a person is encountered possessing such well-proportioned,
evenly-balanced, distinguishing characteristics as it has been Mr.
Gaston's lot to enjoy.

His steady, onward march over the rough places and up the hill in his
learned profession abundantly attest his greatness. No being can occupy,
nor even approach, the very foremost rank in the legal arena save he be
great. Of all representatives of human experiences the lawyer, and more
particularly the advocate, has the least opportunity to occupy falsely a
position of real prominence. Advocacy is the most jealous of
mistresses. Undoubtedly it is true that nowhere else must there be ever
present and ever ready to respond at a moment's notice such a happy
combination of those qualities already noted.

It is not long ago that one of the most worthy of Boston's Judges
remarked to the writer: "You can count the really excellent advocates at
the Suffolk Bar upon the fingers of both hands." He began by naming the
subject of this sketch, following with the names of Honorable A.A.
Ranney, Honorable William G. Russell, Honorable Robert M. Morse, Jr.,
and others. The learned Judge must, it seems, have had in mind a very
high standard of advocacy, for there are not a few among the something
like two thousand Boston lawyers who have well earned, and justly, the
right to be called able and eloquent.

In his historical article entitled "The Bench and Bar," by Erastus
Worthington, and contained in the "History of Norfolk County,
Massachusetts," after writing of those eminent advocates, Ezra Wilkinson
and John J. Clarke, he refers to Governor Gaston and Judge Colburn in
the following words: "The successors to the leadership of the bar, after
the retirement of Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Clarke, were William Gaston of