Qass. 
 Book. 
 
 

 JOHN WILLARD, LL. D, 
 
 FORMERLY 'S '"t '/ 
 
 CIRCUIT JUDGE AND VICE CHANCELLOR OF THE FOURTH CIRCUIT, AND 
 
 AFTERWARDS JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT AND A MEMBER 
 
 OF THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK ; 
 
 CONSISTING OF 
 
 ADDRESSES AND NOTICES 
 
 ON THE OCCASION OK HIS DEATH, AND 
 
 IN ILLUSTRATION OF HIS LIFE AND CHARACTER. 
 
 Collected for the gratification of his friends. 
 
 SARATOGA SPBiy^GS: 
 
 STEAM PRINTING PRESSES OF O. M. DAVISON. 
 
 18G3. 
 
'^C\ 
 
 '05- 
 
^^^ 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 I. Notice of the death of Jiulge Willarp ii, HnraiogimK 3 
 
 II. Resolutions &c. of the Bar of Saratoga Springs, containing ad- 
 dresses of Wm. L. F. Warren, R. H. Walworth. A. Bookks. 
 0. L. Barbour, Judiah ^Jllsworth. Joskph A. Shoudy. and 
 .)ame.s p. Butler, 
 
 III. Resolutions &,-. of the Senate, ineluding addresses „f Senators 
 
 Clark. Folger, Tobey, Murphy. Cook and Pruy.n 17 
 
 IV. Proeeeding.s in the Assembly, containing addresses ot Messrs. 
 
 Brockett, Houohton. Moulton, McShea. Rei-inijton. Sey- 
 mour, Havens, Hkacock and Post _ 27 
 
 V. Sketch h}- Mrs. Em.ma Willard... _ ;.y 
 
^36 
 
 HON. JOHN WILLARD. 
 
 The following announcement of the death of Hon. John Willakd, appeared 
 in the Saratogian, September 4, 1862 : 
 
 DEATH OF JUDGE WILLARD. 
 
 It is with feelings of deep regret that we are called upon to 
 announce the death of Honorable John Willard, who expired 
 at his residence in this village, on Sunday, the 31st day of 
 August last. The disease with which he suffered was paralysis 
 of the right side, which in the space of twelve days carried 
 him off. Though for several months past he has been in fee- 
 ble physical strength, yet he possessed the mental vigor and 
 elasticity of a ripe manhood. 
 
 Although in a period like this of great national excitement 
 and peril, the loss of an individual however exalted in position 
 and merit, seems to attract less attention than in ordinary 
 times, yet the death of Judge Willard has spread great sor- 
 row over the hearts of the people of this state. 
 
 For more than forty years he has filled offices of high honor 
 and public trust with signal ability and integrity. A pro- 
 found jurist, a ripe scholar and a man of rare decision of 
 character, he possessed a modest and retiring disposition, 
 which required an intimate acquaintance to fully appreciate 
 his worth and excellence. His private life was singularly pure 
 and blameless, and among his friends in the social circle his 
 kindness, his conversational powers backed by a great fund of 
 general information, made intercourse with him delightful and 
 instructive. 
 
He was born on the 20th day of May, 1792, at Guilford, 
 Connecticut, and graduated at Middlebury College, in August, 
 1813. While at college he was associated with the late Silas 
 Wright and Hon. Samuel Nelson, and evinced at that time 
 the same patriotic solicitude for the success of his country 
 while engaged with a foreign power, that has since shone so 
 conspicuous during the progress of the present treasonable re- 
 bellion. He was admitted to practice as an attorney of the 
 Supreme Court in 1817, under the Chief Justiceship of Smith 
 Thompson, and entered upon the practice of the law in Salem, 
 Washington county. Bringing to the profession of his choice 
 a well-stored and disciplined mind, he soon attained, by his 
 untiring industry, and without au/ adventitious aid, an 
 enviable eminence in his profession. He was for many years 
 first Judge of the Common Pleas, and Surrogate of Washing- 
 ton Co., until in 1836, on the elevation of Esek Cowen to the 
 bench of the Supreme Court, he was appointed Circuit Judge 
 and Vice Chancellor of the Fourth Judicial District, filling 
 that office until the new organizatici of the Judiciary under 
 the constitution of 1846, when he was elected one of the 
 Justices of the Supreme Court. This latter office he held 
 until 1854 ; and under the regulations of our judicial system, 
 was a member of the Court of Appeals during the last year 
 of his term of service. The rapidity and ability with which 
 he discharged his judicial duties ; his uniform courtesy and 
 kindness to the profession ; and above all, the pureness and 
 integrity of his character, as a judge and as a man, com- 
 manded universal respect and esteem, and won for him many 
 flattering testimonials of regard from the bar in the different 
 counties of this district. 
 
 After his retirement from the bench he was engaged for 
 some years in the preparation of several legal treatises, which 
 are valuable contributions to our jurisprudence, and not less 
 distinguished for felicity and perspicuity of style than accurate 
 and profound legal research and learning. 
 
 As a politician he was attached to the Democratic party, 
 and strong and decided in his political opinions ; but, upon 
 
^3C 
 
 the breaking out of tlie present wicked and causeless rebellion, 
 he sunk the partizan in the patriot, and took early and strong 
 grounds in favor of a united support to our government in its 
 struggle with treason. 
 
 In 1861 he was the candidate of the Union Convention for 
 Senator, and subsequently endorsed by all other parties, he 
 was elected without opposition. While in the Senate he uni- 
 formly acted with the Union Democrats and Kepublicans, 
 and his opinion on all questions before that body was received 
 with great respect. By his efforts the confusion in the laws 
 respecting murder, and the rights of married women, was re- 
 moved, and simjjle and sensible statutes passed in relation 
 thereto. 
 
 As an advocate, a judge, a legislator, he was alike eminent 
 and accomjjlished ; and in his private life irreproachable and 
 blameless. It has fallen to the lot of few men to acquire and 
 leave behind them such an honorable and unsullied name. 
 
 He lived to bury his only child in 1853, and his estimable 
 wife in 1859 ; and cut off thus from his family ties, his great 
 heart turned with affection and solicitude to the welfare of his 
 country. The troubles and perils of the present crisis caused 
 him great anxiety and care, and evidently wore upon his 
 health and strength. 
 
 He was buried from his residence, on Wednesday afternoon, 
 and a devout and consistent christian, he has gone to the re- 
 wards which await the pure in spirit, the blameless in life and 
 the upright in heart 
 
RESOLUTIONS 
 
 §«« of <f aifatop ^piwgs. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 ADDRESSES OF WM. L. F. WARREN, R. H. WALWORTH, A. BOCKES, 
 
 O. L BARBOUR, JUDIAH ELLSWORTH, JOSEPH A. 
 
 8H0UDY, AND JAMES P. BUTLER. 
 
 A meeting of the members of the Bar, of Saratoga Springs, called 
 for the purpose of expressing the feelings of the profession on the 
 death of their lamented brother, was held on the 2d day of Septem- 
 ber, 1862. Hon. W. L. F. Warren was appointed chairman, and 
 John L. Barbour, secretary. 
 
 On taking his seat the Chairman made the following remarks : 
 » Gentlemen : Death has again been in our midst, and one of our re- 
 spected and beloved citizens has become its victim. Unrelenting in 
 his pursuit, the fell destroyer often lingers on our pathway, and by 
 insidious advances marks his object with unerring certainty ; but too 
 often he comes at a day and hour we think not. 
 
 The Hon. John Willard has been unexpectedly stricken down at 
 the end of a long life ; but it may be said, in the midst of his honors, 
 and usefulness. The deceased had reached the allotted period of three 
 score years and ten ; but they were not years of inactivity. The 
 fruits of a highly cultivated intellect, disciplined by early habits of in- 
 dustry and experience, and enriched by an extensive acquaintance with 
 legal precedents, and varied literary attainments, bloomed and blos- 
 somed even in his old age. The results of his cultivated mind, which 
 
^sy 
 
 gave eminence to the judicial position, which he held for more 
 tlian a third of a century, did not terminate with his public career. 
 His retirement to private life was occupied principally in the prepa- 
 ration of several volumes of legal treatises, which have been completed 
 and given to the public, and which are not less creditable to his genius 
 and learning, than useful to the profession. 
 
 My first acquaintance with the deceased was as early as 1817, when 
 we mutually became members of a class examined for admission to 
 practice as attorneys of the supreme court. He commenced the prac- 
 tice of the law in the county of Washington. After some years of 
 successful practice in the profession, he was appointed successively to 
 the offices of surrogate and judge of that county, the duties of which 
 he fulfilled with great abihty for about twenty years. Subsequently 
 he accepted the oflice of circuit judge and vice chancellor of the fourth 
 circuit, which event led him to change his place of residence to this 
 village, where he continued to exercise the duties of those offices un- 
 til they terminated, and were succeeded by the present organization 
 of the courts of this state. Under this new organization he was elect- 
 ed a judge of the supreme court for the term of eight years ; serving 
 the last year of the term in the court of appeals. With his service of 
 one year in the latter court, his judicial career terminated. In the 
 fall of the year 18(31 he was elected to represent this district in the 
 senate of this state, in which office his distinguished effiarts in sustain- 
 ing the government, commanded the approval of his constituents, and 
 added new laurels to his abilities as a statesman. 
 
 This is not the time or occasion to dwell on the gifted qualities 
 of mind and character possessed by the deceased. His judicial opin- 
 ions, scattered through numerous volumes, well known to the profes- 
 sion, furnish an enduring monument to his learning and ability as a 
 judge ; and the social circle he was wont to delight by his presence 
 and conversation, bear witness to the many virtues which marked his 
 intercourse in private life. 
 
 The deceased was a true christian gentleman, not only in name and 
 by profession, Ijut in practice. He was an exemplary member, in com- 
 munion with the Presbyterian church of this village for many years, 
 and all who knew him can testify to the purity and benevolence of his 
 life and character. He will no longer move among the throngs of 
 the living ; but his memory will be cherished for his exalted qualities 
 as a judge and senator — for his patriotism, hberality and genial inter- 
 course as a citizen and for his urbanity, kindness and sympathy as a 
 
friend and benefactor. Tlie occasion is a solemn admonition to us who 
 survive him. Let it be our resolve " diim vivvmus vivamus," and by 
 emulating his many excellencies and virtues, may we l^e prepared to 
 inherit his immortality. 
 
 The chairman appointed the following gentlemen a committee on 
 resolutions : John Newland, Hon. A. Bockes, T. G. Young, H. W. 
 Merrill, J. W. Crane, Waldo M. Potter. 
 
 The following resolutions were reported by John Newland, Esq., 
 chairman of the committee, and unanimously adopted : 
 
 Whereas, The members of the Bar in this village, in common with the rest 
 of the community, have received with poignant sorrow the announcement of 
 the decease of the Hon. John Willard, which occurred on the 81st day of Au- 
 gust last, and have met to give an expression to their sense of the loss which 
 they as individuals, as well as members of the legal profession, have sustained 
 in this afflictive dispensation, we do now record with emotions of gratitude to 
 God, mingled with grief at our own loss, — 
 
 First. That the eminent jurist, whose recent death we mourn, was gifted 
 with a peculiarly clear and powerful intellect, quick and elevated moral per- 
 ceptions, generous sympathies, and a sound "-'dgment which made him an or- 
 nament to his profession, and especially fitted him to fill with honor and use- 
 fulness high judicial positions — that he has left in several masterly works a 
 monument of his legal learning and literary abilities, which greatly enhances 
 his claim to the homage of his brethren. 
 
 Second. That in his long public career he exhibited a degree of devotion to 
 bis official duties, of purity of purpose, unbending integrity and ardent patri- 
 otism, which secured to him the confidence, respect and admiration of the 
 people whom he served, and will embalm his name in their hearts. 
 
 Third. That in the walks of private life he was distinguished by the simpli- 
 city of his manners, the modesty of his demeanor, the tenderness of his sym- 
 pathies, and the consistency and purity of his christian character. 
 
 Therefore it is resolved : 
 
 1. That in the death of Judge Willard the judiciary and bar have lost a dis- 
 tinguished ornament, the state a judicious, safe and diligent legislator, this 
 village a kind, liberal and enlightened citizen, and the whole country a fer- 
 vent, self-sacrificing patriot. 
 
 2. That while thus indicating the public nature of this dispensation, we do 
 not forget that it has reached individual hearts, upon whose grief we do not 
 venture to intrude further than to tender to them our warmest sympathy, and 
 to remind them that their deceased friend, having lived honorably and use- 
 fully and died in the christian hope which he had cherished for many years, 
 their loss is his infinite gain. 
 
 3. That as a mark of respect to the memory of our lamented friend, we will 
 in a body attend his funeral. 
 
^^ h 
 
 4. That a copy of this minute and these resolutions, signed by the chairman 
 and secretary, be presented to the relatives of the deceased, and that the same 
 be published in the several papers of this village. 
 
 Chancellor Walworth said he had been acquainted with our 
 lamented brother, Judge Willard, for about fifty years, having become 
 acquainted with him when the judge was in college at Middlebury. 
 From the time the judge was admitted to the bar, although four years 
 his senior, down to the day of his death, he had been intimately ac- 
 quainted and on terms of friendship with him. As a lawyer it might 
 truly be said of him semjjer paratus^ semp&r fiddis ; for he was always 
 ready and prepared to argue the cause of his client when the time ar- 
 rived for him to do so ; and no lawyer ever discharged that duty more 
 faithfully and honorably. And during the long period of nearly thirty 
 years that he occupied a judicial station as county judge and vice chan- 
 cellor, justice of the supreme court, judge of the court of appeals, and 
 as a judge of the court for the trial of impeachments, no judicial officer 
 ever discharged his official duties more uprightly or more faithfully. 
 Indeed, such was my confidence in his capacity and his sound discre- 
 tion as a county judge, when he was first appointed to that office, and 
 when I was presiding in the court of oyer and terminer, that I request- 
 ed him to take the whole management of the trial of a capital case. 
 And to those who were afterwards acquainted with him as a judge, it 
 is needless to say that at that early day my perfect confidence in his 
 capacity to discharge the most important of all judicial duties, was not 
 misplaced. Indeed, as a lawyer and a judge, he is a pattern and an 
 example to be followed by all our younger brethren who desire to ob- 
 tain eminence and honor in the profession. But especially would I 
 recommend to my brethren of the law to follow the example of our 
 deceased friend as an honest, upright christian gentleman, in all the 
 social and private relations of life. For a more upright man in all the 
 varied relations of life I have never known. And long will his mem- 
 ory be cherished, not only by his immediate relatives, but by all who 
 have known him and appreciated his virtues as I have. 
 
 Hon. A. BocKES said : 
 
 Mr. Chairman : I cannot refrain from making a few observations 
 
 on this melancholy occasion, although, with me, it requires an effi^rt 
 
 to speak of those for whom I mourn. It has been said that it is not 
 
 by words that the living pay to the dead the sincerest and most elor 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 quent tribute. I feel that it is so, and will therefore occupy your 
 attention but for a moment. 
 
 The death of Judge Willard has cast a gloom over all classes of 
 this community. He had lived so long among us and so familiarly 
 that all knew him and esteemed him as a true man and faithful friend. 
 His death has produced general lamentation among our citizens. Con- 
 scious that he has departed from among us, we feel desolate and sub- 
 dued. This common sentiment of our community affords a touching 
 tribute to his worth. It speaks of his kindness — of his affection — 
 of his sympathy — of his generosity. 
 
 But I do not purpose, on this occasion, to draw attention to the 
 various phases of his admirable character — only to echo the wail of 
 sorrow which floats around us in stifled murmurs. I cannot now, if I 
 would, command the appropriate words of eulogy. I can only say 
 that a great and good man has fallen in our midst — not in youth, nor 
 in the meridian of his yea,rs, but ripe in time and in honors — "The 
 thread of his life is cut ; the immortal is separated from the mortal ; 
 and the products of a great and cultivated mind are all that remain to 
 us of the jurist and legislator." 
 
 O. L, Barbour said : 
 
 Mr. Chairman : "We meet on this occasion to attempt some expres- 
 sion of our sentiments on the death of one of our most distinguished 
 citizens. The Hon. John "Willard — clarura et venerabile nomen — a 
 man venerable for his years, eminent in his profession, and estima- 
 ble for his many virtues, is no more. It is fit and proper that we, 
 members of his own profession, who have witnessed the manner in 
 which he has adorned that profession ; that we, his neighbors, who 
 have sat at his feet and imbibed lessons of wisdom and virtue from 
 his lips, and who have known the beauty, the simplicity and the in- 
 tegrity of his daily life, should give utterance, ere the grave closes 
 over his remains, to the emotions which overwhelm us. "We owe it 
 to the memory of him who has gone, that some tribute — feeble 
 though it be — should be paid to his memory ; that some record should 
 be made of our feelings as a class, and as individuals. "We owe it 
 also to the younger members of the bar, and to those who are to 
 come after us, that so bright an example as that of Judge "Willard 
 should not be allowed to die out and be forgotten, when we, who 
 have had personal knowledge of his professional and judicial hfe, shall 
 not be here to speak of it. 
 
11 
 
 Judge "Willard was born on the 22d day of May, 1792, at Guil- 
 ford, Connecticut, and graduated at Middlebury college, in August, 
 1813. "While at college, he was associated with the late Silas "Wright 
 and the Hon. Samuel Nelson ; men who, like him, rose to offices of 
 high honor and public trust, by the mere force of intellect, united 
 with untiring industry. 
 
 To an audience composed of Judge Willard's neighbors, most of 
 whom have had the pleasure of his acquaintance for many years, it 
 would be superfluous to speak of the purity of his. private life, of the 
 genuine kindness of his heart, of the mildness and amiability of his 
 disposition. He was generous in all his impulses, warm in his friend- 
 ships, and sincere in his professions. He was a discreet counsellor, 
 and a wise and judicious adviser ; and ever had a pleasant smile and 
 an encouraging word for the younger members of his profession, in 
 whom he always felt a deep interest. 
 
 Of Judge "Willard's life as a lawyer, a judge and an author, a more 
 extended sketch is due than the present occasion affords. Suffice it 
 to say that he was admitted to the bar in 1817, and commenced prac- 
 tice in Salem, "Washington county, where he soon rose to the front 
 rank of his profession. He held the office of surrogate, and subse- 
 quently that of first judge of the court of common pleas, of that 
 county, for several years. In 183 6-, on the promotion of Judge 
 Cowen to the bench of the supreme court. Judge "Willard was ap- 
 pointed circuit judge and vice chancellor of the fourth circuit. He 
 soon after removed to this village, and took up his residence among 
 us, and has ever since resided here, a period of more than a quarter 
 of a century. He held the office of circuit judge until it was abol- 
 ished by the new constitution, in 1847. At the first election under 
 the new constitution, in June, 1847, Judge "Willard was elected one 
 of the judges of the supreme court for the fourth judicial district, and 
 held that office for six years, retiring from the bench at the close of 1853. 
 Of his merits as a judge it is imnecessary for me to speak to those 
 who, like you, have had abundant opportunities for personal observa- 
 tion. His manner upon the bench was patient, dignified and courteous. 
 He enjoyed the confidence and esteem of the bar, and his decisions 
 commanded great respect, both at home and abroad. His recorded 
 opinions exhibit great learning and logical ability, and are pervaded 
 by a high-toned morality, and adorned by a lucid style. Among the 
 many able men who have graced the bench of the supreme court, un- 
 der its present organization, Judge Willard's name occupies a conspic- 
 
12 
 
 uous place. As an equity judge especially, he stood very high, and 
 his decisions show a great familiarity with the principles of the 
 science. 
 
 Upon leaving the bench, Judge Willard — unwilling to waste the 
 remainder of his life in inglorious ease — entered upon a career of au- 
 thorship, which he pursued with his habitual industry, and which was 
 crowned with great success. In 1855 he published a treatise on 
 Equity Jurisprudence; in 1859, a treatise on Executors, Administrators 
 and Guardians, and, in 1861, a treatise on Real Estate and Conveyanc- 
 ing ; and it is understood that at the time of his death he was engaged 
 upon a fourth work, which he probably left unfinished. These are 
 all works of great learning and abihty ; and have received the stamp 
 of approval from the bench and bar, and the legal reviews, through- 
 out the country. They are every where cited with confidence, and 
 received as authority ; and have conferred upon their author an en- 
 during fame. These several works, the results of an unwearied in- 
 dustry, and the fruits of a long and ripe experience, will ever be 
 regarded as a valuable legacy left to his brethren, by one who loved 
 his profession and was proud thus to pay the debt he owed it. 
 
 Of his political hfe it would not be becoming to speak, on this oc- 
 casion, further than to say that it was straight forward, consistent and 
 honorable, and that he never sought for office, but office sought him, 
 and forced upon him honors which his innate modesty would have 
 prompted him to decline. 
 
 Judge Willard, though firm and decided in his political principles, 
 was never an active politician, and declined all offices, except those 
 connected with his profession, until after he had retired from the bench. 
 In the fall of 1861 he was elected to the state senate from this dis- 
 trict, and held the office of senator at the time of his death. Of his 
 course in the senate I do not propose to speak, further than to say 
 that he was with his country in her time of peril, and stood by those 
 who were striving to put down this wicked rebeUion. In this, as at all 
 other periods of his life, his patriotism rose above party, even at the 
 risk of alienating his life-long friends. 
 
 Though in feeble health for some months past, it was hoped that 
 Judge "Willard would recover ; and it was with painful surprise that 
 his friends learnt, a few days since, that he had been struck down by 
 paralysis. Next we were informed that he was no more. Need I 
 say to you, sir, that wie all received this intelligence with deep emo- 
 tion ? It fell upon us with the force of a personal loss. "We all felt 
 
13 
 
 that we had lost a friend. Indeed, Judge Willard had no enemies. 
 Such high integrity, such kindness of heart, such courtesy of man- 
 ners could not fail to command the respect and esteem of all. 
 
