Memoir of John Howe Peyton Part 22

"But we have been told by Capt. b.u.mgardner that Daniel Sheffey, a competent judge surely, in speaking of Mr. Peyton said: 'He possessed gigantic power without effort.' No greater compliment could be paid to the intellect of any man. Mr. Peyton had time enough to become great in his profession and to spare for other things. With him his daily work was a pleasure rather than a burden. Fortunate indeed is the man who is so gifted. The consciousness of the possession of such powers and the use of them in right directions must be a delight to their possessor."

"But it is the crowning excellence of him whose memory we honor to-day, that he was as pure, as n.o.ble in heart as he was great in mind. In him there was that fine and harmonious combination of high moral qualities and great intellectual powers which makes the model man. This combination of moral and intellectual qualities is what so greatly commended this man to the regard and esteem of his contemporaries, and in what still keeps his memory fresh."

"Well it is for the lawyers of the present day, and well it will be for those who are to follow them, that the portrait of such a lawyer should be ever looking down upon them from the walls of this hall of justice.

"Its presence here will be at once an inspiration and a restraint.

"With the form and features of John Marshall, the great expounder of the Federal Const.i.tution and the founder of our Federal jurisprudence, and with the forms and features of such of his disciples as John H. Peyton, Thos. J. Michie and John B. Baldwin, ever before them, the lawyers who come here to practice their profession should not go wrong."

At the conclusion of Major Elder's speech, calls were made on Col. John L. Peyton, who arose and responded in a few brief remarks which can be found on another page of this book.

[From Yost's Weekly.]

PRESENTATION OF A PORTRAIT.

A goodly company, including a number of ladies, a.s.sembled in the Court-house at noon on Friday last to witness the presentation to Augusta County of the portrait of Hon. John Howe Peyton, than whom the old county never had a more distinguished son, for although born outside of her confines, the major part of his long and useful life was spent in her service, and the l.u.s.tre of his fame forms one of her richest heritages and indissolubly interwoven with her history and progress.

The meeting was called to order by Capt. T. D. Ranson, and, upon his motion, George M. Cochran, Esq., was designated to preside. Mr. Cochran briefly stated the object of the meeting was the presentation to the Board of Supervisors of Augusta County of a portrait of the late Hon.

John Howe Peyton and its acceptance by the authorities.

On behalf of Col. John Lewis Peyton and other descendants of the great lawyer, Capt. James b.u.mgardner made the presentation address. It was a theme worthy of the best effort and the address was worthy of the theme, and worthy too of the head and heart of the learned and gallant gentleman chosen for the task. He sketched the distinguished career of John Howe Peyton from his birth in Stafford county in the year 1778.

Endowed with talents of a high order, Mr. Peyton entered Princeton at an early age, graduating from that inst.i.tution as Master of Arts in 1797.

He studied law under Judge Bushrod Was.h.i.+ngton of the Supreme Court of the United States, and commenced the practice of his profession on the Fredericksburg circuit. In 1806 he was elected as a member of the House of Delegates from Stafford County, and re-elected the following year and served until 1810 and 1811. In 1808 he removed to Staunton, and was immediately appointed Attorney for the Commonwealth for the circuit surrounding Staunton, and subsequently also Commonwealth's Attorney for Augusta County. This latter position was resigned by Chapman Johnson, himself a great lawyer, for the reason, as he declared, that Mr.

Peyton's qualifications for the office were so superior that justice to the county demanded his services. During the war of 1812 Mr. Peyton acted as chief of staff to General Porterfield, and in the field as well as the forum rendered distinguished service. From 1816, when he was appointed Deputy U. S. District Attorney to aid William Wirt, until his health became impaired in 1844, Mr. Peyton continued to fill the office of State's Attorney, serving also terms as Mayor of the city and for eight years as a member of the State Senate.

His busy, useful life closed in 1847, but the fragrance of his memory lingers to this day, and his fame is one of the memories of the county.

Captain b.u.mgardner quoted the opinions of a long list of eminent men who were contemporaries of Mr. Peyton and recognized his great power as a lawyer. Among them was Daniel Webster, who in speaking of the celebrated report written by Mr. Peyton in opposition to the amendment of the Const.i.tution of the United States, said that the "reasoning and conclusion were unanswerable."

In closing, Captain b.u.mgardner earnestly and eloquently summed up the salient points in the career of Mr. Peyton, declaring him to have been a man of commanding ability, of the highest culture, of profound legal learning, of the sternest integrity and strictest honor; worthy to be commemorated by placing his portrait in the group of great lawyers which now adorns the Court House.

Major Thomas C. Elder was selected by the court to receive the portrait on behalf of the Board of Supervisors. The selection was a happy one.

Never have we heard in that Court House an address so chaste, so scholarly, so rich in beautiful worded thought, so thoroughly impressive and appropriate. It was a literary gem. To sketch it would be to mar it, and we regret that our limited s.p.a.ce does not permit its publication in full, together with the address to which it was a response.

Col. John L. Peyton, son of Hon. John Howe Peyton, was present in the house, and calls were made for him to come to the stand. In recognition of this manifestation, the Colonel said he was taken by surprise in the call that was made, and could only say that he felt gratified with the enthusiastic manner the gift to the county had been received, and the elegant and affecting remarks which had accompanied the presentation of the portrait and its reception. That he was pleased to see his father's likeness on the walls of the hall where his eloquent voice had so often resounded, and suspended in the midst of a people he had loved so much and served so faithfully, for with him it always was "his country first, his country last, his country all the time."

LETTERS.

FROM THE REV. J. HENRY SMITH, D. D., PASTOR OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, GREENSBORO, N. C., ONE OF THE FEW SURVIVORS OF MR. PEYTON'S OLD FRIENDS.

Greensboro, N. C., July 24th, 1894.

_Col. John L. Peyton_:

_My Dear Sir_--I have just received from your hand a copy of the "Staunton Daily News" of the 21st inst., and I have read with very great pleasure, the beautiful and eloquent and richly deserved tributes to your honored father at the public meeting in your town called for the acceptance of your father's portrait. It well deserves to be placed among the purest and ablest and n.o.blest of his talented and honored a.s.sociates and contemporaries. I congratulate _you_ on so interesting an occasion, and I sympathise with you in the filial joy and pride and grat.i.tude to G.o.d that your heart, I know, felt, as those tributes were paid to your n.o.ble father's character and influence. Next to the fear of G.o.d, is the feeling we cherish for a father, who has taught us in the right way of virtue and honor, who has exemplified such a life and led us onward and upward. I think the _5th Commandment_ stands in the decalogue where it does, because the love and reverence to parents is next to the love and fear of G.o.d, in the estimation of G.o.d himself.

Greek and Latin writers often cla.s.sified and summed up human duty in the following three-fold way,--"to fear the G.o.ds--to honor one's parents and to obey the laws of the land." This was I think in the mind of _Cicero_ when he said "_in aris et focis est Republica_." _Plato_ says "let us believe then that we can have no religious image more precious in the sight of heaven than a father, or a grandfather or a mother worn out with age, and that in proportion as we honor or delight in them with a religious joy, in the same proportion does G.o.d himself rejoice." Such sentiments, I believe, are fragments of the true and primitive religion carried abroad--but also, soon afterward, in so many respects corrupted, we recognize such sentiments as a part of the original Divine law not wholly obliterated, thanks to G.o.d, by the fall.

For the sake of dear old Virginia, I thank you that your father's form and face is where it is--to be an incentive to virtue and patriotism, as it looks down from year to year upon all who enter your court of justice.

For your considerate kindness in sending me the paper, and awakening thoughts of the long past, and with apologies for this longer letter than I had thought to write, I am,

Gratefully yours, J. HENRY SMITH.

FROM GEN. ECHOLS.

Louisville, Ky., July 28, 1894.

_Major Thos. C. Elder, Staunton, Va._:

_My Dear Major_--After an absence of several days, I returned to this city yesterday, and find your postal of the 23rd inst., and also the newspaper containing an account of the ceremony of the delivery to, and acceptance by, the county authorities of Augusta county, of the portrait of the late distinguished John Howe Peyton. I am very much obliged to you for thinking of me, and giving me an opportunity of reading the addresses made by yourself and Captain b.u.mgardner on the occasion referred to. I have read the speeches with a great deal of interest, and I have been very much impressed and pleased with your chaste, striking, and eloquent address, as the representative of the Supervisors of the county, in accepting the portrait. You have, with a master's hand, delineated the character of Mr. Peyton, and I hope that your address will be preserved as a fitting accompaniment of the skillful personation of the striking countenance that the artist has presented. I recollect Mr. Peyton very well. When I was a boy I saw him, and heard him frequently at the bar, generally in Lexington. I have also a very pleasant recollection of having enjoyed his elegant and generous hospitality at his home.

When I can first remember Staunton, the Staunton bar was made up of men who will long live in the memory of those who had the good fortune to know them.

Judge Thompson was on the bench, and around him Thos. J. Michie, A. H.

H. Stuart, John B. Baldwin, David Fultz, H. W. Sheffey and a number of other gentlemen, all of whom together formed a notable group that would have made any forum ill.u.s.trious.

It is certainly a most fitting thing that the n.o.ble county of Augusta should have her Pantheon, in which shall be gathered the statues and likenesses of her great sons, in order that those who come after shall see the men who have given to her her proud pre-eminence among the counties of the "Old Dominion."

Again thanking you for your kindness, and hoping to see you in a few days, I am, very truly yours, JOHN ECHOLS.

Many other interesting letters have been received from distinguished gentlemen in different parts of the State, but neither time nor the limits of this pamphlet admit of their insertion.

LETTERS FROM CONTEMPORARIES AT THE BAR.

From a number of letters received from persons to whom Col. Preston's sketch was posted, nearly fifteen years ago, the following extracts are selected, because written by Mr. Peyton's colleagues at the bar.

FROM JUDGE ALEXANDER RIVES.

(FEDERAL JUDGE.)

In a letter addressed to Hon. John L. Peyton, and dated Eastbourne, Charlottesville, Jan. 29th, 1881, Judge R. says:

"There was no one at the bar, with whom I was a.s.sociated, for whom I cherished the same admiration, respect and esteem, as for him.

"So much of our State's worth and greatness was in the ranks of the bar and the bench, that I have felt it to be a shame to the State that it has never been chronicled, as it should have been, for after ages. Such men as Wickham, Leigh, and Johnson survive only in brief obituaries. I am glad your filial piety has, in some measure, rescued your father's name from that neglect."

FROM JOHN B. MINOR, LL. D.,