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S-R 815 M967 Murray, Thomas Holt Speeches of Thomas Holt M^ray, of Clearfield
Copyright, 1908 by
THOMAS H. MURRAY
TO JENNIE REIGHARD,
MY WIFE
Who had knowledge of my earlier efforts at writ¬ ing and public speaking, back of the date of any of these addresses. Even then she had faith in the future of these efforts when few others had. After¬ ward she naturally and rightfully came to be the inspiration of this, as of all my other work. She became the most discriminating and at the same time the most impartial critic I ever had. To her I am chiefly indebted for what I have, and for all that is best in what I am. She, though now “being dead, yet speaketh.”
CONTENTS
Part I. Addresses in Oourt
Page
Opening Address to Jury in Murder Trial at Clearfield, Penn¬ sylvania, June 22, 1869 (1) . 3
Address in Supreme Court, Old City Hall, Philadelphia, Penn¬ sylvania, March 24, 1875 (2) . jq
* Address before United States Court of Appeals in Federal Court Room, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 4, 1899 (3) 20
4 - f
Part II. Memorial Addresses
On U. S. Grant, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, August 8, 1885 (4) . . 43
On Israel Test, Esq., Clearfield, Pennsylvania, August 14 1886 (5) . 47
*On Hon. George R. Barrett, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, March 9, 1889 (6) . 50
On Senator Wm. A. Wallace, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, May 26 1896 (7) . 54
*On Hon. Henry C. McCormick, Williamsport, Pennsylvania May 29, 1902 (8) . ’ 57
*On Hon. Charles A. Mayer, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, May 22,1906 (9) . . 6Q
On Hon. Wm. D. Bigler, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, April 28 1907 (10).. . 65
On Hon. George A. Jenks, Brookville, Pennsylvania, February 17,1908 (11) . 71
Part III. Banquet Addresses
*Superior Court Banquet, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Feb¬ ruary 20, 1896 (12) .
Jefferson County Bar Banquet, Brookville, Pennsylvania, Jan¬ uary 15, 1901 (13) .
V
vi Contents
Page
Part IV. Patriotic Addresses
Centennial, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, 4th of July, 1876 (14). . . 97
Reunion Bucktail Regiment, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, August
22, 1889 . 109
Reunion Eighty-fourth Regiment, Clearfield, Pennsylvania,
September 17, 1890 . 113
Address Opening B., R. & P. R. R., Clearfield, Pennsylvania,
June 6, 1893 . 115
Decoration Day Address at Du Bois, Pennsylvania, May 30,
1897 . 120
* Introduction John Wanamaker, Clearfield, Pennsylvania,
April 21, 1898 . 126
Address Spanish War Company, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, April
25, 1898 . 128
Address Flag Raising, Tyrone, Pennsylvania, August 20,
1898 . 132
At Young Men’s Republican Club, Williamsport, Pennsylvania,
February 12, 1899 . 136
- ♦ - ♦ -
Part V. Educational Addresses
*At Commercial College, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, May 9,
1871 (15) . 143
At Pennsylvania Teachers’ Association, Clearfield, Pennsyl¬ vania, July 5, 1887 (15) . 147
Before Chautauqua Circle, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, March,
1888 . 153
Academy Commencement, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, May 31,
1895 . 159
On Public Library for Clearfield, Pennsylvania, November 13,
1895 . 166
Essay: Subject, “Stilts,” before Pennsylvania Teachers’ State Association, by Jennie Reighard, of Williamsport, Pennsyl¬ vania, at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, August 11, 1869 (15). . 171
Essay: Subject, “Labor and Rest,” before Pennsylvania State Teachers’ Association, by Jennie Reighard, at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, August 8, 1871 (15) . 178
PART I
ADDRESSES IN COURT
Contents vii
Page
Part VI. Church Addresses
On Character of Moses,” Clearfield, Pennsylvania, June 27
1874 . 185
For General Conference of 1888, New York City, on “Eligi¬ bility of Women as Lay Delegates,” May, 1888 (16) . 194
*At General Conference of 1892, Omaha, Nebraska, on “Sepa¬ rate Seating of Lay Delegates,” May 2, 1892 . 199
*At same Conference on “Eligibility of Women as Lay Dele¬ gates,” May 12, 1892 . 203
At Lincoln, Nebraska, Reception to General Conference, May
14, 1892 . 208
*At same Conference, on “Call of Vote by Orders,” May 16,
*892 . 211
*At same Conference on “Constitution of Epworth League,”
May 24, 1892 (17) . 213
At same Conference, on “Time Limit,” May 25, 1892 . 216
Before the Philadelphia Methodist Episcopal Conference at Norristown, Pennsylvania, on “The Itinerant Feature of
Methodism,” March 7, 1893 (18) . 220
At International Epworth League Convention, Music Hall, Cleveland, Ohio, on “The Relation of Young People to Tem¬ perance Work,” July 1, 1893 (19) . 235
At Newton Hamilton, Pennsylvania, Camp Meeting, on
“Effective Laymen,” August 16, 1893 (20) . 244
At General Conference of 1896, Cleveland, Ohio, on “Eligi¬ bility of Women as Lay Delegates,” May 6, 1896 . 251
*At same Conference, on “Separate Seating of Lay Delegates,”
May 28, 1896 (21) . 256
*At Children’s Aid Society Convention, on “Charity,” Clear¬ field, Pennsylvania, June 4, 1896 . 258
*At General Conference of 1900, Chicago, Illinois, on “Method
of Calling for Vote by Orders,” May 14, 1900 (22) . 262
At same Conference, on “Time Limit,” May 22, 1900 . 269
At Methodist State Conference, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on
“A Model Minister,” October 25, 1900 (23) . 273
*Presentation of Memorial to George W. Rheem, Esq., May
12, 1901 (24) . 281
For International Epworth League Convention, Detroit, Michigan, on “The Church and the Industrial Masses,” July 18,1903(25) . 285
viii Contents
Page
*At General Conference of 1904 at Los Angeles, California, on “Constitutionality of Paragraph 248 of Discipline on Amuse¬ ments,” May 16, 1904 (26) . 294
At Centennial of Manor Hill Presbyterian Church, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, on “The Influence of an Hundred Years of Church History on a Community,” September
29, 1904 (27) . 296
As President of Laymen’s Association of Central Pennsylvania Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, at Tyrone, Penn¬ sylvania, March 23, 1907. . . . . 300
At Pennsylvania State Sunday School Convention, Harris¬ burg, Pennsylvania, March 3, 1908 (28) . 305
Notes . 308
PREFACE
There is here brought together a few of the many public addresses delivered by the author during forty years of a busy life. Some of them were pre¬ pared with great care, more of them when under the stress of other pressing duties, and a consider¬ able number under circumstances preventing any written preparation whatever. These latter are distinguished in “The Contents” by a star, and were either officially reported at the time, or after¬ ward written out or dictated to a stenographer.
This collection includes principally, but not en¬ tirely, the shorter and less formal addresses of the author. More elaborate discussion of educational, economic, and moral questions do not appear here. They may or may not appear in a later volume. For this reason only this book is designated as “Volume One.” It is intended to be complete in itself and not connected with or dependent upon any further publication. These addresses are put in this form principally for the benefit of his family and personal friends, to whom within a few years, they will be of interest apart from any special merit they may have. For this reason he has not hesitated to introduce, at the outset, a few addresses related to the professional work to which he has devoted his life. They will probably not be of general interest, but will prove interesting to the
ix
X
Preface
persons referred to, and to members of bis profes¬ sion. For a like reason he has ventured to insert among the educational addresses two not delivered by him, but by the one to whom this publication is affectionately and rightly dedicated.
The book is not on the plan of any other book known to the author, but on his own plan, and with reference to the purpose in view. Notes at the end of the volume indicate the surroundings under which different addresses were delivered, and help to explain why these particular ones, instead of others, out of a large number, were selected. If they reach a wider circulation than those for whom they are chiefly intended, let the criticism they receive be tempered by a consideration of the facts here stated, as to the circumstances under which they were prepared, and the chief purpose of their publication. The date of this Preface is the fortieth anniversary of the author’s coming to this place to complete his law studies and prepare for the work of his profession.
Clearfield, Pennsylvania, May 29, 1908.
OPENING SPEECH IN A MURDER TRIAL AT CLEARFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA, JUNE 22, 1869
Gentlemen of the Jury:
This occasion is fraught with its own solemn and peculiar interest. We enter upon the trial of this defendant for the highest crime known to the law. Murder of any kind, committed under any circum¬ stances, is revolting to all the instincts of humanity. It is a crime which blends strangely and unfittingly, even, with the ordinary offenses against the laws of an enlightened people, and among them all finds no parallel. It naturally brings to mind those early and evil days in the world’s history when vice and crime, the legitimate offspring of superstition and ignorance, unchecked by any law, enacted their brutal tragedies. But dark and atrocious in its nature as the crime of murder is, in a great major¬ ity of cases, and even in most of those meriting cap¬ ital punishment, there are mitigating circumstances, tending, though sometimes unjustly, to palliate the measure of guilt. In all such cases great care is to be exercised lest, on the one hand, these favorable circumstances should not be fully considered and receive their due weight ; or, on the other, that they draw too hard upon the sympathies of the court and jury, and thus a lower degree of guilt be found than is justified by the evidence. Again, there are times when the fact of the crime having been committed
3
4
Addresses in Court
in some solitary place, or at the midnight hour, un¬ witnessed by any, save the All-seeing Eye, renders it difficult to ascertain by evidence the guilty party or the degree of his guilt.
But none of these difficulties is to be encoun¬ tered in the case before us. The defendant has been arraigned for a crime committed in broad daylight, surrounded by a crowd of witnesses; and the com¬ monwealth expects to show that it was an act so cruel in its character, so deliberate in its execution, and so cold-blooded and brutal in its shocking de¬ tails, as to exclude the possibility of his acquittal, or of his conviction of any lesser offense than mur¬ der in the first degree.
Murder, gentlemen, is defined to be “ Where any person of sound memory and discretion , unlawfully killeth any reasonable creature in being, and under the peace of the commonwealth with malice afore¬ thought, either express, or implied In Pennsyl¬ vania this crime is divided by statute into murder in the first degree and murder in the second degree. If committed with malice aforethought either ex¬ press or implied, and deliberation, it is murder in the first degree ; if with malice and without delibera¬ tion, it is murder in the second degree, and if on sudden provocation in great heat of blood, it may be manslaughter. The prisoner at the bar is charged in this indictment with the willful and premedi¬ tated killing of the deceased. The difficulty which culminated in this tragic event originated more than a year ago. In the spring of 1868 both these parties were on the train between Lock Haven
Addresses in Court
5
and Tyrone, returning home from down the river. The deceased, who was somewhat intoxicated, was put off the train. In attempting to get on again, as the train was in motion, he was kicked off by the prisoner. At this time they were strangers to each other and never met again until the morning of the twelfth day of last November when they met at a vendue ( at the house of Mr. George Hoover in Bec- caria Township), where the fatal deed was com¬ mitted. About eleven o’clock in the forenoon as the prisoner was coming out of the house he met the deceased, who had just arrived. The prisoner, ap¬ proaching him, said he wanted to see him, or wanted to talk to him. They went off the porch together and were soon seen fighting. The prisoner threw the deceased down, but the deceased turned him under, and the prisoner soon cried, “Enough.” They were then separated and got up. Neither party was hurt in the fight. Soon after they got up the prisoner started to run and deceased after him. At this time a bystander was heard to call out : “Why don’t you take a club or a stone.” The deceased, who doubtless thought the remark was in¬ tended for him instead of the prisoner, grabbed up a stone and threw at the prisoner, but missed him. He afterward threw a second stone at the prisoner, which also missed him. They ran out of the yard, through the garden, and back again into the yard. At this time some of the men stopped the deceased, who was about one rod behind the prisoner. They succeeded in getting him pacified, and he had agreed to go home. He had put on his vest and
6
Addresses in Court
was in the act of putting on his coat when the prisoner, who had gone around the crowd and got a large knife from the bystander mentioned, re¬ turned, walked up in an oblique direction behind the deceased, caught him by the vest, and by an overhanded thrust sent the knife to his heart. The knife entered the left breast just above the nipple and penetrated about half-way through the heart. As soon as the prisoner had committed the deed he started off as though he were going to leave, when someone, seeing that the deceased was dead, called out to arrest the prisoner. He then came back and alleged that he had acted in self-defense.
The time which elapsed between the fight and the killing was at least twenty minutes.
These, gentlemen, are briefly the most material facts in this case. There are numerous other cir¬ cumstances, all bearing upon the question at issue, which will appear at large in the evidence, and which it is not my province at this time to state.
Now, gentlemen of the jury, the plain, simple questions which you are to decide, are : First, was there a killing? Upon this point there can be no dispute, as it was witnessed by a large number of persons ; secondly, did the prisoner unlawfully com¬ mit this act, or was it an act of self-defense? And I apprehend that there cannot be much dispute upon this point; thirdly, was it done with malice aforethought and deliberately? Was there a formed design before the execution of the deed, or was it done in the heat of blood? This malice is the great criterion which distinguishes murder
Addresses in Court
7
from every other species of killing. That there was malice in this case we expect to be able to show you by the facts that the prisoner had a grudge against the deceased, and had made threats. Now, the fact of threats being made is clearly set forth in the books as the strongest evidence of malice. We will also show that when the prisoner got the knife, in going toward the deceased, he halted when about midway between the two and paused for a moment. What terrible design received the full sanction of his mind in that awful moment can only be told by the execution of the tragic deed which followed. In further proof of malice and deliberation we will show you that he came up behind the deceased, and after the fatal thrust was made he twisted the knife around in his heart, making a shocking and horrible wound. Having proven these and the innumerable other facts linking with them and forming one of the strongest cases of deliberate murder on record, the commonwealth will ask you to convict this de¬ fendant in manner and form as he stands indicted. This is your sworn duty, gentlemen, if the common¬ wealth succeeds in making out her case. Remem¬ ber that it is none the less your duty to convict him if guilty than to acquit him if innocent. It is not only a sworn duty, but it is one that is suggested to you by everything that makes the enjoyment of life a sacred right and enables you to rejoice in the protection of your country. For in this trial the officers of the commonwealth bear no ill will to the prisoner at the bar. If he be innocent of the crime with which he is charged, they will rejoice
8
Addresses in Court
with him in his joy and gladly hid him godspeed on his return to the bosom of his family. There can be no greater mistake than to suppose that those who act for the commonwealth in a prosecution of this kind, have any greater or any different interest in the result than that which every good citizen ought to have. The commonwealth’s officers are not the parties most interested in the result of this trial, neither is it this defendant who has committed his life to your hands. Nor is it the friends of the deceased — the fond wife from whose embrace and protection he has been cruelly and brutally torn away — nor the dear children who during all these weary months have borne amid sighs and tears the bitter consciousness that they will never again greet him at eventide, clamber upon his knee, or enjoy his caresses. Not even these loved ones are the most deeply interested parties.
But wherever there is one who has a home and a fireside, or wherever in our commonwealth there is one who rejoices in that protection which makes life dear to him, he is interested in' the result of this trial, just in proportion as he rejoices in the se¬ curity which she throws around him, and cherishes the hope that all he holds dear in life will be cir¬ cumscribed by her arms of protection. It was to preserve inviolate these sacred interests that the constitutional right of trial by jury was instituted. It calls from the varied walks of life you twelve men to represent your fellows in sifting from the evidence given upon the stand the truth of the mat¬ ters of fact attending the commission of this
Addresses in Court
9
atrocious crime. Under the instruction of the court upon the law applying to the case, you are to render your verdict according to the evidence. If, upon a careful investigation of the facts as they shall be presented to you, it appear that this de¬ fendant is innocent of the high crime with which he stands charged, you are bound by your oaths to acquit. If, upon the other hand, he appears to have committed a willful and deliberate murder, you are just as fully bound by that oath to find him guilty in manner and form as he stands indicted. Your duty, as already intimated, is not simply owing to the friends of the deceased, but more especially to society. It is an appalling thought that murders are of such frequent occurrence ; so often of late in the short history of our country have the people instinctively left their avocations and repaired to this court room to witness and participate in a scene like this — a man on trial for having shed his brother’s blood, and sent the death chill of terror through their midst. And though each case should stand upon its own merits, yet each repetition of this atrocious crime should at least impress us with the necessity of a vigorous execution of the law. That you will honestly and faithfully discharge the solemn duty which devolves upon you I cannot doubt. I at least hope that you will remember the oath which you have taken, and that you will act in full view of your duty to yourselves, to the friends of the deceased, and to your country, and with reference to the great day when we all shall appear at the tribunal of the Most High.
ARGUMENT IN SUPREME COURT, AT PHIL¬ ADELPHIA, MARCH 24, 1875, ON EFFECT OF NEW CONSTITUTION ON THE ACT OF 1856, DIRECTING LIQUOR FINES PAID TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT. PLEA FOR APPLICATION OF FINES TO SCHOOLS AS PREVENTIVE OF CRIME
Under Section 31, of the Act of 31st of March, 1856 (Purd. Dig., p. 947), the school district, and not the county, is entitled to the fine imposed in this case. The plaintiff in error relies wholly upon Section 13, of Article 5, of the constitution of 1873. Even if that section be applicable to the whole state, as contended, still we maintain that it does not change the distribution of those fines which are regulated by the Act of 1856. For the language of the new constitution is not more favorable to the plaintiff than is the language of the Criminal Pro¬ cedure Act of 31st of March, 1860 (Purd. Dig. p. 396), which provided that all fines in criminal cases “shall be decreed to the commonwealth, but the same shall be collected and received for the use of the respective counties ” Surely the new consti¬ tution goes no farther when it says such fines “shall be paid into the county treasury.” Yet the Su¬ preme Court, in Jefferson County vs. Reitz (6th P. F. Smith, p. 44), have decided that the Act of 1860 does not take away from the school districts these fines which the Act of 1856, and the older law of which it was but the reenactment, gave them.