 Such a life, Mr. Chairman, so beautiful and perfect in all its aspects, 
 may w6ll be held \ip to the young as an example for their admira- 
 tion — as a model for their imitation. But I feel that I should leave 
 my sketch of it incomplete did I not add that Judge "Willard's life 
 was guided by the precepts of the gospel, and his last hours cheered 
 by the hopes of the christian. Having lived the life of faith, he died 
 the death of the righteous, and his reward is with the Most High. 
 
 "As the seed which is deposited in the earth decays and dies, and 
 from it springs a plant crested with a beautiful flower, so from its clay 
 tenement which lies dissolved and perished has the pure spirit es- 
 caped ; but it will live forever, clad in celestial drapery, and crowned 
 with the flowers of heaven." 
 
 To us remains the sacred duty of cherishing the memory^ and im- 
 itating the example of our departed friend. 
 
 Nomen in ex€m2)lu'm sero servahimus aevo. 
 
 Hon. JuDlAH Ellsworth said : 
 
 Mr. Chairman : I cannot allow these resolutions to pass, by a mere 
 silent assent. Though not within the same circle of intimate famil- 
 iarity as the chairman and Chancellor Walworth, I knew Judge Wil- 
 lard too well to allow this last chance to speak of his merit to pass 
 without paying a tribute to his memory. 
 
 I have known his public judicial character since his accession to the 
 common pleas of Washington county, about 1825. Long before I 
 knew the man, his administration of justice in his county gave that 
 court a reputation second to no common pleas court in the state. 
 When he was appointed circuit judge and became vice chancellor, on 
 his removal to this place, I became well acquainted with Judge Wil- 
 lard, personally. By practice in the supreme court and court of chan- 
 cery, I became well acquainted with him as a judge. 
 
 Judge Willard's moral perceptions were of a rare order, and had 
 been cultivated to a degree of perfection rarely equaled, and he never 
 failed, in common conversation as well as in his action on the bench, 
 to urge on the bar that their duty was to aid the court in reaching 
 the justice of the case. This seemed to be his leading desire — not 
 to shape his action so much by the laws written on paper, as by that 
 law written on the heart. Judg6 Willard was a model lawyer. 
 
14 
 
 J, A. Shoudy, Esq., spoke substantially as follows : 
 
 Mr. Chairman : As one of the younger members of the profession 
 of which Judge Willard was so bright an ornament, I beg to add 
 one word as my feeble tribute of respect to the memory of the la- 
 mented dead. 
 
 From the time I began the study of law, I. have known him. Com* 
 mencing my studies in an office adjoining his, Avhere I was frequently 
 called to be in his office and see him there, it has been my privilege 
 to know him better than has been the fortune of most of my brethren 
 of my age. And I can truly say, Mr. Chairman, that I never knew 
 that otlier man for whose character as a lawyer and a man, I had such 
 profound respect. 
 
 It has been truly said that he was the friend of young lawyers. 
 For such, he always had a kind and encouraging word. He pointed 
 them to the higher and nobler walks of the profession — taught them 
 to eschew technicalities^ and aim at the right investigation of truth. 
 
 The benefit of his example to the profession can hardly be over 
 estimated. 
 
 Sir, I have always considered myself fortunate in having been per- 
 mitted to know and love such a man. 
 
 James P. Butler, Esq., said: 
 
 Mr. Chairman : Those who have addressed thfe bar on this occasion 
 have been long personally acquainted with the distinguished man 
 whose death we have met to deplore. 
 
 It was never my good fortune to know Judge "Willard intimately, 
 in the relations of social life. I have known him only in his profes- 
 sional character I can therefore speak of him as one who has beheld 
 him from a distahcte ; from such a stand-point you can calculate his 
 dimensions. 
 
 The first time I ever entered a circuit court while in session. Judge 
 Willard presided. I was a mere boy. A cause was on trial of very 
 great importance. Excellent counsel were arrayed, Hunt and Ross 
 on one side, and Simmons and Gardiner Stow on the other. These 
 able advocates had discussed the various points with the eminent 
 learning and ability for which they were distinguished. I shall ever 
 remember the clear and lucid style in which Judge Willard, on that 
 occasion, unraveled the entangling questions at issue; 
 
 I have always viewed him since that event as a bright and brilhant 
 luminary — "a light set upon a hill "—a sun without a spot — giving 
 
15 
 
 light and heat. The shadow into which he has entered cannot dim 
 that light. The grave cannot extinguish his fame. 
 
 "When the members of the bar of this village shall accompany his 
 earthly remains to the last resting place, we shall look down into the 
 sepulchre of no ordinary man. 
 
 It was moved, that the different addresses made upon this occasion, 
 together with the resolutions, be published in the village papers. 
 Carried. 
 
V-^ i 
 
 RESOLUTIONS 
 
 ^tM\t 0f Wt ^i^it 0f %m ^wX 
 
 K;' 
 
 INCLUDING 
 
 ADDRESSES OF SENATORS CLARK, FOLGER, TOBEY, 
 MURPHY, COOK AND PRUYN. 
 
 In the State Senate^ of which the deceased was a member, the fol- 
 lowing proceedings occurred, at the next meeting of that body, on 
 the 9th of January, 1863 : 
 
 Mr. Clark announced the death of the late Hon. John Willard, 
 and said : 
 
 Mr. President : It is my painful duty to announce to the senate the 
 death of one of our most worthy members. Senator Willard died at 
 his residence at Saratoga Springs, August 31st, 18G2, at the age of 
 70 years. He died, as he had always lived, respected by all for his 
 many virtues. Senators associated with him are, I understand, pre- 
 pared to do justice to his memory. In accordance with the usual 
 custom, I offer these resolutions : 
 
 Resolved, That in the death of Hon. John Willarcl the senate has lost an 
 able and faithful member, the country an eulightened statesman, and society 
 an honest man. That with our regrets at the loss to the senate, the country 
 and society, we mingle our sympathy with the bereaved family of our late 
 distinguished fellow senator, and in token of our respect to his memory, rec- 
 ommend that each senator and officer of the senate wear crape on the left 
 arm for one week. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the family of the 
 deceased. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of the above resolutions be communicated to the 
 Assembly. 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 The question being on the adoption of the resolutions, Mr. Folger 
 addressed the senate as follows : 
 
 Mr. President: It seems appropriate that I, as chairman of that 
 standing committee of this house, of which the deceased senator was 
 the ornament and the strength, should second tliese resolutions. 
 
 The announcement just made by the senator from the 15 th, is but 
 the utterance of the thought which has been with us all from the 
 opening of this session. In all the greetings and pleasurable excite- 
 ment of our meeting again, and in the routine of the few days' busi- 
 ness, the reflection has ever pressed i;pon us that one seat has, in the 
 interim, been vacated by death, and that the most venerable, and most 
 experienced and wisest of our body, has gone before us. 
 
 It scarcely becomes me to assume to speak, from personal knowl- 
 edge, of the character of the departed senator, for I never knew him 
 until we met upon committee ; and through all the last session I but 
 once saw him elsewhere than in this chamber, or in the committee 
 room. What I knew of him is from his public life, and the inference 
 which I may draw from it. But, Mr. President, dying at his three 
 score years and ten, he dies well, of whom a fitting, a glowing and 
 an ample eulogy is found in the simple narration of the chief events 
 of his life, and whose character can be traced with praise, well marked 
 in the public records of his state. 
 
 His life has been chiefly spent in the discharge of judicial duties. 
 The manner of the discharge of them has shown his admirable men- 
 tal qualifications. The length of his continuance in the office of 
 judge, and the lepeated calls of him to that ofiice, show the confiding 
 appreciation of the pubhc, and prove that he possessed not only intel- 
 lectual ability but high personal character and integrity. For over thirty 
 years, in the same community, he sat upon the bench. He was suc- 
 cessively surrogate and first judge of the court of common pleas for 
 nearly twenty years ; he was then circuit judge and vice chancellor 
 for ten years, and then justice of the supreme court for six years. In 
 this long occupation of judicial position he was exactly in the focus of 
 the acute and searching intellect of the bar, from which escapes unde- 
 tected no weakness of the head, and in full view of the people, whose 
 criticism of moral qualification and character is not, in the long run, 
 apt to err. And when judicial labor was ended, he forgot not the 
 debt which, Lord Coke says, every lawyer owes to his profession, but 
 in his learned leisure added to the hterature of the law, works which, 
 felicitous and perspicuous in style, and accurate and profound in legal 
 
19 
 
 research and learning, are cited in the courts as authoritative text 
 books. 
 
 And as a culminating evidence of his eminent qualifications and 
 character, when, in 1861, the people of his district, under the shadow 
 of a peril which huslied party strife and aspirations, looked for a pure 
 man and a wise legislator to represent them in this senate, they spon- 
 taneously and with one accord delegated him. 
 
 Surely, he was in private a man pure in spirit, blameless in life, 
 upright in heart ; and in public, profound in knowledge, signal in abil- 
 ity, steadfast in integrity. 
 
 And then he came and met with us, weak in frame and strong in 
 intellect, rich in acquisition, assiduous in duty, never rising in his place 
 but to command the respectful attention of the senate. His labors here 
 were well directed and fructified, and order was restored to the confused 
 state of the law touching the punishment for capital offenses, and the 
 rights of married women, and the relations of husband and wife. 
 
 His services in committee, though quiet and unobtrusive, were in 
 the highest degree valuable, for his discrimination and legal learning, 
 ever at command, were the ready touchstone to separate the useful 
 from the needless, and to forestall much painful research. And it was 
 produced with a courtesy and simplicity of manner, and modesty of 
 demeanor, that savored only a wish to aid, not at all of a desire to 
 shine. 
 
 Such, in my estimation, was the senator whose death we now me- 
 morize. And although with his infirmities of the flesh, and bereft, as 
 he was, of wife and child, and at his age, having stepped far towards 
 the mark beyond which years are but sorrow and trouble, he might 
 well speak of himself, in the language of the heathen poet, as one 
 " who reckoned the close of his life among the boons of nature," {qui 
 spatium vitce extrevium inter munera ponat, naturce,) yet we, as indi- 
 viduals^ as citizens and as legislators, cannot but deplore his removal 
 from among us. 
 
 Mr. ToBEY said: 
 
 Mr. President : The memory of the virtuous and distinguished dead 
 is entitled to a tribute of respect from the living ; but independent of 
 the claims of gratitude, to our acknowledgment of the merit and valu- 
 able public services of those who have gone before us, past compan- 
 ionship with and friendship for the departed senator^ whose death has 
 just now been so appropriately announced by his successor, would 
 
20 
 
 prompt me to attempt an expression of my feelings of respect for his 
 memory and of my appreciation of his great worth. His age gave 
 him rank as the Nestor of the senate, while the correctness of his 
 judgment gave point and eminence to the distinction. His unobtru- 
 sive merit was shrouded by a modesty that sometimes overshadowed 
 his superior intelligence, until drawn aside by the encouragements of 
 friendship or the necessities of his position. Those only who saw 
 much of the workings of his mind and heart understood the man, or 
 could rightly estimate his value. 
 
