Litchfield enquirer., 1874-02-12

has always drawn to itself the Lest talsn
 and Highest culture of the country. ane y hence the contest Of tie bar conducted :- by skiiiful and learned counsel. furnisl Y scenes or intense aid instructive interest .. The niarve lous and varied powers of tn.
 hunnn mind are Ill these contests calIe, t for and developed in n manner and to il,
 extent nneGualied in any other arena. o readily recall many such scenes as iiyei, . and dramatic as the inventions of Shakes peare geiIius ! would not be under 5 stood. however, as saying that the cour :, room IS exactly paradise regained. Int # scenes are generally animated, spirited
 and varied; sometimes, however. dull ant ; stupid; sometimes disgusting, exhibi ing 9 human nature Ill its most revvl;iug form and the members of the Bar have mucl, '. thank!ess labor, many sleepless nights and bitter disappointments. But 1t is in his - library that the true disciple of the laS : finds ills highest satisfaction. He can 1 here lnterrogate the masters of iurispru-
 dence, ancient and modern. upon the mat. ter he has Ill hand, and will seldom fail of
 getting an appropriate answer. Iyieid no blind obedience to authorities and prece-
 dents Law is q progressive science. When 1t IS said that law k the perfection oi reason, 1t IS not to be understood that !, all the ntterances of judges and jurists
 are such. There are mistakes and errors Tn the past which the present may correct,
 and there are mistakes and errors in the
 present which It IS to be hoped the future
 Will correct, but taken as a whole, a law
 library Is replete with sound truths ap-
 plleable, more or less directly, to the va
 rlous living issues pending before the
 courts, not mere abstract truths worked
 out in the closet, but truths upon which
 learned arguments have been heard at
 the Bar, and learned consultations had by
 the Bench, so that all available learning
 on the subject Is brought forward and has
 received its due weight. It is difficult to
 over-estimatethey value os the we'll weighed
 opinions of such chancellors as Hardwick.
 Eldon and Kent, and of such Judges as
 Mansfield, E!lenborough and Marshall
 Among the most cherished memories of
 my professional life is the intimate ac-
 quaintance which have enjoyed with all
 the eminent iurists who have adorned
 the bench of the State during the last fif-
 ty years. 1 need not recite their familiar
 names In this assembly, but you will per
 init me, occupying the position do, to
 repeat the names of those who have filled 1 the high office I am about to lay down. i nonaina clara, each of which upon bare
 mention suggests all the virtues pertaining
 to their high judicial position When I ! came to the Bar, the Chief Justiceship
 held by the learned Hosmer, followed in
 quick succession by Daggett, Williams. Church, Waite, Storrs and Hinman, and then by my immediate predecessor, the lamented Butler, companion. friend. brother. In this, his native county. he needs no eulogy from me- In tue reports ot his judicial opinions, he has raised to himself monument are percnnius. AL low me, in conclusion, to propose as toast, ''The memory of the honored dead | of the Bench and Bar of the State.''
 To the second toast, ''The Governor of | Connecticut, NIT. Ingersoll responded in | beautiful speech from the brief report
 of which We clip the following extract:
 All our Chief Justices have been born one, anu ite Iusr 'Os ea Sas OOEStoI 0ssS the present Chief Justice was born in that l old town, more ty pical than any other, 1 | think, of Connecticut institutions and | life He was born and raised there, and l there he has remained unseduced by the l igais tqt,us of large fees and the many | other allurements of a residence in our | large cities, although possessing such | eminent abilities as would have insured | him the highest success.
 It Is serious loss to lose Judge of | so much experience. The man who &C., 1 quires the power to find where the truth | is. has found one of the most difficult, as it is one of the most important, accom- plishmen's in the power of man, and hence to lose such q Judge is a serious loss to the State. But if we lose him as Chief Justice, We can welcome him back to active professional life. As long ago as 1888 Storrs Seymour was an oracle on Litchfield Hill. May we not hope that that the oracle will still be there?
 Responding to the Supreme Court of Errors," Judge Parks regretted the con- stitutional limitation and the loss it oc- casioned the State in the present instance. Judge Foster followed in response to the toast of ''The Judiciary of Connecticut"
 Judge Lewis B. Woodruff of the U. S.
 Circuit court, a brother-in-law of Judge
 Seymour, then responded to ''The Judi
 clary of the United States as follows:
 l Mr Chairman aad Gentlemen Of tie Bar:
 | Accustomed as ] have been for nearly twenty years to listen to others rather then
 to be myself a speaker, l should prefer in this assembly of orators to be myself si-
 lent. You make 1t however my duty to
 acknowledge the compliment to the Fed
 eral Judiciary implied in the toast just
 announced. If I were to assume that
 you intended to include myself in your
 kind notice, 1 should not to be at liberty
 to receive it otherwise than as an expres-
 sion of your good will, 1t would become
 me rather to thank you for your kindness
 and to disclaim for myself any title to be
 so Lonored. l should much prefer to
 speak of the pleasure which feel in be- ing permitted to unite with you on this
 occasion. Born and reared in this your
 State, nay, in this our State of Connecti-
 cut, here first admitted to membership of your honorable and honored profession,
 have an especial pride and pleasure in
 being identified with you in that member
 ship and feel 1t an honor to share in all
 that interests you. I went out from
 among you, not because was not of you,
 but hoping to prove what industry, per
 severance and energy, begotten of the
 habits, examples and influences that en-
 ter into the training of Conpecticut youth,
 would avail in the struggle for success in
 another field and among other competi-
 tors. But gentleman, have never for
 gotten my first love. can say with most
 entire sincerity that in all the years of my
 life no ambition has stirred me more ac- lively, or more effectively, than the wish to deserve we'll of my native State and do
 her honor-and no day of that life was l more proud than that which returned me
 to her to be brought again into intimate } relations to her bar and with her support } and assistance to aid in the administra- tion of justice among her people. } But am expected to say something of : the Federal Judiciary and shall, at the
 hazard of repeating some things that have been already alluded to, recall to your l memory the familiar names of those who have stood at its head. Name to you Jay l and Rutledge, Marshall, Fancy and Chase, : remind you that 10 that headship Con-