10
Addresses in Court
11
But we claim that this section of the constitution of 1873 relates only to the courts not of record in Philadelphia, which are provided for by the section immediately preceding, in the same article of that instrument. This seems clear by a comparison of these two sections. It is further evident from the purpose to be accomplished by Section 12. It was to do away with an old system, which had grown corrupt and oppressive, because the compensation of its officials depended upon the number of “fees, fines, and penalties” which Section 13 provides shall now be paid into the county treasury. Sec¬ tion 12 provides “fixed salaries” to be paid by the county to the magistrates, and in lieu of this she receives the “fees” which were formerly provided for them. The provision of Section 13 seems ap¬ propriate and necessary, in order to complete the new system of courts not of record provided by Section 12.
That Section 13 was intended by the framers of the constitution to apply only to the courts of Philadelphia seems clear from the whole tenor of their discussions upon this part of that instrument. Indeed, the section as first proposed provided for a payment of fines into the “city treasury,” and was afterward changed, by amendment, to its present form. (Debates of Const. Con., Vol. IV, pp. 257, 273, 274, 316, 488, and Vol. VI, p. 338.) No such construction as is contended for by plaintiff in error is warranted by the language employed in this section. If the convention had intended so sweep¬ ing a change as would follow such construction,
12
Addresses in Court
they would have indicated it in the plainest terms.
One argument of plaintiff in error is that the county has a peculiar claim to these fines, because she bears the burden and expense of the courts in which they are enforced. But a wise and safe prin¬ ciple by which to regulate the distribution of fines is to appropriate them to those purposes which are designed to lessen the amount of crime. This prin¬ ciple has been recognized in the past history of the commonwealth. By the payment of these fines to the school districts the cause of education is ad¬ vanced, and in the same proportion crime is re¬ duced. Nothing else so tends to relieve the county of the burdens and expense of the courts as the education of the people.
IN REPLY TO THE AMENDED BRIEF OF COUNSEL for plaintiff in error, filed since the case went over last year under their application, I make five propositions, which I respectfully submit as a complete answer thereto :
I. The indictment and conviction in this case were not altogether under the Act of 1867 but un¬ der the Act of 1856, and its supplement, the Act of 1867. The Act of 1867, alone, does not cover the offense. The first count of the indictment, to which defendant pleaded guilty, charged him with “keep¬ ing a tippling house” and “selling liquor without license.” The Act of 1867 does not include such an offense. Its fourth section prescribes the penalty for a sale without license, but for the other feature of the offense, keeping an unlicensed house where
Addresses in Court
13
liquors are sold or drank, which is the main feature of the ordinary offense intended to be covered by the first count, we must go back to the first section of the Act of 1856, which is in these words : “From and after the passage of this Act it shall be unlaw¬ ful to keep and maintain any house, room, or place where vinous, spirituous, malt, or brewed liquors, or any admixtures thereof, are sold or drank, except as hereinafter provided.”
II. The Act of 1867 does not grade the offense, as did the Act of 1856. It does not create any offense further than may be implied from prescribing the penalty for a sale without license. The Act of 1858, Section 11, declares the penalty for an un¬ lawful sale, and, following the Act of 1856, pro¬ nounces the offense a misdemeanor, but does not define what constitutes an unlawful sale. For this we are referred back to the Act of 1856. It seems very evident that both these latter Acts are but parts of a more complete system which precedes them. That system we find in the Act of 1856. The place is considered in Updegraph’s case, 6 S. & R. 11.
III. The Act of 1856 is the general license law, and is entitled, “An Act to regulate the sale of in¬ toxicating liquors.” Its purpose was to prohibit unlicensed sales. Each one of the subsequent Acts on this subject up until 1872, including the Acts of 1858 and 1867, is a supplement to the Act of 1856, and is so entitled. This original Act furnished an elaborate and complete system. The purpose of the others was to supplement rather than repeal its
14
Addresses in Court
provisions. The fine in this case was for an offense against the original Act rather than its supple¬ ments, because the principal elements of the offense were prescribed by the original Act and are not in¬ cluded in the supplements.
IV. One of the distinct provisions of this general system is Section 31, distributing the fines, penal¬ ties, and proceeds of forfeited bonds, under which the school district claims the fine imposed in this case. It is a general and not a special provision, and as such includes every fine imposed under the system, whether for a violation of the original Act or one of its supplements. It is as broad in its terms and in its scope as the system of which it forms a part. In pursuance of the authority given by this section, the learned court below directed the fine to be paid to the school board of Osceola. This decision was right unless in some way that Section 31 has been repealed. The proposition of plaintiff in error is, substantially, that Sections 11 and 22 of the Act of 1858, and Section 4 of the Act of 1867, have operated to repeal it by implication. We deny this for several reasons :
1. Because the Acts of 1856, 1858, and 1867, being upon the same general subject, are to be taken to¬ gether as if they were one law. (9 Bacon’s Abr. Title Statute, 243.) The Act of 1856, being an orig¬ inal complete Act, and the others amendments to it, this rule is still more imperative, and these later Acts are to be construed as if at first incorporated in the original law, and the whole must stand to¬ gether, except so far as there is an express repeal,
Addresses in Court
15
or repugnancy so great as to amount to repeal by implication; and “specific repeal of one or more sections of a statute raises a clear implication that no further repeal was intended.” (State vs. Mor¬ row, 26 Mis., 5 Jones, 131 ; 12 Annual U. S. Digest, 1858, p. 682.) Now, the sections of the amend¬ ments relied on by the plaintiff in error, as repeal¬ ing Section 31 of Act of 1856, contain nothing re¬ pugnant to that section. Besides this, they ex¬ pressly repeal certain other sections of the Act of 1856, thereby raising a clear implication that no repeal of this section was intended.
2. Because it was the manifest intention of the Legislature that this section should not be repealed. The proviso in section 11 of the Act of 1858, quoted by plaintiff as repealing Section 31 of the Act of 1856, is not so much a repealing as a saving clause. It is as follows : “Provided, that this section shall not he construed to repeal any act or part of an act punishing such unlawful sale, except the Twenty- eighth Section of an Act to regulate the sale of in¬ toxicating liquors approved March 31, 1856, which is hereby repealed.” Also Section 22 of the Act of 1858, quoted for the same purpose, after expressly repealing Sections 14, 26, 27, and 32 of the Act of 1856, carefully provides that “all provisions of said Act not hereby altered, supplied, or repealed shall apply as fully to licenses granted under this Act as under the Act aforesaid.” This Act of 1858 con¬ tains the strongest evidence on its face of the inten¬ tion to retain in force the provisions of the Act of 1856, in so far as they were not expressly repealed.
16
Addresses in Court
3. Because this Section 31 is in harmony with the existing law on the subject, and its repeal would be inconsistent with the law as it now stands. For in¬ stance, the rule of distribution which is established applies not only to the fines of Section 28, but also to the proceeds of forfeited bonds mentioned in Section 10, of the same Act. Now, it is not claimed that Section 10 is repealed. On the contrary, Sec¬ tion 24 of the Act of 1858 qualifies this Section 10 by limiting the liability on the bond to the amount of fine and costs imposed for the offense which works a breach of the condition of the bond. But under the rule of construction contended for by plaintiff in error, it would occur, in some cases, that if a defendant himself were made to pay the fine, the county would receive it, while if it were recovered from his bail it would go to the school district. This would be a distinction with no prin¬ ciple to sustain it. Again, while Section 31 of the Act of 1856 divides the fine between the school dis¬ trict and the informer or prosecutor, Section 12 of the Act of 1858, prohibits the informer or prose¬ cutor from receiving any portion of the fine in case of a prosecution for an illegal sale. This provision, when taken with Section 31, is equivalent to a direction that the school district should thereafter receive all the fine instead of two thirds thereof as before. Then, again, the latter clause of Section 22 of the Act of 1858 provides that the fine of five dol¬ lars for intoxication, prescribed by Section 29 of the Act of 1856, “shall in no case exceed two dol¬ lars, which shall be paid to the treasurer of the
Addresses in Court
17
school district where such conviction is had, by the magistrate collecting same.” Now, in these several instances the Legislature of 1858 dealt with this Section 31, but they made no attempt to repeal the distribution to the school districts. On the con¬ trary, they enlarged the rights of the districts under that section. All these provisions of the Act of 1858, thus recognizing this section, and giving to it the construction we contend for, are still unre¬ pealed and stand as a part of the general law.
V. The rules of construction applicable to the case support the view taken :
1. The law does not favor repeal by implication, nor is it to be allowed unless the repugnancy be quite plain. “Although two Acts are seemingly repugnant, yet if there be no clause of non obstante in the latter, they shall, if possible, have such con¬ struction, that the latter may not be a repeal of the former by implication.” (9 Bacon’s Abr. Title Statute, p. 228; 1 Kent’s Com., p. 524; Com. vs. Herring, 6 Cush., p. 465; Shinn vs. Com’w’th, 3 Grant, p. 206; Somerset and Stoystown Road, 24 P. F. S., p. 61.)
2. “It is not sufficient to show that the subsequent law covers some or even all of the cases for which the former provided, for it may be merely affirma¬ tive, or cumulative, or auxiliary. To create repeal by implication there must be a positive repugnancy, and even then the old law is repealed by implica¬ tion only to the extent of the repugnancy. The re¬ peal by implication must be so clear as to leave no reasonable doubt that such was the intention of the
18
Addresses in Court
Legislature. It should not be deduced by an ingenious course of argument, but should appear ‘at once.’ ” (4 Abbott’s National Digest Title
Statute, p. 238.)
3. It is upon this point that the question of re¬ peal by implication turns — the repugnancy of the new statute to the old. Perhaps the only exception to the rule is “where the new statute clearly pre¬ scribes the only rule to be observed, then the former statute, though not repugnant in all its provisions, is repealed by implication.” “In affirmative statutes such parts of the prior as may be incor¬ porated into the subsequent statute as consistent with it, must be considered in force.” (Davies vs. Fairburn, 3 Howard, p. G36; 1 Kent’s Com., p. 524.)
4. The cases cited by the plaintiff in error are in accordance with these principles. In Norris vs. Crocker, 13 Howard, p. 439, it is ruled that the Act of Congress of 1850 repealed by implication the Act of 1793 so far as related to the penalty, and that no action could be maintained- to recover it, not merely because the new Act prescribed a different penalty but because it was an affirmative statute covering every offense in the old statute and made a new rule of distribution , appropriating the pen¬ alty to the government, instead of to the owner of the fugitive, as in former Act, and was, therefore, plainly repugnant to that Act. In Johnson’s Es¬ tate, 9 Casey, p. 511, this court affirmed the same principle. There the laborer’s Act of April, 1849, is held to repeal the Act of January, 1849, because the former introduces a new rule inconsistent with
Addresses in Court
19
the latter and clearly repugnant to its provisions. But none of these conditions are found in the pres¬ ent case applying to the section in dispute. So that both from the tenor of the various Acts, and the ac¬ cepted rules of construction, Section 31 of the Act of 1856, remains in force.
For these reasons we think the court below was right, and the decree should be affirmed.
ARGUMENT BEFORE THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, OCTOBER 4, 1899
May it please the Court : The testimony in this case differed from that in the former trial of this case principally in two respects. There was testi¬ mony on the former trial of a line north from the beec-h of William Smith survey which did not ap¬ pear on this trial. There was on this trial a large amount of preliminary testimony explanatory of the work of 1808 and 1811 found on the ground. Before proceeding regularly with the argument I desire to call attention to some of the misstate¬ ments of the distinguished counsel for the plaintiff in error who has just addressed you, made, doubt¬ less, inadvertently. First, he says there is no dis¬ pute that the sugar north of the beech was original. An examination of the record (pp. 98 and 144) will show the sugar was not counted to the alleged date of the survey, but it was stated by the witnesses for plaintiff that it was decayed at the heart and could not be counted more than eighty some years. Next, it is said that the beech bore marks of 1794 on three sides, east, west, and south. An exam¬ ination of the record (pp. 43 and 102) will show that there was but one mark upon the west side of the beech; that there was not only but one mark existing on that side but that the mark on that side was a single mark and not of three notches to
20
Addresses in Court
21
denote a corner. Again as to the old road alleged to be north of the beech thirty perches, instead of being undisputed, as assumed by counsel in stating the facts upon which the court was asked to give binding instructions as to the effect of the calls, it is the fact that nothing else in the case was more disputed than that there was any vestige of any kind of a road at any point within one hundred perches of the beech other than old log roads. This will appear on page 100 of the record. Not only by testimony, but by photographs and maps, was this allegation controverted.
In answer to all that has been urged upon part of plaintiff in error, we make three propositions :
First: That in the admission of the 'preliminary evidence, and in the effect which the court gave that evidence in the charge to the jury and in the answers to points, there was no error.
As to the admission of this testimony : It con¬ sists of live different items, the subject of the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth Assignments.
(1) Letters of Charles Smith, of January 18, and April 6, 1808, both referring to the Caveat and to the partition, which letters are the subject of the first Assignment of error.
(2) Deed of partition of March 10, 1808, which is the subject of the second Assignment of error.
(3) List of surveys handed by Yickroy to O’Keefe, and O’Keefe’s receipt thereon dated the 3d day of November, 1808, which is the subject of the third Assignment of error.
(4) Record of proceedings before the Board of
22
Addresses in Court
Property, showing Caveat proceedings from 1795 to 1801, which is the subject of the fourth Assign¬ ment of error.
(5) Agreement settling the Caveat dispute dated the 8th of January, 1801, and signed by the parties thereto, Dr. Smith of the one part, and John Mus- ser, for Musser and Grant, of the other part, which is the subject of the fifth Assignment of error.
On the question of the admissibility, something depends upon the relation of these papers to each other, and if any one or more of them is admissible on its own merits, and it refers to another or others, that other or those others thereby become admis¬ sible upon a familiar principle. Now, applying that principle to these different papers, we find the letters of Charles Smith, embraced in the first Assignment, refer to the partition proceeding which is the subject of the second Assignment, and to the Caveat proceeding and settlement thereof, which is the subject of the fourth and fifth Assign¬ ments, leaving only the list of surveys and account embraced in the third Assignment as not referred to by the letters. I, therefore, first call attention briefly to the ground upon which these papers em¬ braced in the third Assignment are claimed to have been evidence. They were offered for the purpose of showing the relation between Vickroy, who was the assistant of George Woods, and also the agent of Smith, and O’Keefe, who was the acting surveyor of the district in 1808. Vickroy, for Smith, hands to O’Keefe a list of forty-seven surveys, embrac¬ ing the Smith surveys involved in this controversy.
23
Addresses in Court
He obtained from O’Keefe a receipt for the return¬ ing fees paid by him for Smith, not on forty-seven surveys, but on thirty-eight surveys, as some of the surveys in the list were for Nicholson, and these were not surveyed nor returned for Smith, as ap¬ pears by the correspondence. The account attached has two important items in it ; one is, a charge for witness fees on the Caveat hearing on the 27th day of January, 1801, doubtless made after his return from the hearing at Lancaster, and in the same month that the Caveat proceedings were settled by the parties, and the final order thereon made by the Board of Property. The other item is thirty-five pounds six shillings for surveying done in the months of June and July, 1808, “Lands on Cone- maugh.” “Lands on the Conemaugh” is the desig¬ nation given by Dr. Smith and Charles Smith, as well as by Vickroy to the Smith and Nicholson lands, and it is significant that this large amount of surveying was done in the very months when we allege the final location was made of these lands, as against the allegation upon the other side that they were finally located in 1794. That much as to the admissibility of what is embraced in the third As¬ signment. As the letters of Smith refer distinctly to all those embraced in the other Assignments, we inquire whether these letters were admissible ; and we maintain that they were admissible, if for no other reason, because they are the written declara¬ tions of the then owner of the lands to his agent, who was also the assistant deputy, with respect to the final location of these lands. But these letters
24
Addresses in Court
are admissible because they and the other papers therein referred to, together establish the following facts :
That the Caveat proceeding was instituted on the 4th day of April, 1795, and was not ended until the 10th day of January, 1801, when it was ended by the order of the Board of Property of that date, reciting an agreement made as of the 8th of Jan¬ uary, 1801. That a partition was contemplated between Dr. Smith and Nicholson’s representatives, which became desirable and was doubtless sug¬ gested by reason of the insolvency of Nicholson, and the proceedings by the state to secure its claim against him, and the necessity of a public sale of his interest in this as well as other lands, whereby, without partition, Smith would have become jointly interested with new and unknown purchasers. The partition was not consummated until the 10th of March, 1808, the very year in which the disputed work is found upon the ground, and in which we allege the final location was made. That both these proceedings were recognized by Dr. Smith in his letter of August 10, 1800, and by Charles Smith, his son and executor, in the letters embraced in the first Assignment as reasons for delay in the location of these surveys. That as soon as these proceedings were out of the way, to wit: on the 6th of April, 1808 (within three weeks after the date of the deed of March 10, of that year), Charles Smith wrote to Vickroy, “I am now able to give you a full account of the transactions between myself and the Nichol¬ son commissioners,” and in a further part of his
Addresses in Court
25
letter urges him to “make speedy survey and return of the partnership lands.”
