but as there was, practically, no case for the defendant, the most capable counsel would have been of no avail. Waiting in court for the trial of the cause next on the list, sat Mr. John P. O'Neill, as plaintifiE's attorney. Much con- cerned over the non-appearance of his most important witnesses, he was possessed with the fear that the speedy termination of the 216 ANECDOTES pending trial would find him perilously un- prepared. At this juncture, the blundering advocate referred to, arose to address the jury, and, as he had offered no testimony, he had, of course, the last speech. As he began his remarks, Mr. O'Neill took occa- sion to urge the attorney, in a whisper, that he make a long speech as a certain means of gaining a verdict. Thus encouraged by so experienced and apparently disinterested a practitioner, the highly flattered lawyer started in with great vigor and enthusiasm. Constantly interrupted by opposing counsel and the justly irritated judge, by reason of irrelevant and improper references to matters not in evidence, the speaker was still prompted by Mr. O'Neill to continue, despite the interruptions. *' Keep it up, keep it up, you are winning the jury over. Keep it up and hammer it at them," said the plausible Irish orator. By this time, Mr. 217 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS O'NeiU's ingenious scheme was beginning to exhibit signs of success. His witnesses were now coming into court, the danger of being forced to trial without them had passed, and his seemingly friendly interest in his voluble brother was at an end. Lack- ing the stimulus of Mr. O'Neill's encour- agement, the speaker's flow of words soon ceased ; whereupon the indignant judge, in a few words, directed the jury to find a ver- dict for the plaintiff. The discomfited at- torney gathered up his papers and left the court room, blissfully unconscious of the fact that he had unwittingly saved the day for Mr. O'Neill. Another member of the Philadelphia bar, blessed with more inherited means than in- tellectual force or legal attainments, never failed to appear at obituary bar meetings, to offer his unimpressive and discursive tribute 218 ANECDOTES to the departed lawyer. He invariably pref- aced his remarks with the words: "Mr. Chairman, it was my privilege to well know the diseased^ In an action in which this quaint and clumsy attorney was, himself, the plaintiff, he appeared in propria persona^ and conducted, unaided, the trial ; even go- ing so far as putting himself on the witness stand and taking his own testimony. The verdict was for the defendant. A new trial being refused, there was an appeal to the Supreme Court. The appellant's paper book, prepared, of course, by himself, con- tained a number of unjust and grossly im- proper reflections on the conduct of the trial judge. After the paper book had been sub- jected to the customary cursory inspection by the judges, preparatory to the argument, there was a brief conference between the judges ; when Chief Justice Agnew said : "Mr. P., I presume you are, yourself, the 219 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS author of this paper book." Mr. P., evi- dently anticipating a complimentary refer- ence to his brief, arose, and, with a pleas- ant smile, replied : " I am, your Honor." "Well, then," continued the Chief Justice, " I take occasion to observe that in the opin- ion of my colleagues and myself, in all our experience, no such offensive paper book has ever been presented to us; and we have concluded that we cannot, with propriety, hear the argument in this case, until the scandalous matter in it is eliminated." The offending paper book was then returned to the plaintiff attorney, who, as he received it, with a smile of beatific self-satisfaction irradiating his face, replied : " I thank your Honor for your kind suggestion." Mr. David W. Sellers once exhibited to me a paper which had actually been filed by counsel for plaintiff in a suit for dam- 220 ANECDOTES ages for personal injuries, with the fanmiliar caption and endorsement : " Copy of in- strument of