1874.] noi. [Price. 



term expired. For some years his health had been failing, and at times 

 he was unable to take his seat on the Bench, which fact increased the 

 labors of his brethren. At the Bar meeting held for Judge Thompson, 

 after his sudden death while speaking in Court, Judge Bead made 

 acknowledgement of the kindness of his brethren. He said : "I have 

 known my deceased friend intimately for fifteen years, for fourteen years 

 of which we were members of the same Court. He was a most kind and 

 considerate associate, and I am personally deeply indebted to him for his 

 thoughtfulness and attention to myself when ill-health called for the 

 indulgence of my brethren. He was a good man, an honest and upright 

 man, an admirable Judge, and a learned lawyer, with great good sense. 

 I was warmly attached to him, and I deplore his loss. I believe every 

 word of the resolutions offered by Judge Porter to be true and eminently 

 just, and a proper tribute to the virtues, talents and great ability of our 

 deceased friend." 



Within a day or two after his retirement from office, the late Chief 

 Justice Read called upon the writer of this notice, who had been writing 

 against the new Constitution, and said, "I am again a free citizen, and 

 can speak my mind freely. I also am opposed to this new Constitution, 

 and have an objection to it you have not taken : it is destructive to the 

 secrecy of the ballot." His article appeared December 8th, 1873. The 

 numbei'ing of the voted ticket with the same number set against the name 

 of the voter in the list of voters as required discloses how he voted. The 

 late Chief Justice says, " The freedom of elections depends entirely upon 

 t?ie ballot and its inviolable secrecy, so that no man shall know how any 

 elector has voted. This secrecy enables all men, in all the walks of 

 society, to deposit their ballots in perfect security that the knowledge of 

 their vote is strictly confined to their own breasts." The officers of elec- 

 tion in the State he stated to be 12,795, who know on the jfiight of the 

 has election how every man in the Commonwealth voted. He also takes 

 objection to the great invasion made upon the elector's franchise when 

 there are two candidates, which prevents him from voting against any 

 candidate, and makes the voting for the other a useless form. This able 

 article, the last written by him we commemorate, shows his undying love 

 of liberty and justice ; his sacred regard for the equal rights of the citizen ; 

 his anxiety to protect the humble and poor from dictation and oppres- 

 sion ; and his desire to preserve the value of the elective franchise to the 

 citizens. 



I would here give the testimony of his associate on the Supreme Bench, 

 Judge Williams, at the Pittsburg Bar meeting, on receiving the news of 

 the death of the late Chief Justice : "He possessed talents and learning 

 of a very high order, and his personal and official influence was very 

 great. He was a gentleman in every sense of the word ; a gentleman of 

 the old school, of the very highest sense of honor, of great dignity of 

 character, and in social intercourse kind, aff'able and courteous." "He 

 had an accurate knowledge of American History, especially of the times 

 A. P. s. — YOL. siv. 3j 



