USA > South Carolina > Biographical sketches of the bench and bar of South Carolina, vol. I > Part 21
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be considered in any other light than as the absolute propri- etor of the negroes; but as he admits complainant had some other negroes working at the brick-yard for a certain time, it must be referred to the master to ascertain how many there were, and how long employed there, aud what will be a proper allowance to be made for their services during that period.
Chancellor Marshall departed this life in November, 1805.
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WILLIAM DOBEIN JAMES.
Chancellor James was elected a Judge of the Court of Equity, on the 14th December, 1802, in the place of Judge Burke. At an early age he joined Marion's partizan corps, and bore a distinguished part, as a soldier in the Revolu- tionary War. He was, when elected a Chancellor, the Soli- citor of the Northern Circuit.
He was from 1802 to '24, twenty-two years, a Judge of the Court of Equity. In December '24, after the organization of the separate Court of Appeals, he was transferred to the Law Bench. Many of his decrees, while in the Court of Equity, were exceedingly well written. His judgments, however, were not to be relied on; and after he went upon the Law Bench, his intemperate habits became so notorious, that an impeach- ment followed, and he was removed, in January, 1828. This judgment, though rendered in sorrow, was just. It set a wholesome example before the people of the State, and plainly told them, that neither gray hairs, Revolutionary services, nor honest purpose would excuse incompetence arising from irregular habits. A most interesting account of the trial and judgment will be found in the accompanying letter.
CHARLESTON, September 5, 1859.
My Dear Sir :-- I was present, as you know, at the trial of Judge James ; and of all the duties I have been required to perform, this was the most painful and embarrassing. I had been taught from my cradle to reverence the men of the Revolution ; and there was I, who had never fought a battle for my country, suddenly invested with power to condemn one whose wounds bore witness to his valor, and whose fidelity had never been doubted ; an obscure individual, who had shed no blood for liberty, sitting in judgment over the comrade of Marion and of Sumter! I would have shrank had it been possible, but there was no retreat without delinquency to the commonwealth.
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My old friend, Col. I'On, was in the chair, presiding with that grave and dignified solemnity which the occasion would have elicited from an experienced Chancellor, and with that kindness and gentleness, and consideration for the ac- cused, which was in keeping with his own generous and elevated disposition. All of us were surprised at the readi- ness and promptness with which he disposed of every ques- tion ; indeed it would have easily been believed that the Bar was his profession, and the law of evidence his favorite study.
W. C. Preston appeared as Counsel; and even then, by his name, it was conclusive that whatever eloquence, en- ergy, and learning could achieve, was to be accomplished. The Senate, acting as a Court, sat with closed doors. Many witnesses were examined, and the trial progressed slowly and mournfully to its termination It is impossible for me to speak of the defence made by Mr. Preston, but it is equally impos- sible for me ever to forget it ; he was "great," without an interval from the beginning to the ending; but at last the day came, and the " sternest stuff" was necessary to meet it. The vote was to be taken ; each Senator was called on by his name, the word "Honorable" omitted ; and as he stood uncovered, the President put the question, " What say you ? Guilty or not Guilty?" The Senator, placing his right hand upon his own breast, answered "Guilty (or not guilty,) on my honor," and immediately took his seat, the silence of the grave prevailing. It is known what was the verdict-a brave old soldier was to be cashiered-the day for pronouncing sentence was fixed ! Judge James entered the Senate Chamber, leaning on the arm of his Counsel ! Col. I'On rose to receive them, and looking steadfastly at both, remained silent for a moment, as if he was gathering strength to meet what was coming. As well as I can remember, he addressed the venerable sufferer in these words-" William Dobein James, what have you to say why sentence of Impeachment should not be passed upon you ?" I have never witnessed such a scene! We held our breath as the axe was falling! Your old friend and mine, Col. Hampton, was sitting next to me. Hampton had been in battle, and had seen blood; and if ever there was a brave
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man, Hampton was one; but he gave way now, with hardly a show of resistance. Col. I'On continued to wait for the reply. The old man tried to rise, but could not, without as- sistance. Drawing from his pocket a slip of paper, he read as distinctly as he was able :
" Mr. President- ... I have served my country too long, not to be sensible of my duty to submit (as well as I may,) to this heavy stroke. I could have wished that my old age had been spared this awful calamity, but Providence has thought proper to bring me, through the varied and trying scenes of a long life to this bitter period. To the Almighty, and to Him alone, I look for support and consolation. I pray him to bless and prosper MY COUNTRY, which, while she casts me off, cannot, and I trust will not, be disposed to deprive me of the consola- tions which result from a consciousness of good intentions and honest conduct in office."
