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156
LITERARY.
WILLIAM ». MANN, Editor.
The Southern Field and Fireside
IS PUBLISHED KTKRT SATURDAY.
TERMS—S2.OO s year, invariably in advance. All
Postmasters arc authorized agents.
” - SATURDAY, OCT. 8, 1859.
~ BACK NUMBERS.
Persons subscribing to the Field and Fireside can
bo supplied with all the back numbers.
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TERMS TO NEWS-DEALERS.
This paper is mailed to news-dealers at the rate of two
dollars and fifty cents per one hundred copies.
TO CORRESPONDENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS
“Erie Evarton” and “Frederick,” have for
gotten to comply with our rule, which require? :
communication of the real name of contributors, i
Their articles will not be read till this omission
shall be supplied.
We have received during the week, “ The
Rum-Devil, or the Autobiography of a Drunk
ard,” by S. N. B.
“The Iron Chest, a Tale of the South in early
Times,” by J. M. T.
The Artist, by Hope Everall.
Several communications relative to China,
from Rev. B. W. W.
An Article on our Common School System, by
J. C. P
“Old Winter is nere," by Penna.
Lines composed at the Funeral of a Young
Child.
“ Come to me, Come to me.”
“ Coming,” by M. C. 8., is of charming sim
plicity, and could be made a beautiful piece, by
the assiduous and judicious application of labor
lima;. Without it, we must decline the Lines.
We have received from Idle Wild , (not from
N. P. Willis,) two poems, “The Guilty Lovers
of Ceylon” and “Isabel” -The writer has given
us two “ first efforts,” of considerable merit,
nis versification is skillful and the melody of
his composition shows a good ear, and promises,
if the writer be young, and we presume he is, a
rliymster in futuro, much above the average.
The lines are musical, but a whole column of
them at once would be rather monotonous
Besides, though the moral of the story is good,
and the facts true, we don’t exactly like to en
tertain our young readers with stories of
“ Guilty Lovers. ” We think the best way to
treat such persons, and such conduct as Idle
Wild has made his theme, is not to make heroes
and heroines of them in verse; but to reprobate
them in a few plain, downright, upright, honest
and earnest sentences in homespun prose. As
for Isabel, she is a very lovely and estimable
young lady, we have no doubt: nor have we,
that the lines to her praise would please her
more than they do us. We hope he will send
these to her, and to us the next—not the very
next
“The Release,” by Helen Grey, is accepted.
We hope to hear from nelen Grey again. Sho
is evidently careful and laborious in the construc
tion of the verses; yet she has more talent than
many who think they have enough to permit
them to dispense with any attention to the rules
of versification.
J. E. W. sends us a short poem, “ Maybel
Bright," which, says he, “ I scribbled off du
ring an idle moment;” then he asks us, if we
reject the lines, to give, in our “Answers to Cor
respondents,” our “candid opinion of their
merits.” Well, then, in the first place, we “can
didly ” and very seriously ask J. E. W., and all
others, who may feel disposed to do as he has
done, to send us no more lines “ scribbled off in
an idle moment.” It is not one writer in five
hundred that can “ scribble off in an idle mo
ment ” anything we would think worth pub
lishing : and of those that can, not one in five
hundred but could do much better with a few
hours of patient, intelligent labor.
We want the best, both in prose and verse,
that our contributors can give, or we would
prefer that they keep their productions in their
private port-folios, for their own particular ad
miration, and that of partial, more amiable, and
loss critical friends. We declare that, almost
always, our esteem of contributions “scribbled
off in an idle moment” is, seriously, as slight as
the writers pretend theirs to be. We think it
inconsiderate and unjust in persons who are so
economical of their own time and labor, to com
pel us to waste ours, by reading page after page
of crude composition, in the honest effort and
hope to find them worthy of publication, in spite
of defects which the writers themselves could,
and ought to have removed. Some, with serene
impertinence, even ask us to “ correct bad spel
ling and punctuation.” Why, ladies and gentle
men, what are your dictionaries and grammars
for? If literary editors are (we admit they
ought to be) pretty good dictionaries and gram
mars, they are not yours, “to have and to hold,’’
to use and abuse, and you have no right thus to
tax them. And we humbly suggeat, however ex
orbitant it may seem, that writers who undertake
to instruct or entertain by books, or even in the
columns of a Literary Weekly, should be able
to spell and punctuate correctly, and should do
so, before they send their offerings to the press.