writing, on which suit is brought ;" and which contained, without more, save the plaintiff's attorney's signa- ture, a photograph of the plaintiff, taken, presumably, after the accident. William McMichael, at one time United States District Attorney for the Eastern Dis- trict of Pennsylvania, inherited from his father, Morton McMichael, a gift of grace- ful public utterance, which justified his frequent selection as orator at civic and other celebrations. He had a very pleasant voice, and his manner was agreeably lack- ing in the theatrical display which is the bane of many speakers. His address at the unveiling of the Lincoln Monument in Fairmount Park was an especially eloquent effort, and equal to the best ever heard in 221 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS Philadelphia. Mr. McMichael had a fine sense of humor, and was accustomed to re- late, with great glee, his unfortunate, though amusing, experience at the dedication of the monument to the deceased members of the Artillery Corps, Washington Grays. This memorial,* now in Washington Square, was originally placed at the corner of Broad street and Girard avenue, and was without the pedestal that now supports it. Mr. Mc- Michael had been designated as the orator for the dedicatory ceremonies, and had, of course, made the requisite preparation. He had, however, seen neither the monument nor its design. And thus it came about that, giving free rein to his exuberant and patri- otic fancy, he pictured to himself an impos- ing structure in stone on the usual scale and pattern. The peroration of his address was, accordingly, in this fashion : " And now there will be unveiled and disclosed to *Thi3 memorial has at last become a monument. While these pages are passing through the press, a soldier's figure is replacing the "hitching post. " 222 ANECDOTES the blessed light of day, this magnificent creation of the sculptor's genius; this proud realization of the fervent desires of the sur- vivors of these immortal heroes ; this noble shaft towering to the empyrean, to tell for all time to come our veneration and our af- fection for those who died that the nation might live." The address being thus con- cluded, Mr. McMichael observed, the can- vas covering was withdrawn, only to reveal to his embarrassed and disappointed glance, what he humorously characterized as " a miserable little hitching-post." J. Buchanan Crosse, a nephew of Ex-Pres- ident Buchanan, was one of the most accom- plished forgers of his time. His remarkably clever and temporarily successful attempt to forge his way out of jail, an interesting story of itself, is disclosed in the case of Common- wealth ex rel. Crosse vs. Holloway, 44 Penn- 223 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS sylvania Reports. As reported in that vol- ume, habeas corpus proceedings in the Su- preme Court, despite the able argument of his counsel, the late Edward H. Weil, failed to secure his release. A peculiar incident of these proceedings in the Supreme Court, was the universally commented upon phys- ical resemblance between the relator, him- self, and the then Chief Justice Walter H. Lowrie. In complexion, color and quan- tity of hair, contour of head and of feat- ures, and the color of eyes, they would have been, under other circumstances, prac- tically undistinguishable. In the light of Crosse's extraordinary achievements in his special field of crime, it is fair to assume that his intellectual provision was on a par with that of the Chief Justice ; so that, on the moral side, only, was there a discrepancy. As late as the Centennial year, 1876, it 224 ANECDOTES would have been almost a breach of profes- sional decorum for a lawyer in Philadelphia to be without a green baize curtain on a brass rod at his office window, as well as to have this office elsewhere than on the first floor. There was considerable consternation and unfavorable comment, when Daniel Dougherty and E. Hunn Hanson courage- ously ventured to the second floor, at Sev- enth and Walnut streets. Unquestionably, the most unique interior in the way of an