A Picturesque Missouri Lawyer and have his wages raised. Or he would express such sincere affection for some of the conductor's relations, whom he "knew like a book," that it looked like ingratitude to bother the friendly passenger for such a little thing as money for transportation. Twenty years ago, a friend of Dean's was about to migrate to a new country to start life anew. He went to the famous man for parting advice. "Benja min," said Dean, "I want to say, man kind will respect you most when it sees the ivory handle of your pistol sticking out of your pocket." Dean was about five feet, ten inches tall, weighed two hundred pounds and trimmed his whiskers identically like General Grant. But politically he was on the other side from the great Union soldier. The wonderful range of Dean's voice did as much for his reputation as an orator as his forcible language. He could roar like a Hon or drop it to a sweet and tender cadence that thrilled his audience, and many a time it wrenched a verdict from the jury. It was at Leon, Iowa, that Dean had his memorable debate with Francis Varga, who had been Judge AdvocateGeneral in Louis Kossuth's provisional Hungarian government and had fled to America for shelter after the disastrous revolution of '49. Dean argued long and forcibly for the secession of Iowa, as a slave-holding state, saying that the United States Constitution favored the holding of slaves. "Let us have a new Constitution, then," declared the Hungarian revolu tionist, and he saved Southern Iowa to the Union, and incurred the mortal enmity of Henry Clay Dean as a result. It was of Varga's band of faithful Hungarians that an interesting story is told. The exiles were marching west ward hunting a safe haven, and heard
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of Decatur City, a little town in southern Iowa, where they hoped to locate. Near Decatur City was a large nursery, which enjoyed the distinction of a huge sign board. It was on the near approach of the Varga party to this nursery that one of the number arose, and by the glimmering light cast by his lantern read the sign: "Decatur City Nursery." The Hungarian read it this way: "Deca tur City, No Sir-ee," and the disap pointed exiles turned back to wander on the prairies all night. Hon. Eugene F. Ware, Commissioner of Pensions, was a personal friend of Dean's, and in conversation recently concerning the eccentric old character had this to say:— "I remember Dean very well, espe cially after the war was over, when the question of the colored people voting was a new one. Dean went into the office of Hon. J. C. Hall at Burlington, Iowa, where I happened to be then, and he said:— "'I have just had a talk with the editor of the Chicago Times, and he is inclined to take the situation and carry it to the farthest extent and gobble the colored vote right from the start, be cause the Democrats are the natural persons to handle that vote.' "Then bringing down a great, big, malformed cane which he carried to the floor, he said that the editor said, 'From now on I am a buck nigger man.' "This statement was made with great emphasis to show the perfectly bewildered condition in which the Democrat mind was at that period." Just where Dean secured his educa tion has long been a mooted matter. He was possessed of a wonderful array and amount of facts, remembering every thing he read. Dr. J. M. Shaffer of Keokuk, a personal friend of Dean's, claims the Missourian was educated in
