Litchfield enquirer., 1870-05-12

successful. both at misi prius. and on the bench of the Supreme Court. His appre- hension of the points involved in the case before him, was very quick, and the first intimation he gave on incidental matters occurring in the course of the trial, was a sure indication of what the result would be; and although he would take special pains to say to the counsel that he had formed no opinion, the party against whom he leaned knew that his fate was sealed. His labors in his official duties must have been immense. It fell to his lot to give The opinion of the Court in nearly all the cases tried in the Supreme Court for seve. ral years after his appointment, and near ly all the material of the third, fourth and fifth large volumes of the Connecticut Re- ports are the result of his study of the ca ses before the Court, and some of them are very learned and labored. His ilIustra- tions lp the case of Mitchell rs. Warner, in the 2d of Connecticut Reports, of the extent of the obligations incurred in the covenants of deed, explained the subject to me. when I was young, better than any, thing I had before read on the subject.
 It seemed te be his object to render himself as agreeable as possible to the members of the bar, sometimes employ ing his leisure moments on the bench in furnishing prescriptions for human all, ments, such as corns on the toes, and handing them over to such members as stood in need of them. Then he would hand over a formula for making, as he said, the best kind of liquid blacking for our boots In fact every thing which he had prescribed, he always designated as Me pery best At one term of the Court. Phineas Miner, Esq, who had lived wid- over for several years. was about being married, which fact was intimated to the Judge. While he sat waiting on the bench for the preparation of some busi- ness, he spoke out suddenly, 'Gentle- men! Is there vacant cell in your jail? Won't it be necessary for me to commit MT. Miner to prevent his doing some rash act?" The langh was thoroughly turned upon poor Miner, and the whole scene was very enjoyable. He employed all his leis- ure hours in obtaining all the relaxation which was within his reach. He played on the piano and violin, and sang with great power and effect.
 There was no perceptible waning of his powers, physical or mental, during the time of his service on the Court. He re- tired from the bench sstssthe age of 70 years, in February, 1883. and died, after a short illness, in less than two years there after.
 JUDGE PETERS
 John Thompson Peters was the senior Associate Judge of the Court. and he held his first circuit in this County. He was 8 native of Hebron, and a lawyer of re- spectable standing. His fellow citizens had often honored him with seat in the Legislature, and thus he had become tole- rably we'll known in the State. When the United States direct tax tax was laid in 1913, he was appoin ted Collector for the first district, removed to Hartford, and held that office when he was appointed Judge. He had been one of the leaders of the Democratic party from it's forna- tion; and, as ap Episcopalian, had opposed the claims of the Standing Order" to ecclesiastical priority, and some appre- tensions were felt lest his we'll known views on those subjects might temper his opinions on those questions incidentally involving them. Many fears were enter tained as to the stability of ecclesiastical funds which existed in almost every Con gregational parish, and those who desired to break them down looked to Judge Pc. ters and to his influence with the Court to aid them. But those who entertained such hopes were destined to an early dis. appointment, as their past experience oi his administration on such questions show. ed him to be disposed to stand. firmly on the old paths. He used to tell an amusing anecdote relating to his first trial of such case in one of the Eastern Counties oi the State, where he was appealed to, very strongly, to decide that promise to pay money in aid of such funds was without consideration. But he told the parties that the law on that subject was we'll set. tied, and. in his opinion, founded on cor. rect principles; and that if he had the power, he had not the disposition to change it. It had been the practice of the Congregational pastor of the village, to open the proceedings in Court with pray CT, but considering Peters to be heretic, I'use the Judges own language), he had never invited Divine favor for him, but after that decision, every prayer was charg- ed with invocations of blessings upon "My sarrant, the judge" He was very severe in meting out the punishments of the law to convicted cr;m- inals, generally inficting the severest sen- tence that the law would allow. One case