USA > Tennessee > Old times in Tennessee, with historical, personal, and political scraps and sketches > Part 7
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
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the corner where the Commercial Hotel now stands. Watching my opportunity to find him alone, I stepped in and, addressing him, said, "This is Mr. Foster, I presume ?" His sharp reply was, " Yes, sir, I am the man." Having been once rejected, I determined that I would make my speech without allowing him time to give an unfavorable answer, and I said to him : " I have come to Nashville for the purpose of reading law. Wm. L. Brown had been recommended to me, but I have seen him ; I have exam- ined his appearance and looks; I do not think he is either a great man or a great lawyer, and for that reason I did not make my busi- ness known to him. [The best of the joke is, I did not then know that Brown was Foster's partner in the practice of the law.] But I was up at the court-house and admired your gallant bearing with that old Judge. I have been following you all round the city to hear you talk, and you are the very man that fills my eye. I want to read law in your office. I just want to read your books and get your hang of doing business." He eyed me with my rough apparel and country looks, and asked, "Do you think you can make a lawyer ?" "O yes," I said, " there is no doubt about that. I will go out and get my board. All I want is to read your books, and observe your tact and manner of doing business. I am a working boy, sir. I will bring your water, become your messenger, make your fires, and keep your office in apple-pie order, and you shall have no cause of complaint." Col. Foster replied with a strong expletive, "You are the very boy I have been looking for. You shall, sir, read law with me, so take your seat and consider yourself at home." This was my first intro- duction to Col. Foster, and I felt happy. At this time the firm of Brown & Foster had the largest and most lucrative practice in the State-all the eastern collections and large fees in the nu- merous contests growing out of entries and grants and the statute of limitations, which swelled the coffers of the lawyers of that day. Their practice was worth from $40,000 to $50,000 a year. At that time Col. Foster had four other young men in his office read- ing law: Frank Foster, Arch. Goodrich, Berry Gillespie, and Wm. Cooper, the latter now one of the most distinguished law- yers in Alabama. The next morning in stepped Wm. L. Brown. I then ascertained that he was Col. Foster's partner. I was fear- ful Foster would mention what I had said the day before about
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Brown's appearance, as he was very fond of a joke. There was a crowd in the office, and he could not let the opportunity slip, so he repeated to them what I had said of Judge Brown, greatly to the amusement of all present except Brown and myself, for I felt like a sheep-killing dog. After the laugh had subsided, I remarked that my opportunities of forming an opinion were bad; that I intended to reserve my opinion until I could have an ex- hibit of his powers in some great case. I had that opportunity in a very short time, and I found that Wm. L. Brown was the greatest " bite " that ever came across my path. He possessed one of the finest intellects in America. In argument and in a knowledge of the law, he was the peer of any man that Tennessee ever produced. He was the author of the celebrated statute of limitations of 1819, which gave repose to the land titles of the country, and this of itself would be a proud feather in any man's cap. He was afterwards made a Judge of the Supreme Court.
