VOL. XII.
No. 8.
BOSTON.
AUGUST, 1900.
FREDERIC CARROLL BREWSTER. BY CHAS. В. CONNOLLY. T H E truly great never die. To the par ent dust may their mortal frames re turn, but their memory remains forever, and like the distant star continues to illume the paths of future generations ages after their native brilliancy has died out. It is little more than a year since Philadel phia lost one of its leading citizens, ex-Judge Frederic Carroll Brewster, but though he is no longer present with us his spirit still ani mates the legal profession of his city. The ancestry of a great man is always a point of interest, for heredity no less than environment lends wonderful force to the moulding of character. Elder William Brewster, one of the original Pilgrim Fathers, is the earliest progenitor of the late judge of whom we have any trace. His descendants settled throughout the Eastern and Middle Atlantic States. Francis Enoch Brewster, the judge's father, was born in Deerfield, N. J., but received his -education in Philadelphia. In this latter city he was admitted to the bar and subsequently attained to quite a height of fame; his practice was very extensive and brought him ample returns in the way of money. The subject of this sketch first saw the light of day in Philadelphia, May 15, 1825. From his earliest youth he gave promise of a brilliant future. The Old Friends Select School, at Fourth and Arch Streets, now famous in story as in history, was the place where young Brewster first learned wisdom at its font. Here he made all the preliminaries with ease, and in due course of time was ready to enter college. It fell to the good
fortune of the University of Pennsylvania to be the Alma Mater of the young aspirant for learning. This institution was then located on Ninth Street, and was under the direc tion of the Rev. Dr. Ludlow. He here dis played the same talents and industry that had marked his earlier schooldays, and grad uated honorably in 1841, being then only sixteen. Having laid the foundation of a good clas sical course he began to study law in the office of his father, and in September, 1844, was ad mitted to the Philadelphia Bar. From this day to that of his death his life was one of constant activity. It was during his early years of legal practice that he won distinction as a criminal lawyer, his later years being more devoted to the civil courts. One of his early cases that served to es tablish his reputation in criminal law was that of Samuel Cunningham, a policeman charged with murdering James McCrory. The latter was a mechanic whom Cunningham was sent to arrest. Upon arriving at his workshop Cunningham found the man intoxicated. He refused to submit to the officer of the law, and attacked him with a knife. Cunning ham shot his adversary and the wound proved fatal. The chief point in the trial was to determine the limit of the exercise of the right of self-defense. Lawyer Brewster claimed that a well-founded fear of the as sailant's intent to inflict bodily harm is suffi cient ground for the exercise of this right even to the extent of taking the assailant's life. Ethically the doctrine is perfectly sound, but it required all the young attor