As for poetical contributions in particular, we
must say to J. E. W., that our first impulse is to
* toss incontinently, all impromptus of more than
four lines, without reading, into a certain basket,
(a literary “ bourn," established lor the conve
nience of such “ travelers,” about five feet from
our arm-chair,) whence no visitant “ returns.”
Why, sir, almost any body can conceive, or,
in default of imagination, can borrow a pretty
idea or fine sentiment, and put the same into
some sort of language, and in measure of some
sort, into lines beginning with capitals, and end
ing with rhymes. But that is not a Poem, any
more than the rough-hewn marble block upon
which the sculptor has begun to pencil his con
ception, and which, under the hand of rude
workmen, has assumed an ill-defined shape,
TMM BmTWMMM YXSO MMO YX&KBXSS.
j faintly foreshadowing, in vague outline, the
I sculptor’s idea, is the glorious Statue. Canova’s
I informing chisel has not yet touched the marble.
I It is only after many months of patient study
! aud persisting toil—after ten thousand delicate
strokes of the master’s chisel, and again ten
thousand finishing touches of the master-hand,
that the statue issues from the studio, though
a stone, almost instinct with life, a complete and
beauteous creation, of which Immortality is the
reward.
So we say to J. E. W., that his “ Maybel
Bright” is, in idea, a very pretty little poem, but
he must, by labor and study, put it in much
more artistic form, before we shall deem it, in
fact, a poem worthy of praise, and of accep
tance for our columns.
We have answered J. E. W. at much greater
length than we had proposed, and very “ can
didly," as he requested. We would be sorry to
offend him, and hope that he will write us again
when he can show that he has profited by our
counsel. We think that it is in him.
We decline, with much hesitation, the lines
entitled “An Appointed Tryst on the Shores of
the World to Come.” Will not the writer
prune, trim, and polish them a little, (a good
deal, we meant to say.) and then send them
back to us. The lines are worth the trouble,
and we know the writer can make such as we
would be glad to accord place to.
“The Sword of Wallace,"contains some very
fine lines, but they are scattered so sparsely
along the two closely written pages of foolscap,
that we cannot undertake to cull, .nor to publish
the piece entire. We wish this writer would
take the advice we have given, just above, to
another friend.
We respectfully decline the lines commencing
with—
'■ In this wide world, is there one breast,” Ac.
The Sinner’s Prayer and Answer;
The lines commencing with:
“ I stood beside a new-made grave”;
Lines addressed to Ella;
Lines entitled “ The Passage”;
“ I Dreamed of my Home,” by Timotheus;
A poem, “ Vision of the Night";
“ The Girl with the azure Eye,” by Timotheus;
Lines commencing “ Sleep on, my little friend”;
What is our Life ?
Thirty Lines, Home-Spun.
