The ‘Green Bag Volume XXII
Number 5
May, 1910
The Late Mr. Justice Brewer HE sudden death of Mr. Justice Brewer, in the height of his
great judge, but a born orator and
powers, coming at a time when the
himself to be hemmed in by the bounds
country was awaiting with eagerness the decision of the United States Supreme Court in the Standard Oil and Tobacco
of his profession, and as a lecturer and
writer occupied a quasi-public position quite outside the sphere of his judicial
cases, not only startled the nation, but
duties.
also brought about a somewhat grave situation, owing to the difiiculty of
thing clerical in his make-up, derived from a Bible-nurtured ancestry, and his utterances from the public platform often had a pulpit flavor, and suggested,
selecting a fit successor to one whose powerful,we1l-balanced intellect and mag
netic personal qualities undoubtedly did much to strengthen the position of the Court in the popular esteem. There can be no doubt in the minds of people who knew his keen sense of duty, and were aware that he might be called upon to write the opinions of the Court in those two cases, that his death was hastened by the labors that they en tailed.
Justice Brewer was one of those men whom nature casts in a large mould, and endows with such energy and adapta bility that they seem to be capable of achieving eminence in any one of several
callings, and to accomplish with little efiort what most men can gain only by
drudging application.
He deliberately
chose a judicial career, but at one time
he might have been picked out as likely to find his way into the United States Senate or to rise to some other great
political ofiice.
He was not only a
natural leader.
There
He refused to allow
was,
moreover,
some
at times, something of the zeal of the
missionary preacher.
or the austerity of
the
His interest in teaching, more
over, led to his accepting a lectureship in the Georgetown University school of law. He probably was as eloquent a man as ever sat on the bench. He was singularly felicitous in diction and straightforward in thinking. His ges tures were graceful and always helped to drive‘ in the point he was trying to make. He was indefatigable as a judge.
None worked harder than he.
It was
marvelous that he could accomplish so much. ' As a judge Justice Brewer was dis tinguished by his strong intellectual qualities, his quick perception, his ability for hard work, and his prompt dispatch of business. His ability was evidenced
by the approval of three Presidents. President Arthur had appointed him to the United States Circuit Court, Presi
