whose peculiar physical and mental characteristics made him tremendous to his adversaries. John Trumbull was another, the master of belles-lettres, author of " McFingal," who after his elevation to the bench in 1801 devoted himself to his judicial work for eighteen years. Simeon Baldwin and Calvin Goddard, each of whom had been in Congress, were distinguished men and judges. Roger Griswold, John CottonSmith, and Jonathan Ingersoll were all taken from the bench for service in the executive offices. James Gould was a finished scholar and one of our most learned judges. He was author of a work on Pleading, and was associated with Tapping Reeve in the conduct of the Litchfield Law School.
The Toleration party, a combination of all the elements hostile to the Federalists and the Congregational Establishment, whose watchword was a new Constitution, carried the elections in the fall of 1817. The Constitution, which was adopted in the following year, reduced the number of the judges from nine to five. Owing to the excellence of the old court, and the fact that most of the lawyers, always a conservative class, were Federalists, there was much anxiety to see what kind of a court could be formed by the Tolerationists from their scant material. It was hoped that some of the old judges would be retained; but all were retired by the Tolerationist Legislatures, except Judges Hosmer and Brainard. Judge Brainard, though a Federalist, was retained owing to the support of some of the Tolerationists from his own county. He was a quiet, business-like judge, who had been a member of the court from 1807, and continued in service for ten years after the enforced retirement of his colleagues. The new judges were John T. Peters, Asa Chapman, and William Bristol, the last of whom had been conspicuous in the Constitutional Convention, and was afterwards United States Judge for the District of Connecticut.
An image should appear at this position in the text. To use the entire page scan as a placeholder, edit this page and replace "{{missing image}}" with "{{raw image|The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 02.pdf/474}}". Otherwise, if you are able to provide the image then please do so. For guidance, see Wikisource:Image guidelines and Help:Adding images. |  |
ORIGEN S. SEYMOUR.
Stephen Titus Hosmer was made Chief Justice, serving until disqualified by age in 1833. He was a native of Middletown, a graduate of Yale in 1782, and had studied law with William Samuel Johnson and Oliver Ellsworth. His practice was large. Persistent and methodical application was the condition, if not the cause, of his success as a lawyer and judge. For several years after his appointment he followed the practice of his predecessor, Judge Swift, in giving the leading opinion in every case decided, so making the reports of those years a monument of his industry. An examination of his opinions shows a remarkable familiarity with the authorities, a reliance on precedent and on the more elementary principles, and a notable skill in the analysis of cases to permit of their application. As a trial judge he was quick to see the issues involved, and to indicate what his decision would be. In the higher court he was sometimes driven to a rather vigorous defence of his own rulings.
It is said of him that he made a practice of
