judge,"  he  once,  in ,  substance,  said,  "  can  you  see
your  antagonist  freely  conversing,  without  the  sliglitest
apprehension,  as  you  can  with  him  ?  "  Looking  once
at  an  engraving  of  Sir  Matthew  Hale,  "  A  very  great
judge,"  he  said,  "  but  not  greater,  I  think,  than  the
Chief,"  as  Judge  Shaw  was  familiarly  called.  An
eminent  lawyer,  engaged  with  him  in  a  case,  was  once
rising  to  contest  what  seemed  an  unfavorable,  if  not
an  unfair,  ruling.  Mr.  Choate  drew  him  back  and
whispered  in  his  ear,  "  Let  it  go.  Sit  down.  Life,
liberty,  and  property  are  always  safe  in  his  hands."
One  anecdote  has  been  often  told  incorrectly,  and  so  as
to  convey  a  wrong  impression,  which  I  am  able  to  give
in  the  words  of  an  eminent  lawyer,  who  was  himself
an  actor  iii  the  scene.  "  It  was  in  the  East  Cambridge
court-house,  at  the  law  term.  The  full  Bench  were
present ;  a  tedious  argument  had  been  dragging  its
weary  length  along  for  an  hour  or  two ;  the  session
had  lasted  several  hours,  and  the  Chief  Justice  had
yielded  for  a  moment  to  drowsiness,  —  being  no  more
than  mortal.  Mr.  Choate  and  I  were  sitting  in  the
bar,  being  concerned  in  the  next  case.  As  I  looked
up  at  the  Bench,  the  large  head  of  the  Chief  Justice
presented  itself  settled  down  upon  his  breast  about  as
far  as  it  could  go,  his  eyes  closed,  his  hair  shaggy  and
disordered,  having  on  a  pair  «f  large  black  spectacles
which  had  slid  down  to  the  very  tip  of  his  nose,  and
his  face  seeming  to  have  discharged,  for  tiie  time,  every
trace  of  intelligence,

'  ^airii  Ks  CfiKOTOV  re  tlv'  Ififisvcu,  a^pova  t'  oirwf ,'  i

I  looked,  and  then  looked  at  Mr.  Choate,  whose  eyes
had  followed  mine,  and  then  said  to  him,  '  that  iiot-

1  Iliad,  III.  220.
