PROSE AND VERSE, BY REV. J. M. GREENE, A.M. ATLANTA. GA. THE FRANKLIN PRTO. AJ.D PUB. Co. 2901. COPYRIGHTED. TO MRS. MARY S. COLQUITT GREEXE, I*Y LOVING WIFE AND FAITHFUL HELPMEET THROUGH ALL THE YEARS OF A LONG WEDDED LIFE, AND TO WHOSE LITERARY APPRECIATION AXD JOINT LABOR IT OWES ITS EXISTENCE, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. THE AUTHOR PREFACE. In the Feast of the Boughs which the ancient Athenians annually observed as having been instituted by their king Theseus in celebration of his vows to Apollo for his safe re turn from his expedition against the Cretans, they carried in the sacred procession a branch bound with wool, which was laden with all good fruits, and called Eurosyne. As they marched, they sang the strain: The golden ear, the ambrosial hive, In fair Eurosyne thrive. See the juicy figs appear! Olives crown the wealthy year! See the cluster-bending vine! See, drink, and drop supine! The author trusts that this volume of Prose and Verse, which he offers to the public, like that ancient sacred sym bol, may be laden with the riches of language, thoughts, fan cies, sentiments and fruits of knowledge, as gathered from the field of literature, that will afford to its readers an intel lectual feast that will regale the taste and delight the mind. He indulges the hope that it will bring pleasure to the reader of classic taste, inspire the young minds of the South with love of their own fair land, and awaken in them a noble ambition for honor and virtue, and to be worthy of their ancestral renown and rich heritage of the South. In the selection of the writers, orators and statesmen for the notice of the pen, from the roll of the eminnnt sons and daughters of the South, strict chronological order has not been observed, but they were chosen as familiar knowledge, fancy, personal admiration or friendship might dictate. Xor has minute biographical details been followed, such as when and where they were born, when died, and all the turns of fortune with them. They lived in thoughts and deeds of the mind, and their lives are not to be measured by the fig- vi PREFACE. ures set on the dial-plate of time in the dates of birth and death, but in the immortal instruction and inspiration they gave to mankind. The authors, orators and statesmen, the subjects of es say, are but few in number as compared with the shining throng that by their genius, eloquence and wisdom adorned the annals of the South in literature, oratory and states manship during the past century. Among those who shine in glorious beauty in the literary firmament of the South as bards of song, may be mentioned George D. Prentice, Ed gar A. Poe, Paul Hayne, Henry Timrod, Father Ryan, Sid ney Lanier, Eugene Field and John Esten Cooke. And not only these, but many others of melodious strain with a score or more of female writers of prose and verse, and a long list of orators of dulcet tongue and statesmen of brilliant talent. The Essays may be considered eulogies rather than sketches of life and character and reviews of the technical critic in literature, and not to have added anything to the greatness and glory of their subjects. Let this be so. The author rejoices that it has been his task to bring forward to notice some whose lives and writings have been un- chronicled, to reinsculp the names of others on the tablet of time, and with loving hand to lay a fresh garland of honor upon their cenotaphs in the field of letters and to hold up all to the cherished remembrance due them from the South. THE AUTHOR. CONTENTS. THE SOUTH: ITS POLITICAL, LITERARY AND THEOLOG ICAL WRITERS, ORATORS AND STATESMEN. Page SOUTHERN LITERATURE Introduction....... ................. 1 Thomas Jefferson ............................ ............... 1- .Tames Madison..................... ......................... 2SJames Monroe ....... ....................................... 3-> George Washington.............. .................. .. ..... 37 Patrick Henry ................. .... ................ ....... 38 George Y. Mason. ....................... .. ................ 39 William Henry Wirt.......................................... 40 John G Calhoun ........ ....... ..................... .... 41 Henry Clay .................. ...................... ....... 47 Robert H. Toombs........................................... 55 Alexander H. Stephens....................................... 61 Benjamin Harvey Hill .................................. .... 70 Walter T. Colquitt....... ................................... 76 William L. Yancey......................... ................. 7S Henry W. Billiard...... ........................:........... 82 Augustus B. Longstreet.... ......... .... .................. S(> George F. Pierce ...... ...................................... 97 Alexander Means ................................... ... ..... 102 Alexander B. Meek .......................................... 10 Daniel A. Chandler ..... ...................... ............. 10S Henry R. Jackson .............. ....................... .... 110 Weems, or "Peter Horry "........ .......... ..... ......... 312 William Gilmore Simms ..................................... Hf> Thomas M. Norwood........... ..... ........... .......... 119 Miss Penina Moise .................................... ...... ]3& Mrs. Caroline Lee Hentz.......................... .......... HO Mrs. Amelia B. Welby ........................................ 142 Mrs. Augusta J. Wilson . ................................. 144 Mrs. Loula Kendall Rogers................. ................. 133 Madnme Le Vert....... ...................................... IW VIII CONTENTS. ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES. Page My First Schoolmaster and Early School Days...... ......... 109 The Prophet of the Confederacy........... .................. 189 Sketches of Texas ...................... ... .............. 1S6 A Historical Etching The Hero of San Jacinto .............. 206 General P. G. T. Beauregard ................................. 230 Texas Talent ................................................. 236 Poetry,etc. ...................... .... ..................... 239 Young Men vs. Old Men...................................... 240 Pulpit Oratory No. 1....................... ................ 244 Pulpit Oratory No. 2........................................ 246 Pulpit Oratory No. 3........................................ 248 Pulpit Oratory No. 4....................................... 252 Pulpit Oratory No. 5.......... ............................. 254 Pulpit Oratory No. 6........................................ 256 Literary Criticism from Perseus Flaccus Satire I... ........ 260 Literary Criticism from Juvenal Satire I.................... 263 Poetical Contributions............................ .......... 267 Obituaries ................................................... 271 Character-Building .......................................... 273 The South ................................................... 282 Reminiscences of the War............... .................... 294 " Praying for All that are in Authority "..................... 311 VERSE. Introduction Literary Criticism from Horace "Ars Poetica " 2J7 Why Should I Write? Part I. Inquiry.......... ........... 322 Why Should I Write? Part II. Answer..................... 323 " Look not Mournfully into the Past" ....................... 324 What Flowers Should Decorate the Grave of the Christian.... 325 Lines of Condolence to F. M. R. on the Death of His Beloved Companion .............................................. 326 Sonnets to Shakespeare ...................................... 327 Visions of Sleep............................................. 327 Thanatokallia. Our Evie .................................... 329 Christmas Day. An Ode..................................... 331 An Elegy in Memory of Willie Oliver, Henry Smith, Oscar Taylor and Charlie Wood ............................... 332 Lines Written in an Album ............................... .. J 33 CONTEXTS. ix Page The Dead Canary ............................................ 333 Epithalamium. To Mrs. Mary Greene Wilson................ 334 Address of St. Valentine to the Young Men of Linden......... 335 I Think of Thee. The Soldier to his Wife. (Sentiment) ..... 336 I Think of Thee. A Soldier to his Wife. (Fact).............. 337 The War of ]861 ....................................... ..... 338 Romance of the Times ...................................... 339 TRANSLATIONS. The Dying Flower. (Translation from the German of Friedrich Ruckert) ............... ..... .. .................. 354 Mignon. A Song. (Translation from the German of Goethe). 356 . My Fatherland. (Translation from the German of Carl Theo dore Korner)............................................. 357 The Minstrels Curse. A Ballad. (From the German of Lud- wig Uhland) ...... ...................................... 358 The Shepherds Hymn. (From the German of Ludwig Th- land) ......................... ............. ............ 360 Farewell to Life. Sonnet. (From the German of Theodore Korner)......................... ... ....... ............ 360 The Invisible One. (From the German of Ludwig Uhland) ... 361 The Resurrection (From the German of STovalis).......... 361 The Tramp........................................ .... ..... 302 The Youth. An Ode. (From the German of Klopstock)..... 3G3 The Two Muses. An Ode. (From the German of Klopstock).. 363 EARLY POEMS. Address of May-Day Queen .................................. 365 The Address of Flora of a May-Day Celebration .............. :-;66 Lines to One Who Said: " There is no Love Save in Home Af fections "................................................ 367 An Acrostic....................................... .......... 38 A Valentine to Miss Mary S. Colquitt (My Betrothed)........ 363 A Poetical Epistle to Mrs. 3. M. Greene, nee Colquitt ........ 360 The Birchen Scepter; or Pedagogue Rule.................... 371 A Retrospect of Life ........................................ 382 The South: Its Political, Literary and Theological Writers, Orators and Statesmen* SOUTHERN LITERATURE. INTRODUCTION. Has the south a literature of its own ? This question is well propounded in view of an article from the pen of Don Piatt, the noted litterateur of Washington City, in which he sneeringly remarks, in a comment upon Southern books: that "one village of Xew England produces more books than all the Southern States together." It must candidly be admitted that the productions of Southern intellect are few and small. Why is this the case? may be inquired. This is an anomalous feature of the South as a political or national section. It possesses all the other elements of moral and intellectual greatness. It can not be that this deficiency in the realm of letters attributed to it, arises from want of intellectual endowments, esthetic taste or literary culture. It has produced minds during the past century which by their matchless eloquence in the forum and in the halls of Congress, by their statesmanship in the national cabinet, and in the administration of the affairs of government, have encircled the name of the South with a halo of intellectual glory. To confirm this statement needs only to mention the names of Hayne, Crawford, McDuffie, Forsyth, Preston, Berrien, Clay, Calhoun, and of many others who by their brilliant talents, not only shed lustre upon, but shaped the political destiny of the republic. Nor can this poverty of the South in the production of books arise from lack of those resources necessary to form a literature. The beauties of scenery which it presents throughout its broad domain are as fair as those sung by old Greek Theocritus on oaten stop to the shepherds of Sicilian plains, or by Virgil in bucolic verse to the polished ear of the Roman Caesar. Its historic past is filled with 2 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. examples of patriotic virtue and deeds of heroic valor as glorious as those which have rendered those nations of clas sic antiquity, Greece and Rome, the illustrious models of national glory to all ages and climes. In the wide field thus opened, the poet can find themes worthy of every strain of song from the lofty numbers of the Epic Muse to the melting accents of the lyre. Here, too, may the historian gather ample materials for the glowing narrative or for the profound utterances of philosophical history. To show the causes that have led to the sparsity of the contributions of Southern mind to the literature of the age and to consider and determine its true literary status and merits of Southern authors, will be the design of future essays. A full and thorough investigation of the causes which have restricted the growth and production of Southern Literature is a task that requires more labor and research than can be given to it in a fugitive essay. They are well worthy of the philosophic inquiry of the future historian, who faithfully and justly interpreting them, may vindicate the South from the imputation of illiteracy and establish its claim as an enlightened political section, though un crowned with the laurels of literary distinction in the field of authorship. Don Piatt, the Washington City critic, in the article to which allusion has been made, states, as it were "ex cathe dra," what he deems to have been the radical causes of the reputed inferiority of the Southern States in the art of mak ing books. He assigns as one of these causes, the former existence of the institution of slavery. That late peculiar feature of Southern society has been to the Xorth, for a century past, the constant source of sectional spleen, and the prolific topic of political vituperation of the South. It has looked upon slavery as a social atrocity, and re garded it with that obliquity of moral vision that canceled all the virtues of Southern character. So diabolical was the crime thus committed by the South considered, there was not rain enough "in all the sweet heaven to wash out" its stains. So deep-rooted the prejudice it engendered, that the INTRODUCTION. 3 fearful civil war that extirpated the institution, has not plucked the memory of it -from the Northern mind, nor the sufferings entailed upon the Southern people by that war, condoned for the guilt of their ancestors in cherishing slav ery. Though it might have afforded grounds for the polit ical proscription of the South, but that its influence was such as to produce moral and intellectual disqualification for the cultivation of literature, can not be readily con ceived. This notion is unsustained by theory or fact. If considered in its physical effects, it will be conceded by every enlightened mind as an axiomatic truth, that through slave labor, the Southern people, being relieved from the drudgery of manual employments, would have leisure to devote their attention to intellectual pursuits. That in its moral effects slavery has had the tendency to restrain and impair the intellectual energies and pursuits of a people, receives no practical demonstration in the his tory of those nations in the past where it existed. Nor was such its result in the Southern States. Let Southern civilization be compared with that of any nation of ancient or modern times. None exhibits a higher stand ard in respect to the general intelligence, enlightened senti ment, and religious culture of the people. It furnished to the world as noble examples of patriotic virtue and political wisdom as adorn the annals of Greece or Rome. Mediae val age with its belted knighthood produced no brighter specimens of chivalry, courtesy, and honor. Nor England with its starred and coroneted nobility and its famed middle class presented no higher degree of intelligence and Chris tian culture than was exhibited by the yeomanry and the landed proprietors of Southern society. He, whose boyish recollections extend to those days, recalls with feelings of veneration ihe men of that period, as they loom up before the mind in all the grandeur of moral worth and pure sim plicity of early republican manners. The only adverse ;nIhicncp thai slavery couk; have wrought upon literary pur suit at the South was, that by its easy production of wealth it took away that necessity ivJvjch would prompt to the cul tivation of literature as a means of livelihood. 4 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. In connection with the influence of slavery, the enervation of the climate is likewise assigned as a cause of the sparse contributions of the South to the literature of the age. The investigation of this charge should be a matter of interest to those Southern minds that feel deeply concerned for the fair fame of the "Sunny South," and desire every imputa tion repelled that would unjustly tarnish its escutcheon. To this task the present article will be devoted, and though the labor performed may not meet with that responsive sym pathy and regard which its importance deserves, yet it will be a work of love. That climate exerts an influence upon the development of the physical and intellectual characteristics of the human race, is an opinion currently received. But that it is at tended by all the physiological differences, so strikingly ex hibited in color and feature which were attributed to it by early geographers, is a subject of scientific inquiry. That its effect is such as to create marked contrasts in the nor mal character of the human mind, can not be fully predicated of it. It is demonstrated in the case of the Hindoo race, occupying the great peninsula of Southern Asia. Though they have not the intellectual endurance of the inhabitants of colder climates, yet they are represented as making great proficiency in books, and the remains of their ancient liter ature in the Sanscrit will compare favorably with those of other nations of antiquity. This is an isolated example, but a representative one that fairly illustrates the principle at issue, as there is no country upon the globe whose climate can be considered more unfavorable to the healthy and vigorous development of the physical and intellectual pow ers of man. The Southern States, geographically considered, lie within the limits of that zone, which being exempt from the ex tremes of heat and cold, has been considered as possessing a climate the most desirable for the residence of man and the most auspicious for the maturing of all his powers. Within this belt of the earths surface was the cradle of the human, race, and along it spread that civilization which in its west ward march, produced for the world the noblest triumphs of INTRODUCTION. 5 art and achieved for mankind the most important discoveries of science. The near approach of the Southern States to the tropics, being counterpoised by the breezes of the Gulf of Mexico, and in extension northward by the waters of that "summer sea," the gulf stream, that flows along their line of Atlantic coast, intersected by numerous rivers, and di versified by the verdure-crowned ranges of the Alleghany mountains, they have, on account of these peculiar features, a variety of climate, and one unsurpassed by that of Italian skies or the sunlit realms of Greece. The only effect that climate could have had upon the literary pursuits of the South, was that its geniality, combined with a productive soil and a vast extent of territory, turned the intellectual energies of the people to the development of their material resources. They devoted their intellectual efforts to agri cultural pursuits, choosing from their broad cotton fields and their rice plantations to produce the staples and the .food that would clothe and feed the world, as a means of opulence, than to weave the airy fabrics of the brain and purvey mental stores for the literary market. They pre ferred the active arena of political life to the ease and re tirement of the studio. They chose rather by living elo quence, "the applause of listening senates to command," than in poetic numbers to indite their thoughts, and from the voiceless folds of the press to spread them as sybilline leaves for the instruction and admiration of mankind. It is not to be supposed that the people of the South, in the meantime paid no attention to education. They estab lished schools to meet their wants, and erected colleges as towers of light to illuminate the land. With all these ad vantages it became to them " A country of every land the pride, Beloved by Heaven over all the world besides." A retrospect of the progress and development of the Southern States during the .past century will unfold the true causes that operated against their taking a high posi tion in the production of literature. At the close of the American struggle for independence, the population of the South was small and widely scattered along the line of the 6 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. Atlantic seaboard. Before them westward stretched a large territory that was almost an unbroken wilderness. Separated from the old world by a broad ocean, and their domestic resources being greatly impoverished by the long war that had just closed, they had but few of the arts of civilization. To subdue the wilderness, and from the soil to create the products necessary to supply the material wants of life was the task that would first necessarily engage their efforts. Because they had sprung into political existence, and at once attained a republican form of government and entered upon a national career with a rapidity unparalleled in the history of nations, it is erroneous to presume that they would, in like manner, develop and possess all the other institutions of an old established State. Many of these are the slow products of years, and especially the arts and sciences. That little State of Greece which has been so famous throughout all time as the favored abode of let ters, did not at once produce that literature which is still to the world the chosen criterion of grace, beauty and sub limity. It was four centuries from the time that the Hel lenes conquered the autochthons, the natives of the soil, be fore Homer, the blind old bard of Scios rocky isle, wander ing through the cities of Greece, sung for bread those sub lime strains of song handed down to future ages in the im mortal Iliad. This was the spring-time of Greek literature. It was a long-like period of time before it expanded into that rich summer of learning whose immortal bloom and exquisite luxuriance well might favor the idea that the minds which wrought it received inspiration from the Muses that were fabled to dwell on the flowery summits of Mount Helicon. Roman Literature was likewise a many-century-blooming plant. Though grafted on the learning of Greece as its parent stock, yet many cycles of time elapsed before it flow ered and gave to the world the stately epics of Virgil, the glowing lyrics of Horace, and the polished periods of Cicero. The literature of England, which with Nile-like munificence waters and fructifies the realms of mind throughout the INTRODUCTION. 7 English-speaking countries of the globe, was slowly and gradually augmented to its present grand volume. Begin ning in Chaucer as its fountain-head and trickling forth as a rivulet, and constantly receiving tributaries in the produc tions of gifted minds of each succeeding generation, it has broadened and strengthened as it rolled with the lapse of ages, into that magnificent stream that bears within its bosom "the solidest treasure of learning and the noblest har vests of poesy." There are certain laws that govern the productions of the human intellect, and they can be superseded by no artificial processes. This applies in the case of either individuals or nations. In this wonderful age of scientific progress and diffusion of knowledge, artificial aids have been tried in the various theories and systems of education that have prevailed. The hot-house experiments have failed, and it is still found that there is no royal road to learning, and he who would climb its rugged heights and drink of the Pierian fount upon the summit must endure the toil of the ascent. In the early days of the republic, an English reviewer, in commenting upon American literature, said that Litera ture was one of those finer manufactures which a new country will find it better to import than to raise." "Xative literature," says the Reviewer, "the Americans have none. It is all imported. And why should they write books, when a six weeks passage brings them in their own tongue, our sense, science and genius in bales and hogsheads." In reply to the criticism thus quoted, a book was written t>y Robert Walsh, Esq., in 1819, titled "Strictures upon the Calumnies of British. Writers," in which this uncharitable and illiberal spirit was denounced, and it is the same that is now practiced by the North toward the South. Besides the disadvantage which the South experienced as being a new country in the production of a literature of its own, the intellectual activity of the enlightened world was turned into the field of scientific discovery. Then com menced the era of those brilliant achievements of science which has made the nineteenth century the most marvelous 8 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. epoch of all time. The discovery of the power of steam and its application in the steamboat, railroad and the various mechanical arts, created that revolution which directed the intellectual energies both of Europe and America into a new channel. The South participated in this movement, and devoted its attention to productive and mechanical in dustry. There was no time for indulging in the dreamy abstractions of literary pursuits. There was no leisure for exploring the heights of Parnassus and coquetting with the . Muses. The nymphs and_ Naiads of Greek and Roman mythology, the inspiration and topic of poetic genius, de serted their sylvan bowers and limpid streams at the ap proach of the locomotive as it moved through the wilder ness. The iron horse of science supplanted the winged Pegasus of the poet. The fountains of traffic it opened up were more enticing to mankind than all the waters of Hippocrene. Thus we may perceive the true causes that led to res triction of the cultivation of literature at the South. A review of the literary productions of the South pre sents an extended field of investigation, and in view of their sparsity and the indifferent state in which they are preserved, it may be considered a task of barren and diffi cult toil. It can not boast of those massive volumes of history which invite the student to tread the dim aisles of the past, and survey as in living panorama the men and things of other times. There are no multitudinous works of fiction to charm with their ideal and delusive scenes of "many colored life" or beguile with their gorgeous dreams of romance. There is no epic poem to delight with its sub lime thought and majestic sweep of verse, and stand in solitary grandeur amidst the flow of centuries as the en during monument of national genius and glory. The list of Southern authors is small. But few if any of them, in the past, claimed to be professional writers, or sought distinction in the sphere of authorship. They wrote only as leisure might permit, or fancy or inclination might prompt. Their contributions were mainly to the journals and periodicals of their day. They poured forth their INTRODUCTION. 