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 I THE esses: bar. 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
 
 CoftlkqdtPkfkei', ^^ci. 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE 
 
 Newarl Bar aiii Law Lilirary Associatioi, 
 
 ©elivei'ed ^J^l\m'MJiy 'Ejveqiq^, June 4t\\, 1§T4- 
 
 -ooO^OOo- 
 
 WARD a TICUKNOH, I-.VW CASE PUINTERS, 832 BROAD STREET. 
 
 1874. 
 
THE ESSE2^ BA.R. 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
 
 Cof tlki\clt fktk^^ %fiLi. 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE 
 
 iBiark Bar aM Law Liary Associatioa, 
 
 ©elivei'ed ¥l:iui'^day 5ejvei)iii^, Juiie 4tl), 18^4. 
 
 TTAJID & TICHENOR, LAW CASE PRINTERS, 832 BROAD STREET. 
 1 874. 
 
F 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 pENTLEMEN ; i 
 
 I enter "with great satisfaction and with grateful acknowledg- 
 ment of the honor I have received, upon the duties of President 
 of the Newarii Bar and Law Library Association. 
 
 It is an institution I have long desired to see established. 
 Not alone because of the need among us of a public Law Library, 
 though if that were its only purpose, it would claim the earnest 
 support of us all; but because of those other ends to which such 
 a library is but a single means, " the maintenance of the honor 
 and dignity of the profession of the law, the cultivation of social 
 intercourse among its members, and the increase of its usefulness 
 in promoting due administration of justice." 
 
 It can hardly be, gentlemen, that there should be difference 
 of opinion among us as to the dignity of the profession to which 
 we belong. I will not say that it is as noble a calling as that 
 which seeks to save men's souls, and to raise mortality from its 
 groveling wretchedness to that immortality of puyty and happi- 
 ness for which its Maker has formed and fitted it. Nor, perhaps, 
 can it be fairly argued that it is as necessary to mankind as that 
 other profession which even savages must possess, which cares for 
 the health of the body and expends its energies in prolonging 
 physical life. And yet what is life without the government of 
 law? How can there be society without it? How happiness 
 without society ? What satisfaction in society without civiliza- 
 tion ? What in civilization without freedom ? And how can the 
 rights of men in free civilized society be understood, established 
 and maintained, unless there be men learned in the law; able cor- 
 rectly to expound it; to frame and administer it as a system; and 
 
then, as judges, to declare and enforce it; as advocates to inform 
 and aid the judiciary, and in the other less publicly exercised 
 branches of the profession to carry out its innumerable details ? 
 Further, how necessary to the perfection of its benefits is it not, 
 that these men be pure in heart, incapable of prostituting their 
 talents or their influence ; how dangerous, unless they, as a class, 
 in prosecuting their labors, are impelled and controlled by the 
 desire of usefulness to their fellow-men, by sense of duty to the 
 Great Source of all law and government, scorning to recognize as 
 principal inducements, and struggling always to avoid cherishing, 
 unduly, any motives of inferior dignity. 
 
 This is a base world in which we live, gentlemen, fitted though 
 it is for the acquisition of wonderful happiness. The soul that 
 aspires to the attainment of purity, finds its wings loaded when it 
 would stretch them for flight. The lawyer who would be worthy 
 of his profession and reach its acme of attainment, has much in 
 himself to struggle with, more in his necessary surroundings. He 
 sees so much of the weakness and wickedness of human nature : 
 he deals so constantly with its basest motives, that it is hard, 
 very hard to keep his soul undefiled. He must call to his aid 
 everything which can stimulate a lofty tone, and brace him for 
 daily struggle with the forces which encumber and pull him down. 
 And greatest of all these helps to this great end is esprit de corps, 
 a sentiment of brotherhood in pursuit of the -great object, by 
 which each sustains the other as do soldiers who touch elbows 
 advance more boldly to meet the shock of battle ; and indispen- 
 sable to the acquisition, retention, refinement and increase of this 
 sentiment is association. 
 
 That the profession possess so much of this sentiment of broth- 
 erhood is due to the necessary and constant association of its 
 members. It is singularly free from petty jealousies. Lawyers 
 contend warmly, give and take hard blows, have, momentarily, 
 hard feelings towards each other, sometimes enmities more or less 
 rooted. But, as a class, they do not decry each other. They do 
 not strike from behind. They challenge comparison with the fol- 
 lowers of any other profession or of any art in this point of view. 
 
