Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1843-07-15
TRIBUTE TO MR.. LEGARE.
ny Mr.. JUSrtcE STORY.

ton OF the United states, TO the Studsnts 0t
Dane Law College, on Thursday, the 22d
ult, Mr.. Justice Story made the following
remarks upon the character Of Mr.. Legare.
They were taken down by a gentleman pres
| ent, and are how published Under the sanction
of the learned Judge,
When | last net yor1, | little anticipated The
calamitoua event which has since occurred, III
the death Of a distinguished man who expired
in the city Of Boston on Tuesday morning last.
Whoever considers the principles Of tho Con.
s%tltution can never forget him; for. he w3s firtn
| and true To ito doctrines, and exhibited that
elevated and comprehensive s%iatemanship,
which the constitution demands Of its real
friend, ] refer of course, TO Mr.. Iegarc, the
late Attorney General, with whom | had the
happiness TO be intimately acquainted; whom
| knew not only az All accomplished gentle.
man, but also 90 D great lawyer. ! speak Of
him to you here, not merely to pay a deserved
tribute TO worth, but because ! know Of no
man whom ! would sooner PROFOUND ~ an ex-
ample, to young men enferiig the profession
which he has 80 much adorned. | had indeed
looked 10 hun with great fondness Of expeeta-
ton. | had looked TO see him accomplish
what he was 30 well fitted to do, what ! know
was the darling object Of his pure ambition
~ HliIFiit LHB EIsH law ipbb 'IF Jttl3pfH-
dsnce Of this country, and thereby to expand
the Common Law 10 greater uaefulness and a
wider adaptation 10 the progress Of society.
Mr.. Legare was 4 native Of South Carolina
and was graduated, ! understand, at al early
age, at Columbia College. He proceeded soon
after he left that institution 10 EdiBburr,
where he devoted hlm0eif with great diligence
| and intensity Of study, to general and claeei.
u.1 Iitax.,.n H.. fL.p ,r,.,,i 10 ~, fFut;,..t
! and pursued the study Of the Civil Law with
great a~ssjduity and success, and afterwards
returned to South Carolina 10 practice, and
became soon eminent at The bar Of that state.
II IL a most singular circumstance, that en-.
inence in general literature should, III the
public mind, detract from h mans reputation
as a lawyer. Il is an unworthy prejudice, for
| certainly the science Of Jurisprudence may
borrow mid AZ we'll az receive ornament from
The cultivation oioall the other branches Of
human knowledge. Bot tho prejudice exists
| and We, one would think that the public had
witnessed 30 many examples Of men who
were great scholars and great lawyers like
wise, that the prejudice might be al this day
disarrned of so much Of lis quality as is apt to
do Injustice 10 the reputation Of living men.
Lord Mansfield was "A most eminent scholar
III pgHeFdt ltitEiS, Uhb I've "to MO h'iDti ISb~
sed in Jurisprudence. Sir William Blackstone
was so elegant a scholar, that his Comlnen-
| taries are models Of pure English prose; but
they are none the less the invaluable mine Of
| the Laws Of England. Lord s,oweiI, the
friend and Executor of DR.. Johnson, WAS in Va
rious attainnen,s exceeded by few; but his
knowledge of general Jurisprudence was grea-
ter than 'ha. Of any man Of his day. Some Of
IL, .ua,.la,t ppna frtxt nm tho Epdli9h han
ches are some of England's best scholars. But
| there as we'll as here--though certainly it is
| far greater here--the public prejudice almost
| denies to a great scholar the right to be emil
nent as a jurist.--Dr. Johnson has said
And mark what ills the scohlsr's life assail,
Toll, envy, want, the patron and the goal.
None of these were the evils Of our friend.
His only evil was, that his reputation as Il
LAWYER was sometimes moderated, because of
his general %attainments. But nothing could
be more unfounded than this idea. He con-
sidered the Law as his pursuit; al his object;
as the field of his ambition. Fifteen years ago
| knew him as an eminent lawyer. He after
wards went abroad in a diplomatic capacity;
and, at Brussels, where he resided, devoted
himself anew to the study Of the Civil Law,
with a view TO make it subse rvieDt to the
great object Of his life, the expansion Of the
Common Law, and the forcing into it the en-
larued and liberal principals and just morality
of The Roman Jurisprudence. This object he
seemed about to accomplish; for his arguments
before the Supreme Court were crowded with
the principals of the Roman law wrought into
the texture of the Common Law with great
success. In every sentence that | heard, |
was struck with this union of the two systems.
At the same time, the whole was wrought in
a style beautiful and chaste, but never pass
ing from the line of the argument, nor losing
sight Of tho cause. His augmentation was
marked by the closest logic; at the sane time
he had a presence in speaking, which / have
never seen excelled.--He had warm, ricf;
STYLE. but he had no defamation; for he knew
that defamation belongs neither 10 the jurist
nor to the scholar.
It was only during the last summer, that
he wrote to me that he intended TO translate
Herneccius's Elements; for he wished, he
said to entice the American Lawyer to the stu
DIV of the Civil Law. lie added, that he had
nothing to gain by undertaking such work,
but that be would undergo the labor as a ho.
mage to his country. Knowing his eminent
qualifications for the task, I advised him to
make the translation, and to add to it notes Of
his own, 80 as to adapt the principles to the
existing state of the Common Law; telling
him that he would thereby confer a benefit On
his country which no Dlar OF the age would be
likely to exceed.
A few years since, he published a paper in
the New York Review, on the Origin, hlsto-
nv and Influence of Roman Legislation, and
afterwards printed it separately from the Re
view Itself. Whoever reads that egsay--and
/ hope you viii all read twill perceive his
vast attainments in the Civil Law. You, Whe
have not heard him, cannot judge of his at
tainments in the Common Law: but ], whe
heard his arguments know that be devoted
himself to the Common Law with j wise
perception of its defects, and 4 purpose to am,
eliorate them with the riches of the sCivi
Law; and | may say of him, having seen hi
mastery of both systems Of Jurisprudence
that he walked with them triumphantly, tn:
one in one hand, and the other in the othe:
hand, in the path of a great lurist. .
Although he might have had other place.
IN the gift 81 the GoVernment-as | have beef
told-yet he desired Only the cfice of Aitor
new General, and he desired that fer the SAX
ofthe Law. When, therefore, the question /
asked, was he eminent as a lawyer!I answer
no man more so. Do you ask what was tn
i, secret of his eminence? | answer, it was dill
igence. profound study. and withholding hi
mind from the political excitements OF til
3 day.
Ts me, his loss is irrepaFable. How fe'
do | see around ne, of severe studies in luris
+ prudence, willing to devote their days an
. nights to the mastery and improvement OF it a
a great science; ard looking for the fame thu
comes of devotion Ike his. Such study ls n