9 thoughts with that careless prodigality with which, in their own clime, spring scatters its floral wealth, or summer its fruits; and published in the manner they were, they often perished with the occasion that gave them birth. Those who were enamored with poetry piped in every note of the muse, and in the exulting fullness of song with which that winged child of Euterpe, the mocking-bird, pours forth its varied melody. There is no profusion of Southern books. But what they lack in quantity they supply in.quality. They are thickly sown with thoughts and sentiments which resemble "those fruits and flowers which the Virgin Martyr of Massinger sent down from Paradise to earth, distinguished from the productions of other soils not only by their superior bloom and sweetness, but by their miraculous efficacy to invigorate and to heal." There are a few productions of Southern minds, which judged according to the established standard of literary excellence, exhibit that grace, beauty, and wit, which should entitle their authors to the shamrock of im mortality. Could all the writings that have emanated from Southern pens be evoked from their hiding places, where they lie entombed in periodicals, journals, and pamphlets, or in some antiquated volume in the obscure corners of pri vate libraries or of booksellers stalls, they would, if col lected and properly arranged, form a literary Parthenon, which, if not grand in its proportions, yet would be peer less in its classic grace and beauty. To the task above men tioned the cultivated intellect of the Sou them-States should earnestly and assiduously devote itself. It is worthy of its noblest efforts to rescue from oblivion and preserve in dura ble form the works of its posthumous writers, which are gradually, and by piecemeal falling into the maw of time." It is a tribute of honor due from the South to its children of genius. It will but add to its fame. A national litera ture is the moral Xile upon which the popular mind depends for its nourishment and fertility. The Southern people should no longer submit to be held in that degrading vassalage which makes them dependent upon the educated mind of the North for their supplies of books, as they do upon its io SOUTHERN LITERATURE. skillful thrift for its manufactured goods. As forming one nationality, relations of peace and friendship should be cher ished and sustained between the two sections and the bonds of brotherhood be firmly knit, but "Timeo Grsecos et dona ferentes," should be the cautious spirit of the Southern heart, in view of the past. In a book of oratory designed for schools and sold in the South, the following insidious extract from a speech by a Northern writer upon the "Tri umph of the Union Cause " appears: "The flag of the Union waves in triumph over the rebel Capitol, and Davis and Lee and their guilty compeers, with brand of treason on their . brows, are seeking for a hiding place, and can find none on American soil." What Southern parent wants his children to imbibe such sentiments in regard to the "lost cause." ITS POLITICAL.WRITERS. The South has produced some distinguished political writers. A consideration of their \vritings may legitimately be included in the scope of sketches of Southern literature. The intellectual taste and genius of the Southern people have been eminently political and have been largely directed to the investigation and discussion of the great principles of popular self-government from their incipiency to their present grand development in the Constitution of the republic. The treatises that have emanated from Southern writers upon these subjects are worthy of the profoundest regard. They are not ideal speculations of government, which, as in the golden dreams of Plato of his happy repub lic, portray a perfection of politics and laws which would remove all evils and secure universal happiness to mankind, but "baseless as the fabric of a vision." They present the exposition of these political immunities, the freedom of opinion and the right of suffrage, which by giving indi viduality and making each citizen a constituent element of the body politic, has wrought for the American people the largest blessings of civil liberty. They are the land marks by which the political -policy and movements of the country have been guided, and by which it has reached its INTRODUCTION. 11 present proportions of unrivaled greatness and glory. Such is the character and merit of the political writers of the South. They are well worthy to be ranked in that line of illustrious statesmen of past ages, who by their wisdom laid broad and enduring the foundations" of States, and with them should occupy a noble pedestal in the worlds great Pantheon of immortality. The principles which produced the American Revolution and the brilliant success that attended that struggle, con stituted a new era in the political history of the civilized world. To appreciate the ideas of the political leaders of the contest it is necessary to survey the civil governments of Europe, the great centre of human civilization, for many preceding centuries. The idea of a government for the people and by the people was obsolete. The last example of purely democratic government worthy of note was that of the ancient republic of Rome. From the twelfth to the fourteenth century there had flourished the petty republics of Genoa and Venice. Their systems of government were aris tocratic or at best oligarchical. The Podesta of one and the Doge of the other, as chief magistrates, were but the vas sals of the will of the councils that controlled the affairs of the State. The dreaded "Council of Ten" of Venice was an "arbitrary and inquisitorial body, a standing tyranny." The little State of Switzerland, amidst its. Alpine fastness, alone had a free government, exhibiting in contrast with the ty rannies of Europe, that miracle of its scenery, roses and myrtles blooming amid dreary and barren glaciers of ice. The mass of the people of the various kingdoms and states of Europe had no participation in the affairs of the gov ernment, and felt and had no interest save that which re lated to the security of person and fortune. They were as "a dumb driven herd," subject to the triple tyranny of king, noble and priest. 12 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. THOMAS JEFFERSON. The task presented in a review of its political writers, and the exposition of their ability and merits, should be a mat ter of profound consideration, sacred duty and interest to the South. To their political doctrines and statesmanship this great commonwealth formed of the sisterhood of States is largely indebted for its prosperity and grandeur, and the South as a section especially owes its honor and glory. Neither lapse of time nor any other circumstance should abate in the Southern mind the expediency and the impor tance of such a work. The interest involved is too broad and grand that it should be controlled by slight contin gencies. The torch of mind is the flame of glory. As essential to the due consideration and the proper esti mate of the political writers of the South, in our last article a survey of the civil polity of Europe as the great centre of the worlds civilization, for several preceding centuries, was briefly presented. The retrospect then taken of the politi cal history of continental Europe, exhibited hereditary rule and "the divine right of kings" as the fundamental prin ciples, and despotism and oligarchy as the Procrustean framework of its governments, unchanged by the ceaseless rise and fall of nations as wrought by time or war. No element of civil liberty appeared, save in the little republic of Switzerland with its "league of friendly States," located amidst the ice-clad Alps and thus, girded by natures colos sal ramparts against the surging waves of despotism. It was :the boast of England, that its seagirt domains were the chosen and favored abode of liberty. It possessed one or two of the great immunities of civil liberty in the famed Magna Charta wrested from the unwilling hands of tyran ny, yet not until the "glorious revolution of 1688," that de throned the reigning dynasty and the liberties of the nation were secured by the "bill of rights" against any future ar bitrary acts of its kings, were the manacles of regal des potism fully broken. This brief account embraces the main features of the THOMAS JEFFERSON. 13 political history and represents the political state of the civilized world previous to that great event the American Revolution. It inaugurated a new era in the fundamental principles of human government, and wrought results in this respect, corresponding in magnitude to those produced by the discovery of the Western Hemisphere upon the other departments of civilization. Here, on the shores of a new world, "the free spirit of mankind at length threw its last fetter off." Intimately connected with the struggle of the American colonies for independence, is the question of the merits of the political writers of the South. The colonies of the South were nobly represented by the pen as well as the sword in that contest. The political productions of Southern minds contributed largely to its success and glory. First and foremost among those revolutionary patriots, who wielded the pen in behalf of liberty, was Thomas Jefferson, the immortal penman of that celebrated document the Declaration of Independence. As the author of this article he receives much of his cele brity. Is his fame ;in this respect justly deserved? To how much credit is he entitled? It is evident that this instru ment of writing derives its prestige not alone from the na ture and character of its purpose, but possesses intrinsic literary excellence. The pure, classic and dignified style in which it is written, makes it an appropriate utterance of a people cherishing the noble spirit of liberty and protesting against the wrongs of tyranny. His literary culture and early associations qualified him for the task. "He was skillful with the pen, he was familiar with the" points of controversy; he was a Virginian." As to the political principles which it enunciates, he can not be awarded the merit of originating them by his excur sions as sole pioneer in the fields of political speculation. They had their origin far back in the past. For centuries they had been pulsating in the great popular heart, amid the gloom and oppression of European tyranny. The Bible evoked from its monastic seclusion by Luther and dissemi nating its soul-elevating and humanity-honoring truths had awakened and fostered them. Rousseau, about the middle 14 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. of the eighteenth century, as the great hierophant of liberty, ministering at the altars of humanity, had written and pub lished in his "Contrat Social," the rights of man. The Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights setting forth the in alienable privileges of Englishmen had been indited. From these sources, the genius of this great statesman may have derived inspiration in his preparation of the political docu ment which has so greatly distinguished him. Yet when it is carefully considered, its author merits the singular dis tinction the world has given him. It has been said "the noblest utterance of the whole com position is the reason given for making the declaration A decent respect for the opinions of mankind. " This touches the heart. Among the best emotions that human nature knows is the veneration of man for man. This rec ognition of the public opinion of the world, as final arbiter in all such controversies, is the single phrase of the docu ment which Jefferson alone, perhaps of all the Congress would have originated; and in point of merit it is worth all the rest. Let the Declaration of Independence, then, re main intact as the due monument to his genius and name; more noble and enduring than the slender shaft or stately pillar which the sculptor may cut from "marbled honors caverned bed" to perpetuate the memory of departed great ness. As a political writer, Jefferson was not the author of any elaborate or extended work upon civil government or of political economy. A summary of his views upon these sub jects must be collected from his epistolary correspondence. Though scattered as they are in this manner, they are worthy of greatest painstaking in research and of the highest consideration. He was not the projector of Utopian schemes of govern ment brilliant in theory but futile in practice. He was- not the prbpounder and advocate of questions of national pol icy which were for the time being, and became obsolete with their defeat or adoption. He was not the promoter of measures which had solely in view the aggrandizement of self or party. THOMAS JEFFERSON. 15 The principles which he cherished and advocated have been and are yet to a certain extent, the professed political tenets of the national Democratic party which held the reins of government for twenty years, and under whose auspices the United States grew great in population, wealth and territory, and advanced with decennial speed in their career of glory until the spirit of disunion invaded the ranks of the party at the Charleston Convention in 1860 and the tocsin of civil war sounded the death-knell of its supremacy in 1861. These principles were not to be extirpated by the defeat or downfall of any political party. They lie at the foundation of the Constitution, and as long as it is held in violate, will direct in the administration of the govern ment. The rights of man, as viewed individually and collec tively, were the basis of his political creed. He earnestly de sired and sought that the Constitution of the United States should be so framed that- it would be the Palladium- of civil liberty and extend the broad aegis of its protection over the humblest citizen of the commonwealth. He considered the first Constitution suggested to the States, and even its immediate successor, the second Constitution which was finally adopted by them, as imperfect in this respect, and urged that it should be amended by annexing a bill of civil rights which should give full specifications. The war being closed, their independence recognized, and peace made, it was a question of momentous con cern to the Colonies what form of government should they adopt. The object of the war was to repel the ty rannical exactions imposed upon them by the British gov ernment and the result was to shake off their dependence upon it forever. The sentiments of the people were va rious as to what form of government should be adopted There were those who favored the establishment of a limited monarchy, influenced by a lingering attachment to England, the parent country. The army proposed to Washingtpn to make him king. His patriotism was too pure to grasp the splendid prize offered to his ambi tion. The leaders of the revolution had no doubt revolved 16 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. in mind, and looked forward, to the laying of the founda tion of a government which would secure the blessings of civil liberty, in the event that the struggle of the colonies for independence should be successful. That "all men are born free and equal," was the cherished political maxim of Jef ferson, and it could meet with full recognition only in an elective or republican form of government. That such a model had long existed in idealistic creation in his mirid and was familiar to his thoughts, was clearly evinced by the well-defined views and suggestions he gave in his letters from Paris to the President of the Convention that framed the original Constitution of the United States. HavTng thrown off its allegiance to the British crown, during the war that ensued, each colony had practically as sumed and exercised the functions of a sovereign State and conducted its public affairs upon the elective principle of government. This circumstance, perhaps, had already shaped and predetermined that the character of its "bodypolitic" should be a republic. What should be the future relations of the infant States to each other, was likewise an important matter to be settled. Should each be a separate and independent nationality, or should they unite and form one nation under a consolidated government. History, the "reverend chronicler" of the past, gave its warning voice, and taught that jealousy would arise and strife ensue between nations whose territories were contiguous, and that the confederation of States gave strength and power to them. The rivalry among the sister republics of ancient Greece gave rise to constant and extensive wars which sapped the foundation of their prosperity. Their union under the Achean league, after centuries of strife, had enabled them, even in the period of their decadence, to resist the encroach ing power of surrounding nations. The Hanseatic league of the German cities, which resulted in converting each into a city-republic, had also demonstrated to the world the bene fits of political union. There were many facts and circumstances to induce and urge the people of the new-born States to consider and favor THOMAS JEFFERSON. 17 the organization of a regular and permanent national gov ernment. They had the same common ancestry, spoke the same mother tongue, drew from the same "dug, freedoms breath of life." They together had shared in the suffer ings and triumphs of the sanguinary conflict just passed; were in a weak and impoverished condition, and above all had tested and realized the strength and efficacy of union in that it had enabled them to cope with and defeat a formida ble enemy. This programme of government was pre-established by the war and revolution, in the Articles of Confederation that had been adopted by them as colonies, and the creation of that legislative body, the Continental Congress, which had been invested "with great and various powers" to conduct the war. This compact under which they had united was still in force and recognized, and Congress still exercised its legislative and executive functions. The seven years war had tended to give permanency of feature to this provi sional government, and the existing circumstances rendered its perpetuation still necessary. But it was found inade quate to meet the new situation of affairs which supervened upon the recognition of their independence and the estab lishment of peace. The necessity of a better organization. of the general government was imperative. A convention of the States by their delegates met at Philadelphia, I4th of May, 1787, under the authority of Congress, for the purpose of revising the Articles of Confed eration, and rendering "the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union." The result of the proceedings of that Con vention was the present Constitution of the United States, before the recent amendments. The views of Jefferson as a distinguished patriot and an eminent statesman of that period, in regard to the Consti tution and his constructions of its various features, should elicit inquiry. The practical operation of it for a hundred years has either confirmed or refuted his opinions. He approved the scheme of government it embodied. It co incided with the model which he had preconceived in mind. 2e i 18 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. It had its defects in the omission of certain important polit ical rights. It was concluded in too broad and general terms. He wanted the line of demarcation between the powers of the general government and those of the States clearly drawn. The true theory of the Constitution should be, that the Federal Government should have control of all questions of foreign relations and between other States, and the States of all that concerned themselves. This was the point of vital interest. Upon it hinged the successful experiment of the proposed government. The proper distribution of political power, and the equipoise thus produced, acting as the centrifugal and centripetal forces which keep the planets in their orbits around the sun, would cause the States to move harmoniously along their respective paths around the Union, as the central source of strength and glory. The convention that framed the Constitution was com posed not only of men of profound and sagacious minds, but of men who differed in their schemes of government. There were those who earnestly and vigilantly guarded against the cession of any power or right to the Constitution, that would, in the least, affect the sovereignty of the States. There were those of equal ability, who desired a strong cen tral government and the elimination of all State lines. The Constitution was the result of a compromise of these antag onistic views, and bears the impress in the broad and general terms in which it is couched, and the two-fold construction that has been placed upon that feature of it which concerns the rights of the States in their sovereign capacity. The letters of Mr. Jefferson, written from Paris whilst the convention was in session, show how deeply he was con cerned that the individual sovereignty of the States should be fully recognized and clearly denned in the constitutional fabric of the national government. He regarded it as "the barrier of civil liberty." It would serve as a check and safeguard against all usurpation and tyrannical exercise of prerogative on the part of the general government or the role of Alexander, or Caesar, or Cromwell, by any ambitious spirit that might hold the reins of executive power. He THOMAS JEFFERSON. 19 -fully exemplified his views upon the question of State Tights in his opposition to the alien and sedition acts pro jected and passed by the party in possession of the admin istration. The strong protest to these acts, offered by the Kentucky resolutions (Nov. 26, 1798), was written by Mr. Jefferson. This celebrated paper, together with that of the Virginia resolutions written by Madison, declared that the Federal Constitution is a compact between the States as States, and that each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infraction, as of the mode and measure of redress. As to the extreme doctrine of the right of any State or States to secede from the Union in redress of its grievances, Tie gave no expression of opinion. He supposed that pos sibly such a contingency might arise in the administration of the government that "certain States from local and oc casional discontents, might attempt to secede from the Union. But it is not probable that local discontents can spread to such an extent, as to be able to face the sound parts of so extensive an Union; and if ever they should reach the majority, they would then become the regular govern ment, acquire the ascendency in Congress, and be able to redress their own grievances by laws peaceably and con stitutionally passed." The right of secession as a principle inherent in the sovereignty of the States has been a doctrine more or less cherished and maintained since the foundation of the gov ernment. Massachussetts thought so once, as indicated in the Hartford resolutions, and so did South Carolina, as ex pressed in the Act of Nullification. No such right was stipulated in the Constitution, yet from the nature and ob ject of the compact it might be inferred as reserved. "The pound of flesh" might be claimed in that political bond but there was no mention of "a jot of blood." The revolt of Texas from the Republic of Mexico, and the aid and encour agement it received in establishing its independence from the people but not the government of the United States, in cidentally illustrated the popular sentiment upon the ques tion of the secession of a State from a Federal compact. 20 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. The Southern States tried the experiment in 1861. After a fearful civil war of four years they were subdued and co erced back into the Union. This has practically settled for a time the question of secession. The principle still exists in the minds of men. It rose invincible from the crimson tide of war, and still shakes "its gory locks," and will not down at the bidding of any victorious party. The bonds of Union which bind the States can not be peacably untied, but like the Gordian knot must be severed by the sword. It may be well to cherish the doctrine of State sovereignty as a safeguard of civil liberty, but the State or States should, pause before they try the experiment of secession. It is a revolutionary measure that will require the arbitrament of the sword. As long as there lingers in the minds of mere the recollection of the sufferings of the South during the late war; its flower and chivalry slain upon the field of bat tle, its products of industry swept away, its towns and citiesdespoiled and its peaceful homes burned, its widows tears and its orphans cries, its final subjugation and subsequent political humiliation, no State or States will be prone to re peat the experiment of secession. Freedom of speech is a vital element and an essential safeguard of a republican form of government. The his tory of the past demonstrates this fact. The Bema of an cient Athens was the bulwark of liberty in the little repub lic of Attica. It was from its summit the affairs of the government were presented and discussed in public assem blies of the people, the designs of demagogues and traitors were exposed, and measures of safety adopted. It was from thence, that Demosthenes poured forth those burning Phi lippics which "fulmined over Greece," shook the throne of the tyrant of Macedon and thwarted his ambitious schemes for the subjugation of the Grecian States. The Tribune or the forum was the citadel of popular liberty to ancient Rome, and for three hundred years preserved it as a repub lic from the despotism of patrician rule and military chief tains. The first effort of the foreign or domestic tyrant in his designs to overthrow the liberties of the people, has al- THOMAS JEFFERSON. 21 ways been to suppress the freedom of speech. Bonaparte resorted to this trick of policy when upon "the ruins of the throne and the tribune," he formed of liberty-seeking France an empire. His example in this respect was fol lowed by Louis Napoleon, who in more modern times bold ly projected and successfully consummated the same enter prise. The revolutionary struggle occasioned the exercise, and obtained for the people of the United States the privilege of "freedom of speech." The modern invention of the printing press opened for it a wider sphere of operation than presented in the viva voce of the popular assemblies of those ancient republics, Greece and Rome. The ubiquity imparted to it by this medium of communication largely in creased its potency and restricted its mobocratic tendency. In regard to the freedom of speech or of the press, Jefferson was a most zealous advocate. He urged that it should be secured by an express provision in the Constitution, and to that purpose persistently directed his efforts until it was accomplished, by an amendment to the Constitution passed by the first Congress (1789). He considered it so vitally important to the security of the institutions of a free government, that he would not ad mit of the propriety of the press being "muzzled." Al though he was often the subject of its falsehood and vitu peration during his political career, yet he was so deeply convinced of its utility in the preservation of the popular liberty, that he would not consent to its coming under the censorship of the law, where public measures and the acts, of public men were concerned. The censorship of enlight ened public opinion would neutralize and correct the abuses of a perverted license. The political training which it would impart, would qualify the people to judge rightly and justly of the truth of its statements. The history of the press for the past century justifies the wisdom of Jefferson concerning its freedom. It has been the great political educator of the people, and in an eminent degree qualified them for the critical experiment of self-government. Sending out daily and weekly through 22 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. the columns of the ubiquitous newspaper the discussion of all political topics by the enlightened wisdom of the land, it instructs and prepares the masses for the high duties of citizenship in a government, where each individual in proportion to his voice and vote, exerts his influence inshaping all public measures. Every American child is a. born politician. The influence of the press has been largely conducive to the tranquillity of the government. It has afforded vent to the volcanic fires of party spirit that threatened disrup tion of the republic, guiding to the bloodless contests of the ballot-box with the pen, instead of marshaling antago nistic forces to the clash of arms. However in full record of the press it has been said, That with the bitter, burning speech of the tongue Inflamed the South with maddened sense of wrong, And urged the North with conscious might of force To press to bloodshed its fanatic course; And between those wrought internecine strife, "VVho from same dug drew Freedoms breath of life, And same childhood of a glorious past, Its golden links of Union strong had cast. The press has become more wary and discreet, and the public mind does not always blindly receive the utterances from the editorial tripod as oracular. It now stretches out its Briarean arms over the whole land, and no human agency of civilization can compare with it in its power to do good or evil. As an expositor of political issues it should teach the people with the moderation of wisdom, and standing; as sentinel upon the watch-tower guard with sleepless vigi lance the citadel of liberty. As a fountain of instruction it should send out streams of pure and useful knowledge, that will truly inform and elevate the popular mind. As a censor of manners, it can encourage to the cultivation of virtue and deter from the practice of vice. This is its high missionMay it perform it Well. The question of religious faith and divine worship fiasever been one of intense interest to the human mind. What ever religion may be embraced, and whether true or false, it takes strong hold of mans pathematic nature, and exerts an THOMAS JEFFERSON. 