three years longer. The sessions of the court by the former act were
limited to ten days; they were now extended to fifteen days (Sundays
excepted) if the business of the court should so require. The third
section of the act is in the following words: "And be it further
enacted that no attorney shall be allowed to speak or be admitted
as counsel in the aforesaid court." The General Assembly must have
entertained a high opinion of the ability and purity of the bench,
and serious misgivings in relation to the cunning and crafty bar of
which John Haywood was the leader.
The late Judge Hall told me that he was present when Joshua
Williams, senator from Buncombe, called upon Governor Turner for
advice in relation to the extension of the lease of life to this
high tribunal. The Governor urged the continuance of the court until
the other offenders could be arrested and tried, and the remaining
questions of doubt and difficulty in the law be put finally at rest.
My good senator, and there were few as good men as he in any age
of the commonwealth, assented, under the entire conviction that a
little longer time was necessary to enable the judges to render the
law so clear and certain, that no perplexing questions would arise
in the future. He was probably more confident of a consummation so
devoutly to be wished, since the court was neither to be annoyed nor
perplexed by the arguments of such lawyers as Haywood.
Iredell, the greatest of Haywood's compeers was in his grave. Moore
was Iredell's successor on the Supreme Court Bench of the United
States, and Davie had on the 24th of December, 1799, been appointed
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United
States to the French Republic as successor of Patrick Henry, who had
been compelled to decline on account of bodily infirmity.
In 1804, the court, which since 1801 had been styled the Court of
Conference, was made a court of record, the judges required to
reduce their opinions to writing, to file them "and deliver the
same _viva voce_ in open court." In the following year (1805) the
name was changed from the Court of Conference to the Supreme Court
of North Carolina, and converted from a temporary to a permanent, I
hope immortal, tribunal, in fame as in duration.
The senator from Buncombe, and the great advocate Haywood, removed
to Tennessee no great while afterwards. The former lived long enough
in the midst of the legal strife which abounded in that young and
rising commonwealth to find that the end of controversy, like the
end of the rainbow, was not easily reached; and the latter to reap
golden harvests of fame and fortune from the "glorious uncertainty
of the common law."
When I first saw the Supreme Court in session in June, 1822, Chief
Justice Taylor, the Mansfield of North Carolina jurisprudence,
Judge Hall, proverbial for integrity, amiability and sound common
sense, and Judge Henderson, who in genius, judgment and power of
fascination in social intercourse, was without his peer, were the
three judges. William Drew, standing on the thin partition which
divides great wit and frenzy, was the Attorney-General. Francis L.
Hawks, who had not yet attained the 25th year of his age had already
given favorable promise of future eminence as a member of the New
Bern bar, the representative of that town in the General Assembly,
was the reporter. Hawks was destined however to a much wider
celebrity in a very different sphere, and for many years previous to
his death, as a brilliant writer and eloquent speaker, had a higher
transatlantic reputation than any other American divine.
The bar in attendance in those days was much less numerous than at
present. He was a young man of rare self-complacency, who would
imperil a rising reputation in a contest with the sages of the
profession before that tribunal. I well remember the remark of a
gentleman, second as an advocate in the Superior Courts to no one of
his contemporaries, that he never rose in the Supreme Court without
trembling, and never ventured to do more than simply to suggest the
principles, and give the names of the cases and authorities upon
which he relied.
Of those in attendance, Gaston, from the east, was _facile
princeps_, Archibald Henderson, probably the most eloquent and
successful advocate in criminal defenses who ever appeared at the
bar in North Carolina, was the great representative of the middle,
and Joseph Wilson of the extreme west, Judge Murphy and Judge Ruffin
represented Hillsborough, and Judge Seawell, Gavin Hogg and Moses
Mordecai, the Raleigh circuit. Mr. Badger was just attaining the
fulness of fame while the youngest of the Superior Court judges,
and Peter Browne, the head of the bar, before Mr. Gaston assumed
his position, was deciding cases with unprecedented facility and
despatch as chairman of Wake County Court.
