The Opelousas courier. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1852-1910, 1869-09-18
=. =. Benjamin.
From the N. O. ricayune, Aug. &c |

account of declining health, the fnrma
tiou of a new firm hy the admission of
Mr. II. {. Miller, coupled with the pro-
motion of j. +. Reujan.in. in England. as
Queens Counsel, ,lemand more than the
ordinary notice which usually follows
the mutations around us.
Mr.. Benjnmln WIS the original foun-
der of the firm. His career asa Young
lawyer and counsellor may without cx-
agrratlon he said to have been sndlcn
and meteoric In its brilliaucy, though
far more permanent. Az a profound ,l-
rist and pleader, in his ripper years. con-
testing the palm with RoSclius Gryme>,
Mazureau, Hunt, Soult, his REPUTATION
ut our bar was second to none, Ai.u his
firm enjoyed a most lucrative practice
In his political career, he illustrated the
principles OF the South in the great seq
tlOnal cOntrnvrr>,v, which lr,l to the At
tempted establishment of Il new g"vrIn-
nent, in which Mr.. Benjamin, a, every
sacrifice, throughout bore Il con~|';ru"u>
part In it's fail sharing its disaster, hr
stands nearly alone now, of all Irusn-
nent men, Ii voluntary exile from the
scene of his eHrlicr legal tliunp:1~ atpd
at'ors, and separated perhaps forever
from community who would have
overwhelmed him with retainers if he
had returned Learned in his profess
sion, gifted by nature viii, the most per
suasive eloqucnce and aimahle manners,
possessing a nethodical and untiriny
industry. he presents the extraordinary
characteristics OF a mental piltliumruun
When he selected the London bar as the
arena of his future forensic abilities. it
did not alarm his admirers, and not 4
single person expressed the opinion that
he would fail. Like ayouthtul dtvntr.
he started in the race. unuwtd aud uu-
embarrassed, among the giants Of the
law to master Il system Of jurisprudence
essentially different from the civil law.
which he had practicpd for over Il third
of "a century in this country. What does
he do-wait for clients and rctainrrS !,
Not ut all. In less than year l- pro-
duces book on sales, intended to i'll
struct the bench and /: ar of England on
that topic. so able and 80 accurate in its
details that there is not an ",rratun'
and required, the perusal of which drew
from the Chief Justice of gland high
compliment, paid in person. to his guest
In two years he is elevated to Il silk
gown and made Queens Counsel. in one
seventh the time usually required 20 OH
tain such preferncnt. We append with
pleasure comment extracted from an
English paper.
\ double sadness il created hv the re-
Election that. while Mr.. Bradford, also
respected aud admired. retires from the
arm here, In some measure caused Ivy
his health succumblng to the severe la
bors of the profession, Benjamin, tirnl
of purpose, though broken in fortune
Benjamin, saddened by the disasters Of
fratricidal war he labortd to avert. but
entered into, when begun, with all his
soul. commences q new career, and like
John Paul Jones, indOmitable and full of
courage, he has just begun the tIght.'
There IL Ill air of real romance ahnUt
his life, in thus struggling ag,nSt fate.
determined to win the cminencc to which
his extraordinary talents entitle hin. in
strange country, with strange laws.
and among whose people he WAS com
paratively unknown and stranger.
This distinguished jurist, whom the
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at
Washington pronounced. some Years ago
the best lawyer at that har-this "Ad-
lnirable Crichton," for whom any judi
cial honor awaited him in his adopted
State, at an age when, under ordinary
circumstances, he could have retired
from the bar rewarded and rrspectttl--
by revolution, is suddenly shipwrecked
and cast upon ID distant, though not nm
friendly shore, with no support but his
intellect, no trust but in God and his
own right arm. To rise, as li>e he " i'll, ,
under these circumstances. will mark
him VS. possessed of no ordinary tucul-
ties, and England and Englishmen will
yet be proud that Benjamin trusted to
their liberality and generous apprecia-
ton of transcenleut talent and cast his
lot among them.
A little paragraph in the legal papers
has just carried back the memory to the
hottest days of the great Anne erican
struggle, aud recalled some of those per-
sonal interests which have, since its
close, been eclipsed by the grave politi-
cal issues that formed the legacy of the
war. Mr.. j.. p. Benjamin. of the North
ern Circuit, has been appointed by Mr..
Justice Hapnen. a Queens Counsel for
the county Palatiue of lancaster. Mr..
Benjamin, of the Southern Confederacy.
was tolerably well before the ewes OF
this country during the civil atrite in
the United States. He was throughout
those four years of anxious labor and
desperate conflict, the right hand man
of Mr.. jefferson Davis, In the very diff
ticult task Of administe ring the affairs
of the Confederacy. He shared the for
tunes of the President. when, after the
Il fall of y: :rhr,,ud hn n,odo thot no,,- his
toiical attempt to escape; and exempt
cd from the protracted legal torture in
hiesea upon his chief-though excepted
from the amnesties which permitted
other prominent Southerners so easily to
fe-enter the ranks of civil lfe-he has
msnfully devoted himself, in an exile
mat is now voluntary, to the pursuits
Tor which his brilliant career in his own
country had 90 excellently prepared him.
we may be well assured that Mr.. Ben