Whitewater Township (part 9 of 17)

Courts and judges, in the earlier days of jurisprudence, seem to have had their own private troubles, although, to consider them in this retrospect of fifty years, they bear somewhat of resemblance to the tempest in the teapot. John M. Goodenow came to Cincinnati from Steubenville in 1832, to enter upon the practice of the law. It appears according to his own statement that he was at once solicited and urged by personal and political friends to become a candidate for presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Hamilton county. Affairs in the olden times were not different from the present day, as no man was ever known to seek oftice purely of his own volition. There are always admiring and disinterested friends who insist upon his sacrificing himself upon the altar of public welfare, although the lamb is generally led to the slaughter without vociferous remonstrance. He was chosen judge, January, 1833. One of the first duties of Judge Goodenow was to participate in the appointment of the clerk of the court, vice Daniel Gano. There were a number of candidates for the position, and the four judges differed as to the merits of the various individuals proposed. Two of the judges, after acrimonious discussion, announced that they would vote for a certain one, and no other, and the other judges might contemplate the situation from any standpoint they saw fit, with the largest liberty to do so indefinitely. The consequence was that no clerk was appointed for nearly a year. In December, 1833, the Bar took the matter up and urged that an appointment should be made. In February, 1834, Judge Goodenow and two of his associates, John Burgoyne and Jonathan Cilley, agreed upon Samuel H. Goodin, whereupon the Bar held a meeting and requested that the appointment should not be consummated. A public meeting denounced. The newspapers had a few remarks to make, it being alleged that there was bribery and corruption in the case. One of the judges stated that Mr. James Goodin, brother of the inchoate clerk, had offered to him, the judge, $1,000 lawful currency of the realm if he would vote for and secure the appointment of Samuel H., as clerk. There was much virtuous indignation. The morality of the community was shocked. Committees investigated, as they do now-a-days and will do to the end of time. Cards were published. Everybody made a statement over their respective signatures. The statement of the judge, Enos Woodruff, was that James Goodin offered him the money point blank and had the checks with him as evidence thereof. James Goodin's statement. averred, that it was a mistake all round, that he simply offered to bet Judge Woodruff, that if he, Woodruff, would vote for his,' Goodin's, brother, and secure the appointment, he, Woodruff, should be re-elected judge. Verily! it hath '*a very ancient and fish-like smell,'' hath Goodin's statement. And yet it seems remarkable that for many months Judge Woodruff should give his colleagues no intimation of this dire attempt to soil the purity of the ermine, if such attempt had actually been made. Mr. Goodin, however, never exercised his high vocation of clerk. Two of the associate judges, Henderson and Burgoyne, without the knowledge of the presiding judge or third associate, and by what must be considered as an instance of sharp practice, made an entry appointing Gen. William H. Harrison. This action was acquiesced in by the Bar and community, and Warsaw was quiet.

This conduct of his colleagues, as well it might, gave mortal offense to Judge Goodenow. He declared, that under the circumstances he could not longer hold his judicial position, and did resign in November, 1834, a consummation devotedly wished, no doubt, by Judge Henderson, who had asserted, with much vehemence, that Goodenow should be '' driven from the Bench."

The county of Hamilton continued to grow in population and importance. In 1790 it had about two thousand inhabitants; in 1840 it had over eighty thousand.

As business increased and the affairs of men multiplied, it was found that the supply of courts was not equal to the demands made upon them. The Superior Court of Cincinnati was therefore organized by the act of March 15, 1838. It had concurrent jurisdiction with the Court of Common Pleas, of all civil cases in law and chancery, wherein that court had original jurisdiction. It was held by a single judge whose salary at first was $1,200 per year, which in 1846 was reduced to $1,000, by the provisions of an act, facetiously entitled an '' Act to provide adequate compensation for judges, etc.," the same act giving judges of the Supreme Court, $1,300, and the presiding judge of the Common Pleas Court, $1,000. The first judge of the Superior Court was David K. Este, who had formerly presided in the Court of Common Pleas from 1888 to 1845. The following gentlemen succeeded Judge Este: Charles D. Coffin, who during his life was a leading member of the Bar ; William Johnston, who served from 1847 to 1850; Charles P. James, from 1850 to 1851, and George Hoadly, who was the last judge upon the Bench. This brief notice does not do justice to the usefulness of the old Superior Court. It relieved the pressure upon the existing tribunals of the county. For many years lawyers were able to dispatch business without having a lawsuit a synonym for Eternal Justice. For similar reasons, the Commercial Court was organized by the act of February 4, 1848. It was held by a single judge, the court having concurrent jurisdiction with the Court of Common Pleas of all civil cases at law, founded on contract and of all cases in chancery. Thiscourt, during the period of its existence was presided over by Judge Thomas M. Key, an eccentric but able man. He was a Kentuckian by birth, but came to this State early in life. During the Rebellion he was judge advocate on the staff of that military Puss in Boots, George B. McClellan. In the latter part of 1861 the writer visited the city of Washington as it was all '' quiet on the Potomac."' At that time, it will be remembered, Mr. Lincoln was President. But there was a greater than Lincoln, and his name was McClellan, and when we happened to encounter the judge advocate, it occurred to us, that now was the opportunity of discovering how the problem of the war was to be solved, and we, therefore, ventured a leading question as to the existing status. Those who knew Key will remember how solemn and portentous his manner always was. But now his manner was more solemn and more portentous than ever. In the profoundest depths of a melancholy confidence, and speaking unutterable thoughts in a terrible whisper, he said: 'If you have no business imperatively detaining you here, I advise you to get out of this town as fast as you can. Beauregard is lying over the river with 125,000 men, and he can walk into this city, whenever he chooses." The awful gravity of the statement, enhanced as it was by the blood-curdling way of putting it was overwhelming. After events disclosed the fact that the rebel army consisted of some twenty or thirty thousand ragged chivalry. They were, however, backed up by a supply of Quaker guns, and the young Napoleon was terrified in his heart.

Key was the reputed author of the celebrated Harrison's Landing letter, in which McClellan undertakes to instruct Mr. Lincoln as to his military and civil rights, duties and obligations. Asa specimen of pure unadulterated impudence, there never was anything like it in the world, and Key had an ability of impudence, which was a talent amounting to genius, and if he did not write the paper in question, he was quite equal to doing it.

Early in 1861 McClellan sent Key to interview Gen. W. T. Sherman, to see if Sherman really was crazy, it having been authoritatively stated that such was the fact. Key performed his mission and reported to the effect, that there was a screw loose somewhere, and that, in his judgment, Gen. Sherman was not fit to be entrusted with the command of alarge army. The keenness of this witticism can only be discovered as the light of history falls upon the army of the West moving from Chattanooga by way of Atlanta, Ga., and the sea, to the downfall of the Rebellion and the final triumph of the Flag.

Criminal Court

_In speaking of the administration of justice, in Hamilton county, the Criminal Court should not be forgotten, for there was a Criminal Court. In was created by the act of March 12, 1852. The people were able to stand it for two years, when its existence was terminated by the act of May 1, 1854. The inherent defect in its condition was its judge, Jacob Flinn. He was one of the first experiments of an elective judiciary, and, so far from being a success, his court was abolished to get rid of him. A complete biography of him can not be written, for research has failed to discover material facts. This county is supposed to have been his birthplace, and he was brought up on a farm. He probably had the rudiments of an early education, though there is no evidence of the fact. It is certain that he studied law, for he was admitted to the Bar, and the law at that time required a probationary period of educational discipline before being sworn in. Asa lawyer he was a very large man with an avoirdupois approximating three hundred pounds. He was very dainty in his dress, and his personal appearance, in point of elegance, might be regarded as phenomenal. Asa judge, he tried many criminals and hung one or two, very successfully. Such was the general not to say the universal estimate of his talents, his learning and his integrity, that when a too critical legislature decapitated so to speak, not to put too fine a point upon it, his eccentric judicial career, without compensation for losses sustained, the entire Bar, and the community, quite as entirely were enabled to regulate, if they could not wholly suppress, the public grief.

