Transcriber's note:

MEMOIR OF

JOHN HOWE PEYTON,

IN SKETCHES BY HIS

CONTEMPORARIES,

ANN M. PEYTON.

PREFACE.

The following sketches of John Howe Peyton, by some of his contemporaries, and the scanty material gleaned from an imperfect file of the Republican Farmer (newspaper) of 1811-12, and from the Staunton Spectator from 1838 to 1847, (between 1811 and 1830, only a few mutilated and unbound Staunton newspapers exist,) and a small parcel of family papers, letters, etc., which escaped destruction during the civil war; are all that can be found to throw any light upon the life of one of Virginia's purest men and greatest lawyers.[1] And thus his fame must largely rest upon the applause and praises, which his efforts called forth, with his immediate hearers and admirers. This deplorable want of material for a portrayal of his life and character, is not peculiar to his case. Few of those who have astonished their contemporaries by their wit and genius, and who were held in the highest admiration in their day, have left behind them memorials sufficient to justify their fame. This is so as to many of Virginia's eminent lawyers, and of even some of her most renowned public men. As to some of these the record is decidedly nebulous. Patrick Henry left behind such scanty remains, that great as were his oratorical talents and patriotic services, his fame rests rather upon the praises of others, than upon what he left behind of his own work. In this reflected or traditional way, his record is splendid, and so is that of John Howe Peyton, who, without overrating his merits and doing injustice to the memory of any of the jurists of the time, may be styled the greatest legal genius of his day. The universal opinion of his contemporaries goes to prove that in the science of criminal or penal law, of civil injuries or torts, and as a Public Prosecutor he had no equal, and it is as well established that in no department of the law had he any superiors. And this want of material is equally true of his great contemporaries, such as Daniel Sheffey, B. W. Leigh, and Chapman Johnson, so that like his, their fame rests on tradition. Alas, that they had not left something of their own productions—enough, at least, to enable us to have measured them as thinkers, writers and speakers. That they were all great men is beyond a doubt, for it is only the great man who touches the heart of the people, as well as their intelligence.

There was little of incident or stirring adventure in the life of Mr. Peyton, and this is the case generally, as to literary and professional men, but the life of such a man should not be permitted to sink into oblivion. He is represented by his contemporaries to have been a great and truly good man, who pursued his profession, not merely to gain a subsistence, but to do good, to advance justice and humanity, to promote the well being of his fellow creatures, and the general interests of society. Not his eloquence alone, but all of his powers were ever exerted for the cause of right and justice. And thus his gifts became a public benefit and blessing. If such a man does not deserve to be remembered, we might well ask, who does?

During the two brief episodes in his professional life, when a member first of the lower and then the upper House of the General Assembly, he labored to improve the Criminal laws, the Land laws, the laws relating to the rights of person and the rights of property; in fact, our whole system of jurisprudence, and to advance the cause of popular education and of internal improvements.

He was a man of large and progressive ideas, ready to accept any and all improvements, if persuaded that the remedies proposed were, indeed improvements, but while always ready to correct abuses, he was far from believing that all change meant reform—was too sagacious and far seeing, too much alive to the public interests, to encourage rash and ill advised men or measures, was wise and firm enough to oppose all fanatics and doctrinaires, in their excesses. In fact he stood in the way of these men and opposed their measures, as tending to the subversion of existing laws and the Constitution, and the introduction of anarchy and confusion. As a Public Prosecutor, it was both his duty and ambition to see the laws faithfully executed, and an example made of evil doers. In a word, he was a man who sought to do his duty, not to gain the applause of men, but to meet the approval of his God. At all times, and on all occasions, he was zealous for the common weal; and such was his goodness and magnanimity, that he desired to conceal, rather than display his deeds, and derive fame from them. If his course was beneficial to mankind—advanced the interest and prosperity of society and his country—he was content. For himself, he asked nothing, and always derived happiness from the preferment of others. Public honors were often bestowed upon others, which were looked upon as his due. So far from regretting it, or envying those who got them, he enjoyed seeing competent men promoted and when incompetent men were advanced, he would say, "let us make the most of them," so far was he from and above the littleness of vanity and jealousy. In a word he belonged to the class which "finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything." Of ambition for noisy honors, newspaper notoriety, or office, he had none. If ambition he had, it was gratified by the general recognition of the purity of his motives, the inflexibility of his personal integrity, by the evidences he constantly received that his labors to alleviate human suffering and to cure social disorders, were understood and appreciated. If he had ambition, it was to do good to his forlorn fellow creatures, to excel in his profession, and this latter he did so eminently that the great lawyers in every part of the State consulted him on many if not all important cases and abstruse points, and for years no law was passed, nor any important change made in existing laws, by the Legislature of Virginia, without members of the body, especially of the judiciary committee, asking his opinion and advice. That he had true ambition, loved honorable fame, we doubt not, and thus this exalted passion was, as we opine, the source of those noble actions and life-long labors, which caused him to be so much honored while living, and to be so venerated now that he is dead. And it is the duty of posterity to bestow on him that praise, after his death, which he declined while living.

Believing that the most efficacious method of exciting the talent of the living, is to confer due honors on departed merit, we have, nearly fifty years after his death, and thirty years after the destruction of his papers and almost everything throwing light upon his life undertaken this compilation. It must necessarily be very imperfect and incomplete, but inadequate as it is, it seems well to preserve it, as showing a wish, at least, to give to heaven-born talent its due.

We should like to have had sufficient material for fully portraying this remarkable man, his actions, his feelings, his thoughts and his adventures. Such a work would have derived additional interest from the fact that it would have recalled and preserved the recollection of his companions and friends, the kindred spirits of his day, now dead and nearly forgotten. As this could not be done, we have garnered up, in a fragmentary way, and not always in chronological sequence, the material, some of it light and trivial, [for it is said, P's 1st, "of the Godly man" "his leaf also shall not wither,">[ presented in the following pages, and while it is only a half lifting of the veil of oblivion, it gives us a glimpse, at least, into an almost forgotten life, and serves too, to keep in memory his interesting family of Montgomery Hall. Like all families, it has been dispersed, but it richly deserves to be held in memory and handed down to posterity.

In one of his eloquent sermons, Dr. Talmage thus speaks of oblivion, which he styles the cemetery of the human race. "Why, just look at the families of the earth how they disappear. For awhile they are together, inseparable and to each other indispensable and then they part, some by marriage going to establish other homes, and some leave this life, and a century is long enough to plant a family, develop it, prosper it, and obliterate it. So the generations vanish."

Mr. Peyton's family, forming no exception to the rule, has been dispersed, but it survives in its branches and without signs of decay. Indeed, some of the young shoots exhibit the life and vigor, the virtue and valor of the original stock, which has stood for centuries, in the language of Lord Bacon, "against the winds and weathers of time." May these vigorous branches spread out, increase, keep pace with the grand march of humanity, and the oblivion of the family be as distant in the future as was its origin in the past.

This, we believe, will be the case, for we do not belong to those who imagine that humanity is on the decline, that the energy of man is decaying, that the heart is becoming harder, and the imagination and intellect are dwindling away. On the contrary, in our opinion, man is, on the whole, advancing, and will continue to advance, intellectually and morally, until the world shall have answered all the purposes of its creation and the immortal state begins. What else means the vast improvement in morals, the ameliorations of war, the progress of political science, the redemption of woman from her degradation and bondage, the abolition of slavery, the general and wonderful progress of the race the last hundred years.

To his descendants now scattered through the States of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, New York, and the far West, this compilation will possess deep interest, if it possess none for others, and for them and their connections alone, it is designed. May the remembrance and contemplation of his virtues inspire them with a desire to imitate them!

MEMOIR
OF
JOHN HOWE PEYTON.

John Howe Peyton, who acquired so much fame as a lawyer, statesman and orator, was descended from Henry Peyton, of "Acquia", Westmoreland county, Va., the first of the Peytons to leave England for Virginia, which he did about the year 1644. Henry Peyton died at his home "Acquia", in Westmoreland county, 1659. We learn from the National Cyclopedia of Biography that from the period of their settlement in Virginia to the present day, 250 years, the family has been "prolific of men full of gallantry and public spirit, of thrifty habits, hospitable, charitable and generous, whose lives have been useful and blameless, and whose characters were without blemish". The grandson of the first emigrant, or Henry Peyton the third, who removed to Stafford county, left among other issue, a son, John Peyton, of Stony Hill, Stafford, who was the grandfather of John H. Peyton, and is described as a man of "undeviating rectitude of conduct, of unshaken constancy in friendship, active in benevolence and pure in his habits."

John Peyton left by his second wife a son, John Rowze Peyton, of Stony Hill, Stafford county, who served seven years in the Revolutionary Army and acquired by his dauntless valor and faithful discharge of duty, the sobriquet of the "hero boy of 1776". He was a man of strong convictions, probably of strong prejudices, and enforced his views in newspaper articles, showing marked ability as a thinker and writer. His son, John Howe Peyton, the subject of this sketch, was born at Stony Hill, April 27th, 1778, and died at Montgomery Hall, near Staunton, Augusta county, Va., April 3rd, 1847. And it may be truly said that no one was more loved, more honored or more mourned by those who knew him best.

When a boy attending a country school near his birth place, young John Howe Peyton was conspicuous for the beauty and intelligence of his countenance, the comeliness of his person, the quaintness of his humor, the vivacity of his spirits, and the pungency of his wit. The lad was fond of outdoor sports and all athletic exercises, in which he engaged daily, thus in good time developing his strength and securing for life a sound mind in a sound body. These pastimes, however, did not interfere with his studies, to which he devoted himself for years assiduously. And he succeeded so well, in both mental and physical exercises, that it was commonly said of him, that he was a boy who seemed to have come from the hand of nature, formed and destined to do extensive good, and to excel in every pursuit. So superior was he generally to his young companions that he was, before twelve years of age, pointed out as one who already gave evidence of his future abilities. When only sixteen years of age, he had grown into a young man of remarkable strength of body and vigor of mind, was full of pluck and spirit, and had acquired no small stock of learning. His father determined to send him to the North for further education. Accordingly he was entered at Nassau Hall Princeton University, N. J., in 1794, then, as now, one of the most famous seats of learning in the country, and much patronized by Southerners. His previous training prepared him well for the University, where he quickly took and kept a leading place till his graduation as A. M. in 1797.

At Princeton he continued, as may be surmised, diligent in his studies, and while going through the usual scholastic routine engaged in an extensive private course of philosophical, metaphysical, historical and general reading. His thirst for knowledge was insatiable, and he kept up this habit in after years, and to give his family a taste for literature was in the habit of reading aloud to his children of evenings the plays of Shakespeare, the writings of Addison, Swift, Johnson, Goldsmith and other standard authors. He also attended the debates in the Whig Society, (an association of young collegians, formed for mutual improvement,) where he won distinction as a speaker and debater. He was singularly free from the usual vices of youth and that sensuality and egotism, which is the source of so many miseries. In consequence of his high standing as a scholar, orator and man—and no young man was more noted for his exemplary habits, straightforward conduct and nice sense of honor—he was held in great respect in the University, alike by professors, tutors and fellow students. But he never showed the slightest consciousness of his endowments or discovered any vanity at the extent and variety of his attainments, and the impression they made on others, but enjoyed his success with propriety and good sense. He made many friends at Princeton, and if they were not afterwards of service to him, they were certainly a comfort. His object then, as ever afterwards, was not to shine, for ambition was not his failing, but he was incited by a thirst for knowledge and a desire for excellence. Having secured high academical honors, which are the laudable objects of any young man's generous ambition, by taking his A. M. degree, he returned to Virginia in 1797, immediately thereafter commenced, and in due time completed his legal education, and in 1799 entered on the law practice. Judge R. C. L. Moncure, President of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, says of him in his private journal: "He took a position on being admitted to the bar, which brought him immediate and continued popularity as a lawyer, a pleader and a scholar." His progress was indeed rapid, and he soon proved to be acute, deep, cautious, methodical and persevering, with extraordinary administrative ability; and was noted for his personal magnetism, his animal spirits and social powers, as well as his forensic abilities.

At this time he was six feet two inches high, of strong, lithe and vigorous frame, weighing about 180 pounds. His manners were affable and engaging, and were characterized by dignity and grace. He was fond of conversation, and his conversation was animated and instructive. He always, indeed, spoke with so much point that he appeared superior to others of his age in wisdom and understanding. To his solid attainments and well-bred and polished manners he joined a generous heart, virtuous principles and a chivalric sense of honor. These gifts and accomplishments soon inspired all who knew him with respect and esteem, and this admiration was due to none of those artifices so common with "people's men," or of that subserviency which so often leads to popularity, and which contra-distinguishes the man without principle, who wants office, from the man of principle whom office wants. It was also discovered that he was broad and liberal in his views and opinions on politics and religion, and indeed on all social questions—was free from cant and hypocricy, and was without any of that duplicity in youth which is the forerunner of perfidy in old age. Toward all men he was charitable, and did not require them to see things as he saw them; he allowed of a difference of opinion without treating a man as a heretic in religion, or a knave and traitor in politics because he sought to serve God or his country by a different course or policy from himself. He not only respected but venerated all men who were loyal to truth. His influence was consequently very great and was soon enhanced by the discovery that he was a man of stern and uncompromising integrity and inflexible firmness, or unlimited courage, a courage which extended to rashness, a man who could not be moved from the path of duty by "fear, favor or affection," and we may add that he went through a long, eventful and trying life without suspicion of any kind of vice. He was soon looked up to as a person not only of eminent merit but exalted character, who would, if the occasion arose, become a hero, ready and able to defend the rights of the people and the liberties of his country. Early in the century 1802-3 he was commissioned captain of a volunteer company of cavalry and drilled his command, composed of young gentlemen of Stafford and Spottsylvania counties over the country from Acquia Creek to Fredericksburg, and the annals of British Field sports were never illustrated by more daring feats of horsemanship, the clearing of fences, gates, hedges and ditches, than were performed by these Virginian riders.

In 1804 he married Susan, daughter of William Strother Madison, a niece of the Right Rev. James Madison, Bishop of Virginia, and relative of President Madison, by whom he left an only son, the late Col. William M. Peyton, of Roanoke, who was himself a man of gifted intellect and extensive acquirements, of upright and honorable character, who acquired as a public speaker and member of the House of Delegates of Virginia, a distinguished reputation for ability and statesmanship. We anticipate events in order to state that after losing his wife by her untimely death, he married in 1821 Ann Montgomery Lewis, a daughter of the old Revolutionary hero, Major John Lewis of the Sweet Springs; by his wife Mary, a daughter of the gallant Col. William Preston, of Smithfield, Montgomery county, who was wounded at the battle of Guildford, from the effects of which he died years afterward. By his second marriage he left ten children. In 1806 he was elected to the House of Delegates. This gave him little or no pleasure, as he preferred the profession but he served several years, up to 1810 on public grounds. Though there was not much scope in the House for his powers, he took an active part in all business and in the debates, and such was his political sagacity, his indomitable energy and his vehement eloquence, that he had almost unrivaled power over his hearers and soon became a leader, inspiring his followers with enthusiastic love and admiration, and was regarded by them, if not by both sides of the Chamber, as the ablest man in the House and the equal of any in the State. At that period he was as remarkable for his wise and prudent counsels as for his invincible eloquence.