The philosophy of this diiference in their favor from other men 
 is their daily association, informing them constantly of each other's 
 merits, teaching charity for mutual defects, compelling mutual 
 dependence. And hence the advantage of such institutions as we 
 this nisrht inaugurate. Through the direct cultivation of social 
 intercourse, it aims directly at increasing our esprit de corps, and 
 at establishing rules, and diffusing among us all views of profes- 
 sional duty, which will elevate and purify our daily practice. 
 
 That such is the result of such associations experience every- 
 where shows. The magnificent tone of the English bar is doubt- 
 less greatly due to the necessity of every barrister being educated 
 in some one of those societies through which he enters the profes- 
 sion, and of which he continues to be a member. And, wherever 
 in this country such associations as this exist, they are found mea- 
 surably to effect the same beneficial result. A most notable 
 instance of rapidly derived benefit is familiar to us all. The purifi- 
 cation of the judiciary in the great neighboring metropolis by the 
 impeachment and conviction of its disgraceful members is due 
 largely, if not wholly, to the creation of just such an association 
 as this, and its combining the bar in the resolve to rescue society 
 from judicial corruption and villainy. Thank heaven no such 
 necessity exists here. It is difficult for Jerseymen to comprehend 
 how judges can be corrupt. But associations that can purify, can 
 even more easily prevent impurity. And such, now-a-days, is 
 the universality and extent of the greed for wealth, so frequent 
 the adoption of the profession as a mere trade, and by men not 
 blessed with the best opportunities for education ; so much has 
 the number of legal practitioners been increased, that an associa- 
 tion having the aims of this, has become well nigh a necessity. 
 
 You are familiar with the scope of the association as apparent 
 in its constitution and by-laws. It seeks " social intercourse 
 among lawyers" as a substantial end, and as a means tending to 
 the growth of a proper esprit de corps. It seeks the maintenance 
 of the honor and dignity of the profession by subjecting every 
 member to disgrace if duly convicted of professional misconduct, 
 and by authorizing action according to law against persons guilty 
 
, ' 6 
 
 of such misconduct, even though not members of the Asso- 
 ciation. It seeks it also by systematizing supervision of 
 proposed changes , in the laws, and suggesting improve- 
 ments in legal education and in the rules regulating admission to 
 practice. All this in addition to the object most palpably desira- 
 ble, the establishment of a public Law Library, the need of which 
 has always been and is now increasingly felt. The enormous 
 mu.ltiplication of reports, their great expanse, the impossibility of 
 having all in private collections, make such a library indispensable 
 to the younger members of the profession, and almost equally 
 desirable for the seniors. 
 
 Gentlemen, the Bar of Newark has always been distinguished. 
 We owe it to our predecessors to do all we can to maintain its 
 ability, honor and usefulness. And I have thought it would be a 
 fitting thing on this very interesting occasion, for me to add to 
 the desultory reflections which 1 have had the honor so far to pre- 
 sent, a sketch of the men of our Bar who have passed away, and 
 with some of whom few among us have been acquainted. I beg 
 leave to say that it is no proof of my own age that I remember 
 so many. I came to the bar, you will be kind enough to note, at 
 a very early age, too early indeed, by some years. And some of 
 those I shall mention, I knew before my admission. 
 
 Chief Justice Hornblower presided at this Circuit when I first 
 knew anything of it. You are all, doubtless, familiar with his 
 appearance, from the excellent engraved portrait of him which 
 hangs in some of our offices. It is said that the painting lately 
 placed in the Supreme Court room at Trenton is a good likeness 
 of him at middle age. It is hard for those who knew him later to 
 believe it. He was a small, slight man, of a frail, almost feeble 
 appearance, slow in his ordinary walk, careful in dress, neat in all 
 personal arrangements ; yet, in spite of his apparent feebleness, 
 capable of the greatest amount of work, performed for the love of 
 it. Deeply learned, accurate, especially distinguished for readi- 
 ness of apprehension and nicety of discrimination, perfectly in 
 love with the law as a science, hating wrong in any shape, fear- 
 less, almost careless as to public opinion or feeling, instinctively 
 
just, of fervid impulses, with absolutely no pride of opinion,' though 
 having a child-like delight in his own performances, seeking 
 always to be fair, though frequently becoming, too much interested 
 not to seem otherwise than unbiased, — these were his leading 
 mental and moral characteristics. He never intended wrong to 
 any one, great or small. His nature leaned to the support of the 
 weak. He might be imposed upon, but was beyond temptation 
 to wrong-doing. A decided, humble Christian, kindly affable, 
 especially to the young, delighted to have happy youth around him, 
 his latch-string ever on the outside, no man ever more deserved 
 good will than Joseph C. Hornblower, and very few passed so 
 many years of happy usefulness as he. 
 