23 influence which can awaken his mind to highest transports of enthusiasm or excite to wildest bursts of frenzy. In no other realm of opinion does the-spirit of bigotry exercise a more self-exacting and imperious sway or prompt the hand so readily to grasp the warlike weapon for the purpose of defense or domination. No nation has ever existed which did not possess and cherish some form of religion. .Although the nature of re ligion is such that it involves mans relations only as an in dividual, and that solely to the Supreme Being, yet at an early period of antiquity, the religious creed and the rites of worship of nations entered largely into their political life and formed their national customs. Becoming thus in separably interwoven, in many pagan nations the control and supervision of religion was made the business of the State. In ancient Greece it came under the jurisdiction of the court of Areopagus. /Eschylns, the celebrated tragic poet, was tried by this court upon the accusation of impiety, and would have been condemned and "stoned to death by the Athenians," had not his brother, Aminias held up his mutilated hand hewn by a Persian scimetar at Marathon, as a mute but eloquent appeal to the tribunal for clemency. The Roman republic created a college of Pontiffs to super intend the worship of the national "gods" and to punish all acts of sacrilege. It might be supposed that the Christian religion in view of the character of its peculiar doctrines, upon its advent into the world, would inaugurate a new state of things. Its Divine Author announced that his kingdom was not of this world. He declared the true worship of God to be entirely spiritual-, and required no outward pomp or ceremony. Its principle was love, and its object was peace. He invested conscience with an inviolable sanctity of right, and as the living oracle of God within the soul, in all matters of per sonal religion, its voice was superior in authority to the edicts of kings or the arbitrary decrees of hierarchical coun cils. It might be presumed that his followers would embrace and be guided by the principles which he so clearly enunciated. The history of Christianity shows divergencies 24 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. from the teachings of its Divine founder. When it grew in power.and became the religion of the Roman empire, it assumed the prerogative of requiring conformity to those articles of faith and that style of worship which it might dictate, and of punishing all recusants. The history of all religions shows the spirit of intoler ance. It existed between Jew and Gentile, as truth and error are always antagonistic. Pagan Rome was tolerant of the religions of the nations it conquered by its arms, and established a Pantheon at the seat of empire for the en rollment and worship of all divinities, but it issued imperial rescripts for the extinction of Christianity. Mohammedan ism waged a war of extermination against all other creeds. "The Koran or the sword" was the battle-cry of the fierce warriors of Yemen that gathered under the green standard of the Prophet of Mecca for the propagation of Islamism. Oh! this spirit of religious intolerance! No plague more fell or destructive to human happiness has ever escaped from the Stygian stream. Even heaven-born Christianity with its proclamation of peace on earth and good-will to man, has not been exempt from its devastating work. En gendered in corruption and sin in the bosom of the Romish church, this spirit leaped forth, armed with the implements of torture and death, and rioted in the blood of thousands of innocent victims. The crusades for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre from Moslem power, the dungeons of the inquisition, the martyr fires of Smithfield, the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and the wars of contending religious sects which made a battlefield of Europe for many years, all attest the fearful woes which the spirit of sectarian bigotry has wrought for mankind. The discovery of America opened an asylum for the op pressed. Thither fled thousands to escape the hierarchical despotism of the old world and to have-liberty of conscience. The Puritans and Quakers from England, the Huguenots from France, and the Roman Catholics under Lord Balti more, seeking religious freedom, sought the wilds of Amer ica and laid the colonization of the New World. But the spirit of intolerance even here was not banished from the THOMAS JEFFERSON. 25 ranks of Christianity. The Puritans commenced the per secution of the Quakers and Baptists. This gave rise to that divinely inspired thought of religious toleration in the mind of Roger Williams, the leader of the Baptist refugees from Puritan tyranny. Thus from the lips of this humble man emanated a truth which embodied a political principle, that either had escaped the attention of rulers, statesmen, and legislative bodies or had been ignored by them in the blind infatuation of power. The recognition of this truth by the Christian world would have precluded much pain, suffering and bloodshed to the human"1 race. In laying the foundations of a national government the question of religion, from its importance, would necessarily present itself to the consideration of the convention that framed the constitution of the United States. As religious toleration had been practically recognized and asserted in the different colonies, that body left the question untouched. The attitude of Jefferson upon the subject was clearly de fined in his epistolary correspondence. He strenuously urged that the principle of religious freedom should be incorporated in the Constitution and be securely guarded by an express provision, nor did he relax his efforts until it was done by an amendment to the constitution, passed the first Congress in 1789. He said that he "contemplated with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a. wall between Church and State. The common right of freedom of conscience was a col umn of strength in the Constitution, and was a crowning grace to it as the peerless model of a republican form of government. The United States was the first in time, if not the only nation in whose organic law it was embodied as a fundamental feature of its polity. The pen may scarcely enumerate the inestimable blessings of which it has been the prolific source. It has been a heal ing remedy for those strifes engendered by differences of religious tenets, which "in times past" had convulsed king- 26 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. doms and polluted the peaceful altars of Christianity with the bloody rites of Moloch. There has been no resounding shock in arms of Protestants and Baptists on battle plain, or hounding of covenanters among mountain fastnesses -to disturb the tranquillity of the government. Each denomi nation of Christians has exercised the privilege of worship ing God according to the dictates of their conscience "under their own vine and fig-tree" and none have dared "to molest or make afraid." Armed in panoply divine and marshalled under the same celestial labarum, all sects of Christians have constituted one grand sacramental host which has advanced on its line of march with the good of man and the glory of God in view. Freed from the shackles of ecclesiastical dogmas, theology has pressed into broader fields of inquiry and has added largely to the com mon treasury of religious knowledge. Thus the common right of liberty of conscience guaran teed under the Constitution to all citizens, has engirdled with the bow of peace the religious life of the nation, and by its harmonizing power upon the religious creeds of men, it has come nearer than at any other epoch of the worlds history of bringing into sweet realization the golden age as sung by Virgil in the diviner strain of the Sicilian Muse or the evangelical period as depicted by rapt Isaiah in the glowing words of prophecy. Naught has occurred to mar the harmonious picture presented or to require interference on the part of the government to prevent the infringement or abuse of this privilege guaranteed under the constitution to all citizens, save in the Mormon delusion and atrocity. How greatly favored were the United States in the con servative character as well as the political sagacity of those minds which composed the convention which framed the Constitution and laid the foundations of their national gov ernment upon such a broad and happy basis! How fortunate was it for the future glory and prosperity of the nation that in that legislative body, the religious fanaticism exhibited by the English Parliament in the days of Cromwell, or the atheistic sentiments of the French Assembly that dethroned religion and decreed the worship of the goddess of Reason, THOMAS JEFFERSON. 27 did not reign and mould its organic structure of govern ment! Scarcely had the Constitution been adopted by the thir teen original States, when Jefferson, surveying the present and forecasting with prescient mind the future, pronounced the government it inaugurated "as the best existing in the world or ever did exist." The experiment of a century has fully verified, if it has not transcended, his most san guine anticipations in regard to its happy and successful operation. How few of the many millions of beings that have enjoyed the exalted privilege and the superior bless ings of citizenship which this government bestows have fully comprehended and worthily appreciated the labors of that Convention which so successfully devised it. How few reflect and consider that it had no direct prototype in. any pre-existing models of the republican forms of govern ment, either of ancient or modern times. Simple, grand, and beautiful in its structure, the temple of freedom, it rose up amid the political fabrics of the world, marvelously springing into existence like the fair isle upheaved from the depths of the sea by the earthquakes throe or the splendid palace of fairy tale at the wave of the magicians wand. In the light of the events of history it may not be super stitious or unreasonable to indulge the opinion, that the Divine Wisdom which by its fiat evoked earths globose mass from the formless void and elanced it along its roll ing way in all the freshness and beauty of its pristine crea tion, did likewise inspire the minds and guide the delibe rations of the legislative bodies which directed the strug gles of the Colonies for independence and which formed "that immortal league of love which bound them in one broad empire, State with State." It is a divine teaching that God often raises up men for special purposes as he did Cyrus of old, and the "inspiration of the Lord giveth them understanding." What gratitude is due from the American people through all time to the God of heaven and earth, the Giver of all good, that in the distribution of political blessings, he hath made their country the glory of all lands and the joy of all people! Shall there be no 28 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. recognition of divine favor? Shall there be no gratulation to God by the people in their national capacity and at stated periods in perpetual memorial of his special favor and mercy to them in directing those events which have made them "a great nation"? Shall the Senate of pagan Rome in former times decree an offering of praise throughout all its shrines and temples to Jupiter Stator, the fabled god of their worship, for the preservation of the city and of the re public from the destruction threatened by the conspiracy of Catiline, and Christian America have no votive tribute of homage to him who is Jehovah, and to them as to the Is raelites of old, the Lord God, who broke from, their necks the yoke of the oppressor? Should his overruling Providence be ignored in national affairs and not even an altar be erected as was raised by the Athenians on Mars hill with the inscription "To the Unknown God," lest it might be construed as a political infringement of the Constitution, in that it would be uniting Church and State? This is the closing sketch in the review of Jefferson as a political writer of the South. The task was undertaken to vindicate the South from the charge of literary pauper ism, and not with the design to preserve the name of Jef ferson from oblivion or with the hope to add anything to his illustrious greatness. His own deeds of statesman ship have immortalized him. His political career was not that of the meteor that shoots athwart the sky and is then lost in darkness; but that of the luminary which, when no longer visible, leaves a hemisphere radiant with its beams of light. He has built his own monument of- fame in the productions of his pen, and one more enduring than the statue of unmouldering bronze with which Virginia has honored him and placed within the shadow of its capitol, to perpetuate his memory to future ages. JAMES MADISON. It is an apothegm of the distinguished English historian and brilliant essayist Macaulay, that great men do not come singly, but appear in groups upon the worlds theater of ac- JAMES MADISON. 29 tion, when those achievements are to be wrought which un settle or fix the destiny of nations. This was singularly il lustrated in that epoch of American history characterized by the struggle of the Colonies for liberty and independ ence, and their erection into a nationality as the United States of America. Grand and heroic were the minds need ed for the consummation of that event which was to be " the noblest as well as the latest offspring of time," and destined to exert a renovating and exalting influence uponhumanity in all its interests throughout the habitable globe- The human mind is accustomed to magnify the men and things of the past, and as they appear through the dim vista of vanished years, imagination attributes to them the possession of virtues not now to mortals given. "There were giants in those days," is the record biblical history makes of the antediluvian age. Old Rome and classic Greece exalted the heroes of their primeval days to demigods. The Amer ican people can not too highly exalt the leading spirits whoguided the Revolution to a successful issue and wisely laid the foundation of their free institutions. Their moral and intellectual greatness will stand the test when brought to the severest investigation. They were a constellation bright,, which the telescope of time has resolved into stars of the first magnitude. The South was largely and nobly represented during the Revolution on the political arena as well as the tented field. It furnished the author that drafted the great charter of colonial rights, the orator whose impassioned eloquence gave impulse to the ball of the Revolution, and the military chief tain who with magnetic power held together the weak and scattered forces of the struggling colonies through the te dious years of the war and by his genius invested them with the might of victory. Among those revolutionary worthies may be enrolled James Madison. He was not a prominent actor in the first scenes of the stirring drama of the Revo lution, but came upon the stage of action at the darkest hour of the strife, and as a member of the Continental Con gress served his country in a legislative capacity. He was a potent master of the pen, and in his hand it became a thing 30 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. "mightier than the sword" wielded in the serried ranks of war. Madison cherished the most advanced and enlightened ideas of political and religious freedom. He, at an early period of life, in a "local contest for religious toleration," distinguished himself as a zealous and active advocate and defender of the freedom of conscience. In 1784, when it was projected in the Assembly of Virginia, of which he was a member, to make."a general assessment for the support of religion," he prepared a memorial and remonstrance against the measure which utterly defeated it. He was a member of the convention that framed the Con stitution. He first appears prominently as a political writer in a series of articles written in connection with Jay and Hamilton in support of the Constitution and of its adoption by the States. They were published at that time in a New York newspaper, but have since been collected and printed in book-form with the title of "The Federalists." The Constitution was not an exponent of the theory of national government which he favored. But wisely con sidering the exigencies of the country and the imperative necessity for a more efficient system of government than was embraced in the Articles of Confederation, in the gran deur of true patriotism he rose above the pride of personal opinion, and labored strenuously for the adoption of the Constitution as the best organization of a union of the States that could be effected under the antagonism of views that existed. The Federalists "remains the most forcible exposition upon the side espoused," and has been ranked with the "most famous political writings of the Old Eng lish worthies." Nearly a century has elapsed since the adoption of the Constitution. As the repository of the principles which un derlie the foundation and must ever control in the admin istration of the government as a Republic it can never be come obsolete as an old musty record of the past. The profundity of interest which must ever invest it, not sim ply as the bond of political union to the States, but as has been decided by the umpirage of war, the fabric of national JAMES MADISON. 31 government to whose supreme power the States in their sovereign capacity must be subordinate, has been increased instead of being diminished by the lapse of time and the re sults of its practical operation. The complex character of the Constitution, embodying a3 it does State and national governments, and the want of accurate delineation of the respective powers of each, has made the construction of its principles and provisions the prolific source of controversy and the origin of the rival political parties that under various appellations have divided the country and have contended at each quadrennial elec tion for the reins of government. Although it has been made through every period of the past the subject of dis cussion that immerged even into the strife of the battle field, yet from the very nature of things the question of its construction will be constantly recurring as exigencies in the future arise. The opinions of the founders of the Republic upon the Consritution should be entitled to the highest regard from posterity. It is to the principles of government as enuncia ted by them that the American people as a nation must look back, as to the Polar star, whereby to direct their political bark, and as furnishing the criterion alone that will enable them to judge of all aberrations from the right line of origi nal and uncontaminated republicanism. It is a sad com ment upon the political character of the times that the Con-i stitution, the organic law of the land, is considered as pos sessed of such elastic properties that it can be so contracted or expanded in its meaning as to suit the purposes of the dom inant party, like the magic fan of fairy legend which could be folded in the hand or spread out as a tent to shelter an army. The experience and wisdom of past generations should serve as beacon fires to illuminate the present. The boon of constitutional liberty should be sacredly guarded. Eternal vigilance should be exercised by a free people, not only against the insidious arts of ambitious demagogues or the incipient designs of military despots, but against the wild schemes of reform and innovation that may threaten change to the fundamental principles of government. 32 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. The views of Madison upon the Constitution are worthy of profound consideration. He was a member of that nota ble body that framed it, and as a statesman distinguished for the conservative character of his opinions. On account of his advocacy for the adoption of the Constitution by the States he was styled a Federalist by the party who was op posed to it. His views in regard to the federal govern ment were set forth in a letter to Washington, previous to the meeting of the convention. In that letter he proposed "a scheme of thorough centralization." He expressed him self as equally opposed to "the individual independence of the States and to the consolidation of the whole into one simple Republic." He also stated that he was in favor of investing Congrer* with power to exercise "a negative in all cases whatever on the legislative acts of the States, as here tofore exercised by kingly prerogative." He desired that the right of coercion should be expressly declared, but on account of the difficulties of "forcing the collective will of a State, it was particularly desirable that the necessity of it should be precluded." From these extreme views Madison afterwards consci entiously departed. The conflict between the powers of the State and the general government under the operation of the Alien and Sedition Acts enlisted him in defense of the sovereignty of the States. "Opposition to these violent measures having been ineffectual in the federal legislature the Republican leaders determined to resort to the State, arenas for the decisive struggle." The letter now known as "the resolutions of 1798-9" was drawn up by James Mad ison, and adopted by the Assembly of Virginia. The main features of these resolutions were the declaration "to re-, sist all attempts to enlarge the authority of the federal compact by forced construction of the general clause of the Constitution and that in the exercise of powers not clearly granted to the general government the States had a right to interpose; and that the passage of the Alien and Sedition laws was an infraction of right." Massachusetts and New England generally declared the obnoxious laws constitutional and expedient. This drew forth Madisons JAMES MADISOX. 33 Report in defense of his resolutions. "This elaborate pa per subjected the resolves to an exhaustive analysis and defended them with masterly vigor. It is the most famous of his political writings, and will rank with the greatest State papers written in America." The firm attitude which Virginia assumed, and the warlike preparations which she began to make to resist the en croachment of the Federal power after the passage by her Assembly of "the resolutions of 1788-9," together with "a happy change in the sentiment of the country," stayed for the time the conflict of authority between the general gov ernment and the States involved in the enforcement of the Alien and Sedition laws. The momentous struggle as to supremacy between the government which had been created by the union of the States under the Constitution and their individual sovereignty considered as reserved, which was then portended, was delayed unto a later period in the history of the republic. It is an inquiry suggestive of profound reflection to con sider why in the course of events, it came not to a decisive test until the States as a nation had become multitudinous in population, colossal in power, and had stretched their lines of territory across the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific wave. The ordinary mind without any effort of thought may readily conceive that had the internecine strife occurred then as in after years, the States separate and in dependent would have been small and feeble and have fallen prey to the threatening powers of France and England; and even if they had been divided into two sections by the famous geographical boundary so.often quoted as "Mason and Dixons line," and had been formed into distinct gov ernments, they would not have achieved that grand career, which has marked their destiny as an undivided realm. The thoughtful and pious spirit that discerns the operation of the Hand Divine as equally directing the course of human events as guiding the rolling of the planets, may be deeply impressed with the conviction that he who calms the stormy seas, by a special providence held in abeyance the waves of human passion that threatened the early disrup- :! gl 34 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. tion of the government, that he might build up in this wes tern world a nation that would gloriously advance the civ ilization and evangelization of mankind. The theory of the individual sovereignty of the States is now a dream of the past. Like some majestic river with its current enlarged by the spring-tide of waters, the power of the central government, under the impetus given by the exigencies and results of the civil war, making crevasses in the barrier of States rights designed to restrain it, now overspreads the whole ground of mooted prerogatives. The writings of Madison are voluminous. His manu scripts were purchased by Congress from his widow for $30,000. Portions of them were published by the authority of Congress. This was an eminent mark of appreciation of merit rarely bestowed upon authors. Emanating from one of whom Jefferson said there was "no abler head in America," and embracing a thorough and lucid exposition of the fundamental principles of Republican Government as embodied in the Constitution, they were worthy of the honor and preservation thus accorded them. The youth ful American burning with ambition like Athenian Alcibiades to serve his country, who would engage in politics with a nobler object in view than the guerdon of office or the advancement of the interests of party, should make the po litical writings of Madison and Jefferson the text-books of his studies. The steady and serene progress with which Madison as cended to the loftiest height of honor and the distinguished ability with which he served his country won for him an enduring renown. No need of public sympathy wrought by an untimely death from the hand of an assassin to en circle the orb of his greatness with an aureola of magnified virtues, or to crystallize his memory in the tears of his peo ple. Virginia, with a mingled feeling of affectionate attach ment, inspired by a confidence in his integrity and admi ration for his illustrious talent, has given him an honored place in that group of her distinguished sons whose memory she has sought by the aid of statuary to immortalize in imperishable bronze. JAMES MONROE. 