Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, By L. B. PROCTOR, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. HENRY M. TOBITT, Printer and Stereotyper, 350 PEARL-ST., N. Y. WHILE one purpose of my toil in writing it was, to gather and record the fast scattering reminiscences of the men who have attained distinction at the Bar and on the Bench of our State, ere they should, as soon they would, be forever lost;-a labor undertaken in part for their own sakes, and from sacred regard to their memories;—it has also been an object, and by no means a minor one, to present their example to those already entered, or hereafter to enter, upon that profession which we love, and to accomplish eminence in which, calls for high qualities, physical, intellectual and moral. It has been my hope that I might thus, in my day and generation, render a service to my own profession; hold aloft the standard; depict the struggles and vicissitudes through which our great advocates have been compelled to force their way; illustrate their studies, habits and powers; show the value of steady perseverance; encourage the timid, though oft beaten back, never to despair; and stimulate the industry, honor, and laudable ambition of those who take upon themselves the emblems of our order. To you, therefore, young lawyers of New York, have I consecrated the time and labors necessary to collect and twine together the materials of this book; and trust the offering may bear fruit, many-fold, in your own achievements and renown. THE AUTHOR. CONTENTS. [Under the title of each Sketch are given the Names of some of the Persons referred Josiah Ogden Hoffman, Charles Fenno Hoffman, James Kent, Dr. Payson, Dr. Nott, Alonzo C. Page, Preston King, Wm. W. Campbell, R. W. Peckham, Stephen G. Austen, Millard Fill- Jacob Thompson, Moses Taggart, Gen. Denver, Caroline PAGE Charles H. Carrol, A. A. Bennett, Ambrose Bennett, James Mul- lett, George W. Patterson, Philo C. Fuller, L. C. Peck, Horatio Col. Thomas Hosmer, Titus Hosmer, Gov. Geo. Clinton, Joel Barlow, Timothy Hosmer, Oliver Phelps, Sir William John- son, Nathaniel Gorham, Charles Williamson, John Sloss Hobart, Peter B. Porter, N. W. Howell, James Wadsworth, James Otis, James Brackett, R. H. Walworth, Sir Samuel Romilly, Henry Clay, Philo Gridley, Gen. Van Rensselaer, Col. Thomas S. Brady, John Slosson, Nathan B. Morse, Mathew C. Patterson, Thomas J. Oakley, Judge Kent, Stanton, John Gen. S. G. Hathaway, Gen. Root, Andrew Jackson, J. L. Woods, Hiram Gray, A. C. Flagg. Michael Hoffman, Samuel Beards- ley, Wm. C. Bouck, Edwin Croswell, Col. Young, A. S. Divin. Lord Tenterden, T. Noon Talfourd, Erastus Root, Ambrose Spencer, Dr. Nott, Daniel D. Tompkins, Alfred Conkling, James Madison, De Witt Clinton, Rufus King, John T. Irv- ing, Gulian C. Verplanck, Heman J. Redfield, James Tal- madge, Henry Wheaton, John Duer, B. F. Butler, Daniel 174 238 277 304 354 365 Judge Hathaway, Nathan Williams, Joshua A. Spencer, John |