 It was my fortune to have known him many years, and I witnessed 
 his progress to professional distinction, until he won by his ability the 
 highest judicial honors, laid aside only to assume, at the bidding of 
 the people who knew him best, the duties of a legislator, which he con- 
 tinued to discharge until summoned before the great Sovereign on 
 high. I saw much of him during the last winter, while a member of 
 this body ; we dwelt under the same roof, met at the same board, of- 
 ten at the same fireside, and labored on the same committee. His 
 intercourse with men was marked by a kindness of manner that won 
 esteem, and a frankness that secured confidence and commanded re- 
 spect. Gifted with a memory of more than ordinary strength, he was 
 ever ready to share from its stores treasures of knowledge, ripened 
 into wisdom, dispensing them for the benefit and pleasure of those 
 around him. He had read much, and with discrimination ; always a 
 student, he was conversant with the sciences, the classics and the lit- 
 erature of the day. He had within himself and in his books sources 
 of mental enjoyment that compensated for the absence of society when 
 friends were not near ; and his virtuous habits withheld him from ob- 
 truding upon, while he did not avoid, the company of his acquaint- 
 ances. He communed much with himself, and thought much for the 
 advantage of others ; and the community are now enjoying the fruits 
 of his literary labors. He was born in New England. He was bred 
 to the law in this state, where he resided for about half a century. 
 He loved his profession for the sake of it, and pursued its study with 
 untiring zeal. He laid the ground-work of future professional emi- 
 nence, by diligently reading the works of those ancient lawyers, whose 
 genius and labors reduced the common law to a system. Possessed 
 of strong sense and a logical mind, cultivated, stored with learning, he 
 became prominent among the judges of the day, and his opinions Avere 
 reputed for their ability — the research and uprightness of purpose by 
 which they were distinguished. In 1853 he retired from the bench, 
 
^4^v 
 
 21 
 
 after having occupied a seat, as judge, for more than thirty years. 
 During that long period, and out of the multitude of cases that came 
 before him, there were doubtless many in which some were dissatis- 
 fied with his decisions, but none where his integrity was questioned. 
 
 Accustomed to labor, his active mind could not remain idle. When 
 his judicial labors ceased, he felt that it was the duty of every one to 
 contribute in some way to the advantage or happiness of those around 
 him; and, turning to his books — to him a source of pleasure — he 
 became the author of two learned work^, that bear the prefix of his 
 name, which are and will continue to be found in the library of everv 
 lawyer, an enduring evidence of the learning, industry and patient re- 
 search of their author. 
 
 In politics, Judge Willard was a democrat ; but wlien the flag of 
 rebellion was raised, and the stars and stripes were hauled down, his 
 politics were forgotten in his love of country, and he cheered her 
 friends by his advice and countenance, and threw all his influence on 
 the side of the government, the constitution and the laws. In the fall 
 of 1861 he was elected to the senate, and one year ago he took his 
 seat with us as a member of tliis body, and cheerfully lent his voice 
 and his vote on all occasions to sustain the sovereignty of the union 
 and to crush out the rebellion. 
 
 Appointed a member of the committee on the judiciary, he was 
 faithful and diligent in the discharge of the duties of his situation, 
 bringing to the aid of that body his large experience and great learn- 
 ing, avoiding no responsibility, but cheerfully discharging every duty 
 imposed by his position, esteeming no labor too great, no task too ar- 
 duous, by which the burthen of liis associates might be reheved and 
 the initiatory work of legislation could be properly prepared and suc- 
 cessfully accomplished. 
 
 On the floor, he seldom occupied the time or attention of the sen- 
 ate, but whenever he addressed tliis body there was no member wlio 
 was listened to with more respect, nor any whose opinions received 
 more consideration or whose reasons were more convincing. He did 
 not aspire to distinction in debate, but contented himself with the dis- 
 charge of the legitimate duties of a legislator, in preparing and per- 
 fecting laws for the action of the senate, and securing their final 
 passage. 
 
 The success of other members has been more brilliant, but there 
 are none whose laljors have been more useful to the state, or wlio lias 
 established for himself a reputation more enduring or more enviable. 
 
22 
 
 The severities of our criminal code and the apparent injustice of some 
 of its provisions, had been brought to his notice during a long judicial 
 career, and he successfully strove to procure their modification by 
 amendments which now appear upon our statute book, a monument to 
 his humanity and wisdom, conferring credit upon the intelhgence of 
 the legislature by whom they were adopted. 
 
 The constitution of Judge Willard was never strong. Long years 
 and severe labor had told upon his physical energies. His health 
 failed before the close of the last session, and he left this scene of his 
 labors never to return. His strength continued to fail during the 
 summer, but his mind and pen were ever active. The last days of 
 his life were devoted to the preparation of an elaborate and valuable 
 report, upon an important subject that had been referred to him by 
 this body, and which, it is expected, will ere long be presented to the 
 senate. 
 
 I have not, in these few remarks, sought to do more than refer to 
 the life and labors of our lamented associate, hoping that some compe- 
 tent pen will hereafter do justice, in an enduring form, to that estima- 
 ble citizen, the learned jurist, the true patriot and enhghtened legisla- 
 tor, John Willard. 
 
 Mr. Murphy said : 
 
 It was unnecessary, Mr. President, after the just and appropriate 
 terms in which the mournful event which has happened among us has 
 been announced here, for me to add any thing more ; and yet I should 
 do injustice to my own feelings if I were to be altogether silent. The 
 announcement was not unexpected. The infirm condition in which the 
 deceased senator left us before the close of the last session, and the ad- 
 vanced age which he had reached, even the allotted life of man, led me to 
 fear, and I doubt not, also, the other members of this body, that we should 
 never meet him again in our circle. He has gone from us forever ; and 
 while we submit, on this occasion, to the inexorable law of our nature, 
 which declares that it is appointed unto all men once to die, and humbly 
 bow to the will of Almighty God in this dispensation, we are permitted, 
 nevertheless, to deplore the loss and commemorate the virtues of our 
 friend. The profound learning of the deceased, which has been so justly 
 dwelt upon by the senator from the 11 th, (Mr. Tobey,) his pure and un- 
 sullied character, his quiet and gentle manners, his devoted patriotism, 
 these, added to his venerable appearance, stamped him in the minds 
 of all those, whether within or without this body, who admire intel- 
 
23 
 
 ligence, wisdom and dignity in that capacity, as, indeed, a senator. 
 Like the senator of the 26th, (Mr. Folger,) my personal acquaintance 
 with Judge "Willard commenced with our connection with this body ; 
 but some circumstances in common, attending our election to the sen- 
 ate, led me into frequent consultation Avith him upon many of the im- 
 portant questions which agitated our counsels during the last session. 
 It was in these private interviews that I learned to admire his powers 
 of mind, his profound erudition, his simplicity of character and his ar- 
 dent patriotism ; and, as it were, at his knees to draw lessons of wis- 
 dom. He threw always a flood of light upon every subject which 
 came before him — 
 
 " Nihil tetigit quod non ornavit.'^ 
 
 His loss is a loss not only to this body, but to the state and nation ; 
 and while we recall his presence amongst us as adding consideration 
 and strength to our counsels, let the remembrance of his virtues, sen- 
 ators, stimulate us to a conscientious discharge of our duties here, to 
 the welfare of our commonwealth and the peace and concord of our 
 distracted country, 
 
 Mr. Cook said : 
 
 Mr. President: My relations with the late Judge Willard were 
 such that they may excuse me before the senate, for adding my testi- 
 mony to that which has been so well and so properly said. 
 
 I had known the deceased for many years ; but he resided in the 
 northeast and I in the southeast portion of the state ; our acquaint- 
 ance was more of a general than of a personal character ; and per- 
 haps it could not be truly said that any confiding personal relations 
 existed between us, until we met here at the commencement of the 
 last session of the senate, to take the oath and our seats as senators 
 of this body. 
 
 It then so happened that we had both taken lodgings at the same 
 hotel, and our rooms opened out upon the same hall ; and as it was 
 my duty, he being my senior, I called early at his room to pay my 
 respects ; that call was promptly returned, and from that time scarcely 
 a day passed that we were not in each other's room, where we dis- 
 cussed various questions that were to come before the senate, in order 
 to determine in our own minds, our representative duties in regard 
 to them. 
 
 As others have told you, in early life he turned his attention to the 
 study of the law ; and in the profession of the law his labors con- 
 
24 
 
 tinned through Hfe, and I have seldom met a man more famihar with 
 the doctrine of rights under the common law, or when and where that 
 law had been broken in upon by statutory provisions ; or when the 
 law in any given case was regarded as settled. He appeared to be 
 as well informed of the adjudications in the higher English courts, 
 and the courts of the several states in this union, as he was familiar 
 with the adjudications of our own state. 
 
 After one of these evenings of familiar conversation, I have often 
 thought of that distinguished and somewhat peculiar branch of the 
 profession that had grown up in the northern part of this state, emi- 
 nent for their legal learning and ability, of which the late Judge 
 Cowen, Daniel Cady, Chancellor Walworth, Judge Willard, and the 
 late Nicholas Hill, were among the most distinguished members. All 
 of these have noAV passed away, except the Chancellor, and whether 
 there remains in that portion of the state those that will make their 
 places good in the profession, future dcA^elopments of time must de- 
 termine. 
 
 The deceased, like the late Nicholas Hill, had more vigor of mind 
 than strength of body ; therefore under the strong and constant work- 
 ings of the former, the latter yielded ; and when, near the end of the 
 last session, failing health compelled him to .leave for his home, I 
 think but few senators expected that they would ever see him again 
 in his seat in this senate. 
 
 It will be remembered, that the deceased introduced a bill at the 
 last session of the senate, in relation to the old chancery fund of this 
 state, which at one time was said to amount to about three millions 
 of dollars, and now to less than two milhons of dollars. "When that 
 bill came up for consideration, it was, upon his own motion, referred 
 to the judiciary committee, of which he was a member, to investigate 
 and report at the next session of the senate. This duty the commit- 
 tee referred solely to the deceased. 
 
