201 "I" STREET, June 9, 1882. DEAR MR. CORKHILL: In looking over my version of the legend of your engraving, it occurs to me that the "immiscens fanda nefanda simul" may be attributed to the Prosecutor, "Calumnia," rather than to the Judge, whose greatest crime appears to be his stupidity. Correcting it on this theory, the rendering would be : False swearing Calumny drags into Court Like judgment gives, with blind associate by, Time's daughter (Truth), who now at length is brought, This is more liberal, and seems to be more in keeping with the original. Yours truly, (Signed) JOSEPH P. BRADLEY. TRANSLATION OF LUCAN'S EULOGY ON POMPEY. Casta domus luxuque carens, corruptaque ninquam Fortuna domini, clarum et venerabile nomen Gentibus, et multum nostrae quod proderat urbi. 1884. A household chaste, of luxury devoid Lucan's Pharsalia, IX. TO MY SISTER "MARY," MARCH 14, 1886. The clouds are gathering, soon the night will come, But from the mile post marked with " Seventy-three" The most, if not the best, for who can know (Signed) J. P. BRADLEY. ANSWER TO A REQUEST FOR A MOTTO. DEAR SIR: WASHINGTON, 19th Sept., 1887. I know of no motto truer or more to be studied by a young man than the following: Haec sunt Fortunae optima dona : The best gifts of fortune are these: Yours truly, (Signed) JOSEPH P. BRADLEY. MR. ELLERY S. AYER, Boston. DREAMLAND. I do not know whether I am singular, but I have a dream-world to which I often repair in sleep. I do not refer to those phantastic scenes and incidents which have no rational connection or cause, and which often attend our unquiet slumbers, and leave little trace behind, or any deep impression. My dreamworld is very different. It has generally the same phantasmagoria of surrounding objects and scenery, and is altogether a pleasant and homogeneous system of things. The singularity of it is, that it has this constant sameness after the lapse of years. The principal scene is located in a city, having a great resemblance to the City of Newark, where I formerly resided and in this underworld city I am always residing and have an office in the business part of the town, on the ground floor, fronting on the main street; but it is usually closed in consequence of my prolonged absences. I sometimes go in to look over some old and rare books that I keep there-books the like of which I never saw in my waking moments. One of these books is at least a yard in height, and half a yard in width, and at least four inches thick. The binding is very old and heavy, the corners being much frayed. The print is large and in double, and sometimes treble, columns on the page. It is hard to tell what the subject of it is. It contains chapters on law, and on chronology and on philosophy and on religion, and I find some very curious things in it, some of which, if I get time, I will relate. There are other old books of various sizes, some nearly as large as the one I have described, and thence ranging down to ordinary quartos and royal octavos. I have generally some anxiety when I visit the office to see whether any of the books have been stolen. I sometimes find them disarranged, but generally put them in their proper places again. My principal trouble arises from the improvements that are often going on in the neighborhood. They have been building a row of brick houses in the rear, on the next street, and the lots join. I am constantly fearful lest the workmen will come on to my lot and get into my back windows and carry off some of my books, and then sometimes when I am absent, and one of my clerks, or young men, occupy the office part of the day, other lawyers come in and borrow the books; and some forget to return them. In going up and down the street, I meet many of my old acquaintances, long since dead, and have many interesting conversations with them. I visit this dreamland, sometimes as often as once a month, sometimes only after an interval of a year or more, but I always find it the same, and the old books the same. The impression of its reality has become so strong that even in my waking moments I sometimes imagine for an instant that I possess those old books somewhere, and do not recover from the hallucination until I begin to inquire with myself where they are. WASHINGTON, January 27, 1889. THE MARITAL RELATION. ASSOCIATE JUSTICE BRADLEY IN THE "NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW" for DECEMBER, 1889. As marriage and the family institution constitute the foundation and chief corner stone of civil society, it is of the greatest moment that the marriage-tie should never be dissolved save for the most urgent reason. I cannot assent, however, to the doctrine that it should never be dissolved at all. Mere separation, though legalized, would often be an inadequate and unjust remedy to the injured party, who would thus be subjected to an enforced celibacy. This might suit the notions of those who regard celibacy as a virtue, but would fail to approve itself to those who take a wider and more charitable view of human nature. The divine law, which says, "What God has joined together let not man put asunder," immediately adds an exception, "save for the cause of fornication," showing what the law of nature dictates, that the case is not governed by any iron rule of universal application. The law, "Thou shalt not kill," has its necessary exceptions, a disregard of which would render it mischievous in a high degree. I know of no other law on the subject but the moral law, which does not consist in arbitrary enactments and decrees, but is adapted to our conditions as human beings. This is so, whether it is conceived of as the will of an all-wise Creator, or as the voice of humanity, speaking from its experience, its necessities and its higher instincts. And that law surely does not demand that the injured party to the |
