The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-02-01
AMERICAN JESTER In ENGLAND'S COURT
Joseph Choate, the Greatest Wit and Diplomat
of the Age, Will Entertain
English Statesmen.

It is pleasing to think that Am
erfca's most distinguished lawyer and
public speaker is to be the next Am
bassador to the Court of ST. James
For there is no country in the world
where the bar is held in such high es-
TEEN as in England And, outside CT
America itself. there is no place where
the gift of public speaking IS SO much
appreciated as in the British Isle
In selecting Joseph H Choate to
be Ambassador, President Mckinley
has chosen a man whose eloquence Is
only outshone by his legal attain
ments; and whose wit is only eQualed
by the courtesy of his manner in his
public and private relations to other
men
More than anything else. the brill
fancy of our new Ambassadors wit
marks all the important epochs IN his
life Great as is his legal learning,
greater still is the incisive quality or
his humor. And at every point in the
events that mark the story of his life
some striking epigram. or one of his
characteristic speeches mark occasion
quite as forcibly as does the event it
self.
HIS FAMILY.
Our next Ambassador to England
was the youngest of the four sons CT
Dr. George and Margaret Manning
CHodges) Choate, of Salem, Mass He
was born January "a, 1892 He was
graduated from Harvard College in
1852 and from Harvard Law School in
1854 He was admitted to the bar or
Massachusetts, in 1855. and Immediate
" afterward came to New York City
and began TO practice In 1860 he be
came a member CT the firm of Evarts,
Southmayd & Choate, which is con-
tinued in the present firm of EvArts,
Choate & Beaman-
Mr. Choate, in 1861, was married
TO Caroline D. Sterling, daughter of
Frederick Sterling, of Cleveland, o.
This lady was the occasion of one of
the most charming compliments ever
paid a woman 1t was over a private
dinner table at which he and Mrs
ChOate were guests One of the ladies
inquired of him who he would like to
be If he could not be himself He
paused a few seconds, as if thinking
over the list of the worlds celebrities,
and then his eye rested upon his wife
IT, he answered, Il could not be my
self. / should like to be Mrs. Choate's
second husband
In accepting the post of Am
bassadOr to England Mr.. Choate will
do SO at great sacrifice of income.
His practice is very lucrative and he
is known to have received many fees of
$106. 600 or more for a single case 1t
may have been his familiarity with
getting big fees easily that prompted
this speech at a meeting in aid of a
womans charity fund:
Pick out your millionaire he
said, there are said to be twelve hun
dred millionaires in the city of New
ing them and their families all the
time, and no one knows it better than
they do Each one of you pick out
your millionaire, take him by the
throat and ask him for his money.
''Of course" he went on you NAV
think that it is little humiliating to
ask a rich man tc disgorge mis- honey
I have not found it so myself But
don't approach him through his wife.
Let some other mans wife go to him"
In all the important will cases of
the last twenty-five years, Mr.. Choate
has appeared He was counsel in the
great Huntington case, in which a
series of actions were brought against
Coils P. Huntington on account OF
road stock In the case of Richard
NJ Hunt vs. Mrs Paran Stevens Mr..
Choate was counsel for the plaintiff
In the Maynard election returns cases
involving charges of fraud against
Judge Maynard; in the court-suartfaI
trials of the Fitz-John Porter and Cap
tain McCa1ia cases; in the inveStiga-
ton of the VigiIant-VaIkyrfe yacht
contest before the New York Yacht
Club in the suit of Hutchinson vs.
New York Stock Exchange for rein
statement as member of the Ex-
Change; in the suit of Duke Loubat
against the Union Club for reins+ate
MI Choate gave notable exhibitions of
his power.
In the United States Supreme Court
the list of his appearances is a LONG
one 1t includes the case of Cxehbar5
vs. the Canada Southern Railway. the
Kansas prohibition case; the case of
Neagie, the United States Marshal who
shot Judge Terry in defense of Mr,