A Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, and of Washington and Patrick Henry / With an appendix, containing the Constitution of the United States, and other documents

by L. Carroll Judson

WILLIAM HOOPER.

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. This ancient apothegm can never be controverted by the ingenuity of sophistry; it is based upon reason, justice, and sound philosophy. Its solution is brief. To be wise is to be good—to be good is to be happy. To avoid all vice and practise only virtue, is the great desideratum of earthly bliss. Virtue carries with it its own reward. Vanity and vain glory may be richly laden with blossoms, but they bear no fruit. We must look to the great Author of all good for substantial enjoyment; we must fear to offend the majesty of his laws to be truly wise. The greatest men who have ever figured upon the stage of action, fully recognised the power of omnipotence, and feared to offend the great Jehovah. The sages of the American revolution were constantly under the influence of this salutary principle. This may be inferred from their writings, their examples, and the proceedings of the Continental Congress. Days of humiliation and prayer were frequently fixed and recommended by legislative proclamation, by the states and by the general government.

Among those of the signers who appears to have lived with the fear of God before his eyes, was William Hooper, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, born on the 17th of June, 1742. He was the son of the Reverend William Hooper, who came from Kelso, in the south of Scotland, and was for many years the pastor of Trinity church in Boston. He was a man of high accomplishments, a good scholar, an able and eloquent preacher, and a devoted christian. He was useful in life and lived in the affections of his people.

William, being of a slender constitution, received the first rudiments of his education from his father under the parental roof. At the age of seven years he was placed under the care of Mr. Lovell, and at the age of fifteen he entered Harvard University. His talents were of a high order and his industry untiring. His mind was moulded in wisdom, and averse to trifling amusements and fleeting pleasures. During vacation he repaired to his father’s library and devoted himself to the acquisition of knowledge, instead of obtaining a relaxation from study by mingling in the convivial circle. He had a great taste for the classics and polite literature. He paid particular attention to composition and elocution. Refinement in every thing was his aim.

In 1760, he graduated with the degree of bachelor of arts, and commenced the study of law under James Otis, one of the most distinguished counsellors of that day. From the pious course of his life from his youth up, his father had indulged a hope that his inclination would have led him to the pulpit, but cheerfully submitted to the choice he had made. The same industry and correct deportment that carried him successfully through college, enabled him to master the intricate science of his election, and gain the esteem of all who knew him. After completing his course he was admitted to practice, richly stored with theory for future use.

Manhood had now spread its dignified mantle over him. He was of the middle height, slender and elegant in form, gentlemanly and engaging in his manners, with strangers rather reserve, with his friends frank and familiar, free from affectation, of a serious turn, and at all times honest and sincere. His countenance beamed with intelligence and benignity, his powers of conversation were pleasing and instructive, chaste and classical. His mind was investigating, deliberative, analyzing and firm. His habits were strictly moral; his disposition was benevolent, hospitable and kind. As a public speaker he was eloquent, persuasive, logical and sometimes sarcastic. With qualities like these, Mr. Hooper repaired to Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1766, and commenced the practice of his profession. He was induced to locate there by several wealthy connexions residing in that place. He soon obtained a lucrative business; and to convince the people that he contemplated a permanent location among them, he married Miss Anna Clark, a lady of unusual accomplishments and strength of mind, and highly respectable in her character and connexions. She was the sister of General Thomas Clark.

His legal fame rose rapidly and was built upon a substantial basis. About the year 1768, he was employed to conduct several important public trials, which he managed with such skill and address, as to place him among the ablest advocates of the province. He was treated with marked attention by Governors Tryon and Martin, and by chief justice Howard.

These attentions from the king’s officers arose, in a measure, from the superior talents and merit of Mr. Hooper, but had also an ulterior object—that of gaining his influence in favour of the designs of their royal master. This could not be accomplished. He had received his legal education in Boston, where the designs of ministers had been probed for years. He had imbibed liberal principles and was a friend to equal rights. Upon the firm basis of eternal justice he had planted himself, from which flattery could not decoy him nor threatening dangers drive him.

One peculiar circumstance may have caused a particular attachment for him on the part of the officers of government, that of having taken a bold stand against a class of desperadoes called regulators, who formed a dangerous association as early as 1766, in the interior of the province. They were composed principally of men who were ignorant, poor and savage, collected and led by men of more intelligence but of baser minds, who incited them to open rebellion by complaints against the civil authorities, and the promise of reward. They drove the judges from the bench and committed many personal outrages. They even set the military at defiance, and threatened to assume the entire rule. At that alarming crisis, Mr. Hooper was one who came forward and dared to advise decisive measures. The number of the regulators had accumulated to three thousand. The plan of Mr. Hooper was carried into execution; a military force was raised, a severe battle ensued and the insurgents were dispersed. This occurred in 1770.

In 1773, Mr. Hooper was elected a member of the assembly of North Carolina, and discharged his duties so much to the satisfaction of his constituents, that they returned him the ensuing year. It was then that the creatures of the crown attempted to throw a ministerial coil of oppression around the people, and it was then that they found a bold, fearless, eloquent and uncompromising opponent in William Hooper. He not only met them in the legislative hall with incontrovertible arguments, but he spread their designs before the public far and wide, by a series of essays over the signature of Hampden. His course was in favour of liberal principles, but ruinous to his purse. The question before the assembly was the re-organization of the judiciary, which had become defunct by the expiration of the statute that created it. An attempt was made to model it in such a manner as to meet the designs of the British cabinet. So powerful was the influence of Mr. Hooper, that he kept his opponents at bay, and the province was a year without any courts.