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forty-four. He was not brilliant, in the usual acceptation of the term, he was some thing of a plodder, but he squared his every word, his every act, with the right as he saw it, and he enjoyed the full confidence of his associates, to whom, in the council chamber, owing to his honesty, candor, and common sense, he was a tower of strength, while in him the Bar recognized a pains taking and impartial judge. If deliberate, there was in him nothing of procrastination. His Supreme Court work was done with the least possible delay. His written opinions, which bore evidence of careful study, were clear and scholarly and were based more on principles than precedents. His first printed opinion is in Woodward et al. v. Barnes, 43 Vt. 330, and his last is in Holt v. Ladd et als., 71 Vt. 204. As in deeper channels the water moves quietly but with added power, so the influence of Judge Ross was unostentatious but abiding. His life was one of contin ual growth. Although an uncompromising foe of social evils, he was always charitable to the erring, slow to censure and ever ready to extend the helping hand. Espe cially to the younger members of the legal profession he was considerate and kind, and to no member of the Bench could a young attorney in perplexity go with greater con fidence of receiving consideration and help ful suggestion. No sword of Damocles hung over the head of the youngster at the Bar. Having positive opinions he ex pressed them fearlessly yet accorded to others the right of individual opinion and never took offense when differed from. Notwithstanding his studious habits he was fond of companionship and he was always delighted, when not engaged with business matters, to sit down with members of the Bar, as he chanced to meet them, and dis cuss legal problems. It was only in some exigency, or upon the trial of some cause of great importance or public interest, that Judge Ross showed his full strength and fertility of mind. As
an instance, the Bar will long remember his charge to the jury in the celebrated Way murder trial. So clear and exhaus tive was his exposition of the law applicable to that and like causes, that it commanded the attention, not only of the members of the legal profession of our own state, but of lawyers and judges of other states as well. Judge Ross grew to the very end. When asked to what he attributed his success he answered, "It is simply hard work, guided by a conscientious endeavor to understand and faithfully discharge present duty, with out reference to the effect upon my personal prospects in the future." He was never idle. Few indeed are the men who could have done as he did when, at the age of seventy-three, he was called to new fields. In February of that year, unsolicited and unexpected, came the message of Governor Edward C. Smith, requesting him to accept the appointment to fill the unexpired term of the late Justin S. Morrill, Vermont's venerable senior member of the United States Senate. The call was heeded; so sys tematic were his habits of work that it was a matter of hours instead of days to close all unfinished court work, and within forty-eight hours Judge Ross was on his way to the national capital. He entered the Senate just before the ratification of the peace treaty with Spain, which passed the Senate by a majority of one vote. His vote was in the affirmative. Webster, when asked how long he was in preparing his reply to Hayne, said, "Forty years." No great or lasting work is done without preparation. Preparation is power. Judge Ross was prepared. He was never idle; his reserve power was enormous. He was a member of the Committee on Territories and in his spare moments had thought out the problems that he so ably discussed on January 23, 1901, in a speech in the Senate, on "The Constitutional Re lations of Porto Rico to the United States."
