at Nantucket, when he was eighty years old, and managed to live in it two years. With all his beneficence and open-handed generosity, Mr. O'Conor left a very large fortune — for a lawyer. It has been esti mated by those in a position to know, at eight hundred thousand dollars. He owned eleven acres of land, with his town house, on Washington Heights, worth from three to four hundred thousand dollars, and he once owned a house in Fifth Avenue. His li brary is said to have cost him one hundred thousand dollars, but it realized at auction sale less than thirty thousand dollars — another proof that law books are poor property. Note. — While Mr. O'Conor was engaged in his criti cisms on the Court of Appeals, a remarkably clever skit appeared in the Albany Law Journal (Vol. 12, p. 127), entitled " Verses in an Album," but who wrote it, or whether it was originally contributed to that journal, I cannot tell after this lapse of time. The verses are as follows : — Tis human to err, I know, And I've heard of the nods of Homer, But to call me fallible — O That is an absurd misnomer! For I never nod, not I, 'pon honor, I nod? Go to, I'm Charles O'Conor. The rest of the bar, 'tis true, In its want of wisdom feels That a decent respect is due To the voice of the Court of Appeals.
But my court of last resort, 'pon honor, Of first and last is Charles O'Conor. My brethren everywhere — Weak men and sore deluded — By what the court declare In honor feel concluded. But I, the head of the bar, 'pon honor, I'm only concluded by Charles O'Conor. If the bench would avoid rebuff, Let 'em always manage to fix it To sneeze when I take snuff And follow my ipse dixit; So shall they acquit themselves with honor, And gain the affirmance of Charles O'Conor. 'Tis an ancient silly saw, Who wrote it deserved the rod, Which tells, in speaking of Law, That " its seat is the bosom of God." Its seat — and I say it upon my honor — Is found in the bosom of Charles O'Conor. With me the profession will die, Who denies it utters a whopper, And the Court that's against me — ah why Will our Judges have motives improper? I'm never improper, not I, 'pon honor, I'm proper, and modest : Vours, Chari.es O'Conor. My attention has been called to two errors in the first part of this sketch. Mr. O'Conor was never "district attorney of New York," but in the year stated he was appointed United States district attorney for the southern district of New York. Mr. Brady did not come into the Forrest case until after the trial. The defense was con ducted by John Van Buren.
