Tory, Colonel Bryan, with whom he had so often crossed swords,
was arraigned and tried at Salisbury, in 1782, for treason,
Colonel Davie was one of the counsel who conducted his defense.
In this he displayed a courage of the forum no less brilliant and
commendable than his conduct in the field. Indeed Davie, though
the youngest, became in fact the principal counsel. Excitement
ran so high that no lesser favorite than "the hero of Charlotte"
could command attention. Bryan was convicted with several others,
and was sentenced to be hanged the 14th of April, 1782, but was
pardoned and exchanged. Judge Murphy, who had the opportunity of
judging, and whose opinion is of high value, says: "Davie took
Lord Bolingbroke for his model, and applied himself with so much
diligence to the study of his master that literary men could easily
recognize his lofty and flowing style. He was a tall, elegant man
in his person; graceful and commanding in his manners. His voice was
mellow and adapted to the expression of every passion. His style
was magnificent and flowing. He had a greatness of manner in public
speaking which suited his style and gave his speeches an imposing
effect. He was a laborious student and arranged his discourses
with care, and, when the subject suited his genius, poured forth a
torrent of eloquence that astonished and delighted his audience.
They looked upon him with delight, listened to his long, harmonious
periods, caught his emotions, and indulged that ecstasy of feeling
which fine speaking and powerful eloquence can alone produce. He is
certainly to be ranked among the first orators whom the American
nation has produced." It is said of him, with probably small
exaggeration, that during fifteen years while he was at the bar
there was not a capital trial in North Carolina in which he was not
retained for the defense. Eminent as he was, it was not for the lack
of worthy competitors. James Iredell and Alfred Moore, successively
Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, François
Xavier Martin, afterwards Chief Justice of Louisiana, and Judge
John Haywood, afterwards of Tennessee, were his contemporaries.
His brief-books, some of which are still in existence, are models
of neatness and show a most careful summary of the evidence and
citation of authority in each case. Among his law students were
Governor and United Stales Senator David Stone, Mr. Justice Daniel,
of our Supreme Court, and many others who became distinguished men.
Judge Daniel said that he was the best lawyer and most accomplished
man he had ever known. It is stated of him, in comparison with his
great legal rival, John Haywood, that while the latter carefully
prepared every point, Davie would seize the strong points of the
case and throw his whole strength upon them. In this he seems to
have retained the experience and instincts of his soldier-life. As
a characteristic of his elegant tastes and attention to details it
is said that an examination of his correspondence shows that his
letters were invariably written upon gilt-edge paper.
When the Convention which formed our present Federal Constitution
was called to meet at Philadelphia in May, 1787, he was elected
one of the delegates. The delegates were the then Governor, Richard
Caswell, ex-Governor Alexander Martin, Richard Dobbs Spaight, who,
like Davie, was subsequently Governor, William Blount, afterwards
United States Senator, and Hugh Williamson, afterwards a member
of Congress and an historian. Governor Caswell did not attend.
Colonel Davie was the junior member of the delegation, being
then, notwithstanding his distinguished career as a soldier and
his high standing at the bar, not yet thirty-one years of age.
Still his eloquence and influence made a decided impression upon
the Convention. The Constitution all through is the result of
compromise; but the critical question was the equal representation
of each State in the Senate. Upon this it seemed likely the
Convention would be dissolved. The large States were firm for
proportional representation. With the smaller States an equal
voice in the Senate was a _sine qua non_. On that question North
Carolina voted with the other large States against the demands of
the smaller States, and this made the vote a tie, as Georgia, on
purpose, evenly divided her vote. The friends of the Constitution,
fearing a disruption, referred the question to a committee composed
of one from each State. Davie was the member of the committee from
North Carolina. When the committee made its report, Davie, acting
for North Carolina, gave her vote with the smaller States, and thus,
by one majority, was equal representation in the Senate secured.
Without it the Convention would doubtless have adjourned after a
useless session. The Constitution, without that wise concession,
could not have been adopted, and if adopted by the Convention, its
ratification by the smaller States could not have been expected.
