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ADD 11 ESSES

BEFORE THE

MEMBERS OF THE BAR,

WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS:
BY
JOSEPH WILLARD,
October 2, 1829;
EMOEY WASHBURN,
February 7, 1856;
D WIGHT FOSTER,
October 3, 1878.

WITH
APPENDIX AND LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

WORCESTER:
PRESS OF CHAS. HAMILTON.
18 79.

CONTENTS,

PAGE.
Preface  7
Address of Joseph Willard, Esq  9
Address of Hon. Emory Washburn  117
Address of Hon. Dwight Foster .  157
Appendix to the Address of Hon. Emory Washburn  189
Appendix, prepared by the Committee  209
List of Members of the Bar  231

I N D'E X
TO
Notices of Deceased Membeks of the Bar in the following
Addresses and Appendix.

Benjamin Adams  193
John Adams  39
Charles Allen  169
Samuel H. Allen  229
Joshua Atherton  55
Robert Auchmuty  37
Christopher C. Baldwin . 147, 196
Allen Bangs  204
Edward Bangs  75
William B. Banister  194
Merrill Barlow  223
Nelson Bartholomew  163
Sumner Bastow  193
Ira Moore Barton  166
Daniel Bigelow-  74
Lewis Bigelow  195
Abijah Bigelow  210
Francis Blake-  80
Daniel Bliss  55
Jesse Bliss  194
Goldsmith F. Bailey  163
William Bollan  37
Jerome B. Bolster  216
Frederick W. Bottom .... 195
Charles D. Bowman  219
William Brattle  36
David Brigham  194 '
David T. Brigham  221
Aaron Brooks  147, 195
William E. Brown  216
Walter A. Bryant  204
Samuel M. Burnside  196
Nathaniel Chandler  64

Rufus Chandler  62
Linus Child  211
Edward Clark..  205
Joseph B. Cook  215
Amos Crosby  196
Appleton Dadmun  218
Richard Dana  36
Francis Dana  40
Andrew J. Davis  205
John Davis  197
John Davis, Jr  196
Samuel Dexter  77
Alexander Dustin  198
Joseph Dwight  43
Josiah Dwight  38
Timothy Dwight  37
Joshua Eaton  48
Stephen Fessenden  50
Alfred Dwight Foster ..... 197
Dwight Foster  74
Elisha Fuller  205
Frederick W. Gale  206
Daniel Gilbert  198
Jesse W. Goodrich  212
Isaac Goodwin  146, 197
William E. Green  218
* William N. Green  220
Jeremiah Gridley  36
Edward Hamilton  222
Elisha Hammond  206
Nahum Harrington  199

INDEX.

Jubal Harrington  228
Seth Hastings  198
William S. Hastings . . . 146, 199
Charles C. P. Hastings . 146, 199
Joseph Hawley  38
Daniel Henshaw  226
Charles A. Holbrook  218
Nathaniel Houghton  198
Joseph W. Huntington .... 227
Benjamin D. Hyde  213
Albert S. Ingalls  214
Eleazer James  146, 200
Joseph G. Kendall  199
Benjamin Kent  37
Thomas Kinnicutt  162 J
Edward Kirkland  227
Christopher Jacob Lawton ... 50
Seth Lee  200
Levi Lincoln  69
Levi Lincoln  167
William Lincoln  147, 2o0
Aaron Lyon  216
Jacob Mansfield  200
Johu H. Mathews  215
Andrew D. McFarland .... 206
Edward Mellen  172
Pliny Merrick  .79
Pliny Merrick  164
Rejoice Newton  167
Benjamin F. Newton  206
Daniel Oliver  63
John Overing  37
Nathaniel Paine  201
Henry Paine  202
George G. Parker .... 207, 228
William Perry  201
Onslow Peters  202
Thomas Pope  202
William Pratt  201
Benjamin Pratt  38
Charles G. Prentiss  220
James Putnam  50
Rufus Putnam  201
1*

Warren Rawson  201
John Read  35
Timothy Ruggles ....... 44
Simeon Saunclerson  203
Jonathan Sewall  38
William Shirley  37
Jonas L. Sibley  203
Moses Smith  202
Charles H. B. Snow  173
William L. Southwick .... 216
John Sprague  60
Peleg Sprague  78
Daniel Stearns  216
William Stearns  73
Heman Stebbins  203
William Stedman  201
Isaac Stevens  213
Amos W. Stockwell  207
John H. Stockwell  215
Henry D. Stone  226
Martin L. Stowe  207
Simeon Strong  39
Caleb Strong  40
Samuel Swan  212
Bezaleel Taft  -147
Bazaleel Taft, Jr  203
George S. Taft  226
Ezra Taylor  54
Oxenbridge Thatcher ..... 38
Joseph Thayer ^-  . 213
Benjamin F. Thomas  180
William M. Towne  204
Edmund Trowbridge  36
George A. Tufts .... 146, 203
Joshua Upham  58
Jabez Upham  79
Edward J. Vose  205
Lovell Walker  204
Emory Washburn  174
Nahum Ward  44
Jared Weed  211
Charles K. Wetherell  225
George A. Wetherell  217
Otis C. Wheeler . ,  204
Milton Whitney  217

VI

INDEX.

Abel Whitney  207
Joseph Willard  209
Calvin Willard  221
Abel Willard  53
Lemuel Williams  224
Lemuel S. Williams  221
James 0. Williams  221

Elijah Williams  64
Henry H. Williams  228
George R. M. Withington . . 227
Nathaniel Wood  173
Harry Wood  205
Samuel Jay Woods  163
John Worthington  38

PREFACE.

The act. establishing the County of Worcester was passed
April 2, 1731, to take effect from the tenth of July following.
Its provisions included in the county, the towns of Worcester,
Lancaster, Westborough, Shrewsbury, Southborough, Leicester,
Rutland, Lunenburg and Southtown, laid out to the Xarragansett
soldiers, now Westminster, taken from Middlesex; Mendon,
Woodstock, now in Connecticut. ; Sutton, including Hassanamesit,
now Grafton ; Uxbridge, the land granted to the petitioners of
Medfield, now Sturbridge, from Suffolk ; and Brookfield, from
the County of Hampshire. The location of the shire-town of
the new county occasioned much debate and diversity of
opinion. For many years Snttou, Lam-aster, Mendon and
Brookfield stood higher in rank, graduated on population and
valuation, than Worcester. The central position of the latter
town gave it the advantage over its competitors for the honor of
becoming the shire of the county, and this question was finally
decided in favor of Worcester, by the influence of Joseph
Wilder, Esq.. of Lancaster, who remonstrated against the admin
istration of justice in that town, lest the morals of its people
should be corrupted. The first Court of Probate was held in
Worcester, July 13, 1731, and the first Court of Common
Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace, the tenth of the fol
lowing Angnst, and the Superior Court of Judicature on the
twenty-second of September following.*
Two years less than a century from the organization of tlie

•Lincoln's History of Worcester, 5$.

Vill PKEFACE.
courts of the county, on the second of October, 1829, on the
occasion of a social festival of the Bar of the County, by their
invitation, the address contained in this volume by Joseph Wil
lard, Esq., then of Lancaster, was delivered, in which he gave
brief biographical sketches of deceased members of the Bar,
from the time of the first -establishment of courts in the county
to the time of the delivery of his address.
February 7, 1856, being the occasion of another similar
social festival of the Bar, by their invitation, another historical
address was delivered by Hon. Emory Washburn, continuing the
history of the deceased members of the Bar from the period
where Mr. Willard left it to the time of his own address.
These two addresses were published, bnt are out of print.
At another festival of the Bar, on the 3rd of October, 1878,
by their invitation, this historical sketch was continued in an
address by Hon. Dwight Foster. All of these addresses are able
and interesting, and are important contributions to the history
of the county.
At a meeting of the Bar, held immediately after the address
of Judge Foster, it was voted unanimously that the committee
of arrangements communicate to him the thanks of the Bar for
"his very able, excellent and interesting address," and to request
a copy for publication. This request having been made, and
complied with, the committee decided to publish the three ad
dresses, with an appendix, in one volume, and the matter was
referred to the chairman and secretary of the committee, with
power to act. This volume is the result. It makes a very full
history of the Bar of the County of Worcester during the
period covered by the three addresses.
Notices of all the deceased members of the Bar could not
reasonably be expected in these addresses, necessarily so limited.
Previous to the delivery of the last of them, many members of

PREFACE. IX
the Bar, more or less distinguished for learning and ability, not
noticed in either of these addresses, had died. Some notice of
these, as far as practicable, was deemed desirable in this volume.
This has been done in the appendix. The first sixty of these,
ending with that of Abel Whitney, on page 207, are taken from
the appendix to tlie address of Gov. Washburn as it was first
published. The remaining sketches have been prepared for the
appendix to this volume. It includes notices of all members of
the Bar, of whom information could be obtained, who died
previous to the address of Judge Foster and who are not noticed
in either of the addresses before mentioned.
To this appendix is added a list, as complete as practicable, of
members of this Bar who had practised or resided in this county
previous to October 3, 1878, including the date, place of birth,
and admission to the Bar of each, the place or places where each
has resided, and the dates and places of graduation of those who
have been graduated at any of the established colleges of this
country. The committee have . endeavored to make this appendix as
complete as possible from the sources of information within
their reach. In procuring these statistics the committee have
received valuable aid from several members of the Bar.
In behalf of the Committee. Joseph Mason, Chairman.
A. Geoege Bullock, Sec'y.

ADDRESS OF JOSEPH WILLAED, ESQ.

ADDRESS
OF JOSEPH WILLARD, ESQ.

The occasion which calls us together is neither without its
interest nor without its use. We have snatched a few moments,
in which we have turned aside from the busy walks of life, and
the painstaking efforts of a laborious calling, to dwell upon some
subjects connected with our profession that are important in
themselves, and will continue of value so long as we are true to
our high trust, and the obligations we have assumed.
Although nearly a century has elapsed since the incorporation
of this county, each succeeding anniversary has passed by with
out notice. There has been no meeting like the present, where
I see, gathered around, those of every age and stage in the
profession. Iu some other places in the Commonwealth it has
been otherwise ; and addresses have been delivered treating upon
the history of the bar, and matters connected with professional
pursuits. I have no ability, nor do I essay, to emulate those who have
appeared on similar occasions ; but the rather as a forlorn hope I
have come up to this place, for the fathers would not come up,
to hold out in future years an inducement to those who may be
designated by you to put forth their strength, and surpass my
humble efforts. To some it may appear a favorable circumstance
that the ground is untrodden, and they may think a full harvest
awaits him who first puts in the sickle. But it should be remem
bered that an untrodden path is not always easy : the rather is it
filled with impediments that meet you at every turn ; and if you
2

10 ADDRESS OF
gather fruit or flower you do it at no common hazard, and possi
bly may lose your venture.
Let us dwell on these occasions : they will be found of value
as a point of union hereafter to be more diligently sought for,
as the circles of time and space widen, and receive more within
their embrace. They will be found of value as stirring np to life
and action the sympathies that exist in those following the same
pursuit ; the feelings, now indeed almost in a state of repose,
but which need but a little quickening influence to render them
healthy and vigorous. They will call out that esprit de corps that
renders the profession in verity but one body, suffering and
rejoicing together, and urging it on to those intellectual efforts
that will secure the favorable public sentiment, and enable the
individual members to fulfil the manifold duties they owe to
themselves and to society.
On looking upon our ranks we find that from a little one
we have become a host, assembling for the same object, and
guided by the same feelings. It is time then that stated meet
ings should be had, with the same general purpose as the present,
binding ns more closely together, and furnishing a tribute of our
respect for that profession which is the common mother of our
peace and joy.
There are, however, antecedent duties, incumbent on every
one as a member of society, as a part of that great whole which
we call the world. It is the law of our existence, as moral
agents, and still more when we cease to be isolated beings and
come into society, to endeavor, according to the means and
opportunities that are placed within our reach, to sacrifice the
selfish principle, or rather to regulate and restrain it, and to
leave all our good qualities of thought and feeling free exercise
in aid of every praiseworthy effort to advance the good of man
kind, and especially to dwell largely upon the interests of our
own age, and of the community to which we belong.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 11
It is our duty, so far as we have education and ability, to
search diligently for the means of general improvement, and
apply ourselves with earnestness to the task. We may be called
upon to suffer while we are yet in the way ; we may be compelled
to pass through evil report as well as good report ; to encounter
the ingratitude of those we would serve ; to have our views
perverted; our motives misunderstood; our efforts opposed and
ridiculed. Still our duty is no less plain to persevere in our
course, to press forward with good courage, and look to the end
while we are zealous in elaborating the means. It is well that
the love of distinction, whether immediate or posthumous, lends
a helping hand to support our faltering steps, and strew the
ground on which we tread with flowers, and gild the heavens
above us with brightness. This lifts us above and beyond that
refined spirit of selfishness, so fashionable a doctrine at the
present day, to which altars are erected and_ incense is offered,
but which is still the apotheosis of self, and spiritualizes away all
common sense. " It is," says Bacon, " a poor centre of man's
actions, himself. It is right earth : whereas all things that have
affinity with the heavens move upon the centre of another which
they benefit."
Beyond the general obligation that each individual is under to
promote the interests of society, lies the further and more
peculiar dutj' that he owes to his own particular vocation. It is
altogether a mistaken idea that a man has a complete right to his
own time, to dispose of it at his own pleasure. He is not,
neither ought he to be, an .independent being. The law of
dependence, not slavish subservience, is by nature and society,
and to this he must submit. The demands that are made upon
him for the general good he must listen to and obey, because it
is for the general happiness ; — a consideration superior to the
claims of individual comfort. The Roman orator in his Republic,
with very just views, on the subject, exclaims :— " Neque enim

12 ADDRESS OF
hac nos patria lege genuit aut educavit, ut nulla quasi alimenta
expectaret a nobis, ac tantummodo nostris ipsa commodis serviens,
tutum perfugium otio nostro suppeditaret, et tranqnillum ad
quietem locum: sed ut plurimas et maximas nostri animi,
ingenii, consilii, partes ipsa sibi ad utilitatem suam pigneraretur :
tantumque nobis in nostrum privatum usum, quantum ipsi sup-
eresse posset, remiteret," allowing to each one, for his own
private use, only that portion that the pnblic might not require.
There is a quickening influence that each one may exert in his
own walk of life. But this truth, if felt, is not practised upon
as it should be. Look for a moment at the beginning and pro
gress in this matter, and at the frequent result. On entering
into a profession we generally form excellent resolutions of in
dustry and perseverance, and our imaginations work out in
glorious perspective a brilliant pathway, where the eye is to be
delighted with exceeding beauty, and the air to be filled with
rich fragrance. The progress to eminence seems plain and easy.
We feel that we shall be able to achieve all that has ever been
achieved by the mighty ones who have gone before us. We look
upon those who have faltered by the wayside with contemptuous
pity, confident that a different fate awaits us. If the laws of
nature are not to be changed in our behalf, there is to be some
signal interposition, to constitute us an exception to that which
is true of most others.
But these illusions of the fancy are too pleasing to continue.
The crowded way, tlie private griefs, the home realities of life,
the doubts and fears, the love of personal ease, the increasing
difficulty of exciting the intellect to exertion, — all these tend to
cool the ardor and check the activity of the mind, and tempt us
to fall into the general current, and to be borne along by it
whatever may be its course, though shallows and miseries are
around and beneath, rather than to gather up our enero-ios to
stem its force, or direct it where it may fertilize and not destroy •

JOSEPH WLLLARD. 13
thus becoming slaves to the will of others, bearing or forbearing,
doing or omitting what they, not we, think best.
Every one in entering into' a profession makes a tacit agree
ment that he will not pervert its objects, nor lower its standard.
He is bound by every motive to help it onward, for it is a part
of the great work of society, and he has peculiar means and
opportunities to advance its interests and increase its value.
Why does he enter upon it ? Is it merely to acquire wherewithal
to support his existence ? Is it not for the further and higher ob
ject of earning a good name, of gathering the distinctions that be
long to his profession, and of preserving an imperishable esteem ?
He is placed there by his own choice ; he can pour light up
on his pursuit ; and though the rays be few and scattered, still it
is light, and he must produce what illumination he can. As a
matter of pride and self-respect he should be unwilling that
through him his profession should be pierced and wounded. No
man should be ashamed of his calling, nor seek to degrade it.
He is one of the artificers without whose aid the building cannot
be aptly framed and completed. The apartment he may occupy
may be of limited extent, and small to the eye of the observer ;
but it is a part of the great whole. He has the power to concen
trate his attention and his efforts, to penetrate the mysteries of
his pursuit with a clear and single eye, to give each part its
proper proportion, and present the whole in the most favorable
attitude before the world. The sympathy of a kindred object
should excite him; pride, that dwells largely in the human breast,
and lies at tlie foundation of much useful exertion in the great
field of improvement, should urge him on to noble activity. As
mental labor becomes more divided and subdivided, each branch
of knowledge is ministered unto with more assiduity, and each,
consequently, is turned out with greater beauty and excellence.
The intellectual labor limae becomes greater, and the responsi
bility of each one who ventures forth increases in proportion.

14 ADDRESS OF
This is another incentive to exertion, and to aim at high attain
ments. And the fact that increased personal consideration
follows success, and that scarcely any one is so gifted of heaven
as to excel in various pursuits, should serve to develop the latent
powers of the mind, and to advance them to maturity and
strength. The pursuit of intellectual distinction should be worshipped
as the mistress of our affections, and the gladsome light will
break in to cheer and illumine. And is not the reward in pro
portion ? Who shall check the career of the painstaking and
gifted ? Who shall set limits to the ethereal principle that widens
and rises by culture, and attempt to bound its exertions for the
general good ? There is a seminal particle of life in it that will
not be suppressed : it will grow and strengthen, and burst forth
in the voice of truth, in the pleasing tones of persuasion, in the
thrilling influences of eloquence, that has less of earth than of
heaven, and leaves its indelible traces on the heart and soul, wast
ing not, rioting not, though lavish of its treasures.
The institution of the legal profession is a necessary consequence
of a civilized state of society. In the rude condition of man,
each individual, in a greater or less degree, takes the redress of his
private wrongs into his own hands. Justice becomes subservient
to the strongest, and the whole question of right is resolved into
a calculation of comparative physical power. The tyranny is of
the grossest kind, for it is the triumph of material nature, and
makes waste places through the force of the worst passions and
prejudices. It was such a state of things that constituted the
world a desert, and man the mere creature of sensation.
" Then waited not the murderer for the ni"ht
But smote his brother down in the bright day
And he who felt the wrong, and had the mi°iit
His own avenger, girt himself to slay ;
Beside the path the unburied carcass lay ;

JOSEPH WILLARD. 15
The shepherd, by the fountains of the glen,
Fled, while the robber swept his flocks away,
And slew his babes. The sick untendecl then,
Languished in the damp shade, and died afar from men."

But with society came in all the forms and attributes that
were necessary to give it a permanent habitation, aud courts
were constituted, and officers appointed, whose duty it was to
judge between man and his neighbor. The more men came in <
contact, the more frequent, of course, were tlie collisions and j
differences that sprung up. The strong and the weak, the cun
ning and the unwary, the child and the female, would, as occa
sion required, seek the interposition of others to stay injury and
avenge wrong. Many, indeed most, would be but poorly quali
fied to place their own cause in the best point of view, and sup
port their allegations. Hence came the necessity of a distinct
body, whose duty it should be to appear for others, and to do ,
and say what the aggrieved would do and say had they the'
ability. As such a body increased in numbers it would increase
in weight and importance, and being duly versed in the forum,
and well grounded in form and substance, it would naturally, by
common consent, gain a vantage ground, which would continu-j
ally become more sure as the relations of society multiplied,
giving rise to numerous and complex systems of laws. Once
established it becomes a regular part of the machinery of society,
and, if not necessary for its preservation, is essential to its well
being. It is placed'on the heights of the citadel to catch the
notes of tyranny and oppression in their lowest breathings,
watching from a distance the approach of injustice, and inter
posing as the shield of innocence against the arm of unbridled
power. The institution of the profession may then be assigned to an
early day in the history of civilization. At Rome its distinction
was high. Each jurist was of the patrician rank, and stood in

16 ADDRESS OF
the relation of patron to his clients. At day dawn his gates
were thronged by those who were seeking for advice and pro
tection. Even in the luxurious days of Horace, sub galli can-
turn, consultor ubi ostia pulsat, he heard their grievances and
appeared for their redress. The relation between them, as
established in the time of Romulus, and continued to the reign
of the Emperors, was so sacred that " neither party was allowed
to give evidence against the other." And this connexion, which
was also political, became hereditary. The most distinguished
of the patrician order enrolled themselves in the profession, as
it gave them great influence and wide helps in their ambitious
views of office. For several centuries there was no pecuniary
reward, and the Cincian Law, in the time of the Republic,
enacted ne quis ob causam orandam, pecunium donumve acci-
piat. And even so late as the reign of Trajan, when an honora
rium was allowed, a decree was passed requiring an oath from
the client that he had neither given nor promised any remunera
tion before the trial, but did not prevent the patron from
receiving an honorary remuneration for his services. When fees
were finally established, the patrons were not allowed to receive
more than ten thousand sesterces, or about eighty pounds ster
ling. Instances however were not unknown of still larger fees :
and Suilius, of venal memory, in the reign of Nero, was ban
ished to an island in the Mediterranean for his monstrous extor
tion. But large rewards still flowed in, and the distant prov
inces had their patrons in Imperial Rome, many of whom by
their distinguished talents amassed immense possessions. These
rewards were not confined to gold and silver, but as the great
Roman satirist affirms —-Praestare tributa clientes

Cogimur, et cultis augere peculia servis."
The profession continued to flourish, and was full of talent and

JOSEPH WILLARD. 17
power during the reign of the later Emperors and in the Byzan
tine Empire, till the whole of classic ground was overrun by
barbarians. A large proportion of the best and most useful
writers, we are told, and the most valuable of the fathers of the
Latin Church, were jurists.
The discovery of the pandects in the twelfth century was
immediately followed by an ardent zeal in the pursuit of the
civil law on the continent of Europe. Many of its precepts,
more or less obscured, by the lapse of time and the torrent of
barbarism that had spread over and wasted the fairest portions
of Europe, had survived as a part of the oral knowledge of the
day, and retained some influence in the community ; like the
vigorous seed penetrating the soil, and piercing the incumbent
clods, till it reaches the upper earth and becomes the thrifty and
shardy plant. The civilians soon became a distinct class, and by
their labors in the forum, and their learned commentaries, they
gained distinction to themselves, and impressed a fair character
upon the jurisprudence of their time and country.
In Scotland, where the civil law bore sway, it was not till the
sixteenth century that the practice of the law became a distinct
profession. In the reign of James the Fifth a certain number
of men were bred to the law, whose duty it was to aid in the dis
cussions and contentions of the forum : and this, we. are told,
" was the first establishment of a body regularly educated to the
law, which has ever since been regarded in Scotland as an honor
able profession, and has produced many great men." Its earlier
establishment was doubtless prevented by the division of the
country into numerous and powerful clans, whose interminable
conflicts would not brook tbe restraints of judicial authority.
In England we may go much further back. Its origin there
as a distinct profession has not, I believe, been exactly ascer
tained : but, not far from the time of the Conqueror, the degree
of Serjeant and that of Barrister or Apprentice were well known
3

18 ADDRESS OF
and distinctly marked. Indeed it is probable that we may trace
upward the current of time to the days of Saxon power.
The office of Attorney is of subsequent origin, of less dignity,
and subject to severer regulations. In those early days there
could have been but a narrow field for professional opportunity
land display. There was no middle rank to unite the two
j extremes of society. " Citizens and burgesses were but little
better than slaves."
In dwelling for a few moments npon the history of the bar
in our own state, it may not be out of place to describe, with
brevity, the construction and machinery of our ancient courts.
The colony charter established a body composed of the Gov
ernor, Deputy Governor, and eighteen assistants, who were all
chosen annually. To this body was entrusted the general
management of the affairs of the company, subject to an alle
giance to the crown, that all history shows was in truth merely
nominal. In this tribunal was vested the judicial authority of
the colony. For the first year or two the freemen assembled
with this body, and constituted the Great and General Court.
In 1634, the freemen of the towns, instead of appearing at
court in person, sent deputies ; a new choice being had for each
meeting of the court, of which there were four annually. This
was the origin of the system of representation still existing
amongst us, though, in its first establishment, it was necessary to
strain the charter a few points, and enlarge its spirit by a very
liberal construction, to authorize the measure. This showB so
far as it goes, the early tendency of the colonists to an independ
ent exercise of their powers. In 1644, the Deputies first
formed a distinct house from the assistants or macristrates. For
several years the whole judicial power was exercised by the
court of assistants, excepting in those cases that were within the
^jurisdiction of the Justices of the Peace-, and the assistants were
[the only justices in their respective counties. Juries of trials

JOSEPH WILLARD. 19
were not regularly returned till 1634, and Grand Juries the next
year; who at the very first term presented above a hundred
offences, and amongst them some in which the magistrates were
implicated. But as the scattered population extended in a few
years from the borders of Plymouth Colony to the Province of
Maine, and from the ocean to Connecticut Rivei', a new arrange
ment became necessary. Accordingly, in 1639, County Courts
for each county were established. They were held by the
magistrates in each county, or any other magistrates who would
attend, together with such persons as were chosen and approved
of by the General Court, five in all, any three of whom might
hold a court. They had jurisdiction in all civil cases, and in all
criminal cases where the penalty did not extend to life, member,
or banishment. They also constituted the Court of Probate.!
Appeals lay to the Court of Assistants, and thence to the
General Court, where frequently reviews and new trials were
granted to be had in the courts below. The assistants, as I have^
stated, were, ex-officio, Justices of the Peace. Selectmen had ,
the right of determining offences against the by-laws of their J
towns, under certain restrictions ; and in many towns a Court of
Commissioners was appointed by the towns themselves, and .
approved of by the County Court, to determine small debts, andJ
trespasses under twenty shillings. The Governor, Deputy Gov
ernor, and any two magistrates, or, in their absence, any three
magistrates, might hold special courts for the trial of County
Court causes, between strangers, or where one stranger was a
party. The authority of the Court of Assistants extended to j
appeals from the inferior tribunals; and to life, member, and '
banishment, in criminal matters.
The judicial polity of the colony continued unaltered till judg
ment was rendered in the Court of Bang's Bench, in 1684, and
the charter of Massachusetts was declared forfeited. Charles
the Second died the following year, and the severe measures of

20 ADDRESS OF.
the parent government in relation to the colony were for awhile
suspended. The usual elections were held in 1685. In May,
1686, a commission was issued by James II. appointing a Presi
dent and Council, to whom the general and particular adminis
tration of affairs was entrusted. The courts were continued on
the same footing as before, excepting that the President* assumed
the powers of the Supreme Ordinary, and laid claim, also, to
vice-admiralty jurisdiction. He was superseded by Sir Edmund
Andross, who arrived in Boston in December, 1686. Andross
introduced the forms used by the Spiritual Courts in England in
all matters touching the probate of wills, granting administra
tions, &c. Before his time there had been as little formality in
these proceedings as in the other business of the courts ; and the
changes he introduced were so beneficial that they have been
substantially preserved to the present time, and stand out,
together with greater correctness in legal proceedings, as the
only bright spot from the dark and desolating tyranny of his
government. On the coming in of William of Orange, and the
subsequent imprisonment of Andross, in the spring of 1689,
when nothing but the virtue and intelligence of the community
saved political society from resolving itself into its original
elements, a number of gentlemen associated as a " council for
the safety of the people and conservation of the peace," and
assumed, from the necessity of the case, a brief authority in the
administration of affairs, until the power sent back to the electors
could be heard and exercised by their constituted organs. And
thus for the space of three years, and till the arrival of Sir
William Phips with the new charter, the affairs of the Colony,
at first by necessity, and then by royal authority, were adminis
tered under the old charter.
The machinery of the courts was much altered by the Prov
ince charter. The number of assistants or councillors! was
* Joseph Dudley. 1 1 have adopted this orthography, which has the sanction of
Hutchinson, and is besides, analogically, the most correct.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 21
increased to twenty-eight, and they, with the Governor and
Lieutenant-Governor, constituted the Supreme Ordinaiy, and
decided all questions touching marriage and divorce. An act,
indeed, was early passed, establishing Courts of Probate in the
several counties ; but for some reason it was negatived by the
king. Judges of Probate, who are frequently spoken of in the
Province laws, were mere Deputies of the Governor and council.
The Superior Court answered in its principal features to our
present Supreme Court. There was also a court of Common
Pleas in each county, for civil trials, and courts of General and
Quarter Sessions. The two latter had cognizance of criminal
offences, and the former of them had substantially the same
power that is now vested in the county commissioners. Magis
trates were appointed in the same manner, and with the same
general powers in civil and criminal matters, as under the
present constitution and laws.
At the first coming over to this country the colonists diligently
set themselves to work, and made a great improvement in the
system of the common law. By the charter, which established
free and common socage as the mode of tenure of lands, much
of the offensive matter of the feudal system was swept off, and
in 1641, by an express law, it was declared that land should be
free from all fines and licenses on alienations, from all heriots,
wardships, liveries, primer seizins, year day and waste, and
escheats and forfeitures. This formed a fit basis for the law of
real property, and, together with the nearly equal distribution of
estates, gave a great impulse to the infant community.
The early laws, though severe, were not numerous. The
utmost simplicity prevailed in all proceedings, partaking fully of
the character of the times. But still there was much irrespon
sible power exercised by the magistrates. As they, with the
clergy, were the only educated men in the community, constitu
ting an entirely different state of things from that which now

22 ADDRESS OF
exists, it is not strange, that they thought themselves justified in
assuming what they supposed a healthful jurisdiction. Winthrop
was strong in this opinion, and so also were many others : and
even Hubbard, in a subsequent age, remarks with approbation
that " it was always the apprehension of the wisest rulers in New
England, that it had been better for the country to have left
more liberty in the hands of the magistrates, and not to have tied
them up so strictly to the observation of particular laws, that
many times are very prejudicial to honest men ; " as if discre
tion were not, in fact, only another name for tyranny and abuse.
The deputies, or lower house, and probably the freemen gener
ally, were dissatisfied with this uncertain authority ; and several
commissions,* none of which were successful, were appointed, to
devise some change in the economy of government. In 1639,
the matter was again taken up, and committed to Mr. Cotton and
Nathaniel Ward. Ward was, for a time, the minister of Ipswich,
and before coming to this country had studied and practised law.
He is best known however, to the present age, by that strange
and curious work he wrote, entitled " The Simple Cobbler of
Aggawam." Cotton was a distinguished clergyman in Boston,
and was held in great and deserved regard for his character and
talents. He has been called, and deservedly, by the venerable
name of the patriarch of New England. Ward's labors found
chief favor with the public. They consisted of one hundred
laws, and were called the Body of liberties. Cotton's system
followed very closely the Levitical code, establishing, in form
and substance, a theocracy; while that of Ward was better
adapted to the times in which he lived. The substance of the
latter system, as given by the distinguished American Analyst
was, " that there never should be any bond slavery, villenage or
captivity among the inhabitants of the colony, excepting lawful
*The first commission was appointed in 1635.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 23
captives taken in the wars, or such as should willingly sell them
selves, or be sold to them, and such should have the liberties and
Christian usage which the law of God, established in Israel con
cerning such persons, morally requires : that if any strangers, or
people of other nations, professing the Christian religion, should
fly to them from tyranny or oppression of their persecutors, or
from famine, wars, or the like necessary and compulsory cause,
they should receive entertainment and succor ; that there should
be no monopolies, but of such new inventions as were profitable
to the country, and those for a short time only : that all deeds of
conveyance, whether absolute or conditional, should be recorded,
that neither creditors might be defrauded, nor courts troubled
with vexatious suits and endless contentions about sales and
mortgages; that no injunction should be laid on any church,
church officer, or member, in point of doctrine, worship or disci
pline, whether for substance or circumstance, besides the institu
tion of the Lord : and, that in the defect of a law in any case,
the decision should be by the word of God."
These laws partook much more largely of modern improve
ment than the code of the other divine; but they continued in
force only three years. Another system was compiled and
adopted in 1648, and was the earliest collection of laws published
in this country. It was drawn up by Cotton and Bellingham,
and contained in one body, the laws that had been made from
time to time. These were ratified by the General Court, and
were then given to the world.
The forms of actions were short and simple. As early as
1649, I find actions of the case for trespass, on mortgage, for
not delivering lands, for not performing covenants, for withhold
ing debts due, &c. The magistrates issued the original process,
commanding tbe marshal, or his deputy, to attach the goods, &c,
or in want thereof the body of the debtor, and to take bond with
sufficient surety or sureties for his appearance, &c. These

24 ADDRESS OF
processes were not issued in the king's name during the reign of
Charles the First, nor was there afterwards in them any recogni
tion of the authority of the English Commonwealth. There was
ever an unwillingness to acknowledge a superior power in the
mother country, or to allow of appeals from the decisions of the
colonial government. But necessity compelled the colonists
occasionally to yield a point, at least in seeming, to secure in the
end more substantial benefits. And thus it was that after the
restoration they were obliged to issue legal precepts, in the name
of the king. The marshal, who was originally called the
" Beadle of the Society," was not required personally to make
service of the precept, but might appoint any one in writing as
his deputy to execute and return it. The pleadings were verbo
tenus, and without form. The testimony of witnesses reduced
to writing, and signed by them, was required by law to be put on
file with the papers of the case. The record was embraced in a
very brief space ; containing but little more than the names of
the parties, and the verdict of the jury.
The power of the magistrates in issuing process, though ex
ceedingly dangerous, and liable to great abuse and justly com
plained of, was defended on the ground " that they might either
divert the suit if the cause be unjust, or direct it in a right course
if good : " and that it gave them " opportunity to end many dif
ferences in a friendly way, without charge to the parties, or
trouble to the court." In early times a discretion was suffered,
rather than expressly allowed, that would not answer in a riper
state of society in the midst of a numerous population. The
colonists, however, were rapidly increasing, and many towns
were settled when the complaints were made of the undue
authority of the rulers.
It is not to be supposed that in the very peculiar condition and
economy of the early colonists there would be much occasion for
our profession. There were among the magistrates several who

JOSEPH WILLARD. 25
had been bred to the law in England, of whom were John
"Winthrop, Richard Bellingham and John Humfrey ; and of the
clergy, Nathaniel Ward. Thomas Morton however should not be
passed by without notice: He was of Clifford's Inn, and came
to Weston's plantation at Wessaguscus, now Braintree, in 1622.
It does not appear.however that he pursued the profession in the
colony ; nor was he of a character to attract favorable regard.
He was somewhat of a disturber in the plantation, and subverted
all wholesome authority, so that he was seized by the magistrates
of Plymouth Colony, and transported to England. He returned
the following year, and was soon after imprisoned by order of
the Massachusetts Government " for his many injuries offered to
the Indians, and other misdemeanours." It is a matter of some
question how far his puuishment was deserved. By his own
work it seems that he was " suddenly called before the magis
trates merely to hear his doom : " still it is not to be doubted
that he was liable to censure, and that he had exposed himself to
the interference of the civil authority. Winthrop and Belling
ham were at several times Governors of the colony, Humfrey a
deputy Governor, and all of them distinguished men. These, and
other leading men of the magistracy, knowing their own ability
and the ignorance of most of the early planters amongst the
yeomanry, were, naturally enough, and with the best intentions,
desirous of covering the whole scope of their actual authority and
of enlarging their power by construction ; and they therefore
would not be well pleased to witness the introduction of members
of the most searching of all the professions, who would be in
clined to stand rigidly upon the law and the testimony, and
curtail the authority of the magistrates.
Ward, indeed, was more liberal, and in 1641, at the annual
election, preached a discourse, wherein he declared that the
magistrates ought not to give private advice, and take knowledge
of any man's cause before it came to public hearing. A prin-
4

26 ADDRESS OF
cipal ground of rejecting Ward's proposition was, that its adop
tion would render it necessary to provide lawyers to direct men
in their causes. This shows, I think, something of the feeling
upon the subject amongst the reigning.powers.
At this time no advocate was allowed in the courts. The
parties spoke for themselves where they had ability and in
clination, and when they needed assistance it was given by
the magistrates, without recompense. " For more than the ten
ffirst years," says Hutchinson, following the account given by
/ Governor Winthrop, " the parties spake for themselves, for the
most part : sometimes, when it was thought the cause required it,
they were assisted by a patron, or man of superior abilities, with
out fee or reward." It was rather the domestic differences of
members of the same family, than the formal organization of a,
commonwealth, and from the construction of the courts there
was no opportunity of forming a learned bar, no room for the
display of talents and legal attainments. Doubtless there were
attorneys here from an early day, down to the tiine of -the Prov
ince Charter. I find them mentioned in the records of the
General Court in 1649, and elsewhere : but little, however, is
known of them, and they were probably what Governor
Winthrop would call mean men, of but little education. They
appeared, it may be supposed, by special powers, wliich- were
certainly required by law in 1673, and probably by judicial re
quisition much earlier. By a law of 1663,* usual and common
attorneys in any inferior court were not allowed to be members
of the General Court ; the reason of which was that appeals lay
from the lower tribunals to the General Court. It serves how
ever, to establish the fact that there were then those who made
it their business to pursue and defend the causes of others.

*This is usually put down as having been passed in 1654. But in the volume of
Ancient Charters, &c, Ed. 1814, it bears date 1663. It is not contained in the edition
of the laws printed in 1658, but is in that of 1673. This is conclusive against 1654

JOSEPH WILLARD. 27
The first man who fairly ventured his fortunes in the practice
of law in the colony was Thomas Lechford, who wrote himself
"of Clement's Inn, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman." He
came to the country in 1637 and took up his residence in Boston.
He probably continued in the practice three years, when he was
called up for " pleading with the jury out of court." He was
"convented" before the Quarter Court, 1 Dec, 1640, and,
according to the record, " acknowledged he had overshot himself,
and was sorry for it, promised to attend to his calling, and not
to meddle with controversies, and was dismissed." Not to meddle
with controversies, was depriving him of his living, and making
him poor indeed. He supported himself for awhile, as he ex
presses it in his Plain Dealing, " in writing petty things."
Finding doubtless, that the calling of a scrivener was equally
meagre and unprofitable with that of an attorney, he left the
country in the following year, and returned to England, indulg
ing in no measured spirit of hostility against the rulers and
people of the Colony. The work to which I have alluded, and
wliich he published in England on his return, was written with
acrimony, from fancied or real injury experienced ; but still it
contained many truths, and did not deserve the severe censure
with which, in former and later periods, it has been visited.
If there were any other regularly bred lawyers in the Bay
during the seventeenth century, with the partial exception I shall
presently mention, they have sunk into oblivion to their very
names. Those who acted as snch may have paid some attention
to jurisprudence ; but there was no form of admission to prac
tice, no previous study required, and there were no exact pro
ceedings in the courts. Indeed it may well be doubted whether
there were any books of the common law in the country, except
ing two copies of the following works, which the governor and
assistants ordered to be imported in 1647, viz : Coke's Entries
and Reports, his Commentaries and Readings on Magna Charta,

28 ADDRESS OP
the New Terms of the Law, and Dalton's Justice. Occasionally
it is mentioned that a party appeared by Attorney, as in 1652,
in Middlesex, Mr. Coggan appeared as attorney to Stephen Daye,
the first printer : in 1654, in the case of Ridgway against Jor
dan, the defendant appeared by his attorney, Amos Richardson :
and in 1656, in the case of John Glover against Henry Dunster,
who had been President of Harvard College, Edmund Goffe and
Thomas Danforth appeared for the plaintiff. Now this Amos
Richardson was, I believe, a tailor, and Coggan (John) was in
mercantile business and kept the first shop in Boston. Goffe,
then an old man, was for several years the representative from
Cambridge, and Danforth also ; and the latter, besides, filled the
office of assistant and deputy- govern or ; but neither of them was
of the legal profession.
John Dunton, an English bookseller, who was here in 1686, in
an amusing work which he wrote, called his " Life and Errors,"
speaks of a Mr. Watson and Dr. Bullivant who attended the
courts. Of Watson he says that he was " formerly a merchant
in London, but not thriving there he left the Exchange for
Westminster Hall, and in Boston has become as dexterous at
splitting of causes as~if he had been bred to it. He is full of fancy,
and knows the quirks of the law : but, to do him justice, he
proves as honest as the best lawyer of them all." Of Bullivant
(Benjamin) he remarks, " his knowledge of the laws fitted him
for the office of Attorney-General, which was conferred upon
him in the revolution in Boston ; " and " while he held his place
he was so far from pushing things to that extremity as some hot
spirits would have had him, that he was for accommodating
things and making peace. His eloquence is admirable. He
never speaks but it is a sentence, and no man ever clothed his
thoughts in better words." The office of Attorney-General was
not an established office. On some occasions a person was
specially authorized to bring informations for the kim

JOSEPH WILLARD. 29
ment. Bullivant was quite distinguished as a physician. He
must have possessed popular talents and address to have sus
tained himself in the focus of puritanism, with his views of
episcopacy, and as one of the founders and wardens of the ear
liest church of that denomination in the colony.* Nor would it
be likely to diminish the difficulty, that he was selected by Sir
Edmond Andross as one of his " confidants and advisers."
In addition to Watson and Bullivant, there are two others
whose names perhaps should be introduced here. Randolph, in
his letter to Povey, Jan. 24, 1687, complains of tlie want of
" two or three honest attorneys, if any such thing in nature."
" We have but two," he remarks, " one is Mr. West's creature,
come with him from New York, and drives all before him." He
does not mentiou who the other was. James Graham, who, like
Bullivant, was "confidant and adviser" of Sir Edmund, I sup
pose was one of them. He was the Attorney-General under Sir
Edmund, and was imprisoned with him, according to Hutchinson
and Neal, at the time of the rising in favor of William and
Mary. George Farwell, who was imprisoned at the same time,
and who officiated as clerk and Attorney at the Court of Oyer
and Terminer in Boston in 1687, in the prosecutions against
several inhabitants of Ipswich for " contempt and high misde
meanors," was probably the other .f Graham and Farwell termi
nated their career in Boston on the downfall of Andross' admin
istration. How long Watson and Bullivant continued in the
Courts, I have no present means of ascertaining. Bullivant'
however was living and engaged in medical business as late as
1699. The observations I have made will perhaps be sufficient to

*June 15, 1686.
tThe mention of Farwell I derive from my friend John Farmer, Esq., of Concord,
N. H., highly esteemed for his critical knowledge and minute investigations of the
early history of New England. Mr. Farmer's suggestions in these matters go far to
supply the defect of historical proof, and his assertions are arguments.

30 ADDRESS OF
show the feeble existence of the profession during the seven
teenth century, up to which time there had not, I believe, been a
' single lawyer, a native of the country. Indeed it was not till
long after the charter of William and Mary that there were dis
tinguished jurists in the Province. Amongst their first doings
after the arrival of Sir William Phips with the new charter,
the General Court established the Judicial tribunals on the foot
ing on which they continued till the Revolution. Stoughton,
Danforth, Cooke, and Sewall, were the first judges of the Supe
rior Court. They were men of sound minds and large expe
rience, but were not lawyers. But little, therefore, could be
["expected of them in methodical proceeding, nice application of
the law, or in those rules of practice which may be called the
salutary discipline of the court. Paul Dudley,* who was a judge
from 1718 to 1745, and chief justice from that time till his death
in 1751, was the first lawyer who sat on the bench. He had
received a thorough professional education, begun at home, and
finished at the Temple in London. He introduced, it is said,
many wholesome alterations and improvements in judicial pro
ceedings. The Attorney's oath was framed in 1701, and is the
same that is now in use. In the same year the General Court
established the forms of writs, and authorized the courts to estab
lish rules of practice. But for some years after, there was no
real improvement, nor were strict legal forms and technical rules
brought at once into use. It was necessary first to obtain a well
(-"instructed bench, and a well educated profession. Nor was this
j the work of a moment. It required rather, a long period of
Isevere labor, diligent study, and intellectual discipline.
For several years after the new court was organized and
indeed after the commencement of the eighteenth century
actions of the case were brought for the recovery of lands and
* Founder of the lectureship in Harvard University. Ue was son of Gov. Joseph
Dudley, of whom mention has been made in the text, and grandson of Gov. Thomas
Dudley.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 31
on mortgages, and the pleadings were akin, in legal precision
and correctness, to the declarations. Even after greater exact
ness was introduced, there was no disposition to encourage
special pleading. Dummer, in 1721, remarks with approbation,
that " no special pleadings are admitted, but the general issue is
always given, and special matters brought in evidence. For the
quicker despatch of causes, declarations are made parts of the
writ, in which the case is fully and particularly seth forth. If it
be matter of account, the account is annexed to the writ, and
copies of both left with the defendant : which being done fourteen
days before the sitting of the court, he is obliged to plead directly,
and the issue is then tried."*
The innovation of special pleading was quite contrary to the
spirit of the former and existing occasion, which was prolonged
for some years, as is apparent from the remark of Dummer, I
have just quoted. The growth of improvement was probably
slow, for much was to be learned, and many prejudices were to
be overcome. Who then were the great fathers of the healthful
change, and when was its inception and fair progress ? The
time was not -a point but a period. It commenced I suppose
about the year 1702, when Paul Dudley came from England,
with the commission of Attorney-General. He was ever
esteemed a thorough and accomplished lawyer, and, in other
respects was a learned man. John Read, who was perhaps
equally learned in tlie law and of equal genius, was contemporary
with Dudley, and aided largely in the progress of professional
improvement. To him is ascribed the origin of the forms of
conveyancing now in use. Dudley was Attorney-General till his
appointment to -the Bench, and Read continued highly distin
guished at the Bar till nearly the close of his life in 1749.
Succeeding these were Richard Dana, the elder Auchmuty,
Shirley, and Bollan, the two latter of English birth and educa-
* Defence of the New England Charters.

32 ADDRESS OF
tion, Gridley, Trowbridge, &c, under whom the profession
became more and more of a science, and. its practice gathered to
[ itself respect, honor, wealth, and public influence. The history
of this period in our profession is full of interest, and I would
gladly dwell upon it more at large, were it in my power. But I
must narrow the range of my inquiry, and draw your attention,
as well as my own, to subjects partly new, and more immediately
belonging to the occasion.
In regard to the history of this Bar, it scarcely becomes me
to speak. Being comparatively young in the profession, and
having resided but a few years in the midst of you, I know
nothing, personally, of those who have gone before me, — of the
distinguished members of our profession ; though the lustre they
shed over their favorite science has not yet faded from recollec
tion, where it does not ascend to the twilight age of tradition.
In most things there is ever much in the present that recalls the
past. The praise of eye and ear witnesses, or traditionary remi
niscences, encircle the names of illustrious predecessors, and knit
them, as it were, to our very selves by the mysterious bond, the
common sympathy, of a kindred pursuit. The small class that
came into professional life before and during the early period of
the revolution has ceased from amongst us, leaving us nothing
save the rich inheritance of their fame. Those next in order are
our respected seniors, the connecting link between the early and
modern history of our Bar. To them I would gladly leave the
sketch of what is now become the elder day of our profession.
T said days should speak, and multitude of years should teach
wisdom, but as they will not occupy the ground, Twill show you
mine opinion.
The history of our Bar cannot be dated back to a very distant
period. It is, at best, of but green antiquity. In relation to it
we cannot be indebted to "imagination for our facts." It wants
all that indistinctness of origin, and all that beautiful combina-

JOSEPH WILLARD. 33
tion of fact and fancy, where the light of truth and the uncer
tainty of tradition are inseparable ; where the inception may
almost shadow out a present deity, reflecting back the rich
colorings of romance. There is no room to dispute whether
Aeneas or lulus was the founder, nor what divinity presided at
its institution.
Suffolk is coeval with the colony, and Middlesex was established
nineteen years afterwards. They belong to those simple days of
old, when heresy was punished with banishment and stubbornness
in children, cursing or smiting parents, idolatry, blasphemy,
consulting with a familiar spirit, &c, were capital offences.
When the title of Mr. was honorable, and Josias Plaistowe, for
petty larceny, was, with other punishment, sentenced to be called
Josias, and not Mr. Josias as he used to be ; when sergeant
Perkins was ordered to carry forty turfs to the fort for being
drunk ; when Daniel Clark was fined forty shillings for being an
immoderate drinker, and John Wedgewood was set in the stocks,
for being in the company of drunkards ; when Henry Felch was
fined and admonished for his rash speaking, and Captain Lovel
was admonished -to take heed of light carriage, and Edward
Palmer for his extortion in taking two pounds thirteen shillings
and fourpence for the wood work of Boston stocks, was fined
and set in the stocks of his own making ; and when for mean
men to " wear gold or silver lace, or buttons, or points at their
knees, or to walk in great boots, or women of the same rank to
wear silk or tiffany hoods or scarfs," was visited with a severe
penalty. It was a subsequent century that saw us springing into exist
ence, when many changes had taken place in the early habits of)
society; when the simplicity of the fathers had yielded, in a
degree, to the refinements consequent on the increase of wealth
and population ; and when the proceedings before the judicial
tribunals were become more technical and complex.

