Mr. Justice Bradley. of acts of Congress, or of State legislatures, with proceedings at civil law, with suits in admiralty and marine insurance, with patent causes, railroad litigation, the validity of municipal bonds (especially bonds in aid of railroads), with habeas corpus; in short, with well-nigh every subject of legal inquiry em braced within the jurisdiction of this great tribunal. No man ever sat upon the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, who in the extent and variety of his knowledge has surpassed Mr. Justice Bradley. He was a very learned man; at the same time his learning was not a clog. On the contrary, it was of inestimable value to the Court, so practical was his turn of mind. He pos sessed that first requisite for largest useful ness upon the bench, a keen perception of the precise limits beyond which the language of a decision ought not to go. At the argu ment he was surprisingly quick to detect what the facts of a case really meant; and when he put a question to counsel, it went straight to the point. Acute as he was to discover nice or even subtle distinctions, he viewed a legal contro versy in its largest aspect, and sought to apply to it broad principles of justice. It has indeed been said of him that he was not free from an inclination to bring into promi nence a line of reasoning that had scarcely occurred to his brethren; and such was the persistency of his nature, to push it to undue bounds in a subsequent case. This trait, however, we may regard as incident to quali ties with which only a great judge is en dowed; namely, foresight to discern the need of moulding the law anew to meet the changing condition of the times, and courage to take the step. Mr. Justice Bradley's opinions, as the bar well know, are logical and persuasive; and their style is of trans parent clearness. No one can read them without being impressed with the intellectual grasp and the extraordinary mental resources of their author. The retirement, in 1880, of Mr. Justice
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Strong left it open for Mr. Justice Bradley to be transferred to the third circuit (Penn sylvania, New Jersey and Delaware), and the change was accordingly made. It may be remarked, in passing, that upon his circuits Mr. Justice Bradley was prompt and efficient in the despatch of business, and popular with the bar. The electoral commission of 1877, and Mr. Justice Bradley's services thereon, haue passed into history. It is no secret that he entertained serious misgivings as to the wisdom of subjecting the Supreme Court to the strain of such a responsibility, — a strain that by reason of events not to be foreseen came to bear with special weight upon him self. Nevertheless he met this new duty with the like integrity of purpose and perfect fear lessness that marked the performance of his customary judicial labors. Aspersion and falsehood he bore in silence, content to await the verdict that the country should give, after the passions of the hour had cooled. In 1859 Lafayette College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. College and historical societies and other bodies from time to time invited him to deliver ad dresses before them, most of which have been printed. Of these I may specially men tion a lecture delivered in 1884 to the law students of the University of* Pennsylvania, upon " Law as the Bond and Basis of Civil Society." Discourses at such seasons are apt to assume the didactic form, and how ever useful and appropriate to the occasion, are ordinarily of little permanent value. Not so this production. Had its author given nothing else to the public, this address alone would, I venture to assert, have entitled Mr. Justice Bradley to rank among the most profound thinkers of his day. The Justice's pen was busy in various di rections. He contributed two articles — one on Law, the other on Government — to the American Supplement of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1889). Sketches of Salmon P. Chase in Johnson's Encyclopaedia (1875), and of John Marshall, in the Cyclopaedia of