The New Constitution

The new Constitution was adopted in 1851, and the following were the judges of the Court of Common Pleas: A. G. W. Carter; Stanley Matthews, Robert B. Warden. They were elected for a term of five years, which expired in January, 1857, the salary being $1,500 per year. Warden resigned, and Donn Piatt was appointed to succeed him April 3, 1852. Judge Piatt did not long remain upon the Bench. In 1855, the judges were Carter, Nelson Cross and James Parker. Judge Cross was succeeded by Washington Van Hamm in 1856. In 1856 the judges elected were Carter, Patrick Mallon, and M. W. Oliver. Upon Judge Oliver's resignation William M. Dickson was appointed by Governor Chase, in 1859, serving till November 7th, of that year, when he was succeeded by Isaac C. Collins. Then followed Nicholas. Headington, Charles C. Murdock, Edward Woodruff, M. I. Force and Joseph Cox. Judges Force, Murdock and Cox were elected for a term beginning February 12, 1872, and ending February 12, 1877. The number of judges having been increased, Jacob Burnet and William L. Avery were elected for a term which began November 6, 1871, ending November 6, 1876. For the term beginning February 12, 1877, and ending February 12, 1882, William L. Avery, Joseph.Cox and Nicholas Longworth were elected; Robert A. Johnson and Jacob Burnet, for the term beginning November 6, 1876, ending November 6, 1881. On May 10, 1878, the legislature authorized the election of two additional judges of the Court of Common Pleas, their terms to begin on the first Monday of December following their election; the term five years. Under this act Fayette Smith and Fred W. Moore were elected judges, their term beginning December 2, 1878, ending December 3, 1883. Robert A. Jobnston, S. N. Maxwell, John S. Connor, M. L. Buchwalter and William L. Avery were elected for the term beginning February 9, 1882, ending February 9, 1887; Judge Avery resigned and was succeeded by A. B. Huston. Samuel R. Matthews and Charles D. Robertson were elected for the term beginning December 3, 1883, ending December 3, 1888. Phillip H. Kumler, Jacob Schroeder, 8. N. Maxwell, Charles Evans and M. L. Buchwalter were elected for the term beginning February 8, 1887, and ending February 8, 1892. Matthews and Robertson were succeeded by Miller Outcalt-and Clement Bates, whose term began the first Monday of December, 1888, continuing five years. Phillip H. Kumler, M. L. Buchwalter, Charles Evans, M. F. Wilson and Jobn R. Sayler are now judges of the Court of Common Pleas holding office from February, 1893, for a period of five years. At the election held November 7, 1893, Howard Hollister and Dan. Thew Wright were elected to succeed Judges Outcalt and Bates. The term of office of the judges elect beginning the first Monday of December, 1893.

Under the constitution of 1851 the District Court was composed of Common Pleas judges, and a judge of the Supreme Court. For a period of some years a judge of the Supreme Court did attend the sessions of the District Court, but this practice was finally abandoned, on account of the great pressure of business in the court of last resort. The organization of the District Court was not satisfactory to the Bar, it being a fundamental error that judges should sit to review their own decisions, and, in 1885, the Circuit Court was created, Hamilton county being the first circuit. It is a Court of Error, composed of three judges elected for six years. The first judges were Joseph Cox, whose term was from February 9, 1885, to February, 1887. James M. Smith, from February 9, 1885, to February, 1889; Phillip B. Swing, from February 9, 1885, to February, 1891. Judge Cox was elected in 1886 to serve until February, 1893, being again re-elected and now in office. Judge Swing was also re-elected, his term expiring in 1897.

The judges of the Superior Court of Cincinnati were as follows: Oliver M. Spencer from 1854 to 1861; William Y. Gholson, 1854 to 1859; Bellamy Storer, 1854 to 1871; George Hoadly, 1860 to 1865; Charles D. Coffin, 1862 to 1863; Stanley Matthews, 1863 to 1865; Charles Fox, 1865 to 1868; Alphonso Taft, 1866 to 1871; M. B. Hagans, 1869 to 1873; J. L. Miner, and J. Bryant Walker, in 1872; Alfred Yaple, 1873 to 1878; T. A. O'Connor, 1878 to 1877; W. H. Tilden, 1874 to 1878; Manning F. Force, 1877 to 1887; Judson Harmon, 1878 to 1887. J. B. Foraker was elected in the spring of 1876; he resigned in 1882 and was succeeded by Judge William Worthington, who was in turn succeeded by Hiram D. Peck, elected in 1884 serving until May, 1889. William H.Taft's first term expired in May, 1888, and he was re-elected, but resigned and was succeeded by Samuel F. Hunt. Edward F. Noyes succeeded Judge Peck, being elected in 1889. Upon his death he was succeeded by John R. Sayler. The present incumbents are Samuel F. Hunt, Rufus B. Smith and F. W. Moore. -

The first courthouse was upon the corner of Fifth and Main streets. A feature of the locality was the contiguous swamp and frog pond, and the frogs of 1790 must have been more than ordinarily musical, as all the books of early times have something to say of the noises they made. Adjacent to the frogs was the pnblie whipping-post, a feature of gentility which adorned the courthouse of every county. Our ancestors appear to have been of opinion that the sparing of the rod was a proverb not exclusively applying to the early years of human existence.

The county subsequently erected an edifice upon the same location which was quite an architectural display. It had a cupola some eighty feet high, was orna- mented with balustrades, all of which called for an expenditure of $3,000, a sum that would now scarcely suffice for the erection of an office for a justice of the peace. The courthouse of 1851 cost $695,253.29, which illustrates the advance of civilization.

Fire has played an important part in the administration of justice in Hamilton county. During the war of 1812, the courthouse was used as a barracks for soldiers, who succeeded in setting fire to the building, to its entire destruction. A large lot was then donated to the county by Jesse Hunt, and a new building was completed in 1819. It was also destroyed by fire in 1849, and the Courts adjourned to a pork house on Court street. Legal business was here transacted, until a new building was completed in 1853. It remained until 1884, when it too was destroyed by fire, upon March 29, of that year. This disaster was the result of mob violence. A man by the name of Berner was tried for an atrocious murder. He was assumed to be guilty, and his acquittal to be the result of illegitimate methods. A virtuous but excited populace arose in their indignation to vindicate the law. With an intelligence quite as rare us its results were discriminating, the mob, instead of taking the criminal, and punishing him, fired the courthouse. The fire was disastrous. The records from the earliest times were burnt. No one can ever tell what books and papers, the accumulation of an hundred years, were thus lost. The magnificent Law Library, the result of many years wise and patient collection, was completely destroyed. It was some days before the mob was suppressed. The military took possession of what remained of the courthouse, and in the course of the rioting John J. Desmond, at the head of the company he commanded, was accidentally shot and killed. He was a brave, gallant voung man, and promising lawyer; a tablet to his memory stands in the courthouse near the spot where he fell. It is a satisfaction, however, to know, as was subsequently developed, that there must have been a large number of the rioters who were killed, or wounded so that they died, by the prompt measures the military adopted. The number is said to have been as large as one hundred and tifty.

At the time this great calamity happened Governor George Hoadly was chief magistrate of the State. A law was passed creating a Board of Trustees to be appointed by the Governor to build anew courthouse. Governor Hoadly appointed Henry C. Urner, John L. Stettinius, Wesley M. Cameron, and William Worthington. The successful result justified this wise selection. The Board of Trustees gave their two years and a half of public service, without compensation, and the present building is the result of their labor. On January 15, 1887, the Bar gave a banquet to the trustees and architect, James W. McLaughlin, as a testimonial of their regard for, and appreciation of, the work which had been done. It was a happy occasion, for the good will and high esteem, manifested for the gentlemen named, was a tribute they will long remember.

The Cincinnati Law Library

Any account of the profession in Hamilton county would be altogether incomplete without some reference to the Law Library. For many years it has been, at least, a feature of the courthouse. It was organized in 1846, and incorporated in 1847, rooms being provided by the county commissioners. It was destroyed by the fire of Saturday night, March 29, 1884. At this time the Library numbered some seventeen thousand volumes. During the thirty-seven years these had been accumulating, its members had invested in their purchase $43,968.98. It was one of the most complete librariesin this country. Every department was full. It gloried also in the possession of many exceedingly rare curiosities, some of which were valuable also for occasional practical use. Among them were complete copies of the Territorial laws of the Northwest Territory and of the Territories formed therefrom; of the Territorial laws of Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi; a copy of Justinian edition of 1535; of Grotius' first edition, containing pen and' ink notes and emendations made by the author, and original copies of the first edition of Coke, Blackstone and Kent. On the walls were many paintings, portraits of early and distinguished jurists of Ohio. The room also held a collection of many valuable articles, the accumulation of years of active interest in the association on the part of its members, and of those who, although not members, yet realized that the public at large would be greatly benefited by the success of such a library. Of all that was in the library rooms that Saturday night, but one book came through the fire safely - that was an odd volume of Pennsylvania laws. A few volumes, six. or seven in all, happened to be out on loan, and thus were saved. All else - reports, statutes, text-books, engravings and paintings - were reduced to ashes. The loss was asevereone. By none was it felt more keenly than bythe librarian, Maurice W. Myers, who for almost a quarter of a century had carefully and zealously watched over and fostered the growth of the Library. To his indefatigable zeal and constant services it was mainly indebted for much that made it what it was - the Law Library of the country. The Library was insured in the sum of $10,000. This was looked upon as a fund for the restoration, so far as money could restore, of the Library that was gone. No one seemed to doubt for a moment that the immediate thing to be undertaken was this work of restoration. Courts and lawyers must have law books for constant, ready use, and in no other way could the demand be better met than by the association. Its affairs are managed by a board of trustees. On Monday after the fire, March 831, this board met to consider the situation. They found that several boxes of books had arrived at the depots, which, while useful to the old Library to round out its outlines in certain respects, were not necessary to a Library which, for some time to come, should contain only actually needed working material. Several orders were also outstanding for similar books. It was voted to return these books and cancel the orders if possible, and the treasurer was instructed to collect the insurance. On April 3, the treasurer reported at a meeting of the trustees, that the four insurance companies disclaimed all liability for loss, on the ground that the fire was caused by a riot. In the policies of three of the companies was found, hid away in the depths of the finely printed exceptions, a clause exempting them from losses so caused. The policy of the fourth company did not contain this clause. It nevertheless refused to pay, alleging that, by mutual agreement, it had been provided that this clause be inserted, but that it had been inadvertently omitted. The trustees promptly ordered suit to be brought on all four policies. and the five members of the board and their firms volunteered their services in the prosecution. On April 4, the association held a large and enthusiastic meeting in College Hall. Probably no better account of the spirit of this meeting can be given than that suggested by the following extracts from the resolutions that were then unanimously adopted:

WueErEAs, In the loss to its members and the Bench and the Bar of this county by the destruction of our Library, which can not be overstated, this Association recognizes that the greatness of the disaster is commensurate with the complete success which had crowned the zeal, intelligence and energy of the management, and is confident, so long as the same qualities are employed in the restoration of what is lost, no misforturne can be called irreparable.

