Vermont daily transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1868-1870, 1869-01-12

tune, none of Bench or Bar would have
surpassed him in labor, learning ard
power "a lawyer
jeremiah French was born in Willis
ton, April 10th, Is 8. He received a
thorough academical training in his ma
tive town and the benefits of Il mathe-
NAUTICAL and philosophical course of
study in the University of Vermont.
From his early boyhood he evinced
desii to be lawyer, and at the Of
eighteen he commenced the study of that
profession in Burlington. He entered
| Harvard Law School in February 1866,
from which, after full course, he grad
uated with honor i'm July, 1856, receiv-
ing one of the prizes awarded by that
institution yearly, for the best two le-
gal essays. He Immediately commen-
ced the practice of his profession IN
Burlington, entering into partnership
with Hon. Levi Underwood, then in a
large p.actice, and engaged at once IN
an active and extensive business in both
The County and Supreme Courts. He
at one e astonished tn Bar and the Bench
by his powers of reasoning, and extent
q I'd maturity of legal attalnments, al
mo unprecedented IN one so young,
and he seemed to have been born into
the profession panopl ed, like Minerva
when she sprang from the brain o. Jove.
From that time till the winter before
his death, t oush clogged by repeated
and distressing attacks o. disease, which
at last wore him out, he was in contin-
uous and active practice, engaged,
think, in a majority of the cases tried
mere, as we'll as frequently called to t. e
Courts of the adjoining Counties. He
had probably been concerned as Attor-
ney in more causes than any other law
yer of his age in the State, and had won
Il high and continually increasing repu
tation for professional skill. He evinc-
cd his thorough devotion to his chosen
profession by expanding the whole of
the earnings of the early years of his
practice in the purchase of The large
and valuable library of Mr.. Underwood,
which he retained, enriched by numcl.
Gus additions, and critically studied,
| till his death.
| Mr.. French possessed Il mind of un-
common strength and activity. With
natural aptitude for the law, he dill
gently tudied and thoroughly mas cred
its plinci lies and olemen s. They were
always at his ready command. and with
the aid of his rapid and Gear powers of
thought, and his perfect self-possession,
he was, without special preparation, a
formidable opponent in any cause. But
he never omitted the most iaborious
preparation of every cause, and he al
ways commenced a trial with thor
ough understanding of the facts and the
law of his case. In the Supreme Court,
particularly, he shone most brilliantly
| With his concise and welI-reasoned
brief, and his authorities, always to the
point, at his immediate command, he
Disseminated with remarkable sagacity
between cases, and invariably won The
attention, and. with remarkable fire.
quency, the concurrence of the Court.
He never labOred on any but the strong
est points of his case, and with a keen
eye discovered and exposed tn weak
ones of his adversary. His utterance
was most rapid, but slower than the
swift march of his thoughts. His pow
ers of repartee were superior, and he
frequently disconnected, by the point
and quickness OF his replies, older law
superior skill and long experience in
this respect. He had most excellent
w.t. sturdy and even coarse, but never
failing to hit the mark and to provoke
the unqualified admiration of all VINO
heard him.
Who of us will forget his appearance
and triumphs at the last term Of this
Court, when, greatly Frustrated by dis
ease, he argued case after case, with
even more than his usual discrimination
and power, in some using only logo
and strict authority, in others so in
dulging in the most genial and success
full wit and humor
Mr.. French was thoroughly read in
English literature. A f. ithful and low
ing stude of Shakespeare, Pope, Gray
and Goldsmith, he frequently pointed
his arguments and conversation with
fplicfnuS CnntatiOnc frnr,, III ON, al f,O,,,
his special favorite. the greet novelist
and humOrist Dickens.
He was man of kind heart and gen
ial manners, and, Notwithstanding his
faults, for he had them-and who of !
has not they never produced in his
acquaintance aversion or dislike Of him
nor severity of judgment upon him
but he had through his whole career,
embarrassed, as it was, by constitutional
and accidental misfortunes, hindered
by the frequent attacks of an incurable
disease, the kind wishes and sympathy
of all.
With all his commanding talents, his
simple geniality put every one on easy
and agreeable terms with him, and he
was almost universally addressed and
spoken of by his acuuair tances by the
familiar term of Jerry" This name
as his misfortnnes increased, as by un.
lu Ky circumstance he failed in being
. all he desired to be-as we watched the
,, gradual ebb.ng of his life, and the sink.
ing OF his st'iwart frame, as we saw
him yielding slowly but surely to that
insid.ous and fell destroyer, consump p.
ton, which never looses its ho.d of its
victims, but till the last, land the case OF
, our lamented friend was no exception,
holds out the hattering illusions of q
false hope Of recov ry-and as we bore
him to his grave, this familiar term, by
which he had been so long known, grew
through our sympathy and sorrow into
poor Jerry!" cannot tell how Often
during his last sickness, and since his