The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-01-08

ADDRESS BYF. ". CHRISTIAN, ESQ,
BEFORE THE co URT or APPEALS.
the Resolutions of the Bar Upon Colonel
Gordon's Death Presented and His Life.
Character and Abilities Discussed.

tant public duties this morning, l ask
your indulgence while discharge mel
ancholy duty which has been committed
to me.
On the 9th OF December last a meeting
Of the bench and bar was held in THIS
courtroom for the purpose OF adopting
resolutions in commemoration Of the life
and services OF Colonel w. w. Gordon.
and by that meeting was commissioned
70 announce his death officially 10 this
honorable court, OF whose bar he was a
distinguished member. and to request that
the resolution adopted by that meeting
may be preserved in an enduring form by
being spread upon your records
On Sunday, December the 9Th. 1892, just
about the dawn OF day. Colonel w. w.
Gordon, notwithstand'i the best medical
skill. ard attended by the unceasing min
istrations Of tender affection, yielded 10
an incurable disease, and passed from the
midst OF livirg men.
In his death a shining light Of our hon
ored profession was eXtinguished Tor
ever.
His earliest predictions we're not
towards the law. but towards scientific
Virginia Military Institute he showed
peculiar aptitude for mathematics.
science. especially in its higher branches.
calling for that grasp and clearness OF in
tsliect which distinguished him through
life.
Upon leaving college he entered the ser
vice of the United States Coast Survey.
then under the charge of that dlstin-
guished mathematician, Professor Pierce.
Though he remained only short time In
that service, in that short time he so i'm
pressed all with whom he worked with
his abilities as to give augury OF his fn-
ture eminence He always loved TO speak
of his life during that period. and cher
isned his connection with the Coast sur
very with evident pleasure and pride.
trouble with his eyesight forced him TO
abandon that service, and after n snort
interval of rest, he decided, though py
what influence or circumstances his choice
was determined have never heard, to de-
vote his life 10 that profession which ne
afterwards pursued with such signal sue
cess and distinction.
In the early days OF his career. i have
been told he was an intense student; and
II was during that period, when all his
faculties were fresh, and business not so
abundant as TO leave no leisure for study
that he became deeply versed in the pTln-
ciples OF the law, and laid strong ana
solid foundations on which, In his later
years, he built his conclusions by
the exercise of pure reason, for no man /
have ever known relied less upon mere
precedent in reaching his conclusions or
In convincing others of their correctness
In his discussions before the court. or In
conference with his brethren Of the bar,
he rarely relied upon authorities. but gem
orally founded himself upon fundamental
principles that are familiar and a%io-
matte, and deduced therefrom his conclu-
sions by a wonderful process Of succinct
and lucid reasoning. His examination OF
authorities was for the most part con-
fined to those cited by his opponent, which
were subjected 10 keen scrutiny, and most
of us have admired the beautiful analysis
and discrimination by which he so often
demonstrated that they were inapplica-
BILE, or supported the principle for which
he was contending. Gifted with a tena-
cious memory, his mind was stored with
q large fund of useful information. with
little which was useless or ornamental.
He was, in truth, a learned lawyer not in
the pedant's sense Of the term, but in the
better sense, especially In these days
when precedents have been multiplied in
bewildering number and conflict. of being
inbued with the very spirit and reason of
the law
But It was not study nor requirements.
but nature itself that made him a great
lawyer, by endowing him with an intel
lect that was of splendid grasp and Of
great clearness and acuteress.
This original power OF mind it was that
rendered him so Independent of the aids
which most of us require from the opin-
ions of writers and judges in analogous
cases. and gave him a professional YER
vx,hf la at
before the court or jury, in the court Of
equity or of law, at the bar of his own or
a sister State. His mind was not only
strong, but its energies were never dor
mant. and were applied with marvellous
activity TO every subject submitted to its
ken, and its operations were so rapid
that his judgments often seemed 1.-THE in
buttons of bright and Thoroughbred
intellect" But accompanying this power
OF clear and rapid apprehension, he had
great capacity for patient thought and
he subjected his conclusions, especially In
questions of great difficulty, or when they
were to form the basis of action, TO in
tense and painstaking reflection.
AS an advocate he exerted great influ-
ence over courts and juries by the mas
sive, condensed weight and clearness Of
his arguments. He did not aim to capti-
vate the fancy or 10 sway the judgment
but rather to hold APP truth in noon-day
light to their view by unrivalled clear
ness Of statement and pointed force Of
reasoning. Clearness was at once the
characteristic and necessity of his mental
processes. His mind perceived all the
parts of the most complicated matter in
their true color and shape, and in their
just relations to each other The clouds
which obscure the truth, the vague and
tpA ushf cb Of
minds. could not exist within the horizon
OF his luminous intellect. II IS impossible
TO overestimate the value of this clear
ness. Cle1rness of thought and clearness
of expression in every vocation. but espe-
cially In the lawyers, Is the condition Of
perceiving truth and of inducing others to
perceive It,
This great gift was possessed by Col
onei Gordon in such a degree that his
statement OF a case ordinarily carried
conviction and rendered elaborate argu-
ment unnecessary. He rarely resorted to
long arguments. and only in cases involv-
Ing a variety Of questions. 1t was his
habit of Selling the controlling points Of
his case and disregarding. with unerring
judgment. not only what was immaterlal,
but what was relatively unimpOrtant,
condensing the scattered details by mar
velous capacity for generalization under
general heads. controlled by some leading
principle he made the broad and prOmi-
nent features Of his case manifest 10 the
simplest understanding in strong, pure
English, using the fttest and .fewest
words. His style was well-ulgh perfect.
He habitually used plain and simple
words. He avoided novel or curious
words or phrases choosing none for mere
effect. and addressed both courts and
Juries In terse and pithy language. which