USA > Georgia > The bench and bar of Georgia: memoirs and sketches. With an appendix, containing a court roll from 1790-1857, etc., volume II > Part 9
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3d Resolution. The Convention recommends for survey the following lines :-
1st. That from Savannah to Augusta, and thence to Eatonton, and thence in a westwardly direction to the Chattahoochee.
2d. The line from Savannah to Macon, and thence to Columbus, and a line connecting Milledgeville with that route.
3d. The line from Savannah to the head of navigation on Flint River, and thence to Columbus.
4th. The line from Augusta to Athens, and thence in the most ad- visable direction toward the northwestern boundary of the State; to- gether with any other line or lines which may afford the prospect of important commercial advantage.
4th Resolution. If the State is disinclined to undertake, with her own resources, those improvements, the Convention recommends that, by sub- scriptions for stock, loans, or other pecuniary aid, she co-operate with such companies as may be chartered for the purpose of improving the whole or a part of any of the routes above mentioned.
The Convention then adjourned to 3 o'clock P.M.
Tuesday evening.
The Convention met pursuant to adjournment. On motion, Mr. Wing field had leave of absence, on account of the indisposition of his family. On motion of Mr. Nicoll,-
Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention be tendered to the Rev. Adiel Sherwood for his valuable donation of a map of the State to the delegation of each county represented in this body.
On motion of Mr. Branham,-
Resolved, That the President be requested to lay before the next General Assembly the result of the deliberations of this Convention.
On motion of Mr. Harwell,-
Resolved, That the Secretary be requested to enclose a copy of the pro- ceedings of this meeting to the editors in Milledgeville, with a request that they make the same public.
On motion of Mr. Nicoll,-
Resolved, unanimously, That the thanks of this Convention be tendered to its President for the impartial and dignified manner in which he has presided over, and for the facility which he has given by his ability to, its proceedings.
On motion of Mr. Harwell,-
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Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention be given to the Secre- taries for the faithful discharge of their duties.
The Convention then adjourned, without a day.
THOMAS STOCKS, President.
WILLIAM TURNER, SAMPSON W. HARRIS, Secretaries.
WILLIAM WILKINS, JR.,
EATONTON, September 27, 1831.
The delegates representing those counties which are most particularly interested in the construction of a railroad or a turnpike-road from Augusta to some interior point of the State convened in the church, in the town of Eatonton, at 5 o'clock on Tuesday, the 27th September, 1831.
The delegates hereinafter mentioned were present,-to wit : [It is unnecessary to repeat the names here, as they were the same as in the other Convention from the counties of Butts, Columbia, Campbell, Coweta, Fayette, Greene, Hancock, Heard, Henry, Morgan, Newton, Jasper, Pike, Putnam, Richmond, Taliaferro, and Warren.]
On motion of Mr. Irby Hudson,-
The Hon. Thomas Stocks was unanimously chosen Chairman, and Sampson W. Harris, Secretary.
On motion of Mr. Irby Hudson,-
A committee of five was appointed, to report upon the object of the Convention at 7 o'clock. The committee appointed consisted of Messrs. Irby Hudson, Cumming, Janes of Taliaferro, Williamson, and Kolb.
On motion of Mr. Lewellen W. Hudson,-
It was agreed that the Convention adjourn, to assemble at the court- house at 7 o'clock.
Tuesday night.
The Convention met pursuant to adjournment.
Mr. Hudson, from the committee appointed to report upon the object of the Convention, presented a report; and the same, being read, was taken up by paragraphs, and adopted without alteration, as follows :-
1st. Resolved, That the Convention recommend to the next Legislature to incorporate a company to construct a railroad or turnpike-road from Augusta to Eatonton, and, if deemed advisable by the company, to be continued from thence westwardly to the line of this State, with a capital stock of one million of dollars, with the right of increasing the capital stock to two millions of dollars.
2d. Resolved, That the Convention recommend the appointment of five as a committee to draft a petition to the next Legislature, requesting a charter of incorporation to carry the object contemplated in the first resolution into effect.
3d. Resolved, That the charter of incorporation, as contemplated in the second resolution, be drawn by the committee named in [under] the second resolution, and that said charter of incorporation require that, when the capital stock of said railroad or turnpike is subscribed for, that the stockholder shall pay two and a half per cent. on each share sub- scribed for, at the time of subscribing; and that when three-fourths of the stock is [shall be] subscribed for, that the stockholders shall have the right of electing directors and commencing the work, if the same should be deemed advisable by a majority of the stockholders; and that said
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directors be authorized to have made all the necessary surveys, if the State does not authorize the same to be done at the next session of the Legislature.