This act was certainly against the wishes of his own State, then
the third, in point of population, in the Confederation, ranking
next after Virginia and Massachusetts and ahead of New York. It was
also apparently against the interests of his State, but the act was
that of a statesman, and should be recalled to his lasting honor. It
was a critical moment, for a narrow-minded man in his place, timid
of responsibility and fearful of his own popularity at home, would
have prevented or postponed for many years the American Union. He
remained in Philadelphia till the deliberations of the Convention
were virtually over and the adoption of the Constitution had become
certain. Then, in obedience to his duty to his clients, as the fall
circuit was about to begin, he left for home. Hence it is that his
name does not appear among those appended to that instrument. The
Constitution being the work of many hands and containing so many
alterations and amendments, would naturally have been rough and
ill-joined, containing a variety of styles. It is worthy of note
that the Convention considerately referred it to a committee of
one--Gouverneur Morris--an accomplished scholar, to make changes "of
form, not of substance." Under his hand it was polished and put in
shape, and hence the uniform flow and regularity of its language.
But the work was not yet done. The Constitution was yet to be
ratified by the conventions of the several States. When the North
Carolina Convention met at Hillsborough, July 21, 1788, a formidable
opposition was arrayed against its adoption, headed by Willie Jones,
David Caldwell, Judge Spencer, and others. The friends of adoption
were led by James Iredell, a remarkably able man, and Colonel Davie,
aided by Spaight, Maclaine, Steele, and others. The adoption of
the Constitution was at that time defeated. After its subsequent
adoption by North Carolina, President Washington tendered the
appointment of United States District Judge to Davie, who declined
it. Colonel Stokes was appointed, but, soon dying, John Sitgreaves
was appointed, probably through Davie's influence. He had married
his wife's sister.
By his wife he had acquired a valuable plantation near Halifax,
which he took pleasure in cultivating, and he evinced a deep
interest in introducing there a better system of farming. His
enterprise and public spirit procured the organization of a company
for the proposed drainage of Lake Scuppernong.
A friend of education, in 1786 he obtained from the General
Assembly the charter of Warrenton Academy, and had himself, with
Willie Jones, Thomas Person, Benjamin Hawkins, and other prominent
men named as the board of trustees. He was chosen repeatedly,
except when his private business constrained him to decline an
election, to represent the borough of Halifax in the House of
Commons. He served thus in the years 1786, 1787, 1789, 1791, 1793,
1794, 1796, and 1798. He was the real founder of the University of
North Carolina, and is so styled in the journal of 1810 of that
institution, and well deserved to be so called. Judge Murphy bears
this testimony: "I was present in the House of Commons when Davie
addressed that body (in 1789) for a loan of money to erect the
buildings of the University, and, although more than thirty years
have elapsed, I have the most vivid recollection of the greatness
of his manner and the power of his eloquence upon that occasion. In
the House of Commons he had no rival, and on all questions before
that body his eloquence was irresistible." He procured the act of
incorporation to be passed in 1789, and other aid, and was always a
fostering friend.
The opposition to all the measures in favor of the University
was great. The cry of "economy" and the fear expressed that the
institution was one step towards the founding of an aristocracy
made it difficult to carry any measure through. Gifted with less
tact, with less eloquence or with less popularity, Davie must have
failed. The institution is no less a monument also to his public
spirit, boldness, and foresight. He was a member of the first
board of trustees. The selection of a site for the University, the
superintendence of the erection of the buildings, the choice of
professors, the arrangement of a course of studies, the adoption of
regulations, the maintenance of discipline engaged his personal and
active attention. Truly he might have exclaimed "_Exegi monumentum
aere perennius_." The course of studies adopted at Davie's instance
in 1795 was the "optional" system which now generally obtains. In
this he anticipated the course of other colleges full fifty years.
When Dr. David Caldwell was elected President this was set aside
and the old iron-bound curriculum was adopted and remained in force
eighty years.
On December 9, 1787, in the town of Tarboro, the Free Masons of this
State organized the Grand Lodge of North Carolina. At that meeting
many of the most distinguished men of the State attended, Colonel
Davie among them. Governor Johnston was elected the first Grand
Master of North Carolina, and Governor Caswell the second. Davie
was elected Grand Master in December, 1792, and was successively
reelected for seven years. In that capacity he laid the cornerstone
of the University, October 12, 1793 (the old East Building), and on
April 14, 1798, he laid the cornerstone of the South Building at the
same place.
The project of a digest of the laws was brought forward by him, and
the appointment of Judge Iredell, the accomplished jurist, to do
the work, was made at his suggestion. The cession of the territory
which now forms the State of Tennessee was effected mainly by his
influence. In 1791 he was appointed by the Legislature one of the
three commissioners to establish the unsettled part of the boundary
between this State and South Carolina. He was again elected for the
same purpose in 1796, and again in 1803. None of these commissions,
however, were successful.
