Full of public trust and glory; He was proffered many titles Of distinction and of honor. Some he served with zeal unflagging, Some he wore with conscious merit. Others still, he waived with firmness, Others still, he put behind him. In eighteen hundred eight and twenty He declined the nomination For the Governor of Kentucky; And the post of Secretary Of the State, he soon vacated, To pursue more arduous duties. Chief among rejected honors, Were, the governor's dominion Of Arkansas Territory, And the trust of foreign missions, At Peru and at Colombia; And a place among the jurists Of the land's Supreme Tribunal, Of the great judicial body, At the nation's seat of power. All along his pilgrim journey, Are the thickly-showered laurels. Now his days on earth are numbered, As the sands are gently dropping-- --Fourscore years and four their telling-- Now his mighty brain is resting, From the pressure of life's burdens, May his end be as the twilight Of a day replete with blessings; May he fall asleep in Jesus, With the Father's welcome plaudit, "Thou hast been a faithful servant, Enter into joys of heaven."[1] On the soil of Garrard county, Lived another famous jurist, Lived John Boyle, another member Of the Lancaster triumvir, Of the Letcher, Boyle, and Owsley-- Triune band of legal heroes. Born at Castle Woods, Virginia, Seventeen hundred four and seventy By and by he journeyed westward, Settling near to Whitley's Station, And in seventeen hundred eighty, Emigrated thence to Garrard, Where the sun went down upon him, On his brilliant life of labor, In eighteen hundred five and thirty. Educated in the English, In the Greek and in the Latin, Taught the strict routine of science, By the Rev'rend Samuel Finley, He selected as his mission, 'Mid his striving fellow-creatures, The career of the lawyer; And for sixteen years and over, Stood among the highest jurists, Was Chief Justice of Kentucky. He declined a marked preferment, In the ranks of politicians, Choosing avenues of labor Nearer home and happier duties, Nearer scenes of calm retirement. His decisions when Chief Justice Meet the eyes of his successors, Furnish precept and example, State Reports, in fifteen volumes, Give the purity and firmness Of a day when vice and bribery, Pettifogging and corruption, Strategy and self-promotion, Clouded not the patriot's vision.