CHARLES JOSEPH BONAPARTE these oblique approaches, by rather circui tous routes, were devoted to more direct assaults upon his opponents' front. In the examination and cross-examination of witnesses he is very successful, as he seems to have the rare gift of intuitively knowing how far and upon what matters he can ad vantageously press an adversary's witness and at what point it is best to stop. He seems to have an unusual facility for get ting out the truth from those whose inter est it would be to keep it back. It was probably his success in this particular, in the investigation made by Mr. Roosevelt, in the spring of 1891, while Civil Service Commissioner, of the Federal Offices in Bal timore, at which Mr. Bonaparte assisted, that induced the former after he became President, to retain him with Mr. Conrad as special counsel to investigate and report upon the alleged abuses in the post-office department. A great mass of documentary evidence, consisting of reports of govern ment officials, examinations of witnesses, and correspondence taken from the files of the departments, was placed in the hands of Messrs. Conrad and Bonaparte, who supple mented them by the replies to communica tions addressed by them to the various per sons who seemed to be implicated, request ing their explanations of the facts alleged. This entire body of evidence was carefully examined and thoroughly sifted by the special counsel, who afterwards prepared and submitted to the President four reports fully covering the whole ground and setting forth their conclusions. The result was a number of prosecutions in the United States courts, followed in most cases by conviction of the parties indicted. It fell to the lot of Mr. Bonaparte, as junior counsel, to pre pare the first drafts of all four of these re ports, which, with the evidence upon which they were founded, he submitted to Mr. Conrad who then reviewed them critically, suggesting such additions and modifications as occurred to him. These were neither extensive nor numerous. The prosecutions
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which followed were conducted by the regular United States district attorneys for the respective courts in which the different cases were tried, Mr. Conrad assisting as senior counsel in the trials at Washington, and Mr. Bonaparte in the trials of the cases at Baltimore, and each of them following the cases in which he had taken part, to the courts of last resort when appeals were taken. Mr. Bonaparte's services in these matters were so satisfactory to the government, that the Secretary of the Interior Department retained him to investigate and report upon certain alleged abuses in connection with the disposition of the public lands in the Indian Territory, which service he also per formed in the same thorough and exhaus tive manner. Interest does not often flag for any length of time in the trial of the cases in which Mr. Bonaparte participates, for not only is what ever he says and does always to the point, but he has a very keen sense of humor and an abundant supply of spontaneous wit, which is continually bubbling up and keeps things lively, so that one is not often tempted to go to sleep. His relations with judge, jury, witnesses, and opposing counsel during the progress of a trial are invariably pleasant, and amicable, for when he does employ his powers of ridicule to demolish an opponent's case, he does it in a good-humored way, and never forgets what is due from one gentle man to another. A member of the Bar, who went to school with him when they were boys, remarked to me the other day, A propos of an important case in which they represent opposing sides, that Bonaparte is one of the very few persons whom he has ever met, who, while extremely fond of pok ing fun at others, can always enjoy and heartily laugh at a good joke upon himself. As to Mr. Bonaparte's proper rank at the Bar here, there is of course some difference of opinion, owing largely to a pretty wide divergence of views as to exactly what con stitutes the best claim to eminence in the
