Bermudez, Hon. Edward

Submitted by Mike Miller

Hon. Edward Bermudez, ex-chief justice of the supreme court of Louisiana, is a native of New Orleans, of which city his father, Joachim Bermudez, was also a native, while his paternal grand parents, natives of Spain, were among the leading pioneers of the country. Joachim Bermudez married here Miss Emma Troxier, herself a daughter of like pioneers (her father being of German and her mother of French descent). She proved the heroine of one of the most tragic dramas ever enacted during the first half of this century, in which her husband was the principal actor. Edward Bermudez was born here, January 19, 1832. His early school days were passed at Boyer's academy in this city and his higher studies pursued at Spring Hill college, Mobile, Ala. In May, 185l, he won the degrees of bachelor and master of arts and graduated with honors. Having decided to study law, he directed his steps toward Kentucky and at once entering the office of the federal judge, T. B. Monroe, began his studies and was admitted to the local bar in October following. Returning to his native city, he entered the law school of the University of Louisiana, then having such teachers as Profs. Roselius, Hunt, Mayes and McCaleb, was granted the degree of bachelor of law in March, 1852. In 1853 he was admitted to practice before the supreme court of Louisiana on the motion of Judah P. Benjamin, and subsequently before the supreme court of the United States on motion of Judge John A. Campbell, formerly a member of that court. During this short period of rapid professional advancement, he was in partnership with his father at New Orleans, a testimonial in itself and an incentive to his ambition. For the succeeding seven years he was assiduous in the cause of the firm's clients and built up a reputation seldom acquired by young men in the professions at that period. Soon another cause was to claim his heart. The privileges and rights and property of his state were threatened by the politicians of the North, and to defend them he was called. Elected a delegate to the secession convention of 1860, he appeared in that body, preaching patience and toleration, telling of revolution and its perils, declaring civil war inopportune and dangerous. He was a Louisianian rather than a politician, and saw, too plainly, how defeat would ruin his land, the garden spot of the South, and overturn these distinctive social forms which allied society in Louisiana with that of Europe. The unreasoning crowd heeded not the impropriety, and their logic drove him to sign that ordinance which turned over a prosperous state to the dreadful chances of war. He was among the first to enlist under the banner of the confederacy. He was chosen a lieutenant in the First New Orleans regiment and commissioned judge advocate of the brigade. Going to Mobile he was promoted adjutant, under the provost-marshal-general and post commandant in the department of the gulf. On the cessation of hostilities he returned and held the important position of assistant city attorney until he was removed from office by order of Gen. Phil. Sheridan, who unjustly declared him "an impediment to reconstruction. Since those days of trials have passed away, substantial honors have been bestowed upon this excellent citizen. From the distant college of St. John's, at Fordham, N. Y., came to him the degree of LL. D., and from his own state the highest judicial honor. Wherever he traveled the foreign idea of an American judge was abolished and a true idea built up in its stead, for each one knew that a sense of honor and justice was in full possession of the traveler. At home, the same opinion prevails in a stronger form, for his fellow-citizens know of all those characteristics which mark him as a nobleman of the republic. He was the counsel of many important corporations and commercial firms. Among these may be mentioned the Levee Steam Cotton Press. the New Orleans Insurance association, the Importers' Bonded warehouse and the Southern bank. The celebrated case of the city vs. the Southern bank was won by him in the United States supreme court. The law office of Judge Bermudez was a training school for many of the now distinguished lawyers of this city: Hon. E. D. White, formerly associate justice of the supreme court, now United States senator; Charles Louque, the author of Louque's Digest; C. F. Claiborne and Charles T. Soniat, all lawyers of merit and distinction. In 1880, when the subject of this sketch was commissioned chief justice of the supreme court, the appointment was received with general approbation on account of his ability, learning, impartiality and character. The Chief Justice in 1853 married Miss Amanda de' Maupassant, a native lady belonging to a family of great renown in France, related to Comte de' Maupassant, who married a daughter of Baron Hubner, minister from Austria to France. Of the nine children born of this marriage, four are now living, namely: Edward J., Ferdinand, Alzira (now Mrs. Henry Farjas) and Jeanne. As the family is historic, so do they belong to that historic church which was old when Columbus discovered America. A prominent member of the bar of Louisiana, in speaking of the subject of this sketch, said: "Chief Justice Bermudez is a typical representative of what is commonly called the Latin race, both in his physical and his moral qualities. His jet black eyes and hair and dark complexion, as well as his urbanity and his elegance of manners, show his descent from ancestors bronzed by the sun of southern Europe and polished by its early civilization. Though he is surely by no means antagonistic to the Norman or Anglo-Saxon element of our state population, judging from the legion of friends that he has in it, he is proud of his origin, adheres to old associations and is probably one of the least Americanized of our prominent high-toned creole gentlemen. Jealous, even to exaction, of the dignity of the elevated tribunal over which he presides, as soon as he has descended from it, he resumes his perfect naturalness and good-natured simplicity, and the chief justice becomes again Edward to