Toledo, and Mr. Young residing there also after 1855. The country was new, and litigations of every description flooded the courts. Mr. Waite soon proved himself capable of grasping all the minute details affecting in any way a legal question. His studious habits, his upright character, and his conciliatory manners contributed to his popularity and marked success.

Opposing counsel often said that his assertion on any question of law was accepted as unanswerable. He had no political aspirations, and meddled little with public concerns prior to his appointment as chief justice, although repeatedly urged to accept a nomination to Congress; and he more than once declined a seat upon the bench of the Supreme Court of Ohio. In 1849 he served with ability and credit in the Ohio legislature, but he much preferred the practice and duties of his profession.

The first position in which he attracted national attention was that of counsel to represent the United States before the tribunal of arbitration. at Geneva in 1871-1872, his associates being Hon. Caleb Cushing and Hon. William M. Evarts. He took a laboring oar in the preparation of the case, and there and then displayed his wonderful capacity for affairs and his understanding of the principles of international questions. It fell to him to argue the liability of the English government for permitting Confederate steamers to take in supplies of coal in her ports during the late civil war, and the robust clearness and directness of his logic carried conviction on all the points he raised. On his return home after the satisfactory close of his labors in Geneva, his alma mater conferred on him the honorary degree of LL.D.

He was married in September, 1840, two months before reaching his twenty-fourth birthday. His bride was his second cousin, Amelia C. Warner, of Lyme, to whom he had long been ardently attached. She was in her nineteenth year, a beauty and a belle, a fair brunette with bewitching dark eyes and glossy black hair, of decided talents, with a careful education acquired in the best schools then extant. Immediately after the wedding the happy pair started for Ohio, where Mr. Waite was already established in business. Mrs. Waite from the first took a prominent place in social affairs in the western community. She was noted for her generosity, independence of character, good sense and refined taste. As time rolled on and Mr. Waite's law practice increased, their home in Toledo became a social centre, and they dispensed the most charming hospitalities. No family in the region had a wider circle of admiring friends; and as Mr. Waite grew by the force of his genius into the leadership of the Ohio bar, Mrs. Waite became as if by common consent the leader in fashion and society. Their children were bright and promising, and were

THE PARIOR-LIBRARY, WITH GLIMPSE OF DINING ROOM, IN CHIEF JUSTICE WAITE'S HOME IN WASHINGTON.

given every advantage of eastern as well as western schools.

Three sons

and one daughter brought music and sunshine into their dwelling. Their domestic life was not unlike a beautiful poem. They collected a library, choice books and periodicals were strewed lavishly through their house, and both Mr. and Mrs. Waite in their general reading literally kept abreast with the times.

In his frequent business visits to New York Mr. Waite was nearly always accompanied by his wife. When in Europe as counsel at the Geneva arbitration, both Mrs. Waite and his accomplished daughter, Miss Mary Waite, were with him. When he took up his permanent abode in Washington as chief justice of the nation, it was said, and truly said, that no lady in the land was more admirably qualified by breeding, culture and travel for distinguished prominence in the great social structure at the capital than Mrs. Waite, and she has ever since nobly and conscientiously performed, so far as her health would permit, all the exacting public and private social obligations attending her husband's official station—the duties which destiny thrust upon her. Miss Waite has ever through her vivacity and loveliness of character been a special favorite in Washington circles, and the executive ability with which she has systematized and achieved her varied society, charitable and other useful work has been a marvel to all by whom she is best known.

The home of the chief justice has been one of the most delightful in Washington. This was not owing to any superiority in architecture or appointments; it is, as our readers can see, a simple structure, furnished without pretense or elaboration, quietly and tastefully. But its attractive features are independent of costly designs and extraordinary treasures. The parlor-library or middle-parlor, between the parlor and dining-room, was the apartment where the family gathered every evening under the shade of the lamps, and chatted over the day's doings. A glimpse of this home room is given in the sketch made from the point where the parlor and the parlor-library meet, looking into the dining-room. Guests such as were intimate personal friends were received here informally, and animated scenes were of regular occurrence. The chief justice, affable, courteous, and cordial, would enter with spirit into every theme of conversation, with flashes now and then of irresistible humor, but retiring to his work in the library above, unless the visitor had in calling particularly asked for him by name. Senators, members of the cabinet, heroes in warfare by land and by sea, scientists, men of letters, and doctors of divinity and law, were among those who dropped in familiarly for an evening hour and enlivened the brilliant circle in this charmed homestead with wit and anecdote, nuggets

of wisdom and grave discussion. Mrs. Waite's formal weekly receptions were always largely attended, and her special entertainments brought together some of the most effective groupings of brilliant people the world affords. Mr. Foster, former minister to Russia, whose residence is alongside that of the chief justice, says: "The Waite mansion has been one of the most hospitable houses in Washington. No official of the government met the expectations of the social world more generously or with more becoming graciousness than the chief justice. Besides the many State dinners and receptions his home was never free from guests, and was usually crowded with them. He and his family never forgot the friends of their early years, many of whom are gathered in the capital, and some perhaps had seen more prosperous times. Scarcely a day passed that one or more of these was not an informal guest at his table, and certain visitors were regularly expected on fixed days at dinner. One of the noblest traits of the chief justice was the simplicity of his character and the modesty with which he bore the dignity of his high office. While his parlors were thronged with the famous people of the capital at his receptions, there were always found in the same circle many persons of merit occupying the lower ranks of society; and for these he had as warm and hearty a welcome as for the great and titled. He was the same plain and unassuming gentleman to all with whom he came in contact, and had for everyone, high or low, the same frank and cheerful greeting."

Of his faithfulness as a public servant, and the conscientious labor he bestowed on the preparation of his opinions, it was well known that he often hurried away from a State dinner to work late in his library. Mr. Foster says: "Many a winter morning I have looked out from my bedroom window to see him at his table working by the light of his student lamp, and yet he found time to respond to the call of all kinds of benevolent and charitable organizations. His money, his advice or his presence, were cheerfully lent to build up and strengthen almost every society of this character in Washington. "He was," continued Mr. Foster, "the most genial and kindly of neighbors, as tender-hearted as a woman, and with all the great cares of his high office crowding his mind to its utmost tension, he was punctiliously attentive to the amenities of family friend ships. He had induced Mrs. Waite in the early part of March to take a trip to California, hoping the change would benefit her. After her departure he called at my house every day punctually on his way home from the sessions of the Supreme Court to inquire after the health of my daughter, who was dangerously ill when Mrs. Waite left. 'For,' said the chief justice, Mrs. Waite charged me that I must send her word

every day how your Edith was getting along.' And he always came personally to make the inquiry.

A fine thread of chivalry running through the whole character of Chief Justice Waite, like a bright color in the rainbow, seemed to brighten toward the end. His lover-like devotion to his wife was conspicuous in the unselfish manner with which he persuaded her to take the trip across the Continent with her invalid sister, to visit her uncle in Los Angeles. He received daily despatches from her on her journey, and spoke enthusiastically to his friends of the pleasure she would have in seeing California, and the benefit he hoped it would be to her health.

They expected to celebrate their golden wedding within the next two years, and the chief justice referred to it frequently, revealing to his intimate friends how much it was in his mind. When he became ill he was nervously anxious that no whisper of it should get abroad, lest the news reach his wife in California, and make her unhappy. This reason more than any other determined him, it is thought, to go to the Capitol on that last Monday of his life and attend the session of the court. "If I am not there," he said, "the news will be flashed through the country that I am ill, and it will alarm Mrs. Waite." But he was not able to read his opinion on the Bell telephone case, and asked Justice Blatchford to read it for him, and then immediately returned home.

"In his personal and private life," said Senator Edmunds, "he was one of the most gentle, cordial, and approachable men I ever met, and his kindness of heart was so great that in the midst of affairs and society here where he must have known so many instances of evil and impropriety, I do not remember ever to have heard him make a censorious or unkind remark to any person in the world, or to mention a circumstance, or employ a witticism against or at the expense of another."

Henry, the eldest son of the chief justice, died many years ago, leaving a widow and two interesting boys. These grandsons have been objects of pride and tender interest and exceedingly dear to the chief justice, who has watched over their growth, development, and education with critical care. They were sent to Yale, where the chief justice had been for many years an influential member of the corporation. The Phi Beta Phi Society of the Yale Law School has a Waite Chapter. The two other sons of the chief justice are married, with young families growing up about them; Christopher C. Waite resides in Cincinnati, and Edward T. Waite in Toledo, Ohio. Both the chief justice and Mrs. Waite were active members of the Protestant Episcopal church, of which no one was more regular in attendance than the great jurist.