Mr. Devereux was the District Attorney for the United States.
James F. Taylor, with the most brilliant prospects, died six years
afterwards, Attorney-General of North Carolina at the early age of
37.
With the present organization of the Supreme Court, in January,
1819, commenced a gradual change in the length of time consumed in
the management of causes, in that and the subordinate tribunals
which continues to increase in an accelerating ratio, and which
ought to be diminished.
The Act of 1799, limited the sessions of the Court of Conference to
ten days, the Act of 1800 extended them to fifteen days exclusive of
Sundays. At one time, as we have seen, no arguments were allowed,
and throughout the entire existence of the court discussions were of
necessity commendably brief.
Peter Browne, with an ample fortune and very high reputation,
relinquished his professional pursuits at the comparatively early
age of fifty-five. Selling the Lane residence, and his well-selected
library to his friend, Mr. Boylan, in the summer of 1818, he
returned to Scotland to spend the evening of his life amidst the
romantic scenes of his native country. An absence of three years
proved that the ties which bound him to Raleigh were stronger than
those which bound him to his birthplace. He came back and resided
here until his death in November, 1832. In 1821, he accepted the
appointment of justice of the peace, and was during several years
chairman of Wake County Court.
I remember to have heard him complain of the dilatory proceedings
of the courts, and especially of the time lawyers were permitted to
consume in argument, as a grievous innovation on ancient usages,
and to asseverate most solemnly that there was one court in North
Carolina where no such indulgence would be allowed. All who remember
his administration, will admit that few and brief were the arguments
heard in Wake County Court in his day.
My professional experience of ten years, eight at the bar, and two
upon the bench, closed in December 1832. During this period I rode
the Morganton, Hillsborough, Raleigh, and Edenton Circuits, and met
at intervals nearly every eminent lawyer in the State. I can recall
no instance when more than a day was occupied with the trial of a
cause.
Judge Cameron, the immediate successor of Mr. Browne as president
of the State Bank, was, during the last twenty years of his life, a
citizen of Raleigh. He came to the bar at the age of twenty-one in
1798, was appointed judge in February 1814, resigned December 1816,
engaged immediately in agricultural pursuits, and the performance
of all the duties which properly devolved on eminent citizens in
private life, and preeminent among these was the discharge of the
duties of presiding magistrate of the County Court of Orange.
He had not attained his fortieth year when he retired from the bench
of the Superior Court.
During the fifteen years that he practiced law, his professional
emoluments were probably greater than fell to the lot of any other
North Carolina lawyer, at so early a period of life, and to none
were honors and emoluments more justly awarded.
Mr. Badger, alike eminent as a jurist and a statesman, following
Mr. Browne, was, during a series of years chairman in Wake; and
Chief Justice Ruffin (a citizen of Raleigh from 1828 to 1834),
simultaneously with Mr. Badger's services here, was chairman of the
County Court in Alamance.
Of the eminent lawyers who have appeared at our bar during the
present century, to no one living or dead has greater length of
days, crowned by more brilliant success in all walks of life, been
accorded, than to the four great men who closed their professional
career by the gratuitous, graceful, able, and impartial discharge
of the important duties pertaining to the office of justice of the
peace.
While I can make no positive averment, I am very confident in the
opinion that during the time that Judges Badger, Cameron, and Ruffin
presided on the Superior and County Court bench, no case tried
before them ever occupied more than a single day.
Mr. Browne, as appears from the graveyard record, died at the age
of sixty-seven. Mr. Badger had entered upon his seventy-second, and
Judge Cameron his seventy-sixth year. Chief Justice Ruffin, in the
possession of unimpaired intellectual strength, is an octogenarian.
In 1806, five years after the conviction of Glasgow, the great case
of Lord Granville's heirs _versus_ Governor Davie and others, which
threatened a more extensive confiscation than that menaced in our
time, was argued before the Federal Court in this city by Gaston and
Harris for the plaintiffs, and Cameron, Woods, and Baker for the
State of North Carolina. Potter, District Judge, charged the jury;
Marshall, Chief Justice, from personal considerations, peremptorily
declining to sit upon the trial.
