His saltem accumulem donis, et fungar inani munere. (Story, J., quoting Virgil re: Marshall)

The 1837 Term of the Supreme Court was a hard one for Justice Joseph Story. His mentor and friend, the great Chief Justice, had died, and the Taney Court was tacking away from John Marshall's course. Story's dissents in some of the cases that marked the clearest departures from Marshall's jurisprudence are personal and powerful. Perhaps the most poignant is his dissent in Briscoe v. Bank of Kentucky, 36 U.S. 257 (1837). The concluding paragraph:

I am conscious, that I have occupied a great deal of time in the discussion of this grave question; a question, in my humble judgment, second to none which was ever presented to this court, in its intrinsic importance. I have done so, because I am of opinion (as I have already intimated), that upon constitutional questions, the public have a right to know the opinion of every judge who dissents from the opinion of the court, and the reasons of his dissent. I have another and strong motive-my profound reverence and affection for the dead. Mr. Chief Justice Marshall is not here to speak for himself; and knowing full well the grounds of his opinion, in which I concurred, that this act is unconstitutional; I have felt an earnest desire to vindicate his memory from the imputation of rashness, or want of deep reflection. Had he been living, he would have spoken in the joint names of both of us. I am sensible, that I have not done that justice to his opinion, which his own great mind and exalted talents would have done. But with all the imperfections of my own efforts, I hope that I have shown, that there were solid grounds on which to rest his exposition of the constitution. His saltem accumulem donis, et fungar inani munere.

The concluding lines are from Virgil's Aeneid. They express an intent to honor the revered deceased with one's perhaps futile labors. Some translations: 

• "let me at least bestow upon him those last offerings, and discharge a vain and unavailing duty" (Routledge Guide to Latin Quotations)
• "these offerings at least let me heap upon my descendant's shade, and discharge this unavailing duty" (Rivington et al. 1821)
• "this unavailing gift at least I may bestow" (Dryden)