The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-12-18

fesslonal career OF Judge Chisholm can raj 70
feel most profoundly tina. these words would
have been peculiarly applicable 20 his Intel,
iectual hfes NO ooscurity, no mirage there
Nothing muddy, nothing mere:rciOus! No
thought could possibly fad fizston there which
was not sererely rayed. sharply trimmed, like
the stars, on cloudless night. in heaven.
Had be not been richly tndoIed by nature
with the rare analytical power referred TO IN
the report. this, of course, could never have
been. But was IT ascTibable wholly 10 natural
TALENT Speaking to me once Of the Remark
| able power possessed by his dead partner, Mr..
| Julian Hartridge. to grasp almost Instant =
neousiy, and as If by intuition the living points OF
case-the very power which the Report so
| strongly recognizes in himeelr-he said some
! what sadly: at is so different with mt.
must work out everything Ny mind promptly
guished president OF Yale College be-
fore nv class, when he was protest
ing against the false Significance com
| monty attached t0 the word genius; that
| it is a species OF intuition; an inspiration com
ing from the spiritual world 10 man, as instinct
| is snqpos eli u come TO tue lower orders or ami
mate fe: tne ',aGiItas, from some goa =
/ touch of the live coal from the altar, y
Genius" ha said rs that lOve for an art
| which makes labor in it rest to the artist IF
| excel other men in Anything. exclaimed Sir
| Isaac Newton, 1T Is simply because can keep
| my mind longer fixe1 upoH a sing.e pont than
| any other man is il not the same old story!
Labor rfEclt oDaniG ~ There is nothing new
under the sun "
| But now the boy must nave laDOfeQ. As u IL
were but of yesterday ! remember the first ar
gument which ever beard fall from his lips
| He opposed to myself in a case, important
because Of tie amount at stake, but yet more
important because of the vexed questions
which it involved and which. ct that time, we're
unsettled ia Georgia. and ne gained it. As
gazed upon his youthful face and figure, and
listened to his hpss-liGe voice, the first impres-
sion made upon me recalled the exclamation
OF the South C2rolinial, fascinated by
the weird eoquenoe OF Alexander II. Steph-
ems in the Historic Commercial Convention
at Charleston: III the boys IN Georgia speak
ike that what must the men be-" But the last
impression made by the conclusion OF his argl-
meut, recalled the exclamation of the British
commoner, when the younger Pitt, prime minis
ter Of England at 2; years OF age, had finished
his first speech in parliament: And this is his
first speech Could believe that my last would
be comparable with it how happy / would be"
In writing his decision. Judge Fleming paid
very high encomiun to his argument, Coming,
as it DID, from the greatest Of judges of nisi
pri1 court, still 10 the tul enjoyment of all his
intellectual force. that encomium was a wreath
to glorify any lawyers brow Already was
young Chisholm leader at the bar
Greatly, indeed, as is Indicated by the report,
was Judge Chisholm admired by his comrades
for his intellectual power. /. for one, admired
yet more the uniform placidity of his temper.
VINO ever heard him utter harsh unkind
word? Who ever saw him turn aside from the
legitimate line OF his argument TO indulge i'll
bitter personality or sharp sarcasm, or thun-
dering invective? The adversary who suffered
from conflict with him must have succumbed
to the necessities of the situation; must have
been caught between the upper ana neither mill
stone OF his Inaccessible logic And yet | have
been told bY friend. who knew him more init
mately than !, that he was naturally quick OF
temper.
And here. Mr.. Chairman. the fountain head
or my highest admiration for Judge Chisholm
begins to reveal itself. By subjectng his intel
lect 10 the several discipline OF labor, he mads
his professional life b iliiant. Controlling by
the exercise OF his will power the turbulent ele-
ments of his nature. he gave TO his emotional
life the perennial placidity OF a halcyon sea.