—
WHO IS "NED BRACE 1”
Until the appearance of “ Master Mitten,”
the story by A. B. Loxgstreet, which has
adorned the first page of The Southern* Field
and Fireside, from its first number to the pres
ent, it was very generally believed that a dis
tinguished citizen of South Carolina, Mr. Ed
mund Bacon, was the original “Ned Brace;”
that striking character so graphically delineated
as “ The Native Georgian,” in a former work of
Judge Longstreet’s, the widely-read “ Georgia
Scenes." But upon the re-appearance of “ Ned
Brace ” in Master Mitten, as a student of Doctor
Waddel’s school at Willington, the friends and
admirers of “ Ned ” and the Judge, were taken
all aback. The scenes at Willington are des
cribed as occurring about the year 1806; but,
as was remembered by many, and known to all,
Edmund Bacon was, at that date, a married
man, and practicing attorney. The question
then, “ Who was Ned Brace ?” recurred with in
creased interest, many insisting still that it was
Bacon, only the Judge was taking poetic license
with dates: others contended that the character
of “The Native Georgian ” was not drawn from
Mr. Bacon, but from another gentleman of our
own more immediate vicinage, and well remem
bered by many of us, Mr. Dred Pace, who was,
we believe, a pupil of Doctor Waddel at Wil
lington, within the historic times of “ Master
Mitten.” Mr. Bacon, we think, was not. Both
these names have been cited recently in the
public prints as the type of “ Ned Brace.”
We are fortunately enabled to settlo ex cathedra,
this mooted question. Perhaps it will be found
that both the gentlemen above named are enti
tled to share the immortality to which “ Ned
Brace ” is destined.
The youth who was really at school in Wil
lington, and who has re-appeared as "Ned Brace,"
in “ Master Mitten ” was, as we are told, a great
admirer, and a copyist, as far as ho could be, of
Edmund Bacon. He imitated B. in every thing
but his literary attainments—not that Pace was
at all wanting in native talents, though, in this
respect, he was far below his model. It was
the student Pace whom Judge Longstreet had
in his eye, when he commenced his sketch of
“The Character of a Native Georgian;” and he
had proceeded about one-half through the
sketch, and sent what he had written ninety
miles from his residence, to the press, when it
occurred to him that the interest of the sketch
would be much enhanced by the substitution of
the original for the imitator. He determined,
therefore, to make the change—the more readily
because what had been written was not very
much out of character with Bacon. The conse
quence of this change was that “ The Character
of a Native Georgian” does not suit exactly,
either Bacon or Pace, while there is no feature
of it, nor incident, which does not suit, pretty
nearly, one or the other. “Brace,”of “The
Georgia Scenes,” is described as a very large
man: so the youth at school in Willington, the
“ Brace” of Master Mitten, Pace, grew up to be.
But Bacon, though a portly man, was not of re
markable stature. Bacon was a man of more
polished manners and of more refinement, than
his youthful imitator ever proved to be. Judge
Longstreet believes that Mr. Bacon was not a
native Georgian, though he must havo come to
the State at a very early age. At school, he
was a youth of very brilliant promise. In 1791 f
whan he was of tender age, he delivered an ad
dress to Gen. Washington, composed by Isaac
Briggs, that “ electrified and melted everybody,’’
and so delighted the General, that as soon as
he reached Mount Vernon, he sent to young
Bacon a beautifully bound copy of Cicero’s Ora-
tions. The Address was published in one of j
he Magazines of the day. The precious gift- ;
book from Washington, was afterwards des- ;
troyed by fire.
As a mere declaimer, the " Brace of Doctor
Waddel's school was probably quite the equal
of Bacon. “He invariably bore off,” says our
informant, “the prizes in speaking, from liis
competitors; but in scholarship his standing was
rather low.”
We have been assured by the author, that
when “ The Georgia Scenes” were written, he
did not suppose that he would ever see them
assume the form of a book; much less did he
anticipate the very flattering reception they have
met with from the public. When first pub
lished in boot form, the author yielded his as
sent only after earnest solicitation; and the
entire management of the publication was left
to another. He states that many errors abound
in the published volume. We have some reason
to believe that a new, revised and enlarged edi
tion of “The Georgia Scenes,” is contemplated
by the author, in which, with other emendations,
the discordant portions of the Chapters devoted
to the “Character of a Native Georgian, ’ will
be harmonized, and made to form a congruous
whole.
As for the characters in “ Master Mitten ,” we
have it from the be t authority, that with the
exception of Ked Jrace and Doctor Waddel,
there are no particular persons or characters de.
signed to be por rayed. “ Mitten is a fancy
character entirely; o his mother; so Markham;
so the Glibs; so Sc itli; so Jones. Nobody is
represented under these names.” Many of the
incidents, however which are described as ta
king place at Mr. ‘’Vaddel’s school, did really
occur there, with 11 the funniness which the
graphic pen of the Judge has imparted to them.
