El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-11-19

he had read Benjamin's speech. NO."
answered lord SherOrooke. Then READ
it." advised Lewis, for it is far ahead
of anything our own Benjamin Obs
raelD could have DONE"
His Work for the South.
The part Benjamin took in the con-
federacy will never be known until a
complete history of the south is writ
ten. He thought to bring England to
her knees through a cotton famine. Cot
ton was then king and the astute
statesman felt sure that the holding
up of this produce would be sufficient
cause for interference on the part OF
a country which depended on the raw
material for her finished products. But
the emancipation proclamation of Lin
coin made it morally impossible for
England to interfere.
AS to France, Benjamin was on terms
of, intimacy with Napoleon III. He had
made several visits to that country and
he knew the emperor and people well,
but France, too, had to hold OFF her
hands.
Benjamin, however, succeeded in ne
gotiating loans from the Er1anger fam
lily of Paris with which to carry on
the struggle. When ErlangeA from
whom BENJAMIN had borrowed money
in Paris, came over to this country to
see for himself the real state of affairs,
he went to the state Department, where
he had an interview of two hours with
BENJAMIN, the conversation pe1ng IN
French. In a speech in the confederate
house of representa- tives, referring TO
this interview, governor Foote said;
''On the occasion of the recent visit
of Mr.. Erlanger. minister plenipoten-
tiary and envoy extraordinary from MS
highness. the emperor Of France, TO MS
~, he
Confederate States, Judas Iscariot Ben
jamin. the conversation was in French
for two hours"
Price on His Head.
When Lee surrendered to Grant and
Jefferson Davis was out-lawed, a price
was also put on the head of his secre-
tary Of state Benjamin lost all his
property and fled TO the West Indies,
whence he made his way to London,
and there at the age of Sc, when most
men think of laying down the burden
of life there came a second turning
point in, his great career.
He entered Lincolns Inn as a law
student in 1856 and owing to his bril-
liant American record he was admitted
to the English bar in less than a year.
From the first his success was phe-
nomenaI He made colonial appeals his
speciality, just as he had made Califoc-
MIA claims a speciality at the Louisiana
bar In a short time he was making
money at the rate Of 100000 a year.
He rose in a few years to be the ac-
knowledged head of the English legal
profession He retired with we'll
won and well-wOrn laurels in 1882.
Bench and bar We'd with eacn other
to show MIN honor. A public dinner
was teneder in his honor in the Inn IT
Temple on June go 1888. which was
presided over by sir Henry James. The
greatest legal lights in England paid
glowing tributes to the grand old man
of the bar who had made his profess
sion a shining success on two conti-
nents. despite every obstacle anc diff
Guilty.
After he had quilted the English bar
ne went to Paris to live. His daughter,
innate, had married Capt. Henri de
Bousignac of the 117th regiment OF
the French line. and was living with
her mother in the French capital. There
he died on May 6, 1884, at the age of 10.