Great force is given to this testimony as bearing upon the work of 1808, by the two old drafts offered in evidence, which are not the subject of any As¬ signment here. One of these drafts was designated as the partition draft. It will be observed by the terms of the deed of partition, and by the letter of Charles Smith of April 6, and by the draft itself, that on each of them is a division of the warrants between Smith and Nicholson, those allotted to Nicholson being marked with a star in the Smith letter, and those to Smith marked “ours,” while those to Nicholson are marked on the partition draft by the name of Nicholson written on the tract and the name of Smith on those allotted to Smith, and the same division is contained in the deed of partition. We will now observe that by the division the James Duncan survey, owned by the defendant in this suit, was a Nicholson survey, while the Isaac Brannan, owned by the plaintiff, was a Smith sur¬ vey, and the line between them is the line in dispute on the trial below and here. This partition draft is alleged to be the draft to which Charles Smith refers, both in his letter of January 18, and in that of April 6, 1808, as being the draft having red dotted lines and marking the division between the surveys which went to Nicholson, and those which went to him. Now, I will show your honors this old draft, and on it you will find the cedar claimed by the defendant as the southwest corner of the Isaac Brannan, located forty -four perches west of
26
Addresses in Court
the beech , and northwest corner of the William Smith survey. Not only does that appear by scale, but the 44 perches are marked on this old draft, and the division line on this draft between the Brannan and the Duncan is marked with a red dotted line having at its south end this cedar 44 perches west of the beech of the Smith. This red dotted line turns at that point and runs westerly along the line which marks the division further between the Smith surveys on the north and the Nicholson sur¬ veys on the south, so that there appears evidence here upon this old draft, which is identified, not only by its red dotted lines, but by its relation to the partition deed, and to the Smith letter, in that it contains the same allotment or division that appears in both of these papers, that instead of the cedar the southwest corner of the Brannan being identical with the beech, the northwest corner of the Smith as alleged by the plaintiff, it was found on the ground 44 perches away where it is now claimed by the defendant. Furthermore, it is to be kept in mind that this old draft is the work, not only of Vichroy, but of Smith, the owner. The cor¬ respondence shows that Vic-kroy had prepared the map, it being in his handwriting, that he had for¬ warded it to Smith, that Smith returned it to him with his letter of April 6, 1808, which letter is the first announcement by the owner to his agent of the result of this long pending partition, and in that same connection illustrated by this draft, he not only indicated the division but he puts the division line to the very corner and at the very place which
Addresses in Court
27
is now claimed by the defendant. But, as already stated, we offered another old draft, known as the outline draft, which I will now also exhibit. The purpose of this draft was to show primarily that, as was very common at that day and since, there was an outline survey in the first instance which em¬ braced only exterior lines and not interior lines. This draft is shown to have been in the handwriting of Vic-kroy. He has in the upper left-hand corner this indorsement : “Sugar at the old camp where Dr. Smith, Patrick Cassiday, Thomas Vickroy, and William Clark met on the 14th of June, 1794.” This draft showTs the base line and other exterior lines embracing some of the surveys in dispute. It also shows exactly, as does the partition draft, that the cedar claimed by the defendant is a cedar 44 perches west of the beech. That appears on this map by scale ; on the other, not only by scale but by figures. It is also very significant that both on the partition draft and on this draft there is a designa¬ tion on this base line of the corners which mark the division lines running south and those running north, and that commencing at the southwest cor¬ ner of the Richard Smith and continuing to the angle of the Charles Smith, there is a gradual in¬ crease in the distance of just 11 perches. The first distance is 22 perches, the second is 33 perches, the third, which is at the point in dispute, is 44 perches, and the fourth is 55 perches. On the S. Blodget (now superseded by the B. George) there appears a transposition of corners; that is to say, there is called at the northwest corner of the Blodget a
28
Addresses in Court
beech, while there is found a hemlock, and there is called at the northeast corner a hemlock, while there is found a beech. Your honors will recall that that mistake not infrequently occurs from the prac¬ tice of the surveyor after he had done his work upon the ground, by making his return in his office, and inadvertently a corner was returned at the opposite side from where it was found, and a like error upon the corresponding corner. Now it is significant that while this mistake in the return of the Blodget occurs, and the two different corners are found on the ground, that both on the partition map and in the outline map there is marked for each of those corners the corners that are actually found, and not those returned. In each of the other corners on the base line there is found on the old maps the same corners that are returned and also found on the ground. These several distances are indicated on the outline map by scale and in the partition map by actual figures. We maintain, therefore, that not only upon their own merits are the papers embraced in these several Assignments admissible, but that any question as to their admissibility is removed by the relation of these drafts to the matter in controversy and to the letters.
Having offered this preliminary proof, which oc¬ cupied five days, we then proceeded with evidence of location, showing the base line referred to, marked as of 1808. Also marks upon the eastern line of the Isaac Brannan, as claimed by defendant, and marks upon three sides of the beech at the northwest corner of the William Smith, 44 perches
Addresses in Court
29
distant from the cedar of the Isaac Brannan. The testimony also showed the eastern line of the Nicholson south from the cedar, and the southern line of the Nicholson exceptionally well marked as of 1811. There were some facts in this testimony of great importance as it seems to us. The Nichol¬ son deed of partition shows John Nicholson survey allotted to John Nicholson. That survey appears to have been located upon the ground by William O’Keefe, as evidenced by his handwriting in the body of the return, while the Brannan and the Smith, which belong to Smith, appear to have been located by Yickroy as evidenced not only by the written direction of Charles Smith to him to locate but also by his handwriting in the body of the re¬ turn. This condition as to the persons who did the actual work of locating explains a discrepancy in the location of the Nicholson by Yickroy and by O’Keefe. In the partition draft Vickroy plots the Nicholson survey to its call for the Smith, but when O’Keefe, three years later, actually located the Nicholson he located it 44 perches short of that call, and put it to its call for the cedar of the Brannan, and he returned it to the land office that much narrower and with enough increase in the length to correspond with what had been taken off its width. Another fact important is that no un¬ disputed work of 1794 affecting this location is found east of the Robert Erwin upon the eastern side of which was found a beech, the location and date of which in 1794 is wholly undisputed. To show that the work of 1808 and 1811 corresponds
30
Addresses in Court
to the only undisputed work of 1794, the defend¬ ant showed that by measuring from this distant point to the cedar, as claimed by defendant, there was less than 100 perches discrepancy . There was not only no undisputed testimony of an original line north from the beech but there was no testi¬ mony, disputed or undisputed, of actual count of any tree north of the beech, except the birch, the date of which, and the fact of its being an ax mark at all, were not only disputed by defendant’s wit¬ nesses, but questioned by one of the leading sur¬ veyors for plaintiff. The mark of 1794 upon the beech of the TV illiam Smith was, of course, com¬ mon to both surveys, because it was upon the east¬ ern side and indicates a line east and west, and that line as well as the line south from the beech was common to both locations. This is not only a matter of necessary inference, but was testified to by TV illiam P. Mitchell, plaintiff’s surveyor, as ap¬ pears by record (p. 100). Another most vital fact appearing by this testimony is this: the Eichard Smith is the tract immediately west of Isaac Bran- nan. The Brannan calls for a cucumber, and the existence of a cucumber tree at that point, and the location to it, not only by surveyors but by Dr. Storm, the original owner; appears by the testi¬ mony. At the southwest corner of this Eichard Smith a hemlock is called for by it and the other Eichard Smith lying west and cornering at the same point. That hemlock was found on the ground counting to 1808, and that corner is fixed, not only by this hemlock, but also by Laurel Eun,
Addresses in Court
31
which passes within a few feet of the corner, and is called for by the second Richard Smith as passing by the corner which is also found on the ground. Starting from this point and measuring the breadth of the four tracts, there is found for the first Rich¬ ard Smith at its southwest corner both the tree counting to 1808 and the stream, and the distance for each of these four tracts, Richard Smith, Isaac Brannan, James Duncan, and Charles Smith, on the ground corresponding within 5 perches of the official distance if located as defendant claims the location to be. Furthermore, the hickory called for both by the Charles Smith and the James Dun¬ can is found in position counting to 1808. The cedar in the angle of the Charles Smith is also found on the ground, the date not ascertained. The gradual increase in the distance for the corners marking the division north and the division south also appears on the ground, as on the official con¬ nection, and on the partition draft, being 22 perches at the southwest corner of the Isaac Brannan, 44 perches at the southwest corner of the James Dun¬ can, and 55 perches at the southwest corner of the Charles Smith. The force of this testimony is in the fact that the stream marking the corner of the Richard Smith teas on the ground in 1794 as well as in 1808, and is another circumstance showing that the work of 1808 conforms to the outline work of 1794.
The second branch of our first proposition is that the court committed no error in the effect given this preliminary proof before the jury. The portion of
32
Addresses in Court
the charge and answers to points in which the court dealt with this testimony, are embraced in the 7, 8, 10, 15, 17, 21, and 22 Assignments. In the 7th and 8th Assignments the court said in substance that while the survey of the Isaac Brannan was to be taken as a survey of 1794 under the return, still it was the law that a surveyor had the right to change his survey at any time before making his return, provided this change was made with the consent of the owner. This ruling, we maintain, was in accordance with the authorities, except that the change may be recognized without proof of the consent of the owner. That is a matter of inference under the authorities we have cited. The court said to the jury in effect, in the language embraced in the 10th, 15th, and 22d Assignments, that this pre¬ liminary testimony was only to be considered by them in the event that they were unable without it to discover the lines of 1794, and then only for the purpose of aiding them in making that discovery. The language complained of in the 17th Assignment as putting too great a burden of proof on the plain¬ tiff, is rightly coupled with similar language in the 19th Assignment, for by the language immedi¬ ately following that quoted therein, it will appear that the court only said to the jury, that if the tes¬ timony together left the question evenly balanced in their minds, the plaintiff was not entitled to their verdict, and taken in connection with the affirmance of plaintiff’s fourth and fifth points it will be per¬ fectly clear that the court instructed the jury, that if upon the whole testimony a preponderance in
Addresses in Court
33
favor of the plaintiff appeared, that that condition of the evidence entitled the plaintiff to the verdict. Keeping in view, then, the sole purpose for which the jury were permitted to look at this evidence at all, and the restrictions which the court threw about it, we respectfully submit that less force was given to it, and less effect than the authorities in our brief would have justified.
Second: The question of the connection of the Brannan, Smith, and Nicholson at a common corner as claimed hy plaintiff was at most a ques¬ tion for the jury, and teas so submitted. In answer to the plaintiff’s fourth and fifth points the court submitted to the jury the question of whether, un¬ der all the testimony, the three surveys come to¬ gether at a common corner. In the plaintiff’s sixth point and also in his sixteenth and seventeenth points, the court was asked to go a step further and to say as a matter of law that in absence of 1794 marks, to restrict the surveys short of their call they must come together at a common corner. This, we say, was further than the court was justified in going under the evidence, and that these several points which are the subject of the 12th, 13th, and 14th Assignments, were properly refused. There must be some rule fixed by which it may be deter¬ mined whether a call of a survey is an operative call in such sense as to become a matter of binding instruction. It will not do to say, as has been re¬ peatedly ruled, that the mere fact that the name of one survey is written outside of the line of another survey is such a call. The true rule is found in the
34
Addresses in Court
case of Henry vs. Henry, 5 Pa., p. 249, and repeated in Malone vs. Sollada, 48 Pa., p. 419, where it is said that when a survey calls for another it must call for a line of that other and adopt it. Xow, if the line of that other survey is indicated by living mon¬ uments, and the call not only does not adopt those monuments but calls for other living monuments, it is not such a call as to be operative in the sense that it can be the subject of binding instructions. Well, applying that rule to this case, what do we find? In a portion of the general charge, embraced in the 6th Assignment, the court said very properly that the Brannan calls for a cedar, and the Smith calls for a beech, and that, therefore, the question of whether they come together is a matter of proof. That statement goes to the very center of this case and touches upon the very question upon which, the whole case hangs. It can be fairly said of the con¬ tention of the plaintiff that his whole case hangs upon the allegation that the Brannan, although it calls for its own corner, goes to the Smith, which calls for its own separate comer, each found on the ground 44 perches apart. The Brannan does not call for the Smith, nor for any monument of the Smith. The Smith does not call for the Brannan, nor for any monument of the Brannan.
It is contended, however, that the effect of the call of the Xicholson is to join the three surveys. Xow, the Xicholson, it will be observed, is the only one of the three surveys which calls for a cedar near a beech. The contention of the plaintiff is that the cedar alleged to be found three feet and
Addresses in Court
35
nine inches from the beech of the William Smith is that cedar. The contention of the defendant is that if that cedar has any relation to the beech, it is the cedar of the defendant found twenty-seven feet south of the beech. But the Nicholson, according to the defendant’s theory, was only completed in location in 1811, and, therefore, could not have any effect whatever upon the location of the Brannan or the Smith, which were located finally and re¬ turned in 1808. But assuming the plaintiff’s theory to be correct, that the Brannan and the Smith, and the Nicholson were each finally located in June, 1794, how does the question of calls stand? The Nicholson is not of the same date of warrant as the Brannan, it being dated the 21st of Decem¬ ber, 1792, and the Brannan the 25th of March, 1794. It is not of the same date of return as either the Brannan or the Smith. They are both returned on the 28th of November, 1808, while it was not re¬ turned until 1811. The Nicholson is, therefore, not of the same block as either the Brannan or the Smith, for the elements of a block are unity of date, of warrant, of location, and of return of surveys, and ownership. In the case of a block location the members of the block do not obtain priority over each other, ordinarily, by reason of the difference of a few days in the dates of the survey, as ruled in Sugar Valley Lumber Company vs. Barber, and other cases. But in the case of location of separate surveys priority of date, if it be but a single day, fixes priority of location. Now, it is manifest that the Nicholson is to be located as a single survey
36
Addresses in Court
and governed by the rule applied to single survey location. If so, what is its date of location with respect to the date of the Brannan and Smith in order that the value of its call for them, or their call for it may be determined? For if it be a younger survey, it can have no controlling effect upon their location by its call; and if they be younger surveys than it, they can have no controll¬ ing effect upon its location by virtue of their calls. But if plaintiff’s theory is correct, then each of these surveys was located in June — 1794, the date not given, and, therefore, the value of the calls cannot he determined. But there are other more serious difficulties in treating the reciprocal calls of the Nicholson and the Smith for each other, as being the subject of binding instructions. The Smith calls for the Nicholson, and calls for it as having a beech at the north end of the division line, and a post at the south end, and each survey of same length, as indicated by the projecting lines on the return, while the Nicholson calls for the Smith as having a cedar at the north end of the division line, and as being unequal in length with the Smith, being 44 perches longer, and having a cedar at the south end of the line, and the Smith corner¬ ing on that line 44 perches short of that southern cedar. In other words, each survey calls for living corners which are not adopted, but repudiated by the reciprocal call. Furthermore, the western line of the Smith is not shown to be located on the ground. That that line is a plotted line appears, not only by the entire absence of any marks of 1808
Addresses in Court
37
or 1794, except at tlie northwest corner, the oldest tree on the line being a tree of 1824, and also by the return, which, while it shows a beech at the north end of the western line, calls for a post at the south end. The call for a post is, ordinarily, evidence of plotted work. Now, that being so, there is nothing to indicate the existence of that western line of the Smith except the single monument, the beech, and, therefore, the call of the Nicholson for the Smith, when it fails to call for a beech, is a call which re¬ pudiates the only mark tchich fixes the existence of that plotted line.
Of course the theory of the plaintiff was that the cedar called for by the Nicholson was so close to the beech as to be identical with it, hut whether that theory was true, or the theory of the defendant, that the cedar called for by the Nicholson was the cedar twenty-seven feet south of defendant’s beech, certainly could not be determined by the court, but must be submitted to the jury, as was done in answer to the plaintiff’s fourth and fifth points. Therefore, in no view that can he taken of the calls of these respective surveys for each other could they be a matter of binding instruction to the jury. A survey which calls for another without adopting the line or monuments of that other survey upon its line, may go to that survey, but it cannot be said prima facie, or as a matter of law, that it does go to that point. So of a survey called for which has but a single living monument, and that monu¬ ment found on the ground and not adopted by the survey calling for it.
38
Addresses in Court
Third: The acts and coincident declarations of Dr. Storm were of such a character as to he of weight with the jury; and, therefore, the court com¬ mitted no error in so instructing them in the lan¬ guage complained of in the 11th, 16th, and 23d As- signments. Dr. Storm became tbe owner of the Brannan in 1843, fifty-six years before tbe trial, when all the timber was there. He was the owner during the time the timber operations were con¬ ducted. Fifteen years afterward he went upon the ground with McConnell, the surveyor, and had him run off the fifty-two acres sold to Frank Grimes, going with him along the line north of the Franks- town road, which was a line north from the cedar claimed by defendant. This was about 1858. Near the same time he was with McConnell when he sur¬ veyed the church lot upon the other side of the Brannan, locating it also, to the line north from the cucumber claimed by the defendant as the western line of the Brannan. Two years after the surveying for Grimes, Storm, and his coowner, King, made a deed to Grimes, reciting the western boundary as the Sma line, which was the line north from the cedar; and, furthermore, was with McConnell along this line to see if the timber was cut. Now, the plaintiff in this case took title, not only to the balance of the Brannan tract by a deed which described the Grimes piece and reserving it, but he had title to the Grimes piece also, with the same description of boundaries. The law with re¬ spect to these kinds of acts, with the declarations accompanying them and coincident with them, is
Addresses in Court
39
that they are evidence even in favor of a party, on a question of possession or location, on the prin¬ ciple that possession is made up of both acts and declarations, and the admission of one operates as an admission of the other, as a part of it. For a much stronger reason are they evidence against a party who was owner at the time.
