The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-07-11
Who is John A. BiBgham9
fFrom the PHILADELPHIA Pre,a.1

SIN: In cammon Will thousands Of ny country
men I have taken adeep interest ia the great
iBgton. OF the elieged conBpRators IN the assassin
stion of our great and good martyr President.
From tine first 1 have watched its successive phases
aad revelations; have READ, line for line, with crst-
zeal scrutiny, the mass Of testimony, the argu-
ments of the counsel, the plras OF the Learned Holt.
the decisions of the Conrt, aud all that has related
to it To this 1 have been prompted by the helm
oasness Of the crime, and by q sincere desire to ar
rive. in my own mind, at some wefl-fonnded con-
clusion, bqth ss TO the guilt Of the prisoners, and
the constitutionality OF the court that is trying
thfm.J u ~ fcttGf' fi
And nov, IN this connection, grant me space in
your columns TO give expression to my most IN
qualified admiration Of the great arguments, on
these to- main points, presented to the Court by
ihe SpeciAlJudge Advocate General, John A Blng-
ham. In the entire range of my reading, / have
known OF no productions that have 30 literally led
me captive For careful analysis, logical arRu'
mentation, profound nd fsr-feachiug research; for
Overwhelming unEAVelment Of complications that
would have involved an ordinary mind only in in
extr cable bewildeIment, and for q literal r,nding
to tatGsrs of all the metsphyHical s~ubtiaties OF the
array of legal talent engaged on the other side, !
know Of no two productions in the English Lam
guage superior to these They are, literally, as the
spear of Ithuriel, dissOlving the hardest Substances
at their touch; as the thread OF DEdaius, leading
out Of labyrinibs of Q FOR, no matter how thick sra
may. Not Ii cke or Bacon were more PROFOUND
MT Daniel Webster was clearer and more pe2etra,
ting not C~hillingwoTth was more logical. L teeI
cure that the auLnOf OF IDeb5 bNO uuttNHACu PoPoAo
must be one of the greatest legal minds In America,
and must be, too, one -four rising stat, smen. But
who is John A. Bingham, who, by his industry and
learning, displayed on this wonderful trial, has
plac' d the country under such . heavy debt of OBJ
legation De NAV be we'll known to others, NOV
ing In 9 public sphere, like yourself, but to me- SO
abs ,rbed in a d fsrent line of duty he Unsupported
so suddenly, and yet with such WV dness, tn"' l
we =. w. q.
The question of our esteemed correspon'
dent Is natural to one who has not, proba-
bly,, watched Ln6 Individual eotOEs on the
great stage of public affairs with the inter-
eft of the historical and political etudenk
We are not surprised that the arguments
of Mr.. Bingham before the Military Com
mission should hsve filed him with delight.
1t was worthy ofthe 6 eat subject conided
to that fine statesman by the Government,
and of his own fame. Mr.. Bingham was
born in Pennsylvania, and is exactly fifty
years of age. He had the advantage of 9
thorough academicsl education, and, before
studying the profession of the lsw, spenttwo
years in a printing office. Admittedto the
bar in Ohio where he removed in early life)
when he was about twenty-five, he
rose rapidly in the confidence Of his
seniors, and in the favor Of the
people. His keen and searching Logic, his
clear and condensed style of speaking, his
studious habits, the fesrlessness of his char
scter, and the morality of his conduct
called him into the public councils field
in which those great attributes were fire.
quently displayed. He was first chosen K
Congress in 1854, and sat for his district
from that year to the end of the thirty
seventh Congress in 1853, when he was
called to Washington by President Lincoln,
first as Solicitor of the Court of Claims,
and afterwards as special Judge Advocate
General. For nearly two years he has
been the associate of the Judge Advocate
General Holt, and with him has investiga-
ted, reviewed and decided many important
cases arising out of the rebellion, especial
lY abuses of trust on the part of officials
and contractors. Inc Priistv1 -~P~-+f
these eminent patriots are infused with
rare Judicial learning, and stern and exalt-
ed patriotism. No traitor has long plot
ted, and no mercensry has long sWindled
the treasury, when these bold and unselish
men were called to define the measure of
punishment. The comprehensive expos
ure of the secret Copperhesd conspiracy
in the Northwest by Judge Holt in
1864, is a single specimen of the method
of unearthing the political m~slignants
and the wholesome fruits of that de-
fix the priceless value of the
that compelled ii. When the assassins
of of Mr.. Lincoln were sent for trial before
the military court by President johnson,
the Government wisely left the whole
management to Judge Holt and his elo-
quent associate, Mr.. Bingham; and TO the
latter was committed the stupendous labor
Of sitting the mass of evidence, of replying
to the corps of lawyers for the defence, of
forth the guilt of the accused, and
of indicating the policy and the duty of
the Executive in an exigency so novel and
30 full of tragic %solemnity. The crime was
30 enormous, and the trial of those who
committed it 30 important in all its Issues
immediate, contingent, and remote, as TO
awaken an excitement that embraced all
The murder itself was almost
forgotten by those who wished to screen
The murderers, and the most wicked
were preached and sown broad
cast by men who, under the cloak Of rever-
snce for what they called the law, toiled
h~erculean energy to weaken the arm
Of the Government, extended in time of
war to save the servants of the people.
being slaughtered by the assassination in
pubic places and tracked to their 8resjdes
BY the 1iends of slavery. These poisons of
bunting the shArpest horrors
If any age, and ssnctifying the most hell
sh offences, required an sntidote as swift to
cure. Mr.. Bingham's two arguments, al
nded to by our correspondent, have up.
,lied the remedy. They are monuments
If reflection, resesrchSAnd augmentation ;
md they are presented In the language of
scholar. In the great volume of proof
counter proof, rhetoric and controver-
y, that preserves the record OF this great
rial, the efforts of Mr.. Bingham will be
cad with eager interest. That they come
.fter all that has been said against the gov
rnment, is rather an inducement to their
more satisfactory consideration. For from
hat study the American citizen must real
how irresistible is Truth when in con-
Iict with Falsehood, and how poor and
,uerile are all the tricks of the lawyers OPP
'osed to the moral power Of the Ratriot.