[96] down to the latest posterity. The toil and danger are his; but, in Milton's words again, “ he shall have his charter and freehold of rejoicing to him and his heirs.”It was Sumner's purpose to leave the Law School in July, 1833, at the end of a two years course; but he yielded to the persuasions of Judge Story, who urged him to remain during the next term, which would close with the year. The judge wrote to him from Washington, July 12: ‘I am very glad that you have concluded to remain at the Law School another term. It will, I think, be very profitable to you, and not in the slightest degree affect your means of practical knowledge. Let nothing induce you to quit the law. You will, as sure as you live, possess a high rank in it, and need not fear the frowns of fortune or of power.’ While Judge Story was absent at Washington, Sumner was his correspondent at Cambridge, and served him in forwarding books, distributing presentation copies of his works, and in similar good offices. The judge wrote, Feb. 6, 1833,1 ‘There are not many of whom I would venture to ask the favor of troubling themselves in my affairs; but I feel proud to think that you are among the number, and I have, in some sort, as the Scotch would say, a heritable right to your friendship.’ And again, on Feb. 4, 1834: ‘You must begin to be chary of your intellectual as well as physical strength, or it may be exhausted before you reach the fair maturity of life.’ During the summer and autumn of 1833, while serving as librarian, Sumner prepared a catalogue of the library of the Law School. His work, for which he was voted one hundred and fifty dollars by the corporation, was carefully done and much approved at the time. It contains, besides the list of books, an interesting sketch of the growth of the library, and of the gifts of the second Thomas Hollis, of Lincoln's Inn, which was republished in the ‘American Jurist.’2 In 1833, he contributed two articles to the ‘American Monthly Review:’3 one, a review of the impeachment trials before the Senate of the United States, and particularly that of Judge Peck; and the other, a notice of an edition of Blackstone's ‘Commentaries,’ with special reference to the notes of Christian
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