been a little finer and a little keener than judge or jury or audience, yet he always got into the jury box. It is pleasant to hear the East-Side, foreign-born citizens clamor for him in reform meetings. It is a comfort to hear him in after-dinner speeches. His wit is of the best, and there has been so much of it that it cannot be recounted on an occa sion like this. Other men have been above or below the forum; others have been strange or portentous, but he has always been just the height of the heart of the judge and the jury. Where in history has a lawyer tried and won so many cases of such magnitude? With a jury, perhaps Colonel James was his best suc cessor among those who are now dead. All of these men who led were largely gifted, physically as well as mentally. I do not for get Mr. Parsons and the chief of my name, Wheeler H . Peckham,but they are living, and, I hope, will long live to add fame to our bar. The Lord Protector's Chancellor took for his posey the motto : "The name of serjeantat-law was the name of a gentleman." Be sure that is a prime quality of all the leaders of the first rank. It is better for a man to hang a millstone around his neck than to dis parage old age or womanhood at our bar. You know how a roystering parson sued a man in King Alfred's time, because the other man called him, in the mixed language of those times, un grand /on, which in modern language would be a fool. The court used up a portion of the leisure of those days in settling the law for all time, and said that the parson would not recover because he had not shown special damage to his business, and added significantly: a"un attorney aliter. Still, to-day, an attorney should be free from that qualification. Besides the conspicuous leaders,, many lawyers live and die unknown to fame, men of admirable talent, men of honor, trusted as completely by their clients as the confessor
is trusted by the penitent. Their wars are matters mooted in books and in precedents of conveyancing. Their lines of battle are upon parchment, their successes are in un questioned titles and undisputed wills. Their credit with all good men is unbounded. With these men lies all hope of the future for bench and bar. In other States and other countries the leaders of the bar are elevated to the bench. Three perfect forums have I seen : One was where the Lord Chief Justice of England, Baron Russell, sat, with his snuff-box and with his red bandanna handkerchief, in the serenity that comes from the knowledge in all men that the judge is the ablest by birth and by learning, and as far above politics or pull or prejudice as are the heavens. The other was where Grover Cleveland sat as trial referee, with a physical, mental, and moral weight that made McGregor's seat the head of the table. Exception, objection, and disquiet, and the anticipation of appeal were absent from both of these trial forums. The particulars as to my third ideal forum I re serve for another occasion. From this table some years ago Mr. Justice Patterson severely criticised the bar. We plead non vult. There are reasons, partly of policy and partly of politeness, for this plea. But consider what the chosen leaders of the bar can offer of their choice to strengthen the bench. There will be interest in this query, if not to-day, then to-morrow. Roosevelts and Jeromes will now develop in every State, and will be numerous in our city. We are a proud people, and, above all, we crave the supremest quality in the material for our bench. We want more like Mr. Justice Patterson. We say that the way to give us more of the same is, in one way or another, directly or indirectly, to make the choice of judges from the choice of the bar and not of the politicians.
