Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 01.pdf/112

 Chief-Justice Shaw. In the thirty years during which Mr. Shaw presided over the Supreme Court, great changes were made in the jurisprudence of the State and the methods of administration; and he was constantly called upon to adapt himself to these changes, to reconcile the old with the new, and to assist in bringing them into order and harmony. In doing this he showed the strength and fertility of his re sources wherever principles and their appli cation were involved. As a judge he was careful, thorough, sys tematic. He had a patient ear, — not merely the passive consent to listen, but the desire to be instructed in the facts and law of the case, no matter how inconsiderable the amount involved, or however humble the parties or their counsel. He was no re specter of persons; and a good point well put by the youngest member of the bar told with the same effect as if made by the leader. His rulings upon interlocutory questions and the admission of evidence were well con sidered and carefully noted; his charges to the jury simple and clear, but at the same time comprehensive and impressive. He was, in the best sense, impartial, and weighed with an even scale the merits of the cause. It was a pleasure to try causes before him; for one's repose in his integrity, fairness, and sense of justice was never ruffled. He held the reins in his own hands, quietly, firmly, with no twitching or jerking, but so that the strongest men at the bar perfectly under stood who presided. He was a man of great firmness; but this firmness was not obstinacy, dogged conceit, unwillingness to confess error. It was a sense of duty; nothing could shake or dis turb that. Such was the veneration for him, that no man would have ventured to suggest to him a consideration or motive outside of the line of duty. Though this firmness brought him into conflict with a strong and sensitive popular opinion on several occasions, we think it never impaired the public esteem and confidence. Men who knew Chief-Justice Shaw found it impossible not to respect him.

The most celebrated criminal trial over which Judge Shaw ever presided was that of Professor Webster for the murder of Dr. Parkman. Time seems to have vindicated his impartiality and ability on that occasion; but at the moment he was assailed by savage at tacks in the newspapers of New York and Philadelphia, and by abusive letters. But, after all, the reputation of the ChiefJustice as a jurist must rest upon his reported judicial opinions. These, beginning with the tenth volume of Pickering, extend to and include the fifteenth volume of Gray. They make, perhaps, a third part of the matter in these 'fifty-five volumes. Through these re ports he is known as well to the profession throughout this country and England as in his native State. His judicial opinions are thorough and exhaustive. They seldom rest on mere authority, but strike down to the very root, — to the principle on which the cases rest. We venture to affirm that there are, in the reports of this country or of Eng land, no more instructive and suggestive judicial opinions and arguments than those of Judge Shaw. But, great as was the judge, the man was greater than the magistrate. A truer man, indeed, did not grace his generation. With that little roughness of exterior, he was like the nuggets of California, — through and through solid gold. But the man bowed to the magistrate. With the largest sense of equity he was the servant of the law he was set to administer, and obeyed its mandate. With the soundest judgment, with masterly powers of reason ing, and, in discussion, with a subtlety of logic seldom equalled, he had literally no pride of opinion, but retained to the last the docility of childhood, — the ever open and receptive and waiting spirit, into which wis dom loves to come and take up its abode. With a stern sense of justice, he had the tenderness of a woman; and while the magistrate pronounced the dread sentence of the law, the man was convulsed with grief and sympathy.