Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

in demand as orator for Memorial Day
services and on other patriotic occasions.
The interest taken by Judge Light in
the welfare and progress of his home community
has always been actively mani-
fested, his desire to further these ends
having induced him to accept many trusts
and responsibilities. He is a director of
the City National Bank of South Norwalk
and the South Norwalk Savings
Bank. He affiliates with Old Well Lodge,
No. 108, Free and Accepted Masons;
the Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; also
Clinton Commandery, No. 3, Knights
Templar, and Butler Lodge, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is past
grand. He and his wife are members of
the Congregational church of South Nor-
walk, in which Mr. Light has served as a
member of the business committee for
several years.
The jurist, the public-spirited citizen
and the orator—all these phases of Judge
Light's many sided nature are strongly
marked. But there is yet another side of
his nature almost as dominant, and nearly,
if not quite as well known to the world
as any of these. That is the literary side.
Rarely, indeed, is there found a man
whose intellectual development is so
symmetrical as to render him capable of
interpretating Blackstone and Kent and
also of communing with poets, philosoph-
ers and scholars, from Plato to Spencer,
and from Homer to Browning, but in
these directions Judge Light's tastes run.
Convincing, brilliant, fair and logical as a
pleader, he is equally so as a lecturer, and
the platform knows him nearly as well as
the courtroom. His private library com-
prises six thousand volumes, and for
many years he has been a close student of
Shakespeare. Among those of his lec-
tures which have attracted the most profound
and widespread attention are "The
Men of Shakespeare," "The Women of
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
332
Shakespeare," and "Shakespeare's Religion."
His lectures on Owen Meredith and
George Eliot are scarcely less remarkable.
It might naturally be suposed that, in de-
scribing character, Judge Light would ex-
cel chiefly in portraying the nature of
men, but those who have read or listened
to his lectures can testify to his analysis
of the feminine nature as equalling if not
surpassing his interpretation of the mas-
culine. His lecture on "The Women of
Shakespeare" is held by good judges as
exceptionally fine. Judge Light has made
a number of lecture tours.
The impress which John Henry Light
has placed upon his day and generation is
both enduring and widespread. As jur-
ist, public official, orator and scholar, he
has been largely instrumental in influenc-
ing, shaping and modifying the laws of
Connecticut and their administration, and
has molded public sentiment regarding
questions of government and political re-
form. He has assisted to an unusual de-
gree in the advancement of general cul-
ture, and in inspiring an interest in liter-
ature and philosophy, and his work along
these different lines will live and bear fruit
in the years to come.
LIGHT, Rodney,
General Contractor.
(Ill) Rodney Light, son of Belden and
Ann (Keenan) Light (q. v.), was born in
Somers, New York, July 22, 1867. Dur-
ing his infancy, Wilton, Connecticut, became
the family home, and about a year
later they moved to New Canaan, where
he attended the public schools. For five
or six years after leaving school he was
employed as a clerk in a grocery store,
and he then formed a business partnership
with his brother, Frederick B., under
the firm name of Light Brothers, and un-
til 1902, a period of thirteen years, this