Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 14.pdf/554

 The

Vol. XIV.

No. u.

Green

BOSTON.

Bag.

November, 1902.

JOHN W. CARY: A GREAT CORPORATION LAWYER. By Duane Mowry. TH K lawyer, as such, has little enduring fame. Even the admittedly great advo cate rarely finds a permanent place on the pages of history. This is so because a law yer's labors, however prodigious, usually re late to matters of passing interest only. They rarely enter into, or concern, what we call history. But it does not follow, nor is it true, that the lawyer is the intellectual or moral inferior of his contemporaries. In deed, it is not egotism to say that the mental and moral fiber of the average lawyer is often superior to that of men whose names have found recognition in history. And yet we know that the professional work of a great lawyer, demanding the highest order of intellect, requiring the closest and most persistent mental application, calling for the keenest insight into the motives and actions of men, utilizing learning in its most diversi fied forms, does not and cannot command the admiration and respect of the generations which are to follow. The lawyer's best monument is the conscious knowledge of having served his client honestly, faithfully, and to the utmost of his ability, and to have contributed his proper part in assisting in the due administration of the law in the halls of Justice. The contemporary fame of such a lawyer is always secure, no matter what may be the verdict of posterity. John Watson Cary builded such a monu ment. For nearly half a century he served his clients well, and his professional brethren,

of both the bench and bar, bear ample evi dence of his absolute sincerity of purpose, lofty professional ideals, untiring industry, and great legal ability. In the particular branch of corporation law, and particularly of that part of it applicable to the great rail road systems of this country, he is believed to have had no superior during his time. Certainly, this is praise of no mean order. The subject of this paper was born in Shoreham, Vermont, February 11, 18 17; he died in Chicago, Illinois, March 29, 1895. He was born on a New England farm and continued a member of his father's family at Shoreham until he was fourteen years of age. In 183 1 the family removed to the state of New York and settled on a farm. After his father's removal young Cary found employment in a country store, but the work was distasteful to him. He returned to the farm, and, an opportunity being offered him to advance his educational attainments, he seized it greedily, and for a time, attended a private academy at Hannibal. It was at this time that he determined to engage in the practice of the law, and he at* once set him self diligently at work to prepare for college. He provided the means necessary to defray the expenses of a college course, working on a farm and teaching until 1837, for that purpose. He was graduated from Union College in 1842. He began the study of the law during the last year of his college course, with Samuel W. Jones, of Schenectady, and