USA > North Carolina > Historical sketches of North Carolina : from 1584 to 1851, Vol. I > Part 28
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Had he lived in this progressive age, this act so far from expelling him from the Senate, might have elevated him to still higher position.
He married Mary Granger, of Wilmington, and their names have been perpetuated in Tennessee, by towns and counties.
ABNER NASH, whose name appears in the Provincial Council, was distin- guished in the early history of North Carolina, as one of her devoted sons, and most patriotic citizens. He was born in Prince Edward County, Va. His father was from Wales. He was educated for the bar, and was elected the first Speaker of the Senate, and the second Governor of North Carolina, under the Constitution, in 1779. He was defeated in 1781, by Thomas Burke, of Orange.
Jones, in his " Defence of North Carolina,"* states that "Gov. Nash was defeated on account of the disordered state of the finances."
From 1782 to 1785, he represented Jones County in the Assembly. He was elected by the Assembly a member of the Continental Congress, in 1782, to 1786.
He was distinguished for his urbane manners, and solid acquirements. His brother, Gen. Francis Nash, fell in the battle of Germantown, and his son is now one of the Judges of our Supreme Court." His first wife was the widow of Arthur Dobbs, Governor of the State ; and his second Miss Jones. He died at Newbern, respected and esteemed for his high moral character and intellectual attainments. His name is preserved in the State in the County erected in 1777, while he was Speaker of the Senate.
RICHARD DOBBS SPAIGHT Was a resident of this County. He sprung from an ancient and honorable family connected with that of Gov. Arthur Dobbs. He was at an early age left an orphan. He commenced his academic studies in Ireland, and completed them at the University of Glasgow, in Scotland, and in 1778 he returned home. His country was then engaged in her strug- gles for liberty. He joined the army as aide-de-camp to Gen. Caswell, and as such was at the battle of Camden, in August, 1780.
In 1781 he represented the town of Newbern, in the House of Commons ; and in 1782-83, and 1784, he was elected at the same time to represent the State in the Continental Congress at Philadelphia ; and it appears that he served in both capacities. In 1785 and 1786, he was member from Craven County. In 1787 he was chosen as one of the Delegates to form the Consti- tution of the United States, and his name is appended to that instrument.
In 1788 he was one of the Delegates from Craven, to the Convention at Hillsboro' to deliberate on the same.
* Jones's Defence, 313.
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In 1792 he was elected the Governor of the State, in which year he was a member of the House from Newbern.
In 1798 he was elected a member of Congress from the Newbern District, and served one Congress.
In 1801 he was elected a member of the State Senate, from Craven.
In September, 1802, from some expressions of the Hon. John Stanly, in regard to his political career, an angry correspondence took place, which terminated by a challenge from Mr. Stanly. Dr. Edward Pasteur was the friend of Gov. Spaight ; and Edward Graham, Esq., the friend of Mr. Stanly.
The challenge and acceptance are here recorded.
Mr. Stanly to Gen. Spaight. .
SIR-Your handbill of the 4th instant is before me. It affords abundant proof of what I intended the world should be convinced, that the character which you attempted to play off before them was assumed, and could not long be supported : that you walked on stilts, and had been prevailed upon in a fit of frenzy, malice, and despair, to frame a challenge, which was the subject of your daily repentance. My object was to show in the face of those de- claimers on your heroism and spirit, that no charge could be framed suffi- ciently insulting to tempt you to commit again the like indiscretion. In this I have had success that must astonish and mortify your friends and foes. Yet who can say that you have not deserved it. There yet remains another object to be attained. I am no general ; I complained of no injury; I sent no challenge for satisfaction ; nay more, I had set it up as a principle to send you none, but your experiment has betrayed you into a difficulty to which your calculation did not extend ; to your disappointment this letter informs you that, humiliating as it is to my feelings to fight a man who can descend to the filth contained in your handbill, I shall expect that you will meet me as soon as may be convenient, to give that satisfaction which you assure me that "if I ask for it once I shall not be under the necessity of doing it the second time." JOHN STANLY.
Sept. 5th, 1802.
My friend Mr. Graham, who hands you this, will receive your answer.
Gen. Spaight to Mr. Stanly.
