The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-09-30
GEORGE F. sHEPLEY.
Resolutions and Remarks i'm the United
States Circuit Court.

|
States Circuit Court.
AT the coming iu of the Circuit Court Satur-
dav morning, Judges Clifford and Fox presid.
ing, Hon. Wilbur F. Lunt, District Attorney,
arose and addressed the court as follows:
The members of this bar, deeply deploring
the death OF George +. Shepley who so recent
maturity and vigor of all his powers. and de-
string to place upon record their tribute of re-
spect to his memory, do adopt the following
| resOlutionn:
Resolced. That the public and private char
| acter os the late George +. Shepley commands
the highest esteem and admir- ation. Endowed
| with the inspiration OF genius for the law he
came early to the bar and acquired rare excel
ence as counsellor, advocate and iurist. As
| counsellor he was judiciOus and wise as an
| advocate, logical and eloquent; as jurist,
learned in the various branches of the law, and
| in some pre-eminent-as a Judge dignified,
| courteous, impartial and incorruptible When
| his country was in peril he left the former for
the field, and as military governor of Louis
lana displayed marked executive ability in the
performance of his difficult duties, and by firm
| ness mingled with kindness, secured the conf
| dence and high regard of the people of that
| state. Peace restored, he resumed the du ties
| of bis profession, and soon after was appointed
| to the high judicial position which be filled at
| the time of his disease. His domestic and So
| cial virtues are embalmed in the hearts of his
| family and friends.
ReSOlUed, That the attorney of the United
States be requested to present these resolutions
| to the court and ask to heve them entered on
| the records of the court.
| At the conclusion of Mr.. Lunts rmaIks,
Hon. Nathan Webb, ex-distrct attorney. Hon.
| w. L. Putnam and Mr.. A. A. Strout paid high
| tribute to the deceased, after which Justice
| Clifford replied as follows:
| Gentlemen of the Bar:
Divine precept teaches that human life is un-
certain, and that all men must die and appear
| at the final judgment. Warnings of the kind,
as enforced by experience, should prompt ali
| alike to prepare for the momentous event.
| Notwithstanding the numberless admonitions
which men almost daily receive of the certainty
of death, and of tbs necessity of conscientious
preparation for the life to come, it seems part
of our nature to continue to be unmlndful of
the precarious tenure of oar earthly existence
The mere fact of the continuance of life
tends to shut out the thought Of the proximity
or the possible approach of death. 1t is, per-
haps, only in times of saddened reflection, in
dnced by some startling event like the one to
which these proceedings point, that men deep
ly, though briefly, realize that the highway Of
life leads closely beside and parallel with that
of death. By the most insignificant and OBJ
Scure causes, by the narrowest and most mi
the feet of men are changed from the light and
cheerfulness of the one iuto the unknown, and,
as it seems to the living, the sombre and fear
fnl shades of the other. Inevitably men view
of our earthly existence, and when so re-
garded they seldom or never fail to seem sad,
gloomy and painful. We stand here upon the
shores OF time, and gaze wistfully after friends
who glide so suddenly and quietly out into that
limitless and unknown future, and accept with
tears the beGuest of sorrow they leave by their
departure. Examples of bereavement beset
our path at every auep, and now again we are
called upon to mourn and accept one of those
dispensatiOns of Providence, by which highly
esteemed friend, and one of our number, in the
height of usefulness Is suddenly removed from
all connection with the high duties to which
be had been assigned, and the eminent station
to which he had been allotted. Suddenly, and
without the slightest warning or notics, our
lamented friend has been called away from
most important and useful position, into scenes
and relations of which human intelligence
knows no more than if the future life was I'M
real and had no existence. OF all the uncer-
tainties and contingencies of this life, and of
all its mysterious relations to the other and sue
ceeding one, nothing is more bewildering or
inexplicable than such an occurrence as the one
we are assembled to contemplate. To the hu-
man understanding nothing would seem more
adverse TO the administration of justice, to the
settlement Of controversies, or to the useful
ness of the federal courts in this circuit, than
the removal of the eminent judge,
whose loss the bar and the whole public
lament and deplore. Fiction though it be, it
is our duty to bow to it with humble faith and
acquescence in its justice and wisdom. 1t is
a part of the discipline of human life and of
human nature to receive such dispensations as
emanating from Divine wisdom, aud to bow to
the aff1 ction with trust and submission that it
may be overrlled for the benefit of all, even
including those most severely afflicted by the
loss. Affections of the kind tend to teach
those who most keenly feel the loss, the duty
of faith ard trust in the Creator of all things.