34 ADDRESS OF
The act incorporating this County was passed April 2, 1731,
and took effect on the tenth day of the following July. The
towns and places included, were Worcester, Lancaster, Westbor-
ough, Shrewsbury, Southborough, Leicester, Rutland, and Lunen
burg, all which had previously been in Middlesex; Mendon,
Woodstock, Oxford, Sutton, including Hassanamisco, TJxbridge,
and the land granted to sundry inhabitants of Medfield, which
were taken from Suffolk, and Brookfield from Hampshire.
The first Court of Probate was held on the 12th of July, and
the first Court of Common Pleas on the tenth of August, 1731,
when a sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Prentice, of Lancas
ter, from the following appropriate text: — "And said to the
judges, take heed what you do ; for ye judge not for man but
for the Lord, who is with yon in judgment. Wherefore now let
the fear of the Lord be upon you, take heed and do it: for
there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of
persons nor taking of gifts." The first term of the Superior
Court was held on the fourth Wednesday in September (22d),
1731. When were present Benjamin Lynde, Chief Justice, and
Paul Dudley, Edmund Quincy, and John Cushing, Justices.
At the commencement of our County history, the profession
of the law in the Province had begun to assume, as we have
lready seen, a distinct form and to be pursued as a science.
So great had been the change, that at this era there were but
few peculiarities in the practice. For a few years the evidence
in each case, with the names of the witnesses, was put down on
separate pieces of paper, endorsed by the clerk and filed with
the other papers in the suit. The sheriff frequently appointed
one specially as deputy to make service of a precept, who
returned his doings under oath. The pleadings at first were
quite short, and were made upon the writ. But they soon
became more technical and accurate. Pleas in abatement were
almost of course in every action. The usual form in real actions

JOSEPH WILLARD. 35
was ejectment, and trespass and ejectment, not the English
form of fictions ; and there are some early pleas of disclaimer
to part, and general issue to the remainder, much as at present.
As early as 1747, the expression plea of land was in use in a
declaration drawn up by Stephen Fessenden,* I believe ; and
another in 1768 by James Putnam,t and again in 1773, by Francis
Dana,J the late chief justice. The two latter were students
of Judge Trowbridge. This form of expression seems to have
been adopted advisedly from the ancient English forms, notwith
standing the opinion of a very learned Jurist who has recently
censured it.§ Most of the other writs in real actions that now
prevail, were in use. Imparlances for the purpose of vouching
in the grantor were common up to the time of the Revolution.
In personal actions the most common form of remedy for
money lent was debt on bond, but rarely, for many years, tres
pass on the case. Case on account, for goods sold and delivered,
was in use from the incorporation of the County, and elsewhere
much earlier. The other personal actions were much the same
as those now in general use.
It is not my purpose, even had I the time, to give a complete
history of judicial process, through all its varieties, up to the
present time. This has already been done by one in every way
competent to the undertaking.]
There were but few lawyers who resided in the county, and
practised in our courts, before the revolution. Our forum was
crowded with professional gentlemen from other places, who were
in constant attendance, and bore a large share in the legal
conflicts.1 Many of them were distinguished men in our judicial
and political history. Amongst them were —
John Read, Boston, Harvard College, 1697 ; here 1733, &c.
* Clark vs. Townsend. t Banks vs. Green. J Gibbs vs. Thayer. \ See Bliss'
Address to the Bar, and his review of Jackson on Seal Aetions, I. Amer. Jurist.
[| See the address of Mr. Bliss to the Hampshire Bar in 1826, and his review of
Jackson on Meal Actions. American Jurist, Vol. I.

36 ADDRESS OF
To him we have before alluded. He was long in practice, and
enjoyed much public influence, as a member of the provincial
government. He was called, by James Otis, "the greatest com
mon lawyer this country ever saw."*
Richaed Dana, Charlestown and Boston, Harvard College,
1718 ; here from 1739 to 1754. He was learned in the profes
sion ; some forms of precedents of declarations, evincing legal
skill and science, and drafted by him, are still in use. He was
father of Francis Dana, late Chief Justice of our Supreme
9
Court. Jeremiah Geidlet, Boston, Harvard College, 1725 ; here
from 1759 to 1765. He has been called " the father of the Bar
in Boston." But Read preceded him many years. Gridley was
very eminent in his profession. He was the preceptor of Otis,
Thacher, and other distinguished jurists. He argued the ques
tion on the writs of assistance in opposition to James Otis, his
former pupil. When Trowbridge was appointed to the Bench,
Gridley succeeded him as Attorney-General.
William Brattle, Cambridge, Harvard College, 1722 ; here
from 1736 to 1754. He was of some celebrity in the popular
mind ; and was, at various times, minister, physician and lawyer.
His attainments were various rather than profound. Hence the
description given of him by the late facetious Mr. Foxcraft, of
Cambridge, that he was " a man of universal superficial knowl
edge?'' In his various professions it is certain that he enjoyed
much confidence and respect, and exercised an extensive and
beneficial influence.
Edmund Trowbridge, Cambridge, Harvard College, 1728 ;
here from 1732 to 1767. He constantly attended our courts
thirty-five years. He was many years Attorney-General, and
was made Judge of the Superior Court of Judicature in 1767.

* Tudor's Life of Otis, p. 12.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 37
This office he held till the revolution. Perhaps the Bar of Mas
sachusetts never had a more thorough and diligent lawyer than
Trowbridge. To him Parsons was deeply indebted, particularly
for his historical knowledge of what was peculiarly our law.
" He commanded the practice in Middlesex and Worcester and
several other counties."* His name and his praise are with the
whole profession.
Robert Attchmuty, the elder and younger, Boston ; here from
1734 to 1761. They were both eminent barristers. The former
was agent of the province in England ; aud laid the plan of the
expedition to Cape Breton, which terminated in the conquest of
Louisburg. The latter was Judge of the Admiralty Court from
1768, for several years.
Benjamin Kent, Boston, Harvard College, 1727 ; here from
1757 to 1767. Kent was for several years the clergyman in
Marlborough. But becoming dissatisfied with his vocation, he
took measures to obtain a dismission ; and devoted himself to 4;he
law. He was not distinguished in the profession, as most of the
others I have named; coming late into practice he was deprived
of an advantage that no assiduity could entirely overcome.
John Oveeing, Boston; here from 1731 to 1736. He was
for several years Attorney-General, before Trowbridge.
William Shirley, Boston ; bere in 1733, &c. He was of
¦ English birth and education, and commenced practice in Boston
about the year 1733, where he continued in business till he was
appointed Governor of the Province in 1740.
William Bollan, Boston ; here in 1733, &c. He was also of
English birth and education, apd was in practice some years with
distinguished reputation as a lawyer, and as Advocate-General.
He was agent of the Province in England, and served with
great fidelity and success.
Timothy Dwight, Northampton; here from 1740 to 1742.
* Preface to Novanglus, &c, written by the elder President Adams,

38 ADDRESS OF
He was admitted to practice in August, 1721, and "continued
many years in reputable practice, and was afterwards a judge.
Josiah Dwight, Springfield ; Yale College, 1736 ; here from
1740 to 1746.
Benjamin Peatt, Boston, Harvard College, 1737 ; here in
1757. He was a native of Cohasset, and is universally allowed
to have been endowed with fine genius, and to have been equally
conspicuous for taste, and for professional and general literature.
He was afterwards Chief Justice of New York.
Oxenbeidge Thachee, Boston, Harvard College, 1738 ; here
in 1759, &c. He was here less frequently than others I have
named. He was at first a preacher, but was obliged to relin
quish the desk, owing to the feeble state of his health. He
became conspicuous at the bar, and in political life. He was
also distinguished as a casuist, metaphysician, and general
scholar. John Woethington, Springfield, Yale College, 1740 ; here
from 1749 to 1772. His practice was extensive in his own
county, in Berkshire, and Worcester. He was distinguished as a
gentleman, a scholar, a jurist, and*for forensic eloquence.
Joseph Hawley, Northampton, Yale College, 1742 ; here
from 1752 to 1756. His practice, as well as Worthington's, was
extensive in other counties. He had previously studied divinity,
and had preached, but was never settled. He was very learned
in the law, and deep in black-letter. His history and worth
belong to our public history for the twenty years preceding the
Revolution.! Jonathan Sewall, Harvard College, 1748 ; here from 1764

* Bliss, t Of Worthington and Hawley, who were for many years the leaders in the
profession in Hampshire, a very full and interesting relation is given by Mr. Bliss in
his address to the Bar. They were for a long time prominent men. They succeeded
in establishing Bar rules iu their own county before the Revolution. One of these
rules required three years as the tenn of study preparatory to admission. Previously
the term of study was uncertain and short.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 39
to 1768. He commenced practice in Charlestown, and was an
able and successful lawyer. The elder President Adams was his
intimate friend, though opposite in politics, and has done justice
to his memory. Hutchinson was instrumental in creating the
office of Solicitor- General for Sewall. He succeeded Gridley
in the office of Attorney-General. His eloquence is repre
sented as having been soft, smooth, and insinuating, which gave
him as much power over a jury as a lawyer ought ever to pos
sess. It is proper here to take notice of one fact iu relation to
Sewall. He commenced the suit in May, 1769, in favor of a
negro against his master for his freedom.* The late Chief Jus
tice Dana was counsel for the defendant. The suit terminated
the following jg&v in favor of the negro ; and I believe it was
the first case where the grand question was settled abolishing
slavery in this State. The case of the negro Somerset, which
Blackstone commends so highly, and which has been a matter of
self gratulation in England, was not settled till 1772 ; two years
after the decision in favor of James.
Mr. Sewall, having attached himself to the royal party, was
compelled to leave his country in the Revolution.
John Adams, Boston, Harvard College, 1755 ; here from 1758
to 1769. President Adams studied law in Worcester, with
James Putnam, and kept school in the same town. His acquain
tance with the people of the county secured him extensive busi-'
ness. At that day the most distinguished lawyers attended the
circuits with the judges. After 1769, his other professional
engagements, and his increasing political and public employ
ments, probably prevented his further attendance on our courts.
His history, like that of General Washington, is, in a great
degree, the history of his country.
Simeon Strong, Amherst, Yale College, 1756. He practised

* James vs. Richard Lechmere, Esq., of Cambridge.

40 ADDRESS OF
with learning and sagacity in this county from 1765, till the
courts were closed in 1774, and after they were again opened,
during the remainder of the Revolution and for many subse
quent years. He was afterwards a distinguished Judge in the
Supreme Court. Judge Strong was a preacher several years
before he studied law. He was " quite a metaphysician," and
in the law excelled in his knowledge of real actions, and the
science of special pleading.
Feancis Dana, Cambridge, Harvard College, 1762. He
attended the courts here from 1771 to 1774. He was after
wards Ambassador to Russia, and the learned, accomplished and
upright Chief Justice of the Commonwealth for many years.
Caleb Steong, Northampton, Harvard College, 1764. Gov.
Strong practised in this county as early as 1779. He continued
his business here many years, and I believe till he' finally left the
Bar, in 1800. Gov. Strong held a distinguished rank at the Bar,
as possessing extensive legal acquirements. He was also remark
able for his punctuality, and for the careful preparation of his
cases. With the Jury he was a successful advocate. His
address, it is said, was pleasing and insinuating, and his eloquence
well adapted to convince. At the Bar, as well as in every other
walk of life, he manifested singular purity of motive and
character, and spotless integrity.
I have been led insensibly beyond my original intention, which
was simply to mention the names of some of the distinguished
lawyers from other counties, who practised here before the
Revolution. I have taken a brief notice of each of them; but
however pleasant it may be, it is not my design, nor will it be
consistent with the plan I have marked out for myself, to pursue
this digression further. The materials for the biographies of
some of them exist in abundance, and it is much to be desired that
the Bar of each county should take measures to preserve the his
tory of the profession, and the story of its former members

JOSEPH WILLARD. 41
before the one and the other are swept from memory aud
tradition. The greater part of the list I have partially described, as will
doubtless be observed, is composed of the most distinguished
names in the profession ; and they are snch as wonld do honor
to the profession and the public at auy time, and under all
circumstances. In our own county. I find no rules of practice adopted by the
Bar during the last century, and but two rules of the Court of
Common Pleas, although the Judiciary bad had the power from
the time of the charter of William and Mary to establish all
proper forms and modes of proceeding. One of these rules
was in 1757, when Ruggles came upon the Bench. It forbade
any, excepting Attorneys allowed and sworn in some Court of
justice in the Province, to appear for another unless specially
authorized by a power duly executed and acknowledged, and to
be used only in the particular specified. The necessity of this
rule will be manifest, when we consider the number of those who
were not bred to the profession, the mere legal brokers, who
found their way into the business of the Courts, and occupied
the ground of the better educated, the more intelligent and
intellectual. The other rule was made iu March, 1773, setting
forth a petition of the Attorneys of the Court, that they are by
law required to be empowered under hand aud seal to appear for
their clients, and then allowing the Attorneys in each action to
tax for such power the sum of one -shilling and sixpence. The
term of study for a long time seldom exceeded two years, and
the libraries were scanty and imperfect. Essex, Suffolk and
Hampshire had adopted Bar Rules previous to the Revolution,
and preceding ours by at least a quarter of a century.
There were many individuals in this county before 1775, who
attended the courts, but who were not educated to the profession.
They were of a class possessing perhaps some influence in their

42 ADDRESS OF
own neighborhood, with some aptitude in transacting ordinary
business. They were the forerunners, and occupied the ground,
of better educated and more respectable men. Some of them
may have been useful ; while others were of bad example in the
community, in increasing the facilities for litigation, and encour
aging a spirit that is always sufficiently active and operative in
the general mass of society. I find that some of them were in
large business, of the more common kinds, in the profession, for
a long succession of years. It is unnecessary to mention the
names of all of this class. The names of the most prominent
were, Elisha Bisbee, from 1732 to 1734.
Joseph Dyer, of Worcester, shopkeeper, 1736 to 1740.
Cornelius Jones, of Springfield, a famous pettifogger, appeared
here in 1733 and 1739.
John Grout, of Lunenburg, from 1735 to 1750. He was in
extensive practice here and in other counties.
Nathaniel Russell, of Littleton, from 1744 to 1766.
Jabez Ward, 1745 to 1748.
John Brown, 1745 to 1752.
Nathaniel Green, of Worcester, 1749 to 1762.
Duncan Campbell, of Oxford, &c, from 1752 to 1766.
William Rawson, jun., &c, &c.
There are many others, whose names I have collected, but it is
of no importance to mention them.
I gladly pass by the whole of this class, that once hung upon
the skirts of the profession and soiled its addition, and feel
pleasure in dwelling for awhile upon the names of those highly
respectable men, who adorned this bar previously to the Revolu
tion. The whole number of resident professional gentlemen in
this county, from its incorporation to the closing of the courts in
June, 1774, was but seventeen. Their names as follows, viz. :
Joseph Dwight, Joshua Atherton,

JOSEPH WILLARD. 43
Nahum Ward, Daniel Bliss,
Timothy Ruggles, Joshua Upham,
Joshua Eaton, jun., John Sprague,
Christopher J. Lawton, Rufus Chandler,
Stephen Fessenden, Daniel Oliver,
James Putnam, Nath'l Chandler,
Abel Willard. Elijah Williams.
Ezra Taylor,
I propose making a slight sketch of each ; premising, however,
that from the lapse of time, and the scantiness of materials, the
notices in general must be quite imperfect.
Joseph Dwight, the sou of Henry Dwight, of Hatfield, Mass.,
was born in that town Oct. 16, 1703, and graduated at Harvard
College in 1722. He was admitted to practice in this County at
the first term of the Court of Common Pleas, Aug. 12, 1731,
and in Hampshire March term, 1733. He probably did not con
tinue here long in professional pursuits. He resided in Brook
field, and represented that town in the Provincial Legislature
eleven years, between 1731 and 1752.
In 1749, he was speaker of the House of Representatives; at
one time a member of the Council, and was highly distinguished
as a Military Officer. He was a Brigadier General, then an
office of dignity, and commanded a regiment in the expedition
against Louisburg in 1745, and conducted himself with such skill
and bravery, in the operations against that place, as to call forth
the particular commendations of Sir William Pepperell in his
despatches to Gov. Shirley. He was a judge of the Court of
Common Pleas for the County of Worcester from 1743 to 1750.
Between 1751 and 1754, it would seem, he removed to Stock-
bridge, and afterwards to Great Barrington. In Berkshire, he
was also appointed to the bench of the Court of Common Pleas.
He died in Great Barrington, June 9, 1765, aged 62. His repu
tation at the bar must have been respectable ; while at the same

44 ADDRESS OF
time he possessed, like other leading men in the country at that
time, large influence within the sphere of his action, and united,
as was then not infrequent, the pursuit of military, with that of
civil office.*
Nahitm Waed, who stands next on the list, was of Shrewsbury.
He was one of the committee wliich, in behalf of that place in
1727, prayed the General Court for the grant of full municipal
powers. He was admitted to practice in this county at the same
term with Gen. Dwight; and continued some years at the Bar.
From the declarations of his I have met with, he would seem to
have been correct and technical, particularly in real actions. He
wa3 mnch engaged in practice ; but I have no means of determin
ing, either from history or tradition, what rank and reputation he
secured to himself in the walks of the profession. He was
appointed a Judge of the court of Common Pleas in 1745, while
Dwight was upon the bench, and continued in office for some
years. This appointment however is no proof of his qualities as
a jurist. Men were selected for the office for various considera
tions. An acquaintance with the usual business, the ordinary
education of the times, respectability of private character, and
wholesome influence in the circle in which they moved, were
sufficient recommendations, without the aid of much professional
doctrine. Of Ward I have learned no more than what I have
here related.
Timothy Ruggles, born in Rochester, Plymouth County, Oct.
11, 1711, was the eldest son of the Rev. Timothy Ruggles, a
clergyman in that place. He graduated at Harvard University
in 1732, and contrary to the preference expressed by his father,
soon afterwards entered upon the study of the law. He
represented his native town in the Provincial Assembly in 1736,
at the age of twenty -five, and procured the passage of an act, still
in force, prohibiting sheriffs from filling writs. He practised
* Gen. Dwight was in mercantile business, in Brookfield, for some years.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 45
some years in Rochester, whence he removed to Sandwich. His
reputation was so great that he was early and frequently
employed in the adjoining counties of Barnstable and Bristol,
and was the principal antagonist of Col. Otis in causes of impor
tance. He occasionally attended the courts in Worcester, early
in his professional career ; and in 1734, 1735 and 1738, his name
appears often in our records. He removed to Hardwick in this
county, probably as early as 1753. From that time till 1757, he
was in practice in this county, when he was appointed Judge,
and in 1762, Chief Justice ofthe Court of Common Pleas ; which
office he held till the Revolution. He was also appointed Sur
veyor General of the king's forests ; an office that was a source
of profit, attended with but little labor.
Besides professional employments, Ruggles was much engaged
in military and political occupations. In 1755, he received an
appointment in the army, and held the rank of Colonel under
Sir William Johnson, in the expedition against Crown Point.
In September of the same year he was next in command to
Johnson at the battle of Lake George, where the French army
under Baron Dieskau met with a signal defeat. He was actively
engaged in the campaigns of 1756 and 1757, and in the following
year, with the commission of Brigadier General, was under Lord
Amherst, and served with him in his expedition against Canada
in 1759 and 1760.
For several years General Ruggles represented the town of
Hardwick iu the Provincial Assembly. In 1762 and 1763, he
was speaker of the House. In consequence of the grievous
exactions of the British Government, delegates were chosen by
the Legislature to meet the delegates from the other colonies at
New York, to seek out some possible relief from immediate and
threatened evils, by a representation of their sufferings to the
king and Parliament. Ruggles was chosen as one of the dele
gates on the part of this Province, and had the honor of being

46 ADDRESS OF
selected as President of that celebrated Congress, where were
present some of the most distinguished men from eight of the
other colonies.
At this meeting, among other things, an address to the king
was voted, and certain resolves were framed,* setting forth the
rights of the colonies, and claiming an entire exemption from all
taxes, excepting those imposed by the local assemblies. Ruggles
refused his concurrence in the proceedings ; for which, on his
return home, he was censured by the House of Representatives,
and was reprimanded by the Speaker in his place. It is due to
him however, to remark, that, according to Hutchinson, when he
consented to be a delegate, he expected that nothing more
would be required of him than was expressed in the vote of the
assembly ; and left the house in order to prepare for his journey ;
that afterwards, on learning that the House had voted to instruct
the delegates to insist upon the exclusive right of the Colonies to
tax themseves, he determined not to serve, but was finally pre
vailed with by his friends.
In 1774, he was made 3fandamus Councillor, accepted the
office, and was qualified. Continuing firm in his adherence to
the party of the loyalists, with whom were all his predilections,
he was compelled to leave the country, and all his large estates
were confiscated. He remained in Boston during the siege:
afterwards spent a few months at Long Island, and then went to
Nova Scotia, where he died in 1798, aged 87.
There were few men in the Province more justly distinguished
than Ruggles ; and few who were more severely dealt with in the
bitter controversies preceding the Revolution. Hence his name
has come down to us with a degree of obloquy that should only
attach to the unprincipled and vile. Like many others who
joined the royal party, he was a true friend to his country. He
probably believed that the power of Great Britain could not be

* October 19, 1765,

JOSEPH WILLARD. 47
withstood, and perhaps may have mistaken the deep seated
enthusiasm of the people for a mere spirit of party, and a short
lived effervescence. Still he was one of those who looked for
ward, though at a more distant day, to the time when, in the
natural course of events, the colonies must strengthen and ripen
into independence, and, as he was in the habit of expressing it,
would " fall off from the parent state, as ripe fruit from the
tree." As a lawyer, Ruggles was sound and ingenious ; as a speaker,
clear and forcible ; and though not possessing the fascinations
and classical eloquence of James Otis, he brought the energies
of a powerful mind into debate, and convinced where mere
eloquence would have only dazzled. As a military officer he was
distinguished for cool bravery, and excellent judgment and
science in the art of war ; and no provincial officer was ever
held in higher esteem, for these qualities, by those in chief
command. Amid his various occupations, he found time to devote to the
avocations of home ; while his extensive property, and his taste
for agriculture, and its kindred pursuits, gave him the means, as
he possessed the inclination, of being of service to his fellow-
citizens in his own neighborhood, where the population was
sparse, and improvement slowly followed in the rear of example.
I cannot better conclude this notice, imperfect as it is, than in
the closing words of an interesting biographical sketch of this
man, written by one of the junior members of our Bar :* —
" Brigadier Ruggles in his person was large, being much above
six feet. His appearance was commanding and dignified ; his
complexion was dark, and his countenance expressive and bold.
He was attentive to his dress, but avoided ceremony. * * * *
His wit was ready and brilliant, his mind clear, comprehensive
and penetrating ; his judgment was profound, and his knowledge
* C. C. Baldwin, Esq., Worcester Magazine, Vol. II.

48 ADDRESS OF
extensive. His abilities as a pnblic speaker placed him among
ths first of his day ; and had he been so fortunate as to embrace
the popular sentiments of the times, there is no doubt he
would have been ranked among the leading characters of the
Revolution." Joshca Eaton was a character of an entirely different sort.
He was born in Waltham, then a part of Watertown, Dec. 15,
1714, and graduated at Harvard University, " with reputation
and esteem/' in 1735. Soon after, he commenced the study of
law in Cambridge, with Judge Trowbridge, and opened an office
iu Worcester, in 1737. His parents were disappointed that he
chose this profession, being desirous that he shonld study
divinity. They perhaps, like other good people of that day,
looked npon the legal profession with a feeling approaching to
horror, and considered tbe service at the altar as the only proper
ministration for an educated man. Induced by the wishes of his
parents, and partly I presume by the structure of his own spirit,
he left the courts as nearly as I can ascertain, in the fall of 1743,
having previously pursued the study of divinity. Soon after he
began to preach, he fell under the censure of the chnrch in
Worcester, as appears by the following extract from his diary :
"Nov. 25, 1743. The church was pleased to restore me to
Christian privileges, without any acknowledgment, and gave as
a reason for what they had done in censuring me, that they
looked upon me as being actuated by an overheated brain."
Mr. Eaton was settled in Leicester South Precinct, now Spen
cer, Nov. 7, 1744, and died there in April, 1772. He seems to
have been a man of great simplicity of character, and of fervent
piety, and to have possessed more warmth of feeling than
reach of intellect. A peculiar constitution and temperament,
such as we may suppose his to have been, may have been
influenced by many exciting causes. He may have been affected
by the preaching of Whitefield, or by the contagious sympathv on

JOSEPH WILLARD. 49
religious subjects that then prevailed. This is indeed a gratui
tous supposition, though it may be a true one, and it certainly
gathers title to credence from the very fervor of Eaton's charac
ter and sanctity. The excitement occasioned by the preaching of
Whitefield, and the influence he produced in New England, were
great, sometime before Eaton left the Bar. Individuals in every
walk of hfe were already led captive by the eloquence of the
preacher, that covered over his thinly disguised fanaticism; and
it was not till the work was well nigh accomplished, that the
officers of the University bore testimony against the man, his
modes, and doctrines.
In relinquishing the practice, Eaton lost all regard for the
profession, and its intellectual conflicts. Soon after he was
settled, viz.: in February, 1744 .(O. S.), he was called to
attend to some business at Worcester; but "Oh!" said he, "the
tumult and dissipation and snares that attend the courts. I
think I would not return to the practice of the law on any con
sideration." And doubtless he had some reason for his exclama
tion, as the sittings of the courts were generally then, and even
down to the commencement of the present century, attended by
a great gathering of people, who exercised themselves in the
various sports and indulgences that are prevalent on public days.
Of Eaton's standing while at the Bar, which he left at thc age
of thirty, I have no means of knowing, save from his biographer,
who remarks that "all who had any knowledge of him, enter
tained an opinion of him as an honest, fair, just, and faithful
practitioner in the law department. As being indued with
good natural powers ; that he early shone with a promising lustre
in the knowledge and practice of the law, and had the fairest
prospect of acquiring to himself a good and great name in that
profession, and an ample fortune to his family ; all which he
forsook, and made a willing sacrifice of worldly prospects and
secular interests to the brighter views of immortality, and com-
7

50 ADDRESS OF
meneed a student in the law of his God, and in the gospel of his
son ; and by close application, and the blessing of God upon his
studies, he made great proficiency in the saered science, and
soon became a scribe well instructed in the kingdom of God."*
Christopher Jacob Lawton stands next in the catalogue, and
of him I know but httle. It appears that early in the last centu
ry he lived in Springfield, and afterwards in Suffield ; in which
places, for several years, he was in pretty extensive business,
before he was admitted to the Bar. The date of his admission
is in 1726, in the old county of Hampshire. I find by a deposi
tion of his, written in a fair hand in April, 1733, that he then
resided in Suffield, engaged in professional pursuits. In a few
years after he removed to Leicester, and appeared in our courts
from 1740 to 1751. While here, I do not gather that he enjoyed
any large share of fame, or that he was engaged in important
business in the profession. His name appears frequently on the
records in ordinary cases.
Stephen Fessenden, a native of Cambridge, and a graduate
of Harvard University, in 1737, opened an office in Worcester,
at least as early as 1743, and perhaps earlier. He may indeed
immediately have succeeded Joshua Eaton, jun., in professional
business in that town. I do not trace him in the courts after
1747. He sold his estate in Worcester to Col. Putnam a few
years afterwards. He was not of great mark in the profession,
and has left but few and indistinct traces upon posterity.
James Putnam, the seventh in point of time, but perhaps the
first in distinction, was born in 1725, in that part of Salem that
is now included in Danvers. He graduated at Harvard Univer
sity in 1746, in the same class with the venerable Dr. Holyoke,
who for so many years survived his classmates, his own age, and
» A volume of Mr. Eaton's sermons was published in 1773, together with a funeral
sermon, and a biographical sketch written by Rev. Eli Forbes, of Brookfield. These
sermons, in point of talent, exemplify the character of Mr. E. as I have endeavored
to describe it.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 51
a host in succeeding years. He studied law in Cambridge with
Judge Trowbridge, who ever after remained his firm and con
fiding associate and friend. On finishing his legal studies in 1748
or 1749* he opened an office in Worcester. At that time I
think Dwight and Lawton were the only lawyers at the Bar, in
the county. Ward was then on the bench ; Ruggles was still in
Plymouth County; Eaton had changed his profession; Fessenden
had probably removed from the town and county. Lawton was
of secondary consideration ; and Dwight was much engaged and
frequently absent in military expeditions.
Putnam came into business under favorable auspices. The
population of the county was increasing rapidly, and the business
in the Courts was making equal progress ; but it was chiefly
engrossed by distinguished jurists from Middlesex and Suffolk,
who occupied a large portion of the debatable territory. The
advantages in studying with Judge Trowbridge were at all times
great, and Putnam had doubtless enjoyed his full share of them.
From his education and legal attainments he was immediately
brought into the field, and was compelled to enter the lists with
Trowbridge, Hawley, Auchrnuty, Worthington, Pratt, Gridley,
and other distinguished masters of the day. This gave him an
early opportunity of disciplining his powers of mind, and gaining
that aptness in debate, and that tact in the management of
causes, which are the result of the early and habitual practice so
few of us at the present day possess. His office was soon
thronged with clients, whose confidence he early acquired, and
ever afterwards retained. He soon became eminent as a well
read lawyer, skilful in pleading, and safe in counsel. He was
* Allowing two years for the term of study. Judge Trowbridge certainly would
not dismiss a student with a shorter novitiate. He was earnest for a longer period
of preparatory study. At a later date, when the late Chief Justice Dana entered his
name in Trowbridge's office, the latter recommended to his pupil to pursue his
studies seven years, before coming to the Bar. The pupil pursued the advice of his
instructor, and in process of time followed him in soiind learning, and in dignity of
office, haud impart passu.

52 ADDRESS OF
retained in the most important causes through the whole of his
career, and widened his sphere of usefulness and fame by a
successful cultivation of his powers as an advocate. He was
thus continually called to attend the Courts in Middlesex, and
Hampshire, and occasionally in Suffolk, where at one time he
was engaged in the celebrated case in which the title to a large
part of the land on Beacon Street was in dispute.
Putnam possessed a large library for the times. This, in the
general scarcity of law books, particularly in the interior coun
ties, gave him an advantage that in this day of abundance, I had
almost said superabundance, we can hardly estimate. This
advantage he turned to the best account by a methodical habit of
study, and a diligent arrangement, that enabled him to make the
labors of others contribute to his own resources. He obtained
so high a rank in his profession, that he was appointed by the
king Attorney-General of the Province, when Jonathan Sewall
was raised to the Bench of the Court of Admiralty. He was
the last Attorney-General under our ancient regime. Soon after
this, the clouds of the Revolution, that had long been gathering,
threatened an immediate storm ; and Putnam, who was firm and
zealous in his loyalty to the British Government, was forced to
take refuge in Boston. From Boston he accompanied the
English army to New York ; thence he went to Halifax, where
he embarked for England in 1776.
On the organization of the government of the Province of
New-Brunswick in 1784, Putnam was appointed a member of his
Majesty's Council, and a judge of the Supreme Court. He
resided in the city of St. John, and continued in office till his
death, 23 October, 1789, at the age of sixty-four.*
While on the bench, Judge Putnam served with fidelity and
distinction, and well sustained the reputation he early acquired
in his native land. Ho was not so remarkable for fluent speak-
* His second wife' was a sister of Judge Chandler, of Worcester.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 53
ing as for sound reasoning, forcible statement of argument, and
an excellence of judgment that was seldom at fault. He is
represented to have been " stern as a judge, but patient, and
inflexibly just." Though reserved in social life, "his wit and
humor were irresistible." The following observation made to a
descendant of his, by one now on the bench of the Supreme
Court in New-Brunswick, though somewhat exaggerated in its
tone, shows the estimation in which he was held in that Province,
viz. — " Judge Putnam was an unerring lawyer, he was never
astray in his law. He was, I am inclined to think, the best
lawyer in North America."* Judge Trowbridge, who knew him
from the beginning, through a long career, and the late Chief
Justice Dana, who became acquainted with him in the zenith of
his professional fame, have borne testimony to the learning,
character, and talents of Putnam. Many accomplished lawyers
received their education in his office : among them were the elder
President Adams, and others whom I shall presently mention.
Abel Willaed, the earliest lawyer in the north part of the
county, was the son of Col. Samuel Willard, of Lancaster, who
for some years was one of the Judges of the Court of Common
Pleas. The son was born in Lancaster, January 12, 1732,
graduated at Harvard University in 1752, and studied law in
Boston, with Benjamin Pratt, the distinguished scholar and jurist,
whom I have before named. He was admitted to the Bar in this
county, November term, 1755. He at once went into extensive
business in his native town, and devoted his time and opportunities
to the profession, till the period of the Revolution. His talents
were quite respectable. He was regarded as a sound jurist, and
much reliance was placed upon his opinion. No one was ever a
greater benefactor in the neighborhood in which he lived.
Instead of fomenting quarrels, and lending himself to the com
plaint of every one who might come to him with a list of
* Ex. rei. Chs. S. Putnam, Esq., of Fredericton, New-Brunswick.

54 ADDRESS OF
grievances, he did all in his power to check the angry passions of
clients, and promote peace. He would frequently accompany a
client to the party complained of, and succeed in reconciling
their differences. Indeed, so far did he overcome the prejudices,
of the many, then entertained against the profession, that he was
emphatically termed the honest lawyer.
Willard possessed that true modesty that ever marks the
ingenuous mind ; and, although of a cast of character approach
ing somewhat to timidity, he was full of moral courage, of stern-
integrity, and unyielding purity of principle. In his person he
was tall and of good figure. In his disposition he was mild and
conciliating, and his good qualities were marked in his benignant
expression. In September, 1770, he formed a partnership in his profession
with the late Judge Sprague, of Lancaster, which is believed to
have been the earliest connection of the kind in the County of
Worcester. He might have remained in that town in peace and
respect, and indeed with high personal consideration, during the
invading bitterness, and the easily adopted suspicions and preju
dices of our Revolutionary struggle. But alarmed at the ap
proaching tempest, and, with many others, believing that it
would overwhelm everything in its course, he resorted to Boston
during the impending danger, when the character of the contest
became at once fixed, and it was impossible again to pass the
dividing line. He left the country during the war, and died in
England in 1781. His widow* survived him, and died in Boston
but a few years since.
Ezea Tayloe was of Southborough, and practised law in that
place from 1751, if not earlier, till the Revolution. He was,
during the whole time, in very extensive business. For some
years he was one of those who prepared cases for court, and
then engaged the aid of regular members of the profession ; but
* A daughter of tho late Rev. Mr. Rogers, of Littleton.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 55
he was not educated to the Bar. From relations that haye been
made to me, and from the circumstance that in 1773, he joined
with the Attorneys of the court, in their petition to be allowed
to tax costs for powers of Attorney, I am inclined to think that
he was duly called to the Bar. He was a family connexion of
Judge Trowbridge,* and procured for him many professional en
gagements in this county. During the Revolution he removed
to Gardiner, in Maine, where he practised law, and died some
years since, at quite an advanced age.
Joshua Atherton was born in Harvard, June 20, 1737. He
was fitted for college by the Rev. Mr. Harrington, of Lancaster,
and graduated at Harvard University in 1762, in a distinguished
class.! He studied law in Worcester with James Putnam, aud
partly, perhaps, in Lancaster, with Abel Willard. He was
admitted to this Bar, May term, 1765. He opened an office in
Petersham, a few months after his admission, and there continued
in professional business till 1768 ; when he removed to Litch
field, and soon after to Merrimack, and in 1772, to Amherst, on
the estabbshment of that place as the shire town of the new
County of Hillsborough, in New Hampshire. He died in
Amherst, April 3, 1809, aged 72.J
Atherton was here when young in his profession, and for
a time too short to gain much distinction. He afterwards rose
to eminence in New Hampshire ; was Attorney-General, and
filled other important offices. He possessed the reputation of a
man of strong powers of mind, and of sound learning in his
profession. Daniel Bliss, contemporary with Atherton, was the eldest
son of Rev. Daniel Bliss, a clergyman in Concord. The father
* He married Judge Trowbridge's sister, t Francis Dana, the late Chief Justice-
Vice President Elbridge Gerry,— Israel Atherton, brother to Joshua, and a celebrated
physician,— Jeremy Belknap, the historian— Perez Fobes, late professor at Brown
University,— and several other laymen and clergymen of good reputation, were of
this class. % His wife was Abigail, daughter of Rev. Thomas Goss, of Bolton, in this
county.

56 ADDRESS OF
was a native of Springfield. The son was born in Concord, in
March, 1740. He was educated at Harvard University, and
graduated in 1760. He was designed by his parents for the
ministry, to which also he himself seemed inclined by his own
taste and temperament. Soon after leaving college, he became
acquainted with the family of Col. John Murray, of Rutland,
whose eldest daughter he afterwards married. He read law
with Abel Willard, and was admitted to the Bar in this County,
May term, 1765. Soon after this he opened an office in Rutland,
and became engaged in pretty extensive business, till his removal
to Concord about the year 1772. He had a high standing at
the bar, while he was here, being well versed in his profession,
and enjoying a good reputation as a general scholar, and as
a man of high moral and religious principle. His cast of
character resembled very much that of the excellent man with
whom he studied the profession. He possessed, besides, fine
personal address, and that easy and dignified bearing which
marked that noble race, now fast fading away from our earth —
the distinguished gentlemen of the old school.
From his family connection, Bliss became somewhat imbued
with principles favorable to the prerogative ; but was never a
bitter nor a warm partisan. On his removal to Concord, he was
solicited, by the leaders of the popular party, to join the cause
of his country ; for he was a man of great popularity, and might
have been of essential service, had he aided in resisting royal
aggression. He however was moved by various considerations
to decline the offer. His temperament led him to seek peace;
he believed in the overwhelming power of the British ; his oath
of allegiance awakened scruples of conscience; his ties of
family, friendship, and society, gave force to his other arguments
and objections. That he loved his country, and that he believed
that his countrymen would vigorously fight, I have no doubt.
A little while previous to the opening of the grand drama at

JOSEPH WILLARD. 57
Lexington, several British officers left Boston in disguise, by the
direction of the commander-in-chief, to ascertain something of
the temper and preparation of the people, the appearance of the
country, &c. In pursuance of their object they visited Marl
borough, Worcester, Concord, and various other towns. In
Concord they called upon Bliss, as one friendly to the existing
government. The following anecdote related to me by a
venerable gentleman,* will show that Bliss well understood the
character of our people: "The officers" in conversing with
him, "supposed the people would not fight. He urged a differ
ent opinion. While in this conversation, his brother, Thomas
Theodore, passed by in sight ; on which Mr. Bliss said, pointing
to his brother, ' there goes a man who will fight you in blood up
to his knees."1 The prediction was verified ; that same brother
proved a very brave, though unfortunate, officer, in the Revolu
tionary war."
A few days before the commencement of hostilities, Bliss and
his family went to Boston, and thence, with tho British troops to
Quebec. In Canada he was appointed Commissary of the army.
He was so far from making use of the facilities and opportuni
ties this office afforded for speculation, that all he got for his
honesty was, as he told a friend, to be laughed at by the British
officers. .t At the close of the war, he settled in Fredericton,
New Brunswick ; where he sustained the office of Chief Justice
of the Inferior Court, and resided till the time of his death, in
1806. During his residence in Fredericton, he repeatedly
visited his native state, and would gladly have returned to spend
his days in the midst of his early associations ; but the decree of
* The same gentleman communicated several other facts in relation to Daniel Bliss,
and I should rejoice to be permitted to mention his name; but this is denied me.
tThis was the case also with Col. Willard, of Lancaster, a brother to Abel
Willard. He was Commissary of the English army at New York, and was ridiculed
by the British officers, for accounting to the government for various items, that
looser commissaries had been in the habit of appropriating to their own use, as
perquisites. 8

58 ADDRESS OF
government was an effectual barrier between him and his wishes.
In addition to what I have stated, I would remark that Bliss is
represented to me as having possessed "a very active and
sprightly mind," with great fluency and fascination in conversa
tion. The celebrated epitaph, on the gravestone of the negro
in Concord, has been generally attributed to him as the author.
It has also been attributed, though with less probability of truth,
to Jonathan Sewall, the contemporary and intimate friend of
Bliss.* The reputation of the latter is sustained by his sons.
The elder joined the British army at Quebec, and now resides in
Ireland ; the younger, John Murray Bliss, is a distinguished
judge iu New-Brunswick. The eldest daughter married a British
officer, and lives in Ireland. A sister of his was married in this
state, and died a short time ago at an advanced age.
Joshua Upham, the son of Dr. Upham, of Brookfield, was
born in that town in 1741. He graduated at Harvard University
in 1763,f in a class with several who afterwards acted important
parts on the general stage. On finishing his professional studies,
he was admitted to the Bar in this county, August Term, 1765.
He commenced practice in his native town, and pursued his
business with successful assiduity in the courts, till 1776, or the
following year. He removed from Brookfield to Boston, where
he resided till 1778, and thence to New York. He continued in
New York during the remainder of the war. Before this, he
had become much embarrassed in his pecuniary affairs by large
speculations in salt works on the Cape. It was his embarrass
ments, principally, it is supposed, that induced him to leave the
country on the peace of 1783. While in New York he was
* Bliss was executor on the will of this negro. The same gentleman, to whom I
have alluded in a preceding note, informs me that " he once mentioned the matter to
Mr. Bliss, who neither owned or denied it."
t The late Timothy Pickering was his classmate and room-mate. Their early
friendship survived the bitter and hostile spirit that grew up inter partes, in the
Revolutionary war. On the return of peace, they renewed their correspondence,
which is said to have been of an affectionate and delightful character.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 59
Aid de-camp to Lord Dorchester, and, before he left the army,
he attained the rank of Colonel of Dragoons in the British
service. On the organization of the government of the Province of
New-Brunswick in 1784, Upham, who had been one of the first
settlers there, returned to his favorite science, thc law. He was
appointed judge of the highest court in the Province, and sus
tained the important and responsible duties of his office with
industry and ability.
In 1807 he was selected by his brethren on the Bench to visit
England, for the purpose of obtaining from the government a
more perfect organization and arrangement of the Judiciary in
the British American Provinces. He fully succeeded in the
object of his appointment, but did not live to return to his
country. He died in London in the year 1S08.* While in Lon
don he enjoyed the friendship of Mr. Palmer, who afterwards
bequeathed his valuable library to our University; of Sir John
Wentworth, of Sir William Pepperell, Lord Dorchester, and
Mr. Percival.t
Judge Upham held a high rank as counsellor and advocate.
He had a great command of language ; not a mere flow of
words, but the music and harmony of arrangement and style;
the well of English undefiled, and adorned with classical
elegance. He possessed, in a remarkable degree, that rare
talent, fine powers of conversation, of which Lord Bacon laid
down the true rule, and indulged occasionally in a happy veil) of
satire. With brilliancy and wit,f he united many virtues, and a

* He was buried in the Church of Mary Le Bone. Judge Upham was twice
married. His first wife was a daughter of Col. Murray, of Rutland; and the second,
a daughter of Hon. Joshua Chandler, of New Haven.
t Mr. Percival, a few days before he was assassinated, sent to a son of Judge
Upham 1001. sterling to assist him in his education.
X Major Garden, in his interesting volume of anecdotes of the war in the
southern department, relates an anecdote of Upham, that may well be introduced
here. The British troops, it will be recollected, were in red, and the American in
blue, uniforms. " About the period of the final departure of the British from New

60 ADDRESS OF
sound judgment. " The prevailing excellence of his character,"
to use the words of one who fondly cherishes his memory,*
" was a benignity of spirit, which seemed to affect the exercises
of his intellect, as well as of his affections."
Judge Upham was pleasing in his person and address, while he
was imbued with all that grace which comes before education,
and which education can hardly bestow. Like Bliss, he was of
that peculiar class of the old school of manners, of which
probably even the youngest among us have seen some surviving
specimens. " He was complete in feature and in form,
With all due grace to grace a gentleman."
John Sprague was born in Rochester, Plymouth County, June
21, 1740, and graduated at Harvard University in 1765. On
leaving College he began the study of medicine under Dr.
Williams of Roxbury, and kept the grammar school in that
town. He abandoned this study in May, 1766, and entered his
name in the office of James Putnam, with whom he passed his
novitiate in the law; and at the same time kept a private gram
mar school in Worcester. He was admitted to this Bar, May
Term, 1768, and in September following to the Superior Court in
Rhode Island. He opened an office in Newport where be
remained till May, 1769, when he removed to Keene, in New
Hampshire. After practising awhile in the County of Cheshire,
and obtaining an acquaintance with the people that was in subse
quent years of great use to him, he- removed to Lancaster, in
York, an excellent repartee made by Major Upham, aid-de-camp to Lord Dorchester,
to Miss Susan Livingston, has been much celebrated. ' In mercy, Major,' said Miss
Livingston, ' use your influence with the commander-in-chief to accelerate tbe evac
uation of the city; for among your encarcerated belles, your mischianza princesses,
the scarlet fever must continue to rage till your departure.' ' 1 should studiously
second your wishes,' replied the Major, ' were I not apprehensive that, freed from the
prevailing malady, a worse would follow, and that they would be immediately
tormented with the blue devils.'"
* I am indebted to my friend, the Rev. Mr. Upham, of Salem, the son of Judge
Upham, for several interesting particulars contained in this sketch.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 61
this County, and immediately after went into partnership in his
profession with Abel Willard.
He represented the town in the Legislature ten years, and the
County in the Senate, in 1783 and 1785. At the February term
of the Supreme Court in Suffolk, 1784, he was called up by the
first writ that issued for barrister in this Commonwealth ; the
previous mode being without writ. In 1786, he was appointed
by the Government the law adviser of Gen. Lincoln, in his
expedition against Shays and his adherents, and remained with
the General till the beginning of bloodshed rendered legal advice
no longer necessary. In 1788, he was a member of the Conven
tion for ratifying the Constitution of the United States. He
was instructed by the town to vote against it, and at the same
time, having perfect reliance on his discernment and integrity,
they very wisely qualified their instructions, and left it in his
discretion to vote as he might see fit. There was a torrent of
opposition to the adoption of the Constitution on the part of
this County; for out (A fifty delegates, there were forty three
who voted for the rejection of the constitution, and seven in its
favor. It is hardly necessary to add that Judge Sprague voted
in the affirmative. He was some years after selected as a referee
to adjust the numerous disputes in Maine " between those who
without title had settled on the lands of the Commonwealth, of
the Waldo Patent and Plymouth Company, on the one part, and
the lawful proprietors of them on the other."
The professional business of Judge Sprague was very exten
sive. Besides multiplied engagements in his own County, he
attended the Courts in Middlesex and Hampshire, and in the
Counties of Cheshire and Hillsborough, in New Hampshire, for
many years.
He held the office of High Sheriff of this County from 1788
to 1792. In 1798, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Court
of Common Pleas for this County, which office he held till his

62 ADDRESS OF
death in September, 1800.* It is worthy of remark that he was
the first lawyer who sat on the bench of that Court after the
Revolution. Judge Sprague was among the most able jurists of his day.
His mind was clear and comprehensive, and, though he was not
an eloquent speaker, his reputation for a fair and honorable
course secured attention, and the soundness and logical precision
of his arguments forced home conviction. With the Jury he
had more weight than many of graceful manner and easy elocu
tion. In all that is scientific as well as in all that is techinical in
his profession he was well versed. In political as well as pro
fessional life, he was distinguished for sound sense, clear views,
and much forecast, the result of long and intense reflection.
He was listened to by the wise and learned, because they well
knew how to value his strength and research, his honesty and
independence. For these qualities he secured to himself respect
as a lawyer, a judge, and a citizen. So respectable were his
attainments, out of his profession, that he was elected a member
of the American Academy. He was a good classical scholar,
but more particularly excelled in a philosophical knowledge of
history. In his own neighborhood he was eminently useful in
promoting peace and good order, and in giving a healthful direc
tion to the municipal proceedings of the town.
Rufus Chandlee, the son of Col. John Chandler, was born in
Worcester, May 18, 1747. He was fitted for college by the
Rev. Mr. Harrington, of Lancaster, and graduated at the Univer
sity in Cambridge in 1766. He commenced the study of the
law with James Putnam, and was admitted to this Bar November
Term, 1768. From that time till the closing of the courts in
1774, he continued in the profession at Worcester. Like most
of the distinguished family of his name, who had had extensive

* Judge Sprague was twice married. His first wife was Catherine, daughter of
Richard Foster, Esq., former High Sheriff of Middlesex. The second was the widow
of Thomas Ivers, Esq., former Treasurer of the Commonwealth.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 63
and almost unbounded sway in the County, ab primo origine, he
adhered to the royal party, and left the country during the war.
He ever afterwards resided in Loudon as a private gentleman,
till his death, October 11, 1823.
He was not distinguished for eloquence, nor for great intellect
ual power; but he held a respectable rank in his profession, and
gained much praise in the practical parts of his business, and for
his neatness, accuracy, and punctuality, as an office lawyer. His
fidelity to his clients insured him their esteem, and a very consid
erable amount of business. Through life he observed the
strictest rules of economy, the rather from a regard for such as
had a right to his aid, than from any love of money for its own
sake. In his personal habits he was remarkably precise. He
was the nice man. He possessed great moral worth and purity,
and a conciliating disposition. Two of his grandsons have
within a few years been admitted to this Bar.
Daniel Olivee was, I presume, the son of Peter Oliver, of
Middleborough, Chief Justice of the Superior Court of the
Province, a gentleman of some celebrity in our ante-revolution
ary history. The son graduated at Harvard University.* I do not
trace him in this county before 1771. He was then in practice
in Hardwick, the residence of Gen. Ruggles ; with whom, prob
ably, from the sympathy of political feeling, as well as from
inclination and taste, he was on terms of very friendly inter
course. He remained in this county till the courts were closed
in 1774. He was of good learning in his profession, and was an
accomplished man in his manners. From his family connections,
* There were two of the name who graduated at Cambridge; one in 1758, the
other in 1762. The latter was probably the one mentioned in the text. He died at
Ashted in Warwickshire, in the year 1826, aged 82. His father, the judge, was quite
an antiquary, and before the Revolution, copied with his own hand, Hubbard's MS.
history of New England. The son was applied to, some years ago, in behalf of the
Mass. Historical Soc. for the loan of this copy, which they were desirous of publish
ing in their collections ; the copy in their possession being imperfect. He returned a
very short, crusty letter, refusing their request. This rare specimen of civility and
genuine courtesy is preserved in 2 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. iii.

