attempts had before been made to gain the attention of the legislature and
the people of the state on this transcendant matter, but they had proved
of but slight avail till the work undertaken by Judge Meek. The astounding
prevalence of illiteracy in the state as exhibited by his report did more
than to arouse interest; it created astonishment, with not a slight degree
of apprehension. The work done by Judge Meek in this connection gave a
strong propulsion to educational work in the state and the interest
deepened and grew in intensity till checked by the Civil War.
Being elected judge of the city court of Mobile, Judge Meek found
sufficient time, amidst the exactions of his official duty on the bench,
to gratify, to some degree, his taste for literary pursuits. It was during
this period that he found time to write the three rare works which
established his literary fame. These are "The Red Eagle," "Romantic
Passages in Southwestern History," and "Songs and Poems of the South."
Some of these were a collection of fugitive contributions which he had
previously made to magazines and newspapers, and some of them were
prepared at the time specially for embodied publication.
Of the literary merit of his productions there is no doubt. They are
intensely southern in their flavor and represent the spirit which animated
what has come to be called "The Old South." An agricultural people, we of
the South gave but little attention, prior to the Civil War, to literary
pursuits. There were those like Judge Meek who wrote and wrote well, and
thousands of others could have done so, but there was but slight
encouragement, so that the literary culture of the South was largely
unknown and unrecognized by others. The genuine spirit of the people and
of the times is embalmed in the rare literary products such as we have
from the pen of this Alabamian.
That which has already been said affords a slight view of the stirring
scenes through which Judge Meek passed the major part of his life.
Possessing varied gifts, he sought to give vent in some measure to each,
but it is in his literary productions that his real fame abides. That
literature was his passion is shown by the fact that, whatever else he
did, he could not abandon the pen. But the market for his literary wares
was so limited that without ample means he was unable to prosecute that
alone. The two indispensable requisites of literary success--time and
leisure--were not his to command, and he was compelled to scuffle for the
expression of his charming thought as best he could.
The literary productions of Judge A. B. Meek have been more eagerly sought
by the later generations than by his contemporaries. The edition of each
was limited, his books have therefore become rare, highly prized by all
lovers of literature, but difficult to find. Certainly as much as any
other southern writer Judge Meek has immortalized the spirit and genius of
the South of a former period, which is now only a pleasing recollection.
More than any other, perhaps, he has embodied in enduring form the
peculiar elements which entered into our southern life. The mocking bird,
the magnolia, the long trailing moss of our southern swamps, the
honeysuckle, the traits and remnants of the vanished tribes of the Red
Men, and other elements peculiarly southern are embodied and embalmed in
the prose and poetry of A. B. Meek.
Without the weirdness of Poe, Meek surpassed him in deftness of touch and
daintiness of expression. There is an indefinable delicacy and a
subtleness of force and suggestiveness in many of Meek's passages which
have never been surpassed. Nothing can excel the beauty and color of some
of his verse. In one instance, while describing an Indian maiden, he
says:
"And her eyes flashing wildly when with gladness they shine,
Have the dark liquid flow of the ripe muscadine."
His responsive spirit absorbed the soft, bland atmosphere of his own sunny
region.
BASIL MANLY, SR.
Dr. Basil Manly was equally a patriot, an educator, and a preacher. He had
the prescience and sagacity of a statesman, and devoted much thought to
all matters that affected the state or nation, and as occasion would
require he would not hesitate to express his views. With him the question
was one of principle and not one of reserved silence because of his
position as an educator and minister. Though exceedingly reserved and
modest, there were reserved powers of aggressiveness in his nature which
were withheld, subject to the demand of principle. He was not of the
maudlin type who sought refuge in his ministry as a means of escape from
duty as a citizen and patriot. His views were always stated with such
calmness, wisdom and moderation as to carry force.
There were the balance and poise of elements in his constitution that made
him the successful college president that he was. His judgment was never
obscured by the mist of sudden passion, nor was he betrayed into warmth of
feeling that occasioned subsequent regret. A man of like passions with
others, his sterner expressions were held in restraint under the mastery
of a granite will, and were brought into action only as occasion required.
Firm as a mountain on its base, he was unmoved by suddenness of impulse or
storm of passion. His equable temper made him accessible to all, but in
his conduct he was swayed alone by principle. This left clear his sense of
discrimination and unobscured his judgment, which was never hastily
expended, and not till he was convinced of a cause.
Those superior traits gave to Dr. Manly a power with men, young and old,
and his influence was as wide as he was known. A knowledge of these facts
led to his being called, in 1837, to the presidency of the University of
Alabama. At the time of his election he was the pastor of an important
church in Charleston, S. C.