 The Bar of that early day seemed to me, if they really were 
 not, giants. There was the first Chancellor Williamson, whose 
 features are familiar to all who attend Supreme Court, a man of 
 the keenest intellect, most careful preparation, shrewdest tact in 
 management ; not spoken of as an orator, but whose powers of 
 reasoning and whose professional learning were exceeded by Very 
 few. There was the elder Elias Van Arsdale, though he very sel- 
 dom appeared before any tribunal but that of Chancery, an emi- 
 nently handsome man, of fine presence, habitually reserved and 
 somewhat secluded, a constant and severe student, punctilious in 
 accuracy, full of equity learning, which was his specialty, and 
 popularly regarded as the great Chancery lawyer of the day. 
 There was William Halsey, who was what I might call the great 
 rough-and-tumble advocate of the State, of strong, rugged nature, 
 large and portly presence, indomitable pluck and persistency, elo- 
 quent — not making pretension to learning as a lawyer but seek- 
 ing success mainly before juries. Many actions in those days 
 were tried before the Court of Common Pleas, composed then of 
 as many Justices of the Peace as could be congregated for the 
 occasion. Glorious trials those must have been ! And many 
 were the anecdotes which the elders related of the funny inci- 
 dents of litigation. There was also the late Chancellor Halsted, 
 who, in his vigorous erect old age still remains among, or at least 
 near us, distinguished all his long life for acuteness of perception, 
 
Pf i ir .JgV. T Dit.V'^.'.-l'^ 
 
 rare learning, unflinching fidelity to his client and to what he 
 thought was right, and for tlie power of close analysis and skilful 
 statement. There was Smith Scudder of Elizabeth, father of the 
 present distinguished member of the Hudson Bar, and represen- 
 tative in Congress from that district, a lawyer of industry, learn- 
 ing and noted ability. There was also, certainly to a young man's 
 eye, chief among all the seniors, Theodore Frelinghuysen, of whom 
 the present distinguished Senator was an adopted son, renowned 
 in Church and State, remarkable for elevation of character, and 
 whose forensic ability, overshadowed by the conspicuous nature of 
 his services on the platform and in the Senate, seems to me, always 
 his enthusiastic admirer in every department of effort, to have 
 been more striking than his undeniable merit elsewhere than in the 
 courts. He was a grand specimen of true manhood, simple in all 
 his tastes, modest yet not devoid of proper self-appreciation, think- 
 ing himself no greater than the smallest, but still no smaller than 
 the greatest, free from the slightest ostentation, and apparently 
 from the least elation at the success which had always come 
 unsought to his hand ; of learning, in all matters and to the 
 extent to which learning is necessary, though scarcely to be 
 ranked among those with whom law is a hobby and quaint law 
 literature a delight ; in intellect, quick, clear, direct, and espe- 
 cially remarkable for the instinctive rapidity and accuracy with 
 which he seized the strong point of his case, and the vehement 
 vigor with which he presented it; a noble figure of a man, whose 
 face looked all he was, and master of an elocution so natural that 
 you could not remark it as skilful, which carried a jury along with 
 his train of thought, and fastened them to his conclusion, as a rapid 
 river drives along the drift-wood which it encounters ; all this 
 joined to a voice like a flute, managed so as to thrill you when- 
 ever he sought to stir the emotions — this was Theodore Freling- 
 huysen as an advocate — certainly such he was to the enthusiastic 
 young men of his later days at the bar. He left it in 1838 in the 
 zenith of his powers — when he was less than sixty years old — to 
 take charge of the New York University, making, as I think, the 
 greatest mistake of his life by abandoning the field for which 
 
nature and education had most completely fitted him ; a field too 
 grand for any man to entirely desert. 
 
