The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1882-05-25
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
Glowing Tributes TO the Memory
of Hon. c. NJ. Winkler.

On the assembling of the court of ap-
peals, yesterday morning, to conduct
services to the memory of the
late Judge G. NJ Winkler, Major A. NJ.
jackson addressed the court, as follows:
If your Ho Iors please:
Not yet have seven years elapsed since
the eXigencies and the will of the people
of Texas called into existence the court
of appeals, and endowed it with the most
solemn and responsible of all the preroga-
tives arrogated by human institutions
the ultimate determination of the issues
of ife or death, as we'll as of the less fear
full sanctions devised for the vfnd1catlon
OF law and the protection of society
against violence ard crime. AT the same
time, and by the same sovereign will,
three citizens were selected with rare
unanimity to constitute the court, and
exercise the plenary powers with which
it was invested. And now, though the
brief term of their high commission is rs
vet uneXpired, still more sovereign
power has summoned two of those three
to that supreme tribunal visible only TO
the eye OF faith, and happily attainable
by none but the pure in heart. Tne Sow
erei9n Arbiter OF life and death has pro-
nounced them worthy and well qualified,
and called them to Himself.
Early in the morning OF Saturday last,
the thirteenth instant, Judge g. NJ.
WInkler died in this city. The herald of
his divine Master found him at his post
of duty, faithfully and sedulouslV ell
gagged in its performance. sudden as
the summons may seem to those who
loved him, it was not too sudden for HIM,
the sincere and humble Christian, the up
right and patriotic citizen, the just and
compassionate judge, the intrepid and
heroic soldier, the devoted husband and
the tender father. In the maturity of his
manhood and the prime OF his usefulness
he is gone, bearing with him the LOVING
gratitude of the people he served so long
and so well, in prosperity and adversely,
in peace and in war. No neglected trust,
no unperformed duty detracts an atom
from his wellearned fame.
Leaving to an abler hand all particulars
of Judge Winkler's career, I cannot be
mistaken IN pronOuncing 1t one which
in the truest sense was eminently
successful. Yet success was not the
goal of his ambition. Duty, not
success, was the shrine at
which he wOrshipped the Lends he
aimed at were his cOuntry's, his Gods,
and truth's". He embarked i'm lie with
out accidental or inherited advantages,
and owed nothing to chance, nor to other
patronage than that of his countrymen,
secured by that implicit confidence which
he never failed TO inspire. Unswerving
integrity, indOmitable tortitude, and un-
wavering devotion to duty were the
strong supports which sustained the mas
sive proportions of his moral stature.
S0nd judgment, patient investigation,
and untiring industry commended him
through life to the good opinion OF his
fellow-men, and bore him surely and
steadily onward and upward from one
public trust to another, until, linked with
the purest impartiality and a varied eX-
perience, they equipped HIM admirably
for the elevated judicial position in
which he rendered the last OF that long
series of public services by which his
name will be inscribed upon the Imper-
ishable page destined To perpetuate the
memories and achievements of the heroic
Texan dead. For not alone in the
peaceful paths of the civil affairs OF Texas
were his services dedicated upon her al
tars. Early in the stupendous conflict
betweenthe states, he speeded to the sup
port of the cause his conscience approved,
and, with the pertinaclous fidelity so con-
spicuOus IN his character, he adhered to
that cause amid all its varying fortunes
and sanguinary fields, until it passed into
history. Sufficient here to say that he
proved worthy to bear the banner of Lee,
to advance the battle-flag of Jackson. to
support the charge of Hood, and TO lead
the irresistible onset of the inVincible
Texas brigade.
Therefore it is, may it please your
honors, that while the civil history OF his
times shall associate his name with those
of the eminent men who laid firm and
true the foundations of Texas jurispru-
dence, its military annals must enroll it
with those of Sidney johnson and Hood,
of Green and Gregg, of McCulloch and
Scurry, of Rogers and Terry and Tom
Lubbock, and the many others who de-
voted their lives to the defense of the land
they loved so well.
Turning from the public to the private
attributes of Judge Winkler, and con-
templating all in a single view, is it pos
sible to conceive character more COM
plete or more symmetrical? He was the
lmpersOration of sincerity. of truthful
ness, of charity in thought and word and
deed yet he was firm and resolute In
the maintenance of his convictions or the
discharge of what he deemed his duty.
Modest in his estimate of himself, con-
siderate of the feelings as well as the
rights of others, however humble they
might be, faithful to his friends. and in
the domestic circle all that wOmanly love
could crave or filial affection hope for, he
embodied, take him all in all, the ideal
conception of the worthy follower of
that Being who has row called him to
his reward.
Such and more, may it please your
honors, was he with whom you will con-
suit no more upon any of the concerns of
this life, and as such and more he was
appreciated by the community in which
he lived. Borne hence, that his remains
may find their last earthly resting place
among his kindred and neighbors, moth
ing could have been more impressive
than the heartfelt tribute of the vast con-
course who, comprising all ages and
conditions, assembled around his grave.
There, guarded by people he loved and
who loved him, "after life's fitful fever
he sleeps wei" while to us it remains to
cherish his memory in our hearts and
emulate his example in our lives.
To acquit myselfn now of a duty enjOined
upon me by the bar of this and other
courts In session at this place, /
present to your honors certain resolu-
tIons of their adoption. and ask that they
be entered upon the record of the court.
Colonel Horace Chiffon followed, and
paid this just tribute to the memory of
the illustrious dead:
My official association with Judge
Winkler justifies me in adding another
to the multiplied expressions which have
followed his decease:
The state of the business of this court
offered me q few days of respite in last
week, and, while at my home in the east,
his mortal illness began and terminated.
Thus was L spared the bitterness and de-
MED the consolation of clasping his dying
hand, of watching his serene Christian
nature in its final and victorious grap-
pling with the uncertainties of impend
ing death.
Moderation. benevolence, courage,
diligence, well-polsed judgment = these
are the merits which signalize his name.
The virtues of Washington were not
more exalted.
s Those more familiar with his life may
elaborate the eulogy by collecting remin-
iscenees illustrative of his character, but
the bowed heads of thousands not thus
familiar do honor this day to the Valorous
soldier and the just judge.
Judge White then arose, and, in the
following language, expressed his sense
of the loss which had been sustained, not
only by his most intimate friends, but by
the entire state, in the death of Judge
Winkler:
Doubtless, gentlemen, it were wei
could we but substitute the "eloquence
Of silence for the set phrase of speech in
response to your kind resolutions and
eloquent address, which on this solemn
occasion have aroused emotions no Ian
guage at our command can sufficiently ex-
press. Six years ago, on the eighteenth
day of April, 1876, the court Of appeals OF
Texas was organized, under the consti-
tuition and laws, in the old supreme court
building on capitol hill, the Hon; M. ID.
Ector and c. NJ. Winkler, with your
humble speaker, occupying the bench,
and with W. f. Faris at Austin, Captain
Thomas Smith at Tyler, and Charles s..
Morse at Galveston. filling the clerkships
at the three branches. In this short space
of time, two judges and two clerks have
been called to their last account. First
went the genial Faris; next our Presiding
Judge Ector; then Captain Smith, and
now with our recent sorrow fresh upon