The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1861-08-14
OTTUMWA, IOWA, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST H. l86 l.

I, gn Hs5 t
prove black whitelor good evil. From judge
to jury, from the highest practitioner to the
lowest pettifogger, there soon came to be but
one impression. lie was acknowledged te
| be the champion of the Illinois bar.
His career upon the bench, to which he
was soon after elevated, was brilliant, be-
cause energetic, and successful, because he
never permitted contingencies to thwart q
predetermination, and because that GOODNESS
and grit which enabled him to whip sec
ond sneering boy while hewas yet ayoutt
had become settled trait of his character
1t was during the sitting of his court, tina,
the notorious Joe Smith was to be tried fol
some offence against the people Of the State
Mob law had taken matters somewhat under
its charge in the West; and the populace,
fearing that Smith, in this particular in.
stance, might manage to slip from the hands
of justice, determined to take him from the
court house and hang him. They even vert
so far as to erect gallows in the yard, and,
having entered the court room, demanded
from the sheriff the person of the prisoner.
Judge Douglas was in his seat; the room
was filled with the infuriated mob and its
sympathizcrs Smith sat pale and trembling
in his box I; while the sheriff, after vainly at
tempting to quell the disturbance, fell pow
erless and half-fainting on the steps. "Sher.
if,' shouted the Judge, "clear the court P'--
1t was easier said than done. Five hundred
determined men are not to be thwarted by a
coward, and such the sheriff proved. TWAS
a trying moment. The life of Smith per Sc
was notworth saving. but the dignity oftee
court must be upheld, and Douglas saw at a
glance that he had but moment in which
to do it. "Mr. Harris," said he, addressing
a huge and sinewy Kentuckian, "I appoint
you sheriff of this court. Select your depu-
ties. Clear this court house. Do it, and do
it now" He had chosen the right man.
Right and left fell the foremost of the mob !;
some were pitched from the windows, others
jumped thence Of their own accord and soon
the entire crowd, convinced Of the judges
determination to maintain order, rushed
pell- mel from the courtroom, while Smith,
who had unpe,ceived made his way up to
the feet of the judge, laid his head upon his
knee and wept like child. "Never." said
Douglas, twas SO determined to effect
result as then. Had Smith been taken from
my protection, it would have been only when
lay dead upon the hoor.' The fact that
he had no right to appoint sheriff was rsbt
one of the ""points Of consideration" "How
shall execute my will?" was probably the
only question that suggested itself to his
mind at the time, and the logic of the answer
in no way troubled him. The dignity of
the bench was always upheld by Judge
Douglas during the sitting Of the court; but
he was no stickler for form Or ceremony else
where
A friend tells an amusing anecdote illus
trative Of his daring and somewhat foolhardy
spirit, even in mature life Mr.. Douglas.
then judge of the Supreme Court of Iii
nois, was one of number of passengers who,
on the crack steamboat ANDREW Jackson"
were going down the Mississippi. The steam
'er was detained several hours a. Natahez,
where she was supplied with wood and wa
ter, and during the delay huge, hard-fisted
boatman, somewhat the worse for poor ar
ticle of strychnne whiskey, made himself
very conspicuous and exceedingly obnox
ous by the continual iteration of his intense
desire to fight some one. He was fearful
that he would ''ruin," if his pugilistic wants
were not Immediately attended to, and in
manner more earnest than agreeable invited
one and all to "come ashore and have the
conceit taken OUT of them. From the de-
scriptive catalogue he gave of his own mer-
its, the passengers gathered that he was "a
roarer," Ga regular bruiser," ''half alligator,
half steamboat, half swapping turtle, with a
leetle dash Of chain-lightning thrown in,
and were evidently afraid Of him when the
Judge, who had been quietly smoking on
the deck, stepped out upon the qnay, and,
approaching the bully, said, with peculiar
ly dry manner
"Who might you be, my big chicken, ehs''
"I'm high-pressure steamer roared the
astonished boatman.
"And I'm snag," replied Douglas. as he
pitched into him; and before the fellow had
time to reflect, he lay spravling in the mud
A loud shout, mingled with derisive laugh.
ter, burst from the spectators, all of whom
knew the Judge and while the discounted
braggart lmped sorely off, the passengers
carried Douglas to the bar, where, for hours
after, general series Of Publications eneued
and be who few days before had sat The
embodiment Of judicial dignity on tina SUI
prelne bench, now wed with amothley crowd
of steamboat passengers in song and story
As ajudge he was as he should be; but HI
was judge only while literally on tn.
bench.
The decisions Of Judge Douglas were rec
iognized always as able and impartial; bu
his habit f"log rolling" or, as the extrem'
Westerners call it, "honey -fngling" for vote'
and support, had so grown upon him, tina
his sincere friends feared lest he would sinl
too low, and in the end defeat himself. III
had ascertained, however, that success wa