his greatest triumphs. As a popular orator he had but few superiors, and gathered applause in every phase of his political idiosyncrasy. He was familiar with human nature, and he knew how to present successfully the colors of plausibility to the mind of ignorance until it mistook illustration for comprehension and sympathy for conviction.

Governor Foote was author of several works, entitled respectively, "Texas and the Texans," "Sylla and Charybdis," and "The Bench and Bar of the South-West." While his style is by no means void of elegance, neither of these works has met with the favor which the reputation of their author proclaimed for them. Like that of many great orators, his pen failed to reproduce the inspiration that fell from his lips. But the influence which he long wielded over the destinies of Mississippi and the sheen which his talents added to its jurisprudence inscribe his name indelibly and lustrously upon the pages of its history.

JOHN H. MARTIN.

The subject of this sketch was a native of Virginia, and was born in the County of Albemarle in the year 1790. He was a descendant of a Huguenot family which came to the colony, perhaps in the number which flocked thither at the dispersion of that sect by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He was a soldier in the army of General Jackson during the Indian wars, and was promoted to a majority for conspicuous services. He was also in command of Tennessee troops at the battle of New Orleans. Soon after the termination of the war he began the practice of law at Glasgow, Kentucky, where he acquired prominence; but in 1826 he removed to Nashville, Tennessee, and became associated with Hon. John Bell and Judge Henry A. Crabb. From this distinguished connection he no doubt received the confirmation of that lofty estimate of the dignity of his profession and the sanctity of the duties of an advocate, that calm self-possession, and refined and high-bred courtesy, which afterwards characterized his professional ethics.

When Judge Crabb was promoted to the supreme bench and Mr. Bell elected to Congress, Mr. Martin became the partner of George S. Yerger, and this firm prepared the volume of Tennessee Reports styled Martin & Yerger's, an elegant analytical presentation of the law, whose syllabi and compendiums assert the ability of the authors. Mr. Martin afterwards held for a short time, under the appointment of the Governor, the position of circuit judge. In 1836 he removed to Vicksburg, Mississippi, and formed a copartnership with Judge Beverly Hughes. When this firm was dissolved he practised some time alone, and then became associated with Charles Scott, afterwards Chancellor of the State.

Judge Martin was a well-read lawyer, conspicuous for his application and devotion to his profession, and noted for his integrity and fidelity. He was a man of modest and amiable deportment, bland and courteous in his bearing; and while he made no effort in his oratory towards ornation or display, his logical powers were prominent, and he was a clear, earnest, and persuasive speaker. His success at the bar was due more to the depth of his knowledge, his exact preparation, and conscientious dealing with the interest of his clients, than to any brilliant superficiality. He was a strict Presbyterian in religion and morals, and was at the time of his death an elder in that church. He died of yellow fever at Vicksburg in 1841.

CHAPTER IX.

THE BAR-EMINENT LAWYERS-1832-1868.

WILLIAM S. BARRY-GEORGE R. CLAYTON-DAVID

BROOKE JAMES C. MITCHELL.

C. GLENN-WALKER

In his famous funeral oration pronounced in honor of those who fell in the Samian war, Pericles endeavored in an elegant manner to impress the devoted patriotism of the dead, as an example of glory, upon the living; that their deaths were a joint and hallowed offering upon the altars of their country, and that while, collectively, they gave to it their lives; individually, they received that renown which never grows old, and the most distinguished tomb they could have, that in which their glory is left behind them, the subject of everlasting record; that for illustrious men the whole earth is the sepulchre; and not only do the inscriptions upon columns in their own country point it out, but in all lands there dwells an unwritten, inheritable memorial of the heart, more durable than any material monu

ment.

There is not an instance in the history of this world in which any class of individuals exhibited a loftier patriotism, a more glowing pride, or a more splendid gallantry, than that displayed during the civil war by the members of the Mississippi bar; and the same is true in regard to the conduct of the profession throughout the South. No sooner had the first cloud-caps of the coming struggle heaved in view, than their briefs were left unargued, their books were laid away, their offices were closed, and with drawn swords they were found in every town, in every village, and in every hamlet marshalling their countrymen in the array of battle, organizing companies and regiments, encouraging the brave and shaming the timid, leading the advanc

ing files, swelling the ranks, or heading the hurrying columns of the Confederacy. Everywhere and in all positions they met the issue with a determination and devotion that challenge comparison in the annals of patriotism.

Many of them had exhausted their pens and their powers of speech upon the hustings and in the halls of legislation, in argument of the great questions which were now certified by the voice of honor and of patriotism to the arbitrament of war. Before this tribunal they were prepared to vindicate and seal with their blood the scroll of principles which they had advocated upon the platform; and if the mortality list is any indication of bravery in battle, surely the claim of the bar to that quality is paramount, if vouchsafed in proportion to its losses.

No trade, no occupation, no class of persons, suffered so much as the legal profession. So great were its casualties that populous counties were left without an attorney, and on the resumption of the courts whole districts could not furnish lawyers sufficient to conduct the ordinary legal business and litigation. Their lights had gone out amid the clouds of war like the expiring sparks of a meteoric shower. The forums that were wont to echo to their eloquence were silent and dumb, while in many instances, a few old men alone remained to afford example and pilotage to the untutored youths who were ushered into the places of the fallen. Among the latter were our Blyth, Barksdale, Harrison, Rogers, Miller, Baldwin, Aldridge, Autry, Leigh-men who sunk the lawyer in the patriot, the patriot in the soldier, and the soldier in the martyr to the liberties of their country.