During the session of 1809-10 Mr. Peyton made the celebrated report as to an amendment of the Constitution of the United States, which is appended to this sketch.

Staunton was early in the century a no inconsiderable town, and to lawyer and litigant alike the most important point west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, because the seat of the superior courts of law and chancery—the jurisdiction of the chancery court extending over the whole western part of the State. This fact caused many able and learned lawyers to make it their home, among the most prominent were Judge Coalter, Daniel Sheffey, Chapman Johnson, Briscoe G. Baldwin and Samuel Blackburn, and the terms were attended by such legal lights, from other circuits, as George Hay, William Wirt, P. P. Barbour, B. W. Leigh, L. W. Tazewell, Henry St. G. Tucker and others. Staunton was then regarded, and for many years later, as having the ablest resident bar in the State.

In 1808, Mr. Peyton removed to the town to enter the arena against these great men, and in a very brief period, indeed, he gained, in the opinion of the court and the lawyers and of the people, the first place at the bar. Such was his vigor, originality and learning, that Col. Preston, one of his biographers, says that "he met in contest the strongest men in each department of the law and he made himself a champion in all." Daniel Sheffey said "he possessed gigantic power without effort, was leader in his circuit and at the head of the profession."

From 1808 to 1846, when struck down by apoplexy, he bent the whole energies of his mind and body to the profession—the only interruption in this long period of practice being a brief episode of military service, from 1812 to 1815, as Chief of Staff to Gen. Porterfield in the war against England, and one of five years in the Senate of Virginia from 1839 to 1845, when he resigned during his second term from ill health. He did not desire, still less seek, a seat in the Senate, but yielded to the importunities of his Rockbridge and Augusta friends, the leading men of Rockbridge particularly importuning him to accept the position, in order to promote, among other things, the fortunes of the Virginia Military Institute; a school they esteemed of great importance to the county and the cause of State education, and to which it was well known Mr. Peyton was most friendly, for he was everywhere known and recognized as the friend and promoter of learning and the liberal arts. And his deep interest in the cause of education was evinced by his acceptance of the position of trustee of Washington College in 1832, which he held till he resigned in 1846, having during this long period at great inconvenience to himself, attended the meetings of the Board, of which he was an active and useful member. He also acted for many years before and after 1832 as President of the Board of Trustees of the Staunton Academy; was one of the founders of the Virginia Female Institute at Staunton, and a member of the Board of Trustees; was one of the most earnest advocates of the scheme for establishing the Virginia Military Institute and suggested the union of the Institute and Washington College under one management, believing that the United University ought to be and would become one of the greatest seats of learning in the country. He also accepted, in 1840, the position of visitor to the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, and wrote the able, interesting and instructive report of the Board for that year. This was said at the time to be the ablest report ever written on the condition, the mode of instruction, the changes and improvements which should be introduced in the course of study and discipline and the future usefulness of West Point.

Education he considered the philosophy of the human mind, enriching it with all that is useful or ornamental in knowledge, teaching us how to avert evil and produce good. It was not so valuable for the learning acquired, for to be well informed, was not, in his opinion, to be well educated; as for the moral character it formed, for the habit of thought engendered, for the preparation it was for the practical duties of life—in a word, he regarded education or intellectual progress as the sure forerunner of moral improvement.

It may not be out of place to mention here that his interest in, and sympathy for the unfortunate and afflicted was manifested in various ways, but especially by his services as a member of the Court of Directors of the Western Lunatic Asylum at Staunton for over twenty years, during ten of which he was President of the board.

Mr. Peyton's political life can be briefly summarized. He voted for the election of James Madison and zealously supported his administration. He also voted for James Monroe, and opposed the election of John Quincy Adams, voting for Gen. Jackson. He voted for Jackson twice, reluctantly when a candidate for a re-election, because of his refusal to sign the bill to recharter the United States Bank, but under a belief that Jackson's course was more due to the feelings created by the particular time when congress passed the bill, it being just previous to his second election, than to any settled hostility on his part to a United States Bank, and he subsequently abandoned that party, and ever afterwards adhered to the Whig party.

Mr. Peyton thus gives his reasons for abandoning the democratic party—he said: "shortly after his (Jackson's) re-election, he commenced a train of measures, to which I was utterly opposed, measures of a novel and alarming character, which in their origin and their subsequent developments, brought distress and embarrassment upon the banks, upon the country at large, and especially upon all our commercial interests. I allude to his wild, violent and undigested schemes of finance, commencing with his pet bank system and ending with his order in council, the specie circular. This warfare upon the bank of the United States, the currency and the commerce of the nation, reduced us in 1837 to the degradation of witnessing a general suppression of specie payments by the banks. These acts, connected with the corrupting system of party discipline, introduced by that administration, with the view of compelling private judgment to succumb to the behest of the party, completely separated me from the administration of Andrew Jackson." (See his letter of date May 1st, 1839, and addressed to the people of Augusta and Rockbridge counties.)

In the Senate, he opposed the annexation of Texas, a revenue tariff, and a war with England on the question of the Oregon boundary line, saying in regard to Oregon, "while our title to the whole of that vast region extending westward from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and the 42nd degree of north latitude to 54° 40′ was certainly as good as that of any other nation, and probably better, we had ourselves, on repeated occasions virtually admitted that it was not so complete and unqualified as to preclude all other claims to any portion of it; and therefore a war for Oregon, unless an attempt was made to wrest it forcibly from our possessions would be not only a blunder but a crime."

The annexation of Texas he opposed on many grounds. He declared first that America was already too vast to be national, and too rich to be democratic, and any extension of her borders would increase the evils. Secondly, he objected to a clause in the constitution of Texas which refused to the legislature power to pass laws for the emancipation of slaves. Thirdly, he was opposed to the United States Government assuming the debt of Texas and he thought annexation might lead to useless wars about boundary, etc.

On the question of the tariff, he held that direct protection was a legitimate object of legislation and he opposed any tariff which gave merely incidental protection. He derived his doctrine on the question both from the necessity and justice of the case, and the explicit avowal of those who framed the constitution and of those who sat in the first Congress under it, that it was designed and desired to lay duties for the encouragement and protection of domestic manufactures and he would allow no arguments of expediency to induce him to abandon his ground and to fall in with the friends of a revenue tariff giving incidental protection. This phraseology he denounced as a device of demagogues who were willing to conceal or abandon their principles in order to secure success. He also supported the "Monroe Doctrine," opposed nullification and secession, and favored a United States bank and popular education by means of State aid. He also spoke on behalf of a generous system of internal improvement and against the great liberty of divorce. In a word, he gave a general support to the principles of the old Whig party and occupied a position of commanding influence. His speeches in the Senate, like those at the bar, were distinguished for their clear, nervous brevity. And the great men of the day, B. W. Leigh, John J. Allen, R. E. Scott, William C. Rives, Vincent Witcher, Wm. Daniel, R. C. Conrad, and others, declared were equal to anything ever heard in a deliberative assembly. He was consulted and deferred to for the wisdom, sagacity and moderation of his counsels and was usually styled the "Nestor of the Senate." His influence was paramount and always exerted for the public good, and the prosperity of Virginia, for half a century; indeed, up to the civil war, was to no inconsiderable degree, due to the wise advice of this patriotic and public spirited man.

Some years before he entered the Senate, he had grown stout, weighing 220 pounds, his fine silk-like hair was snowy white, his face florid, his eyes bright, piercing and thoughtful, and in silence his calm and serene countenance gave him a majestic and graceful appearance. Alexander McD. Cowan, writing of him in the Vindicator newspaper of Staunton, February 18th, 1887, says; "Mr. Peyton was a remarkably handsome man, being of a fine figure and size, and with a face whose every feature was well-nigh faultless in shape and expression. Indeed, the word superb which used to be applied to the late Gen. Hancock's commanding appearance, might with equal appropriateness have been applied to John Howe Peyton." Gen. William Preston, of Kentucky, told the writer he was, when he first met him in 1835-6 at the White Sulphur Springs, the "finest specimen of the Virginia gentleman of the old school, in his scrupulous, old fashioned courtesy, and open handed liberality, in his dress and appearance, he had ever seen—was not only an honor to the State but to human nature." His health was good up to the age of 66 years, his step firm, his figure erect; in fact, he was as straight as a dart, and there was something in his look which seemed to arise from an innate disposition of the mind or the workings of a great soul.

He kept up a large establishment at his elegant home of Montgomery Hall, having over fifty servants about his premises, entertained a great deal of company in a delightful manner, gave sumptuous dinners and a great many of them, and of other entertainments—in fact, he kept open house, and while he set no bounds to his generous hospitality, there was no ostentation or vain display, though his house and furniture were thoroughly well appointed. His guests were among the most distinguished for talents and acquirements, for rank and station in the State and country. It was said, therefore, that at Montgomery Hall you were sure to enjoy the "feast of reason and the flow of soul." While he entertained so well, he was himself abstemious in his habits and denied himself animal food one day in every week.

He was wise and prudent in forming his intimacies and friendships, but when once a man's friend, unless for some good cause, he was ever constant and unchangeable, and there was no length to which he would not go to serve a friend. On one occasion, when in the Senate, he sacrificed the office of Governor of Virginia, to which he was about to be elected, to serve a friend and to secure the election of his friend, as he did, to the position of Judge. At another time, for he was a friend who "abided in the day of trouble" he offered a friend in distress from pecuniary losses, the occupation, use and proceeds of one of his estates in Alleghany county, of nearly 5000 acres of land and a large number of servants. In this munificent spirit of liberality and generosity, he sought to provide for this unfortunate friend and his dependant family. So constituted was he, that it was often said that if a man's friend, he was the friend of his family, indeed of everybody connected with him—in a word he took the whole tribe to his heart. As a master, he was kind, humane, just and ever mindful of the wants of his servants, provided every family with a good house and garden, extended to them the privilege of raising poultry, pigs, etc., and of enjoying the fruits of such care and industry as they chose to bestow on them, during time allowed for this purpose. And he was so loved and respected by his servants that they considered it a favor, not a task, to do his bidding. But when there was occasion for it, he could be severe, and required a strict account from all.

Every community has its leading spirit, who, to a certain extent, impresses his character upon it and brings it up, in a measure, to what that choice spirit is, and that is precisely what Mr. Peyton did. He was identified with every interest of the people, with their trade and commerce, with the material development of the State, and its moral, educational and religious prosperity. He was honest and upright in the highest degree, and never violated a trust, but was ever faithful to every obligation. His heart was full of that charity which "vaunteth not itself and is not puffed up." The poor, the afflicted, the distressed, whether "in mind, body or estate," were recipients of his kind deeds, and the widow and orphan knew him in their extremity. Principle dictated all his acts and he never departed a hair's breadth from the line of duty.

He was warm hearted, genial, and kindly, was fond of intellectual society, in which he was sure to shine, was given to hospitality and entertained more company probably than any gentleman of his day in Virginia; in fact, lived with open house.

Among other accomplishments, it should be remembered that he was a refined and robust writer, and had his professional and business engagements permitted, he would doubtless have been a famous author. Now and again he indulged, in an hour of leisure, in preparing an article for the British Reviews. They showed eminent literary talents. Those productions were, for the most part, destroyed in the library of his son, Col. J. Lewis Peyton, which was stored for safe keeping during the Civil War, on his Jackson River estate in Alleghany county, where they were burnt by Federal troops. His essays were generally on subjects of utility to the State and country, but some times his disquisitions were on moral and metaphysical science, and were remarkable for their clearness and force—no man, indeed, could have presented his views in a more perspicuous, more forcible or convincing manner. Judge McCue says, "his conception of a great subject and mode of expression were as clear, distinct and demonstrative as were those of Edmund Burke."

In a brief sketch only his salient points can be touched upon. Enough has been said, however, to present a fair idea of the superior mental and moral endowments of this extraordinary man. For his wonderful life-long labors he did not receive, though having a most extensive and fairly lucrative practice—probably the largest of any lawyer in Virginia—a tithe of the annual income of a modern millionaire, but he accomplished great and noble ends, and no language can describe the inward satisfaction, the mental pleasure he must have enjoyed. He rejoiced in what riches cannot purchase, the love, admiration and respect of every one, from the humblest mountaineer to the highest official in the land.

His name has not perished and will not, but will grow greener with years and blossom through the coming ages. This little tribute, it is hoped, will extend and confirm the reputation of a man worthy of universal admiration. May it, however, do more. The fame of the truly great can only be of use when stimulating by example. Let every reader of these pages consider what he can contribute towards the same great cause of social melioration, what sacrifices he will make to reclaim the vicious, instruct the ignorant, cheer the disconsolate, what selfishness and bigotries he will relinquish; what benevolence, justice, charity he will exercise, and what, in a word, he will do to imitate the example of heroic worth given us by this truly wise and good man.

He was struck down by apoplexy in 1845, recovered sufficiently to walk about his house, but was disabled in 1846, by a second attack accompanied by paralysis. His mind, however, continued clear and vigorous, though his voice was indistinct. This was illustrated by his ability displayed on his sick bed, in a conversation with the late Col. John B. Baldwin, in which he gave him the points and elucidated the intricacies of an important and difficult law case, then in progress and cited the authorities. Throughout his illness, he endured his sufferings with patience and meekness, and died at Montgomery Hall, April 3d, 1847, leaving the reputation of having been a perfect gentleman, the soul of honor, and the pink of chivalry.

MR. PEYTON'S REPORT IN 1810.

VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE.

extract from the message of gov. tyler of virginia.
december 4th, 1809.

A proposition from the State of Pennsylvania is herewith submitted, with Gov. Snyder's letter endorsing the same, in which is suggested the propriety of amending the constitution of the United States so as to prevent collisions between the government of the Union and the State government.

house of delegates.

Friday, Dec., 15th, 1809.

On motion ordered that so much of the Governor's communication as relates to the communication of the Governor of Pennsylvania, on the subject of an amendment proposed by the legislature of the State to the constitution of the United States he referred to Messrs. Peyton, Otey, Cabell, Walker, Madison, Holt, Newton, Parker, Stevenson, Randolph, Cocke, Wayatt and Ritchie.

Thursday, Jan., 11th, 1810.

Mr. Peyton from the committee to whom was referred that part of the Governor's communications which relates to the amendment proposed by the State of Pennsylvania, to the constitution of the United States, made the following

report.

