The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-10-02

| legacy to those who shall come after
| Of course, he was not, to use his own
language, zone of those impossible law
yers found only in the imagination that
win every case" His untimely taking
off was probably due to overwork and
too constant application to the require
ments of his profession. OF strong and
robust physical build, mind and nerve
healthy, he felt that the supply was
| limtless. He overtaXed his powers of
| endurance.
He had experienced no warning until
it was too late to husband his strength
and gain time to replenish and recu-
perate by ease and rest. His ambition
beclouded his discretion. He worked
until the very last, even until he was
unable to walk comfortably about that
he might fully prepare himself for the
great argument he was soon to make
in one of the most important civil cases
tried in this Commonwealth for the last
90 years.
His learning was by no means con-
fined to his chosen profession. He was
a fine classical scholar, read the mas
terpieces of Greek and Roman authors
in the original tongue with ease and
delight down to the very days of his
last illness. Nor was his scholarship
confined to the classics. He ranged the
whole field of English and American
literature, particularly on historical
lines, and few public men were So
deeply versed in the facts and meaning
of the great events in England and
America for the past $50 years, as he.
His private conversation and public
addresses bear witness to the breadth
and variety of his learning. He assim
Hated and made his own everything he
read. The pursuit of intellectual dis
tinction he worshipped as the mistress
of his affections. In his arguments at
the Bar, he frequently drew upon the
store-houSe Of his mind, and the breth-
rem will recall his happy faculty of
tightening UP the discussion of diff
cult question of law or fact by felici-
tous quotations from the poets and
standard authors. 1t was a weapon
used to serve practical purpose, and
was never employed to display his
learning.
For more than 80 years Mr. Gould
ing has occupied the highest position
at this Bar and has been one of the
most conspicuous and eminent citizens
of the county and state, and while he
has filed positions of honor and trust
in the state, it is rather as the first
lawyer in our county, if not the state,
that he is principally known to this
generation.
Brought into the ardent but gener-
Gus rivalry of his profession, with those
eminent and strong men who have ev-
er appeared at the Worcester County
Bar, he at once took rank among the
foremost, and by constant application,
tireless industry, thorough study and
a power Of application equalled by few, |
If any among US, he rose rapidly until |
for the last Is years he has stood at
= FV-pyN - oil foil cd lay
yers.
We shall long hold in grateful re |
membrance not only the distinguished
lawyer and citizen, but the exemplar
Of moral and correct habits of living. |
We respectfully ask that this memo |
rial be spread upon the minutes of this |
Court, and that the clerk transmit a
copy to the family of our deceased |
brother.
In moving that the memorial be
adopted and spread on the records of
the court, Congressman Thayer said
Our brother and leader has gone to |
his reward. We grieYe not only for |
our own loss, but for the loss which |
our city and community sustains in |
the death of one of her first citizens. |
We miss the departed friend, for there |
departs with him the useful offices, the |
sympathy in common work and call
port and comfort which we all derived |
from his presence, his friendship and |
his counsel.
HE was cut off in middle life, in the |
ripeness of matured and experienced |
judgment, before his faculties had be-
come the least impaired, before he had
begun to descend the declining slope
of life His life has been one pre-
eminently of activity and of useful
II arlya nv ocIi |
ment in his chosen profession. He was
excelled by none, and equalled by few
His life was like the mighty rush of
river ever widening, ever deepening
in rich achievement and accomplish
ment.
"Of lofty ideas, yet Of delicate SEN
sibility, he had no taste for the rough
and illogical enc ounters of the hust- I
ings. He was ID modest man. He {
shrank as few men of his strength {
and distinction shrink from ostenta- {
tious demonstration. This was mani !
fest in many ways. 1t was noticeable
that upon the coming in of this great /
tribune, he usually took the least con- !
spicuous seat at this bar, and never
appeared in evidence except as the
necessity for some brief statement
might require him to address the court,
and then his statements were direct,
simple and void of assumption.
His arguments of law questions be-
fore this court were of the very high
est order of excellence. He always
spoke with cogency and perspicuity.
His briefs and arguments before this
court are among his noblest monu-
ments.
Although he Stunned rather than
sought occasions for public expression
and speech, his services were demand
ed upon most public occasions in our
city, and his addresses at such times
were models of clearness, fitness, elo-
quence and power. Few men have en-
joyed to a greater degree than he did
the respect, confidence and honor of
the people of our city and state He
was honest and frank, with strong
convictions and the courage to main
tain them.
80 far as I could judge, he had |
little taste for public political life. |
He was tenacious of his own opin- /
ions and little given to Cancellation |
and compromise, which are such /
potent factors in the success of many |
public men. He was welded to his |
chosen profession and sought to reach |
the much coveted and honored posi- |
ton as the acknowledged head of the |
bar of Massachusetts, and, in my opin-
ion, he lived to see his desire realized |
"Our friend was always just, but |
little given to feasting in praise in his |
estimates of other men. This appears |
very conspicuously in the tributes he |
has paid so many times in this court !
room to the memories of our departed |
brethren. He always spG&e within |
bounds. If his wish We're known to- |
day, it would be that nothing should
be concealed or omitted rejecting his
qualities and attributes, to the end
that if a single weakness existed II