upon to deliver opinions, in cases demanding a very profound knowledge of the law, and a very nice discrimination in deciding upon the peculiar circumstances of the case under investigation, and in which principles were involved that required all the aid of practice and experience to constitute a correct decision; yet I am enabled to say, that agreeably to the opinion entertained by gentlemen the most distinguished at the bar, whose names reflect lustre upon their profession, Mr. Clinton's decisions and investigations are highly honourable to his talents and legal acquirements, and will ever be appealed to as standard authorities; at the same time that they are written in a style of eloquence, which cannot fail to give them great additional interest. As a jurist the distinguishing features of Mr. Clinton's intellectual character were fully exhibited. As has been already stated, in presiding over the court of criminal jurisdiction of our city, frequent and most trying occasions were presented, which taxed to the utmost his judicial firmness. Those occasions have passed, and it is hoped that the recollection of them, and the angry collisions with which they were connected have ceased, save the remembrance of the inflexible nerve of the upright magistrate. The enlarged and liberal mind of Mr. Clinton led him early to perceive the inconveniences and evils experienced by the too general introduction into the country of systems of English jurisprudence. In the session of 1805, the disabilities to which the Roman Catholics were liable by the English law, and which had been too implicitly copied in this country, were removed chiefly by his exertions; and on a subsequent occasion in 1813, he carried through the legislature a bill, by which the clergy of this class of christians had secured to them that full freedom of opinion, for which our constitution had until then furnished an imperfect guarantee. With a characteristic and enlightened boldness, from which a Holt or a Mansfield might have shrunk, Mr. Clinton decided as a criminal judge, that the laws of England which compel the disclosure of the sacred secrets of the confessional, were not applicable to this country, whose constitutional charter guarantees the freedom of religious opinion and worship. Mr. Clinton in expressing the opinion of the court, defended the concealment of the sacrament of penance, claimed by the priest as agreeable to the constitution of our government, which secures to its citizens the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference; and is consecrated by the social compact, by the principles of civil and religious liberty. So conclusive were the arguments, and such the eloquence with which they were enforced upon that occasion, that the decision which was in correspondence with the opinion of the court, gave general satisfaction to every religious denomination, as well calculated to dissipate antiquated prejudices and religious jealousies, at the same time that when compared with the statutes and judgments in Europe upon similar subjects, it illustrates the independence of American jurisprudence. This adjudication which has been ably reported by a learned counsellor,* constitutes an historical document which has not only been favourably received by his fellow-citizens, but will be precious and instructive to the present and future generations. The philosopher, the philanthropist and the statesman, were equally * See the report of the trial entitled the Catholic question in America, in which is also contained the able and elaborate argument of Counsellor Sampson. conspicuous in this celebrated decision: it has since received the highest sanction, and it is now the settled law of the state. By this law a numerous and most respectable religious denomination, is relieved from the oppression of an arbitrary authority, imposed by the decisions of British law, which would deprive them of the exercise of a paramount religious duty, enjoined upon them by the most positive obligations of their faith. Upon another occasion, when a great principle, upon which the value of the writ of habeas corpus mainly depends, namely, the authority to review the decisions of inferior courts upon the return to the writ, was in the most imminent peril, he vindicated and successfully sustained this bulwark of our liberties, by the delivery of an opinion, which in force of reasoning and successful illustration, is not surpassed in the judicial eloquence of this country. Details of this nature are not perhaps expected in this place, yet it may not be irrelevant to observe, that his argument in the case of John Van Ness Yates went far to decide, as well in the minds of the proper authorities as in those of the public at large, a question of the greatest importance in the legal history of this state, and which at the time excited no inconsiderable feeling. The decision in accordance with his views, settled the controversy in a manner satisfactory both to the friends of the parties themselves, and to the wishes and opinions of the prudent and judicious at large. This opinion remains among the records of talent and of genius, a cheering light to the friends of liberty, and a warning beacon against judicial encroachment. The merchants of this city, notwithstanding their liberal* acknowledgment of *See Appendix, J. his public services, are probably not aware of the extent of their obligations to the learning, solid judgment, and independence of Mr. Clinton. By a principle of English law adapted to the peculiar interests of that country, and calculated for the protection of those interests at the expense of the rest of the world, the sentences of foreign courts of admiralty were held conclusive upon all mankind, while the judgment of every other foreign court were open to examinations and contradiction. Under the sanction of this principle, British cruisers seized our vessels upon the slightest pretexts, and the petty admiralty courts of the West India Islands, legalized those seizures by condemnations without scruple and without cause. Insurance afforded no protection, for the sentence and the grounds upon which it assumed to proceed, were not suffered to be denied or explained, however false in fact, or however illegal or iniquitous in effect. Against this system of rapine Mr. Clinton raised his voice, and in an admirable opinion, whose force and authority have been strengthened by time, overthrew the principle and all its consequences. The proceedings of those courts were declared open to investigation, their sentences liable to contradiction by proof, and commerce was thus far freed from its fetters. This memorable decision has been repeatedly sanctioned, and rigidly adhered to by all the courts of this state. Long before those plans of legal reform which now engage public attention, both in England and in this country were commenced, Mr. Clinton had repeatedly urged legislative efforts upon the subject. These suggestions probably led to the adoption of that system which, as far as regards our statute law, has been so auspiciously commenced in this state, and which has uniformly received from him the most encouraging approbation and support. But the attain ments of Mr. Clinton as a jurist, are too rich and copious for a full developement in the narrow limits of this outline, while the incidents already presented are sufficient to exhibit the operations of the same great mind which enlightened and adorned so many other pursuits. In the language of Chancellor Kent,* whose high professional standing, and whose writings reflect lustre upon the legal character, as well as the literature of our country, "the opinions of Mr. Clinton are ably and powerfully written, and do great credit to his vigorous powers of thought and style: some of his opinions, he adds, are models of judiciary and parliamentary eloquence, and they all relate to great questions affecting constitutional rights and personal liberty." Another distinguished member of the profession, who has ever ranked, and has long been known as the Mansfield† of the NewYork bench, and whose opinions have ever been regarded with reverence, in a private communication I had the honour to receive from him, thus expresses himself: "Mr. Clinton certainly evinced great versatility of talent, his legal opinions exhibited high evidence of the powers of reasoning and acute investigation; his method of illustration was felicitous, his language pure and eloquent." In the language of another friend, an eminent member of the New-York bar, speaking of the legal opinions of Mr. Clinton, he remarks,—“I have no hesitation in saying that they were, in my judgment, the happiest efforts of his pen: there is displayed in them at once an ease and purity of style, and a fine manly * See Appendix, K. The Honourable Ambrose Spencer. |