The committee to whom was referred the communication of the Governor of Pennsylvania, covering certain resolutions of the legislature of that State proposing an amendment of the Constitution of the United States by the appointment of an impartial tribunal to decide disputes between the State and Federal judiciary, have had the same, under their consideration, and are of opinion that a tribunal is already provided by the Constitution of the United States to wit; the supreme court, more eminently qualified from their habits and duties, from the mode of their selection, and from the tenure of their offices, to decide the disputes aforesaid in an enlightened and impartial manner than any other tribunal which could be selected.

The members of the supreme court, are selected from those in the United States, who are most celebrated for virtue and legal learning, not at the will of a single individual, but by the concurrent wishes of the President and Senate of the United States; they will therefore have no local prejudices or partialities. The duties they have to perform, lead them necessarily to the most enlarged and accurate acquaintance with the jurisdiction of the Federal and State courts together, and with the admirable symmetry of our Government. The tenure of their offices enables them to pronounce the sound and correct opinions they may have formed without fear, favour, or partiality.

The amendment of the Constitution proposed by Pennsylvania seems to be founded upon the idea that the Federal judiciary will, from a lust of power, enlarge their jurisdiction, to the total annihilation of the jurisdiction of the State courts; that they will exercise their will instead of the law and the Constitution.

This argument, if it proves anything, would operate more strongly against the tribunal proposed to be created, which promises so little, than against the State courts, which, for the reason given, have every thing connected with their appointment calculated to insure confidence. What security have we, were the proposed amendments adopted, that this tribunal would not substitute their will and their pleasure in place of the law? The Judiciary are the weakest of the three departments of government, and least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution; they hold neither the purse, nor the sword; and even to enforce their own judgments and decisions, must ultimately depend upon the executive arm. Should the Federal judiciary, however unmindful of their weakness, unmindful of the duty which they owe to themselves, and their country, become corrupt and transcend the limits of their jurisdiction, would the proposed amendment oppose even a probable barrier to such an improbable state of things?

The creation of a tribunal, such as is proposed by Pennsylvania, so far as we are able to form an idea of it, from the description given in the resolutions of the Legislature of the State, would, in the opinion of your Committee, tend rather to invite them to prevent collisions between the Federal and State courts. It might also become in process of time, a serious and dangerous embarrassment to the operations of the general government.

Resolved, therefore: That the Legislature of this State do disapprove of the amendment to the Constitution of the United States proposed by the Legislature of Pennsylvania.

Resolved also: That his Excellency the Governor be, and he is hereby requested to transmit forthwith a copy of the foregoing preamble and resolutions to each of the Senators and representatives of this State in Congress, and to the executives of the several states in the union, with a request that the same be laid before the Legislature thereof.

The said Resolutions being read a second time, were, on motion ordered to be referred to a committee of the whole House on the state of the Commonwealth.

Tuesday, Jan. 23rd, 1810.

The House according to the orders of the day, resolved itself into a Committee of the whole house on the state of the Commonwealth, and after some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Stannard of Spottsylvania, reported that the Committee had, according to order, had under consideration the preamble and resolution of the select committee, to whom was referred that part of the Governor's communication which relates to the amendment proposed to the constitution of the United States by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, had gone through with the same, and directed him to report them to the House without amendment, which he handed in to the clerk's table.

And the question being put, on agreeing to the said preamble and resolutions, they were agreed to by the House unanimously.

Ordered that the clerk carry the said preamble and resolutions to the Senate, and desire their concurrence.

in senate.

Wednesday, January 24th, 1810.

The preamble and resolutions on the amendment to the constitution of the United States, proposed by the Legislature of Pennsylvania by the appointment of an impartial tribunal to decide disputes between the State and Federal judiciary, being also delivered in, and twice read, on motion was ordered to be committed to Messieurs Nelson, Currie, Campbell, Upshur and Wolfe.

Friday, January 26th, 1810.

Mr. Nelson reported from the committee on the preamble and resolutions on the amendment, proposed by the legislature of Pennsylvania, etc., that the committee had, according to order, taken the said preamble and resolutions under their consideration, and directed him to report them without any amendment.

"This important state paper," says Judge McCue, "can be seen in the works of Daniel Webster, vol. III, pp. 352-54, and so able were these views and resolutions, considered at the time, as to attract the attention of the leading Statesmen of the country, and they guided the other States in the adoption of similar resolutions, thus overthrowing the effort of Pennsylvania to establish a separate and distinct judicial department as arbiter between the Federal and State Governments."

In the great debate in the United States Senate between Daniel Webster and Gen. Hayne, of South Carolina, Mr. Webster quoted Mr. Peyton's preamble and resolutions, as so conclusive of the questions involved, as to admit of no further discussion. In a subsequent pages of Judge McCue's sketch, an interesting conversation between Mr. Webster and Daniel Sheffey is reported.

DISEASE LEADS TO HIS CHANGE OF HOME.

For several years previous to 1808, Mr. Peyton suffered with a disease of the stomach and bowels—a chronic disentary, which baffled the skill of his physicians. He consulted many of the eminent doctors of Virginia and Maryland in vain. The numerous remedies they prescribed were taken without good effect or gave only temporary relief. As a last resort he determined, on the advice of his family physician and his most intimate friends, to try the efficacy of the mineral waters of the Virginia Springs, and accordingly spent the summer of 1806-7 at that famous resort, the old Sweet Springs, in Monroe county. A use of the waters in a very brief period, gave him relief from his sufferings, and at the end of the season his health was re-established. He quickly decided, painful as was the severing of early ties, and the separation from friends, to leave the malarial regions of lower Virginia, and to make his home in the healthy and bracing climate, west of the Blue Ridge. Accordingly in 1808 established himself in Staunton.

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The deep interest taken by Mr. Peyton in all matters likely to promote the thrift of the people and the public prosperity, and to which repeated reference is made in the various sketches of his life, is illustrated by the following facts:

At a meeting of the people of Augusta, held in Staunton in June, 1811, to form an agricultural society, the first ever organized in the county, he was present and appointed on what was styled the Committee of Correspondence, a committee, no doubt, raised to induce by letters the leading men of the county to co-operate in the cause.

MILITARY SCHOOLS.

In view of the war threatened with England the year following a military association was formed in Staunton, and a committee was appointed at a public meeting to deliberate and report on the best means to be adopted in order to secure the establishment of military schools in the counties of Augusta, Rockbridge and Rockingham for the instruction of officers and men. This committee, of which Mr. Peyton was a member, reported to a meeting of the association held in Staunton June 20th, 1812. It does not appear by whom the report was written, but it embodies his sentiments on the subject, and is therefore given as follows, namely:

"The committee to whom was referred a resolution of the Staunton Military Association, which has for its object the establishment of military schools, having had the subject under consideration beg leave to report.

"The committee deem it unnecessary to refer to any other authority than the good sense and honest feelings of every man, to prove the great utility, at all times, but more especially at this, of military instruction to the people of this country. The subject, there at least, is a new and difficult one; and the committee are very sensible that any plea which they can suggest will have many palpable obstacles to encounter and may be exposed to various others, which they cannot foresee. They rely for every hope of success upon the acknowledged value of the object in view, upon the patriotism of the people, upon the order of the present times, and upon the success of the experiment, which this society has made.

"A military school, in which could be taught the complete discipline of a refinest, the different exercises of the rifle corps, the artillery and the infantry, together with the cavalry exercises of the sword, though it could not promise to teach the whole principles of war as a science would certainly promise much that would be eminently useful to every soldier and officer in the institution. And your committee cannot refrain from suggesting that a school for these purposes, successfully conducted, might serve as an introduction to some more extensive and some more perfect system of military education.

"To obtain a person capable of conducting such a school, would not always be easy; such a person is not very readily to be met with, and what is yet more difficult, funds to remunerate his services, are to be raised by voluntary contribution. But at present, judging from their own experience, in this society, your committee think that a person whose skill, information and zeal in military affairs, would enable him to conduct such a school, may be found in your commandant, and they hope that funds to compensate his services are within the reach of an active and spirited exertion. They hope that the neighboring counties of Rockbridge and Rockingham would consider the subject as worthy of their attention, and might be induced to unite with the people of Augusta in their endeavors to attain it. A sufficient number of subscribers in the county of Augusta alone would probably not be obtained, to induce any one properly qualified, to devote his time to this service. But by the union of Rockingham and Rockbridge this might be effected.

"Your committee would therefore recommend to the society, the adoption of the following resolutions:

"Resolved, that subscriptions be opened in the county of Augusta, under the immediate superintendance of a committee of seven persons, appointed by this society, for establishing a military school in the town of Staunton to be denominated the Staunton Military School, to commence on the 15th day of July next, and continue for one year thereafter, and be under the directions of Capt. George Turner; the present commandant of this society—that the times of teaching and price to subscribers be regulated by said committee and the commandant in conjunction, so that the days of teaching be not less than one day in each fortnight, and the price to subscribers be not more than ten dollars per annum, payable quarterly in advance.

"Resolved, that it be recommended to the commandant to endeavor to establish similar schools in the neighbouring counties of Rockingham and Rockbridge, and that the committee aforesaid be instructed to invite, respectfully, the co-operation of those counties."

THE WAR OF 1812.

The year following, President Madison sent a war message to congress and such was the popular excitement growing out of the British claim entitled the "Right of Search," and the collision between the United States frigate, Chesapeake, and the British frigate, Leopold, in 1807, which had never been allayed, that war was declared by the United States against Great Britain, on June 18th, 1812.

The nation was much divided on this policy. By the opposition party, the main strength of which was in the Northern and Eastern States, it was considered a mere administration measure, resistance to which argued no want of patriotism, but quite the contrary and so from the beginning to the close of hostilities, the Federalists did all they could to stay the course on which they thought the Government was driving to destruction. The Hartford convention met, and some of the New England States went so far as to nulify an act of Congress regarding enlistment. During all this time, the country was in great want of resources, which nothing but unanimity could supply. The army was but a handful, and the Militia, instead of coming forward in large numbers, remained at home to attend party meetings and discuss the right of the Government to call them out; the supply of war material was very scanty, and the Treasury almost empty.

Such was the unpromising state of affairs, when John H. Peyton, who had voted for Mr. Madison and warmly supported the war policy, came forward and exerted every energy of mind and body to stir up popular enthusiasm in support of the war. He volunteered at once, to serve in the army, until peace was restored, and was immediately appointed Chief of Staff to Gen. Porterfield, an old Revolutionary officer, who, while serving as a lieutenant in 1780, at the siege of Charleston, S. C., had killed by his side, Captain Valentine Peyton, a young and gallant cousin of J. H. Peyton. Forgetting everything but his duty to his country, which was with him, and every true patriot paramount, Mr. P. abandoned his lucrative practice, which more selfish men sought to appropriate, and his wife and family and joined the army on the James river in Eastern Virginia, with the active operation of which he was identified until the declaration of peace, February 17th, 1815.

The "Republican Farmer" went out of existence, no newspaper took its place for years and we have seen no account of the army services of Major Peyton beyond the statement that he was "one of the most enterprising and daring officers in the service," but more than thirty years after the end of the war, and his death, his minor children received from the Government, a pension for his services.

ANECDOTE OF THE FIGHTING MAJOR.

The late Adam Bickle, of Staunton, father of R. G. Bickle and a member of the Augusta Force, use to enjoy telling an anecdote of Major Peyton. He said that repeated complaints were made by the soldiers as to the musty flour and inferior bacon furnished by the commissary, to the troops, while stationed at Camp Holly. On one occasion, Major Peyton remonstrated with the commissary, on the character of the stores, when that officer flew into a passion and grossly insulted the major, whom he alleged, was not the proper officer to take him to task. Without a moment's thought Major Peyton knocked him down with the hilt of his sword, and gave him a thorough drubbing in presence of the men. This would appear very curious to persons accustomed to European discipline and standing armies, but with the raw levies, of eighty years ago, was much enjoyed and thought not to be greatly out of place. It had the effect of endearing the Major to the men who never in any kind of subsequent trouble, failed to appeal to him.

Many years after one of Major Peyton's young children hearing of this affair, enquired if the commissary had challenged him. The Major replied that he had not. But continued the child "suppose he had, what would you have done?" "Why," said the Major, "I would have answered him as humorously as did the gentleman spoken of by Dr. Franklin, A gentleman in a coffee house," said the Major "desired another to sit further from him. Why so? Because you stink! That's an insult, and you must fight me. I will fight you, if you insist upon it, but I do not see how that will mend the matter, for if you kill me, I shall stink too, and if I kill you, you will stink, if possible, more than you do at present."

A WESTERN TRIP IN 1815.

Shortly after the close of the war, Mr. Peyton made a visit to Kentucky on business, one object being to look after fifteen hundred acres of land belonging to his wife lying near Louisville, a property which has since become of immense value. He was accompanied by Ned Phipps or Fibs, his body servant during the war, a faithful negro, upon whose attachment he could rely. In his station few men behaved, as a rule, better than Ned, who had a certain amount of self respect, "nigger" as he was styled, and knew how to conduct himself, if he did not always do it. They made the entire journey from Staunton to Louisville, on horseback, of course they were armed, as their route was through a wild and savage country, infested by Indians, many of them dissatisfied with the close and the result of the war; and a class of desperate whites, more dangerous than the red men, some of whom had served under Gen. Harrison in the North West, and were survivors of Fort Meigs, and the battle and massacre of the river Raisin. The Eastern part of Kentucky, known as the "Knobs," or the "Knobby country," is still a savage country in possession of a savage people, though traversed by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad which is supposed to have let in some of the light of civilization, and has gained an unenviable notoriety within the past ten years by reason of the bloody feuds between the Hatfields and McCoys. Through this wilderness they travelled on miserable paths called roads, which connected the settlements, swimming rivers, and other water courses and resting of nights in log huts, called country taverns promising accommodations for man and beast. And what is remarkable to relate completed their outward journey and returned to Virginia in safety.

When we consider what our ancestors endured, what hardships and privations they suffered, we are of the opinion that we enjoy to-day, more physical, spiritual and intellectual benefits and blessings than have ever before fallen to the lot of man. Notwithstanding the rough experiences of this trip, Mr. Peyton found something bright in all he saw and heard, allowed nothing to depress his spirits, still less deepening sorrows, over the woeful complaints he listened to from back woodsmen of hard times and worse coming.

He was one of those men who make the best of every thing, there was nothing splenetic, melancholy, or timid in his nature, and he returned from his visit strengthened for his manly duties—his lawyer's life. Such was his devotion to the profession that he would allow nothing to permanently turn him from it, and he only served two years as Mayor of Staunton, to which position he was elected in 1817-18 because, the duties were so light that they did not interfere with his work, and his friends urged him to accept the place as, at that time, the currency was deranged, money scarce, and people depressed. From the fertility of his resources it was thought he would find a remedy for these evils. During his Mayoralty, the city made an issue of paper money and this circulating medium brought no small relief to the people. One of these "shin plasters," as they were termed in popular slang phraseology, was found a few years since, over eighty years from the time it was put forth; presumably in the stocking of some provident old woman, and was sealed up as a curiosity in the corner stone of the Confederate Monument in Thornrose Cemetery, at Staunton.