The portion of the charge included in the 11th Assignment, however, will be found, on a careful examination, not to relate to any verbal declara¬ tions, but to the declarations of boundary contained in the deed of Dr. Storm. We think it is true that a mere declaration, if mistakenly made, is not bind¬ ing or of any effect, but it is quite different as to declarations contained in a deed under which par¬ ties have taken title, by a fixed boundary, and have held title for many years. The whole doctrine of consentable lines is based upon the theory of a mistaken or gratuitous concession from the true line, and where that mistake or concession is made and acted upon for years, it becomes binding and amounts to an estoppel. Of course we do not con¬ tend that there was such effect to the act of Dr. Storm, but only his act in making the deed, fol¬ lowed by a long holding under that deed, to the boundary now in dispute, was such an act, that even if mistakenly made or done, would be of great weight with the jury in determining the true location.
It is to be observed that the court, as will appear from an examination of the particular language in the 16th Assignment, submitted these declarations
40
Addresses in Court
and acts of Dr. Storm to the jury, to be considered by them, not as affecting the line of 1794, if found, but as an aid to them in discovering that line, and as evidence of where the owners at that time re¬ garded the line of the property. Under the authori¬ ties we have cited, this kind of act and declaration is regarded as strong evidence, and is so charac¬ terized in the case of Kennedy vs. Lubold, and other cases. Then it is again to be remembered with re¬ spect to what is claimed in the 11th Assignment, and in the 17th and 19th Assignments, that the court is not to be convicted of error upon a single expression, but that the whole of the charge of the court is to be taken together, and even if there be positive error, unless that error be such as to prejudice the plaintiff, there is no reversal. Under this wholesome rule it will be found that there is nothing in the charge with respect to the several Assignments here referred to, which would call for a reversal.
In closing I desire to say that I have gone into the testimony more fully than would be justified in an ordinary case in view of the character of the complaints in the 25th and 26th Assignments, as to the presentation of the evidence by the court.
The three propositions which we have presented seem to cover the material parts of the argument for the plaintiff in error, and we respectfully sub¬ mit that upon a careful review of the whole case there will be found no ground whatever for reversal.
)
PART II
MEMORIAL ADDRESSES
MEMORIAL ADDRESS ON U. S. GRANT, CLEARFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA, AUGUST 8, 1885
We come together this afternoon to testify by our presence and by what we say that the influence of a great life has reached out and left its impress upon us in such a way and to such an extent as to make our testimonial a duty. With the millions of our countrymen we stand with head uncovered about an open grave, and say to them and to each other and to the future, that we are wiser and more patriotic and braver and better because this man has lived in the world. It is quite important that the people rightly estimate the character of the men who have been of special service to their country, and that they make this estimate a matter of public notice for the benefit of those who come after. There are only a few men who by force of character and nobility of purpose so widen out in beneficent influence as to command the admiration of all. When such a man is found it is but just to him and profitable to us that we pay the tribute so rightfully due.
In order to be brief I will speak of but one quality of this life, and I select that one because it was most attractive and had much to do with the character of his success. He was an extremely plain man. Whether we view him in the time of his obscurity and poverty, when, all unknown and
43
44
Memorial Addresses
uncared for by the great busy world about him, or in the day when, having reached the zenith of his fame and power, the idol and pride of his own land, the peoples and princes of other lands were eager to do him honor, alike at all times and under all circumstances he was the same unassuming, plain citizen.
This quality was more conspicuous by the fact that he was essentially a soldier, and whatever temptations in the opposite direction are peculiar to that profession and training, they left no percep¬ tible trace upon him. When he was brought forth for his country’s defense he himself was without a uniform. The importance of this part of the prepa¬ ration did not occur to him, but was suggested by another. When urged upon him he finally pro¬ cured a uniform, and it lasted him during the entire war, the badges of rank being changed from time to time to correspond to the rapid promotions he re¬ ceived. At the final scene of the surrender at Appomattox his dress was the subject of apology, and contrasted strangely with that of the gallant but conquered leader of the South. There was nothing in it to indicate the magnitude of an event which ended the greatest conflict of modern times and gave full proof to the world that he had been wisely selected as the leader of the conquering hosts. He did nothing for mere show. The people soon came to understand this and when he did any¬ thing or said anything it was full of meaning for them, and they expected from it practical results. Herein was much of his success. It is not neces-
Memorial Addresses
45
sary that a man do so much or say so much, if it be divested of all tinsel and show and is aimed at the ultimate object. This was the character of his say¬ ing and doing, and his success attests its value. He was such a man as no other country could have pro¬ duced. Coming up from great obscurity to the highest point of place and honor, as he came up and developed out into broader proportions he became more and more distinctively an American. Return¬ ing from a prolonged visit to all the older civiliza¬ tions of the world, the recipient of encomiums and testimonials of every foreign court such as no other man ever did or could have received, he became more than ever wedded to his own land and her institutions, and recognized more fully than ever that right here is the birthplace and home of the broadest manhood and the best civilization, of which he was such a distinguished representative.
His memory will be cherished most by the men who like him bared their breast to the front of bat¬ tle. If others forget, they will never forget the old commander. As year by year their ranks are deci¬ mated by the common foe of all, and “as age comes on with rapid pace, and whitening hairs, like crest on ocean’s foam, tell that the tempest of life is al¬ most over,” then the few remaining ones will cling more closely to each other, and to the memory of their great leader. Who that has seen the soldier of Napoleon’s army wrinkled and curved and broken by the weight of years and disease, can fail to recall how at the mention of the “Little Corpo¬ ral’s” name the old veteran would start and
46
Memorial Addresses
straighten from his crutches, and with an unwonted fire in his eye fight over again the battles of his youth ! But the Union soldier has a better name and a worthier memory to cherish; for he illus¬ trated by his life that power is only of permanent value when used wisely and for beneficent purposes. He battled to build up rather than to destroy, to unite rather than dissever, and when the legitimate end of war was reached, but not before it was reached, he was the first to say, “Let us have peace.”
MEMORIAL ADDRESS ON ISRAEL TEST, ESQ., CLEARFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA, AUGUST 14, 1386
The most obvious quality of our departed brother was his large-heartedness. This was felt by every¬ one who came within the circle of his influence. It was more conspicuous by the fact that he was a lawyer. For it will be admitted that his profession is not the one most favorable to the development of this quality. No other profession or avocation makes severer demands. Indeed, the lawyer in full practice is in a perpetual conflict. The care, anxiety, and responsibility which belongs to the rightful discharge of duty so absorbs the entire energies as to leave but little for the amenities and friendships of life. So it happens that when, by the development of the social side of his nature, there is a failure to respond to the full demands of his pro¬ fession there is some kind of compensation for the loss in that direction by the good cheer and sun¬ shine given to others. Then, too, we are to remem¬ ber that influence among men, and the power to control, and, therefore, the power to do good, is obtained, not so much by intellectual feats, or by great deeds of mind, as by the more unobtrusive and kindlier offices of the heart. To say that Brother Test had this kind of development, and that he at¬ tained, and, all through the vicissitudes of his life, held that influence over his fellows which rightly
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Memorial Addresses
belongs to it, is to assert what all who knew him will admit. He was a lawyer. Men who came in contact with him went away talking not so much of him as a lawyer but, rather, as a man. It was that side of him that attracted them especially.
Another quality he had was his sense of humor, his mother wit, and the rare power which it gave him. It was a dull day with him when by ridicule or repartee he was not able to break half the force of the most pointed shaft of logic or argument, whether aimed at him by court or counsel. In fact, as he went in and out of this court, and among this people for the last thirty years, he was a practical illustration of the undoubted truth that this weapon is often more powerful than argument. This is a quality which belongs to the past more than the present generation of lawyers. There is something in the bustle and the hurry and friction of the pres¬ ent mode of practice not favorable to the develop¬ ment of this quality. It belongs, rather, to an earlier period, when lawyers were permitted to take their time and enjoy themselves as they went along. For this reason it is a quality so rare as to insure its possessor a very high appreciation. To say nothing of the influence it gave him over jurors and people, I might mention one fact illustrative of his power in this way. That is, that his own brethren at the bar, who heard him so often, were ever anxious to hear him again. The more weary and listless and ill-disposed to hear others we were, the more eagerly would we wait for him, that we might be amused and entertained, if not instructed.
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But he is gone! The well-known voice, the in¬ imitable manner, the friendly, old-fashioned, sym¬ pathetic talk are all gone out from us forever, and we his associates, linked to him by an indissoluble bond, have come to stand by his open grave, and tell why we loved him. If he had an enemy among us, it has never been known. He was the friend of all. To say that he was without failings would be to say that he was more than human. But of him it may be said, as of another,
E’en his faults leaned to virtue’s side.
The light that has gone out from among us has left a gloom that no other light can dissipate. Let us be warned by this sad visitation of our own mortality, and remember that “In such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Let us cherish his memory, and emulate his virtues and strive to so live that when our time comes, as come it must, it may be said of us as of him, that the world has been better for our living in it.
MEMORIAL ADDRESS ON HON. GEORGE R. BARRETT, CLEARFIELD, PENNSYL¬ VANIA, MARCH 9, 1889
Mr. Chairman : I move the adoption of these resolutions, and in doing so I wish to submit a few remarks by way of humble tribute to the memory of Judge Barrett.
There is one important fact that I think we must all be impressed with, and that is that the death of Judge Barrett removes from our midst the last con¬ necting link between the present bar and the bar of the early history of this county. As we all know, the two oldest members of the bar, whose memories we still cherish, were Josiah W. Smith and Robert Wallace, who came here in 1825. They are gone a good many years ago, Mr. Wallace in 1875, and Mr. Smith, I think, in 1882. Mr. Wallace was connected with this bar just about half a cen¬ tury, and Mr. Smith about fifty-seven years, al¬ though neither of them was in active practice dur¬ ing the latter part of his life. Judge Barrett had been connected with this bar for fifty-three years — a very long time. He became a member of the bar in 1836, only eleven years after these pioneers, and it can be said of him, what cannot be said now of anyone living — that he was as closely connected with them in their active practice as with those who constitute the bar of today, and, per¬ haps, more so. Mr. Wallace, the Senator, came to the bar in 1847, Judge McEnally not until 1850;
50
Memorial Addresses
51
but Judge Barrett goes away back in his identifica¬ tion with this bar to 1836, at a time when there was, perhaps, not over six thousand population in the whole county, not over twice the population of this borough at the present time. He lived until he had seen the county grow up to a population of over ten times that number. We are reminded of this fact by the rapid growth of our county and of the changes that take place. We are also reminded that even when we live out the full measure of our years, and death comes to us, it is but a brief race to run.
Judge Barrett was a man of more than ordinary ability. He was a man of very considerable ability. He had many qualities that well fitted him for the bar. One quality, it seems to me a very important requisite for a lawyer, that was very plainly marked in his career, was this : he was a man indefatigable in work. There was nothing slothful or indolent about him. He kept himself well abreast with the current decisions, and it must be testified to by all of us, that when he came into court he was generally ready. His cases, especially those of importance, showed that he had bestowed very considerable labor in the preparation of them. Many men of, perhaps, equal ability at the bar have utterly failed for the want of this quality so plainly marked and developed in him, of application, energy, and per¬ sistent work.
Another quality which gave effect and force to his work was that he was a man of remarkable method. Those of us who had opportunity could
52
Memorial Addresses
observe the scrupulous care with which he kept the papers and everything connected with his cases. This quality is really necessary in order to make a man’s work effective. It not only rendered him efficient in his work as a lawyer but also gave him time to devote to other duties outside of his pro¬ fession.
There is another quality that we can remember with great satisfaction, and that is that he placed a high estimate upon the good opinion of the members of his own profession. He had, as has been stated already, a warm side for the younger members of the bar, and many incidents of this kind will readily occur to all of us, some of which have been adverted to by his honor, Judge Krebs. He seemed to recog¬ nize the fact that a man’s standing at the bar with the outside public depends largely upon the esti¬ mate in which he is held by the members of his own profession and at his own bar. They rightly con¬ clude that as they stand so close to him, they are the best judges, and the public opinion of a lawyer is, after all, based largely upon the opinion in which he is held by his associates. Those of us who have visited him, and perhaps we all have, during his long illness, can remember how glad he was to note the interest that was manifested in his welfare, and how he was touched by any little courtesy showing that his brethren at the bar kindly remembered him, and that those who, from any cause, had be¬ come estranged from him had willingly forgotten the past.
As a citizen he was a man who exhibited consid-
Memorial Addresses
53
erable public spirit. He was willing to do bis full share of any work which had for its object the public advancement or public improvement. He was a man of fine presence and pleasing address, and he naturally drew men to him and held them and influenced their conduct. By reason of these qualities he had a capacity for influencing men that many others of equal ability had not.
As a neighbor he was a kind and generous man. He had many charities that are, perhaps, best known by those who stood close to him, and many of his neighbors who were less fortunate in life and less favored in their surroundings will have cause to remember him with kindness as year by year they miss the aid of his helping hand.
Successful in his profession, and also in his busi¬ ness enterprises, he made money, but he had no sympathy with the idea of hoarding up money. He believed that the right disposition of money was to use it, and, consequently, he surrounded himself with the good things of this world, and during his long life he enjoyed the comforts and conveniences of life. He believed that it was his duty, as well as his right, to so live. That he was a man without faults no one, and least of all himself, would pre¬ tend to allege. He had his failings, like the rest of us, and it becomes us, now that he is gone, to emu¬ late his good qualities and to strive so to live that when the summons comes to us — as it will come to each of us — we will, like him, have entitled our¬ selves to the kind remembrance of those who follow us.
A MEMORIAL ADDRESS ON SENATOR WILL¬ IAM A. WALLACE, CLEARFIELD, PENN¬ SYLVANIA, MAY 26, 1896
He was one of the men who did not seem to grow old with the passing years, and he has gone out from among us before we realized that he had nearly reached the full age allotted to man. He came to this bar &t the September term, 1847, when he was but nineteen years and ten months old. Within seven years thereafter two of the leading practitioners had retired from practice, leaving him an open field for the exercise of his unusual powers. From that time, 1854, until 1884, when he retired from practice, he was the recognized leader of the bar.
He forged his way to the front by the sheer force of his intellect and his untiring industry. He counted as no part of his capital the cringing, fawning spirit so often resorted to by smaller men. His power consisted in the conviction he gave peo¬ ple that he would accomplish what he undertook. They had faith in him. He won no rank either at the bar or in the political arena to which he was not entitled. Many of those who disputed his sway went to bed before he quit work, and got up after he had begun again the next day. A harder worker than he never lived. For this alone he deserved success. Great as was his ability, it was not greater, if as great, as was his industry.
54
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55
He was in tlie state Senate and the United States Senate together from 1SG3 to 1881. By his aptitude for legislation and his indomitable work he became identified with all the important legisla¬ tion of his state during the first twelve years of this period, and with many of the federal statutes en¬ acted during the last six years of this time. He was also the acknowledged leader of his party dur¬ ing all these years. At the end of his term in the United States Senate he bent his energies toward the development of his own county, and was effect¬ ive in opening up new and competitive lines of railroad, by which the traffic and trade of the county was doubled. He thereby enriched others far more than himself. In the financial reverses which came to him, as to many others, his remark¬ able nerve and will power and work did not forsake him. His great endowment of mental and physical resources survived the wreck of his fortune. With these he hoped to retrieve what had been lost, and to this end struggled heroically against adverse cir¬ cumstances. To the most powerful organization there is, however, a limit to the strain which it will endure. In his case this limit was reached in the first days of February of the present year, wThen he laid down his work for the last time and entered upon the struggle between life and death which has just ended.
Such a life is instructive and helpful to others. To every young man it shows what large opportu¬ nity for usefulness is within reach of all. It illus¬ trates the value of untiring energy and work in
56 Memorial Addresses
developing capacity for usefulness. It also con¬ tains this lesson which should not be forgotten. When the position had been reached which was the object of his highest ambition, and when in the very zenith of his fame, his own estimate of it was that if he had his life to live over, he would have devoted himself to his profession rather than to politics. This was the testimony of a man who seemed qualified, as few others are, for the arena of politics, and just at the time when he had reached the highest rewards of political work and ambition. Let his industry, his high sense of honor, and his public spirit be emulated by all who follow him.
The heights by great men reached and kept Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept Were toiling upward in the night.
MEMORIAL ADDRESS ON HON. HENRY C. M’CORMICK, WILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYL¬ VANIA, MAY 29, 1902
I am here, with a number of the lawyers and business men of Clearfield County, to pay tribute to the memory of a lawyer and a good man. The re¬ lation of our county to this community has been such that many of our people had come to know General McCormick as the representative of large business interests here. A great many more, how¬ ever, have known of him, so that his death was very keenly felt throughout the county. Still others of us have come in closer contact with him in the trial of cases, and we have come to know more of him and to feel more deeply attached to him. Per¬ sonally, I can say that I had known him much longer than any of the people whom I represent. My first acquaintance with him began in the early part of 1862, when he and I were students together, over forty years ago. He was then distinguished by his aptitude for his studies and attention to his work, and also by that kindly spirit which had characterized him during all these years. I re¬ ceived many expressions of kindness and words of encouragement from him in those early years, which I have remembered ever since. As the years passed by I was gratified to see how rapidly he forged to the front.
