USA > California > Bench and bar in California. History, anecdotes, reminiscences > Part 14
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Don Manuel Aspiros made an ingenious plea on behalf of his government, showing great learning; but in his reply Mr. Doyle politely revealed its utter fallacy. When he had done with his adversary, the disjecta membra of the Mexican lawyer's argument presented a sorry spectacle. Mr. Doyle recovered for his clients, at the end of this long and hard fought fight, nine hundred and six thousand dollars. He was amply rewarded for his great services, being paid a more than princely fee.
Mr. Doyle has strong convictions, is a good friend and an implacable enemy. Of warm impulses, he is yet very arbitrary. He has been a hard
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worker through life, and is exact and methodical about everything. He has the truest judgment, is plain and concise in statement, intrepid in assertion and in action. His information is very wide, his memory excellent, he has rich classical stores, is one of the best of Latin scholars, and has a Latin quotation ready for any emergency. Horace is his favorite Latin author; he quotes him ad libitum. He has a great turn for mathematics. In diplomacy he would win great distinction. As a negotiator he is the peer of Lloyd Tevis. He negotiated the sale of the San Jose Railroad by Dame and Mclaughlin, the builders, to H. M. Newhall, Peter Donahue and C. B. Polhemus. He represented the purchasers, and urged upon them to reduce rates. They declined, but he gave them no peace till they yielded, and they soon saw the wisdom of the policy.
This firm counselor held Peter Donahue's power of attorney, when that gentlemen went East, during the conflict between the two gas companies of San Francisco, now many years ago. He effected a compromise between, and a consolidation of, those companies. A very respectable bill was that which he presented to Mr. Donahue on the latter's return, for he knows how to charge. Mr. Donahue declined to pay the whole of it, and Mr. Doyle would not abate one cent. He did not want to sue Mr. Donahue, and for some time did not know what course to pursue. Learning that an act was about to pass the legislature, granting Mr. Donahue and associates a street railroad franchise in San Francisco, Mr. Doyle hastened to Sacramento, and quietly got an eight hours clause inserted in the proposed measure. A few days later he received a check for his full demand. Then he lost his interest in the eight hours clause, and the bill passed without it.
He handed R. J. Vandewater a large bill, one day, in his (Doyle's) office. Vandewater said it was unreasonable, extortionate, and surprised him-one-half of the charge would be too much. But he would leave it to Mr. Doyle's sense of propriety. He asked Mr. Doyle to sit down and make out a check for whatever sum he thought was just, after having heard his (Vandewater's) protest. "Recollect what I have said, and make out the check, and I will sign it," said Vandewater. Mr. Doyle sat down and made out a check for the full amount of his bill. Vandewater signed it and left the office, to which he never returned.
This bar leader has materially helped many youths, and advised, encour- aged and guided them. Many lawyers look back to his office as the place where they first opened their books, and found help in study. He has no patience with stupidity, and when he finds a boy is dull he lets him severely alone. He is very much attracted by brightness and alertness in boys. In this connection may be told a pleasant story, and a true one of the relation once existing between him and a little boy who is now a Colonel in the United States Army. The boy's parents were poor people, living in New
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York City. He was a bright lad employed in a lawyer's office. Mr. Doyle took a fancy to him and brought him to San Francisco at his own request and that of his parents, and employed him in his office here. Fearing the young man might get beyond his (Mr. Doyle's) control as he grew up, and might fall into bad company, Mr. Doyle exacted a promise on honor that at any time he required it, the lad would return to his parents. Finding better em- ployment for him than in a law office, he got him the situation, and there- after the young man worked his own way and pushed on by his own merit. After some time Mr. Doyle thought his young friend was getting on too fast (wherein he may have done him injustice) and reclaimed his promise to go back to New York. The latter begged hard to be released from his obliga- tion, but Mr. Doyle said : "You gave me your honor, my son : I expect you to keep your word." The boy was only about fourteen, but he was made of the right stuff, and he answered, "I'll keep my word, sir." He went to his parents. Subsequently he returned to this State on his own responsibility, and shaped his own fortunes. What he owed and owes to Mr. Doyle were the opportunity of first coming to the region of his prosperity, and the good will and friendship which Mr. Doyle has ever since felt for him. Reference is here made to Colonel C. P. Eagan, U. S. A.
