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BACCALAUREATE DISCOURSE

IN COMMHMORATION OF

WILLIAxM CURTIS NOYES.

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BACCALAUREATE DISCOURSE,

DELIVERED .TIJLY ]G, BEFORR

THE CLASS OF 1865,

BY SAMUEL W. FISHER,
PRESIDENT OF HAMILTON COLLEGE.

TTTICA, N. r.
D. P. WHITE, PRINTER, 111 GENESEE STREET, UTiCA.
1 S 6 6 . k\

William Curtis Noyes, LL. D., died ,in the city of Now York,
December 25, 1864. He bequeathed his Law Library, consisting of
over 5,000 volumes, to Hamilton College, of which he was an honor
ary Alumnus. The President, in liis Annual Discourse before the
Graduating Class, commemorated his virtues, and dwelt upon his
character and life. By request of the Trustees, this Discourse is
now printed. In the Appendi.x -will be found portions of several ad
dresses called forth by his death, together with the arrangements for
the use of the Library by the Bar.

DISCOURSE

In thy light shall wo see light. — Psalm xxxvi. 9.
One of the chief uses of light is to reveal the material
world. A world in darkness is a world comparatively
unknown. All its forms of beauty and sublimity, its
varied landscapes, its lakes and mountains and rivers, its
myriad exhibitions of skill to the eye, are hidden from
us. Night conceals ; the orb of day reveals all nature
in its loveliness and glory.
But besides this, light has also a vital power. It
quickens the dormant life into action. In proportion as
the rays of the sun — the great source of light — fall
directly upon the earth, vegetation is excited. It gives
warmth and color to all objects susceptible of its in
fluence. Healthy vegetation needs the light, and even
animals are directly affected by it. The approach of
the sun to our northern clime unbinds the chains of
frost, quickens the latent seed, and covers the land with
verdure. Light, being thus wondei'ful in its influence, is used
as a symbol, by the sacred writers, of various things,
but especially, as in the text, of truth, and the influence
that makes it efl'ective in the soul. The light is both the
truth that God reveals and the quickening influence He

imparts to make it productive in the heart. The world
is full of truth. But man, perverted and blinded by the
force of evil affections, never rises to the full compre
hension of its highest relations, and never suffers it to
exert its appropriate influence until he is brought to
understand the higher revelation of God in His word,
and is quickened by the Divine Spirit to admit that
revelation into his heart. Then the truths which are all
round him assume new aspects ; the errors which have
impaired their force fall away ; the influences that have
distorted them or blinded him to their real meaning are
removed. He reaches a position where reason, revela
tion and nature are all in harmony; and God as the
source of all is seen in the wisdom. and loveliness of His
infinite excellence.
That there are impediments and difficulties in the
attainment of truth, is a fact recognized by the ablest
philosophers. Descartes, the founder of the ideal
philosophy, denied everything but his own existence, in
order to place himself in a position to reason out the
truth, free from the prejudices and errors of the past.
Bacon, his great cotemporary, the founder of the in
ductive philosophy, Avith the same object in view, has
given a list of " Idols," which stand in the way of our
advancement. The various systems of logic are in part
designed to meet the same difficulty. But all these
methods failed in one, and that a vital point : they were
unable to regulate the subtle influence of the affections
upon the intellect ; and if they could have effected this,
they could not have brought down to man those higher
truths, without which, in his fallen state, he must ever
remain in utter darkness respecting bis future.

Now these two things, which all past systems of
philosophy failed to effect, Christianity professes to
accomplish. It not only renders accessible truths essen
tial to our highest well being, which reason could not
discover ; but it accompanies them with an influence that
makes them operative powers in the soul ; and in doing
this it sheds new light on nature and the constitution of
man ; so that it becomes a grand fact, that in the light of
God the christian believer sees light.
It would be an easy matter to show you how Christian
ity strengthens and elevates the minds of all who truly
receive it ; to illustrate the manner in which the " en
trance of Divine truth gives light" to the feeblest intel
lect, quickens the minds, and clarifies the vision of those
whose pursuits prevent any large acquisition of earthly
science, and imparts noble thoughts and pure affections
to the ignorant and the lowly.
But instead of expatiating over this wide field, I pro
pose to dwell chiefly on the influence of Christianity as
a power to enlighten, ennoble and strengthen educated
mind. It is sometimes thought, if not afl&rmed, that
men, devoted to intellectual pursuits, do not need to the
same extent, the peculiar influences of Christianity.
But they are all faUen, flillible and frail. They are ex.
posed to peculiar temptations to error and sin, from their
positions and pursuits. I know of no class of men who
stand in greater need of the pilotage of a" true Christian
faith, than that which, launched upon the wide ocean of
human thought, is exposed to all the perils of so difficult
and fearful a navigation. History is just as fuU of the
wrecks of the minds of- the cultivated, as it is of the
icrnorant and the superstitious; and Christianity is revealed

as the light which is to guide them as well as others into
the same harbor of rest.
Christianity concerns itself directly about thp higher
life of the soul; but in doing this, it affects the whole
character in all its relations to this earthly state.
At the outset it lights up a few points in the grand
panorama of thought, which at once define the system
of truth, and from which it sheds light on all other rela
tions and questions most vital to humanity. With
settled convictions on these, we are at once elevated into a
new sphere of thought and action. These primary points,
are the being and nature of God ; the responsibility and
fallen nature of man; redemption from the guilt and
power of sin, by Jesus Christ ; and immortality. These
are the points which have chiefly exercised the profound
est thinking of man in the past; these are the points
which, especially since the revelation of a Saviour, have
enlisted the deepest interest of the thoughtful. Begin
where they may in the circle of thought, a thousand
converging lines lead back to these central truths. The
perplexities, the speculations, the hopes, the fears, the
most important interests of our higher nature, are all
connected with these themes. Philosophy outside of
these is shallow and insignificant in its results. Life,
without reference to these, is brutal and base : an enigma
without a solution, a point without extension, a dark and
worthless materialism without a solitary ray of light.
Now let the man of matured mind, whose business it
is to think out the principles which are to guide others,
be once established in the conviction of these funda
mental truths as Christianity unfolds them ; let them be

enthroned not only in his intellect, but in his heart, so
that the whole man shall be subject to their vitalizing
influence, and at once he is lifted above a thousand per
plexities, and fortified against a thousand temptations.
He has reached a central position, from which he views
the truth in its just relations and harmonies. The
partial views, the cross lights, the distorte'd aspects of
things, vanish. God, the soul of man, life, are invested
with a reality, a preciousness, a grandeur unknown be
fore. For now in the light of God he sees light. Those
mightiest enemies to human advancement. Skepticism —
which through the pride of reason unsettles all things,
and leaves the soul with no solid foothold in the universe ;
and Superstition, which ignoring reason, dwells in base
less imaginations, are at once vanquished.
Even to the uncultivated mind these truths give a
peculiar expansion. " The entrance of thy words
giveth understanding to the simple." But on the culti
vated intellect their influence is still more marked.
Gradually it takes in their increasing greatness : gradu
ally it discerns their vital connection with all the rela
tions of life. The past, the present, the future take on a
new glory. Not at once, nor fully here can the mind com
pass this high wisdom. It is so vast, so profound
that the advancing intelligence finds at every step new
aspects and relations unsuspected before. The key that
unlocks the mysteries of the universe is in the hand of
the student; and nature and life grow brighter under the
light of Revelation.
History acquires a new interest. It was a mass of
facts, without symmetry, order or perceived relation to
any great plan. Now there is a Divine Providence in

8
it, arranging the seemingly isolated national developments
so as to illustrate great principles in the government of
God, and ultimately promote the triumph of the scheme
of redemption. All nations, the barbarous and the
civilized, contribute something to the illustration of the
Divine wisdom.
Philosophy, so proud, so pretentious, so grand in
promise, reveals itself to this christian student as utterly
barren and impotent in achievement. He sees system
after system rise and fall like the figures in a puppet
shoAV ; while each philosojiher imagines that he has
grasped the lever which is to move the world. He be-»
holds the unaided reason struggling to resolve the
mysteries of life, and in the end falling back baffled and
utterly defeated. Meanwhile the philosophy of the
Bible — the philosophy of the Cross, with its sublime
conceptions and wonderful unfoldings of truth, moves
down the ages with ever increasing lustre from the re
flected glory of its superhuman achievements. This
alone never grows old : it works with the same youthful
vigor to renovate and enlighten as when first proclaimed
by Divine lips on the hills of Judea. All else serve
only to illustrate the impotence of man, when, relying
on himself alone, he attempts to fathom the depths of
infinite wisdom.
Civil law, which he has studied as a merely human
product in digests, and pandects, and codes, and judicial
decisions, confused, contradictory, bewildering in their
labyrinthian mazes, stands forth symmetrical and cleaf
in the ipeculiar light which this volume sheds upon it.
Whatever it has of real worth, of universal application,
is due to the Revelation which God gave for the guid-

9
ance of humanity in all its multiform aspects and
necessities. Whatever it has of defect, whatever is
partial in it, whatever time brands as false in its decrees,
is due to the imperfections and ignorance of man him
self. When, as a citizen, he is called to investigate the
nature and functions of government ; or as a statesman
he is in a position to frame the laws which are to affect
national interests, he finds here the only conditions on
which national development can proceed harmoniously,
and the people rise to intelhgence and true prosperity.
Here are the laws of freedom and righteousness, in har
mony with which a nation becomes truly great : here is
the doctrine of a Providence that rewards or punishes
nations. And thus, in whatever direction he carries his
investigations, Christianity sheds new light upon his
path; and his intellect moves with increased vigor and
confidence to conclusions which the highest authority
has confirmed.
This belief in and study of the great truths of Christ
ianity produce another remarkable effect. They impart
a peculiar breadth and catholicity to the mind, and lift
it above the narrow range of professional life. The
occupation of the mind with one class of objects, usually
intensifies the action of the intellect in that direction,
and, within a limited sphere, produces great results.
The vision becomes microscopic ; it discerns differences
and analogies that arc hidden from others. But the
usual effect of such protracted inteUectual concentration
is to narrow the range of thought, to crowd all the
effective thinking into one channel, to give to one or a
few ideas the supremacy, and dwarf the mind within

10
their limitations. The relations of his work to other
things, the harmonies of the great system which embraces
all things are unknown to a mere professional thinker.
As well expect a man whose strength is spent in sharp
ening needles, to be a great engineer, as expect one
whose mental operations are controlled by and made
conformable to the limited sphere of professional labor,
to rise to broad generalizations and great conceptions of
man, nature, and God. If you look at the Law, which
embraces a wider range of principles than the other pro
fessions, with the exception of Theology, you will find
that the practitioner spends the force of his intellect in
the study of individual cases, in magnifying differences,
or in seeking to adjust fallible precedents to the exi
gencies of an isolated subject. His mind, within the
shell he has hardened around it, may work with aston
ishing energy, but he suffers an inevitable loss of breadth
and expansion, such as a higher class of studies would
effect. The same is true of the physician, absorbed in
the study of the pathology of the human system; of
the rhetorician, busy with the forms and methods of
expression ; of the naturalist, intent only on classifying
material facts or analyzing material forces. Even such
imperial minds as those of Humbolt and Compt6, and
Buckle, by their utter failure to rise into the sphere of
the spiritual, in spite of their splendid generalization
and vast learning, show themselves blind to the grandest
conceptions of life.
But when a mind of ripe culture and large powers
enters the temple of Christian science, a vast scene opens
upon it. Sublime in its grandeur, it is perfect in its
minutest parts. As in some cathedral of lofty and har
monious proportions and splendid adornments, the mind

