Memoir of John Howe Peyton / in sketches by his contemporaries, together with some of his public and private letters, etc., also a sketch of Ann M. Peyton

by Unknown

SKETCH OF JOHN HOWE PEYTON,

by
joseph addison waddell, b. l. of w. & l. university.

From my earliest recollection, I was familiar with the personal appearance of Mr. Peyton. His figure was too distinguished to pass unobserved by even the youngest children in the streets of Staunton. He was tall, erect and portly; his head set gracefully on his shoulders; his garments always appeared to fit well, and exactly corresponded with his age and station; so that altogether, in his person, he came nearer my ideal of gentlemanly elegance than any one I have ever known.

Mr. Peyton discontinued the practice of his profession before I was capable of forming an independent and intelligent estimate of his ability as a lawyer. During my boyhood I frequently heard him speak in the Court-house; but I was then unable to appreciate forensic efforts. From the attention and the deference to his utterances shown by the citizens generally, I had no doubt that he was a legal oracle. According to my recollection of him, he never attempted flights of eloquence. There was nothing, I believe, flowing or ornate in his style. He used no "big words," but in the plainest language spoke directly to the question at issue, making himself understood by the most illiterate juryman; and whatever the verdict, he never failed to excite admiration for his ability and the dignity of his deportment. He was often eloquent, in the highest and best sense of that word. While I was a boy I heard an intelligent citizen endeavoring to repeat a part of one of Mr. Peyton's recent speeches, which he seemed to admire very much, commenting at the same time upon the simplicity of the phraseology and the absence of all mere rhetorical display.

My impression of Mr. Peyton's talents is derived chiefly from my father's estimate of him. My father, although a physician, was fond of discussions at the bar, and during the sessions of the courts spent most of his leisure time at the court-house. He considered Mr. Peyton a great lawyer, and a man of great intellect. Although fastidious in his taste and a severe critic, I never heard him speak otherwise than in terms of respect and admiration of Mr. Peyton's efforts.

I well remember the scene in the old county court, when Mr. Peyton formally retired from the bar. That tribunal was one of the most beneficent institutions which we inherited from our mother country. The body was self-perpetuating and very careful to maintain its respectability in the election of new members. To be a member of the Bench under that system, was generally conclusive of the fact that the individual was worthy of and enjoyed the confidence and respect of the community. The Justices were not professional lawyers, and depended greatly upon the attorney for the commonwealth for advice and assistance in Court. Mr. Peyton was for many years Commonwealth's Attorney for the County Court of Augusta, as he was also for the Circuit Superior Court. When he resigned his office in the former Court, the assembled Justices were visibly affected. They adopted resolutions expressive of their appreciation of his ability, uprightness and uniform and marked courtesy to the Court. He doubtless always exhibited the same respect for the County Court of Augusta, composed of his familiar friends and neighbors, professionally unlearned as they were, as he ever did for the Judges of the Supreme Courts of Virginia or the United States. The Justices were unwilling to give him up, however, and as the next best thing to having him as their legal adviser, they elected him a member of their own body. He accepted the office in the spirit in which it was tendered, and I remember to have seen him on one or more occasions afterwards sitting on the County Court bench with the other Justices.