During the month he gave himself for relaxation and rest in Kentucky he enjoyed the society of such people as the Brown's, Green's Preston's Gov. Shelby, Col. R. M. Johnson, Natl. Hart, Robert Scott and other noted characters in that rich and lovely region. Some of these afterwards from time to time visited him, and greatly enjoyed the blandishments of Virginian society.

DECLINES AN APPOINTMENT.

On his return from his Western trip he was appointed deputy United States District Attorney for Western Virginia, and for a time discharged the duties of the office for his friend William Wirt. He had served in the Legislature in 1808-9, with Mr. Wirt and a strong mutual friendship was the result. On Mr. Wirt's resignation of the position and his removal to Baltimore, Mr. Peyton declined the office as conflicting with his other appointments, (which were more lucrative) and his extensive private practice.

We owe the following letters to the filial piety of Mr. Peyton's eldest daughter, Mrs. Susan M. Baldwin, widow of the late Col. J. B. Baldwin, who has preserved them since the Montgomery Hall family was broken up at Mrs. J. H. Peyton's death in 1850.

OLD FAMILY LETTERS.

Fawcett's Tavern, Green Valley, Bath Co., Va., June 1, 1822.
john h. peyton to mrs. peyton.

My Dear Ann:

I left home in such haste that I forgot to tell you to send to Mr. Johnson's for a carboy of wine. Though you do not like it yourself, hospitality requires that you should always have it for those who do. Baldwin [Afterwards Judge Briscoe G. Baldwin, his life-long friend] and I were thoroughly drenched in the rain-storm on yesterday, but neither of us felt the slightest inconvenience from it this morning. No news, so far, from your mother or Mrs. Massie. Give my love to William [his only son by his first marriage, the late Col. William M. Peyton, of Roanoke] and be assured, my dear Ann, that you are, in your present delicate situation, the source of constant solicitude to me. Take care of yourself and go to no large parties. You will always have the company of Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Donagho, Mrs. Baldwin, Miss Telfair, and you can not fail to enjoy such society. Write to me constantly.

With sincerest affection, though in great haste, your husband.

John H. Peyton.

same to same.

Lewisburg, Greenbrier Co., June 5th, 1822.

My Beloved Ann:

I received your affectionate letter of the 2nd of June this evening which gave me great pleasure. When separated from you, there is nothing that gives so much delight as to get one of your cheerful letters. I regret to learn that you have been indisposed, however slightly, since we parted. I feel confident, however, that with prudence and care you will suffer as little as anyone from disease. You have a thoroughly sound constitution. If you were a little older I would add, a well preserved one. If I were to tell you how many kind enquiries and good wishes have been expressed for you by friends here, you would be proud and happy.

I am much gratified to that you and my dear son William are again friends. I trust the reconciliation will be sincere and enduring. [Note.—It proved to be such and this reference is made to their relations in the memoir of Col. Wm. M. Peyton, "after the loss of his (Wm. M. Peyton's) mother, and Mr. Peyton's second marriage to her cousin, Ann Montgomery Lewis, * * William extended to her not only deference and respect, but a truly filial affection. Mrs. A. M. Peyton, was therefore soon warmly attached to him and taught her children to love him before they learned to do so for his own noble qualities, for his native endowments and the extent of his accomplishments, as they were developed to the family in after years.">[ Our good brother, James Woodville, is now with me and we often talk of you. He is a most kind, sympathetic and affectionate friend. Dr. Lewis has at last, set out for Point Coupee. Massie and his wife are recovering. Your mother expected to leave on a visit to you on yesterday. Whether she has actually gone, I do not know. I hope she has. If not I shall return by the Sweet Springs and endeavor to induce her to go back with me. Whether she comes or not, be of good cheer. I shall be with you and will see that every comfort is provided that love and foresight can suggest. Woodville says your mother will certainly go down, and I trust she may, as it would be a comfort to you and a pleasure to us all. Your father looks quite well, is hale and hearty, and Mrs. Woodville, who is at the Springs, much better. James sends his love to you and William.

I am your affectionate husband,
John H. Peyton.

P. S.—Mrs. Woodville was very anxious to have accompanied your mother to Staunton, but James[2] bids me tell you he could not spare his wife so long.

letter from john h. peyton to mrs. peyton.

Warm Springs, Sept. 2nd, 1822.

My Dear Ann:

I dined at the Hot Springs and arrived here last evening without accident or adventure and without increasing the inflammation of my wounded leg. [Note—While opening the front gate at Capt. Massie's, in the Valley of the Falling Spring, Alleghany county, his riding-horse, a spirited but badly trained animal, sprang forward, dashing him against the gate-post, and the iron prong of the latch was driven through the calf of his leg, inflicting a painful and dangerous wound. The wound was so serious indeed that he was confined to the house for several weeks and owed his recovery mainly, as was thought, to the kind attendance of Mrs. Massie and her family.] Old Brinkly, who is here, and something of a leech, and a kind and excellent fellow, examined and dressed the wound last evening. He approves of all that was done by Mrs. Massie, and insisted that I should take the warm bath this morning and let the "leg there soak for thirty minutes." I followed his advice in the absence of a more scientific authority, and have just returned from the bath feeling all the better for having taking it. I thought the burnt alum which sister Susan put on the wound healed it too rapidly, and the effect of the bath has confirmed me in this impression. Immediately after leaving the bath, the blood spurted in a lively stream from the wound, which Brinkly soon stopped. He was not cast down at this incident, but said it was a good sign, that it was a discharge of bruised blood, and applied lint and Basilican plaster, and I now feel quite easy and comfortable. Brinkly is not a quack; on the contrary, he possesses some skill, and is anxious to be of service, not only to me, but to all suffering humanity.

There are a number of visitors still here, among them Norborne Nicholas, Judge Roane, Dr. Adams, Mrs. Harvie and Malinda Bowyer. They meet daily, Dr. Brockenbrough included in the party, in my apartments, and we enjoy the reunion no little. All are exceedingly kind, they even oppress me with their friendly attentions. Having accepted the guidance of old Brinkly, I shall adhere to him as long as I improve. It may not be the best course, but it would be difficult to ascertain the wisest policy among such a multitude of counsellors, each one with an infallible remedy, and all advising a different course of treatment. But it is interesting to hear these good people discuss their theories. They are a remarkably cultured coterie to have remained behind the annual exodus, and all full of kindness of feeling. This I take to be culture, or the powers we acquire of sympathizing with others, of feeling the conditions under which they act and of regarding them and their interest rather than our own wishes and gratifications. Roane, who will stop with us three days, on his return from Richmond, and whom you have not met, though I have known him for 20 years, is a man of superior abilities, and with considerable literary attainments, is accurate in legal learning and one of our best lawyers and judges. He is a good, but not what is styled a "brilliant talker," ready in his wit and pat in illustration. He amuses the mind by his happy conceits which, like a good conscience, act as medicine for both mind and body. I regret to say that his health is bad. [Judge Roane died Sept. 4th, 1822.]

Girard Stuart has just arrived from the Sweet Springs and says 160 visitors are yet there, and about 60 at the White Sulphur. I hope to see you and little Susan, Captain and Mrs. Massie, on Friday. Present me affectionately to Capt. M., Susan and the family.

Your affectionate husband,
John H. Peyton.

SPEECH OF JOHN H. PEYTON 72 YEARS AGO.

The following interesting extract from the records of the Superior Court of law and chancery for Bath county, 1822, will no doubt be read with keen zest at the present time:—

extracts from the records.

At a Superior Court of law holden for Bath county at the court house on the 5th day of September, 1822.

John H. Peyton addressed the court to the following effect:—

"The melancholy task devolves upon me [Mr. Peyton was Attorney for the Commonwealth in the county and circuit] of announcing to the court the death of Hon. Spencer Roane, one of the Judges of the Supreme court of Appeals of Va. He departed this life on last evening at this place where he came a few weeks since for the recovery of his health.

In him the country has lost one of her most useful and distinguished citizens, liberty one of her most enlightened, firm and determined advocates, and the judiciary, one of its brightest ornaments.

As a small tribute of respect to the memory of the deceased, rendered peculiarly appropriate as it emanates from a department to which he was both personally and professionally attached, and from a court over which presides one who has long been his political associate and personal friend, I offer for adoption the following:

Resolved, That the court do forthwith adjourn and that the Judge, the Bar and the other officials of the court attend the funeral of the deceased.

The court and the Bar assenting to the resolution immediately adjourned."—Spectator, 1894.

same to same.

Isleham, Jackson's River, March 7th, 1823.

My Dear Ann:

I arrived here on Thursday about 12 o'clock, after a very disagreeable and fatiguing journey. The day I left home, I had good roads and fair weather, and I reached Roadcap's on the great Calf Pasture River, near the Panther's Gap, where I lodged. The next day I traveled in the rain from morning till night, and over wretched roads, often a half leg deep in mire. My horse was so wearied and exhausted I could get no further than the Hot Springs, twenty miles. The next day I rode through sleet and rain, mire and mud to Capt. Massie's, where I stopped until the weather improved. I then took your brother Benjamin with me to this point, where we have since been enjoying fine weather—the sky is now serene and the air mild.

The day I left Staunton Mrs. Massie set out for Fincastle on a visit to her sister, Mary, (Mrs. Woodville), who is, I am sorry to say, in declining health. She will make an effort to fetch Mary to her home, thinking the air and water of the Valley cannot fail to be of service to her. Capt. Massie and the children, your father and mother, and, indeed, all the family are in their usual good health and spirits.

A thaw has set in, the ice is breaking up, and the water courses rising. Vegetation is a fortnight later than last year at this time. The maple sugar season, which usually occurs in February, is just now beginning. Nelly is very busy over her pots and pans, but has only made thirty-three pounds. This she sends you to-day by Ben, who also carries, among other things, the cloth for a suit of clothes sister Massie presented me—the cloth is of her own manufacture and of fine and durable texture. Have this suit made up for me immediately and have the pantaloons cut by my wedding small clothes—they fit better than any of my others. If you are too busy to give this matter your attention ask Miss Tapp to attend to it. William will purchase the trimmings from Mr. Cowan. [Note—Joseph Cowan then the leading dry goods merchant in Staunton.]

I have decided to send your carriage horses by Ben and to run the risque of making my journey through Pendleton on the mare I bought of Capt. Massie. She is rough, much marked with harness, but is young, active and though spirited, gentle. I prefer such a riding horse, unsightly though she be, to the slow, lifeless movements of Kelly, who is at the best a shuffling nag.

I am adding to the furniture and comforts of our house here—have directed Mrs. Walton to make you some handsome counterpanes and some linen sheets, table cloths and towels from the flax grown on the farm. I have also bought a supply of feather beds and pillows, and purchased a mirror and dinner service of Liverpool ware, the latter for use on great days and holidays when you favor the place with your presence.

The servants have put up 5,900 pounds of pork and large supplies of lard. There is every prospect that we shall have plenty of fruit and vegetables, so that you will want none of the creature comforts when on your visit in August. The ice-house has not been commenced, and I fear will not be finished this season. Walton's delays are vexations—I suspect he has an object in them—he fears to make this place too comfortable lest you may prefer it to Staunton, in which case his services might, and would be dispensed with. If I should be forced by his repeated neglect of my orders to decline his services for the future, he will have fared as he hath wrought.

I hope to get a letter from you at the Warm Springs—do not expect another from me before my return. Ben unites with me in love to you, William and Susan.

I remain your affectionate husband,
John H. Peyton.

P.S.—Tell William the river could not be forded, or I should have sent for his minerals and other curiosities at McClintic's. Ben will take him his Indian arrows and stone cannon ball, though there is no account of the Indians ever having used big guns. Nelly sends Susan some maple sugar.

MAJOR JOHN LEWIS.

Mrs. Peyton made a visit to her mother at the Sweet Springs after the death of her father, Major John Lewis, which occurred at the Springs in 1823. Major Lewis ought to live in the memory of posterity, as he was in more ways than one a remarkable man, renowned among his comrades for courage, integrity, his high sense of honor and indomitable perseverance. Let us premise a word as to this heroic old man. He had long served in the Indian wars on the border and was present at the battle of Point Pleasant in 1774, an officer under command of his distinguished uncle, Gen. Andrew Lewis, commander-in-chief. During the arduous march from Fort Union through the wilderness and at the battle he infused his own spirit and energy into all about him, was already renowned for his precocious military talent at the opening of the Revolutionary war. About two years later he joined the Continental army as a Lieutenant, was engaged in nearly all the battles in the Northern Colonies, Monmouth, Saratoga, Trenton, etc., and spent the winter of 1777, at Valley Forge. Though a very young man he attracted and made the lasting friendship of Washington. He rose to the rank of Major, in which rank he served at the battle of Monmouth. At the close of the war, to which he had devoted his energies, and just as he was in sight of the glorious summit "where fame's proud temple shines afar," and his services would doubtless have been rewarded by high command, the strife ended by the recognition of American Independence. In 1783, Major Lewis returned to his Virginia home, without having won that extended fame which was so liberally meted out to those in high commands. From 1783, to Wayne's victorious campaign against the Western Indians, in 1794, Major Lewis was much on the frontier, had many encounters with savages and border ruffians, had many hair-breadth escapes and won great applause for his personal strength and boldness. In his frays with these fierce borderers he displayed extraordinary physical strength as well as indomitable pluck. He was only five feet ten inches high, but was strongly and compactly built, and his muscular power was enormous. It was commonly said that he was the strongest man in Virginia. His shoulders were broad and his chest deep. His countenance was frank, open, manly and cheerful, but at periods of danger stern and severe. In nature he was kind and gentle, was a humane and benevolent man, neither showing ferocity nor indulging in cruelty. He died an Elder in the Presbyterian church, universally respected by all who knew him. During his career he made the acquaintance of Gen. Jackson, afterwards seventh President of the United States, who entertained and expressed the highest opinion of his military genius and of his pure and upright character. In 1830, when South Carolina threatened nulification, General Jackson declared to a Virginian gentleman then in Washington, "That if he had a man like John Lewis to second him, he could go to South Carolina, hang Calhoun and end nulification within a month and forever." In 1830, the United States government made a large grant of lands to his heirs as a further recompense for his military services. It was during Mrs. Peyton's visit to her home in the Sweet Springs Valley, after her father's death, that the following letter was written:—

john h. peyton to mrs. peyton:

Staunton, June 24th, 1823.

