good
behavior, and, as the citizen was not again arraigned, it may be
presumed that his conduct was reasonably good, however doubtful may be
the presumption.

I was fortunate in having the confidence of the community, always an
important adjunct to the bench, for it is not always that the executor
of the law has to deal with the humble of no repute. An old resident,
wealthy and prominent, was arrested and was to appear before me for
trial. During the interim it was several times suggested to me in a
friendly way that I had better give the case a letting alone by
dismissal, as it would probably be personally dangerous to enforce the
law, as he was known to be impulsive and at times violent. I heard the
case, which had aggravated features, together with resisting and
assaulting an officer, and imposed the highest penalty provided by law.
Those who had thought that such action would give offence little knew
the man. It being the last case on the docket for the day, descending
from the bench and passing, I saluted him, which he pleasantly returned,
without a murmur as to the justice of the fine. Subsequently, on several
occasions, he placed me under obligations to him for favors. Personally,
insignificant as I may have been to him, he recognized in me for the
time being a custodian of the majesty of the law, which he knew he had
violated. When it shall happen as a rule and not as the exception that
men will esteem, applaud and sustain the honest administration of the
law, irrespective of the administrator, a great step will have been
taken toward a better conservation of constitutional liberty. In
Arkansas the political cauldron continued to boil. In Powell Clayton
were strongly marked the elements of leadership, fidelity to friends,
oratorical power, honesty of purpose, courage of conviction, with
unflinching determination to enforce them. The late Joseph Brooks, an
ex-minister of the Methodist Church, and who secularized as a
politician, was an orator to be reckoned with. Sincere, scathing, and
impressive, his following was large and devoted. Senator Clayton, the
present Ambassador to Mexico, has outlived the political bitterness that
so long assailed him, and was lately guest of reception and banquet
given him and largely attended by Democrats, chiefly his political
opponents.

The divided Republicans held their State convention in 1872. The Clayton
faction (the Minstrels) had for their nominee Elisha Baxter, a North