He rose rapidly to a distinguished place in his profession,
and before he died was, I suppose, the foremost advocate
in the world, whether in his country or Europe. He was counsel
for President Johnson on his impeachment, counsel for the
Republican side in support of the title of President Hayes
before the Electoral Commission; counsel for the United States
against Great Britain before the Tribunal at Geneva. He was
counsel in the celebrated Lemon case, where the case was settled
as to the rights of slave owners to bring their slaves into
the free States, and hold them _in transitu_. In all these
he was successful. He was counsel also in another trial of
almost equal interest and celebrity, the Tilton divorce suit--
in which Henry Ward Beecher was charged with adultery. In
this the jury disagreed. But the substantial victory was
with Evarts's client.
Mr. Evarts was a man of unfailing equanimity and good nature,
never thrown off his balance by any exigency in diplomacy,
in political affairs, or in the trial of causes. Any person
who has occasion to follow him in his diplomatic discussions
will be impressed with the far-sighted wisdom and caution
with which he took his positions.
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