most eminent prosecutor that Virginia has ever had, that I forbear to
say anything further with reference to that matter. That is a part of
the history of the jurisprudence of this State. I will add, that I have
seen his Coke Littleton, (studied by him as a student of law) with the
marginal pages filled with annotations and references, indicating the
application and devotion he felt for his profession. I am told that he
had a grim way of preventing such as had not the ability from entering
into the profession of the law. In his library there was a rare old
edition of Littleton on Tenures. He considered this book as the basis of
the laws of real property in England, and he thought that it should be
first read without Coke's Commentary. When a young man desired to study
law under him, whom he knew to have no capacity to succeed, he placed
this work in his hands, asking him to read it again and again, and
strive to understand it without recourse to the Commentary, and return
for examination after a fortnight's or three weeks' perusal, of such
part as he had mastered. It rarely happened that the young man did not
hand him back the book, at the end of a short time, announcing his
purpose of seeking a livelihood in some other field. Thus he was
instrumental in keeping some from the profession, who, by entering into
the law, would have derived no profit to themselves, nor reflect credit
upon the profession. And on the other hand, when he discovered merit in
a young man, no one was more prompt, active and generous in encouraging
it.
His conversation with his son and myself above referred to, on Uses and
Trusts, exemplified the fact that he had not forgotten, in his maturer
what he had learned in his younger years. I have been told that Mr.
Peyton had acquired the habit of reading, or at least looking over,
Blackstone once a year, and it was rarely the case that he referred to
precedents and decisions of the courts, which has become the bane of
the profession of this day, but for authority he went down to the deep
foundations of the law, treating and regarding it as a fixed and
accurate science, not depending upon the opinion of this jurist or that,
and thus arriving at just conclusions alike convincing to judge and
jury. There have been many men whom the accident of applause or fortune
have made great, but few who were great in themselves. Amongst the
latter, Mr. Peyton stands in the front rank. As a man, he was true,
noble and generous; despising the low, vulgar and ignoble, and valuing
only the pure and elevated; by genuine courtesy and kindness, he won all
hearts, and by stern integrity he retained the golden opinions he
gained. As a father and husband, he was active and earnest in his
endeavors to fill the part of a true man; as a lawyer he stood second to
none, and by the breadth of his learning and knowledge, his clear and
comprehensive manner, and his earnest and determined performance of duty
as a public prosecutor, he has won a position such as few lawyers have
ever attained. As a statesman, the high praise which his generation gave
him, the deep respect in which he was held by the eminent men of his
time, and the undying record which history bears to his genius and
achievements, mark him as one of the great men of Virginia, who may be
proud of her son, while she can justly regret that he should have sought
privacy and retirement, in preference to national glory. Modest,
sincere, learned and determined, Virginia has had few to equal--none to
surpass him. In the past, he moulded and controlled the opinions and
actions of the times, so in the future may he ever serve as a model for
the true and the good, and prove an incentive to the ambitious. May the
young learn to emulate his life and example, while the old revere and
respect his memory.
SKETCH OF JOHN HOWE PEYTON,
BY
JOSEPH ADDISON WADDELL, B. L. OF W. & L. UNIVERSITY.
From my earliest recollection, I was familiar with the personal
appearance of Mr. Peyton. His figure was too distinguished to pass
unobserved by even the youngest children in the streets of Staunton. He
was tall, erect and portly; his head set gracefully on his shoulders;
his garments always appeared to fit well, and exactly corresponded with
his age and station; so that altogether, in his person, he came nearer
my ideal of gentlemanly elegance than any one I have ever known.
Mr. Peyton discontinued the practice of his profession before I was
capable of forming an independent and intelligent estimate of his
ability as a lawyer. During my boyhood I frequently heard him speak in
the Court-house; but I was then unable to appreciate forensic efforts.
From the attention and the deference to his utterances shown by the
citizens generally, I had no doubt that he was a legal oracle. According
to my recollection of him, he never attempted flights of eloquence.
