His
enemies used to say that he always contrived to sleep with
one juryman himself, and have his client sleep with another,
when he had a case coming on. He was quite irritable and
hasty, and would sometimes break out with great indignation
at some fancied impropriety of the other side, without fully
understanding what was going on. I was once examining a witness
who had led rather a roving and vagabond life. I asked him
where he had lived and he named seven different towns in
each of which he had dwelt within a very short time. I observed:
"Seven mighty cities claimed great Homer dead." Wood instantly
sprang to his feet with great indignation. "Brother Hoar,
I wish you would not put words into the witness's mouth."
Wood was a native of Stirling, a thinly settled country town
near the foot of Mount Wachusett. The people of that town
were nearly equally divided between the Unitarian and Universalist
congregations. Each had its meeting house fronting on the
public common or Green, as it was called. In the summer the
farmers would come to meeting from distant parts of the town,
bringing luncheon with them; have a short intermission after
the morning service, and then have a second service in the
afternoon.
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