Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-06-24

4 seemed 10 nave eInDidZoneu upOfl ltS
! folds the guiding stars of the heavens
! and the beams of morning light d.
recting them to the pathway of duty"
/ From that day to the day of his
death Percival Bonney never failed on
all appropriate occasions to give pref
erence and honor to those of the coun-
| try's defenders who survived, and his
/ sincere tribute OF love, reverence and
| gratitude to the memory Of those who
! never returned.
During his college course. Judge
/ Bonney taught school each winter in
| the town of Turner, and graduated
with honor from Waterville College in
| 1863 After graduation he taught
school for short time in Bucksport.
! Maine, and while there received an
! appointment to clerkship in the
\ U. 5. Treasury Department at WASH
| ington. where he remained from No
vember, 1853, to May. 1865. He had
| already chosen the law for his profess
j sion and the. duties of the clerkship'
was such that he was enabled while
| there to pursue a course of legal study
| during certain hours of the day and
evening. Returning to Maine he con-
| tinucd the study of the law in the
| office of Hon. j. II. Drummond,
| graduate Of Waterville College in the
| class of 1876, and an able lawyer who
! had achieved distinction and honor In
| both the legal and political history Of
| the State. OF him Judge Bonney said
| IN his memorial address, HE was my
| legal tutor; and / have always been
| grateful that my first impressions of
| professional life were received in an
| office where existed such high ethical
| standards. In August, 1866, Judge
| Bonncy was admitted to the Bar and
| at once began the practice of his pro-
| feSsion i'll Bath, but few months
| later he removed to Portland and
| opened an office in that city. In
| April 1867, he formed a partnership
| with Daniel G. Hartman, who retired
| from the firm the following year and
| removed to Brooklyn, N. Y, where he
| was for many years a judge of one of
| the city courts. In December, 1869, he
| formed a partnership with Stanley r.
| Prnlen which continued until March.
| 1872, when Mr.. Pullen left the profess
| sion of law to enter journalism as
| editor of the Portland Press. He con-
| tinued the practice Of the law alone
until october 3, 1878, when he was ap-
| pointed by Governor Connor, Judge
| Of the Supreme Court of Cumberland
County to succeed Hon. Joseph w.
Symonds who had accepted promotion
| to the bench of the Supreme Court.
Judge Bonney had always cherished
high ideals respecting the character
and service of the legal profession and
| the dignity and majesty of the law,
| and these ideals were uniformly exem-
plified in the twelve years Of his pro-
| feSsional labor and experience at the
bar. on his admission to the bar, he
had taken the oath prescribed BY the
statute, that he would do no false
hood nor consent to the doing of any
Ill court That he would not
Willingly or willingly promote or
sue any false. groundless or unlawful
suit nor give aid or consent to the
same; that he would delay no man for
lucre or malice, but conduct himself
in the office of an attorney within the
courts, according to the best Of his
knowledge and discretion, and with all
good fidelity as well to the courts as
to his clients" 1t was never doubted
that the oath thus taken was under all
circumstances faithfully kept and OBJ
served by him in letter and in spirit.
He realized that truth was always
triumphant, while the perversion of it
was treacherous and eventually fatal
to the success of him who practiced IL.
But his probity and fidelity did not
depend upon the commands OF the
statute or the requirements Of his oath
Of office. They were interviewer with
every fibre of his moral being In his
philosophy of life truth was the soul
OF being. and justice the application of
1t to the affairs of men. In his profes-
Slonal ethics there was no place for
falsehoOd in the practice of the law.
He held in constant reverence the
honored traditions of the bar, which
declare the office of the allocate to be
AS old as the magistracy, as noble az
truth and as necessary as Justice
Justice the lady and queen of all the
| moral virtues" / have heard him
remark that in his judgment, the posi-
ton of learned lawyer and a wise
and faithful counselor was second i'm
responsibility and honor to none occu-
pied by man; and when it is coDsid-
cred that the administration of Justice
IS the chief end of human society, and
that the protection of life, liberty and
property depends upon the conscfen-
tious labors Of those to whom II II
committed, the remark must be ac-
coptcd as the language Of truth and
SOherneSS He realized that the law Ia
| science as well as an art, that IL I.
necessarily 81 calling of thinkers. and
that all scholarship is the handmaiden
| OF tn" lawyer affording instruction In
both the history and the philosophy
| OF the law. He had from early life
cultivated taste for the enduring
elements Of English and American it,
craturc, and from many ana good
books had cleaned rich stores Of use
ful knowledge and gained that broader
mental scope which nothing but a lib
eral education can fully supply AS
student of the law. he was endowed
with more than ordinary intellectual
acumen and vigor. His mind was
alert, quick in apprehension and keen
in discrimination. He had an intelIi-
gent conception of the law as the
great science Of human rights and
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