JOHN J. CRITTENDEN
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sudden brawl shot and killed a fellow stu dent. Although the shooting was the result of foil}- (no previous bitterness having existed between the two) there was intense excite ment in Lexington and the trial was removed to Versailles. An eccentric lawyer and rather prominent (not excellent) orator by the name of Major Flournoy volunteered his services to assist in the prosecution of the case. He was a solemnly comical figure as he carried out his part of the program. A wild confusion of waving arms, swaying body, and tottering legs, to the discordant shriek of a voice which disdained to articulate, was the general effect upon jury and spectators alike. He was a ranter, and in the excess of his fury he became merely noisy instead of either terrible or sublime. When he had ceased Crittenden arose calmly and after having passed his hand several times over his eyelids, as though still half asleep, spoke a few words as follows: " Gentlemen of the jury, I have either slept and dreamed, or I have had a vivid waking dream, which I can scarcely dispel. I thought I had gone out on a whaling vessel; the winds and waves were high and the mighty waters were roaring around me. Suddenly the sailors cried out, ' All hands on deck; the whale is upon us; she blows.' .1 looked, and there indeed was the monster of the deep; its tail was flying through the air and the surging waves, till we were enveloped in mist. I am stunned, confused, and your honor must grant me a few moments to recover my self-possession." He then commenced his argument and in reply to the point urged by the prosecu tion that the prisoner should be punished as an example in order to quell, in a meas ure, the lawlessness then all too prevalent, he said, " The counsel against the prisoner demands an example. Yes, I agree with my stern and learned friend, we should make examples, from time to time, even among the young and thoughtless, to check the heat of youthful blood and the violence of ungoverned passion; but, my countrymen, let us take that example from among our
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own people, and not seize upon the youthful stranger, who came confidingly among us, to profit by the advantage of our literary institutions, to learn to be a man in the best and highest sense, honest and capable and cultivated. We have, I am grieved to say. frequent opportunities to make examples of our own sons in our own borders. Let us do this, then, when the occasion offers, but let us send this broken hearted, trembling mother " (pointing to the prisoner's mother who was present) " and her dear loved son back to their home in peace. He has been overtaken in a great crime, but an acquittal, in consideration of his. youth and other extenuating cir cumstances, will be honorable to our great state, and do no damage to the laws." After a few moments of deliberation the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. When Crittenden left the court room he observed Major Flournoy perched on the town pump, thoroughly enraged, and denouncing him in no uncertain terms to a crowd of amused listeners. Approaching silently Crittenden laid his hand on the shoulder of the irate orator and said, " How are you, old whale? I know you are dry after all that blowing; come and take a drink. ' ' His voice and manner softened the heart of the Major and clambering down from his platform he walked away arm in arm with the man he had been so strenuously denouncing, to settle their differences over a bowl of punch. During the period of his retirement from the arena of national politics — between the years 1819 and 1835 — he was engaged almost exclusively in the practice of his profession and during that period there was hardly a case of importance carried before the Court of Appeals at Frankfort in which he did not appear as counsel for one side or the other. A tabulation of the reported cases of the court shows that from January, 1829, to November, 1831 there were 1103 cases heard before the court and Crittenden appeared in 254 of