No man, here or elsewhere, was more emphatie-
57
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Memorial Addresses
ally a self-made man than General McCormick. Very few after their admission to the bar come so soon to so large a measure of success as he. He had a wonderful aptitude for his profession. He was a natural born lawyer. He had the look, the pres¬ ence, and the manner of a lawyer, and an almost in¬ finite capacity for work — that which is said to be the very definition of genius itself. He took no chances in the preparation or trial of a cause. He disliked as much as anyone to be on the losing side ; and, after all, the best test of a man’s character, the best way to know the kind of material that a lawyer is composed of, is shown by the manner in which he conducts himself when he is on the losing side; and measured by that test he stood remarkably well. He studied the law as a science, and, therefore, when he was engaged in a case his first effort was to ascertain precisely the question to be determined, and his next to discover the prin¬ ciple which was applicable to that state of facts, and the cases in the books with which he was familiar were relied upon to illustrate that prin¬ ciple, rather than to form the basis of his prepara¬ tion of the case.
Let me only say that his death is a deep personal loss to me. The friendship which was formed so long ago has remained during all these years. I never came to Williamsport and could see him but that I went. I knew him in the later years, in the full measure of his success, as well as in the early years when his life was a severe struggle. He has passed away in the very meridian of his usefulness, in the
Memorial Addresses
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full zenith of his fame, and at a time when he was at flood tide of active practice. Why should he be taken away at this time? It is one of the questions that we cannot answer — it is one of the mys¬ teries. It is the old question that was asked three thousand years ago : “How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle !” It is a question that does not belong to us. It belongs to the great future, to which he has gone.
Let us emulate the good that was in him, and thereby qualify ourselves for the duties of citizen¬ ship here, and for citizenship in that higher and nobler commonwealth that will endure forever.
MEMORIAL ADDRESS ON HON. CHARLES A.
MAYER, LOCK HAVEN, PENNSYLVANIA,
MAY 22, 1906
It is an unusual distinction for a man to have presided thirty-seven years and four months in the Common Pleas Court. One of the principal reasons for the constitutional convention of 1790 was the movement on the part of the people of Pennsylvania to have their own judges rather than a judge from the Supreme Court sent, as was then the practice, to try cases. From that time to this we have had Common Pleas Courts, originally by appointment, and afterward by election. The tenacity of the people on this subject is reflected by a constitu¬ tional provision in each of our three constitutions requiring the judge to reside in the district. In other words, to be one of the people over whom he presides. Taking it all in all, the system has worked well, and has probably justified the move¬ ment so early made to bring it about. It needs scarcely be said that such a long judicial career as that of Judge Mayer under a system of this kind affords large opportunities for usefulness. During that period he has probably tried more of the im¬ portant cases peculiar to this section of the state than any other judge who has ever presided among us. I will venture to refer to three. Thirty-three years ago he decided Hegerty’s Appeal, a case from our county involving the title to over $300,000 worth
60
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61
of property. The dominant question in the case, as it appeared in the Supreme Court, was the question of the effect of a probate of a will. That case, more than any other, perhaps, determines what is con¬ cluded by the probate. Judge Sharswood, the fol¬ lowing year, delivered the opinion affirming the judgment, and upon his death years after, this case was mentioned as one of the great cases which he had decided. Another case decided thirty years ago, involving much less amount but important in prin¬ ciple, was the unreported case of Leconte vs. Royer. In that case Judge Mayer decided, for the first time in Pennsylvania, that a grant or reservation of growing timber, with a fixed time for removal, operated to vest in the landowner the timber not removed at the expiration of that time. In other words, that the right of property ended when the right of entry ended. Two things about that case are remarkable. One is that the decision contra¬ vened the whole trend of the mind of the profession and the judicial mind as interpreted by the pro¬ fession. The other was that when the Supreme Court affirmed this judgment of Judge Mayer they said in effect that much depended upon the custom of the business, with which the court below was more familiar than they were, which, of course, was saying, in other words, that they did not know what the law was and were disposed to follow the reason¬ ing of the court below. That case was followed by other cases reaffirming the doctrine, and it may now be regarded as the settled law of the state, but it is a singular illustration of the power that a Common
62
Memorial Addresses
Pleas judge lias, and of the fact that more of our law originates with them than we always realize. Among the recent cases of great importance de¬ cided by Judge Mayer was Kaul vs. Weede, decided in Elk County, about fire years ago. That case in¬ volved the construction of a grant of timber, with out specification of size. It deals with the ques¬ tion of the extent of such a grant, and also of the effect upon such a grant of the condition of the timber business at the time it was made; and also of the effect of the construction given to it by the conduct of the parties. I think it can be safely said that the briefs on the one side and the other exhibit more learning on the subject of timber grants than are to be found in any other case in Pennsylvania.
Judge Mayer’s qualities as a lawyer and judge were his close and careful knowledge of the written law and his strong practical common sense en¬ abling him to apply it. It is rare that this combina¬ tion is found in such a large degree in any one man. If he knows only the written law, he will be unable to deal with its apparent inconsistencies, but if he have with that a clear vision and an unerring judg¬ ment, he will be able by this combination to reach a safe result. Judge Mayer was not like Coke, a “mere lawyer.” He had many accomplishments. He was a man of the most varied information and great practical knowledge. With these he had a wonderfully genial and cheerful disposition. He had a large endowment of wit and humor. In addi¬ tion, therefore, to being a great lawyer he was what
Memorial Addresses
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many good lawyers are not — an interesting man. He carried these qualities down into an old age. He had many sorrows in his later years. His health at times was precarious. About thirteen years ago the companion of his youth and manhood passed away, leaving him alone at a time when the shadows were lengthening and life was assuming a more serious and realistic struggle. Ten years ago, on this very day, Senator Wallace, his close personal friend, passed over to the great majority. Since then, his most intimate friends, Judge Arnold, of the Philadelphia bench, and Judges Green and Dean, of the Supreme bench, have gone. His death reminds us how rapidly the men of his generation are passing from us.
He presided in our county from the early part of 1869 to January, 1884, a period of fifteen years. I was the first student in our county admitted under him. Judge Krebs was admitted two days later. All the years of my early practice were before him. Since he left our district I have appeared before him only occasionally, but have met him frequently, and during all these long years our personal relations have been friendly. His death also reminds us of the changes which have taken place in the bars of the counties making up the old district. In our own county when he was elected there were but fifteen lawyers, including those who were active as well as those who were not. Of this number but four are now living. At the present time we have something over sixty practitioners in the county. A number of us are here today to join with you in
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Memorial Addresses
bearing tribute to the memory of onr departed friend. It is a matter of satisfaction to find here so many friends of other days with whom we may unite in performing this melancholy duty.
MEMORIAL ADDRESS ON HON. WILLIAM D. BIGLER, BEFORE YOUNG MEN’S CHRIS¬ TIAN ASSOCIATION, CLEARFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA, SUNDAY AFTERNOON, APRIL 28, 1907
It is entirely fitting that special notice of the death of William D. Bigler be taken by this Asso¬ ciation. Only a few years ago a handful of men met in a private house on the other side of the street and took steps for the organization of this Association. Several of these have since passed away. In a few years all of them will have gone, but the enterprise which they then started will continue to benefit and bless the community. Of that number it can be said without disparagement to anyone that there was none more willing and efficiently interested than was Mr. Bigler.
Among the qualities which seemed to distinguish him was the cheerfulness and willingness with which he devoted his time and attention and his money to public interests of this character. He was a man of affairs, with many claims upon his thought and consideration, yet he gave a large place to the interests of this Association. When he had been quite ill last year his first appearance was to deliver an address in this place at a time when his condition was so frail that it was not certain when he began that he could get through, and, ac¬ cordingly, he provided for that contingency in ad-
65
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Memorial Addresses
vance. The address, as we remember, was both interesting and historic. It was a review not only of this Association but of the history of the larger Association of which it is a part, and upon both sides of the sea. Most men whose life is filled up with the cares and anxieties of business are con¬ tent to do what may be required of them toward an enterprise of this kind Avith a different spirit and with a lack of the enthusiasm which characterizes their own enterprises. With him, however, there was just as much enthusiasm and zeal in a work of this kind as in any personal matter of the greatest concern. It was the same with the work of the hospital. While the Legislature two years ago was conscientiously trying to gauge the different appro¬ priations to hospitals throughout the state, so as to have enough left for the capitol building and furni¬ ture, and chandeliers, he was just as anxious and as earnest in his effort to secure a decent appropria¬ tion as he could have been if the money had been coming to himself instead of being entirely for a public charity in which he could have no direct personal interest.
Another thing I would emphasize was the char¬ acter of his religious life. It was without public exhibition or demonstration, but it was an example of practical Christianity in that it consisted rather in what he did than in anything he said. He had many private charities of which the public knew nothing. He was a cheerful and substantial helper of every public charity within his reach, yet how quietly it was all done! In the earlier life of the
Memorial Addresses
67
church teaching was greatly needed. The plan of salvation could not be impressed upon the people except by a series of images. They had no language or words to express its great truths. Hence the necessity for an elaborate system of sacrifice and festival and ceremony by which God’s purposes could be made known to man in the absence of any language or translation of his own by which to bring God and man together. But the world has come down to a time when teaching is not so much needed as example. People are kept away from Christ not so much because they have not knowl¬ edge as because they have not sufficient exemplifi¬ cation of that knowledge in the human life about them. Christianity is not so much a creed as a system of living. A creed becomes a factor in the conversion of the world only in so far as it is em¬ bodied in human life and conduct. Hence it is that a man’s influence is measured not so much by what he says as by what he does. The reason our de¬ parted friend stood in such high estimation both at home and abroad was because he was an example of right living. He taught by example rather than by precept; and that is the highest kind of teaching, because it takes hold of the life of people as no other kind of teaching. This consideration is worthy our serious attention. There is only one unanswerable argument which Christianity fur¬ nishes the world. It is not the Bible. Some kind of answer has been made and will continue to be made to its precepts which will find followers. The one unanswerable fact before which the world
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Memorial Addresses
stands with uncovered head and in silence is a con¬ sistent Christian life.
Another fact worthy our attention is the wise use he made of the opportunity which his professional career gave him. Of gentle birth and honorable lineage and fine college education, he had good preparation for study and practice of his profession. His study of the law was careful, and in an office which had to do with the principal litigation of the county at that time. This equipment gave him a desirable clientage and also furnished him a large field for usefulness. To be for over forty years the confidential adviser of many people in matters affecting their rights of property and reputation and liberty involved great responsibility and great opportunity for good or evil. How well he met this responsibility and how faithfully he used this op¬ portunity is shown not only by the fact of how little litigation was furnished by the large business in¬ terests with which he was identified from time to time but also by the many people who, under his direction and counsel, were saved the expense and risk of litigation. A different course on his part could have produced very different results. The use he made of his great opportunity is also shown by the extent to which his opinion was sought in business matters of great difficulty and importance and the extent to which that opinion was acquiesced in by all parties concerned.
Another thing to be noted was his relation to public affairs. It is often a grave question for a young man as to how far he should engage in
Memorial Addresses
69
politics. He was a careful student of tlie politics of his time. Perhaps no man in the county was better informed of the public questions and the public men before the country during the last forty years. This was naturally the result of his early environ¬ ment, for while only a boy his father was governor of this commonwealth and afterward United States Senator. This public career brought to him also in early life the knowledge of the great men and the great questions of that day. But with all this identity with public affairs he was never in any sense an office-seeker, and never regarded public office as a thing to engross either his attention or his ambition. His single appointment to a public place was suggested by his special fitness, and was amply justified by the fidelity with which he dis¬ charged its duties and met its responsibilities. If a young man, therefore, were to be governed by the advice which his example furnishes, he would find in it nothing to encourage him to seek office, but everything to justify the notion that the best guarantee of fitness for public place is efficiency and fidelity in private life.
As we grow older and see how many of those with whom we have associated are passing away we are reminded of how fleeting is this life. How soon its opportunities are gone! It is verily “As an hand breadth,” as a “vapor in the morning.” How soon it passes away ! We are also reminded that most of the things which here engage our attention are of little value in the end. The things that count are the right uses of opportunity ; the formation in early
70
Memorial Addresses
life of good habits, for “character is habit c-rys- talized”; the formation of right purposes, for pur¬ pose is the foundation of character, and character is the foundation of destiny.
The great thing is the extent to which we live not merely for this world but for the greater and better life beyond. Let every young man, therefore, emu¬ late the example of our departed friend in the fidelity which characterized him in all his relations to his fellow-men and to his God.
MEMORIAL ADDRESS ON HON. GEORGE A. JENKS, BROOKVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, FEBRUARY 17, 1908
May it please the court and gentlemen of the bar : It is fortunate that in nearly every county in Penn¬ sylvania there is to be found one or more lawyers who command the undivided respect and confidence of their associates and of the public. It is such men who maintain the honor and rank of our great pro¬ fession. Every young man who aspires to distinc¬ tion at the bar should understand that such a place can only be won and kept by one who is a good man as well as a good lawyer. This is one of the lessons to be learned from the life which has so recently passed from us. Great as were his abilities, he was scarcely more distinguished for these than for the probity and the keen sense of honor and justice which crowned his career. And I doubt not that this feeling of confidence existed right here among the people with whom he went in and out for a life¬ time more than anywhere else.
George A. Jenks came to our county about 1871 to try a land case, which belonged to a series of cases, afterward tried, that furnished both enter¬ tainment and instruction to our people for some years. Instruction, because of the illumination of the land law of Pennsylvania contributed by him and the other counsel identified with these cases upon the one side and the other. Entertainment,
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because of the unfailing humor with which he oc¬ casionally enlivened the trial.
I became acquainted with him then and had known him well ever since. Our relations were of the most friendly character. During twenty years of that time I was frequently associated with him in the trial of important cases, and was a number of times adversely concerned in cases, both in the state and Federal courts. I do not now think of any lawyer from whom I learned more practical law and more as to the method of conducting a cause than him, during the trials referred to. I, there¬ fore, am qualified to have some reasonable judg¬ ment of his qualities as a lawyer; but I can only refer to this in the briefest way. He was dis¬ tinguished in a trial by his alertness and resource¬ fulness. It made not much difference, so far as the exhibition of his resources was concerned, whether the ground he appeared to rely on was swept from him or not. He exhibited, rather, more ability in discovering some new ground, that nobody else would think of, than in maintaining his original position. By the time his adversary would suffi¬ ciently recover from his surprise to make some kind of answer he would have discovered a third basis upon which to rest his case; and so he moved from one to another, contributing so much light and knowledge from his discussion that the commercial value and result of the trial was often lost sight of by those who listened to him. He had a vast and varied experience which gave him a familiarity with the methods of trial and the rules of evidence, and
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the application of legal principles to varying con¬ ditions which was possessed by few other men any¬ where. He came in contact with the most renowned lawyers of his time and in some of the most noted litigation of his day. How well he sustained him¬ self both at home and on a broader arena has become a matter of imperishable history.
His temper and disposition were altogether re¬ markable. His unfailing humor and cheerfulness were the most dominant qualities he possessed, and were an invaluable aid to him in the strenuous life he lived. He was in no sense a wag or a comedian, but he never became so absorbed in a trial as to fail to appreciate all the humor there was about him, and to contribute his full share. There is a distinc¬ tion as to cheerfulness which is not always under¬ stood in the estimate we put upon people. A year or two ago I attended a church meeting where there was a general discussion upon the duty of cheerfulness suggested by some passage of Scrip¬ ture, which was made the topic for the discussion. As is, perhaps, too often the case in such meetings, there was an entire consensus of opinion that cheer¬ fulness was an obvious duty. I felt that there were a number of people present in whose behalf a word ought to be said. At the close of the general dis¬ cussion I suggested that the measure of cheerful¬ ness was hard to determine because of the different environment of different people. That if a woman came to church on Sunday morning with a cheerful face, who had prepared breakfast for her family and dressed her children for church, it meant one
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thing, while a woman of equally cheerful aspect who had nothing to do but study cheerful moods, meant quite another thing. So I said a man who comes to church with cheerful countenance who has behind him a week of the cares and perplexities and disappointments of a busy life exhibits a disposi¬ tion of much more account than that of another of equally genial aspect who has no knowledge of such an experience. So, with our departed brother it was not the fact of his genial manner but of the conditions under which he maintained it that made him in this respect a most remarkable and exem¬ plary man. More than once I have seen him held up against the rough and serrated edges of as diffi¬ cult and complicated questions as ever came before a court and jury, with the conscious knowledge that the judge was against him, that the prejudices of the jury were against him, and that eminent and skilled counsel opposed to him had made the most labored and finished preparation, while he, through the stress of his engagements, had had but a limited preparation. In these adverse and trying circum¬ stances he would be not only the most cheerful man in the case but, apparently, in the courtroom. This quality exhibited a profound philosophy which was as commendable and valuable as it was rare in human experience.
