The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1882-08-17

lending HI caplsaI cases IN such casss Ne
wasted no time in trivialities but went
straight to the marrow Of the business. He
took IN but little time in selecting the jary.
All he wanted was intelligent and Impartial
men. He never sought to pack jury box
with ignorance, md he wanted ~ verdict
obtained by corruption; hc wanted NJ 81,
ent acquitted, but heswanted him Agquftted
respectfully. He depended only on the proof,
liberal construction of the law, his own
great weight Of character, and above all his
powerful and fascinating eloquence. he
seldom badgered witness, asked no un-
meaning questions and but few OF any kind.
and they were pertinent, generally legal,
and intended to bring out an answer that
would 90 to the substance of the case. lie
did not believe as much as some lawyers IN
the efficacy Of cross-examination, and gem
orally dismissed the States witnesses with
polite stand aside" asked him one
day how he came to let the States witnesses
of 50 easily. He said, when q young man
he lost his first case BY too much questions
ing, and that there was danger OF being a
little too smart in that line. Sometimes,
however, he would take up a witness whom
he thought was not telling the truth and
wind him up as a spider winds o. fy.s S9s
He never injured q case by doing too
much. He let well enough alone; knew ex-
actly when to stop, both in the examlna-
ton and in his address to the jury. He
never wearied jury; but when his last i'm
FASHIONED words fell like an organ-peal up
on their ears, have seen them enraptured
gazing, as if magnetized, upon the speak
er, unwilling to break the charm he had
woven around them. Yet he had little OF
the artificial graces Of oratory, but was
plain, candid and strong, and every word
meant something. As have said, his voice
at this time was mellow and sonorous, but
never harsh. His lowest tone was never
indistinct, and his loudest, though very
loud, never disagreeable to the nearest
hearer.
He was always courteous to the court,
Tor he knew full we'll the advantage of hay-
ing its good opinion. The court, however
at that day so often agreed.with him. that
he had no occasion to quarrel with it. He
was generally, though not always, courteous
to opposing counsel, and fair and honorable
in the practice, and any agreement made
he scrupuously carried ont. He never, learn
ed any OF the tricks of the pettifogger, took
pride in the profession, realized its dignity
and said there was no higher honor thar
that of good lawyer. He was man Of
untarnshed integrity, lavish and perhaps ex.
travagant in his expenditures, but he spent
no mans money but his own.
Among the important cases in which he
appeared to great advantage was that ofthe
State VS.. w. A. Newman. indicted for the
murder OF Col. Jno. Hunt Fox, whose death
resulted from sword cane, in fierce rem.
counter in the streets OF Nor ticelo.. The
trial took place at the fall term, 1858, OF
the Circuit Court of Lawrence county
Newman rcsembled Fox in nothing but
size, strength and courage, both being large
athletic and in the prime of life. Newman
| was poor shoemaker, aim 1st stranger in
the county, without money, family infiu.
| ence or friends. Fox, on the other hand, be-
longed to one of the largest, wealthiest and
most influential families in the county, be
ing son of Gen. Arthur Fox, who figured
largely in the early politics of the State and
became Lieut.. Governor. Hunt Fox was
much esteemed and respected for his many
high and noble qualities of head and heart
being quick to resent an insult but generous
even to foe, and his untimely taking of
by violence created general indignation
Lynch law was threatened, but acting un.
der the advice of the present distinguished
Judge OF this Court, not then a member Of
the bar, the law was allowed to take it,
course. In aid OF the prosecution appear,
ed Judge VIM. Vannerson, then a noted
criminal advocate, and Z. Stafford, fluent
speaker, but with more reputation in civil
than criminal cases. The law and the
facts bore heavily against the prisoner, bui
he had some ground TO stand on under oul
broad statute of self-defence, and his coun.
sci made the most of it. The speech OF
Judge Hurst ON that occasion was one Of
the most powerful and effective [ ever heard
at the bar: 1t completely mastered and
overcome the minds Of the Jury, although
it was led by such a well-balanced man as
W. c. F. Brooks. There was no checking
the effect of that speech. All The combined
efforts OF the representatives of the State
could not stop the magic current set in mo-
ton by his eloquence, and it flowed on un-
broken long after he had ceased to speak,
and his voice still rang in the ears Of the
jury as they wrote their verdict, mot guilty.
A case of much celebrity was tried at
Holmesville just after the war, that of the
State VS.. McGehee, in which the attitude OF
the deceased and his slayer was exactly the
reverse of the parties in the case just men,
toned. The person slain was a poor man
without friends, influence or money. The
prisoner, McGehee, was the son of one of
the most opulent men in Wilkinsop coun-
ty. Money without stint was expended in
his behalf and at the trial he was surroun-
ded by a Gordon of friends and elegant la
dies and gentlemen of his large family con-
nection. i doubt if any man in this State
was ever defended by such an array of
brilliant lawyers. There sat in front OF the
jury in the little cramped-up, dingy old
Courthouse four men, then in the zenith of
their fame-in the full maturity of their
mental and bodily strength. e
There was Simrall, persuasive and self
poised, with the voice OF the zephyr or the
tempest; Lamkin. with his vehement and
irresistible torrent of speech-an intellectu-
al Vulcan, handling facts as no other man
could, each word from his lips, like the
elang of hammer, hitting the nail square
on the head; Cassidy, argumentatiye and
logical, relieving at times the argument by
apt illustration or amusing narrative; and
at the head of this legal phalanx stood
Hurst, inferior to none, in the full meridian
OF his splendid intellectual powers. They
all addressed the jury, and it is hard to say
who made the best speech. No one eclipsed
the brilliancy of the others, and the effort
oil Il ~
ordinary minds could resist the overmaster-
ing power of four such superior inteHects,
and of course verdict of not guilty was
rendered g. iana7tB ara
He was by no means alw avs successful in
criminal cases before juries, or before the
court, but he never would complain at an
adverse result in the court room, yet when
he got outside he would sometimes give vent
to his disappointment in language that the
army in Flanders might have enyied. One
such case | remember we'll, the State VS..
Martin, for shooting man in his store
tried at Monticello in 1860, in which he APP
peared for the defence in connection with
Capt. r. ] /. Bowen. He was furious at the
conviction of his client and swore he would
reverse it; but in spite of his. motions and
writs OF error, the prisoner went to Jackson
and there learned to be most excellent
shoemaker.
The noted case of the State VS.. Price, tried
in Pike county in 1858, he lost before the
jury, and, as all lawyers know, the High
Court Of Errors and Appeals affirmed the
verdict, and in their decision gave full ex-
position OF the law and the case became a
leading one in this and other States.