This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1898. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... THROUGHOUT the long and busy life of Chancellor Kent there was one unchanging undercurrent of feeling which appears in all his correspondence, -- his strong and ardent love for his home, his wife, his family, and the pursuit of learning, of which he never wearied. His highest anticipation was that, at some time, he might retire from the "busy haunts of men," and, gathering about him his family and belongings on some sunny hillside, pass the rest of his days in ideal repose. It was the early cultivation of these peaceful pleasures and pursuits which brought such tranquil happiness to his declining years. In his address before the Law Association to which reference has been made,1 he pointed out the dangers, not only of professional, but of modern life, in words which have their vivid application at the present day. "We live in a period of uncommon excitement. The spirit of the age is restless, presumptuous, and revolutionary. The rapidly increasing appetite for wealth; the inordinate taste for luxury which it engenders; the vehement spirit of speculation, and the selfish emulation which it creates; the contempt for slow and moderate gains; the ardent thirst for pleasure and amusement; the diminishing reverence for the wisdom of the past; the disregard of the lessons of experience, the authority of magistrates, and the venerable institutions of ancestral policy, -- are so many bad symptoms of the diseased state of the public mind. It requires a most determined perseverance and firmness of purpose, and a most devoted zeal in the rising members of the Bar, to resist the contagion, and pursue triumphantly the rewards and honor of professional reputation." 1 Supra, p. 30. That he faithfully followed, in his walk through life, the practice of those virtues which were c...