Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1901-04-12
CIRCUIT COURT
OF AUGUSTA.
AND STAUNTON BAR IN 1885.

, of the Staunton bar of sixteen yea
ago, as seen and described by one
it's members. A retrospective view {
that body of men Is at once most ir
| teresting, calling to mind as it does
memory of many of the ablest an
most brilliant legal intellects of the
day. The writer in facetious an
pleasant style has drawn pen picture
of each member, so descriptive an
charsc scteristic of the individual allude
TO, that every character is readily rec
ognized, without, in many cases, S
much as the mention of a name. Th
sketch is as follows:
''Shortly after my admission to tn
Bar. first saw the Circuit Court O
Augusta county convene, on the morn
ing of November 10th. 1885
The sheriff, venerable person, il
black, with the satisfied look of self
made man, an air of authority abou
| him, and a show of Difference to th,
court befitting his Office, in an impres
sive Dyes Dyes opened court; and
the clerk, a chivalric looking man Of
fifty, manned of leg while leading his
company in desperate charge al
Charlottesville, began to call the
docket.
had never before that morning
seen the distinguished William Nc
Laughlin, Judge of the thirteenth cir
cult, on the bench. have seen many
great men in other States and ON the
highest courts of the land, but l have
never seen any one whose presence so
impressed me. Though be had been a
leading citizen before '61, and as dis
tinguished officer, had been bathed in
the fires of contending armies during
the long war between the States, yet
time appeared to have dealt tenderly
with him. He was erect and of heroic
mould. His face was cleanly shaven
and ruddy, and his thick hair but lit
tie changed. A varied experience and
a long judicial career had not worn
away the aboriginal Scotch Irish look
and the rugged robust aspect that he
brought with him when he first made
his way from his mountain home
through the historic Goshen Pass, to
begin his career of usefulness at the
Athens of Virginia, his beloved adopt.
ed home. His countenance was strik-
lngly sincere, frank and truthful. He
had the look Of one who knows his duty
and does it. There was an air of self
C conscious power about him, but no
vanity, and he had look that gave
the lie to all shams and fopperies. He
had great presence, and although
plainly dressed, looked grand and
stately. He appeared to me, on the
bench, so much above the average man
that he impressed me like some great
1lctator. 1t was an august court
Nor was the bar at that time less
IN pressiye than the court. 1t was
ulSuCo UdIs II ~ tlC dS I'll 2 tlldU
most attracted my attention among
jhe lawyers present. was a tall spare
nan wac had cane in one hand and |
\ silk hat in the other, the great law
yer, Alexander II. II. Stuart, who was
ust retiring from the stage of action.
dis face showed the cares and struggles |
Of many conflicts, and his wrinkled |
Drow the thought of years. He had seen |
he dawn of the century and was bow
ed with age. but still there was tire fire |
Of genius in his eye and peerless |
Lightly about him, and his head crown |
I'D with thick snow white hair, made |
him venerable indeed. He had, in the |
prime of bis manhood, been one of the |
most brilliant orators of the South, |
and our fathers had hung spell bound |
on his lips of eloQuence. He had been |
3 distinguished representative in Con |
yress and a member of Filmore's Cabi- |
net. He remained iu the court room |
sut little while, and when he retired
all looked after him. Another bowed |
with the weight of years-who for half
a century had been leader in his Fro
bloodless and wrin-
kled, dark, swarthy. with an eagle
eye, arched brow, and hawk nose, a
face firm with subtle, shrewd, sagac
Gus look-Judge David FULTON that
morning was for the last time in the
old court house.
There was General John EchOls,
calm and placid, bis beautiful hazel
eyes looking from under massive brows,
and radient smile playing over every
feature, he had retired from active
practice and had only dropped in t.
view again the place of bis many In
tellectual contests; and by him sat
strong vigorous man of sixty, not tall
but of massive build, with a look about
his face tnat reminded me of the
s ,atesmau Blaine. He had long been
a leading lawyer, and was the chief
pioneer in the edeveiOpement OF the mln
i eral resources of the two Virginias-
Henderson, NJ. Bell. A wiry little fel-
low sat at the entrance to the bar, old
and shriveled up, white hair and beard,
high forehead and close set month,
black searching eyes and face hard and
imparturbable, and with wizened
look about him. He Was counsel for
tie Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Judge Hugh w. Sheffey.
The court g ''Devil, absorbed, medi-
tative, with student face and glow
of light in his expressive eye, was a
character to be observed, to be pointed
out and inquired after anywhere. Re
mainders, vested and contingent, e1
ecutory limitations and all of the sub
tleties of the science of the law, wer'