Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1868-12-25

SUIT to the woman, and,dd not leave the house till
! he took her with him as his wife Whether or
not this marriage in haste was followed by re-
pentanee at leisure, tradition does not inform
US.
Iheophilus had an older brother James, and a
younger brother William, and there were sisters,
Mary, Penelope, Ruth, and Sally. All the
brothers were men Of good natural abilities, and
had influence in their town and county James
was the representative Of Clarendon in 1906 and
1907 Judge Of Probate in 1908 and 1901, and
Assistant Judge of the County Court in 1906 and
leOI William was Baptist minister and was
Judge Of Probate three years, lSll-lSl3.
Theophllus was much the ablest Of the three
and attained to more numerous and greater dis
tinctiOns He was the representative OF Claren-
don in 1875, was again elected in 1888. and
then held the office for six successive years, in
the last Of which, (lSO3), he was the Speaker Of
the House. In 1900, he was elected Chief Judge
of Rutland County Court, and held the Office for
three years. In lsO3 he elected Judge of
the Supreme Court. few weeks after his elec-
ton, was admitted to the bar of the Court, of
which he had been Judge for the preceding
three years. He continued TO be Judge of the
Supreme Court for ten full years, and until a
few weeks before his death. Not more than
seven Of the sixty-seven (Or m0re) Judges Of the
Supreme court have retained that high Office
longer than did he and among that select few
were such jurists as Williams, Royce Redheld,
and Poland
The singular feature Of the case is that Judge
Harrington not lawyer. He was plain
farmer, exceedingly plain ssmerely that and
nothing more He had, it is true. been
admitted To the bar, but it is doubtful if his le-
gal reading went beyond the Compiled Statutes
Of 1871. 1t is quite certain that his reading was
Of the very scantiest. and that his skill in writ
ing was only enough to enable him to write,
with paiI iul steps and slow, a very short let
ter or legal document. s. far AS the knowledge
TO be derived from books is concerned. there are
thousands upon thousands Of boys in the district
schools who are his superiors. Yet he was a
good Judge, an excellent Judge. He had la mind
so energetic and vigorous, discrimination 50
. acute, "a common sense so strong, perceptions so
keen, and a sense Of justice 50 intuitiye. that
while he may sometimes have failed % decide
technical points correctly, it is believed that he
rarely failed to DO true and substantial Justice,
which, if it be not always law, is always better
than law.
There may. with much truth, be applied to
him, the language in which Pummer. in the me
moir Of Gov. William Plummer Of New Hamp-
shire, speaks Of John Dudley, Judge of the Su-
I peri0r Court Of that State:
This extraorlinaIy man was for ten years
judge Of the Supreme Court. had not only no le-
gal education, but little learning Of any kind
But he had discriminating mind, a retentive
memory, patience, which no labor could tire,
free el0cutou, rude indeed, and often uncouth
but bold, clear and expressive, with a warmth
Of honest feeling which it was not Easy to resist
Il viii not excite surprise that such Judge car
ried the jury with him. Indeed, when fairly
under way, there was no stopping him. He
trampled down and ran over everything that
stood before him, and came out always first at
the goal Quick to feel and prompt to act, be
was "a resolute, strOng-mindel man, intent On
doing substantial justice in every case, though
often Indifferent to the forms and requirements
Of law.
The truth Of history, however, requires it to
be said that Judge Hsrringtons promotion to
the BENCH and his long occupancy Of a seat
there, were 0ccasiOnel not only by his qullifca-
tons for the place, bat also, and largely by po-
llucal considerations. Il was time when politi- /
cal feeling was very intense, and he was a bitter
partisan Of the Republican school He was
elected as a Republican, and his opponents al [
ways charged him with carrying his politics on to
the bench, and with being restrained by no scru-
pies from using his juiicial power to protect his
friends and punish his enemies.
What were his abilities As q public speaker. !
there are scanty means Of knowing Daniel /
Chipmau gave this testimony TO his power as an I
advocate. He would sit. D." said Chiuman, s.as I
dozy as bear, half asleep, and not appearing .