 While at Saratoga for a short time, last summer, I called and spent 
 an evening at his house ; was shown into the back parlor, a room 
 plain but neatly furnished, and the portraits of himself and deceased 
 wife were the only paintings that seemed to be allowed upon its walls. 
 It was quite evident that he occupied this room for his evening read- 
 ing. He appeared quite well, for him, and said he believed he had 
 fully recovered from the succession of colds taken while in Albany 
 during the winter. Among the subjects of our conversation, he early 
 spoke of his report on the old chancery fund ; said he had the second 
 
25 
 
 draft of it nearly completed, and proposed to read it to me ; but being 
 pressed for time, I said no ; you will bring it with you to Albany, 
 it will then be published by tlie senate as the report of the committee, 
 and then we Avill all see it. He then stated the vieAv he had taken 
 of the question, the power of the legislature oyer this fund, the prac- 
 tice of the British government, and recalled the period when that 
 government first assumed the control over funds paid into court. But 
 he is not here to present that report ; yet the importance of the sub- 
 ject leads us to hope that the other members of that committee will 
 possess themselves of it, that it may come into the keeping of the 
 senate ; not only that we may all be informed and benefited by his 
 examination of the question, but also tliat the senate may be the de- 
 po.sitory of the last public labors of his official life ; and here I may 
 be excused for saying, that upon the coming in of tliat report. I think 
 enough will be shown to justify the early consideration and the early 
 action of the senate upon the subject of these funds, as it is quite proba- 
 ble that Chancellor Walworth is now the only person living that could 
 give reliable information in regard to them, of whom Judge Willard 
 often said that these funds " were well taken care of while within the 
 chancellor's control ;" but, to use liis own modest language, "since 
 tliat time they have not been cared for as they ought to have been." 
 My own impression is, that we ought to feel grateful that our atten- 
 tion has been called to the condition of these chancery funds. 
 
 In early life, upon profession of faith, Judge Willard connected 
 himself with the Presbyterian church, and honored that profession by 
 a well ordered life, and was doubtless better prepared at its close for 
 the great change that awaited him than some of us, his associates, in 
 the senate. 
 
 Mr. Pruyn said : 
 
 Mr. President : Like the senator who has just addressed you, 1 
 feel that there are a few thoughts to which I must give utterance. 
 It so happened that I was the only member of this bod)^ wlio was 
 present at the funeral of Judge Willard, and heard the quiet, clear 
 and feeling address of his pastor, portraying his character and virtues. 
 I accompanied the relatives and friends to the grave, and saw depos- 
 ited in its mother earth the remains of the lamented dead, there to 
 rest until '"'the resurrection of the just." 
 
 Let me say a word as to one or two points in the character of the 
 deceased, which have not been as distinctly presented as others. 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 As a judge, he was eminently fearless. He kne^v and thoroughly 
 appreciated his position and duty, and also the place and province of 
 the jury, and he never hesitated to perform that duty, or sought to 
 cast the responsibility of it upon others. How much many of the 
 judges of the present day falter under such circumstances, and its 
 lamentable effect in promoting litigation, the members of the legal 
 profession well know. 
 
 Judge Willard was a sincere and devout christian. His tastes were 
 pure, simple and scholarly. His Greek testament was his constant 
 companion, and while expounding the laws of man, he constantly 
 drew strength from the higher law he carried with him, searching the 
 scriptures, for in them he knew were the words of eternal life. 
 
 His illness was brief and his death quiet, and it was not long be- 
 tween his being very easy in this world and very happy in the next, 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously adopted. 
 
/ 
 
 PROCEEDINGS 
 
 mvMi of ^t f tate »{ pm f otfe. 
 
 COSTAISIXO 
 
 ADDRESSES BY MESSRS. BROCKETT, HOUGHTON, MOULTON, 
 
 McSHEA, REDINGTON, SEYMOUR, HAVENS, 
 
 HEACOCK AND POST. 
 
 The resolutions of the Senate having been communicated to the 
 Assembly, they were considered in that body on the fifth day of Feb- 
 ruary, 1863, when 
 
 Mr. Beockett spoke as follows : 
 
 Mr. Speaker : A few days since a resolution of the Senate was 
 communicated to this House announcing the death of Senator Willard. 
 Owing to tlie peculiar condition of affairs at that time it was laid 
 upon the table, not as an act of disrespect to the memory of the hon- 
 ored deceased, but to await a more favorable time for action. I 
 now call for the resolution, and ask unanimous consent of the House 
 that it may be read. Granted. 
 
 The resolutions were then read, as follows, on motion of Mr. 
 Clark ; 
 
 Resolved, That in the death of Hou. John Willard the senate has lost an 
 able and faithful member, the country an eulightened statesman, and society 
 an honest man. That with our regrets at the loss to the senate, the country 
 and society, we mingle our sympathy with the bereaved family of our late 
 distinguished fellow senator, and in token of our respect to his memory, rec- 
 ommend that each senator and officer of the senate wear crapo on the left 
 arm for one week. 
 
 Resolved, That a coi)y of these resolutions be sent to the family of the 
 deceased. 
 
28 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of the above resolutions be communicated to the 
 Assembly. 
 
 Mr. Brockett, after the reading of the resohitions, continued : 
 Mr. Speaker : I move that the resolutions be concurred in, and 
 upon that motion I desire to make a few remarks. 
 
 The resohitions which have been transmitted by the Senate to this 
 House, and wliich have just been read, communicated to us the pain* 
 ful inteUigence of tlie death of Senator "Willard — which melancholy 
 event took place at his residence at Saratoga Springs, August 31, 
 1862. The deceased Senator had reached the advanced age of sev- 
 enty years, and during his long and eventful life he held many high 
 and important offices in the State of New York ; the duties of which 
 he discharged with that ability, purity and dignity of character, and 
 strict impartiality, which won for him the confidence and respect of 
 all who knew hira. He died at a patriarchal age, full of years, and 
 of honors, beloved and esteemed by all who had the pleasure of know- 
 ing him — leaving his name impressed on the annals of our jurispru- 
 dence in characters of living liglit. As a resident of the county 
 which Senator Willard so ably and faithfully represented in the 
 Senate of this state, I consider it proper for me to move that the 
 Assembly concur in these resolutions of respect to the deceased sen- 
 ator. I shall, therefore, leave to other gentlemen wlio are to follow 
 me to do full justice to his memory. 
 
 Mr. Houghton spoke as follows : 
 
 Mr. Speaker ; It is with feelings replete with deep emotion, that I 
 rise to add my humble but heartfelt tribute to the memory of the de- 
 ceased. I have the honor to represent a portion of the district which 
 was represented by him in the other branch of this legislature. I had 
 a still greater honor. I had the honor of a personal acquaintance 
 with the illustrious Senator — the wise jurist, the unwavering patriot, 
 the true Christian — whose death has been announced to this House. 
 Yes, all that was mortal of the Hon. John Willard has departed ; 
 but the light of his example is with us, and points us to the path of 
 rectitude, honor and patriotism — saying, in language more eloquent 
 than words, "Live as I have lived," and you, too, may "make your 
 lives sublime, and departing, leave behind you foot-prints in the sands 
 of time." The venerable judge has gone from the courts of earth to 
 the courts of heaven ; from the fallible chancery of mortals to the in- 
 
29 
 
 fallible — the infinite. The patriot has gone to wear the crown of loy- 
 alty, and to sit at the right hand of our God. 
 
 While it is almost strange that the deceased had so few errors, it 
 would have been strange, indeed, had he been other than a good man, 
 for he was descended from the glorious old Pilgrim sires. He was a 
 son of New England, nurtured in the faith of the fathers — that faith 
 which taught its votaries that there was but one path to true great- 
 ness ; that was honor, virtue and true patriotism. In political faith 
 he was a democrat. But, alas ! the recreancy and corruption of po- 
 litical parties was a source of grief and sorrow to the aged hero. 
 When this rebellion rose, with the torch and ax of civil strife, and 
 threatened our national life, this venerable democrat rose at once, in 
 all the dignity of his noble manhood, above all party or political con- 
 sideration, and said, in the language of the inflexible old hero, Andrew 
 Jackson, that " our country must be saved and the union preserved." 
 
 The late senator occupied official positions connected with the ju- 
 diciary of this state for nearly forty years. He performed the high 
 and responsible duties of this position, during this long period of time, 
 with great honor and credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction 
 and approval of the varied communities in which he was called to 
 preside. In the year 1856, he was appointed by President Pierce 
 one of the commissioners to examine as to the validity of the Cali- 
 fornia land titles. This, as you all know, was a long, laborious and 
 responsible task. He performed it as he had all other duties that de- 
 volved upon him, fearlessly, honestly and satisfactorily to the govern- 
 ment which had selected him to the performance of the difficult and 
 important duty. He has left behind him three voluminous tomes ; 
 enduring monuments of his research, industry and application as a 
 jurist, scholar and commentator. When I allude to his social worth 
 it should be with head bowed in veneration ; for when we contem- 
 plate his social and Christian virtues, it may well be said of him, as it 
 was of another, that " the Christian outshone the scholar, the philan- 
 thropist, the statesman, the patriot, the politician." He loved hu- 
 manity for humanity's sake. Wherever he beheld her bleeding 
 wounds, he at once resorted to all judicious means within his reach to 
 assuage her sufferings and correct her wrongs. 
 
 A few months ago the great and good man whose death has pro- 
 duced grief and mourning in every community in which he was ever 
 known, was a conspicuous member in the co-ordinate branch of this 
 Legislature. Never, sir, shall I forget his appearance as I beheld 
 
30 
 
 him there in his seat, his very countenance shadowing forth the high 
 and holy thoughts that pervaded liis pure and exalted mind. But we 
 have beheld his mortal form for the last time; we shall see his face 
 no more, forever ; but his good deeds, his Christian precepts, and the 
 hallowed influences he shed around him will never die. 
 
 " These shall resist the empire of decay 
 When time is o'er and worlds have passed away : 
 Cold in the dust the perished heart may lie, 
 But that which warmed it once can never die." 
 
 And I doubt not he looks down from his starry abode upon the coun- 
 try he loved so well and served so faithfully, and his illumined spirit 
 joins in that mighty voice which echoes back to us from the venerable 
 dead, which admonishes and commands us to be true to the trust 
 which they have left us — to preserve, if possible, our country unbro- 
 ken, our liberties unimpaired, our faith in God unshaken. 
 
 Mr. MouLTON spoke as follows : 
 
 I do not know that I ought to add a single poor word of mine to 
 the eloquent remarks of my colleagues who have preceded me. But, 
 Mr. Speaker, the humblest follower in a funeral pageant may throw a 
 simple flower on the grave of one whom he loves or reveres. My 
 first recollection of the distinguished citizen, jurist and statesman, 
 whose loss we deplore, was when as the distinguished justice of the 
 Supreme Court of my own judicial district, he presided, with grace 
 and judicial impartiality, over the circuit of my native county. The 
 records of his legal labors are found in every volume of law reports 
 in our state. But, sir, it was the last efforts of his life that will cause 
 his memory to be embalmed in the hearts of his countrymen so long 
 as patriotism shall be cherished by the American people. Stirred by 
 the dangers which threatened his loved country, he left his long 
 sought for and much coveted retirement, devoting all the powers of 
 his well disciplined miud, all the faculties which God and nature had 
 given him, to unite his fellow citizens in putting down this monstrous 
 and unnatural rebellion. 
 