There was nothing, I believe, flowing or ornate in his style. He used no
"big words," but in the plainest language spoke directly to the question
at issue, making himself understood by the most illiterate juryman; and
whatever the verdict, he never failed to excite admiration for his
ability and the dignity of his deportment. He was often eloquent, in the
highest and best sense of that word. While I was a boy I heard an
intelligent citizen endeavoring to repeat a part of one of Mr. Peyton's
recent speeches, which he seemed to admire very much, commenting at the
same time upon the simplicity of the phraseology and the absence of all
mere rhetorical display.
My impression of Mr. Peyton's talents is derived chiefly from my
father's estimate of him. My father, although a physician, was fond of
discussions at the bar, and during the sessions of the courts spent most
of his leisure time at the court-house. He considered Mr. Peyton a great
lawyer, and a man of great intellect. Although fastidious in his taste
and a severe critic, I never heard him speak otherwise than in terms of
respect and admiration of Mr. Peyton's efforts.
I well remember the scene in the old county court, when Mr. Peyton
formally retired from the bar. That tribunal was one of the most
beneficent institutions which we inherited from our mother country. The
body was self-perpetuating and very careful to maintain its
respectability in the election of new members. To be a member of the
Bench under that system, was generally conclusive of the fact that the
individual was worthy of and enjoyed the confidence and respect of the
community. The Justices were not professional lawyers, and depended
greatly upon the attorney for the commonwealth for advice and assistance
in Court. Mr. Peyton was for many years Commonwealth's Attorney for the
County Court of Augusta, as he was also for the Circuit Superior Court.
When he resigned his office in the former Court, the assembled Justices
were visibly affected. They adopted resolutions expressive of their
appreciation of his ability, uprightness and uniform and marked courtesy
to the Court. He doubtless always exhibited the same respect for the
County Court of Augusta, composed of his familiar friends and neighbors,
professionally unlearned as they were, as he ever did for the Judges of
the Supreme Courts of Virginia or the United States. The Justices were
unwilling to give him up, however, and as the next best thing to having
him as their legal adviser, they elected him a member of their own body.
He accepted the office in the spirit in which it was tendered, and I
remember to have seen him on one or more occasions afterwards sitting on
the County Court bench with the other Justices.
While I have disclaimed any competency to speak of my own judgement, of
Mr. Peyton as a lawyer, I had the pleasure of knowing him personally as
intimately as a boy and youth could know a gentleman of his age and
position. My father was his physician for many years before his death,
and his confidential friend. I have heard it said of Mr. Peyton, and I
believe truly, that if he liked a man he liked everything belonging to
him--his children and even his dogs. Liking and trusting my father, he
seemed to extend the same feeling to me. While I was still a small boy,
he found me out, and wherever he met me would familiarly accost me by
name. I remember to have encountered him on one occasion on the highway
leading from town to Montgomery Hall; he could not let me pass without
special notice. He stopped me on the spot and detained me for a
considerable time in conversation. He was exceedingly fond of a good
joke and his style of conversation was often sportive. On the occasion
referred to, there was something in his manner or expression suggestive
of mirth and I was suspicious that he was amusing himself a little at my
expense; yet I parted from him with a feeling of elation at enjoying the
familiar acquaintance of such a man. He appeared to act habitually in
the spirit of Lord Bacon's saying in his 52nd essay "amongst a man's
inferiors one shall be sure of reverence, and therefore it is good a
little to be familiar." His witticisms and sarcasms were keenly relished
by my father, who rarely returned from a visit to him without having
something of the kind to report. He had no toleration for dishonesty,
impudence or sham. To people whom he considered honest and well behaved,
however, ignorant or lowly, he always felt and acted kindly, but from
others, whom he thought unworthy, he could not conceal his
disapprobation. He was not in the habit of giving utterance to
censorious or unfriendly remarks about persons, and I am sure I never
heard him speak unkindly of any one. He was eminently a just man in all
his dealings with his fellow men. Requiring from others what was his
due, he most scrupulously gave to every man whatever belonged to him, as
far as he could. _Suum quipue tributo_ is one of the few maxiums of
Rudiman which I remember, and it after occurred to me in connection with
Mr. Peyton. I early learned to regard him as the personification of
justice. While Mr. Peyton was living I heard my father eulogize this
trait in his character.
