Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-09-01
JEREMIAH SULLIyANBLACK.
BY A, ., raus., rh. ID, in the Catholic World
september 1885.

And, having chosen, with u s;ea ifast mind
sir Heary f0ylor. Phihp rda Ayfcrcidc.
In the midsummer of iSSS large funeral
cortege LEFT the spacious grounds of Brockie,
a few miles from York, Peunsy lvania, and
passed through its tbronged aud silent
streets to the cemetery just beyond the lin.
its OF the town. That York was for eight
months the seat of the Continental Congress
In the last century, aud was the place of resi-
dence and of burial OF distinguished pub.
licist in this, are the two historic facts which
give to the ancient town au especial iuterest
In the transition from one to the other are
involved all the memorable scenes which
connect the first aud the second centenary OF
our years as o nation--from the stirring asso.
Citations which the early days of the republic
awaken To those revived by the career of the
illustrious dead whose obseq nies now hushed
the busy shops OF York and rendered the
historical retrospect doubly impressive The
remains thus conveyed to seputure, amid "a
silence so profound that 1t seemed augmented
oy the very tolling OF the church belts, were
those OF a great American, known far be-
yond the town in which ha lived, the com.
monwealth in which he was born. and the
country which he 80 faithfully served In q
most critical period of her history--Jeremiah
sullivan Black, name identified with the
highest iuridical learning of this age and OF
this land.
40 thou beloved and most merciful
Father, from whom | had my beidg and in
whom have ever trusted" he said a short
time before his death. "grant, II 1t be thy
Will. that no longer suffer this agony, aud
that i be speedily called home TO thee"
Thus confident as little child in his faith he
died, aud thus followed by mourning citizens
OF every class he was buried. But his work
lives after him, and his voice is still potent
among men in the volume OF his writings
collected by Mr.. Chauncey L. Black, his ac-
complished son, who has made an honorable
fame as lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania
Other aud larger claims for recognition
among the master. minds of our country than
that OF eminence in the Jurisprudence of his
age Will suggest themselves when the career
oil Judge Black is calmly and impartislly
considered, and so long as true greatness il
held In honor, so long will his name occupy
4 lofty and enduring place, Whatever may
be the dominating motive moulding the des.
tiny of man, 1t is certain that true greatness
can never be diSsOciated from loyalty to priu-
ciple--that hostage which fame exscts as the
ultimate criterion ofcharacter, and without
which there can be no real success. Putting
aside the popular distinctions with which
our common speech coniuses the ethical
quality OF courage moral and physical, in
the integrity of life, We know, as George
Eliot has so admirably said, that it is an Z" in.
exorable law of human souls that we prepare
ourselves for sudden deeds by the reiterated
choice of good or evil that gradually deter
mines Characters Fidelity to noble aims
and worthy purposes is not only the pledge
OF reputation, but the test of inspiration in
the conduct of men. The memory of Judge
Black Is nallowed, and an estimate of psrma.
nent value placed upon his writings, because
he looked beyond the excitement OF the
times and the dictates OF self-interest to the
supremacy OF the essential truth for which he
strove, and to its conversation as an integral
force in the body polite.
The early settlements in Pennsylvania
exhibit fact kindred to that seen in the his
tory OF other states in colonial aud su ubseauent
periods-the large and Influential irish ele-
ment which has LETT the traces of its genius
and power in every department of American
life and thought. Logan. tue friend Of
Penn Allison, provost OF PENNSYLVANIA col
lege Ramsay, the historian of South Caro-
lima Barry and Stewart, of the navy :
Wayne and Hand, of the army Fulton aud
COLES, in the art of navigation Binna, in
Journalism, and Carey, in political science,
are but few OF the distinguished men OF
Irish birth or ancestry who have shed Iustre
on the annals of the state. And when the fu
ture historian records the deeds and the fame
OF those OF Celtic lineage, among the foremost
on the roll OF Pennsylvania's sons will be her
venerable publicist, Judge Jeremiah Sulli-
van Black. In him the traditions OF the
fathers of the republic have been borne on 10
new epoch, and he was the last OF that bril-.
liant galaxy OF statesmen of a former genera
ton whose memory is the glory OF on. own.
Judge Black was born a few miles from
the country town of Somerset, in the rich re.
gton lying between Laurel ridge and the
Allegheny mountains. He sprang from a
good old IRISH stock, for the names Of Patrick
sullivan and Jane McDonougd are on the
list oil his honored ancestors or Blacks
early education In the ordinary schools 9th
neighborhood but few incidents are pre-
served but, whether his advantages were
great or small, decided taste for special
authors In Latin and English was soon mani
Tested, and Horace and Shakespeare became
what they viii always be to a boyhood IN
which the intellect predominates--the COM
panions OF studtoUs hours. From them he
assimilated thus early profound knowledge
OF the actual elements of human life, its yio-
lent contrasts, Infinite joys and infinite woes,
Its subtle motives and discOrdant pniloso.
phies, its moral grandeur and its Appalling
weak knowledge which usually v comes
at later period, aud from contact with the
world rather than with books. Like most
boys brought up under the influence of a re-
nned Protestant home, the King James yer-
sion oi the scriptures was the daily manual
rom which he was taught his duty to God
and his duty TO man, and il was forever con.
neeted with all that was gentle and pure and
strong in his spiritual growth. What Father
Faoer graphically describes as its E'uncom-
mon beauty and marvellous English" LEFT an
impress on the mind of Black az deep as the
supernatural truth which its text imprinted
on his soul Neither change nor strife OF
professional years etiaced the seal OF its vail.
dity. As the oratorian says OF every Pro
testant who has any religiOusness tho Eng.
iish Bible was 'hs sacred thing which doubt
has never dimmed and controversy never
soiled."
The quiet and isolated life of young Black,
broken only by occasional rambIes over the
long sweep OF highland enclosing his home
developed genuine appreciation of natural
phenomena which in later years influenced
bis choice OF permanent abode at BrockIe
The play OF the winds, the hues OF the sky
the march OF clouds, the gathering storm,
ana the succeeding calm uHfolded to his 90.
servant eye the answering dominion of law,
and nature thus became to him the sanctuary
of the supreme iaw-giver. AT the age OF seven
teen he entered upon the study OF the law
under auspices which would have promised
success even to one less suited for the legal
profession. Two brothers, prominent figures
IN tho politics and atthe bar OF western Penn
sylvania at that day, were Chauncey and
waiter Forward, and with them Mr.. Henry
Black, father OF Jeremiah, being an associate
Judge OF Somerset county, was united by
-ocial as well as professional ties. II selected
the Office OF Mr. Chauncey Forward In which
10 place his son, and under the tuition OF this
wise preceptor the future jurist laid the
foundation OF his legal greatness. 1t Is hard
~ necessary, In view OF his subsequent pro-
lessional emineuce, to recount how q iligently
he worked for the mastery of those princi-
pies Of the law which either narrow or ex.
pdhd the mind OF the student, producing on
tue one hand an adept in the cunning arts of
the mere al vocate, and on the other the iudi.
cal temper OF the enlightened iurist. Ten
years later we find Black not only in the fuII
ude OF prosperity which his pre- eminent
aoili,les had so speedily won, but recoe-