Mr. Doyle is a capital diner-out; indeed, in that delectable role, he would not suffer eclipse in the presence of Sam Ward himself. There his wit sparkles and his information pours continuous. His stories and his sallies are entirely free from blasphemy, vulgarity, or slang. Social, but not much given to club life, he likes a fine dinner, is an excellent judge of wine, and is very hospitable. He has a keen appreciation of the very best in everything. His library is a wonderful repository of varied lore. In the rarity and beauty as well as the value of its volumes, it has few parallels. Of course, he loves Shakespeare ; he has every edition of the master's works. His "Don Quixote " is a marvel, too; he has the text of one of the best editions, bound up with the illustrations of all the editions, and the work is so skillfully done as to suggest but one original and complete book.
His father, having the most absolute confidence in his integrity and ability, left his entire estate to him by will. He (John T.) called the natural heirs together, and said he should hold the estate in trust, and make an equal distribution, which he did. In association with his father, Governor Haight, Eugene Casserly, and others, he bought the Pulgas rancho and sold it in small parcels. He straightened out the title, laid out Menlo Park, and built a fine residence there. He married, in New York City, about 1856, Miss Pons, a French lady, a native of Lyons. The lady is living, and there are five sons and three daughters-all of whom speak French as fluently as their mother-if I said as fluently as their father, it would be the same. Mr. Doyle is very strong in his family ties-perhaps a more intelligent and happy
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family group cannot be found than his. He has one brother, already men- tioned, and a sister-the widow of Eugene Casserly. At the age of sixty- seven years, with an estate worth half a million dollars, he still holds to the work of his life, and comes to San Francisco every other day from his home at Menlo Park. There he has a lovely villa, with some 400 acres of rich land. A few years ago he bought a vineyard near Mountain View, Santa Clara County, and has been making the finest wine in the State, as the sales in the market attest. He also planted 150 acres more with the choicest cuttings. He superin- tends his vineyards personally. His main object in this industry is to lengthen his own life, to give to his boys healthful employment while he sur- vives, and to leave them a noble heritage.
CHAPTER XII.
X
Alexander Campbell-A Reputation Early Won at the Brooklyn Bar-District Attorney of King's County, New York-Another California Pioneer-Peculiar Controversy Over the Office of County Judge in San Francisco-A Dejected Grand Jury-References to Some Celebrated Cases-His Address in the Fair Murder Trial-Personal and Professional Traits.
I come to one who long enjoyed the distinction of being the first criminal lawyer at the San Francisco bar. In the public mind he was associated with criminal trials, and it is true that he had shown himself at his best in that role; but this was because he had more business, and, therefore, more oppor- tunity, in that department of law. Of course a lawyer, even of the first class, cannot always, nor often, control the course or character of his professional work. The people have much to do with deciding whether a lawyer must confine himself to a special line of cases. As was observed of McAllister, they frequently persist in assigning a lawyer to a specialty, when he has none. An advocate may, and often does, at the outset of his career, by a masterly effort, establish a local reputation for special aptitude and ability in a particu- lar line, when he is really entitled to a more catholic judgment, a broader fame. He will inevitably become involved with his cause, and the more close his devotion to any cause, the more apt is he to be assigned to the class to which such cause belongs. If he signalize his entry upon the active duties of his profession, by a powerful prosecution or a brilliant defense of a great criminal, he will win the reputation of a criminal lawyer, and will be fortunate if afterwards he can build up and wield a general practice; while if it be a great land case that shall disclose the riches of his intellect and the stores of his erudition, he will probably do a land business, if not a "land office business," the remainder of his life. But those whose lots are cast in sparsely settled communities, where the division of labor is never strongly marked, are not so affected.
It is not by his own preference that ex-Judge Campbell has devoted most of his time to criminal practice. It is distasteful to him to be assigned to any specialty. He loves the law in its integrity, and disclaims having special fitness for any particular branch. It is not strange, however, that having been called, in very early manhood, to be the public prosecutor in the
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great center of American life, criminal practice should thereafter engage his principal attention.