Resolved, That the support and co-operation of every member is hereby pledged to the officers Bd this Association in every attempt and step to replace what we have lost as speedily as possible.

But the meeting did not stop with mere resolutions. Liberal subscriptions were made to the funds necessary to restore the Library, and committees were appointed to solicit further aid, and, better still, an assessment of $100 was ordered on each member, payable in installments at reasonable intervals. With such backing the trustees did not hesitate to enter into contracts, and by April 80 they voted to accept an offer to furnish the Reports of the American Courts for $11,237.50, and, in May, one to furnish the English Courts for $5,070, and certain text-books.

and digests for $1,830. By June, 1884, the treasurer had cash receipts amounting to $6,852, and during the year ending June, 1885, he had received from subscriptions and assessments $19,808, and from the insurance companies $3,300. For, though suits had been brought against the insurance companies, the riot clause in the three of them had proven an insurmountable difficulty in the way of recovering, and they were compromised. The fourth policy was paid, notwithstanding the alleged inadvertence in its draft. The Library was well known throughout the country, and received from many quarters practical expressions of sympathy. Valuable contributions of books were made by the States of New York, Kentucky, Arkansas, Connecticut, Michigan, Iowa and Ohio. the Territories of Montana, Dakota, Idaho, Wyoming and Arizona, the city of Cincinnati, Robert Clarke & Company, Soule & Bugbee, publishers of Boston, and many other individuals. The members responded liberally to the plea for funds. The total amount paid for books from the fire down to June, 1893, was $56,025.99. In addition to that it must be remembered that there were large payments for regular current expenses. The largest single subscription was made by Rufus King, who was for many years the honored president of the association, and has shown his devotion to its interests in a thousand instances. Mr. King died in 1891, and in his will made a most generous bequest to the association. On the morning of April 3, 1884, the new Library, containing nine volumes, was open and ready for use in temporary quarters in the Debolt building - as a guest in the office of J. W. Fitzgerald & Son. It followed the Courts to the Albany building, and then to its - let us trust - permanent home in the new courthouse. Its books have all been paid for. In June, 1893, they numbered 16,373. Surely the record is worthy of preservation. It is the work of a membership not exceeding in number at any one time 250 members.

Biographies Of Prominent Jurists

Jacob Burnet. - But few men were more practically useful in organizing society in the Northwest through the enactment and administration of laws than Judge Burnet. He was of Scotch descent, illustrating in himself the best elements of that somewhat peculiar character. He was a son of Dr. William Burnet, of Newark, N. J., one of the medical directors and surgeons general in the Continental army. Judge Burnet came to the Miami Country, as it was then called, in the spring of 1796, to begin the practice of law. He was a member of the first Legislative Council of the Northwest Territory, exercising a large influence in the adoption of salutary laws, and now after nearly a century has elapsed, and the work has passed in review, it must be regarded as a happy circumstance that Jacob Burnet was a member of that first Legislature. Of a truth may it be said of this early pioneer in law, and in political and social economy, '' their works do live after them.'' In 1820 the settlers on western land were hopelessly in debt to the government for the purchases they had made. There was no money in the country. Banks did nothing but fail. The sturdy woodman who more than once had gone forth, rifle in hand, to repel the onset of the savage foe upon the frontier settlement saw nothing but ruin before him. The humble home he had so often fought to defend '' when the blood of his sons fattened his cornfields, and the war-whoop awakened the sleep of the cradle,'' was about to be torn from him, and he driven forth to the pitiless shelter of the wilderness. It was feared that an attempt by the government to collect its debts, amounting to about twenty-two millions of dollars, would result in civil war. Atatime of such impending disaster, when the wisdom of statesmen was needed to divine a method of relief, and the justice of patriotism to arbitrate between exasperated partisans, Judge Burnet was the author of a scheme by which the settlers were allowed to relinquish such land as they could not pay for, applying the money they had already paid to protect the improvements which they had made. This scheme passed into a law, and the settler could once more sleep in his humble log cabin with the healthful consciousness of knowing it was his own.

To the efforts of Judge Burnet is due in a great measure the construction of the Miami canal from Dayton to the lakes. Congress had made large grants of land to the State of Ohio to assist in the construction of canals; there were conditions, however, attached to the grants under which, after large amounts of money had been expended, the State was likely to lose its land grants, leaving its canals entirely uncompleted. Judge Burnet, then in the Senate, took up the matter with his accustomed zeal and energy. He succeeded in inducing the Senate to pass a bill removing the obnoxious conditions and obtaining additional grants. The bill became a law through his untiring efforts, and the contemplated works were completed.

Judge Burnet was a member of the Supreme Court of Ohio, but resigned his place to take his seat in the United States Senate, as the successor of William Henry Harrison. In the early days of which he writes, Judge Burnet and other members of the Bar were accustomed to attend the Supreme Court of the Territory at Cincinnati, Marietta and Detroit, the field of jurisprudence being a wide one. They traveled on horseback, carrying their provisions with them. The hotels of that day were not numerous, and the wayfarers slept on the ground, at the foot of a tree, using their saddles for pillows. Sometimes they would enjoy tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep, but often the gnats and mosquitoes were inexorable. The roads were merely bridle paths through the woods, and there were no bridges or ferries over streams. Consequently one of the first requirements of a good horse was that he should be an expert swimmer. With such an animal under them, it seemed to make little difference to our peripatetic Bar, whether they were on land or in the water. In December, 1799, Arthur St. Clair, Jr., and Judge Burnet set out on atrip from Cincinnati to Vincennes, on professional business. They purchased a specimen of naval architecture known as an ''Ark,"' into which they loaded their provisions, their horses and themselves. Four days of assiduous travel carried them to the Falls of the Ohio. Here they disembarked, mounted their horses, and plunged into the forest. As they were about to encamp for the night they encountered a band of Indians. The pipe of peace, however, seemed to be prevalent, and the high contracting powers established relations of amity. The Judge and his companions shoveled the snow off the ground, built a fire, wrapped themselves in their blankets, and laid down to quiet dreams. A couple of panthers, of inquisitive turn of mind, persisted in inspecting these intruders upon their own private domain, beleaguering their camp with a prolonged succession of those blood.curdling screams, the like of which can come from no other beast of prey. The next day they encountered a severe snowstorm, blinded by the fury of which they stumbled over a troop of buffalo. The surprise was entirely mutual, but the buffaloes being more alarmed than the white man, stayed not upon the order of their going. Arriving at White river, they found an old cabin deserted except by a pugnacious wild cat, who seemed to be of the opinion that possession was nine points in the law. Asthe night was coming on, and the storm raging, the question at issue between lawyer and wild cat, as to the tenancy of the cabin, became an interesting one. After consultation as to the proper mode of procedure, they moved upon the enemy's works and discomfited him until that he fled, when they enjoyed a coveted repose. The Judge reached Vincennes, where he remained a few days and then set out for home, stating with an unconscious but delicious gleam of humor, that he abandoned the intention of practicing law in that country ''from a conviction that' the profits of the business would not be sufficient to compensate for the fatigue and loss of time to which it would subject him.''

Until his death in 1853 Jacob Burnet was one of the most notable figures upon the streets of Cincinnati. Tall and dignified in his appearance, he retained the style and manners of the olden times. He wore the old-fashioned queue, and in public assemblies his grave stately deportment inspired, if not awe, at least respect, In his opinions and judgments he was decided. Hedid not believe in anything half way, but altogether, nor did he hesitate to state his views, when occasion required, and they were so stated as to be completely understood.

Having been judge of the Supreme Court, United States Senator, and a public man all his life, and being in affluent circumstances, he was the most prominent citizen of Cincinnati. His hospitality was generous, and his home a hostelry for the stranger. No one had appreciated fully the merits of the city, unless they had sat at his board, and there would be encountered the most distinguished men of the country. The venerable mansion, formerly so long his home, has sheltered beneath its roof Gen. Lafayette, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, William Henry Harrison, Lewis Cass,and many others whose lives are ended but whose names remain. There has been in the Queen City no other residence within whose walls have been gathered so many who have been illustrious in their day. But he selected his company. Judge Burnet's father and brothers were intimate acquaintances of Col. Burr during the Revolutionary war, and when Burr visited Cincinnati, he expected to receive the courtesies so notoriously and so liberally extended to almost every man of prominence. Judge Burnet, however, peremptorily refused to make his acquaintance, and with that vigor with which he entertained his views, and that perspicacity with which he expressed them, put bis refusal upon the distinct ground that he '*considered Co]. Burr a murderer."'

Charles Hammond left behind him the reputation of a great lawyer. He is of course known to the Bar, as the tirst of the Supreme Court reporters. There is not much in such an office to develop great abilities, and though the work is well done, doubtless there were many more who could have done it just as well. Had Mr. Hammond devoted himself exclusively to the law, he would certainly have left more enduring monuments of his fame. His argument in the celebrated case of Osborne vs. the Bank of the United States shows that he was a great Constitutional lawyer, and to this day there are those who doubt whether John Marshall or Charles Hammond had the best of it. The Court, however, having the privilege of making the law, under the guise of declaring it, established the contrary of Hammond's views, and whether right or wrong matters not now, for error becomes truth, if it is venerable.

President Adams tendered to Mr. Hammond a seat on the Bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, but it was declined. There is no more glittering prize to be offered the American lawyer. and Mr. Hammond's action shows his independence of spirit, and that he cared but little for the name and fame he was to leave behind him. The minutes of the Supreme Court of this State show the estimate in which he was held, by his professional brethren, in the few lines written by a lawyer fully capable to pass judgment, and one who was singularly just to his fellow men. Nathaniel Wright wrote of him thus: ''Mr. Hammond was most truly a great and worthy man. Ardently devoted to truth and virtue, to charitable deeds, to human liberty and the Constitution of his country, bis life was one of great labor, activity and usefulness. With a mind highly cultivated, clear perceptions, and, above all, of most inflexible integrity, he was fearless and independent. His professional career was fair, open, manly, and won the approbation of his contemporaries. In him the weak, unfortunate and honest ever found an advocate, the guilty never. He attained to great eminence as a lawyer, as a literary man, and as a political writer."'

If the student of belles-lettres, of rhetoric, and correct literary expression, will carefully analyze the few lines of the above eulogy, he will discover a wealth of meaning, scarcely ever found in classic literature. Many men are great; how few are worthy! Can there be higher aims in human life than truth, virtue, charity and . human liberty? If there be crowns reserved, they must be for those who labor with activity and usefulness, for such noble ends. The mind that is higbly cultivated has become so, because it has recognized the fact that genius is not the result of great labor, and that work is worship. Clear perceptions are God-given. That purification of the intellectual eye, which enables it at once to discover among the shapeless ore of the unexplored mines that which is rich and that which is dross, is not acquired, it belongs to the few who are chosen from the many called. That inflexible integrity, without which no man can be fearless and independent, was commemorated two thousand years ago.

The just man, of firm purpose, is steadfast still, and the wild fury of his fellowmen can not move him from his settled resolve. In this his eminence was great as a literary man and political writer, for although tradition has assigned him the place of Ohio's foremost lawyer, as an editor he was greater still. He was a native of a slave State, and his father was a slaveholder, but as early as 1820 his position, on this great political question of the day, was not doubtful. His belief was that slavery was a great wrong, destructive of national character and happiness, and that its extension was fraught with fearful consequences. This belief he impressed upon the Ohio Legislature as early as 1819, and he waged the warfare of a relentless enemy. When John Quincy Adams maintained tbe right of petition against the united audacity of the South, and the gentle timidity of the North, Charles Hammond upheld the hands of the old man eloquent, that they " were steady until the going down of the sun.'' Nothing caused him to abate a jot or tittle of his determined aggressive action. 'The fact that it was dangerous so to do, did not weigh with him a particle. He had put his hand to the plough, and there was no turning back in that war.

As early as 1823, his words on this subject, in the light of 1861 and 1865, are prophetic. ''A coalition, cemented by a sameness of manners, and by a mutuality of interests, will be formed, and, when it once can get the predominence, will overpower and trample under foot all opposition. We can not help making the inquiry whether such views are not opposed to the prosperity and peace of the United States ? And whether men, who wish the extension of slavery for political purposes, are not advocating measures which lead not only to moral degradation and misery but to great ultimate national calamity. To urge the farther extension of involuntary servitude, appears not only morally wrong, but politically dangerous."'

In 1836 James G. Birney established his newspaper in Cincinnati. Some of the most distinguished citizens of the place endeavored to dissuade him from his course of publishing, as it would drive away the ''Southern trade." It was the general belief of that day that the '' Southern trade'' ought to be secured at any sacrifice of principle or manhood. Perhaps it was not pleasant to contemplate, that in the great West and Northwest fetters should still be forged for an unhappy race, and auction blocks erected for the sale of men, women and children ; but this was a sentiment merely. Southern trade was a fact. As Birney believed in the '' freedom of the Press," he was mobbed, and the " freedom '' which his '' Press'' enjoyed, was, to be smashed into smithereens. The Cincinnati Gazette. however, stood to its guns. Hammond was cool, but his nerve did not quail. Hired bullies threatened his life. Tar and feathers were displayed before him. A midnight raid upon his office was organized, but the splendid bravery of this single man so terrified the cowardly outlaws, they did not dare to face him. Since now it is that nearly a generation has passed since the voice of a slave has been heard in the land, it would be well that the biography of Charles Hammond be written. A bold, daring, brilliant man, who hurled confusion among the oligarchy with the pungent sentences from his daily pen. One of the very few who stood unmoved, amid the brutal terrors of popular violence ; who defied insolent power ; resisted the importunities of terrified friends, and the insulting threats of enemies. Who took his stand upon the Bible

Nathaniel Wright was one of the old-time lawyers, having begun the practice of law in 1817, and retiring from the Bar about the year 1842. He was a native of New Hampshire, and his early life was passed upon his father's farm. The poorer sons of New England had not many privileges of education, and young Wright began his schooling by studying with his arithmetic in one hand, while the other guided a plough. The cornfield, however, has some advantages over the modern built schoolhouse, as this pupil by his early training built up a physical frame, capable of almost unlimited endurance. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1811, and set out to seek his fortune. He taught school in Portland, Maine. Here he mace the acquaintance of a young man named Bellamy Storer, and they became fast friends. They afterward met in the Far West, ina flourishing village of about nine thousand inhabitants, by the name of Cincinnati. Here they cast their lots, the friendship of their early days was renewed, and there was no break in its chain during life. In his Portland school Mr. Wright was much attracted by a bright sunony-haired lad, of whom he was afterward accustomed often to speak. This little fellow had pleasing ways, and possessed a rare intelligence. His name was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. From Portland Mr. Wright went to Virginia, and taught school among the mountains of the Blue Ridge, within sight of the locality afterward to become celebrated as the battlefield of Bull Run. The term of his engagement here completed, he set out for Ohio. His sojourn in Virginia had been a delightful one, as he enjoyed to the fullest extent the rare old Southern hospitality, and when he left them, he felt as thongh he was leaving home. He had formed strong ties with those among he had been thrown, and as he set forth upon his solitary way to that distant country of which but little was known, his heart misgave him. As the winding road was lost among the mountains, he turned in his saddle for a last look upon the spot where he had spent so many pleasant days. No wonder, perhaps, that a momentary weakness overcame him, for it required a strong selfreliance thus to take up the battle with the world. His earthly possessions he carried upon his person, and upon the beast he bestrode ; but he bore with him a stout heart, and he was of the stuff of which the pioneers of the forest lind were made. After a long and wearisome journey, he reached Cincinnati at night, with a five-dollar gold piece and a Spanish quarter of a dollar in his pocket. By mistake he gave the drayman, who carried his belongings up to the hotel, the gold piece instead of the quarter, and that honest son of toil did not re-appear upon any subsequent occasion to rectify the mistake. His first experience of Cincinnati life was a Jong, severe fit of illness. But in his untried home he found true friends, whose kindness was always a subject of grateful remembrance As he began the practice of his profession, people soon began to discover his sterling qualities. His perfect integrity impressed every one with confidence. Whatever he said was implicitly trusted. Business men soon found that their affairs, in his hands, were in such keeping that they need not give themselves further concern, nor worry lest inattention, or want of zeal, should be disastrons to them. Nor were there any who had more faith in him than the members of his own profession. It has been said of him, that no higher-toned lawyer ever practiced at this Bar. He was not what is called a quick or brilliant man, but he had the genius of unwearied industry, and indefatigable perseverance. He never let go anything until it was completely finished. His methods of thought were slow, but thoroughly careful. He examined a question deliberately, but clear through, upon all sides, in every possible view, considered every minute particular, and then decided correctly. His law was profound philosophy. When he applied his powers of discrimination to reported cases to discover their weight as authority, his manner of ascertaining the relation, and pointing out the bearing of, particular facts, to a given decision, was a marvel of light, thrown upon the apparently inconsistent. He retired from the active practice of the law about the year 1842, but the love of his chosen profession never waned, and it was. always a delight to him to discuss the law, as it was to him one of the exact sciences. He lived to a ripe old age, and died in 1875 in his eighty-seventh year.