Mr. Janes, of Taliaferro, moved that "Eatonton," in the first of the foregoing resolutions, be stricken out, and that " Kingston, in the county of Morgan," be substituted. There being a division of sentiment, after some debate the yeas and nays were called, which were as follows :-
YEAS .- Andrews, Bowdre, Bailey, Blanchard, Conyers, Dawson, Floyd, Hamilton, of Columbia, Janes of Greene, Janes of Taliaferro, Kolb, Morris, Porter, Perry, Stewart, Thompson of Campbell, and Walker,-17.
NAYS .- Messrs. Branham, Burney, Case, Cobb, Crawford, Cumming, Chandler, Davis, Glover, Houghton, I. Hudson, L. W. Hudson, Leftwich, Mason, Meriwether, McDonald, Mclendon, Manson, Moore, Neal, Ransom, Starke, Spencer, Thompson of Coweta, Terrell, and Williamson. 26.
The committee finally agreed upon to effect the second foregoing resolution is composed of Messrs. Terrell, Mason, Glover, Neal, and Meriwether.
On motion of Mr. Lewellen W. Hudson,-
Resolved, That the Secretary be requested to use the necessary means of having the proceedings of this meeting made public.
The Convention then adjourned sine die.
SAMPSON W. HARRIS, Secretary.
THOMAS STOCKS,
Chairman.
XVIII.
ROBERT P. HALL.
THIS memoir will open without promises of any kind, or expres- sions of opinion in advance. The reader will form his own judg- ment on the facts stated and the evidence laid before him.
ROBERT PLEASANTS HALL was born in Chester district, State of South Carolina, on the 23d day of December, 1825, near Land's Ford, on the Catawba River. His parents were Dr. Ezekiel Hall, and his wife Julia Rebecca, whose family name was Hill. She was the daughter of William Henry Hill, late of Hanover county, North Carolina, and grand-daughter of Gen. John Ashe, of Revolu- tionary fame. Relative to the public services of Gen. Ashe, his- tory has spoken in terms of high commendation. He was Speaker of the House of Assembly when the royal Governor Tryon dis- solved that body, on the 18th of May, 1765, on account of its opposition to the Stamp Act, which had received the royal sanc- tion on the 22d of March previously.
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The Speaker of the House, John Ashe, Esq., informed Governor Tryon that this law would be resisted to blood and death.
Governor Tryon knew that the storm raged : courageous as he was, he dreaded its fury. He did not allow the Legislature to meet during the existence of this act. But, faithful to the Government, he con- descended to use the arts of the demagogue to avoid the odium of its measures. He mingled freely with the people, displaying profuse hospi- tality, and prepared dinners and feasts. But, unawed by power, the people were not to be seduced by blandishments.
Early in the year 1765, the Diligence, a sloop-of-war, arrived in the Cape Fear River with stamp-paper for the use of the colony.
Colonel John Ashe, of the county of New Hanover, and Colonel Waddell, of the county of Brunswick, marched, at the head of the brave sons of these counties, to Brunswick, before which town the Diligence was anchored, terrified the captain so that no attempt was made to land the paper; the sloop-of-war's boat hoisted on a cart, fixed a mast in her, mounted a flag, and marched in triumph to Wilmington. The whole town joined in a splendid illumination at night, and the next day these patriotic citizens went to the Governor's house and "bearded the Doug- las in his castle." They demanded of Governor Tryon to desist from all attempts to execute the Stamp Act, and produce to them James Houstoun, who was a member of the council, an inmate of the Governor's house, and who had been appointed, by Tryon, Stamp-Master for North Carolina. The Governor at first refused a demand so tumultuously made ; but the haughty spirit of the representative of even kingly power yielded before the power of a virtuous and incensed people,-for the people pre- pared to burn up the palace, and with it the Governor, the Stamp-Master, and the menials of royal power.
The Governor then reluctantly produced Houstoun, who was seized by the people, carried to the public market-place, and there forced to take a solemn oath not to attempt to execute his office as Stamp-Master. After this he was released. He returned to the palace to comfort his dejected and discomfited master. The people gave three cheers and quietly dispersed.
Here is an act of North Carolinians "worthy of all Grecian or Roman fame."
