of one of Agassiz's works on natural
history. To which my friend replied: "It is the tortoise
on which the elephant stands that bears up the foundations
of the world," alluding to the Hindoo mythology.

Chief Justice Shaw's opinions, as we have them in the reports,
are exceedingly diffuse. That practice would not answer for
a generation which has to consult the reports of forty-five
States and of the Supreme Court and nine judicial circuits
of the United States, besides the reports of the decisions
of some of the District Judges, and in most cases the English
decisions. But it would be a great public loss if any of
Chief Justice Shaw's utterances were omitted. His impulse,
when a question was argued before him, was to write a treatise
on the subject. So his decisions in cases where the questions
raised are narrow and unimportant are often most valuable
contributions to jurisprudence. He seldom passed over any
point or suggestion without remark. He went to the bottom
of the case with great patience and incredible industry. The
counsel who lost his case felt not only that he had had the
opinion of a great and just magistrate, but that every consideration
he could urge for his client was respectfully treated and
either yielded to or answered. Some of his ablest and most
far-reaching decisions were written after he was eighty years
old.

He possessed, beyond any other American Judge, save Marshall,
what may be termed the statesmanship of jurisprudence. He
never undertook to make law upon the Bench, but he perceived
with a far-sighted vision what rule of law was likely to operate
beneficially or hurtfully to the Republic. He was watchful
to lay down no doctrine which would not stand this test. His
great judgments stand among our great securities, like the
provisions of the Bill of Rights.

The Chief Justice was a tower of strength to the Massachusetts
judiciary. But for him it is not unlikely that the State
would have adopted an elective judiciary or a tenure limited
to a term of years. But the whole people felt that his great
integrity and wisdom gave an added security to every man's
life, liberty, and property. So the proposition to limit
the judicial tenure, although espoused by the two parties
who together made up a large majority of the people of the
State, was defeated when it was submitted to a popular vote.
It is, however, a little remarkable that in the neighboring
State of Vermont, for many