Dr. Manly was one of a distinguished family in North Carolina. Two
brothers of his were men of eminence, one of whom was Judge Mathias E.
Manly, of the old North state, while the other, Governor Charles Manly,
was the chief executive of North Carolina. The family has been
distinguished in the annals of the South for a number of generations.
Without demonstration, Dr. Manly took charge of the University of Alabama,
and with the beginning of his official incumbency began a new era of
prosperity in the history of the institution. For eighteen years he
presided over the institution, which never had eighteen brighter years in
its history. He was quietly identified with all the interests of the
state, and soon came to be known and prized as one of its foremost
citizens.
When Dr. Manly assumed control, the institution was still young, and was
in great need of increased equipment, but under his wise management the
needed facilities came, and within a few years he brought it to a pitch of
prominence that gave it wide reputation throughout the country. Indeed no
state institution in the South had a wider reputation, from 1837 till the
outbreak of the Civil War, than the University of Alabama. Young men from
other states, attracted by its standard of scholarship, sought its
classical halls for superior instruction. During the presidency of Dr.
Manly thousands of young men throughout the state were fitted for life's
rough encounters.
Dr. Manly not only possessed the high qualities already named, but he had
the power of impressing them on the rising youth that came under his
direction and discipline. His undoubted sincerity, as transparent as it
appeared, his genuine manliness, the quiet balance of genuine qualities of
worth, all of which were sobered and tempered by a piety which no one
questioned, and all admired, gave him an opportunity for the wield of an
influence which was used to the greatest advantage.
While the superiority of his intellectuality excited admiration, the
gentleness of his religious spirit begot the most respectful reverence. A
superior preacher, he was in constant demand in this and in other states,
to occupy pulpits on extraordinary occasions, all of which served to
reflect the distinguished institution of which he was the head.
One remarkable fact about Dr. Manly was that of his extensiveness and
variety of scholarship. His learning was varied, rather than profound. Not
that he was a mere smatterer, for no one despised more the pedantic and
superficial than he, but his research in different and distant fields of
thought was remarkable. He had devoted unusual attention on all subjects
then taught in the most advanced schools of learning, and was thereby
enabled to assist students in the various departments by timely advice,
not only, but was able to assist intelligently the direction of the
several departments in the great institution over which he presided. His
fame as a college president widened to the utmost limits of the states of
the South, and even beyond.
Wherever young men touched Dr. Manly, no matter how, whether in the
classroom, by social contact, by discipline, or by hearing him preach or
lecture, there was resultant benefit. His vast range of information
imparted in simplicity and yet always with dignity; his unusual method of
reaching young men, not by any fixed standard, but by means suggested at
the particular time, and his ability without effort to impart the
influence needed to guide and direct, never failed of impressing those
under his care.
The uniformity of his bearing was among the first impressions made on the
youth under his guidance. His manner was always the same. This was true
even of his manner of address. He was chaste without being gaudy; clear
without the slightest effort; earnest and zealous without exuberance, and
pathetic and sympathetic without cant. These gave him a grip on young men.
No one caught him off his guard. There was always the possession of a self
collection that produced ease in his presence and that left an impression
for good.
The influence of a spirit like that at the head of an institution of
learning in a great state is incalculable. The permanent good wrought by a
man like this through successive generations is beyond calculation.
ALEXANDER BOWIE
The Bowie family is of Scotch origin. In a large volume devoted to the
family history, the genealogists of the name have traced the lineage
backward even to the days of the old Vikings. Certain traits of worth and
of distinction have characterized the stock through the centuries.
Solidity of character, firmness, robust conviction, courage, and fidelity
of purpose are among the traits most conspicuous.
A notable instance of these traits is given here because of the
familiarity of the public with the subject named. The heroism of Col.
James Bowie on the occasion of the fall of the Alamo is familiar to every
boy and girl who is conversant of American history. Prostrated by typhoid
fever in the ill-starred fortress at San Antonio, he was one of the
devoted 185 who withstood the siege of Santa Anna at the head of an army
variously estimated to have numbered from 2,000 to 4,000. When the
commander, Colonel Travis, saw the inevitable fate of the brave little
garrison he called his men about him, plainly presented the coming doom,
and, after saying he was determined to die at his post, he drew a line
across the floor and asked that all who would remain with him should come
within the boundary thus marked. If others desired to cut their way
through or otherwise seek to escape, they were at liberty to do so.
With emaciated frame, Colonel Bowie, now rapidly approaching death, which
came a few hours before the fall, unable to stand, ordered his men to
bear his sick couch within the mark drawn by the commander. This is
indicative of the sturdy Scotch pluck and the firmness of character of
those bearing the name.
