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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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