These were touching words to those who had assisted at the sacrifice; and, as he uttered the last syllable, he sank back into the chair he had with difficulty left ! The whole Senate was agitated beyond articulation ! I looked at I'On, and his appearance is now before me : he labored under the deepest emotion, yet all the features of his face seemed fixed ; it was the marble expression which indicates the power to follow "duty," lead where it may; but it was the "agony" also, which sometimes accompanies the performance ! Other mem- bers were giving vent to their feelings in audible tones of solemn grief; and then it was that nature's spring, which had been pent up before, found a crevice in this rock of granite. The waters of life came forth without control. I'On would have died at his post anywhere, and at any time. He never knew how to surrender; but his heart " ran over" at his eyes, and tears of tenderness and of sorrow chased each other down his rugged and motionless cheeks! It was the " statue" that was weeping.
Mr. Huger submitted the following resolution and made a short speech, or rather a few remarks: they were hurried and almost incoherent; but the Senate was glad to take them-they
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savoured of kindness and of mercy! They were a relief to those to whom they were addressed.
" Resolved, That this Court, in discharging the painful duty imposed upon it by the State of South Carolina, having passed sentence of removal from office upon the Hon. Wm. D. James, feels it incumbent upon itself, in justice to the said Wm. D. James, publicly to declare their sincere conviction, that his character for honest integrity as a man has not been im- peached by this sentence ; and, in consideration of this belief, as well as in consideration of his Revolutionary services, they recommend to both branches of this Legislature that the said W. D. James be authorized to draw upon the Treasurer of the Upper Division, for the full amount of his salary appropriated up to the 1st January, 1829."
In support of which Mr. Huger spoke as follows:
" MR. PRESIDENT : I have but a few words to say in support of the paper I have had the honor to offer you. I need not speak when the hearts of all have so eloquently spoken already. I need not appeal when every bosom is filled to overflowing, when every Senator is subdued by the appeal his own nature has made. I need not ask for the adoption of this resolution, because I know the men to whom it is sub- mitted. I need not press it on you, because I know that the sorrow, the deep, heart-piercing sorrow, of all who hear me, has seized upon it already. 'Tis carried ! Mr. President, 'tis carried! Not by the voice of my humble self-not by the feelings of one whose heart is sinking under the pressure which rests upon it. 'Tis carried by the honor of this House, Mr. President-that impulse is always irresistible. I see the vote of every man streaming from his eyes. I share the con- flict in every man's bosom. Let him say "no," who is more or less than man. Let him say "no," who has forgotten the scene that has just been consummated-who has forgotten the picture which has just been exhibited. Sir, I call upon my friends, who are about me-I call upon them, to say for me what I am unable to utter for myself.
" Mr. President, when I think of that unhappy man who has just departed-when I see him tottering, quivering, sinking
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under the agonizing beatings of a broken heart-when I remember that he has fought for his country-when I remem- ber that his blood has been shed for the purchase of that very liberty which gives me power to condemn him, sir, my mind falters when I turn upon the deed which my own hand has done. I shrink beneath the shadow of my own unworthiness, and for a moment-aye, for more than a moment-I disown the act that has turned him upon the world thriftless and friendless. When I remember that the blood, which is now gushing through his veins, is the very blood in which our Constitution is written, I ask, and ask it triumphantly, where is the man that calls for another word upon the question? Sir, the law must have its victim. The law has had its victim. Yes, the altar is bedewed with the tears of the very men who have presided at the sacrifice. Sir, I will not violate the feel- ings of the House any longer. They warn me to be done. I leave the question, just were it ought to be, in your own hands. Looking your God and your country in the face, I call for your decision."
The resolution passed by an overwhelming majority, and when the Senate adjourned each one seemed to seek some pri- vate way to his quarters, that he might avoid the observation of others.
