Dear George.

Newburgh 14th Noreth 1782.

I have recewad your Letter of the 23. Alt from Berkeley; & am sorry to find,

Thang gevend pain in the Breast stile conti ere

this gets to hand you take a trip to the Southward_Boeth Crack had as any opinionben adorses one to the West Indies, if there is the least appearance of the disorder falling apen That the bossel may be captured, & a disagree Lupps. _ the only objection I see to this is, able captivity - perhaps imprisonment. --may add to your complaints. when possibly Southern climate, during the winter Season, may be equally effecations.

If zen Thould make choice of fle latter experiment to recover your health, should go as far as the Southern Army, this letters Laux to toneral Seen wik, dan her shaded procure you every aid, assistance, sadvice that may be in Lisperer to afford gen; & Irequest you to make usacfit according. The Army has. retired into Winter Quarters - the principal part of it is in this

excurity where thave, Hakeemainin the same confined Quarter, I had last pa Here is hodate for you to returf to al present, consequently there can be. he cause for your assietly rejoin thebling. but if there was, ell hearth is a sufficient plea for abrence &oratieapt to recover it, a conswaration to which even other thaald

gtelt. My handwertresty of what the BritishCabinet design various are the report, sah equally rapue. Any ent opinion off the matter is, that the unwilling hess of the Thane & his présent. Prime Ministe Lord Shelburn to acknowledge the Independen cy of this Country, is such as to induce ther •to bust to the chapter of accident halthe by so doing they hazard abjother than smaller this biller Bil - The Nepociations. are going on_but very limpingly - this weate will, no doubt, bring them to acendasien, bar whether they with terminate in a peace or fis traction of the war, wo key and my kes! –

Remember me in the mostuffarth crate manner to your Lather, Motherdah friends; and be assured that dan with geen

MINOR TOPICS

TAKING ARSENIC IN THE COURT ROOM TO WIN A CASE

THE FAMOUS CRIMINAL LAWYER, JOHN VAN ARMAN

An incident of John Van Arman's practice over forty years ago has been related as follows:

"A stranger paced back and forth on the platform at the Union dépôt yesterday afternoon. It was Colonel John Van Arman, the well-known lawyer of Chicago, and a representative of the Telegram-Herald walked up and greeted him.

'Colonel,' asked the reporter, 'how about that poisoned cake you are alleged to have eaten once upon a time in Michigan in order to convince a jury that your client was not a poisoner?'

The great criminal lawyer laughed. That story has always been mixed up, and I'll tell you the real facts of the case for the first time. It was in 1842. I was then twenty-two years old, and had been admitted to the bar two years, and was in partnership with Attorney Brown, at Marshall, Michigan. A woman had been indicted at Hillsdale for poisoning her husband. He lived more than a year after the poisoning, and, of course, she could not be indicted for murder; yet giving poison was a penitentiary offense-amounting to a life sentence--and I was engaged to defend her. The woman's husband was a witness against her, although he died soon after the trial. Chemists in those days were few, and the prosecution subpœnaed the only one within a radius of 300 miles. It was proven on the trial that the husband had eaten a cake in which arsenic had been put, and the chemist testified that one grain was a fatal dose.

Well, I took the chemist, judge and jury to a bakery, and had the baker mix a cake in their presence, and put in two grains of arsenic, and bake the cake while they looked on. When done it was brought to the court by the judge. I began by saying that the celebrated chemist had sworn that one grain of arsenic would produce death. In this cake were two grains, a fact which judge, jury and chemist acknowledged. I thereupon ate the cake, after which I began my address to the jury and spoke for three hours, at the end of which time I drew their attention to the fact that I was not dead yet and demanded the acquittal of my client, which the jury did without leaving their seats.'

'How did you account for your escape?' asked the reporter.

'Oh!' laughed the jolly colonel, 'at that time I was used to eating from six to

seven grains of arsenic without feeling the worse for it.'"

The case was a celebrated one in Michigan, and as yet remembered by old set

tlers, particularly in and about Hillsdale county, and it was the making of Colonel Van Arman. He seemed to possess the lawyer's art by natural instinct. No one could surpass him in training witnesses for their part in the court-room, or in managing them on the witness stand. And he was equally skillful in handling witnesses on the other side. He had a skill in cross-examination which few lawyers can rival, and it may be doubted whether he had an equal at the bar in the mystery of cross-examination. It is certain that in what may be called legal diplomacy, in all that pertains to the management of a difficult case out of court, on which success in court depends, Van Arman was at the head of his profession. The old habitués of the court room enjoyed Van Arman's conducting a trial as highly as they did a play in the theatre. The examination of witnesses is usually the dullest part of the trial to the spectators. But they would "go over to the court room" to hear Van Arman in the examination of witnesses, as well as to hear him sum up the case. His impromptu speeches to the court, on some points of evidence, were master-pieces of their kind. And in those close encounters with his opponents he showed his rare powers as a debater. In this arena he was a dexterous Saladin, armed with keen analysis, legal acumen, and ready wit, any one of which he wielded with telling effect.

Van Arman was not merely a lawyer. If he excelled at the bar, he was just as able and eloquent at the hustings, or on the platform discussing temperance, education, or any of the important questions of the day. At a Democratic mass meeting in Marshall, in the fall of 1856, after Stephen A. Douglas had spoken, John Van Arman was "called out." The Democrats were proud on an occasion that had been honored by a speech from the "little giant," to introduce their favorite author. Van Arman was equal to the occasion. In his masterly speech he turned his wit and ridicule against the party that instead of arguing its cause before the people was going to sing itself into power. It seemed that the Whig element in the young Republican party, inspired by the memory of 1840, had broken out into song, for the best singers that could be found in the country were secured, a Fremont glee club was organized and sang at all their meetings during the campaign. "Ask them," said Van Arman, "for a declaration of their principles and they will sing:

The mustang colt has a killing pace,

Du-da-du-da;

He's bound to win in the White House race,

Du-da-du-da-day.'

Speak to them of the question at issue before the people and they warble forth:

'I'm bound to run all night,

I'm bound to run all day;

I'll bet my money on the bobtail nag,

Will anybody bet on the gray?

Du-da-du-da-day.'