11
is at once lifted above the narrow range of architectural
thought in which it had moved ; so Avhen a man takes
into his intellect the scheme of Christianity, all other
knowledge dwindles into insignificance. He is placed
at a point of vision, where Humanity, in the total history
of the race, and God, in his holy government, present
themselves in their wonderful proportions. He feels the
heart of the universe throbbing against his own. Truths
flash in upon him that ally him to the noblest intelli
gences. Interests, bounded only by etei-nity, possess
him. His professional life narrows down to a unit beside
millions. As the traveler who has mingled with various
nations, is in a position to judge more justly of his own ;
as he Avho has stood on mountain tops,-- crossed oceans
and continents, does not think of the world as once it
appeared to him, when confined to the little hamlet
where he was born ; so the man, whose feet have been
planted on Mount Zion, sees a kingdom of light, not
ruled by blind force, but irradiated by the glory and
governed by the living presence of the Infinite. His
soul, exalted above the petty limits of his profession, is
ennobled by ideas coextensive with the vastness of God's
intelligent creation.
I have dwelt thus far on the influence of Christianity
in expanding and invigorating the intellect. But this is
not its noblest work. For truth is in order to holiness;
light in the intellect the minister to light in the heart.
When then a man becomes a Christian, he enthrones
these great principles as operative powers in the heart.
They vitalize the conscience ; they ennoble every pur
pose. He is imperfect, it is true; but prayer is his
daily resource and Christ is his ever-present Saviour.
Down deep in his soul the work of transformation pro-

12
ceeds; out in his life its precious results are seen. He
lives consciously under the eye of God, and with refer
ence to the issues of eternity. A love, a faith, a hope,
pure, joyous and inspiring, give their character to his
efforts and exalt his aims. Now " in the light of God
he sees light.'"'
Coleridge writes of the Scriptures : " In the Bible
there is more that finds me, than I have experienced in
all other books put together ; the words of the Bible
find me at greater depths of my being ; Avhatever finds
me brings with it an irresistible evidence of its having
proceeded from the ¦Holy Spirit." And this book, with
its deep, searching truth, at length brought peace to a
mind long tossfed on the unquiet waters . of unbelief and
passion ; and thus this profound intellect and noble heart
were at rest — he had anchored himself to the very truth
of God. To a mind thus out on the sea of life, it is an
inexpressible joy to possess that which shall give it true
rest ; to which it may turn amid the anxieties and per
plexities of public life, and feel that while all things
else are mutable, this is ever a refuge Avhich no earthly
power can destroy. Here, in this harbor of God, the
man of faith refreshes his spirit and strengthens his
soul for the perilous and difficult scenes that are before
him. When thus the truth has found a man ; when it has
penetrated the depths of his spiritual nature, and consti
tuted itself a living power in his soul, then we anticipate,
with perfect assurance, a pure and noble life in the
whole circle of his manly activities. I will not speak of
his home, where the hght of God is reflected from him
upon those who know and love him most, and where all

13
the gentler and sweeter influences of his heart are felt;
but of that pubhc life, where his Christian manhood is
subject to the most thorough scrutiny and his principles
put to the severest test. Into this life he enters with
the conscientious purpose to act for God and humanity.
Whatever is pure, whatever is noble, whatever tends to
exalt his fellow men finds in him a steady advocate ;
whatever is wrong in principle, whatever tends to de
grade or dishonor the people, finds in him an alert and
determined foe. He measures men and their policy, not
by the Lesbian rule of expediency, but by the unchang
ing principles of the higher law. His patriotism is
grounded on the relations he sustains to his country as a
citizen, out of which rise peculiar duties and responsi
bilities. He does not adopt that principle of the shallow
demagogue, " my country right or wrong." It is not for
him to exalt his country above right ; he might as well
attempt to exalt her above his God. But it is for him
to seek to place his country in the right, that she may be
worthy of His blessing whose throne is established in
righteousness. Neither, on the other, hand is he a
factionist, who, setting himself up in the place of the
constituted authorities, refuses obedience to a la.Av, how
ever impolitic, that necessitates on his part no violation
of the laAV of God. His Christianity teaches him, that
between these extremes there is a hue of action, as truly
in harmony with the loftiest patriotism as it is Avith
his obligations as a Christian. A Christian patriot, he
superadds to the motives and views that impel others to
sustain the government and sacrifice even hfe for its
support, the higher motives and vieAvs Avhich the Gospel
inspires.

14
He enters into politics, because) in this free land,
political principles and measures being vitally connected
Avith the prosperity of the State, the responsibility of
advocating the right rests specially, though not ex
clusively, on men in public life. He studies the ques
tions at issue in their relations to the general welfare,
rather than in their tendency to elevate a particular set
of men to office. Hence he is not a mere partisan, ex
alting party above principle, and shaping his course by
the prospect it affords of political station. He dares to
avow the truth and act up to it, even though it separates
him from old political associates ; for right and truth
are dearer than human friendship, and mightier than the
bonds of political association. He carries his politics
into his closet, and subjects his whole life to the inspec
tion of a righteous God.
As a lawyer, he Avill set before himself the nature and
object of law. He believes, Avith Hooker, that " Law
hath her seat ia the bosom of God, and her voice is the
harmony of the Avoiid." He regards Civil LaAV as the
vindication of right, the establishment of justice, and the
outward conservator of the peace of society; its ulti
mate principles as embodied in the Divine LaAV, its forms
and modes of procedure as the imperfect product of im
perfect men. He sees in his profession a power to
educate men in their rights and duties, restrain their
passions, and secure the harmony of society. He prac
tices it, not as something which occasionally necessitates
the violation of conscience, but as that which in all its
just aims and methods, God approves. Entertaining
these lofty views, he seeks, as a Christian, to make the
law accomphsh these ends. If this were impossible, as
some seem to think, then no conscientious man should

15
ever enter the profession ; then our modern legal system
should be reformed, or buried out of sight. He asks
not how others have practiced it; how selfishness has
converted it into an instrument of injustice; how it has
been used to give victory to crime and crush the inno
cent. His soul revolts from such principles and prac
tices as opposite to its nature, and abominable in the
sight of God. Hence, he is no fomenter of quarrels ;
he gives no encouragement to useless litigation. The
rogue does not spontaneously resort to him as one who,
for money, will shield him from the just consequences
of his villainy ; but the poor man goes to him as one
ever ready to advocate the right, without despoiling him
of his little all. He may be wrong in his judgment of
the guilt or innocence of particular parties ; he may
sometimes mistake the law, but this will be due to that
fallibility which inheres in all men, and not to any Avant
of purity of motive, or just effort to attain the truth.
He Avill also give his influence to those proper measures
which contemplate the correction of wrong, the reforma
tion of morals and the advancement of the principles of
freedom. He will seek to make his profession a power
for good in society ; to make law the conservator of
order, the reformer of morals, the ally of religion, and
an element of peace and prosperity to the whole com
munity. If he is called to positions of pubhc trust, he AviU
illustrate his principles by a conscientious attention to
all the duties of his office. His integrity wiU be so
manifest, that corruption dare not approach him with its
polluted offerings. A transparent honesty wiU commend
him to the people, even when his conviction of the right
may be in opposition to theirs. Personal aggrandize-

16
ment Avill never be balanced against the public good.
The principles of religion will not only make him clear
sighted in detecting what is Avrong, but fortify him
against the temptations Avhich so often assail our public
men. , In addition to all this, he will take a deep interest in
those institutions and measures Avhich are connected
with the right education of the people. The School and
the College, where the foundations of our national progress
are laid in the minds of the young, will enjoy his watch
ful care and powerful advocacy, while the Church of God,
in all her plans and efforts for the elevation and salvation
of men, will enlist his profoundest feelings and command
the richest offerings of his mind and heart.
Men there have been in our land ; men there are now,
who, in their public life open to every eye, have thus
stood, or do now stand, a tower of strength to the right,
and a light to the nation ; men Avho command the
reverence and affectionate respect of their associates,
and demonstrate that in the light of God they saAV that
Avhich Avas hidden from others, their equals in native
force of mind and Avorldly science. Before those of us
Avhose memory of public men reaches back over the last
thirty years, the form of the noble Frelinghuysen rises,
as a signal illustration of every point suggested in this
discourse. At the Bar, in the Senate Chamber, as the
presiding officer of a college, as a member of society and
the church, men loved him for his pure Christian spirit,
respected him for his firm adherence to right, confided
in him for his ability and fidelity in all pubhc trusts,
and admired him for an eloquence that thrilled Avhile it
strengthened their hearts in every high and noble pur
pose.

17
To-day I propose to bring before you the character of
one among the illustrious dead of this year ; of one A\ell
known to many in this section of the State, Avhere he
Sjient the first part of his professional life ; of one Avhose
Christianity made his patriotism and his legal attainments
brighter and mightier ; of one who, by his munificent be
quest, has linked his name to this College for all the
future. William Curtis Noyes Avas born in Schodack, Rensse
laer county, on the 19th of August, 1805. His father,
George Noyes, came to this State from Connecticut. In
the direct line he was descended from the Rev. James
Noyes, a Nonconformist clergyman of England, Avho
immigrated to this country in 1634, and settled as pastor
of the church in Newbury, Mass., Avhere he died in
1658. Through his paternal grandmother, he traced his
descent from Governor William Bradford and John
Alden, of the Mayflower. On his mother's side, his
ancestors were Friends and Hollanders who early settled
in NeAV Jersey. His early training in the bosom of a
family where religion Avas a controlling power, and Avhere
all the hereditary influences tended to develop a self-
reliant and earnest manhood, laid the foundations for his
subsequent success. In 1819, at 14 years of age, his
father entered him as a student of law in the office of
Mr. Eslick, of Albany. After a fcAV months he Avas
transferred to the office of Judge LudloAV, then practising
in Nassau, and noAV of OsAvego. On the removal of
his father to Whitestown, he entered the office of Henry
R. Storrs, of that place. In this office Mr. Noyes suc
ceeded Judge Denio, and in July, 1827, in his twenty-
second year, he commenced the practice of laAV in Rome,