The famous tea-party of Boston, when a number of citizens, disguised as Indians, went on board of a ship in the harbor and threw overboard the tea imported in her, has been celebrated by every writer of our national history, and
"Peal'd and chimed on every tongue of fame."
Our children are taught to read it in their early lessons : it adorns the picture-book of our nurseries, and is known in the remotest borders of the Republic.
Here is an act of the sons of the old "North State," not committed on the harmless carriers of the freight, or crew of a vessel, not done under any disguise or mask, but on the representative of royalty itself, occupy- ing a palace, and in open day, by men well known in person and reputation ; inuch more decided in its character, more daring in its action, more important in its results : and yet not one-half of our own sons have ever read of this exploit .*
* Wheeler's History of North Carolina, vol. i. p. 50.
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Referring to the conspicuous part acted by Gen. Ashe and his family, another writer says :*-
The Ashe family contributed more to the success of the Revolution than any other in the State. Gen. Ashe's son, Captain Samuel Ashe, served two campaigns in the Northern States, with the rank of captain in the Light Horse ; and, although he resigned his commission, yet he con- tinued to serve in the militia-expeditions of the State during the war. So that there were five officers of that family all actively engaged in the war,-Gen. John Ashe and his son, Captain Samuel Ashe, Gov. Samuel Ashe and his sons, Colonels John Baptista and Samuel Ashe.
This allusion to an honored ancestor of Robert P. Hall is made for a twofold purpose : first, to show that the gallant sons of a Southern State set an example of defiance to oppressive taxation just eight years before the people of Massachusetts took upon themselves the peril of throwing the British tea overboard in 1773; and, secondly, to claim for a gifted descendant of the purest Revolutionary stock the credit, little or much, to which he was entitled from that circumstance,-a claim the more sacred now because he cannot be affected by it.
At the common age, Robert was sent to school at Yorkville, where he was taught his first lessons by Robert E. Edmonds, an Irishman. In 1836, Dr. Hall removed from Chester district to Crawford county, Georgia, where he has since resided. Here his son was placed in charge of James J. Ray, Esq., who had a school near Knoxville. Six or eight months terminated Robert's tuition under this gentleman, who has since been Clerk of the Superior Court of Crawford county, and a warm personal friend of his talented pupil until the death of the latter. This affection was mutual.
The next school he entered was that of the Rev. William W. Wynn, at Hopewell, Crawford county, where he remained but a short time. He then passed a year at Oxford, Newton county, under the instruction of the Rev. P. H. Mell, since Professor of Ancient Languages in the University of Georgia. From 1837 to 1847, Robert was not more than about three years at school, all the time put together. His aptitude for learning made schools unnecessary. He was at no time very diligent in his studies, much preferring field-sports, such as fowling, fishing, the chase, and other out-of-door exercises. But he was never behind in his lessons or recitations. A few hours would suffice to give him an accurate knowledge of all subjects which he was required to examine.
* See Jones's Defence of North Carolina, p. 211.
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Hence he had much spare time for reverie and the indulgence of those poetic fancies to which he was prone from his earliest youth ; for a poem was found among his papers submitted to the author, bearing date December 31, 1844, within a few days after he had completed his nineteenth year. It is stamped with the genius that distinguished his other productions of the like kind, of which specimens will be given in the course of this memoir.
In 1847, he commenced reading law in the office of his brother, Samuel Hall, Esq., at Knoxville, and, after a preparation of six or eight months, was admitted to the bar at February Term, 1848, of Crawford Superior Court, Judge Floyd presiding. In the course of that year a small volume was issued from the press in Charleston, entitled "Poems by a South Carolinian," of which Robert P. Hall was the author. The thirty-two pieces form one hundred and four pages, varying from the keenest satire to the richest pathos,-some in blank verse. As a few extracts will be made, the preface is here given to explain the views of the poet :-
A ,SOUTH CAROLINIAN, I present to my fellow-citizens the "firstlings of my muse," and hope my offering may prove acceptable.
Should the following poems be found only worthy of ridicule, I shall have to bear the public censure alone, as they were written and are pub- lished without the advice and solicitations of even " a few partial friends."
I do not design to tell my readers of difficulties which beset me, of my " extreme youth," of the many disadvantages I had to contend with in the outset of my career as a poet, as is usual in the apologistic prefaces so common now, and through which threadbare cloak of humility the vanity of the bardling is too perceptible,-a practice which might well be excused, if it were the writer's design not to startle the reader with the beauties that will shine upon him from every line, but to ask his mercy for the many faults that he shall discover as he reads. I do not care to make myself appear either a baby or an ass on the first page of my volume, to excite wonder at my modesty, and admiration of the unexpected bursts of genius which are to follow my deprecatory prologue.
