The times., 1899-04-10

accepting the resignation, wrote Justice
Field long letter of congratulation upon
the exceptional duration. fidelity. and dis
tinction OF his service. The complete Pc
riod was thirty-four years and seven
months, a term longer than that OF any
member of the court since its creation.
In appearance Justice Field was pa
triarchal He was broad and strongly
built with fine forehead and Keen eyes.
His hair and long beard of grayish white
made him a noticeable man anywhere.
An attempt was made on Justice Field S
life in 1859 by Judge Terry, the man who
killed Broderick twho- was NJ. Fields sec
ond in one of his California affairs ia
duel II was in the suit of Sarah A thea
Terry against Judge Tely. During the
progress Of the case Terry drew revolver
and pointed il at Justice Field, but before
he could fire Marshal Neagle, who wss
guarding the Justice. shot and killed him.
In 1880. at the Naticral Democratic Con-
venticn in Cincinnati, Justics Field was
prominent factor as a possible nominee OF
the convention for the Presidency, VIII Oh
was given TO General Hancock. Mr.. Field
was the Pacific Coast candidate. and re-
ceived nearly all if not all the votes frem
that section.
The judicial and legal training of the
Field family did not exhaust itself in the
male line. A sister of these four distin-
guished brothers, Mrs. Josiah Brewer, was
the mother OF Associate Justice Brewer, of
The United States Supreme Court, who sat
on the bench with his illustrious uncle,
Justice Brewer. who is entitled to rank
as member of this celebrated family,
was born in Asia Minor while his parents
were there as missionaries. Justice Field
also lived in Smyrna with his aunt. He
lived long enough in the Levant to be-
come familiar with the modern Greek,
French, Italian, and Turkish languages.
On account of his early acquaintance with
these languages. particularly the Turkish,
Mr.. Field spent much of his time in the
study of Oriental questions
Students OF the influence of heredity
many well study the Field family. 1t is
traced back TO Hubertus de la Field, who
came to England in the train of William,
the Norman Conqueror. The name indi-
Gates the German origin of the family,
Field being the German for Field. When
Hubertus ancestors settled in Normandy.
they merely put the French proposition
"de" and article ia before the German
name. After the English language became
fixed the French sart of the name was
dropped and the Field of the old Saxon
became the Field of the modern English.
The family in this country have been
more distinguished probably than in Eng
Revolutionary Army and his son, David
Dudley, was Congregational minister,
and David Dudley's sons. David Dudley.
jr, Stephen Johnson, Cyrus West, and
Henry Martyn have added additional lustre
TO the name.
Justice Field had no particular advan-
iages as youth. He worked for his educa-
tion. and while reading law he also taught
in a girls school at Albany, N Y. His
fa c;o I'M
iy of more benefit 10 him than all his book
learning Born in an age and in section
where he was environed with the narrow
views OF the Puritan, his association with
the Greek Christian, the Armenian, and the
Mahometan, removed whatever OF straight
laced Puritanical sentiment he may hays
imbibed and broadened him into liberal
man and Christian tolerant of the beliefs
of others, and ready TO grant TO others
what he took unto himself.
His experiences in the rough Western
country would be full of entertainment
10 the present generation. He arrived IN
California with only $40 in his pocket
That amount, owing to the gold fever
prices. would buy about three fairy good
meals. IL was necessary for him TO hust
or starye- He hustled. When he reached
California he had several chamois skins
in his trunk. II is not recorded that he
though that might have been his intention.
1t so happened that chamois skin was an
exceedingly useful but very rare article
in California. Field soon discovered this
fact but entirely through accident. A
native saw the skins in Fields trunk and
offered IS for enough 10 make small
sack in which 10 carry his gold dust
He wanted a sack sufficiently large to carry
the small change of that new country.
rho in af
dust, amounting anywhere from s25 to
500. MIR. Field saw that chamois skins
were worth more in California than legal
lore so he at once had his channels skins.
cut into small pieces, which he sold for
dust sacks. The next ship had an invoice
OF channels skins for Mr.. Field, and with
the aid of these things he got his start
in life.
An instance of his nerve was shown dur
ing his canvas for the California Lsgisla-
ture. A man was accused of stealing gold
dust. an offence equal to horse stealing in
Texas. The accused ran away, and that act
was looked upon as an admission OF guilt,
He was caught by posse and arrange
ments were made for his iynching. Field
interfered, organized an impromptu court,
got his witnesses, and showed that the
man could not have stolen the gold dust,
and that he fed simply because he knew
mat the clrcunStdntlal evidence was
against him. This incident gave Field
great reputation as a lawyer, but it re-
quired a great amount of nerve to hold
up crowd that had already decided the
man should be punished by the rough law
OF the mining community.
Distinguished as was the career of JUS
;ice Field. there was one severe disap-
pointment in his life from which he never
quite recovered. He hoped and expected to
be named as Chief Justice of the United
States Supreme Court in 1883, when the
last vacancy occurred. Mr.. Cleveland was
then President and Justice Field was a
Democrat. He had, however, the higher
claim than that of mere political aftilia-
tions. He was fourteen years the senior
Associate Justice. The President, however,
passed over his head and appointed Mel
vile Weston Fuller.
Mr.. Field and his friends were greatly
grieved and disappointed. This slight the
aged Justice never forgot and never for
gave. II was the cause Of his antipathy to
Mr.. Cleveland, which he never failed TO
express. During President Cleyeland's sec
ond term the adyisability OF retiring was
suggested many times to Justice Field, but
ne would not crafty Grover Cleveland's
desire 10 name another member of the
court
Justice Field was the last of the ap-
polntees Of President Lincoln.
To-