18
but soon after removed to Utica. It Avas here that his
persistent energy, in the exercise of naturally strong
powers, steadily devoted to the filling out of his high
ideal of a Christian lawyer, mainly raised that noble
superstructure, Avhich subsequent efforts adorned and
enlarged. He removed to New York in 1838. With
no special advantages arising from family or business
connections, brought into competition with men of the
highest legal attainments and great experience, in a short
time he reached that eminent position Avhich marked him
as one of the ablest laAvyers in the State.
The record of such a life is unvaried by those start
ling acts or incidents Avhich attract national attention.
Never occupying public office, Mr. Noyes labored chiefly
Avithin the appropriate limits of his OAvn profession.
The Avork of the lawyer is in a field traversed by few ;
it is a work that rarely aAvakens a deep interest among
the masses. Occasionally a criminal trial moves the
popular heart, and affords the opportunity for those
possessed of the requisite gifts to awaken general ad
miration. But in civil causes, the argument, hoAvever
able, usually reaches a very limited number. The
greatest achievements of the ablest minds interest only
a very small audience. Even the records of the Courts
fail to represent to those Avho come after, the A^ast learn
ing, the force of argument, and the admirable pOAver of
statement Avhich haA^e been exhibited to judges and juries.
The effect of those efforts on the Law itself is often
great ; as they settle precedents or afford suggestions to
guide future legislation ; but there is little in them to
awaken public enthusiasm or attract attention outside of
the profession. And thus it often happens, that the

19
best legal minds of the nation, the men Avho have ac
complished the greatest work in their profession, are
known not so much directly by any effort of theirs seen
and appreciated by the people, as by the estimate formed
of them by the fcAv who Avere cognizant of their labors
and able to form an impartial judgment of them.
As a laivyer, Mr. Noyes stands forth preeminent; he
embodied in himself and illustrated in his life a high, if
not the highest ideal of his profession. As a laAvyer,
therefore, I shall first speak of him.
To constitute a thoroughly legal mind, able not only
to counsel, but to plead, there must be a rare combination
of talents. One of the first of these is a memory at
once tenacious and ready — able to retain and prompt in
reproducing its treasures on all appropriate occasions.
The laAV, above all other professions, rests on precedents.
It has its principles ; but it is those principles as they
have been applied and illustrated by judicial minds in
the past, that in most cases guide the Bench, and are to
be used or legitimately set aside by the Bar. The
Common, and to a large extent the Civil LaAV, are the
growth of judicial decisions. The roots of the law strike
deep into the past. It is not the naked principle which
common sense thinks it can apply directly to the case,
so much as the principle applied by the common sense
of the legal minds of the past, that must be mastered
and interpreted ahke by judges and lawyers. Rarely
ever does a court pass an opinion on the simple princi
ple, stripped of all its historical associations ; but when
it does this, if it be entitled to respect and commands
the assent of the Bar, then it becomes itself a precedent

20
to guide the decisions of other courts in analogous cases.
Novelty here is presumptive evidence of falsity.
Now, I am not about to argue the merits or defects
of this system ; it is sufficient for my purpose to state
it, in order to illustrate the fact, that the man Avho
attains to eminence in this profession, must usually be
conversant with a A^ast mass of precedents; scattered
through hundreds and sometimes thousands of volumes.
His memory must not only be capacious enough to hold,
but ready to bring them forth ; since occasions Avill
arise, AA^hen little time is allowed for research, and the
answer must be prompt, or the opportunity is lost for
ever. Mr. Noyes excelled in both these respects. His
knowledge of cases Avas remarkable. In regard to al
most every one he had ever investigated, he retained
such an impression as enabled him either to use it at
once as the occasion demanded, or refer to it for more
accurate information. Cases are to the laAvyer Avhat
bullets are to the soldier, or texts, thoroughly mastered,
are to the clergyman. The man who possesses and
knoAvs how to use them, is a poAverful advocate and
formidable opponent.
But to use them effectively, other poAvers are requisite.
There must be quick perception and a power of rapid
analysis ; the power to detect the vital point at issue,
and strip off the merely adventitious circumstances ; the
poAver to discover the vulnerable positions of an ad
versary, or the irrelevancy of his arguments. In no one
of the liberal professions is this power more available or
more essential to success. Foot to foot, hand to hand,
face to face the opposing counsel struggle. In this con-

21
test points unanticipated Avill arise that demand instant
settlement. In civil causes, Avhere principles alone are
involved and the appeal is not to feehng but to reason,
mere declamation is poAverless ; the clear statement, and
the argument of facts and principles, are alone effective.
Here it is the clear analysis, the penetration that
reaches the heart of the subject, marks the consummate
lawyer, and lifts him al.tove inferior minds — with Mar
shall and Kent and Story, he moves in a superior sphere
Avhich the multitude seek in vain to enter.
In this respect Mr. Noyes was preeminent. His mind
working rapidly, had been trained to the most thorough
analysis. He easily penetrated to the heart of his sub
ject, and saAV at a glance, the Aveak as Avell as the strong
points of the argument. His achievements in logical
analysis have been compared to those of Lavoiser and
Farraday in physical analysis ; as reaching to the abso
lute correlation and conservation of all the forces in the
argument.* Certainly few members of the Bar in this
* His mind was originally analytical, and the thorough study,
which he never intermitted, made him a powerful advocate. He
never attempted any of the glittering show of words without' argu
ment, or words to conceal truth, which are so characteristic of strong
iurv lawyers, and which achieve great reputations for some ipen.
His ingenuity was ample, but he depended on the force of simple,
plain truth, the analysis of his' subject and its argument, to the very
last particle. If the simile may be allowed, we should say, that he
had achieved in the domain of logical analysis, what Lovoiser began
and Favraday, Tyndal and others are endeavoring to perfect in physi
cal analysis, the absolute correlation and conservation of all the forces
in the aro-ument. He dropped nothing, but when he had finished,
his work was eomplcte, and it required a master-mind to break the
force thus presented.— /ozfrma? of Commerce.

22
land have exhibited this power of analysis in a greater
or in an equal degree.
Still another power essential to forensic eminence is
that of construction and expression. It is not enough
that he possess the power to discover the facts or princi
ples by Avhicli conviction of the truth is brought home
to his own mind. He is not a judge, whose province it
is to decide the question according to his convic
tions, whether he is or is not able to justify these con
victions to others. It is his business to make his con
victions those of the Bench or the jury. And all
experience shows that many men possess one of these
powers in a high degree, who are greatly deficient in the
other. The advocate is something more than a counsel
lor. He must be able to construct an argument so as to
carry conviction to other minds. He must build up as
well as pull doAvn ; he must demonstrate the truth as
well as reach the personal conviction of it. If it is a
question of fact, he must place it in such connections,
and present it in such a form, with such illustrations, as
to carry conviction to the mind of the jury. If it is a
question of law, he must discuss it in another manner,
so as to meet the severe logic and ample learning of the
Bench. The profound research, the subtle argument
constructed link by link out of the material furnished
by a profound analysis, and Avith a logic that Avelds each
part indissolubly together, Avould be wholly thrown away
in addressing an unlettered jury. These different pro
cesses demand each a different order of talent. In the
jury laAvyer, a lively imagination, a quick sensibihty, a
keen insight into the character of those he is addressing,
and a power to adapt himself to their level of thought

23
and feeling, must be superadded to other qualities. The
play of fancy, the exaggerations of rhetoric, the impas
sioned appeal, all are elements of his poAver. Hence it
is that men generously endowed with these gifts, al
though deficient in legal science and the higher poAvers
of reasoning, have risen to great eminence in this depart
ment of legal advocacy.
In the other sphere, these qualities contribute little to
success. Here patient research, the comprehensive
learning that lays the legal lore of the past under con
tribution, the thorough mastery of principles and the
argumentative ability that arranges and presents them
Avith the most consummate force and crystal clearness,
are the great essentials. Occasionally it happens that
individuals remarkably gifted are eminently successful in
both these lines of advocacy. But such instances are
rare. To whatever causes Ave may attribute it, it is a
recorded fact that Mr. Noyes was among the most suc
cessful laAvyers in both these spheres. His arguments
were constructed with .remarkable skill, and presented
with a completeness, a clearness, and a sincerity adapted
to estabhsh his OAvn convictions in the minds of others.
His arguments before a jury Avere not remarkable as
rhetorical exhibitions, according to the common estimate
of oratory. But they Avere clear and strong. Before
the Bench he made his vast learning available in con
structing and fortifying his argument. He did not rise
indeed to the massive generahzations of Hamilton and
Webster : nor did he possess either their splendid powers
of oratory, or that creative genius, vouchsafed to only a
fcAV which, out of the fewest materials, builds up a

24
superstructure that is the delight of the ages. His
learning, Avhfle it adorned, greatly augmented the force
and breadth of his keen and rapid intellect. He Avielded
the scimitar of Saladin rather than the ponderous battle-
axe of Richard the Lion-hearted. To the side he es
poused he Avas a tower of strength.
But I have yet to mention the main element Avhich
contributed to the eminence of Mr. Noyes. I refer to
his untiring and systematic industry. Without this,
great eminence in any profession, however excellent the
natural abilities, is rarely gained, or a great and lasting
reputation achieved ; with this, even ordinary intellectual
poAvers Avill effect great results. There may be, here
and there, a meteoric mind that has excited a transient
admiration by its dazzling coruscations ; but unsustained
by vigorous and continued effort, it has soon vanished
into darkness. The great works of God and man, with
rare exceptions, are the products of time. Point by
point the planets compass their vast orbits ; by slow in
crements the oak reaches its giant stature ; step by step
the rocky ribs, and granite foundations and mineral
treasures of the earth were formed. Day by day,
through sloAv and often difficult processes, mind expands
and gains its poAver. Idea added to idea, fact linked
into fact, thought gradually forming itself into expres
sion, reason, by its daily exercise, rising into tho poAver
of induction, problem after problem mastered; this is
the slow, and sometimes painful, method by Avhich man
rises to the heights of intellectual greatness and achieves
works that are to live in the coming ages.
The ability of continuous mental labor, is itself one
of the poAvers most essential to success; and when

25
united Avith strong natural gifts, its results are the ad
miration and the glory of man.
When, at fourteen years of age, Mr. Noyes entered
the office of Mr. Eslick, he assumed and felt the re-
sponsibihties of a man. While he realized the necessity
of labor in part for his own support, he knew also that
the character of his future depended on the improve
ment of his present advantages. He had no time to
waste in idle and enervating pleasures ; for a new life
had dawned upon, and its bright ideal perpetually droAV
him forward. From that -early period, for nearly fifty
years, his course furnishes to our American youth a
splendid illustration of the power of labor directed to
noble ends. Before he was nineteen, while yet a student
in the office of Judge Ludlow., " in addition to the per
formance of all the clerical labor of the office, he pre
pared an abridgement of Caine's Practice, making at the
same time copious notes of the changes occasioned by
statutory enactments, as Avell as references to the judicial
decisions on matters of practice Avhich had been made
during the fourteen years that Caines Avas the standard
AVork on that subject in this State.''"' It Avas this untir
ing industry that led Judge LudloAV to predict, " that
this quiet and unobtrusive boy would, Avith good health,
take, at an early day, a prominent rank at the Bar."
Jud^e Denio informs me that Avhen at the commencement
of their career, they used to practice in the justice's
courts, Mr. Noyes always had a thoroughly digested
brief, with the cases pertinent to his points noted doAvn,.
and that, if they could be found, it Avould appear that
* A. J. Yandcrpoel, Esq.