In 1794 he was commissioned by Governor Spaight to be Major-General
of the Third State Division, in view of the likelihood of war
with France. Congress, by the Act of June 24, 1797, directed an
embodiment of troops from the several States. The number to be
raised by this State under the act was seven thousand two hundred
and sixty-eight, and in September of that year Davie was appointed
by Governor Ashe Major-General to command this detachment. As
matters became more serious, Congress, in May, 1798, authorized a
provisional army of the United States of ten thousand men, and in
this he was appointed a brigadier-general by President Adams, July
17, 1798, and was confirmed by the Senate on July 19th. Of this army
Washington was made commander-in-chief, and he, in effect, committed
to General Davie the selection of the officers for that part of
the troops which should be raised in this State. In the same year
General Davie prepared a system of cavalry tactics which was adopted
by the Legislature and ordered to be printed. A copy of this is now
in our State Library.
General Davie came out of the war with the first military reputation
in the State, and these successive appointments, so many years
after, prove that North Carolina still turned to him as her greatest
soldier.
Just at this time, singularly enough, when in the receipt of high
honors, State and national, his election for the borough of Halifax
was first endangered. The circumstance is thus stated in a private
letter from that town, written in August, 1798: "The 'true whigs,'
as they styled themselves, dined together under the oaks and toasted
Mr. Jefferson. The other party, who were called 'aristocrats,' ate
and drank in the house on entirely different principles. General
Davie dined in the house with the 'aristocrats.' The 'true whigs'
took offense at this and resolved to oppose his election, and it was
only with much address that they were kept quiet." The writer adds:
"If any person had had the impudence to dispute the election General
Davie would certainly not have been returned. The rabble, which in
all places is the majority, would have voted against him."
He took his seat when the Legislature met. By that body, under
the then constitutional mode, he was, on joint ballot, elected
Governor of the State on December 4th, 1798, over Benjamin Williams
(afterwards Governor), and was inaugurated December 7th. Nothing
of special note took place during his tenure of office. President
Adams appointed an embassy to treat with the French Directory,
consisting of Mr. Murray, then our Minister to Holland, Chief
Justice Ellsworth, and Patrick Henry. The latter having declined on
the ground of age and ill health, Governor Davie was appointed in
his stead, June 1, 1799. On September 10th he resigned the office
of Governor, and on the 22nd, left Halifax to join Mr. Ellsworth
at Trenton. At his departure the people of Halifax and vicinity
presented him with a complimentary address, which was written by a
political adversary and signed by large numbers of the same party.
On November 3, 1799, Messrs. Ellsworth and Davie embarked in the
frigate _United States_, from Newport, Rhode Island. Aware of the
changes constantly taking place in the French government, they
touched at Lisbon on the 27th of November. They left on the 21st
of December, but being driven out of their course by a storm, they
put into Corunna the 11th of January, 1800, which they left by land
on the 27th, and on February 9th, at Burgos, in Spain, they met a
courier from Talleyrand, the French Minister, inviting them, on
the part of Bonaparte, who had become First Consul, to proceed to
Paris, which place they reached on March 2d. These dates will show
the vast difference which less than a century has made in the modes
of traveling and the transmission of intelligence. On April 8th the
Commissioners were received with marked politeness by the First
Consul. Napoleon having left for Italy on the famous campaign of
Marengo, the negotiations dragged till his return. On September 30,
1800, the treaty between the United States and France was signed by
our Commissioners and by Joseph Bonaparte, Roederer, and Fleurieu,
on the part of France. The conclusion of the treaty was celebrated
with _éclat_ at Morfontaine (the country-seat of Joseph Bonaparte),
the First Consul and a brilliant staff attending. One who was then
in Paris writes: "A man of his (Davie's) imposing appearance and
dignified deportment could not fail to attract especial attention
and remark wherever he went. I could not but remark that Bonaparte,
in addressing the American legation at his levees, seemed for the
time to forget that Governor Davie was _second_ in the commission,
his attention being more particularly directed to him." In the
brilliant circles of the nascent empire of Napoleon he was
distinguished by his elegance and his popular manners. His sojourn
in Paris was very agreeable to him. He was an accomplished linguist
and spoke French and Spanish fluently.
In the fall of that year Governor Davie returned directly home.
It is significant that the very day after the treaty was signed,
France, by the treaty of St. Ildefonso, reacquired Louisiana from
Spain, which it so soon after sold to the United States.
