MELVILLE WESTON FULLER WALCOTT. 115 



starting in the extreme northeastern corner of the Union where 

 he indulged himself in such various activities as being president of 

 the city council, city solicitor, and newspaper editor, soon took 

 Horace Greeley's advice to young men, and three years after his 

 admission to the bar established himself in the metropolis of the 

 West; who from the beginning and as long as he remained at the 

 bar took the good citizen's interest in politics, and thus put himself 

 in touch with the currents of popular thought and sentiment; and 

 who from the outset of his career was in thorough sympathy with 

 the democratic principles which underlie our political institutions. 

 Once inducted into his great office, he from the beginning acquitted 

 himself so judiciously and ably and j^et so modestly as both to increase 

 the esteem of friends and to forestall the cavils of would-be critics. 

 The limits of this occasion do not permit any adequate analysis of 

 his merits as a judge or any satisfactory estimate of those labors on 

 the Supreme Bench which occupied nearly 23 years of his life and 

 are only partially shown in over 90 volumes of United States Su- 

 preme Court Reports. It is, however, only just and proper to say 

 that, large and novel and momentous in their aspects and conse- 

 quences as are many of the legal issues constantly presented to the 

 Supreme Court of the United States, Chief Justice Fuller never 

 failed to rise to the height of the occasion, and, whether as one of 

 a minority or a majority of the court, to worthily deal with them. 

 Many of his opinions are models of lucid statement, of exhaustive 

 research, of close and conclusive reasoning. * * * 



" Besides doing his share of the legal work of the Supreme Court, 

 the Chief Justice is its executive and presiding officer. His qualities 

 in both capacities have always received unstinted commendation. 

 He was anxious to keep the docket moving, to prevent any conges- 

 tion of the business of the court, and to avoid all delays in the dis- 

 position of causes not absolutely essential to the due administration 

 of justice. That he accomplished those purposes with great success 

 was due largely to his native tact and his invariable good temper. 

 Over the public deliberations of the court he presided with a dignity 

 and grace all his own. He was a patient and attentive listener and 

 was content that counsel should have full opportunity to develop 

 his case in his own way without interruption. He was specially 

 considerate of the debutant, whether young or old, and many a 

 first appearance at the bar of the court at Washington has been saved 

 from wreck by the encouraging nod and smile of the Chief Justice. 

 For those of us to whom the zest of life is largely in memories, few 

 things can be more gratefully recalled than the spectacle of the 

 Chief Justice sitting with his colleagues to listen to the opening of 

 some newcomer, and by every word and tone and gesture expressing 



