Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-09-01

home, 'rhrough all the worlds cIsmor. he
must win his praise in ber, through ali the
worlds warfare, he aust hnd his pesce"S
In no profession does there exist q greater
disparity ss To success among its mem bers
Than in the law and a career at tbe har more
than any other contradicts the theory that all
intelligences are equal, and that the differ.
ences among men are these occasioned by In.
dustry. The world isalwaysfull of aspirants
whose natural gift are so apparently made
quate for the work undertaken that, unless
they are endowed with that nameless TALENT
insisted upon by the late Sir Arthur Helps, n
which enables Its possessor To- get 'into one
orotherot the main grooves oi human affairs"
failure results from their best efforts Ma
tursl faculty and aud aptitude other things
being equal, are worth more than labor, how
ever much Carlyle may gloriiy 1t as the
modern evangel, and however much sue
cess IN life may depend upon its right direc-
ton. The next decade OF years in the life OF
Black determined the place he was to occupy
among men, and exhibits an exam pile OF that
which the world, whether II compreheuds its
own process OF reasoning or not, il always
interested in-a man whose intellectual and
moral powers justify his desires aud are com.
mensurate with whatever objects he elects to
accomplish. The bench sought him, and not
he the bench ; and no jurist has ever, at SO
early an age, attained greater celebrity among
his brethren Tor scientific knowledge of the
law and the luminous presentation of its
principles. Later still, more important pre-
termeuts than president judge OF a judicial
district awaited him In lSSl, under the
amendment to the state constitution, he was
elected justice OF the supreme court, and his
fame became associated In the Jurisprudence
OF Pennsylvania rs prtmNS inter pdrcs with
that OF Gibson, Lewis, Lowrie and Coulter
Mr. Buchanan called Judge Black in March,
1897, TO the position of attorney general: and
henceiorth until the day oi his death he was
before the public eye, n colossal figure in the
moving drama of American politics Walk
ing amidst perils of which comparatively
little is even yet known, the target of en.
vious factions and intriguing foes on every
side, II would seem almost impossible that
he should not contract something of the Me
claVelltau spirit of the times, or the state
craft engeudered of the political dissensions
preceding the civii war. But the transpar.
eucy of his character aud his methods as an
official adviser OF the president, shows that
IN no measure did he reflect the double deal.
ing then rife. TIE man of evasious Is un-
staple IN all his ways, and Judge Black was
unstable In nothing, In private and in pub
lie, in the council chambe of the cabinet aud
In the court of highest tribunal, whether the
dispositions of men were to be sounded or
divergent interests to be conciiated, he al.
WAYS stood forth the same fearless champion
Unconstitutional liberty. We have not the
space at our command nor Is the time vet
riIe for dispassionate discussion of the
closing days of Mr.. Buchanans administra-
ton. The ordeal through which Judge
Black then passed is the most memorable in
his lie; for the crisis had arrived which was
10 Test the perpetulty OF the union of states
and OF the republic among the nations. 1t
was not uncommon at this period tor blatant
orators and impetuous writers 10 indulge in
meaningless ptatitudes about the constitu-
uonal powers OF the president and the meth.
obs 10 be employed In averting dangers then
Imminent But many Of these men, as
Hallam says OF Cromwell, had so sucked
the dregs of a besotted fanaticism" that its
poison clouded their reason and drove them
IN utterance TO the verge of madness. The
principles euunciated by Attorney General
Black IN his opinion entitled "Power of the
PRESIDENT In executing the laws" rendered
November p, lSt0, ! ! are the only deductions
attainable within the limits of tho conslitu-
tlon, and all who calmly read that document
must admit that any other Interpretation
THAN that given would be extra constitution
al in Its nature tor we must always bear in
mind the fact that expositors OF law, as Burke
says, have their strict rule to go by" What
ever may be the eSigencies demanding pro-
clamation of IN lrtial law, a moments reilec-
tion shows the eseltcontrsdictory character OF
the phrase. Taken apart Ii simply means
that the term martial interdicts the right 10
legal trial and the term lac the right offs foe
10 Ali civilized processes OF warfare. Inter
dFWd tegeS silent Martial law therefore,
can never appear to the eye of ,the turist in
any other light than that In which Sir Mat
thew Hale views it-'Iin truth and reality II
Amidst the tempests of later times Judge
BLACK was not only safe from attack, but
ne was even invoked as an oracle by those
who, at the beginning of the war, would
nave been the first TO denounce him. This
change in the popular estimate of a character
IN Itself unchanged, save in that steady pro-
gressive development which marks all great
tnln1s, is one OF the many lessons to be de
rived from study oil his life and writings
IL Is also, In some measure an exhibition OF
W. 9Fft lazgz
during its irregular aud capricious currents,
as 1t Is striking proof of the solid and inval.
uaoie services ofa man him self who by sheer
moral and mental force worked out his own
Justification in the face OF his countrymen.
Revision OF judgments has already begun to
sift contemporary regulations, and while the
names of some are in the descending scale OF
ultimate decision, that of Black has reached
It's zenith. Under the verse OF the poet lies a
primal truth, and time demonstrates that
"The great soul of the world Is just"
The writings of Judge Black, lately is.
sued," comprise under tour general heads as
arranged by Mr.. Chauncey +. Black soma
OF the most notable papers In the literature
OF American civil polity, and they illustrate
the essential soltdity and correctness of View
taken by that eminent jurist Philosophic
IN the foundation OF his mind, there is de
gree OF skill In the constructive and destruc.
tive methods which Judge Black emplovs
rarely to be met with in augmentation.
Persuasive and eloquent as he NAV appear al
times, all the links in the chain OF his reason.
Ing are carefully forged and welded together
by logic which Is irresistible Under the
show OF logic, as used by the mere dialecti.
clan, Is visible the skeleton OF defective com.
bination, but trained intellect like Judge
Blacks ranges around his subject its leading
features with such exquisite tact that eyery
TACT and every argument follow in the strict.
est sequence, and, when complete, exhibit
both consummate power In art and an un.
riValled perfection in presentation. Valua.
bic as MS writings must always be copsid
cred by those who have any appreciation OF
conservatism OF thought, strength of conytc.
ton, and fearlsssness of expression, they
possess still higher claim on our admira
ton. In every utterance Of his life Is dis
covered breadth OF thought and of charity
which endears the memory of Judge Black
IN an especial manner to Catholic hearts, NO
only In America, the land Of his birth, hut In
Ireland, the home OF his forefathers Inter
esting as 1t would be to attempt an analysis
OF such mind, so complex in operation, 8,
various in requirement. and SO tolerant IL
temper, and to follow the manifestations O
that mind through all the mastery exposi
tions OF national polity bequeathed TO as IL
his Essays and Speeche5, we must contep
ourselves IN fulfilling humber part--that o
recalling 10 the attention OF our readers few
OF the lines OF thought pursued by Judg,
Black, especially In their relation TO cues
tions in which the Catholic citizens of the re
public are deeply concerned. In portrayinl
the career OF one not of his own belief tn,
Catholic critic now and then seems to act OF
the suppositlon that loyalty to truth demand
that ne should take cognizAnce OF that whicl
the non-Catholic ought to have thought upor
subjects cOlnate to faith and morals. rathe