confine himself to office business. During this period, his opinion on
abstruse and knotty points of law was often solicited by eminent counsel
living outside of Massachusetts, and he sent written opinions to
attorneys in nine different states. As Referee and Master in Chancery,
he was called upon to arbitrate in a great number of difficult and
complicated cases, involving the ownership and disposition of large
amounts of property. His decisions in these vexed cases, which often
involved the unravelling of tangled webs of testimony, and the
consideration of the nicest and most delicate questions of law, were
luminous and masterly, and so impartial withal, that the litigants must
have often been convinced of their justness, if not contented,--_etaim
contra quos statuit, aequos placatosque dimisit._

In 1863 and 1864 Mr. Paine was nominated, without his consent, by the
Democratic party of Massachusetts, a candidate for the office of
Governor. With much reluctance he accepted the nomination, but, as he
expected, and doubtless to his joy, failed of an election. In 1867, on
the resignation of Chief Justice Bigelow, the office of Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court of Massachusetts was offered by Governor Bullock to
Mr. Paine, who, not wishing to give up his large and profitable practice
at the bar, declined to accept. This decision, though a natural one, is
much to be regretted by the citizens of this state. Coming from an
eminently judicial mind, his decisions, had he sat on the bench, would
have been models of close, cogent reasoning, clearness, and brevity,
worthy of the best days of the Massachusetts judiciary.

Shortly after his removal to this State Mr. Paine was associated with
Rufus Choate and F.O.J. Smith in the defence of Judge Woodbury Davis, of
Portland, Maine, who had been impeached by the Legislature of that State
for misconduct in his judicial office. In an editorial article upon the