hosts of old comrades. He is profoundly versed in the civil law. To say that he is the best civilian of Louisiana would be offensive to some; to say that he is one of the best, may not be doing him justice. We will therefore make no comparison and will simply say that he is a great civilian, and would be so considered in any country where the civil law is extensively studied. He is fond of the law as an artist is fond of his art. The subject is to him of an all-absorbing interest. With him conversation, reading, reflection, researches, travels, all aim at the law, all revert to the law. It is his one great intellectual object in life. Prone to combativeness to a considerable degree when at the bar, he has grown on the bench to be a placid and patient judge, feeling the immense responsibility of the position and discharging his difficult duty with the utmost urbanity and suavity. His sole aim in deciding cases is to do substantial justice to all, to foe or friend, impartially, at all risk and at all cost. 'Fiat justitia ruat cocelum!' is no vain motto with him. The Chief Justice has traveled much in this country and in Europe, especially in France, where he counts numerous friends, particularly among the members of the judiciary and of the bar. In 1889, while in Paris, he was honored with a seat, by the president, on the bench of the court of cessation, and permitted to assist at a consultation of the judges after the submission of a case just argued. This occurred as well in the civil chamber as in the criminal chamber, the former presided over by Mr. Barbier, the latter by Mr. Loew. He was honored in the same way in the court of assizes, presided over by Mr. Horteloup. The Chief Justice is justly proud of those honors, which are seldom, if ever, extended to foreign judges. A reference to the history of the judiciary of the state will give an idea of the origin, of the character and valor of his father in the administration of justice in Louisiana. Joachim Bermudez was for many years judge of the probate court of Orleans. In the year 1886 a homicide was committed in New Orleans. The accused, claiming to have acted in self defense, asked for the privilege of bail. The judge of the criminal court being absent, it became incumbent on one of the other judges to act in his stead. The friends of the deceased swore that the judge, whoever he might be, who would admit the prisoner to bail should be held bodily, responsible for such action. Owing to the absence or illness of the remaining judges, it became the duty of the judge of the court of probate to entertain the demand. Well aware of the threat which had been held out, Judge Bermudez, nevertheless, did not hesitate to do what the law imposed upon him as a duty. After hearing the evidence, and the counsel, Etienne Mazureau for the state, Christian Roselius and E. A. Canon, lawyers of great distinction, for the accused, he took the case under advisement. The next morning he delivered his opinion in writing, in which, considering that the accused had acted in self-defense, he allowed him the privilege of bail on bond, with three sureties, for $15,000. On that night between nine and ten o'clock, faithful to their threat, the friends of the deceased marched to the Judge's residence. They knocked at the door and Judge Bermudez answered the call. They rushed into what the law intends shall be the sacred and impregnable castle of every citizen. The Judge seemed to have been taken by surprise. He was ordered to follow his assailants, and, on refusing to do so, was instantly seized and overpowered before he could procure any weapon; but his wife, a lady of remarkable courage, threw herself upon the combatants, disengaging one of the arms of her husband and allowing him to grasp in his hand a cavalry sabre which was close by. The sword in the hands of a brave man did speedy and terrible execution. In a twinkling three of the assailants were stretched dead upon the floor of the chamber, the sanctity of which they had violated; a fourth one was seen reeling through the entrance door into the street and fell senseless on the pavement close by where he died. He had been shot by a cousin of General Beauregard, a friend of the Judge, who, dreading the execution of the threat, had visited the Judge on that night. The whole affair was over--Mrs. Bermudez had saved the life of her husband. Her conduct on that occasion excited enthusiastic admiration, and ever since has been remembered and will never be forgotten. "When I arrived at the spot where this drama had been enacted," said one of those who had come to the rescue, "I found Mrs. Bermudez in the middle of the room, standing erect by two frightfully gashed corpses, her long hair flowing down her shoulders, apparently self-possessed, but her eyes flashing, her bosom heaving and her white robes covered all over with blood. She was superb. I assure you that she then appeared to we the most beautiful and admirable object I had ever seen." She signally proved on that occasion the depth and power of woman's love and devotion. Judge Bermudez proceeded to surrender himself to the proper authorities, but they refused to accept his surrender, stating that he had vindicated the law. This narrative is substantially taken from the memoirs of Hon. Charles Gayarre, the renowned historian of Louisiana. Chief Justice Bermudez's ancestors who immigrated to this country from Andalousia, Spain, were, among the early settlers of Louisiana. His grandfather, Juan Bautista Bermudez, was a judicial functionary here under the Spanish regime, and had married Miss Emilia de Saunhac du Fossat, belonging to one of the most honored families in the state; she was of French origin. The response of C. J. Bermudez to the resolutions of the bar, when presented to the S. C., upon the life and death of J. P. Benjamin, is remarkable for the chaste and appropriate language of eulogy, and is a beautiful tribute to the memory of the great lawyer of two hemispheres, composed in classical style.

Biographical and Historical Memoires of Louisiana, (vol. 2), pp. 470-472. Published by the Goodspeed Publishing Company, Chicago, 1892.