I have no recollection of having been in Mr. Peyton's law office while
he occupied it, but towards the close of his life, I often met him in
his home. His manner then to me and other guests was all that could have
been desired. He was not reserved and distant on the one hand, nor on
the other did he embarrass by excessive attentions. Recognizing the
presence of each visitor and extending a cheerful greeting, he made all
feel welcome. His hospitality was proverbial. Possessed of ample wealth,
he admitted a large number of persons to participate in it around his
family table. Upon principle, he discountenanced wastefulness, but he
used his money with an enlightened liberality, freely expending it for
all useful and proper purposes, and contributing bountifully to all
public enterprises.
I have understood that Mr. Peyton had for many years kept by him a last
will and testament written by his own hand. But about a year before his
death, when he was physically unable to write, except to sign his name,
owing to some changes in his family or estate, he desired to execute a
new instrument. It was necessary for him to obtain the assistance of a
friend, and my father was called upon to aid him. On returning from Mr.
Peyton's, one day in the latter part of April, 1846, my father handed to
me a voluminous manuscript in his handwriting, blotted and interlined,
accompanied by a request from Mr. Peyton that I would make a pair copy
of it by a particular day, when the latter proposed to come to town and
append his signature before witnesses. The copy was duly made and on the
appointed day Mr. Peyton came to my father's house. He selected as
additional witnesses, Messrs. George M. Cochran and Benjamin Crawford,
and I was dispatched to request the attendance of those gentlemen. While
I was unwilling to appear obtrusive by remaining in the room uninvited,
the scene interested me so deeply, that I could not go away entirely.
Withdrawing into an adjoining apartment, I heard all the preliminary
conversation, which I felt sure Mr. Peyton would not object to. He
explained the provisions of the will, as far as he thought necessary,
and appeared anxious to satisfy his friends present of the justice and
propriety of his course. Amongst other matters, he referred to the noble
sorrel horse which he had ridden for seven years, and expressed a desire
that the animal should be well cared for. When about to sign his name,
he discovered my absence, and hearing him call for me I returned to the
room, and in obedience to his wishes subscribed my name as a witness.
This scene greatly impressed me at the time, and has often recurred to
me as one of the most interesting of my life. It was like the
performance of an imposing drama. Mr. Peyton, of course, was the
prominent figure and chief speaker; his bodily powers impaired, but his
intellect as vigorous as ever; his presence dignified and commanding;
his conversation flowing and sparkling like a stream of water in the
sunshine, while there was something more in the tone of his voice, in
his manner and the expression of his countenance, by me indescribable,
which greatly interested and almost charmed me.
Mr. Peyton was always, as far as I know, a firm believer in the Bible
and the great doctrines of the Christian religion. He was decided in his
preference for the Episcopal Church, in whose communion he died, but he
never was accused of bigotry. On the contrary, he respected and
supported all good men of whatever denomination, and required no one to
renounce his shibboleth, or to subscribe to his creed.
The foregoing is a very imperfect sketch of one whom I greatly revered;
whom I found in all my intercourse with him, according to my ability to
judge, a most polished gentleman; and whose kindly treatment of me
during my boyhood and early youth, inspired me with feelings towards him
akin to those of filial affection.
D. S. YOUNG'S IMPRESSIONS OF JOHN HOWE PEYTON.
_To Col. John Lewis Peyton_:
_Dear Sir_:--Arising from a laudable motive, that of respect and
veneration for the memory of your late father, John H. Peyton, and the
fact that I was intimately acquainted and associated with him for a
number of years before his death, I take pleasure in complying with
your request and write out my recollections of him. Your request recalls
memories of the past, and I undertake the task--a pleasing one to
me--but with the regret that I feel incompetent to perform it in a
manner satisfactory to those for whom it is intended.