I must give another incident touching myself, which was "fun to the boys, but death to the frogs." About one month after my arrival in Nashville, I was toled off by my associates in the office to a ball at a house on Broad street, near the landing. Our asso- ciate Goodrich was a good fiddler, and he carried his fiddle with him. We entered the house and engaged in a dance with the ladies. We had been there but a short time when a fellow named Gerty and five keelboatmen came in. I knew them, for I had been in a fight with them when they threatened to storm the vil- lage of Cairo, where I then resided. The citizens of the place rose up and whipped them out. Their manner at the ball was insulting to our crowd. I wished to avoid a fight, but did not intend to be run off in the presence of our women. At last I saw that nothing but a fight would satisfy them. They ordered us to leave forthwith, and one of them knocked the fiddle out of Good- rich's hands, and stamped it into pieces. This I regarded as an unlawful setting upon our persons, and blazed away with my hickory stick and knocked him down. Now war became flagrant. All our boys fought with determined bravery, I standing in the front line of battle, with one of my associates on my left. A boatman with a stick struck at him, which he dodged, and the blow fell on the left part of my head, knocking me to my knees, and causing me to see a shower of stars. I quickly recovered 6
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my position and knocked the boatman down. The fight was long and desperate, but at length we drove them from the house. I knew they would come back reinforced, so I said, " Boys, we have made a good fight; let us leave, for I know they will be upon us again." We took up the line of retreat, and arrived at the office at about ten o'clock, meantime I had been bleeding profusely from my wound, and my breast was bespattered with blood. My associates saw I was a green boy, just from the coun- try, and that I had not yet got the hang of things in the city, so they concluded they would play a joke upon me the next morn- ing. The plan they laid was well calculated to deceive me. I had seen old man Brooks, with one short leg, every day riding his bay pony and auctioning a horse on the Public Square. He seemed to know every body ; had strong lungs, and could be heard almost a mile away, crying the sale of a horse or other property. I took him to be the United States Marshal, from the fuss he generally made. My associates knew that it was my bu- siness every morning after breakfast to go to the post-office, which was kept by Mr. Curry in a little white frame house on the East side of the Public Square. They posted themselves on my route from the post-office to the law-office. After getting the mail, I had gone but a few steps when Wm. Cooper accosted me with, "Guild, have you seen Brooks this morning?" The question pierced me like a dart, and I responded somewhat excitedly, " No; does Brooks want to see me?" He said that Brooks was inquiring for a young fellow by the name of Guild. I said noth- ing, but thought that Brooks was after me about that fight. As I turned the corner of the court-house, Frank Foster hailed me with, " Guild, have you seen Brooks this morning?" I an- swered, " What does Brooks want with me?" He did not know -heard him inquiring for a young man by the name of Guild. When passing through the market-house, Goodrich met me and inquired, " Have you seen Brooks this morning?" I replied, "No; what does he want?" He said he did not know. I pro- ceeded, turning my head in every direction, looking for Brooks. Gillespie met me at Kirkman's corner, a short distance from our office, and put the same question to me, "Guild, have you seen Brooks this morning?" I replied very excitedly, "My God, where is Brooks and what does he want ?" He said, " He came
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to the office about ten minutes ago with a paper in his hand, in- quiring for a young man by the name of Guild." "Ah !" I said, "he wants to arrest me for that fight. I have no one to bail me out of jail. Here, take Mr. Foster's mail; I am determined to die before Brooks shall take me." I then walked swiftly along College street, then up Church, then round the hill where the capitol now stands, and took my position in the ravine of Lick Branch, the while looking back at almost every step for Brooks. There were no houses then between the Public Square and the French Lick. I crawled up the embankment many times and cast an eye across the long open commons towards Nashville, looking for Brooks, and frequently imagined I saw him coming upon his pony, with his short leg digging the pony in the side. Awful were my reflections during the long hours of my self-imprisonment in that ravine. The bells rang for dinner, and I concluded, as I could not stand Brooks, that I would go to Cairo, thirty miles distant, on foot. I went to the lower land- ing (Mr. Page's), where I found a canoe, which I boarded and set myself upon the opposite bank, and then struck a long trot for Cairo. When I got to Williams' long lane, four miles from Nashville, I looked back from the hill there, and imagined I saw Brooks coming on his pony. I jumped over the high fence and ran about two hundred yards to a big oak tree, which yet stands in that beautiful ground. I got behind it. I had so often been deceived as to the identity of Brooks, that I determined to be certain this time. If it should prove to be him, I had the fence between us, and felt satisfied he could not catch me. I peeped around the tree as he came opposite and found he was not Brooks. I resumed my journey, and when I arrived at Manscoe's creek, the line between Davidson and Sumner, I felt relieved, for I felt sure it was not lawful for Brooks to cross the line and make an arrest in Sumner county. I arrived that night at Cairo before my friends had gone to bed. I assembled them together; told them of the fight, and that Brooks was after me. I expressed the belief that he would get some authority from the Governor to arrest and take me back to Nashville. There was a general rubbing up of arms, and it is very certain that if Brooks had come to Cairo to arrest me, he would have been driven from the village. I remained at Cairo two weeks, expecting Brooks and prepared
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to resist to the death, when I received a letter from my associ- ates telling me to come back, as it was all a joke-that Brooks had not been looking for me. I returned with my hickory stick, prepared for war. I stepped into the office, but spoke to no one except Col. Foster, who at once saw that something serious was the matter, and he inquired of me the cause. I told him how my fears had been worked upon, that I had left to avoid an arrest, and that I had come back to have a general settlement. The joke was so good Col. Foster roared with laughter, and then with an imperious air that carried a world of meaning in it, de- manded that the matter should be settled, and that the necessary apologies should be made to me, and they were promptly and frankly made. He then insisted that we should " make friends," which was done, and thereafter everything went on harmoniously; Col. Foster would frequently rehearse the story to his numerous friends, so good did he consider the joke and so highly did he enjoy it. Brooks lived some thirty or forty years after this event, but I never saw him afterwards that his presence did not give me the cold chills, so deeply was the name of Brooks, with its associations, impressed upon my young mind.
