USA > South Carolina > Biographical sketches of the bench and bar of South Carolina, vol. II > Part 9
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In 1789, he was offered by President Washington, the office of District Judge of the United States for South Carolina, but he thought his private interest forbade his acceptance.
He was a Member of the Legislature in 1791, and drew the Act to establish a Court of Equity within this State .- 1 Faust, 29.
In 1789, he was elected as the successor of Governor Moultrie. The duty of Governor now consists more in grant- ing pardons, reviewing the militia, giving big dinners at the session of the Legislature, in Columbia, than anything else Then it was a very different thing : the State was to be recov- ered from the disorders of the Revolution-the law was to be enforced, and order everywhere established. This was done by Governor Pinckney.
Soon after the termination of his office, 16th January, 1792, he was appointed by President Washington, Minister to the Court of St. James. This highly responsible office, he ac- cepted, and discharged its various duties much to the satis- faction of his government.
He was afterwards employed on a mission to the Court of Spain. He there negotiated the treaty of St. Ildefonso, which secured the free navigation of the Mississippi.
The situation of his estate made him feel the necessity of a return home; he, therefore, solicited his own recall. He re- turned to America, and Charleston, in 1796.
Soon after his return, he was elected to Congress. He acted in that body generally, in support of the measures of Presi- dent Adams. The Federal party, which was then in power, soon lost it, and Mr. Pinckney retired from public life, and devoted himself to the care of his estate and the education of his children.
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The Federalists of South Carolina, were, generally, good men. A large body were soldiers of the Revolution, or men born in its storms-they feared the excesses of anarchy-they looked upon the horrors of the French Revolution, as the plain results of unrestrained Democracy. They were, therefore, in favor of a strong government, and desired to strengthen in- stead of weakening, the Federal Government.
They were mistaken in their opposition to the Republican principles, which, in 1801, obtained the ascendancy, with Jefferson as President. But such men as the Pinckneys, Daniel E. Huger, Judge Nott, Judge DeSaussure, and many others, were too good, too virtuous and pure, to be ostracised. They were, therefore, as the opportunity served, called into the service of the State. Differences in political opinions have never, to the honor of the State be it said, long excluded good men from her service.
At the commencement of the war of 1812, Thomas Pinck- ney was, by President Madison, appointed a Major-General, and had charge of the Southern Division or Sixth Military District. There was in it little opportunity of distinction. The Creek war was waged within it. Subordinate generals, such as Floyd, in Georgia, and General Jackson, in the Creek Nation, fought the battles, and brought the war to a conclu- sion. General Pinckney was in the field when the battle of the Horse Shoe, by General Jackson, satisfied the Creeks that they were beaten, and when Weatherford surrendered him- self.
General Pinckney advised the War Department to divide his military district, (extending from North Carolina to the Mississippi.) This was done, and General Jackson, at his recommendation, appointed to the South-western Division. In it General Jackson gathered the imperishable laurels of the repulse of the British from before New Orleans.
At the return of peace, General Pinckney resigned his com- mission, and sought in the retirement of private life, the bless- ings of his family and home, from which he had been long deprived.
Such a man could not do otherwise than adorn private life.
8
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His life had been almost an epitome of his country's history. He had borne a part in the war which accompanied the birth of his country, and in that which maintained and asserted her rights. He had lived to see the uncovered bones of his coun- trymen, slain in the Revolution, gathered to peaceful graves, and the desert places produced by that war, to blossom like the rose. He had lived to see the whitening sails of his coun- try's commerce on every sea, and her agriculture feeding and clothing the nations of the world.
In private life, he did all he could to encourage the further development of his country, and to crown her with the gar- lands, not only of commerce and agriculture, but of science.
The life of this eminent statesman and soldier, was closed 2d November, 1828, in the seventy-eighth year of his age.
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EDWARD RUTLEDGE.
Here again, I have paused and reflected much, before I put my pen in motion. The difficulty of doing full justice, to the great name to which I have come, is fully appreciated. Not quite sixty years have passed away since the muffled drum, the solemn tread of the soldiery, the tolling bell, and the regu- lar platoon firing, proclaimed to the State that Gov. Rutledge was-is not-and in St. Philip's Church-yard mingles with his mother earth; yet, it is difficult to obtain the means of giving a sketch of his life.
