MORRISON R. WAITE.

THE Condition of society in New England, in respect to morals, manners and education, about the beginning of the Revolution, was the best calculated to produce men who would be fitted to act well their part in the dangers, the toils, and the difficulties of so great a conflict, without causing danger to those republican ideas and institutions for which they were willing to lay down their lives; either on the one hand by an unbridled violence, or on the other by unprincipled ambition. It is a well-known fact that, in this part of the colonies, a larger proportion of the entire population of the country were liberally educated, than was probably the case in any other part of the civilized world. This fact, in addition to the fact that almost every man was, if not, indeed, profoundly learned, still he was competently instructed for all the ordinary purposes of active life; and thus there was diffused through the community a great mass of general information, and there was and had been for a long time, excited throughout the whole community, a general activity of mind which was admirably calculated to produce the very best results. In their early history, it is true, that they were occasionally disgraced by bigotry and fanatacism, but this had gradually died away, and their sterling and rigid virtue and high-toned principle remained. The general charac

ter of the inhabitants was deeply moral and religious, and there was an habitual reference to principle in the conduct and opinions of the great body of the people. The town of Lyme, in the State of Connecticut, furnishes an admirable example of New England civilization, past and present. It covers seven or eight square miles of fertile territory, and is bounded by Long Island Sound and by the great river of the State. It was settled more than two centuries ago, by active. resolute, moral and intellectual men, and their descendants have never outgrown their ancestor's characteristics. There appears to be something in the very atmosphere, laden as it is with the breath of the ocean, which tends towards the increase of mental vigor, as well as to length of days. Lyme has sent out her sons to all parts of the Union, and they have done her great credit and honor. Upon a canvass of the Legislature in the State of New York, a few years since, it was found that thirty of the members had been born in this New England town. It has furnished Governors, Senators, Judges and Soldiers to its own State and to others in the Union-and it has produced more lawyers than any other town of like size in this or any other country. It may rest on its laurels, its latest and grandest achievement being the production of a ChiefJustice of the Supreme Court of the United States. May the youngest member of the bar be an old man, before she, or any other locality, is called upon to perform a like office. The ancestors of the present ChiefJustice were originally from England; but compartively little can be ascertained of the family history, prior to the removal of Thomas Wait from Sudbury, in Massachusetts, to the town of Lyme, in Connecticut. This occurred about the commencement of the last century. The family name was anciently written Wait, the final e being added to his surname by the father of the ChiefJustice, after coming of age. Thomas Wait was born in 1677, and married Mary Bronson. Their sixth child, Richard, was born June 11th, 1711, and he married as his second wife Rebecca Higgins. Their oldest child,

He was a man of repeatedly elected As a member of

Remick, was born April 10th, 1758. He married Susanna Matson, and their oldest child was Henry Matson, the father of the Chief-Justice. high mark in his native State, being to its Legislature in both branches. these bodies he exhibited a character marked for conconsistency and integrity; and the respect entertained for him, and confidence reposed in him, by the prominent public men with whom he was then associated, are honorable testimonials of the leading position that he occupied. He was Chief-Justice of the State for more than twenty-two years.

Marvin Wait, an ancestor of the family, was a distinguished man in his day He was a lawyer with a large practice. He was on the first electoral ticket chosen in Connecticut, and was nineteen times chosen to represent his district in the State Legislature. He was one of the commissioners appointed by the General Assembly to sell the State lands, and to fund the money derived from their sale. The action of these commissioners was the origin of the noble school fund in the State of Connecticut, and which is in existence at this day.

The father of the Chief-Justice died in 1869, full of years and honors. It has been well said that no one ever held the high office which he helped to render so distinguished, who possessed in a higher degree the esteem of the bar, and the confidence of the people. He married in 1816, a daughter of Col. Richard Ely Seldon, who was the descendant of a colonel in the Revolutionary army. Mrs. Waite was a woman of superior intellect and character, and many of her qualities are reflected in her children. The subject of this sketch was the eldest of eight children. He was born on the 29th of November, 1816. His early education was obtained at Bacon Academy in Coldchester, one of the most flourishing institutions of the kind in Connecticut, where his father had been educated before him. At the age of seventeen years he entered Yale College, and graduated with distinguished honor in 1837. Among his classmates were many dis

tinguished men-William M. Evarts, Edwards Pierrepont, Prof. Benjamin Silliman, Jr., and others. His standing for scholarship in College was high, and he was distinguished for his evenly developed and well balanced mind. After his graduation Mr. Waite began the preparation for his profession with his father; but he afterwards removed to Maumee City, Ohio, where he entered the office of Samuel M. Young, Esq., one of the most prominent lawyers in that section of the country, and yet living at an advanced age.

Mr. Waite was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1839, at Cadez, and he immediately formed a partnership with Mr. Young. The firm afterwards removed to Toledo. When Mr. Waite's youngest brother, Richard, came to the bar, the brothers formed a partnership which continued until the elevation of the elder to the Chief-Justiceship. From the very beginning of his professional life Mr. Waite's course was stamped with success, the foundation had been laid deep and strong, and the superstructure was almost perfection. It was soon discovered that his industry knew no bounds; that he possessed a mind of the highest order; that judgment, accuteness, penetration, capacious memory, accurate learning, steady perseverance in the discharge of duty, a lofty integrity, united with a grave and winning elocution were his in a very high degree. He quietly and unostentatiously pursued his professional labors, constantly growing in influence and power both as a lawyer and a citizen. As his powers were unfolded with experience, his clients and the public saw that in the argument of important causes, he disentangled what was intricate, confirmed what was doubtful, embellished what was dry, and illustrated what was obscure. All these essential qualifications were soon rewarded with an extensive and lucrative practice. His distinguished ability, his studious habits, and his conciliatory manners, all contributed to his great popularity and success. From the very beginning of his professional life, his mind was firmly set upon the work to which he had devoted his life, from which no attraction

could lure him. He never accepted public office, except when he believed great public interests were at stake. Public office had no charm for him on account of itself, or by reason of its emoluments. As a lawyer he was without ambition, save for such distinction as necessarily followed the faithful and honorable pursuit of his chosen profession. He was soon acknowledged as the leading counselor and advocate of Ohio, and that ment that he was the leader of the bar of the great northwest. His studious habits and unflagging industry secured to him familiarity with the law in all its branches-constitutional, ċivil, maratime and criminal. He proved himself capable of grasping all the minute details affecting in any way a legal question. He manifested a reverence. for law which is not a mere slavish worship of forms and technicalities, but an intelligent appreciation of the great principles of truth, right and justice underlying the whole fabric of civilized legislation. He was repeatedly urged to become a candidate for judicial station, but he invariably refused to do so. When Judge Hocking H. Hunter declined to serve on the Supreme Bench of Ohio, Governor Brough offered the position to Mr. Waite; this he declined. Politically Mr. Waite was a Whig, until the disbandment of that party; and since that time he has been identified with the Republicans. He was always too deeply engaged in his profession to become much of a partisan, and consequently never came to be recognized as a party leader. He was simply one of the very best specimens of the American lawyer. His whole life, from earliest manhood, has been professional. He is one of the few really eminent men of the country, who has almost no political history. In 1849, Mr. Waite was elected to the Legislature of his adopted State, and served with great credit and distinction, though his party was in the minority. In 1850, he was a candidate for election to the State Constitutional Convention, and was beaten on party grounds. In 1862, he was persistantly and repeatedly importuned by prominent citizens of both parties to become a candidate for Congress, and he very reluctantly