64 ADDRESS OF
he was of course a loyalist, and was obliged to leave Hardwick,
and finally to seek for safety in the Parent Country.
Nathaniel Chandler, the brother of Rufus Chandler, was
born in Worcester, Nov. 6, 1750. He received the rudiments of
a liberal education, under the care of the Rev. Mr. Harrington,
of Lancaster, and graduated at Harvard University in 1768.
He studied law with Putnam, and was called to the Bar, December
Term, 1771. He established himself in business the same year,
in Petersham, and somewhat more than four years after Joshua
Atherton left the place. He continued in business till the closing
of the courts. He was of the royal party, and never practised
law after the Revolution. At the commencement of hostilities,
he joined the English, and for a time commanded a corps of
volunteers in the British service, in New York. From New
York he repaired to England, and returned to this country in
1784, bringing with him large mercantile stores. He left the
temple of justice and engaged largely in trade in Petersham.
His health failing, he was obliged to relinquish business, and
removed to Worcester, where he died, March 7, 1801. He was
more distinguished for talents than his brother. He was early a
pupil of the elder President Adams, when he kept school in
Worcester, who was wont to speak of his scholar as possessing
fine abilities. If he had been assiduous in his profession, he
might have risen to eminence. His personal appearance was
pleasing, and his address and great flow of spirits, with a fertile
imagination, rendered him a great favorite in society.
Elijah Williams, the last on the list before the Revolution,
was a graduate of Harvard University in 1764. He was origin
ally in practice in Deerfield. I am informed that several years
before the war, he removed to Mendon, in this county, where he
staid a short time in the business of his profession. He took up
his residence in Keene, New Hampshire, in 1771, and there lived
till the Spring of 1775. Adhering to the royal party, he left

JOSEPH WILLARD. 65
Keene soon after the Battle of Lexington, and joined the British
in Boston.*
In glancing for a moment at the characters I have ventured to
mention, it is obvious to remark, that among the limited number
of jurists who adorned this Bar before the Revolution, there was
a large proportion of talent, learning, and gentle bearing.
Putnam, Willard, Bliss, Upham, and Oliver were I believe the
only barristers. They, with the others, formed a small body, it
is true, but they were united by the ties, not only of a com
mon pursuit, but almost of a common feeling on the all-
engrossing, all-absorbing political question of the day. Put
nam, Willard, Bliss, Upham, Sprague, the two Chandlers, and
Oliver, were closely allied either by blood, marriage, or friend
ship, with the aristocracy of the County and Province. And
Gen. Ruggles was with them, that master spirit who possessed
an influence that we may suppose almost amounted to
control. It is not strange, therefore, _ that they all, with the
exception of Sprague, took strong ground for Government.
They were already leading men in the community, and what
had they to gain by a change? They had large possessions,
and however much they might love their country, they well
knew that unsuccessful resistance would blast their prospects,
ruin their estates, and grind them to powder.
I have often thought that in our abundant patriotism, and it is
a qnality I would cherish as life itself, we have been too lavish
in our denunciations of these men. Could we but place our
selves in their position, and feel their doubts and fears, and know
the love that most of them certainly must have felt for their
country, for all that they valued in life was here, we should be
less severe with their memory, and at the same time cherish
* Collections of the New Hampshire Hist. Soc, vol. II., pp. 109, 112. Mr. Bliss, in
his address to the Bar, mentions Williams as being of Deerfield in 1774. This is
incorrect. He then lived in Keene; and in May of that year was appointed, by Gov.
Wentworth, ajustice ofthe Peace for the County of Cheshire. Ib. 109.
9

66 ADDRESS OF
increased admiration for those who looked into futnrity with
almost a prophetic glance, distinguished the end from the
beginning, and saw through a murky atmosphere the dim and
distant light that none other could see.
Soon after the closing of the courts, Upham and Sprague
were the only lawyers left in the County, to represent their pro
fession, and mourn over the long vacation of sixteen months that
followed. From his intimacy with the leading loyalists Judge
Sprague had imbibed no small portion of their views. His
inclinations were doubtless that way. Under an impression that
he should be called before the Sifting Committee, in Lancaster,
he went to Boston, without, perhaps, intending permanently to
leave home, or, it may be, purposing to guide himself by circum
stances. A friend and townsman of his,* seeing the critical
situation in which he was placing himself, met him in Boston and
urged the importance, the absolute necessity, of an immediate
return ; that otherwise he must doubtless fall under censure, and
become a subject of proscription and confiscation. This advice
was timely given and timely received ; for hostilities soon after
commenced, when a return would have been impracticable, and
he would have been denounced as an enemy to his country. He
returned to Lancaster, aud was not molested during the contest.
Before coming down to a later period, I would pause to pay a
tribute of respect to the Bar of the Province before the Revolu
tion. 1 do not know that it is fashionable to speak lightly of its
members, but they are not esteemed by all so highly as they
ought to be. Those lions had no painters. They lived before
the age of Reports in this country, and that was living too early
for their fame. Tradition cannot do them justice, nor will
imagination lend its aid to raise them to their proper rank. We
know them, therefore, but in part. But from the relics that
have come down to us, and from all that can be gathered in rela-
• The late Samuel Ward, Esq.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 67
tion to them, an opinion favorable to their professional merit
acquires new strength. Consider the clear and concise forms of (
declarations, and of special pleadings, in which all the English)
redundancy is, with singular boldness, at once cut off,* and for
which we constantly stand their debtors — the arguments against
the writs of assistance, the extensive learning manifested on the
trial of the soldiers, in 1770 — the various manuscript opinions of
Richard Dana, Edmund Trowbridge, and others — the times in
which they lived, when they were called upon beyond the walks
of the common law in private relations, to explore the doctrine
of king and subject — the whole science of natural and public
law, that entered largely into the great political question that
was heaving the country to its very centre. These and other
considerations go to establish their claim to high consideration.
Nor does it argue against this opinion, that their libraries were
scantily furnished, compared with our own. A lawyer is not
made by a multiplicity of books. This very scantiness led them
to study what they had, more intensely ; — it sent them back to
the elements, and compelled them to reason — to elaborate — to
run their analogies and pursue them, guided by what lights their
own minds afforded, — and in some instances, doubtless, more
than supplying the place of authorities. It compelled them to
form the habit of relying upon their own resources, and of
increasing them by the very process. They could not overload
and smother their cases under a weight of authorities, and make
up in number what was wanting in appositeness. I do not
design to institute a comparison between the lawyers of that
period and of the present day, for I think it would be injustice
to both. I merely wish, in what I have said, to express and for
tify an opinion that I have long entertained, touching the
*The late Chief Justice Dana, the son of Richard, once remarked, that " his father
was so very concise in his legal instruments and special pleadings, that the lawyers
were generally put upon the lookout for some essential omissions, but were as often
disappointed."

68 ADDRESS OF
reputation of our early predecessors in the science of jurispru
dence ; for they are in some respects our masters.
At this time there was form and ceremony on the Bench and
at the Bar. A school of manners prevailed that is now obsolete.
The judges of the Superior Court, in scarlet robes, with wigs
and bags, and the barristers in their robes of black silk, with wigs
and bags, must have presented an imposing appearance. When
the judges approached the town, the sheriff, with the principal
citizens of the place and vicinity, met them at the boundary,
and formed an escort.
We have now come to a new era in the history of the Bar,
and of the courts. The courts were closed at the end of June
Term, 1774, and the old order of things passed away forever.
A long period of hope and fear, of anxiety, of awful prepara
tion for an approaching struggle with a powerful empire, ensued,
that required the energies of the stoutest and bravest, of hearts
of steel, and sinews of iron. The temples of justice were
closed, professional business was at an end, and nothing but the
strong moral complexion of our people preserved us from
anarchy and ruin.
In December of the following year, the doors were again
thrown open, the judges took their seats npon the bench, and the
voice of the profession was again heard. But they were other
judges, and it was almost another Bar. The change was strik
ing. On one page in the records, we see the ancient order of
names and cases, and on the very next a new system of things
rises to view ; and then follow the extensive confiscations of the
estates of those, whom a few lines back, we found distinguished
in the forum, and filling a large space in the community.
From the beginning of the war, till the peace of 1783, there
were nine new attorneys in practice here, eight of whom were
admitted to this Bar. Their names are —
Levi Lincoln, who was admitted in Hampshire.

1781.
17S3.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 69
William Stearns, admitted December Term, 1776.
Nathan Ttjler, " March " 17T7.
Daniel Bigelow, " June " 1780.
Dwight Foster, " "
"William Caldwell, " December
William Sever, " September
Peter Clark, " "
And one other, the only survivor of them, who was admitted
September Term, 1780, and is still with ns, reaping the fruits of
industry, and, in the midst of his present usefulness, and vivid
recollections of the past days of our profession.*
It only remains for me, so far as relates to our own Bar, to
dwell for a few moments on the names of those, or some of
those members of the profession, who appeared on this spot
after the commencement of the Revolution, and at a subsequent
period, and have fallen asleep, leaving us the remembrance of
their worth and the excellence of their example. I am perfectly
aware that I am treading on dangerous ground, iu venturing to
speak of those with whom I never had a personal acquaintance,
and in the presence, too, of gentlemen at one time and another
their acquaintance and familiars, and able to do ample justice to
a subject, where I must, of necessity, be imperfect in any
attempt at delineation, and must confine myself to a few indi
viduals. Still I hesitate not in reposing full confidence in the
candor of my brethen, that I have already experienced, while I
claim only to put in order and form the facts and oral communi
cations that I have assiduously gathered.
Levi Lincoln, the late Lieutenant-Governor of the Common
wealth, is the earliest on the list. He appeared here on the
opening of the courts in December, 1775. He was born in
Hingham, May 15, 1749, and graduated at Harvard University
*Hon. Nathaniel Paine, Judge of Probate, &c, admitted September Term. 1780.
To him I owe many obligations for his numerous oral communications in answer to
my inquiries.

70 address of
in 1772. He soon after commenced the study of the law in the
office of the late Mr. Farnham, in Newburyport ; with whom he
staid awhile, till he had exhausted the scanty library of his
instructor, and then completed his novitiate in the office of
Major Hawley, of Northampton, where he found greater facilities
and a more distinguished teacher.
He was admitted to the practice in regular course, in Hamp
shire, aud directly after established himself in his profession in
the town of Worcester. At this time Judge Sprague and Judge
Upham were the only lawyers at the Bar in this county ; and
the former alone stood on safe ground touching the great ques
tion of national right then pending. Most of the leading men
in the county had abandoned their homes and their country.
The same cause that had brought them forward, and sustained
them for years, had kept in the back-ground those of the popu
lar party. Hence there was a wide opening for talents and the
ambition to be useful. The popular party was indeed strong
here, but it was rather the strength of numbers than of educa
tion. They needed leading men — men of forecast, prudence,
energy, and popular address, to direct the willing hearts. And
such they soon found.
The talents and strength of purpose possessed by Mr. Lincoln,
soon gave him a powerful hold upon the public mind. He was
a most active and energetic member of the committee of public
safety ; and at the first term of the court he was appointed
Clerk, afterwards was selected as the first Judge of Probate for
the County ; and in 1779 was specially designated to prosecute
the claims of the Commonwealth to the numerous and large
estates of the loyalists, under the Absentee Act. He was thus,
at an early stage in his professional career, brought frequently
into public view, and became prepared for a more extended
sphere of action in the political world. He was a member of
the convention that formed the State Constitution. He was

JOSEPH WILLARD. 71
also a member of Congress under the old confederation, when,
it will be recollected, the choice was made by the Legisla-I
ture. In 1797 he was a member of the Senate of this Common
wealth, and was afterwards chosen to represent this county in the
seventh Congress. On the second day after taking his seat, he
was appointed, by Mr. Jefferson, Attorney-General of the United
States, and while he held this office was for some time pro
visional Secretary of State. He resigned the charge of Attor
ney-General in 1805, having performed its duties four years, and
soon after returned to the scene of his former labors. In the
spring of 1806 he was chosen to the Executive Council, and the
following year to the office of Lieutenant-Governor of the Com
monwealth. On the death of Governor Sullivan, in December
of that year, he discharged the duties of Chief Magistrate for
the remainder of his term of office. In 1810 and 1811, he was
again a member of the Council. When his term of office
expired he retired altogether from public life. He was appointed
in 1811, after the death of Judge Cushing, an associate justice of
the Supreme Court of the United States. But increasing years
induced him to decline the honor, and seek the quiet and retire
ment of private life. He died, April 14, 1820, aged 71.
No member of this Bar has ever been called into public life
so frequently, or in so many relations, as the late Gov. Lincoln.
For a period of nearly forty years, he was in active life, amid
vast and important changes in our community, such as none of
the present generation can be called upon to witness. Coming
into life when the flame of liberty was flickering and inconstant,
when a few feeble colonies were struggling for existence, he was
an actor in the various mutations of the Revolution, in the
feeble days of a confederation that was rapidly reduoing us to
a condition worse than foreign dependence, and in the vigorous
and healthful action of the new constitution, till our national

72 address of
polity was settled on a firm, and, it is to be hoped, an imperish
able basis.
But it is with professional character that we are chiefly con
cerned. He was, without question, at the head of this Bar from
the close of the Revolution till he left our courts at the com
mencement of the present century. His professional business
was far exceeding that of any other member of the Bar. He
was retained in every case of importance, and for many years
constantly attended the courts in Middlesex and Hampshire.
His great command of language, his power in searching out the
truth from unwilling witnesses, in analyzing, arranging, and pre
senting to the mind the evidence of the case, rendered him a
highly popular advocate, and gave him great success in jury
trials. Wide reading and extensive practice constituted him a
learned jurist. He was in the habit of making very full briefs ;
— a practice commended by some, and censured by others ; but
the expediency of which must after all depend chiefly upon the
peculiar construction of the mind itself.
In his arguments he was long and minute, nor suffered any
thing to escape that might by any possibility be turned to
account. His turn of mind was metaphysical ; this led him
sometimes, like Burke, to refine too much, till the force of the
point was somewhat injured by the subtility of the speculation.
But this was not common. So great was the pleasure he derived
from metaphysics, that he made it a particular study ; not that
he indulged in the systems of others ; but he made his own sys
tem, by a careful observation of the operations of his own
mind, and its affections. And in conversation he would indulge
in his favorite subject, and task the powers of those who heard
hira in following out his nicely elaborated reasonings. He was
a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, —
a society that has enrolled many distinguished men in its ranks.
Late in life he resumed the study of the classics ; returning to

JOSEPH WILLARD. 73
them as to a pleasant retreat after the heat, bnstle. and excite
ment of a long professional and pobtical career. I can conceive
that to the man of education, in his declining years, it must
afford peculiar gratification to review youthful studies. They
carrv him at once bevond the busv and oftentimes sickening
scenes of riper years, to the freshness of early life, when emo
tion, passion, and hope were new, and ere experience had begun
her teachings. They at once connect him with the freshness of
his existence, and the happy thoughts, feelings and impressions,
that are the fragrance, the purple light of youth. His favorite
Latin author was Cicero, whose Officer and Treatise on Old Age
he was .ever fond of perusing.
It is not my purpose to give a minute account of every
departed member of our Bar, whose memory and worth deserve
to be cherished by a liberal profession. I have time and oppor
tunity only for a few brief sketches in addition to those I have
already made.
William Steabxs is next in order of time. Mr. Stearns was
a native of Lunenburg, in this county, graduated at Harvard
University in 1 770, and began the study of divinity. On finish
ing his studies, he preached for a short time, but was never
settled. He soon after commenced the study of law, and was
admitted an attorney in this county, December Term, 1776.
Previously to this, he commenced the publication of a newspaper,
that lasted not more than a year. Establishing himself in Wor
cester, he appears from that time to have been considerably
engaged in professional labors, till his early death, in 17S4. He
was not long enough at the Bar to acquire a high reputation, but
he was esteemed as a man of good sense, and of very respectable
learning in his profession. And he had other qualities that
endeared him to the community around him. He was gifted
with that wit which pleases and gratifies, withont leaving the
sting of a wound ; and with that kiudness of feeling, and
10

74 ADDRESS OF
amenity of manners that made him one of the most popular
men in his neighborhood.
After March, 1777, there was no gentleman admitted to the
practice in this county for more than three years. The courts
offered but small inducements, at this most gloomy and agitating
period of public affairs. Nearly contemporary with Mr. Stearns
and Governor Lincoln, was —
Daniel Bigelow. Mr. Bigelow was born in Worcester, April
27, 1752, and graduated at Harvard University in 1775. On
leaving college, he returned to Worcester, where he kept a school
till the following spring, and then joined Mr. Stearns in tho pub
lication of the newspaper I have mentioned. When the publica
tion of this print ceased, he commenced the study of law with
Mr. Stearns, and was admitted to this Bar, June Term, 1780.
Soon afterwards he opened an office in Petersham, and contin
ued there till his death, November 5, 1806. He represented that
town in the General Court from 1791 to 1794, and was then a
Senator for the county for the four succeeding years. In 1801 he
was a member of the executive council.
Mr. Bigelow shared largely in the esteem of his constituents
for his sound sense and for his integrity. Though not a facile
speaker, he was well grounded in his profession, and was re
spected as a prudent and safe counsellor. And more than all, he
had that moral health, that fair and honorable mind that shed a
bright luBtre upon the character.
Dwight Foster, who was contemporary with several gentle
men whom I have named, was son of the Hon. Jedediah Foster,
who, though not educated to thc profession, was a prominent
man in the judicial and civil history of our Commonwealth.
The son was born in Brookfield, Dec. 7, 1757. lie graduated at
Brown University in 1774, in the seventeenth year of his ago.
He was a lawyer for a time in Providence ; and on the death of
his father in 1779, he returned to Brookfield. At thc early age

JOSEPH WIUiARD. 75
of twenty-one, he represented his native town in the Legislature.
lie whs admitted a momber of this Bar, Juno Term, 1780. He
commenced professional business immediately after, in his native
town. At that time there wus no lawyer in the neighborhood, and
•ludgo Foster forthwith cominnnded ti very extensive practice.
From his habits of industry and method, and rising before it
was light, ho acquired great facility, accuracy, and promptness in
tho management of his business, and no lawyer of his day
exceeded- him in theso qualities. Though of delicate and uncer
tain health, ho was thus able to accomplish much. As a convey
ancer ho wus esteemed remarkably exact and neat. As a coun
sellor he whs very extensively consulted, and much respect, was
paid to his opinion.
His reputation early extended; ho bewune a great favorite with
his fellow-citizens, and was almost continually called upou to fill
responsible public trusts, lie was a member of the convention
to form the State Constitution, tho successor of <) udgo Sprague
in tho office of High Sheriff of the County, Chief Justice of tho
Court of Common Pleas for ten years, an Elector of President
and Vice-l'resident when Washington was a second time chosen
chief magistrate of the Union, a member of the executive coun
cil, and from 1793 to ISO I, a Representative, and the two suc
ceeding years Senator, iu Congress.
He sustained the intimate relations of private life with integ
rity, frankness, and with a mild and conciliating deportment;
and after passing a long life of favor and usefulness, he died
April 29, 1823, at the age of sixty-six.
Edwaku Bangs whs the son of Benjamin Bangs,* of Harwich,
Barnstable County. He whs born in that town September 5,
• lie was descended from Edward Knngrs, one ofthe early settlers of .Plymouth.
who oinifiratod from t'hiohosier, Kn.ulaml, and arrived iu July, ltSS, iu tho ship
Anne, which was the third arrival at Plymouth.

76 ADDRESS OF
1756. He was fitted for college at Dummer Academy, New
bury, by Master Moody, the distinguished instructor of many
distinguished pupils, and graduated at Harvard University in
1777. Mr. Bangs early espoused the cause of his country. He
was at Cambridge during the vacation, in April 1775, when the
news of the landing of the British on their way to Concord was
announced. During that eventful day, he joined the American
party, who were in uncertain array, and repaired to the scene of
action, where he fought bravely during the day. He was instru
mental in saving the life of a wounded English soldier,- who had
been seized by the Americans, and was about to be put to death.
On leaving college, Mr. Bangs began the study of the law in
the office of Chief Justice Parsons, in Newburyport. The late
Rufus King was a student at the same time, in the same office ;
and with him Mr. Bangs was afterwards in habits of epistolary
correspondence for several years. He was admitted to the Bar
in 1780, and established himself in business with- Mr. Stearns.
This connection was not of long continuance. He was after
wards in partnership with one who is still a member of this Bar ;*
and this connection continued until he was appointed a judge. He
represented the town of Worcester, in the General Court, from
1801 to 1811, inclusive. He was appointed, by the Executive,
County Attorney, Oct. 21, 1807.t He continued in this office
till his removal to the Bench as an associate Justice of the
Circuit Court of Common Pleas for the Western Circuit, Oct.
8, 1811, on the first organization of that court. This office he
held till his death, June 28, 1818, in the sixty-second year of his
age. Tn connection with his character for public spirit and patriot
ism, it should be mentioned that in the insurrection, in 1786, he
joined the forces of Gen. Lincoln as a volunteer. His exposure
* William E. Green, Esq. t On the resignation of Hon. Nathaniel Paine. The
previous mode of appointing County Attorneys was by the court.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 7<
during that brief campaign, aud the hardships he was compelled
to endure, possessing, as he did, rather a frail constitution, laid
tlie foundation of disorders that afflicted him much during life.
Judge Bangs had the character of a sound lawyer. He prac
tised in the courts thirty years, with good reputation and success.
His manner at the Bar did not, however, do full justice to his
talents. In his arguments on questions of law, I am told, he
conceived the matter well, and was methodical in his arrangement,
and made strong points, but was not sufficiently lucid in their
enunciation. He was a good classical and general scholar — a
particular, perhaps, in which some of us fail, — and he had also a
taste for the mathematics, which he pursued to some extent.
As a eitizen aud frieud, he was esteemed for his devotion to
the cause he espoused, and to the persons with whom he allied
himself: and his temperament gave warmth and strength to his
feelings. In public and private he was respected for his sincerity
aud honesty: qualities that are not always allowed to au individ
ual in times of general zeal and excitement. He was enthusias
tic iu his love of nature, and would dwell largely, and with
intense interest, upon her beauties. He possessed a taste for
poetry, though he did not cultivate his talent that way to any
considerable degree. There are however pieces of his, written
for public occasions, and some of a comic vein, that were circu
lated extensively in the journals of the day.*
Samckl Dexter, of Harvard University. 17S1, was a student
in the office of tlie late Gov. Lincoln. He was admitted to this
Bar. September Term, 17S4, aud practised law. sometime, in Lun
enburg, in this county. He did not reside here long. He re
moved to other places, and to wider spheres of action. It is not my
purpose, therefore, to attempt his biography. His name and his

*Jud?e Rsnir* was exceedingly attached to horticulture : an employment that
affords simple but pure pleasure to iis votary, and ought to be a source of more
g-eueral interest and enjoyment amongst us.

78 ADDRESS OF
fame rest imperishable, I trust, in the records of our profession,
where he shone without a superior, and will survive in the
history of this State and of our common country, as one of our
most distinguished statesmen. His death was the extinction of
the brighest ornament of our profession in the commonwealth.*
Peleg Svkague was admitted to our Bar at the same time
with Mr. Dexter. He was a native of Rochester, the same town
that gave birth to General Ruggles, and Judge Sprague, and has
since produced strong men of the Sprague family. He possessed
a mind that rose superior to factitious circumstances.
Early in life he left Rochester and took up his residence in
Littleton. The breaking out of the Revolution destroyed his
prospects of active business in that place, and he removed to
Lancaster, and resided for some time with his uncle, Judge
Sprague, with whom he entered upon his classical studies. In
the latter place he engaged in business, aud succeeded in pro
curing the means of purchasing a tract of wild land in Aoworth,
New Hampshire. This he soon subdued by his own persona]
industry, and, soon after, having an opportunity of selling to
advantage, he removed to Charlestown in that State, where he
commenced the study of law with the late Benjamin West, then
and for many subsequent years, a distinguished jurist and
advocate. He practised several years in Winchendon and Fitch-
burg. In 1787 he removed to Keene, New Hampshire, where
he was admitted to the Superior Court, and continued in practice
till his death, in the year 1800. He represented Keene in the
Legislature of the State, and the County of Cheshire in the
Congress of the United States. He was a man of great energy
of character and expression, a thorough lawyer, and a sound
reasoner.

* And for a time it seemed that the loss would be irreparable in the capital of the
State. But soon the place was supplied by one from a neighboring State, who now
is first in our profession, and in public life. Alter idem.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 79
Pliny Mehrick was born in Wilbraham, where his father was
a clergyman, Sept. 14, 1756. He graduated at Harvard Univer
sity in 1776, and studied divinity with a clergyman in Springfield.
He preached occasionally for four years. Bnt his health was so
feeble that he uniformly declined being a candidate for settle
ment. He then went to Virginia for the purpose of improving
his health in a warmer climate. He became an instructor in a
private family, at the same time pursuing the study of the law.
But not finding his constitution essentially benefited, he returned,
two years afterwards, to his native State, and commenced as a
student in the office of Oakes Angier, of Bridgewater, where he
continued a year, and was admitted to the Bar in Plymouth
County in 1787. He began business in his native town, and in
the spring of 1788, removed to Brookfield. He continued in
Brookfield till his death, which occurred March 2, 1814.
Mr. Merrick was a Senator from this county in the year 1808.
His talents, elicited in an action for forcible entry and detainer,
first brought him into notice at the Bar, and he was considerably
employed as an advocate. He was a gentleman of fine feelings,
and of much energy and fluency of expression. His mental
powers were of a very respectable order, ahd he had cultivated
them with some assiduity in his profession. Mr. Upham, of
whom I shall next give a brief sketch, was, in the early part of
his career, in the habit of consulting Mr. Merrick, and relied
much upon the correctness of his opinions as a lawyer.
Jabez Upham, the son of Phinehas Upham, was born in
Brookfield. By his own exertions, principally, he obtained the
means of defraying his expenses at college. He was a graduate
of Harvard University in the class of 1785.* He pursued his
legal studies with Judge Foster in Brookfield, and was admitted

* Mr. Upham however, did not obtain his first degree till the following year; for
being offended with the Faculty, for the part assigned him at commencement, he left
college and did not afterwards return.

80 ADDRESS OF
to the Bar, in this county, September Term, 1788. He practised
a short time in Stnrbridge, a few years in Claremont, New
Hampshire, and thence removed to Brookfield, which was the
principal scene of his professional labors and honors. He
represented that town in the State Legislature, and was twice
chosen, in Worcester South District, Representative to Congress.*
In September, 1809, he resigned his seat in Congress. He died
November 8, 1811, at the age of forty-seven.
On his first coming to the Bar, the late Gov. Lincoln and
Judge Sprague were the leading members of the profession in
this county ; and with them as well as with others, he was early
brought into collision. He was not an easy speaker, but having
a spirit of great perseverance and tenacity, he would never quit
a point or a cause, till he had elaborated it to his own satisfac
tion. He soon became a prominent member of the Bar, and for
a period exceeding twenty years was much employed in impor
tant questions to the court and jury. In the examination of
witnesses he was severe, critical, minute, and with difficulty
could one escape him without revealing the whole truth. In
his briefs he was full, and arranged with care, discovering much
research and a thorough knowledge of legal principles; and if
stopped on one point, he was quite apt to return to it again, and
to discuss it in one way and another, rather incidentally than in
chief, till he had presented, though it might be to unwilling ears,
the whole of his investigation. He prepared his causes, more
particularly his legal arguments, with uncommon assiduity,
method, and ability.
The last one I shall mention, and one whose name has shed a
bright lustre upon our Bar, is the late Mr. Blake.
Francis Blake, the son of Joseph Blake, was born in Rutland, •
in October, 1774. In the year 1779, his father removed to
Hingham, and soon after placed his son under the care of the late

* 1807, 1809.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 81
Rev. Joseph Thaxter, who then kept the grammar school in that
town; the same venerable gentleman who was afterwards a
clergyman at Martha's Vineyard, and made the fervent prayer
at the celebration of the battle of Bunker Hill, in June, 1825.
Under him and others, Mr. Blake was early fitted for college,
and graduated at the University in Cambridge in 1789, at the
very early age of fifteen. It is undoubtedly true, as a general
rule, that the precocity of intellectual power is its own destroyer,
and, in after life, the fond hopes of parents and friends are
miserably crushed. But it was not so with the fine genius of
Mr. Blake.
After leaving the University he pursued the study of the, law,
principally with Judge Sprague, in Lancaster, and was admitted
to this Bar iu 1794, at the early age of tioenty.
He commenced practice the same year in Rutland, where he
was soon engaged in pretty extensive business. After remaining
there some years, he removed to Worcester, where he continued
in the profession till the year preceding his death. During the
last year of his life he was clerk of the courts. He represented
the county in the senate of the commonwealth, and was highly
distinguished for his ability and zeal. But. it was in professional
life that he shone conspicuous. This spot was the scene of his
distinction. Within these walls was the exhibition of his power;
and as time has flown on, and swept with its unsparing hand the
material form, it has left the glory of his eloquence deeply traced
on the memory of many who are present ; and the spirit that
stirred within him still hovers around us.
Mr. Blake possessed all the constituent properties of a great
orator. He was of an ardent temperament, the usual companion
of fine intellect, and of a character that dwelt with satisfaction
and delight upon whatever was lofty and honorable. His was
the nicely modulated voice, all whose cadences were musical ;
and though like the harp of Memnou, in unrestrained inspiration,
11

82 ADDRESS OF
they sometimes breathed wildly, they breathed eloquently. His
was the classical elegance of language, poured out in rich
profusion from a never failing source. His was the vivid
imagination, that threw over all the crimson flush of fight, and
dazzled by its brilliancy. He brought to his aid the advantage
of wide reading, and commendable scholarship, that served to
increase his power of expression. He was often vehement and
impassioned, and that probably was the prevailing tone of his
eloquence, especially when he detected and brought to light the
hidden things of chicanery and deceit; but his vehemence and
his warmth never caused him to forget himself, nor to lose that
harmony and measure of expression that were peculiarly his own.
To many the properties I have described may seem incom
patible with excellence in the arid principles of the law, where
imagination is at fault, and eloquence yields no portion of her
power ; and they may think that the love of intellectual variety
renders one unfit for the self-denying pnrsuit of legal investiga
tions. Not so. however, in truth ; for nothing is more common
than the possession, not of various, bnt of seemingly opposite,
qualities, in the same individual.
Mr. Blake bad not the reputation of being a severe student, as
if all that he accomplished were thrown off by the mere force of
genius, without painstaking effort. Whatever may be the gifts
of nature, they are of but little worth unless industry, cultiva
tion, and intense reflection come to their aid. Tbe measure of
preparation is not nicely ascertained by the performance. The
listening multitude are pleased with the eloquence and learning
displayed by the jurist ; but they little know the days and nights
of toil, the vigilant application, which that one effort required.
It is a wrong impression that Mr. Blake made but slight pre
paration in his causes. But few could have discovered more
investigation, or have given more satisfactory proofs of diligent
and thorough study in the management of his causes. Having

JOSEPH WILLARD. 83
had an opportunity of examining in this particular, it is manifest
to me that he did not go with empty hands into the courts of
justice. Even in his nisiprius dockets, where we should scarcely
look for it, the previous labor of investigation is apparent. His
briefs were remarkably full ; his divisions and subdivisions were
numerous, and all arranged with great regard to method. It was
the lucidus ordo, which at once shows that the true philosophy
of analysis has been at work, and that mental effort has been
tasked in a degree to which few in full and successful practice
are willing or able to submit. This gave him a readiness, a
facility, which all admired and but few could follow.
In a word, I cannot more appropriately close this slight sketch
than with the expression of one who knew him well and inti
mately, and was long versed with him in the forum, who has
declared to me earnestly and repeatedly, that Mr. Blake was the
most eloquent man he ever heard at this Bar.*
I have finished all that I intended to say, in this connection, of
the members of our profession. I have not satisfied myself, and
I cannot have satisfied you. My want of personal acquaintance
with every one whom I have attempted to describe, must be my
apology for an imperfect delineation. For the rest, I will not
weary you with a dry list of the names of all the other members
of the profession living and deceased. Of those who have gone
from us within a few years, and over whose graves the grass has
scarcely sprung up, it is needless for me to speak.
Our list, of late years large, has increased, and bids fair to
increase. There are at this time eighty members in practice, but
I cannot add full practice. The whole number of lawyers in
business here, from the incorporation of the county, exceeds two
hundred. Of these but few were here before the Revolution,!

* Governor Lincoln.
t Since the sketches of the Ante-Revolutionary lawyers have been in press, I have
become satisfied, in one particular, where I was before in doubt, and must, therefore,
add one to the list. 1 find that Daniel Murray, a graduate of Harvard University

84 ADDRESS OF
a period of forty-four years. It is principally within the present
century that the long and formidable list of names appears.
Our Bar, perhaps, has furnished a good proportion of gentle
men who have shared in the public confidence, and held offices of
trust and importance. Of those who were here before the
Revolution, and not afterwards, there were, amongst other civil
officers —
Two Speakers of the House of Representatives.
One Attorney-General of the Province of Massachusetts.
One Attorney-General of the State of New Hampshire.
Two Councillors.
One Delegate to the Congress of 1765.
Two Judges of the highest Court, and one of the inferior
Court in New-Brunswick.
Three Judges of the Court of Common Pleas in the Province
of Massachusetts.
One or more members of the Executive Council in New-
Brunswick. Since the Revolution there have been —
Two Governors, one of this State, and one of Maine.
Two Lieutenant-Governors.
One Attorney-General of the United States.
One who was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of the
United States, who declined the office.
Two Judges of the Supreme Court, — one of this State, and
one of Maine.
One member of Congress under the old confederation.
One member of the United States Senate.
Two Secretaries of the United States, pro tern.
in 1771, attended the Court here in June, 1774, which seems to have heen the only time.
He could have been admitted but a little while previous. He had an office in Rutland,
then the residence of his father, Col. Murray. Mr. Murray afterwards became an
officer in the British service, and rose to the rank of Major of Dragoons. He is now
a half-pay officer. His residence has been chiefly, and is at present, in the United
States.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 85
One Secretary of the Treasury, and one Secretary of War, of
the United States.
Fifteen members of the House of Representatives of the
United States.
One member of the Convention to form the State Consti
tution. One member of the Convention that adopted the Constitu
tion of the United States.
One Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Twenty-one members of the Senate of the State.
Four Councillors.
Four Judges of the Court of Common Pleas for this State,
and one in the City of Albany.
Two Judges of the Court of Sessions.
Two Judges of Probate.
Four High Sheriffs.
Five Clerks of the Courts.
One Secretary of State, for this Commonwealth.
Seven Members of the Convention to amend the Constitution
of the State.*
In entering into the profession which should reciprocally
honor and be honored, there are many duties to be performed,
many dangers to be encountered, and many difficulties to be
overcome, that require determined minds, and stout hearts. The
student, with warming zeal and high expectations, starts upon
the course, that seems at first, in the beautiful language of
Sterne, " a smooth .velvet path, which fancy has scattered over
with rosebuds of delight." In the ardor of young exertion,
and without the experience that comes slowly, but comes surely,
all difficulties vanish from the view. The profession of his

* The preceding list is accurate as far as it goes. There may possibly be a few
names that should be added to one or another part of the list. There are various
other offices that might be designated ; but the foregoing would seem to be sufficient.

86 ADDRESS OF
choice seems a field where all may labor for glory, nor labor in
vain, excepting by reason of their own sluggishness or timidity.
And particularly, with feelings like these has many a student
entered upon the science of jurisprudence.
He finds himself at once in a spacious field,- without any
distinct outlines, with no land-marks to guide his course, and the
unthreaded paths of which, like those of the labyrinth of
Daedalus, are ever crossing one another. The objects that
attract his attention are numerous and multiform. They confuse
him by their number, and startle by their magnitude, and, at the
same time, make a choice of no small difficulty. As he advances
and becomes acquainted with new objects, the horizon of his
prospects recedes and widens. The new and the old, in unex
pected forms, and relations, meet his eye ; and all must be
grappled with and overcome. He is surrounded by a host of
competitors, all pressing onward with the same purpose, and
each struggling to outstrip his neighbor, heedless of all but his
own success. But the fever of excitement gradually cools.
There are some who faint in the contest, or struggle forward
with diminished effort, when the incentive to exertion should
operate with the greatest force. Ere long his own steps become
unequal ; the course seems more arduous ; he is thrust aside by
those of stouter hearts with rude hands. None cheer him in his
attempts, none smile upon his progress ; for all are aiming at the
exaltation of self.
The terrors of black-letter are indeed dispelled, and the ancient
mysteries have walked forth from their repulsive dwellings, and
fairer forms fill the scene ; fairer, but no less difficult to encoun
ter; for still to him all around seems barren and dull. He finds
the study without interest. What in it is technical seems to him
narrow ; its Latin and Norman French, " The terms of the art,"
are ever sinning against his taste. The example of others who
entered with him upon the career, and are already in advance,

JOSEPH WILLARD. 87
no longer stimulates him to exertion, but rather clouds his
spirits, and checks his pursuit.
But if a persevering spirit still carries him on, while he strives
to look to the end, temptations to luxurious indolence beset him.
His mind, weary with stretching forward, and looking to the
future and the past, seeks refuge and repose, in that miscella
neous literature of this and of former periods, that affords so
much to fill the imagination and gratify the taste, without
exciting in any good degree the intellectual principle. The love
of ease gains strength by indulgence, and the difficulty of exer
tion increases in equal proportion. The manly intellect no
longer dwells in its fitting exercise, and he yields himself up, a
half satisfied victim to the sweet influences that rapidly bind
themselves around him.
Is it not true that many thus pass through life in unhappy
mediocrity and inglorious ease, when the deep and stirring spirit
of perseverance alone was wanting to insure excellence, if not
eminence. It is not thus that distinction is to be gained. In
every profession an active warfare must be waged, before victory
can be won, and its fruits be gathered and enjoyed ; — but in our
profession, it is of the first importance.
It is thought by some that the study of the law is attended
with less difficulty and labor than in former times; and one
would be inclined to believe it true, when recollecting the short
preparation of only a few months that is deemed necessary in
some of our states. But, alas, every opinion of the kind is
delusive. The truth is, the law has been changed in many
respects, and rendered more worthy of the name and rank of a
science. Much has passed into almost entire oblivion. But the
part sloughed off bears no proportion to the increments. In
some respects it has been simplified by new and more philosophi
cal arrangements, but far less than it has gained in extension.
For with population, industry, and wealth, new expositions are

88 ADDRESS OF
required of the Courts, and new enactments of the Legislature.
It is a curious fact that in England, so late as the reign of
Henry VIL, " the judges would often rise from the Bench with
out hearing a motion, or trying a cause ; Sir Thomas More read
all the bills, wliich were exhibited in the Court of Chancery;
and, in the 10th Elizabeth (A. D. 1568), there was but one
Serjeant, Benloe, at the Common Pleas, for a whole term
together P "And," adds an old writer, "I do not read that he
had any business there."*
In former times, we are told, that the mastery of the science
required the painful lucubrations of twenty years; that labor
improbus, that would not rest satisfied with doubtful exertion.
And at that time what was the learning required, apart from the
scholastic attainments of the age ? Did it summon heaven and
earth, and gather its treasures on all sides ? Was there an exten
sive, learned, and scientific community of which the Serjeants
and apprentices must constitute an integral and important part ?
Not so. The necessary learning was contained in a narrow com
pass. It was locked up indeed in a jargon of Norman French,
and a something that was termed Latin ; but far removed from
classical elegance and beauty. It was shrouded in a mysterious
character, and was full of abbreviated words ; but it was all
embraced in a few books ; and when once the terrors of the
outer wall and of the dreary threshhold were passed, the diffi
culties vanished apace, and the castle was won. The principles
were few, and the illustrations succinct ; and new cases, as they
came up, required less of laborious search for authorities than of
diligent exercise of the reasoning faculty, and of the spirit of
analogy. * This may perhaps furnish the reason why the special office of Reporter which
extended through the seven volumes of the Tear Books, was discontinued in the
reign of the second Tudor. It was never afterwards revived, except for a short
period, through the influence of Lord Bacon. Since the Year Books no Reports have
been published by license, either by the Uouse of Lords or by any Court in West
minster Hall, except state trials.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 89
But still, says Lord Coke in his preface to his Entries, "ars
longa, vita brevis, occasio preeceps, experimentum periculosum.
A learned man in the laws of this realm is long a making ; the
student thereof having sedentariam vitam, is not commonly long
lived, the study abstruse and difficult, the occasion sudden, the
practice dangerous." The student is advised* to spend about
two or three years in the diligent reading of Littleton, Coke's
Commentary, Perkins,! Doctor and Student, Fitzherbert's Natura
Brevium, and, possibly, Coke's Reports. Then he may read the
Tear Books, Plowden, Dyer, Coke's Reports a second time,
accompanied with constant examination of the Books of Entries ;
aud Lord Coke particularly recommends the old books of Years;
" for," says he, " undoubtedly out of the old fields, must spring
and grow the new corn."
This enticing mass includes nearly all of the printed law of
that period. The range of early jurisprudence was compara
tively limited. Maritime, Commercial, and International Law
were then in their infancy. In personal actions, trespass, and
debt were the usual forms ; and these, with real actions and
questions relating to the economy of the church, constitute the
principal portion of the early volumes.
In process of time, black-letter, like every other barbarism,
gave way to the spirit of change that began to spread, and the
publication of Blackstone was considered the commencement of
a new era in the study of the law. And it was a new era. He
appeared like a newly discovered classic, dug out of the chaotic
mass that the lava of ages had covered and buried. He was
hailed almost as another legum Anglicanarum Restitutor. He
filled up the excellent outline of Sir Matthew Hale, brought
order out of confusion by a lucid arrangement, shed light on
what was before dimly discerned, and, to many, was shrouded in
* Preface to Rolle's Abridgment, t " Profitable book on the learning of con
veyancing." 12

90 ADDRESS OF
impenetrable gloom. He stamped more legibly the character of
a system upon the science of the law. Many have entered the
temple, reached the shrine, and placed their gifts upon the altar,
who, but for him, would have trembled and halted at the vesti
bule. His was the key to unlock those treasures that a forth-
putting age is fast consigning to oblivion, by the torrent of new
matter daily pouring forth from the press.
But the complaint of new books has long been the burden of
the despairing student's song. More than a hundred years ago,
the complaint was littered in strains both loud and long, although
Keble strangely enough asserted that " the multitude of books is
no complaint of learned men, but of such as are lazy and covet
ous, who like nothing of charge or of industry, though they be
not obliged to either."* They have increased more than fifty
fold within the last half-century, and almost beyond the power
of any to read, but of those whose professional avocations are
few; who are \he very ones that are deficient in the means of
obtaining them. Digests, treatises, and abridgments, those
comforts and supports, are more numerous than the whole library
of most of our jurists in the last century.
Many were doubtless encouraged to believe that the science,
with such aids as these, would become comparatively easy ; that
the student would be peculiarly assisted in his efforts to unfold
the mysterious and disentangle the perplexed. But instead
thereof we are in a mighty sea of books, not yet at its flood.
We can scarce glance at one, ere another rises to our view,
laying perhaps an equal claim upon our notice and attention. At
this time there are, in addition to English Treatises and Reports,
more than two hundred volumes of American Reports, of
various gradations of worth and importance ; and they are
increasing with wondrous rapidity. And unfortunate indeed

* Had Keble lived in our day, he would hardly venture such a remark.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 91
must that brother be, who, in all the existing mass of authorities,
cannot find something to illustrate a case he may have in hand,
with common skill in analogical inquiry.
The labor of the student is not diminished. It has increased
since the Revolution, and more particularly in the present cen
tury, beyond all former precedent. The multiplicity of books is
not all. This indeed serves to confuse the mind, unless it is well
disciplined, and to overload the memory ; but with it have come
in new branches. Formerly only a few books were necessary
for those who were in pursuit of the gladsome light of juris
prudence ; now, what is old presents itself in many new phases,
while constitutional, maritime, and federal law, the broad and
deep system of equity, with its spreading and beneficent influ
ences, and an immense variety of legislative and judicial matter,
arising from the numerous, complicated, and ever increasing
relations of society, come forth as the fruit of an inquisitive and
improving age. The study is of wider, deeper, higher reach ;
and the student, instead of being able to complain of mists, and
of murky atmospheres, is now apt to be bewildered by the
numerous cross lights that radiate on every side, and distract his
intellectual vision. The study of the twelve tables was a task
accomplished with comparative ease ; but the rescripts, edicts,
and decrees were a mighty mass, and collected into the Code, the
Digest, the Institutes, and the Novels, with all the subsequent
Commentaries and Glosses, they added a hundred-fold to the
task, and no one could stand up and say, I am master of the
whole science.
There is advantage aud evil in a multitude of books. The
former is well understood, while the latter some may consider at
least as problematical. A few books well chosen, with the
occasional oral instructions of a competent teacher, will prove
most useful. The great object is to lay a broad, but simple-,
foundation ; the elements of the science, with their various moditi-

92 ADDRESS OF
cations, and the reasons of them, with the illustrations as few
and succinct as the nature of the subject will admit, should be
deeply impressed on the mind and memory, and be rendered an
intimate part of the pupil's own knowledge. They will then
ever remain fixed, and become the origin and centre of a vast
system, standing out in bold relief, the primal elder truths, from
which all others spring.
On the other hand a variety confuses; it begets what Lord
Coke calls a cursory and tumultuary reading, that doth ever
make a confused memory, a troubled utterance, and an uncertain
judgment. It is glancing rapidly over the surface, and spread
ing over a wide extent, instead of searching in the depths for
the treasures. At the same time it is apparent that the original
ity and strength of the mind suffer by pursuing such a course ;
except perhaps in a few of enkindling ambition, and exalted
gifts. In general there is much tendency in mankind to consult
ease and comfort, not only in what regards things external, but
also in the exertions of the mind. They are fond of labor sav
ing machines of any and every variety. This, in our profession,
leads us to consult authorities pretty extensively for adjudged
cases in point, which now are as common as were the visitations
of Egypt in the time of Pharaoh. It is apt to satisfy us with
our inquiry if successful, without going back to search into the
reason that governs. But if cases are few and elementary
principles much more numerous in comparison, then our powers
are tasked; — we are thrown at once upon our resources, the
helps and aids fail us, and we must " spend ourselves resolv
ing ;" — resolving doubts, and dark passages by the force of our
own intellect alone. This affords the grand exercise of our
reasoning powers; the nice and improving capacity of analysis; —
the process of comparing, combining, separating, and searching,
that gives strength and readiness to the powers of the mind.
It was remarked many years ago that although the science of

JOSEPH WILLARD. 93
the law more than any other profession strengthens the mind, it
does not enlarge it in the same proportion ; and a distinguished
writer of our own times and country asserts that all the pro
fessions have a tendency to narrow the mind. Admitting this to
be true, and if admitted it is no more than is true of almost every
subject pursued to the entire exclusion of all others, it cannot be
predicated of our profession in the circumstances that surround
it. There is no profession so intimately connected with the
community in its various interests and wants, that so winds itself
around, and penetrates society in its innumerable operations, and
exercises so controlling an influence in its sphere of action.
The law, by this I mean the common law, in its early stages,
was composed in part of technical rules, and partly of the
deductions of natural reason. They are contained in the first
place in the decisions of individual cases, not necessarily connec
ted, nor perhaps dependent upon one another. In process of
time these increase in number ; they are governed by strict rule ;
they are arranged, divided into classes, and embodied with all the
philosophy of induction. General principles are thus formed,
which are illustrated by cases, and the law then becomes a
science, of large extent, and embracing in its ever widening
circle the countless interests of society, and containing rules of
conduct applying to every emergency that may arise. It becomes
our sustaining peace and happiness, dwelling with us at all times,
encircling our persons, our characters, and estates, restraining
the arm of violence, and preserving us in the enjoyment of our
rights. There is then nothing in the science itself that necessarily
narrows the mind and excludes new and enlarged views of truth
and duty. It cannot contract the powers of a spirit naturally
stirring and inquisitive, though so far as it is technical merely,
it may not enlarge the common mind in the same proportion that
exercise strengthens it. The science of ethics, the extended

94 ADDRESS OF
rules of right, applied to the ever varying combinations and
relations of things — the pursuit of history, belles lettres, poetry,
the natural sciences, natural, national, and constitutional polity,
is a part of professional study properly conducted. And what
is the law of evidence but a system of sound philosophy,
deduced from the manifold developments of heart and charac
ter? In the practice too, although in the language of one of our
poets, himself a jurist,
Forced to scrawl strange words with the barbarous pen,
there is much, apart from the glorious aspirations of eloquence,
that extends the scope of the intellect. I will appeal to you, in
causis versatis, whether it is not true that knowledge of human
nature, of motives, of the various intricate readings of the human
heart is aptly learned in the trial of causes, especially in the
examination of witnesses ; a knowledge as valuable as any that
can be acquired in the conduct of life.
Such advantage do these pursuits afford, that the profession
is called upon to enter into almost every public undertaking of
whatever nature, and to take the lead in the changes and improve
ments that are continually going on. Now a wide intercourse
with society is not apt to narrow, but rather to enlarge the mind,
in the same manner, and for the same reason that foreign travel
is supposed to produce that effect. This influence must be con-
fesssd to be powerful, though upon many persons, its result may
be small : — for some minds of equal power with others have not
the same capacity to become generous and comprehensive in
their views. One individual in his study surrounded with the
written wisdom of the dead, venturing but little upon the busy
walks of life, may, and frequently does, attain to more of this
quality, than another who has always mingled with the world at
home and abroad, and been conversant in the active scones of
life, though in native strength of understanding they are equal.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 95
After all it is only so far as the study is technical that it can
be said in any measure to cheek tho healthful etl'orts of the mind.'
Hut so far as it is concerned in the immutable rules of right
and wrong, in tho fundamental principles of justice; in short,
whenever, it is studied with correct views, it partakes of the
nature of that law irhose goat is the bosom of Cod, -whose -voice
is the harmony of the world. 1 sec around nie, 1 see every
where, among the living, and in the groat names of another day,
illustrations of the truth, that, properly conducted, professional
studies do not impede the aspirations of the mind, but may dwell
in unison with wide views and proud scholarship. The law must
be pursued in connection with other sciences and with literature,
as it was in the days of the old Roman lawyers. To this pro
fession have belonged "vast numbers of the most distinguished
literary characters throughout Europe in all times;" and the same
remark may be made according to our means and opportunities
in this country, whatever the case may be with the members of
the profession in England.* the country where alone, if any
where, the observation I have slightly dwelt upon has force.
1 have touched slightly upon the difficulties and dangers of
the profession. A few remarks upon the duties and obligations
of its members may not perhaps be out of place. It may be
well to glance for a moment at some of the peculiarities of our
age and country, that have or ought to have their influence upou

•" England." says a writer in tho Ediuburgh Review, '• has contributed several
literary characters, but we lament to say, fewer in proportion than in other countries,
because the laws of England have always been studied in an illiberal manner, and
especially during the last century. We have lately witnessed a remarkable confirma
tion of this assertion. It was proposed in order to raise the character of the pro
fession, to require a slight examination trom the candidates for admission as students
at the Inns of Court and to the Bar. as a proof that they had received the first rudi
ments of a liberal education. This reasonable proposition was however violeutly
opposed. and by persons of merit and ability, lu the ancient world the student of
jurisprudence was invigorated by drinking largely of the noble fountains of philoso
phy, and by grammatical, logical, and rhetorical learning. A liberal profession was
thus adorned and improved, by being blended with liberal pursuits." Ed. Uev., vol.
1,., pp. 1W, 01. Jit rifie of the .Hi/zantino historians.

