504

The Green Bag

controlling or affecting his rulings or his judgment. Judge Emery has been an extensive reader of general history, and a diligent student of the history and philosophy of the law and of political science and gov ernmental policies. After his admission to the bar he promptly identified himself with the public life of the community in which he lived and of the county and state. He became county attorney at twenty-six years of age, was a member of the Maine Senate at the age of thirty-four, and Attorney-General of the state at the age of thirty-six. lnall_ of these positions he performed his duties with a conspicuous fidelity and ability reflecting credit upon himself and honor upon the state. In the Legislature his service was notable for his efforts to pro cure legislation conferring upon the court

full equity jurisdiction and powers and rendering the procedure in both law and equity more simple, speedy and effective. He came to the bench of the Supreme Court fully qualified by intellectual en dowments, liberal culture and experience at the bar to render eminent judicial ser vice to the state and make an honorable career for himself. He brought with him besides, not only high ideals of the

honor of the legal profession and the dig nity of the law and exalted conceptions of the judicial character and functions, but also the capacity and disposition for prolonged and arduous labor as well in

and simple language, without encroach ing in the slightest degree upon their

province to decide the issue of fact, but with a singleness of purpose to have the law correctly determined and the truth discovered and declared. He never for

got the distinction pointed out by Chief Justice Marshall that “judicial power is never exercised for the purpose of giving

effect to the will of the judge, but al ways for the purpose of giving effect to the will of the law." It was his firm conviction that punctu ality in the discharge of all public and ofl‘icial duties, and correct deportment and courteous manners in the court room have a tendency to facilitate the admin istration of the law as well as to enhance the respect that is due to the court, and he endeavored with all reasonable vigilance and appropriate methods to discounte nance any disregard of suchcommendable and dignified practices. The ameliorat ing influence of his discipline in that behalf has been distinctly observable. But his judicial opinions as a member of the law court, found in thirty-two volumes of the Maine Reports from the

seventy-sixth to the one hundred and seventh, constitute an enduring monu ment to his great intellectual gifts, the extent and variety of his learning, his

accurate knowledge of the common law and his faculty of adapting its flexible principles to new enterprises, new devel opments and new conditions in indus

the trial court as in the examination of

trial and social life.

the law for the preparations of the opin ions of the law court. He also had the

first attracted to the excellence of his

courage of his convictions and the faculty

of clear and methodical statement which is ordinarily developed by clearness of apprehension. Thus at the end of each juridical year his desk has disclosed no work unfinished, no duty unperformed. At nisa' im'us he stated the law to the jury with absolute impartiality, in clear

My attention was

work in the law court when, in the second

year of his service upon the bench, his opinions in the important cases of Ames v. Savage and Andrews v. King appeared in the seventy-seventh Maine

Report.

The former involved a discus

sion of constitutional law and it was held that upon judgments against mu

nicipalities, execution may be issued