Justice Harlan came from Kentucky, a State in which the patriotism of the people was put to so peculiarly a severe test in the Civil War. Thrice fortunate is the court when it has as one of its members a man who has played a great part in other spheres of our composite national life. And the truth of what I say is illustrated by every study of American statesmanship, for in not one serious study of American political life will it be possible to omit the immense part played by the Supreme Court in the creation, not merely the modification, of the great policies through and by means of which the country has moved on to its present position. For the judges of the Supreme Court of the land must be not only great jurists, but they must be great constructive statesmen. During that time he has exercised an influence over the judicial statesmanship of the country of a kind such as is possible only under our own form of government. Justice Harlan has served for a quarter of a century on that court.
It is not merely our own people who say that-it is the verdict of other nations as well. Justice Harlan sits as the most illustrious and important court in all the civilized world. It is not an idle boast of this country when we speak of the court upon which Mr. It is difficult to say certain of the truths which must need be said without being guilty of truisms in saying them. It is a peculiar privilege to be here to-night as one of those gathered to do homage to a career which has honored America.
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