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THE GREAT LEGAL HISTORY OF BOSTON (cont.)
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16. Henry Cabot Lodge
A statue of Henry Cabot Lodge is on the west side of the State
House grounds. The Boston Cabot family is the subject of a once-popular
saying, "the Lowells speak only to the Cabots, and the Cabots
speak only to God." They must have expanded their acquaintances,
however, since distinguished family members became senators,
ambassadors and judges. Among the eminent legal Cabots was Judge
Frederick Pickering Cabot, a "jurist of insight and profound
concern for the welfare of children." (Glueck, Of Delinquency
and Crime, 10, 1974) |
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17. Anne Hutchinson
Also on the west side of the State House grounds stands a statue
of Anne Hutchinson, banished by the Puritan authorities for
her heretical independence of thought. "[T]here is no evidence
that she was consciously a champion of religious liberty. Indeed,
she seems to have been indifferent to or intolerant of beliefs
other than her own. However, her efforts, combined with those
of innumerable other sectarians who sought religious freedom
only for themselves, promoted a religious heterogeneity in the
American colonies which proved more potent than rational arguments
in realizing the principles of the First Amendment." (Notable
American Women 1607Ð1950 Volume II, Edward T. James,
ed., p. 246-47 (1971)) |
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18. Daniel Webster
A statue of Daniel Webster stands at the front of the State
House. Webster, a lawyer and statesman, known for his impassioned
oratory, is one of the most pervasive figures in Massachusetts
legal history. He disappointed his liberal friends when he failed
to oppose the Fugitive Slave Law. He at one time lived on 57
Mt. Vernon Street, one of four adjoining houses built by Jonathan
Mason. Webster is immortalized in the Stephen Vincent BenEt
story, "The Devil and Daniel Webster." |
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19. James Otis
The interior of the State House is decorated with murals depicting
scenes from Massachusetts legislative and judicial history --
Sewall's public repentance for his role in the witchcraft trials,
the drafting of the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 and the
proposal for the addition of a Bill of Rights to the federal
Constitution (all in the House Chamber). The George Fingold
State Library on the third floor is open to the public and offers
an excellent federal, state and local law collection.
In 1760, James Otis resigned his post as an advocate-general
in order to oppose the government's proposal to renew the
writs of assistance, by which the British authorities were
free to search any premises. A painting in the Senate staircase
hall depicts this scene. Of Otis' speech, John Adams wrote,
". . . then and there [in the Old State House] the child Independence
was born." For a decade or more, Otis served as representative
in the Massachusetts General Court. He is buried in the Old
Granary Burying Grounds.
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20. Louis D. Brandeis
Louis D. Brandeis lived on Otis Place, in among the Boston Brahmins
who opposed his elevation to the U.S. Supreme Court. He practiced
law in Boston in partnership with Samuel D. Warren at 60 Devonshire
Street -- Nutter, McClennen & Fish today. Together they wrote
the article "The Right to Privacy," 4 Harvard Law Review
193 (1890), which has profoundly influenced torts and constitutional
law. The Brandeis brief revolutionized argument before the U.S.
Supreme Court. There is a bust of Brandeis in the State House
on the third floor. |
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ABOUT
SUFFOLK LAW
