Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1874-01-29

has its necessary conditions to be mark
ed and calculated, and truth, though
fixed and shining as the stars, must b.
adjusted by the parallax created b,
moving events. However importan
and certain any truth may be, it is no
the only one in the world. And no mai
has the right to commit himself to it
to the exclusion of any others. EverI
truth limits and corrects every other
One applies all, and partial truth i
simply infinite error.
| From this we may pass to duty. L
often happens that men Of active sym
pathies and determined benevolence ar,
aroused to impatient zeal in presence o
great evils and are unwilling to avail
inevitable results in the course of Prov
idence, thus essaying to cut the knot
and destroy the cord, because they
cannot unite it 1T once. These men for.
get that good intentions often enlist the
service of bad passions. So that it con-
stantly occurs that the inevitable op.
position 10 all radical change afforded
by the mere els inertia of society excite;
the same evil spirit in those who seel
reform that they should set out to eX-
pell. 1t is impossible TO treat society
as play thing. 1t is an entity, and has
life and law of its own. That life i;
its entity, while its law is growth. Thi;
is but another way of saying that gov
ernment, its organization and its insti-
tutions are but effects and results whose
cause is the nature of the individual
man. 1t is futile to expect to reform
man or perfect society by the regula-
tions and penalties of human laws.
Laws but indicate and register the NOR
al temperature Of q nation. They have
nothing to do with its generation, and
it would be as ridiculous to attribute
sunshine and storm to the rise and fall
of the barometer as to change the NOR
al condition Of people by laws SUBJ
verting their old Institutions and sub
stituting new ones.
The science and powers of great men
are useful, but greater than they is the
greatness of the people from whom
those men sprang. When sage or a
hero dies people sometimes think the
hope of the nation died with him. But
the people still live and are all sufficient
of themselves, and the world goes on as
before, nor feels the loss. 1t is in hui
manity that the mighty reservoir OF
greatness exists, and humanity imparts
it to the individual. 1t is the aggregate
man that is al,vags great.
1t takes no transcendental philosophy
to instruct us. Each step leads to the
next. We can see but little way at q
time, but that little is enough. 1t is as
far as we are required to go. When We
a1f-hn1 that find 40 m
still see beyond at least one step further.
Each day brings its own duties. Each
days duties done fit us for those of the
morrow. To-day is the ever-present
portal of eternity. 1t opens to all who
tread its threshold with courage and
faith, and widening rs the advance ush-
ers them from the perpleXing laby rinth
of life, into the broad and lustrous glo-
ries of the life to come.
We have gone far enough to distinct
ly mark the lines of distinction exist
ing between these classes of laws. Into
a narrower view l cannot enter, at this
time. The solid rock of elementary
principle is presented to you, in the text
books of our libraries, fully illustrated
and applied in an endless variety of re-
pOi ICu ulSCuSSlOuS. tOO tdoS 10 lIllo ldoi
branch, that life is too short for their
examination with profit. l therefore,
recommend to the student of law a close
adherence to the elements, for know,
though she is a jealous witness, she will
be appeased and won by constant
wooing. Those who enter her portals,
press forward, and never look back, she
will, in time, yield her richest fruits of
professional success and honorable dis
tinction.
Not only do l recommend close ad-
herance to the elementary principles,
but patient study and restudy OF the
texts of the law. It is not only the Ii
brary or the volume that contains the
law; not the page or paragraph even,
but the sentence, line and often single
word, centain the pearl of great price.
Do not rely, too implicitly on the briefs
of others, nor pledge your faith and
judgment too readily to the syllabus or
abstract, but 60, yourselves to the fOun-
tain's head; mingle your own energies
and Judgment with that of those, who
have thought and acted upon the point
before. Compare the result with what
courts and commentators have said
about it; from conclusions in this way,
nor suppose yourselves absolutely cor
rect, because you may still be certainly
wrong. Pertinent to the illustration of
this recommendation, l once saw my
old preceptor, John r. Bancroft, now
practicing in the Capital of Iowa, gain
his case. in which a fortune was the
stake, by correct conception and adroit
application of the law, cOntai ned in a
single sentence found in Hill OH Trus-
tees, and this sentence contained not eX-
ceeding ten words. He was opposed in
the case by the present assistant Attor-
ney General of the United States, Hon.
Walter II. Smith, and the present Sec
retary of the Interior, the Hon. Column
bus Delano. In vain learned counsel
appealed for rehearing of the case,
exhausting in research and lofty in
coincidence over lost fortune to their
clients. They urged that they were ia
ken by surprise. That the case could,
in truth be conformed to the impending
Judgment, but NO." came the solemn
denial from the bench. The issue had
been fairly joined: the proofs submit
ted and considered, and counsel had
taxed, to the utmost, their great abilities
in the argument of the case. No sur
prise or error, which could be taken
notice of, had interviewed; the law had
been found and applied, and the decree
was irrevocably entered.
To further enforce the advice [ have
volunteered, we may, with profit, con-
slider, among the thousands of exam
Piles, the case of Harper VS.. Graham in
90 n ID This at.<fa Iay inynlunc
a matter of trifling value, in itself. Yet
the principle discussed presents the ex-
act idea l seek to impart. In that case,
that eminent Jurist, Judge Ranney,
says: at you substitute for a sum Of
money, a piece of paper, or stick of
sealing wax it is different and the bar
gain may be carried out in its full fnteg-
rity. A man may give in satisfaction
of debt of hundred pounds, a house
of the value of five pounds, but not frt
pounds"
We see, then, that the payment of q
less sum than is due the day before the
debt falls due, will discharge it-pay-
ment at another place than is stipulated
will do so. The delivery of a collateral
article of any value will do so. The
acceptance of the debtors note with Sc
curity, the note Of a third person, oil
even the negotiable note of the debtor
himself will do so, and yet the payment
of as much money in hand as is called
for by such note will have no such eff
feet. Although it is demonstrable that
the utmost the creditor can get for sucs
note cannot exceed the amount that h'
gets in hand in the other case, withOu
trouble, delay or expense. This is sta
ted to be the rule of law; the Judg'
then essays the following bold dash al
the rule: sit may seem to some per-
sons, not having great veneratiOn fo
those institutions of antiquity, TO
which no reason can be given, that
rule so effectually undermined, ant