The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-11-08
RAMSEY COUNTY BAR MEETS
AND ADOPTS A MEMORIAL ON THE
DEATH OF AN HONORED
BROTHER.
ON THE MINUTES OF THE COURT
VIII Good Words for the Dead Adj
vOcate Be Handed Down to
Future Generations.

Of member of the Ramsey County
Bar association than was embodied in
the memorial it adopted yesterday in
respect to the late Homer G.. Eller.
It's sincerity was evidenced by the ex-
pressed feelings of the members at
tendant upon the occasion. An hon
ored member of the association, in ripe
manhood, had been called from the
| midst Of friends and associates, and
the eulogies uttered in his memory be-
spoke the loss soceasioned by his death.
Time will have taken a long flight be-
fore the services of yesterday grow
dim in the memory Of those present.
On the bench with Judge Brill, the
senior member of the district bench,
sat Judge Kelly, Judge Willis, Judge
Egan and Judge Otis, while in the
court room were gathered over 200
members Of the bar association. Each
had come to pay a tribute Of respect
to a departed brother, and the ex-
pressions of regret and sorrow at his
untlmely death were sincere testi-
monials Of the love and esteem in
which Mr.. Eller was held by his asso-
ciates. Every lawyer present was
grieved at the loss sustained by the
bar and by it's members individually,
and in the eulogies spoken the quiet
life of the deceased, so full Of kindness
and charity; so successful as learned
practitioner, shown forth in we'll de-
served honor.
For two hours different members of
the association, including Judge Otis,
each in turn offered in feeling words
his tribute to the memory of the de-
parted brother, when his honor Judge
Brill, as the representative Of the
bench, spoke as follows:
Sympathy for the living and the desire to
| speak well of the dead often lead to the use
OF eXtraYagant phrases an occasion like
tnls. 1t is rare indeed, when, without any
mental reservation we may use only words
OF praise in speaking of the character and
life of any man living dead. The memory
of Homer G. Eller needs no fulsome fiattery
| TO speak the whole truth concerning him is
! to pronounce his eulogy. My acquaintance
! with Mr. Eler began when he came to St.
| Paul In the common struggles and hard
ships incident to that early period of our
| professional lives, we were brought into close
relations L early came to admire his char
acter and qualities and as the years have
/ gone my regard for him has steadily strength
ened, and to me as to many of US, his death
! is a personal loss.
Judge Eller always close and thor
i ough student he was always unseIfish and
| helpful; ne was always the soul of honor.
/ He was early fitted to take high rank in the
! profession but he lacked the selfassertion
| and push of many less capable men, and his
/ advancement came comparatively slowly. But
| the years of waiting were not wasted as is
| too often the case in such circumstances. He
was continually enriching his mind with the
| learning of the profession and the work he
had to do was done so well that the bench,
| the bar and the community came at last to
realize that he no common man. By
patient industry and force of character with
| out the adventurous aids which have raised
nTnT 1ITlpT1 thn I.-rs
| boy of the Civil War came to occupy the
| front rank of learned and powerful profess
! sion. He was leader at bar noted for it's
/ ability. Success came slowly but it was q
/ success OF which any man might have been
| proud, and it was success based upon merit
/ alone.
With a wpndrous capacity for work. an
unusual acquaintance with the precedents a
| clear perception, the ability to apply princi-
! pies to facts with celebrity and conscientious
| Judgment, no safer counsellor ever advised
| client or addressed the court. His. character
! was correct and his manner was so kindly
that he had not an enemy. More than that.
he had the regard of all who knew him, and
i the affection of all who knew him we'll
AS simple and unaffected as child, as
modest and gentle as woman wise las a
sage, as brave a lion, loyal to the truth
the needle to the pole, we earnestly COM
| mend our departed brother to the young
! men Of our profession as a model upon which
they may safely shape their lives and char
'acter.
HE needs tears who lived a noble life;
We will not weep for him who did so well.
But We will gather round the hearth and tell
The story of his strife''
Such homage suits him well,
| Better than funeral pomp or p6aling bell"
i The bench heartily concurs in all that has
been said by members of the bar. and it is
1 ordered that the memorial presented be
spread upon the minutes Of the court.
The memorial was presented by II.
]. Horn. In his remarks, presenting
the memorial, Mr.. Horn said, among
other things: That he had known Mr..
Filler from the time of his arrival in
st. Paul, and could testify to his worth
as member of the bar a citizen and
man, and all that was said of him
in the memorial That in our bar. pre-
eIninently there exists that $sellowship
in which the success and distinction
of a member like Mr.. Eller, not only
honors the profession at large, but to
a certain extent is shared by each
member.
Greenleaf Clark was evidently much
moved when he addressed the court
He had known Mr.. Eller since 1870,
i when he had come into the office OF
B;gelow & Clark as clerk, and said:
If | should cudgel my brains to think Of
an evil thing to say of Mr.. Eller the attempt
would fail. With such qualities, though with
out the adventurous aid of oratory, and with
out the advantage of commanding presence,
and though modest and unassuming to de-
gree, he developed and grew in power and in
fluence lawyer to the time of his death.
In a conversation with Judge Mitchell since
Mr.. Eller's death, that learned jurist said
of him. that no lawyer appeared before the
supreme court whose views listened to
with more respect. The opinion of his con-
temporaries at the bar i am confident accord
ed him position no less high, and it Is safe
to say that at the age of 81 he had acquired
a position as lawyer in the very front rank.
His character was pure refined and SYM
metrieal. even to the lesser traits. He never
used coarse or profane language. I never
knew him to lose his temper. He always re-
manned calm and in full possession of his
faculties. He did not use stimuants nor to-
bacco. If he had any vices. do not know
what they Nor this freedom from
vice the concomitant result of a cold
cyniciSm. He was affectionate, gentle kind.
compassionate, charitable, patient with the
folies of men, and sympathizer in their
miSfortuneS. Every client was ever after a
warm personal friend He died, as | believe.
without an enemy. He was altogether Iowa
BILE. His life was spent in his Office the
court and in his home. After the business OF
the day was over no place had so great at
traction as his home. He read many books
as a relief from business cares and was
well informed on general subjects. Touching
u the great cardinal traits of honor, fidelity and
integrity his character was founded on them.
as on q rock. His nature would have re-
yolted against the willful doing of an unjust
or dshonorable thing.
1t has been my good fortune to be asso-
ciated in business with men of superior nat
ures. Propriety requires that I speak only
of the dead, Mr.. Bigelow and Mr. Eller two
Of the best of men. Such men are an honor
to our race.
Other eulogistic words were pro-
nounced by Hon. c. e. F'landrau, John
D. OBrien, Thomas T. Fauntleroy. Sr.
1ngersoll, H. F. Stevens Mr. MacGhee,
and G. E. Otis of the district bench.
2Ir. Stevens, in the course Of his re-
marks, referred to others of the bar