Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1879-10-02
A REBEL EXILE'S CAREER.
Judah P. Benjamin as an English Lawyer,
He Buys = $6O, 900 House in Paris.

judah +. Benjamin as an English Lawyer
He Buys Sc, 900 House in Paris.
New Orleans Democrat
A few days ago, in an article on the
Tehuantepec route, we related the Incl
dent of the seizure of the bank-box and
appropriation thereof as constituting the
whole property of the then Secretary
State of the Confederate States. The
contents consisted of Tehuantepec bonds,
and the Confederate Secretary, when in
formed of Buffers cxultation over his
capture, remarked, with a smile, that
with the loss of those bonds he would be
left without dollar in the world. This
confession was made at dinner at which
a dish of rusty bacon, cooked with COW
peas, and washed down with corn coffee,
composed the whole menu. A gentleman
over fifty, who had for thirty years en-
joyed an income of over $4,000 per an
mum, was reduced to this condition in
two years by his devotion to duty, to
principle, and to the demands OF honor
and patriotism. It was grand sacrifice,
worthy of conspicuous record among the
many other similar examples of self-sa-
cri6ce and sincerity of conviction and
duty on the part of those who have been
so grossly maligned as interested and
designing politicians in the late war.
In 1865 the impoverished Secretary OF
State Of the late Confederacy. after the
downfall of the Confederacy and the dis
persion ofits Government, tramped on foot
from Central Georgia, and escaped in an
open-boat to Nassau with single ten
dollar gold piece in his pocket, which be
gave to the negro who rowed the small
boat that so safely carried him beyond
the reach of the pursuing foe. In 1879,
fourteen years afterward, this fugitive
becomes the recognized head of an insti-
tuition of all others the most exclusive
and difficult in which to obtain prsmi-
nence and success-the Bar of England.
One gratifying proof of the reality of
this achievement is furnished by the
fact, which we learn automatically, that
Mr.. J. P. Benjamin, Queens Counsel,
quite recently purchased a very ele-
giant residence in Paris, giving therefor
100000 francs cash. It is added that
this large sum does not exceed one hall
of his yearly income from his practise in
the highest Courts of Great Britain
To these Courts the large pressure upon
his time and labor has compelled Mr.
Benjamin to limit his practice. The
briefs declined by him would double hif
income. But, always accustomed to dc
we'll and complete every thing he under
took, he has been forced to reduce the
amount of his labor within the COM
pass of his wonderful capacity and in.
| dustry. We doubt If these have ever been
equalled by any other aspirant for distinc-
tive success at the English or American
Bar. From gentleman who have recent.
ly called on him in London, we learn
that his labors are necessarily prosecuted
in his Office for at least twelve hours out
of the twenty=teur, and that he still has
few hours for enjoyment and recreation
with his friends, to whom he is always
welcome as one of the most genial and
vivacious OF companions. So far from
being affected by this intense labor his
physique exhibits scarcely preccptible
change from that which he exhibited
when he was leader at our Bar, and q,
that of the United States Supreme Court
= Senator from Louisiana, and the mos
brilliant and effective orator and debate1
in that body twenty odd years ago, o.
when Secretary of State of the Confeder
ate States fourteen years ago. His hail
still maintains its raven hue, unfrostec
by 81 years of trial and labor; his flash.
ing eyes have all their old brilliancy
needing no aid of glasses to perform
their work, and his handsome face wear
ing still the winning smile, which is rare
~ preserved by masculine countenances
and is one of the happiest constituents o,
womanly beauty. The only perceptlblt
change observable in his manner is in the
greater gravity and precision of his ut
terance, and in the restraint of a vlvacitJ
which in middle age, might be properly
described as boyish in his freedom and
gayety.