35 JAMES MOXROE. Glorious Virginia! Worthily is she called "The mother of statesmen." No State, ancient or modern, can exhibit a nobler list of civilians than those which adorned the early pages of her history. The ban of political proscription pro nounced by a dominant sectional party which has held the fasces of national power for twenty years may preclude her, as well as her sister Southern States, from all places of honor in the executive departments of government, but it can not blot out or obscure the brilliant glories of civic renown which encircle her name. The future historian, as he glances with telescopic eye over the past, will behold in the nations gallery of fame, as it runs along the line of ages, no nobler group of characters than those she fur nished to guide the affairs and shape the destiny of the country during the dark and perilous period of its infancy. As an eminent Southern statesman, historically associ ated with Jefferson and Madison and considered as form ing with them in the consecutive administration of the government an illustrious triumvirate, stands prominently forth James Monroe. Although the productions of his pen were limited, yet as one of the leading public men of that time and honored with the Chief Magistracy of the Re public, his political views are entitled to notice. He was a member of the convention which Virginia called to consider the adoption of the Constitution. He was opposed to the Constitution, as he thought "that without amendment it gave too great power to the general govern ment." It is worthy of remark that this has been the char acteristic sentiment of the South. It is a fact developed in history that the people of more Southern latitudes have been distinguished for their ardent love- of liberty. It may be that the fervid glow of the "suns directer ray" ma.\ impart to them that fiery nature that makes them more im patient of the restrictions of arbitrary power than are the inhabitants of frigid climates. The love of liberty as em bodied in the doctrine of State sovereignty has been a cher- 36 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. ished tenet in the political creed of the leading spirits of the South, from Jefferson to A. H. Stephens. It was in accordance with her dignity as a sovereign State and in the spirit of her motto "sic semper tyrannis," that Virginia es poused the cause of her sister Southern States when the Federal Government denied to them the right of secession and sought to coerce them back into the Union. Her maj esty and power made her the bulwark of the South, and her geographical position exposed her to the fierce brunt of the civil war that ensued. She again became the theater of the battles of Freedom. Her soil was again drenched with the blood of her sons in defense of their wives, their children, and their sacred rights. Her wooded heights, her beautiful valleys, and her peaceful plains became so many Thermopylae and Marathons. For four long, weary years under her leadership the combined chivalry of the South in marshaled rank and with bristling bayonets beat back from her borders the puissant armies of the North equipped with all the armaments of war and augmented by the swell ing numbers which Europe, as a recruiting field, afforded. When the Southern Cross went down at Appomattox itsoccultation was not the ignominy of defeat, but the surren der of heroic valor to overpowering might. Though Monroe was not a voluminous writer, yet he enunciated political principles which have largely shaped the policy of the nation and in their operation have per haps exerted an influence on its domestic affairs that can not measurably be computed. He counseled against "en tanglement in the broils of Europe and of suffering the powers of the old world to interfere with the affairs of the new," now generally known as the "Monroe Doc trine." These political precepts have been wisely ob served by the United States and have contributed in no small degree to their prosperity and greatness. Espe cially has this been the case in regard to the policy of op posing the introduction of the European system of gov ernment on this hemisphere. This idea indirectly gave origin and existence to that doctrine of the manifest des tiny of the republic which has been a favorite tenet of GEORGE WASHINGTON. 37 the Democratic party, and acting under which the terri torial limits of the nation have been expanded from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the green savannas of the South, to the frozen regions of the North. It has proven a Pandoras box to the republic. Whilst it has added to its physical resources, -it has in its results dis turbed the harmony of the Union even to the threatened severance of its bonds. The bronze vault in Greemvood cemetery, within range of vision as seen from the acropolis of Richmond, may hold in its chamber the ashes of Monroe, but the truths he uttered will still live and exalt their voice to future ages. He is worthily entitled to the pedestal of honor which Virginia has assigned to him in that monu ment of Fame which she has erected to her illustrious dead. GEORGE WASHINGTON. The three great names Jefferson, Madison, and Mon roe are not the only ones in the political history of Vir ginia deserving of the honoring tribute and notice of the pen. They were but a part of that brilliant throng whose talents and virtues as displayed in the sphere of public life shed an enduring luster upon the proud es cutcheon of the "Old Dominion State." There were many who did riot embody in elaborate treatise or state paper their views of government, having been content to act and speak in the living present without regard to a fu ture or posthumous fame. The political precepts which fell from their lips were worthily entitled to have been pre served in the cedared boards as the manuscripts of the sages of antiquity or perpetuated in the type of the printed page of modern times. First and foremost of this order of eminent men of the American Revolution who achieved no special political distinction may be ranked Washington. His civic talents were lost "in the light of his superior glory as a military 38 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. chieftain." His "farewell address" on retiring from pub lic life is filled with political wisdom hallowed by a spirit of sublime and eloquent patriotism. As a chart to guide the foreign and domestic policy of the United States it can never become obsolete as long as the true welfare of the country is regarded by its rulers. His deeds alone have made him immortal. All men stand with uncovered head and brow in reverence at the name of Washington. The North, strong and bitter as may be its sectional feeling and inappeasable rancor to ward the South, accepts him "as first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." With undivided assent of heart and mind they yield homage to him as "The Father of his Country." Side by side with him, equal in honor and glory, if not superior, they place Lincoln and hail him as the savior of his country. Washington, by his sword, defended and preserved the liberties of the colonies and secured their independence. He was chosen and served as president of the infant republic established by the union of the States under one general government. Though at first only nine of the colonies or States had ratified the Constitution, the or ganic framework of the republic, yet no hostile army was employed to coerce -the remainder into the Union. Peace and harmony were the great objects and results of his administration, and he retired from office with the benedictions of his countrymen resting upon him. When, he died a nation fell to tears. PATRICK HENRY. Among those potentates in the realm of thought and speech who by their labors helped to achieve American independence and lay the foundation of the government, may be mentioned Patrick Henry, styled "the forest-born Demosthenes." Scarcely a fragment remains of those burning and prescient truths which were uttered by him upon whose lips the "mystic bee had dropped the honey GEORGE Y. MASON. 39 of persuasion." Leaving no relics of his genius enshrined in the voiceless symbols of the press, he has floated down upon the stream of tradition enveloped in the airy concep tion with which Apollo, the old Greek god of eloquence, is viewed. GEORGE Y. MASON. Equally deserving of notice is George Y. Mason, whose name was affixed in bold subscription to the Declaration of Independence. He was an ardent lover of liberty. He opposed the adoption of the Constitution because it circum scribed the sovereignty of the States and provided for the per petuation of African slavery. So great was the opposition to the Constitution that when it was adopted he would not ac cept the position of senator under it. He predicted that the government it would inaugurate would lapse into a monarchy or become tyrannical aristocracy. The experi ment of a hundred years has not confirmed his prognos tications. The curule chair of the republic has not been converted into a kingly throne, nor have any of its rulers assumed the imperial title of Augustus. A rigid exclu sion of all titles of nobility and all social distinctions of birth and fortune have precluded the growth and estab lishment of a governmental aristocracy. Mental and moral qualifications in the main have guided the people in the selection of their officials. No shadow of tyranny has /fallen upon the nation unless that of the plutocracy formed by the bondholders of the present time. Even itheir grind ing financial despotism is attended with reciprocating ben efits to the country. Their immense capital is employed in developing the physical resources of the country by the construction of vast lines of railroad through the unpeo pled wilderness. Mason was not the only Southern man that deprecated the existence of slavery. The institution of slavery as a social feature of the Southern States is now extinct. It was abolished at the expense of a vast amount of blood 40 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. and treasure. After an interval of twenty years since its abolition, with mind unbiased by sectional passions, the question of slavery, so long the agitating source of strife between the North and South, may now be calmly considered. It may have been best for the South to have consented to its abolition at the formation of the government. The institution has been to it a mixture of good and evil, whilst it has contributed largely to the general prosperity of the nation. Without the aid of slavery Southern emigration would not have flowed so rapidly westward and would not have consummated for the United States that acquisition of territory em braced by the States of Florida and Texas with their semi-tropical climates. Without the aid of slave labor Southern industry could not have occupied the malarial districts of the lower tier of States, and transformed them into broad belts of fertile soil, rich in the "mimic snow of the cotton," the verdurous expanse of cane, and "the golden robes of the rice field," and with these tropical products have made the American cornucopia indeed the horn of overflowing abundance. The New England States have especially been the ben eficiaries of the products of slave labor. The staple fur nished by the cotton fields of the South built up their manufacturing establishments, and thereby gave employ ment to their teeming population, and poured wealth into their lap. WILLIAM HENRY WIRT. Among the distinguished characters whose brilliant tal ents gave them distinction and crowned Virginia with honor may also be mentioned William Henry Wirt, At torney-General of the United States. He was considered an ornament to the American bar, though he achieved no reputation as a political writer. As a lawyer, with all the accoutrements which profound legal attainments, exuber ant fancy and splendid diction could furnish, he swept in JOHN C. CALHOUN. 41 .gallant tilt through the forensic list, like the knight of mediaeval age, in panoply of gold and silver, upon rush ing steed in the jousts of the tournament. His speech in the celebrated case of Burr and Blennerhasset, has been transmitted as a model of gorgeous and eloquent compo sition. The chief production of his pen was the biogra phy of Patrick Henry. In this loved task he culled the fairest flowers from the field of classic English that he might weave them into a wreath of fame to encircle the memory of the immortal Henry. JOHX C. CALHOUX. The astronomer, in his lonely contemplation of the noc turnal skies, observes that the stars in their constellated beauty and their apparent motion from east to west, ad vance along the cerulean vault, reach the meridian and gradually sink below the western horizon. This brilliant panorama never ceases. Whilst the various, constella tions that appear sweep across the field of vision and finally pass to their occultation, other stars are constantly rising to supply their places in the hemisphere of night. This brilliant pageantry of the stellar universe may be chosen as a fit representation of what is presented in the moral world relative to the passing generations of men. Whilst those intellects which shine as lights to the world of mankind are moving in resplendent orbit to their Oc cident to disappear beneath the horizon of time, other glo rious minds rise to view. This state of things is exhibi ted in the aspect which is presented by the political sky of America. It was so thickly sown with intellectual leading lights during the night of the revolution of 76 and in the infancy of the republic, that it blazed like a January heaven. When these were passing away, others ascended. When Jefferson, Monroe and others of the early states men of the South passed from public life and service, they were succeeded by Calhoun, Clay and others. None occupied a more eminent position than Calhoun, 42 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. through his long political career. He was identified with every leading movement that had for its object the advancement of the welfare of the country. He held a high political place in the national legislature. As a mem ber of the Senate of the United States, he adorned the councils of the country. No old Roman wore more wor thily the senatorial robe. His political writings will form the topic of succeeding articles. Some of the political doctrines he promulgated and advocated are to-day live issues in the administration of the government. This distinguished statesman gave expression to his political views in his speeches delivered before the Senat of the United States and in his popular addresses on various occasions. The main political production of his pen was a posthumous treatise "On the Constitution arid Government of the United States." Scarcely a quarter of a century had elapsed since the adoption of the Con stitution and the inauguration of its policy when he en tered upon public life. His term of service in high of ficial position extending through a generation, and con temporaneous with an eventful period in the history of the American republic, his opinions are entitled to the consideration of posterity, although the eloquent tongue that spoke and the facile pen that recorded them have perished from amongst men. Like all contemporary Southern statesmen he was a zealous defender and advocate of the individual sover eignty of the States under the compact as expressed by the Constitution. In the maintenance of this view "he fell under the accusation of pushing the doctrine of State rights to extremes." He was not a political malcontent or revolutionary in his sentiments, but regarded State sovereignty as essen tial to maintaining an equilibrium of power among the States and the preservation of constitutional liberty. He turned his attention to the advocacy of this doctrine in opposing the oppression of the Southern States which would be produced by the protective system embraced in the tariff of 1828, enacted by Congress. Building on the JOHN C. CALHOCX. 43 Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1798-99, he pro pounded the doctrine of nullification, that is to say, the right of each State to prevent the execution within her limits of such acts of Congress as she might judge uncon stitutional. He embodied this doctrine in an elaborate paper prepared in the summer of 1828, and which became known as the "South Carolina Exposition." The political views of Mr. Calhoun thus expressed, "with softening modifications," were presented to the leg islature of South Carolina, and were ordered to be printed. The conduct of South Carolina during this period has been the subject of much animadversion, and has served to excite the prejudice of her sister States against her. Yet her attitude in this eventful crisis marked her as the bold and firm opponent of the encroachment of Federal power in the execution of a law she considered as tyrannically op pressive. It was in accordance with her past historical record that she should occupy such a position. The love of liberty was coeval with her political existence. She was colonized by those who had fled to the wilds of America to escape the political and religious oppression of their na tive countries in Europe. She had acted a gallant and pa triotic part in the colonial struggle for independence. She has a list of bright names on her revolutionary roll, whose deeds have entitled them to immortal renown in history. Well may she be styled the Attica of America in view of the ardent love of her people for liberty, and their cultivation and refinement. Though she has been made the subject of obloquy and oppression on account of her part in the late civil war, and through her discomfiture in the project of secession she has been brought low, yet every generous spirit will do her reverence. Such a people and such a State did Mr. Calhoun represent. He was a worthy son of a noble mother. Among the powers expressly named in the articles of the Constitution, as granted to the general government by the States, is that of the coining of money, the establishment and regulation of a national currency. The creation and adoption of a financial system is a matter of vital impor- 44 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. tance to every civilized nation. The institution of a com mercial medium is an essential characteristic of civilization, and the first step of mankind from a State of barbarism. From the earliest period of antiquity some medium has been adopted for the purpose of commercial intercourse, either foreign or domestic. Gold, either in coin or bullion, has been the medium most commonly employed. It was, however, largely dependent upon the natural products of the country, whether they were agricultural or mineral. Among the enlightened nations of ancient times gold or silver coin was used. There is one noted exception to this custom in the case of ancient Lacedsernon. Lycurgus, in the code of laws which he devised for tl.e Spartan commonwealth, pre scribed the adoption of iron coin as the circulating medium, in order to secure the people against the corrupting influ ence of avarice and the enervsting effects of luxury. Among savage nations we find the use of cowries, as in the case of the tribes of Africa, and wampum belts among the Amer ican Indians. The institution and adoption of a financial system which would secure a sound and uniform currency was a question that demanded the early consideration of the United States in their organization of a general government. The Con tinental Congress, as empowered by the "Articles of Con federation" under which the Colonies had united, had passed an act authorizing the issue of a paper currency, at an early period of the war, in order to defray the ex penses of the government. Though the great work of in dependence had been achieved, yet at the close of the strug gle the country was in an impoverished condition and with a currency so depreciated as to be almost worthless. Various measures were adopted by the Continental Con gress during the period of its existence to meet the commer cial exigencies of the country. The monetary condition of the country continued to be characterized by uncertainty, depression and disaster. The financial distress of the gov ernment became so great that in 1814 the institution of a national bank became a question much agitated. It was a measure advocated by Mr. Calhoun, and a plan for the op- JOHN C. CALHOUN. 45 eration of a national bank was presented by him to Con gress. The outlines and merits of the plan he proposed will be the subject of future articles. Universality of genius is not common. Though Mr. Cal- houn was acute, analytical, and original upon every subject, and disposed to trace out everything to its ultimate results, yet he was not considered to have been endowed with marked or brilliant financial genius. To evolve a broad system of finance adequate to the wants of a nation, to grasp all the details and remote bearings of its operation, is a faculty of mind which few have been found to possess. History tells of a Necker in the past of the French government and of a Gould of the present day, whose gigantic minds were ca pable of projecting and consummating plans of financial pol icy with marvelously unerring intuition. Yet the present time seems to be prolific of financial talent and to furnish exception to all former exhibitions of tact. Not content with the present financial system of the country, there are mul tiplied thousands who would address themselves to the task of improving it. The orator from the tribune or in the halls of Congress, the editor from the tripod through the columns of his paper, with assumed oracular wisdom, descant upon the great question. If the nation will but only adopt and follow their plans, all the present evils will be removed, and that happy Utopian period when financial distress will be dissipated would soon be introduced every where. The main features of the national bank proposed by Mr. Calhoun, were that it should be "specie paying, wholly under private control, and not obliged to lend to the government anything. The capital of this bank was to consist of 85,000,000 of specie and $45,000,000 of new treasury notes, which it was proposed to get into circulation by making them convertible into bank stock. This project prevailed in the house by a large majority." It was finally defeated through a labored report of Mr. Dallas, Secretary of the Treasury at that time, in which he exhibited the injustice and political danger of the scheme involved in the bill pro posed by Mr. Calhoun. However, in the compromise 46 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. scheme for a bank, which was adopted, the great points of Mr. Calhouns plan, were still preserved that is to say, the bank was not obliged to lend to the government, nor suspend specie payment. The bill which embraced this scheme was vetoed by President Madison as "being inade quate to the emergency." The project of a United States bank was revived during the I4th Congress, resulting in the charter of the Bank of the United States. The subsequent political history of Mr. Calhoun records a radical change in his views of a national financial sys tem. "President Van Buren recommended to Congress the policy of discontinuing the use of banks as the fiscal agents of the government. He proposed the custody of the public money by officers specially appointed for that purpose, and the exclusive use of coin on the part of the government. Calhoun separating from the Whigs, with whom he had acted in the struggle on the bank question, gave energetic support to this new system of policy." His speech in the Senate on the Independent Treasury bill in 1838 is an exhibit of his views of the system of financial policy which the nation should adopt. To this speech Mr. Clay replied. These two colossal minds met in fierce conflict upon the arena of debate, and each delivered a speech upon the occasion which they severally regarded as a vindication of their pub lic life. Many years have elapsed since then, but time has not fully tested the views of either of these distinguished statesmen of the past, and which system of financial policy is best adapted to the country is still to be subjected to the crucible of experiment. As an orator Mr. Calhoun is eloquently portrayed by two of his contemporaries and fellow-members of Con gress, and that at two different epochs of his life, which may account for an apparent discrepancy in the two por traitures given. Thus Henry Richard Wilde, member of Congress from Georgia, in his reminiscences of "The Four teenth Congress," says of Mr. Calhoun: "There was, also, a son of South Carolina still in the service of the republic, then, undoubtedly, the most influential member of this house. With a genius eminently metaphysical, he applied HENRY CLAY. 47 to politics his habits of analysis, abstraction and conden sation, and thus gave to the problems of government something of that grandeur which the higher mathematics have borrowed from astronomy. Engrossed with his sub ject, careless of his words, his eloquence was sometimes followed by colloquial or provincial barbarisms. But, though often incorrect, he was always fascinating. Lan guage, with him, was merely the scaffolding of thought, employed to raise a dome, which like Angelos, he sus pended in the heavens." At this period Mr. Calhoun was in the prime of manhood and a member of the House of Representatives. The Hon. Henry W. Hilliard, member of Congress from Alabama (1851), and likewise a contemporary, says: "Mr. Calhoun (who was then in the Senate) was the fin est type of the pure Greek intellect which this country has ever produced. His speeches resemble Grecian sculpture, with all the purity and hardness of marble, while they show that the chisel was guided by the hand of a master. Demosthenes transcribed the history of Thucydides eight times, that he might acquire the strength and majesty of his style, and Mr. Calhoun had evidently studied the ora tions of the great Athenian with equal fidelity. He had much of his force and ardor, and his bearing was so full of dignity that it was easy to fancy when you heard him, that you were listening to an oration from the lips otf a Roman senator who had formed his style in the severe schools of Greece." HENRY CLAY. No tongue or pen may add to or subtract from the honor due the illustrious dead and the memory of their virtues. As history has recorded their deeds, and the mar ble and bronze in statue and in column stand as silent memo rials to perpetuate their fame, there seems to be no need from living hand to mention their names, or render tribute of eulogy to them. It is well, however, to recall them to the 48 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. minds of the living, that their heroic deeds and examples of virtue may be kept fresh before the minds of men and . continue to benefit the world. It is well to revive the rec ollection of them by the relation of some personal reminis cence or incident in their lives unrecorded. This is the object of the writer in giving to the public this sketch of Henry Clay, the orator and statesman. When a boy, he had the pleasure and privilege of seeing Mr. Clay, and of being an eye-witness of the amusing in cident that occurred with the great statesman, and which is related at the close of this article, during his southern, tour in the spring of 1844, when he was a candidate for the presidential nomination at the hands of the Whig party. Mr. Clay traveled by stage-coach en route from Columbus to Macon, Ga. As the time at which he would pass through Thomaston, Upson county, would be near noon, the citi zens decided to honor him with a public reception and ban quet. On the day that he was to arrive at Thomaston, men, women and children thronged the town desirous to see Mr. Clay. At the expected hour, 10 oclock a. m., the shrill winding notes of the stage-drivers bugle were heard, an nouncing the approach of the coach, and the coming and presence of the distinguished visitor and guest of the peo ple. Up into the town, to the court-house the coach is driven. All eyes are turned to the opening of the coach door to catch their first sight of him whose fame had filled the land, ixone present had ever seen him. Perhaps few had ever seen a crude engraving of him. As the occupants of the coach came forth, none needed any one to tell which one was Mr. Clay or to distinguish him from those whowere the companions of his travel. Nature had set upon him the seal of greatness in the attributes of his person, as indicated in his lofty stature, the capacious mouth, the fore head high, expansive and expressive of intellectual power, the eyes eloquent with thought and feeling, and the counte nance animate with the spirit of benevolence, all well sus tained by the dignity