isfactory than the method of appointment; but the
union of courts of law and equity was an untried experiment in New
York. It had the sanction of other States, and, in part, of the
judicial system of the United States, where procedure at law and in
equity had become assimilated, if not entirely blended, thus
abolishing the inconvenience of so many tribunals and affording
greater facility for the trial of equity causes involving questions of
fact.

But delegates were slow to profit by the experience of other
Commonwealths. From the moment the report was submitted attacks upon
it became bitter and continuous. Charles O'Conor opposed the elective
system, the union of the two courts, and the abolition of the county
court. Charles P. Kirkland proposed that only three members of the
Court of Appeals be elected, the others to be appointed by the
governor, with the consent of the Senate. Alvah Worden wanted two
Courts of Appeals, one of law and one of chancery, neither of which
should be elective. Simmons desired a different organisation of the
Supreme Court, and Bascom objected to the insufficient number of
sessions of the court provided for the whole State. Others of the
minority submitted reports and opinions, until the subject seemed
hopelessly befogged and the work of the majority a failure. O'Conor
was especially impatient and restless in his opposition. In skill and
ability no one could vie with him in making the old ways seem better.
He was now forty-two years old. He had a powerful and vigorous frame,
and a powerful and vigorous understanding. It was the wonder of his
colleagues how, in addition to the faithful work performed in
committee, he could get time for the research that was needed to equip
him for the great speeches with which he adorned the debates. He never
held office, save, during a portion of President Pierce's
administration, that of United States attorney for the southern
district of New York; but his rapid, almost instinctive judgment, his
tact, his ability to crush sophistries with a single sentence, and his
vigorous rhetoric must have greatly distinguished his administration
of any office which he might have occupied. Yet the conservatism which
finally separated him from the cordial supporters of the government
during the Civil War usually kept him in the minority. His spirit was
not the spirit that governed; and, in spite of his brilliant and
determined opposition, the convention of 1846 accepted t