"State of Alabama, "Executive Department, "Montgomery, Jan. 21, 1871. "Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives: "It is with feelings of sorrow and regret that I inform you of the death of the Honorable W. P. Chilton of the city of Montgomery. This event occurred last night about the hour of 11. Judge Chilton was one of our best beloved citizens, eminent as a jurist, and the people of Alabama had often honored him with their public esteem and confidence. As a member of the legislature, as a member of congress, and as chief justice of our supreme court, he discharged his duties with devotion and zeal. In the halls of legislation he was a statesman, and he adorned the bench by his integrity and learning. The loss of such a man is a public calamity, and it is fit that the departments of the government of a state he loved so well should pay a tribute to his memory." The occasion of his funeral was a sad ovation of public esteem. The legislature, the bar, the fraternity of Masons, of which he was an honored member, together with multitudes of friends, sought on the occasion of his funeral to accord to Judge Chilton the merits of his just deserts. JOHN FORSYTH For generations the name of Forsyth has been associated with distinction in the records of southern history. The original member of the family, Robert Forsyth, came from England to America before the revolution, and was a member of the military family of Washington. His son, John Forsyth, was at various times attorney general and governor of Georgia, a member of congress for a period of fifteen years from that state, minister to Spain, and was instrumental in procuring the cession of Florida. For six and a half years he served as secretary of state, during the administrations of Jackson and Van Buren. Robert Forsyth was the grandfather of John Forsyth, late of Mobile, while John Forsyth, Sr., was his father. Enjoying unusual advantages, socially and scholastically, the subject of the present sketch turned them to great practical benefit. Among the advantages which he enjoyed was that of a residence of two years at the Spanish court during the administration of his distinguished father as minister to Spain. He was a graduate from Princeton University, from which he bore away the first honors of his class and delivered the valedictory address.