The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1865-07-13
Hon. John a. Bingham, of Cadiz,
~ Ohio.

Press, writes to the editor OF that paper
asking, ''Who is Tohn A. Bingham 2"
The immediate occasion of his inquiry
arises from his reading of and his adj
miration for the papers prepared and
read by Mr.. Bingham ut the recent
conspiracy trial at Washington City,
in his capacity as Special Judge Advo-
cate General. Says the correspondent:
In the entire range of my reading,
have known of no productions that
have SO literally led me captive. For
careful analysis, logical augmentation,
profound and far reaching research; for
unravelment of compli-
cations that would have involved an
ordinary mind only in incXtricable be-
wilderment, and for a literally rending
to tatters of all the metaphysical sub
tletieS of the array of legal talent en-
gagged on the other side, l know of no
two productions in the English lam
guage superior to these. They are, lit
orally, as the spear of Ithuriel, diSsolv-
ing the hardest substances at their
touch; as the thread of Dtedalus, leading
out of labyrinths of error, 10 matter
how thick and may. Not Locke or
Bacon were more profOund; not Daniel
Webster was clearer and more penetra-
ting; not ChillingwOrth was more log
IGdls L leSL sure lllill llle tuLIlOT OlLl
two unrtValled papers must be one of
the gr"atest legal minds in America,
and must be, too, one of our rising
statesmen. But who IS John 4. Bing
ham, who, by his industry and learn
ing, displayed on this wonderful trial,
has placed the country under such II
heavy debt of obligation? He may be
well known to others, moving i'll II pub
lie sphere, like yourself, but to 1Re, so
absorbed III different line of duty, he
has appeared so suddenly, and yet with
such Vividness, that l long to know
some, ut least, of his antecedents.
The editor of the Press informs his
correspondent that Mr.. Bingham was
born in Pennsylvania, and is now
fifty years of age. Also that
He had the advantage of thorough
academical education, and before study
ing the profession of the law, spent two
years i'll II printing office. Admitted to
the bar in Ohio (where he removed in
early life) when he was about twenty
five, he rose rapidly i'll the confidence
of his seniors, and in the favor of the
people. His keen and searching logic,
his clear and condensed style of speak
ing, his studious habits, the fearless
ness of his character, and the morality
of his conduct, called him into public
councils-a field in which those great
attributes were frequently displayed.
He was first chosen to Congress in 1854,
and sat for his district from that wear
to the end of the thirty-seVenth Con-
gress in 1868, 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 lie has
been the associate of the Judge AdVO-
cate General Holt, and with him has
Investigated, reviewed and decided
many important cases arising out of
the rebellion, especially abuses
of trust on the part of officials
and contractors. The printed reports of
these eminent patriots are infused with
rare judicial learning, and stern and
exalted patriotism. No traitor has long
plotted, and no mercenary has long
swindled the treasury, VIXEN these bold
and unselfiSh men were called to define
the measure of punishment. The COM
prehensive exposure of the secret Cop
perhead conspiracy in the Northwest.
by Judge Holt, in 1864, is single spec
linen of the method of unehrthi"es tl.''
political ulnllgnuntS; and the wholesome
fruits of that development fix the price
less value of the skill that compelled it.
When the assaSsins 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 eloquent associate,
Mr.. Bingham; and TO the latter was
committed the stupendous labor of sift-
ing the mass OfcVidencc, of replying to
the corps of lawyers for the defence, of
setting forth the guilt of the accused,
and of Vlndicating the policy and the
duty of the Executive in an exigencv
so novel and so full oftragic solemnity