Lives of Distinguished North Carolinians, with Illustrations and Speeches

by Unknown

Though not openly opposed to the war, and sensible of the just grounds that the South had to resist the unconstitutional encroachments of the North, yet he did not believe the South could establish her independence. He thought the preponderance of the North's population, together with wealth and resources, easy access to aid from the outside world, advantage of retaining the government and its possession of the entire navy, were too great odds against us. He saw that the spirit of our people was too high, their determination of resistance too united to take kindly any suggestions of doubt or difficulty. He therefore kept his opinions within his own breast. He said to a friend on his front porch, in July, 1861: "Our people are excited, and do not consider, I fear, the strength of the enemy; they look upon it as an easy job, and they believe the war will soon be over; but, in my opinion, it will be of long duration, and hotly contested on both sides. When our ports are blockaded and the gunboats come up our rivers, as will be the case, and our people encounter the hardships that will follow, I fear their spirits will weaken and dissension will come. I do not think we will succeed; but I will say this only to you." Continuing, he said: "I shall do all in my power to secure our success. I will stand by the old State, and if the worst shall ultimately come, as I very much fear, I will go down with her, and when all is over I will do what I can to save what is left of her."

After the removal of the Confederate Government to Richmond, Va., Mr. Davis, in 1863, tendered to him the position of Attorney-General of the Confederate States, which he accepted. He held this high office but a few months, when he resigned. Some speculation obtained as to the cause of his early retirement. Suffice it to say, that his reasons for doing so were cogent and well-founded, as all of his conclusions were. They were of a private nature, and need not be related in this sketch.

Upon his acceptance of the place of Attorney-General he rented out his residence in Raleigh and removed his family to Petersburg, Va. In the spring of 1864 he returned with his family to Raleigh, where he was residing when the war ended.

The conclusion of the war found him, like a large number of the people of the South, wasted in substance, without means or prospects, and bereft of all save a shelter from the winds and the cold. He was reluctant to return to the practice of the law, and had determined not to again resume it. He had been out of the practice from 1855 to 1865, and had entirely neglected its study during that time. He said he was rusty, and had about forgotten all the law he ever knew, and nothing but a dependent family could induce him to take it up again. He did resume it, and gave to it his former labor and endurance, and the eminence and success he attained is well known to the bar and people of the State.

Beyond doubt the greatest forensic effort of Governor Bragg's life was his speech in the Johnston will case tried before Judge A. S. Merrimon, at Edenton, in February, 1867. Probably so large and able an array of counsel was never before engaged in any suit in North Carolina. The late Mr. James C. Johnston, the wealthiest man in the State, had devised his estate to the late Mr. Edward Wood and his (Mr. Johnston's) three overseers, neither of whom were related to him. The next of kin sought to break the will, alleging mental disqualification. The case occupied twenty-three days in the trial, and the best legal talent in the State was engaged in it. The attorneys representing the will were B. F. Moore, W. N. H. Smith, R. R. Heath, H. A. Gilliam, P. H. Winston, Edward Conigland, John Pool, and T. H. Gilliam; those representing the contestants were Bragg, Graham, Vance, Augustus Moore, William Eaton, James W. Hinton, of Norfolk, Va., and William F. Martin. Governor Bragg was the leader on his side, and Mr. Moore was the leader on the opposite side. Dr. Hammond, of New York, the distinguished specialist, was introduced as a witness, and presented as an expert to show the want of mental capacity of the testator. His examination, by the counsel of both sides, was most searching, and it is said that his cross-examination by Mr. B. F. Moore was as fine, if not the finest, professional work of the kind ever done in the State. Judge Merrimon presided with great ability, patience and impartiality, and well sustained the high reputation he had for being one of our ablest Superior Court Judges; Governor Bragg spoke seven hours, making the greatest speech of his life before a jury. Chief Justice Merrimon, referring to this speech, said: "Upon an issue of fact it was the strongest speech I ever heard." Judge Gilliam said: "Governor Bragg was at his greatest (he was a very great man), and by his ability and his preëminent tact in the management of his side of the case for a long time put in peril the integrity of a will which should never have been questioned." The will was established. An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court, but the decision of the court below was affirmed.

The habeas corpus cases in 1870 are well remembered. The history of those times and the incidents arising have not been forgotten by the people of the State. That the great writ of habeas corpus, issuing from a properly constituted authority, should have been entirely disregarded, was a blow at the rights of the individual and a significant stride towards executive usurpation and the overthrow of the rule of law. That there should be no presumption of innocence until the contrary was shown, and that the surest and quickest avenue of establishing innocence of crime should have been obstructed by a usurped military despotism, betokened that the liberty of the citizen was fast vanishing, and he was soon to become helpless indeed. Governor Bragg was among the foremost in vindicating the law and in maintaining and preserving its supremacy. He made a strong appeal for the defense of right and justice, and protested, in burning eloquence, against the least infringement of the citizen's security, so watchfully guarded by the Constitution. His memorable words are engraven in the hearts of the people.

While Governor Bragg was making his forcible appeal for constitutional law and liberty, the late venerable Judge Battle was listening with marked interest and attention. As the speaker extolled the past lustre of North Carolina for the maintenance of law and liberty, and contrasted her former power and renown with the impending destruction of her people's highest privilege and greatest boon—their mighty writ of right and safety—the brightest jewel that ever decked the vesture of the English law—heeded for centuries, and ever granted when fitly craved—this eminent and pure judge, thoughtful of his State's honor, could not restrain his emotion, and tears trickled down his whitened cheeks. When the speech was concluded Judge Battle said that it was the most eloquent and powerful argument he had ever heard in that court room. This was a compliment indeed; because, with honorable distinction, for many years, he had sat upon the bench of that high Court, and had heard the arguments of the State's brightest legal luminaries, whose broad intellectualism was the wonder and the admiration of the time, and whose lives and reputations have done so much to mould and to make the Court's past and present history.

The last great effort of Governor Bragg was in the Holden impeachment trial, the history of which is fresh in recollection. He appeared for the State, and pressed with fervor the impeachment. He made a long, close, and exhaustive argument, was listened to with the deepest and most marked attention, and his speech was considered by many among the best of his life. When he concluded Mr. Conigland, one of Governor Holden's counsel, walked over to where he sat, and, taking his hand, said: "Governor, you have made a grand speech, but it does not equal your Johnston will speech." Mr. Paul C. Cameron, who was his schoolmate and drillmaster at Captain Partridge's military school, a man ripe in years, and yet riper in intellect, judgment, and learning, said that he had observed Governor Bragg from his early manhood to his death, and he had never known any one who had better sustained himself before the people in every capacity; and that though he was confronted in this trial by the strongest lawyers in the State, whose reputations were without limit, he considered that his speech was the most complete and exhaustive of any delivered on that occasion. General Thomas L. Clingman, a statesman of the old school, pronounced this speech as "overwhelming and unanswerable."