 I almost distrust my opinion of this distinguished man, knowing 
 how warm was my personal attachment to him. And yet I am 
 free to say that among all the advocates i have known, none has 
 ever seemed to me to display more tact, judgment and power than 
 Mr. Frelinghuysen. And the weight of his character was such 
 that he was almost omnipotent with juries. Fortunately he 
 always sought only to advocate the right side. 
 ' Close upon the heels of these seniors, who dropped away one 
 after the other, were eminent men, known more or less to most of 
 you. There was Asa Whitehead, one of the strongest and hon- 
 estest men the State ever produced ; whose legal opinion in this 
 part of the State was almost more respected than that of any other ; 
 who, without pretending to polish, while yet never offensive 
 to taste, wielded a battle-axe in argument from whose blows men 
 had to stand aside. Essentially a strong man — of excellent judg- 
 ment — an honest intellect as well as an honest soul — a man who 
 should have been Chancellor or Judge, but who lived through a 
 long life of great eminence in his profession, without ever being 
 called on to serve in public station, too proud to seek office, and 
 therefore forgotten. There was the younger Elias Van Arsdale, 
 an admirable lawyer and tactician, who never spoke at the bar, 
 but who could prepare and manage a cause as few ever could. 
 There was Amzi Dodd, uncle of the present Vice Chancellor, of 
 remarkable head and figure, fonder, it was said, of disputation 
 either upon the five points of theology, the science of fluxions, con- 
 tingent remainders or anything else about which disputation was 
 difficult, than of any delight in life ; who was reputed to carry all 
 the papers of his office in his hat, and often lost hat and papers 
 together. 1 never heard him but once, for he died shortly after I 
 came here to study. But no man had a higher local reputation 
 as a thinker and for argument than he. There was John P. Jack- 
 son, who soon exchanged his legal career for the duties in which 
 he 80 distinguished himself, of railroad manager. It is easy to see 
 what he would have been had he remained at the Bar, There 
 2 
 
10 
 
 was Archer Gifford, a gentleman of rare accomplishments and 
 much curious learning, devoting himself mostly to equity cases, 
 and always most respected and beloved. There was Amzi Arm- 
 strong, whose early death deprived the State and the country of 
 one of their most valuable citizens. He was a spare, angular figure, 
 bent and hollow chested, of thoughtful, absorbed expression, 
 living for the law, and for nothing else, except the vindication when 
 occasion came, as was the way with all, then, of his political opin- 
 ions. A student from childhood, he had stored his mind with legal 
 information. He was profound, exact, clear, and eminfintly judi- 
 cious and practical. Possessed of the dangerous gift of bitter satire, 
 he yet was singularly amiable at heart — modest and unassum- 
 ing. He was the most conscientious man as to the rights of clients 
 to his time and services I ever knew. Distinguished always, he 
 yet had just reached the point of full development when, taking 
 cold by exposure after an argument, he was seized with consump- 
 tion, and after lingering a year, died, to the great grief of the 
 whole State, and especially of his fellow-citizens of this county. 
 1 have not yet mentioned Governor Pennington, because at the 
 early period I have been recalling, he was discharging the duties 
 of his office. Nor need I say much to recall him to your minds. . 
 For after his return to the bar in 1842 he practiced among us 
 nearly twenty years, beloved as few men are, and respected for 
 his peculiar ability, both with courts and juries. He was such a 
 splendid looking man, so full of bonhommie, his jokes were so 
 good and told so agreeably, and his heart was so kind, that all 
 loved him dearly, while with courts his strong common sense and 
 direct manner of approaching and discussing every subject made 
 him a most formidable adversary. No man ever exceeded William 
 Pennington in " strong roundabout common sense," or in power of 
 terse expression. 
 
 I must not forget among those that are gone, Alexander C, M. 
 Pennington, thought by many to have had the finest intellect of all 
 the distinguished lawyers of that name — certainly possessed of 
 many rare qualities as a lawyer and an advocate ; most persistent 
 in purpose and thorough in preparation, leaving no stone unturned 
 
1] 
 
 to eflfect success for his client; learned, astute, bold and irrepres- 
 sible. We had, too, at this bar up to 1849 or thereabouts, the 
 very popular John Chetwood, who then went to California and 
 won hi^h and deserved distinction, a man of large attainments, 
 graceful and forcible elocution, and the soul of honor and gentle- 
 manly feeling and conduct. The Van Arsdale family furnished 
 us two other friends, Robert Van A'rsdale, whose death but a 
 short time since, though he had practically long left the local bar, 
 recalled to our memories his amiable life, his learning and upright- 
 ness ; and his younger brother, Jacob, for several years the Prose- 
 cutor of the Pleas for this county, successful and faithful in that 
 important office, and a favorite at the bar and in the county. All 
 knew his integrity, capacity and amiability. And only lately 
 there passed away William K. McDonald, everybody's friend, and 
 whom everybody loved, the soul of honor and of courtesy, of ele- 
 gant learning, literary even more than legal ; perhaps more uni- 
 versally popular as a citizen than any lawyer among us. 
 
