Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1870-06-22
Miscellany.
..I'5 From the Overland Monthly.
b CalifOrnia'S Greatest Lawyer.


CalifOrnia'S Greatest Lawyer.
THE CAREER AND CHARACTER OF RUFUS A.
go ..sq-s l,e LOCKWOOD. "a hs.
During the term of the Supreme Court
of the United States, in Dec, 1855, q
stranger occupied the same seat in the
Courtroom day after day, until his pres
ence became almost a feature of the place !;
and even the impassive fancy realized
there was a new fixed object within his
visual horizon. His general appearance
might have been catalogued as follows;
Highs above medium; i figure, large and
.ungainly; movements, awkward; COM
plexion, sallow and tobacco smoked; eyes,
dark and deep, with dilating pupils edged
with yellow-cat-eyes in the dark hair,
dark-brown, sprinklod with gray; head,
feet and hands lsrge-the left hand web
fingered features, not irregular, but with
out play or mobiity,wlth fixed expression
of weariness dress, carelss-amost slov-
enly; age fifty years, bearing the burden
Of four-score. Each day. from the open
ing to the adjournment of the Court, he
gave to all its proceedings-to its mere
routine, to the drest and most technical
argument, to the most absurd speech land
speeches were made there that would not
have been tolerated in the twelfth distric,
Court, Pratt, J, and to the most finished
and cogent reasouing-the same constant,
apathetic attention. The last day of the
term was reached, and the Court was a.
bout to adjourn, when the stranger arose
and, addressing the Court with treplda-
tion Of voice and manner that his will
barely mastered said he had travelled six
thousand miles to argue a case that stood
next upon thc calendar; the counsel for
! the other side was present, and anxious
that the case should be heard if it went
over to the next term, it would involve
an Inconvenience to counsel and expense
to the parties, that would amount almost
to denial Of Justice; and under the cir
cumstanccs, he felt privileged to ask the
Court to sit one day longer. .'
After brief consultation the Judges
acceded to the request; and it was an
nounced that, on the following day, the
Court would hear the arguments in the
case of Field against Seabury.
,i More than the usual number of specta-
tors were present on the following day ;
and there was something more than curl
osity to hear this lawyer, who had often
been heard Of, but never before heard III
that Court The CONSCIOUSNESS of this GU
riosity and expectation embarrassed him
in the opening Of his speech, but his mind
fairly in motion soon worked itself free,
and his phlcgmatic temperament glowed to
its core with Hameless heat. For two
hours he held the undivided attention Of
the Court in an argument that was pure
law. He had that precision Of statement,
skill, aud hicety in the handling of legal
terms, which modulate the very tones Of
thevoiee, aud by which lawyers instinct
lively measure Il lawycr-that readiness
which reveals an intellectual training that
| has become second nature-that self-train-
ed confidence that is based on the broad.
est preparation--that logical arrangement
which gives the assurance, that back Of
every proposition is a solid column to sup.
port it if attacked-and that strength and
symmetry of expression which carry the
conviction, that behind utterance there is
a fullness Of knowledge that floods every
sentence with meaning, and an unconscious
reserve Of power which gives to every
word vital force.
l1a Long before he had concluded, it was
known to oil present that tho strange, was
Rufus A Lockwood Of San Francisco; and
he was that day, in the estimation Of al
least one Of the judges who heard him
the equal Of the best lawyer in the United
States. Though this was his FIRST (aud
only) appearance in the United States Su
prenie Court, his brief had been before
]. the Court in the case of the Maripost
land grant, (ltremont's), had gained The
case, and been closely followed in The
opinion. In examining that brief, Calel
Gushing thenattorney general exclaim
cd. in admiration Of its legal learning apc
research. "Whois this man Lockwood 2
i Hewas born IN 1871, IN miord, Ct.
and his true name was Jonathan A. Jessnp
At eighteen he was student in Yale Col
lege. in the junior class, distinguished a
mong his fellows for his proficiency i
Latin and pure mathematics, and for hi
familiar acquaintance with English classics
In the midst Of the term, for some reasoI
: known only to himself. withoutithe eonsen
of his friends, be left college and snliaef
as q sailor on United States man-oi.war