USA > Georgia > The bench and bar of Georgia: memoirs and sketches. With an appendix, containing a court roll from 1790-1857, etc., volume I > Part 39
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In reproducing this old affair, or at least such portions of it as are material to the merits, the author has no desire to cast even the shadow of reproach on the memory of Col. Delk. It had ample- publicity at the time, and may serve as a warning to youth how they indulge generosity of sentiment, and what sacri- fices it costs to maintain a principle which all admit to be right enough in the abstract, but erroneous in practice,-the frankness to condemn an unworthy action, procced from what quarter it may.
The first note of Col. Delk to the author was as follows :-
* William HI. Young, Esq., now of Columbus.
VOL. I .- 21
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BENCH AND BAR OF GEORGIA.
MARION, 23d July, 1833.
SIR :- I have understood that in speaking of the case lately tried in the Superior Court of Early county-Taylor rs. Sheffield-and the fee which I received in that case, you the other day used language calculated to affect my standing as a lawyer or gentleman, or both.
I ask, (I have the right to ask,) Was the information I received as to this matter true or false ?
Yours, respectfully, S. DELK.
On the same day the following reply was sent to Col. Delk :-
MARION, 23d July, 1833.
SIR :- I have just discovered upon my table your note of this date, availing yourself of the right which belongs to every gentleman, when he feels himself injured, of calling upon the author of the supposed in- jury; and my attention is especially directed to any remarks I may have used touching your conduct in the case of Taylor against Sheffield, lately tried in the Superior Court of Early county, and which may have been "calculated to affect your standing as a lawyer or gentleman, or both."
That I have detailed faets, connected with the case mentioned, both in your presence and elsewhere, which had the tendency to rebuke the part you acted, I pretend not to deny; for, if your memory is faithful, you have not forgotten the language I addressed to both yourself and Mr. Sturges, your respected associate, when the judgment was in a course of payment, and which is substantially the same I have indulged in respect- ing. your interest in that case. What are those facts? At the term of Early Superior Court, in December last, the plaintiff, deserted by his original counsel, took you and Mr. Sturges into his case, upon the terms (so far as you were concerned, as I learnt from your declarations) that he was to pay you twenty-five dollars as a fee certain, and one-half of the recovery.
The verdict exceeded greatly what was generally expected, although the evidence presented an aggravated case of criminal conversation with the plaintiff's wife; yet the rank of the parties and her bad character went much in mitigation with the public : still, a verdict for $1000 was returned, the whole proceeds of which were afterward assigned by the plaintiff, in my presence, to you and Mr. Sturges jointly. When you requested me to witness the assignment, having heard it read, I observed, rather seriously, that I would not attest such an iniquitous transaction ; to which you replied that, when the money should be collected, you intended to give the old man (the plaintiff) something. I then became a witness.
At that time I considered the writing, conveying the whole judgment, merely as an expedient to defeat John Taylor's claim for services rendered in bringing the action and collecting the testimony at much trouble and expense on the first, and preparatory to the second, trial. Indeed, it was doubtful whether any money could be realized upon the judgment, as the defendant had sold his property in Georgia (as was generally reported) and had taken up his residence in Florida; but, at the late term of that court, the defendant's brother, Mr. Bryan Sheffield, offered to pay eight hundred dollars as a compromise, rather than have certain property mo- lested which he claimed through the defendant. To this you and Mr.
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Sturges agreed,-a portion to be paid in beef-cattle and the balance at the fall.
This being adjusted, and hearing from you and Mr. Sturges that it was your mutual intention to appropriate the whole collection to yourselves, I asked you both if it could be possible that you were going to cut the poor, old, helpless plaintiff out of every cent, by enforcing the literal terms of the assignment. You both answered affirmatively, and said that you might perhaps give him something, a very small sum indeed, to be upon the open and express footing of a gift,-not that he had a shadow of claim or right to any part of the judgment. I candidly and at the instant, to both your faces, reprobated the proceeding as unfair, oppressive, and uupro- fessional. This of course enlisted some feeling, and the remark from Mr. Sturges, of which you approved, that I was officiously meddling with your business, and that I was prompted by envy. I scorned the imputation to your very teeth, and told you that you both were far from being objects of envy with me; when you qualified, and said that I envied your pros- perity,-meaning the exorbitant gains you were about to pocket. To this I added that I took pleasure in secing my brethren of the profession succeed, but that I would not dishonor myself nor stain the profession for any emoluments it afforded, and that I viewed your act then in contention as one that would reflect unfavorably upon yourselves and the profession. I repeated this conviction to several members of the bar then at court ; and, as I do not wish to identify them with my position, I shall not refer to their sentiments.
