The Portland daily press., 1900-02-02

| by the court 600 70 l. Judge symonds
led the insurgents. never published
10 dissenting opinion. 1t has always
besn my endeavor 10 smother technical
iy for the sake Of truth. right aud jasticn.
"I nevsr shall forget the law and the
lawyers. I shall never forget You tiil
everything that In mortal shall pass
AWAY forever"
The speech Of the chief justice was
closed In cheers, the whole assembly
| standing.
Chief Justice wiswell, the successor TO
Judge Peters and his nephew. followed
In Q speech In which he said 10 was not
with unmixsd joy that the members
OF the Maine court assembled to celebrate
the retirement Of its former head. He
addressed the sx-ohisf Justice In an elo-
quent expression Of affection ~ felt by
the whole stats and its reopls.
Gov. Powers followed. He spoke
briefly, ~ 10 his custom, reviewing his
personal relations with Judge Peters.
"Thsrs are sumo mon, some Of the few
who were not born to die, he said. The
governor said he was opposed to the cleo
tAon VI SudBosp OSAsSNA1B - ~
pointment By the executive.
Hon. Eugene Hale junior Senator from
Maize. was the next speaker, b~ins met
with cheers a.. he aross.
A Hon. Oryille Dewey Baker. sx-attor-
nsy general OF Maine, spoke In part, as
followss
Mr.. President and Gentlemen Of the
Bench and bar,
Il 10 an honor Of which ] am deeply
sensible. and of which any lawyer may
sion like this, to represent the Bar Of
After some reflection, / dstsrm,nsd that
my sslsosion must b dus to . fine sense
Of contrast on the part OF our generous
hosts. Since every ethsr sPsassr has
judge, they resolved TO smphasiss still
morn sharply the impossible barriers b.
| tween bench and bar BY selecting 70 rep
resent the latter, one wno NOT only nev-
er has been . Judge. but never could be
| one.
The bar Of Maine has been graoed By
o long line Of famous names, men deep.
~ n ourished with learning, cogent roa-
ssners, acute examiner, powerful ad-
vooates, resouroeful In trials, mighty In
their a;p ., :s. D.p%SiS:: h ss' w %.
ton, hsr Libbey, her Walton ON the bench;
her Fessen der. her swans, her morrill, and
her venerable ex-senator bradbury At
the bar, and orowding CLOSE upon them
other and later nance whose fame and
power are frssher on our tongues.
But IL 10 pre-eminently lifting that the
honor we would pay tonight to Names
great Chief Justice should be raid In this
county OF Prsnobscot, and In this CITY OF
Bangor, where the glory Of the Maine
bar has 90 often oeutsred. We ars tonight
i ak<rf 49, hal MI
house. much unchanged from Its ancient
aspect whore Knowles was wont to set
him self for trial in his formidable battle
order, whore Jonas Cutting flashed the
keen blades of the common Law, whore
Kent, moro rarely, but never vainly,
where Appleton laid the foundation of
his fame where McCrillis, strong and
resouroeful overbore his opponsnts, and
| where now younger generation worth
lily sustain this best traditions Of the cid
ers. Rufus Dwinel ussd TO say that he
had given their first brief to tbs three
greatest lawyers that Maine had pro-
duoed, jonathan p. Rogers, George y.
Shsplsy and John A. Pstera
| or jonathan p. Rogers, who was my
uncle, oaunot either httiugly or know
inRly speak. because IL has always bsen
my supreme regret thst was not born
early enough to know him, but the ira
ditions Of the Penobscot bar present him
as . legal giant. Aftsr practicing some
years In Bangor - the law partner OF
Judge Kent, he went to Boston at the
personal solicitation OF Webster and died
10 comparative youth in the midst OF bis
growing fame. Judge Sheplsy, too, the
second member Of this great legal til.
umvirats, 10 gone, but the third and
youngest We hail tonight ~ our beloved
affection and esteem. FOLLOWING this
brilliant company of speakers. most OF
whom are judges or ex-judges. certainly
| govsrnors-or 1t the very lowest, Sena-
tors Of the United statss-is will not DO
expectsd tina an undistinguishsd mem
Der even Of disting uishsd bar should do
more than voice the unspoksn acclaim
with which the whole bar OF the state
hail the rare service and yet raIsr per-
sonality Of John A. Peters. l Der
we'll when all the leading clergy men Of
this region. where they knew him best,
we're circulating petitions for his oon-
nrmation as Judge, partly perhaps, be-
cause, In q general way, they thought
him up 10 the plaos but particularly be-
cause of his consistent temperance prin-
years later who's bad entertained par
| ~ of friends with the landlofd's best at
the Buoksport inn, mine host Of the old
| school blue ooat and brass buttons, re.
fused to take pay either for his lodging
or his cheer. because he said. Judgs Pet
/ ctu unO O0Sh buO AsDt INV w sSto Wv Seshs
and he understood that / was friend
OF Judge Pstsrs.
Yet Both the clergy men and mine host
acted with full kn6wledge Of the facts;
for Judge Peters never did anything BE-
hind the dosr-and neither was far astray
| In his judgment Of the man for while
mine host knew that no was catholic
by nature and tolerant OF all pleasures
| that wrought NO harm 10 others, the good
clergy men knew also thst John a. Peters.
even when he had just drained glass
to humanity was better friend to tenn
perance order than many . sorry anchor.
its, who fiAailatss his desh with tn Q
thorns Of total assistance.
Judge Peters could dare many things,
ret the great heart Of the people trusted
him. because they knew iustinctivsIy that
while humanity oourssd through him in
rich, full tide, yet back Of 10 ell. was an
utter stAinlsssnsss Of spirit
Have you never studied the different
trees in the forest, the twisted oak, the
bending biroh. the tall. straizht pine,
till through some chance opening onto
the intsrvale, your eye came to rest ut
lash on kha plu. vh0 ohtof iuDtiOe of the