 Mr. Speaker : Few upon the floor of this house may expect to 
 arrive at the distinction or acquire the fame of the deceased senator. 
 But, sir, we may all walk in the path his footsteps have hallowed ; we 
 may emulate him in his love of country and in offering upon its altar 
 all love of party, all preconceived partisan prejudices, if, by so doing. 
 
31 
 
 we may assist in the smallest degree in saving our country from tlie 
 horrible death which so slowly yet so surely seems to await it. 
 
 Mr. McShea spoke as follows : 
 
 Mr. Speaker : After the eloquent and appropriate manner in which 
 the gentlemen who have preceded me have spoken of the late 
 lamented Senator TVillard, it may, perhaps, be considered unneces- 
 sary for me to add any thing to what they have so well and so beau- 
 tifully said on this occasion. But, as the representative of an 
 adjoining county to that in which Judge Willard lived and died, 
 and a resident of the same congressional district, in behalf of tiie peo- 
 ple whom I have the honor to represent, by whom he was well 
 known and highly respected, I wish to add my humble mite to the 
 tribute of respect which has been this day so justly paid to his 
 memory. 
 
 It is right and proper to commemorate the virtues and patriotism 
 of the honored dead, more particularly in this age of corruption in 
 high places, and to point theiii out as proper models for the respect 
 and imitation of the rising generation. Born on the soil of New 
 England — which, with all its isms, has given birth to so many men 
 of pre-eminent genius, whose glowing eloquence and resplendent 
 talents Avould shed lustre on any land — Senator Willard in early 
 life made this state his future home, where he studied law, and lived 
 for more than half a century, beloved and respected by his fellow 
 men, and died at an advanced age, crowned with the honors and 
 rewards of a well-spent life. 
 
 During his long and eventful hfe he was pecuharly honored by 
 the people, who loved him for his many amiable qualities of liead 
 and heart, and admired him for his superior knowledge of the law, 
 his disinterested patriotism and integrity of purpose. For nearly 
 twenty years he was successively surrogate and first judge of the 
 court of common pleas. For ten years he discharged the duties of 
 circuit judge and vice chancellor, and for sis years was a justice of 
 the supreme court. Such a long continuance in such high and im- 
 portant offices, occupying the exalted position of judge in the same 
 community for more than thirty years, is a more beautiful and appro- 
 priate eulogy on the life and character of Judge "Willard than the 
 most eloquent words could express, and a sufficient proof of the high 
 estimation in which he was so justly held by the intelligent and 
 patriotic people of Saratoga county, who knew him best. 
 
32 
 
 A close and attentive student in early life, he laid the foundation 
 of his after fame by studying the writings of those distinguished men, 
 whose invaluable works on the statute and common laws have ren- 
 dered their names famous, not only in England, but tli rough out the 
 length and breadth of this land. He anxiously labored to acquire 
 those literary treasures which adorn the mind, by dihgent research 
 and in communion with the great and immortal spirits of the past, 
 who at the toil of anxious hours of thoughtful labor, have coined 
 for us from the golden treasury of their intellects, thoughts more pre- 
 cious than the golden sands of California, bright even as the soldier's 
 lance, imperishable as the patriot's fame, brilhant and beautiful as the 
 emerald's refulgent sheen. 
 
 "When, in 1853, he retired from the bench, he did not repose in 
 inglorious idleness, but with that desire to benefit his fellow men 
 Avhich had ever characterized his actions, he resolved to give them 
 the benefit of his long experience and extensive knowledge of the law 
 in three volumes, which bear the prefix of his name, wliich are highly 
 spoken of by the legal profession, and are cited in our courts as 
 authoritative text books. 
 
 In politics Judge Willard was a democrat, believing that the best 
 interests of his country would be promoted by the success of demo- 
 cratic principles. The first time I ever saw him was as a delegate to 
 the state convention which met in this city just two years ago this month, 
 at which many of the gentlemen whom I see around me were present, 
 and which, I venture to say, contained more men of venerable appear- 
 ance and intelligence than ever before assembled in a state convention, 
 the object of which was, if possible, to preserve peace and avert this 
 dreadful civil war which has brought suffering to thousands of fire- 
 sides and dyed the green fields of our country with the best blood of 
 our sons. When civil war was inaugurated, and a deadly blow struck 
 at the government, vmder which he had been born and lived for 
 nearly three-quarters of a century, like many others, with him party 
 became merged in patriotism, and he gave his support to those in 
 power, believing them to be then actuated by an earnest desire to 
 restore the Union and maintain the constitution in all its purity and 
 entirety, just as it came from beneath the hands of the immortal 
 Father of his country. 
 
 In 1861, when the fierce contentions of party were for a time hush- 
 ed in view of the impending gloom of war which, like a pall, over- 
 shadowed the land — when ability, integrity and patriotism were 
 
33 
 
 considered especially necessary in a representative — the |)eople of 
 Saratoga county selected Judge Willard to represent them in the 
 state senate. His actions as a legislator are, I suppose, known to you 
 all. No member of the senate ^vas more attentive to his legislative 
 duties, or more faithful in their discharge. As a member of the judi- 
 ciary committee his services were considered invaluable by his col- 
 leagues in the senate, not oidy in the initiatorv measures of legislation, 
 but in maturing and perfecting them. His long administration of our 
 criminal code, and his thorougli knowledge of our laws, made him 
 perfectlv acquainted with their defects; and his humane disposition 
 induced him to procure their amendment so as to make them more in 
 accordance with the spirit of the age, and to blend justice with mercy. 
 He also made many necessary changes in the laws with regard to the 
 rights of married women, and established on a jnster and more equi- 
 table basis the relations between husband and wife. 
 
 He was a man of refined tastes and enlarged views — studious, 
 thoughtful and reflecting — possessing a cultivated mind, adorned with 
 the rich and beauteous garniture of classic erudition, which in his 
 leisure hours he had carefully culled from the choicest authors, ancient 
 and modern. "What a delicious mental banquet he there found before 
 him ! How many fountains of knowledge were unsealed, sending 
 forth their pellucid and invigorating streams to satiate his thirst for 
 knowledge 1 A silent monitor there pointed out to him the path to 
 future honor, usefulness and fame, as he drew from the sacred fount 
 of knowledge the portion of its crystal waters requisite for liis walk 
 in hfe. He loved education for its intrinsic loveliness and worth, for 
 he knew that it was bright and beautiful as the stars, and that like the 
 orb of day its golden effulgence encircled the globe. And in the 
 ^vening of life he was well repaid for his hours of youthful study by 
 .the knowledge that he had been enabled faithfully and properly to 
 discharge the duties of the high offices he had been honored with by 
 the people, and had besides a large fund of knowledge upon whicli to 
 draw for enjoyment. 
 
 Others may liave exliibited more shining quahties — may have been 
 more brilliant and attractive, but few have left behind a brighter or 
 more glorious record in the public service, or a proud or more enviable 
 reputation among his fellow-men. Like many other distinguished men, 
 he was unassuming, plain and unostentatious in his manners : but had, 
 withal, a certain air of quiet dignit}-, which, while it won respect, pre- 
 vented impertinent intrusion. But the crowning and most beautiful part 
 5 
 
34 
 
 of his character was that high moral tone which permeated all his actions; 
 refining, elevating and ennobling every thought and deed — leaving its 
 impress on all his actions, stamping them with the nobility of true great- 
 ness. The brightest intellect, the most resplendent talents, without this 
 governing and directing moral influence, may prove injurious to their 
 possessor and the community; but when to brilliant endowments is add: 
 ed a pure and high toned morality, directing and guiding them in 
 accordance with the eternal principles of truth and justice, then we 
 behold a truly great man. Such a man was Senator Willard. 
 
 His death is a loss to the state and nation at this time, as we require 
 men like him of experience, of wisdom, possessing the confidence and 
 respect of their fellow men, and imbued with genuine patriotism, to 
 carry us through this perilous crisis in the history of our country. He 
 was one of a class getting too few in numbers for the good of our coun- 
 try. Men of a superior mould, giants in thought and language, the 
 coruscations of whose genius shed a halo of glory around the age 
 in which they lived, and refl.ect credit on the land of their birth — 
 men, venerable for their years, their eminent abilities and exalted 
 patriotism, upon whose heads have rested honors more prized by free- 
 men, than the diadem which decks the brow of royalty. Like the 
 kingly oaks of the forest, over whose giant limbs the winds of heaven 
 had passed for a century, they stood proudly pre-eminent among their 
 fellow men; but one by one they are falling, covered with the snows 
 of age, and amid the regrets of a grateful people w|iom they had so 
 long loved and served ! 
 
 Born in the morning of the young republic, he witnessed with pride 
 its growing power and greatness, until it had attained a proud pre- 
 eminence among the nations of the earth. He saw it increase in pop- 
 ulation, in wealth, in manufactures, and in all tlie arts and sciences 
 which constitute national greatness, with a rapidity never before wit- 
 nessed in ancient or modern times. Its territory, stretching from the 
 Atlantic to the golden shores of the Pacific, embracing every variety of 
 soil and climate, forming thirty-four sovereign, independent states, the 
 grandest, the noblest confederacy this world ever saw. And it must 
 have caused him sincere sorrow before his death to witness it engaged 
 in a civil war and almost in the throes of dissolution ; for his love of 
 country was so great that, like the celebrated Grecian lawgiver, if his 
 expatriation from the land of his birth, which he dearly loved, would 
 have preserved the liberties of his country and maintained the union, 
 he would cheerfully have made the sacrifice. 
 
35 
 
 In ancient times they apotheosized their great men, and built statues 
 and temples in their honor; but our distinguished men need no such 
 things to perpetuate their memories. Their names and deeds are a 
 portion of our history, and the highest honor we can pay them is to 
 practice their noble and unselfish patriotism, and do all in our power 
 to restore that union which was the pride of their youthful days and 
 the bright heritage they had hoped to have left to their children. Let 
 us bury our divisions and dissensions, and promise over the graves of 
 our noble dead to reconstruct if possible our heretofore glorious 
 union on a firm and immovable basis, and on the ruins of our past 
 contentions we will erect a new and glorious temple of hberty, in 
 which shall be inscribed in letters of living light the names of the pa- 
 triarchs of freedom, the heroes and sages who founded this repubhc, 
 and also of those who preserved it from destruction ; and there, on 
 the tablet of fame, will appear the name of John "Willard, the accom- 
 plished scholar, the profound lawyer, the impartial judge and distin- 
 guished senator. 
 