96 ADDRESS OF
the profession. Perhaps there never was a period of the world
more marked in many respects than our own. This peculiarity
consists, more than in anything else, in the range that is given to
the spirit of inquiry. The American Revolution, that has done
and is to do so much for the wholesome reform and healthful
action of government, was the ground work of that effort which
is now so active and energetic. In a former period men rested
much upon authority, ancient usage, and established opinion.
It was seen in the reverence paid to reigning powers, however
unrestrained; in the distant manners and bearing of parents to
their children, in the awful respect paid to artificial rank, and
the veneration for age though accompanied by ignorance and
folly. The whole form, fabric, aud intercourse of society were
so moulded as to prevent the over-stopping of prescribed limits.
Men believed as their fathers believed, and walked as their
fathers walked. It was enough for an opinion that it had the
sanction of age, the respect of the prudent, and the injunction
of the wise. As this feeling pervaded society, it was exerted
over the whole frame of the mind, and the influences of religious
faith were called in to give a sacred cast to the existing state of
things. If any movement was made, or if any new doctrines
were broached, the cry of treason or of heresy was sounded
aloud. How far this old order of things was good, and how far
evil, it is not at present necessary to consider, but merely to take
notice of the fact, and trace the progress of the change.
From this blind and implicit faith in matters, temporal and
spiritual, the world has ventured forth to a great, and in some
instances, almost to a reckless course of inquiry ; and we are far
more likely to be overwhelmed in the ocean of universal skepti
cism, than to fall again into the opposite error. This fondness
for innovation has marched with triumph into our profession,
and has fallen with unrelenting hand upon that venerable pile,
the common law. I allude now more particularly to what has

JOSEPH WILLARD. 97
been done in England, though also in a degree to the progress
that has been made amongst us. We indeed destroyed many of
the antiquatated and useless out-works at our first settlement,
and made many changes and improvements in the building itself.
The common law has been dwelt upon with complacency for
so many ages, that it has been considered almost heresy to doubt
its being the perfection of reason. It has had the same prescrip
tive right to veneration that the precepts themselves have had to
an existence that entitles them to prescription. And Lord Coke
calls it, in the warmth of his enthusiasm, the absolute perfection
of reason. Even so late as the time of Blackstone, it was held
by him as possessing mens auaedam divina, all whose rules were
just, all whose punishments were mild, all whose remedies were
perfect; visiting the offender with certain condemnation, if not
rewarding the industrious follower of rectitude and order. Nor
was he willing to acknowledge how much it was indebted to the
civil law for its best rules of liberal justice and equity.
Au attack upon the common law was almost as heinous as an
attack upon the throne or the establishment. But now the whole
system of English jurisprudence, is, as it were, afloat. Hum
phrey's thorough and searching investigation of the numerous per
plexities and absurdities of the law of real property, Brougham's
Speech in Parliament, that wonderful effort, where he sifts the
whole subject of the common law, save the part treated of by
Humphrey, and the system of equity, commercial and criminal
jurisprudence; — these, together with the changes in criminal
matters, the new enactments in bankruptcy, and the learned
commissions sent out of Parliament to inquire into the course of
legal remedies, the law of real property, and the defects of the
Chancery Court, have created a new, and most astonishing, era
in the history of the common law. The old opinions, touching
the absolute perfection of reason, have been completely broken
13

98 ADDRESS OF
down ; numerous and radical changes in this department may be
expected, and indeed have already, in part, been recommended
by the commissioners : following longum post intervallum, our
improvements of the seventeenth century.
Another circumstance of the present day, and it is an evil of
no small magnitude, is the rage for legislation. For no sooner
does a principle of the common law seem in any measure severe
in its operation, than the legislature interposes and makes a
change, whether the evil be fancied or real. This is a matter I
trust which the whole profession will join in condemning. I
speak of it as an evil. Hasty and imperfect legislation fills our
law with doubt and mystery, unsettles old principles, and fre
quently, while in appearance and intent it makes but a slight
alteration, spreads confusion over the whole subject on which it
touches, increases our labors to a large extent, and adds greatly
to the amount of litigation.
Permit me now to turn to another subject, which is of para
mount interest and moment to each one of us. It is the solemn
duty, and it should therefore be the chief endeavor of every one
who enters into the profession, to be furnished with a thorough
education. I do not mean merely an acquaintance with books,
with their substance treasured up in the memory, but that larger
culture that serves our purpose in the busy theatre of the world,
by acquiring a knowledge of human nature in its strange varie
ties, by a severe analysis of what we have gathered, aided by our
own reflection, and by classing it all, that we may, in every way,
turn the labors of others, the dead and the living, to our own
profit and advantage ; so that when called into the imminent
breach, we may be thoroughly furnished with all our arms in
readiness to do us service.
But while I venture to speak of those less severe studies that
please and adorn, if they do nothing more, and constitute the

JOSEPH WILLARD. 99
highly finished Corinthian capital, I ara reminded that this is
termed a practical age : —
" These are not the romantic times
So beautiful in Spencer's rhymes,
So dazzling to the dreaming boy :
Ours are the days of fact, not fable,
Of knights, but not of the Round Table;
Of Baillie Jarvie, not Rob Roy :
'Tis what our President Munroe
Has called the era of good feeling,
The Highlander, the bitterest foe
To modern laws, has felt their blow,
Consented to be taxed and vote,
And put on pantaloons and coat
And leave off cattle stealing ;
Lord Stafford mines for coal and salt,
The Duke of Norfolk deals in malt,
The Douglas in red herrings,
And noble name and cultured land,
Palace and park and vassal band,
Are powerless to the notes of hand
Of Rothschild or the Barings."
This indeed is poetry, but it is truth without embellishment,
and not an unjust delineation, so far as it goes, of things as they
are. The world has become remarkably busy and straight for
ward. There is no room for the dreamer now ; and even our
poets must seek support as editors of political prints, or as
servitors in the temple of mammon. Alas ! how this word
practical has been abused. It is lisped by the smatterer in
physics ; it is in the mouth of thousands whose ideas on the
subject are as vague and insubstantial as their attainments are
meagre. It is the popular hobby of the day, and bids fair to
trench materially upon the more ethereal province of the mind,
upon that refinement of the intellectual sense that constitutes the
noblest part of our nature. We are pressing on in these things,
as if life itself hung upon the issue, as if the race were not indeed
of secondary importance, and success when obtained but an
imperfect gratification. Speak to one of this cast of the refine-

100 ADDRESS OF
ments of learning, or of the philosophy of the mind, he will
reply, cui bono? He can see nothing of interest, nothing of
value, beyond the pursuit of those sciences that dwell upon
material objects, or that, in some way, are the direct means of
obtaining wealth. I would be far from placing a low estimate
on these sciences. I am aware of their vast importance and of
their beneficial tendency, for they are seen everywhere. But
the war waged by some of their followers against every study
that does not directly tend to promote an early, tangible result,
is begun without reason, and will be followed by an unhappy
issue. This disposition would compel us to be hastening on and
to pass through the seven stages, and scorn all those beautiful
episodes scattered here and there, that give life so much of its
charm. We must press forward ; we must gather wealth beyond
the dreams of avarice, population must increase in an unheard-of
ratio, or fears are excited that the country is becoming weak,
and fhe slow progress is lamented, as if an influx of any and
every thing from abroad were to be preferred to a gradual and
healthful increase. It is this tumultuous spirit of haste that in
many places pours the imperfectly educated into the ranks of the
profession ; deformed, misshapen, not half made up, without
those proper notions they should first possess, aud ever retaining,
notwithstanding their after efforts, the peculiarities, and deficien
cies arising from defect of early mental discipline. Hence is
derived the reduced standard of professional excellence ; hence
comes legal merchandise and exchange — the auri sacra fames,
the outer and lower forms of the profession.
The importance of a finished education cannot, it seems to me,
be too earnestly urged, upon this or any other occasion. There
never was a time when it was of more importance, because of
the growing disposition in our country to the unwise spirit of
haste to which I have alluded. There is no way in which we
can be respected by the public, but by deserving the general re-

JOSEPH WILLARD. 101
spect and esteem. The discipline of the student should be as
thorough as possible in the professions, and embrace a wide
range of objects beyond. But the laic demands a large portion
of time, and will not allow her disciples to tread the primrose
path of dalliance, to the interruption of her claims. It is a pro
fession where a sound mind is more successful than great genius;
but it must be the clear mind, that looks before and after ; and
though like Carneades of old, all may not be able to dispute
with power on both sides of the same question, and throw a mist
around sophistry that can hardly be dispelled, they may be able
to speak the language of truth, and do good service within the
sphere of their influence. Severe study and long practice can
alone make the accomplished lawyer. Study and practice must
be united. ¦¦ No man," says Coke. " can be a complete lawyer
by universality of knowledge without experience in particular
cases, nor by bare experience withont universality of knowledge."
How trne this is can be well attested by the junior members of
the profession, who will feelingly declare that infrequent oppor
tunities are bnt so many repetitions of embarrassment, and of
no small confusion in gathering and bringing into the field their
intellectual resources.
The necessity of being well versed in special pleading has
often been urged upon tlie profession. Undoubtedly it is of
great importance. Bnt how few of ns, — I had almost said,
where is the man, — who is acquainted with all the mysteries and
snbtle logic of special pleading ? Instead of the ancient strict
ness, where indeed form was oftentimes more regarded than sub
stance, and where he who fell in the letter, fell without remedy,
has not an undue laxity been suffered, and almost encouraged, at
the Bar, on the principle, perhaps, that we might ourselves be
taken in pari delicto t When a nice special plea is necessary,
what study is required, and intense reference to books and the
operations of the mind, to make np for that familiarity whieh

102 ADDRESS OF
use would give. In the reign of Edward I., counsellors were
amerced for bad pleading, or pro stultiloquio, as it was termed.
And in the reign of Edward IIL, in a writ of right of ward
brought by the Duke of Lancaster against the Count Surry, Sir
Robert de Wilby remarked to the Bar, that he had seen the time
when an error in pleading was punished by imprisonment* A
merry company indeed should we now have, if this, visitation
were upon the heads of this generation. Hear Lord Coke on
the subject : — " Good pleading hath three excellent qualities ;
that is to say, as Littleton saith, it is honorable, laudable and
profitable. Honorable, for he cannot be a good pleader, but he
must be of excellency in judgment ; laudable for the fame and
estimation of the professor, and profitable for three respects: —
first, good pleading is lapis lidius the touchstone of the law ;
secondly, to the client, whose good cause is often lost, or long
delayed for want of good pleading ; lastly, to the professor him
self, who, being for skill therein exalted above others, " tanquam
inter viburna cupressus, it cannot but be unto him exceeding
profitable." The argument thus quaintly expressed would seem to be suffi
cient to show the importance of this branch of the law. In
England it is still held of the highest importance, and the special
pleaders are a distinct class in the profession ; and it is still
observed, although since the statute of 4 Geo. IL, c. 26, by
which the proceedings in the courts were ordered to be in Eng
lish, without any abbreviations, pleadings have gradually become
quite diffuse and prolix.f The existing defect with us may be
traced, perhaps, to a dislike of the ancient strictness of captious

*" J'ay view le temps que si vous usses pled un erronious pie, vous alastes al
prison;" and then adds, '• et vous nous tenes fooles." 24 Edw. III., fo. 48.
t For a short time during the administration of Cromwell (1650), pleadings were
ordered to be in English. This act, after the Restoration, was called a, pretended act.
Before Cromwell's time, pleadings were required to be enrolled in Latin, although
they were to " be pleaded, shewed, answered, debated, and adjudged in the English
tongue." 36 Edw. III., c. 15.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 103
pleas, where pleas in abatement and special demurrers to declara
tions were filed almost as a matter of course. Thus in avoiding
one extreme we may fall into the other, and may find it as diffi
cult to strike the happy medium in the law, as in conflicting
religious faiths.
A jurist must be ad ungnem in every particular. Let him
raise himself by his own exertions, and he will stand on the
firmest basis. He cannot, as may be done in some other pur
suits, build himself upon another's fame. Let him aspire to rank
and dignity in his profession, and scorn to be a mere legal
broker, — a dealer in dollars and cents. He cannot be too dili
gent, in season and out of season. Nor let it be said that he has
no time to become a respectable scholar. For it is not true even
with those most thronged with business. Who are our literary
men, who our ripe and good scholars f Who are they who are
ready to serve the occasion, and to appear in the cause of good
letters ? Who are the most active and efficient promoters of
schemes for the public good ? Are they not the men who are
engaged the most assiduously in the exhausting labors of pro
fessional life ? Yes, truly, it is they who, by a rigid economy of
their time, accomplish the most for the common good. And you
will look almost in vain out of .these walks for distinguished
scholars. Time may be found for all praiseworthy purposes.
An hour a day, however small a fraction of time it may seem by
itself, snatched from listlessness or vain conversation, is ample to
acquire, in the course of a year or two, a new language, or to
gain the knowledge of some new subject of study. It is some
where related that Chancellor D'Augesseau composed his great
work by applying to its preparation those little fragments of time
in which daily, for years, he was kept in waiting for the appear
ance of his lady at dinner.
Of tbe many studies that should fill up the intervals of pro
fessional labor, much must be intrusted to individual taste. But

104 ADDRESS OP
perhaps it may be permitted me to say a word in favor of those
classical studies, that were a part of our early education. It is
of the greater consequence to mention them, from the circum
stance that they are soon apt to be neglected, and to be set
aside as useless lumber, by many who have been early though
perhaps only partially indoctrinated; while other kindred pur
suits in literature are kept up.
I am aware that I am touching upon a subject, about which
much has been said ; but I am addressing myself to my brothers
of the profession ; and I must confess that I scarcely know of a
pursuit more pleasing as a relaxation from professional labors, or
more useful than this. I would that the attacks upon the
learned languages were confined to men of meagre learning, who
are ignorant of their beauties and advantages. But there are
some others, a small class, who not readily perceiving the firm
but invisible chain that encircles and connects all our knowledge,
are liberal of their censures. I hope and I trust that these
dogmas will not gather such strength as to sweep away from
amongst us what has throughout Christendom been the ground
work of good education for centuries.
These studies are looked upon as having nothing in common
with the spirit of the times, and as opposed to all that some are
pleased to call practical knowledge; and, forsooth, because they
are not perceived to be of service in enabling a man to cultivate
the earth, or to pursue more successfully the exact sciences, they
must be thrown aside as useless. Can nothing be of use but
that which comes directly under the notice of the senses ; —
nothing but what we can eat, drink, wear, or feel ? Is the en
largement of the mind by the accession of new ideas, the
strengthening the capacity by new acquisitions, nothing ? What
is life for ? Is it for material objects alone, and for researches
into external nature ? Is not the highest cultivation of the
intellectual principle, the highest pursuit, aud the chief glory of

JOSEPH WILLARD. 105
our nature, contributing largely to our advancement and happi
ness? But time is wanting, it is said, and days and years are wasted
in the pursuit, and when we are immersed in the busy scenes of
hfe all that is acquired is forgotten. I would not claim that all
shonld be ripe scholars ; but it should be strenuously urged that
this pursuit should be the basis of an education where a youth is
designed for a profession, and further, that the discipline should
be early commenced.
The studying of the language is the ^embodying of thought,
and therefore the proper early pursuit of the young ; and it fills
np the interval that cannot otherwise be profitably spent, without
interfering with any other studies that are appropriate to the
age, and ere the mind is ripe for a severer task of its powers.
The want of time exists only in seeming. It is, where a youth
has capacity, synonymous with incapacity in the instructor ; for,
in addition to other considerations that might be mentioned, it
has been ascertained that a class pursuing the classics and Eng
lish studies together, will make, in a given period, greater pro
gress fn the latter than a class devoted exclusively to English.
The classics, in the quaint language of another day, '' have put
off flesh and blood, and become immutable." Their excellence
is fixed, their character is unalterable.
Nor is it true that the fruits of these studies are lost by neg
lect in the bnsy scenes of after life. Those who make this
objection, forget the end while they are censuring the means.
The knowledge may be lost by neglect, but the effect will remain,
in a good degree. The objection has its origin in a mistaken
view of the design of these studies. It is not so much, in youth,
for the knowledge itself, that these should be pursued, although
that is of importance and value, as for the mental discipline they
afford, and the strength they give to the powers of the under
standing ; and though we may forget the rich periods of Cicero,
14

106 ADDRESS OF
the terse and comprehensive style of Sallust and Tacitus, and
the harmonious numbers of the poets, the uses for which we
entered upon them remain undying.

-Nunc adhibe puro

Pectore verba, puer; nunc te melioribus offer,
Quo semel est imbuta recens, servabit odarem
Testa diu.

It is a study that is delightful at all times, and in the words of
the Roman orator, like the cultivation of a taste for poetical
studies, it adorns prosperity and is a refuge in adversity; at
home or abroad, in the country or in the city, everywhere, and
at all times, it is a pleasing companion.
We surely are in no danger of pursuing these quiet studies too
far. It is an important subject, but I have said less about it
than its quality demands, and with less power. It requires more
time than I can devote to it, to do it justice. Nor, I trust, is it
necessary to enlarge upon this' topic, before so respectable an
assembly. It is sufficient to make suggestions, and they will
have with you all the weight they deserve. But I could not
forbear touching incidentally upon the subject. Much might be
done if our scholars would endeavor more zealously to impress
upon the literary community just views concerning classical
pursuits and attainments, and endeavor, with one accord, to
restore them to their proper rank in the republic of letters.*
An additional and powerful argument for the cultivation of
letters is derived from the circumstances of the times. The pro-

* Since the above remarks were delivered, this subject has been introduced to the
consideration ofthe Board of Overseers of Harvard University, by President Quincy.
At the semi-annual meeting of the Board, in January, 1830, the recommendations of
the President, in relation to further facilities for the study of the Ancient Languages,
were cordially received, and adopted. It is well for the interests of good letters that
such sound views upon the subject are entertained at the University, as are contained
in the President's Report to the Overseers, and more particularly in his sound,
judicious, and truly excellent Inaugural Address.

JOSEPH WILLARD. 107
fession is so crowded,* the competition is so close and earnest,
that feeble intellect or mean attainments cannot expect success.
As formerly, in the influx of trade, almost every merchant could
amass property, and if he cast his bread upon the waters it would
soon return to him manifold, while now a good voyage is matter
of much study and calculation ; so in our profession, in early
times every apprentice in jurisprudence acquired estate, though
he merely dealt in the brokerage of the profession ; while now a
small measure of learning will not answer the purpose.
It is another argument that all other classes in the community
aro hastening on in the great work of education, and using all
the aids that determined spirits, with our free institutions, and
the general character of our people, require, and are taking
higher stations in society. It must not be that they shall be in
advance of us in good learning and in the career of improvement.
Shame be upon us if such should be the issue of the exertions
of the present day. The profession is still looked upon to bear
its part in the general concerns, and to possess that true patriotism
which is discovered in vigorous efforts for the welfare of the
whole. It should never consent to follow in blind subservience,
but mingling with society in its various relations, to mark the
onward path and keep the advance.
None know the labors of professional men but those who have
pursued the same studies. The study of the law, as we all
believe, can never bo made easy ; and happy therefore is it that
the value pf what wo obtain is in proportion to the difficulties we
have to encounter. Look at the successful jurist ; see his diligent
labors by night and by day ; the severe and critical sifting of
arguments; the close investigation of principles; the elaborate

» The whole number of lawyers in the United States is estimated at 9000. In Mas
sachusetts there are nearly 000. The new law list in England, it is said, contains the
names of 1036 barristers, 13B counsel under tho Bar, conveyancers, and special
pleadors. This is exclusive of attorneys in London estimated at 9055, and in the
country at 2C07 ; making a grand total of 12,896.

108 ADDRESS OF
and eloquent exposition, and the strength of reasoning, all
brought in formidable array to bear down the adversary. Look
at the variety of his employments and cares ; his promptitude in
meeting and even anticipating a host of objections ; his power in
analyzing and grouping the masses of testimony ; in strengthening
his own weak points and sweeping away the strong ones of his
adversary, and, poured round all, the fascinations of manner and
the embellishments of taste and learning, and this will satisfy ns
that to be really distinguished is no mean excellence.
There are motives to exertion that particularly apply to our
association, whose members are away from the crowded resorts
where daily collision takes place between mind and mind.
Exertion, except in those happily constituted, is apt to falter,
unless there are some exciting causes continually in action.
Much reflection and stern resolution are necessary with many, to
supply the deficiencies of place and to prevent the corroding
rust that is formed by neglect, and finds its way to the very
interior of the intellect. Let us imitate the example of illustri
ous predecessors : — of Coke in his industry, who " thanked God
that he never gave his body to physic, his heart to cruelty,* nor
his hand to corruption " : — of Hale, the proudest because the
purest name in English history ; " of unblemished integrity and
uprightness in every character of life, — of generous frankness
and open sincerity in conversation, of unalterable adherence in
all stations to the principles of civil and religious liberty, ac
companied with a serious regard to true piety ; " — and, in the
words of Baxter, " that unwearied student, that prudent man,
that solid philosopher, that famous lawyer, that pillar and basis
of justice, who would not have done an unjust act for any worldly
price or motive ; the ornament of his majesty's government, and
honor of England, the highest faculty of the soul of Westminster
*From this, however, I should except his conduct on the trial of Sir Walter
Raleigh that was marked with extreme severity and ill manners.

JOSEPH WILLARD. ]09
Hall, and pattern to all the reverend and honorable judges : that
godly, serious, and practical christian, the lover of goodness and
all good men. a lamenter of the clergy's selfishness, aud unfaith
fulness, and discord."* Let ns imitate the example of Selden,
Clarendon. Holt, Hardwicke. Nottingham. Mansfield. Thnrlow.
Sir William Jones, and the host of worthies, the lights of West
minster Hall: — andof onr own numerous distinguished menin
the profession, who have done so much for themselves and the
conntry : and dwell npon the recollection of the gifted jurists
who aided in the eanse of our Revolution, and in the establish
ment of onr frame of government, — of Hawley, James Otis,
Adams, Quincy, Ellsworth, Hamilton, Jay, Wythe. Jefferson.
Richard Henry Lee. Randolph. Henry, Parsons. Gore. Ames.
Dexter, Ring, and as the eye traces backward the course of time,
and we see their venerable forms passing in review before us.
like the Trojan hero we wonld exclaim —

-Manibus date lilia plenis :

Purpnrto? spargam iones."
It was men of this cast, who in stormy periods girded on the
armor, and subdued might to the empire of justice. They were
of that popular east in the profession, answering the description
of Janus, the pedant and Una, who. when the twelve judges were
brought before him in che case of the commendams, declared
" that ever since his coming to the crown, the popular sort of
lawyers had been the men that most affrontedly had trodden
npon his prerogative."

* It stows toe independence of ?:r Matthew Hale, who was » judge during the
time ofthe Commonwealth, is well as in the reign of Charles II., that when Crom
well urged him to swept the commission, he declined, airing as a reason th.it he
doubted the lawfulness of the Protector's authority. The reply of Cromwell w.-s
hpr'-ly chirpictcristleof that -:-<.:^i? bat powerful m:«n : viz. that fince S<? haj yi.
the pf > ? '< <ion of tke gvirerntufn. h« «;.< runZced tvkeep iK '.ind ic<mld ttotbe
erg>/.r.el emt of i; : that hwecer it K\ts his l;sire ta rule areonlin^ to the ,,itr.< of
tie i-ssd ;f:r :-aiek psrp-:?- ke had pitektd vp?a him ;< theptvptr ptr<-.n (¦-• be
emplo-ged i» tke aJmiaOf. ration <.>//»> :..v y*.t if tkeif wyild not permit Mm
togor-irmh? ml govts, ke :-.-..< -vs-^ret? to gocern b'j re-i co-.zU.

110 ADDRESS OF
The moral influence of the profession may be made still far
ther of benefit by earnestness and activity among its members.
As temptations to err are more numerous than those that beset
other professions, the Confidence reposed by the commuuity in
those who pursue jurisprudence, is a silent but noble and conclu
sive tribute of praise. It should be equally our comfort and
pride to bear testimony to the high and honorable feeling which
is a distinguishing characteristic of the jurists of our Common
wealth. Let us cherish this conservative principle of rectitude,
and scorn everything that looks remotely towards prevarication,
deceit, or any other dishonorable conduct. And if at any time,
by any unfortunate combination of circumstances, there should
be any one among us, which God forbid, who is a disgrace to his
name and office, and tends to bring odium upon the profession,
let there be no false delicacy in purging our ranks of the offence,
as we would our dwellings of a pestilence. Eor we are not only
placed in a situation that tasks to the utmost the manly intellect,
but, apart from higher motives, we are in the presence of a
world that scans with no delicate criticism, and is not sparing of
its censure : —
" Esto bonus miles, tutor bonus, arbiter idem
Integer; ambiguae si quando cicabere testis
Incertaeque rei, Phalaris licet imperit, ut sis
Falsus, et admoto dictet perjuria tauro,
Summum crede nefas animam praeferre pudori,
Et propter vitam, Vivendi perdere causas."
There is no moral power greater than that which a man of lead
ing and pure mind may exercise in the community. He moves
in society with a salutary example. His words, his actions, his
whole course of life constitute a precept of the noblest kind, and
with the highest sanctions. To those of every age and condition
he comes with beneficent aid ; and when his elements are mould
ering in the dust, a bright lustre arises from his tomb, that con
tinues to scatter light amid the debasing selfishness of the world.

JOSEPH WILLARD. Ill
To men of this cast, society owes much ; and if with their other
knowledge they are versed in the principles of jurisprudence,
when the clouds gather and the storms arise, which feeble men
may put in operation, but cannot control, and public danger is
upon ns, it is to such men we look for counsel and guidance.
I have thus endeavored, gentlemen, according to the measure
of my ability, to touch upon some subjects which it seemed to
me, might be of interest to us, at least for the time being, if of
no permanent value. I have given a relation, imperfect I fear,
of the early history of the Bar in this large and 'respectable
connty. Happy shall I be if any efforts of mine may be so far
blessed, as to preserve any important facts, or the names of any
individuals who were distinguished in their places in the elder
day ; thrice happy if any one suggestion or remark shall have
the tendency to cause ns to place a higher value on our pro
fession, and on the pursuit of letters. And as time passes on,
when lingering on the borders of life, in expectation of a speedy
release from its burdens and cares, from its mingled scenes of
happiness and sorrow, may it be onr joy, our sustaining reflection,
.that the profession of our choice, and the cause of good morals
and sound learning have not been degraded in our hands.

ADDRESS OF HON. EMORY WASHBURN.

15

At a meeting of the Bar of the County of Worcester, held in pur
suance of notice, at the Law Library, September 15, 1855, Hon. Ira
M. Barton was called to the chair, and Joseph Mason, Esq., was
appointed Secretary.
On motion of the Hon. Nathaniel Wood, of Fitchburg, a commit
tee was raised to consider the subject of a Social Festival of the Bar,
with instructions to report at a future meeting, and the following
gentlemen were appointed : —
Ira M. Barton,
Nathaniel Wood,
Benjamin D. Htde,
Francis Deane,
George W. Richardson,
Henry Chapin,
George F. Hoar.
During the Law Term of the Supreme Court, holden at Worcester
on the first Tuesday of the next October, the Committee reported in
favor of such a Festival, to embrace also the objects of an historical
address, the improvement of the County Law Library, and the format
tion of an Association of the Bar.
The Report of the committee was unanimously accepted, and the
same gentlemen were appointed a committee of arrangements, to carry
their recommendations into effect.
The time and place designated for the Festival, was Worcester,
February 7, 1856, it being the day of the first semi-annual meeting
of the Justices of the Court of Common Pleas, in that city ; and
the Hon. Emory Washburn accepted an invitation to deliver the
address upon tbe occasion.
Distinguished members of the Bar and of the Bench, from Massa
chusetts and the neighboring States, were invited as guests, aud on
the day appointed, at 5 o'clock P. M., at the New Court-house,
Ex-Governor Washburn delivered his address.

The subsequent action of the Bar is shown by the following letter
of Judge Barton: —

Worcester, February 22, 1856.
Hon. Emory Washburn.
Dear Sir : — As Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements for the recent
Festival of the Bar of the County of Worcester, and in pursuance of a vote
of the Bar, I am instructed to tender you "Their sincere thanks, for your
valuable, interesting, and eloquent Address, delivered on the occasion, and
to request a copy of the same for publication."
Very Respectfully Yours, IRA M. BARTOK.

Worcester, March 1, 1856.
Dear Sir: — In complying with the request contained in your note of the
22d ult., I am performing a pleasant duty, rather than following any personal
wish to give publicity to the address.
The memorials that a lawyer is ordinarily able to leave of his efforts at the
Bar, are necessarily brief. The arena upon which his powers are exercised,
is removed from public observation, and some of the noblest exertions of the
human intellect have been spent in determining questions of private right,
to be forgotten with the occasion that called them forth. If, therefore, my
brethren have furnished me an occasion to collect some memorials of those
who have heretofore filled places at the Bar, and are willing to give them a
more permanent form than the entertainment of a festive hour, I do not feel
that I have a right to decline the request.
I am, Very Respectfully, Your Ob't Serv't,
EMORY WASHBURN.
Hon. Ira M. Barton, Chairman, &c.

ADDRESS

OF HON. EMORY WASHBURN.

I am to speak this evening of the Law and its progress, and
of this Bar and its changes, during the last twenty-five years.
Measured by the experience of a life, how large is the space
which that period occupies !
Of all those who filled the places we occupy, twenty five years
ago, how few are here to-night, to share in the reminiscences
which it is designed to awaken. And what a grave has been
opened and closed over bright hopes, generous aspirations, and
stirring ambition, in the solemn experience of these few brief
years. What a change have they wrought in the individual man !
The stout frame has been bowed, the flowing locks have been
bleached and scattered, the beaming eye clouded and dimmed,
the gladsome spirits saddened, and the shadows of coming eve
ning grown fearfully long, as the lingerer stops in his lonely
walk, and looks around in vain for some once familiar companion
of his earlier days.
They found a young man full of hope, they have made him
an old man full of experience.
But if we contemplate this period in contrast with the life of
the Common Law, of whose history it forms a most important
chapter, it dwindles to the measure of a moment's space.
The origin of that system is indeed so distant that the long
vista of ages, through which alone the mind can regard it,

118 ADDRESS OF
blends in its perspective, the hues of truth and error, like tho
melting of the dim outline of the blue ocean with the bluer sky,
when we look out upon its waters, as they sleep in the stillness of
a summer's twilight.
I go back in my research to the day when Borne was gather
ing up her giant limbs to die, and left the few and scattered frag
ments of her imperial institutions, like the relics of half legible
inscriptions, and old imperishable stone-work, on which the eye
of the antiquary reads the tale of the five centuries of Roman
power and glory in that island.
I trace the slow and silent growth of institutions, which,
through another period of six hundred years, were springing up,
under the rule of a rude people, and I pause to admire the
sturdy independence, so nearly approaching to freedom, of the
Saxon, while I read the simple but wise ordinances of Ina and
Alfred, and listen to the counsels of their Wittenagemot — the
future Parliament of Great Britain — and mark the first rough
outline of that form of trial, which has since protected so many
against the power of the oppressor, by the majesty of a juror's
oath. And as I contemplate this broad, deep-laid, rough foundation
of Saxon law, I see planted and rising upon it, that stupendous
fabric of Feudalism, which the Norman conquest brought with
it as the element of its power and its perpetuity. The Baron's
castle in the midst of his broad domain, is frowning over the
hut and cottage of his vassal and bis serf. The mitred Bishop
keeps the conscience of the King, and is stealing in upon the
frank and manly doctrines of the English law, with the subtle
and artful inventions of the church, while the monarch is him
self waging an unequal contest against the ascendency of the
Pope on the one hand, and a storm of domestic faction with his
Barons on the other.
I see these Barons gathering at Runny mede, and among the

EMORY WASHBURN. 119
memorable records of what those stern old warriors thought and
did there, I read as a concession wrung from royal fear, but
treasured forever after in a nation's heart, the development of
that great element of personal right and private justice — " Nulli
vendimus nulli negabimus, aut differemus, justitiam vel rectum."
And as we recall that scene in fancy, and the thought flashes"
across the mind that some gifted spirit among those men of iron
nerve, may, with prophetic vision, have read that memorable
declaration, as we may now, engraved upon the seal of a Court
of Common Law, presiding over the civil rights of a million of
Freemen, with a wisdom and learning of which the pages of
Glanville and Bracton furnish but barren rudiments, — in a land
which even fancy had, till that moment, never conceived, the
whole comes back upon the imagination, as a spectacle of moral
grandeur, compared with which the by-play of war sinks into
insignificance. I trace, still onward, that course of events, which, infusing
new elements into the body of the law, changes not only the
relations of property, but the very ideas of social duties and
political rights.
The cunning shrewdness of the clergy has substituted, under
the guise of " Uses," the superstitions of a vitiated conscience,
for the plain, homely precedents of feudal simplicity, cheating
alike the crown and the Lord of their cherished prerogatives,
and gathering into the granary of the church the best fruits of
the English soil, in spite of charter and of statute.
There is something even dramatic in witnessing this struggle
— sturdy, English doggedness triumphing over priestly cunning.
Parbament has met at Merton. The Bishops are seeking to
introduce their own canon law, and are ready, in order to accom
plish it, to minister to the passions and vices of the impulsive
Barons. But the appeal is vain. In terms which could not be
mistaken, and in words which will be read with admiration in

120 ADDRESS OF
after days, they tell those ambitious churchmen, "nolumus leges
Angliae mutare," and England and her institutions are English
still. I pass over another period of four hundred years. A long
and severe struggle has been going on, the anathema of the Pope
and the thunder of the Vatican have lost their terror. Interdict
and excommunication can no longer clothe a people in sackcloth.
And the prestige of royalty itself has ceased to dazzle the eye of
a fickle multitude. A Plebeian Parliament has laid sacreligious
hands upon the Lord's anointed.
But Law has been, during all this time, silently gaining
strength and consistency in the kingdom, and the people are
beginning to learn that without rules to guide and check their
rulers, the rights of the citizen can never be secure.
And when, at last, that feeling of an Englishman's loyalty,
which had been cherished by the teachings of a thousand years,
triumphed over the party of freedom and fanaticism, Liberty
was found asserting her claims in behalf of private right, and
personal security against power and prescriptive wrong. At one
blow, Chivalry and Knight service, under which the tenant of
every manor in England had been groaning for six hundred
years, were laid prostrate, while that single engine of magic
power, the Habeas Corpus, was placed within the reach of the
humblest citizen, and at its touch the bars and bolts of the deep
est dungeon gave way, and the fetters of the oppressor fell
broken from the limbs of his victim.
As we come down from this eventful period, our pathway
grows luminous and clear in the light of Judicial learning.
The struggle between prerogative and the people, between
the crown and the priesthood, has passed and is passing away,
while the cumbrous framework of antiquated forms is giving
place, in the study of the jurist and the statesman, to the vital
izing principles of social advancement and individual right.

