JOHN RISSIG COWEN the skirmish line, though he was too wise to neglect that part of the engagement. But he saw quickly and clearly the vital points of a case and massed his forces there, for attack or defense, with unerring skill and judgment. He had the faculty of rapid but thorough preparation, with great forethought and resourcefulness. He would consider every statute, decision, or principle which might have a bearing for or against him, and cast it aside or array it in its proper place, with ready precision. He was so sure of hand that his work rarely required revision. He was fertile in suggestion, analogy and illus tration. He could detect a false scent quickly and follow a true one surely. In presentation he was earnest, forceful, accurate, and persuasive. He was fair, it seemed to me sometimes almost chivalrously fair, never claiming too much nor accord ing too little. He wanted no victory unless, with everv lawful consideration laid before
465
it, he could convince his tribunal of the justice of his cause. In the law, as well as in public and social life, he had the genius so well described by Emerson. "The secret of genius is to suffer no fiction to exist for us; to realize all that we know; in the high refinement of modera life, in arts, in sciences, in books, in men, to exact good faith, reality and a purpose; and first, last, midst, and without end, to honor every truth by use." But what more need be said of him than this. He came, a stranger, to the Bar whose standards were set by Martin, Pinkney, Wallis, Steele, Whyte and others I need not name. He was welcomed. After thirty years he has gone to his rest. That Bar now mourns him as a brother and, adding; his to the names which make its past secure, turns with hearts uplifted to the years to come. CINCINNATI, OHIO, June, 1905.