Alexander Campbell was born in Jamaica in the year 1820. That beau- tiful little island has been the birthplace of a number of great men. There was born Sir James Scarlett, Lord Abinger (1769-1844), represented as one of the most popular and prosperous advocates of his day; who enjoyed for many years, in London, a practice of £10,000 per annum. He was Solicitor General (1829) and Chief Baron of the Exchequer (1834). There was born Robert Charles Dallas (1754 -- 1824), a British author, an extensive, writer on history, natural history, biography and fiction. He was once the warm friend of Byron, but the two came to disagree. There, too, was born the brother of the last named, Alexander James Dallas, father of George Mifflin Dallas, Vice President of the United States during the Mexican war. He became one of the most distinguished of American lawyers. He was born the same year with "Bobby" Burns, and died in 1817. He was Secretary of the Treasury. His law reports are the oldest in the United States except Kirby's. Lord Mansfield declared then to be "creditable to the court, the bar and the reporter." This Dallas drew up the marriage contract between Jerome Bonaparte and Miss Patterson, of Baltimore, in 1803.
Mr. Campbell's father was a Scotchman, as was the father of Robert and A. J. Dallas, and was a planter in Jamaica. Upon the abolition of slavery in the island, he removed with his family to Canada. He sent Alexander to England, and gave him what is sometimes called here a grammar school education. The young man went to Brooklyn, New York, when he was sixteen years old. The oft-used expression "architect of his own fortune," may be applied to him, if to anybody-which I sometimes doubt. He did not inherit a dollar. Not to dwell upon his youthful struggles, he is found honestly and earnestly acquiring a knowledge of law. At his majority he is admitted to practice, and for some years follows his profession successfully, attracting the notice of his seniors by his correct judgment, and his lucid, impressive method of argument. Before he is 30 years old he has been City Attorney of Brooklyn, and District Attorney of King's County. In the latter office he has won a reputation for being an indefatigable, sometimes a fierce, prosecutor of public offenders, whether they operated singly or in bands, cliques or rings.
Mr. Campbell first came to San Francisco in August, 1849. He had been practising at the bar a little over a year when he became County Judge in a novel way, or rather at the end of a novel legal controversy. William H. Clark, another pioneer, was regularly elected County Judge at an election appointed by law. On the very day of the election, while the voting was in progress, the legislature, then sitting, passed a law repealing the act under which the election was being held, and conferred upon the Governor the
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power to appoint a County Judge. The Governor approved this repealing act on the same day, and a few days thereafter appointed Alexander Campbell County Judge. A conflict arose between Messrs. Clark and Campbell, which was carried before the Fourth District Court by quo warranto, and thence on appeal to the Supreme Court, resulting in a triumph for Campbell; it being held that the repealing act took effect on the day of the election and before the voting terminated, and that the election was therefore void. The decision of the Supreme Court in this case was rendered by Judge S. C. Hastings, Judge Lyons concurring. There were only three members of the court at that day. Judge Bennett, the remaining member, expressed his dissent, declaring that the repealing act did not take place until the day after the election, and that, therefore, the result of the election could not be disturbed by the legislative enactment. It was agreed that the repealing act took effect from and after its passage. Judges Hastings and Lyons held that it took effect the very moment the Governor signed it. Judge Bennett held that an act taking effect from and after its passage, does not become operative until the next day after its passage. (First Cal. Reports, 406).
By virtue of his position as County Judge, Judge Campbell was Presiding Justice of the Court of Sessions, which tribunal was composed of the County Judge and two Justices of the Peace as Associate Justices. While the Court of Sessions was sitting one day-present, Alexander Campbell, presiding Judge, and Edward McGowan, associate-an event occurred which probably has no parallel in legal annals. It was the ninth day of September, 1851. The grand jury came into court, and through their foreman, presented and read a written request to be discharged, on the ground that the executive, Gov. McDougal, had pardoned "a certain criminal, a notorious enemy of peaceable men." The court refused to discharge the jury. Judge Campbell remarked that if the jury were to be discharged upon the ground set forth in their report, the court could not refuse, if requested, to discharge the next grand jury; and the next; and not only that, but every officer of the law might, with the same propriety, desert his post and abandon his duties, and so leave the country in anarchy. The grand jurors, having relieved them- selves in some measure, returned to their duties.
