Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-02-07
"Reminiscences OF Great Men.


Apropos of Chief Justice Waite's
sickness, writes a Washington CORES
pondent to The CieUeidnd Leader. Judge
Ranuey. of Cleveland, tells the follow
ing story of his great predecessor, Chief
Justice Taney. Says he: Judge fancy
lived to the age of 81. and he seemed
all his life to be hanging on the verge
of the grave. For long time before
Andrew Jackson appointed him secre-
tary of the treasury and got him to re-
move the deposits from the United
States bank Taney was one of the lead
inc LAWYERS of Maryland. Luther Mar
tin and William Pinkney were for
time his chief competitors, but they
died, leaving him at the head OF the
bar. At this time a man who had q
chancery suit which had been long
time in the courts and bade fair to be-
come second Jarndyce vs.. Jarndyce
was looking for new lawyer to take
up his case. He had employed both
Martin and Pinkney, and one after the
other they had died on his hands. leav-
ing his case still unsettled. He was ro-
commended to engage Taney, and with
this view he called upon him. He
entered the office, took a look at the
emaciated form and graveyard air of
the great lawyer, and then with . grunt
of disgust he turned upon his heel and
went out of the door without saying .
word. Give that man my case!' he
said to the first friend he met. II
would as soon give it to corpse. He
will die inside of two months But
fancy did not die, and he doubtless sur
vived the above prophet by full gen.
eration."
1t is by no means the well men who
live the longest. John Randolph, of
Roanoke, never had well day in his
life, and he did a great life's work.
Alexander Stephens lived to ripe old
age, and from boyhood to death had
hardly moment free from pain. Oliver
P. Morton worked and thought years
after the doctors had decided that he
was ready for the grave, and Samuel j.
Tilden, the living dead man of Gramercy
park. may yet write an epitaph for
Grover Cleveland's tombstone.
Judge Waite's sickness is caused BY
overwCrk. He has always been noted
for being one of the hardest and most
continuous workers in public life. In
his law practice at Toledo he burned
gallons of midnight oil, and the excess
of unsettled cases before the supreme
court has worried him here at Wash
ington. His constitution, originally
strong, has been long in breaking down,
but his condition at present is such that
he must take rest. His case is only
one of thousand all over the country.
1t was carelessness and overwGrk which
killed Matt Carpenter, the greatest law
yer the northwest has ever known, and
one that made as much at the practice
as Roscoe Conkling does to-day. Sen
ator Carpenter had . strong constitu-
ton to begin WITH" said his law part
ner, not long ago, "but it broke down
at the last. and one year before
he died his physician told him he could
not live over that time. Senator Car
penter accepted this conclusion as final,
but he said nothing to his family. He
went about his business as usual, and
all through that year in which he was
waiting for death he put his affairs
in the most careful order. He studied
his case as carefully as the most prac-
ticed physician, but could find nothing
to assure him of any hope, and each day
he would say, pointing to the calendar
as he did so, i see have Just SO many
more days to live He was at the
office several days before he died, and |
he was perfectly well aware that his
end would come in a few days. He
then told his family his real condition,
and at the time he expected to die he
quietly passed away"
1t was night work and the disregard
of the laws of health which killed Matt |
1t was his custom, it is
said, to do all of his study at night
At IL o'clock he would begin with q
strong cigar and bottle of wine, and |
would work on by the aid of these
until l. At this time he |
would change from wine to brandy,
and would keep his intellect up to its
full working power by taking sips of |
old Hennessy up until 4 o'clock.
As the summer sun began to peep |
into the windows of his study he would |
drop work and go off to bed. He
would then sleep about five hours, when |
he would arise as fresh as his fellows |
who had put in the whole night. Fol-
twenty years active life his constitution |
stood this strain without failing. 1t |
then began to droop, and at last it fell |
to pieces all at once, like the old mans |
shay.