10 notice anything that was going on, and .
would think | was going to have it all my own
way but when his opportunity came, he would
get up and tear a bigger hole in a case than any
other creature | ever saw. The late Hon Oba-
diah Noble, Of Tnmouth, said Of him. ''He
would say more in a hundred words than any
other man l ever knew"
That his abilities as "a popular speaker were SUI
perior to the average may also be inferred from
the fact that in oO2 he was invited 70 deliver a
Fourth Of July GRAFTON at Rutland and did de-
liver it, Political lines were 50 rigidly drawn at
that time, tha. not even on the Fourth Of July
could the parties agree upon an orator. It was
finally settled that each party should have an
orator, and an Grafton, though the celebration
was JOINT one. Herrington the orator for
the Republicans, and Charles X. Williams then
a student at law in the office Of Ceuhas Smith,
Jr., delivered the Federal Grafton Il must
have been an interesting contrast that was pres
ented By the two speakers. The one Big sburlv.
uueiucated, uupoiishel, and with no other re
sources than energy, good sense, and native elo-
quence the other in the flush Of early manhood
Of c0mely presence and pleasing address with
the classics and the 5eiies lettrss fresh in his
mind and ready upon his lips and already be-
= .
strength which were soon to place him at the
head Of the Rutland Bar II need not be doubted
however, that, as the feeling then was. each
party thought its own speaker the superior
The materials AZ our disposal do not allow Us
to present Judge Harrington before You in any
other or better way than by aneclote. There
can. indeed, be no better way. Anecdotes pho
tograph the man AID his times they interest
our emotiou- they bring their subject down from
his PEDESTAL, and place him on our level, they are
the little LIllputln ties that bind him TO our
heart they are the straws thit show which way
the wind blows, when the breath is too slight to
turn the stately, stiff, and sometimes rusty
weathercock. - There are instances" saws
Slnte Berne, the most acute Of living French
critics, "in which the portrait would be abso-
lutely incomplete, unless It was accompanied
with anecdotes. All those nothinCs which at
FIRST everybody is familiar with, which every-
body neeiects TO write as far too well known
are subsequently sought in vain and
become precious again with time ''
He was man OF large frame, full six feet
high, broad shoulderel. and Of great muscular
strength His complexion was swarthy, his
beard black, heavy, and more often than other
wise uushaven, his hair black, coarse and rarely
comhel. His eyes were small keen. and mis-
chevous in expression, his face was expressive.
and his features flexible. His temperament was
nearly unmixel bilious.
have said that he was plain farmer That
expression stops short Of the truth He was a
coarse, rough, uncouth, slovenly boor Ii was
no uncommon thing for him, when on the bench,
TO take of his shoes and stockings, nor did he
hesitate 20 put his naked feet upon the table be-
fore him.
He once went to Rutland, wearing a beard Of
several days growth, and went into barber's
shop to be shaved. The barber being absent,
his apprentice undertook the job, not knowing
who the customer was ; and when all was ready,
he said TO the Judge, "open your mouth if you
please, sir" "What forl' growlel Herring
ton, $50 | may see what side of your hea1 your
face is on" was the reply. At that juncture
the barber returned, and making his best
bow, addressed the customer as Judge Herring
ton, to the great confusion Of the apprentice who
speedily disappeared, leaving the Judge to tell
his story, which he did with a hearty laugh.
On the bench he usually appeared as if he
were half asleep, and apparently paying at
tention TO the case on trial Nothing, however,
escaped his observation or his recollection, and
though the trial might last for days, it was
found when he came to charge the jury, that
though he had not taken a single note, he knew
the names Of all the witnesses, the order in
which they were introduced, and the exact Ian
guage in which they testified
lie had, moreover, very happy faculty Of so
stating legal proposition as to give the jury
clear and vivid perception Of it, For example
a man who stole horse in New Hampshire, and
brought him into this State, was indicted for the
theft, and was tried before Judge Harrington. 1t
was insisted in his defence that he was guilty Of
crime in Vermont. But the judges common
sense OWNED the rule Of law applicable to the
case perfectly as if he had read whole library
Of criminal Jurisprudence. "He stole the horse
said he, in charging the jury, sat Concord, he
stole it at Keene, he stole it at Bellows Falls, he !
stole it every step Of the way here" And of
that opinion were the jury.
In a case Of ejectment, involving the boundary
between two farms. and also between the towns
Of Rutland and Pittsford, he addressed the jury