If my efforts are found worthy of praise, it will be gratefully received; if deserving condemnation, I can bear it. I prefer honest and decided blame to "the faint and damning praise" sometimes accorded in pity to imbecility.
In justice to myself, I must say to those who shall seek for classical beauties in the following pages, your labor will be lost. The lore of Greece is to me a "sealed fountain," and my acquaintance with the Latin tongue is very slight.
" School-helps I want to climb on high, Where all the ancient treasures lie, And there, unseen, commit a theft On wealth in Greek exchequers left."
Perhaps the thorough scholar, if one shall ever read my verses, will detect many metrical inaccuracies, as I have written entirely by ear.
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Where I have imitated, I have taken as my model the best dead authors of Great Britain, and not the present idols of public adoration, for the very sufficient reason that I cannot copy what I do not understand. I have endeavored to portray, in words intelligible to all tolerably con- versant with the English language, feelings common to mankind until they are corrupted by fashion and false systems of philosophy.(?) I do not expect my writings to please the followers of Kant and the admirers of most of our living authors-admirers who can find wisdom in what to me is folly, can hear divine melody in what to my ear (untutored, I suppose) is a harsh and barbarous jargon. I shall be satisfied if my poems are admired and understood by those who are not the slaves of German tran- scendentalism, but the children of nature. I would not, if I could, be the favorite of a sect, admired by them and unintelligible to others.
" I only seek, in language void of art, To ope my breast and pour out all my heart."
A reputation, to be lasting, must be based upon the hearts of the many. Writing, to be long popular, must make a responsive echo in the breasts and in the minds of men who are what nature made them,-not in the crooked understandings and mawkish sentiments that are the growth of the schools, seeking to dignify their pompous foolery by self-laudations and a sounding name.
I have felt the passions I have sung. Mine are no fabled loves and sorrows.
It seems to me that the great deficiencies of our literature nowadays are common sense and common feeling. We want faithfulness to nature, and that freshness of thought and heart which are its attendants. We have too much of the metaphysical man, not enough of the natural. Whether I succeed or fail, I will have the consolation of knowing that, small though my abilities be, they have been devoted to the cause of truth. I shall feel that I have not (as too many do who are my superiors) pandered to the depraved taste which is fast taking hold upon the pub- lic,-a taste which, if not soon arrested, will render our literature a vast collection of impious blasphemies and nonsensical bombast, more worthy the inmates of a mighty mad-house than of the authors who should strive to tickle for a while the votaries of fashion, but leave to posterity en- during proofs of the wit and wisdom of our republic during their "day and generation," of which they will be the representatives to the men who will come after us.
There is a sharpness in this introduction which cannot fail to attract the reader to the source,-a young man in his twenty-third year. Some selections will be made,-not because they are the finest, but as an average. The first is " An Elegy" describing the excel- lence of a young lady to whom he was affianced, and his sufferings at her death. It is probably real, from what he confesses in the preface :- " I have felt the passions I have sung. Mine are no fabled loves and sorrows." At page 13, it thus proceeds :-
As humbled pride, in days of its distress, Dreams o'er its vanish'd wealth and mightiness, Roof'd by a hut, recounts its former store, And half forgets the chill and cheerless floor ;
.
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So I, as memory renders lost delight, May shun the present with averted sight, And, half oblivious, as it flies my gaze, Transport my spirit to its brighter days, And think on her who was their light, their sun, My lovely Anna, my departed one. Vain is the task, I know, but linger yet To brood o'er beauties I had best forget ; To mock my heart with many a vanish'd scene,- Think what I am, remember what I've been. So softly sweet and musically clear Her voice yet whispers to my cheated car, Though dark and silent in oblivion's gloom, She sleeps undreamingly, her home the tomb, Yet lingering memory fondly can restore
. The winning charms that bloom for me no more, --- On the pale cheek the perish'd rose relume, Light the dark eye, and mock the waster's doom. Hers was a beauty clear, serenc, refined, Where chasten'd passion and a sinless mind, Like evening beams and softer rays of night, Divinely blending their ethercal light In melting harmony, conspired to bless Earth's fairest mould with heaven's loveliness, To charm my spirit, till Destruction gave A spotless angel to an early grave.
