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

cULuitlOu.
Unlike the Confederate hero who fell at
Shiloh of mortal woundf Sin the very sight
OF victory" these venerated landmarks Of
anancient and honorable profession had al
ready plucked the rich fruits Of their
achievements and had lived to share the
well-earned praise. Such was the life OF
David w. Hurst as he appeared to me; and
in thus delineating him, ] have said
nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in
malice" and submit these remarks not as
a panegyric, but as an humble tribute OF
respect to his memory. .@.awr ,e.=s
.aeH s.ae s rs h.. A- -ss5s
ADDRESS OF JUDGE M'MTLLAN,
GENTLEMEN OF THE barr -.
thank you for the courtesy YOU have
shown me in inviting me 10 address You.
1 knew Judge Hurst Tor more than thirty
four years, and during most of that time
had good opportunities ofobserving him So
cially and at the Bar, but especially at the
Bar, as | was not particularly intimate with
him in the social circle.
/ always regarded him as one of the
greatest men by nature that not only Mis-.
sissippi, but, any State, has produced: and
had he carefully cultivated, preserved and
utilized his superb physical and intellectu-
al powers, no State lines could have cir
cumscribed his fame. In his palmy DAYS
he was great lawyer and great orator
combination seldom found cc-,xistent at
the Bar--not great as lawyer like Choate,
or Gushing, or Evarts, whose superincum-
bent stores OF learning seem at times to bur-
den their arguments with redundant yet
charming prolixity--not as an orator great
like Prentlss, 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; and he wore
no borrowed plumage. He. owed but little
to the schools, and not much to the thoughts
ofother men. He thought for himself. His
distinction between right and wrong was
unerring; he reasoned from first principles
and his reasoning was always clear as a
sunbeam. lie was not mrca of a reader OF
books nor even of newspapers, yet his OBJ.
servatlon was SO acute and his memory so
tenacious that he appeared to know all Of
Importance that they contained. l have
often thought, that if in early manhood he
had allied himself with the all-dominant
democracy instead of the hopeless wing mi.
nority, his great personal popularity and
ability would have carried him rapidly to
the highest positions in the gift of the State
Bat he did not seem ambitious of political
distinction; and then his rugged, honest ma.
ture would not tolerate the sacrifice of con.
scientious convictions for place and power
There was nothing of the demagogue about
him. He would not "fatter Neptune for
his trident, nor Jove for his power to
thunder"
During the last twelve years of his life
saw but little of him, as he had ceased to
practice law in the counties where my du-
ties called me. l shall, therefore, speak
mainly of him as knew him in his best
days-when his star shone full-orbed in the
heavens; when, elated by almost invariable
professional triumphs, he gathered troops
of friends around him and held them bv
"hooks OF STEEL" when his joyous good ma
ture overfiowed in hearty laughter, and
crowded courthouses hung entranced on
the accents of his tongue. Those who knew
him only during the last decade, knew a
different man from the man of twenty-five
years ago, and they can scarcely realize how
eloquent and popular he then was. think,
and it is sad 70 think, that, with all his
learning, he had not learned to grow old
gracefully. His proud spirit could not fold
its wings in repose, but still struggled to
soar to the empirean heights mo longer
within his reach. He seemed to rebel at
the flood of years which swept him, as it,
sooner or later, sweeps us all, from the
front OF the stage to give place to the eager,
ever-incoming tide of youth. He looked as
if he felt that Time had not dealt fairly
with him, and that the hoary monarch
ought to hang up his scythe and glass and
give him another chance in the battle of
life. But the golden word, success" so
long glittering before his vision, was gradu-
ally, letter by letter, wiped out, and in its
place "no more" was written. Pardon this
sombre DEPRESSION; the portrait shall have
brighter colors.
l first saw David w. Hurst in Monticel-
10, in the Spring of 1S48, when was mere
youth just beginning the study of law in the
office of w. T. Harris, then Circuit Judge
by appointment OF Gov. Brown, to fill a va
cancy oecasioned by the death of Judge
Willis, who died of yellow fever while
holding court on the seaboard. He was at
tending the Vice Chancery Court, then pre-
sided over by his lifelong friend, james
NJ. Smiley. 1t seemed to me then that I
had never seen finer looking man or heard
better speaker. He was in the very sum-
mer of life. His voice was clear and reso-
nant yet musical. In person lie was tall.
large and we'll formed, and he walked
straight forward like an Indian, his large
head appearing larger than it was from the
dark, thick, tumbled-up hair that covered
it. His brow was wide, not high, and very
white. He had a peculiar faculty of max
ing the dryest subject interesting, and some
of his legal arguments charmed alike bench
and bar and crowd. There were present at
that court many other lawyers then emf
nent, or destined to become eminent, in the
profession. There was Elicit, with his pale,
classic, close-shaven face, and distinct,
clear-cut utterance; Peyton. with his loud
laugh that made the welkin ring, dressed
throughout in immaculate white, with a
rosebud in his button-hole, rivulet of gold
chain across his breast, and Understanding
shirt collar, giving evidence even then Of
the vast stores of legal learning he was ac-
STIMULATING, and which, in after years, was
to give him reputation on the Supreme
Bench equal with that of Simrall and Sec
ond only to that of Sharkey; Cassidy, with
his grand head and face, dark eye and lin
ping step; Swift, in appearance Falstaff,
with much law, and all of Shakespeare, at
his tongues end, coming from the Green
Mountains in youth, and bringing with him
all the shrewdness and industry but none
of the abstemiousness of his native State;
Goode, young and handsome, with the un-
failing courtesy of the Virginia gentleman,
just then beginning professional career Of
remarkable success and which, am glad
to say, is continued in distant State; VAN
nerson, . young, old man, with his we'll
known crown Of snow-the orifiamme of
many legal fight, dressed in fashionable
black. with rufiied shirt and diamond pin,
with huge watch fob Of gold and red dam
Cling in his front; McNair, plain in dress
and manners as any farmer, having laid
down 'the:sceptre Of the pedagogue and
quit.the old-feld school house to compete
successfully for the high honors of bar
and bench; King, a poor young man just
admitted to practice, uncouth in dress, mod
est and awkward, giving no indication of
the fame and fortune he afterwards acquir-
ed; Stone, stout and stalwart; Buckley, Just
returned from the Mexican war; Stafford,
from Marion, inimitable in song and story;
Lamkin from Pike, and Freeman and Col.
FOute from jackson; and over all this crowd