NEWBERN, Sept. 5th, 1802.
SIR-Yours of this date has been received. My friend, Doctor Edward Pasteur, will appoint the time and place, and make the other necessary ar- rangements with your friend.
RICHARD D. SPAIGHT.
The parties met on Sunday afternoon, on the 5th September ; and upon the exchange of the fourth fire, Gov. Spaight received a wound in the right side, of which he died in 23 hours.
JOHN STANLY was often a member of the Legislature. He was a member of Congress in 1801 from this district, and again in 1809. His first session in the Legislature was in 1812, a period of extraordinary political excite- ment. He took a decided stand in opposition to the war; and was a leader of the party opposed to Mr. Madison's administration. His unfortunate affair with Gov. Spaight had grown out of political feeling. He petitioned the General Assembly in 1803, for an act of pardon, but it was refused on the ground that the pardoning power had been vested in the Governor by the Constitution. The Governor, Benjamin Williams, upon petition pardoned him. A copy of Mr. Stanly's petition is herewith copied from the original in his own hand, in possession of Gov. Swain.
"SIR-I have the honor of laying before your excellency several publica- tions by General Richard Dobbs Spaight and myself on the subject of a con- troversy between us. Your Excellency will learn from them the rise and
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progress of a difference which has had a melancholy termination. I beg leave, sir, to ask you to judge from the publications themselves whether I have not on my part acted with decency and moderation ? whether I do not dis- cover a disposition to forbearance rather than provocation? Yet, this man- ner of mine, so far from protecting me from insult, was treated by my oppo- nent as pleas of cowardice, and appears to have encouraged the use of those opprobrious epithets which have so liberally been bestowed upon me.
" Had I been indifferent to the good opinion of the world, could I have extinguished those principles of virtue and honor which teach me neither to give cause for reproach or to submit to the stigma which such publications, unnoticed, would have fixed upon me ; I might have borne 'the robbery of my good name' with humility. I might have then preferred to pass the remain- der of my days with submission to the affronts which such a weakness of dispo- sition would encourage, and which such charges unrepelled would justify ; to have existed the object of scorn, contempt, and derision of mankind, rather than to have created, at the hazard of, my own life, those difficulties and dis- tresses to which I am now subjected by a measure adopted to preserve a character which I fondly trust has hitherto been free from dishonorable im- putation.
" I appeal, sir, to the feelings of every gentleman ; permit me, sir, to appeal to that dignified sense of honor which adorns your own character, to decide whether it was possible, or would have been proper in me to acquiesce with humility, to have bowed myself to the opprobrious epithets of 'liar and scoundrel,' which General Spaight, in his publication of the 4th, applies to me, at the same time braving me to ask satisfaction.
" I felt an obligation due to myself, and no less urgent duty to the people whom I have the honor to represent, to remove these dishonorable terms. I took that step which I hope cannot be condemned, the one most likely to pro- cure that redress which I wished, a retraction of the epithets, or, on refusal, to punish the man who could so unjustly apply them to me. A copy of my challenge of the 5th inst. accompanies the other papers. This was accepted. We fought the same day. General Spaight received a wound, of which he has since died.
"From this fatal result of a measure which I trust the candid and discern- ing will admit to have been necessary, if not indispensable, an event which I shall not cease to deplore, I have become criminal to the laws of my coun- try, I am exposed to all the persecution which the resentful feelings of the malevolent and uncandid may stimulate, or the forms of the law require. Were my own feelings alone to be affected by the probability of imprison- ment and arraignment, I should endeavor to support myself with that forti- tude which the situation would require. But there are others whose con- nection with me create all the anxieties I myself can feel without the forti- tude to allay them. These I feel an obligation, if possible, to remove.
