pension of the rules. Then followed a scene in the House, the like of which has never before nor since been witnessed. Stepping down from his seat, the Judge paused in front of the Speaker, and waving his hand in the air towards the gallery where the claim ant sat, he exclaimed : ' There, old woman! You have got your bill! ' The astonishment of the House and the merriment which fol lowed, can be imagined better than de scribed." He introduced and procured the adoption of the statute, then prevailing in Maine, by which parties are permitted to testify in their own cases. His previous experience as At torney-General readily supplied him with ample arguments to overcome all opposition to this new feature of National legislation. His eulogy upon Senator Fcssenden was highly appreciated by a full House, and placed him in the estimation of associates, like Bingham, Blaine and Garfield, in the front rank of able orators. The following epitome is found in Blaine's "Twenty Years of Congress," Vol. 2, page 290 : " Another marked character came from New England, John A. Peters, of Maine, a graduate of Yale, a man of ability, of humor, of learning in the law. He had enjoyed the advantage of a successful career at the bar and was, by long training and in deed by instinct devoted to his profession. In his six years' service in the House he acquired among his fellow-members a per sonal popularity and personal influence rarely surpassed in Congressional experi ence. He made no long speeches and was not frequently on the floor, but when he rose he spoke forcibly, aptly, attractively, and with that unerring sense of justice which al ways carried him to the right side of a ques tion, with unmistakable influence upon the best judgment of the house." And Mr. Blaine adds : " Since his retirement from Congress his career on the Supreme Bench of Maine, and more recently as its ChiefJustice, has given roundness and complete
ness to a character whose integrity, gener osity, and candor have attracted not only the confidence and respect of an entire State, but the devoted attachment of a continually enlarging circle of friends." Enthusiastically sustained by his constitu ents, to whom he rendered a constant and growing usefulness as a Congressman, he never was content to give up his chosen profession. He therefore declined another election. In May, 1873, he was appointed an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the State, his fitness being recognized by universal consent and approbation. Judge Peters has presided twenty-two years on the Maine bench, serving half of the time as Chief-Justice. To summarize, it may be said he has worked hard all his life; he has made his own way in the world against constant competition; he obtained a great place at the bar; he went into poli tics and became a strong figure in the House of Representatives; he has won the prizes of his profession, ending with the greatest of all, the Chief-Justiceship. This is great praise, yet justly due and fairly won. It is slight, however, compared with the grand service to the State rendered by him as " the good judge." Of this service I will speak sparingly now. The book is not closed. If younger readers desire a description of the good judge drawn by the hand of a master, consummate in delineation, let them read the address by Mr. Choate on the judicial tenure in the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853. It is there that they will find the reasons and the causes why the whole community turn to Judge Peters with unvarying respect, veneration and love. To analyze a little in detail, I would say, he has always been famous for that alertness of mind which is to a lawyer a most useful quality. He grasps a new subject, or new set of facts, or a new proposition, at once, and turns readily from one to another. In tricate matters become plain when he ex pounds them. His exposition of law and
