The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1878-02-28
Webster and Pinkney.


States. On this conspicuous arena h'
found William Pinkney, of Maryland
to be the most prominent figure. Pink
ney, with all his brilliant talents, die
not impress Webster favorably. Ii,
thought "there was something very
small about Pinkney." He was very
vain, and dressed in the extreme o.
fashion when he went into the court Il
plead. "He would wear into court hii
white gloves, that had been put OF
fresh that morning, and that he never
put on again. He usually rode from
his house to the Capitol on horseback
and his overalls were taken off anG
given to his servant, who attended
him."
''The nearest ever came to a down,
right row." says Webster, "was with
William Pinkney. l was lawyer who
had my living to get. On several oc-
casiOns Pinkney's manner was very ar
rogant and annoying. On the occasion
to which | refer, in some collocuial dis
cussion upon various minor points OF
the case, he treated me with contempt
He pooh-poohed, as much as to say il
was not worth while to to argue a
point that did not know anything
about; that was no lawyer. I think
he spoke of 'the gentleman from New
Hampshire.' At any rate it was some
thing that everyb body in the courthouse,
including the judges, could not fail to
observe. Chief Justice Marshall him
self was panied by it. sit was very
hard" added Mr.. Webster, "for me to
restrain my temper and keep cool; but
did so, knowing in what presence l
stood. think he construed my appa-
rent humility intoa want of what he
would call spirit in resenting, and as a
sort of acquiescence in his rule. How
ever, the incident passed; the case was
not finished when the hour for adjourn
ment came, and the court adjourned
until the next morning. Mr.. Pinkney
took his whip and gloves, threw his
cloak over his arm, and began to saun-
ter away. l went up to him and said
very calmly, Can see you alone in one
of the lobbies2' He replied, Certainly,
| suppose that he thought | was going
to beg his pardon and ask his assistance.
We passed into one Of the ante-rooms
Of the capitol. looked into one Of the
graLd-jury rooms, rather remote from
the main courtroom. There was no one
in, and we entered. AS we did so l
looked at the door, and found that there
was key in the lock, and, unobserved
by him, turned the key and put it in
my pocket. Mr.. Pinkney seemed to be
waiting in some astonishment. ad-
vanced toward him, and said: Mr..
Plnkney, you grossly insulted me this
morning in the courtroom, and not for
the first time, either. In Difference to
your position and to the respect in
which hold the court, / did not an
swer you as was tempted to do on the
spot He began toparley. l cOntin-
ued. you know you did. Don't add
another sin to that; don't deny it; you
know you did it, and you know it was
premeditated. 1t was deliberate; 1t
was purposely done, and If you deny it
you state an untruth. Now, Invent on,
Il am here to say to you, once for all,
that you must ask my pardon, and go
into court tomorrow morning and re-
peat the apology. or else either you or
l will go out of this room in different
condition from that in which we enter
ed IT, was never more in earnest.
He looked at me and saw that my eyes
were pretty dark and firm. He began
to say something. l interrupted him.
NO explanations sal |; admit the
fact, and take it back. / do not want
another word from you except that.
will hear no explanation; nothing but
that you admit it, and recall it, He
trembled like ali aspen leaf. He again
attempted to explain. Said l: There
is no other course. l have the key in
my pocket, and you must apologize or
take what give you At that he
humbled down, and said to me: You
are right; am sorry; did intend to
bluff you; / regret it, and ask your
pardon Enough l promptly re-
piled. Now, one promise before
open the door, and that is that you will
tomorrow morning state to the court
that you have said things which woun-
ded my feelings, and that you regret
it, Pinkney replied, Il will do so.'
Then unlocked the door and passed
out. The next morning, when the
court met, Mr.. Pinkney at once rose
and stated to the court that very un-
pleasant affair had occurred the morn
ing before, as might have been been
observed by their honors; that his
friend, Mr.. Webster, had felt grleved
at some things which had dropped from
his lips; that his zeal for his client
might have led him to say some things
which he should not have said, and
that he was sorry for having thus spo-
ken.
"From that day, while at the bar,
there was no man." said Mr.. Webster,
"who treated me with so much respect
and Difference as william Pinkney."
Love is a secondary passion TO those
who love most; a primary to those who