He was sensitive and conscious of unfair dealing and disappointment as well as the rest of us, but he had in a larger measure than any of us the power to conceal their effects. In a long talk I had with him one night at Du Bois, in 1896, when he v^as in
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fullest possession of himself, he said to me that he would not be sorry when the struggle was over and his end at hand ; that he thought he could welcome that at any time. It seemed a strange statement to me at that time. I often thought of it afterward, and reached the conclusion that the strain of his arduous life told more deeply upon his strength, both physical and mental, than we could realize.
It is a great honor to a county to produce such a man. It is a great honor to a bar to have had such a member. It is altogether fitting that here, in the scene of his trials and triumphs, those of us who have known him so long and so well should come together to bear tribute to the memory of his dis¬ tinguished and honorable career.
As we grow older, how rapidly the people we know pass away, those we have known in earlier days, before life had become so realistic ! They go out and we do not find others to take their places. These others take us for what they can see of us; friends of the brighter past took us by what they knew of us. This because we were then more trust¬ ful and more capable of making ourselves known than we are now to the new generation coming up about us. Now and then death passes so close to us that we are compelled to say, as did the Latin philosopher, that he has taken away part of our¬ selves. For this sense of loss and grief for the departed is not an outgrowth of Christianity. It belongs to primal man, and came down with him through the fall. It was one of the things not taken away by the fall. It belongs to heathen as well as
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Christian man. The difference is in the lesson we learn from such an experience. Socrates, the most enlightened product of the heathen world, said he had found much in the schools of philosophy of his day, but that they had furnished him no solution to the mystery of life. That he would gladly sit at the feet of one who could “tell him how to bind and hold altogether,” as he expressed it, but that he should never hope to learn this from anyone. Without Christ the world is not farther on in this respect today. But the Christian man is taught by this severing of ties that this world is not his abid¬ ing place. That he has a home beyond the stars where these severed ties may be reunited, where the dim vision may be restored to all its native bright¬ ness, where the clouded intellect may be again il¬ luminated with all its pristine brilliance, and where the broken and fragmentary work we have here attempted may be completed. It has been well said :
Death takes us by surprise,
And stays our hurrying feet;
The great design unfinished lies.
Our lives are incomplete.
But in the bright unknown.
Perfect their circles seem.
Even as a bridge’s arch of stone,
Is rounded in the stream.
PART III
BANQUET ADDRESSES
AT SUPERIOR COURT BANQUET, PARK HOUSE, WILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYL¬ VANIA, FEBRUARY 20, 1896
Mr. Toastmaster, Judges, and Gentlemen: I am always embarrassed when unexpectedly called upon on an occasion like this. I have bad but little experience in this kind of speaking, and that not uniformly successful. I am here in deference to the courtesy of an invitation by the committee repre¬ senting the bar of Lycoming County, and to do honor to the judges of the Superior Court. I have always had a warm side for the bar of this city. I have known many of them for a long time. Over thirty years ago I went to school with a number of them at the seminary up on the hill, including the attorney general, Mr. McCormick, and Senator Hart, and many others who grace this presence to¬ night. They know all about the adverse circum¬ stances under which I started in life. They have been exceedingly kind to me during all these years. I have no notion that they have regarded me as much of a lawyer, but knowing the difficulties and disadvantages which I had to overcome to get started at all, I imagine that they were rather pleased that I got to be any kind of a lawyer.
I began the study of law in this city with General Fleming, long since deceased, on the day that I was twenty years of age, and that was the first day I ever saw the inside of a lawyer’s office. After my
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admission to the bar in my own county, a few years later, the first place I went on a short recreation was to Williamsport; there I was very kindly in¬ vited to join an excursion made up of the young members of the bar, then constituting what was known as “The Blackstone Club,” and went with them on their annual excursion on the 2d day of June, 1869, up the Northern Central, to Trout Run. They there engaged in some of the exercises which we have again witnessed tonight. I am glad to meet so many of them again, and to renew the friendships so long ago formed, and which have but brightened during these swiftly passing years.
I do not feel that I am an entire stranger to the judges of this court. I have known Judge Reeder for about twenty years, and am prepared to certify that all that has been said here tonight of his judicial face is reflected in the character that is back of that face. Two others (Beaver and Orlady) I have tried cases against while they were at the bar. Another, here in front of me (Wick¬ ham), I tried an important case against when he was on the Common Pleas bench, and am qualified to state that each of them proved to be formidable competitors in these respective places. I have known of the others and of their work for many years, and am glad to do honor to each and all of them. I need not remind them nor you, that I was favorable to the legislation which brought this court into existence, and in my humble way helped to secure its enactment. In but a single particular
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have I any fault to find with it ; that is, I think the term should have been twenty years instead of ten. I think it would have better comported with the dignity of the office, and better tended to secure the entire independence of its incumbents. I have not found any ground for the constitutional objection to the extension of the term, which was talked about, and after an examination of that question do not believe it existed. But I went farther than this ; I made suggestions as to the equipment of the court after the needed legislation was secured, and the men who should occupy these places. My friends made frequent suggestions in the same direction. While these suggestions were not com¬ pletely carried out, they and I console ourselves with the reflection that it can scarcely be expected that any human institution will be entirely perfect. We feel that, considering the vicissitudes that sur¬ rounded the source of appointment at the time these places were filled, it is remarkable that the work was as well done as it was.
I was very glad to be here at the opening of the court, and to find the whole Lycoming County bar present. They were present to do honor to the court, and especially because it was a new court. People are fond of new things. Of course, with the experience and discrimination which you gentlemen have, you do not believe that anything like such a fuss as this will be made over you, after you have been in these places a little longer, and when you commence to hand down opinions in the cases that have been argued before you; but still there will
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remain a large residuum of respect and honor which will be cheerfully accorded to you.
Reference has been made by the distinguished attorney-general to the fact that some people were not favorable to the creation of this court, and this is true. Out of the inefficiency of a few of the Common Pleas judges, the belief was engendered that some of the judges were receiving already more pay than they earned, and were doing less work than they were paid for, and thereby there grew up a prejudice against any increase of courts or judges, which entirely lost sight of the absolute necessity which really existed for the creation of this court. These people, under this misguided prejudice, be¬ held the advent of this court very much as Jacob Gruber did the new dog, some fifty or sixty years ago, when this eccentric old German divine traveled over this section of the state. He was noted for his bitter antagonism to three things: one was canes, another tobacco, and the third was dogs. It was an inexorable rule with him to not proceed with any exercise so long as any one of these unfortunate ob¬ jects of his special hatred remained in sight. One morning, when he was about to proceed with serv¬ ices at a camp meeting, there happened to be an in¬ flux of dogs. To appease the wrath thus provoked, great effort was made to get them away. Some were carried off the grounds by their owners, others were kicked off, and others stoned off, and thereby an amount of barking and yelping produced which was out of all proportion to the noise the dogs would have caused if allowed to remain. When
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quiet was eventually restored Gruber proceeded with the exercises, but had barely got started when, to his utter horror, there came marching down the middle aisle a new dog. Tried beyond all human endurance, he raised both arms, exclaiming : “Mine Gott, here comes a pran new tog.” Now, it was with some such feeling of perturbation that the deluded people to whom I have referred greeted the advent of this new court. But I need not assure you that I did not partake of their alarm in this regard.
If I were called on to answer the query so finely and eloquently propounded by Judge Orlady, as to which is the greater office, that of the advocate or that of the judge, I would say the greatest office next to the judicial office is that of him who stands in the place of another, and between him and the tribunal which is to determine the right or wrong of his act. But the greatest office in the gift of any people is the judicial office. It involves the greatest responsibility, and the performance of a duty the most difficult and delicate that has ever been com¬ mitted to human hands. That duty is the applica¬ tion of the principles of common honesty, as ascer¬ tained by the progress, the wisdom, and the Chris¬ tianity of all the centuries, to the complex affairs of our business life. The man who rightly executes this office, and faithfully meets this responsibility, who intelligently and fearlessly discharges this duty, builds a monument to himself that will outtop the stars, and that will be found still standing when the latest antiquarian shall have hunted out the last
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relic or ruin of the last of all other monuments. The greatness of the office is shown by the few in¬ stances of misfits which occur, when by accident a faithless and inefficient man is lifted from his ob¬ scurity to a judicial office, to remain there until re¬ turned to that obscurity covered with the infamy which by common consent attaches to that man who exercises a judicial office for personal and private aims and ends. Between such men and the true judge the gap is so wide that “he who runs may read.”
Take the case of that man who a few days ago was laid away by loving hands to his final resting place in the city of Philadelphia, Judge Allison. What prouder monument has been completed by the life of any of the men who have lived and died in that great city ! What one has more enduringly impressed himself upon its legislation, and upon the business life of his great community. A similar example is furnished by the life of Judge Elwell, of Columbia County, and that of Judge Pearson, of Dauphin County, and others who might be named.
We are all glad to do honor to these judges of the Superior Court, and we are full of faith that they have the character and fitness to make of this court and of themselves a record which will meet the just expectation of their many friends here and else¬ where throughout the commonwealth.
Thanking you for your most indulgent attention, I bid you good-night.
ON “THE PRACTICE OF LAW,” AT JEFFER¬ SON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, BAR AS¬ SOCIATION BANQUET, JANUARY 15, 1901
The practice of law is an effort to apply the principles of common honesty to the complicated affairs of life. If it be said that a large part of the litigation in the world appears to have originated and to be conducted by the parties outside of this formula, the answer to be made to that is that much of the pending litigation is not the legitimate sub¬ ject of litigation. A large proportion of the cases that get into court ought not to be there. This is due in some measure to the disposition of a part of the profession to resolve all doubts in favor of liti¬ gation. It is due in a larger measure to the innate fondness of people for lawsuits. Many are at¬ tracted by the notoriety which is thereby furnished them, others by the excitement which attends a trial, others by their desire for a game of chance. It is literally true that there are not a few people who are more elated and more contented when in a lawsuit than when they are out of it ; and this, too, entirely apart from any consideration of the prob¬ able outcome. It is susceptible of demonstration that in a majority of the cases tried the actual ex¬ pense and loss exceeds the amount involved. This condition of affairs needs reformation, and the extent to which there may be improvement depends principally upon the profession. To this end every
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lawyer ought to realize that his principal duty to his client and to the court, and to the public, is to have the ability and the courage to determine whether his client has a good cause. If he have, let it proceed. If not, then let him “agree with his ad¬ versary quickly.” He will thereby not only be highly useful as a public official and a citizen, but he will also help to give his profession the rank and place to which it is legitimately entitled. For it is in this more than in anything else that the real lawyer appears. It is not so much in his mere knowledge of legal principles, nor in his skill in presenting them to the court, as in his ability to apply those principles to the facts presented him so as to form a correct judgment upon these facts. To be able to discover the principle applicable to the case in hand, and the classification to be given to that particular case, is the kind of work that de¬ termines whether a man is a lawyer, or only a prac¬ titioner. It is not meant by this that in every case the lawyer may be able to determine the question in advance. The facts may not be capable of ascer¬ tainment fully, except on a trial. The law applic¬ able to the facts may be so difficult or unsettled that only a trial can determine that. What is meant, however, is that in every case the effort should be made; and, except in the special cases here indicated, a conclusion reached, and that con¬ clusion fearlessly stated to the client.
Another observation connected with what has already been said is the importance of a lawyer using his head as well as the books, and using it a
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good deal more than the books. The plenitude of books and decisions we now have, covering every branch of the law, is not by any means an unmixed good. It is a matter of surprise that the most noted and remarkable lawyers this state has ever had, were those who practiced almost without books. Those who came over about the time of the Revolu¬ tion, and shortly after, were men of the greatest eminence and success. There is no doubt at all that a large measure of their distinction was due to the fact that they were thinkers, because they were compelled to think for themselves. The same is true of the older law books. Anyone who has ex¬ amined the list of books recommended by the late Justice Sharswood, in his edition of Blackstone, will be impressed with the large proportion of old books which it contains. Time forbids any extended illustration, but I may note, briefly, two or three. Justinian in a single proposition undertook to summarize the whole system of law, as known to him, in this sentence: “To live honestly, to injure no one, and to render to every man his due.” In the fifteen centuries which have elapsed since this was written I am not aware that this summary has been improved upon. Then take his wonderful definition of home. “Home is that place where a man hath established the sum of his possessions and fortunes. Whence he will not depart, if noth¬ ing calls him away. Whence, if he have departed, he seemeth to be a wanderer, and if he return, he ceaseth to wander.” In these long centuries few other themes have so often been the subject of
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eulogy and laudation by the most gifted authors. Some of them, because of the excellence of their writings on this theme, have been immortalized in song. Others have been perpetuated in marble and bronze. But I doubt if any of them have measured up to this ancient definition in its simple beauty, its wide comprehensiveness, and its essential truth. It stands up over the arid waste of dry study through which we all must travel an oasis of beauty, prized all the more highly because there are there so few such. Justice Duncan, of our own Supreme Court, has often been commended for the doctrine he announced over seventy-five years ago in Updegraff against Commonwealth, reported in Eleventh Sargeant & Bawle, that “Christianity is part of the common law of the land,” but it is scarcely ever noted that he did not undertake to announce any original doctrine, or any original statement of it, but only to apply to the new state, a doctrine which Bracton had applied to England seven hundred years before. The strength of that most instructive opinion lies in the fact that it sets forth the ground of the great doctrine in the logic and diction of the old masters who could and did state them better than could he or any of his con¬ temporaries. Then by his own processes the great Pennsylvania justice applied this old doctrine to the new commonwealth. The reason why the early law writers and the early lawyers attained such eminence without the light and illumination which a later day has furnished, is not that there is no advantage in this increased light, nor that it is a
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disadvantage, but, rather, because it is so often used not as an aid to original work and investiga¬ tion but, rather, as a substitute for such work and investigation. It is a good plan for a lawyer to train himself to form an opinion upon the case pre¬ sented to him, without opening a book at all. Hav¬ ing done this, let him fortify and clarify, or, if need be, modify, or entirely change that opinion by the use of such authorities as he may have at command. This method will cultivate independence of thought and conclusion. It will also better prepare him to reconcile decisions which are apparently in conflict. It will accustom him to the hard work of applying his mind to the dry facts of a case, and invoking from his own mental resources the rule of right which governs them.
Another matter worthy our consideration is this : the lawyer of today takes rank according to his ability more than ever before. He no longer ac¬ quires standing from the mere fact that he is a practicing lawyer. One reason for this is that so many other professions have come up with men of equal equipment and training and pretension that the monopoly of learning, which he formerly en¬ joyed and shared only with the preacher and doctor, is now taken away from him. Another reason is that while much of the work formerly done by lawyers has been absorbed by trust companies and other associations, the portion left is that portion which more distinctively appertains to the real work of a lawyer, and furnishes the best test of his training and ability as such. For this reason it
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not only has not been taken away from him but cannot be taken. What is meant by this is that formerly a large part of the work done by lawyers was not strictly the work of a lawyer, but could as well be done by others without his special training. The work taken away from him is mainly of that character. The part left to him is the part more distinctively belonging to him, and also the part calling for the exercise of those qualities best cal¬ culated to give him wider and more enduring reputation.
The practice of law, therefore, is a responsible kind of business. It calls for the exercise of the highest qualities of intellect and of manhood. Great power is placed in the hands of a lawyer. Whether that power is to be wielded for good or for evil de¬ pends upon the kind of man he is. A man of very ordinary ability can do much harm. A man’s title may be attacked, and he put to great expense in defending it upon the merest quibble or pretense. Action may be brought claiming a large sum of money, ruinously impairing a man’s credit, without any shadow of right to recover. Such an action in¬ volves the necessity of a defense, and often at con¬ siderable expense and delay. For the wrong so frequently done in this way there is practically no remedy. The only adequate remedy is such a notion of professional ethics at every bar that no lawyer can be found who will lend himself to such work. No lawyer has any right to bring an action or set up a defense merely because some client wants a lawsuit. If he wants a lawsuit, let him present such
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facts as to reasonably justify such action or defense. If he be unable to do this, let him gratify his desire for notoriety or excitement by some less harmful method. On the other hand, if a lawyer is careful and cautious in the selection of cases, in the sense already indicated, he will be, as he ought to be, a conservator of private rights, and of the public peace. In addition to this his care will be taken note of by the people, and by the courts, and he will have influence correspondent to this course of ac¬ tion. When he goes into court it will have some significance which will go in aid of him and his cause.
It is a mooted question as to how far a lawyer should engage in politics. That he should be fa¬ miliar with the public questions of the day, and that he should have well-defined convictions re¬ specting them, all will admit. He may with advantage to himself and others make public dis¬ cussion of these questions. Ordinarily, he may not engage in politics as a business, if for no other rea¬ son than because he must neglect his work to do this. If he have a mania for office, let him remem¬ ber that he has an office that, if well filled, will in the long run serve him better and longer than any office he may obtain by political servitude. If he be urged to join in some reform movement, or head some reform, let him consider the outlook and the prospect of obtaining cooperation in his work. If not, he may in the end have only his experience to compensate his loss of time and misguided effort. It is a mistake to suppose that at all times and
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against any kind of combination the individual is called upon to stand up and battle for reform single- handed and alone. There is neither wise patriotism nor strong sense in such an unequal contest. Far better that he stand in his place and do the work for which he is specially fitted, and get out of that work the legitimate reward of its welldoing.
The fact is that the practice of law is an absorb¬ ing business. All of time and talent and opportu¬ nity are under tribute. The lawyer must know something of every trade, profession, and business. It is, therefore, a broad profession, leading him out into every avenue of life, but only for the purpose of better equipment in his own special work. The man who desires to figure in society, either as a social lion, or as a distant follower of somebody else in that somewhat unsatisfactory role, has no place here. The man who covets the ever-expectant anxiety, and the greasy idleness which belongs to the political heeler, has no place in these ranks. Both the work and the reward here are so entirely different as to be without attraction to these people, and they and their life are not so resplendently at¬ tractive as to secure for them here a gushing wel¬ come, and any other kind would do them no good. There is no more honorable employment anywhere than the practice of law ; probably none containing a larger proportion of upright, faithful men, men to whom the consciousness of duty well done, and of usefulness to the wronged and helpless, is a higher and better reward than the measure of pecuniary compensation which they receive. I cannot better
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close this brief address than in the language of another of the lawyers of the olden time:
“The profession of the law is that, of all others, which imposes the most extensive obligations upon those who have had the confidence to make choice of it; and, indeed, there is no other path of life in which the unassumed superiority of individual merit is more conspicuously distinguished accord¬ ing to the respective abilities of the parties. The laurels that grow within these precincts are to be gathered with no vulgar hands ; they resist the un¬ hallowed grasp, like the golden branch with which the hero of the iEneid threw open the adamantine gates that led to Elysium.”
PART IV
PATRIOTIC ADDRESSES
ORATION AT CLEARFIELD, PENNSYL¬ VANIA, JULY 4, 1876
Ladies and Gentlemen and Fellow-Citizens of Clearfield County : I congratulate you upon the very appropriate demonstration with which you greet this centennial anniversary of our great re¬ public. This is an occasion well worthy just such a celebration as that with which you have honored the day. It is an occasion full of the proudest memories of the past, and suggestive of the highest hopes of the future. On this natal day of our liberties a spirit of just pride inspires every American citizen as he reviews the past and realizes that the wise system of government established by our fathers has withstood the storms and conflicts of an hun¬ dred years. As he looks with a prophetic eye to the future he beholds his country starting out with majestic tread upon the second century of her life with a long line of banners streaming alike from the humblest cottage homes and the dwellings of the rich — the center of attraction to all the nations — crowned with an illustrious history, inspired by a renewed faith, and full of promise of still greater achievements and a nobler destiny.
The World Not Trained to Free Government
The form of government which we possess is the highest type of national life. It requires the highest degree of civilization to maintain it, and the most heroic patriotism and sacrifice to preserve it. This
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is the only government of the people which has suc¬ cessfully fought the battles of freedom, and endured the ravages of time. Every other nation based upon the idea of man’s capacity for self-government has either gradually surrendered to the encroachments of monarchy, or been blotted from the map of his¬ tory. For long centuries the world had been edu¬ cated to the ways and means by which kings and aristocracies were maintained. It was only by the severe lessons of experience, obtained in prison cell and on the battlefield that man was aroused to a consciousness of his manhood. The one-man power had sown the seeds of conflict and reaped the fruits of conquest for nearly four thousand years. As it marched down through the centuries its footprints were hoary with the dust of time, and it wielded a scepter that was gilded with the luster of ages.
Origin of Free Government
Far back in the beginning of history, and by di¬ vine proclamation, the principles of free govern¬ ment had been first announced to the world. Under their benign influence the Hebrew commonwealth flourished and filled the valleys and adorned the hills of the Promised Land with a race of states¬ men, poets, historians, and soldiers whose achieve¬ ments have challenged the admiration of all suc¬ ceeding ages. But the glory of their history was forgotten in the relentless clamor for a king, and monarchy began its reign over the ruins of the first republic. In the lapse of time a beautiful cluster of republics sprang into life along the southern
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coasts of Europe. “Their memory still fills the earth with its fragrance of heroic deeds and exalted achievements.” They brought to the stage of ac¬ tion an illustrious line of orators and poets, whose masterpieces have stood unrivaled amid all the progress of the ages. But in an evil hour they surrendered their rights, and crowned heads again ruled, with an iron rod, this land of elo¬ quence and song. Uniformly, this had seemed to be the fate of republics. To our rude but brave ancestors who first peopled these shores there were but few bright spots in history to encourage them. But they had cut themselves loose from the rest of the world, and planted their homes so far away from the busy haunts of life, that the rough elements with which they came in contact — the rugged mountains, the unfettered rivers, and the boundless forest — fostered in them a spirit of liberty which overstepped all the barriers that the lessons of history presented.
Origin of Our Republic
One hundred years ago, then a poor and op¬ pressed people gathered from every land, they framed a government of their own, and started out upon the broad highway of national life. This in¬ fant republic flung out to a then tyrannical govern¬ ment, that boasted a Parliament seven hundred years old, their solemn protest against wrong. They submitted to the judgment of a candid world their firm declaration of right. They selected for their flag, first, a sheet of pure white, typical of
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their honesty and integrity of purpose. Then to represent their courage and patriotism, they striped it with the red, emblematic of the blood with which their soil had been consecrated. To exemplify their steadfastness and heroic faith they mingled its ample folds with “the steel blue canopy of the stars.” For their standard bearer, to carry their flag over the land, and over the sea, they called down “from his mansion in the sun” that proud bird of the air, who always soars above the storm cloud, and nestles nearest the mountain crag around whose summit the sunshine pours its grateful luster.
The Declaration of Independence — Its Truth
When they subscribed and published to the world this immortal charter of their liberties they arrayed against them the most formidable nation in history, the mistress of the seas, and the proud arbitress of the world. History was against them. In the long line of nations they could find no precedent upon which they could base any prospect of success. They went back of everything else, to “the natural and inalienable rights” with which they had been “endowed by their Creator,” and planting them¬ selves upon this firm footing, they bid defiance to the crowned heads of tyranny, and challenged the criticism of an unbiased world. There is always an innate magic power in every fearless proclamation of right. When the men of 1776 sent out their Dec¬ laration of Independence they let loose upon the world a document which carried terror to the hearts
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of kings and compelled the aristocracies of powerful nations to stand with uncovered heads before the American people. It was the greatest state paper the world had ever seen. None other is so finely written, or so far-reaching in its results. At each recurring anniversary the recital of its soul-stirring words will continue to awaken in American hearts a tide of patriotism, which “will flow on until the flood-gates of life are closed in eternal rest.” The best feature of this declaration was its absolute truthfulness. In this respect especially it serves as a model to all times. It is also illustrative of the tendency of the human mind to cling more closely to truth as it loses sight of human systems and throws itself back upon those resources which are of divine origin. Too often the question with poli¬ ticians (whose purposes cover but a narrow space) is whether the paper is in such form and phrase¬ ology as will answer the purpose. But the stalwart statesmen who framed this document, and who were acting for posterity and for eternity, were anxious to state the exact truth, and run the risk of success. They dared to do right. By the power of the truth they proclaimed they compelled a recognition of their rights. Although the “signers” have long since passed away, this paper, still pregnant with eternal truth, remains full of the vigor and power which inspired its great authors.
Enduring Character of Our Government
So with every other great achievement in our history. All that is good and true will remain,
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thongli its authors may pass away. The institu¬ tions of freedom which have been reared upon this solid foundation have remained, amid all the changes of legislation and the corruptions of official life. A few years ago a dark and fearful war cloud burst upon us. For four years a patriotic people poured out their blood and their treasure upon their country’s altar. The whole Southland was billowed up with new made graves. But when the storm had spent its fury, and the cloud passed away, and the sunshine again greeted the hills and valleys, we beheld still floating from the ramparts of our country the old flag, with not a stripe blurred nor a star erased. Four millions of bondmen stood up amid their broken manacles and beheld inscribed upon that glorious ensign, in letters of blood, this language : “All men are created equal, they are en¬ dowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pur¬ suit of happiness.” In the crucible of war the power of this great truth of the declaration was tested. Many persons grew fearful of our institu¬ tions because here and there a man falls or fails in duty, but so long as the people have intelligence to appreciate the grandeur of their institutions and patriotism to defend them there is no danger. It is only because the betrayals of public trust are ex¬ posed to the glaring sunshine of an enlightened public opinion that these offenses become so noto¬ rious. It is only when every infringement of the rights of citizenship is placed side by side with the exalted standard of personal protection established
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by the fathers of the republic that the infraction be¬ comes odious. The widespread indignation which follows every act of official corruption and every attack upon private right is the best assurance we can have that the people are still zealous for the protection of primitive honesty, and for the pro¬ tection of their primal rights of liberty. I have not much respect for either the wisdom or patriotism of that man who ignores republican institutions, and doubts the ability of the people to govern them¬ selves, every time he hears of a public man becoming faithless to his trust. I have the faith to believe that there is still honesty enough and courage enough in the American people to cut off every cor¬ rupt member from the body politic, and to maintain honesty in official station, as well as to preserve the liberties of the people.
Education Is the Basis of Perpetuity
In order to maintain such a healthy and vigorous public opinion as will correct abuses and punish corrupt practices the education of the masses is of paramount importance. To most persons the idea of compulsory education is distasteful, and is re¬ garded as not being in harmony with our free insti¬ tutions. It is certainly to be avoided if the object can be obtained in any other way. But if a con¬ siderable proportion of the people grow up without education, in a country where opportunities are so abundant, then an evil, and a source of corruption and crime exists, which must be met in some way, and by compulsory education, if by no other means.
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For the present it is to be hoped that the end can be attained by fostering our system of free school education. Upon this more than upon any other single thing depends our freedom and prosperity. Whatever antagonizes this institution is unfriendly to the true interests of our country. No matter how insinuating or clandestine the attack, it is our plain duty to repel it with all the vigor that we would repel an attack upon the flag. Even if the outer border of this grand system be but touched by an unfriendly hand, let that hand be removed peace¬ ably, and in kindly spirit, if it can be; if not, then by force and arms. Take away our free schools, or dwarf their power, and you make the people easy victims to the evils which have sapped the lifeblood of other republics. Encourage this institution, and you give to the present generation an absolute as¬ surance that those who come after them will prop¬ erly appreciate and heroically defend the liberties we so justly value. It is a cardinal principle of our national character that each citizen counts one in the race of life. In order to make this theory good each man must be prepared to act intelligently. Although education is not in form a qualification for the exercise of the elective franchise, it is, in fact, such a qualification. For without the power to discriminate, the ignorant voter too often per¬ mits someone else to control his right, and thereby loses his vote, and by his own act defrauds himself of that great franchise which was designed to make him a sovereign among men. As our country se¬ cures greater rights, and intrusts greater privileges
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to her citizens than are given to the citizens or subjects of any other nation, so she also imposes greater responsibilities. Just as the people measure up to that standard of intelli¬ gence which these sovereign rights and exalted privileges require, just in that far will they enjoy freedom and prosperity in all the pursuits of life. Just as education is diffused among the masses, so will the material wealth and the comforts of life, which belong to a high order of civilization, be en¬ joyed by the masses.
How Popular Education Has Molded Our
Civilization
This principle is abundantly illustrated by our past history, in the effect which popular education has had in molding the character of our civilization. Among us the most valuable inventions and dis¬ coveries have been applied directly to the develop¬ ment of our resources, and to increase the material wealth of our country. They have been made to contribute rather to the necessities and comforts of the poor than to the pleasures of the rich. Some nations have applied their inventive genius and their discoveries in art to the benefit of certain favored classes, while the great body of the people have reaped no advantage. Other nations have per¬ verted these improvements to the arts of war and to gratify a bad ambition. But with us they have been employed in the arts of peace, and for the benefit of the whole people. A few years ago our government opened up a great highway from ocean
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to ocean. The very purpose of this enterprise was to enable the poor, homeless citizen of the East to find his home in the great West. Our own “Cen¬ tennial City” has furnished to its poor population more homes than have any of the other cities of the world. This fact, if nothing else, would have ren¬ dered it a fitting place for the exhibition which will crown it with so much honor; for one purpose of this great exhibition is to illustrate to each other, and to the world, the character of our civilization, by the nature of our production, and by what we have accomplished in the past century. The visitor to this great repository of the nations, will find among the varied productions of different nations, very many which surpass us in those finer arts that pertain to the luxuries of life, but among them all he will find few, if any, nations that excel us in those improvements which bring comfort to the humblest home, and that may be enjoyed by the entire people.
Equality the Crowning Feature of Our
Civilization
The crowning feature of our civilization is that spirit of equality pervading our whole system, which enables the industrious, faithful citizen to rise from the lowest station in life to a position of distinction and honor among men. Many of those who have adorned the highest places in the gift of the people, even our chief magistrates, have come from the humbler walks of life. Titles and coats- of-arms and family histories have made a great
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many kings, but they have proven a very poor ma¬ terial out of which to make presidents. With all our mistakes and defects as a nation, there is no other country in the world which pays as little for empty titles, and at the same time furnishes such a high premium to real, solid manhood. With us it matters very little at what place a man has been educated, if he be a real, true man. Oftentimes the poorest log schoolhouse in our land, planted near some humble mountain home, with no other orna¬ ments than the dew drops of earth to gild it, and the sunbeams of heaven to shine upon it, has been as highly honored as the most ancient seats of learn¬ ing in Europe, “with their spires and domes glisten¬ ing in the rising and setting suns of a thousand years.”
Our Progress in the Past
In this centennial year the nations of earth have buried their past resentments and come up to greet this young republic, and bid her godspeed in her great mission. As they file into the historic grounds of Independence Square, to engage in celebrating her anniversary, they unite with us in attesting that our experiment at popular government has been a glorious success. Our soil has not been more fer¬ tile, nor our vegetation greener, nor our skies bluer, than those of other climes, but under the benign influence of such a government, and the broad civilization which it has brought us, our “wilder¬ ness and solitary places have been made glad,” and our “deserts caused to rejoice and blossom as the
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rose.” It was by their unwavering confidence in the God of nations, and their deathless faith in the nat¬ ural rights, older and more impregnable than all the systems of oppression on earth, with which he had endowed them, that the fathers insured the triumph of their cause, and transmitted to their posterity this great heritage of freedom. By a liberal system of education, which has brought the elements of knowledge to every home, and given us a civilization that has dug wealth and comfort from our rugged mountains, and planted peace and pros¬ perity in our deepest valleys, that posterity has pre¬ served this glorious heritage for an hundred years.
Our Future
Let us emulate their example, and in the future, “untrammeled and free, and cultivated and vir¬ tuous, our country will continue to lead in the van of nations. Her voice will break in thunder tones across the oceans and make the world feel the magic spell of her great power. The beacon light of free¬ dom will break upon the islands of the sea, and myriads of the race grouping in darkness and in the shadow of death will lift up their eyes and hail its long-expected approach, and welcome the day of their redemption. She will bear the torch of in¬ spiration into the dark and benighted places of earth, and enlighten, and elevate, and save humanity.”
AT REUNION OF BUCKTAIL REGIMENT, CLEARFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA, AUGUST 22, 1889
No duty is more obvious than that of gratitude to those whose sacrifice saved the honor and assured the future of our common country. That duty we owe to you in a special sense because you went forth from a section of the state to which we be¬ longed and with which we were so closely iden¬ tified in all of our interests that you were all re¬ garded as peculiarly our own people. In all the dark days of war your trials and triumphs meant something more to us than to the people at large.
The character of your sacrifice and the part you took in the great struggle is not only written in the imperishable record of the conflict, and imprinted upon the hearts of patriotic men everywhere, but is also inscribed upon your own bodies. Some of you “are starred with bullet wounds and others are striped with saber cuts,” telling us of your sym¬ pathy with your country’s flag and of your close companionship with the dead and dying on her fields of blood and carnage.
There is a strong bond of sympathy between those who have battled for a common cause. This bond is tested and tried and strengthened by the trials of the conflict which gave it birth. It is not confined to the soldiers of a company or regiment or division, but reaches out to every man who fought
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for the old flag. The purpose of your reunion is to brighten this bond which time nor changes nor death have broken. To renew the fast friendships formed long ago, a quarter of a century ago, when you were all younger, with faces unfurrowed by care and hair not yet whitened by the frosts of time. It is your province to garner up and perpetuate the treasured memories of the tent, the field, the bivouac, and the march. Many of these memories are rich in the un¬ written record of tireless energy and sublime en¬ durance of those who forgot self in the great cause to which they were committed. It is the unwritten history of the war which you remember and per¬ petuate. The instances of personal courage and heroism occurring in a battle which never became a matter of record are always the most interesting as best illustrating the character of the men who com¬ posed our great army. All this history is full of inspiration not only for you but for your children and for all who come after you.
We welcome you because we have a common in¬ terest in the whole work to which you gave the best part of your lives, and in the memories which you most cherish. Your presence recalls the scenes of the great conflict and impresses us anew with the magnitude of the sacrifice made that the nation might live.
Death has thinned your ranks. In another twenty-five years but few will be left. This reflec¬ tion has special significance in the fact that but a few years since the old commander, the first of all the soldiers of the war, was carried over the flood.
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His example is of priceless value to all. He was not only true to his government but to all that that involves. He was true to his home, and the home is the very foundation of government. He was true to his fellow-men, for he sundered party ties and turned a deaf ear to those who had so long stood with him to give the benefit of the doubt to Fitz John Porter. He was true to his memory of those who fought on the other side in his magnanimity at the surrender and in his kindly remembrance of them in the supreme moment when he himself sur¬ rendered to the common foe of all. The crowning memory of the war is that it brought forth from his seclusion and poverty such a man as Grant and lifted him up to his proper rank and place among men.
