Discourse of the Life and Character of the Hon. Littleton Waller Tazewell Part 4

William W. Sharp offered the following preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:

The members of the Bar of Norfolk, having learned that LITTLETON WALLER TAZEWELL, Esq., died at his residence, in this city, yesterday morning, in the 86th year of his age, have a.s.sembled to express their feelings on the occasion of the demise of such an ill.u.s.trious member of their body.

More than the third of a century has elapsed since, crowned with its highest honors, he retired from the profession; and the reflection is as apposite as it is solemn, that not a member of the present bar was his contemporary; but, though he was nominally withdrawn from active life, his presence in our city, his great accessibility to all who chose to consult him, the exuberance of his vast stores of knowledge, which came forth freely at the call of his friends, his splendid parliamentary career, his overshadowing reputation which, as it was felt and universally acknowledged by his a.s.sociates at the Bar of Virginia, loomed yet larger through the haze of years--these and his fine social qualities ever kept him fresh in the eyes and in the hearts of his professional successors. Thus it was, that though so long withdrawn from the field of his meridian fame, he seemed to be connected with us by a sensible and living tie; and thus it is that we feel more acutely the loss which our body, which our city, and which our common country, have experienced in his death.

It was a severe but touching sentiment of an ancient poet, that no man ought to be deemed happy before his death; and such is the instability of human affairs, so sudden and unexpected are human events and opinions, there is too much room for belief in the mournful reflection; but, if the case of any individual may be singled out as an exception, it was that of Mr. Tazewell. He had reached the highest fame that has been attained at the Bar of Virginia and of the Union; and with the laurels gathered in forensic contests, he had interwoven those which he won on the floor of the Senate of the United States. His wise economy, his financial skill, and his sound practical judgment, had ama.s.sed a fortune which increased with every year: and, as if nothing should be wanting to his felicity, he was blessed with a large and lovely family, the bride of his youth, until within a year past, still diffusing around her the light of her early love, and children and grandchildren awaiting his blessing. The very seclusion in which he lived was an element of peace and serenity in his latter days. He interfered with no man's schemes; he thwarted the ambition of no aspirant; in the vigor of manhood, and in the prime of his extraordinary powers, he had put the cup of rivalry and ambition by; and no persuasion or inducement would have led him to press its lips as his sands were running low. Hence, unbia.s.sed by the prejudices of the hour, unswayed by the flattering schemes of personal interests, he brought his great powers to bear upon current questions with a force that it was hard to resist or elude, and with a sagacity almost prophetic. But that force will be felt now no more: that sagacity will cease to sway the judgments of men; and Death has placed its seal upon his destiny; and it has become our sad office to lament his loss:--Therefore, be it

_Resolved_, That, while we feel painfully the death of so ill.u.s.trious a member of our profession, we are grateful to the Disposer of Events that, with all his n.o.ble faculties unimpaired, and in the midst of untold temporal blessings, our deceased brother attained to such an advanced age, and reflected for so many years upon the Bar, upon his native and beloved Commonwealth, and upon the Union at large, the l.u.s.tre of his splendid talents, the pure and unsullied glory of his name and fame, and his eminent moral and social virtues.

_Resolved_, That the members of the Bar will this day attend his funeral in a body; and wear c.r.a.pe on the left arm for thirty days.

_Resolved_, That Hugh Blair Grigsby be requested to prepare a discourse on the life and character of Mr. Tazewell, to be delivered before the Bar at such time as may suit his convenience.

_Resolved_, That we extend to the family of our deceased brother our warmest and most heartfelt condolence on the death of its ill.u.s.trious head.

_Resolved_, That a copy of these proceedings be presented to the family of Mr. Tazewell.

_Resolved_, That these resolutions be published in the newspapers of Norfolk and Richmond.

After the reading of the above resolutions, Messrs. Tazewell Taylor, Hugh Blair Grigsby, William W. Sharp, and L.H. Chandler, delivered touching and appropriate addresses.

On motion of William W. Sharp, the blank in the third resolution was filled with the name of Hugh Blair Grigsby, who, being present, accepted the appointment.

