Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1903-02-06
rh01AS r. JOHNSON.
Colebrook, y. H., Feb. = 1909
{. b. JORDAN


Your letter came duly to hand. and
although | had previously learned O,
Gov. Dale's decease, the tidings coming
from you, who have shared with me. the
admiration and regard for him. seemed
to bring the fact little nearer. and
give it an additional tinge Of sadness.
As our court commences tOmorroS, lean
give but brief time to the subject, ",
| could not wholly decline to comply
with your kind invitation to write few
words for the next issue of your PAPER
whose columns have been so often al.
riched by the products of his pen. r.
invitation brings wildly to ~ J. u" All and
the remark of friend, short time aco
who said, "If Gov. Dale dies, who will
write his obituary" | replied that no
one could write OF him as he had written
OF others. l still believe that is true. for
| know of no one with the broad and
tender sympathies, joined to the CRASH
and scope of intellectual power so neces
sary to weigh and measure fully the va.
rious elements of his nature. The writer
mus. have heart, intellect, aud nature
commensurate with that of the peronOi
whom he writes. | do not know the
man who combines all these quaihca.
tons. Moreover it is given only to
| those who have been admitted into the
inner sanctuary of mans life, to deal
Justly, fairly, and fully with his life and
character, the most sacred legacy he
leaves to those who live after him. In
this hasty communication, dare not say
much, lest should deface and deform
the material, the block of Parian marble,
that by stronger, more skillful, tender
and deft hand than mine, will be formed
and fashioned into a Just and true rep
resentation of the life, character, and
works of our departed friend. have
known him for the past fifteen or twenty
years, perhaps as we'll as | have known
any members of the bar of Coos and
Essex counties; and have always been
strongly impressed by his grasping in
tellect, his broad and deep sympathies
that came bubbling up from wells in his
nature, deep as human nature can be;
by his broad charity, that seemed toem.
brace all human natures, and all human
frailties, and throw around them such a
mantle as only charity can give. lie
possessed an intellect that seemed to
have laid under contribution every de.
partment Of knowledge, every realm Of
eloquence, poetry, science, fiction, anec
dote and history as well as law. He
had drank at all these fountains, who's,
streams seemed to fertilize and enrict
every field and plain of his existence
He possessed heart that filled tn,
whole expanse of his nature, so that tn
most distant regions of his intellect
were warmed by it's pulsations. Thi
warm sympathetic geniality pervaded hi
whole soul, and those who journeyed t.
the remotest confines, crossed no arcti
circle, found no frigid zone. The YER
moonlight of his life was warm witt
smiles and sympathy.
He was one of the ablest lawyers. His
knowledge of the law seemed an i'm
mense quarry from which he took the
huge blocks, and laid them up with the
most conscientious care and industry
and when the structure was completed
to his satisfaction, it was impregnable,
He loved his profession, was faithful to
its principles, and believed in holding
high the standards of professional honor
and integrity, and that the responsible
ties imposed by the profession, were
sacred trusts to be sacredly discharged.
He was himself the embodied soul of
professional honor, and believed that
there were no more sacred business rela-
tons than those existing between attor-
ney and client, and that it was always
the duty of the attorney to point out to
his client the pathway of right and
honor. He believed in the majesty of
the law, and that every one should wear
spotless professional robes, who minis
tered at its affairs. He was more than a
great lawyer. ale was agreat man prac'
ticing law" great hearted human man,
filed with the richest human blood the
tenderest, deepest sympathies known to
our race. Wherever he went friends
sprung up around him. What Dale said
was right, was law, was gospel. They
knew it came from great mind, and
was warmed by great, honest heart
and where could they look for anything
better? He was one of the most inter
esting conversers that | ever met. lie
poured out the boarded treasures OF his
intellect with a lavish hand, and the
coins were stamped with his personality
with the impress of his mind and heart
But in all his words, and in all his
thoughts. when Won apnroached nearest