human character, and possessed a robust eloquence and trenchant satire, which made him exceedingly effective before a jury. The frontier simplicity and roughness added to the force of his utterance, and conciliated popular favor and confidence. (From the New Orleans Times, Monday, August 21st, 1876.) LAID AWAY TO REST. A. P. FIELD. The funeral of the late Attorney General Field, was attended, last evening," by a large number of persons, including many State and Federal officials, as well as the friends of the family. The services were held at the late residence of the deceased, on Terpsichore, near Coliseum street, and were conducted by Rev. T. R. Markham, whose remarks upon the occasion were quite affecting. After the service, the pall-bearers, Judges Cotton, Posey, Heistand, Lynch, John Ray, and Messrs J. K. Bell, P. F. Herwig and Thomas McKnight, conveyed the remains, in a handsome metallic casket, to the hearse, which, followed by a long line of carriages, bore them to Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, where the last rites were performed, and all that was mortal of the late Attorney General, were committed to the tomb. 25 5 o'clock. (From the Daily Picayune, New Orleans, August 22d, 1876.) (Local article from the evening edition of the 21st.) THE COURTS. SUPERIOR DISTRICT COURT-THE NEW ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL-DEATH OF HON. A. P. FIELD, AND GEN. HARRY T. HAYS. At 11 o'clock this (Monday) morning Judge Henry C. Dibble appeared before this tribunal and presented his commission as Assistant Attorney General which was ordered by Judge Lynch to be spread on the minutes of the Court. Judge Dibble then announced the death of Hon. A. P. Field, Attorney General of the State of Louisiana, which occurred on Saturday. He said that in the demise of Col. Field, Louisiana had suffered an irreparable loss. He was one of the most distinguished members of the Bar and was characterized by his integrity of purpose. His life should be a light to all members of the Bar, as he was talented, learned, and never swerved from the path of duty. Judge Dibble moved to adjourn the Court, in respect to the memory of the deceased. Judge Cotton then rose and seconded the motion to adjourn. He said he had known Col. Field since 1851." He had been associated with him in many criminal cases. The deceased had a vigorous intellect and a superior knowledge of human nature. The talent he showed in the examination of witnesses was most remarkable. He stood at the head of his profession and was fearless in the defense of his clients. No man in office performed his duty as Col. Field had that of Attorney General. His memory deserved respect and veneration. 20 This date sheds light on his New Orleans residence. SPECIAL MEETING OF THE ILLINOIS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY TO BE HELD IN THE OLD SUPREME COURT ROOM, IN THE The program for the special meeting of the Illinois State Historical Society to be held on April 14, 1911, in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the fall of Fort Sumter, the actual beginning of the war between the states, is as follows: AFTERNOON MEETING. Address-The Patriotism of Northern Illinois.... ...Gen. Smith D. Atkins, Freeport, Ill. Address-The Slave Empire... Mr. Eugene F. Baldwin, Peoria, Ill. Address-Southern Illinois in the Civil War.. ...Hon. Bluford Wilson, Springfield, Ill. EVENING MEETING. Address-The Civil War in America, 1861-1865.... . Hon. Marcus Kavanagh, Chicago, Ill. Col. Clark E. Carr, president of the Illinois State Historical Society will preside over the meeting and introduce the speakers. The music will be the old war time music and will be led by the Woman's Relief Corps quartette, of Springfield, Ill., with Mrs. G. Clinton Smith as leader. Members of the Historical Society are urged to attend this meeting. In 1860 Illinois had become the fourth state in the Union and after the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 it had become a great political power. Chicago had become a great city, having at that time a population of 109,206, and Illinois was then entitled to thirteen congressmen in the national Congress. In the great Mississippi valley the political pot was boiling at a furious rate and the great question of the extension or non-extension of slavery had reached a point where some adjustment was an absolute necessity. In 1858, at an evening meeting on the same date as the Republican State convention at Springfield, Mr. Lincoln had made his famous speech in which he had quoted from holy writ, in sense, if not in exact words, "A house divided against itself can not stand," and later on had in the Lincoln-Douglas debates made plain his position on the question of the extension of slavery into the new territories. His position did not suit the extreme and radical anti-slavery men, but it showed them that he could be trusted not to favor and foster the growth of the national evil. The Republican State convention met at Decatur on May 9, 1860. This convention was presided over by Judge Joseph Gillespie, and the deliberations showed the strength at least in his own state, of Mr. Lincoln's candidacy which the geographical position and power of the State fostered. NOMINATED YATES FOR GOVERNOR. This convention did another most important thing. It nominated Richard Yates for governor. Mr. Lincoln was nominated at Chicago on May 16 for the presidency of the United States and Illinois became the center of political activity of the United States, and the little city of Springfield the mecca of politicians. After the November elections the actual beginnings of war were opened and on Dec. 20, 1860, South Carolina passed an ordinance to dissolve the union between the state of South Carolina and the federal union. In January, 1861, similar ordinances were passed by other southern states. In January Governor Yates was inaugurated and his inaugural message bravely met and faced these momentous and delicate questions. He declared that the valley of the Mississippi must forever remain an undivided territory, and described the importance of the State of Illinois in case a crisis should arise. This inaugural message of Governor Yates has been declared by many writers to be one of the ablest and most scholarly papers ever submitted to a state legislature in Illinois. PEACE CONFERENCE FAILED. On Feb. 2, 1861, a peace conference was held at Washington, D. C., called by the state of Virginia to attempt to devise means to prevent the imminent war. To this convention Governor Yates sent as delegates from the State of Illinois, Stephen T. Logan, John M. Palmer, John Wood, Burton C. Cook and Thomas J. Turner. These distinguished men labored earnestly in that convention, but all efforts at conciliation failed. On Feb. 11, 1861, Mr. Lincoln left his old home at Springfield to go to Washington to assume his duties. He never returned alive to his home city. When Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated the confederate states of America had already met at Montgomery, Ala., Feb. 9, 1861, and had organized a government of which Jefferson Davis was president and Alexander H. Stephens, vice president. Mr. Lincoln was immediately face to face with problems and a task greater than had presented itself to any President of the United States. REAL BEGINNING OF THE War. The firing on Fort Sumter on April 12 by the confederate forces under General Beauregard and the evacua |