of dress and courtliness of manner. Ihe committee of reception received and conducted Mr. Clay into the court-room. The people greeted him with joyful acclamations. The chairman of the assembly, Cap- . HENRY CLAY. 49 tain Edward Holloway, tall, stately, with his iron-gray locks flowing down his shoulders, in manners a gentleman of the old school, presided with dignity worthy of the occasion. The speech of welcome was delivered by the Hon. J. J. Carey, a rising young lawyer. Mr. Clay made a short ad dress in response. One figure of speech which he employed recurs to mind, wherein he compared himself, pursued by the malice of his political foes, to the noble stag of the for est chased by the hound with that "deep hate that never tires." The speech of Mr. Clay being ended, the large crowd of men and women present received severally an in troduction to him. Among them was an old gentleman of the name of Xasworthy, a farmer, who was fond of his dram and had freely indulged in his potations that morn ing, as his rubicund countenance showed. Being introduced to Mr. Clay, he cries out as he shakes his hand, "Here is the old cream-a-tartar." What Mr. Clay said in reply to this salutation was lost in the hum and noise of the crowd. A broad smile was seen passing over his countenance, and we presume that it formed in after years an amusing rem iniscence of his Southern tour. Whether or not Mr. Clay, in the brief speech he made on the occasion as recited, met the popular expectation in regard to his reputation as an eloquent orator, the writer can not-say. The voice of history and tradition places him first and foremost in the annals of American eloquence and statesmanship. This is the more wonderful, as the facts concerning his boyhood show that he had but few facilities for intellectual culture. He was born in Hanover county, Virginia, April 12, 1777. When a child his parents moved to Kentucky, which, at that time, was being settled by pio neers from the Atlantic States. From the very nature and condition of things his educational privileges were few and limited in their scope. It is said that the spirit of ambi tion and the desire for intellectual improvement appeared in him at an early age. It is also told of him that he was accustomed to declaim among the cattle in the stalls the speeches he had learned in his moments of leisure. Books, those precious instrumentalities so well fitted for training the mind and storing it with the wisdom of the past, were 4sl 50 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. few and difficult to be obtained. He received only the ele ments of what may be termed an English education. The study of grammar, so essential to the culture and acqui sition of strength, beauty and precision both of oral .and written speech, had but a small place in the curriculum of the common schools of that day. It is interesting to note and consider the educational facilities and rhetorical training of this American orator for the sphere of public speaking as compared with that of Cicero of Roman fame. In historical account of this orator of antiquity it is stated that he began the work of his in tellectual training when he was five years old under the poet Archias at Rome. The language and literature of Greece formed a part of his early studies, and were assTduously cultivated by him through life under various pre ceptors at Rome and Athens. This was of the greatest advantage to him, as it enabled him to "enrich his idiom with the treasures of the Hellenic tongue, and to add still further grace and beauty to the Latin which was beginning to assume a more polished exterior from its ancient rus ticity." This rhetorical training is of essential value and im portance to the orator. Language is the divine characteris tic of man. In connection with the endowment of reason the gift of articulate speech distinguishes him from the lower orders of the animal creation. Language forms the medium through which he communicates his thoughts, sentiments and emotions, and it is the golden link that binds the race together as social beings. "The heart of a people is in its mother tongue, and it is only by learning that mother tongue in all its fullness, variety and beauty, that we ."an know that heart. It is while listening to the thoughts that breathe and the words that burn from the lips of her orators and the pens of her poets, historians and dramatists that you can feel that heart beating responsive." But in addition to this cultivation of language this an cient orator devoted time and attention to the -special and daily training of his voice in extemporaneous declama tion under the instruction of the rhetorician Diodotus. By this means he formed his voice, which was harsh, weak and HENRY CLAY. 51 irregular, so that it became full and sonorous, gained suf ficient sweetness, and was brought to a proper degree of modulation. Though Mr. Clay had not this youthful and preliminary training in oratory as this renowned Roman, it was not by slow and insensible degrees that he gained the palm of elo quence. His fame shot forth at once, and at the age of twenty-two years he had acquired a brilliant practice at the law. The genius and power of his oratory lay in the at tributes of mind and person that nature in rich munificence had granted him, and in that rare combination that rendered him "genial, cordial, courteous, gracious, magnetic, win ning," and gained for him not only the enthusiastic devotion of his friends, and the triumphs and honors of eloquence on the arena of forensic and legislative debate, but with subtle fascination often won his political opponents to the support of his measures. In his success as an orator.he illustrated the maxims which Cicero presents in his oration for Archias, the poet, when he says: "I confess there have been many men of superior ability and merit, and that, without the aid of learning; by the almost divine influence of nature it self they have become, by their own exertions, discreet and influential men. Also, I add to this, that natural abilities without the aid of learning have oftener availed more for the purposes of fame and virtue than learning without natural talent. And yet, says he, I, at the same time, con tend, that when to natural abilities of an exalted and bril liant character there are added the directing influence, as it were, and the molding power of learning, fairer and nobler results will be produced." Though Mr. Clay in his literary pursuits had not drunk from Old Romes classic rili, nor-from the Pierian fount of Greek learning, nor deeply from the well of English litera ture, yet his language was terse, pure and of strong AngloSaxon strain, as his published speeches, his remains as a political writer, clearly show. The retort which he made in defense of his philology in reply to an opponent in debate before the Senate, who had seen fit to criticize his diction, was dignified and just. It is within the bosom and under the benign influence of 52 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. republics, that oratory has most happily flourished, "like a flower in its native bed." The love of country and of freedom imbibed in the soul have produced the noblest strains of eloquence recorded on the pages of history. The burning Philippics of Demosthenes awoke the Athenians from their delusive dream of security, and aroused them to resist the crafty schemes and purposes of the Macedo nian king who would enslave Greece. The polished ora tions of Cicero rescued Rome and banished Catiline, and preserved the liberties of the people. The fervid elo quence .of Mirabeau stirred the great popular heart of France, destroyed the Bastile, overthrew monarchy, and laid the foundation of a republic. Mr. Clay, in this respect, had as strong and inspiring incentives as could be offered toinflame the soul of the orator in the young American repub lic which had just sprung into political existence, and over which as his country floated the stars and stripes effulgent, with the glory of warlike achievement and of independence gained, and having the eagle as the emblem of its undaunt ed spirit and soaring ambition. The young nation, but a few millions in population, had before it a broad continent in all the pristine exuberance of nature for the scope of its expansion, and all bosoms beat responsive in heroic meas ure to the grandeur and glory that gathered in brilliant augury around its undeveloped future. In 1806 and 1809 Mr. Clay was elected to the Senate of the United States. The Senate chamber and the floor of the House of Representatives were to be the future scenes of his career as an orator and a statesman. He, with Calhoun and Webster, formed the triumvirate renowned in the annals of American statesmanship for their wisdom, elo quence and the leading part that they individually and con jointly played in the great measures of national legislation that affected the vital weal and political existence of the- republic. It was when Mr. Clay was making his speech against the Military Bill before the House of Representatives duringthe administration of Jackson, that, in order to show the danger to the liberties of the people from a standing army, he appealed to the examples of Greece and Rome in the HENRY CLAY. 53 past in the profound interrogation "Where are they now ?" He paused for a moment, raised his hand to his brow and shaded his eyes as if he would exclude the appalling vision his inquiry had awakened, then, resuming his former atti tude, he exclaimed: "Gone glimmering through the dream of things that were; A schoolboy's tale--the wonder of an hour." This action of his had a thrilling effect upon his audi tors, they presuming it to have been from deep emotion, and not, as it was, an involuntary act on his part to recall to mind the lines quoted. In his reminiscences of the Fourteenth Congress, of which he was a member, Richard Henry Wilde of Georgia, in speaking of Mr. Clay as an orator, says: "He was de ficient in refinement rather than in strength, his style was less elegant and correct than animated and impressive. But it swept away your feelings with it like a mountain torrent, and the force of the stream left you but little lei sure to remark upon its clearness. . . On many occasions he was noble and captivating. One I can never forget. It was the fine burst of indignant eloquence with which he replied to the taunting question, What have we gained by the war ? " In commenting upon "The Illustrious Trio of Statesmen" (1852), Hon. H. W. Hilliard of Alabama, says: "As an orator, Mr. Clay stood unrivalled among the statesmen of our times, and if the power of a statesman is to be measured by the control which he exerts over an audience, he will take rank among the most illustrious men who, in ancient or modern times, have decided great ques-. tions by resistless eloquence. . . Clear, convincing, im passioned, and powerful, he spoke the language of truth in its most commanding tones, and the deductions of rea son uttered from his lips seemed to have caught the glow of inspiration." . . He realized Mr. Websters descrip tion of oratory: The clear conception outrunning the de ductions of logic; the high purpose; the firm resolve; the dauntless spirit, speaking on the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every feature and urging the whole man on ward, right onward, to his object; this, this is eloquence; 54 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. or, rather, it is something greater and higher than all elo quence ; it is action, noble, sublime, godlike action." As a statesman Henry Clay was worthy to appear on the roll in the line of immediate succession to Adams, Jeffer son and those other statesmen of revolutionary fame who had well and wisely laid the foundations of the republic. His talents were of that order and were so well adapted to meet the exigencies that arose in the progress and develop ment of the young nation, and the service which he rendered at various times in his capacity as legislator was so vitally connected with the well-being and prosperity of the country, that it almost seems that in the plans of Divine Providence he was raised up and specially appointedfor the time, place and work. Nurtured from boyhood amid the hardships and the easy freedom of pioneer life in the wilds of Kentucky and among a noble and chivalrous people, he came forth upon the arena of ipublic life qualified for the exercise of free and independent thought and action. His after-life showed that his intellect was too kingly and his soul too manly for him to become the slave of a political creed or the pliant minion of a party. The grand, animating principle of his public life and acts was that of a pure and fervent patriotism. All considerations of party and of personal ambition or interests were subordinated to the welfare of the people. This he exhibited in 1820, during the violent agi tation of the question of slavery in Congress upon the ap plication of Maine and Missouri into the Union, and which threatened the dissolution of the young republic. He filled the breach as the author of the Missouri Compromise bill. Through his tact and ability the measure was adopted by Congress and quiet was restored to the country. In 1833, when South Carolina passed a Nullification Act and civil war became imminent, he again appeared in the role of pacificator and by his diplomatic skill effected a compro mise which restored tranquillity. So, in 1850, when the question of slavery was again agitated in Congress, by his efforts the impending struggle between the North and South was extended for ten years. These acts of Henry Clay constitute the basis of his fame and greatness as a ROBERT H. TOOMBS. 55 statesman, and his claim upon the lasting gratitude of the American people. Neither Webster, Calhoun, McDuffie, Randolph, nor any other of his compeers, however rich in intellectual endowments, could have performed the part which Air. Clay did in those great crises which arose in the" administration of the government. He was peculiarly fit ted for the delicate and difficult task, not only by breadth of mind but by those sympathies in life and character which give inspiration and render pathos and feeling more potent than logic and argument. History furnishes no sublimer instance of moral heroism and pure patriotism than when in response to those friends who importuned him not to take the course he did in re gard to the tariff compromise, that it would lessen his chances for the presidency, he nobly replied, "I would rath er be right than President." He then averted civil war and saved the Union by his compromise measures. There has been no deification of his memory by the American people as of their late modern heroes. He needs no monu ment but his own simple greatness. He will be handed down to posterity as the matchless patriot, and in view of his statesmanship worthily crowned as the Sage of Ash land. ROBERT H. TOOMBS. It is said of Diogenes, the cynic philosopher of ancient Athens, that he was seen one day traversing the streets of that city with a lighted lamp in his hand. When interro gated as to the reason of his eccentric behavior, he replied: "I seek a man." What this noted, ascetic meant by this laconic answer awakens thoughtful inquiry. In the polite and classic city which he had chosen as his adopted home, there lived at this time Socrates and Plato, and each hour in the day he could see and meet with men of every degree of intelligence, social rank and moral excellence. It seems that he did not consider every one who bore the form of the genus homo to be entitled to the term man, which expressed 56 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. the dignity of the human race. Was it merely an expres sion of spleen on the part of this kuno-like philosopher, who made a tub his house, spurned all the delights of so cial life and physical enjoyment, and who could discern nei ther grace nor greatness in Alexander, the Macedonian hero, who condescended to visit him at his tub domicile? Or was it. that he esteemed it was necessary that certain virtues "should set their seal to the character to give the world assurance of a man ?" The student of history, as he treads the dim aisles of the past or moves amidst the living throngs in the shifting drama of the present, will find many examples of a grand and noble manhood. Such did the Hon. Robert Toombs, Georgias renowned son and the invincible Southern pa triot, present in his person, life and character. The old Athenian philosopher mentioned above could have exclaim ed of him, "I have found a man." Those who knew him from the brilliant dawn of his political life to its meridian glory remember well his. grand physique and majesty of intellect which gave him magnetic power and won popular favor at a glance. It might be said of him, as Homer does of one of his heroes in the Iliad, that he looked like "one who might bare his breast to the bolts of Jove.- He was the impersonation of the genius, chivalry and fervid oratory of the South. The writer of this article had the privilege of seeing and hearing him speak during the political campaign when Mr. Toombs was a candidate of the Whig party for Congress. It was a hot day in July at the town of Thomaston, Upson county, Georgia. The Whigs, who were in the majority both in the county and in the congressional district, hon ored the occasion with a good old-fashioned barbecue. Mr. Toombs was introduced to the audience by Major Grant, an old bachelor lawyer of the town, who, though he wore a wig and his style of dress was of a dignified antiquity, yet won all hearts with his handsome face and pleasing ad dress. In his remarks he said that he knew that all the ladies present were Whigs and would not be Democrats. "Do you know, said he to them, what Democrat means? It is derived from two Greek words "demos," demon or de- ROBERT H. TOOMBS. 57 vil, and "xrao," crazy, and he.knew none of them wanted to be called a crazy devil. This burlesque analysis of the word democrat amused the crowd then, but would not now please a southern political gathering, unless it was composed of Populists. But it did not equal the witty pun that flashed from the lips of Mr. Toombs, when, during his speech in defense of Whig principles and in behalf of Mr. Clay the presidential nominee of the party, a bench in front of the speakers platform, upon which sat the belle of the county and her fair associates, broke, and they fell upon the ground, he exclaimed, "Another tendency to the "Clay." As a political speaker he was forcible and eloquent, and like Demosthenes of ancient Greek fame, or Mirabeau of modern French note, he was by nature well fitted to meet the din and tumult of popular assemblies and to sway the fickle crowd with the charms-of speech. It was not how ever in the forum of the people, but in the halls of Con gress that he won his greatest triumphs as an orator. These triumphs as they occurred are briefly and vividly pre sented and described by Hon. A. H. Stephens in his history of the "War of the States." Mr. Stephens was the col league of Mr Toombs in a long period of congressional life, and of his magnificent efforts of oratory could speak from personal knowledge. There are four of these special instances of triumphant eloquence recited by Mr. Stephens. The character and oc casion of each and every one was in defense of the doctrine of the political and practical equality and individual sov ereignty of the States in the Union, and the full recognition of the fact in the division of territory acquired by common blood and treasure. The first mentioned by Mr. Stephens, with an extract from speech given, occurred on the I3th of December, during the 3ist session of Congress. It was after nine days had been consumed in unsuccessful ballot ing for speaker. "The Southern Whigs had stood aloof," says Mr. Stephens, "and did all in their power to prevent and organize under circumstances existing. The position of these Whigs at that time was well known to be for a separation of the States or the abandonment by Congress 53 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. of the general territorial restriction. The charge of being Disunionists was insinuated against them. Mr. Toombs, in his own behalf, as well as in behalf of these Southern Whigs, rose up and delivered himself in bold, dashing, impromptu, Mirabeau strain." The speech produced a profound sensa tion in the House and in the country. It did not, however, assuage the bitterness and determination of the restrictionists or antislavery party. The second instance of the mighty oratorical power of Mr. Toombs, recited by Mr. Stephens, in his history, was also during the same crisis in Congress, when he made a speech against the plurality resolution which had been passed by the House in order to effect an organization. "His speech," says Mr. Stephens, "was a wonderful exhi bition of physical and intellectual powers in this, that a single man should have been able thus successfully to speak down a tumultuous crowd, and, by declamatory denun ciation combined with solid argument, silence an infuriated assemblage." The third instance which Mr. Stephens mentions was on the 15th of June, during the same stormy and momentous session of the 3ist Congress, when the question was put in debate, by the ultra northern advocates, of the admission of California, if they would ever, under any circumstances, vote for the admission of a slave State into the Union. They refused to say they would. It was in this condition of af fairs Mr. Toombs arose and took the floor. The time, the crisis, the audience, the question of debate, made the occasion a grand historic picture, equal in glory if not in pageantry to that of the trial of Warren Hastings por trayed by the historian in gorgeous colors and hung up in the gallery of time. Says Mr. Stephens, the 3ist Congress presented "the grandest intellectual constellation, moral qualities and all considered, which was ever beheld in the political firmament of this or any other country. The crown ing halo was imparted by Millard Fillmore, who presided over the whole as Vice-President of the United States. Mr. Clay had been returned to the Senate. He there met with Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Webster, the other two of the il lustrious trio of that day." Mr. Clay had made the greatest ROBERT H. TOOMBS. 59 speech of his life on the 2pth of January (1850) on the crisis. Mr. Calhouns sentiments written for the occa sion, he being too feeble to speak, were read by Mr. Mason in the Senate on the 4th of March. Three days after Mr. Webster made his famous Union speech. It was under such environments Mr. Toombs spoke on the I5th of June. It is said by Mr. Stephens that this speech produced the greatest sensation in the House that he had ever witnessed of any speech in that body. It may justly be said of him that he was born heir to "the purple" and the crown in the realm of oratory, and may be ranked among the most illustrious orators of the nineteenth century. His fourth and last speech as reported by Mr. Stephens and with extract given, was delivered by him in the Senate of the United States on the 7th of January, 1861, more than two weeks after South Carolina had passed the ordinance of secession. "This speech," says Mr. Steph ens in his history of the war, "will take a place side by side with that of Pericles addressed to the Athenian Coun cil just before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian war, though not analogous so far as the parties addressed are concerned. Its greatest power, however, consisted in the unquestionable facts upon which it rested." The four speeches cited by Mr. Stephens as delivered by Mr. Toombs on the occasions mentioned should be read and studied by all southern patriots, that they may learn and know all the facts connected with secession and the civil war, and be prepared to repel the charge of traitor and rebel with which northern fanaticism has sought to stigmatize the memory of those who fought for the South and its sacred rights. These speeches at the time were regarded as bullying, menacing and insolent." Before this criticism can be accepted, the occasion and circum stances must be considered. The peace, harmony, and perpetuity of the Union hung suspended upon the action of Congress, the legislative body which he addressed. The hour was perilous. There was a demand for language, strong, forcible, imperative. It was no time for parleying or shuffling. Then, the style of oratory always partakes large ly of the temperament and character of the speaker. Mr. 60 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. Toombs by nature was frank, truthful, impulsive. He could not stop to untie the Gordian knot of debate, or seek to win by political strategy that which was based upon the principles of truth, justice and right. As a statesman, Mr. Toombs was regarded as one of the ablest men in the United States. He was the choice of the Georgia delegation for President in the secession conven tion that met at Montgomery, Ala., on the 4th of February, 1861, to organize a Provisional government for the South. Mr. Stephens in his history says of all the men in the Con federate States, that he thought Mr. Toombs was by far the best fitted for that position, looking to all the qualifica tions necessary to meet its full requirements. He abso lutely forbade his name to be used for that office. The speeches and character of Mr. Toombs have been much misrepresented. It has, however, happened that in the decrees of Eternal Justice that obtain in the affairs of men, he found in Mr. Stephens a just and loving biogra pher, who has with historic pen vindicated his character from any and all aspersions. The tribute which Mr. Ste phens in the ardor of his admiration and the loyalty of a lifelong friendship has paid to Mr. Toombs, is a garland of honor fitly woven to encircle his name and memory. To Mr. Toombs the South was "the land of every land the pride" his own, his native land. With its failure to succeed and gain its independence in the great sanguinary contest, his patriotism expired. He then had no country. He became politically self-expatriated. Her cause had been so true and just he could not accept of pardon as a rebel. "The Stars and Stripes," the old flag of the Union, might float over him, but he could not renew his allegiance to it. The clouds which gathered around the close of life with him in the defeat and subjugation of the South ob scured his just fame and made its setting glory, less re splendent than if secession and war had never taken place. ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. 