While I have disclaimed any competency to speak of my own judgement, of Mr. Peyton as a lawyer, I had the pleasure of knowing him personally as intimately as a boy and youth could know a gentleman of his age and position. My father was his physician for many years before his death, and his confidential friend. I have heard it said of Mr. Peyton, and I believe truly, that if he liked a man he liked everything belonging to him—his children and even his dogs. Liking and trusting my father, he seemed to extend the same feeling to me. While I was still a small boy, he found me out, and wherever he met me would familiarly accost me by name. I remember to have encountered him on one occasion on the highway leading from town to Montgomery Hall; he could not let me pass without special notice. He stopped me on the spot and detained me for a considerable time in conversation. He was exceedingly fond of a good joke and his style of conversation was often sportive. On the occasion referred to, there was something in his manner or expression suggestive of mirth and I was suspicious that he was amusing himself a little at my expense; yet I parted from him with a feeling of elation at enjoying the familiar acquaintance of such a man. He appeared to act habitually in the spirit of Lord Bacon's saying in his 52nd essay "amongst a man's inferiors one shall be sure of reverence, and therefore it is good a little to be familiar." His witticisms and sarcasms were keenly relished by my father, who rarely returned from a visit to him without having something of the kind to report. He had no toleration for dishonesty, impudence or sham. To people whom he considered honest and well behaved, however, ignorant or lowly, he always felt and acted kindly, but from others, whom he thought unworthy, he could not conceal his disapprobation. He was not in the habit of giving utterance to censorious or unfriendly remarks about persons, and I am sure I never heard him speak unkindly of any one. He was eminently a just man in all his dealings with his fellow men. Requiring from others what was his due, he most scrupulously gave to every man whatever belonged to him, as far as he could. Suum quipue tributo is one of the few maxiums of Rudiman which I remember, and it after occurred to me in connection with Mr. Peyton. I early learned to regard him as the personification of justice. While Mr. Peyton was living I heard my father eulogize this trait in his character.

I have no recollection of having been in Mr. Peyton's law office while he occupied it, but towards the close of his life, I often met him in his home. His manner then to me and other guests was all that could have been desired. He was not reserved and distant on the one hand, nor on the other did he embarrass by excessive attentions. Recognizing the presence of each visitor and extending a cheerful greeting, he made all feel welcome. His hospitality was proverbial. Possessed of ample wealth, he admitted a large number of persons to participate in it around his family table. Upon principle, he discountenanced wastefulness, but he used his money with an enlightened liberality, freely expending it for all useful and proper purposes, and contributing bountifully to all public enterprises.

I have understood that Mr. Peyton had for many years kept by him a last will and testament written by his own hand. But about a year before his death, when he was physically unable to write, except to sign his name, owing to some changes in his family or estate, he desired to execute a new instrument. It was necessary for him to obtain the assistance of a friend, and my father was called upon to aid him. On returning from Mr. Peyton's, one day in the latter part of April, 1846, my father handed to me a voluminous manuscript in his handwriting, blotted and interlined, accompanied by a request from Mr. Peyton that I would make a pair copy of it by a particular day, when the latter proposed to come to town and append his signature before witnesses. The copy was duly made and on the appointed day Mr. Peyton came to my father's house. He selected as additional witnesses, Messrs. George M. Cochran and Benjamin Crawford, and I was dispatched to request the attendance of those gentlemen. While I was unwilling to appear obtrusive by remaining in the room uninvited, the scene interested me so deeply, that I could not go away entirely. Withdrawing into an adjoining apartment, I heard all the preliminary conversation, which I felt sure Mr. Peyton would not object to. He explained the provisions of the will, as far as he thought necessary, and appeared anxious to satisfy his friends present of the justice and propriety of his course. Amongst other matters, he referred to the noble sorrel horse which he had ridden for seven years, and expressed a desire that the animal should be well cared for. When about to sign his name, he discovered my absence, and hearing him call for me I returned to the room, and in obedience to his wishes subscribed my name as a witness.

This scene greatly impressed me at the time, and has often recurred to me as one of the most interesting of my life. It was like the performance of an imposing drama. Mr. Peyton, of course, was the prominent figure and chief speaker; his bodily powers impaired, but his intellect as vigorous as ever; his presence dignified and commanding; his conversation flowing and sparkling like a stream of water in the sunshine, while there was something more in the tone of his voice, in his manner and the expression of his countenance, by me indescribable, which greatly interested and almost charmed me.

Mr. Peyton was always, as far as I know, a firm believer in the Bible and the great doctrines of the Christian religion. He was decided in his preference for the Episcopal Church, in whose communion he died, but he never was accused of bigotry. On the contrary, he respected and supported all good men of whatever denomination, and required no one to renounce his shibboleth, or to subscribe to his creed.

The foregoing is a very imperfect sketch of one whom I greatly revered; whom I found in all my intercourse with him, according to my ability to judge, a most polished gentleman; and whose kindly treatment of me during my boyhood and early youth, inspired me with feelings towards him akin to those of filial affection.