Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-12-11
THE DEATH OFTHE HON. JOHN
PERKINS.

4
Louisiana, and the final extinction OF
a name long and honorably connected
with the history of that State. Judge
Perkins was the eldest son of the late
John Perkins, Esq, who was for many
years, not only leading citizen but
one of the most intelligent, the
wealthiest and most extensive cotton
planters in the entire Southwest.
Born to princely fortune, Judge
Perkins enjoyed all the educational
advantages that wealth can procure,
and as he was endowed by nature with
rare intellectual gifts, the young Louisi-
anian made the most of his splen.
did opportunities. Graduating with
distinction at that ancient seat of
learning, Yale College, young Perkins
passed at once to the law school of
Harvard University at Cambridge,
Massachusetts. Graduating with
honor at that eminent legal school,
he spent two years with the Hon.
George M. Dallas, one of the most dis.
tinguished lawyers of Philadelphia,
and who few years later became
Vice-President of the United States.
Having completed his legal train.
ing, Mr.. Perkins returned to
Louisiana and established him.
self in the practice of his pro-
fession in the city of New Orleans.
The bar of New Orleans was then in
its glory. With John X. Grymes,
Randall Hunt, Judah 2. Benjamin,
Sargent S. Prentiss, Pierre Soule,
Ettienne Mazureau, Christian Rozelius
and Isaac L. Preston in full practice,
the bar of the Crescent City presented
an array of genius, elCquence and ju-
dicial learning that was cert anly
surpassed by any city of this broad
Union. That young Perkins was able
successfully to encounter that splend-
i'd galaxy of intellect and learning,
none who knew the man and his vast
mental resources ever doubted, but,
alasl he lacked the spur, the incitiment
of those "twin jailers Of the heart, low
birth and iron fortune Reared in
the lap Of luxury, he lacked the grand
incentive to success as a lawyer, and
hence he turned to travel, and to study
in another and noble sphere, the
science of government and statesman.
ship. Having made an extended tour
of Europe and the Orient, he returned
to London and to Paris, where he
became most intelligent and inter.
ested listener to the debates of the
intellectual Titans in the Englise Par
lament and the French Chamber OF
Deputies. With mind strengthened
and enriched by extensive travel and
discriminative observation, Mr..
Perkins returned to Louisiana like
Pallas, full armed" Tor any iutellec-
tual emergency. He was not how
ever, long permitted ito enact the role
Of Tecluse and a dreamer. Loui.
siana called him to position, for
which years of study had amply pre-
pared him. AS Judge of the Circuit
Court he had a wide field for the dis
play Of his rare intellectual powers,
and the vast store of legal attachments
he had gathered in his earlier years.
His career on the Bench was all that
could have been desired. A profound
knowledge Of the law went hand in
hand with the loftiest integrity, and
when he laid down the unsullied ermine
of the Judge, he took up, at the COM
mand of The people of his native State,
the robes of a Representative in the
Congress Of the United States, where he
served two terms before the great war
between the States convulsed the
land and bathed it in blood.
The service Of Judge Perkins in the
House of Representatives gave him an
opportunity to introduce and have
passed, law revising and improving
our Consular system, a system which
stands to-day a monument to his wis
dom and Craftsmanship.
Retiring from the Halls of Congress
in 1861, Judge Perkins was promptly
elected by the people of Madison Parish
as their delegate and Represeta-
tive in the Secession Convention
Of that year. From this post
of honor and usefulness he was soon
transferred to a broader theatre, and
was sent to Montgomery as one of the
Representatives of Louisiana in the