John C. Wright was long an honored and honorable citizen of Cincinnati. He was judge of the Supreme Court of the State, and long an editor of the Cincinnati Gazette, one of the earliest and most influential public prints of the city, and which still lives under the shaded title of the Commercial Gazette. Judge Wright was elected a member of Congress from the Steubenville District in October, 1820, to serve for two years from March 4, 1821. The election was very close, in fact being disputed upon street corners, and other like places where affairs of national importance are settled, though no legal action was ever taken in the premises. Such, however, was the high sense of honor in this distinguished citizen, that he declined to accept a public position, upoo a seemingly doubtful, or even disputed, title. Upon receiving his certificate of election from the governor of the State, he returned his answer in the following letter :

I consider it an incontrovertible principle in our Government, that the people are the only true source of political power. If this be correct, no person can possibly take upon himself the discharge of any public function or duty, without being called to its exercise by vn undteersi] expression of the public will in his favor. It is supposed the late election for a representative to Congress, from the Fourth District, does not furnish evidence of.such unequivocal expression of the public will in favor of any one. The canvass was very close, and, I am informed, serévus doubts are entertained by some of the electors as to the result. The legul right to a seat is declared to be in me by the executive authority, and your certificate would enable me to proceed to the exercises of the duties of a representative; yet I do not fee] willing to occupy any office of trust or honor upon doubtful authority, nor could I do so without violating what [I conceive to be sound principle. By restoring again to the people, from whom it emanated, the doubtful authority conferred upon me,a fair opportunity is afforded them of disposing of it, according to their will. Impressed with these considerations, I resign my seat as a representative of the State of Ohio, in Congress, and request you to accept this as the act of resignation. I feel less reluctance in calling on the people to proceed to a new election, as no reason is perceived for holding it before the next annual period for holding elections, on the second Tuesday in October. Iam, sir, with great respect, Your obedient servant,

Such a course is so entirely novel, in political life, so completely foreign to all preconceived notions of the rights, duties and obligations, the individual elevated to distinguished place by the suffrage of bis constituents, as those rights, duties and obligations are understood at the present day, that we contemplate, with amazement, the fact that a duly elected member of Congress should decline office merely because an antiquated sense of honor, or some shallow notion of integrity, led him to question his own title.

Vachel Worthington, son of James Tolly Worthington and Margaret 8S. Worthington, was born February 2, 1802, near Crab Orchard, Ky. After having studied at Centre College, Danville, Ky., be entered Transylvania University, Lexington, Ky., and was there graduated in July, 1822. After graduation he studied law in Lexington, Ky., under the tutorage of John Boyle. then chief justice of the Court of Appeals of Kentucky. Having been admitted to the Bar, his first professional business was to attend to some affairs of his father at Rome, Ga. These being satisfactorily settled, he moved to Cincinnati in 1824, and established his office first on the north side of Fourth street west of Main, whence he removed, at the time the present church edifice of the First Presbyterian Church was erected, to an office in the second story of the building known as No. 21 West Third street. A few years later he moved his office to the ground floor of the same building; and this office he occupied for the remainder of his professional life.

On May 25, 1825, he married Mary Ann Burnet, daughter of Judge Jacob Burnet, then one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and one of the most emi- nent of the lawyers of that day. Of this marriage five children were born, four of whom died in infancy; the other, James Tolly Worthington, his second child and eldest son, is still living, and practicing law in New York City. This first wife died on October 25, 1834, and on January 10, 1839, Mr. Worthington married Julia Wiggins, daughter of Samuel Wiggins, of Cincinnati. Four children were born of this marriage, of whom one died in childhood, and three - Edward, Julia (wife of Wm. P. Anderson) and William - still survive.

In the reported decisions of the Supreme Court of Ohio, Vachel Worthington's name appears first in connection with the case of Jacob Burnet v. the Corporation of Cincinnati, decided at December term, 1827 [8 Ohio, 73]; and last, in connection with the case of The State of Ohio, on relation of the City of Cincinnati v. Joseph B. Humphreys, auditor of Hamilton county [25 Ohio St., 520], decided November 9, 1875.

Soon after locating in Cincinnati, Mr. Worthington formed a partnership with Thomas Longworth, a brother of Nicholas Longworth. This connection lasted but a very short time, and thereafter, until 1851, Mr. Worthington practiced alone. In that year he associated with him his eldest son, James T. Worthington, and Stanley Matthews, afterward one of the associate justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, under the firm style of Worthington & Matthews. In June, 1861, Mr. Matthews joined the army, and was not thereafter actively associated with this firm. The firm name remained the same until 1863, when it was changed to V. & J. T. Worthington. In 1865 James T. Worthington removed to New York, and at that time Vachel Worthington voluntarily withdrew from the active practice of his profession. In 1869, when his youngest son, William, was admitted to the Bar, he again put on the harness, that be might assist his son in the beginning of his career. He continued to practice until the latter part of 1876, when a fall down a flight of stairs at his residence so impaired his strength that thereafter professional work was impossible. He died on July 7, 1877, from physical infirmities prematurely induced by this accident.

Mr. Worthington had no political aspirations or ambition, his life being devoted wholly to his profession, in which, early in his career, he gained a place in the front rank, and maintained it to the close. To do this he had to contend with an array of brilliant intellect, mental force and professional ability which made the Cincinnati Bar of those days phenomenal, including in its roll, among others of acknowledged ability, the names of Lytle, Benham, Wright (Nathaniel and John C.), Storer, Fox, Este, Chase, Henry Stanbury, and Thomas Ewing.

Among those who studied law in his office, and under his instruction, were William $8. Groesbeck, Stanley Matthews and Samuel 8S. Cox. He was the attorney in Cincinnati, of the United States Bank during its existence, and was the general solicitor of The Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company from an early date in its history to its fall, and under his direction and supervision its immense investments in real-estate mortgage securities, extending over the western States, were made.

In politics he was a Whig during the existence of that party, and after its disintegration his political sympathies were with the Democratic party; but he reserved and freely exercised his own independent judgment as to men and measures, and voted accordingly. arly in the ''sixties'' he was earnestly urged to accept a tendered nomination to the Bench, but could not be induced to give it any serious consideration. Except as hereinafter noted he took no prominent part in political movements but once, and that was when he was called to preside at a large and enthusiastic mass-meeting held in Market space on Fifth street between Main and Walnut, for the purpose of suggesting to and urging upon the National Convention, then soon to assemble, the nomination of Gen. Zachary Taylor for the Presidency.

He held public office but once. In the fall of 1873 he accepted the nomination on the Democratic ticket for the State Senate, and was elected. He gave to his leg- islative duties the same thorough and conscientious care and study that he had always given to his profession. From the days the regular and adjourned sessions of the Sixty-first General Assembly opened, until they respectively closed, he was constantly at Columbus; inthe intervening recesses of the Legislature, during which others sought rest and relaxation in visiting their families, he was at work at the seat of Government, familiarizing himself with pending bills, and fitting himself for what he considered a proper performance of his legislative duties. His zeal and devotion so impressed itself on his associates that at the adjourned session a new '"committee on statutes" was established, of which he was made chairman, and which had no light task in the remaining work of that General Assembly.

Probably the most noteworthy feature of his legislative career was the change then accomplished in the methods of municipal administration in Ohio. Prior to that time the city of Cincinnati had been constantly going beyond its means; floating debts were incurred, and frequent applications were made for the issue of bonds to pay off such liabilities. Such an appeal was made to the Sixty-first General Assembly. Mr. Worthington urged that relief be granted only upon condition that the outstanding claims be scrutinized and audited by a special commission appointed for that purpose; that bonds be issued only to pay claims allowed by that commission; and that the law be so amended that thereafter no order for the expenditure of money should have legal validity until there was money in the city treasury set apart to meet it. His views prevailed, and were embodied in the act of April 16, 1874 [71 Ohio Laws 80], commonly known as the '' Worthington Law.''

This system of "' pay as you go"' met with such public favor that. in the following Legislature, the act of April 8, 1876 [78 Ohio Laws 125], known asthe " Burns Law,"' in amending Sec. 663 of the then municipal code, extended its principles to all municipal corporations; and these provisions can now be found in Sec. 2699 and 2702 of the Revised Statutes.