To Hon. J. BELTON O'NEALL,
Milford P. O., Greenville, S. C.
NOTE .- Mr. Huger evidently spoke without a moment's preparation, and when asked to furnish what he had said, for publication, he declined, professing his utter inability to do so. The words were taken by a listener, and were reported as above in the Charleston Courier.
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WADDY THOMPSON.
In December, 1805, Waddy Thompson was elected a Judge of the Court of Equity, in the place of Judge Marshall, who died the November preceding. Judge Thompson was a native of Virginia, and was a well educated lawyer. He had a vigorous, clear mind ; saw with almost intuitiveness the strong points of a case, and frequently decided them without waiting for argument. He disclaimed in his decrees the affectation of learning, stating, and most usually reasoning out his pro- positions, without a reference to authorities. Until the close of 1808, I do not see that Judge Thompson delivered any decree, except in the case of Hattier vs. Etinaud, 2d Equity Reports 570. The Court of Appeals, in Equity, was organized, and met in February, 1809, in Charleston, and from that time forward Chancellor Thompson's decrees will be found in 3d and 4th Equity Reports, Harper's Equity Reports, and in 1 and 2 McC. C. R. In 1817, when the Judges of Law and Equity resigned to receive the increased salary, Judge Thomp- son was re-elected. The Ist Section of the 3d Article of the Constitution of South Carolina, inter alia, provides: "The Judges of the Superior Courts shall at stated times receive a compensation for their services, which shall neither be increased or diminished during their continuance in office." By the second Section of the Act of the 13th of December, 1817, it is provided that the Judges of the Courts of Sessions and Common Pleas, and Judges of the Court of Equity, shall receive as a compensation for their services the sum of three thousand five hundred dollars each, per annum, in lieu of the salary "(£600), heretofore prescribed by law." Act to increase the salaries of the Governor of this State and other officers therein mentioned. Acts of 1817, '40 and '41.
By the 4th Section of the Act of 1808, entitled, " An Act for the better arrangement of the sitting of the Courts of Equity, for the establishment of Courts of Appeals for the same, and other purposes therein mentioned," a Court of
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Appeal, consisting of the Judges, was established and directed to sit in Charleston, on the first Monday in January, and the second Monday in March, in every year, and at Richland Court House on the first Tuesday next, after the ending of the Common Pleas Circuits, in every spring and fall of the year. By the 10th Section two additional Judges were directed to be elected, making the full Bench of Equity Judges five. In conformity with this Judges DeSaussure and Gaillard were elected. The Bench then consisted of Rutledge, James, Thompson, DeSaussure and Gaillard.
In 1824, when the Court of Appeals was established, and the Judges in Equity were by the Act of that year reduced to two, and were called Chancellors, Chancellors DeSaussure and Thompson were elected. Chancellor Thompson held his office until December, 1828, when he resigned, and retired to his residence at Greenville, where he lived in the enjoyment of his family and friends, until, having fulfilled his course, he was gathered to his fathers.
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HENRY WILLIAM DESAUSSURE.
Would that I could do justice to my venerable friend, Chan- cellor DeSaussure. He was a native of Beaufort district, and was born at Pocotaligo, 16th August, 1763. He was descended from a noble foreign ancestry; but he needs no such adven- titious aid. His father, Daniel DeSaussure, an extensive mer- chant of Beaufort, gave himself and fortune to the cause of his country, in the time which tried men's souls, and was thought worthy to accompany the Rutledges, Gadsden, Moul- trie and others, after the fall of Charleston, as prisoners of war to St. Augustine. After the war, from '83 to '91, he was a member of the Legislature, and for the two last years Presi- dent of the Senate. Here many a son might rest, and claim the glory of such a descent. But Mr. DeSaussure, however much he gloried, as he ought to have done, in such a father, needs only to appeal to himself, and his title to a most high and respectful remembrance will be established. In his seventeenth year he served as a volunteer in the defence of Charleston, when it was besieged by Sir Henry Clinton. After the city fell, he refused to take protection, and was sent to the prison ships. After two months sojourn in those chambers of cruelty and death, he was exchanged and sent in a cartel to Philadelphia, where he had the happiness to meet his father, who had also been exchanged. By the direction of his father, he entered as a student of Law in the office of Mr. Ingersoll. In 1784 he was admitted to the Bar of Philadelphia, and on his return to Charleston, in 1785, he became a member of the Bar of his own loved and honored State. Here he had to meet and grapple with such lawyers as the Rutledges, the Pinck- neys, Pringle and others. If the diamond be polished by constant friction with other diamonds, then indeed did Mr. DeSaussure have the opportunity of acquiring by his associa- tion that brilliancy which rendered him so illustrious. In the spring of '85, he married Miss Ford, of Morristown, New
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Jersey, who made his life and home happy during many years.