"If your Excellency will examine the case, I trust it will appear that Gene- ral Spaight acknowledged himself satisfied with my explanation of my con- versation which had first given him offence. That our subsequent difference was occasioned by his publishing Smyth's certificate, with a view, as he after- words avows, of impeaching my veracity and the truth of the very state- ment with which he had said 'he should rest satisfied.' That the remarks extorted from me by the publication were moderate and respectful-that I sup- ported the controversy with temperance, departing in no instance from the language of a gentleman-and that my subsequent expressions of warmth were provoked by the harsh language of my opponent. I hope that your Excellency will be of that opinion, that when the most opprobrious epithets were applied to me, that respect for the opinion of the world, an honest and laudable desire to wipe off such vile and undeserved reproach actuated me to adopt the measure most likely to accomplish that object. Though these circumstances and considerations may not leave me entirely free from offence, in the severe constructions of the law, I trust that they will so far extenuate it as to induce your Excellency to believe that my conduct does not merit the
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severe, distressing, and humiliating consequence that must result from a rigorous prosecution.
" May it please your Excellency to exercise in my favor that power of granting pardons which the Constitution has vested in you.
"I have the honor to be, with every sentiment of respect,
"Your Excellency's most obedient and most humble servant, "JNO. STANLY.
" His Excellency, Governor WILLIAMS.
"Sept. 13th, 1802."
He continued without much intermission in the House of Commons, of which he was often Speaker, until 1826, when he was struck with a paralytic stroke, which terminated his political career, and in a few years his life. He died 3d of August, 1834.
WILLIAM GASTON, late Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, was a native of Newbern. His father, Dr. Alexander Gaston, " a native of Ireland, and a man of letters," was one of the most determined patriots of his day. He was killed on the 20th August, 1781, under the most painful circumstances. He was retreating from the attack of the Tories, with his wife and two small children, when a party of Tories appeared. Mrs. Gaston was left on the wharf, while her husband pushed off in a boat. One of these monsters leveled his gun over the shoulder of Mrs. Gaston, and her patriotic husband fell dead, leaving her and two children; a son, the distinguished subject of this notice, and a daughter, who afterwards was the wife of Chief Justice Taylor ..
Judge Gaston was born in Newbern, 19th September, 1778.
Happily for him, and happy for his State, his mother was a woman of great energy of character, of devoted piety, and extraordinary prudence. Naturally of a quick temper ; her counsel, example and advice, taught him to subdue it. The great object of her life seemed to be to prepare herself for a better world, and to train in "wisdom's ways" the precious charge left to her care un- der such afflicting and tragical circumstances. She felt like the mother of Moses-the words of Pharaoh's daughter-"Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages." His unparalleled success in after life, his extensive usefulness and exalted public services, prove how faithfully her duty had been discharged.
" This tells to mothers what a holy charge Is theirs ; with what a kingly power their love May rule the fountains of the new-born mind; Warns them to wake at early dawn and sow Good seed before the world doth sow its tares."*
Mrs. Ellet, in her work, "Women of the Revolution," renders any further allusion to Mrs. Gaston unnecessary, except to quote from her beautiful pro- duction, ; one anecdote, which gives in graphic minuteness, her method of edu- cation. When her son was only seven or eight years old, he was, even then, remarkable for his aptitude and cleverness. "William, why is it," said one of his little schoolmates, "that you are always head of the class, and .I am always foot?" " There is a reason," replied he, "but if I tell you, you must promise to keep it a secret, and do as I do. Whenever I take up a book to study, I first say a little prayer my mother taught me, that I may be able to learn my lessons."
Judge Gaston has often been heard to declare, that whatever distinction he had attained in life, was owing to her pious counsel and faithful conduct.} Under her eye his early education was conducted. In the fall of 1791, he was sent to the Catholic College, at Georgetown, then only fourteen years old. The rigor of this bleak climate, the painful and rigid discipline, and exiled from the comforts and attentions of affection, caused his health to give way, and in the spring of 1793, it was feared that he was sinking under a con-
* Mrs. Sigourney. t Women of the Revolution, ii. 139
¿ Life and character of William Gaston, by Wm. H. Battle, Chapel Hill, 1844.
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sumption ; and it was advised by his physicians that he should return to the mild air of his native climate. He returned home, and his health soon im- proved. Under the care of the Rev. Thomas P. Irwing, he was prepared for college. He entered the Junior Class, at Princeton, in the fall of 1794. He graduated at the early age of eighteen, with the first honors of that renowned and ancient institution.