I duly received the letter of my dear wife on the 15th, giving me the agreeable intelligence that she and Susan had improved in health and were well. Let me say a word here on the subject of your and her health. Do not let her habits of life become too delicate. If you will both continue the practice of taking a cold bath every morning, you will soon regain your former healthy tone, and Susan become stronger and teethe easily. Whenever you suffer with heat and need refreshment resort to the warm bath, not oftener, however, than once a day. Do not allow the nurse to carry Susan in her arms as much as heretofore; let her place the child on the floor to there exercise by getting on her own way—"We must crawl before we can walk." Nothing can supply the want of exercise, it gives the child confidence and the conversation of the nurse and the pointing out of objects pleases its fancy and arouses its faculties. Children that are too much nursed and coddled are apt to be weak and delicate and are sometimes even deformed by the carelessness of nurses in keeping them too long in improper positions. We cannot be too particular with this lovely child in whom we so much delight. The Masonic procession occurs to-day; it is in honor of John the Baptist. Dr. Stephens delivers the address [Rev. Dr. Stephens, Rector of Trinity Church, Staunton,] and the dinner is given at Mrs. Chamber's tavern. I can only participate in the dinner, as there is a trial of a negro for a rape committed on a white married woman, which will occupy my attention throughout the day. Now that he is within the toils of justice, I shall see that he does not struggle out and make his escape. Such brutal deeds must meet their just punishment.

Your friend Mrs. Baldwin is much engaged entertaining her brother and his family, who are on a visit from Winchester. Such spare time as I have is spent with Johnson and his family, where I am almost domiciled, [Chapman Johnson the distinguished lawyer.] Johnson's health is much improved and his spirits are better. He no longer suffers with depression. He makes many friendly enquiries after you and his god-daughter, Susan Madison. He goes to the Sweet this summer with his family and sister-in-law, Agnes Nicholson.

I have directed the servants to make you a supply of currant jelly and walnut pickles. Sinah has also salted down, for winter use, a quantity of excellent butter. Is there anything else you would like to have done? If so, speak—you will not have to speak twice.

On Thursday I commenced my harvest. The wheat is much better than last year, and than I supposed it would be. The recent rains have improved the oats and corn, and there is promise of an abundant yield. Our hearts should be filled with thankfulness for the countless blessings God showers upon us. Why are we not stimulated to more and greater acts of beneficence.

My health has improved since I last wrote—my cold is gone, my appetite good and my spirits buoyant. I do not think I will ever lay aside my flannel again, certainly not before May is out. Dr. Boys and Gen. Brown both told me recently that they never removed theirs without taking cold, and for several years they have worn it all the year round.

I received a letter from Capt. Massie a few days since, from which I am happy to learn that he is recovering. I hope to meet Woodville soon, on his way to see his friends in Culpeper. I hear that Aunt McDowell is at Smithfield with your grandmother Preston, whose health is much impaired. James M. Preston writes urging me to make them a visit and to fetch you and Susan along. Ballard is a stirring and promising lad. [afterward Wm. Ballard Preston, Secretary of the Navy in President Taylor's Cabinet.]

My engagements will not admit of my writing more.—Remember me affectionately to your mother, to Sister Woodville, to Sarah, Lynn, and all the children. Kiss Sue for me, and for yourself accept my best wishes for your health and happiness. Write as often as possible.

Your affectionate husband,
John H. Peyton.

Note.—Ben was by birth an African chief, and became Mr. Peyton's favorite man-servant. Captured on the African coast in 1807, he was brought to Virginia with a cargo of negroes and sold. At the auction Mr. P., who happened to be on the Lower James river at the time, became his purchaser. He was then about twelve years old, a strong, athletic boy, who grew to be 6 feet 2 inches high, and was as black as ink. He was named Ben Potter, probably after one of his captors. The interpreter gave an interesting account of Ben, and of the deference and respect paid him on the voyage by his fellow captives.—The young negro was so much impressed with the appearance and bearing of Mr. Peyton that he begged him through the interpreter, to become his purchaser. This he consented to do and Ben continued his faithful servant through life, till his (Mr. Peyton's) death in 1847. Ben was soon deeply attached to his master, was confided in, and trusted by Mr. Peyton and his family. On leaving home to go the round of the circuit, Mr. Peyton always placed his wife and children under Ben's protection and never had cause to regret it. He was sober, industrious and honest—every way worthy of the trust reposed in him. Thirty odd years later, when Mr. Peyton was prostrated by paralysis in 1845, his attached servant and friend was ploughing in a field near the Montgomery Hall Mansion. Hearing cries of alarm from the family, he abandoned his team and ran to the house, and elbowing himself into his master's room assisted in ministering to him till the arrival of the family physician.

From that hour to Mr. Peyton's death in 1847, he slept in his room, helped to watch over him, administered his medicine, drove him in his phæton, when his health admitted of it, and looked after his comfort in every way, and was never over thirty minutes out of his presence till Mr. P. died, when he seemed broken-hearted. Mr. Peyton's executor offered Ben his freedom and a life annuity, which he declined—he preferred to remain with his old Master's children, and did so until his death, which occurred about 1855, the aged, trusted Servant sinking into the grave a sincere Christian, loved and respected by all who knew him, and with the confident hope that he would meet his old Master and friend among the Saints above. Among those whose admiration for the character of this faithful servant led them often to speak of him with pleasure, was the late Col. John B. Baldwin, who never, while he lived, allowed Ben, and the history of his good and faithful services, which for several years came under his observation, to go unmentioned—or unrewarded.

john h. peyton to mrs. peyton.

Warm Springs, Sept. 1st., 1823.

My Beloved Ann:

On the day we parted the Judge (Archibald Stuart) and myself arrived without adventure at General Blackburn's.

On the next day at Colonel Cameron's and on Tuesday at two o'clock arrived at Huntersville, the seat of Justice of Pocahontas county—a place as much out of the world as Crim Tartary. Owing to the bad conditions of the roads we were much fatigued and bore many marks of travel-stain. The so-called town of Huntersville consists of two ill-constructed time-worn, (though it is not time which has worn them,) weather-beaten cabins built of logs and covered with clapboards. My negro cabins on Jackson's river are palaces in comparison with them.

One of these wretched hovels is the residence of John Bradshaw, the other is called the Loom-house for these people are self-sustaining. They spin and weave. The big wheel and the little wheel are birring in every hut and throwing off the woolen and linen yarn to be worked up for family purposes. The home-spun cloth, too, is stronger and more durable than that brought by our merchants from Northern manufacturers.

In Bradshaw's dwelling there is a large fire-place, which occupies one entire side, the gable end. The chimney is enormous and so short that the room is filled with light which enters this way. It is an ingenious contrivance for letting all the warmth escape through the chimney, whilst most of the smoke is driven back into the chamber. In the chimney-corner I prepared my legal papers before a roaring fire, surrounded by rough mountaineers, who were drinking whiskey and as night advanced, growing riotous. In the back part of the room two beds were curtained off with horse-blankets—one for the Judge, the other for myself. To the left of the fire-place stood old Bradshaw's couch. In the loft, to which they ascended, by means of a ladder, his daughter and the hired woman slept, and at times of a crowd, a wayfarer. The other guests were sent to sleep in the Loom-house, in which was suspended in the loom, a half-woven piece of cloth. Three beds were disposed about the room, which completed its appointments—one was allotted to Sampson Matthews, a second to John Baxter, the third to George Mays, and John Brown. The loom was used as a hat-rack at night and for sitting on, in the absence of chairs, in the day. As there was not a chair or stool beyond those used by the weaving women, my clients roosted on the loom while detailing their troubles and receiving advice.

Bradshaw's table is well supplied. There is profusion, if not prodigality in the rich, lavish bounty of the goodly tavern. We had no venison, as this is a shy season with the deer, but excellent mutton with plenty of apple sauce, peach pie, and roasting ears. As a mark of deference and respect to the Court, I presume, we had a table-cloth—they are not often seen on Western tables and when they are, are not innocent of color—and clean sheets upon our beds. This matter of the sheets is no small affair in out of the way places, as it not unfrequently happens that wanderers communicate disease through the bedclothing. Old Bradshaw's family is scrupulously clean, which is somewhat remarkable in a region where cleanliness is for the most part on the outside. A false modesty seems to prevent those salutary ablutions which are so necessary to health, and I did not commend myself to the good graces of the hired woman by insisting on my foot-bath every morning.

We remained five days at Huntersville closely engaged in the business of the Court, which I found profitable. Pocahontas is a fine grazing county, and the support of the people is mainly derived from their flocks of cattle, horses and sheep, which they drive over the mountains to market. There is little money among them except after these excursions, but they have little need of it—even want is supplied by the happy country they possess, and of which they are as fond as the Swiss of their mountains. It is a pretty country, a country of diversified and beautiful scenery in which there is a wealth of verdure and variety which keeps the attention alive and the outward eye delighted.

On Saturday the Judge and I visited Sandy Lockridge, where we were very hospitably entertained. His house is every way a respectable dwelling, with plenty of room and much good furniture. On Saturday we returned to Col. Cameron's and this evening arrived here in sound health and excellent spirits, notwithstanding our rough experiences. I was much disappointed not to find a letter awaiting me from my dear wife. Ben Crawford has, however, relieved my anxiety, by telling me that he saw you on Saturday sitting at the front window of your dining-room writing, and thought he heard the prattle of Susan in the room. I imagine you were writing to me and hope tomorrow's mail will fetch the coveted letter.

Your father's will has been recorded in Alleghany county and your brother William has qualified as sole executor—the sale is to take place day after tomorrow, but nothing will be sold but the live stock. I have seen none of our relations or connections since I left home—have learned these facts from others.

Accept the best wishes of your husband for yourself and our dear little girl, and believe me,

Yours affectionately,
John H. Peyton.

letter from john h. peyton to his wife.

In 1826, John H. Peyton obtained an appointment as cadet at West Point for his brother-in-law, John B. Lewis, of the Sweet Springs. As young Lewis was inexperienced, had never traveled beyond the limits of Virginia, Mr. Peyton determined to accompany him to the United States Military Academy, though the journey at that day was long and tedious and his professional engagements made his absence at any time a matter of great inconvenience to himself and clients.

The following letter to Mrs. Peyton will be read at this day with interest and something like astonishment, so great has been our progress and development within the past sixty-five years—such changes would hardly have occurred in European countries in centuries. At that day the old-fashioned stage-coach was still in use, there were few macadamized roads and no railways. The entire journey, therefore, from Staunton in Virginia, to West Point, was made in what were called "hacks,"—most of them rickety and unsafe, and in steamboats no better, and not so safe as the Tug and Ferry boats of the present and as unlike as possible the floating palaces of our day. It must be remembered that railroads were not opened in the United States until 1830, and travel was somewhat in the unsatisfactory state described by Mr. Pickwick.

"Travel," said Mr. Pickwick, "is in a troubled state, and the minds of coachmen are unsettled. Stage-coaches are upsetting in all directions, horses are bolting, boats are overturning and boilers are bursting." Such was true in no Pickwickian sense in our country in 1826, and the perils of traveling were increased by the use of high pressure engines on the boats, and unskillful drivers and bad horses in the coaches. There was not much improvement in things in Virginia since A. D. 1665, when Colonel Valentine Peyton, of Nominy, in the county of Westmoreland, Virginia, thus remarks in his last will and testament [See April number, 1881, of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register] before leaving home, "being about to take a voyage to Jamestown and knowing the life of a man to be uncertain. I doe make this my last will and testament." If a man were indifferent to such dangers, there was little pleasure to be derived from traveling. The taverns were miserable, and the rural districts almost destitute of the comforts of civilized life. Excitement there might have been in journeying then, but none of the pleasant exhilaration which attends a jaunt in a Pullman now-a-days. Mr. Peyton makes no complaints, though it is obvious from his description of a half-hour's "nap" on the Baltimore boat, that he had not stumbled upon a bed of roses.

john h. peyton to his wife.

New York, June 18th, 1826.

My Dear Ann:

On the 15th at 5 o'clock we left Baltimore on the steamboat for Philadelphia. The view of the city, Fort McHenry, the light-house on North Point, and of the Chesapeake Bay, with its numerous vessels spreading their canvas to the winds just as the sun was sinking below the horizon, was animating and enlivening, majestic and sublime. From the prow of the vessel, I contemplated this interesting scene as long as the light enabled me to enjoy its beauties. Soon after dusk a pealing bell summoned us to the supper table, where we were surprised to find a sumptuous repast spread out. We had not anticipated such variety or delicacy of food. After partaking of the good cheer, we drew lots for our berths. I was unlucky—my berth was so warm, not to say hot and stuffy, that before I could get any sleep our arrival at French town was announced. Turning out at 12 o'clock at night, but with no regrets, we shortly after continued our journey, and at 3 o'clock in the morning, found ourselves at New Castle. Here we re-shipped in a steamboat without berths. This I did not regret after my recent experience of them, and Benjamin and myself essayed to secure a half-hour's sleep stretched upon two pine benches. How long we might have courted sleep on these hard and narrow couches, I know not. We were not left to make the experiment any length of time, but were shortly roused up by the bustle among the seamen and passengers preparatory to landing at Philadelphia. The breakfast table, when we entered the so-called saloon, was smoking with coffee and steak, and about the time we had paid our respects to both, the boat was at Chestnut street wharf. Landing here we proceeded immediately to Campbell's, and it was a glad surprise to find him astir, thanks to the business habits of the city of brotherly love.

Under his guidance, after another cup of coffee and a hot roll, we proceeded to attend to the numerous commissions with which we were charged. This occupied us something over four hours, when we bade our friends adieu and went aboard the New York steamer. About 6 o'clock p. m. we reached Princeton, where I spent four of the happiest years of my youth, and which I had not seen since taking my degree in 1797. The stages were running with such rapidity, however, that it was impossible to call, as I wished, upon my old friends, Dr. Alexander and Prof. Comfort, or deliver the letter for Miss Waddell, but I chanced to meet a young gentleman of my acquaintance from Washington, who stopped at Princeton, by whom I sent it to her.

I shall make it a point to stay over a day at Princeton on my return. In due time we arrived here. Benjamin is perfectly well, does not regard either the fatigues or loss of sleep, but I am worse for the wear and tear. And I would not advise those to take the trip whose only business is pleasure.

On yesterday I dined with Mr. Gallagher, where I met Mr. Reid, who, you may remember, preached some time since at the Presbytery in Staunton. He is to preach in New York to-day, and I hope to hear him. He is highly esteemed here as a preacher and man. In the evening I took tea with Mrs. Murray, mother of my brother Rowze's wife, where all the family were collected round me making enquiries after their relatives and friends in Virginia. For the most part I was unable to gratify their curiosity, having recently neither seen nor heard of the kith and kin in Richmond or the Northern Neck.

At 10 o'clock tomorrow I shall set out for West Point with Gen. Huston, of Tennessee, to whom I was introduced on yesterday by Gen. Scott. [Gen. Winfield Scott.] I requested Miss Heiskell of Philadelphia, to execute Jane and Lynn's commissions, which she promised to do against my return.

Give my love to all the family,

Yours affectionately, though in much haste,
John H. Peyton.

ANECDOTE OF JOHN H. PEYTON IN A CRIMINAL CASE.