26
they bore all the marks of careful preparation which
distinguished his subsequent efforts.
To this assiduity in labor, he united a systematic
division of his time. Everything had its place, and its
hour, down to the minutest arrangements of his busy
life. To him time Avas an element of progress and
power, which, unimproved, was lost forever. While yet
a student, his eyes became diseased, and he was unable
to use them. But he stiU prosecuted his studies, through
the assistance of a friend who read to him. After his
removal to Noav York, in consequence of an accumula
tion of business, the same difficulty occurred ; but by
the aid of an amanuensis, he continued to labor. Before
the indomitable energy of this man, difficulties vanished,
and he rose with every ncAV demand to the fall height
of the occasion. Such steadiness of purpose, such un
remitting industry, associated Avith fine natural abilities,
and directed to noble ends, Avith the Divine blessing,
soon elevated him to a position among the select few
Avho stand at the head of the Bar in this State. This
enabled him to meet the demands made upon him by
one .of the largest and most exhausting practices in the
State ; this enabled him faithfully to discharge other
duties, which as a citizen, a father and a Christian, he
owed to the State, his family and the church ; this en
abled him to supplement in part the deficiencies oc
casioned by the lack of an early and thorough classical
training, deficiencies which he in common Avith others
who have won high reputation in the profession, felt
and acknowledged all through life ; this made him as
familiar with the magnificent library which he had
gathered around him, and is from henceforth to adorn the

27
halls of this Institution, as many lawyers are with the
pages of Blackstone.
To these quahfications for his work as a laAvyer, we
must add a remarkable degree of self-possession. Al
though naturally of a somewhat nervous and excitable
temperament, he yet had trained himself to such perfect
self-control, that the deepest excitement of the struggle
never blinded his judgment, or betrayed him into an un
guarded expression. The rudest assaults affected him
apparently no more than falling of water upon a rock.
Always urbane and courteous amidst the fiercest conflict,
he rarely retorted ; but Avhen justice to himself, or to
his cause demanded it, his arrow pierced to the heart of
his assailant. No man at the Bar illustrated more fully
the poAver of a mind self-possessed in the consciousness
of his resources, or the manly and noble courtesy of the
Christian laAvyer.'"
It has been said that the test of true greatness in a
public man, is the ability to meet successfully every oc
casion that calls for the exercise of great powers. Tried
by this test, Mr. Noyes is placed by the ablest of his
associates among the great men who have wrought in
the law. Engaged in some of the most important suits
ever litigated in this State, he stood abreast of those
whose splendid talents and A^aTied attainments, consti
tute the pride and glory of the New York Bar. " Among
the many great cases," says the Hon. William M. Evarts,
" in Avhich Mr. Noyes Avas employed, it fell to my for
tune to be concerned in three — once as his associate
throughout the long Police Law litigations, once opposed
* See the fine address of Charles O'Connor, Esq.," in the Appendi.x.

28
to him in the New Haven Railroad Cases, and again in
the Rose Will Case. I do not think that our Bar ever
presented so singular a scene as the trial of the New
Haven Railroad Cases, in Avhich, speaking almost liter
ally, Mr. Noyes Avas on one side and all the rest of us
on the other. It Avas a Avonderful trial of a man's re
sources and of his temper, for, Avhen any one of us Avas
exhausted on our side, there was always a fresh hand to
take it up for us ; but he was the constant combatter of
all of us in succession, and stood — as in some of the an
cient conflicts of physical force — like Hercules*- defend
ing a bridge Avith his single arm against a host of
adversaries. In the Rose Will Case, he brought to his
side the culmination of great researches and valuable
ideas that he had collected in the doctrine of charitable
uses. Under our statutory and constitutional laws,
there Avas nothing that he had not considered, and no
thing that he did not know that Avas practically and
substantially valuable in the doctrine of charitable uses.
In the police litigations, from the first excitement until
the final conclusion of the litigations that determined
the title of the policeman, Mr. Noyes was constant in
the service that he rendered to the side which he had
* I find Hercules in the printed report of Mr. Evarts' speech ; it is
probably a mistake of the reporters, for Horatius. Mr. Evarts was,
as I remember well, a fine classical scholar, in " Yale."
'• Alone stood brave Horatius,
Biit constant still in mind ;
Thrice thirty thousand foes before.
And the broad flood behind.
' Down with him !' cried false Sextus,
Witji a smile on his pale face ;
'Now yield thee,' cried Lars Porsena—
' Now yield thee to our grace.' "

29
espoused, and perhaps upon that, more than any profes
sional association which I enjoyed Avith him, I got the
opportunity to see Avhat he brought to his friends, and
what aid or help he could give to or receive from his
associates." This description is not the language of flattery,
prompted by those feelings Avhich the presence of death
inspires, and which sometimes impel us to exaggerate
the excellencies of those avIio can no more occupy the
position of rivals, and Avhose fame, enshrined in the
past, no longer overshadoAvs our own. It is in harmony
alike Avith the judgment of all Mr. Noyes' associates at
the Bar, and Avith the actual achievements which dis
tinguished his career. The youth Avho labored Avith
such untiring diligence to prepare for his Avork, Avhen he
reached the ripeness of middle life, proved himself able
to sustain the greatest responsibilities, and equal to the
greatest occasions of his professional hfe.
In consequence of his high reputation, he was ap
pointed, by the Legislature, .in 1857, one of the Com
missioners of the Code. It is stated by his cofleagues
in this great Avork, that the chief labor of its preparation
Avas performed by him ; and it is an interesting fact,
that he revised the last sheets of the completed Code
on the evening before he Avas struck down by the disease
that caused his death.
We are not, hoAvever, in considering the character of
Mr. Noyes, to hmit our vicAV to that field of professional
labor in Avhich he won his chief apparent victories. There
were other responsibilities which rested upon him, and
Avhich he nobly sustained. Among these I may mention

30
the patriotic service he rendered to his country. Early
in his career, he did not engage, to any great extent, in
politics. Originally a Whig, when that party was dis
solved and the Republican formed with reference to the
new issues that then agitated the country, he attached
himself to it, and actively sought to make it successful.
In 1861, he was appointed one of the Peace Commis
sioners from this State, to harmonize, if possible, the
conflicting vicAvs and interests, Avhich threatened the
dissolution of the Union. In the Conference which fol-
loAved, he labored Avith his accustomed energy to avert
the struggle between the North and South, which he
had long feared and anticipated. When he found, how
ever, that all concession, save that which sacrificed the
fundamental principles of the Republic, was unavailing,
and that the issue must be subject to the arbitrament of
the sword, then he gave the whole force of his intellect,
his reputation and his energy to the support of the
government, as embodying in itself the cause of right,
of justice, of humanity, of free government, and of
God. With his pen and voice he labored to rouse the
patriotism of his countrymen, to present the true view
of the great issue, to aid the government in its efforts
to obtain men and means to carry the Avar to a success
ful conclusion. Solicited, at the breaking out of the
rebellion, to contribute to the endoAvment of the Robin
son Professorship, he answered, " Be assured I shall
remember Hamilton, but now all that I have must be
held subject to the prosecution of this Avar." When
remonstrated Avith on account of his incessant labors,
and told they Avould shorten his life, he replied, " If I
die in the service of my country, I am willing to go."
In the opinion of those quahfied to judge correctly, these

31
anxieties and labors, in addition to his professional work,
contributed largely to send him, while yet in the fuU
vigor of his powers, to the grave. Ia this Avar, not
those alone who fell on the field, have died for their
country. Away from the roar of cannon and the
hurtling tempest of shot, and the clash of bayonet and
sword, others have fought and fallen for the cause of
liberty. There are martyrs nearer home, whose bodies
fiU quiet graves, who freely offered life on the altar
of patriotism. Among those Avhose memory shall live
fresh and green in the minds of freemen, Avhose names
shall be written high on the scroll of our fallen patriots,
William Curtis Noyes wifl not be the least.
And here it is Avell to notice the fact that Mr. Noyes,
both as a laAvyer and a pohtician, Avas animated by a
just ambition. I use the word under protest ; for it has
been employed so often in a bad sense, as to stand in
the minds of many as a symbolism of corruption.
There is a vulgar ambition for mere distinction, place,
or power, which delights in notoriety, and to gain its
object will burn a temple grand as that of Ephesus, or
assassinate a president though he Avere the noblest of
men ; Avhich rejoices in the tinsel and ghtter of office,
and is neither careful of the means by which it is
attained, nor of the use of the power it confers. And
there is an ambition which aims at high attainments,
and desires those positions in which those attainments
may be used to exert the largest influence in elevating
society ; this ambition may exist in an angel's breast.
Mr. Noyes early formed a high ideal of excellence in
his profession; with rare energy and steadiness of pur
pose he devoted himself to its attainment. Step by

32
step he ascended, until, in the judgment of others, if
not of himself, he stood on the summit. He desired a
position in Avhich his acknowledged abilities and ripe
powers would enable him to exert a more direct influence
upon the establishment of those legal principles which
underlie our national institutions, and which, when fully
unfolded, Avill constitute a body of law in advance of all
other legal systems. But he would stoop to no intrigue,
nor abate a jot from his lofty integrity to attain it. "If
he could not honestly reach such a position," he declared,
" he would go Avithout it." He was prominent among
those proposed for the seat of Chief Justice of the
United States, made vacant by the death of Judge
Taney. And no one can doubt but that his vast learn
ing, his thorough insight into the principles of law, his
spotless integrity, his sound judgment, his fidelity in the
discharge of duty, would have commanded the confidence
of the nation. It is well for our educated young men to
be animated by such an ambition ; to have ever before
them a high ideal, and seek for excellence in their pro
fessions with untiring assiduity, as a power to be used
for the spread of right principles and the eloA'-ation of
mankind. Let us noAV contemplate the inner life of this man ;
the religious principles Avhich more than everything else
contributed to make him what he was. Mr. Noyes was
a Christian. Springing from a Puritan ancestry, his
early life was developed under the influence of pious
parents, Avho nobly illustrated in their oAvn lives, and in
the training of their children, the strict rehgious dis
cipline characteristic of such an origin. It is customary,
with some persons, to speak slightingly of Puritanism ;
the accidental peculiarities are made the cover for an

assault upon the thing itself. But Puritanism essentially
sprang from the direct contact of the mind and heart of
the people with the living word of God. It is the pro
duct of the Bible enthroned, as a life giving power, in
the soul. It made this the sole standard of rehgious
truth, the sole test of opinions concerning our relations
to God and man ; it exalted the essence above the form,
the revealed word above the traditions of a corrupt
church. Giving to every man the right of private
judgment, it taught him how to exercise it. Making
the people, under God and his word, the operative
source of poAver, it trained them to self-government by
the very^ strictnessj^of its discipline. Inspiring self-
reliance, it gave scope and impulse to the development
of their native energy. Its grand ideas and sublime con
nections with things invisible, exalted and moulded their
manhood. It protested against the despotism of the
hierarchy and the despotism of the king; but it held
fast to the Bible as the only chart of freedom for the
soul. Embracing this book with a faith rarely sur
passed, it sought to apply its teachings to the entire
sphere of human action, and bring society into harmony
with its subhme philosophy. Deriving its life from this
fountain of light, God honored it. It inspired the
Hugenots in their resistance to despotism, and made
multitudes of them exiles to this new Avorld. It was
the sustaining power which gave liberty to Holland. It
planted republicanism on these shores : it gave to this
nation its bone and sinew : its restless enterprise : its
high intelligence : its indomitable spirit of liberty. It
has done more to create schools and colleges and benevo
lent institutions, than all other influences combined. It
reared churches among the advancing population and
E