6r ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. Sallust, the Latin historian, in the sparkling paragraph with which he introduces his history of the Jugurthine war, speaks of the influence the marble statues of her great men, with which Rome had adorned her capital and streets, Had upon her youth in inspiring them to heroic valor and patriot ism. The American poet JLongfellow tersely says "the lives of all great men remind us that we may make our own sublime." This is the design and should be the effect of these and all other biographical sketches. The gallery of Amer icas noted men presents to the youth of the country no one whose character and life were nobler and more worthy of imitation than that of Hon. A. H. Stephens. Mr. Stephens needs no tongue or pen to proclaim to the people of the United States his greatness and his virtues. Mis biography has been written in full by that abk South ern author Malcolm S. Johnston. What need then to re vert to him ? Because his grand life, brilliant career, and un blemished patriotism should be held in fresh and perpetual remembrance by the American and all the Southern peo ple and be set forth to American youth to stimulate them to a like career of glory and virtue. The writer of this sketch designs to relate only those incidents and to touch only upon those points in the life of Mr. Stephens as came under his personal observation or from the lips of those who knew him well. No period in the lives of men who stand distinguished in the annals of history forms a more interesting subject of inquiry and research than that of their boyhood. It is said the child is father to the man. Then the idiosyn crasies of mind and character begin to appear, though not discerned or noticed. The anomalies which characterize Mr. Stephens physically, and the brilliancy of his intellect environ his boyhood with more than ordinary interest. It would present him as a timid, shrinking, thoughtful boy, of slender frame, emaciated features, with nothing but his keen black eyes to light up his countenance and to give evi- 62 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. dence of intellect, spending not his hours in sport as other boys, but hiding in the nook afforded by the closet under the stairway of the old homestead, seated in his little chair, he passed his time in reading. Who could ait that time have predicted of him that in after-life he would reach the Senate of the United States, be chosen Vice-President in that gov ernment which the gallant people of the South sought to form for themselves, and fill this western hemisphere with the spotless renown of his name. How forcibly does this display the glory of mind and the grand possibilities which our republican institutions offer to every individual for promotion to honor and wealth. The love of reading in a boy as in Mr. Stephens is a glo rious endowment, and the pledge and promise of future eminence. This is attested not only in the case of Mr. Stephens, but in that of Ben Franklin, Abe Lincoln and thousands of others who rose to distinction from humble poverty. Books when rightly handled are the tools neces sary to the erection of the edifice of intellectual greatness. Strange it is to observe that with the multitude of books published and literature so cheap, how few readers there are, and how few families have any books outside of the meager outfit for school purposes. Fortunate is the boy or girl who loves to read. Still more blest are they whose taste leads them into the walks of standard English litera ture. How few outside of the collegiate course in the En glish classics learn or know anything of the immortal mas ters of the English tongue. How few have read Milton, Young, Addison, Goldsmith, Pope, as poets and essayists, and Hume, Gibbon, Bisset, Smollett, as historians. How few these days have read or read Plutarchs "Lives" as the pasture-ground of great souls, or the place where great souls are nourished and fed. The literary aspiration of thousands of Southern youth is confined to the study and knowledge of their text-books at school; to glean infor mation from them sufficient to secure a third-, second- or first-grade certificate so as to teach school is the acme of their ambition. It may be said of Mr. Stephens as it was of the youthful English poet Chatterton, that he was "a marvelous boy." ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. 63 The combination of the intellectual and the physical met in him in such rare disproportion that it placed him in the realm of the wonderful. He was at once the prodigy of the family circle and the pet of admiring friends. The in tellectual light that gleamed forth in him as a boy like the lambent coruscations, as stated in ancient myth, that played around the heads of those in childhood whom the gods designed for glorious achievement, was regarded as . prognostic of the halo of greatness and glory that would crown him in the coming years of manhood. It was de cided that he was worthy of the high privilege of being sent to college. In those days a collegiate course was considered as the special literary boon and prerogative of the youth whose parents were wealthy and who with parental fondness de sired to prepare their sons for professional life and to be come statesmen. How changed are the circumstances and the condition of things since then! How great are the scholastic privileges of the present generation! So broad and general has education become in its higher immuni ties and culture, that there is no let or limit to any one who desires to enter .the portals of learning. Proper pecuniary assistance was afforded Mr. Stephens to enable him to take a collegiate course. He entered Old Franklin, the State University of Geor gia. Earnest and diligent as a student he drank deep from the fountains of learning from old Romes classic rill and from the Pierian spring of Greece. The one would train him in language to the smoothness of the Ciceronian period; the other to the lofty flights of creative fancy. The study of the classics added precision, strength and grace to the Anglo-Saxon of Air. Stephens as manifested in his oratory and his writings. The natural sciences have of late years in a measure superseded the ancient classics in the curriculum of the schools. Whilst this is the case, nevertheless, he who as a speaker and writer would have strength, purity and grace of language in the communication of thought must have the philological training which comes through the early and assiduous studv of Greek and Latin. Ancient classical lit- 64 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. erature may be the "old gold" of learning, but it is pure though not garish. It has its appropriate emblem in the scepter of Mercury, the god of letters, which was composed of a rod entwined with two serpents and tipped with two wings the rod denoting power, the serpents wisdom, and the wings diligence and activity. To the orator it is the wand of power and beauty the golden rod of Hermes. It was in 1849 that the writer of this article first saw Mr. Stephens and heard him speak. His career hitherto was known to him only in faint report. Mr. Stephens had graduated, engaged in the law, had entered the field of politics, and had been elected to Congress. He now stood as commencement orator before a large audience at Emory College, Ga. As he then appeared he seemed to be of me dium height, slenderly built, shoulders slightly stooped, hav ing his hair closely cut and combed down low to a point in front, a fashion he had brought with him from his boy hood days; in the glance and flash of his penetrating black eyes alone could be discerned life and the spirit of intel ligence: he was in full-dress suit of broadcloth, and wore a gold fob-chain conspicuous for its size and length. Fresh from the halls of Congress, the nations legislator, and with his peculiarities of person and dress, he could but strongly impress the youthful imagination. The president of the in stitution, Dr. G. F. Pierce, in opening his address, remarked to the audience that he would be brief, as he would be fol lowed by Mr. Stephens who would furnish the Chian wine for the entertainment. This pledge and promise and the full anticipation of the hour Mr. Stephens met in the pro found and eloquent address which he delivered. It stands placed on imperishable record in extracts from it being published in the school readers of the land. The power of the orator lies much in the charm of his voice. This was the case with Mr. Spurgeon, the mellow notes of whose voice, in a measure, made his fame as the great orator of the nineteenth century. It is said of White- field, the eloquent preacher, that such pathos was wrapped up in his voice that in thrice repeating the word "Meso potamia," he made his congregation weep. To those who had never heard Mr. Stephens speak, his voice at first ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. 65 would be startling on account of its treble note. Having become accustomed to it, it would ring out in silvery ac cents and fall upon the ear with fascinating spell. Though Mr. Stephens had not the charm of voice and the grace and majesty of person which at once with subtle magnetism penetrate and impress the popular mind, yet he acquired fame as an orator. It may have been that his power over the common mind was largely due to the marvelous combination that he presented in the union of his unique and abnormal physical man with great intellectual acumen. It is the opinion of Hazlitt, the noted English essayist, that physical deficiencies give prominence and fame to men as well as absolute qualities and solid merits. It may be well to compare Mr. Stephens with the great Apostle of the Gentiles, as he serves fitly as counterpart, a parallel and a prototype. It was said of Paul that his letters were weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence was weak and his speech contemptible." Does this com parison of the great commoner to the chief apostle of Christianity show lack f reverence? We think not. Mr. Stephens was a remarkable man; truly great in soul and wise in intellect, but had not the mystic glory of divine in spiration resting upon him as the apostle had. The idiosyncrasy of the human mind is strikingly dis played in the fixed and invariable association by the pub lic of Mr. Stephens with a witty retort he made to an op ponent in debate in early life. This opponent, whose name was T. Fouche, in the way of taunt or ridicule, alluding to the diminutive size of Mr. Stephens, said, that "if Mr. Stephenss ears (which were unusually large) were pinned behind his head, he could swallow him whole." Mr. Stephens replied that "if he did he would have more brains in his belly than in his head." In such a trivial incident or speech is wrapped up the thing of popular fame. The writer heard Mr. Stephens in a speech two hours in length in the Temperance Hall at Columbus, Ga., when the great question of the Missouri Compromise or the principle of non-intervention in the establishment or pro hibition of slavery in the territories was before the people osl 66 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. 5n the political campaign of 1850. He advocated the prin ciple of non-intervention. The grand effort of his life was the speech he delivered on the I4th of November, 1860, at night during the seces sion Convention at Milledgeville, Ga. The "phonographed footprints" of that address which appears in his "War of the States " show it to have been truly eloquent. One who was present and heard it, and who was capable of judging, spoke of the speech to the writer in glowing terms of eu logy. He said at the close when Mr. Stephens, in eloquent apostrophe addressed the Old Flag, that the convention, composed of the intelligence and patriotism of the State, was in tears. The last public address of Mr. Stephens was delivered at Savannah, Ga., at the dedication of the monument erec ted to the Confederate dead. He was then Governor of Georgia, and in his official capacity represented the State in the ceremony. He was at that time in feeble health, and had to be borne about by the assistance of others. How impressive the coincidence presented by the occasion. Lifes sun was setting with him, yet during the evening hours of his earthly sojourn, at such crisis he was called upon to do honor to the memory of those who had fallen in- defense of the "Lost Cause." How the past loomed up before him the secession of the States the eventful four years war the failure of the Confederacy which he had illustriously served as Vice-President the subjugation of a gallant people, the devastation of their homes, and their political enslavement pass in review before him, as, with dying breath and with affectionate benediction, he vindicates the South in the righteousness of her cause and pays trib ute to her heroic dead. He points to the statue of a sol dier in Confederate uniform that surmounts the monu ment with fingers pressed on closed lips and hand pointed to the future. He views its symbolical significance and exclaims: "The time will come when the South will be heard and be favorably judged by posterity." The Latin poet Horace, in a poem designed as the con cluding piece to his book of Odes and the end of his literary labors, exclaims, as expressed in English, that he had reared ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. 67 a memorial of himself more enduring than brass and lof tier than the regal structure of the pyramids, one which neither the corroding rain, nor the furious north wind, nor the countless series of years and the flight of ages could destroy. It may be said of Mr. Stephens that he is entitled not only to the renown of the orator, but also as a writer to the beautiful and enduring fame which literature be stows. The most lasting monument to perpetuate his mem ory will no doubt be his history, "The War of the States." This book, in view of its subject and purpose, and the political doctrine it expounds, bears in its pages the seeds of imperishability. It should continue to interest all lovers of republican institutions and the coming generations of the United States in all the cycles of time to come. It is both the embodiment and a tribute to patriotism. The distinguished author in his love of the South, with the de votion that burns in the bosom of the son for the mother who gave him birth and nurtured him during the years of childhood, and from every aspersion would guard her name and memory, seeks in his history to leave a perpetual me morial in vindication of Southern honor and Southern prin ciple. The book with the steady poise of truth and justice unfolds and weighs in the balance the causes of the most gigantic war recorded in the book of time. Not only this; it expounds the nature of that compact which binds the States into one broad empire. It should be diligently read and studied by the youth of the land for proper and correct in formation in regard to the principles of republican gov- .ernment according to the teachings and traditions of their revolutionary sires. Alas! how few of them have read the book or kindred works, or know anything in detail of the political principles involved in this war. To make the discussion of the doctrine of State sov ereignty and his teachings upon the subject clearer and more emphatic, Mr. Stephens adopted what is termed the Socratic method of reasoning. In familiar colloquy with imaginary persons, as Judge Bynum, from Massachusetts, a representative of the Radical branch of the Republican party; Professor Norton, from Connecticut, representing the Conservative branch of the same party; Major Heister 68 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. from Pennsylvania, representing those of the party known as war Democrats; by questions and answers, the great problems of Union and the sovereignty of the States in every feature and phase is discussed. The plan of the au thor, circumstances, time, the characters that appear, their sentiments and actions, and all that transpired in connec tion with the great civil war, all conspire to invest the history with more than ordinary interest. Imagine the conversations given to have taken place in the portico of Liberty Hall, the home of Mr. Stephens, Crawfordville, Ga., and you have in the book a vivid drama from life, which, though in a large measure it consists of colloquy or argument instead of incident, yet in view of the importance of the theme, the sublime discourses of illustrious speakers, the. magnificent exploits of living actors and the vast is sues it involved in the destiny of a great nation, comes over the spirit as with enchantment. In its way it is a mas terly treatise in support of the doctrine of State sovereignty and the true purposes of the Union, and as such enters a plea of refutation to the charge against the South of hav.ing caused the war so great, cruel and destructive, that its outflow of blood would incarnadine old oceans depths and no atonement can wash its guilt away. Not only as an orator, an author and a statesman, but in the attributes of his personal character does Mr. Stephens deserve the recording tribute of the pen and the transmis sion of his name to posterity. No nobler and stronger in dices of character may be cited than the pure and exalted friendship which he cherished for Mr. Toombs, his colleague and associate in a long period of congressional life. The beauty and devotion of it renewed the story of Damon and Pythias. Diametrically opposite in physical charac teristics and moral temperament, yet they were so accor dant in their political acts and views, that they were popu larly called the Siamese twins in politics. The magnificent physique, genius, dash and daring of Mr. Toombs had fas cination for the milder and more considerate Stephens. Another leading feature of the life and character of Mr. Stephens viAfthy of high commemoration, was his benefi cence to the aspiring young men and women for whom ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. 69 he secured the benefits of an education. It is stated upon good authority that he expended in this manner over thirtyfive thousand dollars. This liberality is a monument to his memory more beautiful than the pure column of his literary -labors, or the shaft of marble which his beloved State in her gratitude and devotion shall erect to him. It will have a place in living hearts and memories which, like the fabled statue of Memnon that sent forth strains of music each morning, shall repeat the notes of his praise to each succeeding generation. Its true and sure reward will be the "crown of pure gold" which the Master shall in the kingdom place upon the head of those who upon earth fol lowed his example and "went about doing good." The proverbial ingratitude of republics to those who have rendered them illustrious service meets a refutation in the conduct of the people of Georgia to Mr. Stephens. Instead of ignoring his claims and casting him aside in the declining years of his life and usefulness, they elevated him to the highest office of the State and continued him in it, when he was physically incapacitated to perform its duties and meet its responsibilities. He closed his earthly career, as it were infolded in the arms and reclining" upon the bosom of his beloved Georgia. Glorious old Georgia! honored art thou in the names and renown of thy long list of illustrious sons! Radiant is thy history with them as thine own blue heavens with stars. Thy "old red hills" may be seamed with many a scar and rent with chasms deep by corroding rains and dis solving frosts in the flight of years, yet thy glory still re mains like the lingering glow of the golden sunsets of thy autumnal evenings upon thy hills and valleys. Sweet mem ories of thee still swell the hearts of thy sons who have sought homes in other States and dwell beneath other skies. Fair as in youths bright morn rises before the mind thy verdant plains, lucid streams and shadowy hills. With deep pathos of soul do they recall the memory of the fathers and exemplars of their youth, those venerable men of the past, who in person and character were like the oaks that rose in massive grandeur from thy virgin soil. Be neath thy clods repose the dear forms of their fathers and 70 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. mothers, and others of the dear family circle that met at the festal board and gathered at night and morning at the altar consecrated to prayer. From afar they greet thee and hold out their arms to embrace thee as they recall in sweet reminiscence the dewy freshness of lifes morning hour. BENJAMIN HARVEY HILL. Great is the gift of oratory. Fortunate is the mortal upon whose lips "the mystic bee has dropped the honey of per suasion," and from which in mellifluent stream flow the words and thoughts of speech. How enrapturing to the mind of such an one to be able to control, as at the wave of a magic wand, the opinions and passions of men either in the forensic arena, upon the political rostrum, or from the sacred pulpit. The ;poet is born, the orator is made, says the old adage. Which one has the precedence and superiority in the realm of human thought and action, the speaker or the author, and whichis the most desirable intellectual endowment of the two, has been often considered and debated. The winged words and burning thoughts that come from the lips of the orator fall upon the ears and thrill the hearts of the living throngs of men. They live only for a time in the memories of the auditors. The eloquent tongue becomes mute in death, and they are forgotten. The writer who gives to the world, either in prose or verse, the sublime thoughts and enrapturing fancies of his mind, and sends out a book, has an audience in a thousand homes. He sets afloat in his book a treasure ship of knowledge upon the broad stream of time that will descend to posterity to de light mankind when his pen is consumed with rust. The glowing clime of the South is regarded as the land of the orator. Its cerulean skies, its gorgeous sunsets, its tropical wealth of fruits and flowers, foster the glow of passion and awaken with fervid touch the imagination, more than the frigid atmosphere and ice-bound hills and valleys of the North. The Southern States have produced BENJAMIN HARVEY HILL. 71 during the present century a number of public men distin guished for their brilliant oratory. First and foremost of the eloquent sons of the South who acquired renown as an orator in his day and generation may be mentioned the Hon. Benjamin H. Hill of Georgia. As a lawyer at the bar Mr. Hill commenced his career as a public speaker. The training at the bar affords a fine field for the cultttre of oratory, if it is based upon early in struction and drill in the school of elocution, and supple mented by rigid study and practice in after-life. The his tory of Athenian Demosthenes and Roman Cicero fully demonstrates that toil and industry are indispensable to the successful orator. It is a matter worthy of remark to observe how few of the legal profession give special study to the art of oratory. It seems as if they expect naturally to grow up into polished speakers, and they have no aspiration to become eloquent advocates before the jury. Many seek no higher proficiency than to be merely talkers, and give their attention solely to "the law and the testimony." The personal characteristics of Mr. Hill, though pecu liar to himself, were pleasing. As in the case of Yergniaud$ the orator of the.French Revolution, the rostrum was the pedestal of his beauty and fascination. The writer of this article had the privilege of hearing Mr. Hill speak on two occasions in his early life. One was in an extemporaneous address at the literary commencement of the LaGrange Fe male College, Ga., in 1855, being chosen to fill the va cancy in the program caused by the absence of the regular orator. His situation at that time was still further em barrassed by some speaker before him having incidentally selected his line of topics, and as he said, "taken the wind out of his sails," and he therefore had to steer a new and unexpected course in the realm of thought. As an orator the forte of Mr. Hill was in his argumenta tive skill and power. His mind was keen and logical, and he could dexterously wield the foils, and thrust and parry in debate. This order of mind qualified him to excel in the discussions of those points of law that would come before a court in civil suits where obscurity or intricacy of prin- 72 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. ciples prevailed. He was well fitted for stump oratory, where the fallacy or plausible truth of any political prin ciple must be unveiled, or ready retort must be made to antagonist. Mr. Hill acquired reputation as a successful political speaker. Though not exactly contemporary with Hon. A. H. Stephens, yet at the commencement of his career as a politician, he met Mr. Stephens in debate. He was very popular with his party. There was one peculiarity connected with Mr. Hills oratory. It was an abrupt and rapid elevation of his voice at certain times to the pitch of the Indian war-whoop, or as his admirers termed it, to a Comanche yell. The most celebrated oratorical effort of Mr. Hill on record was his reply to James G. Blaine, when the latter in the United States Senate made an attack upon the South. The speech of Mr. Blaine was considered by his party as a triumphant defense of the policy that had been pursued by the North towards the South. On the Southern side there was trepidation, uneasiness and indignation in view of the fact that the readmission of the Southern States into the Union was recent and their representatives in Con gress did not feel sure, confident, or at home in the halls of Congress. Then, the speech of Mr. Blaine was grand and eloquent. In reference to this speech, Hon. Robert Ingersoll in putting Mr. Blaine as a presidential candidate before the Republican convention at Chicago, said of him, "Like an armed warrior, like a plumed knight, James G. Blaine marched into the halls of the American Congress, and hurled his shining lances full and fair in the brazen face of the defamers of his country and the maligners of her honor." When this notable speech was made the Southern rep resentatives felt that there should be a reply to it. It seemed that all eyes were instinctively turned to Mr. Hill, then senator from Georgia, as the proper man. He agreed to take up the gauntlet of defiance thrown down by "the Plumed Knight," and made preparation to break a lance with him. WhaHaf daring attempt. What a trying ordeal was there before Mr. Hill! Demosthenes well could face the fickle and tumultuous populace of ancient Athens, when BENJAMIN HARVEY HILL. 73 he delivered his Philippics against the tyrant of Macedon. He had every true lover of Greece to back him in his patriotic zeal and purpose. Cicero, with the peril of assas sination confronting him, could boldly assail Catiline and his associate conspirators. There was virtue enough left in the Roman Senate to participate with him in his sympathy and effort to save Rome. But with Mr. Hffl the situation was far different. He was the representative of a noble people, but they had been and were still denounced as rebels, as traitors to their coun try; for nearly a decade they had undergone humiliation, rapine and political proscription at the hands of the Xorth- ern States, who held the reins of government, and before those representatives in the halls of national legislation he must make a defense of the South. All that he might say in defense of the South, though founded on truth and jus tice, would be misconstrued and find no hearing before such a partial and prejudiced tribunal as the United States Senate. He had, however, the nerve, the courage, and the patriotism to attempt the vindication of the honor and fair fame of his own beloved South in heroic defiance of the sectional prejudice and animosity arrayed before him. He had the intellect; the data from the public records were in his favor, and the "Plumed Knight" went down before him in this political tilt, and the good name of the South was nobly vindicated. The high compliment of Ingersoll to Mr. Blaine as recited, in every fact and feature was the measure of the just tribute to Mr. Hill. The wisdom to determine the policy that will tend to the weal of the nation, to discern with accurate ken the meas ures suitable to meet the exigencies which spring up in the existing affairs of government, and to forecast the opera tions of any legislative enactment are recognized as con stituting the elements of a true and wise statesmanship. Mr. Hill evinced in his public career that he was thus en dowed. As to the ability he may have shown in his four years service as senator from Georgia in the Confederate States Congress, nothing can be definitely known or said. The members of the first Confederate Congress were in a large measure old and experienced legislators. The limited 74 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. experience of Mr. Hill in national legislation would pre clude his thrusting himself forward. Then, whilst the legis lation involved solemn and weighty matters as relating to the war, all proceedings were necessarily secret, and were thus locked up in the archives of the government. From what little is known of the Confederate Congress, it may be inferred that Mr. Hill by his talent wielded a large influence in that body. It was in the United States Senate after the restoration of the Union, that a broad field was opened to him as sen ator from Georgia. In his capacity as senator he fully met the exigencies of his environment as being from a Southern State, and a