In
truth, the case comes up _de novo_, and is reviewed as from the
beginning, and a judgment made up without regard to the proceedings
below further than to determine from the record of facts and law sent
up, holding in all cases jurisdiction as well of facts as law--and in
truth it is nothing more than a high court of chancery.
Judge Martin was fond of labor, but did not like to do the same labor
twice; hence his particularity in examining well both facts and law,
in every case submitted for his adjudication. He wished the law
permanently established applicable to every case, and disliked nothing
so much as being compelled to overrule any previous decision of the
Supreme Court. His mind was eminently judicial; its clear perceptions
and analytical powers peculiarly fitted him for the position of
supreme judge. But there was another trait of character, quite as
necessary to the incumbent of the Bench, for which he was altogether
as much distinguished. He was without prejudice, and only knew men
before his court as parties litigant. It was said of him, by John R.
Grymes, a distinguished lawyer of New Orleans, that he was better
fitted by nature for a judge than any man who ever graced the Bench.
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