Marshall is the only Revolutionary Titan I have ever seen. With fair
opportunities to judge of him as he appeared upon the bench, and in
social intercourse sixteen years afterwards, I can pronounce with
emphasis, that I never expect to look upon his like again.
I sometimes feel apprehensive that I will become old myself before
a great while, when my memory recurs to the time when Chief Justice
Ruffin was one of the promising young men of my day. In 1822, when
a student in Chief Justice Taylor's office, occupied by Mr. Gaston
during the sessions of the Federal and Supreme Courts, Ithiel
Town, the architect who planned the present capitol and who had an
important suit pending in the Federal Court against the Clarendon
Bridge Company, inquired of Mr. Gaston whether Mr. Ruffin would be
acceptable to him as associate counsel. He replied: "No one more so;
Mr. Ruffin is a very promising young man, and if he lives ten years
longer will be at the head of the profession." The prediction was
fully verified at an earlier date.
Rarely since the completion of the Pentateuch has full historic
justice been meted out to woman. The character of the great father
of the human race is not more fully and clearly delineated by Moses
than that of its beautiful mother. The termagant Sarah received
quite as much attention as the father of the faithful. Hagar is
the heroine of an episode, the most beautiful in the annals of
history, with the single exception of the narrative of the maternal
tenderness of Naomi, and the filial love and devotion of Ruth,
the fascinating little widow, whose charms dissolved the obdurate
celibacy of the sage, opulent and stately Boaz. The crafty and
managing Rebecca is finely contrasted with the confiding Isaac; and
the beautiful Rachel, from the moment that Jacob gave his first
kiss "and lifted up his voice and wept," as a bride, and a mother
with Joseph at her side in his little coat of many colors and
his stainless virtue, constitutes in life and in death, the most
charming picture on the historical canvas of any age or country.
Why are not similar pictures presented in modern times? Moses was
inspired. Subjects are not wanting worthy of historic inspiration.
Has an abler monarch than Elizabeth, or a more estimable sovereign
than Victoria ever given character and strength and grace to the
British throne? Was "the man of destiny" superior to Josephine? Is
the Empress of France inferior to Napoleon III.?
We are told that the heroic Wolfe while passing down the St.
Lawrence on his way to "glory and the grave," closed the recitation
of the inimitable "elegy" with the remark that he would gladly
exchange all the renown he had acquired or hoped to achieve for
the fame of the authorship of those verses, and yet Gray makes no
reference to the spot where all the mothers of the hamlet sleep.
I have recently wandered through your cemetery, pausing and
lingering here and there, at the tombs of familiar acquaintances and
intimate friends, and realized the truth, that if I could summon
the departed around me, I would stand in the midst of more numerous
friends than I meet at the present day in the crowded streets of
your living city.
I trust I shall be suspected of no want of gallantry to the living
if I venture to intimate that among the nymphs that illuminate the
page of memory and imagination, I find pictures of beauty and grace
and refinement quite equal to the best specimens of modern times, or
even, in poetic hallucination, "some brighter days than modern days,
some fairer maids than living maids."
Captain Peace reposes by the side of his aged brother without as
yet a stone to tell his name. He was, I suppose, at the time of his
death, the oldest citizen of Raleigh, as well as the oldest man who
has passed from the living city to the city of the dead. I have
never yet met with a man whom I supposed to be a hundred years old.
Various colored persons have represented themselves of greater age,
but their computations would not bear scrutiny. The late William
Henry Haywood, the elder, died at the age of eighty-seven, and Mrs.
Haywood in her ninetieth year.
The honored name of their only son, the late Senator in Congress,
was given at the baptismal font to the senior proprietor of
Tucker Hall, in admiration of early promise, by a discerning
father. The suit of clothes presented to the child by the Senator
in acknowledgment of the compliment, is in a state of perfect
preservation, and will be kept as an interesting illustration of
the habits and customs of other days. We are to be instructed by
grave lecturers in every department of science and art; shall we
not have a miniature museum, a portrait gallery and a niche for the
preservation of specimens of the antique, among which the best _bib_
and _tucker_ of earlier times may find an appropriate place?
John Rex was one of the earliest citizens of Raleigh. My
acquaintance with him was slight. In appearance he was said to bear
striking resemblance to John Quincy Adams. He was a grave, sedate,
quiet, retiring, modest man, not unlike in character to his worthy
contemporary William Peck. By long years of industry, economy
and thrift in the management of the first tannery established in
Raleigh at Rex's spring, near the railway station, he accumulated
a handsome estate, and like Mr. Peace, atoned for his failure to
build up a family, by a liberal provision for the children of
misfortune and want. He manumitted all his slaves at the close of
life, and bequeathed the remainder of his estate to the endowment of
a hospital, the construction of which is understood to be in early
prospect.
The Rex Hospital and Peace Institute, the latter far advanced
towards completion, will constitute the appropriate and enduring
monuments of these public benefactors. Mr. Rex died January 29,
1839, aged seventy-four years.
As scant justice is done to the memory of the ladies who repose
in the cemetery, as is accorded to their sex on the page of
modern history. The memorials are few, and the information given
comparatively meagre.
Of the eighty-nine counties in North Carolina, nearly all perpetuate
the names of men. Two only, Wake and Jones, are graced with the
maiden names of women, the wives of Governor Tyron and Governor
Nash. There are not less significant indications of the want of
liberality from the sterner towards the gentler sex. Four-fifths of
the wills that I have had occasion to construe, give to the "dear
wife" a portion of the estate pared down to the narrowest limit that
the law will allow, "during life or widowhood." So universal and
inveterate is this phraseology, that a somewhat famous parson in
the county of Gates, some years ago at the funeral of her husband,
poured forth a most fervent supplication, that the bereaved wife
might "be blessed in her basket and her store during life or
widowhood."
I know but a single instance, the will of a distinguished American
statesman, Gouverneur Morris, which provides a largely increased
annuity to the widow in case of a second marriage.
Jacob Marling was the first portrait and landscape painter, and
various specimens of his art are now extant, among others a picture
of the State-house as it was anterior to the fire of 1831. It graces
the parlor of Dr. F. J. Haywood.
The following narrative of the celebration of the thirty-third
anniversary of American Independence, is from the pen of General
Calvin Jones, one of the most useful men of his day. A careful
examination of all the details will present to the mind a more
life-like picture of what your city was in all the aspects of
society in 1809 than can possibly be produced by the most elaborate
attempt at description by a modern pen. Compare and contrast it with
the scenes exhibited and the events which occurred on an anniversary
fifty-eight years thereafter, and in due time make suitable
preparation for the proper observance of a day still dear to every
patriotic bosom.
"The thirty-third anniversary of American Independence was
celebrated in this city in the usual manner on the 4th inst. At 12
o'clock a procession of citizens and strangers, with Captain Willie
Jones' troop of cavalry at the head, formed at the court-house,
agreeable to previous arrangements, and directed by Captain Scott,
proceeded up Fayetteville street to the State-house, during the
ringing of the State-house, court-house, academy and town bells, and
firing of cannon. Being seated in the Commons' Chamber, an ode in
honor of that day, composed for the occasion, was sung by a choir of
about seventy voices, conducted by Mr. Seward, accompanied by a band
of instrumental music.
"The Rev. Mr. Turner then rose and delivered an oration on the
merits of which we shall at present forbear to speak as we intend to
solicit a copy for publication, and hope in our next to present it
as a very acceptable treat to our readers. At the conclusion another
patriotic ode was sung.
"At 3 o'clock the company sat down to an excellent dinner prepared
by Mr. Casso at the State-house, at which Colonel Polk and Judge
Potter presided. Seventeen appropriate toasts were drunk, among
which we notice the following: 'The President of the United States,
may his administration close as it has commenced, with the applause
and general approbation of the people.'
"'George Washington, the hero, patriot, statesman, friend and father
of his country, the memory of his inestimable worth and service will
never cease to be revered by the American people.'
