The Washington herald., 1914-03-19
HISTORY BUILDERS.
An Anecdote of a Famous Virginia

written expressly for The Herald)
BY DIR. r. J. EDWARDS.
On one Of the coolest days Of thii
winter / met Roger A. Pryor watkins
with firm and vigorous step in the eyicin.
ity OF Central Park, New York City.
| fur-lined overcoat, the collar of which
was brought well up over his ears. q
soft and wide-brimmed black felt hal
and a pair OF heavy. fur-lined gloves
protected him from the chill that was In
| the wind blowing from the north with q
temperature OF a few degrees above zero
In spite OF his eighty-six years Judge
Pryor had physical vigor which the
wintry weather could not impair. anc
| which was fully matched by the vigor
! and alertness Of his mind. The only
mark of age which / observed was that
his long. flowing jet-black hair had
changed to A somewhat tawny color
like that OF a lions name. The Indian
like profile. always a prominent character.
istic Of Judge Pryor. and the bright
ness OF his eve, were precisely what they
had been when l had first known him,
thirty years ago.
AS l stood chatting with him, l could
not help thinking that II was extraordi-
nary that any one now living should be
able to talk with the last survivor OF
that memorable group that stood behind
the batteries in Charleston harbor in the
early dawn of an April morning in 1861
and said to the officers who were in
authority there. IF you fire upon Fort
Sumter, Virginia will secede within
twenty-four hours by Shrewsbury clock. ="
Judge Pryor had once told me that the
incident as thus described was correct.
He had gone TO South Carolina from Vir-
ginia. which was his home, TO carry that
message.
He spoke incidentally of the fact that
there had been three epOchs in his long
career. First, that OF his early manhood,
when he was sent as special ambassador
to Greece and when he served in the
House of Representatives at washin eton;
second. his military service in the Con-
federate army at the time Of the civil
war. and. last. his professional and ju-
dicial career in New York City. which
began soon after the close Of the civil
war
''As look back over my career. a long
one. since ] am now eighty-six years Of
age" said Judge Pryor. Il recall with
special delight one Of the greatest COM
pliments that could be paid to a lawyer
and Judge. | think I am safe in say
ing that this compliment gave me greater
qualification than anything in the way OF
kindly words-and they have been many
that have been said Of me or to me since
began the practice OF law. without a
cent to my name in New York City"
asked Judge Pryor II he would be
willing to tell me what the compliment
was.
Il should he very glad TO do So he
said when | was a justice Of the
Supreme Court OF New York State. /
tried a case involving a suit for damages
on account of an accident. The plaintiff
was a woman. She took the witness
stand and in the course Of her testimony
she stated what her physician had said
to her Immediately after the accident.
The defendants counsel in this case
thereupOn undertook to cross-examine the
physician. Objection was made on the
ground that what is said by a physician
TO a patient Is confidential and cannot be
disclosed upon the witness stand.
Il ruled that as the woman had already
testified To the conversation there was no
reason why the physician could not be
CrOss-eNamined and ! permitted this TO
be done. Appeal was taken and I was
overwhelmingly and summarily reversed
by the highest court in the State. Yet
always felt that my decision was sound
even though the Court "f Appears said
that II was not. Do you know that some
years later. in another case involving
precisely this question. the Court of Ap-
peals reversed itself and permitted to be
done tho very thing which I had per-
mitted. justifying IL by the very reason
which ! gave when | allowed the physi-
clan to be cross-examincd.
'Of course. I felt cOmplimented. What
judge would not? But | fcIt especially
complimented because by the earlier de-
cisiOn I was unanimously ovcrruled. and
by the second do cisIOn. some years later.
the court reversed itself and took pre-
Cisely the ground did when ! was sit
ting upon the bench. You ask any judge
II he would not feel greatly Complimented
if ne should have an experience of that
kind"
tCoryright l9l4l
(TOmorrow-A Popular Minister to the