The meeting then adjourned to enable the members of the Bar to attend the funeral.

JAMES E. HUBARD, _Chairman_.

CHARLES SHARP, } _Secretaries_.

JOHN T. FRANCIS, }

No. II.

CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THE PUBLICATION OF MR. GRIGSBY'S DISCOURSE.

NORFOLK, JUNE 29, 1860.

HUGH B. GRIGSBY, ESQ.:

SIR:--On behalf of the Norfolk bar, the undersigned committee desire to express to you their thanks for the able and interesting discourse on the life and character of the late Littleton Waller Tazewell, Esq., delivered before the bar this morning, and request a copy thereof for publication.

Expressing the hope that you will find it convenient and agreeable to comply with the request,

We are, sir, with great respect, your ob't serv'ts,

W.W. SHARP, } JNO. S. MILLSON, } TAZEWELL TAYLOR, } Committee.

HN. ROBERTSON, } JNO. T. FRANCIS, }

NORFOLK, JUNE 29, 1860.

GENTLEMEN:--In complying with your request for a copy of my discourse, delivered this morning, it is proper that I should state the circ.u.mstances under which it was prepared. When I accepted from the bar the office of delivering a discourse on the life and character of Mr.

Tazewell, I said to the meeting that, from the state of my eyes, I could not probably prepare it before the fall; but, having been unexpectedly detained in Norfolk beyond my usual time of leaving it for the country, and fearing from the state of my own health and from the uncertainty of human affairs, that, if I postponed the discourse till the fall, I might be prevented from preparing it then, I determined to do the work, as well as I could, at once, and the result is the discourse of which I read a portion to you this morning.

It is hastily written, and written almost wholly from my own mind, and, I may add, for the meridian of Virginia; but I have ventured to send it to you, such as it is, and I indulge the hope that, humble as it is, it may serve to recall, in some slight measure at least, and until some better memorial be prepared, the recollections of a statesman who was long the pride of his native commonwealth, and who stood to most of you in the intimate and endearing relation of a personal friend.

I am, gentlemen, with the highest respect, very truly yours,

HUGH BLAIR GRIGSBY.

TO W.W. SHARP, } JOHN S. MILLSON, } Esquires, TAZEWELL TAYLOR, } Committee of the HARRISON ROBERTSON, } Norfolk Bar.

JOHN T. FRANCIS, }

No. III.

CHARACTERS OF MR. TAZEWELL, BY THE HON. GEORGE LOYALL; BY WILLIAM W. SHARP, ESQ., A PUPIL OF MR. TAZEWELL; BY THE LATE WILLIAM WIRT, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES; AND BY THE LATE FRANCIS WALKER GILMER, ESQ., PROFESSOR OF LAW IN THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.

The sketch of Mr. Tazewell by Mr. Loyall appeared under the editorial head of the _Norfolk Argus_, on the 8th of May. It was written in haste, but it shows the impression which Mr. Tazewell made on that able and accomplished gentleman. None had a longer or a fairer view of Mr.

Tazewell for forty-five years past than Mr. Loyall, and it was mainly owing to him that Mr. Tazewell was brought forward as a candidate for a seat in the Senate of the United States.

[From the _Norfolk Argus_ of May 8, 1860. By the Hon. George Loyall.]

DEATH OF EX-GOV. TAZEWELL.

On Sunday, 11 o'clock A.M., LITTLETON WALLER TAZEWELL breathed his last.

It was in the Providence of G.o.d to prolong the life of this venerable and distinguished man beyond the term of four-score years, during which the beams of his genius irradiated the land of his birth. Among the last, if not the very last, of a n.o.ble and vigorous stock, to whom Virginia owes so much of her well-deserved fame, the main features of his character, as was said of an ill.u.s.trious statesman of the last century, had the hardihood of antiquity.