Men have their entrances and exits, each playing his part, and it has
been truly said their works do follow them. This should be so. The works
of a bad man should be held up as a beacon to warn off those who follow
from the rock upon which he split and went down, whilst the work of the
good man should be held up as a bright and shining light to illuminate
the difficult and rugged paths of those who follow after. We all have
faults, at least foibles, and it may be too often the case in the
weakness of human nature that even slight faults and foibles are held in
remembrance, whilst the good qualities are permitted to go down and
slumber in the grave. Mr. Peyton would not have been human if without
fault or foible, yet I recall none--none that could not be covered with
the smallest mantle of charity.
Without falling at least into the modern idea of universal equality, I
undertake to say that Mr. Peyton was possessed of gifts and acquirements
that made him the equal of any man. In physical developments he was
quite a model, considerably over the average height of his fellow-men,
well proportioned, with broad chest, and massive head, his personal
appearance struck the most casual observer, who but eyed him, as one of
nature's noblemen.
Mr. Peyton belonged rather to the generation that has gone before that
of the writer, consequently Mr. Peyton was fully up to, if not beyond
the meridian of life, when I became acquainted with him, which
acquaintance commenced about the year 1827 and became intimate about
1839, and so continued until his death, which occurred in April, 1847.
I therefore, had no personal knowledge of Mr. Peyton's early history, of
his opportunities, education, &c. Judging, however, from his
superstructure the foundation must have been deep and well laid. His
information was not confined to one particular thing, his mind was well
balanced and powerful. Success was his in anything on which he
concentrated his powers. Having made the law his principal study and
profession, and believing that the best road to success in life was in
one pursuit, he stuck to it until far advanced in life. I hazard nothing
when I express the opinion that there was a time in Mr. Peyton's life,
when with less push than other men who rose to distinction, had he given
up the forum for the rostrum, the light that he would have shed would
have gone forth over the land.
Mr. Peyton was by universal consent a lawyer from the commencement down
to the latest statutes. As a counsellor he was always ready to answer
touching any legal questions; as a speaker at the bar, always pointed
and direct, confining himself directly to the points at issue. His
manner was lofty, his gestures graceful; he hardly ever indulged his
fancy, or attempted oratorical displays; never spread too much sail for
his ballast, but just enough to keep him in the direct line of argument.
His speeches were made to and for the court and jury, and not for
outside consumption and comment. As a high compliment to Mr. Peyton,
when a young man he received from the late Judge Archibald Stuart, the
appointment of Attorney for the Commonwealth for all the counties
composing the judge's circuit. The judge knew too much of mankind to
confer such an appointment on one incompetent or unworthy of the
important position. In this the venerable judge was not disappointed.
The earliest recollections of the writer are associated with seeing the
venerable judge and his fine looking Attorney for the Commonwealth,
passing the public roads from court to court, commanding the respect of
all good citizens, but a terror to evil doers.
Mr. Peyton was continued in the office of Attorney for the Commonwealth
after the death of Judge Stuart by appointment from the late Judge Lucas
P. Thompson. He also held the same appointment for the County Court of
Augusta, and continued to hold both until 1839, when he was elected to
represent the counties of Augusta and Rockbridge in the Senate of
Virginia, which position he held until he was overtaken with sickness,
from which there could be expected no recovery, when he gave up his
position and retired to his home, Montgomery Hall, where he died, as
before stated, April, 1847.
As a husband and father, no man better stood up to his obligations.
Having married a second time when somewhat advanced in life, he became
the father of a large family of children. Seeing, as he did, that in the
ordinary course of nature, he must leave a number of his children of
tender years, ample provision for them was a matter of great solicitude.
In this he was successful--he left them in comfortable circumstances.
In his dealing with his fellow-man, Mr. Peyton was scrupulously honest.
The word honest might express everything. Mr. Peyton was exact in
discharging his obligations, and men who practice upon that idea with
reference to their obligations generally expect others to do likewise.
