The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-07-08
Resolutions of Coincidence by the
Honolulu Bar.
Touching Tributes TO His Memory by
Bar and Bench.

being present.
After the formal opening of the Court
by the Sheriff, His Excellency the Attor-
ney General arose and addressed the
Court as follows:
Your Honors-The mournful task has
been committed to me by the members Of
the bar to move the acceptance and entry
on the minutes of this Court of resolu-
tions condolatory upon the death of Benja-
min Hale Austin, lately one of the Hon
orable Justices of this Court
May say of him that regret nothing
more than the scantiness of time during
which l had the pleasure and benefit of
acquaintance with the deceased gentle
man. Scarcely two years-a span in
whole lifetime-yet sufficient to have
learned and appreciated the many noble
and excellent qualities which graced this
man. His uprightness, the conscientious
ness with which he, regardless of physical
ailment, attended to official duties, his
fairness and impartiality, were not his
only attributes to command our respect
and elicit our praise. No one who knew
him could have failed to admire the forth
tude which he evinced during the long
and terrible trial to which he was sub
jected during the latter part of his life.
In no wise could nobility of mind and
true Christian spirit become more con-
spicuous than in this good mans be-
havior to his family, his friends, and all
others who came in contact with him; than
in his unselfshness, in his urbanity, and
in the exemplary patience with which he
bore his sufferings. "Nihil tam acerbum
est in quo non aequus animus solatium
inveniat." There is no suffering so hard
but in it the patient mind may find some
comfort. One of the salient virtues of
our departed friend was, that even intense
suffering never could defect his ways
from conscientious performance of duty,
nor prevent him from maintaining a
cheerful spirit and a lovable patience,
sympathizing relatives and friends. If
| there is hereafter; if there exists an i'm
| mortal part in man-and I DO not doubt
it-then truly to this good, faithful and
| suffering man ''Deatn is the crown of
lifen
For him survives the memory of his
| unblemished character as man and Judge,
the memory of his constituencies to all
who surrounded him during the many
| days and nights of suffering which it was
| his hard lot to pass; the memory of the
faithfulness with which he performed his
| tasks in life.
To his worth we pay this tribute, per-
| haps ephemeral, bound in the weak tissue
of this perishable scroll, but 1 may say
| for those in whose name it is presented
| that it is not, as often occurs, an empty
| phrasing fitted for the occasion, but that it
emanates from that sincere respect which
follows the thorough appreciation of virtue
and merit. [ shall now, by leave of Your
Honors, read the
RESOLUTIONS PRESENTED By THE BAR OF
| HONOLULU.
| WHEREAS, God in His wise providence
has removed the Honorable BENJAMIN
1
the Supreme Court by death; be it
ReSoLUed, That while we bow in sub
| missiVe resignation to the loss which we
have suffered in the removal by death of
Judge Austin from his official duties as a
Justice of the Supreme Court, we hereby
record our appreciation of his unfailing
| courtesy, and his cheerful and faithful at
tention to the responsible duties of his
position, even while afflicted with severe
and painful bodily illness:
That we hereby express to the family of
the deceased our sincere coincidence and
our sympathy with them in their bereave-
ment:
That the Bar wear Grape on the left
arm for thirty days in respect of the de-
| ceased:
That this resolution be recorded upon
the minutes of the Supreme Court, and
that copies be forwarded to the widow
and brothers of the deceased.
Mr.. A. S. Hartwell said "Your
Honors-I rise to second the motion of
His Excellency the Attorney General.
The event that has brought US together is
still so fresh in my mind that do not
trust myself to utter extemporaneously
the few words that 1 would say (Mr.
Hartwell, finding himself unable to read
his notes, handed them to Mr.. Whiting,
who read them as follovs):
Our friend Austin's long and weary
struggle with life is over. How bravely,
how patiently and uncomplainingly, how
evenly he bore it During the nine years
| that 1 have known him, 1 never heard a
| murmur escape his lirs, although during
all that time he must have suffered con-
| slant bodily discomfort. How little we,
who have prided ourselves on our
strength, can know of the anguish of
mind with which he found himself de-
barred from bodily activities. Not one in
ten thousand would have taken his lot so