To continue a statement of the facts which influenced my remarks respecting your conduct, I press upon your recollection the scene between yourself and the plaintiff, when he respectfully and in the most friendly manner made inquiry how the judgment was progressing, and what was the prospect of its settlement. You told him that he had no interest or share in it; that he had transferred the whole amount to yourself and Mr. Sturges. The plaintiff expressed surprise, and said that you must have been jesting with him; that he admitted you and Mr. Sturges had full control of the judgment, and, apparently, for your private use ; but that the contract was that half of the amount recovered should be equally divided between you both, -trusting to your honor,-and the other half to belong to himself. Whereupon you declared he was a liar, and, with a vulgar and irreverent oath, that since he denied the contract you would not give him one cent ; that you and Mr. Sturges had previously intended to give him a hundred dollars each ; but, as it was, you would see him in perdition before you would give him a cent. This was heard by several persons, and myself among the number, which I presume you will not deny.
What I have stated in substance became the open and spirited topie of conversation before and after you left the court, and convinced me that the profession suffered in the estimation of the plain, honest, and useful citizens of the country by the act of which I have given a history. They denounced it as fraud and oppression, and expressed a general distrust of the integrity of the members of the bar, that they would take all advantages of their clients and others, however ruinous or foul. Upon the score of labor, and therefore of justice, your remarks to the jury who tried the case will furnish the best illustration. In apologizing to the jury for the imperfections of your address, you stated to them that you had not bestowed an hour's attention on the case pre- vious to the investigation then going on,-that your knowledge of the case
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was just such as the jury possessed, all gathered from the evidenec then submitted. Now, sir, I state these facts as wholly disconnected with speculation, which readily admit of proof; and suppose, for argument, that the written transfer which you possess set forth the contract truly, is there such a want of generosity, nobleness, and high-toned feeling iu members of the bar, that they must distress the poor and insult public opinion, hazard their own standing, and tarnish the respectability of their calling, merely for moncy, and that, too, cight times in excess of what they expected reasonably to obtain ? You stated that before the jury made known their finding you did not calculate upon a verdict exceed- ing a hundred dollars. You could have satisfied the desolate and poverty- stricken old man, your client, and then you and Mr. Sturges could have had two hundred dollars cach, fairly,-an ample compensation for the speech you made, although perhaps as able as it was short. You and Mr. Sturges justified your conduct still further (probably not in earnest) by stating it was your ability and cloquence operating upon the jury which secured such heavy damages. Admitting that you both displayed un- rivalled talents and skill in the management of the case, (perhaps a com- pliment which your modesty would decline, ) still, the latter sum ought to be, in all conscience, a most satisfactory cquivalent.
Entertaining the opinion so cvident in what I have already said to you upon the subject, I have made known to a few persons since my return home, particularly since your drove of beef-cattle paraded the streets of Marion for several days, much to the curiosity of its inhabitants, the truc state of the case as it is submitted to you, and may have given my judgment frcely to the gentlemen with whom I conversed. The informa- tion you sought is afforded ; but I disclaim, in all that I have said in re- lation to the matter, having been actuated by jealousy of your prospects at the bar, or rank as a politician, or by feelings of personal disfavor. The act itself provoked my comments and relations : I wish to sec the profes- sion honorable and exalted as it ought to be, as are some of its members ; and I will ever war against a certain species of hard-hearted and avari- cious conduct of which some have been guilty ; and, whether I live or perish, my principles are my only fortune, and these I will claim and dc- fend irrespective of persons.