Hers was the wisdom known to virtue best,- To know thyself; in blessing others, blest ; The mirth of innocence that mock'd no heart,- Not wounding wit, with its malignant dart ; The kindly sympathy with others' grief, That knew no rapture till it gave relief; The constant heart, the soul of vestal fire, Warm without sin, and pure in cach desire ; The joyous soul, where feelings high and pure, Like angels, smiled a guiltless Eden o'er ; That modest piety whose law was love, Benignant, boundless as the skies above,- Not the stern gloom of the ascetic's air, With all its pomp of hypocritic prayer : You saw its trace, not in the rigid brow, The mock humility and saintly bow, The pride of righteousness, the sacred guise By bloodless villains worn for mortal eyes, (Like stately tombs with virtues scribbled o'er, While all is foul and rotten in their core :) No! in each cheering word, each kindly deed, Th' angelic influence every eye could read, As all behold the sky's life-giving power In the fair hue that paints the azure flower. To others kind, and to herself severe, Blest in her virtue, vice received a tear ; It was not hers to punish, but amend : God was the judge ; 'twas hers to be the friend. Beloved, admired by all, to her alone Her grace and loveliness appear'd unknown ; As yonder moon but beams in beauty's pride, Lights the soft carth and gilds the subject tide, Seems all unconscious of the charms that blaze In stainless lustre from her lofty rays,
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And only views the brightness of that sun From whence her own and starry beams are won.
Can I recall, nor madden as I do, The lingering hours that o'er me slowly drew Their chilling weight, when first I heard that she Was in the grave and ever lost to me ? The stern, the dubious pain, the dread surprise, The swelling bosom, and the choking sighs ? My eyes that ached till, like the gushing rain, Fast flow'd their tears, and cool'd my burning brain ? The lingering day that mock'd with golden ray My dull despair, and slowly sunk away ? The age of torture that my soul lived through, And perish'd not, yet how it scarcely knew ? The closing eye, that, sadly brightening, brought Lost scenes of joy in agonizing thought, Till my wild soul in madness cursed high Heaven,- When death it pray'd, and knew it was not given ?
*
It must be so !- the dead can sure return, Burst the dark earth, desert the lonely urn : For lo ! what meets my eye-still fair, though pale- Where fall the moonbeams, and the shadows fail, All wanly beautiful and coldly bright,
That, starlike, saddeneth while it giveth light? "Tis thou, my Anna ; but how changed thou art ! Yet none more changed than is this hopeless heart. Speak, speak ! thy pallid lips, again they move ! My eager spirit waits their words of love ; Raise the cold lids, and let those eyes of light Flash on my soul and chase away its night. Oh, nearer come, that I again may press Those cherish'd lips of faded loveliness, May to my heart thy wasted beauties fold, Till thou shalt live, or, haply, I be cold ! She comes ! I clasp her-pitying Heaven ! her charms To moonbeams melt within my circling arms, That strike, relapsing through the airy gloom, On my lone breast, resounding like a tomb. I am alone !- O God, again alone! Detested word !- the lovely shadow gone ! The only thing that meets my eye, yon stone The setting beams are coldly glancing on ; The only sound that greets my straining ear The echoed accents of my own despair.
Beginning at page 61, " Midnight in a City" is thus described :-
'Tis midnight, and the lamp, that flicker'd long Before my weary gaze, hath died away, E'en as my soul shall fade into the night When it is done with woe. I cannot sleep, Though 'tis the calmest hour of slumber's reign ; My pangs of body, and the keener pangs Than of my burnt and aching limbs,-the pangs Of my sick mind,-deny all rest to me. I gaze upon the gloom with weary eyes, Sear'd by the fiery forms that wildly whirl Before my burning brain. Alone, and sick ! No voice to whisper comfort, and to plan
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Scenes of delight for health restored, to speak The hope that trembles from the lips of doubt And half repays us for the pain we bear, By telling us how we are valued,-no Soft hand to linger kindly on my own And calm its fever'd pulse. She sleeps in dust Who I had hoped would cheer me at such a time, Bring the cool draught, or wing the tedious night By words of love, and fondly kiss away The hot impatience breathing from my lips.
I vainly toss upon my burning bed ; Still glows my blood, and still the changeless pang Chokes my faint throat ; no posture brings relief Unto my body, and no change of thought To my worn spirit,-for I meditate On death, despair, and loneliness,-the first The brightest of my visitants. I may Survive ; the throes of flesh may cease ; but those That waste my spirit only will be calm'd In the chill grave.
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