34
taught the Only truths which are able to form a stable,
enterprising, intelligent, religious and free society. And
if this nation is to live and prosper, and become a
mighty influence in the regeneration of the world, it is
the spirit of Puritanism inspired by the pure Avord of
God that is to form and prepare it for so grand a destiny.
Under its influence, the character of Mr. Noyes Avas
formed. In his maturer years, as he witnessed the in
fluence of another style of social life and household
training upon society, he rejoiced, Avith devout gratitude
to God, in his thorough religious education under the
paternal roof.
Early in his professional life he became personally
and vitally interested in religion. The change was deep
and lasting. It ennobled his whole character ; it chas
tened and purified his ambition, enriched and amplified
every natural grace, inspired nobler aims and gave a new
direction to his spiritual life, strengthened him to resist
temptation and live to do good. It enabled him to bear
trials Avith fortitude, and " made him," according to his
own declaration, " a thinking man and a better lawyer."
This vital influence — faith in Jesus — gradually moulded
his entire character, and affected every department of
thought and action. His pastor, the Rev. Dr. Prentice
remarks of him, that " he possessed the humility and
artless faith of a little child. It Avas a delight to preach
to him, he was such a friendly, patient, and devout
listener. His love to the Bible and to all the great
ordinances of rehgion Avas after the type of that of the
old saints ; so too Avas his confidence in the great catho
lic doctrines of rehgion. The skeptical objections and
tendencies of modern thought appeared to give but little

35
if any, trouble of mind. He was eminently a man of
faith. The very word, especially in its Latin form, Avas
exceedingly dear to him. He inscribed it upon the most
precious symbol of his love. 'Fide' — 'by faith we
stand,' that was his motto. He endured as seeing Him
who is invisible, and he did so by keeping up personal
communion AA'ith his God and Saviour through prayer."
It was in the strength of this faith that he rose
superior to the fascinations of the Avorld. When he re
moved to New York, he was strongly solicited to join
the circles of the thoughtless and gay, Avho regarded not
the Sabbath, cared not for religion, and who Avould have
rejoiced to haA^e made him like themselves. But he
stood fast by the Cross, and maintained his Christian
integrity. The sAveet influence revealed itself in his
family, in his professional life and in his relations to the
church. It inspired that uniform kindness and courtesy
Avhich characterized his intercourse Avith his professional
brethren. It opened his heart to a living sympathy
with the Avants and sorroAVS of those around him. His
liberality, based upon principle, was munificent. He
not only contributed largely of his means, but engaged
actively in relieA'ing want. For years he Avas a member
of the charitable committee of the NeAv England Society,
discharging the duties of that position Avith great self-
denial and fidelity. In the cause of temperance he felt
a deep interest, and acted as one of the Executive Com
mittee of the "American Temperance Union." His
philanthropy extended to all classes of men. He felt
great interest in the education of the young, and mani
fested a special solicitude for the advancement of the
young men in his own profession. It Avas this regard

36
for the young that, in part, impelled him to commit his
great law library to this Institution, that here it might
remain to assist in the training of its students for the
public walks of life.
In the Church, especially, his fidelity and spiritual
life revealed itself most unmistakably. Here he was at
home ; here his soul found the secret springs that re
freshed and refined. Here his liberality Avas large. As
he did not regard himself as fitted to preach the Gospel,
for many years he sustained a home missionary to preach
in his stead the gospel of the grace of God. In doing
this he gave no hint to others ; only himself and an
other, through Avhom he sent his gift, being acquainted
Avith the fact. His interest in the ministry was true and
cordial. In addition to the testimony of his pastor, I
may here quote the words of Rev. Mr. Richards, the
pastor of the Congregational Church in Litchfield, Con
necticut, at Avhich place he usually spent his summer
vacation, in the old homestead of the late Col. Talmadge,
the grandfather of his wife. " His prayer in the last
meeting which he attended here, was strikingly tender,
humble, simple, devout; and the trembHng, faltering
tones AviU long be remembered by many. He was a
most kind and generous friend to me and mine, a liberal
supporter of all good things among us, a special guardian
of the poor, a protector of the friendless, cheerful,
affable, accessible to all; his cares apparently resting
hghtly upon him, his ear and hand open to an appeal
from any quarter ; his heart animated, his life controlled
by rehgious principle, while he was devoid of cant and
sanctimoniousness. There are few his like in this or
any other church, in this or any other community."

37
In his domestic relations, Mr. Noyes was peculiarly
happy, and here the gentler virtues of the son, the
brother, the husband and the father adorned and illus
trated a character remarkable for purity and strength
of affection. In his home he laid aside the cares of
business, and amidst relations so SAveet and tender, his
genial spirit Avas' the life and joy of those he loved.
His hospitalities Avero unbounded, and those who en
joyed them gained a clear insight into his noble nature
and left his presence happier and wiser.
Affliction had frequently entered his dAvelling, but its
influence chastened and refined his spirit, and brought
him into more habitual nearness to his Saviour. Before
he left Utica he had laid in the grave the mortal remains
of a dearly loved wife and two children. Subsequently
united to one whose ancestral virtues and Christian cul
ture made her a congenial companion, his home Avas
again the abode of light and joy. In January, 1850,
his only son Avas taken from him, and in 1857, on the
anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims, a lovely
daughter passed upAvard. These afflictions darkened
bright hopes, but deepened the work of grace in his
heart. Solicited to attend the meetings of the New
England Society on that day, and accept the Presidency,
he declined with the remark that "it Avas not a joyful
anniversary to him." When at length time had soothed
the anguish of his loss, he gave his consent. On the
night of December 22, 1864, he presided at the anni
versary of the Society. He seemed to be in the full
maturity of his powers of body and mind. His ad
dress on this occasion was full of noble thoughts and>
manly eloquence, a fitting close to an illustrious career.
The next morning he was stricken Avith paralysis, and

38
when the Sabbath dawned his spirit ascended to join
the victorious host who through faith had won the im
mortal crown. Death found him not unprepared. . No
conscious triumph in the hour of dissolution Avas needed
to assure his friends of his final victory^ over death and
the grave. Often did he say " I try to live each day as
if I expected to die to-morrow." Amidst the battle of
life, with all his armor on, in the full strength of his
powers and ripeness of his fame, he fell to rise immortal.
In the light of God he had seen light, and so he died to
earth to live in heaven.
His death was felt to be no common event. He had
so borne himself in all the relations of life, he had so illus
trated the virtues of a Christian manhood, that many out
side of his own immediate circle, felt that a friend, a bene
factor, a man of rare excellencies had fallen. Scaj-cely
ever in the history of the Bar has one of its members
been the subject of more heartfelt and exalted eulogies.
Here on this hill side and in these halls, long after his
friends and associates have gone from earth, his- memory
will live, while his character and works will assist in
forming the minds of our youth for usefulness.
Young Gentlemen of the Senior Class : You have
at length reached the close of your collegiate life. The
point at which you stand gathers about itself a peculiar
interest. The past years of your hfe, with all their in
fluences for good or evilj are fixed never to be retraced.
The future opens before you in all its breadth and
length. A short time longer most of you will spend in
the study of your respective professions, and then you
will enter directly upon the special work of life. In
this, my last official address to you, I have endeavored

39

to set before you the great principles which should ani
mate and control you in the future as educated men.
The life, to the description of which you have listened,
largely confirms and illustrates what I have said. Let
me here gather up a few of the lessons it teaches, in
order that, as they are grouped together, they may re
main with you to guide and strengthen you in your
future course.
And first, remember that difficulties in the prosecution
of your work are not to be dreaded as if they could de
feat or baffle you in the attainment of your purpose.
They are appointed of God as our discipline for useful
ness. Resolutely met and overcome, they augment our
power and lift us to a higher position of influence. The
truly great, the truly good, the most successful men,
were not nursed in the lap of luxury and ease. As the
eagle pushes ^its fledglings from the nest and compels
them to battle with the storm, that they may grow
strong, so necessity compels us to task our powers that
we may grow strong in all that constitutes the true ex
cellence and power of an educated manhood.
A second lesson this life illustrates is the fact that
work, rightly directed, is ordinarily, Avith God's blessing,
one of the chief elements of success. Life is not made
up of great occasions for the exercise of splendid talents.
It is composed chiefly of common every-day duties, to
the discharge of which moderate talents, steadily ex
ercised are amply sufficient. Besides, it is only the
man who dihgently employs each hour of life in his
appropriate work, who is able to rise to the level of
great occasions when they occur. Genius or great
talents, without industry, sink into practical imbecility.

40
It is the man of persevering toil, unseduced by the false
pleasures of ease, who perpetually advances in science,
develops his powers in the line of useful objects, es
tablishes a foundation on which confidence can repose,
and wins success. Make up your minds to a life of
labor, and AVork on as long as God gives you health and
strength. Another lesson this life teaches jou, is that a just
and Avell-regulated ambition for excellence in your pro
fession is ever an element of success. The whole
tendency of the Divine working in man is towards per
fection — sin alone produces physical, mental and moral
imperfection. The moment a man becomes a Christian,
he begins a warfare with the downward tendency of sin,
he struggles after conformity with a perfect standard.
And this principle, which is of the very essence of re
ligion, is to be carried out and applied to everything
with which we have to do. It inspires the desire to do
everything in the best manner ; it makes us discontented
with imperfection. But I speak of it now, however, in
reference to the special work of your life. In your
profession, aim at the highest excellence. Desirable in
itself, it is particularly so with reference to your power
of your usefulness. Be ambitious to attain the highest
influence for good within the range of your powers.
Keep this point ever before you. Let it stimulate and
fire you. Let the desire burn in your soul with a holy
fervor. Do not dishonor it, by mingling it with the
selfishness that covets poAver and excellence merely as
the means of securing personal ends. Let the objects
be noble, and then pursue them with an earnestness
commensurate with their importance. Make the most

41
of every hour of hfe and the abihties God has given
you. Thus, and thus only, will you reap the richest
harvest, and leave behind you a record blazing Avith
light in every part.
You are taught also by this life the duty of fidelity
to all your engagements. Let it be seen and known that
whatever trust is committed to you, you will discharge
its duties to the best of your ability. Tlius only will
you win confidence and become a toAver of strength and
a bright light in your generation.
The example of Mr. Noyes teaches you also the
duty and importance of interesting yourselves in
those movements which, in our free land, are often
vitally connected with the progress and elevation of
society. As educated men you have the ability,
and it will be expected of you to lead in all measures
of healthful reform; to labor for the purity and sup
port of our civil institutions ; to advocate the meas
ures essential to the purity of morals ; to stand by the
cause of Education, and make your influence felt in
all those things which concern the Avell being of society.
Your purse should be open to the calls of benevolence,
and your tongue ready to advocate every good cause.
But without dwelling on other points here illustrated,
such as the duties which spring out of your social and
family relations, the courtesy to be exhibited in your
manners towards all men, and the interest you are to
cherish in the young ; let me sum up all these lessons
in the one final and grand thought, which the life of this
distinguished man utters most impressively in your ears.
Vital piety, pervading the whole man, devotion single
and entire to the interests of Christ's cause, embraces,
F

42
and consecrates all our duties, all means necessary to
the largest success, all hopes, all strength, all activity,
all attainments, all inspirations, all motives, needful to
the full accomplishment of our Avork on earth and our
perfect preparation for the life of heaven. When Mr.
Noyes said that " religion had made him a thinking
man and a better lawyer," he virtually said that religion
had brightened and expanded his intellect, opened
before him the true objects of thought, purified his
affections, strengthened every good purpose, taught
him the relative value of the objects of human pursuit,
lifted him above temptations that Avould have degraded
and enervated, sustained him in affliction, inspu'ed a new
life of love in his soul, enabled him to attain a higher
position here, and prepared him to enter into the rest of
God's people. In the light of God he saAv hght. All
this it did for him ; all this it will do for you. Most of
you, I trust, have already a vital interest in Christ as
your Redeemer. Live for Him, and He will not fail
you in this world or in the world to come. Would that
those of you, Avho as yet have never knoAvn Him, Avould
now on this threshold of active life consecrate yourselves
to His service, and gain thus the first — the most vital
element of success. A nobler field of labor hes open
to you than ever before in the ages sohcited the interest
of educated mind. Our country at rest again, her insti
tutions vindicated, and freedom triumphant, calls upon
you to go forth in the strength of Jesus to elevate and
bless her sons. The Avorld itself opens her portals
for the enterprise of mind, especially in preaching the
Gospel, and pleads for you to enter and diffuse amidst
its darkness the light of Christian truth. May a spirit

43
Divine guide you in the choice of your profession and
your field of labor, and make you mighty to do good.
And now that we are to separate as teachers and stu
dents, our prayers will ascend for you, our best Avishes and
hopes will attend you. Wherever you may go in after
life, be assured that Avhile Ave live, there are those Avho
cherish a deep interest in your welfare, hearts that will
throb Avith joy over your progress, that Avill sympathize
with you in your trials, and that hope to meet you when
this scene of toil is over, in that blessed mansion, that
sublime collegium, where Jesus gathers all his graduates
to be forever in the light that beams from his counten
ance. The blessing of that Redeemer rest upon you
now and evermore. Amen.

APPENDIX.

RESOLUTIONS OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES.
At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Hamilton College, held
at the College on the nineteenth day of July, 1865, Judge Denio
presented the following preamble and resolutions, which, on his
motion, were unanimously adopted :
The Treasurer having communicated to the Board a copy of the
clause in the will of the late William Curtiss Noyes, by which he
bequeathed to this Corporation his very valuable law library, with
the information that the books, consisting of more than five thousand
volumes, and a carefully prepared catalogue have been received at
the College, it is thereupon
Resolved, That this last donation, added to the former liberality of
the distinguished benefactor, by which the astronomical observatory
has been furnished with one of its most useful instruments ; and the
friendly interest which he has uniformly manifested in the welfare of
the Institution, entitle him to be held in grateful remembrance, not
only by its constituted guardians, but by its students and graduates,
and by all who are or shall be in any way associated with its history
and fortunes ; and moreover, that the example furnished by his emi.
nent career in his cherished profession, and his pure and unsullied
life, and his Christian character afford a not less useful legacy to tlie
young men of the country, and to those who are charged with the
duty of preparing them for usefulness in life.
Resolved, That the gift of this library, and its acceptance by the
College, impose upon the Board the indispensable obligation of pro
curing to be erected, at the earliest practicable period, a suitable
edifice in which it, together with the books constituting the College
Library, may bo safely kept for convenient reference and use ; and
that immediate measures be taken to realize the pecuniary means for
accomplishing the important object.
And, on motion of Dr. Fowler,

45
Resolved, That Judge Denio, Judge Bacon and Mr. "Wetmore bo
and they are hereby appointed a committee to communicate to Mrs.
Noyes and the executors of Mr. Noyes the foregoing preamble and
resolutions. [A copy.J 0. S. WILLIAMS, Secretary.

THE NOTES LAW LIBRARY.
The Law Library bequeathed by Mr. Noyes to the CoMcgo is one
of the most complete and \aluable in the State. It contains over
five thousand volumes, and was collected by Mr. Noyes with great
care and at great expense, and abounds in the best materials for the
use of the legal scholar and active practitioner.
The collection contains all the American Statutes and Eeports
both of the States and the United States ; the Statutes and Reports
of Upper and Lower Canada ; all the English Statutes, and the Re
ports of the English, Scotch and Irish Courts, both at Common Law
and in Equity, and Ecclesiastical Law.
In Elementary Law it contains all the principal treatises ^'ublished
in England and America, and a largo collection of legal periodicals,
such as the London Jurist, and the Law Journal.
The student of Ancient and Abstruse Law will be delighted to find
excellent copies of the Mirror, Olanville, Bracton, Fortescue, Fleta,
and all the old English Reporters in folio, with the Year Books, and
tho Natura Brevium.
Civil and Admiralty Law has not been forgotten, and the Corpus
Juris Civilis and the Codex Theodosianus lead a large number of
valuable works in these departments.
The antiquarian will find his tastes consulted and his wants pro
vided for in copies of many rare and curious works, and there is
hardly any book which a lawyer in large practice, or the more gene
ral legal scholar may wish to consult, which may not be found in this
collection. The Trustees of tho College are now making an eftbrt to erect a
suitable library building, and in the meantime the Noyes Library has
been put up in a large, well-arranged, and well lighted room adjacent to
the College Library.

46
A full catalogue will soon bo published, and the Library itself
thrown open for use to the legal profession in this section of the
State.

From the great number of eulogies, called forth by the death of
Mr. Noyes, the following are selected as most fully representing the
views and feelings of the Bar at large. To these is appended a por
tion of the address delivered at the funeral by his Pastor.
At a large meeting of the members of the Bar in the city of New
York, on the 30th of December, 1864, highly eulogistic resolutions
were oflTered by A. W. Bradford Esq., and supported by addresses
from Dudley Field, Charles P. Kirkland, James T. Brady, A. J. A'an-
derpoel, and others. The following is the
ADDRESS OF CHARLES O'CONOR, ESQ.
Mr. PflESIDE.NT AND BeETHREN OF THE Bar :
Those who have contended in the foruin with our departed brother
can best testify to his very groat capacity, for the part of an advo
cate in the Courts of Justice — his great natural capacity, because en
dowed with the strong sense of justice and conscience that stimu-
ulated him to the sacrifice of self and life's enjoyments, to the fullest
measure that necessity might require, for the purpose of performing
to perfection and to its utmost fullness the duty of the advocate.
This temper made him a laborious student — made him apparently
an ambitious lawyer ; but, in truth, his character is better described
by the single term, the faithful and the skillful advocate.
His labors were not directed to making a groat name, but to ac
complish the great duty of failing never in his undertakings on be
half of those whom he considered applicants at the tribunals of justice
in the enforcement and the establishment of their rights.
Mr. Noyes is thus spoken of by those who had occasion to con
tend with him, and had thence the best opportunity of judging his
character, and appreciating his abilities. But those who associated

47
with him as friendly champions in professional pursuits — who had
the pleasure of enjoying his society in social intercourse, and wlio
enjoyed the measureless advantages (I mean those outside of our pro
fession) of having him for a daily adviser in the concerns of life, tliat
might become the subjects of judicial employment, and who had him
for their champion in their hour of trial — can speak of him in other
terms. They speak of him in language that, perhaps, indicates more
consideration for self than for him, but which forms the highest eulo
gy that can be pronounced. Thoy speak of him as a friend whoso
loss is to them irreparable, and, for tho time, appears impossible to be
supplied — who joined in commending his high qualities, whose words
have been heard expressive of their sentiments amidst this multitude,
who mourn his loss. It might probably be well, and but for a
single circumstance would be my course ; but, standing here, silently
acquiescing in the ample and sufficient expression of grief and of ad
miration that this meeting has heard, a single circumstance impels
me to a soniewhat different course, and leads me to utter a few sen
tences in concurrence with what has been already so ably and so elo
quently expressed. It has been my fortune to be associated with
Mr. Noyes, and to meet him, I may say, in all attitudes and in all
capacities. I had the pleasure of associating with him and his re
spected family. I have contended against him full many a time and
oft, in all the ardor and excitement so usual in courts of justice, and
where advocates warmly' espousing their respective sides, and con
vinced for the moment each that he was right, strike without fear,
favor or affection, endeavoring always to remember justice. I say I
have been in contact with him in most all capacities.
I have contended against him forensically very often. I have been
associated with him in some of the most interesting and import
ant causes which have occupied his attention and mine, and engaged
our affections and our interests for long years of our respective lives.
Perhaps it might not be amiss, in connection with the single topic
I mean to present as the point of my remarks, to say that except as
being natives of the same State, except as being members of the
same honorable profession, we might be said to have stood in a posi
tion of remarkable antagonism during the long period of our associa
tion — a period covering very nearly all the active life of each of us.
We were of opposite descent and race ; we differed, it may be said,
in blood ; we differed in creed ; we diff'ered in political opinions ; we

