Morning journal and courier., 1884-06-20
A Forty-Nin CT.
A Romantic Pen Picture of Justice Field,
 of Californta.


 of California.
 IJoaouin Mill.r in Courier-Journal.l
 When was a lad on the head-waters of the Sacramento river, attempting the one absurd, or rather impossible and yet noble and un- selfish act of my life, the formation of an In- dian confederacy at the base of Mount Shasta, there was one young Californian at the head of the affairs of the State who lowered above all others and always challenged my admi- ration. He was the first Alcalde in the rich est camp of California. Then he was the first representative of Sierra county. He was the friend of the miner, as against the grasping monopolists and holders of Span1sh grants, He made speeches full of classical illusions and beautiful quotations from poets I have net yet read. For. strangely enough, this Fortv-niner this man now in his prime, had come to the mines boy fresh from his tray els in Europe, had been educated in Athens. And what romance his life seemed to me! Here was man in the mines, now judge. who stood on Mars Hill. He had stood where St. Paul had stood He had set foot on the rostrum of Demosthenes- He had barred his head on the threshold ot the prison of Socrates, and was as familiar with Greek as the Greeks, old and new, as l was With the Modocs and their dialect. I wanted to see the face of the man who had seen the Acropolis, and rode 150 miles through the mountains to do it. He WAS holding court I saw him all day from the crowd, tall, slim blonde, kind, gentle and persuasive, but the master of every man in all that tumuitu- ous crowd of miners. think he was the only man there unarmed. And when he de- livered his fearless opinion to that defiant mob knew he was the bravest of them all Of course it was great trial. Others there had come as far as I, but not for the same simple purpose Oh, how wanted too get L T1HT RrnEpr Gahanha Of an Indian confederacy against the aggres- sions of these same lawless roughs who were overrunninq the land. But was to tlmld to even try to get to speak to him. Yet even after got back to my Indians, vas van Quished and in peril constantly hsd this brave, learned and humane man in my mind as one who would set things right If could once get hearing
 An, we'll and alas What long story am tempted to make of 1t But what good The Indians are all dead now. l survived defeat and disgrace, without any white mans help, and I doubt if my handsome young hero of the rough mining camp ever heard of me or my great little Indian republic till long sitter it s dissolution. But I never lost sight of him. Such fearlessness, l think, nc man ever saw. And my lines of life have been cast where feats of courage, physical ana moral, are not rare. His was feariessness of mind. It evertopped all phenomena Of to- day. This one cultured and travelled young man fromConnecticut whose grandfathers had bothbeen officers in theRevolution, had the ad- dress and courage to conquer and hold In subsection all the thousands of border rufhans and lawIess gamblers overrunning the mines And when a few years later he stood for place on the Supreme bench, his majorltes, notwithstanding the bitter enemies he had made-and still retains, hope-ln his brave efforts to bring law and order out of chaos and savagery, was overwhelming. And now the world began to look up to this young man of 'f'49" as I had looked upon him from the first. His scholarly and profound opinions were read as men read books of travel and story, so charming and so choice his language and so adroit his handling of the dryest themes.
 The other evening I went with Winnie Ream's sister to take a look at the front Of the old Capitol-the building used by Con- eress after the British burned the one which stood on the site of the present Capitol. And standing out there under the stars she pointed out the steps before the bull ding where two Presidents had been sworn ID, ead she told me that Calhoun had died in that house; that Clay had sat for twelve years speaker there. I wanted to go in to see it. I did. And then and there l took my hero of the mines by the hand for the first time Stephen J. Field, of the Supreme court of the United States, bade me kindly welcome and showed me over the great hls- torio old house, for this is his home No, he does not know or suspect that he is to be hero, or that I have written this. But l name him as the strongest possible dark horse if TiIden declines.