Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/745

In 1831 Judge Story was offered the chief justiceship of Massachusetts, but he declined. After the death of Chief-Justice Marshall, being the senior member by appointment, he presided over the deliberations of his associates until the confirmation of Chief-Justice Taney. It had been the wish of Marshall that Story should succeed him, but. as he was not in sympathy with the ad- ministration, that was impossible. During the ill- ness of Taney in 1844 he again filled the chief justice's place for a few months. Judge Story had nearly completed his preparations for retiring from the bench and devoting his energies exclusively to the law-school, when he was stricken with a fatal illness. In 1818 he was elected an overseer of Har- vard, and that university conferred on him the de- gree of LL. D. in 1821. while Brown similarly hon- ored him in 1815, and Dartmouth in 1824. For many years he was president of the Merchants' bank in Salem, and in 1842 he was active in estab- lishing the alumni association of Harvard, of which he became vice-president. Though for thirty-three years a laborious judge of the supreme court of his country, and during the last sixteen years of his life an eminently successful teacher of law, Story gave to the world more text-books on juris- prudence than any other writer of his time. The list comprises his " Commentaries on the Law of Bailments" (Cambridge, 1832); "Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States," a work re- markable alike for its depth of research, vivid his- torical sketches, and treasures of political wisdom (3 vols., 1833); "Commentaries on the Conflict of Laws," his ablest and most original work (Boston, 1834) ; " Commentaries on Equity Jurisprudence," the first logical and systematic discussion of that subject (2 vols., 1835-'6) ; " Equity Pleadings " (1838); " Law of Agency " (1839); "Law of Part- nership" (1841); "Law of Bills of Exchange" (1*4:3); and "Law of Promissory Notes" (1845). He also edited "Chitty on Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes " (Boston, 1809) ; " Abbot on Shipping" (1810); and "Laws on Assumpsit" (1811), with notes of American statutes and cases. All of these works have passed through many editions, and are recognized not only by British judges, but on the continent, where they have been translated into German and French, as of the high- est authority. Edward Everett writes : " For an American judge to be daily cited in the British courts from the highest of all, the court of par- liament, down, and to have his books alluded to as the proof that certain branches of jurisprudence, and these the nobler ones, are more extensively and successfully cultivated in America than in Eng- land, may well be regarded as an offset for the taunts of tourists and reviewers." Story's decisions as a circuit-court judge are contained in thirteen octavo volumes, being the reports of Cranch, Wheaton, Peters, and Howard, from 1811 to 1845. The reports of the supreme court during his ju- dicial life fill thirty-five volumes, of which his ju- dicial opinions, remarkable alike for their compact logic, luminous clearness, wealth of learning, and fulness of illustration, form a large part. The notes he contributed to Wheaton's reports fill 184 closely printed pages. Besides all these legal la- bors, he delivered many discourses on literary and other themes, wrote numerous biographical sketches of his contemporaries, and contributed elaborate papers to the "North American Review" and the " American Jurist." He also wrote for his friend Dr. Lieber's " Encyclopaedia Americana " articles filling 120 pages, prepared reports on codification, etc., and drafted some of the most important acts I of congress. He left an unpublished " Digest of Law" in three manuscript folio volumes, which is i in the Harvard law library. The secret of these colossal achievements was ceaseless, systematic in- dust ry, an extraordinary memory equally tenacious of principles and of cases, frequent change of labor, and concentration of mind. He economized odd moments, changed his work when weary, and wrought with all the force of his intellect. 'Judge Story had fine colloquial powers, which manifested themselves not in wit or epigram, but in a con- tinuous flow of genial and sparkling remark. His favorite English poets were Pope and Gray; his favorite Latin poet was Virgil, of whose works, when travelling, he always carried with him a well-thumbed pocket edition. A collection of his " Miscellaneous Writings" was published during his life-time (1835), and an enlarged edition, edited by his son, William W. Story, appeared after his death (2 vols., Boston, 1851). See also " Life and Letters of Joseph Story," by William W. Story (2 vols., 1851). A selection from his decisions, entitled "Notes on the Principle and Practice of Prize Courts," was edited by E. T. Pratt (London, 1854). His son, William Wetmore, artist, b. in Salem, Mass.. 12 Feb., 1819 ;d. in Yallambrosa, Italy, 7 Oct., 1895, was grad- uated at Harvard in 1838, and studied law under his father's di- rection. He was ad- mitted to the bar, and devoted his attention largely to the prepa- ration of the " Re- ports of Cases argued and determined in the Circuit Court of the United States for the First Circuit" (3 vols., Boston, 1842-7); " Treatise on the Law

of Contracts not under Seal " (1844) ; and

"Treatise on the Law of Sales of Personal Prop- erty" (1847). At the same time he was a frequent contributor of both prose and verse to the " Bos- ton Miscellany " and other periodicals. Mr. Story was the poet of his class, and in 1844 delivered the

• B K poem at Harvard on " Nature and Art," in

which he indicated the tastes which were to gov- ern his future life. His first volume of " Poems " was published in 1847, and in 1856 he delivered a poem at the dedication of the statue of Beethoven at the Boston music-hall. In 1848 his fondness for art led to his going to Italy, where he had since resided, devoting his attention chiefly to sculp- ture. His statue of his father in the chapel of Mount Auburn cemetery, of Edward Everett in the Boston public garden, busts of James Russell Lowell, Theodore Parker, and Josiah Quincy, art- well-known examples of his art, and he modelled a bronze statue of George Peabody, which was erected in London in 1809, and a replica of which was presented in 1888 to the city of Baltimore through the liberality of Robert Garrett. He was a U. S. commissioner on fine arts to the World's fair at Paris in 1879, and had received decorations from France and Italy. Mr. Story held a profess- orship in the Academia degli arcadi Sta. Cecilia, and had received the degree of D. C. L. from the University of Oxford and an honorary degree from the University of Bologna on its 800th anniver- sary. Among his other works are " Sappho "