Shortly after his eldest son, William, entered upon the practice of law in 1823, when attending court at the Warm Springs, Bath Co., he mortified his father, John Howe Peyton, exceedingly by a piece of off-hand levity, which the latter regarded as a most undignified proceeding, unworthy of the profession. Young Wm. Peyton was employed to defend a man charged with horse stealing, and as there was only circumstantial evidence to prove his guilt, W. M. Peyton, who was much exhilarated, for it must be remembered that the case came on after dinner, set up the defence that according to the principles of science, and of a new science likely to prove both useful and ornamental, it was impossible his client could be guilty. He then referred to and explained the theories of Gall and Spurzheim, and declared that according to the phrenological bumps on the head of his client, theft was a crime he was incapable of committing. He argued with much gravity and ingenuity in this direction, amidst the suppressed giggling of the bar, to the great chagrin of his father, who was the public prosecutor, and to the thorough mystification of the county court. This body was composed of country gentlemen unacquainted with law, and it was one of their boasts that they made up their decisions, not so much in accordance with the principles of common law, as of common sense. W. M. Peyton went on, and drawing from his desk a copy of Combe's phrenology, illustrated it with plates, exhibited it to the jury, and declared that at the point on the pericranium of his client, where there should be a protuberance if he were capable of robbery, there was not the slightest development, and asked, what is the value of science, if we discard its teachings? He then made an animated and eloquent appeal to the feelings of the jury, based upon the humane principle of the common law, that it is better that ninety-nine guilty men should escape than that one innocent person should suffer, and declaring his conviction of the prisoner's innocence, asked them to give him the benefit of every doubt and lean to the side of mercy.

His father, in reply, commented severely upon the airiness of his son, as inconsistent with the administration of justice and the dignity of the profession. He ridiculed Gall and Spurzheim's far-fetched theories, which he declared were not scientific deductions, but only speculative opinions, and brought the whole defence into contempt, by referring to the human skeleton, saying, "If you run your eye down the spine it alights upon the oscoccygis." Neither the court nor the jury understanding what these words meant, but overcome by the ludicrous manner of Mr. Peyton, both burst into a hearty laugh. "Now," he continued, "this oscoccygis is nothing more nor less than a rudimentary tail, as Lord Monbeddo has well said, and I suppose we shall have some modern philosopher startling the world again with the proposition that man once flourished a tail, but of which the civilized use of a chair has, in process of time, deprived him." He continued, somewhat in this style, "I say nothing against philosophers nor tails, both are useful in their way. What would a cow do without her tail, especially on our fly-pestered prairies, or the Pampas of South America? What would a monkey do without this caudal appendage and its prehensile quality? With him it takes the place of hands. And shall we have philosophers telling us we received our hands when we lost our tails, and that the monkey lost the use of his hands because of his peculiar facility of using a tail? A beautiful science," said he, "is the phrenology, according to the theory of the learned counsel for the prisoner. To all standing in the unenviable position of his client, it will prove, if the learned gentleman be correct, not only a thing of beauty, but a source of comfort and a joy forever. To the murderer, the burglar, the highwayman, to all in fact, who wish to be rid of the responsibility which attaches to their actions, it will become a positive blessing. Not to these only, but to the entire community—it opens a brilliant prospect of life, of life as it should be in this enlightened age, at this advanced period in the progress of the world. Upon the ruins of our present immature civilization it will uprear a charming state of society. Under the vivifying influence of this new system, mankind will be happy, perfectly happy; and until the auspicious day when the new order commences, this 'consummation so devoutly to be wished,' need not be anticipated. Throughout the world, at least so much of it as is illuminated by the light of phrenology, perfect liberty will obtain, and the present generation will wonder at the darkness in which their ancestors groped. Justice will reign supreme, and our statute books will be no longer disgraced by those dreadful laws founded in ignorance, superstition and cruelty, which consigns a helpless and irresponsible man, criminal you call him, to the merciless hands of the executioner. It will be clear as the noon-day sun, that law and liberty cannot co-exist, that they are natural enemies. Along with this knowledge will come a resolution to demolish the whole system of our jurisprudence, to cart off the rubbish and substitute in the place thereof a new, nobler, and higher civilization. Poor weak man will no longer be held accountable for his actions. The infirmities of his nature will become a recognized principle, that men are but men, will be evident to all men. It will be understood that from the foundation of the world it was determined, pre-destined, and fore-ordained that he should act thus and thus, and that, therefore, he cannot be justly rewarded for any action however meritorious, nor punished for any crime, as we term it, how atrocious soever. Men will stand aghast that laws should have existed, and for so many ages, for afflicting a human being for actions, over which it is clear, according to the prisoner's counsel, he had no control—actions, in fact, which they were bound to perform, by an irresistible law of human nature. Then will it be seen that men commit murder, perpetrate rape, and apply the torch because they cannot help it. Gentlemen of the jury; no line of argument would be shorter. I leave you to determine its soundness."

"But to be serious," said Mr. Peyton, who though cheerful in his disposition, had a manner so tempered with gravity as to check the indecent levity, "I must refer, before closing, to the conduct of the prisoner's counsel, and remark that some speakers are more anxious to display their eloquence, than to promote the public good. Now when this is the case, as I must charitably suppose it to be on this occasion, oratory is a useless gift, and such fine speeches as we have had to-day are simply disgusting. When great talents are employed to support a bad cause, perhaps from selfish motives, I trust and believe that this is not the case now, they are objects of universal contempt. Oratory, with all its pleasing charms becomes an instrument of mischief, when used by an unprincipled man as, when resorted to by a good man, its happy influences almost exceed belief. An orator, who thus uses his talents, without reference to his personal interests, if he do not succeed in his efforts, at least enjoys self approbation and that of his God."

In this manner Mr. Peyton threw the defence into ridicule and disrepute. This sound sense and keen sarcasm was too much for Wm. Peyton's after dinner eloquence, and from a brief consultation, the jury returned and delivered a verdict condemning the prisoner to the penitentiary for two years.

The Hon. David Fultz, of Staunton, recently judge of the circuit superior court of Augusta county, who was present on this occasion, told the writer twenty years ago that he had never, during his career at the bar, been so much interested or amused by any trial as this. The disgust of my father at such a defence being set up, the elation of his son at the probable success of his ruse, the bewilderment of the court and jury, both of whom seemed lost in a fog, the suppressed merriment of the audience, which did not comprehend exactly all that was transpiring, but which to some extent entered into the fun, rendered the whole scene inimitable.

mr. peyton's views as to a fiddling lawyer.

"Music," said Mr. P., "is out of place in a court house, I never knew a fiddling lawyer to succeed, especially if nature designed him to play that useful, yet much despised instrument, the 'second fiddle,'—a good enough instrument for a duet, but one on which no successful solo was ever played."

mr. peyton on religious and political topics.

In 1840, Mr. P. and his brother-in-law, Colonel Wm. L. Lewis, met at the home of a mutual friend. In religion Col. L. was a Roman Catholic and in politics a disciple of John C. Calhoun. Discussion arose between them and became so warm on the part of Col. Lewis, that their friends feared they might result in a feud. Not so, however. Mr. P.'s moderation was equal to his vigor, and he soothed his brother's discomfitures by his logical reasoning.

"There is no necessity, William," he would say, "for difference of opinion creating hostility. It must be admitted by all that there is great variety in the tastes, habits and opinions of mankind, and it is necessary that it should be so. That partial discord tends to general harmony is more than poetically true, for, if all men were to set their minds upon living in the same climate, or under the same government; or, if all the people of a country had an unconquerable desire to live in the same town; if all the inhabitants of a town were to have a good opinion of only one physician, or of only one preacher, or lawyer or mechanic, or could only relish one article of food, or fancy only the same dress; or, if all men were to fall in love with the same woman, or all the women with the same man, what would be the consequence? Why from a feeling of seeming agreement, universal discord would result.

"Even the value of truth is best appreciated by the opposition it meets with, and falsehood and error are detected by the discriminating powers of opposite sensations and feelings. That there should not be uniformity upon many important subjects, such as the theory of government, etc., must be the stamp of heaven. For myself, I claim freedom of opinion as an inherent right, provided it does not disturb the established order of society. I fear your nullification views go this length. However, let me proceed: No man has a right to be offended at my opinion, or hold me in contempt for entertaining it, for it does him no injury; and what I claim for myself, common justice requires that I should allow to others; and did we well consider, that this disparity of an over-ruling Intelligence, we surely should not suffer it to be the cause of feelings of animosity to our fellow human beings, though their political or religious opinions should be the opposite of our own—still less such old friends as ourselves. For," continued Mr. Peyton, "unless we had been subjected to the same involuntary impressions and sensations that other persons have been, which is, perhaps, impossible, we can be no judges of the merits of their opinions, or how they have outraged truth and reason, even admitting that they are in error. If it should be contended that truth and reason are immutable, and when two differ upon a fundamental truth, there must be deviation from reason and truth in one of the parties. I would admit it to be so, if the question was susceptible of mathematical demonstration.

"This is rarely the case—were I to meet a man who should contend that two and two do not make four, or that the amount of degrees in three angles of a triangle are not equal to the amount of degrees in two right angles, I must justly charge him with folly or wilful falsehood; but, in whatever does not admit of demonstration, our convictions are our feelings; and our feelings depend more upon involuntary impressions than we are often willing to allow. Certainly truth and reason are the most likely to prevail with cultivated minds, for truth and reason are the most likely to make the right impression, but we are too apt to over-value our own kind of knowledge, while we underrate that of others.

"In point of real utility, the knowledge of the man who is skilled in the breeding and feeding of cattle is more valuable to society than is the knowledge of him who is skilled in mathematics, yet the latter will look down upon the former, when, perhaps, the only advantage he has over him is the being able to convey his knowledge in more correct and perspicuous language; and unless we possessed all kind of knowledge in an equal degree, we are liable to be imposed upon in some things, either by thinking too much upon them, or too much, to the exclusion of other branches of knowledge, the possession of which, though seemingly foreign to the subject, may be necessary to its clear elucidation; for it is by possession of general knowledge only that we can claim a superior title to correctness in every particular. A may be able to solve a difficult problem in mathematics; B can not do this, but B can make a plow upon true mechanical principles which A can not; if C can do both, C must be superior to A or B; but all mankind are in the situation of A or B, as possessing only partial knowledge. We should all, therefore, be indulgent to each other's deficiencies. Still, my superior in general knowledge and learning, may be the dupe of a weak prejudice, without justifying an impeachment of either. I have a brother-in-law," he would look askant at Colonel Lewis when getting off this kind of fillip, "of whose cleverness and general knowledge I have a very high opinion, yet in politics we are quite opposite. We indeed worship different idols, and the only superiority I can pretend to claim over him is, that I can bear for him to adore his idol, even in my presence, and yet keep my temper—a compliment he can not always repay."

"Fudge!" exclaimed the Colonel, jumping to his feet and walking hastily to and fro across the room, "I may warm with the subject, but as to being offended with you it is out of the question. I never have and never will so far forget myself."

"Come, come, be seated," Mr. Peyton would rejoin, giving him a friendly tap on the shoulder. "Let me proceed. Of course you will not think I wish to depreciate the value of truth and reason, I only wish to urge that the seeming want of them in others may be deceptions, and should not be the cause of contempt, acrimony or ridicule. All are enamoured with even the shadow of truth, and should see the substance, if in their power, but placed in a variety of lights and shades, some can only see the shadow, and mistake it for the substance." Thus their fraternal discussions proceeded and terminated in the discomfiture of Col. Lewis, who though a clever man, an eloquent talker, full of confidence, and abundance of zeal, was no such logician as Mr. Peyton, and left not the slightest pain rankling in his bosom.

"Now, William," said Mr. Peyton, "I cannot flatter myself that I shall convince you of any errors, which, in my opinion, you have been guilty of in this respect. That is no reason, however, why I should not attempt to make you entertain a disbelief of all foolish impossibilities. For example, there is the fallacious science of astrology—it has been the game of a few designers in all ages, for sordid interest, to have duped others and been duped themselves. In ancient times they were, in Alexandria, compelled to pay a certain tax, which was called the 'Fool's Tax,' because it was raised on the gain that these impostors made from the foolish credulity of those who believed in their powers of soothsaying. Well may believers in this science be called 'fools,' when they do not seem to consider that if the principles of judiciary astrology were correct, and its rules certain, the hands of the Almighty would be tied, and ours would be tied also. All our actions, all our most secret thoughts, all our slightest movements: would be engraven in the heavens in ineffaceable characters, and liberty of conduct would be entirely taken away from us. We should be necessitated to evil as to good, since we should do absolutely what was written in the conjectured register of the stars, otherwise there would be falsehood in the book, and uncertainty in the science of the astrologer. How we should laugh at a man who thought of settling a serious matter of business by a throw of the dice. Yet the decision of astrology is just as uncertain. Our fate depends upon places, persons, times, circumstances, our own will; not upon the fantastical conjunctions inspired by charlatans.

"Suppose two men are born on our planet, at the same hour and on the same spot. One becomes a hewer of wood and a drawer of water, and the other an emperor, or a commander-in-chief of an army. Ask an astrologer the cause of the difference. In all probability he will reply, 'It was so willed by Jupiter.'

"Pray what is this Jupiter? Why it is a planet, a body without cognizance, that acts only by its influence. How comes it then that Jupiter's influence acts at the same moment and in the same climate in so different a manner? How can that influence differ in its power? How can it take place at all? How can it penetrate the vast extent of space? An atom—the most minute molecule of matter would stop it, or turn it from its course, or diminish its power. Are the stars always exercising an influence, or do they exercise it only on certain occasions? If they exercise an influence only periodically, when the particles which, it is intended, are detached from them, are moving to our sphere, the astrologer must know the precise time of their arrival in order to decide rightly upon their effect. If on the other hand, the influences are perpetual, with what wonderful speed they must rush through the vast extent of space! How marvelous too must be the alliance they form with those vivacious passions which originate the principal actions of our lives! For if the stars regulate all our feelings and all our proceedings, their influence must work with the same rapidity as our wills, since it is by them our will is determined."

his religious belief.

Mr. Peyton was a firm believer in the doctrines of Christianity, and the experience of his life was that true happiness is only found in the observance of her precepts. He held that man must have some religion and the most perfect was that handed by Christ to his Apostles. He did not attach great importance to sects, and when asked whether he was a Catholic, Presbyterian or Episcopalian, answered that he did not find such words in the Testament—he was merely a Christian; he believed in what was revealed to us in the Bible and submitted himself with humility to the Almighty power. He was brought up in the Episcopalian church and died a member of it.

mr. peyton's originality and power of illustration.

"I recall a conversation," says one of Mr. P.'s biographers, "just after a protracted term of the Augusta Circuit Court, in which the late Judge Lucas P. Thompson and Gen. B. G. Baldwin bore the leading parts. Gen. B. was paying generous tribute to Mr. Peyton's force and originality. Judge Thompson remarked in substance, that he had never seen Mr. Peyton go through a cause deeply interesting and moving him, in which he did not utter some view or sentiment illuminated by genius, or at the least, some illustration marked by a bold originality; and he instanced two causes, tried at the last term—one a civil suit and a very heavy will case, in which he made a novel and scorching application of a familiar fable of Æsop. I forbear to give its details, because both the critic and his subject have passed from earth.