 Mr. Redington spoke as follows : 
 
 Mr. Speaker : My acquaintance with the late judge "Willard in- 
 duces me to intrude upon the attention of the House but for a few 
 moments. In the earlier days of my life, and when I had but just 
 entered upon the duties of my profession, Mr. "Willaed was appoint- 
 ed circuit judge of the judicial district of which St. Lawrence county 
 forms a part. In discharging the duties of his office, almost the first 
 thing that attracted my attention was his kindness and urbanity to the 
 younger members of the bar. Always ready and willing to give the 
 most earnest attention to the remarks and suggestions of the more 
 feeble and younger members of the profession, I can never forget his 
 calm and placid countenance as he presided in court, and with what 
 ready access he was approached by all alike, without regard to fame 
 or distinguished position. His decisions, though with unmistakable 
 firmness, were always without offense, and marked with the most un- 
 suUied integrity. I early learned that he was a true Christian, the 
 evidence of which was exemplified in every act of his life. Although 
 a distinguished jurist, and occupying a very elevated position in this 
 respect, he early acknowledged the powegr and divinity of Christ. 
 After the lapse of many years, having retired from the profession a 
 little more than twelve months since, I met the Judge here in Albany 
 in the discharge of his legislative duties. He recognized me at once 
 
36 
 
 and gave me a cordial shake of the LeOid. I then saw or thougltt I 
 saw, as I looked upon his venerable countenance and form, that h\a 
 lamp of life was nearlv exiinguished, that his race was nearly run. 
 Thouffh then in the legislative service of his country, and feeling 
 deeplv anxious, as I well knew that he did, about the dangers and 
 perils that menaced that countrv, I felt that it was to be his last ser- 
 vice. What I then thought has proved too true, and he now finds a 
 peaceful and honored grave. If our country is to be broken into 
 fraements, and we made a bvword and a reproach among the nations 
 of the earth, his eye-s can never behold it. If our glorious Union, 
 formed by the patriotism of our fathers, is to be broken into pieces ; 
 if our flag, the emblem of our countrv 's greatness and glory, is to be 
 trampled upon and despised: if we. Tike the poor Pole, are obliged to 
 wander about without a home or a country^ his heart can never be 
 pained by it. 
 
 Mr. Speaker : This life is a dream. Though we may live our al!ot- 
 ".ri tiiae of three score vears and ten, yet life is like the weavers shut- 
 tie, each advancing vear seems to grow shorter and shorter as we 
 approach the hour that lavs us with the dead. Happy will it be for 
 me, sir, for vou, and for every member of this honorable bodyj if our 
 lives are as pure as the eminent man whose name I am now attempt- 
 ing to eulogize. Imbued with his pure principles of Christianity, we 
 may indeed finally hope to enter upon that eternal and happy fiiture 
 where death never enters. And when the storms and troubles of this 
 life are over, when we have passed over the excitements and passions 
 of the hour, when our political differences are forever ended, and when 
 the places that now know us in this Assembly chamber, and in time, 
 shall know us no more forever — I say imbued with his pure princi- 
 ple of Christianity we may indeed hope to be anchored with him and 
 by him in that haven of everlasting rest, where no storm ever enters. 
 That this may finally be our portion is the humble prayer of him who 
 now addresses you. 
 
 Mr. Setmocb spoke as follows : 
 
 Mr. Speaker : Those resolutions are a proper tribute to a great and 
 good man . The life and career of Judge "WiUard form an important 
 part of the history of our state. As judge and vice-chancellor, under 
 the old constitution, and subsequently judge in our supreme court 
 and court of appeals, he gained the highest eminence for his integrity 
 and accurate judicial learning. He gave dignity and character to the 
 
:i6- 
 
 37 
 
 tribxinal of which he was rhe ornament His published works and 
 decisions are a proud monument to his fame as a lawver and jurist. 
 In the Senate he proved himself a faithful and able legislator. 
 
 Thus, one by one, amid our national calamities, are passing awaj 
 the great lights that have guided us in the past, leaving only their 
 noble teachings and bright example. His long and honorable life, 
 his calm and triumphant departure, renew to us the admonition — 
 
 "' So lire, that when thv sammons comes to join 
 The innumerable caravan, that moves 
 To that mysterious realm, where each shall take 
 His chamber in the silent halls of death. — 
 Thou HO not; like the quarry-slave at niaht, 
 Scourged to his dungeon, but, stistained and soothed 
 By an nnfaltering trust, approach thy grave 
 Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
 About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams." 
 
 Mr. P. E. Havexs spoke as follows : 
 
 Mr. Speaker : I do not arise to pronounce an additional eulogy on 
 the life and vinues of the deceased. I concur in all that has been so 
 well and eloquently said by the gentlemen who have preceded me. 
 They have done no more than justice to the illustrious dead. 
 
 I had the honor of a personal acquaintance with the deceased, and 
 knew him both as judge and senator. I shall never forget an inter- 
 view I had with him soon after his election as senator, and which is 
 called fresh to my mind by the remarks that have just been made. 
 He alluded to his long and arduous labors in public life, from which 
 he had retired in hope to spend his declining years in peace and quiet; 
 but the dangers that threatened our beloved country had induced him 
 again to stirrender the blessiusrs of home and private life, to obey his 
 countrv's call in its hour of pml : and give the remaining energies of 
 his life in efibrts to protect and save that country from the horrors of 
 secession. And, while a tear glistened in his eye, he remarked that 
 if he could but live to see the flag of our imion again wave over an 
 vmdivided nation, he should be ready to dep:irt in peace. 
 
 Sir, we have lost too many of those noble patriots since the rebel- 
 lion broke out, who have seemed to liroop and die under the anguish 
 of heart and weight of sorrow occasioned by the national dangers 
 and troubles in which we are involved. In my own town has fallen 
 one who was a cotemporarv and an intimate friend of the lamented 
 Judge WiLXARD, and who, during a long professional life, had won 
 
38 
 
 the esteem and confidence of his fellow citizensj and was regarded as 
 one of the fathers and supporters of the nation, to whom we could all 
 look for counsel and advice in time of trouble. I refer to the Hon. 
 Henry H. Ross, of Essex. Well in the afternoon of life, his spirit, 
 too, was unable to bear up under the gloomy prospect of our country, 
 and he took his leave to that land of rest and peace where cruel war 
 and civil strife was never known. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, these great losses to our country should stimulate U3 
 who remain to still greater efforts to meet the increased responsibihty 
 thus thrown upon us, in this "time which tries men's souls," 
 
 Mr. Heacock said : 
 
 Having the honor to represent a portion of the district so ably 
 represented in the Senate by the late Judge Willard, it affords 
 me a melancholy pleasure to unite with those who have paid so noble 
 tributes to his memory. I had not the honor of a personal acquaint- 
 ance ; but I am happy to say, here, that his praise is on every tongue 
 in my district. I only add my prediction that his noble character, 
 deeds and worth, will live in the memory of his countrymen long 
 after the marble which marks his resting place shall have crumbled 
 back to dust. 
 
 Mr. Post said : 
 
 Mr. Speaker: I desire to say but a single word upon these resolu- 
 tions relative to the lamented Judge Willard. 
 
 He was at once a man, an incorruptible and wise jurist ; and, abovtS 
 that, possessed unquestioned loyalty and patriotism; 
 
^S^6 
 
 lit IBl^mo^laitt. 
 
 HON. JOHN WILLARD, 
 
 OF SARATOGA. 
 
 No person, now living, has had equal opportunities with 
 myself of knowing the facts, connected with the whole life 
 and character of the late John Willard of Saratoga. It is 
 therefore, that I deem it suitable to give here a brief sketch — 
 not of the idealized portrait of the remarkable man we com- 
 memorate, but of his individual features, taken from actual 
 life, and in every-day costume. 
 
 My acquaintance with John Willard, the nephew and 
 namesake of my deceased husband, commenced in his seven- 
 teenth year ; two months after he entered Middlebury College 
 in 1809 — where he was placed by his uncle. Thus, during 
 the four years of his college life, he was a member of my 
 family ; and I soon regarded him with a confidence, which to 
 the day of his death was never disappointed. 
 
 His reliability of character was entire, embracing small 
 things as well as great. His appreciation of time as it passed, 
 exceeded that of any other person I have ever known. Hence 
 his power to attain that extraordinary punctuality, which 
 was ever one of his pre-eminent characteristics. During his 
 college life, the regularly recurring duties of the week, the day, 
 
40 
 
 and the hour, were always remembered in their exact order ; 
 and from settled principles of action, they were never neg- 
 lected. His impulse was rather to perform them a little 
 in advance of the time. Thus, like the man who pays his 
 bills before due,, he worked with a cheerful alacrity; and at 
 the same time with such regulated exercise of body and mind, 
 as ensures health, by giving to each its due proportion of 
 employment. In harmony with this happy tone of his edu- 
 cational life, was that innate love of knowledge, which makes 
 its acquisition delightful. 
 
 During the four years of his collegiate course, he never 
 received a single demerit for absence from recitation, or even 
 for tardiness ; although he roomed and studied at home, — 
 nearly a quarter of a mile from the old college where he 
 recited. Ever, as his lesson was learned, he was wont to 
 descend the stairs from his room to the front hall, and to be 
 there, walking backward and forward, ready to step out over 
 the threshold, with the first stroke of the college bell : and 
 he would be at the recitation room exactly in time ; neither 
 too early — Avhich has its disadvantages — nor by any means 
 a moment too late. 
 
 This exactness of punctuality was not only an important 
 element in his success as a college student, but being founded 
 in nature, and cultivated into an unfailing habit, it was a 
 material element in the eminent success of his whole career. 
 In social life he never disappointed friends who expected him ; 
 nor as a lawyer did his clients ever have to make fruitless 
 journeys, to find a man who had forgotten his engagement and 
 wandered from his office. Bnt it was as a judge, that the 
 full magnitude of this virtue of our friend was seen. How 
 much of the time, and the expenses of suitors with their 
 attendant witnesses was saved, and how much the ends of 
 public justice were served in his courts by the inflexible punc- 
 tuality of the judge, may be known by inquiring of the law- 
 yers and suitors who attended ; and they will say, that not 
 only was the judge punctual himself, but that he possessed the 
 resolute intrepidity of character to bring, quietly, all about 
 
41 
 
 him who were directly or indirectly concerned in the business 
 of his courts, to his own standard of exactness of time. 
 
 Intrepidity of character was another of Willard's distin- 
 guishing traits. It was founded in a calm natural courage, 
 which w\as never allowed to degenerate into rashness ; and in 
 an inherent self-possession which no unexpected circumstances 
 ever discomposed. Thus he was always himself — always 
 ready to act — and with all his faculties about him. But the 
 full dignity of intrepidity of character, implies also another ele- 
 ment, whicli in the mind of Willard held supremacy over all 
 his other powers. This was an innate sense of justice, accom- 
 panied as it ever is, by truthfulness. And concerning the two- 
 fold rule of justice or right — do right and have right — young 
 Willard felt its force in both its parts ; having never the 
 affectation of the novel-hero, to ignore obligations because 
 due to himself; and thus to disturb the balance of things, by 
 setting generosity before justice. Yet was he kind iu his 
 disposition — glad to give — but he must first be certain that 
 what he gave was his own. Generosity he felt had no place, 
 till the supreme law of Justice was first satisfied. 
 