So much we hav3 deemed it proper to say,
touching the story which is now in course of
publication in The Southern Field and Fire
side ; for wo have already heard the character
of Mitten himself very erroneously ascribed to
persons who wero not at all in the mind of the
author as he wrote the pages; and the author is
seriously desirous of effacing such impressions
from the minds of individuals, and of the public.
—
JUDGE O'NT ALL'S NEW WORK.
We acknowledge, with pleasure, the reception,
from the publishers in Charleston, of several ad
vance sheets of a cow work, by Judge O’Neau.,
soon to issue from the press of the Messrs.
Courtenay.
The work will nake two Volumes of 500
pages, comprising a >ont one hundred and fifty
biographic sketches of eminent judicial and
professional men of South Carolina. The work
is handsomely gotten up, and will prove a val
uable addition to all professional and private
libraries.
We extract from the pages furnished us, the
following sketch of Chancellor Hugh Rutledge.
There are few brighter names in any State than
Carolina boasts in her Rutledges; and The
Southern Field and Fireside seizes with alac
rity this opportunity of holding forth, for the
emulation of Southern youth, one of the three
brothers who have made that name illustrious.
The three brothers, John, Edward, and Hugh,
were model gentlemen and patriots. They have
made the name of Rutledge the synonym of
private worth and civic virtue. Carolina may
well be proud of it:
“ Hugh Rutledge, a younger brother of John
Rutledge, in the Spring of ’76, under the Consti
tution of that year, was appointed a Judge of the
Court of Admiralty of South Carolina. After
the fall of Charleston, he, with his brother Ed
ward, Governor Gadsden, and many others,
were sent as prisoners to St. Augustine.
In ’77, Hugh Rutledge was Speaker of the
Legislative Council, and so continued until 17th
of October, 1778. In 1782, he became Speaker
of the House of Representatives, and so contin
ued to 1785.
In 1790, the Constitution of the State was
adopted. The first section of the third article
declared, that “the judicial power shall be vest
ed in such superior and iuferior Courts of Law,
and Equity, as the Legislature shall, from time
to time, direct and establish.” Under this, it
may well be doubted, whether the term “ Chan
cellor ” was any longer a proper designation,
and whether, in strictness, such an officer should
not be called, as he was liefore ’24, “ a Judge of
the Court of Equity.”
On the 19th of February, 1791, and after the
Act to establish a Court of Equity had been
passed, and his brother John had been elevated
to the office of Chief Justice, Hugh Rutledge
was appointed a Judge of the Court of Equity.
He experienced the neglect of his Court by the
Legislature in not filling the places of Mathews
and Hunt, (who had been elected in the place of
Hutson, and who died in a few months,) for two
years—during which time he was a single Judge
of a Court, then consisting, according to law, of
three members. I see it was gravely doubted,
whether the Court had not ceased to exist: but
a matchless argument of H. W. DeSaussure, af
terwards the Chancellor, showed conclusively
that it had not, and perhaps also served to re
mind the Legislature of their duty.
Chancellor Rutledge died in January, 1811.—
His talents are said to have not been so “ bril
liant, nor of so distinguished a cast as those of
his brothers, John and Edward—but for solidity
of judgment, and strong manly sense, he was
not inferior to either of them.” “As a firm, in
trepid patriot, he was pre-eminently distinguish
ed by the cheerful performance of every duty to
his country.”
The following account of Chancellor Rutledge,
from the pen of an honored citizen of Charleston,
does him full justice:
There are many reasons why the author of
this sketch should feel embarrassed by its pre
paration ; but there ore many more why every
virtuous man in society should desire to have
justice done to those who have preceded us and
surpassed us in good works.