 The roll of the Essex Bar is not complete without the mention 
 of others whose lives were mostly passed elsewhere. Martin Ryer- 
 son, of Sussex, distinguished as a lawyer and Judge, began his 
 profession here. So, before him, and before my time, did Abram 
 0. Zabrirfkie, of Bergen, afterwards of Hudson, whose recent sad 
 -death just at the end of his Chancellorship, robbed us of one of 
 the greatest minds and biggest hearts New Jersey ever owned. 
 So, also, a late Chief Justice, Edward VV. Whelpley, was first of 
 this Bar. He studied law, and after his admission occupied the 
 same office with myself when we were boys together ; and removed 
 after one or two years to Morristown. A grand legal mind was 
 his, and sad was it that he died just at the culmination of its 
 development. His career indicated that time would have made 
 him not only an eminent but a great Judge. 
 
 Besides all these, till the counties of Passaic and Union were 
 respectively set off", the lawyers of Patcrson and Elizabeth were 
 uieml)ers of the Essex Bar. Thus must we mention on our roll, 
 among others, Aaron Pennington and James Speer of Patcrson, 
 John J. Chetwood, Francis B. Chetwood and Benjamin William- 
 
12 
 
 pon of Elizabeth. The two last were Prosecutors, and Mr. J. J. 
 Chetwood Surrogate of this county. Propriety will not permit 
 me more than hastily to mention the living. But of Aaron Pen- 
 nington and John J. Chetwood, who are gone, I can speak a word 
 or two. The first, brother of Governor Pennington, resembled 
 him closely in appearance, mind and character. He was, perhaps, 
 more of a book-lawyer; and his nomination as Chancellor, by Gov- 
 ernor Newell, during the famous interregnum, was eminently fit 
 to be made. John Joseph Chetwood was a gentleman of great 
 astuteness and practical talent, who enjoyed for a long time a large 
 practice and wielded a great influence in the section of the county 
 now comprised within Union 
 
 There are two among our most distinguished names still living, 
 to whom, nevertheless, allusion can be made, since one is certainly 
 forever gone from the bar, the other mainly absorbed in the pur- 
 suits of statesmanship. 1 need not mention them nor dwell upon 
 merits familiar to us all. Enough to say that no more distin- 
 guished Judge occupies the Bench of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States than is one of these eminent men — while the other 
 worthily upholds an honored name and the reputation of his native 
 State in the Senate 
 
 1 must break the rule not to mention the living, in regard to two 
 other distinguished citizens, still spared, and covered with well-, 
 deserved honors. I mean the two judges who succeeded Chief 
 Justice Hornblower in presiding at this circuit — the afterward 
 Chancellor, at first Chief Justice Green, and Governor, afterward 
 Justice Haines. 
 
 They who did not know Henry W. Green as a Circuit Judge, 
 missed seeing an eminent illustration of judicial majesty. His 
 great ability was certainly never excelled in New Jersey, and 
 even less conspicuous than his stern, yet gracious manner in exer- 
 cising his high office. He sat patient, untiring, admitting evi- 
 dence with great liberality, and bearing and adjudicating all points . 
 with rare impartiality through the cause on trial. But when he 
 came to charge the jury, he was so sweeping in supporting the 
 side he thought in the right, that counsel on both sides were half 
 
13 
 
 ashamed ; the successful advocate, because his own effort appeared 
 by comparison so worthless ; the unsuccessful one because his 
 seemed weak and needless. Be was that rare achievement, 
 a great Judge. His absence from the bench, the result, it is 
 believed, of over anxiety for perfection in discharging judicial 
 duty, is a most sorrowful and deplorable loss to law as a science, 
 and to the State and the country. Their sympathies follow him 
 into iiis letirement with earnest wishes for his restored health 
 and happiness. 
 