To your call thus far have I responded. What course you design for the future as a punishment for my frankness, I know not: neither is it a matter of much solicitude with me. I repeat what I have heretofore said in relation to the subject of the dispute : my remarks would have been the same, had another acted as you have done. If you feel wronged, and con- sider my disclosures unjustifiable, you may select what channel of redress is most suitable to the occasion, and it will remain for me either to fur- nish that redress, or make such provision as the exigeney may require. Be assured, sir, that I am satisfied with my statements : I retract none ; and, as I invite no bitter, painful warfare, I shall not fecl terrified at the pro- posal of any.
I am, sir, with due respect, your obedient servant, STEPHEN F. MILLER.
While the controversy was pending, and before any decisive action, the author received the following letter, nobly lending the authority of the writer's name to prevent a fatal issue :-
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SEABORN DELK.
BUNKER HILL, August 19, 1833.
DEAR SIR :- When at town yesterday, I regret to say that I heard that there existed between yourself and Col. Delk an unfortunate difference, characterized by violent feelings ou either side, and that our friends below had reason to apprehend serious consequences might grow out of it. No- thing could have been more unexpected to me. It appears to me that be- tween you and Col. Delk such a state of things should not be cherished, nor allowed to continue long, under almost any circumstances. There certainly can be no reason which would justify permanent and lasting hostility be- tween you; and I do hope that neither of you will look upon the other ass worn and incorrigible enemies, until your friends shall make an effort to reconcile and adjust the affair. Our pride, you should recollect, has such an influence upon us all as to disqualify us, in what are called affairs of honor, from doing even justice to our opponent. Without passing upon the merits of the unfortunate controversy, allow me in kindness to say that you both may be wrong, as is generally the case between those who have been hitherto friends. So sincere is my friendship for you both, and so sensible am I that difficulties between old friends, terminate as they may, never result to the advantage of either, that I have ventured this morning to write to you both a letter of the same description, begging of you to leave the whole affair to those whom you know to be your mutual friends. You owe it to your families and to your friends, to consult your reason and to rebuke your passions and your excited feelings. I repeat, if this matter cannot be sooner amicably terminated, for the sake of your families and your friends, allow it to rest until your court, when we all shall have an oppor- tunity to take upon ourselves that responsibility (by your permission) which it is always incumbent upon those who are really friends to do in the settlement of difficulties between men whose interest it is to encourage and maintain an amicable relation.
I am, with much respect, your friend, JOHN H. HOWARD.
P. S .- Please write to me giving me assurances that my request shall be granted. I make the same postscript to the letter written to Col. Delk.
J. H. II.
In his letter of August 23, 1833, thanking Major Howard for his honorable proposition, the author gave a history of the dispute, and closed with the following paragraph :-
I must apologize for my tediousness : the character of our profession is so severely estimated by the people at large, that it is my resolution, so far as I can effect it, to place it high and beyond reproach. To be gene- rous and self-denying, to toil for reputation and not to seek it, pre- ferring ultimate honor to present gains,-these are my views,-at least, such as govern my course, and such as the brightest stars of our vocation have practised upon, and to which they are indebted for their eminence and renown.
In another part of the same letter to Major Howard, the author said :-
My conduct, I am sure, will stand examination. I feel envious toward no man, however elevated, as that is a passion which withers the finest
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-
qualities of our nature, and is therefore to be carefully suppressed. What, in the name of honor, even of common sense, is there in my adversary to awaken my jealousy, (were I so mean as to feel it of particular persons,) which would make it an object to supplant him ? He is not of that mould which pleases me : he has not that professional loftiness, dignity, address, and emulation which I covet. As to his practice, it gave me pleasure to witness his success. I do not grasp after business, concluding that when I deserve it my harvest will arrive. I merely use these hints to shield me from an uncharitable and unjust imputation.
This much has been extracted to show certain opinions of the author at the time, and which he has never thought proper since to abandon, however they may work in a pecuniary sense. Know- ing that his ideas on the subject were a little peculiar, he ventured to give the sources from whence they were derived ; and he reiterates the assertion that, if he is not orthodox on the subject, he has been led into heresy in a manner he now proceeds to explain.
As a reason for coming before the public with the difficulty be- tween Col. Delk and himself, the author referred to early impres- sions as being too strong for his manhood to resist. In a sort of preface to the correspondence, dated November 4, 1833, the author remarked :-
The depravity of man has been a constant subjeet for all ages to harp upon, and, so far as respects a spiritual kind, may be and no doubt is per- fectly true ; yet in charity and good faith, with abundant evidence before me, I do believe that integrity, honor, and beneficence are active virtues in many members of the profession of the law, and that the impressions I received early in life of the character and influence of such members are not to be effaced by the opposite conduct of others. When quite a youth, just passing the line of boyhood, I was deeply and earnestly in- terested in hearing of the fame and ability of two distinguished gentlemen of the bar in my native State; and, as I had an opportunity of hearing them in the courts, I felt that their celebrity was just. Who has not heard of WILLIAM GASTON and JOHN STANLY of North Carolina, men whose talents, virtues, and accomplishments would have made them emi- nent and beloved in any country ? They were models of all that was commanding and perfect at the bar,-dignified, graceful, learned, and eloquent : when they appeared in a cause, the crowd to hear them was always great, and the anxiety of the spectators intense and untiring. Such were the legal advocates I first heard in my life; and never shall I forget with what admiration and pleasure I gazed upon them and listened to their surpassing and brilliant addresses. Mr. Gaston was called the first character in the State, and that appellation he yet deservedly retains. In him I never saw nor heard any thing that was trifling or idle ; but on all oceasions, both in public and in the private circle, he was the same great, pleasing, and delightful man. He seemed conscious of his weight only so far as to manifest a proper, by no means an artificial or studied, self-respect. As to his habits of business, or the manner of acquiring it, he was equally consistent. He sought no practice, nor did he ever give an uncandid opinion to those who asked his advice. His words to others
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were the counsels of wisdom and the voice of kindness; yet he claimed no superiority, nor slighted the humblest man who approached him. No man ever had reason to say, nor did I ever hear, that Mr. Gaston used deceit or extortion : his fees were moderate and always regulated by the circumstances of his client and the service he could render him. Such is North Carolina's most gifted, if not favorite, son.
I now recur to the life and qualities of the most extraordinary man of his time, the political and personal friend, but professional rival, of Mr. Gaston, the late John Stanly, Esq. Both these gentlemen were citizens of Newbern, where. I resided several years; and I know the influence they both wielded over the people and the affairs of that city. Mr. Stanly was in some respects different from Mr. Gaston. The former was ready, strong, and captivating, the latter learned, clear, and impressive. To a person adorned with a native grace and imposing dignity Mr. Stanly united the most lively and fascinating wit. In the language of an elegant writer in allusion to Mr. Stanly, " he had truth, reason, and argument for the candid inquirer, logie, wit, and eloquence to confront a respected adversary, and bold rebuke and withering sarcasm to chastise ignorance, vulgarity, and self-conceit : he was emphatically the terror of witlings and blockheads." His heart was as liberal as his genius was lofty and bril- liant. I have seen him toil in defence of the poor, without a cent or the promise of a fec. I have heard his rich, full, and musical voice in be- half of the unfortunate and the stranger, when they were unable to retain him. I have seen him, the great Napoleon of the mind, followed by his admiring and idolizing townsmen, some on business, others for the be- nefit and pleasure of his conversation, and all for the deep feeling of re- spect they bore him and the confidence they had in his principles. But the scene is now sadly changed : the accomplished John Stanly is wrapt in eternal silence, and his eloquent tongue forever hushed !*
I have made free with the names of Messrs. Gaston and Stanly, partly as a tribute to the land of my birth, but mainly to hold up their examples, and show that my ideas of professional duty and success were formed at an early period, and that I do not now choose to abate them, although they are not fully realized (with a few exceptions) in the manner and reputation of any gentlemen of my acquaintance. Mr. Jefferson said that when he was a young man, when any temptations to do wrong were pre- sented, or when he was at a loss what course to pursue or how to act in any matter, he reflected what would be the opinion of Mr. Wythe as to his conduct, and as he believed Mr. Wythe would approve so he acted. By this means Mr. Jefferson said he chastened and confirmed his habits of propriety and rectitude, from which he derived the greatest benefit. Of course the only parallel which I intend to draw between Mr. Jef- ferson and myself is, that I took Mr. Stanly for my monitor, and, if 1 thought he would condemn any act of mine, it would be abandoned if practicable, and that which he would sanction I would endeavor to per- form. I have never regretted this influence, now so essentially a part of
* Mr. Stanly was attacked with paralysis in the Legislature of North Carolina. in January, 1827 : from that time he lingered, " sorely smitten, the wreck of his former self," until his death, August 2, 1833. The unfortunate John K. Campbell, Esq., late United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, informed me that he was present and saw Mr. Stanly sink in debate under the infliction, when the Legislature instantly adjourned in confusion. Mr. Campbell fell in a duel in Thomas county, Georgia, August 29, 1833.
