The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1882-08-25
Appnnss OF JUDGE MCMILLAN.

ADDRESS OF JUDGE MCMILLAN.
Gentlemen of the Bar:
thank you for the courtesy you have
shown me in inviting me to address You.
knew Judge HuTst for more than "a
years, and during most Of that time had
good opportunities ofobserving him So
cially aud at the Bar, but especially at
the Bar, as was not particularly init
mate with him in the social circle.
always regarded him as one OF the
greatest men by nature that not only
Mississippi. but any State, has produced;
and had he carefully cultivated, pre-
served and utilized his superb physical
and intellectual powers. no State lines
could have circumscribed his fame In
his palmy days Re was great lawyer
and a great orator, combination seldom
found co-existent at the Bar--not great
as a lawyer like Choate, or Gushing, or
Evarts, whose superintendent stores of
learning seem at times to burden their
arguments with redundant yet charming
prolixity--noi as an orator, great like
Prentiss, whose genius brought togeth-
er, TO decorate the music of his speech,
all the beauty of the earth and sky. He
was great because he was born so; aud
he wore no borrowed plumage. He owed
but little to the schools, and not much
to the thoughts Of other men. He
thought for himself. His distinction be
tween right and wrong waa unerring; he
reasoned from first principles, and his
reasoning was always clear ns sunbeam.
He was not very much o reader of books
nor even OF newspapers, yet his observa-
toin was 80 acute aud his memory so te-
nacious that he appeared to knGw all of
Importance that they contained j have
often thought that If in early manhood
be had allied himself with all the DON'T
nant democracy instead Of the hopeless
whig minority, his great personal popu
larty aud ability would have carried him
rapidly to the higest positions in the
gift OF the State. But he
did not seem ambitious of political dis
tinction; and then his rugged bouest ma
ture would not tolerate the sacrifice of
conscientious CONVICTIONS for place and
power. There was nothing of the 0ema-
gogue about him. He would not fiat
ter Neptune for hrs trident, nor Jove for
his power TO thunder"
During the last twelve years Of his life
| / saw but little of him as lie had ceased
| to practice law in the counties where my
| duties called me. / shall, therefore,
| speak mainly Of him as knew him in
| bis best days--when his star shone full
orbed in the heavens: when, elated by
almost InvarIable professional trI-
umphs, he gathered troops of friends
around him and held them by "hooks of
steel,r when his Joyous good nature
overhowed III hearty laughter, and crowd.
ed courthouses hung entranced on the
accents OF his tongue. Those who knew
him only during the last decade. knew o
| different man Of twenty-five years ago,
and they can scarcely realIze how elo-
quent and popular he was. think, and
1t Is sad to think, that, with all his
learning, he had not learned to grow old
gracefully. Hrs proud spirit could moi
fold It's wings III repose, but still strug-
gied to soar to the empIrean heIghts nc
longer within his reach. He seemed tc
rebel at the food Of years winch sweep
him, as 1t sooner or later, sweeps us all
from the front OF the stage 10 the eager
ever-IncomIng tide of youth. He look
, ed ms If he felt that Time had not deal
fairly with him, and that the hoary mon
/ arch ought TO hang up his scythe ans
glass aud gIve him another chance II
the battle of life. But th,
golden word "success, so long glitter
| ing before hrs VI ION, was gradually
J letter by letter, wiped out, and III IL
place ''no more" vas written. Pardol
/ tlfIs sombre digression; the portrai
! shall have brighter colors.
/ first saw David w. Hurst in Monti
J cello, in the Spring Of 1848, when wa
. mere youth just beginning the stud
> Of law in the Office of W. p. Harris, the
: Circuit Judge by appointment Of Coz
Brown, to fill vacancy occasione
s by the death Of Judge Willis, wh
j died Of yellow fever whil
4 holding court on the seaboard. He WI
. attending the Vice Chancery Court, the
/ presided over by his lifelong frien,
n James M. Smiley. It seemed to N
b then that bad never seen finer lool
ing man or heard better speaker. II
a was in the very summer Of life. III
a voice was clear and resonant yet musica
' In person be was tall, large and we
I formed, and he walked straight forwal
5, like an Indian, his large head appearir
II larger than it was from the dark, tbic
1t tunbied-up hair that covered it. Il
1; brow was wide, not high, and very whit
a. He had a peculiar faculty ofn1akings Il