Judge Campbell resigned his seat on the bench about six months before the expiration of his term, and was succeeded by Judge T. W. Freelon. He - resumed law practice, which he pursued until the organization of the Vigilance Committee of 1856, when, as Dickens said of London, in describing the relig- ious riots, " the city rose like a great ocean." On account of his opposition to that organization, he withdrew to the Sandwich Islands, for a year. He returned and resumed practice in 1857. From that time until 1881, when he again removed from the city, he was a conspicuous figure at the metropolitan bar. 1
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It is pleasant to see a lawyer now and then break the monotony of his professional life by touching other fields-as those of literature and science. But Judge Campbell has never done this. He has never employed his pen to probe any theme ; he has never spoken on any subject but law, with a single exception, when he appeared on the lecture platform in Oakland for the benefit of a religious organization. He is a great reader of miscellany, doing his reading at night. Walter Scott is his favorite author.
He is not a hard worker, nor a close student. He funded in early man- hood a large store of information-legal and miscellaneous-a store which always honors his drafts. Of course, like any lawyer worthy of the name, he keeps himself well posted on the Supreme Court decisions, but that is about all the regular legal reading he does. It cannot be said that he ever neglects his case, but he relies chiefly on his native tact and the abundant resources of his mind. He has also, as was said of Burke, great "resources of countenance."
Among the more noticeable of the cases in which he has been engaged, may be mentioned the Black will case; the Harry Byrne will case, in which Matilda Heron was the contestant ; the impeachment of Judge Hardy, 1862; the breach of promise case of Clark vs. Reese ; the case of the People vs. Clark ; the two trials of the Brotherton brothers, for forgery; and the two trials of Laura D. Fair for the murder of A. P. Crittenden ; the case of Kal- ' loch, indicted for the murder of Charles De Young of the San Francisco Chronicle; and the case of Spreckles, indicted for assault to murder M. H. De Young, surviving proprietor of the same paper.
The case of Clark vs. Reese was brought by a widow against, perhaps, the then richest man in the State. Campbell represented the plaintiff, and McAllister the defendant. Campbell managed it superbly, fighting at a great disadvantage. He made a fine argument, and gave McAllister a surprise he had not before experienced. The defendant, refusing to answer certain ques- tions, Campbell moved for judgment against him for the whole amount sued for-$100,000-and pressed his motion with ability and persistence. Mc- Allister was compelled to ask an adjournment, which was granted him. The next day Reese answered the questions. The plaintiff recovered judgment for $6,000, which was paid. Judge Campbell's fee was $1,500. He was called into the case by John Lord Love, who was attorney of record, and who received a similar amount. The plaintiff got the residuum-$3,000. She and her lawyers reversed Napoleon's maxim, "Divide and conquer;" they conquered and divided.
The case of the People against Captain Clark, of the ship Sunrise, was tried in the United States Circuit Court before Judges Sawyer and Hoffman in 1873. The defendant was charged with cruelty to his sea- men. Some of his crew told harrowing tales. Great excitement pre-
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vailed in the community. The proprietors of a San Francisco journal engaged General Barnes as special counsel to assist the United States District Attor- ney; Judge Campbell and Milton Andros defended. Judge Campbell's speech to the jury was published at the time. It shows what a brilliant advocate can say for a bad cause. The defendant was convicted, but the argument of his chief counsel was the most ingenious and powerful I have ever heard at the criminal bar, except that of the same advocate on the trial of Mrs. Fair. The case referred to of the Brotherton brothers was the most important for- gery trial that ever occurred in California.