I remained in Col. Foster's office eighteen months, devoting my entire time to study. I readily put my hand to every thing connected with the business of the office. There was a continual flow of clients to the office. Col. Foster devoted his whole time to his profession. He was exceedingly popular, and regarded by all as every inch a gentleman. I regularly brought a can of water from the Judge's spring an hour before day. My habit was to read until nine o'clock at night, and rise at three or four o'clock in the morning, make a fire, sweep the office, and read until just before day, and then bring my water. Col. Foster's dwelling was on the same lot as his office. He rose early, dressed, and was ready for business by the time the sun was up. I always heard and recognized his peculiar stride on the pavement. When he entered the office he found it swept, and a good fire burning, while I was pouring over the law. His correspondence was very voluminous, and.it was his habit to preserve every communica- tion, which was copied into a blank book by some of the students in the office, and he had thirty or forty of these large letter- books, while the more important letters were carefully labelled
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and filed away. In complicated and difficult suits, this corre- spondence was of great value. Some one of Col. Foster's young men was constantly engaged in delivering his orders, bringing him books or papers, seeing the clerk, sheriff, or other officer. I was soon able to draw up his declarations on bills of exchange, notes, or other obligations, fill up writs, and make up pleadings in cases not involving great difficulty. So extensive was the business of this firm, that Col. Foster was occupied constantly in preparing the office work. His great popularity, promptness, and honesty brought an immense amount of business to the firm. It devolved upon Judge Brown to prepare briefs and argue the principal cases before the various courts. As before stated, the income of this firm was from $40,000 to $50,000 a year, far ex- ceeding that of any law-firm in Nashville since that day.
The students in the various law offices in the city at that day ·organized a moot court, which familiarized them with the prac- tice and the rules and principles of pleading. Questions of law were raised upon an agreed state of facts, and these questions were discussed by the young men. Frequently considerable learning and ability were displayed in this court, while those par- ticipating gained a vast deal of information. I know I received marked advantages from the proceedings of this court, which, in connection with my services in the office of the Clerk of the Cir- cuit Court of Sumner county, prepared me to commence the practice of the law under much more favorable circumstances than those who had not enjoyed these advantages. In those days we read and studied Blackstone's Commentaries, Coke on Little- ton, Fearn on Remainders, Sugdon on Vendors, Williams on Executors, Chitty on Pleadings, Bills, Contracts, and the Crimi- nal Law, Jones on Bailments, and other elementary works, many of which are now ignored in our law schools. No man in those days applied for a license unless he had devoted two years to the study of the law. Now a period of four to six months is thought sufficient to entitle a young man to a license, and yet in that time he cannot learn the a b c, much less the great principles of the law; and when such men come to the bar they find that they know almost nothing of law, become dispirited and quit the practice, or rather the attempt to practice. I read Blackstone carefully ten times before I applied for a license. That author
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is now ignored in the law schools, notwithstanding he is the great- est law writer in the English language. His style is as pure and charming as that of Addison or Junius.
