His professional exhibitions in the Supreme
Court during the four years that he represented the Government,
were characterized by sound learning, chastely and accurately
expressed, great breadth of view, the seizing of strong points
and disregard of minute ones, marked deference for the court
and courtesy to his opponents. He was a model to the younger
members of the bar of a courtly and polished advocate. He
appeared in the court only in cases of special importance;
but of these there was quite a large number during his term.
As examples, I may refer to the cases of Young _v._ United
States (97 U. S. 39), which involved the rights of neutrals
in our Civil War, and particularly the alleged right of a
British subject, who had been engaged in running the blockade,
to demand compensation for a large quantity of cotton purchased
in the Confederacy and seized by the military forces of the
United States;--Reynolds _v._ United States (98 U. S. 145),
which declared the futility of the plea, in cases of bigamy
among the Mormons, of religious belief, claimed under the
first amendment of the Constitution; and established the principle
that pretended religious belief cannot be accepted as a justification
of overt acts made criminal by the law of the land;--The Sinking
Fund Cases (99 U.
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