AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PENNSYLVANIAN
charge and had it cleaned. Then we went by rail to the station on the main line and there waited. Presently we heard the Chicago express, which never stopped there, but was to stop for us because of the influence of Moody, thundering in the distance.
“Now,” said Moody, “come outside and all be ready to get on.”
In an instant the train was there and in an instant later beyond the station and rushing to the far-away East. Then I roared and Moody, seldom crestfallen, was in a state of confusion. Presently, however, came the second section, which stopped, and all was well. Just at this juncture Judge Henry J. McCarthy died and this made a vacancy in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas No. 3. The leaders of the Republican party in that city asked for the appointment of Robert von Moschzisker, a bright young lawyer, formerly an assistant in the office of the district attorney, but lacking both years and legal experience, who had made himself useful and agreeable to Durham. I appointed George Tucker Bispham, the author of our leading work upon equity, and a lawyer of long and varied practice. He was then in Europe, but he had at one time made an earnest effort to reach the bench and, after consultation with Mr. Brinton in his office and with Lyman D. Gilbert, a friend and associate in many cases, who thought he would accept, I made the venture. My hope was, by a distinguished appointment, to benefit the profession, and that he, with such an opportunity, would feel it to be his duty to his profession to see that it was utilized. He failed me and, much to my disgust and with very poor taste, telegraphed his declination not to me but to the Press. One of the experiences which come often to those having responsibility and seeking to do decent things is the little assistance given by men who are ever complaining about existing conditions.
On one occasion at Harrisburg I was called up by long-
