A writer says: "Judge Harlan is about the only man on the Supreme bench who strikes the beholder as being a jolly soul. He is a great story-teller, and when a tedious case comes up, he frequently leans over and whispers something to Justice Shiras that convulses Justice Brewer, who sits between them." He lectures several times a week at the Columbian Univer sity upon public and international law. Like the great judge for whom he was named, he is fond of walking, and twice a day takes the walk of three miles from his residence to the Capitol. It is said, "The big Kentuckian, as he swings along at his easy gait, looks as though he were at peace with all the world." He was appointed by Mr. Hayes in 1877. The opinions written by him since he has been upon the bench extend through more than sixty-six volumes of the Supreme Court Reports. contemporaneous with the making of the Constitution, he seems imbued with the spirit of the founders of the government. Like them, he is at the same time a jurist and a statesman, and it is not surprising, therefore, that we find so many cases involving constitutional questions assigned to him for opinion." A Louisville lawyer told the following an ecdote of him at a dinner given to the judges of the circuit court of appeals of the United States at Cincinnati, last The news that Judge Harlan had been confirmed as an associate justice of the Supreme Court came in the midst of an important jury trial in the circuit court, one of a series of cases brought by property holders along a street, in the middle of which a railroad was being operated, for dam-. ages to their property. Judge Harlan was engaged in the case, were to be made Among the lawyers and the arguments Former Solicitor-General Taft said: "His abundance of physical power and mental energy has led him to assume heavy labors on the circuit, composed of the States of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. No year has gone by in which he has not decided a number of important cases as a circuit justice, the principal one being the Lake Front Case,' involving the title to the land under Lake Michigan, in the harbor of little embarrassed as to what is the proper Chicago. As much as any of the justices who have come after those whose lives were course for me to take in the argument of this case. It is probably the last jury case the legal adviser of my family, and I was brought up to believe implicitly in his sense and goodness. Great was my horror, therefore, when I was told he was a Republican. In those days Republicans were scarce in Kentucky, and I had the same opinion of them as the little child who said: "What is a Republican? Why, a sinner mentioned in the Bible." Goodloe was an able lawyer. He died some years ago, loved by all his associates. JOHN M. HARLAN. tice for the rest of his life if he had not gone upon the bench. He summed up the evidence in a terrible way. He stamped the floor, he pounded the table, he roared against corporations and their oppression of the poor. He gave vent to every agrarian and socialistic prejudice against railroads. After an effort of two hours of tremendous energy and scathing force, the case was submitted to the jury, which promptly returned a verdict of five thousand dollars, the full amount sued for, for damages to property worth seven or eight thousand. All through the Judge Thomas Gibson was a brilliant lawyer. He defended Gen. Jefferson Davis, of the Federal army, when he was tried for killing Gen. Nelson. Gen. Nelson, who was Gen. Davis' superior in command, was very dictatorial with his subordinates, and struck Gen. Davis in the Louisville Galt House, before Davis killed him. Mr. Gibson's son, Charles Diodorus, Plato, Pausanias, Elien and Plutarch, in the original." To use the simile of the great Irish author, when speaking of a famous American, "like the chef-d'oeuvre of the Grecian artist, he exhibited in one glow of associated beauty, the pride of every model and the perfection of every master." Colonel Brown's son and namesake is a bright young member of the Louisville bar and assistant city attorney. JAMES SPEED. to have been so able as to win the admiration of the bar throughout the State. He was, as every lawyer should be, accustomed to seek exact truth. An instance of this is related by Colonel Durrett: "He was testing the probability of Europeans having visited America and formed settlements before the discovery of Columbus. He had found in Paraud's French translation of Filson's Kentucky a number of extracts from Greek and Latin authors, showing that Europeans had been in America long before the Christian era. Not satisfied, he searched Judge George B. Eastin possessed a rarely beautiful character, from the exceptionally well balanced proportions of its many fine. qualities. He was a judge of the court of appeals and president of the Confederate Veteran Association of Louisville. Since his death it has been named in his honor. Bennett H. Young has been prominent for years in Louisville. He is the youngest man ever elected an honorary member of