ties. He gained the confidence of the jury by the soundness of his presentation of a case rather than by attempting a display of brilliancy. Although often opposed by able men, some of them distinguished as brilliant advocates and quick to seize upon the weak places in an adversary's position, it was found that Mr. Foster was generally successful with the jury. His individuality, which is marked and strong, added to an iron will, made a great impression upon the common people. As an illustration of this power, an amusing sfory is told of a Newry juryman in a case in which Judge Foster was counsel and attorney for one of the parties. When the jury retired at the close of the charge, the foreman called for a bal lot, and stated that the question, on which they were to vote, was whether the verdict should be for the plaintiff or the defendant. Thereupon the Newry juryman jumped up and said that " he didn't know what they meant by plaintiff and defendant, but he was for Enoch Foster every time." As may readily be believed, the Judge was an effective campaign speaker. I think there are few men in his cou..ty who accom plished more than he in political meetings. He argued, as he did to a jury, with power and feeling, and this was supplemented by the earnestness of his convictions and the faith that the community had in the man. As often happens with men who succeed in the serious affairs of life and present a staid and sober mien, a closer acquaintance will develop a lighter side, disclosing a keen sense of the ludicrous, which breaks out, on suitable occasions, into droll humor. This is true of Judge Foster, who has a droll sort of humor that is very taking. He will enter tain in a delightful way a group of friends with a quaint Jonathan-like style, but its effect is as largely in his manner as any thing. According to the rule of the stand ard critic, he never laughs at his own stories, and were it not for the twinkle of his eye or the premonitory smile on his lip, no one
would suspect the coming joke and mirthful incident with which you will be delighted. He rarely indulges in wit, for that comes from a heart that may be hard as rock, and cold as ice. His light vein is pure humor, the sunlight of a warm, kind heart, and it can come from no other. It has been truly said that, "wit never caused a tear of sym pathy since the world was made." Humor cheers and charms. Sheridan was a wit, Lincoln was a humorist. Simple and un affected in his manners, he is agreeable to all. On the bench there is no effort to maintain a dignity otherwise than is natural and desirable in the judicial office. His charges to the jury are full and elaborate, taking them from point to point in a logical order that facilitates their understanding. As his instructions are carefully considered and well prepared, there is nothing of par tiality or haste in them. The contentions of each side are fully stated and the jury are assisted in the application of the rules of law with such care and minuteness that they cannot misunderstand their duty. During his eleven years of judicial life, Judge Foster has drawn an unusually large number of opinions upon important ques tions. The ability and sound judgment evidenced in them constitute his high rank as a jurist. A few of them, and which are now relied on as leading cases and frequently cited in our own and other courts, will be briefly noticed. Lockwood Co. v. Lawrence, 77 Maine, 297, was a case in which it is held that nui sances and injuries affecting waters, including the obstruction, diversion or pollution of streams, afford sufficient ground for equi table interference, on the ground of restrain ing irreparable mischief. It arose from the defendants, acting independently of each other, casting their saw-mill refuse into the river above the plaintiff's cotton-mill, which commingled and united into one indistin guishable mass, filled the plaintiff's pond, raceways and wheels, thereby stopping the