No movement has ever been made in the for
mation of our national character, where the
name of Rutledge is not found. The first Con
gress, which met at New York in 1765, has been,
not improperly, called the “Ovum Reipublic;e.”
Nine colonies only represented, and South Car
olina among them, with Thomas Lynch, Christo
plier Gadsden, and John Rutledge fully authoriz
ed to pledge their constituents for “ weal or for
woe.” In this year Patrick Henry earned im
mortality for himself by that celebrated speech
in Virginia, which put the ball of Revolution in
motion.
Again we find what was called the Associa-
tion, assembled at Philadelphia in 1774; and in
the proceedings we see the “ Seal ” of our State,
supporting and sustaining “ the cause” with two
members of the Rutledge family acting for ns.—
And in 1776, when that great “proclamation”
was made to the world, who can ever read the
most important document, now extant, without
admiring the chaste and graceful, and manly sig
nature of “ Edward Rutledge,” to the “ Decla
ration of Independence” 7 And perhaps it may
be admissible to mention here that the biogra
pher of Mr. Jefferson, (of course hostile to the
Federal party,) speaking of them as the “ old
train bands of the Treasury Department,” and
as “ men who had been enriched by frauds,” with
other epithets, upon which I do not propose to
comment, makes this honorable offering to
South Carolina. Mr. Randall says : “If General
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney ever, in public or
in private life, acted otherwise than as a manly,
pure and high toned politician, patriot and gen
tleman, we have failed to discover a solitary in;
stance of the fact,” and then adds in a note, “ we
think this remark applies fairly to nearly all the
leading * South Carolina Federalists.’ * * *
was accused of being one of the greediest of the
1 Treasury Squad,’ but the Pinckneys, the Rut
ledges, the Ac., Ac., Ac., were men above
personal suspicion.” Neither of those families
ever required this certificate, and they certainly
do not now; but the words are quoted, as used
by a political opponent, and as applynig to the
period of bitterest party strife. Our purpose,
however, is to speak of the Chancellor.
Hugh Rutledge was one of those three broth
ers who gave themselves to their country, when
the success of American arms and the achieve
ment of American liberty depended upon such
“ gifts.” He was born in Christ Church Parish,
District of Charleston, about the middle of the
last century. His widowed mother intended
him for the legal profession, and after receiving
his preparatory education, he was sent to Eng
land, as was usual, to “study in the Temple.”—
He returned in due time and took his position at
the Bar, and upon the authority of the late
Thomas S.Grinke, it is said that he “rated as
among the very best common-law lawyers of
his day.” The Revolution soon commenced, and
under the head “ Hugh Rutledge,” we find by a
cotemporaneous historian these words: “ As a
firm and intrepid patriot, he was eminently dis
tinguished by the cheerful performance of every
duty to his country.” And again, that when
the lower part of the State was a conquered
province, Mr. Rutledge having been created
Judge of Admiralty, he “refused the offer of
protection, and bore all the hardships of exile at
St. Augustine, sharing the sufferings of such
men as Arthur Middleton, Edward Rutledge,
Christopher Gadsden, Daniel DeSaussure, and
others. And that after his exchange he was
called to fill the Speaker’s chair in the Houso of
Representatives, and did so greatly to the satis
faction of its members, Ac., Ac., Ac.
Mr. Rutledge married the daughter of Tlios.
Smith, ancestor of the Rhett family, and by his
marriage had a son, “Hugh,” who died in early
manhood, and a daughter, “ Sarah,” now the wife
of Alfred Huger. After the death of the mother
of these children, he married “ Mary,” the daugh
ter of Major Benjamin Huger, who was killed
during the war of the revolution; ho left by this
marriage five children, Maria, afterwards wife
of Dr. Thomas Waties, of Sumter; Benjamin,
who served during the entire war of 1812 to
1815 ; Francis, now Bishop of Florida; Ann and
John, who died single. Among his male de
scendants are John Waties and B. Huger Rut
ledge, both members of the Bar. Waties at Co
lumbia and Rutledge at Charleston.