old-fashioned law-office was that of Colonel Charles ]. Biddle, on San- som street above Seventh. Colonel Biddle had some odd and inexplicable notion about the upper stratum of air in a room ; for his private desk was placed on the top of the large office table. His accustomed seat at this desk was reached by a series of steps extending from the floor to the table top. No doubt, many others, with myself, were 225 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS astounded when first confronting this appa- rition in green spectacles inspecting the vis- itor from his elevated "coign of vantage." When District Attorney William B. Mann resided at the corner of Fifth and Green streets, he was accustomed to take the Sixth street cars on his way to his office. One morning, he discovered that he had left his watch and chain under his pillow, and so observed to a friend at his side in the street car. Later in the day, a person represent- ing himself to be a court officer, called at Colonel Mann's residence with a turkey, which the putative messenger stated had been sent by Colonel Mann, with instruc- tions to bring Colonel Mann's watch to him. The watch and chain were duly delivered to the messenger ; but they never reached their owner. Crime, like history, of which it is a part, 226 ANECDOTES repeats itself ; for the identical story is told by John Timbs, in his interesting collection of anecdotes about lawyers, doctors and clergymen. Sir John Sylvester, Recorder of London, while trying a man charged with petty larceny, at the Old Bailey, happened to remark, aloud, that he had forgotten to bring his watch with him. The accused be- ing acquitted for want of evidence, went, with the Recorder's love, to Lady Sylvester, and requested that she would immediately send his watch to him by a court officer whom he had ordered to fetch it. The lie succeeded, and the thief got the watch. By the way, might not the Philadelphia crimi- nal have found his inspiration in this pub- lished London precedent? It is related of a certain rather unscrupu- lous attorney, long since deceased, that hav- ing deducted from a sum collected a some- 227 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS what exorbitant fee, amounting to about seventy-five per cent, of a rather large claim, and upon his client expostulating with him against the excessive charge, the con- scienceless attorney, with well assumed as- perity of manner, took out his check book, and hastily drawing a check to his client's order for twenty dollars, petulantly re- marked: ** Take that, you cormorant!" Robert M. Lee, once Recorder of the City of Philadelphia, anterior to the Consolida- tion Act of 1854, was more of a popular or- ator than an experienced or even ordinarily trained jurist. His manner, delightfully bombastic, was far more important and im- pressive than his matter. Upon the trial of a cause in which he appeared for the plaintiff, it became necessary for him to amend the declaration in the case ; no technical advan- tage was taken of the privilege accorded Mr. 228 ANECDOTES Lee, and the court thereupon suggested to him to forthwith make the necessary amend- ment. To Lee's unpracticed hand this was simply an impossible task, in his crass igno- rance of the elements of the pleader's craft. So, rising with stately dignity, and with a graceful and condescending wave of his hand to the court, he said: "Your Honor will kindly consider it done!" At the memorial services of the American Philosophical Society upon the death of Dr. Daniel G. Brinton, the late Professor A. H. Smyth delivered the principal address. As befitted the ceremonious event, Mr. Smyth had prepared his remarks, including a bio- graphical sketch of the deceased. This ad- dress was preceded by brief speeches by other members of the Society, the last of whom was Judge Pennypacker. The Judge's peculiar voice, like the late Benjamin Harris 229 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS Brewster's disfigured visage, one soon for- gets and ignores, in the attractions of a sunny presence, agreeable manner and