Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-09-17

81 l. /. u.
The s. Adams MsIGlger copies from the
FREE Pass portion OF the sketch OF the
late Judge Woodruff, by Hon. E. j Phelps.
ami comments thereon. as follows
Mr.. Phelps links there Is decay of our
Jurisprudence. and it is TO be confessed that
there are instances enough to sustain the
opinion But aside from the tendency COM
mon u most men to think that in the pas:
all glory lies, lawyer like Mr.. Phelps,
long in practice, scholarly in habit. aristo-
cratic in his cast of thought and CONVERSE
tive in politics. i more than most men
subject, not, perhaps, 10 a habit Of cynical
censure, but rather 10 such a sense of dis
gust at the luck or craft which has enabled
many men of superficial culture and little
prOhity to lit upon the bench, as to lead
him 10 forget for moment that other men
are there, too, who fill the reQuirements
OF iIri>ts and gentlemen without repr0ach,
and will be looked upon when they shall pass
away a. the peers OF ans who have gone
before. How often. during the recent try
ing crisis of our country did we hear old men
and Democrats. lament the lack Of states
men. and yet. ten years had not passed
before Lincoln was spoken Of, By men OF all
ages and parties, a. statesman OF remark
able scope. Seward as diplomatist, hardly
cxcellod in cur history and Sumner aS a SEN
ator before whose majestic character even
Meb>ter'- pa.cs.
And 50 those familiar with the bench
cannot fail 10 discover. 10 all the Older
State, and in the federal courts, rs many
iurist> OF illu>trious merit a adorned the
same positions in any previous period of
our history. When we look at the present
We see the good and bad together. and
sometimes the bad Ob>clres the good. &C
cor1iug to what point they are seen from,
and under what lens but when We look
At the past, the bad are mostly 0bscuret or
forgotten and the good and great alone re-
nam 10 mark the epoch and catch the re-
Elective eye Of future generations. 1t l.
true. that during the last ten years. and,
possibly fifteen. the reign OF Rings has in
too many eases sadly swayed the bench
but it Is equally true that, during the same
time there have been numerous cases Of iu-
dcal probity ard heroism that will grow
luminous as the vista of time shall length
en-, and for period which corruption IS
comparable with nothing in history since
the reign OF James the Second the federal
bench IN particular and the State bench in
individual eases, has been singriarlY honest
and independent
Mr.. Phelps deserves thanks for such n
discriminating eulogy as sets before tie
profession. and especially the youth, the
one prominent fact. that a good name l. 10
he chosen rather than great riches but he
can do another and even greater service. II
he will endeavor to reform the system of
practice wherein justice Is often defeated,
and the court deprived of its opportunity
by the interminable delays that astute prac-
/ titioners can maintain. The reputation of
the higher courts is often thus subjOined
to the practice of the lower. and the public
dislrust. which arises from one Is equally
cast upon all. and even upon the general
/ subject OF the administration Of justice.
/ Nothing could be more palpably unfair
| than this, but We cannot assume that Mr..
/ Phelps has allowed a general estimate 10
/ affect his own more enlightened judgment.
/ And while We are not prepared 10 believe
] that there Is. on the whole, decay or de-
| cline OF jurisprudence in those upper walks,
which alone give lasting character to the
/ determination of rights, We believe that
| the decentralization of a corrupt era tends
| 10 displace that literal learning and that ex-
! allied honor which made the old school lawyer
| so conspicuous and which are now and ever
must DC as essential as before. Hence,
when the true merit and glory OF life like
that of Lewis b. Woodruff are pointed out
by one in the profession, who knows the
| path for having travelled it. the lesson,
whether Justly reflective upon other men OF
not, is one which the times demand and
which ought to inspire a nobler purpose
and a higher hope
An item in the history of the Underhill
cheese factory, of interest to dairymen, ha:
lately been brought to light. On the 18th
of Jnly, 1875, it is said. q certain patron wa: