The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-10-25

part of all that he had met. But with all
his Attachments and with all his knowt-
doe of the world and of men. he had kep5
close TO the simple charm of natural nu-
| man life. and there was something OF the
quiet OF nature about MIN.
In fine woods there are rivalries as In
the world of men. If tree is overtop pea,
| it dies But in the natural Woriu WnaI
| a calm surrounds and includes all Tn Is !
| T,ife and daath are on every hand, the
bud and the dead branch on every cree
like lights and shadows upon the green )
| but the deeper fact, at the near0 u nv
ture ITSELF is one of harmony ana repose.e
The beauty, serenity and dlgnlty o.
| the closing years of MIR. sweat iao
seemed like part of this manifold cnarM
| OF nature, AMI in themselye uwere oho "a
| the finest illustrations of It,.
Mr.. Strout's professional career was
| distinguished from that Of Mr.. Swea0,
! IN tat 1t continued unbroken uhbIl wig
! swiftly fatal illness overlook MIN. l1e
was here at his work almost to the lasb.
| His great success in Boston, in the charge
| OF important business interests, never
seemed to remove him from Porhlanu.
| Here was his home; and here he returned.
hoping that his closing years mlgn5 pe
passed among his friends under 1883
urgent stress of active life; that at las5
he might be able to snatch from the grasp
of his engrossing profession some leisure
| for the enjoyment of his beautiful home
and the beautiful surroundings In which
he had established it.
| 1t is not always easy to speak in JUST
and measured terms of those who have
been contemporaries and act.rs with us.
Something of the dust of the arena STILL
floats in the air, and our sight may not
be clear. MIR. Strout was a man who
sometimes won away, for his clints,
/ yordictc nd iud0mpnfa which fhnuQnC
we ought to have won for ours, and we
did not like it, Perhaps we did not
\ always wholly like the way in which he
did it. Perhaps we may sometimes have
said so. But the unwritten maxim OF the
court allows counsellors, after sudden
and unexpected defeat, few days In
which they are not to be held wholly re-
sponsible for what they may say, even
about the adverse rulings of the court.
| 1t would be strange if we could not be
equally frank among ourselves, without
\ intending to be unfair; and this Is true.
that in Mr.. Strout's life, as now after
his death, we always recognized his COM
manding ability, his great essential excel
| lencies as legal practitioner, and Ior
myself may add, believing ! speak the
common sentiment that l liked him more
| and more as time wore on, and that his
too early death grieves and saddens me.
| He was learned in his profession,
adroit, versatile, full of resource, thor
oughly trained and accomplished in legal
practice, an advocate of very great tnf1u-
encs both with the court and with the
jury. His career was marvel OF in
dustry, of sustained and disciplined en- :
eray, OF great ability and great accom-
plishment His work here in Portland
| makes no small part of its legal history
uring the period in which he lived.
| 1t Is said that comparatively few men
haE old that IL iG the
sign of rare and genuine truthfulness
| and goodness in man If, as he ap-
proaches old age, he walks more compan-
| ionably with the nobler virtues than he
did in earlier life.
Mr.. STRUT had been exceptionally sue.
cessfuI. He had achieved success by vigi.
LIANT and unceasing effort; and fortune
had smiled upon him, too. He was the
same manin the time of victory that he
had been in the period of conflict, but the
fineness and fexibility of his temper, the
breadth and geniality Of mis- nature, his
kindness, cheerfulness and goodwill,
became more apparent. He was generous,
charitable. hospitable and sometimes
almost munificent In his gifts tobh1s
friends He delighted in their presence as
his guests, and his courtesy to friend
was an untiring as was his service to
client.
To our sight it seems as if he ought to
have lived u few years longer 20 enjoy the
success he had SO richly won; as If in
the very hour of his triumph the reward
of long, laborious years was snatched
from his hand. If only that sad journey
could have accomplished its mission and
fulfilled his hope that rest and the sunny
South might still restore him to haalth
But it was not to be. And for all we
know, it may be better as 1T is. His life
was in his work, and there would have
20 hard tn hear in
health impaired and in Inability to
labor.
In the department of legal practice to
which he devoted himself, few men have
ever won greater success than he, or In
achievement have rounded out to ruler
outline the measure OF the opportunity
which life afforded them. His lHe-work
will always be brilliant chapter in the
history of the legal profession of our state.
OF George Barrett Emery, can speak
only in the terms of an early friendship
which was never broken or marred. With
me, although he was some years my
,enior, be was of the Bowdoin class of
1860, and something OF the early enthusl-
asm easily returns when think OF him
OF speak of him. He was a diligent still
dent and fine scholar, and his ambitions,
his hopes and plans and purposes, were
high and worthy. Something OF that
atmosphere of the student always fingered
about him. he was great ana very
general reader keeping pace with the
movements of modern Thought and dis
covery, interested In public affairs, acting
we'll bis part in life. He was man OF
refinement and reserve, the reserve rather
tending, as it seemed to me, to grow upon
him es he advanced in age. At his home
in Gorham, he was surrounded by lnteiI-
gence. culture and taste, but suppose
there was less impulse to great effort. less
urgency of incentive to that continued
striving for external advancement which
seems to make the characteristic OF our
times. than there would have been II ne
had settled in larger pla;e. He had
inherS ted an ample estate. Hs never mar
ried. His political associations We're not
such as to lead to public life I doubt II
he had any taste for it or cared for IL;
although he would have besn sensitive
to any call to public duty. He was an
| excellent lawyer ana from first to last he
| did good work. His clients will miss
him, not only as lawyer, but as
| friend. All the memories of calm aud
well-spent life gather about him and re-
main with him as we take leave OF him
now. He has left nothing in his Ifs for
| his friends to regret, and with it, doubt
not, himself is content He had the re-
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