MAJOR ELDER'S ADDRESS.
Major Elder then rose and spoke in the following terms:
To Col. John Lewis Peyton whom I see before me, and who by right of primogenture now stands at the head of the descendants of John Howe Peyton, and through him to all the descendants of this eminent man, I would say that the people of the county of Augusta, represented by the Judge of their County Court and Board of Supervisors, have requested me to signify the acceptance by the county of the admirable portrait of Mr. Peyton which has just been tendered it by Capt. Bumgardner in such appropriate and beautiful terms. Col. Peyton, in presenting to his native county this portrait of his distinguished father, has done well, in that he has at once performed an act of filial piety and conferred a public benefit; for whilst Col. Peyton has by this act given apt expression to the tender and loving relations which should exist between a dutiful son and an honored parent, it must also be remembered that the father whom he loved so well was amongst the most distinguished of Augusta's adopted sons, and she is now given an opportunity of manifesting towards him those sentiments of affection and pride which a mother cherishes for her honored children. Individuals and families honor themselves in honoring their worthy ancestors, and communities and states offer the highest incentive to industry, virtue and patriotism by honoring the memory of those who have filled the public stations with fidelity and zeal for the public good.
I shall not attempt a biographical sketch of Mr. Peyton. Capt. Bumgardner has told us of his birthplace and honorable lineage, of his collegiate education and subsequent preparation for the bar, of the commencement of his professional career in his native county of Stafford, and in connection therewith of his early selection for the office of Commonwealth's Attorney for that county, and of his having been chosen several times to represent it in the popular branch of the general assembly of the State before his removal to Staunton in 1808. We have also been told of the course of his life after his removal to this place. Some account of his merits must have preceded him, for almost immediately after settling here he was appointed Commonwealth's Attorney for this Circuit by its presiding judge, and in two or three years afterwards the distinguished Chapman Johnson resigned the office of prosecuting attorney for this county, in order, as it is said, that Mr. Peyton, because of his peculiar fitness, might be chosen for the place. It seems that from the time Mr. Peyton came here to live until he was disabled by the disease that ended his life, his time and talents were devoted to the study and practice of his chosen profession; for he belonged to that class of lawyers who do not stop studying when they begin to practice. During almost the whole of his professional life in this county he was Commonwealth's Attorney either for the County or the Circuit, and for the most part for both. The reputation he made as a prosecuting officer has rarely, if ever, been excelled in this State.
But whilst devoted to the law, which he studied as a science, and practiced only as a great and noble profession should be practiced, he was by no means unmindful of the duties he owed the community in which he lived and the State and country of which he was a citizen. As a military officer of the war of 1812, and as a member of the Senate of Virginia for a number of years, he discharged his duties incumbent upon him in these positions with honor to himself and with benefit to the State. And over the public assemblage of the people of this town and county occurring in his day, he was frequently called on to preside, upon which occasion he always acquitted himself with dignity and grace. He took a lively interest in everything of a public character that was going on around him.
He was one of those who think that every man should be more than his work; wider and higher than the business or calling by which he earns his daily bread. Some there are indeed who, whilst thinking this should be so, have barely the capacity to discharge the duties of their vocations, and are without time or strength for anything else; and hence must submit to be driven—
"Round the daily scene
Of sad subjection, and sick routine,"
until death relieves them of their bondage.
But we have been told by Capt. Bumgardner that Daniel Sheffey, a competent judge surely, in speaking of Mr. Peyton, said—"He possessed gigantic power without effort." No greater compliment could be paid to the intellect of any man. Mr. Peyton had time enough to become great in his profession, and to spare for other things. With him his daily work was a pleasure rather than a burden. Fortunate indeed is the man who is so gifted. The consciousness of the possession of such powers and the use of them in the right directions must be a delight to the possessor.
This appears to have been the thought of Macauley, when contemplating Milton in his poetic flights, after the constructive and artificial parts of his was done, he fancies the great poet might have said to himself:—