Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-05-13

TfOceeot0gs I'm the Us - Dtstbtct
Court win Reference To the De-
mise 81 the Late Hon. Caleb ..
smsss.
On the meeting Of the Q s. District Court on
Tuesday afternoon last. Mr.. John a. Matson
rose and said:
MAY II please the Court an directed by the
Bar to present 70 the Court the following resolu-
tons:
wHEREAs. The Bar Of this Court has again
sustained loss in the death Of its presiding off
Ger. the Hon. Caleb B. Smith, late Judge of
the United States Court for the District OF To-
diana.
Therefore. to indicate the esteem in which
We held him while living, aud the respect We
entertain for his memory as we'll az our sense
Of the bereavement his death has occasioned,
Resoired. That the many virtues which adorned
the public and private character Of the Hon
Caleb B. Smith, during period of forty years.
IN the Legislative Hall, in the Cabinet Councils
OF the Nation. and on the Bench. have endesred
his memory to Us. and made for him an enduring
monument.
Resolved. That. although called to the Bench
late in life the brief period in which he occupied
il, demonstrated the high qualities which, in
other official positions. bad won for him proud
distinctions wise legislator, and a sage and pa
triotic statesman. and gave earnest of brilliant
hUO uctili CdtttE tue uOt less Important de
pariment Of government in which his last hours
were passed.
Resolved, That his death is public calamity,
in which the legal profession loses one Of its
brightest orna ments our beloved State one Of its
tried and true SONS, and the whole country "A pa
triot. statesman and jurist, whose place cannot
easily be filled
Resolped, That these resolutions be presented
to the Court now in session. BY Hon. John A.
Matson. with request that they be made of
record, and that copy be transmitted TO his
family under the seal of said Court.
To the above resolutions Judge White re-
Piled
GESrLENEx:-The Court has received with
much seusibility the resolutions passed by the
Bar on the occasion Of the death Of the Hon.
Caleb B Smith late Judge Of the Court of this
District.
For thirty years Judge Smith has been ident.
fed with the growing fortunes of infant
State. and his name and fame will form part
of its enduring history. Honored and trusted
by the people of Indians, he has distinguished
himself in various public positions Of high re-
sponsbilty. until those honors were at length
appropriately crowned by seat in the Cabinet
Council of the nation. Bearing, for season. an
honorable part in those high executive measures
which, in these trying times. call for the wisdom
OF our sages aud the hrmDess OF our brave men.
declining health induced him to surrender dis
tingushed post, and, on the invitation of the
President accept another field OF labor scarcely
less honorable. where il hoped congenial
studies and the greater quetude of the station
might reinvigorate and restore those wearied
powers which we're sinking under the pressure of
the stern and unremittng duties that tasked his
morning aud his evening hours at the Capital.
But alasi Death marks our earthly hopes, and
follows Us into our most sacred retreats.
Judge Smith was stricken down all too soon
for his weeping family and friends, but just at
that point where history leaves her most endur-
ing monuments He died in the fullnsss OF his
fame. before age had dimmed his intellect or
paralyz wed that eloquent tongue whose clarion
notes have so often awakened the deepest emo
tons of his auditory, and reused the people TO
thought and action.
His successor, in announcing this response to-
your resolutions, acknowledges the force of an
official obligation to render the tribute of truth,
not fattery to the memory of one OF our most
gifted and eminent citizens, while be discharges
"a debt of friendship with which pleasant
quaintance of more than thirty five years had
united him TO the deceased.
The Court join the Bar in the tender of con-
dolence to the family of Judge Smith on ac
count Of their great bereavement-and order that
the resolutions and proceedings of this occasion
be entered on its records, aud a certified copy
thereof be transmitted to the family of the de-
ceased and a further mark of respect that
the Court do now adjourn until to. morrow
morning
Mr.. Justice Davis then said
Gentlemen Of the Bar
1t is eminently proper that the successor of
Judge Smith, who has known him so long.
should make the maiu response to the address
and resolutions of the bar Although familiar
with his public career. had not the pleasure of
| his personal acquaintance until recently. He
had a quick. ready, discriminating intellect, and
charitable heart, and kind, genial and
social in his nature His love Of country
warm and his deteststion of treason strong.
! Few lawyers who addressed juries. or few pub
| lie men who addressed large audiences,
more gifted His reputation as fascinating and
effective orator is not hemmed in by State lines,
/ but is co extensive with the limits of the North
| west
| The history of Indiana cannot be written with
out proper mention of his name. During the last
term of this court Judge Smith wasill. thought
then that his race of life nearly run. and his
sudden death did not surprise me year ago
he participated in the proceedings of the bar and
court on the death of his predecessor. Judge
| Huntington, who adorned the Office of Judge OF
the District Of Indiana for more than twenty
wears; now called TO mourn his death.
whose judicial life. in the providence of God, did
rot extend beyond one year.
| What shadows gre and what shadows we
pursue
The Gas CHARTER We yesterday stated that