In October, 1789, he was elected a member of the conven- tion to frame the Constitution of this State. He aided in this great work. What part, however, he bore in it, we do not know. It is probable his youth and modesty held him back from prominently mingling in the labors of such men as the Rutledges, Pinckneys, Matthews and Lowndes.
In '91 he was a member of the House of Representatives, and bore a part in the labors of that organic session in Columbia, from the 3d January to the 19th of February. I have in my possession the first and second volumes of the laws of South Carolina, from the 3d January, 1791, to the 21st December, 1804, with notes in Judge DeSaussure's hand- writing. In the margin of the Act for the abolition of the rights of primogenitures, &c., he remarks : " Drawn by Edward Rutledge, signer of the Declaration of Independence and after- wards Governor, in 1799." In the margin of the Act, "to establish a Court of Equity," he notes: " Drawn by General Thomas Pinckney." In the margin of the Act, "to amend the several Acts for establishing and regulating the Circuit Courts," he remarks: "Drawn by H. W. D." These Acts are examples worthy of imitation by our present legislators, who, if they would hold the pen for their own thoughts, might sometimes make their legislation more intelligible.
It is greatly to the credit of Mr. DeSaussure that he advo- cated every proposition of mercy in favor of the deluded Tories. If Marion's counsel, at Jacksonborough, in '82, had been followed, and the confiscation Act had never been passed, many valuable men, mistaken, it is true, in their notions of duty and loyalty, would have been saved to the State.
In '94, while at the Sweet Springs in Virginia, which he had visited for relief from an attack of rheumatism, which had threatened his life, the office of Director of the Mint was ten- dered to him by President Washington. By the advice of General Hamilton, he accepted the office, and proceeded to Philadelphia, and with that diligence which always charac- terized him, soon made himself master of his duties. In
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consequence of a wish expressed by President Washington, he caused the first coinage of gold, and in six weeks from the expression of the wish "he carried to the President a handful of gold eagles." On the 1st of November, '95, he retired from his laborious office, bearing with him the expres- sion of the President's satisfaction with the discharge of his duties, and his regret at his retirement.
It seems, after his return to Charleston, in 1795, he was Intendant of the city, and when he left the office, received, what he always deserved, the thanks of those who had served with him for the manner in which he had discharged his duties. In 1800 he was returned to the Legislature, and there, in 1801, aided successfully in establishing the South Carolina College. He said to me: "We of the lower country well know that the power of the State was thenceforward to be in the upper country, and we desired our future rulers to be educated men." If he had never done anything beyond this, which literally forced education upon the country lying north and west of Columbia, his memory ought to be loved and cherished by the thousands who have thus been educated. The South Carolina College was to his death the object of his care and solicitude. My first knowledge of the Judge was when a mere College boy, in 1812, he invited my friends, Whitfield Brooks and John M. Lee, and myself, to partake of one of his hospitable dinners. From that time forward I had the honor of knowing and being known by him. From 1817, with one year's exception, I have been a member of the Board of Trustees of the South Carolina College, and never till his retirement from the Bench, in 1837, do I recollect that he was absent from any important meeting of the Board.
He retired from the Legislature in 1802, but was again induced, in 1808, to return. In the session of that year, for- tunately for the State, he was elected a Judge of the Court of Equity : and to him the system owes its shape, form and existence. He was to South Carolina what Kent was to New York. Unwearied industry, combined with a thorough knowledge of law and equity, and a patience which never tired of hearing, and a politeness which made the merest tyro
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feel he was in the presence of a friend, caused him, as he de- served to be, the head of his Court, admired and loved by every one who had the heart of a man.