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f
me that I view Mr. Stanly as having led me into error, if an enlarged and liberal spirit toward mankind, and a sincere contempt of little things, be a hurtful delusion. I am sensible, and so Mr. Stanly found it, that to avoid certain misfortunes which the grovelling, low-minded, and selfish class of people call the deepest disgrace, that to rescue genius and virtue from the contempt and sneers of such, and to command their respect, a man must take care of his own interests, even at the sacrifice of all that can ennoble a human being. Let me ask, What man ever reached the pin- nacle of glory who distressed his brains about dollars and eents, and, in- stead of training his mind to bold and exciting contemplations, would quibble and argue with all the zeal and obstinacy of a sharper about the smallest matters of traffic? If there be such lawyers, (and such I know there are,) I would advise them, independent of the lessons of their destiny, to leave a profession which may honor them, but which they cannot recipro- cate. Without pledging myself to exhibit any member of the profession in this unenviable light, (to some in my knowledge it is true glory, for it is their greatest ambition to move in that sphere,) I now proceed to touch upon the facts which led to this appeal.
A copy of the pamphlet containing the correspondence, with the prefatory address, was forwarded to the late Judge Gaston, with a letter respectfully calling his attention to it. The following is the reply :-
RALEIGH, February 25, 1834.
DEAR SIR :- I received a few days since your very polite letter of the 28th of January, and have been in daily expectation ever since of receiv- ing also the pamphlet to which you refer, as accompanying your letter, but which has not yet come to hand. Sensible of the proof of your esteem which is given, by thus deferring to my opinion in a matter which con- cerns the honor of the legal profession, I have not a little curiosity to see the pamphlet, and request that you will have the goodness to transmit it to me.
Your admiration of my deceased friend, Mr. Stanly, is well founded. He was indeed a great man, distinguished pre-eminently for acuteness of intellect, rapidity of conception, a bold, vigorous, and splendid eloquenee. How unfortunate it has been for his family that he lived so much for others and so little for himself !
For the flattering sentiments you have been pleased to express toward mne individually, I am very grateful. Although I have ever been anxious that my conduct should be regulated by a higher and more certain standard of right than the opinion of any set of men, I cannot but feel much satis- faction whenever I discover that I have obtained the approbation of those who are qualified to decide upon what is just and honorable.
I am, dear sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
WILL: GASTON.
STEPHEN F. MILLER, Esq.
After the pamphlet had been freely circulated, and the author relieved from what he deemed a misconception by many, of the part he had acted toward Col. Delk, he then determined to give his adversary a full discharge from legal punishment. Conversing
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with a venerable clergyman,* the friend of both, the author ex- pressed his intention to enter a nolle prosegui to the indictment at the ensuing term of the court, and thus restore to Col. Delk every assurance of safety relative to the crime he had rashly committed with a view to suppress what had been since accomplished, the publication of the whole controversy and the proofs connected with it. The worthy man to whom this purpose was revealed was so gratified that it soon reached the cars of Col. Delk. This led to a pacification, as will be seen by the following paper which the author has now before him, in the handwriting of Col. Delk :-
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