St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1914-10-10
May 1t Please Your Honor:

before you to speak a few words
on the death of a dear friend
and brother lawyer, Henry L.
Garland, Sr., of the Opelousas
bar. To-day the pleasant duty
devolves upon me to pay trib-
ute, however imperfect, to the
memory of another friend and
brother lawyer and a member
likewise Of the Opelousas bar,
Thos. H. Lewis, Sr., who died
since our last years memorial
day. Born in Opelousas in 1886,
he had attained nearly his 18th
year, when he expired at the
Touro Infrmary in this city. He
was of distinguished family.
his grandfather, Seth Lewis,
once chief justice of the supreme
court of Mississippi, was ap-
pointed a district judge in Lou
isiana after its organization as a
territory. His father William B.
Lewis, and his uncle Thos. H.
Lewis, in their days, were
among the leading lawyers of
Southwest Louisiana. He mar
ried a Miss Williams, a member
of one of the prominent families
of the parish Of Rapides. Her
mother, Mrs. John Williams, a
pupil of Alexander Dimitry, was
noted writer and a salaried
contributor, during her life, to
one of the principal periodicals
published in the city of Boston,
Mass.
knew the deceased, | may
say, during the whole of his pro-
fessional life. He came to the
bar just about the time Of my
admission, and for nearly a half
century, we occupied adjoining
seats. Ny opportunities to
Judge of the character and abil-
tiles Of the man were necessarily
of the best. I well remember
him in his early practice. Mod
est and unassum;ng; he appear
ed almost difident, unconscious
of the powers that lay in him.
But it was not long before they
asserted themselves, and he soon
forged his way to the foremost
rank of his profession. Endow-
ed with great perceptive pow
ers, a logical mind, a wonderful
command of language, and well
grounded in the fundamental
principles of law. his talents re-
ceived from litigants that atten-
ton he richly deserved. His SER
vices were called in requisition
on one side or the other Of near
ly every important case which
came up before our courts. He
gave to his business the closest
attention, and he was always
fully equipped for the legal bat
tie. He never could be taken by
surprise. He was wonderfully
resourceful. Whenever he took
a case he explored its most in
tricate points. His arguments
before the court were always
plain, clear and logical. Before
a jury he was at his best. No
one knew better than he how to
play on the chords of the human
heart and make them respond to
his appeals.
For several years his eyesight
had been failing to such an ex-
tent, that he was unable to read,
but his store of legal lore en-
abled him to know and apply the
law in every case entrusted to-
him.
AS a writer, he had no supe-
rior in this state. His style was
always pure, plain and clear. 1t
flowed like a mountain stream.
1t seems as if he was never at al
loss for the proper word or the
proper expression, whether in
his arguments before the court,
his public addresses or in his
contributions to the press.
He took an active part in every
question of interest to the state.
He was a man of a clear judg-
ment and firm convictions. He
was always a leader, never a fol-