It was impossible to behold Mr. Tazewell--his majestic form and ma.s.sive brow--without a vivid impression of the superiority of his intellectual powers; and this impression was invariably deepened whenever a suitable occasion called for their exercise. It may be truly said that he was coeval with the outburst of our Revolutionary struggle, the period of his birth having preceded but a year or two the Declaration of Independence. After a thorough preparatory discipline, we find his name inscribed on the catalogue of William and Mary College, contemporary with those of John Thompson (Curtius) of Petersburg, John Randolph of Roanoke, Robert B. Taylor of this place, and other kindred spirits. He entered upon his professional career at a period when the bar of our State was thronged with men of extensive learning and the highest order of abilities. His success was not long a matter of doubt or speculation.

Unambitious of distinction, in the commonly received sense, and unwilling to leave, even for a time, the comparatively humble field of his habitual labors, yet when summoned away to some new or larger theatre, (in the meridian of his fame it not unfrequently happened,) his efforts were marked by extraordinary brilliancy and power. It was universally conceded that, when roused upon such occasions to put forth his whole strength, the more strenuous and stern the combat, the more signal his triumph.

As was remarked of Lord Mansfield, so with Mr. Tazewell, the shackles of a law education and profession, perhaps, formalized, and, in some degree, repressed the splendor of his genius; still, whether in the senate chamber, the hall of legislation, or the court-room, his "speaking was the full expression of the mighty thought, the strong triumphant argument, the rush of native eloquence." His calm dignity and colossal strength, his luminous masculine and searching logic, the vast extent and variety of his research, the large stores of his affluent knowledge, marshalled and arranged with consummate skill and judgment, together with the fascination of his purely unaffected, earnest manner, the magic power of his unstudied action, and the thrilling intonations of his deep rich voice, rendered him, in his best days, "before public a.s.semblies, almost irresistible." He managed his strength to such advantage, that few men dared to grapple with him "in a pitched field of long and serious debate." His general tone and style in debate were marked by an intense earnestness, whilst his narrative, possessing, from its striking naturalness and simplicity, a high degree of dramatic interest, was occasionally relieved with splendid pa.s.sages of impa.s.sioned and stirring eloquence. Intrepid self-reliance, unwearied activity, far-reaching sagacity, clearness, and fulness, were the prominent characteristics of Mr. Tazewell's mind. Comprehending with intuitive glance the whole field of argument, he "launched into his subject like an eagle dallying with the wind." One of our leading statesmen declared, upon a memorable occasion, that "Tazewell was second to no man that breathed." Certainly, it is no exaggeration to say that, for robust discipline, vigorous reasoning, grasp and amplitude of thought, he was almost without a rival.

Virginia had conferred upon him her highest official trusts. Her generous confidence he requited with a deep and fervent devotion, laying upon the altar of her stern and simple political faith the offerings of matured wisdom, and upholding, in all seasons, with a lofty patriotism and the utmost energies of his powerful intellect, her right and honor.

Standing upon the great principles that lie at the foundation of our inst.i.tutions, the powers of the Federal Government, as limited and defined by the Compact, and the rights of the States in all their integrity, he regarded as vital to the preservation of the Confederacy and the stability of our republican system. Whether in repelling open a.s.saults upon the Const.i.tution, or meeting at the threshold covert abuses of delegated power, no man within our border saw more clearly, or more directly and firmly trod the path of duty before him. Personal asperities engendered by political strife, and which too often follow in the train of collisions of opinion and partisan warfare, were "alien to his nature." In his retirement from the public arena, during the last twenty years or more, he sympathized but little with the busy world.

Of most happy temperament, and without a particle of ostentation or parade, "his spirit was finely touched with the gentler virtues," and those who enjoyed the privilege of his social intimacy will remember with delight the unaffected frankness and simplicity of his manners, the varied range, the breadth and depth and vivacity of his "marvellously rich and beautiful conversation," whilst they must deeply deplore the loss of one as remarkable for mildness and the kindliest affections in his domestic relations, and all the intercourse of private life, as for profound thought and rare attainments.

It is not the purpose, nor is it within the scope of this brief memorial, to delineate the character of this eminent citizen. _Clarum et venerabile nomen_--"a fairer tribute shall one day grace his honorable tomb." He belongs now to history.

SKETCH OF MR. TAZEWELL BY MR. SHARP.

This sketch appeared in one of the morning papers of Norfolk on the 8th of May; and though hastily written, deserves to be republished here. Mr.