noble and gallant defense did the proscribed South receive at his hands. His reply to Blaine, previously noticed, was a notable display of his intellectual powers and crowned him with honor in the annals of Congress. The attitude of Mr. Hill in regard to the "Reconstruction Measures" of the federal government illustrates his politi cal sagacity. How cruel, unjust and humiliating they were; how contrary to the terms stipulated in the surrenders of Lee and Johnston and to the expressed sentiments of the North as to the objects for which the war was waged, all those acquainted with the history of reconstruction well know. In his notes or philippics on the "situation," as they may be termed, Mr. Hill gave a very correct statement, in a few words, when, in speaking of the position of the people of the South in reference to them, he said in sub stance : "The complying accept, the resolute reject, none approve, while all despise!" He, however, advised the Southern States to accept the terms as inevitable. This policy was unacceptable to the main body of the people. They were overpowered, brought under the yoke of subju gation, but not conquered. The spirit of freedom still burned in their breasts. They could not forget their former glory as sovereign States, and their political equality as an inalienable heritage and secured to them in the sacra ment of the blood of their revolutionary sires upon the field of battle. Those who coincided with Mr. Hill in his views and fa- BENJAMIN HARVEY HILL. 75 vored his policy were designated as the Bourbon party. The reader is referred to history for a full explication of the term "Bourbon." It has a remote allusion to the tyranni cal rule of the Bourbon dynasty of French kings and their oppression of the people. The proud-spirited Southerners spurned the shackles forged for them and their children, and in their indignation as free-born men unwisely threw down the reins of State government. Provisional govern ments were established for the States under military super vision, and aliens and carpetbaggers crept in, took posses sion and plundered the people. All Southerners remember well those years of sorrow and degradation. Had Mr. Hills suggestions been adopted, the South, per haps to some extent, would have escaped her long duress and Spoliation at the hands of the Northern adventurers upheld by the Federal government. The parents of Mr. Hill are said to have been in mod erate circumstances. His father was a plain farmer and his mother of a domestic turn of mind, and as the heads of the household were such as in ante-bellum days made the fam ily the pride and glory of the land. As a boy, Mr. Hill is represented as being fond of his books. This may be re ceived as a prognostic of his future greatness. Books! books! are the golden rungs in the old ladder of fame. Franklin, Lincoln and others of Americas great men found it so. The lamp of knowledge, like the lamp of Aladdin in oriental story, brings to those who are masters of it, the services of mighty genii, who enable them to perform sub lime marvels, as in the case of Morse in the telegraph, Bell in the telephone,Edison in the phonograph, and Roentgen in the X-rays. The ambitious hopes of the parents clustered around the son. It is said that his mother spun and wove the suit of clothes which Mr. Hill wore when he entered college^ His devotion to her forms a beautiful episode in his life. When he had grown to manhood, and naught remained to him of the devoted mother but her portrait, on retiring at night he would go to the room where it hung, and looking at it, would silently invoke the blessing of his unseen mother, and bid her "good night." And in the morning before en- 76 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. tering upon the duties of the day he would render to his mother as represented in the picture the same tribute of filial reverence and love. This filial virtue of Mr. Hill adorns and beautifies his life and character as the soft acan thus wreath the stately column of marble, and is as ex pressive of his greatness and as honoring to his memory as the statue worked by the chisel of the sculptor and erected by Georgia, his native State, to be a perpetual memo rial of her gifted son. WALTER T. COLQUITT. It is the remark of Macaulay, the English historian, that the history of the world presents the interesting fact that the great minds that have enlightened and blessed man kind by their wisdom and their deeds have not come singly, but in crowds, upon the stage of human action. They seem to have come upon the scene just at the time when their services were most needed by their country and their fellowmen. This is forcibly exemplified in the history of tho United States, severally and respectively, during the first half century after the revolutionary war. The political fir mament of that period was radiant with intellectual lights as a January sky with stars. In none of the thirteen orig inal States was it more strkingly exhibited than in the case of Georgia. "Among those who appear upon the roll of its distinguished men to claim attention in view of their in tellectual ability and moral worth may be mentioned the subject of this article, Walter T. Colquitt. The prestige and honor which the name of Colquitt has in Georgia and in the South is mainly due to him. He was a man remarkable both for his physical and intellectual power and activity. He had not the majesty of lofty stature or high forehead which are usually considered as symbolic of greatness, but he had the broa3 brow, the wellshaped head that showed fine poise of character and mental power; and the calm grey eyes, in whose depths burned the light of genius. WALTER T. COLQUITT. 77 As an orator he was not excelled by any of his compeers and associates at the bar in pleading before a jury. He was strong in criminal cases, and could at will open in the hearts of the jury the fountain of sympathy in behalf of his client. So noted was he for this power and influence over a jury that upon one occasion the opposing counsel warned the jury to beware of Mr. Colquitt; that he would try to make them believe that their hearts were in their feet, hands or some other part of their body. Mr. Colquitt in reply said to the jury, that he did not want them to believe their hearts were anywhere else than in the right place, and that they were beating with warm and broad sympa thies for the unfortunate as God had designed, and that guided by them their verdict would be in favor of his client. The writer heard Mr. Colquitt in the celebrated Hightower will case tried at the February term of the superior court, at Thomaston, Georgia, in 1847. He was counsel for the plaintiffs. The purpose was to break the will, as it was charged that, the devisor not being of "disposing mind and memory," undue bias and influence had been used by the party who wrote the will to cause him to make unjust discrimination in the distribution of the property. The will was written by the family physician. In touching upon the action and evidence of this witness, Air. Colquitt wound up by saying, there is "the finger of Joab" in this. Finally, in seeking to cover him with ridicule and in an swer to the question who did the work, Mr. Colquitt sung out "John Anderson, my Jo John," and by this action filled the court-room with laughter. Air. Colquitt was master of all the arts of offense and defense in oratory. He could wield the trenchant argu ment, handle the sharp-pointed satire, or relate with rare humor the amusing anecdote. Whoever met him in the tilt of debate, either in the court-room or on the political stump," might look well to his arms and his laurels. Few could successfully resist the impetuous shock with which he bore down upon his antagonist. He was fearless, but magnanimous in debate. He could touch the sensibilities and stir the hearts of men 78 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. to tears. Many were the grand achievements he won in the court-room before a jury in criminal cases. One of the most touching instances handed down of his power and pathos was in the case of a client who had neither money nor friends to aid him. Mr. Colquitt arose to speak and the following sublime exordium fell from his lips. "Gentlemen of the jury, my client stands before you friendless as the son of God." There was no play with words, no stale preliminaries. At one stroke he associated the pitiable case of his client with the most solemn and sacred event in the worlds history. This appeal touched at once the hearts of the twelve men, and the picture presented, with the strain of sentiment that followed, made it the triumph of the hour. With his contemporaries, those who knew him, Mr. Colquitts name was the synonym of genius in oratory and the criterion of noble simplicity of character. His name was familiar to the people as a household word. He was -hon ored of Georgia, though it may not have erected .the monu ment of marble to perpetuate his memory.- His name and honor have been nobly, represented in the life and career of his son, Alfred H. Colquitt, who held the high posi tions of Governor of Georgia and of representative in the United States Senate. The glory of the father is undimmed bv the luster of the son. There has been but one Walter T." Colquitt. WILLIAM L. YANCEY. Although the work may be lightly esteemed by those in whose minds naught but pleasure or business can find a place, yet the recall to public attention of the names and memory of the eminent men of the South in these biograph ical touches is to the writer a task of love and patriotic duty. Especially is this the case with him in regard to the Confederate period of Southern history. Like Old Mortal ity, a character in one of Scotts novels of the same name. who- is described as frequenting country churchyards and WILLIAM L,. YANCEY. 79 the graves of the Covenanters in the south of Scotland, and whose occupation consisted in clearing the moss from the gray tombstones, renewing with his chisel the half-defaced inscriptions and repairing the emblems with which they were adorned, thus would the writer remove the incrusta tions of time and the pall of forgetfulness which may cover up or enshroud the memories of those who occupy a niche in the historic Pantheon of the South. Xot one of her heroic sons, be his deeds or virtues great or less, should the South suffer to fall into oblivion. The cognizance of personal knowledge of Hon. William L. Yancey, the subject of this article, began with the early life of the writer. He bears well in mind the incident of having traveled with Mr. Yancey by stage from Belleview, Talbot county, to Thomaston, Upson county, Georgia, in the summer of 1850. On entering the coach he found several passengers on board. His attention was specially attracted to one of them who was above medium height, of cor pulent body, florid complexion, and having a Roman nose, blue eyes and sandy hair. He wore a linen coat and slip pers, and his dress in full was the easy outfit of summer wear. He had that poise of quiet dignity and reticence of speech which wealth, high social rank, conscious intel lectual power, or the weighty affairs of government give to men. As afterwards ascertained, this individual was the Hon. William L. Yancey of Alabama. He was at that time on his way to Macon, Ga., to address the Democratic Convention which was to hold the next day at that city. This was, or those days- were, a halcyon period in the history of the country. The thunders of the Mexican war had iong subsided. The territory acquired by conquest and treaty had broadened the zone of the republic, until it rested in the full clasp of the Pacific on the west as well as the broad embrace of the Atlantic on the east. The gold-fields of California had been pouring for one or two years their tide of wealth into the lap of the country. The dream of glory and unexampled prosperity enwrapped the nation. The sea of American politics was tranquil. Northern abo litionism, "-horridus cum ore cruento" as a roaring lion greedy for his prey, was not ready to pounce upon the 8o SOUTHERN LITERATURE. South. The Pandora box of political strife in the newlyacquired territory had its lid opened and the evils were fledging their wings, but golden tranquillity still hovered over the land. Patriotism was paramount to political am bition in the bosom of those statesmen who were control ling the affairs of government. Neither Mr. Yancey nor any other politician at that time could foresee or forecast the events that would transpire in another decade. Nor did he then, nor at the Charleston National Convention in 1860 fwhen that party split. In person, life and character Mr. Yancey is environed with the romance of the mediaeval knight. If Toombs, of Georgia, was distinguished as the Achilles of American politics, Mr. Yancey may well be characterized the cheva lier Bayard in the field of political strife. As said of that knight of mediaeval fame, that he "was without fear and reproach," the "realized ideal" of chivalry, the combination of perfect courage with entire unselfishness, the utmost gen erosity, and a purity of life wonderful in that age," so may it be said of Mr. Yancey in his life and political career. Mr. Stephens says of him that "he was a man of bril liant genius, with many eminent qualities of natural as well as acquired ability. He was amongst the ablest men of the South who zealously espoused the cause of secession at an early day, and no one felt a deeper interest in its suc cess." He was the recognized leader of his State. After the organization of the Confederacy he was sent by the government with A. Dudly Mann of Virginia, and A. P. Rost of Louisiana, to Europe to present to France and Eng land the Confederate cause with the view of opening ne gotiations with those powers. As stated by Mr. Stephens in his "War of the States," Mr. Yancey, "having seen that he could not accomplish the business for which he and his associates were commis sioned and sent to Europe, returned home, and was elected by the legislature of Alabama to the first Confederate States Senate under the Constitution which had been adop ted for their permanent government, and which was to go into operation the 22d of February, 1862." He was emi nently qualified by his talent and experience for a place in WILLIAM L. YANCEY. 81 the Legislative Council of the young republic. The voca-. tion of the statesman suited him better than that of the soldier. His impulsive nature and patriotic ardor did not override his judgment and push him out into the field of military service as in the case of some others. Genius for military affairs is not always the accompaniment of bril liant powers of mind, nor the product of culture and sci entific training. The great chieftains and the successful warriors were developed from the bosom of war like Mi nerva, its fabled goddess, is said to have sprung from the head of Jupiter. No art of training can make them. The worlds great generals, as they stand forth upon the pages of history, have been reduced by some writer to five in number Alexander, Caesar, Hannibal, Scipio and Bona parte. The first and second terms of the Confederate Congress show a constellation of old and experienced statesmen. Mr. Yancey acquired no special distinction in his new sphere as a Confederate senator. His career was brief. He died in 1863. It was whispered in subtle rumor at or before the time of his death that he had received aserious hurt in his spine in a personal rencounter with Hon. B. F. Hill on the floor of the Senate chamber. It is to be hoped that no such thing really happened. It would be, even at this time, a sad reflection that two men, renowned as they were for in tellectual ability, should have, under any impulse, yielded to their passions and sullied their manhood and high official dignity by resorting to brute force for the settlement of any question of debate. Such a scene occurred years before in the Senate chamber of the United States, when the fiery Brooks, of South Carolina, assailed with his cane the imperturbable Sumner of Massachusetts. From the hoary past custom has savagely made blows the redoubtable weapons or arguments of champions upon the field of in tellectual as well as physical combat. The present age is becoming pugilistic in its taste and tendency. The charge against Mr. Yancey of having, in conjunction with Toombs of Georgia, Rhett of South Carolina, Floyd of Virginia, Davis of Mississippi, Wigfall of Texas, and 6Bl 82 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. other leading men of the South, conspired to overthrow the government and organized in secret junto for that purpose at Washington, the 2pth of December, 1860, is fully re futed by Mr. Stephens in his "War of the States." He states that "they aimed at nothing and desired nothing but the maintenance, in good faith, of the Constitution, with all its guarantees as they stood." He further says, "the only real conspiracy against the Constitution organized in Washington, ,as he understood it, was that of -the seven Governors from the seven Northern States, who assembled there, and by their mischievous machinations caused Mr. Lincoln to change his purpose as to the evacuation of Fort Sumter." Let no tarnish rest upon the name and reputation of William L. Yancey, but proud and erect in the majesty of his intellect and patriotic virtue, should he stand in the annals of American history, and, if need be, to render to him the honor due, let the South enwreathe his memory with the shamrock, the chosen emblem of liberty-loving "Ould Ireland," as it comes down through the generations of the past, wet with the hopeless tears of her people and stained with the blood of her sons. HENRY W. HILLIARD. It is said by Plutarch that when Cicero, the Roman orator, was serving as questor of Sicily, that he undertook the de fense of a number of young Romans of noble families, who lay under the charge of having violated the rules of dis cipline and had not behaved with sufficient courage in time of service. The orator acquitted himself with great ability and success. As he returned to Rome, meeting with a per son of some eminence with whom he was acquainted, he asked him, what they said and thought of his actions at Rome, imagining the glory of his achievements had filled the whole city. His acquaintance answered, "Where have you been, then, Cicero, all this time?" He found that the ac counts of his conduct had been lost at Rome, as in an im- HENRY W. MILLIARD. 83 mense sea, and had made no remarkable addition to his reputation. His ardent thirst for glory was rebuked at the thought that his living personality in what he conceived would bring him renown had not extended the short distance that he was from Rome. Though this was the case with the Roman orator in this incident, yet his name and memory still live in the immortality of his orations. The mighty republic of Rome lives only in history. Its grandeur and glory have passed away as a dream. No longer in serried array and gleaming in purple and gold the Roman co horts are seen marching in triumphal procession along the Appian or Flaminian ways to the seven-hilled city. The senators, the conscript fathers, in their togas with purple borders, no longer occupy their curule chairs in the Capi tol. The rival armies of Caesar and Pompey no longer fill the Roman world with dread and consternation and the shock of battle. Cicero lives not in a single action nor in a single speech, but in his orations and his life devoted to virtue and liberty. Twenty centuries have transpired since he fell beneath the assassins dagger, yet his orations still live in their spirit of unfading beauty and eloquence, and form the classic text-book of the schoolboy and of the scholar of civilized and enlightened nations of to-day. How beautiful and inspiring is the immortality that the products of the mind and the art of letters give to man! The place and hold he has in the memory of the living may be sweet and precious, but it is brief and transient. The features of the countenance taken on the iodized plate of the artist will lie in the receptacle of private mementoes, half-forgotten. The waxen cylinder of the phonograph may receive and retain for years the tones of the human voice, but shut up in silence, unless some living hand shall set it in motion. The printed or written page with its treasured thought descends to successive generations of men. This is beautiful^ illustrated in the life career of the subject of this essay, Henry W. Hilliard, as well as that of the old Roman orator, Cicero. As photographed from the remi niscences of the past upon the tablet of memory, this distin guished son of the South was of fine personal physique, ex- 84 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. press and admirable in form and stature, eyes and hair black, swarthy in complexion and dignified and courtly in bearing. Thus he appeared to the author as seen by him at LaGrange, Georgia, in July, 1855. He was at that time in the full meridian of life and at the close of his public ca reer that had been crowned with civic honors. He had ac quired distinction in the law as his chosen profession, and had been elected to a seat in the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States from Alabama. He had been sent as foreign minister to the court of Austria, and had returned from that mission the year past. He had a just and equal fame among his contemporaries, and had re ceived many honors from his fellow-citizens. His course in professional and public life had been the steady and serene travel of a star and not the flashing brilliancy of a meteor. The extracts taken from his speeches delivered upon tne floor of Congress and various addresses which appear in the school-books of oratory of the land are models of classic beauty and eloquence. As an orator he was not vehement nor orotund in his elocution. He was easy and graceful in his actions as a speaker, and the words fell from his lips, soft and gentle like the descending snowflakes that silently wrap the earth in a mantle of beauty. He delivered the address at the commencement exercises of the LaGrange Female College in July, 1854. The institution was then at the acme of its prosperity. It numbered, perhaps, twohundred" pupils upon its. register. The spectacle the col lege presented that day was grand and beautiful. There was gathered in its elegant and spacious hall an audience of two thousand people, who came from all parts of the State to attend the exercises. There were present in that large assembly the womanhood of the land in all the worshiped graces of female loveliness, educated manhood with its courtly bearing and culture, age with its reverend locks and" gathered wisdom, and learned brows crowned *^ith the hon ors of science. The orator (the subject of this essay) said in his address that he had traveled over Europe, had visited the royal courts of its kingdoms and erripires, but did not HENRY W. HILLIARD. 85 see any courtly array of the female sex that surpassed the women of the South. This picture of Southern life and manners has been graphically described, because of the dark, malign and proscribed institution of African slavery that lay in the background, and on account of which sec tional spleen has sought to defame the civilization of the South. It is as an author he forms a subject of special interest for the notice and review of the pen. Late in life he came before the public in a book of fiction titled "De Vane," or as paraphrased, "A Story of Plebeians and Patricians." It is a sweet and pleasant story to read. Considered in its general character, it has a natural and genial plot, agree ably sustained to its close, grace and beauty of diction with sparkling classical allusions, lofty tone of moral sentiment, sublime reflections on many things that form the profound subject of human thought and inquiry, and a happy d&iouement. The entire narrative meanders through the beauties of rhetoric, treasures of thought and descriptions of natural scenery like the clear brook that glides through the flowery vale. Specially considered, the story derives interest from its being a representation of Southern life and manners at the period when the South was emerging from its pioneer state, and had expanded into the first stages of education and refinement, and prior to the "forties" of the past cen tury. It presents the high standard of social, moral and intellectual culture that prevailed in the society of Colum bia, South Carolina, the seat of the State University. It presents in vivid picture the literary exercises of that in stitution of learning on commencement day at that period. The book as a work of fiction deserves special interest from the fact that the actors in the drama of life pre sented are not fictitious, but real, and as noble as ever moved upon the stage of human life. There, under the veil of fiction woven appears South Carolinas great statesman, as charming in social life as he was grand and gifted in the legislative hall of the nation. And the female characters that appear are the true models of American womanhood, mothers and daughters that in their sovereignty as un- 86 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. crowned queens needed not the title of the decayed nobility of Europe to add to their charms of beauty and virtue. The book should possess deep interest for the Methodist reader, as it presents in the fullness and apostolic grace of his character as a minister of the gospel Bishop William McKendree, one of the leaders and founders of the M. E. Church. Also in his young manhood, William Capers, who in after years came to the Episcopal office. It portrays him in the delivery of the celebrated discourse of traditional fame, as with sweetness of speech he wraps the souls of his audience in the elysian spell of spiritual ecstasy. It like wise presents in clear and graphic description the form of divine worship as observed by the church at that period, in all its simplicity, solemnity and spiritual unc tion. The ministers of the gospel of the present day may read this book of fiction with profit. "De Vane" when first issued from the press created no sensation in reading circles iri the South, and has attracted but little attention since. Though it has received but scant recognition, yet judged according to the rules of pure taste, it possesses a high degree of literary excellence. In Its classic grace and beauty peerless as a Corinthian shaft of marble molded by the skill of the artist, it should have and hold a high place in Southern literature, and stand as an enduring memorial of posthumous fame to the author, as to the Latin poet Horace his lyric poems, which he presaged would be to him monutiientum are perennius. AUGUSTUS B. LONGSTREET. As related by the Greek poet, Homer, in the Iliad, that during the siege of Troy, when Nestor, the clear-toned speaker of the Pylians, from whose tongue also flowed speech sweeter than honey, and who had been reared and nurtured through two generations of articulate-speaking men and was living in the third, arose in the council of the Greeks to quiet the strife which had sprung up between those intrepid warriors, Agamemnon and Achilles, in order to en- AUGUSTUS B. LONGSTREET. 