Salmon P. Chase. - Those, whose years of intelligence embrace the ante-bellum period, can now scarcely believe, those, who have been born since the Rebellion, will never be able to comprehend, the condition of polities prior to 1861. There was then but one power, one interest, in the whole broad realm of the United States. All other rights, all other questions, sank into utter insignificance before it. Good men took the Bible, and expounded, so that it was clearly proven that the Deity created the earth for the express purpose of having slavery exist upon it. Great men took the Constitution of the United States, and expounded, so that the wayfaring man could run and read, that there was nothing in particular which that sacred instrument guaranteed and protected, except slavery. Undeniable, that that venerated document was ordained by ''We the People of the United States," among other things '" to secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity;'' but the expounders, good and great, assumed that a certain portion of the 'People,' who had woolly heads and complexions a shade darker than that of the late Thomas Corwin, were neither ''Ourselves'' nor ' Posterity," and therefore not entitled to secure any of the " blessings'' of the said '' Liberty.''

Those who held to the contrary of these views were regarded as dangerous members of society. It is not nearly so wicked to be an Anarchist in these days, as it was to be an Abolitionist in those. Singular race of men! Hunted, outraged, abused, persecuted, but they did their perfect work. Few in number, feeble in power, Pariahs in politics, they have long since become extinct as a class, but their footprints may now be found in petrified outline upon the solid rock of the National Constitution.

Mr. Chase was in no sense an Abolitionist. He was too sound a Constitutional lawyer not to know that Abolition could only come, as it did, through war. But he was an earnest opponent of the further extension of this pernicious system. He did believe that, restricting it to those limits withia which it could only legally exist, its ultimate extinction would inevitably follow. This was enough to stamp him as an Abolitionist, and at that time Cincinnati was a mere ''suburb of the South.'' He was, consequently, at one time the best hated man in the community in which he lived. He had no certainty of personal safety, in his daily life. His public utterances were greeted with hisses and hootings, and other evidences of public disapprobation, violent in expression, and disgusting to the senses. Although incurring all this personal hatred, conscious that the principles he espoused could not fail to ensure unpopularity to the last degree, no thought of consequences to himself for a moment chilled his righteous ardor, or caused him to waver in this steadfast faith. Ambitious of political preferment he undoubtedly was; but when it was to be won at the expense of rectitude and integrity of purpose, his upright soul disdained to consider such a bargain.

Pursuing forever the light of that single star that directed his footsteps while the darkness was over and about him, through whatever thorny ways, over whatever rough paths it led him, he held his course directly on, until his eyes saw the light of day that proclaimed the emancipation of a race, and liberty throughout his native land. It was unpopular, it made the lawyer odious, to defend the rights of the runaway negro. But, Apostle of Freedom! he was the friend of the fugitive not only with all the fervor of his intellect, but with all the gentleness of a kindly heart. Upon the occasion of the removal of the remains of the chief justice to Spring Grove Cemetery, Governor Hoadly in an address, the chaste beauty of which is a touching tribute of 'loving disciple'' to '' preceptor, master, partner, friend,"' speaks thus: '* His legal services were freely bestowed in the protection of every fugitive slave, andthe defense of his friends. He was a walking arsenal of the law of liberty. What he could not do with the writ of habeas corpus, no man might accomplish. His weapons were ever ready for instant service. They required no burnishing, no loading, and with or without preparation they were always at hand for use. This office he never refused. This duty he never neglected."

There is probably no man living or dead, who, upon this subject at least, has had more influence in leading to just views the public mind, which tradition bad so perversely bent. Doubtless he was never himself aware how he had unconsciously brought the rising generation of that day into sympathy with his own views. No thoughtful mind came in contact with his, that was not impressed with the sincerity of his convictions, and did not recognize the force with which they were presented. The seed, unwittingly scattered, like that which floats upon the breeze, going whither the wind listeth, fell in many quiet places, and bore its useful fruit. When the disciples of free soil first undertook to promulgate their faith in Hamilton county, it was an undertaking full of danger. In 1848 Mr. Chase spoke upon this subject, in Fifth street Market space. A majority of that vast crowd which had assembled, nol so much to hear, as to suppress him, were honestly of the belief that such flagitious sentiments should not be allowed utterance, in a law abiding, order loving community. Staid and excellent citizens swelled with indignation that a man should be heard who would give such serious offense to our good friends who lived just over the Ohio river. Very stringent precautions had been taken that he should not be heard at all. Cannon had been provided. A large number of that rough element of society, whose predilections are always in favor of riot and turmoil. were active in the confusion created. As his tall commanding figure arose, and stood beneath the starry flag, there were many who expected, and more who hoped, to see the glorious ensign of the Republic fall and crush him beneath its folds. And yet it did not. He began to address that vast assembly, and far flashed the red artillery. But this did not disturb the serenity of his feelings, nor the magnanimity of his nature. Upon a distinctly higher plane, than the dwarfed intellects of those who sought to annoy him, he was sorrowful, rather, in the belief that '' they know not what they do.'' His personal dignity was impressive yet winning. He made no effort at declamation, or rhetorical display. His'manner was that of calm, persuasive, courageous statement, for he did not shrink from the results of his logic. So simple, so earnest, so truthful, that the listener felt that the man before him was guide, philosopher, and friend. cf

To this single idea of Human Liberty he devoted his life, until the full fruition of his most sanguine hopes, and through all that era of trial, of distress, of war, he was one of those who stood, with unfaltering trust, around the President, and ''felt his own great arm lean on them for support.'' His work as secretary and chief justice are part of the treasures of the nation and of its history. Whatever may be said of his financial ability, he came to the relief of the national credit when it was most sorely tried, and the theories which he carried into effect established a currency of which it may be safely said, that none other has ever so completely earned the unwavering confidence of the people. In the tribunal of last resort he was instrumental in the solution of questions, the like of which had never been presented to Courts of Justice, upon the wise disposition of which depended the peace and happiness of States; and in communities which had spent four years in the overturning and confusion of all law, the ancient landmarks were restored, order once more existed, and the reign of night and chaos came to an end.

The closing years of his life were passed in Washington, where the duties of his high office were faithfully discharged for the remainder of his days. The fitness of things well ordered that his mortal remains should finally rest in the State of his adoption, and within this county, so long his home, where were the struggles of his early life, where he first put forth those powers which made manifest the certainty of his future fame, and where he endured so much obloquy and achieved so much honor, for upon the still lengthening record, which preserves to posterity the memory of virtue, of patriotism, and of intellectual grandeur in America's illustrious sons, stands emblazoned, in letters of living light, the name of Salmon Portland Chase.

Superior Court

The State of Ohio has known no other such Bench as was the Superior Court of Cincinnati when organized under the new Constitution; Spencer, Gholson, and Storer being judges. Many Courts can boast of one or two strong lawyers, but when the entire Bench is one of distinctive ability, the practice of the law comes to be a fine art.

As the Court of Common Pleas at that time had but three judges, business began to fall behind, and the Bar saw the necessity of additional judicial force. Several meetings of the fraternity were held, and among the most active promoters of the scheme were George EK. Pugh and A. E. Gwynne. At these meetings the question of judicial salaries was largely discussed. The pay of former judges had varied from $800 per year to $1,000, $1,200, and $1,500. sometimes up and sometimes down, as the liberality of legislators seemed to fancy. It was at all times difficult to satisfy the law-making power that there was anything in the judicial position that required a respectable pecuniary support for the judge. As the General Assembly was largely composed of members from the rural districts, they could not understand that a judge should be paid more than a dollar a day, when that sum would secure the services of a capital farm hand, who could mow ten hours a day, or split wood with equal facility. It was also argued that plenty of lawyers were willing to serve with little or no salary, which was true, although it seemed to be thought of small importance that they served with little or no knowledge of law. Th salary provided for in the bill creating the Court was $3,500, $1,500 to be paid from the State treasury, and $2,000 by the city.

Judge Spencer did not like the drudgery of the profession, but it was a delight to him to examine and reason out pure legal questions. To settle a bill of excep- tions between two pertinacious, pugnacious lawyers, both of whom were insisting on multitudinous matters which were of no imaginable consequence, was a weariness to the flesh. The following tribute to his eminent ability and great legal acquirements will be recognized as from the pen of one who wrote the English language with an elegance and force that was perhaps the least of his many and varied accomplishments as a lawyer and judge: ''He loved the law as a science, and _profoundly felt its responsibilities. His mind clearly perceived his duty, and his heart tempered justice with the purest equity. Never impulsive or demonstrative, he yet possessed large sympathies which ever controlled his opinions, and gave the assurance to his brethren, that he felt, as well as thought. His perceptions of right were intuitive; and in all his deliberations with his colleagues, he sought to reach a result his conscience could approve. Mere expediency, nor the power of precedent, never controlled his decisions, nor yet the approbation nor censure of his profession, when stern duty claimed his bold utterance for the truth. The loss of such a man can not be properly estimated, yet the example of judicial integrity, impartiality, and gentle courtesy he so beautifully exhibited in his life, is still fresh in the remembrance of his legal friends. One of his colleagues who is still permitted to hold a seat on the Bench, and who knew him in his youth, in his manhood and more mature years, who knew him but to love him, who was with him in the hour of his departure, and felt the last earthly pressure of his hands, indulges in the abiding hope that he is now in the presence of that just Judge whose will, in the administration of human law, our departed friend strove so conscientiously to obey."