He was born 23d November, 1749, and was the youngest child of Dr. John Rutledge. He received his classical educa- tion in the City of Charleston, under David Smith, A. M., of New Jersey College, who, as Dr. Ramsay says, " was an able instructor in the learned languages." He studied law with his brother, John Rutledge, but that not being then regarded as enough, he was, in 1769, entered a student in the Temple, London. His brother's letter of advice to him soon after his arrival, is appended, as a note to this memoir, and is recom- mended to students and lawyers, of the present day, as worthy of frequent perusal. He, after four years' absence, returned to Charleston a Barrister, and, in 1773, began to practice law.
In 1774, he, with his brother John, Henry Middleton, Chris- topher Gadsden, and Thomas Lynch, were appointed Delegates to the General Congress, which met at Philadelphia, in Sep- tember. "He and John Jay, of New York, were nearly of an age, and the two youngest members of that honorable body."
For three successive years he was a member, and on the 4th of July, 1776, with Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, and Arthur Middleton, signed the Declaration of Indepen- dence. This, of itself, is a record of immortality, and places the name of Edward Rutledge where it must ever be sur- rounded with the sun-light of glory.
In the Congress of 1774, '75, '76, and '77, he had great in- fluence. He was always at his post, and in every way devoted
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himself to the service of the country. On the 12th of June, 1776, he was with John Adams, Sherman, Harrison, and Wil- son, appointed on the first board of war .- 3 Washington's writings, 429. The arduous duties of directing and providing for the defence of the country was discharged by these emi- nent men, entirely to the satisfaction of the General-in-chief. On the 11th of September of the same year, he, with Dr. Franklin, and John Adams, under the appointment of Con- gress, had an interview with Lord Howe on his propositions for peace, on Staten Island, in which they maintained that nothing short of Independence would satisfy the United States .- 4 Washington's writings, 88. Dr. Ramsay, in his Second Volume of the History of South Carolina, at page 521, says of Mr. Rutledge: "His protracted absence from home, and continued attention to public business, was no small sacrifice. His talents and popularity would have commanded the first practice at the Bar; but he loved his country too well to be influenced by pecuniary considerations to neglect its interests."
" In 1779, he was again appointed a Member of Congress, but on his way was seized with an obstinate and tedious fever, which prevented him from proceeding to the seat of their deliberation."
It seems, too, that Edward Rutledge held a commission in the militia when it was something more than "fuss and feathers." He rose through "all the grades of rank in the Charleston Battalion of Artillery, to that of its Lieutenant- Colonel. In 1779-when the British were defeated and driven from Port Royal Island-he commanded a company of artil- lerists, which earned its full share of the glory of that vic- tory."-2d Ram. 522.
In the year 1780, after the fall of Charleston, in May, "he became a prisoner of war, and was sent to St. Augustine, where he was confined eleven months, and on his exchange, delivered above eight hundred miles from home and friends."
In, I presume, September, 1781, Mr. Rutledge, from Phila- delphia-soon after his exchange, and before his return home- wrote to Gen. Washington, suggesting and urging a combined
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attack by the French fleet and the land troops, on the City of Charleston, about which he said he had consulted the Cheva- lier De la Luzerne, and who had promised to use his influence with the Count DeGrasse, to effect the object. To this Gen. Washington, from his camp before York, on the 6th October, 1781, politely replied, speaking of Mr. Rutledge's plan as a "very desirable" one, and uses this strong sentence: "Of this, however, you may be assured, that, after the present operation is closed-and I hope it will terminate well-everything, which depends upon me, and all the influence I can exert, shall be used towards exterminating the British from the Southern States." -- 8 Washington's writings, 174.
Mr. Rutledge returned to South Carolina, and was elected a member of the Jacksonborough General Assembly, which met 8th January, 1782. He served in that body, and afterwards in the Council, and as Dr. Ramsay says: "in both rendered essential service to his country."
But, until the 14th of December, 1782, he was not permitted to set his foot within his native city. On that glad day, how- ever, he was one among the gentlemen welcomed home, by their mothers, wives, sisters and daughters.
