New-York tribune., 1888-03-25
THE STEWART WILLCASE.
THE GROUP IN THE COURTROOM

THE GROUP IN HE COU
Little has been developed as yet the proceooinss
In the Stewart will case. What the may sno" ""'-
Mr. Choate takes his turn at tie derng OF eV'oonos
Is not readily to be seen The Got OF bis cross-eAa~
nation thus far has been to Fov that Judge Hii'os
kept Mrs. Stewart In what ws pacucaiiy oiose oo'S
fnement permitting her to about only under 'he
scrutinv and caro- Of some pmbcr q his family, and
bringing to bear upon her acoercive force 70 compei
obedience to his wishes. The executors OF "nom
Judge Hilton Is one, have D. afifnauve VI .io '"'o,
having offered tho will forlrobate Inc oa''io VIZ.
only take shape when th contestants oeei" W 70"
their story Judge Hiltorhas stterded every SESSION
OF the court, sitting quiey among ni' 'ouiso' "o~
the moment the surrogat takes bis seat until ne sus
pends for the day. Noting is going to go BY defauis
in this case The stregth OF the assaliants y NOS
discounted They are wen credit for serious inten-
tons. and Judge Hntot has omitted no TASK OF prep
aration Not only dps be SIT oy pcrsohais s"u
watch and listen nteHy to all that Is sald ana aono,
but no has marshallepbout him as formidable legal
bost az couId he sured for harmonious work. I
suppose it Is Mr.. Conkling shall be lookeo
unon as senior conscL He appears TO thinS so,
Judging from the hagnIfcence OF his presence ana
the air OF n-du time you ll-hear- something whon
pervades tho cha he sits In lie was "eI-ha"eo
the ordly Rosce.' Every movement, every "oru'
whether of bante or OF sober momenb every express
sion that rests his face tells you that he expects
vop N copsidershere he sits the heac Of the table
Mr. ConklInshas his reputation ye to make at tho
Bar OF New.Yrk and perhaps he wfl never have
better chance in this case. The tsua experience
is that Senatral life units man Or nore acuvo'
vigorous wok He can make great speech ms
annbilation of Carl schurz when thai tinerant poll
tclan was ,asquerading as Repuh'can OUT IN MIS-
souri, remats the masterpiece of ptihs denunciaton-
To n man yho enjoys notorlety and Is not particular
how be ras H. It might be well worth while being
somewhat per6dous Just 20 have sud reo-not 'h'nss
said of hm. But speech making Is nor all srea'
LAWYERS work. nor IS the speech o. a politician the
kind tba tells with learned cout. Exsuiroga.s
Rollins sill probably provo the havest "eigh' IN
Judge alton's legal team. | unerstand tha' tno
work d cross-exaninatlon will be assigned 70 him
In this he is supposed to excel te is quick adrot,
rood hlmored and relentless. Cerainly no ono could
be moe familiar with the peculaIpractice OF the sur
rogatc's Court or with the llterture OF testamens
Leslie W. Russell IS Judge Hiltn's attorney OF reo-
ord and holds the general margement OF the case
while the hard work of examnton Is being done By
Eihu Root
These are powerful men an they look well at tA
counsel table Conkling is bj and Impressive In man
ner. His face is exccedlngl!whe, though the paioa
Is In no way unhealthy. IS handsome slverwhin
hair with its characteristic url in front, heighens the
pallid effect. Hc wears heavy rough sack coas
double breasted and buttoed snugly about him, and
in its pockets he sticks 3 hands. Thus he sits for
perlods OF five or ten miutes his chin buried In his
shirt front and bis eyes xed on the witness as though
he were calculating heir magnetic influence MI.
Rollins, small as to hlbody and big as to bis head,
moves about grAously 1t must seem
odd to a man who has sat
sor sx wears on the ench and listened to the polite
BATTERIES OF LAWYER and exercised his will as he
listed now 10 star dlvested Of all his power and
much of his dIgnt before the very bar over which
he SO recently prided and bow mceldy to another
and sue for favo Judge Rollins is going through
this experience.
Mr.. Choate snds alone opposed to all these great
men, and he oesn't seem to mind 1t bit Mr.
Conkng warni him the other day not to get excited
He might as appropriately have advised an iceberg
10 keen ifs snperature down II there Is any ono
quality of vslch Mr. Choate has an abundance It Is
GOODNESS Jthcre is thing be lacks it is enthusi-
asm He IS sympathy. no sentiment to spare.
indeed. fie possesses such things at all they arc
fully occuled upon his own interests. He sells his
wits 10 H. clients but not his emotions.
He assd young Mr.. Hilton some ugly questions
They wee meant to be ugly. The arrows were dos
liberated dipped into poison before they left the bow
aohi he said grimly, when told that certain
house food In Mrs. Stewards nane at the time OF mel
death" that was one bit Of property your fathei
dldn'ttake from her, was It ~
Tb Surrogate sustained Mr. Conklng's objection
as o the form of the question:
q will reconstruct II so that II will bo un-
Objectionable" said Mr.. Choate amiably. THAT was
% mite Of her great property which he permitted
br to retain, was It
I Now, that was sheer maevoence 1t was deliberate
and premedtated, for when Mr.. conkling objected
again, he said, "O WE'LL never mini
These saucy lawyers have altcgethor too much
freedom They got a poor fellow 90 the stand, where
he is practically defenceiess, when no can neither
talk back nor strife out and they crack their wnip
about his head without let or hndiance Then tney
get up before the Jury, declare hin isr' pcrlurcr,
thief blackmaer, traitor, murderer asd burglar ana
Incidentally observe that tho American press gives
too free vent TO its opinions Ticy ignore tho
difference that the press Its honst sentiments
while they offer to say any sentiment their clients
prefer You pays your money and .ou taxes your
choice.
Tho Surrogate sits In quiet dignity on tho oeneh
and listens with surprising patience To DO judge
may DO very nco but there are tines wncn Judges
must feel that they work very hard for their money
To have 10 sit stl and hear the srangiing chatter
OF dsputing lawyers, half the time miles away nom
the point at Issue, must be painhL Mr. Ransom
stands n we'll lie looks tranquil and good natured.
noticed that hs almost always iccded the polnts
thai were In dispute In favor OF Mr. Choate. This
may mean that Mr.. Choate was amost always right
hui n were a lawyer, think Should teel easier
trivia, matters, and reserve h, confidence In my
wisdom and intelligence for the sruc.a moment To
have him with me all along the trial and against me
In his findings and Judgment would hve my nsrvoW
system . rude shock