William Y. Gholson. - Judge Gholson was a thoroughly complete lawyer. He was the embodiment of clear legal logic, and his judgments were the transparent, dispassionate, frigid announcements of conclusions. Whatever his reasonings led up to, that was the result, and there was no reductio ad absurdum that could appall him. It is not meant that his opinions were open to any such criticism. In the trial of a case, or the argument of a proposition, he could not be imposed upon by false premises. His mind was acute, and if anything was asserted that was irrelevant to the issue, he saw it in an instant, completely ignored its existence, and waited until he saw what was the true gist of the controversy. This he seized upon. With this before him his syllogism was faultless. He was not at all oppressed with the gravity of matters before him. He was quite equal to the occasion, no matter how vast was the importanee of the case he was deciding, and he preserved the same direct cours", whether it was a dollar involved or a million. When the Ohio Life Insurance & Trust Company failed, in 1857, an attachment was issued against it on the ground that it had fraudulently incurred the obligation for which the suit was brought; the allegations being that the Trust Company had fraudulently hypothecated commercial paper left with it by plaintiff for collection. The public interest in the case was intense. The Trust Company had long been regarded as the one solid, impregnable financial institution of the West, if not of the United States. Its wealth was supposed to be without end, and its managers the most prudent, intelligent, conservative men to be found in any community. | When it closed its doors, the shock was fearful, even in a country where bank failures are perennial, and whence bank cashiers constantly emigrate. The amount involved was very large; but it was not this so much, as the idea that such an institution should be amenable to such a charge. Everybody felt as though their own personal integrity had been attacked. A motion to dissolve was made. Judge Gholson heard and decided it, with the same calm utter indifference to all adventitious circumstances, as if he had never heard of the parties before.

This decision is one of the best specimens of Judge Gholson's ablest work. Itis difficult to speak of it, as it is impossible to describe it. It might be called a masterpiece of reasoning, or any of those other names ordinarily used, in such a connection. But these are mere platitudes which can be employed for any purpose, or upon any occasion, and which are quite as likely to convey a wrong or exaggerated idea, if they convey any. The weight, however, of a decision is determined by the deference the Bar gives to it, and this has been considered the law of Ohio for over thirty years. It is quite true that the Supreme Court of the State has thought it safe to run counter to the doctrines of this case. But it has been in the announcements of conclusions without opinions. Opinions require reason for their support, and the authority of Judge Gholson has not yet been shaken,

The case of Masury vs. Southworth is an illustration of his method of arguing wise questions of the law. The subject is about as dry and technical as can be found in the books. But the way in which he discusses it, in this opinion, makes the reading fascinating, if such a term may be applied to anything so utterly devoid of interest to any but the profession. The critical examination he makes of Spencer's case, and the manner in which he elucidates and reconciles the inconsistencies in the resolutions laid down, and which have always been a stumbling block to lawyers, shows a power and accuracy of analysis only to be found in a trained, well-ordered legal brain. It is a popularly received notion that the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, upon the construction of the Constitution and laws of the United States, is conclusive upon everybody in all cases.

In Skelly and Jefferson Bank, he explodes this notion, declining to follow a decision of the national tribunal, on the mooted question of bank taxation. With all his great ability, with all his great learning, he was neither too great nor too learned to be the most gentle of gentlemen. The stereotyped joke about the judge, who observed to the novice, perhaps needlessly diffuse, or too thorough from the foundation up, that '' The Court is supposed to know some law," was not wit, but brutality merely. The patient endurance with which Judge Gholson would listen for hours to some young lawyer laying down and elaborating the simplest principles of law, citing authorities from the year books to the 115th Texas, *' saying an undisputed thing, in such asolemn way,'' was the highest exampleof Christian fortitude. Rather than hurt the feelings of anyone he would suffer these afflictions in silence, martyrdom as it must have been to such an accomplished lawyer. Under such trying circumstances, and when wearied nature was hardly further adequate, his gravest reproach would be "I think Mr. So and So, I may safely say the Court is with you upon that proposition.'' If this did not bring surcease of sorrow, he resigned himself to his fate.

Bellamy Storer was one.of the early lawyers of the Hamilton County Bar. He came to this country in 1817. He was one of those self-reliant sons of New England that followed the course of Empire. Cincinnati then bad a population of about nine thousand, and he lived to see it one of the great cities of the West. He had long been one of our leading lawyers, and when he was elected judge of the Superior Court brought to this Bench a wide legal experience. 'There are few who had such devotion to, such love for, the profession. It was the theme of his life. He never ceased the study of the law, keeping apace with its literature throughout his entire career, and his acquaintance with the books was marvelous. A long and active practice, with his habits of industrious research, had sv imbued him with knowledge that, when he assumed it, he was ripe for the judicial position he so long adorned. The operations of his mind were quick, and his restless energy made the courtroom where he presided a scene of lively activity. His nature was sprightly and vivacious, so that he did not conduct the affairs of daily business with that ponderous solemnity that is so frequently awful in Courts of Justice, where mere gravity of manners is assumed to be profundity, and asperity and boorishness are believed to be the qualities of a great judge.

Judge Storer was an elegant writer. In the expression of ideas he was forcible, and what he wrote could be plainly understood. He was not redundant until obscurity made darkness visible. The first choice of words was natural to him, and there was a finish to all he did, that could not have been any acquired talent. Besides his high position at the Bar and upon the Bench, he was a public-spirited citizen. There have been times in the history of Cincinnati when it has experienced great calamities. Ohio river floods have occasioned great distress, especially among the poorer classes. Pestilence has been in our midst, until the plague-beleagured city became a charnel house, and the grim monster strode through the streets, the swathes from his scythe impeding the highways. Panic prevailed, and citizens fled from their houses in town as though they could escape the appointed hour, by trying to run away from it. Time has perhaps effaced the memory of these calamities, but they were not the less fearful because they are forgotten. When relief societies were organized for the benefit of suffering humanity, he was always foremost in the work, as he was always foremost when good was to be done. His zeal, his untiring energy, was the soul of public action, his great administrative ability wisely directed united effort; his fearless, cheery good nature was infectious and inspired hope when hope was the best tonic that pharmacy could afford. Labors such as those do not perhaps bring distinguished renown. The warrior, who slays a thousand men, achieves greater fame than he who unostentatiously saves the life of one; but such is the course of human affairs.

He was intensely American in his feelings. In 1862 the siege of Cincinnati created the wildest excitement. Our Confederate brethren had swarmed into Kentucky principally, stealing horses and converting to their own use such portable property, belonging to others, as they could lay hands on easily and carry off safely.

The war cloud was fast gathering on our borders, and the hue was butternut. The hostile clans approached in force, until they were upon the confines of the city, and the startling announcement was made:

Governor Tod issued a proclamation, Gen. Wallace issued a proclamation, everybody in authority or out of. authority issued a proclamation. The governor called upon all the armed men in the State to come to Cincinnati, and be quick about it. They came galloping - some in rags and some in jags; but all had guns. In three days Gov. Tod had sent twenty regiments and twenty-one more were on the way. All the citizens of Cincinnati armed themselves, and moved over to the Kentucky hills. They dug trenches during the day, and laid in the mud at night. The panic lasted for nearly a week, when our misguided brethren " folded their tents like the Arab, and as silently stole away."" When our gallant citizen soldiery returned from the tented field, it was a gala day. The streets were crowded with mothers, wives and sweethearts, flags were flying, drums beating and bellsringing. Regiment after regiment swarmed along Fourth street, until people exclaimed in utter amazement, " Where did they all come from?'' In that patriotic host, with clothes soiled and ragged, a hat the appearance of which indicated a familiar acquaintance with, but utter indifference to, the storms of the universe; his shoes travel-worn and dusty with scarcely a vestige of judicial dignity in his entire make-up, but with a face beaming with delighted enthusiasm, a private in the ranks, a musket on his shoulder, keeping step to the music of the Union, marched Judge Bellamy Storer, presiding justice of the Superior court of Cincinnati.

At one time in the trial of a case before him, a distinguished southern lawyer was addressing the jury. Inthe course of his remarks, he had occasion to refer to public affairs, and spoke of ''the death of Mr. Lincoln.'' Judge Storer rapped with his pencil upon the bench in front of him, and when the lawyer paused in his argu- ment, and stillness prevailed, the judge said: '' Here, we call it the murder of Mr. Lincoln.'' The emphasis on the noun substantive was such that the rebuke was as pointed in its utterance, as it was keenly felt.

He was always very popular, for his manners were so pleasant, his nature was so genial, that none could fail to be attracted to him. He was fond of young men, and enjoyed their society. It is the young men of that day - they are mostly old now - that will recall most vividly the many kind things he has said and done; how he was partaker of and enjoyed their mirth, and how often in times of perplexity or trouble, he would put his arm around your neck, and say some word that was grateful to hear Lawyers who have practiced before him, in the first disappointment of defeat, doubtless have felt aggrieved, for humanity is not always the perfection of philosophy. But now that the asperities of strife are things of the past, and the sun has set on wrath, who, that has known him, during the many years of his judicial life, that has seen him, day after day, in the warmth of litigation and the amenities of social life, can recur to the retrospect, without sentiments of admiration for the distinguished jurist, and feelings of affectionate remembrance for the venerable man?