It will be seen from the present sketch that Chancellor Alexander Bowie
possessed to an eminent degree these conspicuous traits. He was a
distinguished citizen of Alabama for a period of thirty-one years. His
native place was Abbeville, S. C., where he was born December 14, 1789.
His father was a major in Washington's army, and his mother, a Miss Reid,
from which family, on the maternal side, came Honorable Whitelaw Reid, of
New York.
Choosing the bar as a profession, Mr. Bowie was a successful barrister at
Abbeville, S. C., for a period of years. His relations with John C.
Calhoun were the most intimate, and letters received by Mr. Bowie from Mr.
Calhoun are still preserved among the heirlooms of the family. They
illustrate the cordiality and freedom of the relations between these two
eminent men.
During the war of 1812 Mr. Bowie was the colonel of the eighth regiment of
South Carolina militia, and was later commander of the Abbeville
nullifiers. For a number of terms he served as a legislator in his native
state, and removed to Talladega, Ala., in 1835. Four years later, he was
elected by the Alabama legislature to the chancellorship of the northern
division, which position he held with great distinction for a period of
six years.
In response to the interest shown by him in the general affairs of the
state of his adoption, and in recognition of his ability, he was summoned
to a number of important stations, among which may be mentioned that of
the choice of himself as the first president of the state historical
society. In further recognition of his scholarship and profound interest
in education, he was chosen one of the trustees of the state university,
and was one of the foremost friends of that institution in the days when
it was among the leading colleges of the South.
Politically, Chancellor Bowie was a Democrat of the democrats, a firm
adherent to the Calhoun school, and therefore a stanch believer in the
principle of states' rights. His voice, pen, and influence were lent to
that cause in all the struggles through which Alabama passed from the time
of his removal to the state till his death. Never vehement or passionate
of utterance, he always wrote and spoke with a calmness and deliberation
that bore conviction. He took to his public functions the same solidity of
influential force and the self-mastery which won him quiet distinction in
the ordinary walks of life. The impression made by him was invariable,
whether as a neighbor, a private Christian, a political advocate, or a
representative of the judiciary, that of stable conviction, calm
determination, and withal a gentleness of spirit that instinctively shrank
from producing the slightest pain to any one. His silent life reinforced
his public acts and declarations, and gave to him an unusual power with
men of every grade and degree. That which he did and said was of a
character that took hold on the deeper conviction of men, rather than on
surface sentiment. A strong and vigorous speaker, he was frequently
before the public, and his utterances gained additional weight from the
fact that men knew that every word that fell from his lips sprang from a
source of profound sincerity and from a conviction as deep as his soul.
His scrupulosity of conscience was proverbial, and men listened to
Chancellor Bowie not merely for entertainment, for he was an attractive
speaker, but they listened believing. Back of his utterances lay a life of
unvarying integrity derived from a spirit of piety, which none dared
gainsay, and the lineaments of his classic face bore a conviction which
was itself convincing. When the life of a man is so pitched that the most
obstinate opponent is made to respect his views, such a man is an engine
of power in public life. This fairly represents Chancellor Bowie in his
multitudinous relations, private and public, and such a model of manhood
was he to the young men of his time. This reputation he steadfastly
maintained through more than three decades in Alabama, for a good that
transcends the pale of estimation not only to his contemporaries, but
which projects itself into the years of the future.
One principle alone dominated him in all his conduct and that was the
settlement of each question or cause on the basis of right. This was so
clearly demonstrated throughout his life and career that any decision or
opinion from the bench was unquestioned, and so profoundly did he impress
the public with this fact that he came to be called "the great
chancellor." All his wealth of learning, his garnered wisdom, and his rich
experience were laid on the altar of Right. Thus lived Chancellor Bowie
and thus he died, leaving a heritage of illustrious integrity to those who
were to come after him. The career of an eminent citizen like this is an
abiding benediction to any state. Chancellor Bowie passed to his reward on
December 30, 1866, at the advanced age of seventy-seven years.
JOHN J. ORMOND
The name of Judge John J. Ormond is inseparable from the judicial history
of Alabama. He was recognized on all hands as a jurist of superior
ability. The mold of his mind was singularly judicial, and his career as a
public servant shines through his jurisprudential service.
A native of England, Judge Ormond was brought by his father to America
while yet an infant, his parents making their home first at
Charlottesville, Va. Left an orphan in early youth, Judge Ormond's future
course was dependent on the kindness of others, but he was liberally
provided for, and means were found for enabling the youth to obtain more
than an ordinary education.
After his removal to Alabama, we find him first as a state senator, to
which position he was chosen in the early part of his professional career.
In 1837 he was chosen as one of the justices of the supreme bench. Here he
found a most congenial orbit, for his tastes were aversive to the rough
and tumble of political strife. In the seclusion of a law library among
the musty tomes of legal lore, or a seat on the bench of the court, met
the gratification of this giant jurist.
