Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1869-05-14

inferred from the fact that in 1902 he
was invited to deliver Fourth of July
Grafton at Rutland, and did deliver it.
Political lines were so rigidly drawn at
that time, that not even on the Fourth
of July could the parties agree upon an
orator. 1t was finally settled that each
party should have an orator, and an ora
ton, though the celebration was joint
one. Harrington was the orator for the
Republicans, and Charles X. Williams,
then a student at law in the office of Ce-
phas Smith, Jr, delivered the Federal
oration. 1t must have been an interest.
ing contrast that was presented by the
two speakers. The one big, burly, uned-
ucated, unpublished, and with no otherre-
sources than energy, good sense, and na-
tive eloquence the other in the flush of
early manhood, of comely presence and
pleasing address, with the classics and
the bellies lettres fresh in his mind and
ready upon his lips, and already begin
ming to display that mingled grace and
strength which were soon to place him at
the head of the Rutland bar. 1t need
not be doubted, however, that, as the feel
ing then was, each party thought its own
speaker the superior.
The materials at our disposal do not
allow US to present Judge Harrington be-
fore you in any other or better way than
by anecdote. There can, indeed, be no
better way. Anecdotes photograph the
man and his times +; they interest our
emotions they bring their subject down
from his pedestal, and place him on our
level they are the little Lillipution ties
that bind him to our heart; they are the
straws that show which way the wind
blows when the breath is too slight to
turn the stately, stiff, and sometimes rus
ty weathercock. There are instances"
says Sainte Berne, the most acute of liv-
ing French critics, in which the por-
trait would be absolutely incomplete, un-
less it was accompanied with anecdotes.
All those nothings which at first every
body is familiar with, which everybody
neglects to write as far to we'll known
are subsequently sought in vain
and become precious again with time"
He was a man of large frame, full six
faot birb bron Il eborI1araJ cnJ - o.,.o, ;
muscular strength. His complexion was
swarthy, his beard black, heavy, and
more often than otherwise, unshaven, his
hair black, coarse, and rarely combed.-
His eyes were small, keen, and mischiev-
GUS in expression, his face was expressive,
and his feature flexible. His tempera-
ment was nearly unmixed bilious.
have said that he was plain farm
er. That expression stops short of the
truth. He was a coarse, rough, uncouth,
slovenly boor. 1t was no uncommon
thing for him, when ON the bench, to
take off his shoes and stockings, nor did
he hesitate to put his naked feet upon
the table before him.
He once went TO Rutland, wearing
beard of several days growth, and went
into BARRIERS shop to be shaved. The
barber being absent, his apprentice un-
dertook the job, not knowing who the
customer was and when all was ready,
he said to the judge, "open your mouth
if you please, sir" "What for?" growl-
/ ed Harrington, f" So [ may see what side
of your head your face is on;'' was the
reply. At that juncture the barber re-
turned, and on making his best bow, ad-
dressed the customer as judge Herring
ton, TO the great confusion OF the appren-
tice, who speedily disappeared, leaving
the Judge to tell his story, which he did,
with a hearty laugh.
On the bench he usually appeared as
if he were half asleep, and apparently
| paying no attention to the case on trial.
Nothing however, escaped his observa-
ton or his recollection, and though the
trial might last for days, it was found
when he came to charge the jury, that
| though he had not taken single note,
he knew the names of all the witnesses,
the order in which they were introduced,
and the exact language in which they
testified.
He had, moreover, a very happy fac
ulty Of Sc stating legal proposition as
to give the jury clear and vivid percep-
ton of it. For example : a man who
stole horse in New Hampshire, and
brought him into this State, was indict.
ed for the theft, and was tried before
Judge Harrington. 1t was insisted in
his defence that he was guilty of ne
crime in Vermont. But the Judges
common sense OWNED the rule of law
applicable to the case as perfectly as i
he had read whole library of crimina
jurisprudence, He stole the horse" said
he, in charging the jury, at Concord
he stole it at Keene. he stole it at Bel