EMORY WASHBURN. 121
Commerce and Trade are fixing more firmly their marts in the
growing cities of the kingdom, and thrift is rewarding the enter
prise of toiling industry.
The Common Law, in the meantime, has kept pace with the
changes that are thus going on, and has expanded to meet the
unaccustomed wants of a community no longer confined to the
culture of the soil.
Under the guidance of her great masters, her Holts, her
Blackstones and her Mansfields, she has added to her primitive
elements, what she has gleaned from the systems of continental
Europe, and especially from the great storehouse of Roman
Jurisprudence, the elements of symmetry and consistency which
adapted to the condition of a commercial people, the rugged
relics of feudalism and the business of arms and agriculture
which still give character to her laws, and form the basis of her
constitution. The heretofore rival systems of law and equity, have learned
how to blend and harmonize with each other, under the adminis
tration of the Hardwickes and Camdens of the time, till a
system of Jurisprudence has grown up and become incorporated
into the constitution of the government, surpassing that of Rome
in the brighest days of her glory.
Fifty years more in the history of the English law, and we
find ourselves at the commencement of the period to which I am
limited in what I am to say this evening. Yet brief as is this
little space on the great chart of English history, I am greatly
misled or we shall find that more has been accomplished in
changing some departments of the law, and in fitting and adapt
ing the great body of its principles to the practical wants of the
community, than had been effected in either, if not all the
antecedent periods of which I have spoken.
Those periods had been either too dead for action, or too full
of struggle, as it were, for life itself, to allow the action of great
16

122 ADDRESS OF
minds, such only as can work out great problems of reform, in a
field so uninviting as the details of administering private justice.
The public mind was too much engrossed to heed the absurdities
and inconsistencies which deformed the patch-work systems of
local customs, ancient usages, and statute expedients, which made
up so much of the existing body of her municipal institutions.
The first and earliest of those periods can hardly be said to
belong to the historic age of the law.
The elements of society were being shaped into the form and
consistency of the state. But the extent to which the masses
had. rights to be protected, or, that they should be provided with
remedies for private wrongs, beyond something like a domestic
police, seems to have entered but feebly into the spirit of its
rulers or its laws.
In the next era, we see little more than a long, doubtful,
three-sided struggle between the Crown, the Barons, and the
Church, in whose alternate successes the people came in for a
meagre share only of whatever was gained by either side. A
strong national feeling was growing up among them, it is true,
but it was, after all, a period of struggle between masters, in
which the people were chiefly passive and their rights unheeded.
Nor was it till the spirit of inquiry which the Reformation
awakened, had infused life and energy into the torpid action of
the popular mind, that the great third estate — the Commons of
England — learned how to measure tbe power they afterwards
wielded. It would be pleasant to pause in this rapid review, on what
was achieved for the cause of popular right during the Common
wealth and at the Restoration, and especially in the so-called
Revolution of 1688, when the hallowed sanctity of royal preroga
tive gave way before the storm of popular indignation. It
would be pleasant to trace how the learning and independence
of Coke, the profound sagacity of Bacon, the mild virtues and

EMORY WASHBURN. 123
uncompromising integrity of Hale, and the varied labors of the
patriotic and upright Somers, became inwrought into the science
of the Common law, while Courts and Juries were gaining that
independence which was at last guaranteed to the Judges of
England, by the act of William III. And it would be no less
interesting to trace how questions of personal rights, and rights
of property, at last, became the engrossing business of the
courts, in place of what should be the limits of prerogative, the
jurisdiction of rival courts, or by what means the power of a
papal hierarchy should be disarmed of its terror.
It should be borne in mind that the commercial spirit of the
last century was engrafted upon the landed interests of England,
for the regulation and preservation of which so much of the
Common Law had come into existence. And the facility with
which these were blended into a common system, and adminis
tered by the same courts, is but another illustration of the won
derful adaption of that Common Law, to the wants and condition
of a nation made np of men in all the walks and employments
of life.
When, therefore, the attention of the leading minds in the
kingdom bad been withdrawn from the political excitements,
and the almost continuous wars in which the nation had been
engaged for more than a generation, it is not surprising that it
should have been directed to the incongruous materials of which
the Common Law was composed, — the customs and forms of the
days of the Henrys and Edwards registered upon the same page
with the broad cosmopolitan jurisprudence of an era of arts, and
commerce, and navigation.
Among these stand prominently the names of Romilly in the
department of criminal jurisprudence, and of Brougham in the
various other departments of the law, as the reformers of the
present century.
Those who are familiar with the changes which have actually

124 ADDRESS OF
been accomplished in England during the last twenty-five years,
will be ready to accord to it the character of the great age of
English legal and judicial Reform.
Indeed, so rapid and important have those changes been, that
it was stated by a writer in Blackwood, that, when recently, one
of the leading lawyers at the Queen's Bench proposed to repub
lish Blackstone with corrections and additions that should adapt
the work to the present state of the law, it was fonnd that, with
the exception of the first volume, the identity of the work would
be destroyed, and the proposal was abandoned after the publica
tion of a single volume.
Neither good taste nor your patience would admit of my dwell
ing upon these at large, and I can therefore name only a few.
Among these, Fines and Recoveries, the long tolerated farce of
feigned issues, fictitious parties and false records in a grave
Court of Justice, are forever abolished. Conveyances of land
have been stripped of their useless verbiage, and rendered simple
and intelligible. The mystic subtilities of lineal and collateral
warranties, no longer puzzle the brain of the lawyer. The forms
of more than fifty actions at the common law have been ex
punged. Volumes devoted to points as nice as the line between
the north and northeast side of a hair, upon the interest of wit
nesses, have been rendered pointless by opening the witness-
stand to the very parties themselves. So far has this measure of
reform been carried, that the very bones of Fitzherbert, and
Saunders, aud Booth, and Rastal must have stirred in their
graves as the sacreligious hand was laid upon one after another
of the beauties and romances of real actions, and special plead
ing, — upon the " Quibus" and the "Post," the " Ayel," and the
" Besayil," the "Traverse," and the "giving color," and their
places supplied with English terms and English common sense.
Nor was this accomplished without many a sigh from the
living old school conservatives of the day. When at last it was

EMORY WASHBURN. 125
seriously proposed to abolish " contigent remainders," — the very
poetry of legal abstractions — one of this class is said to have
exclaimed "abolish contingent remainders! Why not repeal the
law of gravitation?"
The quaint rubbish that had gathered around the body of the
common law, in the progress of a thousand years, like the sea
weed and barnacles that grow and cling to the bottom of a noble
frigate, was scraped off by the hand of reform, till courts and
the popular mind have begun to sympathize with each other in
the new revelation, that the ends of justice had better be sought
for, than its antiquated forms and machinery preserved.
When we consider what has been accomplished in England
since 1828, when Lord Brougham made his first great speech
upon the necessity of legal reform, we shall find that it has not
been limited to matters of form and detail alone. It has per
vaded the spirit of English Jurisprudence, embracing alike the
interests of commerce and the arts, while it has moulded and
fitted these to the prescriptive rights of birth, and the rents and
burdens of the tenantry of the soil. It is a green and vigorous
life springing out of and sustained by the firm old buttresses
which were reared by Titan hands away back in the obscurity
of ages.
Around the walls of that old Abbey — old almost as the Com
mon Law itself — within whose aisles, the portrait statue of Lord
Mansfield holds an honored place among monuments of kings
and nobles, of statesmen, aud poets, and heroes, the green and
glossy ivy has twined itself into a shroud of living verdure.
But there is a principle in its very growth that endangers the
stout old fabric to which it clings. The fibres and tendrils of its
roots search out every softening and decaying particle, every
crack and scale in the stone-work of which it is composed, and
with almost magic power loosen and eat out the very walls them
selves, so silently, yet so irresistibly, that new materials are con-

126 ADDRESS OF
stantly being supplied to preserve it from a slow but certain
decay. Such is the care and skill, the wisdom and foresight, which are
perpetnelly demanded in an age of change, and a vigorous para
sitical growth to preserve that venerable fabric of the Common
Law, in which are found so many noble monuments of past ages,
and such rich treasures of constitutional liberty and personal
right. It is a matter of State and even National pride, that while
the mother country is striving to adapt her laws, in respect to
personal rights, and her forms of attaining private justice, to thG
wants of her citizens, she has, perhaps unconsciously, coined so
largely from the simple laws and customs of these, her off-shoot
republics. When, therefore, we turn to the records of our own common
wealth, during the same period to which I am limited, we may
indulge something like a feeling of gratified self-love to see how
little occasion there has been for anything like a radical reform
hero. That we have seen changes it is true, but profound as is
presumed to be the wisdom of our legislatures, it may, in the end,
. be discovered that even legislative change is not always improve
ment or reform.
And, if I might look abroad for illustration, I might venture
to doubt the successful working of a system which makes the
popular voice the criterion of judical fitness for office.
It will be long, I fear, before we shall see a Kent, or a Living
ston, or a Spencer, rising out of that bubbling cauldron whose
ingredients are to be supplied from time to time by tbe popular
passions of Whigs or Republicans, of Hard-shells and Soft-shells,
of Know-nothings and Know-somethings, as they one after the
other snatch at the spoils that feed their patriotism.
But without anticipating what are to be the fruits of reform

EMORY WASHBURN. 127
here, let me pay at least this tribute to the present and the past.
For many years the business associations of my life have been
with the courts of Massachusetts. That feeling of respect,
almost of awe, with which I first loked upon the venerable men
who theu graced these seats of justice, has hardly lost the fresh
ness of association by familiarity.
Of the changes -that have taken place in the incumbents of the
highest of these, it may not be delicate for me to speak individu
ally on this occasion. But while I speak of the past, in paying
a humble, but just, tribute to the courts of our own Common
wealth, I might extend my remarks to other courts, State as well
as National, whose presence and learning I have been permitted
to witness.
The feelings of veneration with which an American Lawyer
first enters the courts of Westminster Hall, are partly tradition
ary, and partly the result of the associations and circumstances
by which he finds himself surrounded.
Those who have read, and who has not 1 the sketch of Wan-en
Hastings, by Macaulay, will at once recall his magnificent
description of the scene of the trial of his impeachment.
That glorious old Hall, built by William Rufus, the scene of
so many of the great events in English History, two hundred and
seventy feet in length, and ninety in height, without a column or
pillar, or anything to break the effect of its imposing gothic pro
portions, serves as a vestibule to the respective apartments, in
which these courts are held.
But for the mind, already excited by the recollection of events
connected with the history of the hall, through which he has just
passed, there is nothing to awaken an emotion in the style or
magnitude or decorations of the pent-up quarters into which
these courts are crowded.
He is, however, anything but to be envied, who can stand in
the conscious presence where Coke, and Hale, and Mansfield,

128 ADDRESS OF
and Ellenborough have sat in judgment, and Dunning, and
Wedderburn, and Erskine, and Follet have pleaded, without
feeling awed by the very genius of the place.
Pardon the seeming egotism, if I say it was the first object I
sought in that vast metropolis, and the spot to which I directed
my daily walk, with feelings like those of a pilgrim at the shrine
of his devotion.
I looked upon that array of Judges in their robes of office, and
I heard them addressed as " Your Lordships " by titled Barristers,
and Crown officers among the leading men in Parliament, with a
profound respect that was not all assumed. I saw members of
these courts presiding over trials at Nisi Prius, in causes which
enlisted some of the first talent in the land. And I felt more
than I could utter, as I stood within those precincts, where the
associations of the past mingled with the emotions which novelty
and the imposing dignity of the scene could not fail to awaken.
But when I came to analyze this spectacle, to lay aside for a
moment the adventitious decorations and historic associations —
to regard only the men of whom tbe Bench was composed, grave,
learned and reverend as they were, and to listen to their
occasional remarks, and their more elaborate opinions, it seemed
to me, that for true dignity, high judicial bearing, quick appre
hension, patient attention, and seeming impartiality, we need not
go to Westminster Hall for better models than we may find at
home. Without undertaking to compare the present condition of the
Bar of Massachusetts, with what it once was, it is safe to affirm
that a system of educational training, of practice and of pro
fessional intercourse and deportment, which reared and fitted the
men who have honored these seats of Justice, should be
approached with some distrust, at least, by him who should seek
to revolutionize or reform it.
And yet, the attempt to do this has been ruthlessly made

EMORT WASHBURN. 129
more than once, within the recollection of some of ns. and a
radical change has been thereby wrought in the constitution aad
preparation for the Bar. Instead of the period of three or five
years novitiate, which was once required before entering the
outer courts of the sanctuary of the profession, and tarrying
in that middle ground, between hope and fruition, for two years,
and yet another two years before donning the robes, and title,
and privileges of a " Counsellor," he now starts " from the
rough," and in two short years, by the polishing process of what
goes by the name of an " examination," comes out the fit com
panion and associate of the very sages of the law.
And what must strike the uninitiated as something like a
solecism, the more books there are to read, the less is the time
necessary for the task. The more the relations of business and
society become multiplied and complicated, the more quickly are
they mastered, and the higher the demands for scholarship, learn
ing and* mental discipline in the profession, the less the occasion
to acquire either, before entering it, and claiming its honors and
its rewards.
We witness as the fruits of one branch of this reform, the
scattered and nncared for county libraries of which the excise,
cheerfully contributed by the older members of the Bar. had laid
a creditable foundation. Bnt I leave the memory of such a
reformer to the blessings of him, who, after seeking in vain in
tiie place where it should be. the volume, always the missing one,
which he most needs, plods back to his office and recalls the
cause of his disappointment and his fruitless search.
And yet. there have been changes during this period in some
of the details of onr legal system, which many were disposed to
rarsrd as veritable reforms. All of us have read of t::e beauties
and charms of special pleading, whicli drew forth from my Lord
Coke, amon? others, sueh high and frequent eulogiums. With
him, words were, literally, things, and "placitium a placendo," —

130 ADDRESS OF
to plead well and to please well, were, in his mind, an obvious
synonym. But to a layman who has never mastered this refined system
of the keenest logic, I fear it would be useless, if I were able, to
describe its beauty and its symmetry, or to show the use of pleas,
and rejoinders, and surrejoinders, and rebutters, and traverses,
and demurrers, which the skilful players in the legal game of
chess, play out like pawns ou the chess-board, before they bring
forward the pieces by which they are eventually to win.
When I think of the power of old associations, and remember
that our meeting is not limited to those of our own number, I
know not how far it is safe to confess the part which this Bar
took in the blow that struck down that ancient system. A report
prepared by their direction, upon the subject, is still extant, which
found its way into the newspapers of the day, and was nearly
coincident with the act of the legislature of 1836, which declared
that "in every civil action hereafter to be tried — all matters of
law or fact, in defence of such action, may be given in evidence
under the general issue, and no other plea in bar shall be
pleaded." But whatever were the motives for such a reform, whether
because its advocates knew too much or too little, to stand by a
system which had engaged the keenest minds and sharpest
intellects at the English Bar, it had, at least, the apology of
being designed to simplify and render intelligible the proceedings
of our courts, and to do something to save, if possible, a sacri
fice of justice to the mysteries of technicality.
But it is true, that even after this, the language of law papers
was not reduced to the homely vernacular of the nursery or the
workshop, and a man was, sometimes, shocked to learn that he
had been guilty of "trover and conversion" in claiming property
that he owned, or to see some hasty expression of contempt for
a blackguard, spread out into a volume by colloquia and innuen-

EMORY WASHBURN. 131
dos, and exaggerated expletives, under the verbiage of which,
the charge itself, like Falstaff in the buck basket, was well nigh
smothered by the foul and offensive coverings beneath which it
was brought into court.
But, after all, these were harmless excrescences upon a system
which had become venerable by age, and respectable by the ends
at which it aimed, and the results which it ordinarily attained.
And when, therefore, it was proposed to efface old lines, and
simplify what in the nature of things must be more or less com
plex, by merely giving it a new name, there were those who
innocently doubted whether there was much of progress in such
a reform. There are those who, even now, can no more readily discern
the subject of a suitor's complaint, because he is told it is a
" tort," than if it had been spoken of as " Trespass," or " Case,"
in the brief, terse, customary language in which, until lately, the
Plaintiff told the tale of the wrongs for which he sought redress.
One of the prominent events in the legal history of Massachu
setts during the period of which I am speaking, was the revision
of her statutes.
The arduous and responsible duty of renderiug a mass of
intricate and often conflicting legislation simple and intelligible,
was confided to a commission whose character and capacity were
a guaranty that the work should be faithfully and ably done.
But thoroughly, and as was fondly believed, completely, as
this revision was accomplished, the love of change, and spirit of
innovation, prompted by the new and growing wants of a com
munity with such varied interests, had swelled to a volume of
near a thousand pages, and demanded a new revision, even while
one of the former commissions yet survived. That work is in
able hands,* and if it shall be accomplished as successfully as the

* The commission consists of Hon. Judge Parker, of the Dane Law School, Hon.
Mr. Richmond, of Adams, and Hon. Judge Richardson, of Lowell.

132 ADDUESS OF
one which it is to supersede, posterity will owe a debt of grati
tude to their labors, like that which it has paid to the memory of
those who preceded them in that important field.
The last of that number has just gone down to an honored
grave in a ripe old age, bearing with him the veneration and
respect of an entire community.
The place upon the bench has long since been filled which he
graced and honored in the vigor of his manhood, and thc world
will go on as if he had never taken a prominent part in its affairs.
But in giving an outline of the legal and judicial history of
Massachusetts for the last quarter of a century, the record would
be incomplete that did not present, prominently, among those
whose character and labors as jurists have distinguished it, the
name of Chaeles Jackson.
The truest annals, perhaps, of the progress of the law are to
be found in the reported decisions of our courts.
So far as our own Commonwealth is concerned, though one of
the earliest to make provision for their publication, the work is
of a comparatively recent date.
The earliest volume of our reports contains the decisions of
the year 1804. Sixty-two more volumes have been published
since that time, thirty-five of which have been given to the
public within the period of which I am speaking, and materials
for other volumes are nearly or quite ready for the press.
Of the extent, variety anil accuracy of the learning they con
tain, the vast amount of labor and untiring industry they evince,
and of the research and scope of thought necessary to their
production, I need not, even if I had time, speak at large before
such an audience.
If the legislation of a State furnishes one of the best means
of studying its political history, the reported decisions of its
courts servo as, perhaps, a scarcely less accurate criterion of the
slow, impalpable, yet certain progress which its unwritten law is

EMORY WASHBURN. 133
making, to keep pace with the sentiments, and wants, and char
acter of its people. Principles which at ono period are little
more than hinted at, or slmdowod forth with hesitation by its
judges, become, in time, elementary in their character, and their
soundness no one presumes to question.
These may not partake of the fluctuation of public sentiment,
but I greatly mistake, or we shall perceive as wo glance at the
contents of these successive volumes, that there are classes of
topics prevalent at one time, which nearly subside at others, and
that groat issues which engage tho public attention at one period,
are scarcely heard of at another.
That those currents in the popular mind should influence, often
unconsciously, the judicial mind of the State, is but saying what
so many believe, that those who are to act. as interpreters of the
law, should tako part in the actual administration of it. Shut
up the wisest man in a cloister, and surround him only with the
records of the past, and let no whisper of what is passing in the
great world around him, reach his ear, and though you make him
as learned and impartial as Justice herself, you make him at best
bnt a monk in ermine.
It has seemed to mo that there was something like a public
pulse in the law, which accurate observers, situated as our courts
are, often feel without knowing how its movements reach their
consciousness, and if it acts upon courts in modifying old
dogmas, or infusing new elements of life into the body of our
jurisprudence, it is, in its turn, acted upon by the direction it
receives from the calm judgment, the trained sagacity, and
authoritative opinions of their Judges.
In view, therefore, of what we have read of the changes
through which our law is passing, while many a rough, ugly
excrescence has been removed, that marred its symmetry and
beauty, we find new blood infused into its system, and new vigor
vitalizing its action.

134 ADDRESS OF
There are one or two legislative reforms, which I ought not to
pass over in silence.
Much as I idolize the stability and consistency of popular
favor, I am obliged to confess, in regard to one of these reforms,
that from early prejudice, or other imfirmity of judgment, I have
at times supposed that the Judges of our Supreme Courts, taken
collectively, were better able to determine the constitutionality
of a law, than a man drawn for the first time from the farm or
the shop, to serve on the panel of a Common Pleas Jury.
But as our law makers of 1855 thought otherwise, I am bound
to yield this traditionary impression to their superior wisdom,
and set it down to the progress of the last quarter of a century,
unless the example of one branch of the present legislature
should tend to restore some of the old-fashioned notions of our
fathers. As we cast our eyes along the history of our race, it is
refreshing to see the part which chivalry has taken in improving
the social and moral condition of mankind.
Fortunately, the spirit is not dead, and most fortunately it
still delights in tilting its lance in the cause of the oppressed of
the fairer, I hardly dare say, weaker sex.
And that, too, has been at work even in the field of legal
reform. We all remember what a cry, as of captive maidens,
and enslaved matrons, went up from convention after convention
a few years since. It could not fail to arouse the spirit of
chivalry, sometimes dormant but never dead.
It was found that the age had got in advance of such old
times as " Femes covert," " Marital rights" and the like. So
far as the sexes were concerned, " Duties " became a noun of
masculine gender alone ; while " Rights " put on the feminine
garb, or at least, the " bloomer " part of it, to be seen and read
of all men.
And nobly and effectually was the work accomplished. It has

EMORY WASHBURN. 135
relieved young men from temptation, and many a poor lawyer
who might have sold himself for a certain price, payable in lands
and stocks, will be put upon his guard in making heart invest
ments hereafter.
It may be no serious obstacle in the way of love and romance ;
but when he remembers that all a woman hath, at the time of
her marriage, remains " her sole and separate property," " not
subject to the disposal of her husband," and what is better, not
" liable for his debts," he may, like a class of modern politicians,
be led to calculate the "value of the union."
But the chief glory of this chivalrous measure consists in the
singleness into which marital rights have resolved themselves.
That old-fashioned community of interests, a community of
pursuits, which made it a kind of pleasant copartnership to earn
together a little competency, for what even now is common prop
erty — their children — has become obsolete by law.
Now the married woman, happily relieved from any occasion
of being another's helpmeet, " may carry on," in the language of
the Statute, " any trade or business, aud perform any labors or
services, on her own sole account," and her earnings shall be
"her sole and separate property."*
This- is the last chapter in the history of legal reform. What
is to be the next, I must leave for my successor to record.
But if, in its progress, we are to listen upon the Sabbath to the
devotions of some St. Agnes, or, upon a week-day, to the learn
ing and eloquence of a Portia at the Bar, or a Novella of
Bologna in the Law Lecture Room, or see sickness robbed of
half its pain and most of its terror, by the dulcet tones and deli
cate little doses with which beauty shall battle with disease, those
who may stand, at the end of another quarter of a century,
where we do now, may, as they look back upon our unfortunate
condition, borrow the measure of one of England's poets, if they
* Stat. 1855, c. 304.

136 ADDRESS OF
do not his language, when they exclaim, as they doubtless then
will, — "Law's thorny field was but a tangled wild,
Till woman tilled it, when it bloomed and smiled."
When I turn to the recollections of the last twenty-five years
which are awakened by the history of our own Bar, and our own
County, while there is much over which to rejoice, there is not a
little over which an old man may almost be justified in dropping
a tear. Shall I speak of the social changes in the habits and inter
course of the Bar, which have grown up within that period ?
I know I am entering upon perilous ground. To doubt that
we live in an age of progress, to hint that railroads and tele
graphs are not of unmingled and unmeasured good to man, or
to dare to think, much more to say, that the present does not
outstrip the past in everything that goes to make up life, will
sound, I am aware, like the very key note of " Fogyism " itself.
But there are a few, sorry am I they are so few, who can go
back with me to our courts, our " court weeks," and our Bar
gatherings, before the period of which I am speaking.
What a contrast with the present ! " Court week" was then
literally what it was called, instead of reaching in one continued
session as now, from the earliest harvest home, round to the
latest planting season, and the forty-one days of term time of
the C. C. Pleas in 1831, grown to one hundred and forty-two in
1854. And those who came to court, did so to some good pur
pose. It was for the business and relaxation of a week, instead
of whisking in upon a rail in the morning, to look at the list on
the Clerk's desk, like the numbers in the managers' report of an
old-fashioned lottery-drawing, and to guess how many weeks it
will be before he must go through the same interesting process
again, and then home by the next train before nightfall.
Oh the "dies fasti !" when, within the charmed circle of the

EMORY WASHBURN. 137
Bar, greetings were exchanged, groups were gathered, and dig
nity unbent. But it was the evenings, those "nodes ambrosiance"'
of court weeks, alas ! with those who enlivened them, now only
among the things that are past — that told the strongest upon
the life of the lawyer of that day.
Could the parlors of the two or three boarding-bouses where
they congregated, repeat the wit, and re-echo the laugh, and tell
of the jokes and humor, in which even grave judges sometimes
shared, after the duties of the day were over, we might, as they
did, gather up a store of pleasant memories to serve as bright
new coinage for the small change of social life and convivial
intercourse. And why should I speak, unless it is to sigh over them, of
those other social gatherings, where the Muse ofttimes sat down
with us at the festive board, and the best of fellows, the best of
lawyers, and some of them, afterwards, the best of judges,
poured forth the best of poems and the best of jokes into the
ears of the best and kindliest of critics ?
Those days are indeed gone by — " Qualis eram non sum."
And though I would not go back to the days of the old stage
coaches, and the one-horse wagon, as the means of reaching
justice, or throw a scruple's weight in the way of Temperance,
I have sometimes thought it could do no harm if we should,
sometimes, come together as if we were really social beings, and
indulge, if no further, in listening to the traditions of days when
at the firesides of Mrs. Blake and Miss Stearns, and around
StockwelFs well spread table, there was sparkling of wit and the
ontgusliing of warm hearts and cheerful spirits.
Pardon this local allusion, and set it down to the garrulity of
a busy memory, teeming with the httle incidents of which so
much of humble life is made np.
As I recall the history of the last twenty-five years of this
18

138 ADDRESS OF
County, I cannot forbear alluding to the condition of our County
buildings. The ugly old stone prison that stood hard by here, has
disappeared. The inadequate accommodations furnished by the
courthouse then and still standing, for the rapidly increasing
business and population of the County, have been amply supplied
by the structure in which we are assembled. It is alike a monu
ment to the taste, forecast, and the independence of a Board,
who, though dependent upon a popular vote for their election,
did not hesitate to obey the call of duty.
They acted for the County as it was, as it is, and — may we not
hope — as it will be, for a century to come, the prosperous, thriv
ing, independent, united community, which no true son of hers
ever blushed to call his home, or failed to feel that her fame and
her honor were a part of his own best heritage.
As we revert, again, to the record of our Courts, we find at
the commencement of the period to which I am limited, four
Judges upon the Bench of the Supreme Court.*
One only of that number — " serus in coelum redeat " — now
remains at his post of duty. Two sleep among the honored
dead. Putnam, the able commercial lawyer and upright judge,
the courteous gentleman, and the companion of ever ready and
kindly sympathies, after a retirement from the bench of several
years, was the first to pass away.
The last year has witnessed the departure of the other,f so
long and so worthily associated with the first.
A few months since, I fouud him, of an evening, sitting in his
study, and with an eye undimmed by age, reading Plato, to
ascertain, as he said, what advances had been made in modern
times in the science of morals and politics, and how much the
world was indebted for its present condition, to the revelations of
the Christian Religion. And as I thought of him as the pro-
* Vide Appendix, A. t Judge Wilde, died June 22, 1855; Vide Appendix, A.

EMORY WASHBURN. ' 139
found lawyer to whose eye even the subtlest pages of the black-
letter folio were luminous and clear, and sat and listened to bis
cheerful, earnest conversation, in which the simple dignity of
profound thought was mingled with the pleasant recollections of
the past, and the hopeful anticipations of the future, I conld not
but envy the man who had brought, out of the conflicts of so
long a life, so rich a treasure of duties, consciously performed, of
esteem and affection so worthily won, and of reputation for
purity and uprightness of heart, and singleness of purpose, so
universally accorded to him as a judge, which gave grace and
dignity to his profound learning and impartial judgment.
Within the period spoken of, nine others have been called to
fill places upon that Bench, one only of whom has gone to his
reward.* And long may it be ere delicacy towards the living,
shall no longer restrain the utterance of what feeling might
otherwise dictate.
Of the four judges of tho then Court of Common Pleas,|
three have gone to join the generation that preceded them.
Chief Justice Ward was known to us only by the reputation for
learning and integrity which he had acquired in other parts of
the Commonwealth.:):
Judge Strong was one of our own number. § A few of us
remember him before he had been elevated to that place, when
he honorably filled a seat in Congress, and was called thence to
a vacancy upon the Bench.
With a good legal mind, and respectable attainments in his
profession, he brought much experience in the practical affairs of
* Judge Hubbard died Dec. 24, 1847, at the age of 62. t Vide Appendix, B. J Ch.
J. Ward held the office from 1821 till 1841; he died October 7, 1847, at the age of 84.
§ Judge Strong was a native of Amherst, and the son of Hon. Simeon Strong,
Judge of the Supreme Court. He was graduated at Williams College in 1798. He
was admitted to the Bar in 1803, and commenced business in Athol, and after remain
ing there about three years removed to Westminster. From 1812 to 1814 he was a
member of the Senate, and again in 1844. In 1818 he was appointed Judge of C. C.
Pleas, and retained the office till 1843. He removed to Leominster after his appoint
ment to the Bench, and resided there till his death in 1850, at the age of 70.

140 * ADDRESS OF
life, to the business of the Court, and did much to elevate and
sustain its character. He won the confidence of all, by his
uprightness as a judge, and the diligence and fidelity with which
he performed his duties. He retired from the Bench while his
powers were unbroken, but found the evening of his days clouded
by infirmity and disease, with which he struggled without com
plaint, and bore up against them with the dignity and cheerful
ness of a good man.
The last of the three has passed away from the shades of retire
ment, within which he had lived for many years, within the last
few months.*
Though wanting many of the qualities of a perfect judge,
there never was a more upright and honest man, or a more
sincere lover of truth and justice, than he. What he lacked
was due to his temperament alone. Every one felt that his
instincts were all right, and that his judgment was guided by an
honest purpose and high attainments in learning.
Never suspecting fraud in his own guileless nature, no one
could be a more uncompromising foe to trick or chicanery when
once detected. The sod does not rest on a kinder heart than
that which once animated the manly form of Judge Cummings.
Of the others who have been members of this Court within
our period, I have not time to speak, though three of their num
ber have been added to the starred names that are so rapidly
swelling the catalogue of the eminent men that have departed
from our midst. | And the last mail brings the sad intelligence
of another vacant seat and another stricken household. Sudden,
fearfully sudden, has been the blow that has stricken down one

*Hon. Judge Cummings, who died March 30, 1855, aged 69. t Ch. J. Wells died
June 23, 1854, aged 63. Judge Ward died May 29, 1848, aged 39. Judge Colby died
Feb. 22, 1853, aged 44. lie was Dist.-Atty. of the Southern District after his
resignation of the place of Judge. Judge Byington had accepted our invitation and
was expecting to be present on the occasion of this address, when he was suddenly
stricken down by disease.

EMORY WASHBURN. 141
whom we had fondly hoped to meet here this evening, and
turned our joy into sadness. Greater and more brilliant men
may have fallen, but a truer heart, a more upright judge, or a
man of more honorable feelings or guileless life, is not left to
commemorate or record the virtues of the dead.
The Court has, from various causes, been prolific in names.
Twenty-two different Judges have held seats upon that Bench
within the last twenty-five years. One of these causes, happily
is, in part at least, removed.
As I contemplate the fact, that more than a thousand million
of dollars of the wealth of the citizens of this Commonwealth,
owes no little of its security and value to a wise and impartial
administration of her laws, I think, with anything but feelings
of pride, of that penny-wise policy which has, at times, ground
down her judges to rates of compensation below what some of
her private corporations pay for looking after the running of
their rail cars, or the speed of their spinning jennies.
The Attorney and Solicitor General of twenty-five years ago,*
have passed away. Eminent in their day, they were long in
office, and formed a connecting link between the class of lawyers
who entered the Bar soon after the revolution, and our own
times. Belonging to no particular locality, their history, their
services, and their reputation, are rather the property of the
whole Commonwealth, than the subjects of extended notice
while treating of a single County.
Of the Judges of Probate, four have held office within our
prescribed period.f With the presence of three of that number
we are favored this evening, including him who presides over its
proceedings. The otherj long stood as a kind of connecting link between

* Hon. Perez Morton, Attorney-General, and Hon. Daniel Davis, Solicitor-General.
Mr. Morton was Attorney-General from 1810 to 1832. He died Oct. 14, 1837, at the
age of 87, in Dorchester, t Vide Appendix, C. J Judge Paine.

142 ADDRESS OF
the modern bar and the ante-revolutionary days, many of whose
actors he had personally known.
After having held the place of County Attorney, he presided
for more than an entire generation, with great approbation, over
the duties of a Court wliich requires learning, patience, diligence,
and a ready sympathy, and in 1840, at the ripe age of eighty-
two, nearly sixty years from his admission to the bar, his name,
like an old familiar land-mark, ceased to hold its accustomed
place at the head of the lawyers of the then town of Worcester.
Four, during that period, have held the place of District or
County Attorney, and another has recently been added to the
list.* Of these, including the last, four belonged to the Bar of
this County.
Of one of these it may not be improper for one who learned
by experience to appreciate his efforts in that office, to say that
it was sometimes difficult for an antagonist to determine whether
he was the most effectually subdued by his adroitness or his
courtesy. Another, though in brief possession of the office, I am unwil
ling to pass over in silence, though he was scarcely known beyond
the limits of this Bar.t
He came into the profession mature in years, and strong in
native powers, but already the doomed victim of disease. He
struggled with manly resolution and unshrinking fortitude,
against a malady that would have crushed the hopes and spirits
of an inferior nature, and won for himself, as a public officer, an
approbation and respect which harmonized with the esteem in
which he was held as a companion and a friend.
His fate was but a new illustration of the bright mark at
which death loves to aim his fatal shaft.
Passing from this office to that of the principal Clerk of the

* Vide Appendix, D. t B. F. Newton.

EMORY WASHBURN. 143
Courts, we find that four have been incumbents of the place.*
Here, too, I may not properly speak of but one of that number.
But in recalling the name of Kendall, the modest worth, the
amiable virtues, the scholarly tastes, and the unblemished purity
which characterized his life, at once rise before the mind.
He had been a well-read lawyer, though little fitted, by taste,
for the rougher passages of the profession.
In Congress he belonged to a school of politicians — God grant
it may not become quite obsolete! — who, if they spoke, said what
they meant, and voted for the right because it was the right.
He had doubtless been a greater man, and more eminent in his
profession, had he felt the goadings of poverty, or the calls upon
a husband, or a father's instincts for exertion. But the world
has little to forgive when it comes to take the account of his life,
and sees the preponderance of the good he accomplished.
Four have successively had in charge the executive duties of
the County, in the office of Sheriff,! and though two only of
these were originally of the Bar, their connection with the Courts
calls for a passing notice.
One only of these can be alluded to on this occasion. Of
sound judgment, great practical knowledge, unbending integrity,
and with a heart kind as that of a woman, he knew nothing like
fear, and went right on, wherever the path of duty led. He
knew neither friend nor foe, in his judgment of what was just,
and when, to accomplish some party arrangement, it became
necessary to sacrifice a model officer, he retired with dignity to
private life, where he needed no extrinsic influence to command
respect, and there and thus he died.
To speak of the Bar individually, would obviously exceed the
limits of my time or your indulgence.
I find upon the List of Counsellors in 1830, the names of

*Hon. Abijah Bigelow, Hon. Joseph G. Kendall; Charles W. Hartshorn and
Joseph Mason, Esquires. + Vide Appendix, E.

144 ADDRESS OF
fifty-six ; of Attorneys at the Supreme Court, sixteen ; and of
Attorneys at the C. C. Pleas the names of fourteen ; making
eighty-six in the whole. These were scattered in unequal
numbers through thirty-five of the then fifty-four towns in the
County. Of that number, forty-five have died. Eighteen who are now
living, have left the County, others have retired from professional
life, till ten only now remain in practice at the Bar.
Within the period mentioned, from one hundred and forty to
one hundred aud fifty have been, at different times, or now are,
members of the Bar, in addition to the eighty-six first mentioned.
About ninety-five of these still remain connected with the
profession in the County. Sixteen of the towns in which lawyers
were settled in 1830, no longer enjoy the light of such lumina
ries of their own. Death, or an exhausted treasury, has driven
them from the former scenes of their struggles.
These few statistics show the rapid changes that are constantly
taking place in the condition of our Bar. A professional life is
proverbially brief, and a young aspirant for its honors, has
hardly got through wishing Providence to provide for the seniors
that stand between him and success, before he finds himself
equally a subject of the prayers of his juniors, who crowd and
jostle him in his course, before he has hardly had time to
measure his own speed.
For this, or some other reason, the prizes that are won, are
few compared with the whole number that enter the arena to
compete for them.
When we read of the receipts of some of the eminent English
Barristers, or of some of the Bar of our own country, we make
a false estimate of the true amount of success that is achieved by
the profession at large.
Forced by the position in which they are placed, to assume the

EMORY WASHBURN. 145
externals of competency, the public at large are little aware how
often this gives a false impression as to professional success.
I am not disposed to complain, nor do I believe our own Bar
has not been, when compared with others, reasonably successful
and prosperous. But the statistics of the Probate Office tell
rather a sad tale.
Of the estates of forty-five of the lawyers of the County living
in 1830, nine had no inventories returned, though these embraced
some who had been the most successful. Twelve were either
never settled at all, or settled in some other jurisdiction. Twenty
had inventories or accounts rendered, only one of which exceeded
fifty thousand dollars, and a very small portion only, if any, of
that was the fruits of professional labor. Nine who had prop
erty, amounted to less than five thousand dollars each, and four
of them averaged less than seventy-six dollars each, while six of
the estates were insolvent, as shown by the record, and there is
good reason to know that of the twelve estates not settled here,
at least seven were insolvent ; making more than one in four of
the whole forty-five estates, that were altogether insolvent.
It is certainly with very little pleasure that I refer to these
residts, and it is with far more grateful feelings that I turn to
what the Bar of Worcester County has achieved in the way of
reputation. I will not, however, in so doing, refer to the suggestions of
my own partial judgment, but appeal to the recorded opinions of
others, in the fact, that of those who are or have been living
within the period of which I am speaking, three have held the
place of Chief Magistrate, three that of Judge of the Supreme
Court, and that a place upon that Bench was tendered to two
others of the number.* Four have been Judges of the C. C.
Pleas. One for many years a Senator, and ten have been mem-

* Hon. John Davis and Hon. Charles Allen.
19

146 ADDRESS OF
bers of the House of Representatives in Congress, and one has
been a Foreign Minister of the United States.f
Happy should I be, to speak in detail of most of those who
once filled these places. As I run my eye along the catalogue of
their names, their forms rise in fancy before me, and they seem
to stand among us again, each in his own marked and well-
remembered traits of person and character.
The Hastings — father and sons. — The first, without the graces
of oratory, was for many years a formidable antagonist before
a Jury, and before the Court exerted an influence by his very
respectable acquirements as a lawyer, and his ability as a reasoner.
The eldest of the sons was perhaps a better lawyer. He pos
sessed much ready wit, was a man of honorable and agreeable
qualities, and died in the midst of his usefulness and public hon
ors, ere age had saddened life with its bitter experiences.
Tufts — the man whom his friends knew better than the world
did, and saw struggling, under the stimulus of an honorable
ambition, to gain for himself a rank in his profession, while lurk
ing disease was wasting the powers of his body, and consigning
him to an early grave.
He lived long enough to enjoy a share of the public honors of
the day, and won the public confidence, as he had done the
esteem and affection of his associates.
James — then of Barre, venerable in years, courteous in his
bearing, modest and reserved in his temperament, passing
through a long life without spot or blemish upon his modest
fame. Goodwin — whose antiquarian and scholarly taste was but par
tially reconciled to the drudgery of the profession he had
adopted. Foster — the high-souled, pure-hearted scholar and gentleman,
whose chief fault was an undue self-distrust of powers of a high
t Hon. George Folsom, Minister at thc Hague from 1849 to 1853.

EMORY WASHBURN. 147
order, and unfortunately for the full development of which, he
was above that necessity which is the stern schoolmaster of so
many in that profession which he early abandoned.
Brooks — who for many years held a leading rank among the
lawyers of this and a neighboring county, with a mind of great
acuteness. well stored with legal principles, and whose earnest
ness and fidelity in the cause of his client was acknowledged by
all who witnessed bis efforts before tbe Jury or the Court.
Taft — who, though bred to the profession, was able to indulge
a taste for rural pleasures and pursuits, and escape the drudgery
of the law, but was always a genial companion at the Bar, and
was often honored by the expression of public confidence, by
being called to offices of trust and honor.
Nor would I pass over in silence the name of Stebbixs. He
made no mark in his profession hy his eloquence or learning, but
he honored it by his incorruptible integrity, and though he laid
aside its duties for a more congenial employment, he retained
through life that high estimation of a true lawyer's character,
which he had illustrated during the few years he was connected
witli it.
And there are names which start up spontaneously, at the
very mention of a social hour.
Lincoln — the lawyer, profound and learned for bis years, the
diligent student, with his ever ready fancy and playful wit, the
genial companion, and the man of taste and letters. If he ever
did injustice to himself, he never was false to his faith, or dis
loyal to his friendship.
Baldwin — whose sad and early fate was the only thing that
ever brought pain iu thc associations which his name awakens.
Wedded to a profession for which he had no sympathy, his hap
piest dav was when he bade it adieu for a position far more con-
o-euial to his taste. His like we shall never look upon again.
His better qualities were best known to those who knew him

148 ADDRESS OF
best, since that never-failing flow of humor and good feeling
which he always displayed, almost obscured, at times, the varied
learning which he really possessed.
But long ere this, another familiar form must have arisen in
fancy before your vision.* For forty years he filled a place at
the Bar, and saw one generation after another pass away in its
rapid changes. His was a store of abstract legal principles,
gathered by years of patient diligence in study, and his processes
of reasoning, formed upon the models of the school men, made
him a formidable antagonist, where industry in preparation, and
the application of keen logic, could be brought to the
encounter. We miss him in our daily walks, we miss him at our social
gatherings, and the last of his old associates will have passed
away before the image of his striking figure shall cease, as fancy
peoples the scene, to come and linger around a spot with whose
duties so much of his long life was connected.
One other who had held the place of County Attorney, and at
the commencement of the period of which I am speaking, was
filling the responsible post of Secretary of the Commonwealth,
since that time, came back to enjoy a few years of retirement,
and then to follow where so many of his companions and asso
ciates have gone before him.f
The field of literature was always more congenial to his taste
than the agitations and excitements of the profession, and nei
ther his health nor his taste allowed of his again engaging in
O O PD O
these, after giving up public life, and few of those who now fill
these seats, know, from personal observation, how to measure his
talents or his worth.
But I am admonished that if ever anything like a sketch of
the members of this Bar, who, within the last twenty-five years

* Samuel M. Burnside, Esq. t Hon. Edward D. Bangs was Secretary of State from
1824 to 1836. He died April 2, 1838. He was a son of Judge Bangs, of the C. C. P.

EMORY WASHBURN. 149
have laid off the harness of life's toils and duties, is to be given
to the public, the present occasion is altogether too brief to admit
of its being done here.
And yet I should fail to meet your demands, or those of my
own feelings, if I passed over in silence the memory of one who
so long honored and adorned this Bar.*
This was not, however, the only sphere in which ho achieved
distinguished success. His fame was a National one. Bnt I
leave for others to do that justice to his character as a statesman,
which, too often, comes only when tho jealousies and rivalries of
party have been buried in the grave.
Of his characteristics in his professional career, I could dwell
upon what a connection in business and a long personal associa
tion impressed upon my mind.
If he was not what may be called a technical lawyer, learned
in the books, ho had that sound judgment, clear apprehension,
and almost infallible common sense, that enabled him to detect
and apply the principle which was to guide in the decision of a
question, however intricate, and to trace analogies and perceive
distinctions, often subtle, the want of which so often misleads
the most learned lawyer ; and having settled in the elaboration
of his own mind, what the law, in any case submitted to him,
should be, he was generally able, by diligent research, to bring
to the support of his own conclusion, authority to sustain the
position he sought to maintain.
I do not believe any court ever listened to an argument from
him, without being enlightened, if not convinced. It was not
the flippant citation of cases from digests, but the clear, simple
statement of sound philosophy, mingled with a respectable and
creditable amount of learning, judiciously and aptly applied.
Such a mind would have been invaluable upon the Bench, but
a well founded apprehension of a want of physical ability to
* Hon. John Davis.

150 ADDRESS OF
sustain its burdens, deterred him from entertaining a proposition
to accept the place. Of his efforts before a Jury, I hardly need
to speak, where they have been so often witnessed.
There was an earnestness, an apparent candor and sincerity in •
his manner, a clearness of statement, a singleness of purpose,
that never sacrificed the success of a cause to the graces or
display of oratory, and, withal, a complete command of all the
bearings of his case, that enabled him to carry it forward with a
power which no opposing counsel ever failed to appreciate and
respect, if he did not fear.
As a wise counsellor, an agreeable and entertaining companion,
whose conversation always instructed, and whose playful kind
ness always delighted, no man ever went through the tangled
wilderness of political and professional life, and left more for
friendship to remember, and less to forget, than he, whose
almost speaking countenance, in marble, greets us in our solitary
walks in yonder cemetery.
I have spoken of the past, but what am I to say of the future
of this Bar and their profession.
Of those whose names now swell its numbers, how few will be
left at the end of another quarter of a century, to recall those
of us who take part in the festivities of this evening.
As I contemplate the past, and address myself to those who
are hereafter to occupy this Bench and fill these seats, I cannot
better express the deep sensibility which the thought awakens,
than borrowing the language of that comprehensive prayer,
" Sicut patribus, sic vobis."
We have seen enough of change in our own day, to read
change and progress in the shadowy history of the future.
In the growing and multiplying relations of business and
social life, new questions of interest and moment will, doubtless,
arise, in the determination of wliich the same process of keen
analysis, broad speculation, and far-reaching foresight, must be

EMORY WASHBURN. 151
brought into exercise, by which the questions of this and a
former generation have been mastered, and tlie imperishable
fabric of the common law built up.
To prepare men for a work like this, requires an education and
a training which can only be acquired in the school of the Bar.
Little does the world at large know of the part which au able
and educated Bar plays iu the business of self-government, in a
free state.
It is not merely in giving form and direction to the legislation
of such a state, but what affects more nearly the enjoyment of
personal protection, aud the security of personal rights, it puts
the power of the law within tlie reach of every citizen.
There is a spirit of power and injustice warring upon unpro
tected weakness, now, as much as in the days of chivalry of old,
though it may not manifest itself by such open deeds of op
pression. The arena, moreover, in which battle is to be made for the
right, is no longer the listed field, but the Hall of Justice, where,
though the champion be not indeed mailed in armor, as true
faith, as fearless courage, and as devoted fidelity are demanded,
as ever signalized a Richard or a Bayard.
And say what men may of the profession, there is in that
assurance which everybody feels in having the arm of a fearless
advocate to rest upon, that which half disarms oppression of its
power, and gives to the feeblest the strength of a trained and
disciplined champion.
In the facility, however, with wliich men now force their way
into the profession, there is no little danger that there may be
found those whose character may gradually undermine this
pubhc confidence in professional faith and honor.
In view of contingences like these, I can hardly exaggerate
the importance of cultivating in the profession that feeling of
self-respect, which shall preserve it from grovelling motives and

152 ADDRESS OF EMORY WASHBURN.
unworthy conduct. The science they profess is a noble one, and
its investigation and pursuit demand the highest powers of well
trained and honorable minds.
But I have already taxed your indulgence too severely, to
dwell any longer upon the inseparable connection there is
between the character of a people's laws and the growth, happi
ness and prosperity of a nation, and I hasten to close this
imperfect presentation of our subject, in the language of
another : —
" At what time Law commenced, we inquire not — whether its
origin was in any respect supernatural or not, is of no moment
at present, but certainly it was when human passions were seen
tearing the weak and defenceless, when individual greed, individ
ual lust, individual hate, and, most cruel and perilous of all,
individual revenge, ranged like beasts of the forest amid a flock,
that Law bared her beautiful brow, and bade them all cower
beneath the eye of reason."

. LttBicta

ADDRESS OF HON. DWIGHT FOSTER.

20

On the occasion of a Social Festival of the members of the Bar of
the County of Worcester, on the third day of October, 1878, by their
previous invitation, an address was delivered before them by the Hon.
Dwight Foster, of Boston.
After the address, on the same day, at a meeting of the Bar, it was
resolved by a unanimous vote, that the committee of arrangements
communicate to Judge Foster the thanks of the Bar for his able,
interesting and eloquent address, and request of hirn a copy for
publication.

Worcester, October 5, 1878.
Hon. Dwight Foster.
Dear Sir: — The Committee of Arrangements for the recent Festival of the
Bar of the County of Worcester, in pursuance of a vote of the Bar, cordially
tender to you their thanks for your able, interesting and eloquent Address,
delivered on that occasion, and request a copy for publication.
Very truly yours, JOSEPH MASON,
W. S. B. HOPKINS,
T. K. WARE,
CHAS. G. STEVENS,
T. G. KENT,
A. J. BARTHOLOMEW,
GEO. F. HOAR,
GEO. F. VERRY,
A. G. BULLOCK,
G. H. BALL.

Boston, October 15, 1878.

Messrs. Joseph Mason,
W. S. B. Hopkins, and others.

Gentlemen : — In compliance with your request, I herewith place at your
disposal the manuscript of my Address before the Bar of Worcester
County. I am, Very truly yours, DWIGHT FOSTER.

ADDRESS
OF HON. DWIGHT FOSTER.

Twice heretofore the Bar of this County have called upon one of
their number to pronounce before them an address of a somewhat
historical nature. Nearly fifty years ago, October 2, 1S-9, Joseph
Willard, then of Lancaster, afterwards for many years Clerk of
the Courts in Boston, in an elegant and scholarly discourse
brought dowu the history of this Bar to a period of half a century
subsequent to the adoption of the Constitution of the Common
wealth, and preserved in a permanent form such reminiscences of
the Colonial Court and Bar as were then extant.
Of all who were then members of the Bar but three now
remain among the living. — Waldo Flint. Stephen Salisbury, and
Isaac Davis.
Nearly twenty-five years later, February 7, 1S56, another
Worcester lawyer, one of tbe most distinguished and best beloved
of our number, Emory Washburn, performed a similar task in
the same faithful and acceptable manner as he fulfilled all the
duties of life ; and now. at your request, it devolves upon me to
attempt something of the same kind, and to speak of the law
and its progress, and this Bar and its changes, during the past
twenty-five years.
And first I wish to point out briefly some of the principal
changes in the law within that period.
In 1S51, the Legislature enacted a code of civil procedure,
commonly called the practice act, prepared by three eminent
lawyers, Benjamin R. Curtis, afterwards a Judge of the Supreme

158 ADDRESS OF
Court of the United States ; Reuben A. Chapman, afterwards a
Justice and Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of
Massachusetts ; and Nathaniel J. Lord, a distinguished member
of the Essex Bar. This statute was, in 1852, considerably modi
fied and improved. At first it hardly received fair treatment ;
certainly it did not meet with cordial reception at the hands
either of the Court or the Bar. But it has stood well the test
of experience, and would now be generally acknowledged to have
swept away many useless technicalities, to have made forms more
simple and intelligible, presented the issues to be tried more dis
tinctly, and to be a valuable measure of reform and improve
ment. No one would be willing to return, either to the original
system of special pleadings, or to its modified form of pleading
the general issue with specifications of defence.
In 1857, for the first time, full equity jurisdiction was con
ferred upon the Supreme Judicial Court. It is amazing to look
back upon the condition of onr law in this respect previous to
that date. As early as 1685, and again in 1687 and 1692,
attempts were made to establish Courts of Chancery in the
Province, all of which failed in consequence of English oppo
sition. Many special statutes had given limited equitable juris
diction over particular classes of cases, their enactment being
frequently secured to meet the exigencies of some individual
case of hardship found to be irremediable at common law. But
every attempt to confer general equity jurisdiction had been
defeated, partly from a jealousy of allowing causes to be tried
without the intervention of a jury, and partly because the
ancient system of equity was so encumbered by technicalities ;
its pleadings were so artificial and intricate, and its practice so
dilatory and expensive, that the beauty and value of its enlight
ened principles, and the effectual relief of its flexible remedies
were not appreciated or were deemed not valuable enough to
compensate for such serious evils.

DWIGHT FOSTER. 159
In one aspect it may be thought fortunate that Massachusetts
equity came into existence at so late a period. If it had grown
up in the days of Lord Eldon, it would probably have copied
the defects of the ancient English Chancery. But this danger
was averted, and the past twenty years have produced a Massa
chusetts system of equity which is, I venture to affirm, one of
the simplest, most satisfactory, prompt, economical and scientific
systems of remedial justice, to be found in any part of the
civilized world. A very few years ago a learned jurist from
another State observed to me, " we are not accustomed, you
know, to look to Massachusetts for equity." I told him that if he
would study the Equity Decisions in our reports since 1857, he
wonld retract that criticism, and confess that our Court and Bar
had not only availed themselves of the best equity doctrines
established elsewhere, but that Massachusetts decisions and prac
tice could furnish useful lessons, in simplicity of procedure, to
the profession in other States.
In adverting to the progress of the science of jurisprudence,
and to the improvements iu the practical administration of jus
tice during the period under survey, we may well point with
pride and satisfaction to such results.
Whether a further change awaits us, and we are hereafter to
abolish the distinction between law and equity, following the
example of New York and England, it is now too early to pre
dict. I cannot help feeling that theoretical arguments prepon
derate in favor of such a change. But so far as I can learn, the
system under the New York code is less easy to learn and to
practice, and requires much more writing than our own. The
experiment inaugurated in England in 1874r, will be watched
here with care and interest. But let us hope no change of such
importance will be made hastily.
Another great revolution has taken place relating to witnesses
and evidence. The exclusion of witnesses on account of crime,

160 ADDRESS OF
or interest, or for want of religious belief, has been done away
with. Parties to suits are allowed, and may be compelled, to tes
tify. The right to file interrogatories by each party to his adver
sary, has made rubbish of much learning as to discovery in
equity. Trials have thus been shortened, and the facilities for
arriving at the whole and exact truth have vastly increased.
This immense reform, now adopted almost everywhere among
English-speaking people, is due to Jeremiah Bentham, one of
those master minds, " who think the thoughts in one generation
that revolutionize society in the next;" the Gamaliel at whose
feet so many of the best men of England sat as disciples, who
well deserves to be ranked among the great benefactors of man
kind. In one department, that of criminal procedure, I regret to feel
that Massachusetts has not fully availed herself of the useful
examples of England, Pennsylvania, and federal legislation.
Something has been done, but much moro might readily be
accomplished, in the way of removing useless and absurd techni
calities, and rendering the punishment of crime more prompt
and certain. At the same time the inequality in sentences so
frequently complained of might be diminished and defendants
under proper restrictions to prevent thc abuse of the privilege
might be allowed to have witnesses on their behalf summoned at
the expense of the Government. Lawyers have been unjustly
and reproachfully called " the conservators of barbarous usages."
But it is a debt that every lawyer owes to his profession, to en
deavor as much as in him lies, to make the science and the
practice of the law more enlightened, and to approximate them
more and more to the ideal though never perfectly attainable
standard of absolute justice and moral equity.
The relative position of the Bar to the general community is
very different from what it was a generation ago. De Tocque-
ville visiting America about forty years since, spoke of the Bar

DWIGHT FOSTER. 161
as the aristocracy of the United States. It has fow claims to
such a position now, though let ns hope the days of the plutoc
racy or shoddy aristocracy, called into existence by an era of
speculation and irredeemable paper currency, arc numbered.
But the ministers and the lawyers are far from being the best
educated mon at the present day. The wonderful progress of
all the natural sciences, tho high standard of education in the
medical profession, the numbers of thoroughly trained young
men annually becoming merchants, manufacturers, mechanics
and journalists; even the educated men of wealth and leisure
without special avocations, have placed the Bar upon an equality
with the rest of the community, and if it would maintain its
superiority it must do so by its intrinsic strength, and not by
virtue of any extrinsic advantages attaching to tho profession
itself. How is our profession likely to sustain itself under these
altered circumstances tf The facilities for a thorough legal edu
cation are much greater than a generation ago. Numerous text
books of every grade of excellence, from those of the highest
value down to mere worthlessness, good law libraries in most of
the counties, promptly published reports of the highest general
State and English courts, numerous law schools of respectability,
all these great advantages have multiplied till tho danger is not
from the want of resources, but from the embarrassments arising
from their excess.
The standard of proficiency required for admission to the Bar
has been elevated.
Arguments addressed to courts arc prepared with greater care
and moro elaborate examination of authorities thau formerly.
In Massachusetts especialby, directness, compactness and tolerable
brevity are the custom and the fashion. So far as I can judge,
the average standard of excellence in legal arguments has never
been higher than it is to-day ; and there has never been a larger

162 ADDRESS OF
proportion of well trained young lawyers, who know what honest
and thorough work is, and whose aim and ambition are to gain
business and win position by solid merits.
The disposition to encourage or even permit petty litigation is
less than formerly. The manners of the Court and Bar towards
each other have improved considerably. There is less disposi
tion with judges to play the part of schoolmasters. They
realize more than formerly, that courts are made for clients and
counsel who represent them, and not clients and counsel for
courts. The perfect urbanity that prevails in the highest federal
tribunals is becoming fashionable before lower tribunals. No
judge or lawyer visits the Supreme Court at Washington without
learning a lesson in good breeding. The treatment of witnesses
is more courteous, though here I confess remains much room for
improvement. But in justice to our profession it should always
be remembered, that in the heated and vitiated air of the court
room, through the weary hours of long trials, such a strain is put
upon the jaded faculties and worn-out nerves of both Bench and
Bar, that no human equanimity can always maintain its equi
librium. If bad temper and rude manners are occasionally dis
played by either, let us not forget these extenuations.
"What's done we partly may compute
But know not what's resisted."
It is time to close these discursive observations and to speak of
the members of the Worcester Bar who have passed away since
1855. The list before me numbers thirty-six names, and very
few there are among them, who can not be spoken of with
sincere respect. Time will permit only a selection from the
catalogue, and I must omit some with whom pleasant personal
memories are associated, selecting a few of the more conspicuous
of whom I shall speak in the order of their departure.
Thomas Kijstnictjtt was born at Warren, R. I., November, 30,
1800, and graduated at Brown University in 1822. He studied

DWIGHT FOSTER. 163
law at the Litchfield Law School, with Francis Baylies, of Taun
ton, and John Davis, and was admitted to this Bar in 1825. He
represented the town of AVorcester in the House of Representa
tives in 1S35, and the county as Senator in 1S3S and 1S39. He
was representative again and chosen Speaker in 1S14-, but was
compelled by ill health to resign that position. In 1848 he
succeeded Judge Thomas as Judge of Probate, and held that
office till his death, January 22, 1858. Throughout his life he
was constantly called to many local positions of trust and use
fulness. A delicate physical and refined intellectual organiza
tion ; fastidious tastes; gentle and charming manners; a tender
and affectionate nature; purity of morals aud of heart, such as
well deserved the beatitude, were his leading characteristics.
His health was never robust enough for the contentions of the
forum. But he was a model Judge of Probate and earned the
blessings of the widow and the orphan. His sudden and unex
pected death from disease of the heart called forth such expres
sions of affectionate respect as this community has seldom
manifested. Two young members of the Bar, Xelson Bartholomew, of
Oxford, and Samuel J at Woods, of Barre, gave their lives to the
cause of their country very early in the war for the suppression
of the. rebellion. Each was at the beginning of a professional
career, full of fair promise for success and usefulness. I name
them not to do honor to their memories, but because of the
honor that is reflected from their lives and deaths upon the Bar
of which they were members.
Goldsmith F. Bailey was born at Westminster, Yt., July 17,
1823 ; was educated as Benjamin Franklin was, in a printing
office ; afterwards became an editor iu Greenfield and Fitchbnrg ;
studied law with William C. Bradley, in his native town, and also
with Torrcy and Wood, at Fitchbnrg. He was admitted to the
Bar, and became a partner in the firm with which he had studied.

164 ADDRESS OF
He was representative to the General Court in 1856, and Senator
in 1857 and 1859. In November, 1860, he was elected to Con
gress, and died at Fitchburg, May 8th, 1862. For some years
his physical strength had been gradually giving way under the
inroads of a lingering consumption.
His intellectual powers, therefore, never had a fair chance of
development ; nevertheless, he made a strong impression at the
Bar, and was regarded as possessed of fine abilities. My own
acquaintance with him was sufficient to satisfy me, that if his
life and health had been spared he would have become a distin
guished man. And certainly his character and manners were
singularly attractive. Few who have died so young have been
so widely respected and beloved.
Pliny Meeeick was born in Brookfield, Angust 2, 1794, and
graduated at Harvard College in 1814. He studied law in the
office of Levi Lincoln, and was admitted to the Bar in 1817.
He kept an office for a few months in Worcester, a few more in
Charlton, then upwards of a year at Swanzey, in Bristol County,
and then at Taunton till 1824 ; the last year as partner of Gov
ernor Morton ; by these frequent changes curiously illustrating
a fickleness and impatience of temperament which he could
never completely restrain. Either just before, or directly after,
his return to Worcester in 1824, he was appointed by Governor
Eustis, County Prosecuting Attorney, and held that position till
he was made District-Attorney for Worcester and Norfolk
Counties, in 1832, by Governor Lincoln ; this office he held till
appointed Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1843; he
resigned in 1848 to become President of the Worcester and
Nashua Railroad. In 1850, he was re-appointed to the same
court, and in 1853 he was transferred to the bench of the
Supreme Judicial Court, where he remained until 1864, when he
resigned on account of ill health. He died in Boston, January
29, 1867.

DWIGHT FOSTER. 165
In social life, he was a most agreeable and fascinating com
panion, genial, bright, witty, versatile, the most impulsive and
most governed by impulses of any able man I have ever known.
At the Bar he was a very eloquent advocate and brilliant cross-
examiner. My earliest recollections of a courtroom are of trials
in this building, where Pliny Merrick was on one side, and
Charles Allen upon the other. It seems to me now, in the
retrospect of more than thirty-five years, that I have never wit
nessed finer intellectual contests. Certainly each side displayed
surpassing earnestness, zeal and eloquence, and the beauty of the
spectacle was enhanced by the fact that the two combatants were
so unlike each other in their weapons and style of attack aud
defence. On the Bench he was generally a very satisfactory nisi prius
judge, presiding with great courtesy, and admirably setting forth
in his charges the rules of law involved in the case, the issues upon
which the jury were to pass, and the material portions of the
evidence. Indeed, the power of disentangling complicated facts,
so as to bring order out of chaos, was one of his most remark
able accomplishments. I have never heard more luminous
expositions of evidence than those in some of his charges, and in
some of his published opinions. Occasionally his feelings in
favor of one side, which he believed ought to prevail, carried
him farther than is deemed right at the present day, and he
would charge the jury with deadly precision. To a lawyer on the
weak side of a case, it was an omen of evil if Judge Merrick
was found to rule all doubtful points in his favor. For in such
a case the closing charge usually left him with all the law he had
prayed for, but not a ghost of a chance for a favorable verdict.
However, I much prefer a judge who conducts a trial so as to
make his influence felt upon a jury, to one who merely keeps
order in the court-room, and rules on dry points of law when
requested to do so, totally indifferent whether the verdict is right

166 ADDRESS OF
or outrageously wrong. I want a presiding magistrate, and not
a mere king log. The opinions of Judge Merrick during the ten
j'ears of his service on the court of last resort, are characterized
by adequate learning in the common law, by great familiarity with
the criminal law and Massachusetts statutes and practice ; also
by that marvellous facility in dealing with facts, already referred
to. In point of style, their merit is of a high order. Para
graphs conld be quoted from them which lay down important
principles with unsurpassed completeness of statement and
felicity of diction. Undoubtedly Judge Merrick's usefulness
and power as a judge increased every year he was on the Bench,
and his retirement, compelled by a stroke of paralysis, was a
serious public loss. He met the blow with manly philosophy,
and the last days of his life were resigued and cheerful.
Tea Mooee Baeton was born at Oxford, October 25, 1796,
graduated at Brown University in 1819, was one of the first
three graduates of the Harvard Law School in 1822, having also
studied in the office of Levi Lincoln. From 1822 to 1834, he
practised the profession at Oxford, representing that town in the
Legislature three years, and being two years a Senator from this
county. In 1834, he removed to Worcester, and in 1836 was
appointed Judge of Probate, which office he held till 1844, when
he resigned to resume general practice. He retired from the
position of an advocate in 1849, but for many years continued to
act as chamber counsel.
Judge Barton's fine personal presence is familiar to all by the
noble portrait which bangs in the Law Library and does him no
more than justice. He was a sound, sagacious counsellor and an
imposing and impressive advocate. When the firm of Barton,
Bacon & Barton was in the full tide of success its business was
as extensive and important as any there has ever been in the
county. Judge Barton won the entire confidence of his clients and the

DWIGHT FOSTER. 167
community, and was a very influential man in all the relations of
life. His retirement, at the early age of 53, was caused by phy
sical infirmities that cut him off from a longer career, which if
pursued would have surely led to higher professional and
political distinctions. He died July IS, 1867.
Rejoice Newton was born at Greenfield, Mass., October 18,
17S2, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1807, was admitted to
the Bar iu Franklin County in 1810, immediately became the
partner of Francis Blake, — whom tradition represents as the
most brilhant advocate the Bar of Worcester County ever
produced, — was appointed prosecuting attorney for the County in
1818, and held that place till 1824, represented Worcester in the
legislature in 1829, 1830 and 1831, and was State Senator from
the County in 1834. He was a sound lawyer, a wise counsellor
and a most estimable citizen. He died February 4, 1868.
It was he who had the frankness and simplicity to say to the
full bench of the Supreme Judicial Court, presided over by
Chief Justice Shaw, — " May it please your Honors, I have the
greatest respect for the opinions of this Court — except — except
in a few gross cases." A sentiment which many might feel but
few would dare to utter.
Levi Lincoln, " clarum et venerabile nomen." Born at Wor
cester, October 25, 1TS2. He was the son of Lieutenant-
Governor Levi Lincoln, who was Attorney-General of the United
States under Jefferson, and who declined the place on the Bench
of the Supreme Court of the United States, that was accepted
by Judge Story.
He was graduated at Harvard University in 1802, in the most
famous class that ever left that college, unless possibly the one
of 1829. Admitted to the Bar in 1805, he entered at once into
an extensive practice and became very active as a pobtical
supporter of the party of Jefferson. His first office was that
of Senator from this County in 1812, and in 1814 he represented

16S ADDRESS OF
the town of Worcester in the House of Representatives, and
prepared and presented the protest against the resolve sending
delegates to the Hartford Convention. From that year till 1822,
except three times when he declined the service, he was constant
ly a member of the House of Representatives, and in 1822, was
its Speaker. In 1820, he was a member of the constitutional
convention and one of the leaders of the progressive party there.
I remember to have read some of the debates in which his
vigor and courage were very conspicuous. In 1823, he was
chosen Lieutenant-Governor, and from that place in 1824, became
an associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. In 1825
he was chosen by the nomination of both the Democratic and
Federal parties Governor of the Commonwealth, and was re
elected for nine successive years, — a longer term than that of
any other Chief Magistrate since the constitution was adopted.
What wonld not such a length of service by such a Governor be
worth to Massachusetts to-day?
Declining a tenth reelection, he was in a few months chosen to
the Congress of the United States from this district, and con
tinued there for two terms. Afterwards he was Collector of the
port of Boston, first llayor of the City of Worcester, and his
last public official service was to cast one of the electoral votes
of Massachusetts for Abraham Lincoln at his second election.
He died at the age of 85 years, May 29, 1868.
Methodical industry, courage, fidelity and executive ability of
a high order were the leading qualities which made him so
valuable in the many offices that he held. Probably no one now
living can speak of his professional career from personal recol
lection, for it terminated at the age of 42. He had not the
reputation of a very learned lawyer or a very brilliant advocate.
But he held his own against the strongest and best. He was
fond of popularity and official station, but he sought neither by
unworthy means, and devoted the advantages of both to the

DWIGHT FOSTER. 169
public welfare. Through life he was public spirited and patri
otic to the highest degree. Born just at the close of the revolu
tionary war, familiar in boyhood and early manhood with the
surviving patriots and statesmen of the revolution, he was ever
devoted in his allegiance to the Constitution and the Union. He
was proud of the State which had so often honored him, and of
the county, town and city of Worcester, his birthplace and life
long home. Few of us knew him in middle life, but we can
nearly all remember his stately old age, surrounded by all that
can make length of days desirable, his eye undimmed, his form
erect, no faculty of body or mind impaired until long past four
score years.
Chaeles Allen, born in Worcester, August 9, 1797, was the
son of Joseph Allen, Clerk of the Courts in this county from
1776 to 1810, one of the most active promoters and supporters
of the revolution in Central Massachusetts, and through a long
life one of its most honored citizens; a fine scholar and a
courteous gentleman.
The education of this son, academic and professional, after one
year at Yale College was conducted for seven years in the office
of Samuel M. Burnside, one of the best Latin and historical
scholars and common law lawyers of his day. As soon as he was
twenty-one years of age, he was admitted to the Bar, displaying
upon his examination a proficiency of which his teacher was
always justly proud. He practised law in New Braintree till
1824, when he removed to Worcester and became the partner of
John Davis,, with whom he was associated until 1831. He was
in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1829, 1833
and 1834, and Senator from the county in 1835 and 1836.
In the negotiations prior to the Webster-Ashburton treaty,
signed in 1842, by the appointment of Governor Davis, he
represented the interests of Massachusetts in determining the
North eastern boundary. And the sagacity wliich he there dis-
22

170 ADDRESS OF
played and his power of influencing other minds attracted much
notice and drew forth warm praise from Mr. Webster.
He was appointed to the old Court of Common Pleas in 1842,
and resigned in 18pL4, with all the members of tbe Court but
one, when an ill judged economy cut down their salaries.
In 1857 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Superior Court
for Suffolk County, and in 1859 of the Superior Court for the
Commonwealth, from which he resigned on account of ill-health
in 1867.
Twice he was tendered a position on the Supreme Judicial
Court, and the Chief Justiceship was offered to him in 1860
upon the retirement of Chief Justice Shaw. I well remember
what be said to me at the time : " At my age and in my state of
health it is not to be thought of. It might have been different
once, yet few know how much physical weakness I have had to
contend with through life, and bow much has been attributed to
indolence iu me, that was caused by the necessity of nursing my
health." In the winter of 1861, Governor Andrew sent him at the head
of the Massachusetts delegates to the so-called Peace Congress
at Washington. He died August 6, 1869.
In sketching his character if I were to consult my own prefer
ence, I should quote the discriminating eulogies pronounced at
the Bar meeting directly after his death. But I must portray
the man as he seemed to myself, as I saw him with my own eyes.
His early studies in tbe common law and American and Eng
lish history were thorough and comprehensive, and they were by
no means slight in English literature. His mind was saturated
with the leading principles of the common law, and he was
baptized at his birth into the spirit of liberty and independence.
He never called any man his intellectual master. Though the
ordinary methods of legal investigation were distasteful to him,
yet he was fond of communing with his own mind in silent and

DWIGHT FOSTER. 171
profound thought. His preparation in the use of books was
usually slight, but he never failed to give abundant reflection to
every important matter intrusted to his professional care.
Accordingly he entered upon the trial of a case thoroughly
prepared and equipped in his own peculiar way. His mental
processes were exceedingly rapid and his intuitive judgment
wonderfully correct. He was the wisest counsellor I ever called
to my aid.
In the crisis of a trial he never fluttered or quailed. If his
manner grew a little more quiet, his face a little paler and a
dangerous light was emitted from his eyes, his adversary had
better beware, for he was sure to prove himself a tremendous
antagonist. His cross-examinations were sometimes terrific and
when roused he would pour forth a torrent of sarcasm and invec
tive that like a lava flood scorched and burned everything over
which it flowed. He could be eloquent upon worthy occasions;
but he had no cheap rhetoric for ordinary use. His legal discus
sions usually began with conceded elementary principles on
which as a foundation he would erect a superstructure of close
aud cogent argumentation. It was his custom to show what the
law ought to be and in the nature of the case must be, paying
comparatively little attention to what it had been on some
former occasion decided to be.
He was sometimes a hard, dry and uninteresting speaker, and
certainly had few graces of elocution and charms of mere man
ner. But he was master of an English style, fit vehicle for his
thoughts, simple, idiomatic, forcible. He very rarely wrote out
anything he wished to say, yet the sentences fell from his lips
complete aud requiring almost no correction for publication.
In Congress he made, owing to the peculiar political situation
when he was there, less impression than would have been antici
pated. In the Constitutional Convention of 1853, though as every-

172 ADDRESS OF
where else one of the wisest in counsel, he was not a leader in
debate. Yet I remember one short speech on the question,
whether in criminal cases juries ought to have the right to judge
of the law as well as the facts, replete with wisdom and a
model of compact, vigorous and statesmanlike reasoning on that
great question.
I purposely abstain from dwelling on his political career, but I
cannot refrain from saying, that the history of the great awaken
ing which led to Northern resistance to the encroachments of
the slave power and prevented our republic from becoming a
vast slave-holding empire, can never be justly and truly written
without giving to Charles Allen a conspicuous place among the
wisest, bravest and best of those to whom we owe it that we
have a country worth living in.
Edwaed Mellen; born at Westborough, September 26, 1802,
graduated at Brown University, 1823, admitted to the Bar in
Middlesex in 1828, practised his profession in that county until
he was appointed a Judge of tbe Court of Common Pleas in
1847. In 1854 he was made Chief Justice of that Court, which
position he held until the Court was abolished in 1859. He then
opened an office in the city of Worcester, where he continued
to practice until ill health compelled him to retire. He died at
Wayland, May 24, 1875.
As a lawyer in practice in this county, he probably never
exhibited the full measure of his powers. He returned to the
Bar too late in life to render that possible in a new sphere of
action. On the Bench he was urbane in manners and assiduous
in tbe discharge of all judicial duties, wliich he performed satisfac
torily to the profession and the public. He knew Massachusetts
statutes and practice quite thoroughly, and the reported cases
almost by heart. When he erred in his rulings, which he did not
oftener than the average, it was usually from concluding that
the point in dispute was included within some adjudged case,

DWIGHT FOSTER. 173
when it finally proved to fall slightly without the principle of
the previous adjudication. His feeling of obligation to the
Commonwealth caused him to hold courts early and late, and I
well remember that he once compelled me to try a house war
ranty case all Christmas Day.
It seemed to me at the time, and almost twenty years later I
think so still, a very great hardship to drive into retirement a
worthy, useful and generally acceptable public officer, at a period
in life when he might have served the Commonwealth usefully
many years longer, and yet when he was too far advanced to
return easily to his profession.
Under our constitution it is doubtless competent to abolish
any Court but the highest, yet the measure is an extreme one,
and a resort to it to gratify the resentment of active practitioners
who chance to possess temporary political influence, or to increase
the patronage of an ambitious Governor, is certainly unjustifi
able, and a very dangerous precedent.
Chaeles Heney Boylston Snow ; born .at Fitchburg, August
7, 1822, died there September 18, 1875. He was graduated
at Harvard University in 1S44, admitted to the Bar in 1848, and
through life practised in the city of his nativity. He was a well
read lawyer of sound judgment — a cultivated, modest, warm
hearted gentleman, of high principles and independent character.
He had attained to a respectable professional position, and com
manded universal confidence and respect in the community
where he resided.
Nathaniel Wood ; born at Holden, August 29, 1797, gradu
ated at Harvard University in 1821, where he was afterwards
tutor. He was admitted to the Bar in Boston, and in 1827
became a member of the firm of Torrey and Wood, at Fitchburg,
which for many years was the leading office in the northern part
of Worcester County. When I first remember this Bar he was
in very active practice, employed in nearly every cause from

174 ADDRESS OF
that section of the county. He attended the entire term of
court, and was often called into trials from other localities.
After Fitchburg became a shire-town, he was seen here less
frequently. He was indefatigable in his preparation, zealous
and persistent as an advocate, more than ordinarily influential
with juries, and enjoyed a well-earned reputation as a judicious
counsellor and skilful conveyancer. For nearly fifty years he
gave his life chiefly to the law, but was always also one of the
most active, useful and public-spirited and conspicuous citizens
of Worcester County North. He died August 2, 1876.
Emoey Washbuen was born at Leicester, February 14, 1800,
the son of Captain Joseph Washburn, an officer who served
through the Revolutionary War with bravery and distinction.
He was prepared for college at Leicester Academy, passed two
years at Dartmouth, and was graduated at Williams College in
1817. He studied law in his native town with Bradford Sumner
and Nathaniel P. Denny, and with Judge Charles A. Dewey,
lately of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, at Williams-
town ; also for a year at the Harvard Law School. He was
admitted to the Bar at Lenox, in March, 1821, practised six
months at Charlemont, in Franklin County, and then returned
to open an office in his native town, which he represented in the
General Court in 1826 and 1827.
In March, 1828, he removed to Worcester, and soon secured a
large circle of clients, who were more attached to him, and
clung to hira more closely than I ever knew clients to adhere to
any other counsel. He formed a partnership with John Davis
in 1831. In 1830, he was Aid to Governor Lincoln ; in 1838, a
Representative in the Legislature, and made that year the first
report in favor of a railroad from Worcester to Albany, sup
porting it by a strong speech. In 1840 he published the Judicial
History of Massachusetts prior to 1775, a work of great research
and historical value.

DWIGHT FOSTER. 175
Ho was Senator from Worcester County and chairman of the
Judiciary Committee in 1S41 and 1842. From 1844 to 1847
inclusive, he was a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Then
for about two years he was agent of one of the largo Lowell
Corporations, and resided there ; but such employment was not
suited to his tastes, and in January, 1850. he resumed the prac
tice of his profession in Worcester, regaining, without a day's
delay, the clients whom he had left when he went upon the
Bench, six years before. The causes of his professional success
arc not far to seek. He identified himself completely with the
feelings, interests and cases of his clients ; they enlisted the
warmest sympathies of a singularly warm and sympathetic
nature. If his clients had been usually bad men with poor cases,
— if ho had been, for example, an habitual defender of guilty
criminals, — this would not be high praise. But they were as a
class the most substantial and trustworthy citizens of the County.
Rogues did not naturally resort to him for aid in plundering
others or defending themselves. It was well known that he was
honest to the heart's core, and could not have exerted himself
where he disbelieved in the merits of his case. Of course, like
all other men. he was liable to be deceived, and the natural bias
of a lawyer in his clients" favor was in his case intensified by the
guilelessness of his own nature and the warmth of his feelings.
But he was the farthest possible, removed from that class of
lawyers who are ready to prostitute their powers in behalf of
any one who pays them enough : who become accomplices after,
sometimes even before, the fact witli those who commit frauds
and crimes, themselves sheltered from danger under the immuni
ties of tlie profession : such lawyers, whether their abilities are
great or small, are a post to any community. The character of
the man. then, stood behind the efforts of the advocate. On every
jnry he was sure to have clients and friends, and he exerted in
this way a prodigious influence. So that his success in winning

176 ADDRESS OF
verdicts was quite disproportionate to his mere intellectual power.
Moreover, his industry, assiduity and fidelity were boundless.
Nothing was ever left undone that might possibly promote his
clients' success. Every point, little aud great, was elaborated to
the utmost. Sometimes, no doubt, he would have gained by a
wholesome neglect and might advantageously have passed by
the minutiae to concentrate himself upon the vital questions
involved. On the whole however, his average of success was as
great as that of any man who ever tried causes in a Worcester
Court-house. In dealing with pure questions of law his judgment was good,
his examination of authorities exhaustive and his success great.
I well remember one instance where at the argument, the old
and great Chief Justice — he who will always be the Chief Justice
of Massachusetts to those of us who remember him — manifested
dissent and even impatience, but where upon reflection he came
round to Mr. Washburn's opinion, and eventually delivered the
judgment of the court in his favor upon precisely the grounds of
his argument.
Most men with such a practice would have been too completely
engrossed to take mnch active interest in affairs outside their
profession. But he was always ready to spend and be spent on
behalf of every cause in which he believed ; that of peace,
temperance, prison reform, social science, international law and
many others. Where the time came from to do these things
other men wondered; the secret lay in an untiring industry
which found relief from one occupation, not by rest, but by
turning to another self-imposed task.
In the autumn of 1853 while absent in Europe he was nomina
ted for Governor, and on his return found himself the standard-
bearer of his party in an unexpectedly closely contested election.
He was elected and for a single year performed the duties of
chief magistrate admirably. But the great tidal wave of Native

DWIGHT FOSTER. 177
Americanism overflowed the State, and the party, well styled
" Know-nothings," came into power.
It is said that after administering the required oaths to the
incoming legislature, he remarked, " Gentlemen, so far as the
oath of office is concerned you are now qualified to enter upon
your duties," — and they looked at each other and smiled, quite
conscious that the oath was the only qualification of office which
most of them possessed. God save the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts from such another experience of humiliation !
In 1856, he was chosen Professor of Law on the Bussey
foundation at Harvard, and held that place for more than twenty
years ; npon accepting it he removed his family to Cambridge.
Before he left Worcester, a public dinner was given to him by
his fellow-citizens, which was tlie most interesting occasion of the
kind I ever attended.
No man and no family ever left this city more beloved and
regretted and permanently missed. For his house had always
been the centre of open-handed hospitality to onr own people
and to strangers. In the new sphere to which he removed, he
justified fully the affectionate respect in which he was held here.
As a teacher in the Law School he was eminently successful.
He inspired the young men with a love for the science of the
law, and his helping hand was readily extended to assist them in
every difficulty. He was one to whom those who were in trouble
of any kind instinctively turned for counsel and assistance ; and
such applications were never made in vain. That he was univer
sally respected and beloved by all the twenty classes who were
instructed by him at the Law School, many will rise up to bear
witness from all the leading cities and nearly all the States of the
Union. His powers of communicating legal knowledge would
compare favorably with those of any other law professor, but his
kindness to the young men, the unaffected interest that he felt
and manifested in their welfare while in the school and after-
23

178 ADDRESS OF
wards, and the silent influence of his character upon them, were
the qualities in which he excelled and which secured him such a
permanent place in their affections.
He was no sooner established in his professorship than he
undertook to write a treatise on the law of real property. -It
was a task of great labor, and executed with characteristic fideli
ty. The only previous text-books on this subject were English,
and while needlessly prolix on some heads of little or no practi
cal use in this country, they were strikingly deficient upon many
topics of special importance in the United States. The American
Law of Real Property, the last edition of which in three volumes
was published a very few months before the author's death, is an
original work and not a compilation, a work of great research,
for he made no use of scissors and paste in its composition and
trusted to no students to collect his authorities. It will long
hold its place as the standard authority in that department of
the law. In a mercantile point of view, it has been one of the
most successful legal publications ever produced in this country.
Governor Washburn also published a treatise on Easements in
one volume, which is the most complete of any extant on that
topic. He also published lectures on the study and practice of
the law ; a history of Leicester Academy and of the Town of
Leicester. For fifty years he was a member of the American
Antiquarian Society ; he was a Fellow of the American Acade
my of Arts and Sciences ; a Vice President of the Massachusetts
Historical Society, and held many other places of usefulness,
trust aud honor, the mere enumeration of which would be
fatiguing. His published reports and addresses are very numer
ous, — thirty-five of them are collected in the Boston Library.
It was of him, I believe, that Edward Everett Hale said, " If
you want a thing done well and promptly go to the busiest man
you can find, Governor Washburn for example."
In social life the charm of his cordial manners and the readi-

DWIGHT FOSTER. 170
ness and intelligence of his conversation caused him to be greatly
sought for and universally welcome. And so his blameless life
glided peacefully and happily on for seven years beyond throe
score and ten. He was still young in his feelings, unimpaired
in all his faculties and energies. The last winter of his life he
was a member of tho House of Representatives from Cambridge,
as he had boon from Leicester fifty-one years before. Ho was
chairman of thc Judiciary Committee and exerted thc great
influence naturally due to his experience and abilities, while his
singular faculty in conciliating the good will and winning the
hearts of all around him was never more conspicuous.
We confidently expected to have him with us a number of
years longer. The last evening before he was attacked with the
acute illness of which be died, 1 sat next to him at dinner at the
house of Judge Thomas, and the table being too large for gen
eral conversation we talked with each other for two hours, chiefly
about Worcester and Worcester County, old friends and associa
tions very dear to both of us. Thirty-six hours later tho morn
ing papers announced his dangerous illness. The honors that
were paid to his memory after his decease are still fresh in our
recollection. Rarely arc such sincere and heartfelt tributes
bestowed on any man. An Eastern proverb says, " Call no man
happy till he dies," bnt well may such a life, perfected and
ronndod to such a conclusion, be almost envied by survivors.
And here I had hoped my task would end, but another name
has just been added to the list of the honored and lamented
dead. Less than two weeks ago I visited at his lovely summer seaside
home dudgc Thomas, aud though he was very ill, and when I
took his hand at parting I feared it might be for the last time,
vet I did not anticipate that his name would be added to
the nnmber of whom I was to speak this evening. I told him
that 1 was to trv to do this dutv which he was first asked to do.

180 ADDRESS OF
and would have done so much better, and he expressed the
strongest interest in the occasion. " I should so much like to be
there," he said, and added, " perhaps if I get better I may be
able to go." Alas ! that it could not be so. What would we
not give to have him with us, to see his face radiant with intellect
and feeling, to hear his voice stirring our hearts like the sound
of a trumpet once more.
Benjamin Feanbxin Thomas, born in Boston, Feb. 12, 1813,
was the grandson of Isaiah Thomas, the patriot printer of the
Revolution, and the son of a father of the same name who died
young. He was named after his grandfather's compatriot and
friend, the great philosopher. He was graduated at Brown
University in 1830, at the age of seventeen years. He studied
law with his brother-in-law, Pliny Merrick, in Worcester, and at
the Harvard Law School, and was admitted to the Bar in 1833,
before he was twenty-one years of age. At that time the legal
business of the county was limited, and preoccupied by very
able men, the names of several of whom have been dwelt upon
by me already. John Davis, Pliny Merrick, Charles Allen,
Emory Washburn, Ira M. Barton, Isaac Davis, and others
enjoyed the most lucrative practice, which they had not the
slightest inclination to relinquish in favor of junior competitors ;
while Samuel Hoar, of Concord, and other giants from adjoining
counties, were ready to be called into any cases of unusual
importance. It would be hard to imagine a less promising out
look for a boy of twenty-one. But he entered upon the barren
field with dauntless courage and adequate patience. Soon there
were found a few men willing to encourage youthful merit of a
rare order, who intrusted him with important interests. He
never forgot them, nor they him. He held in grateful remem
brance their early encouragement, and they placed the most
implicit confidence in the abilities which, even in their imma
turity, served them so well. He had to contend with a fiery

DWIGHT FOSTER. 181
temper, which he soon conquered so far that when it did give
way it was usually to the detriment of his adversaries and not of
his clients. In 1842, he was for a single year Representative
from Worcester to the General Court, and this year's service
brought him into notice to such an extent as to secure him the
place of commissioner under the United States bankrupt law,
then a profitable office, and that of Judge of Probate for Wor
cester County, when Judge Barton resigned, in 1844. He only
needed to be known to be appreciated ; and when he resigned
that office in 1848 he stepped at once into a very leading position
at the Bar. In the political campaign of 1848 he made some
very brilliant speeches. Bnt from that time until his appoint
ment to the Bench in 1853, he led, almost without equal or rival,
the Bar of central Massachusetts. Charles Allen was in Con
gress, and Pliny Merrick on the Bench of the Court of Common
Pleas most of the time. There was no one left who, for a great
cause which required the power of rising to an emergency, could
compare with Thomas. I was at an age to admire his achieve
ments perhaps unduly. But looking back now, after twenty-five
or thirty years, having heard at the Bar and met in consultation
many of the greatest lawyers of the period in this and other
States, it really seems to me that some of Thomas's efforts at the
Worcester Bar, before he went upon the Bench, were of almost
unsurpassed brilliancy. He prepared a great case with the
utmost care, both on the law and on the facts ; he was prudent
bnt never timid, and at the trial he discussed the law with great
ability. (In those days points of law were argued at nisi prius
far more than is permitted now). Into the cross-examination of
witnesses and the final argument he threw all his soul. I think
it is not exaggeration to apply to him what was said of Charles
James Fox, that " his intellect was all feeling, and his feeling all
intellect." A few months before his appointment, and in
expectation of it, I joined his office, and was his professional

182 ADDRESS OF
partner. How much I came to love him in that brief association
I will not try to tell, lest I should make myself ridiculous by an
unsuitable display of youthful enthusiasm. In 1853, January 28,
he went upon the Bench of the Supreme Judicial Court, vice
Judge Fletcher, resigned, and remained there until 1859,
when he resigned, compelled to do so sorely against his
will, by the utter inadequacy of the income to maintain a
large and necessarily expensive family. Those who com
plained of him for retiring — and their criticisms were many
and harsh — could never have put themselves in his place,
nor have contemplated such a spectacle as has been seen
since, of the daughters of a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
of the Ignited States supporting themselves in their old age
by copying and plain sewing, their scanty income eked out by a
subscription of the Bar. During the six years he was on the
Bench he certainly attained a very brilliant judicial reputation,
which his opinions in fourteen volumes of the reports amply jus
tified. The high estimation in wliich he was held by the Bar
and the public was attested by the universal regret expressed
upon his retirement. At a later period bitter partisanship
accused him of being a dissenting Judge, because in four
instances out of nineteen hundred, he wrote dissenting opinions.
Waiving the question whether the strength of the court and the
interests of the Commonwealth are best promoted by a manly
and vigorous independence, or by the unanimity of indifference
and commonplace, it is enough to point out two of his dissenting
opinions, — that in Marble vs. Worcester, and that of Common
wealth vs. Anthes. — and ask any lawyer whether he could desire
to have such specimens of masterly reasoning upon principles
and such able marshalling of the authorities expunged from the
reports. In the last-named case the Legislature has since con
firmed his opinion by reenacting the statute which gives juries
the right to judge of the law in criminal trials. If he erred here

DWIGHT FOSTER. 183
it was in the company of many of the ablest jurists, and on tbe
side of the rights of the people. The question remains an'open
one in Massachusetts to-day. The only public office held by
Judge Thomas after he left the Bench was that of member of
Congress for a single term. He was chosen almost without
opposition in place of Charles Francis Adams, when he was
made minister to England in 1861. Public attention had been
at that time particularly attracted to Judge Thomas by a very
brilliant pamphlet which he then published on the constitutional
issues raised by the attempt of the Southern States to secede
from the Union. He was always a warm lover of his country,
and his patriotism was never alloyed by any selfish aspirations.
In Congress he was thought by some of us to be too conserva
tive for a revolutionary period. Yet some of his speeches read
to day sound like Cassandra's warnings. That his brief career
there was a very brilliant one, the published volume of his
speeches and the memory of him that still lingers in Washington
sufficiently attest. His chivalrous nature always inclined hiin to
the weaker side in any controversy. And perhaps a tendency to
oppose rather than propose was carried too far at that juncture.
He entered Congress reluctantly, and left it joyfully to return to
his profession and domestic life. At the Suffolk Bar his pro
fessional career was quite different from what it had been at
Worcester. He did not find it necessary to engage frequently in
jury trials, but whenever he did, his early brilliancy shone forth
un dimmed. By chamber counsel and legal arguments he earned
a large and satisfactory income. His professional position was
in the front rank, and he enjoyed the highest social consideration.
I pass by his nomination to the chief -justiceship and the contro
versy that it excited. He bore himself with dignity and true
nobility of nature while the issue was pending, and allowed the
failure of the council to confirm him to leave no lasting roots of
bitterness in his heart. No man could more truly apply to him-

184 ADDRESS OF
self than Judge Thomas the words of Henry Clay: "I thank God
that I have no memory for injuries." He loved his library and
his garden, and looked forward eagerly to the time when he might
be able to retire and devote the evening of life to some literary
undertaking. The last time I heard him speak in public was at
the dinner of the Suffolk Bar Association, where he presided
and made the opening address, full of wit and pathos and elo
quence. He died at Beverly, September 27, 1878. Struck down
in the freshness of his strength and usefulness, with short warn
ing to himself, and hardly any to his friends and the community,
ill can he be spared in any of the relations of life.
The statistics of the other members of the Bar, whose names
I have been obliged to omit for want of time, have been prepared
and lie before me. If I were to read them over you would agree
with ine that there are very few who cannot be remembered with
satisfaction. Of course there are some whose unworthiness all
must confess. " Oh, name not their names,
Let them rest in the shade,
Where, cold and unhonored,
Their relics are laid."
But what profession is there in which, out of so large a number,
the wrecks have not been at least equally numerous.
Ever since the Revolution, for upwards of one hundred
years, the Bar of this County has been crowded with very able,
honorable, high principled men. Statesmen and magistrates,
jurists and advocates of eminence, have always been ' found
among its numbers. Strike out of the history of the Common
wealth and of this County the page which belongs to the lawyers
of Worcester County, and how great the void would be! The
past at least is secure. I can speak of the Worcester County
Bar with some degree of impartiality, since for many years I
have not been one of its active members. I cannot help speak-

DWIGHT FOSTER. 185
ing of it with pride and affection, for I am in the fourth genera
tion of a family more or less closely connected with the Courts
and the Bar of this County. I feel at liberty to say that the
men who uphold its character and honor to-day, are as strong
and as good as any of their predecessors.

2-1

APPENDIX.

The appendix originally pubhshed with the address of Mr.
Willard, and that pubhshed with the address of Mr. Washburn,
and that which has been prepared since the address of Mr.
Foster, are here placed together.

AVmy.n Ti\: v

¦! 'O R. CE S T£ R . MA 3 3 A CH V SETTS .

APPENDIX
TO THE ADDRESS OF HOX. EMORY WASHBITPOs.
A.
The Judges of tbe Supreme Court in 1830 were Hon. Lemuel
Shaw. Chief Justice. Hon. Samuel Putnam, Hon. Samuel S.
Wilde, Hon. Marcus Morton.
Jodge Putnam resigned his seat npon the Bench January 26.
1842. and retired altogether from public life. He removed from
Salem, where he had formerly lived, to Boston, many years before
bis death. He died -July 3. 1 853. at the age of eighty-five. He had
succeeded Judge Parker upon his promotion to the place of Chief
Justice, in September, 1814. He was succeeded by the Hon.
Samuel Hubhard, of Boston, February 22. 1842. Judge Wilde
retained his sear upon the Bench till November 5. 1850. He was
appointed June 17. 1815. in the place of Judge Daniel Dewey,
deceased, and was sttt»eeeded by Hon. George T. Bigelow. He
resiled in HaUoweU when appointed, bnt, upon die separation of
Maine from Massachusetts, removed to Newiuryport, Bnt for
manr rears before his death resided in Boston. He died June
22. 1855. st the age of eighty-four. Jndge Morton held the
n"1 ace of Jud -re rill Jannarv. 1840. when he was elected Governor
of the Commonwealth. He was appointed to the place, July 4,
1525. as successor to Hon. Levi Lincoln. The number of Judges
having been again reduced to foor, npon his election as Governor
ro successor was appointed. Hon. Ctaries A. Dewey was
appointed to the Bench under a law of 1537 increasing the
number of -Jn iges of that Court to five. He received his appoint
ment Mar 25. 1557. Hon. Samuel Hr.hl<ard sueeeedet Judge

190 APPENDIX.
Putnam, February 22, 1842, and held office till his death, Decem
ber 24, 1847, and was succeeded by Hon. Charles E. Forbes, of
Northampton. Hon. Theron Metcalf was appointed to the Bench
February 25, 1848, the number of Judges of the Court having
been increased by an act of the Legislature to five. Hon. Charles
E. Forbes succeeded Judge Hubbard, February 7, 1848, and held
office till the following October, when he resigned, and was suc
ceeded by Hon. Richard Fletcher, of Boston. Hon. Richard
Fletcher was appointed in place of Judge Forbes, October 24,
1848, and held office till January, 1853, when he resigned and was
succeeded by Hon Benjamin F. Thomas. Hon. George T.
Bigelow succeeded Judge Wilde, November, 1850.
By an act of April 20, 1852, the number of the Judges of the
Court was increased to six. Hon. Caleb Cushing was appointed
under this act a Judge of the Court, and held the place till his
appointment as Attorney-General of the United States in 1853.
Hon. Pliny Merrick was appointed his successor, March, 1853.
Hon. Benjamin F. Thomas succeeded Judge Fletcher, January,
1853. The Bench, therefore, now consists of Hon. Lemuel Shaw,
Chief Justice ; Hon. Charles A. Dewey, Hon. Theron Metcalf,
Hon. George T. Bigelow, Hon. Benjamin F. Thomas, Hon.
Pliny Merrick. B.
The Judges of the Court of Common Pleas in 1830 were Hon.
Artemus Ward, Chief Justice; Hon. Solomon Strong, Hon.
John M. Williams, Hon. David Cummings.
Hon. Judge Williams succeeded Chief Justice Ward in 1841,
and held office till his resignation in June, 1844, when he was
succeeded by Hon. Daniel Wells, of Greenfield, July, 1844.
Hon. Charles H. Warren, of New Bedford, was appointed to the
place of Judge Williams, promoted in 1841, and held office till

APPENDIX. 191
his resignation in June, 1844. Judge Strong resigned in 1843,
and was succeeded by Hon. Charles Allen, of Worcester, who was
appointed in 1843, and resigned in 1845.
On the 1st of March, 1843, the number of Judges was increased
to five, and to fill the plac'e thus created Hon. Pliny Merrick, of
Worcester, was appointed Judge of this Court, and held the place
till 1848, when he resigned. Judge Cummings resigned the
office in June, 1844. Upon the resignation of Judges Warren
and Cummings, Emory Washburn and Joshua H. Ward were
appointed to the seats thus vacated, in July, 1844. Judge Ward
held office until his death, May 29, 1848, and was succeeded by
Judge Byington.
In March, 1845, the number of the Judges of this Court was
increased to six. Hon. Harrison G. O. Colby, of New Bedford,
was appointed soon after to the new seat, and resigned in 1847.
Hon. Luther S. Cushing was appointed in 1845, in place of Judge
Allen. Hon. Charles E. Forbes succeeded Judge Colby in 1847,
and held office till February 7, 1848, when he was appointed to
the Bench of the Supreme Court. Judge Washburn held office
until December, 1847. Hon. Edward Mellen, of Wajdand, was
appointed to the Bench to succeed Judge Washburn, and suc
ceeded Chief Justice Wells in 1854. Judge Cushing was appoint
ed Reporter of the Supreme Court, upon Judge Metcalf's
promotion to the Bench in 1848, and was succeeded by Hon.
George T. Bigelow, of Boston, who held office until his appoint
ment to the Supreme Court, in November, 1850. Hon. Horatio
Byington, of Stockbridge, was appointed to succeed Judge Ward
in the summer of 1848, and held office till his death, February,
1856. Hon. Jonathan C. Perkins succeeded Judge Forbes, upon
his promotion to the Supreme Court in 1848. Hon. Thomas
Hopkinson, of Lowell, was appointed to succeed Judge Merrick,
upon his resigning his seat upon this Bench in 1848. He held
office until 1849, when he resigned, and was succeeded by Hon.

192 APPENDIX.
E. Rockwood Hoar, of Concord. He held office till 1855, when
he resigned and was succeeded by Hon. Henry Morris, of Spring
field. Hon. Pliny Merrick was a second time appointed to the
Bench, to succeed Judge Bigelow, on his promotion to the Supreme
Court, November, 1850, and held office till his own promotion to
the same Court, in March, 1853, when he was succeeded by Hon.
George N. Briggs, of Pittsfield.
May 24, 1851, an act was passed increasing the number of
Judges to seven, and Hon. Henry W. Bishop, of Lenox, was
appointed to the office thus created. Chief Justice Wells died
June 23, 1854, and Judge Mellen was promoted thereupon to the
vacancy thereby created, and his own place was filled by the
appointment of Hon. George P. Sanger, of Boston.
The Court now consisting of Chief Justice Mellen, and Justices
Perkins, Bishop, Briggs, Sanger and Morris.
C.
Judges of Pbobate. — Hon. Nathaniel Paine, from 1801 to
1836 ; Hon. Ira M. Barton, from 1836 to 1844 ; Hon. Benjamin
F. Thomas, from 1844 to 1848 ; Hon. Thomas Kinnicutt, 1848.
D.
County and Disteict-Attoenets. — Until 1832, the old system
of County Attorneys for the several counties was retained. By
an act of that year the State was divided into Districts. The
Middle District embraced Worcester and Norfolk Counties. This
continued until May, 1852, when Worcester County was created
into a separate District.
Hon. Pliny Merrick was appointed County Attorney for the
County of Worcester in 1824, and held the office till the creation
of the District system, when he was appointed the first District-
Attorney for the Southern District, and held the office till his
appointment to the Court of Common Pleas in 1843. Hon. Ezra

APPENDIX. 193
Wilkinson was appointed to succeed Judge Merrick. He belonged
to Dedham, and upon the District being divided ceased to act for
Worcester County. Benjamin F. Newton, Esq., of Worcester,
was appointed District-Attorney of the new Middle District. He
held office till his death, the succeeding year, and was succeeded
by P. Emory, Aldrich, Esq., then of Barre. He was superseded
and removed by Governor Gardner in December, 1855, and
John H. Mathews, Esq., of Worcester, was appointed in his
place. E.
Shereffs. — Hon. Calvin Willard, of Worcester, held the office in
1830, having been appointed in 1824. He resigned office, and
was succeeded by Hon. John W. Lincoln, of Worcester, who held
the place till his removal by Governor Boutwell in 1851. James
Estabrook, Esq., was appointed to succeed Colonel Lincoln, and
continued in office till removed by Governor Clifford in 1853.
George W Richardson, Esq., was commissioned upon the removal
of Colonel Estabrook.

Hon. Benjamin Adams was born in Mendon, December, 1764,
was graduated at Brown University, 1788, read law with Hon.
Seth Hastings, and was admitted to practice at Worcester in
1792. He began practice in Hopkinton, but after remaining
there less than a year, removed to Uxbridge, where he ever after
resided. He was a member of Congress from 1816, when he
was elected in place of Judge Brigham, who died at Washington,
till 1821. He was a member of the Senate of Massachusetts
during the years 1814, 1815, 1816, 1823, 1824 and 1825. He
died March 28, 1837, at the age of seventy-two.
Sumnek Bastow was a native of Uxbridge, or his father early
removed to that place. He was a graduate of Brown University
25

194 APPENDIX
in the class of 1802. For some time after he left college, he
was engaged in mercantile business, but he afterwards read law
with Estes Howe, Esquire, of Sutton, and was admitted to the
Bar in March, 1811. He opened an office in the village of
West Sutton, where he did a large professional business till 1823,
when, upon receiving the appointment of Cashier of the Bank
at Oxford, he removed to that place, and, in a great measure,
retired from practice. In 1824-25, he was one of the three can
didates for Representative to Congress from the Worcester South
District. The fourth trial resulting in the election of John
Davis. He died at Oxford, December 29, 1845, aged 67.
Jesse Bliss was born in Brimfield, and was graduated at
Dartmouth in 1808. He studied his profession with the Hon.
Jabez Upham. He practised law in what is now West Brook
field, after his admission to the Bar in 1812, till his death,
August 25, 1853.
Hon. William B. Banistek was born in Brookfield, November
8, 1773, and was graduated at Dartmouth in 1797. He spent
most of his professional life in Newburyport, though for a few
years, about 1830, he was a resident of Brookfield. After this
period he returned to Newburyport, where he died July 1, 1853,
at the age of 79. He was at one time a member of tbe Senate
from the County of Essex.
David Beigham was born in Shrewsbury, August 15, 1786,
was graduated at Harvard in 1810, and afterwards was a tutor in
Bowdoin College. He practised his profession in New Braintree,
Leicester, Greenfield (where he was, for several years, a partner
with Hon. Samuel C. Allen), Shrewsbury and Fitchburg. From
the latter place he removed to Iowa, where he died in 1843, at
the age of fifty-seven.

APPENDIX. 195
Hon. Lewis Bigelow was born in Petersham, and was gradu
ated at Williams College, in 1803. He studied law with his
father, Daniel Bigelow. Ho was a member of the Senate from
Worcester, from 1819 to 1821, and in the latter year was chosen
to Congress for one term. lie was a sound and learned lawyer,
and prepared, and in 1818 published, a digest of the Massachu
setts Reports, of which, after an interval of seven years, he pub
lished a second and enlarged edition, and in 1830, a supplement
to this, bringing down the work to the eighth volume of Picker
ing's Reports. It was a work of great labor and accuracy, and
has never been surpassed by any American Digest.
Ho left the Commonwealth, and became one of the earliest
settlers of the now flourishing city of Peoria,, in Illinois, where
he held the office of Clerk of the Courts of that County, at the
time of his death, October 3, 183S.
Aaeon Brooks was born in 'Petersham, was graduated at
Brown University, in 1817, and subsequently was a tutor in
that Institution. lie studied his profession partly with Hon.
Levi Lincoln, and partly with Hon. Lewis Bigelow, and settled
iu Petersham, where he continued in successful practice in the
counties of Franklin and Worcester, till the time of his death.
May, 1845.
He left a son, Francis A. Brooks, who after settling in the
profession for a few years in Petersham, removed to Boston.
Frederick W. Bottom was born in Plainfield, Conn., and
was graduated at Brown University, in 1802. He studied law
partly with Hon. Tristram Burgess, of Rhode Island, and partly
with Hon. Pliny Merrick, of Brookfield. He first settled in
Charlton in, 1806, and afterwards removed to Southbridge, then
a parish of Sturbridge, where he resided till his death, May 24,
1855, at the ago of seventy-five.
lie left a son now in practice as a lawyer in Southbridge.

196 APPENDIX.
Christopher C. Baldwin was born in Templeton, August 1,
1800. He was fitted for college at Leicester Academy, was a
member of Harvard until May of his senior year, 1823, when he
left and entered the office of Messrs. Lincoln & Davis, in Wor
cester, and was admitted to practice in 1826.
He began practice in Worcester, afterwards was in business a
few years in Barre, from whence he removed to Sutton. He
afterwards removed to Worcester, and soon after was appointed
Librarian of the American Antiquarian Society.
While on a journey in Ohio, he was thrown from a stage
coach, and instantly killed, in Norwich, in that State, August 20,
1835. He died universally lamented.
Samuel M. Burnside was born in Northumberland, N. H., was
graduated at Dartmouth, in 1805. He studied law with Judge
Ward, of Boston, and commenced business in Westborough,
in March, 1810. In September of the same year, he removed to
Worcester, where he continued to reside the remainder of his
life. His reputation for learning in his profession was high.
He retired from business several years before his death, which
took place July 29, 1850, at the age of sixty-seven.
Amos Crosby was born in Brookfield, was graduated at Har
vard in 1786, afterwards preceptor of Leicester Academy, and
subsequently a tutor in Harvard University. He was admitted
to the Bar, and settled in the profession of the law in Brookfield,
in 1804, where he continued till his death, June, 1836, at the
age of seventy-five.
John Davis, Jr., as he was known at the Bar, was born in
Shirley, was never graduated at college, studied law with Mer
rick Rice, of Lancaster, and from 1811 to 1821 was in practice
in Lancaster. The latter year he removed to Charlton, where he
remained engaged in his profession until his death, July 8, 1840.

APPENDIX. 197
Hon. John Davis was born in Northborough, was fitted for
College at Leicester Academy, was graduated at Yale in 1812,
studied law with Hon. Francis Blake, began practice in Spencer,
but soon afterwards removed to Worcester, where he ever after
wards resided. In 1825 he was elected to Congress, and held the
place till 1834, when be was elected Governor of the Common
wealth. In March, 1835, he was elected Senator in Congress, and held
tbe office till January, 1841, when he was again elected Governor,
and held the office two years. In March, 1845, he was again
elected Senator in Congress, and held the office till March, 1853,
when he retired to private life, and died April 19, 1854, at the
age of 67. He was at different times a partner in business with
Levi Lincoln, Jr., Charles Allen and Emory Washburn. His
son, J. C. B Davis, was for several years a member of this Bar.
Hon. Alfred D. Foster was born in Brookfield, July 26,
1800, was graduated at Harvard in 1819, studied law with S. M.
Burnside, Esq., was engaged in his profession about two years in
Worcester, after which be withdrew from the practice. He was
three years a member of the Executive Council, and a member
of the Senate from Worcester in 1848. He was a man of great
worth, and universally respected. He died Angust 15, 1852.
He left a son, now in practice in Worcester as a lawyer.
Isaac Goodwin was born in Plymouth, June 28, 1786, but was
never graduated at any College. He studied law with Hon.
Joshua Thomas. He commenced practice in Boston, in 1808,
but removed, and was settled in Sterling in his profession from
1809 till 1826, when he removed to Worcester. He continued
to reside there till his death. He pubhshed the " Town Officer "
in 1826, and the "New England Sheriff" in 1830. His death
took place September 16, 1832, at the age of 46.

198 APPENDIX.
Alexander Dustin was born in New Boston, N. H., April
17, 1 776, was graduated at Dartmouth in 1799, studied law with
Hon. S. Bell, of Francestown, Hon. Wm. Crosby, of Billerica,
and Hon. Joseph Locke, of Billerica, and was admitted to prac
tice in November, 1804. He first settled in Harvard, but after
five years, in 1810, removed to Westminster, where he remained
until 1826, when he removed to Sterling, where he continued to
reside until his death, January 24, 1837, at the age of 60.
Daniel Gilbert was a native of Brookfield, was graduated
at Dartmouth in 1796, and was admitted to the Bar in 1805.
He resided at North Brookfield till his decease, though for sev
eral years of the latter part of his life, he had withdrawn from
practice. He died March. 11, 1851, at the age of 76.
Hou. Nathaniel Houghton was born in Sterling, but did not
receive a collegiate education. He studied law with the Hon.
Nahum Mitchell, of Bridgewater, commenced practice in Barre,
in 1810, and continued to reside there till his death, December
21, 1840. He was a Senator from Worcester in 1825, and the
two following years.
Hon. Seth Hastings was born in Cambridge, was graduated
at Harvard in 1782, and studied law with Hon. Levi Lincoln,
Senior. He was admitted to the Bar in June, 1786, and com
menced practice in Mendon, where he ever after resided. His
business extended to Norfolk as well as Worcester, and was at
one time very extensive.
From 1801 to 1807 he was a member of Congress, and from
1810 to 1812 was a member of the Senate from Worcester.
From 1819 to 1828 he was Chief Justice of the Court of Sessions
for this County. When he commenced business, there were but
eleven lawyers in practice in the County.
He died at the age of 70, November 19, 1831. He left two

APPENDIX. 199
sons, member's of the profession, both of whom have since
deceased. Hon. William S. Hastings was son of the above, and born
in Mendon in 1798, was graduated at Harvard in 1817, studied
law with his father, and was admitted to the Bar in 1820. He
settled in Mendon, where he resided till his death, June 17, 1841.
He was a member of the Senate from Worcester from 1830 to
1833. He had been three times elected to Congress, and died
while a member, at the Sulphur Springs, in Virginia. He was
never married.
Nahum Harrington was born in Westborough, June 13, 1778,
and was graduated at Brown in 1807. He studied law with Hon.
Fisher Ames and Hon. James Richardson, and was admitted to
practice in April, 1811. He immediately opened an office in
Westborough, where he resided till his death, December 31,
1848, at tbe age of 70.
Hon. Charles C. P. Hastings, son of Hon. Seth Hastings,
was born in Mendon, and was graduated at Brown in 1825. He
studied law a part of the time with Judge Howe, at Northamp
ton, and a part with his brother, Hon. Wm. S. Hastings. He
was admitted to the Bar, September, 1828, and settled in Mendon,
where he resided till his death, September 25, 1848, at the age
of 44. He was a member of the Senate from Worcester in the
years 1840 and 1841.
Hon. Joseph G Kendall was born in Leominster, was grad
uated at Harvard in 1810, and for five years was a tutor in that
University. He studied law with Hon. Ahijah Bigelow, and
settled in Leominster, where he remained till 1833, when he was
appointed Clerk of the Courts for this County. He held this
office till his death, October 2, 1847, at the age of 59. In 1824,

200 APPENDIX.
he was elected to the Senate, from Worcester, and held the office
four years. He was a member of Congress during the years
1830 to 1833, the 21st and 22d Congresses.
Eleazer James was born at Cohasset, in 1754, and was grad
uated at Harvard in 1778. He was a tutor in that institution
from 1781 to 1789. He studied theology, and preached for a
time, though he never was settled. He then studied law with
Hon. Levi Lincoln, Senior, and began business in Barre, where
he resided till near the close of his life, when he removed to the
family of his son-in-law, Hon. Charles Allen, in Worcester,
where he died April 14, 1843, at the age of 89.
William Lincoln was born in Worcester, September 26, 1801,
and was son of Hon. Levi Lincoln, Senior. He was graduated
at Harvard, in 1822, studied law with Hon. Enoch Lincoln, in
Maine, Hon. John Davis, and Hou. Rejoice Newton, who had
married his sister, with whom he was- afterwards for several
years a partner in business. He was admitted to the Bar in
August, 1825, and died at the age of 42, October 5, in the year
1843. Seth Lee was born in Barre, but did not receive a collegiate
education. He was somewhat advanced in life when he began
the study of the law, which he pursued, as is understood, in the
office of Hon. Jabez Upham, and was admitted to the Bar in
1810. He established himself in business in Barre, where he
remained till his death, in March, 1841.
Jacob Mansfield was born in Lynn, was awhile a member of
Harvard University, but did not graduate. He studied law for
a time with Judge Putnam, in Salem. He settled in Western
(now Warren), but left there and went to the City of New York,
where it is supposed he died.

APPENDIX. 201
William Perry was born in Leominster, April 15, 1786, was
never graduated at College, studied his profession with the Hon.
Abijah Bigelow, and established himself in business in his native
town, having been admitted to the Bar in August, 1813. He
died in August, 1844, at the age of 58.
Rufus Putnam was born in Warren, then Western, and was
graduated at Williams College in 1804. He settled in the prac
tice of his profession in Rutland, where he resided till his death,
January 18, 1847, at the age of 64.
Hon. Nathaniel Paine was born in Worcester, and was gradu
ated at Harvard in 1775. He studied law with Hon. John
Sprague, of Lancaster, and was admitted to the Bar in 1781.
He began business in Groton, but after four years removed to
Worcester, where he resided during the remainder of his life.
He held the office of County Attorney for some time, and in
1801, was appointed Judge of Probate for the County of Wor
cester. This office he held for thirty-five years, and died October
7, 1840, at the age of 82.
William Pratt was born in Shrewsbury, was graduated at
Brown in 1825, studied law with Judge Merrick, and began
business in Shrewsbury. He remained there till 1835, when he
removed to Worcester, and formed a professional connection
with Judge Merrick, which continued for a short time. He died
February 2, 1839.
Warren Rawson was born in Mendon, and was graduated at
Brown in 1802. He studied law a part of the time with Judge
Bangs, and a part of the time with Hon. S. Hastings. He began
business in Mendon, where he remained till his death, June 17,
1848, aged 71.
Hon. William Stedman was graduated at Harvard in 1784.
He was admitted to the Bar in Essex, in 1787. He practised
26

202 APPENDIX.
law in Lancaster, and in 1803 was elected to Congress, of which
body he was a member till 1810. In the latter year he was
appointed Clerk of the Courts for this county, which place he
held, with the exception of one year, till 1816. He then
resumed his profession in Charlton, but afterwards removed to
Lancaster. He died at Newburyport, iu September, 1831, at the
age of sixty-six.
Thomas Pope was born in Dudley, and was graduated at
Brown University, in 1809. He settled in business in Dudley,
where he resided till his death, March 7, 1854, at the age of
sixty-six. Hon. Onslow Peters. Since the preparation of the address of
which these notices form an appendix, the death of Judge Peters
has been announced. He was born in Westborough, March 1,
1803, was graduated at Brown, in 1825, and studied law partly
with Judge Howe and Hon. Mr. Mills, at Northampton, and
partly with Hon. Samuel Hoar. He was admitted to the Bar
in Middlesex, in September, 1828, and soon after commenced
business in Westborough. After residing there several years, he
removed to Peoria, Illinois, and at the time of his death, held
the office of Curcuit Judge of the 16th Circuit of that State.
He died at Washington, February, 1856.
Henry Paine was a son of Judge Paine, and born in Wor
cester. He entered Yale College, but did not graduate. He
studied law with Samuel M. Burnside, Esq., and commenced
business in Worcester, where he resided till his death, in May,
1874. Hon. Moses Smith was admitted to practice at Worcester,
December Term, 1802, and commenced practice in Lancaster,
which he abandoned after a period of twenty-three years. He*
continued to reside there, however, till his death, June 29, 1835,

APPENDIX. 203
at the age of 5S. He was never graduated at any college. He
was a member of the Senate from Worcester from 1814 to 1816.
Jonas L. Sibley was born in Sutton, the son of Hon. Jonas
Sibley. He was graduated at Brown in 1813, and studied law
with Hon. Levi Lincoln. He settled in business in Sutton, and
remained there till IS 34, when he was commissioned as U. S.
Marshal for the District of Massachusetts. He held this office
eight years, and then returned to Sutton, but never resumed his
profession. After several years of ill health, he died, February
1, 1S52, at the age of 61.
Heman Stebbins was born in West Springfield, was graduated
at Yale in 1814. He practised law for several years in Brook
field, but abandoned it for the profession of a Civil Engineer
some years before his death, with took place November, 1S38.
Simeon Saunderson never received a collegiate education.
He was admitted to the Bar in 1820, and practised law in West
minster. He died in July, 1842.
Hon. George A. Tufts was born in Dudley, the son of Hon.
Aaron Tufts, February 22, 1797. He was graduated at Harvard
in ISIS, was for one year and a quarter a member of the Law
School at Cambridge, and studied law one year with Hon.
Josiah J. Fisk, and the balance of the three years with Hon.
Levi Lincoln. He was admitted to the Bar in Worcester,
December. 1821, and entered upon the practice of the profession
in Dudley, where he resided until Ids death, December 25, 1835,
at the age of 38.
He was a Senator from Worcester for the year 1835.
Hon. Bezaleel Taft, Jr., was born in Uxbridge, the son of
Hon. Bezaleel Taft, and was graduated at Harvard in 1S04. He
commenced practice in Uxbridge, and resided there till his death,
iu 1846, at the age of 66.

204 APPENDIX.
He was a Senator from Worcester for two years, having been
elected in 1825, and was afterwards a member of the Executive
Council. Hon. Lovell Walker was born in Brookfield, was graduated
at Darmouth in 1794. He was admitted to practice in 1801,
settled in Templeton, and practised his profession there for many
years, but removed to Leominster a short time before his death,
which took place March 25, 1840, at the age of 72.
He was a member of tbe Senate during the years 1830 and
1831. Otis C. Wheeler was born in Worcester, and studied law
with Messrs. Davis and Allen, and was admitted to the Bar in
1830. He died at St. Augustine, Florida, having been in busi
ness for a year or two in Worcester, February 6, 1831, at the
early age of 23.
Walter A. Bryant was born in New Salem, but was never
graduated at any College. He studied law with Aaron Brooks,
Esq., and practised his profession in Barre, until about two years
before his death, when he removed to Worcester and opened an
office there. He died in Paris, having reached there on a
journey for his health, in the Spring of 1850.
Allen Bangs was born in Springfield, and began business
there. He opened an office in Worcester for a short time, but
was compelled by ill health to abandon the profession. He was
graduated at Yale in 1846, and died at Springfield, November
24, 1853.
William M. Towne was born in, Charlton, the son of Hon.
Salem Towne, was graduated at Amherst in 1825, and studied
law with Hon. John Davis and Hon. Charles Allen while part
ners, and was admitted to the Bar in 1828. He commenced
business in Worcester where he remained till 1 835, when he gave

APPENDIX. 205
up the profession for other business. He resided at Springfield
for some time previous to his death, which took place, April 20,
1841. Edward J. Vose was born in Augusta, Maine, and was
graduated at Bowdoin College in 1825. He studied law with
Messrs. Davis and Allen, and was admitted to the Bar in 1828.
He opened and office soon after in Worcester, and died May 25,
1831, at the age of 25.
Harry Wood was born in Grafton. He did not receive a
collegiate education. After being admitted to the Bar, he prac
tised for some time in Maine. He afterwards returned to Graf
ton where he remained in the practice of his profession till his
death, in August, 1838.
Edward Clark was born in Charlton, and studied law with
J. L. Sibley, in Sutton, where he afterwards practised law for
several years. He removed to Worcester, and was in the practice
of his profession there at the time of his death, which took place
on a journey in the Western States in the Summer of 1849.
Andrew J. Davis was born in Northborough in 1815, and
studied law with his brother, Hou. Isaac Davis, with whom he
formed a connection in business upon his admission to the Bar in
1834. After about a year, he removed to St. Louis, where he
continued in practice till his death, in June, 1840. He was at
tacked by a ruffian, by the name of Dames, in the streets of St.
Louis, in consequence of an article published in the St. Louis
Republican, of which he was the proprietor, which resulted in
his death.
Elisha Fuller was born in Princeton, was graduated at
Harvard in 1815, and studied theology. He afterwards studied
law, and commenced business in Concord. After a few years

206 APPENDIX.
residence there, he removed to Lowell, and continued in practice
there until his removal to Worcester, in 1844, where be resided
till his death, which took place very suddenly, March 18, 1855,
at the age of 63.
Frederick W. Gale was born in Northborough, and was grad
uated at Harvard in 1836. He was a member of the Dane Law
School in 1838, and having completed his preliminary studies
with Hon. Isaac Davis, he formed a connection in business with
him, till 1840, when he established himself it business in St.
Louis, from whence he removed in a few years to Worcester.
Here he remained-, with the exception of a few years absence in
Europe, until his death, in October, 1854, having been lost in
the wreck of the Arctic Steamer, on his passage home from
Liverpool. Elisha Hammond was graduated at Yale College in 1802.
He pursued the practice of his profession, after his admission to
the Bar in 1806, in Brookfield. He was absent a few years in
New York, engaged in editing new editions of works on law, and
was himself the compiler of a work upon the duties of Justices.
The last few years of his life he resided in Brookfield, in what
is now West Brookfield, and died May 12, 1851, at the age of 70.
Benjamin F. Newton was never graduated at college. He
studied his profession with Hon. Benj. F. Thomas, and Hon.
Edward Dickinson, and was admitted to this Bar in 1850.
Upon the formation of Worcester County into a separate
district in 1852, he was appointed District-Attorney, and held
the office till his death, which took place March 24, 1853, at the
age of 32.
Andrew D. McFarland was born in Worcester, was gradu
ated at Union College in 1832, and studied his profession with

APPENDIX. 207
Messrs. Davis and Washburn in Worcester. He commenced busi
ness in Worcester upon his admission to the Bar in 1835, and
died June 23, 1836, at the age of 25.
Martin L. Stow never received a collegiate education. He
was in practice for a while in Southborough, and afterwards
removed to Northborough, where he resided till his death in
June, 1843.
George G. Parkee practised! his profession in Ashburnham.
He died April, 1853. •
Amos W. Stockwell was born in Sutton. He was a member
of the Dane Law School in 1835, and completed his studies in
the offices of Hon. Ira M. Barton and Hon. Isaac Davis. He
was admitted to the Bar in 1837, and established himself in
Worcester, where he remained a few years, when he removed to
Chicopee, where he continued to practice in his profession till his
death, 1853.
Abel Whitney was graduated at Williams in 1810. Though
regularly bred to the profession, he engaged in the business of a
teacher in Boston for many years.
He removed to Harvard several years before his death, and
engaged somewhat in practice as a lawyer. He died May 30,
1853.

APPENDIX
Prepared sixce the Address of Judge Foster, by the Committee.

The following brief notices of persons who died since the
address of Gov. Washburn and previous to the address of Judge
Foster, and are not specially noticed in the last address, have
been prepared for this volume : —
Joseph Willard was born at Cambridge, Mass., March 14,
1798. He was the youngest son of Samuel Willard, then presi
dent of Harvard College. His studies preparatory to entering
college were pursued at Cambridge and Exeter. He was gradu
ated at Harvard College in 1S16, and subsequently studied law at
Amherst, N. H., and in the Law School at Cambridge, and was
admitted to the bar in 1819. He commenced the practice of law
in Waltham, Mass.. but removed from that place to Laucaster,
Mass., in 1S21. where he remained actively engaged in the prac
tice of law during the succeeding ten years. During this period
he prepared with great care a history of that town, and delivered
before the members of the Bar of the County tbe admirable
address contained in this volume.
While residing in Lancaster he took an active interest in the
affairs of the town, and in 1S3S and 1S29 represented it in the
State Legislature.
In 1S30 he was married to Miss Susanna H. Lewis, of Boston,
and soon after removed to that city and established himself in his
professional business, which he continued till 1540. when he ac
cepted the joint appointment with George C. Wilde, Esq., to the

210 APPENDIX.
office of Clerk of the Courts for Suffolk County. By mutual
arrangement between them, Mr. Willard undertook the clerkship
of the Court of Common Pleas. He continued to perform the
duties of this office during the remainder of his active life,
although during the period of his official service the Conrt was
twice changed in its name and organization. He was perfectly
familiar with the law relating to practice in the Courts of the
State, and his opinion on questions connected with it was an
authority. In 1829 he became a member of the Massachusetts
Historical Society, and retained his connection with it till the time
of his death. From 1835 to 1857 he held the office of its Re
cording Secretary, and from 1857 to 1864 was its Corresponding
Secretary, the duties of both of which offices he performed with
promptitude and the unfailing courtesy which ever distinguished
him. Mr. Willard had a taste for literary pursuits and antiquarian
research, and his works show that he was a writer of no ordinary
merit. He contributed several very able articles to the American
Monthly Review, a magazine of high tone, and at the time of his
death was engaged in writing a life of Gen. Henry Knox, a work
which remains unfinished. A letter which he wrote to an English
friend during the second year of the late war discussed the issues
of the day with so much force and clearness that his friend caused
it to be published in a leading English paper, and it was subse
quently published and extensively circulated in this country.
Mr. Willard died May 12, 1865. The last labor of his life was
the preparation of a brief memoir of his eldest son, Major Sidney
Willard, who fell at the battle of Fredericksburg.
Abijah Bigelow was born in Westminster, Mass., December 5,
¦1775; was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1795; was admitted
to the Bar in 1798, and afterwards practised law in Leominster,
Mass., till 1817, when he removed to Worcester. He was

APPENDIX. 211
appointed Clerk of the Courts for the County of Worcester and
held the office till 1834. He then resigned it and resumed the
practice of law in Worcester. While a resident of Leominster he
was twice elected to represent that town in the State Legislature,
and he represented his district in the Congress of the United
States two successive terms, from 1811 to 1815. Mr. Bigelow
continued iir the practice of law until the infirmities of age com
pelled him to relinquish it. He was an industrious and accurate
lawyer, a man of staunch integrity and strict morality. He died
April 5, 1869, at the advanced age of ninety-five, and left no stain
on- the record of his long life.
Jared Weed was born in 1783, near the city of New York ;
was brought np on a farm ; was graduated at Harvard College in
1807; was for a time teacher of a High School in Lancaster;
was admitted to the Worcester Bar in 1810, and immediately after
that established himself in the practice of law at Petersham, where
he continued in practice while health and strength permitted.
He was much employed as a Conveyancer and as a Justice of the
Peace. Was Town Clerk of Petersham for thirty years, and was
for many years chairman of the County Commissioners. He held
successively the offices of Captain and Colonel in the State militia.
He was a careful and accurate lawyer and possessed of sound
judgment and good common sense, and in every position which he
held performed his duty with entire fidelity. He died in 1857.
Hon. Linus Child was born at Woodstock, Conn., February 27,
1802. He was graduated at Yale College in 1824, and then be
came a member of the Law School in New Haven, Conn. The
last year of his preparation for the Bar he spent in the office of
Hon. George A. Tufts, in Dudley, Mass. Was admitted to the
Bar in Worcester County and immediately commenced practice in
Southbridge. After continuing in his profession there about
eighteen years, he removed to Lowell in 1845 and took the agency

212 APPENDIX.
of the large corporation there known as the Boott Mills, where he
continued about seventeen years, and then removed to Boston in
1862 and resumed the practice of the law, in which he continued
till the time of his decease, August 26, 1870. While residing in
Southbridge he was elected six times to the State Senate as a
Senator from Worcester County, and was an able and influential
member of that body. As chairman of the Committee on Rail
roads he did good service to the State, in framing the laws in re
lation to those institutions and the charters of several railroads.
Mr. Child was an able counsellor and advocate. He was a man
of large stature and dignified presence, and was influential with a
jury by reason of his apparent fairness and honesty of purpose.
He took an active part in politics and was much esteemed for his
practical wisdom and sound judgment.
Samuel Swan was born in Leicester, May 6, 1778, graduated at
Harvard University in 1799, and studied law with Judge Paine,
of Worcester. He practised law in Hubbardston about fifty
years ; was a thorough student, a safe counsellor and of strict pro
fessional integrity. He died September 27, 1863, in his eighty-
sixth year, at the residence of his son, George Swan, in
Worcester. Jesse W. Goodrich was born in Pittsfield, Mass., in 1808 ; was
graduated at Union College, N. Y., 1829; was admitted to the
Bar in Worcester in 1833. He practised law there for several
years. From 1833 to 1836 he was a partner of David T. Brigham.
He was an early and uncompromising advocate of the cause of
temperance, and was at different times the editor and pro
prietor of three different journals published in Worcester devoted
to the cause of total abstinence — the Worcester Waterfall, the
Worcester County Cataract, and the Washingtonian — all of which
were finally merged in one. Mr. Goodrich died in 1857.

APPENDIX. 213
Joseph Thayer, the subject of this sketch, was born in
Douglas in 1792. Entered Brown University in 1811 and grad
uated in the class of 1 8 1 5.
He studied law with Hon. Levi Lincoln, in Worcester, and with
Hon. Bezaleel Taft, Jr., in Uxbridge, was admitted to practice
in 1818 and at once commenced practice in Uxbridge, which
town he made his home during a long and useful life. He mar
ried, soon after commencing business, Chloe Taft, a daughter
of the Hon. Bezaleel Taft, of Uxbridge, with whom he lived hap
pily for many years.
Mr. Thayer was often called to offices of honor and trust, and
served the town repeatedly and well in the Various town offices.
He also represented the town several years in the General Court,
and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention for the
revision of the State Constitution. A man of good legal ability
and general business capacity. He died January 9, 1872, at the
residence of his son-in-law, Hon. Henry Chapin, in Worcester.
In the latter part of his life, on account of ill health, he retired
to the quiet and rest of his farm, with a large competence.
Isaac Stevens was born in Wareham, Mass., April 12, 1792 ;
was admitted to the Bar about the year 1821, and commenced the
practice of law immediately after that in Middleborough. In
1837 he removed to Athol, Mass., where he continued in the
practice of his profession until within a few months of his death,
which took place September 6, 1866.
He represented the town of Middleborough in his younger
days, and later iu life the town of Athol, in the State Legislature.
He enjoyed in a large degree the respect and esteem of his as
sociates at the Bar and the community at large. He was an
honest man and a safe and judicious counsellor.
Benjamin D. Hyde was born in Sturbridge, February 8, 1803.
He obtained his early education in the public schools of his native

214 APPENDIX.
town, and until 1828 was connected with tbe business of farming
aud teaching. January 1, 1828, he entered the Law School at
Northampton and remained there, being a part of the time a stu
dent in the office of Bates and Dewey, until March, 1831, when he
was admitted to the Bar of the Court of Common Pleas at North
ampton. In May, 1831, he commenced practice in Southbridge
and remained there until April, 1840, when he returned to Stur
bridge and continued the practice of his profession there till his
death, November 2, 1869. Besides holding many offices in South-
bridge and in Sturbridge, he represented Southbridge twice and
Sturbridge once iu the State Legislature, and was also elected a
member of the Constitutional Convention of Massachusetts in
1853. Albert S. Ingalls was born in Rindge, N. H., December 29,
1830. He studied law in the offices of Hon. Charles R. Train, of
Framingham, Mass., of Wood, and Bailey, and of Norcross and
Snow, of Fitchburg, Mass.
Was admitted to the Bar at Worcester, February 9, 1858, and
immediately commenced the practice of law, in partnership with
Hon. J. W. Mansur, of Fitchburg. In 1859 he removed to West
Cambridge, now Arlington, Mass., where he was successfully en
gaged in professional labors until he entered the army. Shortly
after the outbreak of the rebellion he raised a company of volun
teers for the Federal service, but when this company was ready to
march the quota of soldiers required from Massachusetts was full.
Unwilling to tolerate the idea of disbanding his company, he
promptly offered the services of himself and company to the State
of New York. They were accepted and mustered into the
fortieth New York Volunteers.
"Soon after the battle of Williamsburg, in which he bore a gal
lant part, eliciting for his heroism and soldierly bearing the warm-

APPENDIX. 215
est approbation of his superiors in command, he was promoted to
the office of Major of the regiment."
June 30, 1862, in one of the battles before Richmond, he
received a wound, which rendered necessary the amputation of
one of his legs, from the effects of which he died, August 11,
1862. Previous to his death he received a written expression of the
esteem of his fellow-townsmen, passed in town meeting, July 22,
1862, and placed upon the town records, testifying to his " patri
otic zeal, lofty courage and daring before the enemy."
His remains were brought to West Cambridge, where they
were received with every demonstration of respect and affection,
the places of business being closed and the flags at half-mast.
John H. Mathews was born at Worcester, Mass., in 1826.
Fitted for college at Amherst Academy ; was in Amherst Col
lege two years, left the college in 1845, and commenced the
study of law in the office of Hon. Isaac Davis. He finished his
law studies jn the office of Granville Parker, was admitted to the
Bar in 1848,; and became at law partner of Mr. Parker. He was
appointed District-Attorney by Governor Gardner in November,
1855, and retained the office until his death, July, 1856.
John Henry Stockwell was born in Webster, April 10, 1838,
and died December 14, 1875. He was educated at Dudley
Academy and Wilbraham Academy, and read law at. Worcester,
in the office of Messrs. Bacon and Aldrich, for about one year, and
afterwards was a student for two years in the Law School at Al
bany, N. Y. He was admitted to practice there in 1859. He
then returned to his native town, was admitted in Worcester, and
practised bis profession there the rest of his life. He held for
several years the office of Trial Justice and other local offices.
Joseph B. Cook was born in Cumberland, R. I., in 1837. He
attended the schools of his native town and for a time the High

216 APPENDIX.
School at Providence. He studied law with Hon. Christopher
Robinson, of Woonsocket, R. I., and at the Albany Law School,
of which he was a graduate. He was admitted to the Bar in
Worcester County, and practised law in Blackstone until his
death, December 14, 1863.
Jerome B. Bolster was born in Uxbridge, Mass. He studied
law in the office of S. A. Burgess, Esq., of that town. He was
admitted to the Bar, January, 1865, and commenced practice in
Blackstone. He died October, 1866.
William L. Southwick was born in Waterford Village,. Men
don, May 17, 1827. Besides the schools of his native village, he
attended the academies at Smithfield and Scituate, R. I. He
studied law with Hon. Tsaac Davis, at Worcester, and was admitted
to the Bar in April, 1848. He opened an office in Hopkinton in
1850, but removed to Blackstone in 1851, where he remained in
practice until his health failed him in 1866. He died at Worces
ter, February 4, 1867.
Daniel Stearns, was born in Fitchburg, Mass., April 11,
1831 ; graduated at Dartmouth College in 1855, studied law in the
office of T. K. Ware, Esq., of Fitchburg, and was admitted to the
Bar at Fitchburg, April 5, 1859. He died January 31, 1868.
William E. Beown was born in Sidney, Maine, in 1831 ; was
graduated at the Law School in Albany, N. Y., in 1868 ; was ad
mitted to the Bar soon after that ; practised law a short time in
Fitchburg ; left that place in 1869, and died at Lincoln, Nebraska,
in 1870.
He was in the military service of the United States, in the
third Maine regiment, three years, during the late civil war, and
was wounded in both arms and both legs.
Aaron Lyon was born in Southbridge, August 14, 1824, and
died in Sturbridge, August 22, 1858. He was graduated at Yale

APPENDIX. 217
College in IS 19. After graduating, he remained one year in the
Law School at New Haven, when he returned to his native place
and studied law in the office of Benjamin D. Hyde, Esq., and was
admitted to practice at Worcester in September, 1S51. He
opened an office in Sturbridge and continued his practice there
until his decease. During this period he held many local offices,
and was held in high respect for his professional attainments.
George A. Wetherell was born in Oxford, Mass., August
30, 1S25, was graduated at Yale College in 1S4S ; studied law at
Worcester in the office of his brother, Col. John W. Wetherell.
He was admitted to the Bar in 1851, and then entered into
partnership with his brother in the practice of law, and retained
that connection till his death in September, 1S5S. He was a
gentleman of strict integrity, courteous and affable iu his man
ners, of good natural abilities and creditable attainments.
Milton Whitney, a native of Ashburnham, Mass., was born in
1823. At the schools in his native town at an early age he gave
indications of superior talent. While quite young, he commenced
the study of law in the office of Hon. Nathaniel Wood, of Fitch
burg, Mass., and remained a student in his office until he
was admitted to the Bar, in 1S45. He then commenced
tbe practice of law in Fitchburg, and continued in practice
there till 1S50, when, in consequence of the failing health of his
wife, he removed to Baltimore, Md., to secure for her the benefit
of a milder climate. He opened an office in Baltimore, and very
soon secured a lucrative business, and rose rapidly to eminence in
his profession.
In 1853, he was elected State Attorney for the City of Balti
more, which office he held for six years, and the duties of whieh
he discharged with ability and credit to himself. It was during
his official term that that city passed through that period of reck
less lawlessness then spoken of as the reign of terror, in conse-
2S

218 APPENDIX.
quence of which great labor and responsibility were thrown upon
Mr. Whitney as the prosecuting officer of the city ; and he proved
himself every way equal to the labor, responsibility and dangers
of his position. Mr. Whitney was engaged as leading counsel in
many important cases, civil and criminal. He had a high reputa
tion as an advocate and as a skilful and astute lawyer. In the
summer of 1875 he came to his native town, in the hope to re
store his impaired health, but without avail. He died there,
September 3, 1875, at the age of fifty years.
Appleton Dadmun was born in Marlborough, Mass., July 21,
1828. He was fitted for college at Wilbraham Academy; entered
Amherst College in 1850; graduated in August, 1854; studied
law with Hon. Henry Chapin, of Worcester, and was admitted to
the Bar February 3, 1857. He practised law in that city.
Delicate health compelled a partial relinquishment of business in
the spring of 1868, and in February, 1869, he was obliged to
abandon it entirely. He then removed to Minneapolis, Minn.,
where he died of consumption, November 2, 1869. He left a
wife and one daughter.
Mr. Dadmun was a'man of clear perceptions, strong common
sense and sound judgment ; honorable in his dealings with men
and courteous to all. He devoted himself diligently and
faithfully to the duties of his profession, was a good lawyer, and
never neglected the interests of his clients.
Charles A. Holbrook was born at Grafton, Mass., December 6,
1821. In early life he was engaged in trade in several places.
He afterwards studied law in Worcester, and was admitted to the
Bar there in December, 1858, and practised law in that city till
his last sickness. He died in May, 1876.
William Elijah Green, great-grandson of Captain Samuel
Green, one of the founders of Leicester, and son of Dr. John
Green, the first, of Worcester, was born at Green Hill, in Wor-

APPENDIX. 219
cester, January 31, 1777. He was married four times, and by the
first three marriages had eleven children. Mr. Green was gradu
ated at Brown University in 1798, and studied law with Judge
Edward Bangs, of Worcester. He was admitted to the Bar in
1801, and began to practice at Grafton, where he resided for a
short period. Returning to Worcester, he became a partner in
the practice of the law with Judge Bangs. This partnership con
tinued until the appointment of the latter gentleman to a place on
the Bench, in 1811. Mr. Green was afterwards connected in the
law practice with Edward D. Bangs, Esq., until 1816. As a
lawyer, he is represented as well read and as astute in developing
the strong points of causes intrusted to him. During the latter
portion of his life Mr. Green was not in active practice. He
continued to reside at his farm, at Green Hill, upon which were
exhibited the results of a marked fondness for farming. Mr.
Green was one of the foremost promoters of the Blackstone
Canal. He was for many years Captain of the Worcester Light
Infantry and a volunteer of the war of 1812. He was one of the
earliest advocates of the temperance reform, and a zealous
worker for the establishment and elevation of the public schools.
He was affable to those of all conditions. He died at Green Hill,
at the age of eighty-eight years, in the room in which he was
born, and is remembered as a man of great geniality and cheer
fulness. Charles Delano Bowman was the son of Hon. Joseph Bow
man, a successful merchant in New Braintree, Mass.; was born in
1816 ; graduated at Harvard College, 1838 ; studied law in Wor
cester with Hon. Emory Washburn and Francis H. Dewey from
1842 to 1845, in which last year he was admitted to the Worcester
Bar. He then established himself at Oxford, where he enjoyed
a successful practice and was highly esteemed. November 24,
1846, he married Marian Louise, the daughter of Elnathan

220 APPENDIX.
Jones, Esq., whose death preceded his. Mr. Bowman died
January, 1857. He had collected a large and valuable library,
both law and miscellaneous. He devised his law library to the
Law Library Association of Worcester County, and a large por
tion of his miscellaneous library to the American Antiquarian
Society. William Nelson Green, son of William Elijah Green, was
born in Milford, February 23, 1804. He married, February 23,
1839, Sarah Munroe Staples [nee Ball), of Northborough, by
whom he bad five children, one of whom was Lieutenant-Colonel
William Nelson Green, Jr., who was killed in the late war. He
pursued his professional studies with Samuel M. Burnside, Esq.,
and was admitted to the Bar, at Worcester, in 1827. He was
appointed Judge of the Worcester Police Court at its organization
in 1848, and occupied that position until the abolition of the
Court in 1868, a period of twenty years. Before his appointment
as Judge, be had, as Justice of the Peace, a very large proportion
of the criminal business of the Town of Worcester and much of
that of the County, by a very general consent of the members of
the Bar. He was an extensive reader, much interested in genea
logical investigations and in natural history, on which latter
subject he had gathered one of the best private libraries in the
State. He was au untiring practical sportsman, very skilful
with firearms, and had an extensive knowledge of game, con
tributing much to the literature of sporting. Judge Green was
at one time editor of the Worcester uEgis. He died, at his
farm in Worcester, December 6, 1870.
Charles G. Prentiss was born in Leominster, October 1, 1778.
Practised law in Oxford and in Worcester, Mass.; was appointed
Register of Probate for the County of Worcester in July, 1S37,
and held that office till 1859. He was accurate and careful in the

APPENDIX. 221
discharge of his official duties, and courteous and accommodating
to all who had occasion to do business at his office. He died at
Worcester, January 12, 1863.
James Otis Williams was born in New Bedford, May 15, 1S27 ;
was graduated at Harvard College in 1849 ; was admitted to the
Bar in Worcester in 1S53 and practised law in that city a short
time. He removed to St. Louis, Mo., and subsequently practised
law there. He died in Palestine, 111., December 27, 1873.
David T. Brigham was born in Shrewsbury, August 5, 1808 ;
was graduated at Brown University ; was admitted to the Bar
and practised law in Worcester a short time. He engaged in
speculation in real estate. In 1834 he was President of the Man
ufacturers' Insurance Company of Worcester. He afterwards
removed to St. Louis, Mo., and from thence to Keokuk, Iowa,
where be died about the year 1869.
Lemuel S. Williams was born in New Bedford, January 19,
1812 ; was graduated at Harvard College in 1836 ; was admitted
to the Bar and practised law, first in Dedham and afterwards in
Westborough, Mass. He died at St. Louis, Mo., November 16,
1859. Calvin Wlllaed was born in Harvard, Mass., December 7th,
1784. He pursued the study of law in the office of Hon. Richard
H. Dana, in Boston, and was admitted to practice in the Court
of Common Pleas in 1S09, and in the Supreme Judicial Court
in 1812. He commenced the practice of law in Barnstable, but
remained there only a short time, and removed to Petersham,
where be was in practice a brief period, and then removed to
Fitchburg, where he continued in the practice of his profession
until he was appointed Sheriff of the county in 1824. Soon
after this he removed to Worcester. He held the office of
sheriff by successive appointments for about twenty-two years.

222 APPENDIX.
during the greater part of the time residing in Worcester. In
the latter part of this period for several years he resided in
Millbury, but subsequently returned to Worcester and resided
there till the time of his death. He died suddenly, Sept. 20,
1867, aged 83 years.
Mr. Willard was a gentleman of the old school. Somewhat
formal in his manners, courteous to all, but with a dignified
reserve. He was an accurate and careful lawyer and a man of
the strictest integrity. He was a model sheriff. Carefully
observant of the forms and etiquette of the court, dignified in his
bearing, attentive to every official duty, punctilious in every
thing, he executed the functions of his office in a manner
highly satisfactory to the Court, the Bar and the public.
He was twice married. His last wife still lives to enjoy her
quiet and hospitable home.
Edward Hamilton was born at Worcester, January 6th, 1812,
and received there his early education. He studied law at Wor
cester in the office of Hon. William Lincoln and was admitted to
the Bar in 1835. He practised law for brief periods of time in
Millbury, Barre and Worcester, but the duties of the profession
were not adapted to his taste and inclination, and he accordingly
abandoned it for other pursuits. About the year 1849 he was
appointed a clerk in the Worcester County Institution for Sav
ings, a position which he was well calculated to fill and which he
held to the time of his death, January 2, 1870. As a composer
and performer he possessed musical talents of a high order. His
voice was rich and melodious, and he sang with excellent taste and
expression. The violin and flute were his favorite instruments,
but he was able to perform well on several other musical instru
ments. He was remarkable also for his accuracy and celerity in
mathematical calculations and in the solution of difficult mathe
matical problems. His memory was so retentive that he could

APPENDIX. 223
play a game of chess skilfully without seeing the chess-board by
merely being informed of the moves ofhis adversary. His name
was originally Alexander Hamilton. On his application the first
name was changed to Edward by the legislature in 1S44.
His petition for a change of name was characteristic of him.
It contains some good suggestions, and may be of value to the
profession as a precedent for such a petition, and will be a suita
ble close of this sketch. It was addressed to the Legislature,
and was as follows : —
" The petition of Alexander Hamilton, of Worcester, in the county of Wor
cester, respectfully represents that he is desirous of changing his name to
Edward Hamilton, for the following reasons, viz. : —
1st. His present name is inconveniently long, both to write and to speak.
2nd. It is rather too much of a burden for a common sort of man to sup
port the respectability of so renowned a name.
3d. A humble individual like your petitioner is made to feel keenly nnd
bitterly his own unworthiness, every time in the course of business, that he
is obliged to disclose his name to a stranger.
4th. No inconvenience of moment will be experienced by other persons,
by the change asked for, inasmuch as the petitioner's name is not to be found
in tradesmen's or shopkeepers' books connected with unsettled accounts.
5th. The petitioner is intending to publish some musical compositions of
his own, and he is unwilling to associate so illustrious a name with inferior
productions. 6th. The petitioner believes that the granting his prayer would tend to re
buke the foolish and too prevalent practice of burdening children with high
sounding names ; among the unhappy and ludicrous consequences of which,
we have read In the papers that ' John Quincy Adams ' was brought up by
the watch in some Southern city, charged with being found drunk in the
streets at midnight; and 'Marcus Morton' was sent to the House of Correc
tion in New York for stealing a box of smoked herrings.
7th. The petitioner wishes to assume the name of Edward, instead of
Alexander, because —
1st. It is a good name in itself.
2nd. It admits of a convenient and not disagreeable abbreviation.
3d. It is the name which was borne by a relative and near friend,
now deceased.
Therefore, your petitioner prays that he may be allowed to take the name
of Edward Hamilton.
Merrill Barlow was admitted to the Bar in Worcester in
January, 1848. He had previously been admitted to practice in

224 APPENDIX.
Windham County, Ct., and resided in Woodstock, in that State.
He practised law in Southbridge, Mass., from 1848 to 1854,
and then removed to Columbus, Ohio, where he resumed the
practice of law. In 1862, he was appointed Adjutant-General
of the State, an office which ho held for several years. The
dates of his birth and death arc not known to the writer of this
notice. Lemuel Williams, who was well known in Worcester, where
he passed the last twenty years of his life, came of a long line
of honored and legal stock, which was rooted in the old colony
in ancient time. He was the only son of the Honorable Lemuel
Williams, of New Bedford, who was a graduate of Harvard
College in 1765, and a member of Congress from 1800 to 1805.
That Lemuel was the son of the Honorable Benjamin Williams,
of Taunton, who was judge of the Court of Probate for
Bristol from 1778 till his death in 1784; and Benjamin was tbe
son of the Honorable Seth Williams, who was Chief Justice of
the old Common Pleas from 1754 to 1761, when he died. And
the next preceding ancestor in the line was Samuel, who was the
son of Richard Williams, who was the first settler of Taunton.
The Lemuel Williams of this notice was born in 1782, in the
town of Dartmouth, before it was set off to Now Bedford. He
was graduated from Brown University in 1804. After studying
for his profession at the Law School in Litchfield, Connecticut,
then in high repute, he came to the Bar in 1808, and began
practice in New Bedford. He soon rose to a high standing in
his profession in Bristol County, acquired a quite large practice,
and ranked equally as a safe counsellor and as a popular advo
cate. He continued in the profession in New Bedford through a
period of thirty years, achieving a good reputation for his
attainments in the law, for his incisive and telling way of putting
his cases to the juries, and for his social disposition, which
adapted him to favor among all classes. For several years dur-

APPENDIX. 225
ing this period, he successfully represented New Bedford in the
Legislature, in which he bore an active part, and was prominent,
in the session of 1820, in connection with the passage of the
" Act to establish a Court of Common Pleas for the Common
wealth of Massachusetts." In 1829, President Jackson ap
pointed Mr. Williams Collector of the port of New Bedford,
which office he held through both the presidential terms of the
General. In 1838 he removed to Lowell, where he practised only
about two years, subsequently removing his residence to Cam
bridge and opening his law office in Boston. For some time, at
this stage of his life, he was associated as law-partner with the
late lamented Isaac O. Barnes — a partnership, it may be pre
sumed, not more of law than of wits, which leaves much that is
pleasing to the imagination of all those persons who knew both
these gentlemen well. In 1842, he was appointed by President
Tyler, Collector of the port of Boston, which office he continued
to hold until May, 1845, after President Tyler had retired to
private life. Mr. Williams removed to Worcester in 1848,
where he practised law about four years. He died there
November 16, 1869, at the age of eighty-seven. Mr. Williams
was quick in his perceptions, and fluent in speech. His manner
in speaking was easy and natural, and he commanded a crisp and
dry style of wit which rarely seemed forced. He had a good
degree of general information and knowledge. His fondness for
social life was made a source of enjoyment to himself and to
others by his own genial disposition, and by his excellent powers
of conversation. He lived a somewhat varied life, but his versa
tility and fertility, both of mind and heart, made him equal to
all its conditions ; and in all situations and to all persons, he
seemed ever ready to impart that which was cheerful, not seldom
that which was profitable.
Charles K. Wetherell was born at Petersham, Mass., in
1822, entered Yale College, and was a student there two years,
29

226 APPENDIX.
but was not graduated. He stndied law in his native town, in
Greenfield, and at the Law School at. Cambridge, and was ad
mitted to the Bar in 1844. He commenced tbe practice of law
in Petersham, and practised there till 1854, when he removed to
Barre, and in the following year — 1855 — removed to Worcester,
continuing the practice of law in each place. He died in 1857.
Daniel Henshaw was born in Leicester, was graduated at
Harvard College in 1807, was admitted to the Bar and practised
law in Winchendon, removed to Worcester in 1830, and practised
there till 1832, then removed to Boston and afterwards to Lynn.
George Spring Taft, son of Bezaleel Taft, Jr., was born in
Uxbridge, December 26, 1826 ; was fitted for college in the
Uxbridge Academy, and entered Brown University, where he
graduated in the class of 1848. Selecting the law for his profes
sion, he entered himself as a student in the office of Hon. Henry
Chapin, of Worcester, where he remained until his admission to
the Bar in 1851. Soon after this he opened an office in his
native town, where he continued in practice until his decease,
which occurred February 2, 1860, at the early age of 33 years.
Of good natural abilities, improved by cultivation, and well
grounded in the learning of his profession, he gave promise of a
successful and honorable career. Mr. Taft was of strict integrity,
upright in his dealings, manly in his tastes, a good citizen, a safe
lawyer, and steadfast friend.
Henry Dwight Stone was born in Southbridge, July 31,
1820, and pursued his studies preparatory to college at the
Manual Labor School in Worcester, in 1838—9, and was grad
uated at Amherst in 1844. He entered upon the study of law
svith Bacon and Barton, at Worcester, and was admitted to the
Bar there in April, 1846. He practised his profession also in
that city until October, 1364, and from that date until October,

APPENDIX. 227
1869, in New Orleans, La. In 1867, he was admitted to prac
tice before the Supreme Court of the United States. While a
resident of New Orleans, he won a high reputation by his ser
vices as the solicitor of Mrs. Myra Clark Gaines, in her famous
law suits to recover real estate bequeathed to her in that city.
Mr. Stone died in the City of New York, October 27, 1869.
Joseph W. Huntington was born in Middlebury, Vt., in 1807.
His family removed to Westfield, Mass., when he was quite
young and he went there with them. He received his early
education principally in the Westfield Academy. He studied law
at Lenox, in the office of the late Judge Henry W. Bishop. He
was admitted to the Bar, and commenced practice in Lancaster
in 1837, and continued in practice many years. He was post
master of that town for several years, and was a director of the
Lancaster Bank. lie was a gentleman of good ability, agreeable
manners and fine personal appearance.
George R. M. Withington was a native of Boston, a son of
Oliver W. Withington. He was graduated at Middlebury Col
lege. After his admission to the Bar he commenced the practice
of law in Bolton, but soon after removed to Lancaster and
resumed his practice there. In 1837 he accepted the office of
cashier of the Lancaster Bank, which office he held till 1843
when he resumed the practice of law, and continued in his pro
fessional business until his decease, May 11th, 1858.
Edward Kiekland was admitted to the Bar at Worcester, at
the September Term of the Court of Common Pleas, in 1834,
commenced practice in Templeton, and continued in practice
there till 1838, when he removed to Battleborough, Vt,, where
he continued the practice of law till the time of his death. He
was a gentleman of considerable ability and an accurate lawyer.