His decrees, embracing nearly two-fifths of all the Equity cases decided in nineteen years, are monuments of which any Judge ought to be proud. Such of them as visited the Court of Appeals, or which he delivered in that Court, will be found in 3d and 4th Equity Reports, Harper's Equity Reports, and 1st and 2d McCord's Chancery Reports. If read, they will satisfy the most incredulous of Judge DeSaussure's title to be ranked, not only with Kent, but also with Hardwicke and Eldon. I would select Bunch vs. Hearst, (3d Equity Reports, 273); the decision on the demurrer in Prather vs. Prather, (4 Equity Reports, 33); Butler vs. Haskell, (4 Equity Reports, 651), as specimens of his exhausting argument, and his clear and convincing decisions of cases. Many of his unpublished decrees, and which would have been a part of two unpub- lished volumes of his Reports, (which the miserly policy of the Legislature refused to aid in publishing), would add more to his fame. How much the profession is indebted to him can only be fully appreciated by those who practised before his four volumes of Equity Reports were given to enlighten, aid and guide us.
In 1817, he and his brethren resigned, to have the benefit of the increased salary. This enabled the Legislature, by giving him a higher vote than any of the other Judges, to make him the President of the Court of Appeals in Equity.
In 1824, at the organization of the separate Court of Appeals, instead of being placed on that Bench, as he ought to have been, and as Judge Johnson desired, he was, with Judge Thompson, elected a Chancellor, and assigned to Circuit duty. He felt this, as he ought to have done, a great neglect of faithful public duty. He, however, patiently met and encountered the heavy duty, as one of two, instead of five, Circuit Chancellors.
In 1836, when the Court of Appeals consisted of all the Judges of both Courts, he took place, as the President of that Court of ten, in which a consultation was almost intermina-
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ble, and where harmony of views could no more be expected than in a Jury room. Then, as always before, I had occasion to admire the dignity, courtesy and patience of the venerable man who sat among us, as the Nestor of a past age, and upon whom we were soon to look no more.
In December, 1837, he resigned, and Gov. Butler said of him, in his message announcing his resignation, with great beauty and truth: "He has worn the sword of a soldier, amidst the perils of the Revolution, and the ermine of a vir- tuous magistrate in peace. The one was never used but against the enemies of his country; and the other will descend from him without spot or blemish." The Legisla- ture responded to this language of the Governor by saying that they regarded, " with a due estimate of their value, his (Chancellor DeSaussure's) long, able and faithful services to the people of South Carolina, in the high judicial station which he has occupied-services which not only furnish the best memorial of his worth, but an enduring example to those who are destined to succeed him." They presented to him the salary for 1838.
Chancellor Harper, in a memoir prepared at the request of the South Carolina Bar Association, thus speaks of him :
" A few months after his resignation, his health appeared for a time to improve, so as to afford hopes of a life prolonged beyond the ordinary period. These appearances, however, were but transient; he soon sunk again, and continued more and more to decline, until the 26th of March, 1839, when he expired. And, perhaps, no man ever met death under circumstances of greater mitigation. During his long illness, which happily was not attended with great pain, he was surrounded by affectionate relatives, the objects of his own fondest attachments. He perceived more clearly than in former times the affectionate interest with which he inspired his numerous friends, and, it may be said, the State at large. The business of life with him was done. He had the happy consciousness of having discharged faithfully and honestly, so far as human frailty would permit, his duties to himself, to his family, and to society. He saw his numerous children,
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of mature age, established in life, with fair hopes, or assur- ances of prosperity and usefulness, and he knew that he should transmit to them, and to their children, the inherit- ance of a name unsullied by any shade of dishonor. He conversed cheerfully with his friends, endeavoring to make his conversation not only entertaining but instructive to them, and spoke of nothing more cheerfully than his own approach- ing dissolution. There was no affectation of stoicism; no undervaluing of life, which his own benignity had taught him to enjoy; but the religion which he had professed in life supported him in death, and he looked forward with the serene hope of a happy immortality. There is no supersti- tion in believing that this auspicious closing of life was vouchsafed by the peculiar favor of heaven to a good and virtuous man. "The good man is taken away, and the merciful man is removed, and the living lay it not to heart." Yet there have been few men whose death has caused a more general or affectionate regret. His remains were interred in the family burial ground at Columbia."
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