Publication
Philadelphia: William S. & Alfred Martien, 1862.
Physical description
54 p.; 23 cm
Notes
The full text of this discourse is available in various digital formats at https://archive.org/details/federaljudiciary00boar
Dr. Boardman's text for this discourse - 2 Chronicles xix. 5-7. "And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in the judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts."
Opening words:
It has fallen to my lot, on the annual recurrence of this festival, to address you on a variety of topics connected with our public affairs. This has become so much the established and approved custom of the pulpit, that you would be disappointed, should I depart from it to-day. I am not unwilling to respond to this feeling. But instead of dwelling upon the present state of the country, I propose to offer you some observations on a subject of national importance, as new to this pulpit as it must be to most of the pulpits of the land. Among the very numerous discourses that have been preached and published concerning our history and institutions, one of the three fundamental departments of the Government appears to have been overlooked. The inquiry seems never to have been raised, whether amidst the affluence of blessings bound up in our political characters, there was any thing to call for special thanksgiving in the JUDICIAL SYSTEM of the United States, and the characters and services of the leading men by whom it has been administered. It is not difficult to account for this oversight.
The Executive and Legislative departments of the State are kept constantly before the public eye. Subjected to the ever-recurring test of the ballot-box, they supply the staple of those political contests which are waged with such vehemence in every country blessed with constitutional liberty. Not only are the offices accessible to all, but they appeal with power to the ambition, and, it must be added, the cupidity of the masses. The acts of these functionaries, too, invite praise or censure, because, as they are without concealment, so they bear directly upon the personal interests of all who compose the body politic. The Judiciary, on the other hand, has no prizes to offer to the multitude. It is confined to the ranks of a single Profession which, in our country, embraces only about a thousandth part of the population. It moves in a secluded sphere. While we can not say of it, "There is no speech nor language; their voice is not heard;"* we may say, that its voices do not attract the popular ear. Except on rare occasions, people do not affect the courtrooms. And where they do, the cases which allure them are oftener those that appeal to their curiosity or their passions, than those which involve principles that concern our dearest personal rights or our public liberties.
Owing to these and other causes, the Judiciary is rarely thought of, even when we are reverently meditating upon the signal advantages which are bound up in our form of Government. It is another illustration of the familiar adage, "out of sight, out of mind." We are drinking every day of the crystal streams which flow from this hidden fountain, without one thought of the fountain itself; and even without caring to know whether it is really hidden, or hidden only to our indolence. It may not be what you would prefer to listen to to-day; but if there is one of our chief temporal mercies unacknowledged, you will not chide me for venturing to remind you of it.
Dr. Boardman's text for this discourse - 2 Chronicles xix. 5-7. "And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in the judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts."
Opening words:
It has fallen to my lot, on the annual recurrence of this festival, to address you on a variety of topics connected with our public affairs. This has become so much the established and approved custom of the pulpit, that you would be disappointed, should I depart from it to-day. I am not unwilling to respond to this feeling. But instead of dwelling upon the present state of the country, I propose to offer you some observations on a subject of national importance, as new to this pulpit as it must be to most of the pulpits of the land. Among the very numerous discourses that have been preached and published concerning our history and institutions, one of the three fundamental departments of the Government appears to have been overlooked. The inquiry seems never to have been raised, whether amidst the affluence of blessings bound up in our political characters, there was any thing to call for special thanksgiving in the JUDICIAL SYSTEM of the United States, and the characters and services of the leading men by whom it has been administered. It is not difficult to account for this oversight.
The Executive and Legislative departments of the State are kept constantly before the public eye. Subjected to the ever-recurring test of the ballot-box, they supply the staple of those political contests which are waged with such vehemence in every country blessed with constitutional liberty. Not only are the offices accessible to all, but they appeal with power to the ambition, and, it must be added, the cupidity of the masses. The acts of these functionaries, too, invite praise or censure, because, as they are without concealment, so they bear directly upon the personal interests of all who compose the body politic. The Judiciary, on the other hand, has no prizes to offer to the multitude. It is confined to the ranks of a single Profession which, in our country, embraces only about a thousandth part of the population. It moves in a secluded sphere. While we can not say of it, "There is no speech nor language; their voice is not heard;"* we may say, that its voices do not attract the popular ear. Except on rare occasions, people do not affect the courtrooms. And where they do, the cases which allure them are oftener those that appeal to their curiosity or their passions, than those which involve principles that concern our dearest personal rights or our public liberties.
Owing to these and other causes, the Judiciary is rarely thought of, even when we are reverently meditating upon the signal advantages which are bound up in our form of Government. It is another illustration of the familiar adage, "out of sight, out of mind." We are drinking every day of the crystal streams which flow from this hidden fountain, without one thought of the fountain itself; and even without caring to know whether it is really hidden, or hidden only to our indolence. It may not be what you would prefer to listen to to-day; but if there is one of our chief temporal mercies unacknowledged, you will not chide me for venturing to remind you of it.