Mifflin Wistar Gibbs, elected a U.S. municipal judge in 1873

Mifflin Wistar Gibbs was a man of honour with a strong belief in justice and equality. From his autobiography, on justice he writes “A judge who has to deal with and inflict penalties for violation of law consequent upon the frailties and vices of mankind encounters much to soften or harden his humanity, which may have remained normal but for such contact. His sworn duty to administer the law as he finds it often conflicts with a sense of justice implanted in the human soul, of which the law, imperfect man has devised is often the imperfect vehicle for his guidance; but nevertheless to which his allegiance must be paramount, even when attempting to temper justice with mercy.”