s. He was
himself more noble than his title. He came East to attend the National
Democratic Convention in 1868 at the head of the delegates from
California. After the Convention, he spent some months among his
friends and relatives at the old family residence in Maryland. At
this time the seeds of consumption, which had long been lurking in
his system, began to be developed, and he was taken down with a severe
illness which proved fatal. He became so ill as to be unable to walk,
and was conveyed to Baltimore to procure the best medical attendance;
and there he died on the 4th of April, 1869, in the arms of his
devoted wife, who had come from California to be with him in his last
hours. His body was brought to Washington and interred within sight
of the Capitol, near Hock Creek Church, in which his ancestors had
worshipped.

I have mentioned that when Fairfax was stabbed by Lee he fell into
the arms of Mr. Samuel B. Smith. This gentleman I had known slightly
before my difficulty with Judge Barbour; but the intimacy which sprung
up between Fairfax and myself, after that affair, brought me more in
contact with Mr. Smith, who was his constant companion. Mr. Smith
came to California from New Jersey in 1849, and passed through some
stirring scenes during that and the following year. He came with Mr.
John S. Hagar, who was afterwards State Senator, District Judge, and
United States Senator, and was engaged with him in the mines in the
winter of 1849-'50. In 1850 he settled in Sutter County; and in the
fall of 1852 was elected State Senator from that county. Having become
more intimately acquainted with him after he was elected Senator, I
requested him to introduce a bill into the Legislature, revising and
amending the one which I had originally drawn concerning the courts
and judicial officers of the State; and he cheerfully consented to do
so, and took great interest in securing its passage. Indeed, it was
through his influence that the bill became a law. Many circumstances
threw us together after that, and I learned to appreciate his manly
character, his generous disposition, and his great devotion to his
friends. Finally, in the fall of 1854, we agreed to form a partnership
after my return from the Eastern States, which I then proposed to
visit. After the Barbour affair the course of my professional life was
much the same as that of any other lawyer. My business was large and
I gave to it my unremitting attention. In 1854