He required nothing that was not clearly right, and he was not the man
to tamely submit to a violation of his rights. His hospitality at his
always well supplied mansion was generous, cordial and elegant. He was
a lover of law and order, and of pure religion. The writer is not
informed whether or not he became an inside member of the church before
his death. He was, however, what we may call an outside pillar of the
Episcopal church (the church, I believe, of his ancestors) and
contributed liberally of his means in not only the support of that
church, but to the building up of other churches and objects calculated
to extend the Christian Religion. He was in favor of a sound progress
(not much of a reformer) and gave a helping hand to all enterprises
calculated to improve.
I will now close this communication with an allusion to Mr. Peyton's
generosity, and illustrate that by giving an incident that occurred many
years ago. Such incidents are so few and far between, and when they do
occur they ought to be recorded on paper, as memory must fail.
At the June term of the Circuit Court of Augusta county, e839, a young
man who had procured his license to practice law, presented himself at
the Staunton bar, then well filled with able and experienced lawyers.
Our young man had broken down at another pursuit, and had upon him the
cares of a growing family. An important criminal trial was coming on.
Mr. Peyton was the leading and principal counsel in the cause for the
Commonwealth, the last of his life. Those two whole-souled and generous
gentlemen, the late Judge Briscoe G. Baldwin and Thomas J. Michie, then
at the bar, and in full practice appearing for the defence. Messrs.
Baldwin and Michie seeing, no doubt, the hard struggle our young man was
making, kindly proposed to him that if he desired to make an appearance
at the bar, to select any of their cases and appear with them. Availing
himself of this invitation, he proposed to them that he would select the
criminal case then coming on. That he would take no part in the
examination of the testimony, but would simply make a short opening
speech for the defence. The arrangement was assented to and the young
man took his position. After thus entering into the cause, he met with a
gentleman of the bar who had attained considerable distinction, and said
to him that he thought that he was venturing too far--a failure would be
most disastrous. This was exceedingly discouraging to the young lawyer.
It was however life or death, sink or swim, and he must go forward. The
testimony gone through with, the argument came on. Mr. Fultz, who was
assisting Mr. Peyton in the prosecution, opened the cause for the
Commonwealth. Then came the trying time on our young lawyer, when he
arose and delivered his speech in about 35 minutes. Whether he had been
of any service in the cause or not he could not tell, he did not feel
however that he had made a failure. When turning round to take his seat
Mr. Peyton in the most pleasing manner extended to the young man his
right hand, took the hand of the young man and shook it most cordially,
and in the presence of a crowded Court-house, remarked in his emphatic
way, "Sir, you've made a good speech, a very good speech, indeed."
Between Mr. Peyton and our young man there was no tie of blood or
kindred, no obligation, whatever, on his part. He was surrounded with
considerable wealth and friends; had made character and reputation; had
just been elected to the State Senate of Virginia by a large majority.
The young man was poor--comparatively friendless; had never been
surrounded by any adventitious circumstances; had by his own efforts and
without material aid, worked his way to the bar. This most generous act
of Mr. Peyton gave him encouragement; he went forward in the profession,
and although he may not have attained distinction, he has had the
respect of the profession, and used it as the means of raising a large
family. And now, although forty winters have rolled over since the
occurrence referred to, leaving the head of that then young man almost
as white as the frost, the manly form, pleasing face and generous
conduct of Mr. Peyton are fresh and green in his memory, and he has here
undertaken this imperfect sketch of his recollections of Mr. Peyton as a
small tribute to his memory.[27]
DAVID S. YOUNG.
Staunton, Va., January 31st, 1879.
[27] The young man above mentioned was D. S. Young himself.
FROM HON. GEO. W. THOMPSON,
FORMERLY M. C. FOR THE WHEELING DISTRICT, W. VA., AND UNITED STATES
DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR WESTERN VIRGINIA.
HIS IMPRESSIONS OF JOHN HOWE PEYTON.
Steenrod, near Wheeling, W. Va., June 11th, 1879.
_To Col. John L. Peyton, Staunton, Va._: