Judge Gray has had from the beginning a reputation for wonderful
research. Nothing ever seemed to escape his industry and
profound learning. This was shown on a few occasions when
he undertook some purely historical investigation, as in his
notes on the case of the Writs of Assistance, argued by James
Otis and reported in Quincy's Reports, and his recent admirable
address at Richmond, on Chief Justice Marshall. But while
all his opinions are full of precedent and contain all the
learning of the case, he was, I think, equally remarkable
for the wisdom, good sense, and strength of his judgments.
I do not think of any Judge of his time anywhere, either here
or in England, to whom the profession would ascribe a higher
place if he be judged only by the correctness of his opinions
in cases where there were no precedents on which to lean and
for the excellent original reasons which he had to give. I
think Judge Gray's fame, on the whole, would have been greater
as a man of original power if he had resisted, sometimes,
the temptation to marshal an array of cases, and had suffered
his judgments to stand on his statement of legal principles
without the authorities.
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