Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 07.pdf/389

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The Green Bag.

public speaker, and many people believe he rivaled Thomas Corwin. I could call your attention to a number of famous trials in which my uncle partici pated, but I will not trespass on your time. His wife was a daughter of Governor Joseph Vance of Ohio, and I will tell you of one incident I saw myself, illustrative of his power of leading men. A public meeting was called in Urbana on the night of the day Sumter was fired on. My uncle was living on a farm he owned just a mile from town. He came into the court-house while addresses were being made. The room was crowded, but the proceedings seemed to lag. Judge Corwin stood a long time by the door. Some one, seeing him, started the cry, "Corwin, Corwin." He walked to the platform over which hung the American flag. Poor as I am, I would give a hundred dollars for a copy of the speech he made. He awakened the greatest enthusiasm, and at the conclusion of his speech he pointed to the American flag and said : — "Traitor, spare that flag. Touch not a single star. It protected me while young, and I will defend it now." Leaving the platform, he walked to the secretary's desk and affixed his name, as I remember, the veryfirst among the list of volunteers. A company of one hundred men was raised on the strength of Corwin's speech. Entitled to the command of it, he gave it to William Baldwin, and the company went out in the Second Ohio Infantry. Judge Corwin then assisted in the formation of two other companies, and went out as the captain of one of them. If I remember correctly, he was the captain of Co. K, 13th Ohio Infantry, in the three months' service. He was largely instrumental in recruiting some of the companies of the 66th Ohio Infantry, one of the most famous regiments in the Union army. His services in this particular were greatly appreciated by the war governors of Ohio, and, at the time of his death, he had recruited almost an entire regiment, of which he was to be the colonel. Some of the troops were in camp near his house. This is the man whom Mr. Kinkead slurs. He was an open-hearted, charitable man. He never did a mean thing to anybody, other than himself, in all his life. His besetting sin, if he had any in the late years of his life, was intemperance. He drank a little, but seldom to excess, and he died lamented by thousands of friends who loved him. Mr. Kinkead's statement concerning publications at the time of his death is utterly without foundation. A few years ago the " Urbana Citizen Gazette " devoted several columns to Judge Corwin. William A. Taylor of the "Cincinnati Enquirer," a resident of Columbus, Ohio, recently printed an amusing account of a contest for Congress, in the old Champaign County

district, between my uncle, on the one hand, and my grandfather on the other. I cannot permit this untruthful statement to go unrebuked. I do not ask for flattery on the one hand, nor suppression of the truth on the other. I am actuated by a desire for even justice, and I think I ought to have it. Nor do I ask you to accept my statements for anything herein contained. Judge Corwin has been dead for over thirty years, and but few of his old companions are on earth. Judge John H. James and John H. Young. Urbana, Ohio; Hon. William White, Springfield, Ohio; William J.Gilmore, Eaton, Ohio; Judge Pillars of Lima; Senator Brice; Hon. Allen G. Thurman, Columbus, Ohio: Robert G. Corwin, Lebanon, Ohio, are a few names I can give you. In conclusion, I beg your indulgence for having gone into this matter in detail. The offense to my uncle's memory was so marked that it is a matter of great moment to me, and I trust some reparation can yet be made. Very truly yours, John A. Corwin.

LEGAL ANTIQUITIES. In 17 17 the following singular commitment to the Bastile was made out by order of the Duke of Orleans, Regent during the minority of Louis XV of France : " Laurence d' Henry, for disrespect to King George I, in not mentioning him in his Almanack, as King of Great Britain." How long this unlucky almanack-maker remained in prison is unknown. FACETS. According to the judgment of the late Chief Justice Stone of the Alabama Supreme Court, John A. Campbell was the greatest lawyer that State has ever had. He was a member of the Supreme Court of the United States, being appointed from Mobile, and resigned when his State seceded. He then became Assistant Secretary of War for the Confederate States. After the war he resided in New Orleans and Baltimore until his death. Before the war he had a large practice in Mobile and was of course much before the Supreme Court of Alabama. On one occasion the Court inter rupted him by frequent questions, much to his annoyance. After standing it for some time, Campbell stopped, and then, slowly addressing the bench, said, " If the Court will listen, the Court will