"In the same cause three signatures were to be identified and proved—that of the testator and also of the attending witnesses—all three having died since their attestation. Many witnesses were called to prove the genuineness of the three names. Opposing counsel sought to badger the witnesses by urging them to specify what peculiar marks there were in the handwriting and signatures, whereby they could speak so positively as to their identity and genuineness. This of course for the most part they could not do, and in the argument of the cause before the jury the same counsel strove to throw discredit and contempt upon those witnesses (all men of good character) for their failure and inability so to describe the quality and peculiar marks in the calligraphy of the signers as to show they were familiar with their handwriting. In his reply to those sallies of his opponents, Mr. Peyton swept away the whole airy fabric by a single happy illustration:

"'Gentlemen,' he said, 'You have often been assembled in crowds on some public or festive occasion. Your hats have been thrown pell-mell in a mass with perhaps a hundred other hats, all having a general resemblance. Suppose you had attempted to describe your hat to a friend or servant, so that he might go and pick it out for you. It has as many points for accurate description as a written signature—its color, height of crown, width of brim, its band, lining, &c. Do you think that friend or servant could by any possibility have picked out your hat for you? And yet when you went yourself, the moment your eye would light upon it, you instantly recognize it amongst a hundred. Familiarity with it has stamped its picture on your mind and the moment you see it, the hat fills and fits the picture on your mind as perfectly as the same hat fits your head.'

"The jury were evidently won, and gave full credence to the ridiculed witnesses.

"The other instance during the same term (cited by Judge Thompson) occurred in the celebrated prosecution of Naaman Roberts for forgery—in forging the name of Col. Adam Dickinson to a bond for six hundred dollars.

"The body of the bond was confessedly the handwriting of the prisoner at the bar. That was admitted. The signature was a tolerably successful attempt at imitating the peculiar handwriting of Adam Dickinson. But no expert could look at the whole paper and fail to see a general resemblance between the body of the instrument and the signature, raising a strong conviction in the mind that both proceeded from the same hand.

"The defense strongly insisted upon excluding the body of the instrument from the view of the witness, by covering it with paper, or turning it down, and so confining the view to the signature only—upon the familiar doctrine of the law of evidence forbidding a comparison of various handwritings of the party, as a ground for an opinion upon the identity of genuineness of the disputed writing. And this point was ably and elaborately argued by the prisoner's counsel.

"The learned prosecutor met it thus:

"'Gentlemen this is one entire instrument, not two or more brought into comparison. Let me ask each one of you, when you meet your friend, or when you meet a stranger, in seeking to identify him, what do you look at? Not his nose, though that is the most prominent feature of the human face; not at his mouth, his chin, his cheek; no, you look him straight in the eye, so aptly called the "window of the soul." You look him in the eye, but at the same time you see his whole face. Now put a mask on that face, leaving only the eyes visible, as the learned counsel would have you mask the face of this bond, leaving to your view only the fatal signature.

"'If the human face so masked was the face of your bosom friend, could you for a moment identify him, even though permitted to look in at those "windows of the soul?" No; he would be as strange to you as this accursed bond has ever been strange to that worthy gentleman, Colonel Adam Dickinson, but a glance at whose face traces the guilty authorship direct to the prisoner at the bar.'

"This striking illustration seemed to thrill the whole audience as it virtually carried the jury."

MR. PEYTON DECLINES A JUDGESHIP.

In 1824-5, Mr. Peyton received a highly complimentary letter from the late Col. S. McD. Moore, of Lexington, then a delegate to the Legislature from Rockbridge and attending the sessions in Richmond. The Colonel informed him that a caucus of members had been held on the subject of a judgeship then vacant, or about to become so, and that Mr. Peyton's friends were so largely in the ascendancy that his nomination by the caucus and election by the Assembly was certain, if only he would declare his willingness to accept the position. The caucus had adjourned over to await his reply. The Colonel went on to say that he and two others had been deputed by the caucus with the agreeable duty of communicating with him, to ascertain his views as to the matter. We do not recollect what judgeship it was, but remember distinctly that Colonel Moore mentioned that in case of election, it would lead to, or require (we know not which) Mr. Peyton's change of residence to Richmond. In this letter Col. Moore on behalf of himself and his colleagues urged his friend to accept and presented many cogent reasons why he should do so. Proof against all importunities, Mr. Peyton politely but firmly rejected these overtures and declined under any circumstances to allow his name to be used in connection with the office. This circumstance is mentioned, not as an evidence of Mr. Peyton's indifference to preferment, which has sufficiently appeared, but to show the estimate in which he was held by the profession and to present, so far as possible, clearly and truthfully, the history of his life.

There is an old Spanish proverb which says, "Tell me whom you live with, and I will tell you who you are." We can infer what manner of man he was from the fact that through life, he was held in the highest esteem by the enlightened men of the day. From the ranks of the virtuous and wise came his friends, and what a source of happiness it must have been to him. It has been well said: "There is no blessing of life that is in any way comparable to the enjoyment of a discreet and virtuous friend. It eases and unloads the mind, clears and improves the understanding, engenders thoughts and knowledge, animates virtue and good resolutions, soothes and allays the passions and finds enjoyment for most of the vacant hours of life." If this be true, and who can doubt it? how much greater the happiness to be blessed, not with one, but with many friends, and those friends, themselves worthy of every honor and praise. The steadiness and devotion of his friends is worthy of mention in this connection, they never deserted or betrayed him—on the contrary, through life, they gave him innumerable evidences of their appreciation. Some of his youthful college friends, they were not simply companions, among them Professor Comfort and the late John Yates, of Jefferson county, Virginia, visited him at Montgomery Hall, forty years after they parted at Princeton. And Mr. P's papers disclosed a correspondence with numerous others, such as John Sergeant, Joseph R. Ingersoll, Richard Rush, William Gaston, J. M. Berrien, of Georgia, and others of his earlier friends, all of whom became prominent men.

For clearness of thought, force of reasoning and statesmanlike views on all questions of moment he had no superior, and such was his sense of justice and his impartiality, his powers of judicial analysis and insight, or the judicial character of his mind, that we have often heard the most gifted of his contemporaries regret that he had never sat upon the Justice Seat, where in their opinion, he would have equaled, if he did not surpass, the greatest judges who had adorned the bench of Virginia.

Notwithstanding his refusal to stand as a candidate for a Judgeship, he was voted for, in the General Assembly of Virginia in 1831-32, and came within a few votes of election. The result gave him satisfaction, for had he been chosen, he must have resigned, as unceremoniously as he was elected. He always explained to his supporters that he could not give up his extensive and lucrative practice, on account of his large and expensive family, for a poorly paid judgeship—and besides he preferred the active and exciting life of a lawyer, to that of a judge, or in a word, the bar to the bench.

MR. PEYTON'S LETTER ON THE CONVENTION OF 1829-30.

For several years previous to 1829, the question of calling a Convention to form a new Constitution for Virginia was agitated. There was a kind of political fermentation on the subject of innovation, with many persons, a strong desire to up-root the laws under which the State had so long prospered, and make a new experiment in government. The Ultras objected to the freehold basis of representation and demanded the white basis, or manhood suffrage, they opposed a judiciary elected for good behavior and demanded the election of judges at short intervals, by a popular vote. They objected to various other conservative provisions of the Constitution of 1776. Party spirit infused itself in all discussions and no small excitement was created in the public mind—as a result of the agitation on the subject. A convention, though opposed by the wisest men in the State, was finally ordered, and persons nominated for election were called upon to give their opinions through the newspapers, on the various questions which would come before it.

Among those asked for their views was Mr. Peyton, who published in the Staunton papers a long and able letter, in which he opposed the white basis; the election of judges by a popular vote and for a term of years; and advocated their election during good behavior, by the Legislature. He advised the retention, generally, of the conservative features of the old Constitution, and while he admitted that a few changes might be made with advantage, warned the people against tampering with the laws, the currency and the peculiar institutions of the South. He added that he had voted against calling a Convention, believing that the Constitution of 1776, was better than any the people were likely to get from a new Convention; in a word, he bade them bear the "ills they had rather than fly to others they knew not of."

The letter was so conservative in character and so conclusive of the points at issue, that it was thought it would have gone a long way towards preventing the call of a convention, had it been published earlier. As it was, it only made the friends of organic change, more determined. They were bent on giving form and substance to their dreams, their passions were up and they would be satisfied with nothing else.

Some of the most advanced enthusiasts advocated, what are styled "women's rights," their right to vote, to serve on juries, to hold office and the like—others were opposed to allowing a man to enjoy the fruits of his industry, and favored dividing out his income when it had reached a certain sum; no doubt some would have liked the principal divided also, others favored free inquiry, if any one knows what this means in a country where investigation and thought are as free as the air we breathe; free religion, which was supposed to have been settled by Mason's act of 1776, legalizing all forms of worship, commonly called the act of religious freedom, free morals and opinions, and it is not unlikely there were others who favored free love as a means of squelching out polygamy. One of the most notorious and eccentric of these social reformers, was Fanny Wright, not, however, a native or resident of Virginia; and it was said, with what truth we know not, that the sum of her teachings amounted to this, that any man who donned a whole coat and a clean shirt was an aristocrat and ought to be put down.

These misguided people sought to break the force of his views by a loud outcry, saying he was an old Bourbon, entirely behind the age, a praiser of times past, like Nestor in the Iliad; who wished the laws of Virginia to remain unchanged and as unchangeable as were those of the Medes and Persians, and would have it so if left alone. A looker-on would have supposed this enlightened man and moderate conservative, from this kind of ultra nonsense, as extreme in his policy as the notorious Lord John Manners, a man of phlegmatical repulsiveness of manners, who in admiration of his class, once exclaimed, with idiotic fatuity:

"Let wealth and commerce, laws and learning die
But leave us still our old nobility."

The loss of Mr. Peyton's letter cannot be too much regretted. If reviewed the whole history of the Judiciary previous to and from the time of William III., when by act of Parliament the Judges were to hold office during good behavior, up to a later act of one of the George's, providing that their commissions were not to cease by demise of the Crown, and down to his day. He argued earnestly also, in favor of an independent judiciary, this question arousing his deepest interest, and showed up the curse of a venial and corrupt one, having in its unsafe keeping the lives, reputation and property of the people. He entered also, into an elaborate discussion of the question of popular representation, the first instance of which, it was stated, occurred in Aragon in the twelfth century, &c., and discussing the basis of representation, expressed himself, in case the freehold basis was discarded, as in favor of the mixed basis, taking into account both population and prosperity.

The letter breathed a really liberal and enlightened spirit in politics and religion, and made him the idol of the liberal conservatives. The extremists were, however, antagonized by it, and in their rage and disappointment, set to work to mar, if not destroy, his influence. While distorting and misrepresenting him and his opinions, they had the "cheek," to say, they did it "more in sorrow, than in anger."

Not at all disturbed by the hurly-burly, he laughed heartily at their nonsense, and said that these enthusiasts in their efforts to emancipate man socially, morally, politically and otherwise from all the ills of life, were innovators running after something they would never reach, as the hind wheel of the carriage which is in constant pursuit of the fore one without ever overtaking it. And when he got a chance at one of the Ring Bosses, and he sometimes cornered one, he handled him after such a fashion, that the Boss never wished to see him again. To these Bosses distance ever afterwards, lent enchantment to the view, of this man of relentless logic, keen irony and withering sarcasm. Many of these so-called Reformers aimed at nothing worse than their own advancement.

From the foregoing synopsis of Mr. Peyton's letter it is evident, if he did not say so, that, in his opinion, love of variety and change, a desire to subvert the existing state of things, indicated both weakness and ignorance; that it is not the strong-minded and right thinking who desire to cut loose from the past, its traditions and customs and its endearing associations, but the stupid, whose wild and dangerous projects carried out, would, however, unconsciously to themselves, give us poverty in lieu of prosperity, licence instead of liberty.

MRS. ANNE PEYTON.

her removal to augusta county.

During the year of 1829, Mrs. Anne Peyton, the widow of John R. Peyton, the hero boy of '76, and mother of John H. Peyton, broke up her establishment at Stony Hill and removed to Staunton. Some years before, namely on February 1st 1826, her son, Rowze Peyton, was married to a second wife, Eliza Murray, daughter of John B. Murray, a citizen of New York City, but a native of England. His Northern bride did not find plantation life congenial to her tastes and induced her husband to leave Virginia. After a brief sojourn in New York City, Mr. and Mrs. Peyton removed to Geneva, N. Y., where they long lived and both died, leaving a large and interesting family, now connected by marriage with many of the leading families of the Empire State—such as the Sewards, the Cuttings, Spensers, deZengs, Wilmerdings, Rathburns and others.

The venerable and respected mother of John H. Peyton was affectionately invited by her son and his wife, as soon as they heard of her intention to leave Stony Hill, to make her home at Montgomery Hall, which she decided to do. Mr. Peyton had built immediately, for her exclusive use, a comfortable brick residence in the grounds of and near the mansion. Here she took up her residence in the summer of 1829, and in that snug abode, she spent in singular ease and tranquility the rest of her life. At this time Mrs. J. R. Peyton was of large and striking person, dignified and graceful in manners. She was over 70 years of age, dressed in black, with a high-crowned white muslin cap and frill, a cap in the style of what is now known as the Martha Washington cap, and she looked at first sight eminently neat, precise and stately. She was in fine physical preservation and her mind and memory unimpaired. She was very accessible and companionable, she liked to see her friends and to chat, and her conversation was always full of thought and poetry. Her acquaintance with and knowledge of the leading Southerners of the pre and Revolutionary era was extensive, and she possessed a large fund of information on social, literary, and political topics. This and her anecdotes, racy and amusing, caused her society to be courted by such men as Gen. Baldwin, Daniel Sheffey, and Chapman Johnson. Her parlor was the center of attraction and the rallying point of the family. Her grandchildren especially gathered round her chair, and listened with infantile delight, to her graphic accounts of the war, of the officers and soldiers, of their hair-breadth escapes, of the battles, &c., and at that early day became familiar with the names of the Washingtons, Masons, Conways, Fitzhughs, Lees, Scotts, Marshalls, Moncures, Daniels, Greenes, and other prominent people of the Northern Neck, and all more or less connected with the bloody drama of the war.

