The Press., 1885-09-03

congress.
 s. B. FAIRFIELD, Eso., of New York sends to the bar of Holland County the graceful tribute given below to the late R. D. Davison, doubly valuable coming as il does from one who has so often contested with Mr. D. ill the local courts
 May itplease the court: It seems prop CT that the course of justice, this court and its officers, should pause at the depar- ture of one of its members, and that suita- ble testimonials of that sad event should be entered of record here of our apprecia- tion of the life and character of our de- ceased brother, R. D. Davison, who was l first admitted to the bar of this county, and has for more than one decade been a constant attendant upon the court and a prominent member thereof
 His work is done before he had scarcely attained the zenith of his power and infiu- ence, for his was one of those intellects that matured slow, and, like the oak upon the mountain, became hardy and tenacious by time and the intellectual conflict that was going on around him.
 Born to no heritage of wealth or infu- ence, and without the external advantages favorable to early mental culture, his thirst for knowledge and his perseverance ia its pursuit, amid the depressing circum- stances of poverty and poor health, make his struggles read almost like an epic, and furnished notable example of what in- dustry and honest purpose can accomplish. He was born in Willington, in Holland County, in the year 1927, of poor but re- spectable and sturdy percentage, who died, leaving him an orphan in his boyhood. His education was such as boy might at- tain forty years ago, in the hard struggle for existence, in one of our country dis trict schools in winter; yet under these primitive advantages, with few books, he acquired sufficient learning to qualify him for country school-teacher, and then, by carefully utilizing his time and means, was able to enter larger field of study and mental requirement, and to attain re- spectable knowledge of English literature, and the various departments of knowledge requisite to legal education, which he commenced at p years of age in the office of Asa Wiley, Esq, then lawyer ir Stafford, and subsequently completed his studies with M. R. West, Esq., then in Stafford, and was admitted to the bar o1 this county in 1866, and soon after opened an office at Colchester, in New London county. With his professional career in that county I am not particularly con- versant, other than that he was 8 success in competition with such legal luminaries as Hon. John T. Waite, Jeremiah Halsey, James A. Hovey, and g number of others who have attained the forefront rank in the profession ill that county and in the state.
 Of his career in this county, where he has been since 1870, it is not necessary for me to speak, as his professional attainments are fresh in the minds of the people and fully appreciated. .-
 The distinguishing qualities of his mind were tenacity of purpose and the careful analysis of the points of the case in which he was engaged he had convictions of right and justice, and he followed those convictions in the trial and presentation of his cases and in the argument. Although he seldom reached the higher arts of ora tory, yet he often held the law and the facts involved in his cases with firm grip, and enforced conviction by apt illustra- tions drawn from the fertile storehouse of his mind. His knowledge of the common law was accurate and considerable, show ing that he read constantly and carefully, and considered we'll what he read. As a lawyer 1t may then be said of him that he was conscientious adviser, never instiga- ting litigation for it's own sake nor for the sake of lucre; but mild, and loving ease and peace himself, he inculcated that spir- it in his clients, and many controversies were settled through his instrumentality. Of his character as man and citizen He belonged to the old school-a genera tion that is fast disappearing. Honest, kindly, and generous in his sympaties, he was animated by the principle of doing good to all his fellow-creatures. Pure in thought and purpose, his actions were con- trolled and governed by the high and lbe- ral principle of the fatherhood of God ,and the brotherhood of man :; constant in his attendance in the house of God, and exem- plified by his example and his life, that many of the christian virtues and graces clothed and adorned his character. Dur ing large part of his life he remained sin gle, but a few years ago he married an es- timable lady, with whom he lived in peace and domestic happiness until the close.
 In summarizing the lifo of the deceased, and the causes of his success, his manly character stands out in bold relief, and all other elements seem to be centered there. Success is transitory, fame a vapor, popu- lar applause breath, but character sur wives, ,outliving in durability the hard gran ite of our hills then it may be said of him, his manly character, formed and fashioned in the severe school of early disadvantages, rises amid the acts of his life like granite obelisk, .undecayable and undying..
 
 Putnam Standard /: If your local paper happens to tread on your toes little in performing its mission don't you get your back up and abuse it's editor, but stop and take good breath and think for season, and see if you can't remember some of the