Judge 'Gaston has left this tribute to his venerated mother :-- " The proudest moment of my life, was when I communicated the information to her that I had not only graduated, but with honor."* Their meeting on his return home, was one of no common character. Loaded with all the honors of science and literature, he kneels at the feet of her who was the author of his being and true cause of his success.
He studied law with Francois Xavier Martin, then residing in Newbern ; afterwards the author of a History of North Carolina, and late Judge in Louisiana, whose character the reader has just read.
In 1798, before his arriving at manhood, Mr. Gaston was admitted to the bar. The elevation of his brother-in-law, John Louis Taylor, to the bench in that year, threw all his business into the hands of Mr. Gaston, at once heavy and lucrative. To his well-disciplined mind, laborious habits, and in- defatigable industry, this only stimulated him to increased exertion. He not only sustained this responsibility, but his reputation was established; it continued to increase in such rapid strides, until he attained, by the appro- bation of all, the head of his profession. The people, who delight to honor merit, soon perceived the rich jewel that was among them. When only twenty-two, he was elected a member of the Senate (in 1800), from Craven County. But the labors of his profession, and duties to those who entrusted their fortunes and lives to his hands, with his small patrimony; denied to him that service to the people that they required. He did not appear again in public life until 1808, when he was elected a member of the House of Commons from Newbern, of which body he was chosen Speaker. He was elector on the Presidential ticket in this year. After his re-election to the House of Commons in 1809, he retired from the House of Commons.
But he was not allowed to remain by the people long from their service. He was elected a member of Congress in 1813 from this district, and re- elected in 1815.
His life now becomes a part of our national property, and we may
" Read its history in a nation's eyes."
This period was one of extraordinary excitement. He took a prominent stand in opposition to the Administration, sustained as it was by the ability of Lowndes, of South Carolina, the intellectual power of Calhoun of the same State, and the resistless eloquence of Clay, of Kentucky. Amid this galaxy of the political firmament, the bright star of North Carolina shone with peculiar brilliancy, even amid the influence of Webster, Grosvenor and others. It is not the province or the part of the historian to express any opinion as to the political course of individuals, their merits, or their errors. His duty is to state plainly and frankly the course pursued, and let each form their own conclusions as to its propriety or correctness. But whatever line of conduct Mr. Gaston pursued, that course was marked by talent, labor, and genius of the highest character. His efforts in Congress on "the Pre- vious Question" and "the Loan Bill," are left to us, and have attracted the admiration of competent judges, for their power and eloquence.
At the end of his second term he voluntarily resigned his charge ; and at- tended to the laborious duties of his extended practice of the law.
He did not appear again in public life until 1827, when from the increased indisposition of Mr. Stanly, who had been elected that year a member of the House of Commons from Newbern, a vacancy occurred, and Mr. Gaston was elected to supply his place. This he accepted as a matter of duty, not of in- clination; as a return of gratitude for favors received, not with the hope of honors or laurels yet to be acquired.
It was known at Raleigh that Mr. Stanly had resigned ; but it was not
* Eulogy, by Robert Strange, Fayetteville, 1844.
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known who was to be his successor, and it was a matter of some interest to know upon whom the mantle of this distinguished tactician had fallen. No one suspected that Mr. Gaston would accept.
The writer well recollects that, while sitting in the office of Judge Tay- lor, then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (the house now occupied by Judge Saunders), and reading under his care the elements of the law, that on a bright morning in Nov., 1827, the Newbern stage drove up. . When the State House bell rung, he was preparing to go to the Capitol to attend to his duties (he was that year a member from his native county of Hertford, and the youngest member in the house), he met at the door Judge Taylor, who asked him in the house, as Mr. Gaston was there. He was introduced, and Mr. Gaston accompanied him to the Capitol. As yet it was not known to him the motive of the introduction, or the object of Mr. Gaston in going to the Capitol. When we reached the House of Commons, all eyes were turned upon Mr. Gaston, then in the zenith of his fame and popularity. He pre- sented to the writer, a certificate of his election, as the member from Newbern, and most quietly requested him to present it to the House. It was done. This was his first interview with this distinguished man, and his first motion in the House of Commons. He well recollects the high satisfaction and im- provement that he derived from an intimate and personal intercourse with him-the lessons and practical wisdom that his course and conversation afforded-the charm of his wit in private circles-the brilliancy of his elo- quence in the Hall.
