The very seclusion in which he lived was an element of
peace and serenity in his latter days. He interfered with no man's
schemes; he thwarted the ambition of no aspirant; in the vigor of
manhood, and in the prime of his extraordinary powers, he had put the
cup of rivalry and ambition by; and no persuasion or inducement would
have led him to press its lips as his sands were running low. Hence,
unbiassed by the prejudices of the hour, unswayed by the flattering
schemes of personal interests, he brought his great powers to bear upon
current questions with a force that it was hard to resist or elude, and
with a sagacity almost prophetic. But that force will be felt now no
more: that sagacity will cease to sway the judgments of men; and Death
has placed its seal upon his destiny; and it has become our sad office
to lament his loss:--Therefore, be it
_Resolved_, That, while we feel painfully the death of so illustrious a
member of our profession, we are grateful to the Disposer of Events
that, with all his noble faculties unimpaired, and in the midst of
untold temporal blessings, our deceased brother attained to such an
advanced age, and reflected for so many years upon the Bar, upon his
native and beloved Commonwealth, and upon the Union at large, the lustre
of his splendid talents, the pure and unsullied glory of his name and
fame, and his eminent moral and social virtues.
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