the Louisville Board of Trade. Judge Alfred T. Pone was judge of the law and equity court and the youngest chancellor who ever sat upon the bench in Kentucky. He was a man of noble charac ter. One of the legal giants of Louisville is Andrew Barnett. His partners are his son and Shackleford Miller, who is a fine lawyer. Aaron Kohn is the finest criminal lawyer in Louisville. In the case of Kaelin, charged with wife-murder, he saved his client's life by establishing the principle that" the failure to charge that the act was feloniously committed was fatal to the indictment." The rule has since been recognized in other States. Judge Theodore L. Burnett was for eighteen years the city's attorney, having been elected, without opposition, six times. He was a member of the Confederate Congress and is a courteous, elegant gentleman. His son, John C. Burnett, is his law partner and they form a very strong firm. Another son, Gilbert, died in New York a few years ago. Although he had been a short time at the New York bar, he had established a fine reputation and seemed destined for honors. Two of the greatest students and most learned members of the Louisville bar are C. B. Seymour and L. M. Dembitz. Gen. Basil W. Duke is a man of unusual attainments and intellectual force. "His grandmother," says Colonel ate, in 1872, he moved: "No one shall be incompetent as a witness because of his race or color." It was the first law which allowed negroes full rights to testify in Kentucky courts. Judge H. W. Bruce, chief counsel at Louisville of the L. & N. R. R., has a record of which any man might be proud. He was a member of the Confederate Congress, judge of the ninth judicial district, chancellor of the Louisville chancery court, and professor of his tory and science of law in the University of Louisville. Judge George Du Relle, of the court of appeals, comes of distinguished ancestors. He is a clever lawyer and a genial gentleman. One of the ablest firms in the State is composed of James. P. Helm and Helm Bruce. They are the son and grandson of Gov. John Helm and are also descended from Ben Hardin, a lawyer of renown, so it is natural they should be leaders at the bar. GEN. BASIL W. DUKE. Johnston, "was a sister of Chief-Justice Marshall, and the family is perhaps as conspicuous for distinguished membership as any in the United States." He was a gallant soldier, and it was said, "He was the soul and brains of the Morgan brigade." He was for six years commonwealth's attorney. He is now connected with the law department of the Louisville and Nashville railroad. Lyttleton Cooke has been the district attorney for Kentucky of the L. & N. R. R. for twenty-five years. He is a forcible and clear speaker. While in the Kentucky Sen Edward J. McDermott is a bright lawyer. He writes well and is a man of scholarly attainments. Arthur M. Rutledge, who is a talented member of the Louisville bar, is the grandson of one of Kentucky's greatest lawyers, Joseph R. Underwood, and the descendant of a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Judge A. E. Richards was for a number of years a judge of the court of appeals. He was one of "Mosby's men," but it is dif ficult to recognize in the sedate, busy lawyer of to-day" Dolly Richards," one of the bravest members of that Confederate band which made the country ring with stories of its daring. Judge Richards' partners are his clever young son-in-law, Albert G. Ronald, and John Baskin. Zack Phelps was a member of the convention which formed the present Constitution of Kentucky. He is a fine speaker and is said to excel as an examiner of wit nesses. His partner is W. W. Thum. Mr. lower court, twenty the verdict, and again the OSCAR TURNER. court of appeals reversed it, giving the same reason. Finally it was settled out of court. There is a laughable story told of a Louisville suit in which only one witness appeared. A wealthy groceryman employed a young dentist to make a set of false teeth for his wife, and advanced him twenty dollars to buy the gold to be used. When they were sent home they did not fit, so the old man returned them and refused to pay for them. The dentist immediately brought suit. There was an old dentist who stood high for ability and veracity, so each side, unknown to the use twenty dollars' worth 66 Every bit of it." After a few more questions which were all satisfactorily answered, the plaintiff's lawyer triumphantly announced he was through. To his amazement, the law yer for the defense also called Dr. W-, and began to question him. "You say the teeth were perfectly made?" "Yes, sir." nounced he was through, amid the laughter of the spectators. Judge John Roberts is a lawyer who is faithful to every trust. He was one of the lawyers in the Newcomb will case. The then chancellor said "the case was the most skillfully prepared and ably argued" that he had ever decided. His partner is his nephew, Mr. Quarles, a bright young Virginian. Burwell Keith Marshall is a great-grandson of Chief-Justice John Marshall, also a descendant of William Moore, colonial gov |