87 force his advice reverts to his past experience. He tells them of Pirithous, Dryas, Exardius and Polyphemus, he roes of the past, whom he had known and with whom he had associated in arms. In speaking of them he as serted that they were the bravest of earth-nourished men, and no mortals then living might contend with them. He had never seen such men since, nor was he likely to see such again. It is the disposition of the old to look in review upon the period in which they were reared when it is passed as the golden age of time, whilst the smart and vivacious present, especially the young, are apt.to regard it as an era of fogyism. They are not in the least disposed to accept the prop osition that men and things of seventy-five or fifty years ago can compare in any respect with those of the present. It must readily be conceded that the present age has been ren dered marvelous by its scientific discoveries and its achieve ments in art. It can boast of the telephone which con quers space and gives ubiquity to man. It exults in the phonograph that with its waxen cylinders receives the im pression of the tones of the human voice, and after a lapse of forty years can reproduce them with living exactness. This may be the case, yet the past may and does compare favorably with the present in literature arid oratory and in the heroic mold of its men and the virtue and beauty of its women. Especially is this true of those men who laid the foundations of this republic and of those who came upon the stage of action as their immediate successors. On the roll of its illustrious sons of that period Georgia does not boast a purer name or a nobler character than the Rev. A. B. Longstreet, D.D., LL.D., the distinguished sub ject of this essay. It was the privilege of the writer of this article, in January, 1848, to have matriculated as a student of Emory College, Oxford, Ga., when Judge Longstreet, as he was then addressed, was president of that in stitution of learning, and to have the opportunity of obtain ing personal knowledge of him during a period of six months. At that time he was perhaps sixty years of age; tall and venerable in person, his countenance was plain and expres sive of benignity, and peculiarly modified by his wearing 88 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. his hair close-cut and combed down the forehead according to the style of his boyhood days. With these peculiarities of form and feature, and as president of a college and also author of "Georgia Scenes," he strongly impressed the youthful imagination. The points of interest and traits of character that may have clustered around and marked his boyhood and youth are not known to the writer. Neither is the intellectual precocity he may have displayed at school nor the literary proficiency and the honors that may have crowned his course at college. He was an alumnus of the State University in the early period of its history. In the capacity of instruc tor he had charge of the departments of moral philosophy and political economy during the time he was president of Emory College. To portray in full and graphic detail the personal physique, the moral stamina, the versatile intellect and the long, varied and useful professional life and experience of this eminent man, so as to present a true picture of him with living exactness, would require a skill and touch of mind and pen like to that of the subtle and nimble sunbeam that photographs the human form and countenance. Yet this is requisite in order fully to appreciate him and comprehend that note and place of honor and esteem in which he was held by the people of Georgia and the South. His claims to historic mention and distinction are three fold ; as a jurist and author and a minister of the Gospel. His first and chosen pursuit in life was the study and prac tice of law. The intellectual training and literary culture of his collegiate course at the State University of Georgia, although that institution of learning was in its infancy, pre pared him to enter upon the study of the law with broad, genial and enlightened grasp of mind and thought. This lifted him at once above -the paltry chances of being a jus tice-court or case lawyer, and was a pledge of high at tainments in legal knowledge and of honorable position at the bar. However, though this might be the propitious augury under which he engaged in the study and practice of law, there is no doubt, that in the outset of his legal ca reer he went the rounds of the justice courts, as Georgia was AUGUSTUS B. LONGSTREET. 89 then a pioneer State and its social and political institutions were in their incipiency. It affords a true and pleasing picture to the mind to present him as a tall and slender youth going the rounds of these courts on horseback and carrying with him in his saddle-bags his law books, and to imagine him with a subtle play of humor in his eye and not over handsome face, as a youthful pleader before the justices, the- revered magnates of the law. To do this would be no draught upon the fancy or imagination. What meant that rich vein of pleasantry with him in social life, and where else did he get that living picture of the men and manners of that day that appear in "Georgia Scenes," that production of his sportive genius? Although at that period Georgia was a pioneer State, as has been said, yet at that time its bench and bar could boast of brilliant talent and fine legal ability. This fact serves to demonstrate his success in the law, in that he arose to eminence amidst such contemporaries, and reached that seat of honor the judges bench. The writer heard Judge John J. Floyd, a member of the bar of the Flint circuit, superior court, Georgia, say that Judge Longstreet was an eloquent advocate before a jury. It was the privilege of the writer when a student at Emory College to hear Dr. Longstreet, as he was then called, in his pulpit minis trations. At that time, his style and manner of oratory was not brilliant or even declamatory, but was on the conver sational order. In a baccalaureate address delivered at the commence ment exercises of the college in 1848 there flashed forth rays of that fervid eloquence that crowned him with honor in. the palmy days of his youth and manhood. The occa sion was to him one of more than ordinary interest. It was the closing scene and act of his official connection with that institution of learning. His resignation as President had been tendered in view of his election to the Chancellor ship of the State University of Mississippi. This would sever the sweet ties of kindred and of friends, disrupt the lifelong associations of the past, and expatriate him from his beloved State whose soil held in its embrace the ashes of the loved ones of his household and ancestry. Then, dur- ox> SOUTHERN LITERATURE. ing the session had occurred the death of his only son, a bright boy of nine or ten years of age. All these circum stances conspired to unseal in his bosom the deep fountain of feeling which found expression in sentiment and reflect tions which moved to tears, as his voice rose in the thrilling pathos and sweet accents of speech ascribed by Homer to Nestor, the silver-tongued speaker of the Pylians. The taste and habits of this distinguished son of the South seem to have been of a strong literary cast. It is usually the case with the large majority of educated men, that when they graduate and leave the classic halls of learn ing to enter upon the sphere and duties of active life, they cast aside school-books with their lore. The polished lines of Cicero, the burning invectives of Demosthenes, the lyric melody of Horace and the golden dreams of Plato are for gotten amidst the whirl and engagements of busy life. Their academic and collegiate course forms only a pleasing reminiscence, and if they retain any benefit from it, it is in the intellectual training and discipline which they inciden tally received. Though Judge Longstreet may not have kept up the regular and daily study of his text-books as when at school, yet he seems to have cherished a fondness for the studies of his youth and to have given them such attention in review and retrospect as to keep them fresh in memory. He was a close student in his profession and in the general field of letters. So intensely absorbed in thought would he become, that the amusing anecdote is related of him that when coming into the house out of a shower of rain, he is said to have laid his umbrella upon the bed, and he himself went behind the door. On his walk to and from his house to the college building over a half mile distant, to attend the daily recitations of his department, when he met a crowd of students, he would rarely lift his eyes from their abstract pose to receive the salutation due him as the presiding officer of the faculty of the institution. Amidst the study of the abstruse principles, dry forms and technicalities of the law, he found time to indulge his literary taste and talent in the creative realms of thought. The first production that came from his pen was AUGUSTUS B. LONGSTREET. 91 "Georgia Scenes." This book comprises descriptions of amusing scenes and incidents in backwoods life, and of the social manners and customs that prevailed in the early and pioneer period of Georgia. The charm and merit of the sketches lie not so much in the display of the subtle power of the imagination to create, as in delineations of persons and characters taken from real life and drawn with graphic skill and touch, and in the quaint forms that appear of the colloquial speech or dialect prevalent among the uneducated classes of that period. They portray a phase of civiliza tion prior to the reign of Websters blue-back speller with its precious gems of learning and of Lindley Murrays grammar with its graces of culture in the log school-houses of the land. The mental contrast that naturally rises in the mind of the educated reader gives force and piquancy and literary zest to the "Scenes." One of the notable sketches of the book is "Xed Brace." The quizzing humor of this character whom the author as sures us was not altogether a "man of straw," but a verita ble original, delights and entertains the reader. Another sketch rich in enjoyment is the "Militia Muster." As de scribed by the author, though it might be a drilling and a preparation of the yeomary of the country for war, but from the military display made, it was as unwarlike as possible. It was a holiday spectacle for the boys, the women and chil dren. The aged survivor from that period, who then as a boy was a spectator, or served in ranks as a substitute for some older person, as did the writer of this article, remem bers well how the idle pageant captivated his youthful fancy, and how "he felt that swelling of the heart that "he should never feel again." He can tell how the sight inflamed his bosom with martial ardor, and with the war legends of 1776 and 1812 thrilling in memory, how he longed to fight with the "Britishers," the historic foe, whilom of the colo nies and then of the States. It is pleasant to recall those days of sweet tranquillity, republican simplicity and honest patriotism. There are other pieces in "Georgia Scenes" equal in literary merit to those that have been mentioned, but the character of these essays and the space allotted to them for- 92 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. bids a notice of each topic of a book. It has been stated that the author in the declining years of his life desired to call in all existing copies of the "book" and suppress all further publications of it. The motive that would prompt him to contemplate such a purpose can only be inferred, as there was no explanation of it given to the public. It may be briefly surmised that it was perhaps owing to that spirit of gravity that comes over the heart and mind in old age. and leads to a change in ones notions and conceptions of earthly things and actions quite different to those that guid ed and governed in youth and manhood. When properly considered, there is nothing in "Geor gia Scenes" to which a fastidious literary taste or a rigid morality can found a fundamental objection. Some time ago a northern newspaper would base a criticism upon the South by referring to the characters and manners presented in the "Scenes" as being descriptive or exponential of the Southerh people. The tort and injustice of such an argu ment and conclusion are too apparent to require refutation. So far as the tendency of the "Scenes" to impair taste or culture, they may be said to have the opposite effect, as in the striking contrast presented they make an impressive appeal to the reader for the graces of education. As to their moral tone and effect they incite to the practice of vir tue by showing the deformities of vice. Southern wit has been fruitful in the field of comic or humorous literature. There are quite a number of authors who have catered to the amusement of the public by the productions of their pens. There appears first upon the roll in the early days, Thompson in the laughable story of "Major Joness Courtship." Then Clemmens opens up a rare fund of amusement in the racy character of "Captain Simon Suggs." Next, Harris comes out in the broad cari catures of "Sut Luvengood" and carries jocosity to its far thest extent. Bill Arp, from the -trickling fount of humor, in his "Letters to the Constitution," now for half a cen tury has sent forth a genial current to refresh the reading public. The author of "Georgia Scenes" holds an hon orable place among these sportive wits and purveyors of mirth for mankind. He who has never read this book has AUGUSTUS B. LONGSTREET. 95 in reservation a store of enjoyment in the comic scenes and pictures which it presents, fresh and glowing from rhe pages of real life. Dr. Longstreet was likewise the author of a series of letters on the once greatly exciting subject of the abolition of slavery at the South, published in pamphlet form, and addressed to the State of Massachusetts, under tlie abbre viated name of "Dear Mass." The writer of this article can not speak of the political and literary merits of those "Letters," as, when he glanced over them in boyhood, he was too young to form an opinion of them. It can but be supposed that they were able papers upon the subject, as Judge Longstreet from the logical cast of his mind, legal training and social environments was well qualified to dis cuss the question of slavery in all its phases and features. They did not however stay the tide of Northern fanati cism upon the subject. It is unnecessary to say how it was pressed and urged until it immerged into civil war, drenched with blood the fair fields of the South, and has enslaved the country to party tyranny and in financial bondage. The virus of the old sectional hostility to the South still exists. It was but the other day, March 10, 1898,.that Dr. Edwards, editor of the Northern Christian Advocate, in an article in his paper, came out in strong opposition to the bill that had passed the House of Representatives of Congress for in demnification to the Southern Methodist Publishing House for the damage sustained from the occupation of its build ings by the Union army during the war. Having considered the character and ability of this honor ed son of Georgia as a lawyer and as an author and his claims to distinction, it comes in order to view him as a minister of the gospel. The change and diversity in pro fessional pursuits that marked his career in life would seemingly indicate that he was fickle in disposition and that he necessarily could have attained only to a smooth medioc rity, or that he had genius of intellect that enabled him to fulfill appropriately the duties of every station into which he was guided and placed by Divine Providence. The world has produced very few minds that possessed versatility of 94 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. talent to that degree that they could succeed or become eminent in more than one occupation or pursuit in life. As it has been shown that he was successful both in the law and in literature, it implies stability of purpose, "high resolve, that column of majesty in man," and precludes the supposition that fickleness was an attribute of his char acter. Under this view of things it becomes fit to award to him the rare endowment of genius. At what period in life he engaged in the work of the min istry, whether before or after he had retired from the prac tice of the law, can not be definitely stated by the writer of this article. The sentiment or persuasion has prevailed in the popular mind that the vocations of the lawyer and of the minister are incompatible with each other. Why they should be otherwise than harmonious is a matter of in quiry. The office of each is high and sacred. One is the expounder of human laws; the other of divine law. Each in his sphere is a minister for good to mankind. The law yers as mentioned in the Scriptures have unsavory records. It is said of them they stood up tempting Christ. They were the satellites of the Sanhedrin and were severely de nounced by the Saviour for their subtlety and wickedness. It is said that he commended one and told him that he was not far from the kingdom of heaven. It is not recorded as a sequel that he reached it. The popular notion, that it is the office and business of lawyers to thwart the ends of justice, and that they must stoop to dirty tricks in order to succeed in their cases, is not founded in logic or in fact, though some may do it. As a class they always hold the places of honor and preferment in a government; they bear the seals of State, give counsel to senates and kings and carry on their lips and in their hands the destinies of na tions. AH should seek to merit the eulogy given by Horace in one of his odes to Asinius Pollio, a Roman lawyer, whom he extols as being a distinguished source of aid to the sor rowful accused. The ministry of the gospel is the highest position to which the human mind can aspire. Its occupants are to minister as of the ability that God giveth. Its labors are reckoned as those of grace and not of debt. It has none of the hon- AUGUSTUS B. LONGSTREET. 95 ors to bestow that awaken human ambition. It has no statues of marble or of bronze to unveil in posthumous com memoration of its servants, as the world does to the memory of its heroes and statesmen. The old wreath of fame, the gauds of wealth, or burial in a silent crypt in Westminster Abbey arc too paltry rewards for the high service rendered. Heaven alone pronounces meet compensation in the crown of eternal life. Their skill in exegesis of Scripture, in doc trine, or in eloquent speech may awaken human admiration and applause, but the seal to their ministry is the number of souls saved and brought to God by their preaching. This servant of Christ held his vocation as a minister of the Gospel in exalted regard. To him it was a delightful task, an absorbing desire to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation. This was fully demonstrated in the fact and circumstances that when he resigned his position as presi dent of Emory College and through some misunderstand ing failed to be elected chancellor of the University of Mis sissippi by the board of trustees of that institution, he gladly turned to the ministry. He continued thus engaged for over a year, when he was called to the chancellorship of the above-mentioned institution, the board of trustees hav ing repaired their error. He writes that the short period of his work in the ministry was the happiest of his life, and it was only through the most urgent persuasion of his friends that he consented to retire from it and accept the high position tendered him. The position which Dr. Longstreet filled for fifteen or twenty years, first as president of Emory College, Ox ford, Ga., then as chancellor of the State University of Mis sissippi, afford ample evidence of the high consideration in which he was held by his contemporaries. The presidency of a collegiate institution, though it may not bring large re nown to the incumbent, yet it is desirable for the tranquil sphere and pursuit of literature which it presents. To per form appropriately its duties oftentimes requires the tact and executive ability requisite for the government of the State or republic. The circumstances which led to the elec tion of Dr. Longstreet as president of Emory College are unknown to the writer of this article. The institution was 96 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. in its infancy and could pay only small salaries to its faculty. Two things alone might have induced him to accept the position: a broad philanthropy and his love of Methodism. The congeniality of his office as president of a college with that of the ministry of the gospel might not be ques tioned as touched upon in reference to the practice of the law. It is said of Arnold, the great Rugby schoolmaster, that he sought the clerical office in order to give weight to his character and instructions as a preceptor of youth. It is, however, considered by many not to comport with the work of teaching in the lower schools. They hold that there is an inharmony in the teacher of an academic or common school being also a preacher, as it is apt to make him too lenient in discipline so as to spoil the pupil, or that the trials to which he is exposed will so try his patience and make him so cross as to mar the preacher. In denomina tional colleges it is regarded as fit and proper that each member of the faculty should be a preacher, and especially for the president as the representative of the institution to have the grace and power of pulpit oratory, so as to gain popular favor. His regency of Emory College, aided by his co-associatesof the faculty, amply demonstrated his executive capacity asa presiding officer. His ability in this respect perhaps led to his election as chancellor of the University of Mississippi. It was in this last position he closed his career in the active duties of life. From all reports he administered the affairs, of that institution with due success. Had the .ambition of Dr. Longstreet prompted him to enter the field of politics, there is no doubt but that he would have reached a high point of preferment. He would have won and worn the tpga of the senator in Congress instead of the students gown and the bays of scholarship as the president of a literary institution. To the gifts already mentioned he added the sparkling grace and genius for music. He may be likened to Jefferson in versatility of mind as well as in person, character, and manners. He was fond of the flute and often after nightfall from hia chamber window might be heard the soft notes of his flute floating amid the dells and oak-crowned streets of the rural GEORGE F. PIERCE. 97 village of Oxford. This trait and habit of this gifted man opens an inner page in the volume of his life that tells of a soul of beauty and sweetness. In the closing lines of this essay, the writer feels a sense of his failure to portray in full force, power and lineament the attributes of mind and character of this eminent man. Many yearssince he met the inevitable fate that awaits alike the high and lowly of earth. His remains now lie in .the precincts of the grave. No doubt the column of mar ble or of bronze, insculped with worthy epitaph, has been erected to his name and memory by the citizens of Ox ford. To him as her devoted and illustrious son should the South render her tribute of threefold honors, in token of his distinction as a jurist, author and minister of the Gospel. GEORGE F. PIERCE. It is said by a modern poet that "the world knows noth ing of its greatest men." Like the stars of heaven in their mystic spaces they shine afar off, arid are unapproachable in their greatness. They are like to Xuma, the Roman, king, who. would enwrap himself in mystery and claim toderive his wisdom from the goddess Egeria; or as it is; said of the divine Milton, "that his soul dwelt apart, like a star, and mixed not with the common herd of men"; or as the great Washington whose reflections as the leader of the army of the American colonies were hidden under his re served demeanor. They are known to the world in the spe cial art or function in which they have attained excellence and won popular attention and renown as poet, orator, or statesman. Thus it may be said of George F. Pierce, the sub ject of this essay. He is known to the world as the great divine, the eloquent orator, matchless, grand, beautiful, and glorious. In contemplating the great, there is a desire in the mind to know something of the facts and events of their lives, and trace their path and progress to popular notice and dis- 78 1 98 SOUTHERN LITERATURE. tinction. Such would naturally be the case in regard to Bishop Pierce, in view of his illustrious and beautiful life and unrivaled powers of oratory. To trace the elements of his greatness the mind would tend in speculative thought to look even to his boyhoods hour, and ponder the moral and intellectual traits that marked that period. The inquiry would arise, was there a shining forth of genius and the budding grace and beauty of thought and speech in the epoch of his early school-life? Did he exhibit the love of . learning, assiduity of study, and the intellectual precocity of "Chatterton, that marvelous boy"? Was there in the sweet lexicon of youth which he unfolded the noble pur pose, the high resolve and the ideal dream of the soul that gave promise of a worthy manhood ? The family chronicle interrogated would no doubt bear testimony from its un written page to the proud hopes that filled the hearts oi his parents in fond augury of the future of their son in view of the incipient indications of character and intellect. Then, in the higher plane of his intellectual culture, when as a student he entered Franklin college, the State University at Athens, Georgia, there too would come the thought, did he with scholastic diligence trim the midnight lamp and with the supremacy of genius make learning his plaything? Did he delight in the Iliad of Greek Homer, with its voluptuous rhythm and burning picturelike words, and in the ^Eneid of Latin Virgil, with its majesty of verse and tender touches of character ? Did he discern under the veil of an unknown language the fiery vehemence and sublime argument of Demosthenes and the milder glow of eloquence in the polished periods of Cicero ? The grace and purity of style that marked his composition in after years evinced the 1 benefit he realized from the study of these models of classic antiquity. In pleasing inquiry the mind would ponder, which shone the brighter, he or Toombs, the grand, chivalric son of the South, with whom he formed a lifelong friendship, and whom he received into the church in the de clining years of his life. Then in his graduating speech was there a nascent exhibition of the power, the witchery, the soul of elocution, the lightning of mind and the thunder of voice that gave him supremacy in the realm of ora- GEORGE F. PIERCE. 99 itory in after years? It may well be presumed that the ^youthful speaker on commencement day won the applause of the audience that had gathered in large concourse to attend the exercises, and they awarded him the old-time laurel with which "The Violet City" of ancient Greece crowned its orators. Entering upon the stage of active life, as ever with noble spirits, ambition filled his mind with dreams of preferment and honor. In dazzling glow the glory of the . statesmen and orators of the revolutionary struggle of 1776 still rested upon the political horizon of the country. The establishment of schools, colleges, the diffusion of knowledge and the means of intellectual culture had awakened the ambition of the popular mind. Parents were ambitious for their sons to become great and honored in the walks of public life, and the young republic opened a broad field ; for the attainment of political distinction. Yielding to the trend of these influences, it is said in oral tradition that he chose the law as a profession, as opening a rapid and suc cessful way to eminence in civil and political affairs. This statement, however, may be a popular fiction, having no real foundation in fact. Then transpired in his life the event that in the light of divine revelation constitutes the solemn fact of mans being, the great purpose of human existence. He embraced relig ion, accepted the salvation of the gospel, experienced the new life wrought in the heart by the Holy Ghost through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, became allied to Heaven, and was uplifted to the hope of immortal life. The fact and circumstances of his conversion, the writer of this sketch "heard him relate in a brief and incidental manner from the pulpit. It was on this wise. He said that a young man "became deeply concerned upon the subject of religion. He was attending a religious service, and the invitation being given, he went as a penitent to the altar for prayer. Such was his deep concern and wrestling of soul, that after the .-congregation was dismissed and had retired from the place