At the premature death of her husband, when only 45 years of age, she was left with the heavy responsibility of a large and helpless family, and an extensive plantation and many slaves. Had she possessed less character and spirit, less force and ability, she must have been prostrated. The disaster, however, seemed to call forth her strength, and gave such firmness and elevation to her character, that her friends and neighbors were filled with admiration and delight. This excellent woman, who had been during the prosperous period of her husband's life, all weakness and dependence, now displayed heroic qualities, showed herself equal to the trying position in which she was placed, displaying a mental force and firmness truly astonishing,—every difficulty was overcome, every obstacle put aside. She entered on her new career soberly and seriously, devoted herself to the education of her children and the management of their property. The children were taught to think justly of themselves and kindly of others. She aimed to store their minds with useful information and to form their moral and religious characters—thus giving them correct, practical ideas and good habits. Religion was the basis of her teachings and her children went into the world with just notions of human life, prepared if prosperity smiled upon them, to receive it with humble gratitude, and if calamity supervened to endure it with dignified patience. A kind Providence prolonged her life to see them a joy and a comfort to herself, and an honor to Virginia. She governed and directed the affairs of her estate with such skill and discretion that Old Stony Hill[3] put on a new face, showed successful husbandry and yielded abundant crops—so much so, that the casual observer even could not fail to see that both white and black there enjoyed prosperity and content. Greatly attached to this old family seat, where she had lived a half century, nothing but the marriage of her six children and their departure for new homes of their own, could have torn her from it. But when her only remaining son, Rowze, who had married a New York lady, mentioned his purpose of leaving Virginia and settling in New York, she quickly made up her mind to accept the invitation of her favorite son, John Howe, and to end her days at Montgomery Hall.

Mrs. Anne Peyton was a woman of worth, thoroughly honest, sincere and straightforward, with a fund of practical common sense. Her conversational powers were of no ordinary kind. A sincere, devout and humble Christian, a good wife, devoted mother, kind and sympathetic friend, she was in all respects a remarkable person. While it does not come within our scope to here enter at length into her life and character, it is right and due to her memory, that reference should be made to her exalted piety. So domestic, unobtrusive, and retired was her plantation life, that her name is little more than an echo in the age in which she lived, and might scarcely be even that, if it had not been kept somewhat in mind by the fame of her distinguished son. A considerable part of her time, after she fixed her residence at Montgomery Hall, was spent in the seclusion of her apartments, and much of every day was given to meditation and prayer. She left behind many voluminous manuscript books, in which she had copied the Psalms, the Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, and many striking passages from other parts of Holy Writ, and containing many prayers, (original and quoted,) and ejaculations, suited to various occasions. These were of the following character, which will give an idea of the whole: "Supply, Oh Lord, the wants of a heart which knows not even how to lay them open before thee, which does not so much as think of doing it, and which too often shuts out the light and consolation of which it stands in need." And—

"These, O Jesus, are the things I ask. Intercede for me, that I may be truly sensible of the diseases that I labor under, and thankfully embrace the means which thy goodness has ordained for my recovery. Grant that the end of all my actions and designs may be the glory of God. Enable me to resist all the sinful appetites of my carnal nature. Grant that I may hunger and thirst after righteousness" &c., &c.

These MS. books contained also evidence that she prayed often, fervently and importunately, and that like Anna, she served God with fastings and prayers night and day. Luke ch. 2, v 37. She was never, however, "rash with her mouth," heeding. Eccl., ch. 5, v 2. On the contrary, her words were few and innocent of those vain repetitions against which our Saviour warns us in Matthew, ch. 6, v 7.

AFRICAN COLONIZATION.

He advocated the colonization of our African population in Liberia and was one of the managers of the Augusta County Colonization Society, founded in 1831-32 to promote this end.

The managers submitted to the Society their annual report on the 21st of April, 1832, the following extract from which will show the object and purposes of the Society:

Concerning the colony of Liberia, we have no information to communicate but such as the public prints have given from time to time, to all who wished to know what was going on at that interesting establishment. The sum of this information is, that the colony, gradually advancing in numbers, advances also in every branch of improvement and prosperity. We believe that in the whole history of colonization, there has never been an instance elsewhere of so cheering a degree of success from a similar amount of means and exertions. Divine Providence has evidently smiled upon the enterprise, and encouraged its friends to prosecute it with untiring perseverance.

Shall we close this paper here? A feeling which we assuredly know to be no other than a sincere regard for the honor and welfare of our country, prompts us to offer to the society some additional reflections.

It was never expected by any man of sense that the voluntary association of which we form an humble part, would be able to effect, by its own very limited energies, any sensible diminutive of the large and pernicious mass of our colored population. But we did hope to evince the practicability of acquiring an extensive and fertile territory in a suitable climate and of removing our negroes to it and setting them in it, with fair prospects of their becoming a respectable and happy nation; and thus to pioneer the way for delivering this otherwise favored land of ours from a burden, the sorest that ever afflicted any people under heaven. And this hope, thanks be to God, we are permitted to see realized. The colony exists and flourishes. It remains that the legislative authorities of these Southern States, invigorated by the attainable and powerful aid of the Federal Union, take this business under their efficient patronage. And surely the period is now emphatically come for putting into action on this momentous subject our utmost talents and our utmost resources. After ages already lost in supineness, shall we still waste our precious time in disquisitions, as needless as they are unreconcilable with our boasted republican character, on what we call the right of property in our slave; while the deadly evil which we all profess to deplore, is gaining ground upon us with gigantic strides every year and every hour. We say needless disquisitions; for such they appear to us to be. Let liberal means be provided for removing far away those unfortunate beings amongst us whom we denominate free blacks, together with those slaves who shall be voluntarily manumitted for the purpose of removal. On this single condition, we are satisfied that there will be no necessity to interfere in a compulsory way with any man's right of property in his slaves. Public sentiment, incessantly acquiring expansion and strength will much better achieve the glorious consummation.

But suppose this to be a visionary picture. Suppose that yet greater sacrifices shall be found indispensable. What then? Shall we shrink from the making of those sacrifices for the salvation of our native land, the loveliest and the choicest of all lands? Shall we tamely sit still, and see Virginia despoiled of much of her strength by unexampled emigration to other regions, and by this means ripening the more speedily as a harvest for the scythe of the assassin. Shall we, after all that we have seen and heard within nine months past, persist in the slumber and indolence of infatuation? Or shall we soon arise in all our zeal, and all our united strength, to devise and to pursue the measures by which alone such a tremendous issue may be arrested, and our country rendered truly prosperous and happy? How these questions are to be answered by facts, time must discover, and God only, who is omniscient, can certainly foresee. For our part, though we deeply lament that the equally able and eloquent discussion which recently took place on this most important topic in the hall of our legislature was suffered to float away into the air, yielding no practical results; yet we think we ought not to abandon the cause of liberating our beloved country from the abominations and the curse of slavery, in utter despair. A better day may be about to dawn upon us. Perhaps the discussion to which we have referred, itself a wondrous phenomenon in Virginia, may not die away as a fruitless expenditure of feeling and genius. And in the meanwhile, let us continue our labors for the improvement of the Colony, that it may become a more capacious, and in every way convenient receptacle for drawing off, when the good season for the extended operations shall arrive, the pestilential nuisance of our African population.

The prominent men of that period associated with Mr. Peyton in this good work were Rev. Conrad Speece, Joseph Cowan, Samuel Clarke, John McCue, George Eskridge, Charles A. Stuart and others.

RETIRES FROM THE BAR AND IS ELECTED TO THE SENATE.

Mr. Peyton determined some years before he was 60 years of age, to retire from the bar when he reached that time of his life, and did so. After he was sixty he took no new cases, only in one case making an exception to this rule in favor of an old and valued friend, who earnestly implored and begged for his services. He gave them to this friend and lost the case in the circuit superior court of Augusta, but was so well satisfied that the case was erroneously decided that he took an appeal, and after Mr. Peyton's death the decision of the lower court was reversed and thus his client ultimately gained his cause. After he reached the age of 60 he only attended his office and the courts to wind up his business.

His friends knowing his purpose to give up the bar determined, if possible, to secure his services in the Senate. He was solicited on all sides to go to the Senate, and the following letter appeared in the Lexington and Staunton papers:

To the Voters of the Senatorial District of Rockbridge and Augusta:

Fellow-Citizens—

The next session of the Legislature will be the most important which has occurred for many years past. The criminal laws of the Commonwealth are all to be revised, the subject of education is to be thoroughly considered, and the great schemes of internal improvement are to be brought forward and vigorously pressed by their respective friends. Under these circumstances it is particularly important that this District should be ably represented in the Senate of Virginia, the body that must supervise and give the finishing touches to the Legislation on all three subjects. Rockbridge and Augusta, long famed for their morality and good order, have a deep interest in having the system of fixed laws brought to the highest state of perfection. They have their primary schools, the academies and colleges all requiring an able champion and enlightened patron, and they have their respective schemes of improvement: the James River canal, the extension of the Louisa railroad and continuation of the macadamized turnpike from Staunton to Buchanan, demanding the support of a powerful intellect and matured experience.

In looking around for a suitable representative of the District, the eyes of everyone seem attracted to John H. Peyton, Esq., of Augusta, as the man. He is a gentleman of distinguished ability and unblemished integrity. He has long been known to Virginia as the ablest criminal lawyer in her borders, and hence he is peculiarly qualified to discharge the duties incident to the revision of those laws. His general attainments and enlightened views of, and on all subjects qualify him in a high degree to aid in constructing a system of public education which shall diffuse the genial rays of knowledge through all classes of society, and he has evinced his deep interest in the success of the James river improvement by the most substantial of all proofs—the investment of large sums of money in its work.

Mr. Peyton now holds several lucrative offices and he is in the enjoyment of an extensive and extremely profitable law practice, but it is understood that he is willing to relinquish them all if his fellow-citizens should require his services in the Senate. It is a subject of congratulation to the district that such is the fact, and I cannot believe that the district will hesitate for a moment to avail itself of the services of so distinguished an individual. It would be a subject of just pride to our district to send such a man to the Senate. He would tower head and shoulders above any other man in that body, and the impress of his talents and learning would be permanently visible upon the statute books of Virginia. Let the voters of the district then, go forward as one man, and record their votes for John H. Peyton. Let them recollect that it is a duty which they owe their country to select the man who, from his talents and acquirements, is best suited to discharge the duties of the station. When in the management of his private affairs, it becomes necessary to employ an agent or an attorney, they always seek the man best qualified, and upon the same principle, when they are about to choose an agent not only for themselves but for their country and posterity, (for in the administration affairs we are trustees for posterity) they should elect the man who is able to render the most efficient services to the public.

The office of Senator is at all times an important one; but under present circumstances, there is a peculiar propriety in selecting the strongest man, for it is universally conceded that there is a woeful deficiency of talent in the Senate. The election of Mr. Peyton would therefore be hailed with satisfaction by the whole State; and he would be from our district, the Senator of Rockbridge and Augusta.—Lexington Gazette and Spectator, May 2, 1839.

A Voter.

MR. PEYTON'S LETTER CONSENTING TO RUN FOR THE SENATE. HIS POLITICAL SENTIMENTS.

To the voters of the Senatorial district composed of the counties of Rockbridge and Augusta.

Fellow-Citizens:

Having authorized my name to be placed before you as a candidate to represent you in the Senate of Virginia, I deem it a duty I owe alike to you and myself to make a plain and distinct avowal of my political sentiments.

Though it is true that a member of the Senate of Virginia, has little to do with Federal politics, and may not during his whole term of service be called upon to express a single opinion upon them, yet, in a representative republic it is not only proper that the political sentiments of a candidate should be distinctly understood, but it is equally proper that he should possess political sentiments congenial with those of his constituents.

Under this impression, the following brief statement is made.

I came into public life about the period of the election of James Madison as President of the United States.[4] I served as a member of the House of Delegates of Virginia the two sessions of 1808-9, 1809-10. I was a friend to the election of Mr. Madison and a warm and zealous advocate of the measures of his administration.

Among the measures to which I gave my hearty support was the establishment of the late Bank of the United States. Since that period I have not mingled in politics. As a citizen, however, I approved generally of the administration of James Monroe, and was opposed to the election of his successor, John Quincy Adams.

I advocated the election of Andrew Jackson, and supported most of the measures of his administration during his first term. I also voted reluctantly for his re-election, I disapproved of his veto to the bill to recharter the Bank of the United States, and the ad captandum arguments used by him to justify the measure. I attributed the act then, however, more to the feelings created by the particular time when Congress passed the bill—it being just previous to his second election, than to any settled hostility on his part to a United States Bank.

Shortly after his re-election, he commenced a train of measures to which I was utterly opposed; measures of a novel and alarming character, and which in their origin and subsequent developments, brought distress and embarrassment upon the banks, upon the country at large, and especially upon all our great commercial interests. I allude to his wild, violent and undigested schemes of finance—commencing with his pet Bank system and ending with his order in council, the Specie circular.

This warfare upon the Bank of the United States, the currency and the commerce of the nation, reduced us in 1837 to the degradation of witnessing a general suspension of specie payments by the banks.

These acts connected with the corrupting system of party discipline introduced by that administration with the view of compelling private judgement to succumb to the behests of party, completely separated me from the administration of Andrew Jackson.

His successor who pledged himself in advance "to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor," and who has gone a bowshot beyond him in obstinately pressing upon a free and intelligent people; his thrice rejected scheme of a sub-treasury—to him and his measures I have always been strenuously opposed.

Upon those subjects which fall more legitimately within the scope of the duties of a Virginia State Senator—in advancing and promoting the great cause of internal improvement, and in the diffusion of light and knowledge among our people, and in the general objects of legislation, my interest is identified with yours.

Finally, occupying the relation I now do, fellow citizens, towards you, by no procurement of my own, but having been pressed into it by the solicitation of friends, I have thought it right thus briefly, but at the same time explicitly, to state my political views. I have felt this duty the more imperative—because having been once a supporter of General Jackson's administration, and no public occasion having since occurred, except at the polls, to make my subsequent opinions known were I silent some might cast their votes in this election under a misapprehension of my sentiments. Whilst, then, I would regard an election to the Senate of Virginia as a flattering proof of your confidence—I could not but regard that confidence misplaced and valueless, were it bestowed by the people without knowing where and how I stand.

JOHN H. PEYTON.

[Spectator, May 9, 1859.]

He was duly elected and took his seat at the next session of the Senate.

MORE OLD LETTERS.

For want of a better place, the following bundle of old letters, running in date from October, 1823, to April, 1839, are here given. They possess a peculiar interest to the children of Mr. Peyton, unimportant as they are, since they exhibit, the domestic side of his character: are pages in the history of the family and it has been well said that, "Every family is a history in itself and even a poem to those who know how to search its pages."

john h. peyton to his wife.

Charlottesville, Oct., 9th, 1823.

My Dear Wife:

It is now Thursday morning, and we are not yet through with the trial of the first criminal, and there are three others waiting trial. When we will finish with them I cannot undertake to say.

I have employed as overseer for my farm near Staunton, a relative of my present overseer, who bears the same name. As you seem so partial to your countyman, old O'Sullivan, I will send him to my farm on Jackson river. Don't expect me till you see me, for it is impossible to say when I can return—the Judge thinks of holding a court next week. If so I will write you.