The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1897-12-18
AND PERSONALITY {


THE PLAINTIFF AND DEFENDANT,
keeping in mind the charitable maxims
demortuus nil nisi bonum and Willis
memo sine nascitur, speak only good of
the dead, remembering that no man Is
born without faults.
The plaintiff, James II. Birch, was
born in Montgomery county, Virginia,
| March %, 1904, and was in the prime
of vigorous manhood al this interesting
period of his life. He was possessed of
a collegiate and classical education and
endowed with a splendid intellect; wns
n lawyer of eminenee, an orator of
merit and pungeut and caustic
writer; versatile and finished in COM
position, refined and elegant in dlction,
and enriched his speech and writings
with copious and trite quotations of
Latin and from the classics. He was
editor, lawyer, representative and
judge, having served with distinction
as state senator, and was, at the time
of the inception of this controversy, a
member of the supreme court. He was
tall, erect and commanding In person,
polished in manner, fluent Ia speech,
facile and sarcastic with pen, vain of
his learning, influential In his party, q
leader of democracy, restless and i'm
patient with ambition and vindIctive
and Intolerant in dIsputation. Through
all the vicissitudes oI his active and
eventful life he retained unlmpaired his
vigorous constitution and robust health
''chastened by time, undimmed by
age" He died at an advanced age on
his ample and beautiful estate amid his
books, surrounded By bis devoted
household, venerated and beloved by
his neighbors. "Though thou be as
chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou
will not escape calumuy."
THOMAS a. BENTON, TIE RENOWNED
DEFENDANT
In this interesting legal episode. was
born (but not to die) near Hills
borough, North Carolina, March Il,
1852. He was therefore % years the
senior Of his plaintiff-adversary; nearly
three score years and ten, the time
allotted by the psalmist, when this
.'foolishness'' began, though like the
plaintiff be still retained all of bis great
mental and physical vigor, undimmed
By age or time. He was educated at
Chapel Hill university, North Carolina,
and moved to Tennessee. served term
in the legislature of that state; came to
Missouri in 1913 and was elected as one
OF the fist United States senator of this
state IN 1921 and continuously remained
in that position until 1851, when he
was defeated for reelection by Henry
8. Geyer, a whig, and retiring from the
senate wss elected in 1852 to the lower
house of congress, served one term and
was a candidate for governor in 1856,
and died at Washington City, April Q,
1858.
Will not attempt q resume Of his
long and illustrious career as senator
for period of thirty years. he was
grand in person, grand in thought,
grand IN conception, grand in origi-
nality, grand in execution and grand
IN display of a craftsmanship unsur-
passed in the parliamentary history of
the world. He stood the equal of either
of the
GREAT TRIUsIvIRATE, CALHOUN, CLAY,
WEBSTER.
He was imperious, dIctatorial and
dominating in his nature, lofty and self
conscious in his convictions, far-seeing
and prophetic in his warnings and pre-
dictions, patriotic to his country and
devotedly true TO the people of his
state, whom he represented 30 long
with such consummate skill and
fidelity, For thirty years he stood all
luminous and majestic as sponsor for
the young queen state OF the west, bid.
ding her to be of good cheer and point
ing hopefully to the ultimate consum-
nation of her glorious destiny, and
inspiring her stately sons and bright
eyed daughters to noble actions by the
resplendent light and unerrlDg guidance
of his imperial genius.
At the time of the conclusion Of this
legal contest In which he was a promi-
nent and picturesque personality, his
.'star had approached and passed the
zenith Of It's power, but we could dis
Germ no Ealing of it's intellectual fires.
1t was still shining with an effulgent
radiance, not dazzling and brilliant as
in its meridian splendor, but like the
mellow light of the harvest moon, mild
and peaceful" Ii soon passed away,
and whatever may have been the merits
of this famous controversy all can join
in wishing
Peace to the Just mans memory,
| Let IL grow green In the lapse OF tiHe
And blossom through the tight of ages.
In concluding review of this
remarkable case may it not be asked
why and for what purpose all this
splendid display of Judicial and forensic
:aient, great litigants, great clients,
eminent jurists, accomplished and
gifted lawyers, patient and laboriOus
officers, vast expense of money and
time, long continued strife and an
abiding the laws delay. Stripped Of
"form and circumstance, disrobed Of
legal veroiage and attractive pbraseol-
ogy and, to use a familiar expression
of Col. Benton, "putting the knife 10
the nerve" of Inquiry and discovery and
going direct to the heart and graveme q
of thu case it is found In the elm pie