WILLIAM TILGHMAN, 35 



their bearings upon every passage into this deeply 

 indented territory; but for the minor points, the 

 soundings that are marked so profusely upon modern 

 charts of the law, he trusted too much to the length and 

 employment of his own line, to oppress his memory 

 •with them. It was not his practice to bring into his 

 judgments, an historical account of the legal doctrine 

 on which they turned, nor to illustrate them by fre- 

 quent references to other codes, to which, neverthe- 

 less, he was perfectly competent by the variety as well 

 as by the extent of his studies. His preference was 

 rather to deduce the sentence he v/as about to pro- 

 nounce, as a logical consequence from some proposition 

 of law which he had previously stated and settled 

 with great brevity. Ko Judge was ever more free 

 both in mind and style from every thing like technical- 

 ity. He never assigned a technical reason for any 

 thing, if another were at command, or if not, without 

 sustaining the artificial reason by an explanation of its 

 grounds. At the same time his knowledge embraced 

 all the refinements of the lav/, and he took an obvious 

 satisfaction in showing their connection with substan- 

 tial justice. 



His judgments are further distinguished by perspi- 

 cuity, precision, and singleness. 



No careful reader was ever at a loss for the meaning 

 of the Chief Justice, and his whole meaning. His lan- 

 guage is transparent ; you see through it, instantly, the 

 purpose of the writer. There is no involution, no pa- 

 renthesis, no complication. Every thing is direct, 



