Meantime I have finished the oration of Cicero for Milo (who was charged with murder), having piloted Tom through it, and have read two of his four speeches against Cataline. Life, immortality, soul, eternal punishment of the wicked, the admission of the good into Heaven (which the Greeks call the Milky Way, says Cicero), the origin of the world, and of the soul from the divine power of Almighty God (Jupiter) and His providence, are ideas distinctly set forth by Cicero, as proved in the last sentence of his first oration against Cataline, a passage of a letter to Appius ("as for me, I must think of the life to come, and no more of this short and fleeting existence,") and that celebrated passage in "De Republica," the last dream of Scipio, the younger. When we discover these doctrines in Cicero, and find Plato furnished the Logos eo nomine, and suggested two other forms of manifestation employed by his Deity, can an honest mind refuse these "heathens" a just praise for helping us to the theory of our religion?

As stated at the inception of this imperfect sketch, only a contemporary could adequately portray Judge Withers, for in his presence, it has been said by those who knew him, lay much of his power. In cold print the style of delivery is lost. The writer can speak of his personality only from boyhood impression, but distinctly recalls his imposing and erect bearing, chiseled features, incisive, yet withal benign, expression.

In summing up an estimate of Judge Withers, we shall quote a high authority in the following words of Governor B. F. Perry, found in his published Reminiscences:

"Judge Withers was a man of distinguished talent and ability. He was always able, clear and learned. On the circuit he despatched business with great promptness, and his opinions in the Court of Appeals will compare well with those of any other judge. There was great force and power in his style. His intellect was keen as a Damascus blade, and he wielded it on all occasions, public and private, most effectively. Every word that fell from his lips had a telling effect. No one was ever left in doubt as to his meaning when he discussed a question. He was very sarcastic and bitter in his denunciation of men and measures. No one ever possessed less of the demagogue than Judge Withers, no one ever more conscientiously did what he thought was right. He was as open as the day, and if he disliked any one he showed it in a manner not to be mistaken. Frankness was his character."

Church in which Judge A. P. Aldrich was holding Court, at Barnwell, S. C., when General Cantey, U. S. A., closed the Court.

JUDGE A. P. ALDRICH.

Alfred Proctor Aldrich was born in Charleston, South Carolina, June 14, 1814, and died in Barnwell, February 12, 1897.

Educated at the College of Charleston, he was admitted to the bar in 1835. He removed to Barnwell, and was shortly afterwards elected commissioner in equity for that district.

He served in the Seminole War on the staff of Colonel Brisbane. On his return from Florida he married the gifted and beautiful Martha Ayer, daughter of the Honorable Lewis M. Ayer, a wealthy planter of Barnwell district, who was for thirty years one of its representatives in the State Legislature.

In 1856 he was elected to a seat in the House of Representatives, and served continuously in that body until in 1865 he was elected to the bench. He was elected Speaker of the House in 1862, and again in 1865, resigning his seat to take the office of circuit judge under the constitution adopted in the latter year.

After the withdrawal of South Carolina from the Union he was sent as a commissioner to the State of Missouri to lay before its Legislature the cause of secession and the reasons for prompt action on the part of all the Southern States. His presentation of the subject was said at the time to have contributed largely to the spirit and action of the States' rights element in Missouri. On the staff of General M. L. Bonham, Colonel Aldrich went to Virginia with the first body of troops from South Carolina, and remained in active service until after the battle of Manassas. When General Bonham was elected Governor, Colonel Aldrich was attached to the staff of General Maxcy Gregg, and served thus until injured in a railroad accident, which disabled him from further service in the field.

He was in close touch with Governor Magrath, that distinguished executive seeking his counsel and assistance in the very grave conditions then existing in South Carolina and in the entire Confederate States.

The war over, he was among those chosen to frame a new constitution for South Carolina, being a member of the State convention of 1865.

In 1866, Judge Aldrich had a clash with the military authority of the United States. Having sentenced a white man convicted of larceny to be whipped according to law, he was summoned to the headquarters of Brigadier-General Bennett, the Federal officer commanding in Charleston, where the Judge was then holding court. Declining to attend, but courteously informing the General of his readiness to see him at his hotel, he was next called on by an officer, under whose escort he was taken into the General's presence. There was quite a discussion, Judge Aldrich plainly stating his inability to alter the sentence imposed, and his determination to stand by the constitution and laws of South Carolina. General Sickles, commanding the department which included South Carolina, sustained General Bennett, and the convict went unpunished. Judge Aldrich thereupon declared that he could not hold court while his judgments could be summarily set aside by a military officer. There was afterwards an "adjustment" between the State authorities and the military commander, under which it was arranged that the law as to colored people should be amended, that corporal punishment should be abolished, and that the military should not interfere with the courts. Judge Aldrich then resumed the bench and continued. in the discharge of his duties until he was again interfered with by the military power.

Brigadier-General E. R. S. Canby, commander of the second military district under the reconstruction acts of Congress, issued an order which in effect required that negroes, without regard to any qualifications whatever, should be put on the jury lists, so as to be drawn on the grand and petit juries. At the first opportunity when he held court at Edgefield in the fall of 1867Judge Aldrich in his charge to the grand jury reviewed General Canby's order and declared that he could not and would not obey it, though disobedience he knew involved the surrender of his office. On going to Barnwell some days later, to hold court there, he was served with an order of General Canby, suspending him from the judgeship to which he had been elected by the Legislature acting in obedience to the mandate of the constitution. Having gathered the purport of the order, he repaired to the church used as a place for holding court (the court-house having been burnt by Sherman's soldiers), put on his gown, ascended to the pulpit and took his seat. First relating the