"'Literature, the arts and sciences, the precursors of national
greatness and universal happiness.'
"'The University of North Carolina, may the people see and fully
understand the great interest they have in this institution, and
before it is too late duly foster and endow it.'
"'The Constitution of North Carolina, the happy, wise and revered
work of our ancestors, long may it remain sacred and inviolate.'
"'The social circles of life, may no discordant interests or variant
opinions be suffered to destroy their harmony.'
"The Supreme Court of the State being in session, the celebration
was honored with the presence of the judges, gentlemen of the bar
and many other characters of respectability from almost every part
of the State.
"In the evening a ball was given to the ladies."
Of all the joyous throng that crowded these streets at that national
jubilee fifty-eight years ago, whose bosoms thrilled responsive to
the patriotic sentiments of the orator of the day, or who gathered
round the festive board--of all the gallant men and beautiful women
who united in the exultant song or chased the flying hours in that
evening's dance, there is probably not one present now, not one to
contrast the spectacle then presented of a great, free, united, and
happy people, with their discordant, dissevered relations in 1867!
"A King sat on his rocky throne
Which looked on sea-born Salamis,
And ships by thousands lay below
And men and nations;--all were his!
He counted them at break of day,--
And when the sun set, where were they?
And where are they--and where art thou,
My country? On thy voiceless shore
The statesman's tongue is silent now,
The heroic bosom beats no more!"
Let us hope that when we meet here on the 4th of July, 1868,
Southern voices will again have been heard in the halls of Congress,
and that millions of Southern hearts, as in former days, will be
prepared to respond, "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and
inseparable."
* * * * *
I heard Governor Vance deliver his address on Swain, which I have
called a sketch, at the Chapel Hill Commencement of 1877. I well
remember the low melancholy and the effortless pathos of his voice.
Governor Swain was his friend, and fortunate is he indeed to have
had such a kind and able hand to sketch his life.
The foregoing estimate of Swain's character and methods does not
receive the unanimous endorsement of all who knew him. He was
thought by some to have been guilty of favoritism, to have lacked
nerve for discipline, and to have shown too great partiality for
families of wealth and influence. But he rendered a service to the
State in writing and preserving some memorials of her history. He
held the most important position she could bestow for many years,
and until his death; and his regime illustrated the defects of
a system which prevented the University from being directly and
entirely dependent on the people for its support.
Vance put him among the distinguished men of North Carolina, and
for this, if for no other reason, I could afford to put him in
this book. Posterity will not lightly overrule the verdict of
its greatest commoner, even though rendered in the partiality of
affection.
Although no sketch of Vance is in this book (his life, in a more
extended form, having been lately written), yet Bryan's estimate of
him, spoken in the House of Representatives, February 25, 1895, is
not an inappropriate introduction of the man who has contributed to
history the foregoing sketch of Swain--if indeed there be any part
of the Union where he needs an introduction, even from the lips
of one who has canvassed the whole country. Besides, it would be
offensive to North Carolinians if I should even begin a list of our
distinguished dead without according to Vance his well-won place
among the foremost.
W. J. BRYAN'S ESTIMATE OF VANCE.
MR. SPEAKER: We are called upon on these occasions to speak of the
virtues of many different types of men. Sometimes one is taken
from us who has spent the most of his days in private business
and has come to these halls to crown with public honors a busy
life. Sometimes we are called to mourn a man taken from us in the
very beginning of his career, and consider what he might have
accomplished had he lived. But it is seldom that, in either of these
halls, we find a man whose life was so completely given to public
service as was the life of Senator Vance. He began his public career
when a young man barely of age, and he has been a public servant
from that time, almost without pause, until his earthly life was
ended. In the history of our country I think we shall find few men
as remarkable. When a man is elected once or twice and disappears,
we may attribute his success to circumstances; but when he begins,
as Mr. Vance began, a young man, and retains the confidence of those
whom he served for a generation, we must conclude that his success
is due to something more than a chance or accident.