He resumed his practice, and devoted himself unceasingly to that pursuit and the home concerns of South Carolina. He was a member of the Convention which framed the Constitu- tion of 1790.
He was a member of what may be properly called the Organic Legislature of 1791. He drew "the Act for the aboli- tion of the rights of Primogeniture, and for the giving an equitable distribution of the real estate of intestates, and for other purposes," passed the 19th of February, 1791. Such a law was, I suppose, suggested by Pendleton, Burke, and Grimké, in 1789, in their contemplated digest, but it was left for the skill and wisdom of Edward Rutledge to prepare that wisest and best measure, required by Fifth Section, Tenth Art. of the Constitution of 1790, "for the abolition of the rights of Primogeniture, and for giving an equitable distribution of the real estate of intestates." If he had done no other act, I should think it was enough of glory for any single man. For it has
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broken up the aristocractic feature of property, which had before prevailed in South Carolina, and has given equality- practical equality-which never otherwise could have existed.
In 1794, (24th May,) when his brother John had, on as- suming the Chief Justiceship of South Carolina, declined the office of Associate Judge in the United States Supreme Court, Gen. Washington addressed a joint letter to Gen. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Edward Rutledge, asking: "Will either of you gentlemen accept it?" They both declined, mainly for the reason, that in the Legislature of South Caro- lina, of which they were Members, they could be of more ser- vice to the General Government .- 10 Washington's writings, 164 and 165.
On the 15th October, 1798, Gen. Washington, writing to the Secretary of War, James McHenry, and speaking of officers for the expected French war, mentioned Edward Rutledge in reference to the artillery .- 11 Washington's writings, 322.
For seventeen years this great and good man pursued his profession and served in the Legislature. In December, 1798, he was elected Governor and Commander-in-chief in and over South Carolina; and on the 23d of January, 1800, he closed his valuable life. It thus seemed that the State which he had loved, served, and honored, reserved this highest honor, as a fitting testimonial of love and honor to be last bestowed on him. The inscription on his tomb, in St. Philip's Church-yard, is so remarkable for its simplicity that I transcribe it: "Beneath this stone are deposited the remains of his Excellency, Edward Rutledge, late Governor of this State, whom it has pleased the Almighty to take from this life, January 23d, 1800, at the age of fifty years and two months. The virtues of this eminent statesman require not the aid of an inscription here, to recall them to our recollection : it is believed that they are engraved on the hearts, and will long live in the remembrance of his countrymen."
His wife survived him for thirty-six years. He left, at least, one son, Henry Middleton Rutledge, who removed to Ten- nessee, and there died, leaving many descendants-amongst whom was Mrs. Daniel Blake, whose admirable fugitive
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poetry, published after her death, privately for her husband, Daniel Blake, and styled "Reliques," will long live and show that she had, indeed, the fire of her noble grandfather.
To the young I would commend her "Life's Duty." In it she admirably says :
"Steadfast fix thy soul-thine eye ; Secret power shall them assuage, Hand unseen shall still their rage, Enter then the thunder cloud.
There is light beyond its shroud, Dark though darker grows thy lot, Light and calm, oh ! doubt it not ; To the steadfast will be given, The mysterious boon of heaven."
To Dr. Ramsay, the gifted historian of South Carolina, I appeal for a sketch of Edward Rutledge, as an orator, a law- yer, a legislator and a man. Speaking of Edward Rutledge, he says: "His eloquence was great, but not precisely in the same line with his brothers. Demosthenes seemed to be the model of the one; Cicero of the other. The eloquence of the elder, like a torrent, bore down all opposition, and controlled the passions of the hearers; that of the younger was soothing, persuasive, and made willing proselytes.
"In the practice of law, Edward Rutledge was directed by the most upright and generous principles. To advance his personal interest was a secondary object; to do good, to promote peace, to heal breaches, to advance justice, was a primary one. His powers of persuasion were not to be pur- chased to shield oppression, or to support iniquity. When he thought his client had justice on his side, he would go all lengths in vindicating his claims; but would not support any man, however liberal, in prosecuting unfounded claims, or resisting those that were substantially just. He abhorred the principle, that an advocate should take all advantages for his client, and gain for him whatever he could, whether right or wrong ; or, on the other hand, to assist him with quirks and quibbles, which ingenuity can contrive, or the forms of law permit, for defeating or delaying the claims of substantial justice.
