the persons asserting ownership, were, in fact, the true proprietors, and had made out their title.

It was held, that the evidence showed the negroes not to be slaves, they having been kidnapped in Africa, and unlawfully transported to Cuba; that they could not be deemed pirates or robbers, since they were entitled to the liberty which they retook, and were illegally restrained on board the Amistad; that they were not merchandise in the sense of the treaty, but were persons, any conflict as to whose rights must be decided upon the eternal principles of justice and international law." The negroes were, therefore, declared to be free, and were dismissed from custody to go without day.

66

This case created great excitement at the time, and was the subject of an eloquent pamphlet written by Dr. W. E. Channing, vindicating their rights, and the mode by which they regained their liberty.

The circumstances of the sudden death of Mr. Justice Barbour, while in attendance on the Court during the session, are stated in the following letter:

MY DEAR WIFE:

TO MRS. JOSEPH STORY.

Washington, February 28th, 1841.

I now write to acknowledge the receipt of your last letter, and to tell you of the sad event of the death of Mr. Justice Barbour, which has spread a great gloom over the Court and almost disabled us from doing any business. His death was indeed awfully sudden. He was in good health and attended. Court all Wednesday, and heard the extraordinary argument of Mr. Adams in the case of the Amistad; extraordinary, I say, for its power, for its bitter sarcasm, and its dealing with topics far beyond the record and points of discussion. He

dined heartily, and remained with the Judges in conference until after ten o'clock in the evening, and then in a most cheerful humor. The next morning the servant went into his room between six and seven o'clock and made his fire, perceiving nothing unusual and supposing him to be asleep. About an hour afterwards the messenger with letters knocked at his door, and hearing no answer went in softly, supposing him asleep, and laid a letter upon his table and withdrew. At nine o'clock the servant called us all to breakfast, and upon going into his room, finding him still in bed, he went to him and found that he could not awaken him. He was frightened, and ran into my room and told me he feared Judge Barbour was dead. I went immediately and found him lying on his left side and lifeless. His eyes were closed, his feet stretched out, and his arms in a natural position. His forehead, hands, feet and limbs were perfectly cold, but upon feeling his breast, I discovered that it was still warm. We sent immediately for Dr. Sewall, who came and said that he was indeed dead, and that he must have died of angina pectoris. Probably he breathed his last about daylight, and while he was yet asleep. From all appearances, he must have died without any struggle and instantaneously. We were all thrown into utter confusion, and I sat down to a most melancholy breakfast, seeing on my side the deserted chair in which he used to sit. We went to Court at eleven o'clock, where the Chief Justice announced the event, and the Court was at once adjourned until Monday.

On Friday his funeral obsequies were performed in the Supreme Court room where two days before he sat, having apparently a stronger claim to life than nearly all of his brethren. He would have been fifty-eight years of age if he had lived until May next. He was a man of great integrity, of a very solid and acute understanding, of considerable legal attainments, (in which he was daily improving,) and altogether a very conscientious, upright, and laborious Judge, whom we all respected for his talents and virtues, and his

high sense of duty. When I reflect upon the sudden manner in which he was called from us, I could not help feeling the affecting truth of Mr. Burke's remark, "What shadows we are and what shadows we pursue." Horace, nearly nineteen hundred years ago, used an equally expressive exclamation,— "Pulvis et umbra sumus." This event has quite broken up all our arrangements, and we shall certainly adjourn, and, indeed, we have so agreed, on the 10th of March.

My own health continues growing better, though I have had for a few days past, in consequence of the state of the weather, a slight cold. I am now about to go out and avail myself of one of the few days we have had here of a bright and balmy sky.

I am most truly and affectionately yours,

JOSEPH STORY.

