IN MEMORIAM. Not once, but perhaps half a dozen times, he has grappled with the power of precedent and turned aside the thought of the ages. Not alone in his own State, but herever the theory and traditions of the common law exist. With Associates of rare ability upon the bench, strengthened by that peculiar reverence for the wisdom of the past, which is the charcteristic of the common law lawyer, such was the subtle power of his intellect, and so great the pertinacious tenacity of his will that he has carried them with him out of the beaten track into the new and straighter ways, which his philosophic thought marked out. The force of character, will and intellect which enabled him to do this, can only be appreciated by the well trained professional mind. Judged by the results of his judicial life he has well earned the terse encomium, which he himself bestowed upon a predecessor-of being one "whose power of reflection exceeded that of any man who ever sat upon the bench of North Carolina." Another thing which has peculiarly impressed his power upon my mind is the wonderful impress which he has left upon the legal mind of the State. That the quiet life so evenly divided between the seclusion of Richmond Hill and the laborious routine of the Supreme Court room, should not only have constituted his name one with which every lawyer of the State conjures with success, but that he should have so moulded the professional thought of the entire bar, that a stranger can trace with ease his modes and ideas in almost every argument delivered in our Courts, is the highest possible tribute to his intellectual power. Those who have beenth is moulded, those whose professional thought has been guided by his master hand may not now realize the power which has swayed them, may not appreciate the force which has shaped their intellectual life, but when years have passed away and the shadows of the past have gathered about his memory, his lineaments will stand forth like the outlines of a distant mountain, whose greatness we can only grasp when we view it from afar. REMARKS OF HIS EXCELLENCY GOV. V▲NCE. Mr. Chairman: It is a matter of general notoriety that during the last ten years Chief Justice Pearson and myself had politically-not personally-drifted very widely apart, and it is therefore no feeling of political association that induces me to say anything on this occasion. But I recognize the fact that the reputation of a great lawyer and an upright Judge is the brightest inheritance of a free people, and I know that just as law is reverenced for its own sake, and its great expounders and administrators are honored by a community, so IN MEMORIAM. far it demonstrates its love of liberty and its capacity to maintain free institutions. Hence the appropriateness of this assemblage to-day. When the maniac, Hadfield, attempted by shooting to assassinate the King, instead of being torn to pieces by the infuriated mob, or being hurried away to instant death by summary command, he was arrested and quietly thrown into prison, a copy of the indictment against him with the names of all the Crown's witnesses was served upon him ten days before his trial and the splendid genius of Erskine was assigned to defend him. In the opening of his celebrated speech in defence of his client he said: "My Lord, the spectacle presented here this day places the British Empire on the summit of human glory." And truly it did. It was not her ships of war sweeping every sea nor their cannon thundering into the ears of the greater part of the world. It was not her commerce which enveloped the earth, nor her wealth, power and civilization which overshadowed the mightiest empires of antiquity; nor yet was it the vastness of those dominions on which the sun never set, that constituted this glory; it was the simple fact made plain by the spectacle then exhibited that justice and law had become so supreme that all this power and magnificence were made to ensure a fair legal trial to the humblest man in that realm for attempting the life of the dread sovereign of it all. Such supremacy of the law, had its great advocates and, judges secured in England. All English speaking communities wheresover scattered on earth have received this law and this spirit of obedience to its precepts; and we in North Carolina as joint heirs of this mighty inheritance have been in the course of our history specially blessed with a dynasty of great lawyers and judges who have been to us at once a shield and a crown of glory-men whose patient labors guided by the light of genius traced back the principles of our law to the fountainsprings to ascertain their reason, and ran them forward to their logical conclusions, making their expansivenes and flexibility cover and protect every possible phase and condition of human affairs. One of the very greatest of these illustrious citizens of North Carolina was he whom we have so recently buried. It is most fitting that we should thus commemorate his genius and his learning, and in doing so for him and such as he, we are fostering a spirit which will assist in conserving our civilization and upholding our free institutions. REMARKS OF JUDGE MCKOY. My Brethren-Indeed do we belong to a profession which is noted for two things: 1st. its conservatism; 2nd. its devotion to its bright luminaries called hence by death and its utmost endeavor to surround IN MEMORIAM. with a halo the memory of one of its bright lights now numbered with the dead. And while there might have been a difference of opinion concerning certain acts and the intent of those acting, yet each is desired to bring his tribute and from his own standpoint urge that which he thinks the crowning glory of our departed yet honored dead. No one shall say what flowers shall be selected to make up the bouquet of his fancy. When brought out, so indulgent are we that none seek reply, whatever may have been his former thoughts, feelings or prejudices upon a particular subject. But in the fulness of his heart each lays the tribute most worthy in his estimation upon the shrine erected to the memory of him whom they do mourn. This is the teaching our ennobling profession and its wholesome conservatism. It is our proud boast, and long may it be ere one discordant sentiment be uttered in a meeting like this, nor will any come here save to do honor to our departed great. And that we may well complete what has been so happily begun, this meeting now adjourns, and the members of,the bar will proceed in a body to the Supreme Court room where the Attorney General will, in accordance with our resolutions, present the same to the Supreme Court now in session. The members of the bar then proceeded to the Supreme Court room, and the Attorney General, after making appropriate remarks, moved that the proceedings be spread upon the records of the Court, and in granting the motion, Hon. E. G. Reade, Senior Justice, presiding, said:-The Court cordially approve the action of the Bar, and it is ordered that the proceedings be spread upon the record, 40 INDEX. ABANDONMENT OF WIFE. A husband once convicted of an abandonment of his wife (under ACCOUNT AND SETTLEMENT: 1. The defendant J purchased certain lands of G) sold under a (1) That the sum of $500 was excessive and J was entitled to (2), That under the contract he was not entitled to com- (3) That he was entitled to credit for the amount paid as in- (4) That he was not entitled to credit for money paid to G for ACQUIESCENCE. See MORTGAGE SALE, 2. ACTION. See GUARDIAN BOND, 2, 3. OFFICIAL BOND, 6. PLEADING, 1, 2, 3. |