His studious habits served to impart a reservation of disposition, though
he was free from coldness and was not wanting in the elements of
companionship. His was the thoughtfulness of the student and the quietness
of the scholar. A voracious reader, he reveled in the masterpieces of
literature, the results of his close study of which showing themselves in
the beauty and charm of his style, both of which found expression in his
decision and opinions. Without apparent effort, his sentences have a
limpid flow in well-balanced form, while the purity and elegance of his
diction fascinates. The dignity of his diction is an inspiration, while
his thought, like the sun, shines, by its own light.
For twelve years Judge Ormond occupied a seat on the supreme bench, an
honor and an ornament. His decisions were the profoundest, though they
were garbed in the striking simplicity of our tongue. His long retention
on the bench is an evidence of the general confidence in his integrity of
character. This fact becomes more pronounced when it is recalled that
Judge Ormond was a whig in politics, yet such was the appreciation of his
worth both as a man and as a jurist, that he failed not to command the
esteem and votes of the dominant democratic party. By dint of merit alone
he compelled not only its recognition but its appreciation. No one ever
suspected Judge Ormond of taking an unfair advantage as a judicial officer
or as a man. The sincerity of his political convictions were conceded, and
all who knew him never thought of him as a partisan. With him political
creed was one thing, and judicial scrupulosity another.
Writing of Judge Ormond's death, a contemporary says: "He occupies a page
in the Alabama law reports that will pass down to future times, and be
cited as authority in the adjudication of human rights as long as the
common law maintains a footing among civilized nations." Though small and
thin with a visage somewhat drawn, his bearing was characterized by a
perpetual dignity which elicited the esteem of all.
There was a democratic simplicity in his intercourse with others which was
perennially refreshing. An utter absence of self-consciousness marked his
bearing, though he was universally recognized as one unsurpassed in his
judgment of the law, as well as a ripe and finished scholar. So far from
being ostentatious, Judge Ormond was disposed to shyness and taciturnity.
His conversation was marked by the finished diction of which he was a
complete master. Besides all this, he was self-contained and collected,
never allowing himself to be betrayed into undue warmth of expression, no
matter what the provocation was. He equalled the conception of the
proverb, a soft answer turneth away wrath. The combination of qualities so
rare, was the occasion of much comment among the lawyers of the time. His
opinions did not escape challenge, nor did his position always go without
criticism.
The character of the man as well as the clearness of his judicial judgment
may be seen from a single extract from a decision written by himself in a
celebrated case which came before the court during his incumbency of the
supreme bench. In that learned decision he says: "We have been admonished
by the plaintiff in error, that, notwithstanding the state is the party
interested as defendant, on this record, the true interest of the people
will be promoted by declaring the contract void. It required no admonition
to impress us with the conviction that the high trust reposed in us by the
people imperiously demanded of us to preserve pure the fountains of
justice. Nor will we profess an insensibility which we do not feel to the
approbation of the enlightened and virtuous; although all experience shows
that such is not always the meed of upright conduct. Our station imposes
on us the necessity of deciding the cases brought before us according to
our opinion of the law; it is a duty which we cannot avoid. If left to our
choice, it is not probable we would have selected this question for
adjudication; and as, in our judgment, the law is for the state, such must
be our decision, be the consequences to us what they may, and although the
judgment may subject us to the imputation of the bias which the argument
of the counsel supposes."
This extract affords a fair index to the character of the man, while it
equally furnishes a specimen of the lucidity of his expression. There was
never the absence of dignity from his expression, no matter what the
occasion. He was not without sensitiveness, but it was not the
sensitiveness of inflammation. When necessary, he could wither with an
overmastering diction, but it was always with the preservation of a
dignity which could not fail of success. The last service rendered by
Judge Ormond was that of his association with Messrs. Clay and Bagby in
the codification of the statutes of the state of Alabama.
ALBERT J. PICKETT
Alabama's historian, Albert J. Pickett, was a native of North Carolina,
and removed to Alabama about one year before it was made a state. In his
early years he mingled much with the Indians, learned their character and
disposition, and became profoundly interested in their destiny.
The first purpose in life of Mr. Pickett was to fit himself for the bar,
and he entered the office of an elder brother, William D. Pickett, to fit
himself for that profession, but on discovering that he had no aptitude
for the law he gave it up and entered on planting, to which he devoted his
life.
His interest in the Indians led him into an investigation of their
history, and this, in turn, to the events which had occurred in connection
with the invasion of their primitive domains by the whites. The
investigation proved a fascination and led to his preparation of the
"History of Alabama and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi from the
earliest period."