charming conversation. Yet it is peculiar. Following ]udge Pennypacker, Mr. Smyth, in the course of his remarks, went on to observe : "He (Dr. Brinton) worked patiently to im- prove his style in both his written and spoken discourse. With like patience and persist- ence, he overcame natural disabilities of speech and gave tone and character to a voice that was unpleasantly marked by the wiry twang of Southern Pennsylvania." With the living object lesson before his audience, there was an audible expression of amusement on their part, at the unintended but apt illustration of Dr. Brinton's con- quered inheritance of utterance. A Philadelphia political club, the greater portion of whose members were lawyers, 230 ANECDOTES and whose meetings were more frequently convivial than otherwise, emphasized the predominance of its legal contingent in the name of an insidious and exhilarating beverage. It was happily designated the "Sci. fa.," because, in the language of its original compounder, "it revived the judg- ment." A very rough diamond was George W. Dedrick ; but there was no doubt as to the genuineness of the jewel. He had consid- erable success at the Philadelphia bar ; which his acute mind and the adroit man- agement of his numerous cases before juries by this clever man of the people, fully ex- plained. He was not an accomplished law- yer, but an extremely useful one to his many clients. Dedrick burnt the candle at both ends ; and possessed as he was with intense vitality and a partiality for the convivial oc- 231 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS casion, his life was strenuous but brief. He had a comfortable residence in the old North Penn District. Here he gave fre- quent entertainments to his brother lawyers. He took great delight in inviting the unsus- pecting guest to inspect what he called his Law Library. This occupied the rear third- story room of his capacious house, and con- sisted, exclusively, of some half-dozen or more barrels of rye whiskey in various stages of development. Expert testimony in the case of Bergner & Engel Brewing Company vs. Clements, given quite a number of years since before me as master, fully partook of the character of burlesque. To test the credibility of a witness called by plaintiffs, and adequately qualified as an expert, a dozen unlabeled bottles, but privately identified, were pro- duced by the defense, and the witness was 232 ANECDOTES desired to specify the contents of each bot- tle. Each bottle was opened, and subjected by the witness to apparently critical inspec- tion, by taste and smell. In no one in- stance, however, was his attempt at identify- ing the contents of the bottle successful ; for the defendant's subsequent proof on this point showed that each bottle contained a sample of the product of a well-known American beer brewer. The impecunious law student, like the poor, generally, will always be with us. His schemes to meet and conquer financial emergencies are countless ; but I wonder much if, ever, before or after my own pro- bationary period in the law, any other stu- dent wrote sermons as a precarious means of securing subsistence. In a picturesque rural churchyard in the vicinity of Philadelphia, have, for many 233 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS years, rested the mortal remains of a cler- gyman, who, in simple charity, shall be nameless, whose weekly homilies, for a year or two, came from my unconsecrated and unworthy pen. Sooth to say, they were not models of doctrinal elucidation or exegeti- cal commentary ; nor were they of the Til- lotson or Bossuet or Jeremy Taylor pattern. However, my work seemed to be acceptable to both parson and people. His satisfaction was indicated by the continuance of my em- ployment ; and my favorable conclusion as to the obviously indulgent congregation, is, perhaps, warranted by the inscription on his monument in the parish churchyard, and which embodies a special tribute to his mer- itorious services as a preacher. I never had the courage, much less the vanity, to desire it, to be present at the deliv- ery of a single one of these many efforts of mine. I was more than satisfied with the 234 ANECDOTES substantial compensation of five dollars for each of these meagre contributions to eccle- siastical literature, as, upon every Friday evening, at the old Bolivar restaurant, on Chestnut street, the manuscript was deliv- ered to my patron in the cloth, to the far from unwelcome accompaniment of a tooth- some oyster stew. To make a complete confession of a delinquency, of which dire pecuniary need facilitated the commission, material assistance in the preparation of these discourses was afforded by a book of "Skeleton Sermons," obtained at Hooker's Ecclesiastical Book Store, as it was called, then on Chestnut street above Thirteenth street, in Philadelphia. With the help of this invaluable and, to me, indispensable little volume, a sort of ** Dunlap's Forms," in its way, the fulfilment of my peculiar contract was not more difficult than the drafting of a will or a deed of settlement 235 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS from the lawyer's inseparable vade mecum. What a substantial precedent, though, for those who insist upon extemporaneous efforts in the pulpit! Mr. Eli K. Price, the framer of the Act of 1854, consolidating the various districts of the county of Philadelphia into the present municipal corporation, as well as of the Act of 1873, familiarly known in the legal pro- fession as the " Price Act," facilitating the transfer of decedents' estates, enjoyed a large and lucrative real estate practice. His prominence and great capacity in this im- portant department of the law, occasioned his frequent and wise selection as executor and trustee. His reputation for the skill and ability displayed by him in these positions of fiduciary responsibility, with their, oft- times, very remunerative commissions, ex- tended beyond the ranks of his envious 236 ANECDOTES brethren at the bar. Accordingly, a shrewd, observant and worldly minded mother, con- ferring with Mr. Benjamin Harris Brewster on the subject of her son's entering his office as a student of law, remarked to his proposed preceptor that it was not at all her desire that the young gentleman should be trained in the general principles of the sci- ence, but that it was her particular ambition that her son should "learn to be an exe^^tor," as she pronounced it, "like Mr. Price." A citizen of German biith, drawn for jury duty in the Court of Quarter Sessions, re- quested Judge Craig Biddle to excuse him, assigning as his reason that he, the juror, " didn't understand good English." "That is not a sufficient ground," replied the Judge; "you are not likely to hear any of it in this place." 237 OLD TIME JUDGES AND LAWYERS Mr. Edward Hopper, overhearing a pom- pous young attorney arguing his cause in an exaggerated oratorical way, observed: "how much the young man reminds himself of Daniel Webster!" The trial docket of the Nisi Prius Division of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which was abolished by the present Consti- tion of the State, abounded in actions for damages for libel and slander. This was due to the fact that there was a current im- pression that juries in that tribunal were more liberal than those in the District Court. It was remarked, in language worthy of Dean Swift, that "the court had become a hospital for diseased reputations." 238 INDEX Agnew, Daniel 219 Allison, Joseph 68, 69, 70, 71, 150, 158 American Philosophical Society 229 Anecdotes 205-238 Anti-Slavery Movement 153 Arch Street Theatre 132 Arnold, Michael 155 Arthur, Chester A 107 Ashhurst, Richard L 158 Athenaeum 1 74 Atlantic City 14 Attorneys see Pennsylvania Lawyers Augustin's Restaurant 182 Austrian consul at Philadelphia 28 Austrian minister to the United States. 27, 28 Austro-Hungary 23, 26 Barclay, James J 174-176 Barrington, Sir Jonah 167 Bartl, Edmund A 26, 27, 36 239 Beck, James M 1 16 Belmont Mansion 9 Bergner & Engel Brewing Co. z's. Clem- ents 232 Berschine, Franz 23-36 Biddle, Col. Charles, anecdote of . .225, 226 Biddle, Craig 237 Biddle, George W 78, 144, 171 Binney, Horace loi Bispham, William D 164, 165 Black, Jeremiah S 122-124 Bleight, John D 164 Bolivar Restaurant 235 Bradley, Justice, bad manners of 53 Brewster, Benjamin Harris 106-108 anecdotes of 213, 214, 229, 230, 237 Brewster, Frederick Carroll no, in Briefs of Title 45, 46, 47 Brinton, Dr. Daniel G 229, 230 Brougham, Lord loi Brown, David Paul. . . 105, 106, 166 ; his "Forum," 153 Brown, David Paul, Jr 166 240 Brown, Henry Armitt 1 14, 115, 116 Brown, Dr. John, of Edinburgh 177 Browne, Nathaniel B 44 Bryn Mawr College 98 Buchanan, James 223 Buckwalter, Charles 1 71-173 Budd, George D 159, 160 Burke, Edmund 55 Cadwalader, John 11, 82-87, 1 73 Campbell, Alexander Dallas ... 10, 161, 162 Campbell, St. George Tucker 160 Cape May 14 Carson, Hampton L 116 Carson, J. Hays 38 Carter, James 103 Cash, Andrew D 38 Cassidy, Lewis C 102 Castle, James H 37 Catholic Confessional 34, 35 Chase, William M., (artist) 156 Choate, Joseph H 181 City Hall 18, 188 241 Clay, Joseph A 144 Clements, Bergner & Engel Brewing Co. ZJS 232 Clerks of the Courts 189-195 Cleveland, Grover 109 Cliques at the Bar 16, 17 Colborn, Andrew J 29-36 Colborn & Horn, of Scranton 28 Commonwealth e:r. re/. Crosse vs. Hollo- way 223 Conveyancers, Old 37-47 Corson, Charles Pollen 162, 163 Court Clerks 189-195 Benjamin R. Fletcher, 190, 191, 192 ; Charles B. Roberts, 190, 192, 193 ; Thomas O. Webb 190, 194, 195 Court Dress 182-188 Coxe, Robert D 63, 182, 183, 184 writes sermons 233, 234 Cranford 16, 1 7 Credit Mobilier 82 Crosse, ]. Buchanan, forger 223 Crosse vs. HoUoway 223 242 Curran, John Philpot loi Cuyler, Theodore 102, 103 Dale, Richard C 160 Davis, G. Harry 150 Dechert, Henry M i44 Dedrick, George W 231, 232 Dennis, William N 167-169 Denver, Colorado 95 Dickson, Samuel 10 District Court 73» i33. 190 Dolman, John 131-135 in theatrical characterizations, 132, 133 ; clerk of the district court 133 Dougherty, Daniel 108, 109, 225 Dramatic Incidents in Pennsylvania Crim- inal Procedure 23-26 Drew, Mrs. John 132 Dunlap's Book of Forms 235, 236 Earle, George H 152 Easter excursions I4> ^5 "Egoist", The, by Henry T. King 171 243 Emotional Insanity plea 104 Erskine, Thomas, Lord loi Erwin, J. Warner 37 Exclusiveness of Philadelphia Judges . • . . 15 16, 17 Fairmount Park 9 Fidelity Trust Co 39-45 Fifth Street group of lawyers 144 Fletcher, Benjamin R 190, 191, 192 Folwell, Jonathan K 38 Forensic oratory loi, 102, 1 1 i-i 14 Fourth Street 20 Fox, Daniel M 38 Gellert 154 Gemmell, William D 64 Gibbons, Charles 153 Goethe 24, 154 Gowen, James E 160, 161 Gowns for the judges 182-188 Guillou, Constant 60 Guillou, Victor 10, 60-65 244 Hagert, Henry S 150, 178, 179 Hannis, William C 155 Hanson, E. Hunn 225 Hare, J. I. Clark 72-77, 79, 80, 159 his work on the *'Law of Contracts" . . 73 Hart, Thomas, Jr 10, 161, 162 Hawthorne, Nathaniel 167 Hengelmiiller, Ladislaus von, minister from Austro-Hungary to the United States 2 7, 28 Heysham, John 83, 84, 85 Highway Robbery, anecdote of. . . .214, 215 Hollingsworth, Samuel E 10 Holloway, Crosse z^s 223 Homicide case of Franz Berschine . . . .23-36 Hooker's "Ecclesiastical Book Store". . .235 Hopper, Edward 152-155 anecdotes of 213, 238 House of Refuge 1 75 Hubbell, Horatio 136-139 Independence Square 19, 20 Ingersoll, Charles 144 245 Ingersoll, Edward 216 Ingraham, Edward D 153 Insanity plea, emotional 104 Johnson, James F 161 Johnson, Dr. Samuel 57, 99 Jones, Horatio Gates 144 Judges of Philadelphia 48-59 their arrogance, 48-53 ; contrasted with English and other judges, 49, 50; their narrow-mindedness 54-58 Judicial gowns 182-188 Keene, George Frederick 63 Kersek, Maria 23, 25, 26, 32, 34, 35, 36 King, Henry T. . . 1 70-7 1 ; his "Egoist", ..171 Knownothingism 71 Krain, Austria 23, 29 Krainish dialect 26, 29 Lackawanna county 24, 25 Lamb, Charles 62 Lathrop, Mary F 95 246 Law Association 14 Its collection of portraits .157, 190, 191 Law Schools 10, 11, 12, 13 Lawyers see Pennsylvania Lawyers Lawyers' club 15 Lee, Robert M., anecdote of 228, 229 Littleton, William E 40, 41 Livensetter, Mahlon D 38 Logan, Robert M 164 Long Beach, N. J 150, 176 Lowrie, Walter H 224 Ludlow, James R 194 Lynd, James, anecdote of . . 212, 213 Machine-made lawyers 12 McMichael, Morton 221 McMichael, William 158, 221, 222, 223 MacVeagh, Wayne 53» 54, 158 Mann, William B., loses his watch .226, 227 Markland, John H 166, 167, 180 Mench, Edmund A 161 Mercur, Chief-Justice 182 Michael, Helen Abbott 97 247 Miniatures, legal 1 56 Mitchell, E. Coppee 10, 14, 173, 174 Mitchell, James T 10, 79, 158, 1 74 Mitchell, Thomas S 37 Mitcheson, MacGregor ] 140-143 Murder-trial at Scranton 23-26 Narrowmindedness at the bar 17 New Jersey judge and lawyer 52, 53 New York 1 80 New York Public Library 180 Nisi Prius Division of the Supreme Court 238 Northern Liberties District. .38, 39, 147, 163 Office students vs. Law School students II, 12, 13 Official robes 182, 188 Olmsted, Edward 45, 144 Olyphant, Penna 24 O'Neill, John P.. 102 ; anecdote of. .216-218 Oratory loi, 102, 1 1 i-i 14 Ostheimer, A. J., Austrian consul at Phil- adelphia 28 248 Pacific Railroad io6 Parsons, James lo Paxson, Edward M 198, 199, 200, 203 Peale, Rembrandt i57 Peirce, William S. . 1 53 ; anecdote of . 2 1 2, 2 1 3 Penitentiary, Eastern 32, 35» 3^ Pennsylvania Dutch voices 75 Pennsylvania lawyers — their right to practice in all the courts 196-204 Pennsylvania principahty 205, 211 Pennsylvania Railroad 119, 1^6 Pennsylvania State Bar Association . .15, 197 PennsylvaniaUniversity Law School 10-13,93 Pennypacker, Samuel W. . . 1 82, 1 84, 229, 230 Philips, Hardman 205-2 1 1 Philipsburg, Centre Co 205 Phillips, Henry M., anecdote of 215, 216 Pinkney, William loi Piatt, E. Greenough 10 Porter, William A 6t, 158 Portraits in the Law Library. . . 157, i90» 191 Pratt, Joseph T 78-81 249 Price, Eli K 45, 236, 237 Prothonotary an ornamental official .... 189 Rawle, William Henry. .45, 1 10, 158, 182, 183 Reed, William B 144, 154 Rhoads, Charles 37 Rhoads, Joseph R 155 Roberts, Charles B 190, 192, 193 Robes of office 182-188 Rommel, ]. Martin 169, 170 Roosevelt, Theodore 140 "Row" offices 20 St. Lawrence Hotel 103 St. Mark's Church Bells case no Samuel, John 10, 11, 1 73 Sargent, John S., (painter) 156 Savidge's Life of B. H. Brewster 108 Scranton, Penna 25, 26, 29, 30, 35, 36 Sellers, David W 10, 14, 1 17-130, 150 anecdote of 220, 221 Seventh Street, north, 37; its lawyers ... 164 Shapley, Rufus E 115, 116, 144 250 Sharpless, Nathan H 165 Sharswood, George 88-91, 154, 166 Sheppard, Furman 109, 1 10 Sloat, Commodore 134 Smith, Lewis Wain 158, 159 Smith, Thomas Washington, trial of . . . . 103 Smyth, Albert H 229, 230 Social side of the legal profession 9-22 Somerville, Mary 96 South wark 1 94 Splane's Petition 198-204 State House 18, 19 Sterne, Simon 1 79- 1 8 1 Stokley, Mayor 116 Strawberry Mansion 9 Stroud, George M 216 Stuart, Gilbert 157 Supreme Court interferes with lawyers' rights 202, 203 Sylvester, Sir John 227 Thackara, Alexander 38 Thackeray's "Fred Bayham" and "Rev. Charles Honeyman" 167 251 Thaw murder trial j j., Thayer, M. Russell 102-106, 189 Thompson, Oswald 65, 66, 67 Thorn, George W 144-151, 163 Timbs, John 227 Townsend, Joseph B 45, 154 Trinity College, Dublin 102 Troutman, George M 155 Trust Companies, Establishment of. . 39-45 Tuckerton Bay 150 Typewriting machines 41-44 Tyrone & Clearfield Branch of the Penna. R- R 205 United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit 53 United States District Court 82 Vaux, Richard 182, 1 83 Vulpius, Christine 24 Wagner, Charles M 38 Wagner, Philip 38 252 Walnut Street 20 Washington, D. C 14 Washington Grays memorial monument 222 Washington Square 19, 20, 222 Webb, Thomas 190, 194, 195 Webster, Daniel loi, 238 Weil, Edward H 224 Weller, Christian 1 24 Weller, Mrs. Christian 125 Westcott, Thompson 150 Wharton, George M 45 Wharton, Henry 45, 75 White, Richard P 14, 150, 176-178 Williams, Ellis D 155 Williamson, Passmore 38, 153 Williamson, Thomas 38 Women lawyers 92-100 253 f 8 8 vrr ■■•^a^ ^S'P, ,• ' ' » . fi ,^^ '> ^ %A ^-^ A. o r^;-^ '•> 'o\. 3-7!, ;^ ^ « " • i\S * <^. '0,1* ,0' o^ i^ a '-■^^ ^z ;?.^ ^' LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 313 471 4 %