The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-03-12
. CHAPTER OF HISTORY,
"a RELATED nj Two JUDGES WHOM
raEsIDEST LINCOLN APPoITTED.

f+r $&hcASbNk 11ENtODN arr olNIHDs
5nstiee Fisher OF the District Supreme Court
and His Aequaintnnce with s~tsnton-Jus.
ties vyyiie's Vote Tor Lineein In Aiex.n-
aris, and H,s Flight 70 the North-How
Harper's Ferry Arsenal Was Saved.
wAsHrSoToY. March 11.-There live at Wash
inRton two Judges OF the District Court whom
Lincoln appointed for the District OF Columbia
Judge Fisher and Judge wylio.
Judge Fisher Is "a years old. and was, q
member OF Congress from Delaware in the
first port OF the war. elected by q Fusion. or
Peoples party. but he supported Mr.. Lincoln's
war measure. That bench. as reconstructed.
70 get tho rebels of It and be Of local judicial
Assistance to the struggling Government. was
composed OF David Carter OF Ohio. Chief Jus
tico: tho two Judges have named. and Judge
OlIn Of Troy. New York. who had been one OF
the Van Buren, Barnburners. Carter died sew
eral yenrs ago. leaving quito a fortune. Will ch
no had made In real estate In Washington
and Cleveland. Judge Fisher tried John Sur
raft. and wonll now be ON the re.
tired list but that no resigned to benefit
some young mon OF his family and became
District Attorney. Mr.. Window. who wac In
Congress with him. and knew how his excel
lent heart had peen to his injury. appointed
him First Auditor Of the Treasury. A night or
two ago I came In contact with these two sur.
vivors OF the old District bench. Judge Fisher
remarked:
" drafted the Clayton. Bulwer trenty for my
old friend and preceptor. John NJ. Clayton. In
the administrator Of Gen. Taylor. Henry
Bulwer. the father OF tho late Lord Lytton.
was quite earnest to have that treaty passed
In the interests OF Anglo-Saxon peace and civil
i1ation. Our Office was on + street. near the
Ebbltt House. and while at work there ono
day q fire broke out. and the white men would
not pass buckets OF water. but left that to the
negroes, whereupon Bulwer cried: Como on.
Fisher. and take n hand with me at passing
water. Dammit! How I hate slavery"
Judge Fisher said. at another tlmo: David
Carter was not a man OF much courage. but
o. wonderful audacity. He suffered. and whom
one dry. during tho quarrel between Stan
ton and President Johnson. We heard a clat-
tering sabre come into tho District Court cor
Ytdor. drawn by an orderly. who presented q
note to Carter. tho Judge turned pale. and
said he: 'Fishor. I can't do thisi You no up
there and take my place! When it became
apparent that Stanton would have me. or in
vito mo. I went up and stayed with him q
week. while he was holding the War Depart
mont against Johnson. He had blank recog-
nizances there. to be Allied up before a Judge.
when an injunction or mandamus should be
served upon him."
what kind OF man was Stanton under
such circumstances ?"
HE was a man Of wonderful ability and
almost equal audacity. and yet he was not a
physically coura geous man. He had the moral
courage to hold his ground. and rather liked q
fight such ms that was. but he was nervous.
irritable. and sometimes positively brutal.
When l was in Congress l often received favors
from Simon Cameron. as I Ind commissions to
be filled for the army aud navy. and the whole
task was on my head. 1 represented the war
Governor OF the State. but the State was Demo-
cratic. Sometimes l have been 80 blufYed by
Stanton that. descending his stairs. l have felt
impelled to turn round and 90 back and de-
rnand satisfaction for his manner to me
in pursuance OF my duty. Then I re-
6ected that he had very much to do.
and had an infrm temperament. I
have seen him terrible to Generals who came
there. and but for the extra ordinary circum-
stances. and the support Lincoln and Seward
gave him. he might have been pushed out
many times. One day. when I was requested
to 20 up there. I said that I was so tired at
6tanton's browheating manner TINT 1 was
afraid to go lest I might do something that
would not become mo. The person who spoke
to me told this to Stanton. and after that he
treated me comparatively easy. I ~recollect
that / went there once to try to get three mon
commissioned in tho service. and before I had
left he had given mo twelve commissions.
introduced to him Henry s. McComb Of Della
ware. who alterward figured In the Credit Mo-
bilier transaction as the arouscr OF the ~investl-
cation Of that name. McComb made such an
impression on Stanton that I was compelled to
do a great deal Of my business with tho de-
partm emit aiterward through McComb's better
relations than mine. / was aware. however.
all the time. Whatever Stanton might say or do.
that ha was n MIGHTY man atnDdipp in tho
preach. his whole soul enlisted in reducing
tho lnsu:Gsnt States. and he succeeded"
Judge Wylie's house is a square brick.
roomy ediice. built before the war and stand.
ing right opposite tho statue OF General
Thomas. Nearly every house upon that circle
has q history. In tho rear OF the Thomas
statue. before tho Lutheran church. is tho
great statue OF Martin Luther. q copy OF that
at Worms. The old house on tho northwest
corner was the residence OF William H. Crsw-
ford. Secretary OF the Treasury under Monroe.
and there probably Crawford was stricken
with paralysis while charges were being
brought against him by the Calhoun men
through Ninian Edwards OF Illinois. Senator
Edmunds. Secretary Bayard. and Judge Miller
lived in that general block. The venerable
Bonator Morrill,. who made the first
war tariff. still lives upon another
corner. next door to Senator Allison. both
AhNAuk ouilt . icuso~ Hous oCueUCk
lived. and. think. died. on still! another cor.
ner. and the widow Of Admiral Dahlgren has
built a French turretted house next to Judge
wylie's. stood at the unwilling Of tho
Thomas statue some years past and saw the
extraordinary scene Of the Richmond Blues.
or Greys. In their horsetail helmets. doing
honor to that man. who took Just the opposite
course from Gen. Lee. and became the rock Of
Chickamauga. as Lee was tho shifting sands
at Gettysburg.
] said to Judge Wylie: 81 am told that
there were some interesting circumstance
about your voting for Abraham Lincoln In
virginia. and being compelled to leave Alexan-
dria when the State seeded from the Union p
Judge Wylle is 10 years old. and would be In
hale health but for an attack oiths grip, which
has never left his system. He answered:
Il could speak Of a good many little things
like that II ! felt equal to o long conversation.
One Of the first things I ~recollect was going to