Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-12-09

mOuIderS or character ana influence
| for good, and in all things to conform
| to that rule of conduct laid down by
| the Master nineteen centuries ago,
was for him sufficient. His faith in
| the Hereafter was unhampered by
any narrow or arbitrary ooctrines OF
creeds."
zone instance alone is sufficient to
show how deep was his respect for
| all religious customs. At a term oil
| Court, the clergyman who had been
| invited to offer prayer upon the
opening of Court, through mad
vertence failed to appear. In order
| that a custom handed down to US by
our forefathers might not be broken,
the Chief Justice, then presiding,
requested that the entire Bar pres
ent rise and join with him in the
Lords Prayer. We venture to assert
| that no term of Court in this state
was ever opened in a more rev.
| erential spirit.
.In 1904, his alma mater, in 1918,
Bowdoin College, and in 1920, the
University Of Maine, each fittinSly
bestowed upon him, in recognition of
| his great ability Gnd distinguished
j services, the Honorary Degree OF
| Doctor of Laws.
Appointed to Bench
at was fortunate for his state that
At was into the field of Jurisprudence,
| his inclinations finally led him. In
1907, he accepted an appointment as
Associate Justice of this Court,
which honor he had hitherto refused
on several occasions against the
urgent request Of his friends. the
Bar, and the appointing power; and
upon the death of Chief Justice
Savage in June, 1917, Justice Cornish,
with the unanimous approval of his
| associates on the Bench and Of the
whole state, was elevated to the Of
| fee of Chief Justice, which office he
continued to fill with ever increasing
| appreciation until his forced resigna-
| ton by i'll health on March 1st, 1925.
His service on the Bench covered
a period of more than sixteen years
and the fruition period of his life.
during which time he enriched the
| jurisprudence of his state by three
hundred and forty-four written
opinions found in volumes 103 to
124, beginning with Armstrong v.
| Munster in 1913 Me-. 20 and closing
with Graney V. Connolly. 124 Me-.
| 221, and in addition thereto several
maturely considered and well-reas-
! oned answers to questions submitted
| by the executive or legislative
branches of the government; as in
the instances of the questions relat-
| ing to the states control over water
| powers and the powers of the Gov
| ernor and Council in cases of dis
puted questions arising in primary
| elections. While he could readily
bring his mind to see the viewpoint
| of his associates. and without reser-
! a hot tiSfind
of its soundness, yet he could. and
did on occasion. vigorously dissent or
refuse to concur when their reason
ing failed to convince.
His opinions, of necessity, cover a
wide range of questions, and cases
of varying degrees of Importance, but
| among them one viii readily find
many, which will for all time serve
as landmarks and guidsposts for
shaping the course of Jurisprudence
in this state and in maintaining the
security of property and safeguard
ing the lives AMI liberties of our
! citizens. -
AT nisi prius terms he was always
warmly welcomed by the Bar. Be
lieving that a speedy dispatch of the
business of the Courts is Of prime
Importance in the administration OF
justice, he permitted no unnecessary
delays. The dignity of his Court and
its procedure was always maintained
without stressing conformance to
arbitrary rules. He could unbend or
occas sion and inject into the pro-
ceediTtks flashes of wit. occasionally
for the deliberate purpose of expos
ing some sham or pretense. but more
often as a spontaneous expression OF
his delightful sense of humor. and
while 1t served TO enliven the dull
routine of Court procedure. 1t was
! never or the sort that lowered its
dignity in the eyes of the public.
When he sat at nisi prius, the
members of the Bar sought trial, not
contlnuances of their cases. Patient
with well-meaning counsel, If theil
cause was just he guided many an
ill-prepared case to just conclusion
Sham, trickery, shallow pretense
and deceit found no favor in his
Court, and the pettifogger who
sought to circumvent justice or gain
advantage by unfair methods often
found himself deposited in a cavity
OF his own excavation.
Preeminent in Law Court
TT was in the Law Court. how
ever, that his natural talents found a
field most congenial and adpated to
their fullest exercise. and in the work
of which lie took the greatest
pleasure. A profound student of the
sources and development of the
common law from the days of
Bracton, Coke, and Blackstone, with
a wide knowledge of the elementary
| principles of law and equity, and an
unusual faculty of appropriately APP
! plying those principles to the new
| conditions of modern life, a keen and
! discriminating power of analysis, and
| mind delicately attuned to the
| harmonieS of justice, and always
| faultlessly. proceeding from premise
to conclusion, he was ideally equip
ped for this work.
Opinion Are Models
| Possessing command vi English,
| pure and undecided, and a discrimin-
| ating sense OF proportion and fitness
! i'll expression, his opinions were not
only sound in their conclusions and
applications of the law. but were
| models of judicial style and of liter
airy merit. Drawing both from the
| Anglo-Saxon and the classics. his
diction was both forceful and
elegant, and flowed smoothly as from
master hand. HIS style, graceful
yet dignified, conformed to the best
standards of English. He never
sought effects by unusual words,
forms of expression or arrangement
Nothing of the ornate or pedantic
ever found it's way into. or married
his opinions. The words chosen to
convey his thoughts were always apt,
expressive, and according to the best
usage.
His aim was to state the facts, The
issue, and the law governing the
case. so that layman as well as the
In a licyI,