I had read law two years, and contemplated reading a year longer, but my means would not admit it, and two months before I was twenty years old, I applied for a license. I had frequently seen Judge John Haywood on the Supreme Bench, had heard him deliver some of his ablest opinions, and had read his two volumes of North Carolina Reports, in which State he had prac- ticed with marked ability and acquired great distinction. He had removed to Tennessee, settled on a farm near Nashville, and commenced the practice of his profession in this new field. Old men who had heard him at the bar, have told me he was one of the greatest orators they ever knew. His great legal ability soon elevated him to the Supreme Bench, in which position he was equally as distinguished as at the bar. He was of immense size, weighing about three hundred and fifty pounds, but a grum, bull- looking old fellow. I concluded to ride out to his residence and apply to him for a license. It was in October, 1822, and quite- warm for the season. I found him lounging on a bull's hide in the shade of a large oak standing in his yard. I approached him. with fear and trembling. He looked as big as a slaughtered bul- lock. He turned upon his side and asked my business. I told him I wished to get a law license. He commenced growling and grumbling, saying he could not see why young men should dis- turb his rest by asking him to examine and license them to prac- tice law. His growling manner forcibly reminded me of an in- cident in the life of Sir John Falstaff. While sleeping at the Boar's Head tavern he was aroused from his slumbers by the hostess, who demanded that he should pay what he owed her, adding, " Now you pick a quarrel to bequit me of it," to which Falstaff replied, "Shall I not take my ease in mine own inn ? I'll not pay a dernier."
I remarked to the Judge that I regarded myself qualified, and had an ambition to be examined by a Supreme Judge, and secure his signature to my license. He called for two negro fellows who waited on him to come and bring a chair. The sun was en -. croaching upon his dominion of shade, and he directed his two. men to take hold of the tail of the bull's hide upon which he
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was reposing and haul him into the shade. This done, I took my seat near him, and he carried me through a most searching examination, which I stood remarkably well, no doubt greatly to his disappointment, for I saw very clearly he desired to feel justified in refusing me a license. He carried me through a wide range of the civil and criminal law, and then made a brush at me upon the difficult and abstruse law of contingent remainders, executory devises, the statute of uses, called the statute of de donis, fines and recoveries, entails, the laws of primogeniture, and the feudal system. I answered him promptly and correctly, much to his surprise, as I could plainly see. Then he raised up on his elbow, shook his head, and with a growl asked me what was an estate tail, with the possibility of issue extinct. That, I replied, was a vexed question ; that the authorities did not agree in their definition, but the most approved of them maintained " that it was a circumcision in violation of the canon law, carried to the utmost limits." He burst out in a loud laugh that caused the bull's hide upon which he reposed to quiver. He said that was the most practical definition he had ever heard, that he was now satisfied, and would sign my license. The scowl now passed from the old Judge's brow, his face was lighted up with a smile, and he became exceedingly pleasant, which was gratifying to me as indicating that I had made a very favorable impression upon him. He then gave me some advice which contributed no little toward shaping my future course. It was equal to that given to Villiers by Lord Bacon, when the former was elevated to the position of chief cabinet officer of the Crown. Judge Haywood said to me that I was about to enter upon the practice of the law ; to tread the paths of a profession which was beset with many rough places and many obstacles that would be hard to overcome, and added : " You must. enter that path impressed with the idea that your studies have just commenced. Your knowledge of the law is to be acquired by long and ardnous studies. You will meet with many discouragements and disappointments in climb- ing the steeps of the profession, yet they can be overcome by constant toil and a firm resolution to become a man. You must show self-reliance. Take an office to yourself, and do not be like the vine, supported by the cak around which it twines. Be courteous and affable to all, but familiar with none. Spend
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neither your days nor your nights in rounds of festivity or dissi- pation, either in drinking, gambling, or any other vice. Let not pleasure encroach upon your time, for time properly spent will bring wealth; and above all, maintain an unblemished reputa- tion, and strive at distinction at the bar. Be prompt in attend- ing to your business, and reliable and honest in all your transac- tions. When retained in a law suit, take down all the facts given by your client, examine the authorities diligently, ascertain what action or bill will lie, and whether the law is with your client. If you are satisfied upon these points, advise your client to sue. If you entertain reasonble doubts, frankly state them to your client, and decline to bring the suit, unless he shall take the re- sponsibility and demand it. During your reading in vacation, have an eye to each case you have brought; take notes of the decisions, and when you come to argue each case, be fully pre- pared with a brief, showing the authorities. Some lawyers have a series of stereotyped questions which they put to all witnesses ; a vicious practice, which frequently slays their own clients. Al- ways have in view some important object, some point in the suit that will control it, and bring this out strongly, if favorable to you, but avoid or weaken its force if attempted to be made by your opponent. Never keep a client's money an hour after it is collected ; find him and pay it over to him ; thus you will acquire · a character for honesty, promptness, and reliability, which, to a lawyer, is a jewel above all price." I heartily thanked the old Judge for his kindness, especially for the advice he had given me, expressing a hope that I should profit by it, and then, the Judge having signed my license, bade him an adieu. Judge Haywood died a few years after this interview, but it was the last time I saw him.
