WILLIAM G. BRYAN.

Characteristics.-Governor Seymour.- Remarks on his Character.- Birthplace. — Parents. His Early Education.-Apprenticeship to the Printing Business.Commences the Study of Law.-Obstacles in his Way.-Continues the Study of Law with Judge Taggart.-Admitted to the Bar.-A Partner of General Martindale.-Ogden Land Company Litigation.-Mr. Bryan's Connection with it.— Company Attempts to Remove the Indians from Their Reservation.-Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior.-General Denver.-Caroline Parker, the Educated Indian Girl.-Her Influence in the Controversy.-Mr. Bryan Sustains the Indians.-With Messrs. Martindale and Follett, Visits the President.-Proceedings at Washington.-Mr. Bryan's Connection with the Legal Profession.His Political Career. His Character as a Writer.-As Speaker.-His Speech on the Death of Lincoln.-His Speech on Laying the Corner Stone of the New York Institution for the Blind.-Letter of George W. Clinton.-Speech Before the Genesee Agricultural Society.-Lecture on Edmund Burke.-Fennimore Cooper. -Oliver Cromwell.-Mr. Bryan's Marriage.-His Tragic Death.-Funeral Reflections.

EUROPEANS of thought and culture visiting our national capitol express great surprise and disappointment at the absence of eminent ability in our halls of Congress. Neither the Senate chamber, which once resounded with the eloquence of such intellectual giants as Clay, Webster and Calhoun, nor the popular branch of our national Legislature, which in times past was dignified by men of historic reputation, like John Quincy Adams, and John Randolph, of Roanoke, now impress the spectator with any extraordinary respect for the talents and attainments of the men who make the laws and are supposed to govern the destinies of the republic. Neither in statesmanship, nor in

ability as debaters, nor in the graces of scholarship, do those who are at the head of the nation come up to the generally accepted high position conceded to our country among the principal powers of Christendom. We know better than our visitors how to account for this apparent decadence in our nation. We know that so flagrantly corrupt has become the machinery of party politics, that with rare exceptions the best men, the really ablest men in our land are not now as of old to be found in official positions. Yet, neither in the learned professions, nor in the army, or in the navy, nor in those who adorn the mechanic arts, or in the great mass of our business and industrial classes, do we discover any signs of this falling off in the standard of patriotism, intellectual ability, development and progression which is requisite for our continued national advancement. So distasteful, however, to men of superior ability and character is the odious doctrine, that in politics the end justifies the means, that they prefer the independence of private life to that surrender of their self-respect and even honor that is too often demanded of those who seek political advancement. Too often, alas, much too often, as we read of gross corruption among those in high places, are we reminded of the truth of the old adage, that the post of honor is in a private station.

Conspicuous in the long roll of eminent names that have conferred honor upon the legal profession in Western New York, stands that of the late William G. Bryan, of Batavia. His career, and the prominent traits of his character, strikingly confirm the justice of our preliminary remarks. Deriving no dignity or consequence from official position, he, by his Own unaided exertions, achieved a reputation as a lawyer, as an orator, as a scholar and a Christian gentleman, which enrolled him among the most honored and revered in our land. In the lan

guage of ex-Governor Seymour: "He was earnest, able, and chivalric. He made himself felt in every circle in which he moved. He gathered force and power as he moved on in the pathway of life, and I looked upon him as one who was to hold still more marked positions in our State and nation. God in his wisdom took him away when he seemed most needed by his family and State. We can only bow to His decree, and pray that in His mercy He may shape all this for our good."

Mr. Bryan was the son of William and Mary Bryan, and was born in the City of Brighton, England, on the eighteenth day of January, 1822. His father, who is still living, is a man of rare intellectual faculties, and although he has attained the advanced age of seventy-two years, is still in the vigorous enjoyment of all his mental and physical powers. His mother, who died in 1836, was a woman of very superior intelligence, beauty of person, and grace of manner. She realized the ideal of the poet who wrote:

None knew her but to love her;
None named her but to praise."

Mr. Bryan's father, believing that there were greater opportunities for the advancement of his children in the United States than in their native land, came to this country with his family in 1830, and after a brief residence in New York and Utica, settled finally in Le Roy, Genesee County, where he embarked in business as a cabinet maker. Appreciating fully the incalculable advantages of education, he afforded to his children the important aids to be derived from the best private schools and academies. Consequently, the early advantages of young Bryan were excellent. They were fully improved, and largely promoted his success in after life. Owing, however, to the financial and general business depression and disasters of 1836

and 1837, his father was unable to continue him any longer at the academy at Le Roy, which he had been attending. And so, with a stout heart and a determination to make his way in the world, at the tender age of fifteen, in 1837, he commenced an apprenticeship to the printing business with D. D. Waites, Esq., then and at present proprietor of The Republican Advocate, published at Batavia. It soon became apparent that the profession of the law was the one best suited to his tastes and rapidly developing powers of mind, and he began to shape his studies and reading accordingly. In 1838, at the age of sixteen, he entered the office of Hon. Albert Smith, of Batavia, as a student of law. Never in the days of old, or in the present time, did student enter upon his studies with more enthusiasm, or with a nobler and firmer resolve, or with more hopefulness. His industry was untiring. He allowed no obstacles to discourage him. Teaching a district school by day reading law, history, biography and classical literature in the long, quiet hours of the night, attending lectures, and seeking the society of the learned, refined and pure minded, he soon began to make rapid and encouraging progression. He overcame the want of a collegiate education by his wonderful application, and attained a mastery not only of the English, but of the Latin and French languages. He also obtained a command of eloquence and logic, which ultimately placed him in the front rank of his profession. He entered the office of Hon. Moses Taggart in 1840. The personal kindnesses of the judge so impressed the mind and heart of the youthful aspirant for professional honors, that he became, and continued until his death, one of Judge Taggart's most devoted friends. Quickly and pleasantly glided away Mr. Bryan's student life, and he was admitted to practice when employed in the office of Messrs. Redfield & Pringle, at the land office in Batavia. He retained an interest in the business of

the office from 1847 to 1850, at which time he formed a copartnership with Gen. John H. Martindale, and opened an office under the firm name of Martindale & Bryan. Upon the removal of Gen. Martindale to Rochester, Mr. Bryan, with Hon. Seth Wakeman, established the law firm of Wakeman & Bryan; which partnership, together with the most intimate and cordial relations of friendship, continued until death rudely severed their mutually delightful intercourse.

In the spring of 1851, during Mr. Bryan's profes sional connection with Gen. Martindale, an exceedingly important litigation was in progress between the Ogden Land Company and the Tonawanda band of Seneca Indians, involving the rights of the Indians to their reservation in the County of Genesee. This reservation comprised twelve thousand eight hundred acres of valuable land. From that time forward, until the final determination of the controversy, Mr. Bryan took an active and important part in the proceedings. In the winter of 1857 one of the actions (that of Blacksmith v. Fellows), which had arisen in the controversy, was argued in the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court adjudged that the Ogden Company had no right to enter and settle on the reservation, and could not maintain an action of ejectment to enforce their claims under the treaty with the Indians, but must await the action of the political department of the government, and the actual removal of the Indians by the political power. This decision was announced about the time of the accession of the late President Buchanan to the presidency. Soon after the commencement of his administration, with Hon. Jacob Thompson as Secretary of the Interior, and Gen. Denver as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the Ogden Land Company applied to these officers to remove the Indians from their reservation. Some years before, during the administration of President Taylor, an attempt had been made to enlist the political de