The Portland daily press., 1892-03-28

much; but he cOuld not TAKE MS seat
| without Joining in the congratulations to
| his brother recently chosen as 1llagis-
trate to administer justice between party
| and party. The acceptance OF the ONCE
to him was a sacrifice in many respects.
'sThe emoluments he is to receive" said
Judge Haskell. ''are much smaller than
he has been accustomed to earn. He has
now voluntarily set himself apart from
the community as business man, apart
from his profession as a lawyer and tax
en- upon himself the oath of office to adj
minister Justice equally to the rich and
the poor. 1t is an honorable position he
has taken: il is high Office to which he
has been selected and the selection, is
one that we all of us must congratulate
ourselves and the community upon. But
| apprehend we come not here for the
purpose of saying to Brother Putnam
the many excellentqualities he possesses
and to remind him of the great require
ments he has attained, bnt rather to ex-
tend to him a hearty greeting and to say
to him that while he has seen fit to sep
arate himself from you as counsellor
and advisor, you recognize that he has
taken upon himself duties, the perform
ance of which are of more interest to you
and of far greater interest to the state
than those he has given UP.
s'Now that Brother Putnam has come
to the federal bench L know that his as
sociates welcome him I know that my
associates upon the supreme. bench of
the State are gratifed at his selection
and his acceptance of the position. His
spotless character is fit to bear the err
mine that has been cast about him"
Applause.
Judge Symonds's Speech.
The last speaker of the evening was
Judge Symonds, who spoke as follows:
| Mr.. President:
I cannot refuse, or willingly fail to
respond to the invitation with which you
have honored me, although am admon-
ished by the lateness of the hour that
my reply should be very brief.
Let me say, MI. President that it
seems to be a rare event in the lives Of
us all for the professional and business
men of the city, representatives of all
our social life, to meet together upon so
pleasant common ground as this tonight;
rare event and delightful as it is rare;
happy interruption of our accust omed
pursuits, bright with interest and pleas
ure for us all as the evening passes by
and sunny with pleasant memories
through all the future. [ do not know
why it is or how it may be with others,
but find my mind turning rather to the
past tonight than to the future. The
retrospect more than the prospect at
tracts me. Not that do not look for
| ward as all the rest of you do, with the
highest anticipation to the Judicial ca
reer of our distinguished guest. The
| best wears of his life for intellectual eff
| fort are still before him. ALI the honor
! that belongs to distinguished service in
high station, and the lasting reputation OF
the good Judge await him upon the
bench. But it is the tendency, | am
afraid I ought to say the necessity, OF
judicial office, to withdraw the man who
| holds it somewhat from the common life.
In certain sense, the judge must dwell
apart. His mind deals WITH distractions,
not with individuals, intent not upon the
parties before him but, as Choate says,
upon ''the trepidations of the balance. =
| He has no friends and no enemies and
shrinks even from the fear of personal
influence.
With the lawyer it is different. We
can indulge our own emotions, hate our
enemies and love our friends and stick
to them through thick and thin-I had
almost said whether they are right or
wrong.-and practically, T suppose, it
! comes to that. We have no judicial fac
ulty. no judicial mood of mind; we are
irving to find out all the time whether
by the use of honorable means we can
win or not. We do not know when we
are wrong, till the court decides, and
half the time we don't believe it then.
Besides this tendency to retirement into
seclusion in judicial STATEN, it is also
true, suppose, that the scene OF Judge
Putnams more difficult labors will be at
distance from us-not part OF our
common life here in Portland as his pro-
fessional career has been. 1t is probably
true, although seem to say it with re.
greet, that it will not happen to many OF
us. perhaps to none except his associates
upon the bench, to be SO much attracted
to the Judge as we have been to the man,
but our respect and admiration for him
will survive any abatement there may be
in the warmth of personal interest and
sympathy.
Some feeling like this suppose it is,
that inclines me tonight rather to turn to
the past than to the future. think OF
the beginning of Mr.. Putnam's profess
sional life, of the illustrious man with
WnOm ne Depau pTdCtICo, uto CoiAP"iiio1
of Webster and Clay, who had returned
from his high career in the Senate toput
on again the robes of his profession here
in Portland. I remember well his last
argument to the jury. I remember il
was in a case of marine insurance, and
shall never forget the tone and manner
in which he denounced certain insurance
companies as full of professions and
promises when writing their contracts,
but when the day Of performance comes
as equally full of evasions and escapes.
Bar Joined the funeral procession
to his burial place in Gardiner
William Pitt Fessenden and Nathan Cliff
ford were citizen then at the bar or had
but recently entered upon the perform
anoe of the high public duties to which
the remainder of their lives was devoted
Gen. Samuel Fessenden and Thomas
Amory Deblois were then among the
the old school, then still living. Judge
Howard, of simple habits and of courtly
manner, had recently retired from the
|, bench of the supreme court and resumed
| H. ,,noo+;oo nf hiS 1,rofeSSiOn PhineaS