228 APPENDIX.
Geoege G. Paekee was born in Ashburnham in the year
1800, and was graduated at Yale College. Immediately after
this he commenced the practice of law in his native town, where
he continued to have a successful practice until the time of bis
decease, in 1852. Ho was an able and accurate law}7er, and a
forcible speaker. His deafness prevented his doing business in
court, and attaining distinction at the bar. He possessed strong
common sense, and a sound judgment. He took a positive inter
est in public affairs within the field of his actions, and was
highly esteemed for honesty and uprightness in all his dealings.
Jubal Harrington was born in Shrewsbury, Mass., was
graduated at, Brown University, admitted to the Bar in 1825.
He commenced the practice of law in Worcester in 1828, was
editor of the Worcester Republican for several years. He
was a representative to the General Court in 1831 and 1836.
He was appointed postmaster of Worcester in 1833 by President
Jackson, and held that office for several years. He engaged
actively in politics and was an ardent partisan. He removed
from Worcester in middle life and died in Columbia, California,
in 1877. *
Henry Houghton Williams, son of William A. Williams,
was born in Worcester, June 8, 1854, was fitted for college in
the Worcester High School, and entered Harvard College in
1870, graduating in 1874. He begun the study of law at once
in the office of W. A. Williams and John R. Thayer. At the
June Term of the Superior Court for Worcester County, in
1876, he entered his petition to be admitted to practice in the
Courts of the Commonwealth, and passed a successful examina
tion before a committee appointed by the court to make such
examination. Thursday, June 22, had been appointed for his
admission to the Bar, but on Tuesday, June 20, while rowino- on

APPENDIX. 229
Lake Quinsigamond, he was unaccountably thrown from his
boat, and before assistance could reach him was drowned.
This sad accident cut short a career of singular promise, and
brought testimonials of grief from many friends at home and
at college. There was an indefinable charm in his presence, a
quiet dignity and manliness in his bearing, which none who knew
him can forget. This for years, both at home and at Cambridge,
bad proved the strength and sweetness of his character ; and his
examination for the Bar had given his examiners high admira
tion for his attainments, and enthusiastic anticipations of his
success in his chosen calling.
Though his name does not stand on the roll of the Bar, it
seems proper that it should be enrolled here among its deceased
members. Samuel H. Allen was born in Mendon, Mass., in the year
1790, and studied law in his native town. After his admission
to the Bar of Worcester County, he commenced the practice of
law in that part of Mendon called Millville, now a part of the
town of Blackstone, from which place he removed to Grafton,
where he resided and pursued his professional labors until his
decease, April 21, 1864.

30

LIST OF MEMBERS OE THE BAB.

In the following list it is intended to give the names of all
persons who were members of Worcester Bar October 3, 1878,
and of those who had been members of it at any time since the
establishment of the County, with the date and place of the
birth and graduation of each (if graduated), the date of admis
sion to the Bar, and the place or places where they have prac
tised or resided.
It is not expected that the list will be complete, and there may
be some inaccuracies in the details connected with it. Care,
however, has been taken to make the table as complete and
accurate as possible with the information within reach of the
committee.

LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

EXPLANATIONS.
The * indicates that the person was dead Oct. 3, 1878; r., removal from
the County. The colleges at which persons named were graduated are
indicated by initial letters, thus: H. C, Harvard College; B. U., Brown
University; A. C, Amherst College; Y. C, Yale College; W. C, Williams
College; D. C, Dartmouth College; M. U., Michigan University; W. U.,
Wesleyan University; U. V., University of Vermont; U. C, Union College;
B. C, Bowdoin College; N. U, Norwich University.

NAME.

BOSN,

GRADUATED.

ADM.

PRACTISED.

Thomas Abbott, r

Canada.

1849

Millbury, Blackstone^

Benjamin Adams,*

Mendon, 1764.

B. U., 1788

1792

Uxbridge.

Henry Adams,*

H. C, 1802

Ashburnham. r

Zabdiel B. Adams,*

H. C, 1791
Lunenburg.
P. Emory Aldrich,
New Salem, 1813.
1846
Barre, Worcester.
Charles Allen,*
Worcester, 1797.
1818
New Braintree,
Worcester.
Erederic H. Allen,*
U. V., 1823
1818
Athol.
Samuel H. Alien,*
Mendon, 1790.
U. C, 1814
Mendon, Grafton.
' Worcester,
Joseph Allen,*
Leicester, 1773.
H. C, 1792
1795
Warren,Charlest'n,
N. H.
'Nebraska,
Albert H. Andrews,
Waltham, 1829.
1856
, Minnesota,
j Ashburnham,
l_ Fitchburg.
William S. Andrews, r*
Boston.
H. C, 1812
1817
Spencer, Worcester.
Joshua Atherton,*
Harvard, 1737.
H. C, 1762
1765
Petersham, ( Barre,
Edward Avery, r
Marblehead, 1827.
1849
-1 Worcester,
{ Boston.
( Charlton,
j Grafton,
Erasmus Babbitt,*
Sturbridge, 1765.
1
H. C, 1790
¦{ Oxford,
| Sturbridge,
L Westboro'.
234

MEMBEKS OF THE BAE.

GRADUATED.

ADM.

PRACTISED.

Henry Bacon,
Peter C. Bacon,
Goldsmith F. Bailey,*
Harrison Bailey,
Charles F. Baker,
Christ'r C. Baldwin,*
George W. Baldwin, r
Isaac Baldwin,
George H. Ball,
George F. Bancroft,*
James H. Bancroft,
Allen Bangs, r*
Edward Bangs,*
Edward D. Bangs,*
William B. Banister, r*
Forrest E. Barker,
Merrill Barlow, r
Frederick J. Barnard,
L. Emerson Barnes,
And'w J. Bartholomew
Nelson Bartholomew,*
William O. Bartlett, r
Ira M. Barton,*
William S. Barton,
Ezra Bassett,
Sumner Bastow,*
Liberty Bates,*
Eobert E. Beecher, r
Daniel H. Bemis,

Oxford, 1835.
Dudley, 1804.
Westmoreland.Vt. 1823
Fitchburg, 1849.
Lunenburg, 1850.
Templeton, 1800.
New Haven.
Milford, 1848.
Ashburnham, 1829.
Springfield.Hardwick, 1756.
Worcester, 1790.
Brookfield, 1773.
Exeter, N. H., 1853.
Worcester, 1842.
Hardwick, 1843.
Hardwick, 1833.
Hardwick, 1834.
Smithfield, E. I.
Oxford, 1796.
Oxford, 1824.
Uxbridge.
Zanesville, O., 1839.
Billerica, 1831.

B. U., 1827
A. C, 1872
H. C, 1872
Y. C, 1853
H. C, 1869

H. C, 1827
H. C.,J777
D. C, 1797
W. U, 1874
Y. C, 1863
A. C, 1871
Y. C, 1856
Y. C, 1856
B. U., 1819
B. U., 1844
B. U, 1802.
B. U., 1797
W. O, 1860

1859 18301848
18741875
1826
1858 1853
18711874
1868 1780
181318761848 1867
18731858 1858 1843
1822 18461811 1868
1860

Worcester, r Oxford,
1 Dudley,
(_ Worcester.
Fitchburg.
Fitchburg.Fitchburg. ( Sutton,
-j Barre,
( Worcester.
Worcester, Boston
Clinton.
Worcester. Brookfield.
Worcester. Springfield, Worcester.
Worcester.
Worcester. Brookfield, Newburyport.
Worcester.
Southbridge, Columbus, O.
Worcester.
No. Brookfield.
Southbridge.Oxford.Worcester, New York.
Oxford, Worcester.
Worcester.
New Braintree.
Sutton, Oxford.
Grafton. No. Brookfield.
Clinton.

MEMBERS OF THE BAE.

235

BORN.

GRADUATED.

ADM.

PRACTISED.

Westminster, 1775.

D. C, 1795

1817

Worcester, Leominster.

Worcester, 1752.

H. C, 1775

1780

Petersham.

Petersham.

W. C, 1803

Petersham, Peoria, 111.

H. C, 1801

Leominster, Waltham.

Grafton.

A. C, 1862

1864

Westborough.

Grafton.

A. C, 1874

1877

B. U, 1826
Holden.
Worcester, 1844.
1867
Worcester.
Rutland, 1774.
H. C, 1789
1794
Rutland, Worcester.
Brimfleld.
D. C, 1808
1812
W. Brookfield.
Concord, 1740.
H. C, 1760
1765
Rutland, Concord.
H. C, 1818
Athol.
Uxbridge.
1865
Blackstone.
Charlton, 1811.
1835
Southbridge, Douglas.
f Charlton,
Plainfield, Ct., 1785.
B. U, 1802
•j Southbridge,
(. Sturbridge.
Westborough.
New Braintree, 1816.
H. C, 1838
1845
Oxford.
1847
Worcester,
Worcester, 1785.
Worcester.
Uxbridge, Winchendon.
Calais, Me.
Boston, Worcester.
Andover, 1855.
1876
Worcester. f Fitchburg,
Leicester,
Shrewsbury, 1786.
H. C, 1810
N. Braintree,
|_ Shrewsbury.
Shrewsbury, 1808.
U. C, 1828
1831
Worcester.
Sharon, 1825.
1848
Barre.
Petersham.
B. U, 1817
Petersham. r Worcester,
Y. C, 1847
1848
-j Boston,
[NI Ashland, ct.
Petersham, 1826.
H. C.
1845
Petersham, Boston.
Abijah Bigelow,*
Daniel Bigelow,*
Lewis Bigelow,*
Tyler Bigelow,*
Arthur G. Biscoe,
J. Foster Biscoe, r
Jason B. Blackington, i
Francis T. Blackmer,
Francis Blake,*
Jesse Bliss,*
Daniel Bliss,*
William Bliss,*
Jerome B. Bolster,*
Frederick W. Botham,
Frederick W. Bottom,*
Lewis H. Boutelle, r
Charles D. Bowman,*
Lucian C. Boynton,*
Samuel Brazer,*
Benjamin Bridge,
O. L. Bridges, r *
William H. Briggs,
David Brigham, r *
David T. Brigham, r
Chas. Brimblecom,
Aaron Brooks,*
Calvin M. Brooks, r
Francis A. Brooks, r
236

MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

NAME.

BORN.

GRADUATED.

ADM.

PRACTISED.

Bartholomew Brown,*

H. C, 1799

Sterling.

Luke Brown,*

H. C, 1794

Hardwick.
William E. Brown,*
Sidney, Me., 1831.
1868
Fitchburg.
Nahum F. Bryant, r
Walter A. Bryant,*
Alexander H. Bullock,
New Salem, 1810.
New Salem, 1817.
Royalston, 1816.
A. C, 1836
1835
18391841
Barre, Bangor, Me.
Barre, Worcester.
Worcester.
Augustus Geo.Bullock,
Enfield, Ct., 1847.
H. C, 1868
1875
Worcester.
Gardner Burbank,
B. U, 1809
Worcester.
Silas A. Burgess,
Henry M. Burleigh, r
Goshen, 1826.
1852
Blackstone, Worcester.
Athol.
Samuel M. Burnside,*
StillmanCady, Joseph B. Caldwell,*
William Caldwell,*
J Northumberland, \
\ N. H., 1783. /
Rutland.
D. C, 1805
H. C, 1802
H. C, 1802
1810
Westborough, Worcester.
Templeton. f Grafton,
¦j Rutland,
1 Worcester.
Rutland.
George W. Cann,
Easton, Pa., 1849.
Pa. C, 1869
1872
Fitchburg.
Chauncey W. Carter,
Nathaniel Chandler,*
Rufus Chandler,*
Leominster, 1827.
Worcester, 1750.
Worcester, 1747.
H. C, 1768
H. C, 1766
1857 1771
1768
Leominster, Gardner.
Petersham, Worcester.
Worcester.
Henry Chapin,
Linus Child,*
F. Linus Childs,
Upton, 1811.
Woodstock, Ct., 1802.
Millbury, 1849.
B. U, 1835
Y. C, 1824
B. U., 1870
1838
18261873
Uxbridge, Worcester.
Southbridge, Boston.
Worcester.
Chas. W. Clark,
Worcester, 1851.
Y. C,
1876
Worcester.
Edward Clark,*
Henry J. Clarke,
Charlton.
Sutton, Worcester.
Webster.
Samuel Clark,
Dedham, 1809.
B. U., 1836
1841
Northborough.
Peter Clarke,*
H. C, 1777
Southborough.
John M. Cochran,
John B. D. Cogswell, r
Joseph B. Cook, r
Pembroke, N. H.,1849.
Yarmouth, 1829.
Cumberland, R.I. , 1837
D. C, 1850
1870
18531860
f Palmer,
\ Southbridge.
f Worcester,
J Milw'kee, wis.
(Yarmouth.
Blackstone.
MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

237

GRADUATED.

PRACTISED.

Edwin Conant,
John W. Corcoran,
Mirick H. Cowden,
Austin P. Cristy,
Samuel M. Crocker,*
Amos Crosby,*
Eph. M. Cunningham
Albert W. Curtis,
Elisha P. Cutler,
Samuel Cutting,*
Appleton Dadmun,*
John T. Dame.
Richard H. Dana,*
John A. Dana,
Mat. (Jas.) Davenport.
Andrew J. Davis, r *
Andrew Mc F. Davis,
Edward L. Davis,
George Davis,*
Isaac Davis,
James R. Davis,
John Davis, Jr.*
John Davis,*
John C. B. Davis, r
William S. Davis, r
John E. Day,
Francis Deane,
Frederick B. Deane, 31

Sterling, 1810.
New York, 1853.
Rutland, 1846.
Morristowu, Vt., 1850.
Brookfield, 1761.
Worcester, 1849.

Marlborough, 1828.
Orford,'N. H., 1817.
Cambridge, 1787.
Princeton, 1823.
Northborough, 1815.
Worcester, 1833.
Worcester, 1834.
Northborough, 1799.
Boston, 1816.
Shirley. Northborough, Worcester, 1822.
Northborough, 1832.
Killingly, Ct., 1851.
Shrewsbury, 1804.
Uxbridge, 1840.

II. C, 1829
H. C, 1875
D. C, 1873
H. C, 1801
H. C, 1786
H. C, 1814
Y. C, 1871
W. C, 1798
D. C, 1805
A. C, 1854
D. C, 1840
H. C, 1808
Y. C, 1844
H. C, 1802

B. U., 1854

B. U., 1822

Y. C, 1812
H. C, 1840
H. C, 1853
A. C, 1871
B. U., 1826

1832

1875

1874

1804

1873

18571811 184818341859 1857 1825
18691815 1844 1855
1874 18301866

Sterling, Worcester.
Clinton. Worcester.Worcester. Douglas, Uxbridge.
Brookfield. Ashburnham,Lunenburg,Sterling.
Worcester, Spencer.
Hardwick.
Templeton. Worcester.
Clinton, Marlborough.
Sutton.

Worcester.
Boylston.

Worcester, St. Louis, Mo.
Worcester, ew York,
Francisco.
Worcester.

fW(
I Ne
(S.

Sturbridge. Worcester.
Milford. Lancaster, Charlton.
f Northboro',
¦j Spencer,
( Worcester.
Worcester, New York.
Worcester. Worcester. {Southboro'. Uxbridge, Worcester.
Worcester.

238

MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

GRADUATED.

PRACTISED.

Austin Denny,*
Nath'l P. Denny, r *
Charles Devens,
Charles A. Dewey, Jr.
Francis H. Dewey,
Samuel Dexter,*
Thomas H. Dodge,
Sam'l W. Dougherty, r
Nathan T. Dow, r
J. W. Draper, r
Jno.DanforthDunbar,*Thatcher B. Dunn,
Alexander Dustin,*
Joseph Dwight,*
Luke Eastman,*
Samuel Eastman,*
Joshua Eaton,*
James Eliot,
James E. Estabrook,
Constantine C. Esty, r
Henry E. Fales,
Farwell F. Fay, r
Frank G. Fessenden,r
Stephen Fessenden,*
Charles Field,
Maturin L. Fisher, r
Joel W. Fletcher, r
Waldo Flint, r
George Folsom, r *

Worcester, 1795.
Leicester, 1771.
Charlestown, 1820.
Northampton, 1830.
Williamstown, 1821.
Eden, Vt., 1823.
Worcester, 1848.

Ludlow, Vt., 1844.
N. Boston, N. H., 1776,
Hatfield, 1703.

Waltham, 1714.
Worcester, 1829.
Newton, 1824.
Walpole, 1837.
Athol, 1835.
Fitchburg, 1849.
Cambridge. Athol, 1815.
Danville, Vt.
Northbridge, 1817.
Leicester, 1794,
Kenuebunk, Me., 1802.

Y C, 1814
H. C, 1797
H. C, 1838
W. C, 1840
H. C, 1781

D. C, 1826
H. C, 1789
D. C, 1799
H. C, 1722
D. C, 1812
D. C, 1802
H. C, 1735
Y. C, 1851
Y. C, 1845

H C, 1737

A. C, 1838
H. C, 1814
H. C, 1822

1817 1840
1859
18431784
18521876
1851
18731804 1737

1737 1853
1864 18591872
1742 1843
1831
1840

Harvard, Worcester.
Leicester. Greenfield, Worcester.
Milford.
Worcester.
Lunenburg. Nashua, N.H.
Washington,
Worcester.
Worcester.
Grafton. Worcester.
Charlton.
Gardner. {Harvard, Westminster Sterling.
Brookfield.
Barre, Sterling.
Hardwick. Worcester, Leicester.
Worcester.Worcester.
Milford, Framingham.
Milford.Athol, Boston.
Fitchburg, Greenfield.
Worcester.
Athol.Worcester, Iowa.
Leominster, Northboro'.
Leicester, Boston.
Worcester.

MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

239

NAME.

Bony.

GRADUATED.

VDM.

PRACTISED.

W. Trowbridge Forbes

Westborough, 1850.

A. C:, 1871

1878

Westborough.

Alfred D. Foster,* :

Brookfield, 1800.

H. C, 1819

1822

Worcester.

Dwight Foster,*

Brookfield, 1757.

B. U., 1774

1780

Brookfield, Rutland.

Dwight Foster, r

Worcester, 1828.

Y. C, 1848

1849

Worcester, Boston.

John M. Foster,

Warren. f Charlton,
\ Southbridge.
( Concord,

Barlow Freeman, r *

Elisha Fuller,*
Princeton, 1795.
H. C, 1815
-j Lowell,
(Worcester.
Frederick W. Gale,*
Northborough.
H. C, 1836
1839
St. Louis, Mo.,
Worcester.
Francis A. Gaskill,
Blackstone, 1846.
B. U., 1866
1869
Worcester.
Charles B. Gates,
Worcester, 1851.
M. U.
1875
Worcester.
Richard George,*
W. Brookfield.
f Hanover, k.h.
Arad Gilbert, r
B. U., 1797
¦! Lebanon, n,h.
(.N. Brookfield.
Daniel Gilbert,*
Brookfield, 1773.
D. C, 1796
1805
N. Brookfield.
William A. Gile,
Franklin, N. H., 1843.
1869
Greenfield, Worcester.
Moses Gill,*
H. C, 1784
Mendon.
Sam'l B. I. Goddard,
Shrewsbury, 1821.
A. C, 1840
1843
Worcester. f Belchertown,
Sam'l W. E. Goddard,
Berlin, 1832.
1852
-] Boston,
[ Hubbardst'n.
Jesse W. Goodrich,*
Pittsfield, 1808.
U. C, 1829
1833
Worcester. f Boston,
Isaac Goodwin,*
Plymouth, 1786.
1808
-1 Sterling,
( Worcester.
J. Martin Gorham,
Barre, 1330.
H. C, 1851
1854
Barre.
Francis P. Goulding,
Grafton, 1837.
D. C, 1863
1866
Worcester.
Isaac D. Goulding,
Worcester, 1841.
1877
Worcester.
Sam'l L. Graves,
Groton, 1847.
A. C, 1870
1872
Fitchburg.
James Green, Jr.
Worcester, 1841.
H. C, 1862
1866
Worcester.
William E. Green,* •
Worcester, 1777.
B. U., 1798
1801
Grafton, Worcester.
William N. Green,*
Milford, 1804.
1827
Worcester.
Timothy Green,*
B. U, 1786
Worcester.
J. Evarts Greene,
Boston, 1834.
Y. C, 1853
18G9
No. Brookfield.
Jonathan Grout,
Petersham.
240

MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

NAME.

BORV.

GRADUATED.

ADM

PRACTISED.

William Grout,*

Spencer.

185C

Worcester.

Franklin Hall, r

Sutton, 1820.

1846

Worcester.

Alexander (Edward) "1
Hamilton,* /
Elisha Hammond,*

Worcester, 1812.
1781.

Y. C, 1802

183E180C

Barre, Worcester.
W. Brookfield.

William B. Harding,
William T. Harlow,
Jubal Harrington, r *

Tilton, N. H., 1844.
Shrewsbury, 1828.
Shrewsbury, 1803.

Y. C, 1851
B. U.

18671853
1825

Worcester. ( Spencer,
\ R'd Bluffs, Cal.
(_ Worcester.
Worcester.

Nahum Harrington,*

Westborough, 1778.

B. U, 1807

1811

Westborough.

Henry F. Harris,

W. Boylston, 1849.

Y. C, 1871

1873

Worcester.

Joel Harris,*

D. C, 1804

Harvard.
Chas. W. Hartshorn, r
Taunton, 1814.
fl. C, 1833
1837
Worcester.
Harris C. Hartwell,
Grotou, 1847.
H. C, 1869
1872
Fitchburg.
Dan'l W. Haskins,
Hardwick, 1829.
A. C, 1858
1862
Worcester.
Chas. C. P. Hastings,*
Mendon, 1804.
B. U, 1825
1828
Mendon.
Seth Hastings,*
Cambridge, 1762.
H. C, 1782
1786
Mendon.
William S. Hastings,*
Mendon, 1798.
H. C, 1817
1820
Mendon.
Sam'l F. Haven,
Dedham, 1806.
A. C, 1826
Worcester.
Chas. S. Hayden,
Harvard, 1848.
1871
Fitchburg.
Stillman Haynes,
Daniel Henshaw, r * »
Levi Heywood,*
Townsend, 1833.
Leicester, 1872.
H. C, 1807
D. C, 1808
1861
Townsend, Fitchburg.
[Winchendon,
•j Worcester,
(.Boston, Lynn.
Worcester.
James H. Hill,*
Henry E. Hill,
Worcester, 1850.
H. C, 1872
1852
1875
No. Brookfield,
New York.
Worcester.
J. Henry Hill,
Petersham.
1844
Worcester.
Samuel Hinckley,*
Ephraim Hinds, r *
Benj. A. Hitchborn,*
Y. C, 1781
fl. C, 1805
H. C, 1802
Brookfield. f Athol,
-j Barre,
( Harvard.
Worcester.
Pelatiah Hitchcock,*
H. C, 1785
Brookfield, Hardwick.
Worcester.
George F. Hoar,
Concord, 1826.
B. C, 1846
1849
MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

241

NAME.

BORN.

GUADUATKD.

ADM.

PRACTISED.

George W. Hobbs,

Worcester, 1839.

N. U, 1857

1860

Jxbridge.

Charles A. Holbrook,*

Grafton, 1821.

1857

Worcester.

Leander Holbrook,

Croydon, N. H., 1815.

1847

Milford.

Leander Holbrook, Jr.,

Milford, 1849.

II. C, 1872

1875

Milford.

S. Holman, r

1850
Fitchburg.
George B. N. Holmes,
•
Oakham.
William R. Hooper, r
Marblehead, 1819.
1849
Worcester.
John Hopkins,
Gloucester, Eng., 1840.
1864
Wor., Millbury.
f Ware.N. Orl.
Wm. S. B. Hopkins,
Charleston, S. C, 1836.
W. C, 1855
1858
} Greenfield,
(Worcester.
George W. Horr,
New Salem, 1830.
1860
New Salem, Athol.
Nathaniel Houghton,*
Sterling.
1810
Barre.
Ephraim D. Howe,
Marlborough, 1842.
Y. C, 1867
1870
Gardner.
Estes Howe,*
D. C, 1800
Sutton.
Frederic Howes,
Sutton, Templeton.
Willi%m H. Howe,*
Y. C, 1847
1849
Worcester.
George H. Hoyt,*
Athol, 1839.
1859
Athol.
John W. Hubbard,*
D. C, 1814
Worcester.
Henry S. Hudson, r
1852
Worcester.
Jos. W. Huntington,*
Middlebury, Vt., 1807.
H. C, 1832
1837
Lancaster.
Benj. D. Hyde,*
Sturbridge, 1803.
1831
Sturbridge. Southbridge.
Albert S. Ingalls,"
Rindge, N. H., 1830.
1858
Fitchburg, Arlington.
Eleazer James,*
Cohasset, 1764.
H. C, 1778
Barre.
Samuel Jennison,*
H. C, 1774
Oxford.
Asa Johnson,*
H. C, 1787
Fitchburg, Leominster.
Charles R. Johnson,
Dana, 1852.
H. C, 1875
1878
Worcester.
George W. Johnson,
Boston, 1827.
1863
Brookfield.
Theodore S. Johnson,
Dana, 1843.
1866
Worcester, Blackstone.
Silas Jones, r
Leicester.
James P. Kelley,
Boston, 1848.
187C
Worcester.
242

MEMBERS OF- THE BAR.

NAME.

BORN.

GRADUATED.

ADM

PRACTISED.

Joseph G. Kendall,"
Thomas G. Kent,

Leominster, 17S6.
Framingham, 1829.

H. C, 1810
Y. C, 1851

1853

Leominster, Worcester.
Milford.

Francis L. King,
Thomas Kinnicutt,*

Charlton, 1834.
Warren, R. I., 1800.

B. U, 1822

18591825

Boston, Worcester.
Worcester.

Edward Kirkland, r *
Daniel Knight,*
Lincoln B. Knowlton, i

B. U., 1813

1834

Templeton, Brattle'o, Vt.
Leicester, Spencer.
Millbury.

Joseph Knox, r

Hardwick.
CLris'r J. Lawton,*
1726
Leicester.
Seth Lee,*
Barre.
1810
Barre.
Benjamin Lincolu,*
H. C, 1777
Mendon.
D. Waldo Lincoln,
Worcester, 1813.
H. C, 1831
1834
Worcester.
Edward W. Lincoln.
Worcester, 1820.
H. C, 1839
1843
Worcester.
Enoch Lincoln,*
Worcester, 1788.
B. C, 1811
1811
Worcester.
Levi Lincoln,*
Hingham, 1749.
H. C, 1772
1775
Worcester
Levi Lincoln,*
Worcester, 1782.
H. C, 1802
1805
Worcester.
William Lincoln,*
Worcester, 1801.
H. C, 1822
1825
Worcester.
William S. Lincoln,
Geo. W. Livermore, r
Worcester, 1811.
B. C, 1830
H. C, 1823
1833
Millbury, Worcester.
Millbury.
Edward P. Loring,
Norridgewock,Me. 1837
B. C, 1861
1868
Fitchburg.
Aaron Lyon,*
Southbridge, 1824.
Y. C, 1849
1851
Sturbridge.
Charles F. Mann,
David Manning, Jr.,
Worcester, 1849.
Paxton, 1846.
Y. C, 1869
1873
1872
New York,
Worcester.
Worcester.
Jerome F. Manning,
Merrimack, N. H., 1838.
1862
Worcester.
Jacob Mansfield, r *
Charles Mason,
Lynn.
Dublin, N. H., 1810.
H. C.
1839
Warren, New York.
Fitchburg.
Joseph Mason,
John H. Mathews,*
Northfield, 1813.
Worcester, 1826.
18371848
Templeton, Worcester.
Worcester.
Wm. B. Maxwell,
Biddeford, Me.
Lowell, Worcester.
MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

243

GRADUATED.

PRACTISED.

Lewis A. Maynard,
James J. McCafferty, r
Mathew J. McCafferty,
And'w D. McFarland,*
John Mcllvene,
James H. McMahon,
Prentice Mellen,*
Edward Mellen,*
Charles H. Merriam,
David H. Merriam,
Lincoln A. Merriam,
Pliny Merrick,*
Pliny Merrick.*
Henry K. Merrifield,
Charles A. Merrill,
Clough R. Miles, r
Jonathan Morgan,"
David L. Morril,
Adolphus Morse, r *
Andrew Morton,*
Daniel Murray,*
T. Edward Murray,*
Thomas L. Nelson,
Jos. W. Newcomb, r *
Horatio G. Newcomb,*
Benjamin F. Newton,*
Rejoice Newton.*

Shrewsbury, 1810.
Lowell, 1852.
Ireland, 1829.
Worcester, 1811.
Scotland, 1850.
Ireland, 1850.
Westborough, 1802.
Westport, N. Y., 1822.
Essex, N. Y., 1820.
Wilbraham, 1756.
Brookfield, 1794.
Worcester, 1840.
Boston, 1843.
Westminster, 1796.
Goffstown, N. H., 1827

U. C, 1832

H. C, 1784
B. U, 1823

Worcester, 1842.
Haverhill, N. H., 1827.
Greenfield. Worcester, 1821.
Greenfield, 1782.

H. C, 1776
H. C, 1814
W. U., 1864
H. C, 1817
U. C, 1803
D. C, 1847
B. U., 1795
H. C, 1771
U. V., 1846
W. C, 1825
D. C, 1807

1873 1857
1835 1876
1877 1828 1852
18501851 17871817
18621820 18501849

Worcester.
Worcester, Lowell.
Lowell, Worcester.
Worcester.
Grafton.
Fitchburg. Sterling. Wayland, Worcester.
Leominster.

1872 1855 1850
18501810

fitchburg.
Fitchburg. J Wilbraham,
\ Brookfield.
( Worcester,
| Charlton,
¦( Swansey,
j Taunton,
(_ Boston.
Blackstone. Minneapolis, Worcester.
("Townsend,
¦j Millbury,
( Athol.
Shrewsbury. {Winchendon, W. Brookf d,
Worcester.
Worcester.
Worcester.Rutland. Worcester. Worcester. [ Templeton,

Salisbury,

I Worcester,
(n. Orleans.
Templeton. Worcester.Worcester.

244

MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

GRADUATED.

PRACTISED.

,Amasa Norcross,
Daniel Oliver,*
Henry Paine,*
Nathaniel Paine,*
John Paine,*
Timothy Paige,
George G. Parker,*
George G. Parker,
Grenville Parker, r
Henry L. Parker,
Isaac Patrick,
Silas Paul,*
H. B. Pearson,*
Lucius D. Peirce,*
Lafayette W. Pierce,
William Perry,*
Luther Perry,"
Onslow Peters, r
Francis Plunkett,
Thomas Pope,"
Burton W. Potter,
Calvin E. Pratt, r
William Pratt,*
Joseph Prentice, r
Addison Prentiss,
Charles G. Prentiss,*
Joseph Proctor,*
James F. Purcell,

Rindge, N. H., 1824.
Middleborough. Worcester, 1804.
Worcester, 1759.
Sturbridge.
Ashburnham, 1800.
Acton, 1826.
Chelmsford.Acton, 1833.

Chesterfield, 1819.
Chesterfield, 1826.
Leominster, 1786.
Westborough, 1803.
Ireland, 1840.
Dudley, 1788.
Colesville, N. Y., 1843.
Shrewsbury, 1827.
Shrewsbury, 1806.
Paris, Me., 1814.
Leominster, 1778.
Weymouth, 1852.

H. C, 1762
H. C, 1775
H. C, 1799
Y. C.
U. C, 1852
D. C, 1856
D. C, 1793
N. U, 1846
N. U, 1846
B. U, 1825
B. U., 1809
B. U., 1825

18481781
18271781

D. C, 1791

1857
1860 1859

1844 18541854
1828

1874
1868
18531838

Fitchburg.
Hardwick.Worcester.
Groton, Worcester.

1876

Ashburnham.
Milford. Lowell, Worcester.
Milford, Worcester.
Leominster.
Harvard.
Nashua, N. H.,
Winchendon.
("Oxford,
¦j Westborough
( Winchendon.
Leominster.
Barre. Westborough.
Worcester.
Dudley. Worcester.
Worcester, New York.
Shrewsbury, Worcester.
Douglas.Lee, Me.,
Worcester.
Oxford, Worcester.
Athol. Worcester.

MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

245

NAME.

BORN.

GRADUATED.

ADM.

PRACTISED.

Arthur A. Putnam,
George E. Putnam,

Danvers, 1832.
Fitchburg, 1853.

M. U., 1875

18751875

1 Danvers,
-J Blackstone,
( Uxbridge.
Fitchburg.

James Putnam,*

Salem, 1725.

H. O, 1746

1748

Worcester.

Rufus Putnam,*

Warren, 1783.

W. C, 1804

Rutland.

Abraham G. Randall,*
Warren Rawson,*

Manchester, 1804.
Mendon, 1777.

H. C, 1826.
B. U, 1802

1831

Millbury, Worcester.
Mendon.

Henry C. Rice,

Millbury, 1827.

B. U.,1850

1852

Worcester.

Merrick Rice,*
William W. Rice,

Deerfield, 1826.

H. C, 1785
B. C, 1846

1854

Harvard, Lancaster.
Worcester.

Jairus Rich,*

Charlton.
Geo. W. Richardson, r
Boston, 1808.
H. C, 1829
1834
Worcester.
Artemas Rogers, r
Fitchburg.
Edward Rogers, r *
Charles M. Ruggles,
Timothy Ruggles,*
Stephen Salisbury,
Providence, R. I., 1836.
Rochester, 1711.
Worcester, 1798.
H. C, 1732
H. C, 1817
1860 1735
Webster, Chicago, 111.
Worcester. ( Rochester,
•j Sandwich,
(Hardwick.
Worcester.
Stephen Salisbury, Jr.,
Worcester, 1835.
H. C, 1856
1863
Worcester.
Simeon Saunderson,*
Edward B. Sawtell,
Fitchburg, 1840.
H. C, 1862
18201871
Westminster, Athol.
Fitchburg.
Emory C. Sawyer,
1875
John S. Scammell,
Bellingham, 1816.
B. U.
1840
Milford.
William Sever,*
H. C, 1778
Rutland.
John Shepley,*
Worcester,
Jonas L. Sibley,*
Sutton, 1791.
B. V., 1813
Sutton.
William F. Slocum, r
Henry 0. Smith,
Tolland, 1822.
Leicester, 1839.
A. C, 1863
18461866
Grafton, Boston.
Worcester.
Jonathan Smith,*
Peterboro', N. H., 1842.
D. C, 1871
1875
Clinton.
Moses Smith,*
Rutland, 1777.
1802
Lancaster.
32
246

MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

GRADUATED.

PRACTISED.

N. J. Smith, r
William A. Smith,
Chas. H. B. Snow,*
Fred'k W. Southwick,
Wm. L. Southwick, *
Frank B. Spalter,
Franklin M. Sprague, r
John Sprague,*
Samuel J. Sprague,*
Peleg Sprague,*
Homer B. Sprague, r
Hamilton B. Staples,
William Stearns,*
Daniel Stearns,*
Heman Stebbins,*
William Stedman,*
Charles F. Stevens,
Charles G. Stevens,
Isaac Stevens,*
Amos W. Stockwell, r *
John H. Stockwell,*
Elijah B. Stoddard,
Henry D. Stone,*
Isaac Story,*
Martin L. Stowe,*
Asa E. Stratton,
Ashbel Strong,*
Simeou Strong *

Leicester, 1824.
Fitchburg, 1822.
Blackstone, 1843.
Mendon, 1827.
Groton, 1845.
East Douglas, 1841.
Rochester, 1740.

Rochester,
Sutton, 1829.
Mendon, 1829.
Lunenburg.
Fitchburg, 1831.
W. Springfield.
Cambridge, 1765.
Worcester, 1853.
Claremont, N. H., 1821
Wareham, 1792.
Sutton.
Webster, 1838.
Cpton, 1826.
Southbridge, 1820.

Grafton, 1853.

H. C, 1843
H. C, 1844

H. C, 1765
H. C-, 1799
D. C, 1783
Y. C, 1852
B. U., 1851
H. C, 1770
D. C, 1855
Y. C, 1814
!H. C, 1784
H. C, 1876
D. C., 1840
A. C, 1833
B. U., 1847
A. C, 1S44
H. C, 1793
B. U., 1873
Y. C. 1786

1846
1847 1868
1349 1871
1870
1768

( Blackstone,
\ Spencer,
(Aurora, 111.
Worcester.
Fitchburg. Worcester.
Hopkinton, Blackstone.
Winchendon.Worcester. (Newp't,R I.,
\ Keene, N. H.,
( Lancaster.
Lancaster.

f Lancaster,
1-s.i J Winchendon,
, a4 'Fitchburg,I. Keene, N. H.
:1854 Worcester, New Haven.
1854 Milford,
| Worcester.
1776 Worcester.

1859

Fitchburg.

Brookfield. ( Lancaster,
S7 4 Charlton,
(Newburyport
1878, Worcester.

1845 Clinton.
1821
1837

1859
1849 1847

1875

Middleboro', AthoL
Worcester, Chicopee.
Webster.

Worcester.
Worcester, New Orleans.
Rntland, Sterling.
Southboro', Northboro'.
Fitchbnrg.
Fitchbnrg.
Barre.

MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

247

NAME.

BORN.

GRADUATED.

\DM.

PRACIISED.

f Athol,
Solomon Strong,*
W. C, 1798
¦j Lancaster,
( Westminster.
John Stuart,*
f Brookfield,
Bradford Sumner,*
B. U, 1808
-j Leicester,
( Spencer.
George Swan,
Hubbardston, 1826.
1848
Htubbardston, Worcester.
Samuel Swan,*
Leicester, 1778.
II. C, 1799
Hubbardston, Oakham.
Bezaleel Taft, Jr.,*
Uxbridge, 1780.
H. C, 1804
Uxbridge.
George S. Taft,*
Uxbridge, 1826.
B. U., 1848
1851
Uxbridge.
Ezra Taylor,*
Southborough.
Southborough.
Adin Thayer,
Blackstone, 1828.
1854
Worcester.
Amasa Thayer,*
H. C, 1810
Brookfield.
Francis N. Thayer,
Blackstone.
1870
Blackstone.
John R. Thayer,
Douglas, 1845.
Y. C, 1869
1871
Worcester.
Joseph Thayer,*
Douglas, 1792.
B. U., 1815
1818
Uxbridge.
Levi Thaxter,
Worcester.
Benj. F. Thomas,*
Boston, 1813.
B. U, 1830
1833
Worcester, Boston.
Oliver H. Tillotson,*
Orford, N. H.
1855
Worcester.
Seymour A. Tingier,
Tolland.
W. C, 1855
1857
Webster.
Joseph A. Titus,
Leicester, 1842.
A. O, 1863
1868
Worcester. f Blackstone,
! Boston,
Paul P. Todd, r
Atkinson, N. H., 1819.
D. C, 1842
1847
1 St. Louis,
(New York.
John Todd, r
Westminster, Fitchburg.
Ebenezer Torrey,
Franklin, 1801.
H. C, 1822
1825
Fitchburg.
George A. Torrey, r
Fitchburg, 1838.
H. C, 1859
1861
Fitchburg, Boston.
Newton Tourtelot, r
1853
Webster.
William M. Towne, r *
Charlton.
A. C, 1825
1828
Worcester.
Louis K. Travis,
Holliston, 1852.
1875
Westborough.
Joseph Trumbull, r
Worcester, 1828.
1849
Worcester.
George A. Tufts,*
Dudley, 1797.
H. C, 1818
1821
Dudley.
Stephen P. Twiss, r
Charlton, 1830.
1853
Worcester, Kansas City
248

MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

GRADUATED.

PRACTISED.

Benj. O. Tyler, r
Nathan Tyler,*
Nathan Tyler, Sr.,*
Adin B. Underwood, r
F. H. Underwood, r
Jabez Upham,*
Joshua Upham,*
John L. Utley,
Samuel Utley,
George F. Verry,
Horace B. Verry,
Edward J. Vose,*
Richard H. Vose,"
Charles Wadsworth, r
Lovell Walker,*
Andrew H. Ward,*
Nahum Ward,*
J. C. B. Ward, r
Thornton K. Ware,
Emory Washburn,"
John D. Washburn,
Asa H. Waters,
Francis Wayland, Jr., r
Jared Weed,*
Charles K. Wetherell,*
George A. Wetherell,*
John W. Wetherell,

Milford, 1828.
Brookfield.
Brookfield, 1741.
Briinfield, 1837.
Chesterfield, 1843.
Mendon, 1826.
Saco, Me., 1843.
Augusta, Me., 1806.

Brookfield, 1768.
Shrewsbury.
Cambridge, 1823.
Leicester, 1800.
Boston, 1833.
Millbury, 1808.
Providence, R. I.
New York, 1783.
Petersham, 1822.
Oxford, 1825.
Oxford, 1820.

H. C, 1779
B. U, 1849
H. C, 1785
H. C, 1763

B. C, 1825
B. C, 1822
D. O, 1794
H. C, 1808

H. C, 1842
W. C, 1817
H. C, 1853
B. U, 1846
H. C, 1807
Y. C, 1848
Y. C, 1844

Winchendon.
Uxbridge.
Uxbridge.

1853

Milford, Boston.
Webster. (" Sturbridge,
1788 i Clarem't.N.H.
I Brookfield.
f Brookfield,
1765 j Boston,
( New York.
1874 Blackstone, Worcester.
1867 Worcester.

1851 1864
1828

1801
1731
18461821
1856

1810
18441851 1846

Worcester.
Worcester.
Worcester. Worcester.
Barre, Worcester.
Templeton, Leominster.
Shrewsbury.
Shrewsbury.Athol.
Fitchburg. f" Charlemont,
j Leicester,
) Worcester,
[ Cambridge.
Worcester.
Millbury. Worcester, N. Haven, Ct.
Petersham. {Petersham, Barre,Worcester.
Worcester.Worcester.

MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

249

GRADUATED.

ADM

PRACTISED.

J. Allyn Weston, r *
Charles Wheaton, r *
George Wheaton,*
Henry S. Wheaton, r *
Otis C. Wheeler,*
Peter Wheelock,*
William J. Whipple,*
William C. White,*
Solon Whiting,
Abel Whitney,*
Giles H. Whitney,
Milton Whitney, r *
Abel Willard,*
Calvin Willard,*
Jacob Willard,*
Joseph Willard, r *
Levi Willard,*
Elijah Williams,*
Hartley Williams,
James 0. Williams,*
Lemuel Williams,*
Lemuels. Williams,*
William A. Williams,
John Winslow,*
G. R. M. Withington,*
Harry Wood,*
Cortland Wood,
Joseph H. Wood,

Duxbury,
R. L, 1828.

Worcester, 1808.

Boston, 1818.
Ashburnham, 1823.
Lancaster, 1732.
Harvard,. 1784.
Cambridge, 1798.

Somerset, Me. 1820.
New Bedford, 1827.
Dartmouth, 1782.
New Bedford, 1812.
Hubbardston, 1820.
Boston. Grafton, 1838.
Plainfleld, Ct., 1850.
Mendon, 1853.

H. C, 1846
H. C, 1814
B. U, 1841
B. U., 1811
H. C, 1805

W. C, 1810
H. C, 1837
H. C, 1752
H. C.
B. U, 1805
H. C, 1816
H. C, 1775
H. C, 1764
H. C, 1849
B. U, 1804
H. C, 1836
B. U., 1795
U. V., 1S25
Y. C, 1871

1849 1851 1844 1830

1842 1846 1809 18191850 1853
18081848 1829 1873
1877

Worcester, Milford.
Worcester.Uxbridge. Dudley.
Worcester. Mendon.Dudley. f Grafton,
j Rutland,
] Sutton,
(_ Worcester.
Lancaster. Harvard. I Westminster
-; Templeton,
( Winchendon.
Fitchburg,

<Fi'

Utimore, Ma.

Lancaster. I" Barnstable,
-j Petersham,
[Fitchburg.
Fitchburg. Waltham, Lancaster.
Lancaster. Deerfield, Mendon.
Worcester.Worcester, St. Louis, Mo.
New Bedford,
Worcester.
Dedham, Westborough.
Worcester.
Northborough. Boston, Lancaster.
Grafton.Oxford.Milford.

250

MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

NAME.

BORN.

GRADUATED.

ADM.

PRACTISED.

Nathaniel Wood,*

Holden, 1797.

H. C, 1821

Fitchburg.

Samuel F. Wood,*

Barre, 1837.

Y. C, 1856

1858

Barre.

George M. Woodward,

Worcester, 1838.

1860

Worcester.

James M. Woodbury,

Templeton, 1819.

1862

Fitchburg.