The Washington union., 1857-09-12

Hon J, s. Black the present distinguished Attorney
General of the United States
There has always BEEN since began TO reflect upon
the in which the business of life 10 be carried
on well understood distinction between the man of
ton and the man Of thought Each one, imperfect In
himself Is the complement of the other The mere
of action who cannot reflect the mere of thought
whose habits of mind ndispose him to vigorous action
each, in his way is untitled TO perform man part in
the world The speculative student may devise the most
ingenious theories for the government of the world His
system may appear to be homogeneous and each part
may to be consistent with each other But for want
Of the practical skin which belongs to the of action,
Mr. Carlyle says Of the old French republic he
sttuton will not march" The man of action on
the other hand fails when the exercise of inventive pow
is required of him. His efforts spasmodic incon
ssent because he lacks the investigating and rejecting
spirit which peneratcs into the reason and harmony Of
things If practical sagacty is TO theory what drop of
oil is TO complicated machine, reflection and study
TO active talent what the compass to the ship by direct
ing her on her course Tho present Attorney General Of
the United States presents remarkable combination OF
patient thought and cultivation with strong sense which
enables his vigorous powers to be displayed to the best
advantage.
The Hon. ]. S. Black was born in the year 1910, in
Somerset county, in Pennsylvania. His father Of
excellent character and sense belonged TO that agrcultu
raj class to which America many of her eminent
men. The son, after careful education, studied the
profession of the law with the Hon Chaunccy Forward
of Somerset and was at early age admitted TO pmc
tice It discovered that he possessed not only
intellect capable Of being cultivated to high degree,
but extensive stores Of information and vigos logic
However individuals may at times consider that their
claims public estimation not properly appreciated
seldom happens that the merits of man do not receive
substantial justice and in the of Mr. Black his ac-
complishmens and sound political views obtained for him
the democratic nomination to Congress- which, however,
for private reasons he declined At the age of thirty
two years he appointed president Judge of of the
judicial districts of Pennsylvania, In which position he
remained until the year 1851, when he was elected to the
supreme bench He held this Office until the year 1854
when he elected chief Justice of the supreme court
by vote which, by It's appreciation of his distinguished
merits is of the few instances which, in measure,
redeem the defects inherent in elective judiciary 1t
from this eminent position that he was taken to
strengthen and ado the cabinet Of President Buchanan
IN his judicial capacity Chief Justice Black noted
not only for his stores of legal learning but for the liter
ay skill and pointed style by which his decisions IL
Illustrated BY persons who know no better the law has
been said to be dry and barren profession and those to
whom thinking is troublesome task often repeat
ary the idea that renders the intellect acute without
expanding it, In vain Is it to remind such persons of
Bacon and Mansfield and Brougham of Marshall and Kent
and Webster The expression, stereotyped is in
their view, the vehicle of universal TRUTH undenia
bic the doctrine of gravitaon the propositions Of
Euclid. But the professors of the law have been
toned for long years to bear this burden they la
den with most of the sins Of the statutes which wise
legislatures enact. That, upon rightly constituted
mind the study of the law exercises the most widening
and expanding influence, Judge Black is prominent
in the case which the controversy between the par.
ties requires to be settled His judgment is too
vigorous to be led astray by ancful analogies which
have but remote collateral bearing upon the point
before him, but, with that common which is
the foundation of the character of every worthy of
being remembered he fixes his attention upon the sub
stantia questions in the To men, whose per-
ccptive powers dull the labor of acquiring infoma-
ton great that dishcarened by the task they do
receive that justice which their reasoning powers
serve But others born with the Unsuitable desire of
knowing whatever there sin world worthy be known
and to this cass Judge Black belongs. The world Of
books the records of the tolls Of ancestors in strug
Cling towards the light the repositories which reveal to
what those who have gone before have suffered and
learned and in what they have erredthis universe of
reflection is something of which one who wishes
well to perform his part can afford to be- ignorant
The Judge who knows only what statutes have
been enacted, and what decisions have been made Is
but i'll fitted for his duties Outside OF thcse there
is tho history OF events which shows the reason why
laws were enacted, the history of religion casting
light upon the state of moral sentiment in the
nifty, the history of indicating the progress of
society in refinement, and the existence of social
rights giving birth to complete system of laws
and the history of literature, which records the various
steps made by mankind in their intellectual advancement
The who like Judge Black feels that Of these
subjects alien from his pursuits but that each Of them
must contribute to give his intellect uness and the pow
CT of well balanced action differs widely from the case
accumulatng lawyer the who lays the stones of
the Capitol differs from the ingenious and tasteful archi
tect who planned its fair proportions The lawyer who
relies upon precedent looks beyond it and
to its than the workman looks beyond the bricks
which he places in their position 1t is only the
structve mind of the legal architect which in the
confused materials before him the edce which his skill
and Judgment will enable him to He perceves the
truth lying in the midst of contradictions the sculptor
dscens the statue in the Uniformed marble Chief JUS
tice Black touched subject without illustrating
by the light of his learning and his learning is not
indscrmnae collection of barren facts but
lected with apprecatng patience from the stochouses of
the past.
1t has been sometimes said that the combination of
literature with law is an unnatural one, that the law
makes the literary powers dull and literature makes the
law superficial Where there is but little literature and
less law the remark may be true But the persons who
think that legal learning is not both adorned and
strengthened by literary skill generally those who as
they innocent of literary taste proporonally g
norant of the law. Men cannot sympathze with what
they do not understand The lawyer who is satisfied with
precedent derives much instruction from barren
dctum of Coke from the luminous Judgments of
Mansfield of Kent Next to tho subject matter of
judicial opinion the in which it is set forth If
this be hard and narrow destitute of fitness and
ing power the Judgment may be of value precedent
but 1t will not convince the mind make contrbu
ton Of much moment to the stoesof the profession Gases
because the law has been settled by long series of
decisions and the Office of Judge Is not to enact the
law. But when prccedents wanting that mind is
best qualified for the judicial function which, having
large stores to select FROM desgnates between that which
pertinent and that which does not illustrate the ques
on to he decided and having reached the proper concu
sion states it in such way combining elegance with
strength impreses the mind Of the reader with It's cor
rectness This is of the peculiar felictics of Judge