The matter of marshalling
assets, or the tacking of mortgages, and such things which
require a good deal of the genius of the mathematician, were
clear in his apprehension. He was one of the two or three
men in the State who ever understood the complications of
the old loan-fund associations. He was especially a master
of legal remedies. He held on like a bull-dog to a case in
the justice of which he believed. When you had got a verdict
and judgment in the Supreme Court against one of Nelson's
clients, he was just ready to begin work. Then look out for
him. He had with this trait also a great modesty and diffidence.
If anybody put to him confidently a proposition against his
belief, Nelson was apt to be silent, but, as Mr. Emerson
said of Samuel Hoar, "with an unaltered belief." He would
come out with his reply days after. When he came to state
the strong point in arguing his case, he would sink his voice
so it could hardly be heard, and look away like a bashful
maiden giving her consent. Judge Bigelow told me, very early
in Nelson's career, that he wished I would ask my friend to
make his arguments a little longer, and to raise his voice
so the court could hear him better.
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