and serve to admonish every rejecting mind
that human events are animated, regulated,
guided and controlled by degree of wisdom,
justice, omnisclence and forecast far beyond
our present comprehension. Personal af1ic-
lions of the kind are constantly occurring, and
the reflection comes home with peculiar force
to me, who under the inscrutable order of
Providence, have lived to see SO many of my
brethren and associates take their long fave
we'll of affairs here, and enter upon that I'M
known journey to which all human life s only
the entrance and vestibule. or all those es-
teemed and venerated associates who SO kindly
welcomed me on my entrance into the Supreme
Court. not one now sits beside me there. This
dreadful agency of death, or the misfortunes of
a national civil war, have swept them from the
seats they once adorned. Upon the circuit the
circumstances are the same. Not one of the
justices who presided over the four judicial
districts of the circuit at the period mentioned,
remain to express their sorrow for the loss
which the whole circuit sustans by the death
of the late circuit judge. They have gone, and
the four learned judges who now fill those
stations received their appointments to fill
places made vacant by death or physical dis
ability within the term Of my judicial life. To
me, therefore, it is duty of peculiar impress
siveness and solemnity to join in paying the
last tribute of respect and esteem to one who
SO lately, in the full vigor of body and mind,
aud in the rpeness of an apparently sound
manhood, was performing at my side ths i'm
portant duties of his judicial position. But
such are the mysterious vcissitudes and mex
picable conditions of human life to which all
men, whether in public stations or in the walks
of private life, are, by the law of our nature
and being, subjected. All that we can do in
view of the vcissitudes and conditions of
human life, is 70 perform every duty that comes
to our hands for discharge with fidelity and
conscientiousness, and to live humbly resigned
to all those unknown contingencies of life and
fortune of which we seem to be the subjects,
and over which we appear to be so powerless to
exercise any command or control.
With the life and history of our late and
esteemed associate we are all familiar. and in
it. as citizens of the same state and as members
of the same profession, we feel a common in
terest and pride. ANY review of the acts and
services OF his lifes to us almost unnecessary,
either for the purpose of becoming acquainted
with what they have been, or for the purpose
| of just estimate of his worth as a man,
| lawyer, soldier or a judge, because they are,
| in an almost equal degree, known and remem-
bered by us all. 4sIt is only to place in an en-
| during form upon the records of the court, for
| the benefit of others, who, in their turn, will
| become our successors in these labors and
| duties, a just and true acknowledgment of the
ability, services and high character OF our de-
pal TED friend that this sad and solemn, though
| pleasing observance is had Examples of lives
| usefully and wisely devoted TO the public SER
vice, should not be allowed to be forgotten or
| lightly remembered. Instead of that the
| memories of such deceased individuals should
be cherished, as they bear fruit in their intiu-
ences upon after times as models for future imi-
| tation. 1t is one of our highest duties in
every department of life, to transmit for the
| instruction and confederation of our successors
in life, correct portrayal of the virtues and emil
| nent services Of our contemporaries. While,
| therefore, we mourn the departure of our friend
and brother, while we deeply feel the loss the
| public service has sustained in his death, there
is, at least, melancholy satisfaction in revert
ing to the virtues of his life and the ability he
often displayed in the courts Of justice, and es-
/ neciallY here in this court. where it NOW be-