oyed. He had a clear voice, of great compass, pitched
on rather a high key, but sweet and musical like the sound
of a bugle. The young men used to fill the court-house to
hear his arguments to juries. He became a very profound lawyer,
always mastering the learning of the case, but never leaning
too much upon authorities. Charles Emerson's beautiful phrase
in his epitaph upon Professor Ashmun, "Books were his helpers,
never his masters," was most aptly applied to Thomas. If
he had any foible which affected at all his usefulness or
success in life it was an impatience of authority, whether
it were the authority of a great reputation, or of party,
or of public sentiment, or of the established and settled
opinions of mankind. He went on the Supreme Bench in 1853.
Dissenting opinions were rare in the Massachusetts Supreme
Court in those days. In this I think the early Judges were
extremely wise. Nothing shakes the authority of a court more
than the frequent habit of individual dissent. But Judge
Thomas dissented from the judgments of his court on several
very important occasions. His dissenting opinions were exceedingly
alike. I think it would have been better if they had not
been delivered. I think he would have been much more likely
to have come to the other conclusion if the somewhat imperious
intellect of Shaw had not been put into the prevailing scale.
When all Massachusetts bowed down to Webster, Judge Thomas,
though he respected and honored the great public idol, supported
Taylor as a candidate for the Presidency. At the dinner
given to the Electoral College after the election, where Mr.
Webster was present, Judge Thomas shocked the meeting by saying:
"Some persons have spoken of our candidate as their second
choice. I am proud to say that General Taylor was not only
my last, but my first choice." So, when Judge Thomas was
in Congress, while he was as thoroughly loyal, patriotic,
and brave a man as ever lived, he opposed the policies of
the Republican Party for carrying on the war and putting down
the Rebellion. He was thought to be inspired by a great dislike
of submitting to party authority or even to that of President
Lincoln. He was very fond of young men. When he was Judge
they always found that they had all the consideration that
they deserved, and had no fear of being put at a disadvantage
by any antagonist, however able or experienced. The Judge
seemed always to be stirred by the suggesti