The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-03-17
Bar Association Memorial.

The memorial adopted by the Bar Asso-
citation follows:
Mature achieves her best only rarely.
She tries her hand on a thousand law
yers to produce one great one. 1t takes
her best stuff, her happiest combination,
her fnest finish TO do il. All wise men
respect lawyers, but only lawyers know
each other. We measure ourselves by
ourselves. we stand up together and we
know who is tallest. We wrestle with
each other and learn who is strongest.
we STUDY each other as men Of no other
profession can. We are constantly in
each oll.crs' sight. We take turns as
players and critics. Our judgments Of
each other are just, but inexorable. No
recognition. Hence it is that to be ac-
counted a great lawyer by lawyers is one
of the highest certificates of greatness that
men can beStOW.
Millions of citizens turn their thoughts
to-day TO the memory of Benjamin Har-
rfson. To most of them he was the
great statesman. the strong, wise. pa
triotic, good President. To the dimin-
ishing band of veterans of the war for
the Union he was, besides that. the gal
liant soldier, the comrade in arms. To
us he was, besides both and more than
either, the greatest lawyer of our State
and time.
Not all great lawyers are safe models
Strong idiosyncracies tempt mediocre men
TO weak limitations. 1t is easier to copy
a great mans gesture than the sweep of
his thought. General Harrison offered
no such temptation To us. He had no eX-
tr~avagancteS. He had not q quality which
q younger man could not be advised to fol-
low-if he could. Never were a lawyers
powers more evenly balanced.
when you heard him argue a law ques-
tion to the court. you thought that was
where he must be strongest. When he
addressed the jury, that seemed his appro-
pirate place. To the dishonest witness,
writhing under his REORGANIZATION. he
was an avenging fate. In the office or
the courtroom, before judge or jury. deal
ing with law or facts, he was everywhere
alike. the same strong, tactful, perfectly
'"To name an the strong characteristics
of such a man would be 10 make a cata-
logue of human eXcallencies. But there
are two that may be mentioned with prom
inence. The first is clearness and simplic-
ity of thought and style. He never spoke
nor wrote a vague unintelligfble sentence.
Behind this, of course, was the vigor Of
intellect which resolved all things to their
final elements. He never let go a prob
lem half worked out. The analysis was nm
ished, the conclusion demonstrated in his
own mind before his thought was uttered.
Then ii came, clothed in words transparent
to its sense.
PREDOMINATING CHARACTERISTICS.
while these were the predominating
characteristics of his speech-strensth
clearness, directness-it was remarkable
also for beauty Of diction. felicity of IL
lustration and that subtle touch of hi
NOR which imparts the highest quality TO
all orators. y bit of sarcasm, singing
like the thrust of a cambria needle, a
metaphor so unexpected and appropriate
that il was wit and argument in one, a
caricatUre SO deXtrous that IL was ike
a fashlight of ridicule. these were the
incidents Of a style which charmed whiic
it instructed and convicted. But they
were always subordinate to the solid
thought. They never interrupted the ar
gument. They were like a delicate
fraCRrV of ornament on u massive stone
column.
.aThe other characteristic referred to was
the uneXhausted reserve of power which
remained. and OF which his nearer was dis
tinctly conscious when he had spoken. lie
never strained his strength to its limit.
He rather restrained himself 10 the oc-
casion. He said enough. He refrained from
more because he had said enough.
General Harrison came to his work as
a lawyer under a disadvantage He was
handicapped by a great ancestral name.
Thoughtless persons fancy that such a
name is an advantage. 1t Is not so To a
lawyer. The first condition of his success
is 20 live il down, 10 show that he is
within and of himself. This the young man
Harrison did. The older man Harrison,
triumphant in his wi right in every field
which he entered. revived the memory of
the name.
General Harrison's career as a whole
was as beautiful and symmetrical as his
indiyidual development. From the hum
BILE beginnings Of a struggling young law
Yer. IL broadened. and rose like the flight
OF an eagle in widening and ascending cir
cles TO the zenith of human attainment.
Then from his great office he came back
TO the bar. TO be again a lawyer and win
new renown In his profession. All too soon.
for clients. courts. friends and the world.
death has suddenly cut short his work.
His cases stand untrieG on the dock
cts: his briefs unfinished on his desk. The
race 90 great lawyers is not extinct. The
profession renews Its ranks from gener-
alton 10 generation. from the young blood
and brains OF a fruitful country. Great
lawyers, undiscerned as yet, are In train
ing for the days that are to come. But
for to-day, as we think OF him who has
gone, n look about Us, we see not his
like.
Amy reference to the life OF General
Harrison, even as a lawyer, would be
incomplete IL IL omitted that element of
manhoo without which all other things