Being newly sensitized by reading Fatal Shore, I'm learning that convicts originally transported to Australia sometimes went on to take part in the California Gold Rush. Here's the Google for "Sydney Duck." It brings up some lively results.
Posted by Martha Bridegam at March 20, 2005 06:11 PMThat yielded this wonderful quote:
The lawyers who practiced in these early courts were for the most part on the same intellectual plane as Alcalde Meade. One of the best-known and most successful was Ben Moors. He knew no law whatever, but he had memorized three speeches by John Randolph and one by Daniel Webster. Regardless of the nature of the case upon which he chanced to be engaged, he delivered one or another with magnificent gestures and impressive oratorical effects. His chief claim to fame in California, however, probably lies in the fact that he once publicly slapped United States Senator David C. Broderick. Moors was arrested for this heinous offense and in court described himself as “a gentleman of elegant leisure.”
Posted by: Ben Brumfield at March 20, 2005 11:13 PM