Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 04.pdf/294

 The Supreme Court of Indiana. of the highest type; pure things he loved, impure ones he despised. His conceptions of the principles of justice were clear, his adherence to them courageous and manful. His judgments were formed with care, and expressed with vigor. . . . His keen dis crimination, his masterful analytical power, and his logical methods of thought enabled him to grasp with strength and apply with wisdom the principles of jurisprudence. His judicial opinions are of massive strength, and their language is clear and forcible." On the death of Chief-Justice Waite, his name was urged as a candidate for the va cancy thus caused on the Federal bench. John G. Berkshire. John G. Berkshire was born at Millersburgh, Ky., Nov. 12, 1832, and died Feb. 19, 1891. At the early age of ten years he began the trade of blacksmith, in the shop with his father. His early education was wholly confined to the common schools of the State. He gradu ated from the law school of Asbury Univer sity, Greencastle, Ind., in 1857, and opened an office at Versailles, Ind.; Rising Sun, Ind., having formerly been his home. In 1864 he was elected circuit judge, and twice re-elected, in 1870 and in 1876. In 1882 he was nominated for the office of judge of the Supreme Court, but was defeated at the polls with his party; in 1888, by acclamation, he was again nominated for the same high of fice, and elected, taking his seat Jan. 7, 1889, and succeeding Judge Howk. His death was largely superinduced by overwork, ren dering him an easy prey to a severe cold, which brought on a fatal fever. The lack of an early and thorough educa tion rendered his labors in the composition of opinions more laborious than they other wise would have been. He was industrious to a fault, and his energies knew no check. He was fearless jn the expression of his views, and assiduous in research for author ities. His language was never equivocal, and he went straight to the point at issue. He sought to put his opinions on some well-

269

founded and established principles of law, rather than to follow a case on account of its having some elements of similarity with the one under consideration. At the time of his death his home was North Vernon, where he had resided several years. Few men had more personal or truer friends. His personal popularity was unusually strong. Byron K. Elliott. The exceptional opportunities enjoyed by Judge Elliott before he ascended the bench of the highest tribunal of his State well fitted him for that exalted position. He began the practice in the capital of his State, then a rapidly growing and now a large city, — the largest in the State, — of which he was for many years city attorney. His practice was such as a large city brings to a suc cessful and general practitioner. His expe rience on both the criminal and nisi prins bench was of great advantage to him. He possesses an unusuzd command of lan guage, that in early manhood threatened to overwhelm him with its exuberance, and which he happily corrected by the reading of authors of strict and severe expression, such as Aristotle, Locke, and Kant. He has that happy faculty, deemed so valuable in the legal profession, of stating a proposition two or three times in the same connection, yet in language so different each time that he cannot be charged with redundancy. This is a rare gift, and its right use is highly prized by the lawyer who is so happy as to discover a controverted or rare ques tion thus discussed. His memory of cases reported, and the principles enunciated in the opinions, is remarkable, often citing them from memory alone. From this fact he derives great aid, and by his untiring en ergy and perseverance disposes of an amount of work that is a continual surprise to his oldest friends. His opinions contain not only many, but a wealth of citations that entail upon him great labor. They are free of long extracts