New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1843-09-15
VOC. naE. NO. 1856.

human talent and knowledge. have been acquired:
for he was pria,us inter PareS IN als-a lihisheo
scholar, Il consurnmate orator, Proiound lawyer
an able and accomplished statesman. Nofeicity
of genius however great, no iecundity OF nature.
however teeming, could account Tor such intel
! lectual riches, without the creative energies OF
constant and unwearied diligence: for It's truth,
as applicable to the philosophy of mind as to the
science of political economy, that labor Is the true
and only source OF either mental, or material
wealth No Paltry vanity Of natural endowments
ever prevented Mr.. Lega.e from bearing earnest
and instructive testimony, in his discourse, as he
exempl6ed strikingly IN his practice, the truth
and value of his grand Grcanum of al sound
superiority and success.
Having enjoyed, in early youth, the advantages
of finished education in the best schools OF his
own country and of Europe, he continued through
all the avocatlons and active employments Of his
future life, the same habits OF diligent and enthu-
sastic study by which he established, from the
first, marked prominence among his compan-
ions. He was so smitten with sympathetic ap-
probation of the great Roman orators noble pan
egydc in letters, that he literally fulfilled in his
daily habits, without any such purpose, certain
ly, as hat Of mere pcdantic conformity the PIC
ture OF their attractions so graphically demeated
StudiG, &c, de!ectam dofni non impedinnt toris,
peraoctant nobi8cum, peregrinantur, rustlcan-
tur His books were his inseparable companions,
whether at home or abroad-they passed the night
with him, they travelled with him, they accompan
led him in his occasional rural retreats. jcal-
Gus economist Of time, and particularly attentive
to husband those old fragments of leisure, which
irregularly intervene in the routine OF daily
employment and which by most persons are
thrown away as useless, he was more fortunate
even than the ancient philosopher, who reProachcd
himself with the loss of one day in the course OF
long life. Legara never lost an hour, for how
ever small the interval OF time which fell upon his
hands, unoccupied by the necessary demands OF
business, or the cherished society of chosen CIR
Gle of friends, it was never wasted. a book,
pen, or train Of thought to be resumed, was al
ways at hand to absorb and employ It useiu!ly;
for so great was the discipline Of mind lie had es
tablished, through long habits of industry and
study, that he turned his attention, at will, to
whatever subject seemed at the moment, tittcst to
engagei it.
Asa scholar, he stood without rival among the
public men of America of his day, and II, even IN
that class of learned men who make the cutlva-
ton and pursuit of letters the sole business OF their
lives, he had any superior in schoarshp,lt would
be difficult to say who that superior was. Ills
acquaintance with the great writers Of antiquity
the master minds of Greece and Rome. was lnt-
mate, thorough and iamar-placing at his ready
and perfect command all those hidden treasures
of thought, philosophy and wisdom, all those ex-
quisite models of taste, eloquence and power,
which lie enshrlned III their immortal works.
In the language and literature of modern Europe
he was perfectly at home. He not only read, but
wrote and spoke the language OF France and Ger
many with the ease and elegance oil native, and
was profoundly versed IN their history and ltcra-
turc. He had explored, with peculiar industry
and success, the rich mines Of learning and his
torica discoucry $50 to speak, which the acute
and reconcile researches of modern German WI
tiers have opened and enlarged his own accumu-
lated stores by the super-addtion of the fruits Of
their valuable labors With all this atfluence OF
intellectual wealth he made no DESTINATIONS dis
play of his acquisitions. They were aSslmllated
into the solid nutriment Of his own mind and
their effec, was seen rather in the enlarged scope
and vgor of his conceptions, than III any exhlbl
ton of mere learning
AS speaker and writer the style of his elo-
uuence was ornate and rich But, like the gor-
geousness of Burke, this was the unbidden effect
of the irrepressble exuberance of his genius. No
one despiscd moro than he did the mere glitter OF
words, or held in lighter esteem the studied arts
of the professed rhetoriclan. Whatever was the
elevation and richness of his dcton, 1t was UNI
formly supported by corresponding richness and
elevation of thought. The stream of his eloquencc
was fed from copious and ineXhaustlbe fountains,
and its majestic current fertilized and fruchted,
even when it inundated its banks.
His character and abilities, as profound and
accomplished jurst, have been already given to
the world under the seal Of the highest authority
To the ouestion-"Was he an eminent Lawyer :"
Judge Story, in his beautiful and touching Ad-
dress to the Law School at Harvard, while the
funeral bells of Boston were yet tolhng the knell
Of his departed spirit, answered cmphatlcally and
unhesltatlngly-" No man acGs more So" And
certainly, ii profound acquaintance with the
most renowned systems Of ancient and modern
Law, with the Common Law of England, the
Civil Law Of Rome, the Codes of France and
Germany, added to familiar knowledge Of the
Laws and Constitutions of our own Country and
thorough indoctrinatlon in the principles OF unl
vcrsal jurisprudence, can make an able and &C
compshed lawyer, Legare was such. All this
breadth and scope of knowledge, however super
fuous it may be deemed for the lawyer who,
TO use the words of Cicero, is nothing more
than leguleius quid0m cGutuS, ct acutus preco
Gctionun, cantor tormularum, anccpS Syllabarum,
was necessary to fill Mr.. Legares conception of
the character of a great lawyer, worthy of the
name, and of calling which boasts its rank
among the learned professions. One of the great
secrets OF his superiority to place ever before
him the highest standards of excellence in every
department, as the beau ideal, at least, which a
true and lofty ambition should aim to approx
mate as near as possible, if not able fully to at
tain His idea OF the nobleness and grandeur
of the law, in its true dignity, was that which
Bolingbroke has SO Justly and eloquenty por-