Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-08-25

tion Of the old ft-
gitive slave code. His growth in law
practice and public favor was steady, and
as early as 1860 his "reminiscences Of the
war of 1912 were quoted with much In.
terest. His childish memories Of the be-
ginning and progress OF that war were
comparatively few. but those Of the sensa.
ton created in America by the news Of
Napoleon's return from Elba and final
overthrow at Waterloo are most vivid.
Tho British. American peoples have made
history very fast since then, and Mr..
Field can justly claim the distinction Of
having lived through the most momentous
century OF mans career on earth.
Several cases In which Mr.. Field was
leading counsel have become noted as
epochs in constitutional history. In 1S64-5
"a military commission I'm Indiana tried
and condemned TO death Messrs. Bowles,
Milligan and Horsay on charges of con
spirecy to set free the Confederate pris-
oncrs" ut indianapolis and otherwise
hinder the prosecution Of tho war. The
president commuted their sentence to life
Imprisonment, and soon after the war
closed application was made for their re-
lease on tho ground that military commits
sions were Illegal in state where the
ordinary courts were open and no state Of
WHT pTtNhlfU MT Eltlu bDlIlUH tA-
hausted the subject it was adopted by
the Federal supreme court MS tha substan-
tial law, and the men were released. He
wes counsel in the noted Erie suits"
which resulted In taking the Erie railroad
out Of the hands of James Fisk and Jay
Gould. In the agitating controversy be-
tween Mayor Fernando Woods municipal
police and the metropolitan police, which
almost brought on civil war In New
York city. he acted for the metropolitans.
Another famous ease in which he took
part was that of the state of Georgia
against Gen. Grant and other generals
In 1876 he was elected TO congress and
took an active part on the Democratic
side of the controversy over the presiden-
tial count of that year. But the great
work of his life, the one on which he
prides himself is the preparation of his
noted codes, His Penal Code is the law
Of his state, but his Civil Code, after
nearly forty years agitation on the sub
ject, Ia still rejected by New York. This
is an attempt To codify the common law,
to sweep away the cumhyous old English
forms, and express the law IN language
30 plain that any man of fair education
can understand ii and draft legal docu-
ment. IL has many times been before tho
New York legislature, and twice passed
both houses, but was vetoed. once by Gov
ernor Tildcn and once by Governor Cor
nell. On other occasions il passed one
house only. 1t has, meanwhile, been
adopted almost word for word by several
new states, and made the basis Of tho
code in others.
On Feb. -, 1888, Cyrus w Field gavo
reception ct his house in honor of Da-
vid's S0th birthday, and there the latter
gave full account of his methods of
maintaining health and vigor.. Besides
recommending temperance, cheerfulness
and habit Of hoping for the best, he
said:
"When ] was young man had very
severe headaches. In 1S48 l bought q
horse. md have not had a headache
since. Every morning arise at 0 o'clock.
have done so for forty years. take an leo
cold bath, dress myself. jump ON horse
ut o'clock and ride FOR an hour. then
breakfast and work at my house till IL
o'clock, when l walk down town, n dis.
tance Of four miles. Iremain ut my Office
until o cock, then walk home and dine
at @, At | sleep for half an hour, after
which am ready for anything. retire
between 10 and II o'clock. | have done
this for over forty years. attribute my
hardihood to horseback riding"
He has a reputation as u lawyer second
to none in the world. and it may almost
be said that the fire of his eye Is not dim
med, nor his natural force abated.