The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-05-19
THE PERSONALITY OF
 FLUSH TIMES" BALDWIN
Something Of the Author of Noted Alabama Book-He Came Df a Most Distin- (
 guiShed Lineage.
guiShed Lineage.

front among Alabama counties. Truly those were Hush times of which Baldwin wrote and of which he wAs . part. According to the census in 1D04 eight years after the forma&1on 2 tk0 county, its population aa thsn eo < tuted amounted to 5000. eUcood11 that of any other county In the okAt6 It was a rich haven, or harvest Ao14 for the lawyers, whither they csnGsos gated like birds of prey. ACrcrl(nG.to :. figures based upon Garrettb oGx niscences of Public men m
 in 1845 the number of residenks1 r x in the county was fifty-typo.
 nine of whom lived in Liv1nUD1on. eaN$ eleven at Gainesville. Onxyvons okhSG county, ancient and historic UIooc1& could boast of a larger number. ,Hopo then. Baldwin found a cengen1al fiold for the display of his talent and in- dustry. Litigation and poiitts1 Woroa largely the popular amusemen1n snH pastimes. and all hands pakgpninod them fin overfiowirg measure, sfSIfer ln < suing or being sued, running sor ok~ fice or supporting an offfce-aonk19r. Baldwin says: 'Tt was . merry <ind& for us craftsmen;; and we brlnXfnndd 5 up nightly, and shook our QulJ6 toy- ously, like goslins in the midst Of q shower. We look lack to that ooo6 time, now past and gone.' with tno pious gratitude and serene saxl1fAction with which wreckers near the Yloridn Keys contemplate the last fine stor1n.'
 Sumter's Galaxy.-To give c fuH@ their idea of the incentive and in~ spiration afforded by assoctatioa ana environment, 1t is well to call atten- tion to the political and psof1Ggaonaf prestige of Sumter County duwing tho period of Baldwin's residence, frozE 1888 to 1854. when congressmeu, 3o0co& and Governor were selected fso1n. her galaxy of able men. Pracftclng with him at the bar were men of the firaf rank in the legal profession. of h1elx attainments in scholarship. of genulno literary taste and culture, and of fun- loving spirits and mirth- h-provoas1ne pro- pensities. Among these were Jonaenan Bliss. his partner, graduate of pnrt~ mouth College, and the Blass of his humorous sketoh Jonathan and the Constable" who knew all about the law." but whose ability to ''nornto it from the stump was questioned; sam- uel Chapman, whose career on tho bench extended over a period of elkla- teen years, man of infinite jest and humor: Judge Turner Reavis, the &e- nial wit and jolly humorist. the pro- found lawyer whose literary library was the finest in the State; Judge Bacchus w. Huntington, the scholarly New Englander, the proficient and successful lawyer. the bright wit and author of a poem, Bacon and Grssns. c. .Greene's "Oid Grimes Is Dead:* Samuel W. Inge, the astute lawyer and successful politician; Robert H. Smith, who became the first lawyer of the State: and others. like Gideon B. F'rier- son. Samuel A. Hale. T. B. Wetmore and Philip s. Glover. Perhaps ak no other bar in the State was to be found such a coterie of men of boon conn panionship and hearty camaraaarie. wi0. after tine notiy contested legal bouts of the day, gathered about their offices. in their rooms, or in the old ChocNaw House, to re9ale their spirits with funny anecdote and humorous ad- venture. with comforting beverages and appetizing meal.
 Baldwin, like most of the prominent Virginians in Alabama. belonged to the Whig party, a party which. with the leveling tendencies of new coun- try. held it's own with difficulty, end , was able to make little headway against such formidable breakers or barriers as the popular watchwords of Democracy: "State rights and strict construction" He was one of the few Whigs whom Sumter, County honored with office. In 1s43, elected a memsez of the legislature. he served with con- spicuous fidelity.
 Tn 1s49 he was a candidate for Con~ gress. but was defeated by the Demo- cratic candidate, Samuel w. lnge, WnQ Garrett, in his "Reminiscences. says had the advantage, of the reputafaon gained by knocking down an anoii- tionist on the floor of Congress. m 1850 he removed to Livingston.
 h through his professional and political life, and having described in his social environment the conditions under which he lived, one Is the better pre- pared to study and appreciate his writings, particularly that work upon which his fame rests. In 1853 appeared "Flush Times of Alabama and Missis- sippi," and in 1855 Party Leaders. both published by D. Appleton & Co., of New York. The former was dedi- cated to the "Old folks at home's in the valley of the Shenandoah; the lat- ter to Briscoe G. Baldwin, in grateful acknowledgement of obligations con- ferred.
 His Book Appears.-HiS great and enduring work Is The Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi" There is not dull or commonplace page in the book. from the introduction of Ovid Bolus, the naturally dexterous and ac- complished liar. to the voluntary with drawal of the ignorant applicant for lav license, who confesses: don't know as it's any harder than took 1t at the fust; but then, B., thers so d-d much more of It." Tn work maintaining so uniform standard in the excellence and variety of rich humor, so sustained in it's passages de- scriptive of ludicrous situation, and so faithful in character study, 1t is difti- ; cult to give an idea of the merit or the art of the book by detached quo tation or description. A broad and genuine sympathy Is manifest through out. There Is no lash of satire fam ming into 8 glaring light the foibles of men and society, there Is no sheer of ridicule gloating over the weaknesses of less favored mortals, there Is nc breath of sarcasm venting It's envious spite upon hollow pretense. It is true that shams and follies, rascalities and villaInies are held up to view, but with such suggestions of a gracious charity as to be overshadowed in their hideous and repulsive forms by the mirth pro- voked. There Is a freshness and spon- taneity about 1t. showing 1t to be no imitation of any other work of the kind. In the originality of its charac- ters and scenes and in the excellence of its style and narrative, it is worthy to rank with Longstreet's Georgia Scenes" and with Thompson's Major Joness Courtship' as a faithful tram script of past conditions.
 While the scenes and characters have