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"For the seventeen succeeding years after '82, he followed his profession, and, at the same time, served in the Legisla- ture. Though a private member, he, by his persuasive elo- quence, directed most of the important measures adopted in that period for the improvement of the country. Many were the points which his eloquence either carried through, or de- feated in, the Legislature. For the good obtained, and the evil prevented, his memory will be long respected by his countrymen."
When it is remembered that Dr. Ramsay was President of the Senate from 1791 to the close of 1797, it will be, at once, seen, that the praise bestowed is no general indiscriminate praise :
"In moderating those collisions which, in Carolina, too often produced duels, Mr. Edward Rutledge had great address. His opinions, as a man of honor, were appreciated by all parties, and, being impartial, seldom failed of bringing round those explanations, which, without degrading, were satisfac- tory. As a lawyer, and a gentleman, he was justly entitled to the honorable appellation of a peace-maker. He was emi- nently the friend of the distressed, and thought nothing too much for their accommodation and relief. The talents of few were estimated equally high. The virtues of none attracted a greater portion of love and esteem."
I append Governor John Rutledge's letter to his brother, and extracts from the city papers, on the death of Governor Edward Rutledge:
"CHARLESTON, July 30th, 1769.
"Dear Edward,-As I had not leisure, before you went, to reduce to writing some observations, which I mentioned ver- bally to you, concerning your studies in England, I take this first opportunity (per Curling) of doing it, lest you may forget any of them. This, I hope, will find you well, in London, after the fatigues of a voyage; and, having had time to look about you, and see what strangers are generally desirous of viewing, I expect you will be sitting down seriously to business. The very first thing with which you should be thoroughly acquainted is, the writing short-hand, which you
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will find of infinite advantage in your profession, and which will give you the means of great superiority over others who do not write it. I need not enlarge on the advantages of it, but say, I think you will find it absolutely necessary; there- fore, be master of it, as soon as you possibly can learn it; and when you can once write it, take notes of everything at Court. I would even write down, in short-hand, cases you hear, which are not worth transcribing fair. Your time may as well be employed in writing, as hearing, them. If they are not worth transcribing, no time is lost; and the writing it on every occasion will soon make you perfect, and able to keep up with the speakers, which is the chief end of writing in this manner. I would take down every public discourse, either at the Bar or pulpit, which you hear, for this very purpose. And, now, I mention the latter, by no means fall into the too common practice of not frequenting a place of worship. This you may do, I think, every Sunday. There is generally a good preacher at the Temple Church, and it will be more to your credit to spend a few hours of that day there, than as it is generally spent, in London especially, by the Templars.
"Be constant in attending the sittings in Chancery, out of terms, and when there are no sittings at Nisi Prius, in London or Westminster; for I would prefer attending the King's Bench, and sittings of the Chief Justice of that Court, at Nisi Prius, when they are held. And remember what I hinted to you, of attending, alternately, in the different Courts, by agree- ment between you and some of your intimate fellow-students, and then of comparing and exchanging notes every evening; by which means, if you select proper acquaintance, in whose judgment you can confide, you will have the same advantage as if you attended all the Courts in person. Don't pass too slightly over cases, and not note them, because you think they are trifling. Many cases appear so, at a cursory overlooking, and, indeed, may be not very material, and yet you will find use for them.