I returned to Gallatin in November, 1822, and hung out my shingle as a practicing lawyer. At that time the resident law- yers were John H. Bowen, John J. White, Wm. Hadly, Wm. Trousdale, and Anthony Shelby, all in full practice except the latter. Here was a galaxy of talent which it would seem pre- sumptuous in so young a man as I to attempt to contend with. Besides these, a number of lawyers from other portions of the circuit attended the courts of Sumner, headed by Felix Grundy, Wm. Williams, and the Attorney General, Andrew Hayes, who
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was "a trump card high in the pictures." Afterward came Gen. Sam. Houston, Duncan, O. B. Hayes, and others. Here was a strong array of talent for a boy of twenty years to enter the lists with. My brother, Dr. James Guild, had graduated in medicine in Philadelphia, and had settled at the Indian town of Tusca- loosa, on the Black Warrior river, in Alabama, so I was left alone to fight the battle of life. But I found sympathising friends among the old neighbors of my father and uncle, who came to my relief.
At the first term of the court after I hung out my shingle, I charged the grand jury, through the courtesy of that good and able man, the Attorney General. It was said I made a fine speech ; at any rate, it gave my little boat a good send off. I was employed in several cases that were tried at that term, and received about twenty dollars by way of fees. I was very proud of this, the first money I had earned at the bar. I retired to a grove hard by after court adjourned, where I think I counted the money at least a hundred times. Its ring was music to my ear far sweeter than that of the fiddle.
Judge Thomas Stewart was our presiding Judge. He had long, bull-frog looking legs, a head and face the counterpart of a monkey, and wore a long red que. He was an honest and able Judge, possessed a clear, incisive intellect, and loved justice and never failed to see it administered. His circuit embraced the greater part of Middle Tennessee, extending from the Cumber- land mountains to the Tennessee river. He was " as hardy as a pine-knot." He was kind and merciful to all except a horse- thief. One of the tribe had stolen the sorrel mare upon which he rode the circuit. He was greatly attached to this mare, and it was said there was a marked resemblance between the two. He always thought of that mare and the rogue when charging a jury in a case of horse-stealing, and the poor rascal received but little mercy at his hands.
My outfit consisted of a fine horse and a few law-books. I endeavored to follow the advice given me by Judge Haywood, and assiduously devoted myself to my profession. My old school- mate, Col. Bailie Payton, and myself, took in a large circuit, and my practice continued to grow gradually, and in a short time I began to sce daylight breaking. At that early day Col. Peyton
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and myself took a deep interest in the blood horse, which never abated in either of us. As a picture of the times of which I am writing, I here reproduce an article that was printed in the Nashville Union and American five years ago :
Fifty years ago a trip to New Orleans was performed in broad- horns, floating the produce of the country to market; and re- turning, the river was ascended by keel boats bearing the sugar, coffee, salt, and other supplies, and it took four months to make the round trip. The merchant reached Baltimore and Philadel- phia on horse-back, carrying his silver by pack horses, and pur- chased his goods, transferring them across the Alleghanies in wagons drawn by the big six-horse teams of that day.
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