Attorney-General Griggs. elected presiding officer. In the House he had served acceptably on many commit tees, and as chairman of the Committee on Revised Laws he had sustained his legal fame by his written reports and tactical speeches. He gained a second senatorial term, but lost the third — thereby answer ing the maxim that " a man in public life who does not make some enemy, writes himself down on the roll as mediocre." He served as corporate counsel, first to Passaic and afterwards to Paterson — offices that may be termed amateur attorney-general ships. As senator he presided with dignity, impartiality and decision over an important impeachment trial of an alleged misdemean ant State Prison inspector, and therein did ample justice to his legal training and juris prudential tone of mind. He was an eager promoter of a measure for increasing the tax upon railroads, and proved thereby that he was not one of traditionally subsidized legislators in the interest of the railway cor porations of his much criticised state, al though he was often retained by these as temporary counsel in their outside litigations. In the famous suit of the state regarding the East Jersey Water Co. which by fran chise conferred, supplied certain towns and villages from rivers and reservoirs — an ac tion instituted by Attorney-General Stockton who stood then and still stands at the head of the New Jersey Bar — Counsellor Griggs although unsuccessful for his clients showed the grit, the self-reliance and the determina tion which can be read in the lineaments presented as frontispiece to this number. In 1888 he was a delegate to the Repub lican National Convention where his elo quent speech for nominee Benjamin Harri son was much admired, and became a cam paign document. As the candidate of his party for Governor eight years later he crossed electoral swords with that great law
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yer Chancellor McGill, than whom no Jerseyman was more personally popular in the Democratic party; whom he defeated and thereby changed state partisanship. Judged by his utterances in the past At torney General Griggs will hereafter fur nish opinions to his fellow cabinet min isters and their departments, in which the style will be Saxon, devoid of verbosity, very apt in differentiations and illustrations, and in every respect ranking with all the previous volumes of attorney-general opin ions from the time of Edmund Randolph, to that of Richard Olney. Attorney-General Griggs is as notable for his love of the rod, as was Daniel Web ster; and for the duck hunt as is Grover Cleveland; and as a raconteur as delightful as was his long-ago predecessor, William M. Evarts, who although blind and full of the in firmities of an octogenarian, dictated to him a cheerful and approbative epistle. Where fore it may well be inferred that the Attor ney-General will become a valuable addi tion to Washington society, and especially so, because his wife has demonstrated in the social circles of Paterson and Trenton ( which are widely known as attractive and polished,) her fitness, aptness and geniality as a win some hostess. Before handing over to his understudy, Lieutenant-Governor Voorhees, the Gov ernor's paraphernalia of power, AttorneyGeneral Griggs was entertained at a farewell banquet, and there presented with a service of silver. Among the toasts, his fellow-stud ent, the Vice-President, who was in the chair, formulated one " to the legal and social memory of instructor Senator Tuttle, their god-father at the New Jersey Bar." And it is a Sussex County tradition, that the latter during the legal novitiate of his pu pils predicted a notable public career for both.
