strong.] -^0 [Jan. 6, 



degree, retired from active business, and, soon after, 

 most of them departed from life. The field was clear, 

 and, with the exception of Mr. Sergeant and Mr. 

 Chauncey, his constant friends, he was almost without 

 a rival. But this caused no relaxation of his energy. 

 The habits he had formed in college, his love of study 

 for study's sake, and his deep-seated convictions of duty 

 to his clients, with an ever-abiding sense of obligation 

 to them, overcame all tendency to inertness, if any ever 

 approached him, and he continued till the close of his 

 professional life as heartily devoted to it, and as mind- 

 ful of its claims, as he was in the first flush of his 

 manhood. 



He had one cardinal principle upon which he always 

 acted, and which he regarded as the secret of his suc- 

 cess. It was to attend to no calling but his profession, 

 knowing that if that were attended to, it would do all 

 for his family and enough for himself. He listened, 

 no, not for a moment, to any invitations, (and many 

 were given him,) to speculate in stocks, or in real 

 estate, or to take part in any kind of trade. He felt 

 it impossible for him to do so without neglecting the 

 practice of the law, which, if faithfully pursued, he was 

 assured would be better than any, or all things else. 

 Guided by this principle he resisted calls to public life. 

 Before he was fifty years old, he had been twice offered 

 a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of the State, 

 and once, at least, if not twice, he was tendered a com- 

 mission to be a judge of the Supreme Court of the 