The following sketch of Mr. Justice Barbour was afterwards drawn up by my father:

:

"The family from which Judge Barbour was descended, was one of the oldest and most respectable in Virginia. His great-grandfather was a merchant of Scotland, who immigrated to this country. His grandfather was the pioneer and first settler of the country lying between the eastern base of the Blue Ridge and the Southwest mountains. His father, Thomas Barbour, inherited considerable wealth, and was a member of the old House of Burgesses, from the then very large county of Orange. He was one of those who, in 1769, signed the Non-Importation Act' between this country and Great Britain. After the formation of the Union, he was elected to the Legislature. Richard Henry Lee, in a letter to his brother, Arthur Lee, bore testimony to his worth, to the effect, 'that he was glad that Thomas Barbour was in our state councils, for he was a truly intelligent and patriotic

man.'

"On the maternal side, as his name indicates, Judge Bar

bour was related to the Pendleton family, his grandmother having been the aunt of the distinguished Judge Pendleton. Philip Pendleton Barbour was born on the 25th of May, 1783. Owing to his great hospitality, and a long series of disasters, his father was unable to afford him that liberal education which his talents and early promise would have justified. He was, however, sent early to school, where he soon developed many of those qualities for which he was afterwards so justly distinguished. He exhibited great aptitude for the acquisition of languages; and, with a correct taste and strong memory, sought out and retained through life the beauties of the Greek and Roman classics. Even in the performance of the tasks of a country school, he manifested that precision of information and depth of research, which, on a broader theatre, and carried to higher subjects, won for him a wide-spread and enduring reputation. He remained at school until the end of 1799. During the early part of 1800, he studied law at home; but in October, he determined to visit Kentucky, where, under great difficulty and embarrassment he commenced the practice of law. In the summer of 1801, he yielded to the persuasions of his friends to return to Virginia; and, having borrowed the necessary funds, spent one session at William and Mary College. In 1802, he resumed the practice of law in Virginia. In October, 1804, he was united to Frances T. Johnson, daughter of Col. Benjamin Johnson, of Orange county, Virginia. During the next eight years he applied himself unceasingly to his profession. In 1812, he was elected to the Assembly, where he continued two sessions. In 1814, he was elected to Congress, where he continued until 1825. While there, he was chairman of the Naval and Judiciary Committees; and in 1821, was chosen speaker of the House of Representatives. About the year 1825, the University of Virginia went into operation. He was offered the professorship of law in that institution, and was pressed by Mr. Jefferson to accept it. He refused this station, however, and was appointed a Judge of the General

Court of Virginia. In 1827, at the written request of a majority of his old constituents, he resigned his seat on the Bench, and was reëlected, without opposition, to Congress. In 1829, together with the illustrious Madison, he was chosen to represent the county of Orange, in the convention called to amend the constitution of Virginia. He presided over the deliberations of this body in a manner which elicited the approbation of its members. He was also president of the Anti-Tariff Convention which met in Philadelphia. In 1830, he retired from the practice of a profession which had yielded him considerable wealth, and of which he had been one of the brightest ornaments, and accepted the station of Federal Judge for the eastern district of Virginia. The chancellorship was offered to him and declined; as was also the post of Attorney-General. He refused the nominations for a seat in the Court of Appeals, the gubernatorial chair, and the Senate of the United States. As Federal Judge, he won new honors, and showed himself worthy of the high and enviable station to which in 1836 he was called, that of Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. Having thus reached the height of the profession which he had chosen, he was unweariedly striving, with a virtuous ambition, to win that fame which great ability can only give when joined with pure principles, when death cut him off in his useful career, and robbed our country of one of its most distinguished sons.

"It remains for us to take a brief notice of the professional attainments and judicial character of Mr. Justice Barbour. It has been already seen that no inconsiderable portion of his life was employed in active political duties and pursuits, which if not incompatible with, are (to say the least) by no means favorable to the cultivation of juridical knowledge, or to found a solid reputation in the law. He did not, however, at any time relax his vigilance in his professional studies, or become indifferent to professional success. On the contrary, he had the ambition to acquire all the knowledge which might