Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1898-01-15

sin. In very few years he was elect
ed to the United States senate, and Inn
mediately secured national reputa-
tion as a lawyer and statesman. But,
as 1 said before, the foundation of all
his greatness was laid when he was a
country lawyer.
"Then there was another country
lawyer whose name became great in his
day and generation, and who was the
father of some very bright children.
refer to Daniel Cady, of New York. l
forget the name of the little town in
which he lived, but recollect the story
that a leading lawyer of New York
city went to try case against Daciel
Cady, and on his way stopped at AL
bany to borrow few law books from
Nicholas Hill, to whom he said that he
was going up into the country to liter
ally chew up fellow named Cady.
The New York city lawyer had appar-
emily never heard of Cady before, and
Mr.. Hill quietly remarked: I know
something of that man Cady. When
you get through with him stop in my
Office and tell me what kind of man he
is The city lawyer returned one week
later and informed Mr.. Hill that he
had just been defeated in an important
case by that man Cady, who was the
greatest lawyer he had ever met.
"Chief Justice Gibson, of Pennsyl-
vania. was one of the greatest lawyers
ever produced by the Keystone state,
He was also country lawyer who, be-
ing an omnivorous reader and blessed
with an excellent memory, became a
phenomenon of legal learning. He was
a quiet, unpretentious man, who not
only absorbed all the erudition of his
profession, but he was a thinker, and
consequently a constructionist. He
used to play a fiddle, and carried the
instrumertwith him wherever he went.
He told his friends that he solved many
a lnotty problem while scraping on the
strings eXtemporizing chords or melo-
dies. He was II truly great man, albeit
he was a country lawyer from place
no more pretentious than Hominy Hill,
the home of Garland.
There was Nicholas Hill, of Albany,
to whom just referred. He originally
lived at Little Falls, Herkimer county,
N. Y. AS a country lawyer he was a
student, and when he branched out into
u larger field his attainments com.
manded immediate attention.
These are enough instances to cite
to show you that the country lawyers
are really learned men, and not a class
to be sneered at by careless gossip
ers"
1t is really no wonder that Senator
Davis Indignantly resented the sneer'
ing allusion to country lawyers. He
used to be one of that class himself
He spent several years in his country
home in Wisconsin studying law, and
reading omnivorously, before he went
to Minnesota and settled at st. Paul
He was young man, full of ambition tc
shine in his profession, and his worl
was done as a master builder lays &
strong foundation for great super
structure. In very short time after
he hung out his shingle in St. Paul h,
made his mark. He was looked duwI
T upon as a country lawyer, but the old
, timers soon found that Davis had beer
, doing lots of quiet and effective pi-
paratory work in his country office
He had not only studied law, but he hsl
become a classical scholar. He hat
. fitted himself for great affairs.
, Ignatius Donnelly the erratic geniu
of Minnesota, who is very learned
= man, once said to me: Senator Davi