48
differed in those great moral questions connected with the social
order, which are supposed to underlie much of the difficulties and
controversies which have existed in this country. And gentlemen,
I may be permitted, to say, that the difference was as deep, and as
earnest and as distinct as it was sincere ; yet, holding these relations,
permit me to say that, ardent and enthusiastic and earnest as Mr.
Noyes was, and as I am willing to avow myself generally to be
when engaged in any conflict, in the long period of our association,
never once, under any measure of excitement, however great, did
Nr. Noyes, when contending with me, depart even for an instant or
in the slightest degree, from a course of the strictest courtesy, and
the utmost personal kindness. Though thus antagonistic in almost
all things that might tend to create adverse feelings, Mr. Noyes proved
himself, and I found him by this most cogent proof, to be a thorough
Christian and a thorough gentleman.
We have never met without a smile ; we never parted without a
cordial greeting. Peace to his ashes. He was an honor to the name
of a Christian and a gentleman ; he is a loss to his profession and
the country.
Mr. O'Conor was followed by
HON. WM. M. EVARTS.
In assenting, Mr. President, to the wishes of the Committee which
assigned me a participation in the proceedings of this meeting, I had
felt that I could never take towards Mr. Noyes the position of those
elder members of the profession who had been long and intimatelv
associated with him upon equal grounds, nor yet could I take upon
myself any longer the attitude of a representative of the younger
Bar. I feel, too, now, that there is no circumstance of his life, no
feature of his character, no trait of his professional career that has
not been accurately and yet applaudingly presented to our considera
tion. Yet I may venture to give, in a few words, some estimate, and
the means of that estimate, that I have formed of Mr. Noyes' eon-
duct and character in the profession. I can hardly remember, how
ever, when I first became acquainted with him, either personally or
in purely professional intercourse. When I came here as a student
he was already established in a lucrative and prosperous business

49
which he pursued till the time of his death ; and as it cauie to my
fortune, by some successful steps, to be raised in the competitions of
the Bar, I then met him first as an antagonist, afterwards as an asso
ciate in causes. With all his general professional record (and the
memory of all of us would probably assign to him as his principal
service at the Bar — as the most conspicuous departments of the
profession in which he showed himself — that of an equity lawyer or
of an advocate for questions at Bar, yet,) we all know that, in almost
all the diversities of jury trial involving the vast interests of this
great community, ho bore an elevated and almost, perhaps, an equally
distinguished part as in the preparation and argument of equity causes ;
and I think that every one agrees that, whether observed with no in
terest in the case, or on either side in the contest — whether connected
with him or against him — -there never was a case, of all those diverse
characters, into which ho did not bring great service, and in which he
did not gain oven additional credit to that which he had enjoyed
before. Now it has been said and truly said, Mr. Noyes' life was ono of la
bor and care and attention, and that a good part of his distinction
and successes sprung from this; and Mr. President, in our profession,
nay in all the useful careers of life, this is wholly true. God has given
nothing to mortals in this life, of much value, without great labor.
Among the many great cases in which Mr. Noyes was omploysd,
it fell to my fortune to be concerned in three — once as his associate
throughout the long police law litigation, once opposed to him in the
New Haven railroad case, and again in the Rose will case. I do not
think that our Bar ever presented so singular a scene as the trial
of the Now Haven railroad cases, in which, speaking almost
literally, Mr. Noyes was on ono side and all the rest of us on the
other. It was a wonderful trial of a man's resources and of his tem
per, for, when any one of us was exhausted on our side, thoro was al
ways a fresh hand to take it up for us ; but he was tho constant com
batter of all of us in succession, and stood — as in some of the ancient
conflicts of physical force — like Hercules defending a bridge with
his single arm against a host of adversaries. In the Rose will case,
he brouo-ht to his side the culmination of great researches and valu
able ideas that he had collected in the doctrine of charitable uses. Un
der our statutory and constitutional laws, there was nothing ho had not
considered, and nothing that he did not know that was practically and
substantially valuable in the doctrine of charitable uses. In tho po-
G

50
lice litigations, from the first excitement until the final conclusion of
the litigation that determined the title of the policemen, Mr. Noyes
was constant in the service that he rendered to the side he had
espoused, and perhaps omre than any professional association which
I enjoyed with him, I got the opportunity to see what he brought
to his friends, and what aid or help he could give to or receive from
his associates
In all relations of life it has been my fortune to be on the same
side, as we say, with Mr. Noyes. Though he was not a native of
New England, yet he valued the privileges of membership with the
New England society, which was confined, by its rules, to the sou of
a New England parent. He early sought that association, he faith
fully adhered to it, and there was one admirable trait of Mr. Noyes'
character, which .perhaps but few knew of, and I should not have
known still, but for my observing him in the counsels of that society,
but which there attracted my attention. For a good while it had
been desired that he should take the presidency of the society, but
he had declined, upon his own suggestion that he thought it better
that a native of New England should be at its head — though he con
tinued in a post of service in the society, which he maintained dur
ing the whole period, I believe, of my connection with the office of
that society, and that was the post upon its Charity Committee.
He exercised steadily and faithfully, amid all the labors of his pro
fession, the constant, sometimes tedious, sometimes annoying super
vision of almoners of that charity. And always, at all the confer
ences connected with the business of that society, his cheerful inter
est, his constant perseverance in this department of duty, was con
spicuous and admirable.
I may be permitted to say that there was something touching in
his relations to the society, connected with his life and his death.
He, as I have said, declined the presidency of the society, and it
happened that the great misfortune of his life — tho death of his son*
— occurred some years ago, upon the anniversary of the society—
the 22d of December. We were constantly desirous that he should
attend our meetings and participate in its enjoyment, and give the
grace and honor of his presence and his speech to the occasion.
But he had, without any obtrusion of his grief, steadily declined,
saying that that day was not a day of joy for him. It was with
*.\ daugliter.

51
great satisfaction that I heard on tho day before the last anniversary,
that ho had consented to assume its presidency, and that he was
willing to be present at its feast. I heard — for I was not present —
that on that occasion he made a speech so animated, so eloquent, so
altogether admirable as to attract the attention of every hearer, as
showing that be had the full force of his mind, of his genius, and of
his affections ; and the next morning, scarcely eight hours after, he lay
with eye wholly dim and his natural force wholly abated ; his right
hand had forgotten its cunning, and his tongue had cleaved to the
roof of his mouth.
Mr. President, it is said that in our lives we do not pay the just
measure of regard and esteem and attention to one another that
would be right and proper ; that we do not accord what is ever due
one to another, until " The sacred dust of death is shed
Upon each dear and reverend head,
Nor love tho living as we love the dead."
This is true ; and sometimes it is added that there is something of
flattery, or at least of exaggeration in these our views of the dead.
I am not sure of this, Mr. President, I am not sure that the cross-
lights and the varying shadows give us so just an estimate of one
another as the severer and serene twilight, after the sun has set and
before the night of oblivion has swallowed us up.
I believe there is more truth, as there is more aff'ection, in these
views and feelings that we express and experience for the dead.

At the opening of the Court of Appeals on the 10th of January,
1865, Hon. B. W. Bonney read the proceedings of the meeting of
the Bar in New York. Hon. George F. Comstoct then addressed
the Court, and Chief Justice Denio responded.
JUDGE COMSTOCK'S ADDRESS.
May it please the Court : I take a pleasure; mingled with the sad
ness due to the occasion, in rising to second the motion which has
been made, that the proceedings of the New York Bar be entered on
the minutes of this Court.

52
Our deceased friend and brother was one of the most honored
practitioners at this Bar.
It is here that the highest and best efforts of his professional life
were put forth. It is here that his most valuable triumphs were
achieved, and it is here that his ripe learning, his varied aecomjjlish-
ments as an advocate, not less than his excellence and worth as a
private citizen and christian gentleman, should receive the commemo
ration which they so well deserve.
Among the recollections of his professional career, which press upon
me at this moment, there is one which is peculiarly suitable to be
mentioned here. Probably the most difficult and important legal
controversy in which he was ever engaged, was the celebrated " mil
lion and half million trust" cases. Indeed, a controversry more im
portant in the stake involved and tho principles concerned has rarely
arisen in this country. Mr. Noyes, I think, was in charge of the
cases from their origin. After being litigated for many years in the
subordinate Courts, they were brought to this Court for final adjudi
cation, now precisely eight years ago, and occupied its exclusive at
tention for nearly thirty days. It happened to me, in another situa
tion, to be present and to listen to that discussion, and I remember it
as the highest intellectual satisfaction which I ever enjoyed. Those
of your honors then on the bench, I think, will agree with me that
this hall never witnessed an equal display of forensic power; On ono
side were tho consummate learning, the massive logic, and the keen dis
crimination of the ex-jurists Bronson and Beardsley — men who had
adorned the bench of this State. With them was Nicholas Hill,
whose powers of argument were rarely, if ever, overmatched.
Opposed to those great antagonists were O'Conor, Butler and
Kent. With them was our distinguished friend, whose sudden de
parture from the scene of his earthly labors and triumphs wo now
deplore. Of him it is but the simple truth to say that he was, if
not ^rmws inter pares, at least the worthy and equal associate antao--
onist of the eminent men whom I have named.
How fleeting and transitory are earthly excellence and greatness !
Of all that noble array of talent and learning, only one survives — the
rest have gone to their dust. They have sunk to that slumber which
will know no waking until the morning of the resurrection, when
they and all of us shall be summoned by the trumpet of the arch
angel to a higher Bar, where perfect justice, let us hope, will be
blended with mercy through the Redeemer of mankind.

53
I have known Mr, Noyes during nearly the whole of my profes
sional life.
He had the discriminating mind, the patient industry and untiring
devotion to the interests committed to his charge, which are better
than the highest gift of mere genius. With those qualities ho rose
to the first rank, and practiced in the highest walks of his profession,
and has left behind him a bright example as worthy of emulation, and
it is encouraging to all those who commence tho struggle for honor
able fame.
Although I knew him long and well, others, doubtless, enjoyed
more intimate relations with him. During the last throe years of
his life wc were associated in causes of difficulty and importance,
and no one can be more impressed than I am with the loss which our
profession and society have sustained by his death. His eminence
as a severe and able lawyer was softened by the uniform courtesy
and amenity of his manner, and illuminated by the radiance of his
private and domestic virtues.
Viewing, as we did, from dift'eront stand points, tho groat social
and political questions which agitato tho public mind in (his country,
and are even shaking our pillars of government and society, I cheer
fully accorded to him all the sincerity and earnestness of intelligent
conviction. He himself was far too cultivated, too wise arid just to
be intolerant toward the like convictions of other men. It is among
the highest satisfactions permitted to mo to believe that I enjoyed his
friendship as I gave to him unrestrainedly my own.
REMARKS BY CHIEF JUSTICE DENIO.
When tho Judges who sat on the bench of this Court last year
met in consultation last month, and hoard of tho sudden death of
Mr. Noves, thoy felt not only that one of tho groat lights of tho law
had boon extinguished, but that each one of them had lost a personal
friend. I am authorized to say that those who took their seats here
at tho commencement of the present year, fully sympathize in tho
sorrow universally felt for our great loss. For myself, tho blow was
peculiarly afflicting.
I had known Mr. Noyes longer than any member of the Bar or tho
Bench, and had known him intimately and well. More than forty years
ago we were successively students with Henry R. Storrs, a person

