54 nor one that would bow with more docility to the service of man than steam. But he had done greater things; he had laid the foundations of peace, happiness, and tranquillity, in the establishment of a system which would make law a blessing instead of a scourge to mankind. He believed that no acquisition of modern times, — if he rightly under stood what had been done in the State of New York, — he believed that no achievement of the in tellect was to be compared to that by which Mr. Field had removed the absurdities and the techni calities under which New York, in common with this country and the colonies, had so long groaned." And again : — "As to the colonies, he could only repeat that he trusted the example of New York would not be lost upon them. While England was debating upon the propriety of some small and paltry reforms in the administration of law, a great master in the art of administrative reform had risen there in the person of his distinguished friend Mr. Field, and had solved the problem which they in England were timidly debating. America had a great future before her, in the establishment and diffusion of the arts of peace. Let them leave to others — to absolute governments — to have their subjects shot down in the street, rather than wait even for the headlong injustice of a court-martial; but let it be the lot of England, hand in hand with America, to lead the way in the arts of Jurispru dence, as well as in other arts, — let them aim at being the legislators and the pacificators of the world." Where so much has been accomplished it may seem ungracious to wish for more; but candor compels me to say that I believe Mr. Field might long ago have procured the en actment of his proposed civil code, if he had possessed more pliancy, tolerance, and conciliatoriness Goaded by despicable personal attacks, and irritated by unfounded assertions and puerile predictions, his arguments have sometimes too closely resembled the famous Napoleonic " Bah! " which, however richly deserved, does not make converts nor gain suffrages. There has always been in him perhaps too much contempt for the " halfloaf" concession. Like the great Napoleon,
he has sometimes, I think, wrecked his cam paign by grasping at too much and running" too great risks. But this is the common fault of strong men, conscious of their powers and confident in the justice of their cause : they take not sufficiently into account the stupidity of small intellects, the apathy and conservatism of timid minds, and the natural combativeness and envy of even clever comprehensions. Mr. Field unites the creative and the ex ecutive faculties in a remarkable degree. He is not a mere theorist, sitting in a closet and spinning ideal and Utopian theories, but is eminently a man of affairs and a publicist, knowing the practical wants of mankind, and possessing the art to make provision for them in practicable .projects expressed in apt lan guage. Whatever else may be said of him, I think even his bitterest opponents will concede that this combination has seldom if ever been seen before, and is not apt to occur again. Mr. Field has been a great traveller. He has been once around the world, three times up the Nile (the last at the age of eightythree), and has visited Europe many times. In person he is a noticeable man, six feet two inches in height, broad-chested and pow erfully built, but with a studious stoop, and at the age of eighty-six he preserves his physical powers in a remarkable degree. He has a buoyant, cheerful, and philosophical nature, and a good and even temper; is alert, vivacious, humorous, companionable, fond of society; and his manners are at once courteous, dignified, and hearty. He is and always has been one of the most witty and charming of after-dinner speakers, as witness his speech last year at the reception of the Connecticut judges in New York. When he chooses he can exhibit the most exquisite tact, patience, and self-restraint, even in cir cumstances of great provocation; but the lion's paw does not always deal in cares ses. It is astonishing to view the elas ticity and youthfulness of this venerable man, and to contemplate his projects of writing
