When his case came on for hearing, I left the bench to my associates,
Judges Terry and Baldwin, and they decided in his favor. At this
action of mine Turner was amazed. It was something wholly unexpected
and surprising to him. Soon after the decision he sent one of his
friends, named Snowden, to know if I would speak to him if he should
make the first advance. I answered that under no circumstances would
I ever consent to speak to him; that he had done me injuries which
rendered any intercourse with him impossible; that the world was wide
enough for us both, and he must go his own way. This answer Snowden
communicated to him. The next morning he stationed himself at the foot
of the stairway leading up to the Supreme Court rooms, which was on
the outside of the building, and, as I passed up, he cried out; "I am
now at peace with all the world; if there is any man who feels that I
have done him an injury, I am ready to make him amends." I turned and
looked at him for a moment, and then passed on without saying a
word. On the following morning he took the same position and repeated
substantially the same language. I stopped and gazed at him for a
moment, and then passed on in silence. This was the last time I saw
him. He returned to Trinity, and held his office for the balance of
his term, six years, under the decision of the Supreme Court, and was
re-elected in 1863. But his character and habits unfitted him for a
judicial position. He was addicted to gambling and drinking, and he
consorted with the lowest characters; and the same tyrannical temper
and conduct which he had exhibited towards me in Marysville, were
displayed in his new district. Accordingly measures were taken by
citizens of Trinity to secure his impeachment by the Legislature.
Mr. Westmoreland, a member of the Assembly from that county in 1867
offered a resolution for the appointment of a committee to inquire
whether articles of impeachment should be presented against him for
high crimes and misdemeanors, with power to send for persons and