54
of great genius and one of the most brilliant lawyers of his time
but whose name, alas, (such is the transitory value of professiona
renown,) is almost effaced from the memory of the younger members
of the Bar. As I left Mr. Storrs' office, on my admission to the Bar
Mr. Noyes succeeded nic, and my first professional partner, on his
admission to tho Bar, became his. When I moved to Utica, he alsc
came there and practiced law for some time in that city, and then,
twenty-five or thirty years ago, he left Utica for the city of New
York. It is most gratifying to be able to say that during that long period
of time our relations have been intimate and confidential, and that
no single shade of difference, or even coldness, has ever intervened,
Tho loss, therefore, was a peculiarly afflictive one to me, and it is deeply
lamented, both upon personal and public grounds.
When a groat man is taken away from us, we arc apt to inquire as
to the predominating characteristics of his mind. Of Mr. Noyes it
may be said that, although gifted with talents of a very high order,
he had none of the irregularities and eccentricities of genius. There
was a remarkable harmony in his intellectual powers, and in his habits
of thought and conduct.
His intellectual efforts were not fitful and intermittent, but steady
and persistent, and he gave to every thing its proper place — profes
sional efforts, domestic duties, attention to his friends and devotion
to his duties as a citizen — none were in excess ; all wore illustrative
of the remarkable harmony of his life and character, and showed
that if he did not possess an exalted imagination, or the qualities
which are supposed to define a man of genius, he yet possessed, in
great perfection, those perhaps more useful qualities which lead to
eminence in a learned profession.
Ho had a remarkably tenacious memory. Probably he never read
a case or examined a subject without retaining such a recollection of
it as would enable him to call up and apply it when he subsequently
had occasion for its use. But without going further, I need but say,
that born and breed in tho country, he went to the metropolis with
out family connections, or any adventitious aid, he successfully
encountered the immense competition which he necessarily met, and
very soon took his place in the front rank of the profession.
In our profession eminence is tho result of labor and ability, and
is not attained by accident or the caprice of fortune. It is enough to

55
say of him that in a strange city he reached an eminence and
achieved a renown which few had attained.
The only remark which could be made of Mr. Noyes, which was
not altogether laudatory, was, that he persisted in his arduous labors
to the detriment of his health ; and it was a matter of concern to
his friends, that having acquired a large competency as tho reward of
his professional life, and as groat a measure of fame as falls to the lot
of the most favored, he should not have taken the repose to which
he was so justly entitled. He probably felt the noble sentiment of
Sir Francis Bacon, " that tho duties of life are more than life," and so
he labored on, not feeling authorized to abandon the work cast upon
him by the solicitude of his clients ; and it is enough to say he con
scientiously pursued the cause of duty and usefulness until it pleased
God to call him from us.
In a time like this, we dwell with peculiar satisfaction upon his
Christian character, which was exemplary in the highest degree. In
the midst of his most active life ho never forgot his dependence upon
the great Author of his being. He has left not only a great name in
his cherished profession, but what is better, tho repute of an honest
and a conscientious Christian man.

REMARKS AT THE FUNERAL OF WM. CURTISS NOYES,
DEC. 28, 1863, BY REV. DR. PRENTICE.
I have spoken of Mr. Noyes as a lawyer. But he was more than
a great lawyer He was a patriot, a philanthropist, and a Christian.
It has been my privilege to know but few mon, who seemed to me
so well entitled to bear these honored names, love to his country, love
to his race, and ardent love to his God and Saviour — these three
were wrought into the whole substance of his character, and formed
tho ruling motives of his life. Did the occasion permit, I could
detain you with illustrations of these traits until the shadows of night
had gathered around us.
Although no more politician, and looking with abhorrence upon
the corrupt ways of party, Mr. Noyes was a man of very deep and
earnest political convictions. He cherished a strong faith in the just
and beneficent principles that lie at the foundation of our Free Insti
tutions. His mind was thoroughly imbued with American ideas.
Some thouo'ht that he leaned too much towards liberty and

56
progress ; that he was too radical, or at least somewhat visionary in
his views, and did not sufficiently consider the claims of the past,
but the number of those who now think so is, probably, very small
compared with the number of those who thought so four years ago.
The course of events has a logic vastly stronger and more convincing
than that of any man or party. On several of the most disputed
and vital points his opinions, once so little accepted, now express the
general and dominant sentiment of the nation. Those, however,
who most differed with him, could not but admire his absolute sin
cerity and his pure, unselfish patriotism. Among the first to discern
the approach of the great civil storm that is still beating upon us, he
was among the first and foremost in preparing the public mind to
meet it in the right way. His faith in tho ultimate triumph of the
national cause, and in tho sublime destiny of the Republic, never
faltered. In the darkest hours he was hopeful and of good cheer,
believing that God had set apart this land to bo the hospitable home
and the sanctuary of political justice and universal freedom, he also
believed that nothing could thwart that Providential design ; yet few
men, probably, suflfcred more intensely on account of the perils and
distress of the country than he did. His whole mind and heart were
absorbed, in the struggle; and some of his friends think that it
shortened his life by years. When told during the recent political
canvass, that he was exerting himself beyond his strength, he promptly
replied : " It is the path of duty and if I fall, it will be in the service
of my country. I could not die in a better cause." Though not
permitted to see the end of the momentous conflict, he saw what
(as he told me last week), seemed to him the unmistakable " begin
ning of the end." The sight filled him with grateful joy, and he
died in full prospect of good things to come.
Mr. Noyes was a philanthropist in the best sense of the word. His
generous sympathies, like the prayers of the church, embraced all
sorts and conditions of men. His profession had shown him the
dark side of human nature ; and he was sometimes appalled and
almost driven to despair by the sight ; but his religious faith soon
restored him to that hopeful and benevolent temper which was one
of his most striking characteristics. The great and sacred cause of
humanity, whether at home or abroad, always found in him a whole-
souled advocate. He ranged himself with all his heart and mind
and strength under tho banner of advancing christian civilization.
Tho strange and tragic fortunes of the African race interested him

57
most deeply, and he avowed himself a friend of the slave when it
was a very unpopular thing to do so. He was not afraid, or ashamed,
to stand up for any man or class of men, whose claims appealed to
his sense of justice, and his practice was in perfect keeping with his
theory. There was no ond to his Christian kindness and charities ;
they flowed from him free as the elements, though largely through
channels and upon objects hidden from the public eye. Ho took
pains not to let his left hand know what his right hand was doing.
For a number of years he had alone supported a Home Missionary ;
yet to the day of his death only two or three persons wore aware of
it. But one eye, save his own, saw the number and extent of his
benefactions. How many widows and orphans, how many poor and
unfortunate persons, how many to whom he once extended a helping
hand and spoke words of sympathy and hope, will mourn his loss
and long bless his memory ! Ho took a warm personal intere,st in
the objects of his kindness, and loved to make personal efforts in their
behalf. His very last engagement, I am informed, was with an indi
gent little boy for whom he desired to obtain a situation. If tho thought
of a good deed, as George Herbert says, makes music in tho soul at
midnight, our departed Brother must have passed many happy mid
night hours ! To his own family and kindred and household friends,
ho was like a prince in the midst of the favorites of his court. He
delighted to lavish upon them incessant and enduring tokens of the
muniflcence of his love. Wore it, indeed, fitting to lift the vail of
that domestic life, in the bosom of which he was so happy, and to
reveal him in the varied relations of son, husband, father, brother and
friend, you would behold in this hard-working, sedate and thoughtful
man a rare picture of tender and playful emotion, of gentle courtesy
and loving-kindness, and of the manliest affection.
It is not needful that I should speak hero 'Of his connection with
our public institutions, whether of learning, charity and philanthropy,
or of christian evangelism ; nor of the services he rendered them.
That will be better done elsewhere.
If what I have said be true, we have boon contemplating a character
of rare excellence. But its crowning virtue — that which gave it its
peculiar ^strength and beauty — was something divine and above the
reach of nature ; something born not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, Mr. Noyes was a sincere
and devoted desciple of Jesus. Ho entered early into the fellowship
of the Christian Church — and from that day to tho day of his death
G

58
remained steadfast in tho faith of tho Gospel. Feeling himself to be
a poor, lost sinner, ho rested his hope of eternal life wholly and alone
upon Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Like other religious mon of
his profession whom I have had the privilege of knowing — mon gifted
like him with a vigorous intellect and of large observation and experi
ence of life — he possessed the humility and artless faith of a little child.
It was a delight to preach to him, he was such a friendly, patient, and
devout listener. His love to tho Bible and to all the great ordinances
of religion was after the type of that of the old saints ; so, too, was
his confidence in tho great Catholic doctrines of religion. Tho scep
tical objections and tendencies of modern thought appeared to give
him but little, if any, trouble of mind. He was eminently a man of
faith. The very word, especially in its latin form, was exceedingly
dear to him. He inscribed it upon the most precious symbol of his
love. Fide — " by faith we stand," — that was his motto. He endured
as seeing Him who is invisible ; and he did so by keeping up personal
communion with his God and Saviour through prayer. Of late,
especially, his devotions were touchingly tender, humble and child
like. A few mornings before his death he prayed, with singular
pathos, that ho might be kept that day from everything selfish, harsh,
or unkind ; and at evening he returned home with a sweet smile of con
tent upon his face, that seemed to say his prayer had boon answered.
For months past thoro have been indications that ho had a presenti
ment of what was coming. Passages in his domestic correspondence,
passages of favorite poems which ho marked or desired to have read
to him, casual remarks, counsels and wishes as to what should bo
done after he was gone, business arrangements, all show that lie
thought his time was short, and that at any moment the Son of Man
might come. It seemed to be his constant endeavor to bo ready
when the hour should strike. As I look back I can see it in his rev
erential demeanor and whole aspect in tho house of God ; never
more plainly than last Tuesday evening while speaking on the words :
" Our Father who art in Heaven." As his family look back thoy can
see it in many things. And when the shadow, of the groat event fell
upon him on last Friday morning, he was ready to meet it. He had
nothing to do but to wait until tho Sabbath came — the day commemo
rative at once of his Lord's Advent and Resurrection — and then,
conducted by tho strong hand of that adored Friend and Saviour, to
pass quickly through the gate of death into the rest that remaineth for
the people of God. " Mark the perfect man and behold the upright ;
for tho end of that man is peace."

59
Mr. Noyes was ono of the founders of tho Church of tho Covenant,
•and will bo held by it in grateful and lasting remembrance. In the
movements whieh led to its formation and to the erection of its beau
tiful edifice, his counsel, sympathy and generous aid were invaluable.
He was one of our chief pillars of strength. In the darkest hours
of 1861 '2, when it seemed to many as if tho undertaking must be
abandoned, he was in favor of at once o-oing forward and bcginnino; to
build. I shall never lose tho impression of his manly and cheering
%vords. At the organization of the Church, ho was urged to be one
of its Ruling Elders ; and I understand he had been urged to accept
the same office in the University Place Church, (the Rev. Dr. Potts,)
of whieh ho was long an honored member. But ho declined in a
manner and for reasons which did honor to his high Christian senti
ments. He took great interest in the Sunday School, having been
himself for many years both a teacher and Superintendent. He was
regular in his attendance at the, weekly lecture, and I never saw a
more devout listener. He was, indeed, in his whole make and temper,
homo gravis — a thoughtful, weighty and earnest Christian man. I
shall always esteem it a great privilege to have boon his pastor and to
.have enjoved his friendship.

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