The Fair murder case has been touched in the chapter on Byrne. Laura D. Fair, a lawyer's widow, was twice tried in San Francisco on an indictment for the murder of a leading member of the bar-A. P. Crittenden. - On the first trial, in 1871, Harry H. Byrne was District Attorney, and Elisha Cook and Leander Quint appeared for the defendant. The latter was convicted of murder in the first degree, and was sentenced to be hanged. She secured a new trial, and on the second trial, in 1872, D. J. Murphy was District Attorney, while N. Greene Curtis and Leander Quint represented the defendant. Between the two trials, Byrne on the one side, and Cook on the other-two of the best minds at the bar-had died. On both trials Alexander Campbell assisted the District Attorney in the prosecution. His speech to the jury on the first trial was reported verbatim, with all the pro- ceedings, and published in pamphlet. This speech is worthy of study by the law student. It is in Campbell's best vein; is bold, argumentative, manly and powerful; shorter than any other of the four speeches in the case, but just long enough, and delivered, as is his custom, without notes. His fame as an advocate will rest chiefly upon this effort. It does not contain a single quotation from poetry or prose. It is entirely divested of foreign orna- ment, but in itself is polished, symmetrical, complete. It is distinguished for its impassioned invective against free love, its skillful analysis of the character of the defendant, and its dreadful anathemas upon her plea of insanity, which he declared to be " a defense shameless, disgraceful, and desti- tute of any element which could commend it to the heart or judgment of any honest man."
This veteran advocate is a man of lightning perceptions-courageous, forcible, impressive, apt at citation, plausible in his theories, clear and strong in thought and voice, and animated in delivery. He finds attentive hearers in his juries. He gives no thought to the arts and tricks of practised speak- ers. Seneca's precept seems to be ever before him-" Fit words are better than fine ones." Very rarely does he turn aside from the realm of reason to the domain of feeling, yet can he, and sometimes does, touch with rare skill, the chords of sympathy, and sound the depths of the soul. More than once have I seen warmth, earnestness and power breathe about him, as he poured
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forth a copious flow of that clear language which has been well said "to spring spontaneously from definite and precise ideas." Before a jury his movements and gesticulation are unrestrained; his voice pleasant, yet not musical, and his expression clear and condensed. He is the most unaffected of men. No man has less vanity. He never courts the reporters-never, by glance or movement, does he betray a consciousness that he is observed. Always confident and intrepid, but not reckless, "he looks forward to a coming argument as to a delightful pastime "-as Shiel said of O'Connell.
It is recorded that the famous John Sergeant of Philadelphia, in address- ing a jury, seemed to take the jury into his confidence, and to ask their con- fidence in return. One of his competitors said that Sergeant "virtually got into the jury box, and took part, as it were, in the decision of his own case." I have seen Alexander Campbell do this. He virtually shakes hands with each juror. But this habit of "getting into the jury box" is more success- ful when done" virtually "-in another word metaphorically-than when done in physical reality. Hon. W. W. Foote, since Railroad Commissioner, once put himself into the jury box in San Francisco-not " virtually " or metaphori- cally, but actually-and this is what became of him, as very cleverly reported at the time. It occurred during the trial of the widely renowned Jimmy Hope for burglary, in the Superior Court, T. W. Freelon, Judge.
Mr. Foote, in speaking for the defense, had not proceeded far before he was reminded by the court that he was transgressing a court rule. "How so?" he asked in surprise. "You are standing inside the jury box," replied his honor. "And I claim I have a right to stand anywhere I want to," rejoined the attorney. "But my order is that you cannot," came next from the court. "I must be near the jury. I cannot talk unless I am," the law- yer persisted. Then said the Judge, "There is a place for the court; the clerk and bailiff have their places, the counsel theirs, and the jury its place. That is my rule, and I must see it observed, in this case, as in all others." "But, your honor, so long as I have no means of harming the jury, and my intentions are honorable -- " "I can make no exception," said the court, sternly. "But I except ! We except, your honor !" shouted Mr. Foote, triumphantly, and a glad light stole into his eyes at the thought that there remained yet another chance to except, even after his argument was begun. But he had to stay outside the rail? Yes.
Alexander Campbell, Henry Edgerton and William Higby were counsel for the State on the impeachment trial of District Judge James H. Hardy, in 1862. The accused was removed from office. At the next session an act was passed, under which the counsel named were paid one thousand dollars each. A few years later Campbell and Hardy were associated as counsel for the defendant in an important criminal case.
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