In a country like this where every man is a ruler, a self-governor, he is engaged in a conflict. To equip him for this he needs all the qualities essen¬ tial to a good soldier. He requires the courage of conviction — the highest courage on earth. Here and now in tte time of peace we must have all the qualities which give honor and success in time of war.
It is a singular fact illustrating this that it was the quiet, peaceful, orderly citizen who made the good soldier, while the bullying, fighting man at home made no soldier at all. Though invincible in peace, he became invisible in war.
We are moving forward to the settlement of grave questions of state.
Affecting the 'property of the people, as the limi-
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tation of corporate powers. The question of whether the land and the mineral wealth of this country, lying here in boundless profusion between the oceans, shall be enjoyed by the people or by the corporations and a few wealthy English capitalists.
Affecting the homes of the 'people, as the tem¬ perance question. The question of whether the home and the family shall be perpetuated or whether they shall be surrendered with all that has been built upon them.
These questions are not to be settled by the com¬ mune on one hand, nor by artful time-serving political traders on the other, but by an independent and fearless and intelligent ballot. To reach the best results two classes of men are needed. At the front, statesmen with intellect enough to grapple with these questions, and courage and conscience enough to be neither frightened nor driven from their post of duty; at the rear a rank and file of sovereign citizens who will see to it that no other kind of statesmen is sent to the front.
AT REUNION EIGHTY-FOURTH REGIMENT, CLEARFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA, SEPTEM¬ BER 17, 1890
Mr. Chairman and Veterans: The regiment which you represent won special distinction by the valor displayed and by the large measure of sacri¬ fice yielded upon the field of blood in defense of their country and their country’s flag. Both in their officers and in their rank and file they were so largely made up of the young men of our section of the state that we followed them with a peculiar interest through all the trials and triumphs in all the varying fortunes of war. Their trials were our trials and their victories our victories. We are here in large numbers today to assure you that the lapse of years has not dimmed the recollection of your heroic deeds. Though the young men have grown old and death has so decimated your ranks that only a handful of you are left, still we are here to honor you.
The reason why the true soldier always and everywhere entitles himself to the gratitude and honor of men is that he more than others represents the spirit of sacrifice. That, after all, is the real test of manhood. Whether a man be living or dead the value of his life to the world is to be measured by the amount of sacrifice which it represents. We live in a time when too many men exercise the high¬ est rights of citizenship solely with reference to the
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amount of personal gain to be secured by that exer¬ cise. The tendency is to make merchandise of the privileges which your sacrifice alone has made it possible for them to exercise at all. To all such men your example ought to be instructive.
To the young men who are studying the history of our country, and are anxiously inquiring what they may do to entitle them to the gratitude of their fel¬ lows and to enduring fame, your example teaches that patriotism now and at all times, whether in peace or in war, is represented by service and that that service is valuable or worthless just in propor¬ tion as it embodies the spirit of self-sacrifice.
These reunions are of practical value to us in that they help to remind us what a great cost the war imposed, and to suggest that our future prosperity can only be assured by the same spirit of devotion to our country’s highest interest which prompted that sacrifice. If such a spirit be dominant in our public affairs, we need have no fear for the future of the republic. One by one the vexed problems that now confront us will be solved. And as in the past, so in the future, this nation will continue to lead in the march of nations.
ADDRESS OF WELCOME ON OPENING OF B., R. & P. RAILROAD, CLEARFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA, JUNE 6, 1893
Visitors of Today: I have been delegated on behalf of the people of this community to extend to our visiting friends a most cordial welcome. We welcome you for what you are and for what you have done. We are glad to see you and glad that you have the opportunity to see us. One great ad¬ vantage of railroad development is that it brings people closer together and gives them an oppor¬ tunity to become better acquainted with each other, so that in a mere social aspect a great benefit is secured.
But commercially your enterprise has brought about a new era in the history and growth of our county. Two widely separated sections have been brought together, and the prosperity and enter¬ prise of the one made tributary to the other. While the western section of the county was first settled, it was slow to develop the wealth that now enriches it. Not until within twenty years was there pro¬ duction of either lumber or coal upon any large scale. When that growth did rightly begin it was cut off from this, the county seat, by lack of railroad facilities. You were farther away from this part of our own county than from many business points in other adjoining counties. You were nearer to Pittsburg, on the west, and to Williamsport, on the
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east, than to ns. ISTot only were the two sections thus separated but each of these sections had rail¬ way communication both east and west without any ready access from one to the other.
That this condition is changed, and that we are now brought into closer social and business rela¬ tions is due to a spirit of enterprise which is en¬ titled to the highest commendation. It is an ex¬ ample which is of value to our people. If you can fully impress them with the notion that the best use of money is to employ it in developing the natural resources of the country, and that the worst possible use is to hoard it up, you will have done us a great service. We have not made as rapid progress here as our natural advantages justified. Still, we have made some progress. Our people about built the first railroad that ever came into the county, and then made a present of it, when built, to a railroad company. That was an exhibition of public enterprise rarely equalled. They paid a con¬ siderable share of the expense of getting the second railroad into the town. Eeally, the reason why we are giving so much attention to you people is be¬ cause you represent the first railroad that ever came into our town at its own expense. We lite this feature of your enterprise, not only because of the spirit of independence which it exemplifies, but also because of the faith in our town and our people which it exhibits.
We have here a town of substantial growth and of substantial people. A very large proportion of them own their homes. Few, if any, of them engage
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in strikes. A small proportion of them have busi¬ ness in the quarter sessions. Many of them are en¬ gaged in business enterprises not only here, but also in different parts of the county, which give employment to large numbers of men and connect them directly with the principal industries of the county.
The capital which has been induced to find invest¬ ment here has found a remunerative profit. When the second railroad came it found here more than double the volume of business which the first road found. This, the third road, finds more than three times that amount.
We have here many modern improvements. Electric light, steam heat, paved streets, an abund¬ ant supply of the best water. This latter improve¬ ment we do not claim much credit for. The original supply of water was of such poor quality that many of our people had quit drinking water altogether. [Laughter.] When the present supply was secured a great improvement was noted, not only in the health, but also in the habits of our people. We now all drink water — that is, nearly all.
There is no reason why the most friendly rela¬ tions should not exist between our people and those who have so recently become our neighbors. The conflict alleged to exist between railroad and other corporations upon the one hand, and what is called the people upon the other, has often nothing better to rest upon than the assumption by one of these parties that the other is bent on mischief. There is no capital of more enduring value to a railroad com-
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pany than the reputation of being fair and consid¬ erate toward the rights of other people. This repu¬ tation can only be acquired by a corresponding course of dealing and conduct. On the other hand, a railroad company has a right to expect fair deal¬ ing from others. It has a right to assume that it will not be regarded and dealt with as an object of common plunder. If it be disappointed in this just expectation, quite as great a wrong is done as if the fault proceeded from the company. Every breach of confidence, caused in this way, is an in¬ jury to the business of the community and to its business prospects which is often far reaching in its influence.
In conclusion let me assure you that we have a high appreciation of the large contribution which you have made to the development of our county. We are interested, as well as you, in making your enterprise a success. Our disposition is to be friendly and helpful. For this reason we receive you with open arms. During your brief stay among us make yourselves at home. You will go about our streets confining your trip mainly to the paved streets. You will have an opportunity to see our homes, our business houses, our churches, our public buildings, and our manufactories. These will represent to you the results of a progress that has been slow but sure — of a growth that has been gradual but substantial — of a people that are con¬ servative but reliable and trustworthy. If any of you get in trouble, or need help, let us know and we will see what can be done for you. In the promo-
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tion of jour great business venture I doubt not that we can be helpful to each other, and that as the years come and go the prosperity and growth of our county and the happiness of her people may continue.
DECORATION DAY ADDRESS, AT DU BOIS, PENNSYLVANIA, MAY 30, 1897 (AB¬ STRACT)
I feel that you have honored yourselves in turn¬ ing out in such large numbers to pay tribute to the memory of the gallant men who, over a third of a century ago, gave up their lives that their country might live ; for all that we have now that is worth living for we are indebted to the sacrifice they then made. The soldier has always been honored. In all countries and under all forms of civilization, there has been a measure of appreciation of his work. The learned Egyptians, the enlightened Athenians, and the warlike Romans, all nations, civilized and barbarian, alike honored the memory of those who fell in battle. This simple tribute of flowers, renewed from year to year by loving hands, is a more appropriate and more enduring testi¬ monial than dead marble or statuary bronze. The flowers are as fresh and fragrant today as when, five thousand years ago, they were first planted over the graves of a nation’s fallen warriors. They are a fitting symbol of the fresh lives and fragrant deeds of our fallen defenders. How young they were ! and how much younger they seem to us now than they did then! Their average age was below twenty-five years. The abbreviation of the lives of the survivors, by the hardships and privations en¬ dured, was said by the commissioner of pensions,
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121
some years ago, to amount on the average to as much as eleven years. This statement finds corrob¬ oration in the rapid thinning out of their ranks.
Our soldiers were intelligent and patriotic. They were representatives of a system of education for all, and of freedom for all. They had knowledge of what they were fighting for. Not for empire, nor for ambitious leadership, but to preserve a govern¬ ment, the only one of its kind that had ever been preserved, “A. government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Out of the old republics of Europe came the art, and learning, and literature, and eloquence, and song of the world. Their mas¬ terpieces have stood unrivaled in all the progress of all the centuries. But in an evil day their better history was forgotten, and then an iron rod again ruled their land of eloquence and song. Our coun¬ try has vindicated its claim to an existence which will endure when all the thrones and kingdoms of earth shall have crumbled to dust.
One practical lesson, which I think we should learn from this sacrifice, is that we, too, must be soldiers. Our lives must represent a measure of the sacrifice which characterized the soldier, if these lives are to be of value to ourselves and to our country. The reason why the soldier has found ap¬ preciation in all countries, and in all civilizations, is that he represents the idea of sacrifice for others. It does not require much civilization to enable a man to be grateful to another who has helped him. Gratitude is not a necessary product of civilization any more than ingratitude is a product of bar-
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Patriotic Addresses
barism. Gratitude is one of the high qualities of manhood, which was not eliminated or crushed out by the fall. Ingratitude is the absence of that quality which the highest civilization cannot create or produce. It is a kind of incurable taint in the blood. Now, after a while we, too, will have gone, and those who then take our places will come to our graves. They will probably come with less of cere¬ mony than we are here today, but still they will come. They will then have as the uppermost ques¬ tion in their minds how much of sacrifice, how much of doing or suffering for others, our lives represent? By that standard they will value our memories, and they will value them rightly. The one perfect Man the world has ever seen had larger measure of this spirit than any other. Hence it is that wherever he came in contact with the soldier, the centurion, he spoke to him and of him with special consideration and respect. To make this sacrifice intelligent and effective, however, we must also have courage, another quality of the soldier. It is a great mistake to suppose that the battlefield has a monopoly of all the courage in the world. Just as much courage is required in the home life, the citizen life, the church life, the business life, as on the field of blood. Many a man who has won distinction there has been found wanting in that courage requisite to properly train his own child. Many another who has bared his breast to the shock of battle, and has stood with unblanched face before the enemy, has been com¬ pletely unnerved and broken by business troubles; not always because of lack of capacity, in the ordi-
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nary sense of that term, but sometimes because he lacked the courage to say “No” to those outside of his own home circle, and quite as frequently because he lacked that supreme courage that would enable him to say “No” to those within his home circle. The old patriarchal idea that a man should be chief of his household, and give direction to it, is the cor¬ rect one, however difficult of application in modern life. We are to have not only the spirit of sacrifice which characterized the soldier but also the courage which enabled him to make that sacrifice effective; and we are to apply that in our home life, in our citizen life, in our business life, if we would be of value to ourselves and our fellows. There never was a time when this quality was more requisite than now — in a time of great extravagance and public corruption, and when there is an organized effort to use public office for private and corrupt purpose. It sometimes requires more courage to vote honestly than it did to fight the battles which have made honest voting possible.
To the surviving comrades who honor this oc¬ casion by their presence I desire to say a word in conclusion. You represent the unwritten history of the war. Most of the incidents of personal cour¬ age find no place in its written history. It is the unwritten history wThich you remember and per¬ petuate, and that is always the most interesting because it best illustrates the character of the men who composed our great army. You know better than any others the full measure of devotion of those who surrendered their all upon their country’s
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altar. Some of them sleep peacefully in the graves you this day decorate ; others in the thousand other cemeteries of the great North, near the homes of their childhood; while others are in the nameless mounds of the rebellion, where “strange southern wild flowers bloom over them,” and where no hand of affection can place the tribute of garland. But even these nameless ones are all remembered on this day. A redeemed country is their monument, the hearts of a grateful people the tablet on which is written their heroic deeds, and the old flag the guardian of their sleeping dust. You still owe a duty to that country, for which you and your dead comrades have already done so much. You wield a weapon more powerful than that which you laid aside at the close of the war.
It falls as softly
As falls the snowflake on the sod
But registers the freeman’s will As lightning does the will of God.
No superior orders can rightly direct that weapon. Nothing but your own individual con¬ science and judgment. Therefore, it becomes you to use it, not capriciously, or at the dictate of any man, but wisely, intelligently, and honestly. About the saddest spectacle to be witnessed anywhere is to find the old soldier, with an army record which fits him for better things, in the hands of some political broker, who leads him into an alley, or behind a door, and tells him how to vote that he may best serve, not his country, but the boss who owns that broker. If there is any class of men on
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God’s green earth who ought to have a higher ap¬ preciation of government, it is the men who wore the bine, because they alone are able to tell what it cost. They above all others should see that govern¬ ment is free fr.om corruption, and that they are free from the taint of corrupt men. Your duty will only be well done, and your influence properly wielded, when in every hour of your country’s peril you vote as you fought, to save, united and un¬ corrupted,
This land of the forest and the rock.
Of the dark blue lake and mighty river,
Of mountains reared aloft to mock The storm’s career, the lightning shock.
Our own dear land forever.
Land of the beautiful and brave,
The patriot’s home, the martyr’s grave.
The nursery of giant men,
Whose deeds have linked with every glen The magic of a warrior’s name.
INTRODUCTION OF JOHN WANAMAKER DURING THE REFORM CAMPAIGN OF 1898, AT CLEARFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA, APRIL 21, 1898
The purpose of this meeting is to demonstrate that the people of this county are in favor of honest government. They believe that the public money belongs to the people, and that it ought to be ex¬ pended for the public welfare rather than for the private purposes of some political adventurers. They believe that public office, whether executive, legislative, or judicial, should be administered in the interest of the people, and not for the purpose of bolstering up the broken fortunes and promoting the rotten ambitions of decayed politicians. They believe that this county, with its great material in¬ terests, with its progress during the last twenty-five years, which has put it in the front rank of the great counties of the commonwealth, with the record of heroic sacrifices both of the dead and of the living, and of willingness to make such further sacrifice as the times in which we are placed de¬ mand; that this county, with these vast material and moral interests, is not, and ought not to be, the property of any political trader. They feel that the time is here to now give notice to some of these dark birds here and elsewhere, who have been eager to advertise that they own this county, that their title is defective.
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The one man with the courage and fortitude to wage this battle up to the very gates of the enemy is with us tonight. He is not a political adven¬ turer ; he is not even a politician. His principal oc¬ cupation during the last forty years has been to at¬ tend to his own business. As a result of this some¬ what unusual occupation he has now some business and some affairs to show for this attention. He is not out of a job, hanging on the ragged edge of ad¬ venture, and asking the public to keep him. Noth¬ ing of that kind. He has no other interest in de¬ cent government but that which you should have. He comes to ask you to join hands with him in this campaign for honest administration. Will you do it? While he has been a man of affairs, he has also enriched both the state and the nation by the wis¬ dom of his thought, by the largeness of his experi¬ ence, and by the disinterested character of his patriotism. He has carried this battle, and pro¬ poses to carry it from the state line on the north to the state line on the south; from the river on the southeast to the lake at the northwest. Hear him tonight for his cause.
TO CLEARFIELD COMPANY, STARTING FOR SPANISH WAR, APRIL 25, 1898
Members of Company E, Fifth Regiment, National Guard : We are come together this even¬ ing in great numbers, as you see, to express our profound interest in each of you because of the honorable service upon which you have entered. While you represent the state and the nation, there is a special sense in which you represent us. You are the contribution which we have made to the prosecution of this war. We are here on the eve of your departure to assure you that this interest manifested in you and for you will continue down to the end ; and we ask each of you to remember that in whatever vicissitude or trial or suffering this service places you, this entire community will be at your back. Every man, woman, and child is here to encourage you, to inspire you, and if need be, to render you the most substantial help. We pledge ourselves to that. Your captain has devoted con¬ siderable time and attention to the work of pre¬ paring you as well as himself for this service. By his great ability and his special training he has qualified himself to stand at the head of this com¬ pany, and to receive from each of you, as I have no doubt he will, that consideration and respect to which his rank entitles him.
The war in which you engage is not a war for the conquest of territory. It is not a war against those
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of your own blood, as was the war of 1861. It is not even a war waged specially for redress of some great wrong done to you or to your fellow-country¬ men. It is, rather, a war for the right to protect the helpless and oppressed ; for the right to feed the starving; for the right to stop now and forever the continuation of a system of human butchery near our own shores and in sight of our own people. This war is waged against the robber nation of history. Every other nation so imbued in blood and so cov¬ ered with plunder has been blotted from the map of history. This and the Turk alone remain to dis¬ grace and disfigure our