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ways reasoning forcibly and originally, — one of his students who was a constant listener in court has neatly described his argument as a u huddle of ideas." His treatise on the Domestic Relations ranks him as one of the most learned of our early law-writers. The reports contain many of his opinions; for his pen was ready, as had been his tongue. One

very remarkable incident of his judicial ca reer was the fact that owing to the failure of his voice he did not speak above a whisper for several years, even in charg ing the jury. The foundation of the cele brated Litchfield Law School, where he and Judge Gould delivered their famous lectures for many years, was his proudest achieve ment. None of his biographers neglects to speak of his rare domestic qualities. Zephaniah Swift, who became Chief-Jus tice In 1815, is famil iar by name to all law yers as the author of "Swift's Digest," the THOMAS B. inspired commentary on Connecticut law. At the time of his appointment as ChiefJustice he had been for fourteen years a judge of the Superior Court, had served in the State Legislature and in Congress, and had been in France as Secretary of Legation with Oliver Ellsworth. His en trance into public life was a stormy one. Although a Federalist, and a stanch one, he was yet an open enemy of the Church Establishment. Ever ready with his tongue and pen, he tilted frequently with the Con gregational clergymen of his neighborhood. These reverend gentlemen and the friends

of the Establishment were outraged by his election to the State Legislature in 1787 and afterwards. He was nevertheless repeat edly elected. In one of his battles with the ecclesiastics, we are told by one historian, he was called by a certain divine " destitute of delicacy, decency, good manners, sound judg ment, honesty, manhood, and humanity; a poltroon, a cat's paw, the infamous tool of a party, a partisan, a political weathercock, and a ragamuffin." His bold thought and vigorous expression can be seen in his written opinions; but a glance at his "Sys tem," a predecessor of the " Digest" pub lished in 1795, con taining his excellent history and fearless criticism of Connecti cut institutions and laws, gives a better idea of his power. During the four years of his service as ChiefJustice it was his uni form practice to give the leading opinion of every case, even when the following opinions BUTLER. of the other judges show him to have been in a minority. After his retirement, which occurred in 1819, when his party lost its power, he assisted in the revision of the statute law of the State and published his "Digest." He died in 1823 at the age of 64. The associates of these first three ChiefJustices, though all honored by the affec tionate regard of Connecticut lawyers, can be noticed here but briefly. Nathaniel Smith, of Woodbury, was one of the most powerful of them, — a famous lawyer whose law was a sturdy and practical logic, and