On his return home Davie was solicited to become a candidate for
Congress in 1801, but his private affairs, by reason of his long
absence, required his attention, and he declined. Willis Alston,
then a member of the same political party, was elected. In June
of that year President Jefferson appointed Governor Davie head
of a commission, with General Wilkinson and Benjamin Hawkins, to
negotiate with the Creeks and other Indians for further cession of
lands. This he declined for the same reason that he had refused
an election to Congress. In 1802 he was appointed by President
Jefferson a commissioner on the part of the United States in the
treaty to be made between North Carolina and the Tuscaroras, most of
whom had moved from this State, but had retained a valuable landed
interest in Bertie county. He met the agents of the State and the
chiefs of the Indians at Raleigh, and the treaty was signed December
4th, 1802, by virtue of which King Blount and the remainder of the
tribe removed to New York in June, 1803. In the spring of 1803,
Alston having gone over to the opposite political party, General
Davie was again solicited by his friends to become a candidate for
Congress. He accepted the nomination, but declined to make any
canvass. He was charged with being an aristocrat and with being
opposed to Mr. Jefferson, whose prestige was then all-powerful. He
was defeated at the polls.
He had lost his wife not long after his return from France. This,
together with his political defeat, determined him to withdraw
altogether from public life. In November, 1805, he removed to an
estate he possessed at Tivoli, near Landsford, in South Carolina,
just across the line from Mecklenburg county in this State. Here he
lived in dignified ease and leisure.
Many men, after the bufferings of a stormy or a busy life, have in
like manner felt the need of rest before going hence. It was thus
that the Emperor Charles V., at Juste, and Wolsey, who had "sounded
all the depths and shoals of honor," at Leicester Abbey, had sought
to put a space of contemplation between the active duties of life
and the grave. Davie's country, however, did not forget him. During
the second war with Great Britain, President Madison appointed him
a major-general in the United States army, and he was confirmed by
the Senate, March 2d, 1813. But "time steals fire from the mind
as vigor from the limbs." Though not an old man, General Davie's
early campaigns had told upon him. The sword which twenty-five
years before had almost leapt of itself from the scabbard was
now constrained to hang idly by his side, and he declined the
appointment. General Harrison (afterwards President) was appointed
in his stead and fought the battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813
in which Tecumseh was slain. The next year he in turn resigned and
General Andrew Jackson was appointed to succeed him, and the battle
of New Orleans followed on January 8, 1815.
General Davie's seat at Tivoli, on the Catawba, was the resort of
many of the Revolutionary characters. In their journeys by private
conveyance to Virginia or the North, the custom was to arrange to
spend a day or two there with him, where he kept open house for his
friends, and, sitting under an immense oak, from which there was a
view of miles of the Catawba, they fought over the war together or
discussed the workings of the new government and the Constitution
they had established. This was all the more interesting, as much of
his campaigning had taken place on and around this very spot. In
this connection it is interesting to state that after his retirement
to Tivoli he was much sought after in drawing wills. He drew some
of the most famous wills in that State--indeed, it is said, all of
them in that part in which he resided, not one of which, except
his own, was ever assailed. In this respect he had the fortune of
Sugden (Lord Saint Leonard's), Governor Tilden, and many other
famous lawyers. The contest over Governor Davie's will has just been
settled by a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States,
filed the 28th of March of this year (1892), in the case of _Bedon_
vs. _Davie_, 144 U. S., 142, a very interesting case.
His correspondence and other materials for history must have been
very large and very valuable. It was from his papers that the copy
of the Mecklenburg Declaration of May 20th, 1775, was procured,
which is known as the "Davie Copy." Unfortunately all his family
papers and all the historical material which had been carefully
preserved by him for publication at some future time were destroyed
during Sherman's raid. The banks of the Catawba were said to have
been strewn with them, and nothing of the collection now remains.
In retirement he displayed his accustomed public spirit by
introducing improved methods of farming, and mainly at his instance
a State Agricultural Society in South Carolina was formed, of which
he was the first president. By his practice at the bar he had
accumulated a large estate, which he dispensed with liberality and
hospitality.
When the end came he met it with the firmness of a soldier. His sun
of life went down in a cloudless sky. He passed away the 18th of
November, 1820, in his sixty-fifth year.
"The hero lies still, while the dew-drooping willows,
Like fond weeping mourners, lean over his grave.