 His friends at home were watchful that this high attribute 
 of his nature — the sense of justice, should be improved, and 
 not obscured, by education ; being never willing — nor did he 
 desire it — that he should take part in any disputation that 
 required of him to set his words at variance with his belief; 
 thus favoring the dangerous fallacy, that there is an art by 
 which truth maybe manufactured — leading to mental habits, 
 which impair morality, and destroy the foundation of true 
 eloquence. He had not, like Daniel Webster, the natural 
 advantages of a commanding figure and an oratorical voice ; 
 but he had through life a weight of character, which gave 
 weight to his words. If to convince the understanding and 
 persuade the will be eloquence, then was he eloquent. 
 
 Willard having passed through the first two years of his 
 
 colleore course without a sins-le fault-mark, one of the author- 
 
 ity, to prove that he was not partial, allowed a mark to 
 
 stand against him for tardiness at prayers, which the whole 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 class knew to be undeserved. The next morning the class 
 were startled by the unusual appearance of Willard entering 
 the chapel after the preliminary exercises had begun — for 
 which, as he expected, he received a second mark. He made 
 no apology ; but having given this quiet intimation, that 
 
 " He knew his rights, and knowing dare maintain ;" 
 
 he went through the remaining two years of his course 
 without another mark, either for transgression or delinquency. 
 He graduated in 1813. 
 
 His college course completed — with the advice of his friends 
 he left Vermont, to study law and seek its honors in a broader 
 sphere. He left us with no outward property but his books 
 of study. We said "John we have high expectations for you ; 
 and nothing will satisfy us, short of your going upon the 
 bench of the Supreme Court of the State of New York." After 
 twent3^-three years of devotion to public and private duty, 
 keeping himself meantime unstained from every vice, he rose 
 to the dignity, which from the promise of his early life, his 
 friends had believed him capable of attaining ; and it was 
 the career to which we believed that his youthful indications 
 especially pointed. And as Judge of the Supreme Court, 
 not only did he render great services, but he made himself 
 a model to others. What more valuable educational tract 
 could be put into the hands of a young man than the unvar- 
 nished life of the Hon. John Willard of Saratoga ? 
 
 In 1829 he was married (from my house in Troy) to Eliza 
 Smith, the woman of all others best suited to be his wife. 
 Their only child, was a lovely daughter ; whose understanding 
 it was his delight to cultivate, as it was her mother's to super- 
 intend her accomplishments, — particularly music. Perfect do- 
 mestic concord blessed this amiable household ; and dark was 
 the sorrow that overshadowed it, when the beloved daughter 
 was taken away by death. The mother, not well before, never 
 recovered from the shock. She died six years thereafter — late 
 in the autumn of 1859. It was then feared by his friends, 
 that his silent undemonstrated grief, would soon lay him by 
 
43 
 
 the side of his wife and daughter ; and I willingly accepted 
 his invitation to spend the succeeding winter of 1859-60 with 
 my friend and relative at his home in Saratoga. 
 
 In the house of mournino;, the lono- winter evenings were 
 spent in uninterrupted conversation. When in his youth, 
 his course had been to me a pleasant stream ; now it was a 
 majestic river, whose progress and affluents, it interested me 
 to learn. Then, with his few college books, he was beginning 
 to acquire knowledge ; now with his large, well-selected, and 
 well-read library, he had fulfilled all Bacon's conditions — and 
 had become the full, the correct, and the ready man. He was 
 at this time putting his knowledge to a use, which will, I am 
 persuaded, carry his name and labors to future generations. 
 He was writing the second of those three large volumes of legal 
 science, with which he has enriched his country's law literature, 
 and aided her jurisprudence. And it was owing to his early 
 habits, that he was thus able to occupy himself in doing good 
 under the weight of crushing sorrow ; and no doubt his 
 sorrows were lightened by his engaging, systematically, in 
 significant employments. 
 
 The progress of his authorship was remarkable, considering 
 the important nature of his works, which were to be used as 
 authorities in courts of justice, and thus constantly exposed 
 to the criticism of the most astute. He had no copyist. He 
 seldom interlined, or rewrote. It was his own manuscript, 
 with few corrections, that went to his printer. His habit was 
 to begin writing at a certain hour in the morning, and to leave 
 off as regularly, before exhaustion should commence. 
 
 In our conversations, it was natural that I should love to 
 inquire how the principles pursued in his education had 
 affected his course in life. Had he ever found any reason to 
 doubt the principle upon which we insisted, when he was in 
 college, that the cultivation of justice in the heart, and truth 
 in the speech, is the foundation not only of sound morality, 
 but of all effective eloquence.^ He never had — although in 
 the beginning, as a poor young lawyer getting business slowly, 
 he had strong temptations. He was sometimes assigned by 
 
44 
 
 courts to defend bad men ; but then, his duty only required 
 of him to set forth all the extenuating points in the case. 
 Scoundrels, who deserved punishment, soon learned to keep 
 clear of him. As for such poor fellows, as had been thought- 
 lessly led into wrong, he would frequently give them advice 
 gratis — often tell them to flee — repent and reform. His 
 character once established, the causes he did get, he almost 
 invariably gained. He plead them in earnest ; his conscience 
 being with, and not against him. 
 
 The period of his going to Albany to argue his first cause 
 before the supreme court, was especially impressed upon his 
 memory. It was at the time, when that court was so proudly 
 eminent, having Ambrose Spencer at its head. He observed 
 that nothing escaped the penetration of that Judge, and that 
 whenever he had heard a matter explained once, his wrath 
 would kindle, when some long-winded pleader attempted to go 
 over it again. So when Willard's own case came up, and 
 the opposing lawyer had made his statement, he began where 
 his adversary left off; and by a concise and clear exposition of 
 his case, he soon had the earnest attention of the Judge. He 
 then briefly related what proposal of settlement he had made 
 to his opponent; "and" rejoined S[)encer, "what could they 
 say against that .?" He bowed, and begged the court's per- 
 mission to leave it to the opposing counsel. He won the 
 cause, and eventually the friendship of the judges. 
 
 After he became himself a Judge, Willard's well-balanced 
 mind was never moved by the phrenzies of the day ; hence he 
 was extensively regarded as a tower of defense against popular 
 excesses. Once, as he had been called down the Hudson to 
 decide an anti-rent suit, the party whose cause, though popu- 
 lar was illegal, sent him word that he need not come ; they 
 would settle the matter among themselves. 
 
 He told me, pleasantly, an anecdote which dates back to the 
 violent days of the Maine liquor law — how he met the extreme 
 conscientiousness of a grand jury, with respect to an innkeeper, 
 who had sold a quart of brandy to be carried, contrary to his 
 license, off his premises ; although it was ordered by a surgeon. 
 
45 
 
 to bathe the bruises of a wayfaring man who had been thrown 
 from a wagon. " I told them," said the Judge, " why you 
 would have indicted the good Samaritan, for taking care of 
 the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell 
 among thieves." 
 
 The evidence of that reliability of character which we have 
 claimed for our friend, is found in the foct, that he was trusted, 
 by all men and all classes of men, as far as he was known. In 
 Salem, where he studied law and first opened his office, and in 
 Saratoga, his last sojourn on earth, he had many public trusts 
 to fulfill ; and he ever spent much of his valuable time in giv- 
 ing, gratis, advice in the business aflairs of his neighbors and 
 friends — of the helpless widow, and the friendless orphan. 
 
 Through life, he had never need to seek for office. When 
 he went upon the bench of the Supreme Court of the State, 
 Gov. Marcy, (who was wont thus to forestall office seekers,) 
 gave him a surprise, by sending him his appointment. But in 
 the manner of his being chosen to the State Senate, there was 
 something, not only honorable to him, but nationally encour- 
 aging ; that, in these later days of American degeneracy, the 
 people of his senatorial district should have shown a patriotic 
 wisdom worthy of those good times of our republic, when 
 men were chosen, not because they wanted the office, but be- 
 cause the office wanted them. Judge Willakd had never 
 been a member either of the state or national legislature ; he 
 was engaged in writing law books, and his feeble health 
 required the Comforts of home ; but deeply anxious for the 
 fate of his distracted country, when he heard her voice, he 
 obeyed. The voters of his district were divided into three 
 parties. He was nominated by each, and voted for — by all. 
 
 When in the legislature, his gray hairs were seen as punc- 
 tually moving to his morning seat in the senate-chamber, as 
 were the dark-brown locks of his youth, to the recitation hall 
 of Middlebury College. The oldest man in the legislature — 
 there by an extraordinary event — the unanimous call of his 
 whole district — having for thirty years been looked up to, as 
 a Judge, courteous, kind and just — he was now, by his asso- 
 
46 
 
 ciates, treated with unwonted respect, mingled with filial ten- 
 derness. Thus, the Senate, seeking to honor him and avail 
 themselves of his legal ability, placed him on the judiciary 
 committee, expecting of him that he would do the important 
 work of remoddling the criminal law, yet considerately for 
 bearing to tax him with such minor cares as must fall upon the 
 chairman of the committee. In forming the law to anlend 
 the criminal code, he was but carrying out, as a legislator, 
 views concerning criminal jurisprudence, which as a judge he 
 had previously matured. The bill reported on the 7th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1862, was, ever}'' word, written by his own hand ; and 
 both houses passed it without debate. After the adjournment 
 of the Senate, still he was laboring in the business of the 
 committee, at his own house ; to form a satisfactory plan for 
 settling the great and difficult question of the chancery fund. 
 The pile of sheets he had written over, he showed me as they 
 lay on his office table the week before he was stricken down. 
 He was pleased with the progress he had made, and confident 
 in the hope that he should have his report completed in season. 
 As the Governor of the state was known to place high value 
 on his judgment, men of his district who were candidates for 
 office, and could show evidence of fitness, resorted to him for 
 recommendations. In giving these, party considerations had 
 no place. Feeble as he then was, it was afiecting to see with 
 what cheerfulness and courtesy he listened to their statements, 
 and o-ave them his advice and assistance. " I owe it to them," 
 he said, "■ they all voted for me." Thus was he laboring in- 
 cessantly in the duties of his high station :— and in life's battle 
 he died with his armor on. 
 
 In his college days, Willard, although he ever treated 
 with j)rofound respect, whatever things or persons appertained 
 to religion, yet he was not then, the devout Christian which 
 he afterwards became ; and I took opportunities to draw him 
 out, on subjects connected with the change. To say that a 
 man was converted by the ten commandments, would perhaps 
 create a smile. But his mind, bent on the whole history of 
 law, was struck by the evidence, that at the jjeriod of the 
 
47 
 
 world when that grand epitome of law was presented, — the 
 Decalogue was above the unaided faculties of man to produce ; 
 and must therefore be ascribed to the immediate agency of 
 God. And iu the gospel, he recognized God's sovereign right 
 of mercy, pardoning through a Eedeemer, those whom his 
 justice must otherwise condemn. Thus Willard meekly 
 trusted ; — and "his flesh doth rest in hope." 
 
 EMMA WILLARD. 
 
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