Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1827-11-30

Extracts from the excellent Euloeium In COM
memora,ion Of William Tilghman, Chief Justice
Of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and
President OF the American Philosophical Society
delivered before the society; by the distinguished
Jurist, Mr.. Stephen du Poneeau.
Let prejudice misrePresent thee as il will-siII.
Philosophy thou art the friend and benefactor of
mankind. Justly did the great poet OF nature bes.
tow upon thee the epithets of charming s. diuiue:
Mt har.h aud Grabbed, dull fools suppose
But nusica as Is Apollo's lutte, shakespeare
Nor impious and vain, as pTesumptuous ieno-
rance has pretended - but hand 10 hand with ibv
sister religion, fading weak mortals TO sound
knowledge in this world, and III ough kno yled-e.
TO happiness in the next. Whether with tbv
Newton, thy Franklin, and thy Calico, thou dis =
coyerest the hidden laws OF nature add the course
of visible worlds-or with thy Bacon and tby
Locke, thou dives: into the depths of the human
mind and from the hsTmonies of moral truths, e
licHest the eternal aud immutable rules of reason
and Justice -thon art entitled 10 the veneIation
and gratitude ofihe human race. Thine il is to
unraYel the complicated aft lrs of men, TO still
+her wild contentious, aud, by thy powerful light,
TO direct the Judge, amidst his maze of presidents
10 the point where The rays Of truth and justice
meet, and where no technical Illusions can ob..ruct
his sight.
I, was reserved for Tlshman, with the aid Of
ab!e and enghlen ed colleagues, TO carry into ef-
feet the plan which the genius Of his great pre-
UecesSQI ha0 COnCeNeu. A1i5 IUllOSOpDlcaj lDlDG
rerceiyed al once, how equity could be combined
with law how two systems, apparently discor-
dsn., could be amalgamated into homogeneous
whole he found ip the common law itself, prin-
cIpies analogous 10 these which courts of equity
enfUrce- principles too long obscured by the Ia
meaning distinctions and frivolous niceties of
scholastic men he wiped of the dust FROM the
diamond and restored it TO its pristine spIendor-,
and though lie did not entirely plete that i'm
nense work, which still wants the aid of wise
legislators and liberal judges he brought it TO that
degree of perfection which defies ell attempts TO
dasuoy it in future, and Pennsylvania boasts of
code Of laws which our ordinary courts may safe
~ administer without The fear Of doing Injustice
and without needing to be checked By an extra
ordinary tribunal protesting different system Of
independence
With the same enlightened philosophical spi-
1it Tilghman always gave fair and liberal con-
struction TO the statutes which the legislature made
from time TO time for the amendment of the law
St simplifying the forms ofp=oceeding, which. how
eyer they might be suited 10 The meridian Of England
were rot well calculated for this country IF Those
statutes were not always drawn with the requisite
skill, he would supply it by their spirit, would, as
much as he could, carry Into effect The intentions
of the legislator Thus by his Interpretation of the
statutes, called OF JeotdH, our Practice is now
freed from those technical entanglemenIs by which
Justice was too often caught, bs Il were, in a net
and the merits Of cause made 10 yield TO formal
njcetiss while cl.icane rejoice1 at the triumph Of
inigiity. Mo- did he hesitate to brush away the
coSyYebs Of the old English law hen lie found
Them inconsistent with the spirit Of our own con-
si,uioH and laws, or with the habits, manners,
and feelings OF our people. He was, ne. erthe-
less friend to the common law. Ash system,
lie adniredA; az she Law Of this land, he enforced
it, He cberiGhed it principally as the fountain OF
those principles Of civil and religious freedom
which while despoiisn enslayed q willing world,
I, was the first TO procai.n, and which the nations
Of the old and hemisphere, through bloody
wars aud revolutions, have been, and still sri
wing with yaious success, TO nsiuIalize in soil.
moi YET perhaps, sufficiently prepared for their re
cep,ion. Tndl by jury, the liberty Of The press
the sacred privilege Of habeas corpus, always
found in him a warm and able supporter; al,
on these su' jects IL enough 10 say tdat-he este
lJiiaied the long contested general rule, that sgcu
ri,v COR GOOD behaviour should not be demsnde,
Jgfors conyi,ti0n iiicu'afly 10 cases Of slcge
libel, where tie accusation involves the grea
ugiociple Of the liberty Of tie press; decision
worthy Of Holt OF Camden, and of the best time
al Eagli-h freedom
liz opiniOns On constitutional law, will fem5!
lasting inonGmsnl 20 his fame. No man ut
defaoo1 better than himself tie complicated mi
eh,nism Of cur federal -y9em, no one perceive
,yih clearer ken tho limits which separate q
Ir,h,s and powers Of the Nadona AMI State AT
ih5fifies. none ever Defined those rights 1i
greater precision AID accuracy, OF asserted the
with greater Guinness and iDpmuality. lie new
would sseume Jurisdiction when it appeared
lin thai lle eor5 Of che United States were G..
ciusiyely entitled % b., snI 0n the c.hcr, he %
ser shruDk from The oxerciss oi bis own rights
Safe judge. Thus, 30 well known case,
ma.0ta.eI the docifinr, thata State court rHg
ia,eflofc and awe relief, when citizen was 800