Aaron F. Perry. - In a paper read before the State Bar Association, Hon. Judson Harmon has treated the character of Mr. Perry with a justness and felicity that leaves nothing to be added. It is impossible to condense this paper without marring it, and such extracts as may be allowed can give but an imperfect ideaof the whole.

Mr. Perry was a native of Vermont, of Puritan stock. '' He had the inheritance, which such descent implies, of healthy vigor of mind and body, the love of justice, and a spirit inclined upward.'"' He had not much of the advantages of early education through the medium of schools, though he was a rare instance of self-improvement. The love of knowledge inherent in him was such that he became a man of wide and varied learning.

was plain Mr. Perry to the end.'' The cases, in which he was chiefly engaged, were of great importance, some of them involving questions, the result of the Civil war. '' He probably made a wider reputation as chief counsel of Gen. Burnside, on the application of Mr. Vallandigham for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States Court at Cincinnati. It took a strong man to maintain debate with George E. Pugh, who was counsel for Mr. Vallandigham. It required a wise, safe, cautious and learned man, with ingenuity tempered with broad sagacity, to sustain Mr. Lincoln in the arrest of this distinguished prisoner, without rudely pulling down the pillars of the temple of Liberty. Without passing judgment upon the merits of the case, it may justly be said that Mr. Perry's argument, whicb is reported in full, gives a good display of the extent of his learning, the clearness and versatility of his thought, his logical faculty, the force and nicety of his doctrine, his power of analysis, the play of his fancy, and his humor, which gave spice, without bitterness, to his discourse.'

It might also be said of this argument, that, as a philosophical disquisition, it is successful in showing how the rendering of moral aid to any cause is just as important and far reaching in results, as the rendering of physical aid. The word, fitly spoken, may revive drooping energies or stimulate the fainting soul to heroic action.

Mr. Perry's sense of humor was exquisite. To meet him on the street, there was a sparkle in the eye that foretold something good was coming. A lawyer's brief ordinarily is not the place to look for levity. They are generally full of ponderous solemnity. But if anyone wishes to read a paper that is full of fun, let him peruse Mr. Perry's brief in Doolittle vs. Burgess.

'To his great talents he added a high character, and crowned a successful professional career with a pure and unselfish life. And to talents and character he joined the manners of a kind and courteous gentleman, who never knowingly gave offense, and was slow to take it; who respected the dignity of others, and seldom had occasion to defend his own. He had what might be called the soaring sense of humor. He had also a keen and lively wit, but delighted in its wings, rather than its sting."

Rufus King. - The one remarkable circumstance of Mr. King's life was that it was chiefly spent in laboring for the good of others. He held very many public positions which were positions of hard work without any compensation. He filled them with the full measure of his best zeal, and his sole reward was the consciousness of good accomplished. So universally is selfishness the mainspring of action, it is difficult to understand how a man can spend year after year of a busy life, giving the best portion of his time, skill and ability, for the mere advancement of the public good. A mere statement of the work in which he was during a long life usefully engaged is the best tribute which can be paid to his memory. He began his professional life in Cincinnati in 1840. In 1846 he was a member of the convention to form the city charter. Than this there could be no more important public trust. Thereafter he was a member of the city council, and such was his high character that he could hold a municipal office without reproach. The public schools then became the object of his choicest regard, and for fourteen years he was engaged in this service, not in any perfunctory manner, but he devoted himself to it with vigor and enthusiasm. From 1852 until 1867 he was president of the poard. No man would have been better qualified to superintend the public education than he himself; a scholar, of broad ideas, accomplished in all the liberal arts, it was under his supervision that our public schools have justly become our proudest boast. In 1869 the use of the Bible in the public schools agitated the community to a degree of excitement not often known in society where the peace is still preserved. Mr. King at that time had severed his connection with the Board of Education, but his interest in the case had not abated, and when the battle was on he was among the ablest defenders of the faith. Limits preclude the possibility of any description of that famous controversy. The first lawyers of the State took part init. Men on the streets, in the marts of business, wherever intelligence met intelligence, waged the warfare without cessation. There were those who honestly thought that the pillars of the Commonwealth were being rudely shaken; that destruction was inevitable. But the schools survived. When the Woodward and Hughes High Schools were. consolidated, in 1851, Mr. King was elected president of the board of managers, which position he held until the close of his life. In 1859 he was elected by the city council director of the McMicken University, and was made president of the board, acting as such until 1870, when the name was changed to the University of Cincinnati. He was president of the board until 1877. Mr. King was the author of the law founding the Public Library of Cincinnati; in 1867 was a member of the board of directors, and in 1870 became president. In 1874 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention, and when its president, Morrison R. Waite, was made chief jnstice of the Supreme Court of the United States Mr. King was made president of the convention. He was connected with the Cincinnati Law School as dean, and professor from 1875, until his death.

Lawyers owe him a special debt of gratitude for the part he took in the organization of the Cincinnati Law Library, and for the support he had always given it. He was elected president in 1855, and fiiled that office for thirty-six years. Besides his daily interest in the affairs of the Library, when it was destroyed in 1884, Mr. King paid the debt of the association, amounting to nearly four thousand dollars, and by his will he remembered it in a bequest of twenty thousand dollars. He was a member of the board of tax commissioners organized in 1883 to prevent public plunder, serving until 1891. He was a member of the Committee of One Hundred. Of late years, under our system of registration, our community have had honest elections; Mr. King prepared the law which secured this result. He was an active supporter of the College of Music and Art Museum. In considering this list of public offices it will be seen that the emoluments attached to these various positions could not have been an attraction. The principal use he seemed to have for money was to give it away; the desire of accumulating it does not seem to have been an element of his character. '

Busy, active, as he always was, from his entrance upon, to the end of, his life, he has left behind him a stainless record of useful, unselfish work.

Chas. Linneus Telford, a native of Ohio, and a graduate of the Miami University, came to Cincinnati in the year 1836 to accept the chair of rhetoric and belleslettres in the Cincinnati College, which had recently re-organized by the efforts of Dr. Daniel Drake.

He was the youngest member of the Faculty, being then only about twenty years of age; and although his associates in the college were men of learning, distinction and talent, young Telford at once took high rank among them, and made his department one of the most popular and effective in the institution. But his tastes were not so much in the line of academic studies as to lead him to remain long in the chair to which he had been called. Indeed, we have the testimony of one who knew him intimately in his boyhood, that very early in life he expressed a strong desire to become a member of the legal profession, and ultimately to enter public life.

He therefore soon resigned his college professorship, entered eagerly upon the study of the law, and was in due time admitted to the Bar, and became, at once, the partuer of Samuel F. Cary, who at that time enjoyed a fine reputation as an orator, and had every prospect of a distinguished career. But this partnership did not long continue, Mr. Telford leaving Mr. Cary to associate himself with William 8. Groesbeck, in a partnership which continued up to the time of Mr. Telford's death, and during this period both Mr. Groesbeck and Mr. Telford held professorships in the Law School of the Cincinnati College.

Mr. Telford's rise to distinction at the Bar was phenomenally rapid; but to those who knew his power, his industry and his conscientiousness, it was not surprising. To a mind of uncommon vigor and analytical power he added an exquisite literary taste, and an industry which would have insured success to the merest plodder. Fully conscious of his great natural gifts, he never presumed on them, but brought to every task which he undertook the most untiring industry and the supremest purpose to do his very best; and it may fairly be doubted whether in the course of his whole life, in college, in the professor's chair, or at the Bar, he ever entered upon the performance of any public duty without first making faithful and exhaustive preparation.

His personal appearance was striking. Tall, erect and dignified, with a piercing eye, a fine Roman nose, a mouth expressive at once of sweetness and firmness, and a chin which indicated an indomitable character, he commanded attention wherever he appeared.

His diction was chaste and yet copious, his voice clear and manly, his manner fervent, and yet persuasive, his bearing lofty, and his gestures graceful, yet impressive. Indeed, he was every inch an orator. His professional] standard was of the highest, and the purity of his life gave an illustrious example of all that was manly in character and irreproachable in conduct. One who knew him intimately in boyhood, as well as in his maturer years, has said of him that during all this time and in all the varying temptations, irritations and antagonisms which must always mark the life of a man of strong character, he never heard young Telford utter a word or express a sentiment which might not have been uttered or expressed without offense, in the presence of his mother: '' Nullum verbum, quod revocare vellet, emisit."'

Nor can this sketch be complete without reference to Mr. Telford's character as a Christian. Before his admission to the Bar he connected himself with the Second Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati, of which Rey. Lyman Beecher, D.D., was then

A severe cold, contracted by exposure while on a journey, resulted in pulmonary consumption, which ended at an early age a career which, if life had been spared, could not have failed to be illustrious. '' Actis, non segnibus annis, evum implevit.''