Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs, Vol. 1 | Page 5

Dr. Denis Meng, No. 567; Azoline
Gautherin, No. 590; Oscar Chopin, No. 592; S. Aruns Sorrel, No. 594,
in which he probably made the best argument of his career; Jules Le
More, No. 595; Athenais C. Le More, No. 598; Mary Ann Texier, No.
569; and Charles Heidsieck, No. 691. That of Theodore Valade, No.
214, was a full account of the battle of Donaldsonville, and those of
Archbishop Perche, David Kuhnagel, and many other involved intricate
and interesting questions of citizenship as well as damages for the
destruction of property. On May 10, 1884, Mr. Boutwell made an
exhaustive and final report on all these claims to the Secretary of State,
Hon. Frederick T. Frelinghuysen.
Mr. Boutwell was one of the counsel for the government of Hayti in the
celebrated case of Antonio Pelletier against that republic in 1885, and
made a most interesting oral argument. This case was a romance of the
sea as well as of international importance, involving a claim of
$2,500,000 and questions of piracy and slave trading. In 1893-94 Mr.
Boutwell was retained as counsel on the part of Chili to defend their

government before an international commission created under a treaty
with the United States signed August 7, 1892. About forty cases were
presented, involving $26,300,000, and the final report was submitted
April 30, 1894. Among the more important were those of Gilbert B.
Borden, No. 9, and Frederick H. Lovett et al., No. 43, against the
Republic of Chili. These as well as nearly all the others were argued by
him with a brilliancy and eloquence that has marked his entire career at
the bar. Of the five courts martial that were held in Washington
between 1880 and 1892 for the trial of officers of the army and navy
Mr. Boutwell was retained for the defence in four cases, in three of
which the accused were convicted and in the other honorably acquitted.
In 1886 he was retained by the Mormon Church to appear before the
judiciary committee of the House of Representatives against the
Edmunds bill, which was modified in particulars pointed out in the
discussion. The same year he appeared before the House committee on
foreign affairs for the government of Hawaii in opposition to the
project for abrogating the treaty of 1875.
Mr. Boutwell's pleas and arguments have with few exceptions been
published in book or pamphlet form, or both, and form of themselves a
most valuable and interesting addition to legal literature. They bear
evidence of a profound knowledge of the law, of vast research and of
great literary ability. Among others may be mentioned those upon a
petition to the Massachusetts Legislature for the removal of Joseph M.
Day as judge of probate and insolvency for Barnstable County in
March, 1881; in the matter of the Pacific National Bank of Boston
before the banking and currency committee of the United State House
of Representatives, March 22, 1884; and for the claimant in the case of
the Berdan Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company of New York vs. the
United States. He is the author of "Educational Topics and
Institutions," 1859; "Speeches Relating to the Rebellion and the
Overthrow of Slavery," collected and published in 1867; "Why I am a
Republican," a history of the Republican Party to 1884, republished in
1888; "The Lawyer, Statesman and Soldier," 1887; and the
"Constitution of the United States," embracing the substance of the
leading decisions of the Supreme Court in which the several articles,
sections and clauses have been examined, explained and interpreted,

1896. In 1888 he wrote a pamphlet on "Protection as a Public Policy,"
for the American Protective Tariff League; on April 2, 1889, he read a
paper on "The Progress of American Independence," before the New
York Historical Society; and in February, 1896, he published a
pamphlet on "The Venezuelan Question and the Monroe Doctrine."
Mr. Boutwell has probably argued more cases involving international
law than any other living man, and in this department ranks among the
ablest and strongest that this country has ever produced. For more than
forty years he was a prominent figure before the bar of the United
States Courts at Washington, where he achieved eminence as an
advocate of the highest ability. He was uniformly successful, and won a
reputation which was not confined to this country. He is an authority on
international and constitutional law. His published writings stamp him
as a profound student of public questions and a man of rare literary
culture and genius. He was a strong Abolitionist, and as lawyer,
statesman and citizen he has faithfully and efficiently performed his
duties and won the confidence of both friends and opponents. In
politics he has been a leader of the Republican Party since its
organization. He was a delegate to the Chicago Conventions of