The Gri that it deserves a passing notice. A mort gagee found it necessary to use his mort gagor as a witness in a cause in court. Under the old common law then in force, the mortgagor could not be used as such witness if he were interested pecuniarily in the event of the suit; so a release of the fullest character was executed under seal, and delivered to the mortgagor. The bond and mortgage were assigned, and a foreclosure begun in the Court of Chancery. The mort gagor pleaded the release, and the Chancellor held that the assignees of the mortgagee could not go behind that instrument; that it was a perfect answer to the foreclosure, and that the bill must be dismissed. The com plainant appealed, and on the decision five of the lay judges voted to reverse the Chancel lor overruling the law judges, and the decree dismissing the bill was reversed. He had some characteristics as a practising lawyer which deserve notice. He was al ways fair in his treatment of his brethren at the bar. No technicalities were ever re sorted to by him, to the personal disadvan tage of other attorneys; he never lost sight of the rights of his clients, nor of his duty to them; but he scorned to secure those rights by doing an injustice. He never favored a litigious suitor; he honored his pro fession too highly, loved it too well to make it, or its appliances, subservient to the malice or to the freaks of those who sought his services. In the conduct of causes he did his whole duty to his clients, but never by any unfair means. If he could only succeed by a resort to measures which had even the semblance of unfairness, he would rather suffer defeat than be successful. As a counsellor, he was wise, prudent, and honest. He never urged a client to litigate doubtful claims. He was ambitious for judicial honors, and when they came to him they found him ready to face the responsibilities of the position, because he knew what was in him and ap preciated his own capabilities and he knew that he was fully prepared. He was equipped
by study, by severe thought, by constant discipline, and by a training of mind and heart which fitted him for the place. He was a born judge, and by his mental con stitution and his moral attributes was fitted for the place; but he ever made his heart subservient to his mind. His judgments were based upon results reached through his intellectual efforts, and yet no man had a higher appreciation or a keener intuition of the demands of true morality, and of that high-toned moral sense which should ever characterize the judge in all his decisionsAbove all other considerations this question most influenced him in all his judicial acts: Is it right? His personal appearance was imposing; he was full six feet in height, with clear cut features, a full dark eye, dignified in manners, but always approachable to all. While so intense a student of profound legal principles, he was an eager reader of general literature, and kept himself fully abreast with all the topics interesting to such a mind as he possessed. His memory, which had an iron grasp, enabled him to retain all that he studied worth remembering. When death came and struck down this shining mark, the citizens of the State of all classes were moved with one common sor row; the great men of New Jersey came in crowds to his funeral, and surrounded his bier with grief-stricken hearts. In token of their respect the courts adjourned their ses sions, after the unanimous passage of reso lutions embodying the highest encomiums of the deceased judge; the Legislature, in both of its branches, attested by resolutions their appreciation of his worth, and appointed special committees to attend his funeral. By one common consent it was acknowledged that a great man had fallen. "William S. Clawson was elected an Asso ciate Justice in 1859, but was in office less than two years, so that his opportunities for the display of his abilities as a judge were few, and very little can be recorded of him. He was born in 18 16, at Woodstown, New
