224

The Green Bug.

last day of the week, and the last hour of the day. In all his long career no man ever sus pected Blackford of dishonesty; his was an unsuspected integrity. In private life he was a singularly pure man. An oath nor an obscene story never passed his lips. Outwardly he was not religious; but he frequently attended church, and was a firm believer in the truths of Christianity. He was remarkably industrious and pains taking, working incessantly, having no set time in which to perform his judicial la bor. When overcome with fatigue and Nature's demand for sleep and rest, his head often fell forward on his desk; and after long and unremitting labor he would frequently sleep thirty-six or forty-eight hours without intermission. He was de cidedly a plodder, creeping at a snail's pace through whatever he had to do. He wrote and rewrote until he was satisfied with his opinions. His memory, too, was very defi cient; an excellent illustration of which is afforded by the cases of Hawkins v. Johnson (4 Blackf. 21) and Vest v. Weir (4 Blackf. 135), in which there is a direct conflict, although a little over one hundred pages of the report intervene between them, — in which cases he prepared both opinions. Blackford, outside of the law, was not a learned man. In early life he had a love for poetry, but that soon deserted him. His library contained over two thousand vol umes, — the largest private library then in the State; but they were mostly legal works. He took little interest in anything beyond t lie law. His gifts to charity were small, — more to escape importunity than love of giving. He was passionately fond of oratory; especially that of Henry Ward Beecher, then a resident of Indianapolis. In the company of strangers he was painfully diffident; a rough criticism pained him beyond expres sion. Among his friends he was very happy, relating a good story; but he enveloped himself in a quiet reserve or dignity of man ner that forbade anything like familiarity.

In 1820 he was married to Caroline McDonald, the daughter of his old precep tor in New Jersey; but the marriage was an uncongenial one, owing to the difference in their ages and habits. She died in a year, leaving a son, who died at the age of twenty. The death of his son was a great blow to Blackford. For more than a week he confined himself in his room, and only opened the door when it was clear to him that it would be broken down if he did not do so. Blackford lived like a hermit. For twenty years he occupied a room in the Governor's house in the Circle at Indianapolis. He had a few chairs and a table of the plainest pattern. His floor was uncarpeted, and for years his bed lay upon the floor. He took his meals at a cheap boarding-house; and when specially engaged, or confined to his room by rheumatism, he lived for days on crackers and cheese, a supply of which he always kept by him. Shortly after the con firmation of his appointment as judge in 1843, he banqueted five of his Whig friends who had voted for him; and the banquet consisted of two pounds of hard shelled almonds, a few crackers, and a single bottle of champagne. He cracked the nuts on the floor with his boot-heel. Exercising such economy, and being con tinuously in office for a long time, he neces sarily accumulated a considerable fortune. His connection with the Vevay bank gave him an insight into its gross frauds, and he resigned. Shortly afterwards it failed, and this shattered his confidence in moneyed in stitutions. He refused to trust them, and invested his earnings in land or town prop erty, which in time became valuable. For years at a time he declined to draw his sal ary; and when the State paid in scrip draw ing six per cent interest, he had his salary set off quarterly, but declined to draw it for six years, when he received a much larger sum than he would have otherwise received. He died a rich man, for the West. Blackford owed much of his reputation, at