Thomas Settle, now a judge of the Superior Court, was Speaker; the Judi- ciary Committee was : Hon. Frederick Nash, William Gaston, John D. Eccles, of Fayetteville, Jos. A. Hill, of Wilmington, Geo. E. Spruill, of Halifax, and John H. Wheeler, of Hertford.
On one occasion, when Mr. Nash, now of the Supreme Court, had intro- duced a bill for the re-organization of that court, after an able and lucid explanation, and elaborate speech from him, during the delivery of which Mr. Gaston remained as immovable as a statue, with folded arms and eyes fixed on the floor. When the author of the bill had finished, Mr. Gaston moved an adjournment.
The next day he replied, and with such force of argument and such power of eloquence in opposition to the bill, that its distinguished author had but few adherents. He was well aware of the importance of the occasion, the connection of the court with the vital interests of the State, the power and ingenuity of the advocate of the present measure. He met the combat with
" That stern joy which warriors feel In meeting foemen worthy of their steel."
This effort cost him a long winter night of study, to which he added all the power of argument and the brilliancy of his genius.
Not only in argument was he powerful ; in repartee and wit he was invin- cible. His anecdotes were pointed and most pungent, and his sarcasm was withering.
He served in the following year and in 1835. He then left, never to re- turn, the legislative arena, the scene of so many intellectual conflicts, and the theatre of his glory.
In 1834, he was elected Judge of the Supreme Court, to supply the vacancy occasioned by the death of Judge Henderson. Without any solicitation or suggestion on his part, all eyes turned to him as the most suitable person in the State for this elevated position.
Once more he appeared in public as a statesman, in the Convention of 1835, as member from Craven, to amend the Constitution. This was an important occasion. The Constitution formed by the State Congress in Nov. 1776, while our country was in the midst of war, and preparing to meet its emergencies, with the minds of the members occupied by its stirring and important events, was not free from errors and imperfections. The people felt the importance of the occasion, and sent their ablest men to devise and consult-Nathaniel Macon, Judge Daniel, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr., John Branch, Daniel L. Swain, and others.
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To others who witnessed the intellectual labors, the eloquent efforts, and patriotic services of Mr. Gaston on this occasion, is left the duty of recording them. Their journal and their debates have been published. His speech on the 32d article, which was supposed to exclude Catholics from any office or place of trust or profit in this State, under the peculiar circumstances of the case (he being a member of the Roman Catholic Church), was considered one of his highest intellectual efforts, and was extensively published and read throughout the Union.
This was the last service he ever performed in a representative capacity. He now applied the whole vigor of his capacious mind and his varied ac- quirements, to his duties as Judge of the Supreme Court. He was, however, solicited in 1840, by the dominant party, to accept the post of Senator in Congress. This was no idle compliment. The party had the power to elect him without a contest. He had but to give his consent and it was ac- complished. But to that solicitation he turned a deaf ear.
In a letter to General John Gray Bynum, dated October, 1840, which does honor to his head and his heart, he says, " I believe the faithful performance of the duties of the office I now hold, by the kindness of my fellow citizens, is as important to the public welfare, as any services which I could render in the political station to which you invite me. To give a wholesome exposi- tion to the laws ; to settle the fluctuations and reconcile the seeming conflict- ing analogies of judicial decisions ; to administer justice in the last resort with a steady hand and upright purpose; appear to me among the highest of civil functions. And so long as God spares me health and understanding to perform these faithfully, how can I better serve my country ?"
This elevated position, Senator in Congress, the most dignified in our land, and preferable to even the Presidency by many, was declined by JUDGE GASTON. Let the politician in his toilsome and sabbathless career for pre- ferment, stop and admire this example.
The manner in which he discharged his important duties ; his profound and varied literature; his extensive legal knowledge ; his severe and patient re- search ; his polished and clear compositions, render his opinions from this exalted tribunal, not only monuments of legal learning, but models of ele- gant literature. A much higher opinion is given by one who knew him long and knew him well, pronounced from the judgment seat (Chief Justice Ruffin), when he said, "he was a great Judge and a good man."
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