The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-08-19
THE MAN TERRY STRUCK.
Justice Field lightly Sketched-Disappointed
in the Two Ambitions of His Life.


Mr.. Justice Stephen johnson Field. OF the
Supreme Court of the United States. is a
very remarkable man. The fact that he Is
one of the four Field brothers, who have
gained more distinction than any other four
brothers in American history, would be
enough of itself to make him remarkable.
But, like all the other brothers, stephen
j." as they call him, would be distinguished
If he bad been the only child OF his father.
Rev. DIR. Henry NJ. Field. who enlivens his
interesting religious weekly, the Evangel-
ist. with amusing praises of his naughty
brothers" las he playfully calls theml and
himself, recently published in his editorial
columns, with evident approval. a letter
from Rev. DR.. McCook, of Philadelphia.
praising an account of the battle of Frank
lin by DR.. Field. recently published In the
Evangelist, and winding ND with the re-
mark: II laid the paper down with the ex-
clamation: What cam Field dor"
Well. that might be said of all four.
Nothing is more characteristic of them than
their versatility except their egotism. The
very mention of the names of Cyrus w.
Field and David Dudley Field recalls adozen
different achievements, and Stephen j.,
though he has had fewer opportunities. has
talents equally various. Like all his broth
ers. he is a money-maker. He saved enough
in his Argonaut days in California to give
him a small fortune to go upon. and he has
invested and re-invested this so shrewdiy
that he has doubled his income. Like all
the rest, he is an admirable writer and an
excellent speaker. He was a good lawyer,
too, it not a great one, and, what is more, a
man of real culture. He is a courageous
man,, o man of strong will, who held his
faltered in what he thought his duty. In
spite of his seventy-three years and his
lameness. it was not he, but his family. who
suggested to Attorney-general Miller thata
deputy United States marshal shonld be
assigned to protect him. Like all the Fields,
tue Judge has a strong constitution. built
up by country living and country work in
his severe youth. He is very gray. but his
mind and his body are alike full and rObust.
Or course, a lame man never looks as vlgOr-
GUS as a man who isn't lame; but. though
the Judge leans or a stout stick of Califor-
MIA rosewood, he shows no other sign of
feebleness.
He is a small-sized man, much to the sur
prise of people who have only seen him sit
ting behind the desk of the Supreme Court,
rObed in his vOluminOuS judicial gown OF
black silk. for his head and his body are nm
usually large. 1t is his legs which make
Hill SetIn SuOTt. Ills ITOut Is IMPRESSIVE.
His forehead is high. running back into pol
ished badness; his remaining hair is bushy
and %silvery, and his beard a venerable
white. Mysterious gray eyes look unex-
expressively ont from, behind his. gold
trimmed spectacles. He has HarrisOn'S COM
plexion now. He is a very dignifed man
naturally, and he adds every year to his
high conception of judicial dignity, so that
his manner grows constantly more i'm
pressive.
No one will think of ~slapping him famil-
iarly ON the back. Indeed. if Terry had not
been blinded by a wOman's passion / do not
see how he could have slapped him in the
face. for he is as much of an old Roman SEN
atOr as Allen O.. Thurman. Yet he is as fond
of society as his wife. and they entertain a
great deal and in great variety. They are
more Literary" as the word goes. than any
of the other Supreme Court families, and
mix the literary" and society elements
very effectively.
Graciousness is the note which the Judge
strikes on social occasions. Nevertheless,
the Field mansion, on Capitol Park, direct
ly east of the Capitol and right across the
street from where the new Library build
ing is beginning to rise, is noted for its hos
pitality. The Fields are very careful of
their social obligations, too, and the Judge
i'm the discharge of them devOtes hours of
the time he would like to give to his be-
est carriage with Mrs. Field. Although the
Judge has had such a distinguished career.
he is a bitterly disappointed man, a man
who does not smile spontaneously and who
laughs artifieially. He has had two great
ambitions IN life. He wanted to be Presi-
dent. Failing that, he wanted to be Chief
justice. And now that he will never be
either, he has no motive for remaining in
public life. except his determination not to
retire until there is a Democratic President
to appoint his successor. He is q Democrat,
a Union war Democrat. appointed as such
by President Lincoln, and has honestly and
brayely maintained the true Democratic
position on every question coming before
only natural in a candidate for the presi-
dency, but still favOrab1y and honOrably.
Yet | am glad the unwrittep law which
prevents the selection of men for the SUI
preme Bench for presidential nominations
was not violated in his case. 1t Won be a
national misfortune to have a Supreme
COur Justice nominated for the presidency
by either party. Let the Justice stick to
his bench: MI. Field. however. did not
think so, at least while there was any idea
in his mind that he might be nominated by
the Democratic party. think it was only
in 1884 that he gave up all hope of drawing
the lightning with his cane. 1t was in 1880
that he really made his last fight. His can
queer one. Of course he could do very little
personally, except write letters, but he set
up a literary bureau here under the direc-
ton of a veteran Democratic Washington
correspondent, to whom he intrusted money
enough not only to circulate Field litera-
ture among the newspapers throughout the
country, but to give a series of quiet din
ners at a quiet Old-fashiOned restaurant on
Pennsylvania avenue at which Field was
the chief topic of conversation. don't re-
member Just how many votes resulted from
these earnest, but dignitied efforts, but l
remember that Hancock, and not Field,
was nominated at Cincinnati. If were a
punster l might make something out of the
fact that those Field dinners we're given at
HancOck's restaurant, but / am not.
Field had really entertained strong hopes
of being nominated in the convention of
1SS0-stronger than he had ever had before
AS was shown by his rather expensive
His failure almost crushed him
at first. but he recovered enough to hope in
1884 that something might happen to turn
the convention in his favor. When Cleve-
land was nominated he gave up. and he
now has only his regrets. When Cleve-
land was elected, however, q new hope
came to Field. As the only Democrat on the
Supreme Ben ch. he began TO think that. if
anything should happen 10 Chief justice
Waite, it wOuld be only natural for the
Democratic President to make him Waite's
successor. When Chiefjustice Waite died
Fields friends lost no time in suggesting
to President Cleveland the propriety OF
promoting the veteran Democratic Justice
to the vacancy. All the other members OF
the Supreme Court. conservative as ever,
expressed their preference for Field over
any new man whatsoever. For a time II
seemed that Field might be appointed: but
this was only seeming. DISAPPOINTED be-