In brief, he conquered himself. And The that
conquereth himself is greater than he that
taketh a city" These words were, OF course,
to be applied to the sound man; to the "sdnu
Bts7ls in SGno corp0Ye." His was, unquas-
tionably, the "Sund mems" but. alas! his was
not the sanitn corpus! Some OF us, perhaps
most OF us, who saw the young eagle rise into
the upper air, knew that he was beating it with
an already crippled wing; and also knew that
he was himself apprised of the fatal fact
Through the larger part Of his manhood he
lived, like Damocles, in fun contemplation of the
deadly sword suspended above him by single
hair. Is not the most superficial observation of
our common humanity quite sufficient to assure
us that such hapless condition almost resist
lessly tends TO concentration upon self? Are not
chronic disease, unremitting pain, the perpetual
consciousness of death possibly at hand. are
not these the grim and dusky powers which
tear the tendrils Of human thought and affec-
ton from external objects, and Irvine them, all
and ever. closely around seifl Do they not al
most invariably make the sufferer burden and
cloud upon the lives of others? But was il
thus with Judge Chi holm? Addressing as |
am, an audience of his comrades; speaking in
the community where he spent the larger part
of his lie, il surely is not necessary for me, in
answering this question, to follow closely its
stream. Who OF us is prepared to admit that
the words, mon Sibi, sed diiiS"-not for him
self but for others-would be bat fair ZEN re-
sumo" OF the history of his life? Is it
tn Of oil oh xvh ha
could have found in 1t comparable with the
thrill which must have come to bis heart when,
IN the exercise OF his great professional power,
he had achieved triumph! And yet when that
throbbing monitor Of death warned him that
the happiness and welfare of others required
him TO dash the cup from his lips, did he not
withdraw the Arab, just attaining to his prime
in years, from the excitement of the race course
| to chaiu him to the car of quiet labor, seem
| ingly less dangerous. but possibly, alas more
| exhaustive? With what unlagging resolve
| did he drag the weight which was ever growing
heavier while the power to draw it might be
| growing naturally weaker The eye of the
most casual observer was fastened upon him in
amazement when he fell, literally between the
| shafts, covered all over with his harness. Nor
was he yet prepared to succumb to death with
| out struggle! The gigantic will power of this
| extraordinary man still continued to wage the
most desperate of conflicts with the grim de-
stroyer. The ideal life of ROBIN in the move
nust pale" before this real life sits Intellectual
| fire."
| Brilliant, indeed, had he made it by the ex-
| ercise of his intellectual power; but here was
| something more than brilliant. NOBLE, indeed,
| had he made it by the absolute control, of his
emotional nature: but here was something more
than noble! Msy l be permitted, Mr.. Chair
man, to quote, OF this point, briefly, from my
self, IN my stronger days9 He has but family
realized the agonieS, or the heroism, of the
Savior of mankind who has merely beheld him
hanging upon the cross, enduring the tcrcures
OF physical crucifixion; the thieves on his right
and mis- left suffered the same. But their
were the pangs of an hour; his had
been the endurance of years. Hope had
left them but lately; hope had beer
| with him never. Theirs was a short lived cruel
tixion of the body; his, from his childhood up
had been an eternal cruelty on Of the soul. Tue
| veil, which had never been lifted to mortal eyes
| was lifted to his, and Gods benevolence did moi
| conceal the future from his gaze AS he laiC
him down Co slumber, it was there; as be
started from bis midnight dream, it was before
him; as he opened his eyes to the Light of thC
blessed morning he awoke to q renewed
consciousness OF his terrible destiny IL
vain were the skies bright and the
earth green: in vain did the sprins
come with its bloom, the sunnmel
with its bounty, aud nature exert her revivify
ing power in the delightful transition of the
seasons, Still was the same terrible destiny
unchanging. Interchangeable, glooniug up5r
him, like an endless winter of the soul. Witt
all the suscept 6ilitieS Of the to the torture
he possessed the foresight of the God to tht
future Yet did he walk calmly on to the ter
rible contamination; not in excitement not il
the expectation of honor, or OF glory or o
profit; but forgetful Of self, conquering tempta
ton, fear and sffiiction, weeping over the sor
of others