The lightnings may flash and the loud cannon rattle,
He heeds not, he hears not, he's free from all pain;
He sleeps his last sleep, he has fought his last battle,
No sound can awake him to glory again!"
He was buried at Waxhaw Church, Lancaster county, South Carolina,
just across the Catawba river from his Tivoli plantation. The
following modest and truthful inscription in his tomb is said to be
from the pen of his friend, Governor Gaston, of South Carolina:
IN THIS GRAVE ARE DEPOSITED THE REMAINS OF
WILLIAM R. DAVIE,
THE SOLDIER, JURIST, STATESMAN, AND PATRIOT.
IN THE GLORIOUS WAR FOR
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
HE FOUGHT AMONG THE FOREMOST OF THE BRAVE.
AS AN ADVOCATE AT THE BAR,
HE WAS DILIGENT, SAGACIOUS, ZEALOUS,
INCORRUPTIBLY HONEST, OF COMMANDING ELOQUENCE.
IN THE LEGISLATIVE HALL
HE HAD NO SUPERIOR IN ENLARGED VISION
AND PROFOUND PLANS OF POLICY.
SINGLE IN HIS ENDS, VARIED IN HIS MEANS, INDEFATIGABLE
IN HIS EXERTIONS.
REPRESENTING HIS NATION IN AN IMPORTANT EMBASSY,
HE EVINCED HIS CHARACTERISTIC DEVOTION TO HER INTERESTS
AND MANIFESTED A PECULIAR FITNESS FOR DIPLOMACY.
POLISHED IN MANNERS, FIRM IN ACTION,
CANDID WITHOUT IMPRUDENCE, WISE ABOVE DECEIT.
A TRUE LOVER OF HIS COUNTRY,
ALWAYS PREFERRING THE PEOPLE'S GOOD TO THE PEOPLE'S FAVOR.
THOUGH HE DISDAINED TO FAWN FOR OFFICE,
HE FILLED MOST OF THE STATIONS TO WHICH AMBITION MIGHT ASPIRE,
AND DECLINING NO PUBLIC TRUST,
ENNOBLED WHATEVER HE ACCEPTED
BY TRUE DIGNITY AND TALENT,
WHICH HE BROUGHT INTO THE DISCHARGE OF ITS FUNCTIONS.
A GREAT MAN IN AN AGE OF GREAT MEN.
IN LIFE HE WAS ADMIRED AND BELOVED BY THE VIRTUOUS AND THE WISE,
IN DEATH HE HAS SILENCED CALUMNY AND CAUSED ENVY TO MOURN.
HE WAS BORN IN EDINBURGH,[1] 1756,
AND DIED IN SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1820.
[1] A mistake.
The foregoing is the main body and more strictly biographical
part of an address delivered by Judge Clark, July 4th, 1892, at
the celebration of the battle of Guilford Court House, on the
battle-field.
Davie's life has been written more at length by Prof. Fordyce M.
Hubbard and published in _Sparks' American Biography_; but I have
used Judge Clark's sketch, and have slightly abbreviated it to suit
the scope of my purpose.
I am reminded by Colonel Benehan Cameron, a member of the North
Carolina Publishing Society, that the lovers of fine horses will be
glad to have it noted here that General Davie was once the owner of
the celebrated "Sir Archie"--the sire of American thoroughbreds--the
Godolphin of the American turf. Like all great commanders, Davie was
a fine judge of a horse; he readily paid five thousand dollars for
"Sir Archie" as a colt, and only parted from him in deference to
his friends, who urged him that such a price was very extravagant.
Davie's judgment, however, was abundantly vindicated; for, many
years afterwards, the commissioner of the court found that the horse
had been worth to the estate of William Amis, his subsequent owner,
the round sum of eighty thousand dollars.
Some idea may be gathered of the interest of the turfmen in this
great horse--the great-grandsire of "Lexington"--from the fact that
they are still disputing about the places of his birth and death.
The truth of the matter is, says Colonel Cameron, who takes interest
in this controversy, he was born at Carter Hall, in Virginia, died
in North Carolina, and was buried on the "Mowfield" plantation of
Colonel Amis in Northampton county. The place of his burial is still
pointed out by old people, for human nature is loath to allow the
memory of great excellence to perish, even though exemplified in a
dumb beast. It is said that some years ago his bones were taken up
and carried to a museum in Philadelphia.
[Illustration: NATHANIEL MACON.]
NATHANIEL MACON.
BY THOMAS H. BENTON.