"But you must exert yourself to the utmost, in being able, by some means or other, to attend the House of Commons constantly, or, at least, whenever anything of consequence is
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to come on. There, I believe, you will not be suffered to take notes; however, you will soon know that. You must get in- troduced to Mr. Garth, and probably, by his means, you may always get in. Don't say, that they have come to a resolu- tion not to admit any strangers into the gallery, and by that means you could not get in, as Hugh did. I know it is a common order, to clear the galleries, but that people there generally fall back, and no notice is taken then of them; for you must, at all events, get admittance there, and make your- self well-acquainted with the speakers. Reading lectures upon oratory will never make you an orator. This must be obtained by hearing and observation of those who are allowed to be good speakers-not of every conceited chap who may pretend to be so. I would, also, have you attend the House of Lords, upon every occasion worth it. You will find you may easily get introduced to some lord, who will take you in with him; and, by no means, spare a few guineas, at Christ- mas, among the door-keepers, &c., for that, I warrant, will do the business. I would not have this make you a dabbler in politics. What I intend by it is, that you may have opportu- nities of seeing and hearing the best speakers, and of acquir- ing a good manner and proper address, and of being able, on occasion, of giving your sentiments, when necessary, upon what you have seen and heard there. I believe Sheridan is the only lecturer, in England, upon oratory; and, I think, it would be advisable to attend him, and mark well his obser- vations. He reads with propriety, though he is much too stiff, and his voice exceeding bad. I would go a short circuit, just before you come out; but it should be to a place where you might have something worth seeing, besides the mode of conducting business there, which is soon understood, i. e., to Oxford, or some other place generally visited by travelers. The Circuit Bill goes with Lord Charles .- (Montague, ed.) If it is confirmed at home, (England, ed.) you should make yourself acquainted, from experience, of the method of doing business upon the circuit, in England. If you stick close to French, and converse generally in that language, you will soon be master of it; and I would not have you attempt it,
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unless you are resolved to speak it as well and as fluently as you do English; for I have no notion of being such a French- man as most of our Carolinians are, who have been taught that language, who can seldom do more than translate it, after much difficulty. I think you may, only by attending to it occasionally, make yourself perfectly master of it; and so as to be able to read it, or speak it, off-hand, fluently, and not as if you took your words out of a vocabulary. Whatever you attempt, make yourself completely master of; for nothing makes a person so ridiculous, as to pretend to things he does not understand; and it will not be sufficient for a man, in such case, to rest satisfied, because he may pass as a complete scholar amongst those with whom he may have to do in gen- eral, who, perhaps, may know little about the matter-such a one may meet sometimes with his superiors, and in what sit- uation will he then be? I know nothing more entertaining, and likely to give you a graceful manner of speaking, than seeing a good play well acted. Garrick is inimitable; the other actors not worth seeing, after him, in the same charac- ters. Mark him well, and you will profit by him.
"You must not neglect the classics; but rather go through them from beginning to end. I think you had better get a private tutor, who will point out their beauties to you, and make you, in six months, at your age, better acquainted with them than a boy, in school, generally is in seven or eight years. Read Latin authors, and the best, frequently, so as to be as well-acquainted with Latin as French. I have often thought, were I to begin the world again, I would do what I am sure one would after find of use: make a book, and in it note down the remarkable expressions and sayings of wise and great men, whenever I met with them-not to serve as Joe Miller's Jests, or a collection of bon-mots, to make one pass for a merry fellow, or rather a maker of fun for a pack of fools-but often to embellish your arguments or writings. Indeed, amongst wits, it would be useful, and show that a man had not confined himself entirely to dry law. You see that Lord Bacon did not think this beneath him: read his collection of apothegms. However, I would not confine this
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to the sayings of the ancient generals, poets, and heathen philosophers, (though amongst them there are many good things,) but bring it down to the present times; and, in it, I would insert the beautiful passages I met with, such as were striking, nervous, or pathetic, in the different authors I read in the different languages. Horace, Juvenal, and Virgil, would add not a little to this collection. Now is your time to begin, and go through a good deal of this business; when you enter upon the practice of the law, it will be too late to begin this. I would have you read occasionally the purest English authors, to acquire an elegant style and expression. What different impressions do the same sentiments make, when conveyed in different modes of expression; but for a man who speaks in public, whose business it is not to be content with barely proving a thing, by, perhaps, a dull argu- ment, after having wearied out his hearers with bad language, and a deal of tautology-and if he has said some good things, has buried them in rubbish-but to engage the constant atten- tion of his hearers, to command it, and to carry immediate conviction along with him. The history of England should be read with great care and attention-all the different writers of that history read and compared together, and your own observations made upon them all together-showing wherein they agree, disagree, &c., and in which credit is to be placed. It will be necessary, for your own use, to make a compendium of this history, which no man can carry in his head.
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