Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-01-17
EVENING STAR.
HON. JOHN BARNEY, OF BALTIMORE

HON. JOHN BARNEY, OF BALTIMORE
We publish elsewhere some extracts from
forthcoming work which this interesting gen.
tleman is about to give TO the public.
Everybody that is any body, knows, or ought
to know, who John Barney is. Once he repre-
sented the city of Baltimore in Congress, but
that is so long agO,-thst none of us young
men can be expected to know anything about
such an antiquity How old he is, the % old
est inhabitaut" would hardly venture to say
if any oldest inhabitaut knew,-for Mr. Bar
ney talks not Of his age,-and if he does not
now. he did but three or four years ago, polka,
waltz, and redowa, and German" like a
youth of Is He has seen, and been in and
| Of. the very best society OF this country, from
Boston TO Washington, and knows more Of it,
if he can remember il all,-than any man liy-
! ing IN Boston be has figured largely,-and
in New York he has been tetsd, day after day
and night after night, among the very tip top
of the haut ton The ladies in both cities, in
! older, We dare not say, in Olden times, have
cOurted the honor Of his ha nd in a dance, and
the graces and favors Of his smile. The pub
| lie men. in the very highest positions, from
| Daniel Webster on to Presidents and Foreign
| Ministers, have dOnaeStIcatsd him il their es
tablishments,- and he has, in his day, seen
more Cf them im doors, if not cut Of doors,
than any other man now on the stage Of ac-
| ton. ReIce,-if his memory is good, aud his
| pen is lively,-he has material for 4 book that
will make people stare.
| There is one incident in the life Of Barney
drOll,-very oll,-that We hope he will not
| omit. In 1880, soon after the passage Of the
| Compromise Bill, he invited about thirty mem
! bers of Congress, and others, to dine in a res
| taurant in Pennsylvania Avenue, and be pre-
pared places and dinner for only about ten or
| twelyc,-but the whole thirty came,-and the
/ night happened 10 be most uncomfortable
one The dinner was to be al D n but Il
! was not ready till nine o'clock. There were
Webster, growing like hungry and starving
men then of all parties, the most eminent in
! position IN The United States. Never were let
! loose upon host crOsser OF hungrier set of
I men but when at nine clock, the thirty
! found places for only ten Ur twelve TO sit down
! to the table. there was the loudesc roar OF
! laughter. Merriment then soon took the
place of anger Cabinet Ministers stood an
! and looked on Foreign Ministers, and United
/ States Senator's, IL high CLEO, discharEing the
| duties OF Scipio and SlmbO. A few glasses of
! champagne let loose the tongues Of all - Hon.
! Orable gentlemen, and the dinner was long
/ and pleasant, nt,-and never was a happier even
| ing passed than this was after all -Veyg York
| Express.
~Co'win, Conrad, Graham, ali the Cabinet
There can be no truth in history, there
| can be no justice In courts, there can be 10
safety IN jury trials" exclaimed Sir Walter
| Raleigh on reading the report Of a trial at
| the old Bailey for an assault committed in the
! priSOn-yard, Immediately under MS own eve,
| prisoner himself, with nothing TO divert his
| attention; he had calmly looked on, witnessed
| the rise, progress, and decline OF regular
| fight between two pugnaci9us Irshmen. Tie
,trrv, Inl l.n1- L
| clearly proved TO be the assailant. He
who gave the first blow and The last, who CON-
menced and terminated the fight, received
| sympathy from the spectators, a verdict of ac-
quittal from the jury, and damages from the
court.
"REMINISCENCES BY THE Hon JOHN BARNEY.
By turning to the files of the New York Ex-
press the worthy editor, then an honorable
NJ now and at all times most honorable
and worthy gentleman, honored me by a
faithful record of the incidents of the dinner
alluded to below; he was one OF my guests,
and could not have been the writer of the
paragraph annexed.
The dinner was given to Mr. Webster and
| the distinguished Cabinet Of which n was
| the illustrious premier.
rs all large dinners require a week pre.
| mOniton, and as his exceliency, Gov Foote,
was announced as on the wings to assume the
Ouiles 10 Whicn ne nau JUST Deen elected, his
name was not on the original list
Meeting him, however, on the day the din
ner was to come of, L said " Governor, you
must dine with NE today" " can't;
leave in the 10 o'clock train - "Your friend
Webster will be in the chair; come and make
your last farewell - ''I will
The dinner came eff Every invited CUES.
came except the 9bliviOus Attorney General
Crittenden
"Who are We waiting for p said Mr.. Web
ster, impatiently; "Mr. Crittenden - Don't
wait another minute Crittenden is always
oblivious of every thing but his friends aHa
the Lady Ashley"
There had been a heavy fall of snow, the
room was chilly; but We soon warmed up
Senator Gwin said TO Governor Foote who set
on my right - Y Ou must retire early and coz
rect the report of your speech in answer to
General Sam Houston. -
They had frequent sparring IN toe Senate
Genl Houston with lis characteristic warmth
of heart said {: " part wi:h NY friend with
regret, but AIN recOnciled TO il by a conviction
that the deliberations of the Senate will a.
sumo more tranquility.
" de has frequently reminded me of Doctor
Means, celebrated UniyersaIis, preacher,
whose irritabiity of temper caused him fire.
quently to become the disturbing spirit of the
congregation. Finally, he was summoned 10
his last account There were frequent dis
cussions as to where the Doctor had gone; one
| among the most enterprising members of the
church determined to solve the problem, eIu-
barked on an exploring expedition
9 His first, and SO be deemed, his most pro5a-
! BILE direction was the lower regions His Sa-
| tanic Majesty received him graciously, was
very sssiduOus in showing him all its cuIiosi-
| ties when suddenly they were startled By a
| tremendous uproar. "Rest here my friend, and
| compose yourself" says the devil; - Doctor
Means has broke loose; if l don't chain him
up pretty quick he'll take possession of my
| fiery realms, depOse me from my sovereignty
| and turn US all cut -
Governor Foote rose calmly. It's good
story and very well told, but if my friend from
| Texas had said he saw the devil seated on a
fence rail reading the Bible on a frosty morn
| Ing, the Senate would have deemed it just as
probable"
"Come, Governor. as you must go, give US
your valedictory; the notes of the dying swan
| are always the most musical take an afTee-
l