 We all knew Judge flaines, and that is saying that we all loved 
 him. Was there ever a finer exemplification of the Christian gen- 
 tleman ? What self-control he constantly exhibited ; what sincere 
 desire to be right; what devotion to the cause of the weak, op- 
 pressed or attacked by the strong ; what patient, constant atten- 
 tion to every duty ; what modesty as to his own sufficiency ; and 
 iiow judicious and practically right was he generally found. 
 
 The bar of Essex, my friends, ought to be a good bar, for a 
 good Bench makes tliat, as on the other hand, a bar distinguished 
 for virtues and learning, supplies and compels, eventually, a com- 
 petent, inncorruptible, sagacious bench. And we have, and 
 always have had presiding over us, Judges under whom it was 
 both a satisfaction jand an honor to practice; learned, just, judi- 
 cious, right-loving, God-fearing, independent, incorruptible. 
 
 Counting up our jewels, we find that the Essex Bar has within 
 the last fifty years furnished the State with five Chancellors, the 
 two Williamsons, Pennington, Halsted, the present incumbent 
 of that high office, the personal friend of us all, Chancellor Run- 
 yon, and we may fairly add, since he both studied and practiced 
 here awhile, the late distinguished Zabriskie. Nor must we for- 
 get to claim our present excellent Vice-Chancellor. We have 
 likewise supplied the Supreme Court with a Chief Justice, Horn- 
 t)lower, and we might claim another, Whelpley, and Judge Ogden, 
 also, perhaps. Judge Ryerson. The elder and younger Freling- 
 huysen have both been Senators in Congress and both Attorneys 
 General : and of the two Justices of the United States Supreme 
 
14 
 
 Court who, since its formatioD, have come from New Jersey, one 
 is from our midst. 
 
 It is sad to look backward, as your invitation has induced me to 
 do, and reckon over those whose corpses are strewn over the battle 
 field of life. But it is fit at this inauguration of an effort to pro- 
 mote and maintain the honor and dignity of the Newark Bar; to 
 increase the efficiency of its members ; to lift and hold up their 
 character, that we should look back at those who have made the 
 character we seek to uphold, who have heretofore in this city exerap- 
 lifted what the lawyer should be. The tone of the profession here 
 has always been high. These men and their associates have 
 made it so. They loved'the profession. They honored it, regard- 
 ing it as no mere trade or even as an art, but as a means of use- 
 fulness to their fellow men, of upholding right, and of repress- 
 ing wrong ; of advancing the permanent good of society. 
 
 I invoke their names that our memory of them may stimulate 
 us to equal or surpass their virtues. Let us keep steadily in mind 
 the requisites of the character of the high toned lawyer. Let 
 our great motive in labor be a sense of duty and the desire of 
 usefulness. Let us be faithful to our clients to the end, though it 
 be even the bitter one. Let us remember that the good lawyer 
 aims to repress and not to foster litigation. Let nothing tempt 
 us to practice deception, either in common life or in the forum. 
 Let us scorn cunning and chicanery and the acquisition of advan- 
 tages through the slip of a brother. Let us cherish love for the 
 profession ; for the law as a science ; for advocacy, as an art neces- 
 sary to the protection and enforcement of right, and the adminis- 
 tration of justice. 
 
 With these maxims of professional morals let us join con- 
 scientious industry in acquiring learning, in absorbing the princi- 
 ples of law, in seeking its judicious improvement. And finally, 
 through this institution and elsewise, let us cultivate the senti-' 
 ment of brotherhood, cherishing among each other kindly feelings, 
 seeking immediately to forget the momentary rancor natural to 
 contest, and to breathe into conflict the spirit of knightly courtesy. 
 
15 
 
 It is mncli only to aim at such results. Blessed indeed will be 
 this institution if it give us any aid in attaining them. For one I 
 rejoice at the experiment and acknowledge the honor conferred 
 by being selected as your first President. 
 
 Let us each, in his sphere, labor earnestly to attain for the insti- 
 tution all the usefulness of which it is capable, assured that in no 
 other way can we so grandly do our duty to our fellow-men as by 
 combining to perpetuate a capable, independent, fearless and duty- 
 loving Bar, the surest method by which to secure an incorruptible 
 and competent Judiciary and the faithful and wise administration 
 of the laws. 
 
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