According to Chancellor DeSaussure’s Equity
Reports, “ upon the erection and establishment
of the Court of Chancery, after the revolution,
John Rutledge, Richard Hutton, and John Ma
thews, were elected Judges of that Court, and
served until 1791, at which time John Rutledge
was elected Chief Justice of the Court of Com
mon Pleas and Sessions, and to fill the vacancy
thus made, Hugh Rutledge was then elected
a Judge of the Court of Equity.” He continued
on this Bench to the day of his death. How he
performed the functions of this high office, it is
our purpose now to speak, so far as is consistent
with the objects of the present sketch. No de
partment of the law affords finer opportunities
for the gratification of elevated judicial aspira
tions, than that branch of the general science
which is known to legal writers as the Law of
Equity. Conversant with the most difficult and
complicated matters which belong to the muni
cipal law, it requires a large and comprehensive
mind to embrace the subject in its various rela
tions, as well as great patience of investigation,
and nice powers of discrimination in him who
undertakes to wield the remedial processes of its
delicate and refined machinery, and to adjust
the claims of opposite conflicting equities to the
purposes of practical life. Moreover, there are
other requisites, especially necessary to the
Equity Judge, which arise out of the peculiar
jurisdiction of the Courts which administer this
branch of the law. A sound judgment is, taking
all things into consideration, the best qualifica
tion of every judicial officer. In a Chancellor,
it is absolutely indispensable. The Court over
which he presides, is charged with that portion
of the sovereign authority which exerts itself in
behalf of those who are unable, under the law,
to protect themselves. The Cnancellor thus be
comes, as it were, the general supervisor and
custodian of the interests both of person and
property of those classes of individuals—orphans,
idiots, lunatics, Ac., Ac., —whose unprotected
and forlorn condition attracts tfie sympathies of
every benevolent mind. Mere learning, how
ever great, (although very much to be desired,)
is not all sufficient to carry him successfully
through the varied and responsible duties of his
position. The Chancellor ought to be more than
a mere book-man. A well balanced judgment,
strong practical wisdom, and a thorough knowl
edge of business and of life, are essential char
acteristics of any one who desires to become an
ornament to the Equity Bench. In short, a good
Chancellor, is one of the rarest, as well as one of
the most valuable and efficient officers in the
service of the State. In estimating the charac
ter of any one who has been engaged injudicial
labors, and who has passed for some time from
the stage of life, there are two ways, chiefly, by
which posterity are enabled to arrive at just con
clusions. The one is from the examination of
his efforts wherever they appear upon the re
cords of the Courts to which he was attached,
in the shape of judgments or decrees. The oth
er is from the testimony of those who were his
cotemporaries, and who, together with him, in
their day and generation, fought through the
battle of life in the same calling.”
[The author here incorporates into the vol
ume two of the judgments of Chancellor Hugh
Rutledge, extracted from DeSaussuue’s Eq.
Reports. These wo omit as unlikely to prove
of interest to the generality of our readers.—
Ed. F. A F.]
“ The above cases are enough to illustrate
Chancellor Rutledge’s judicial style. They show
that althougn versed in the learning of the law,
he was not so bound down by the force of pre-
cedents as to be unable to act independently of
them when the interests of the country plainly
required it. In conclusion of this part of our
subject, we may indulge in this general obser
vation : That Chancellor Rutledge’s mind was
logical and exact —his style clear and perspicu
ous—his learning comprehensive and accurate—
and his judgment sound and independent.
VTe come now to speak of the second source
of information above referred to as the means of
acquiring knowledge concerning the character
istics of those who are passed away—the judg
ments of cotemporaries. Let the cotemporaries
of Chancellor Rutledge, most of them opposed to
hiii. in politics, declare what opinions they en
tertained of him.
Tuesday Morning, Jan. 22, 1811.
“At a full meetmg of the gentlemen of the
Bar, convened in the Equity Court Room, and
upon John Julius Pringle, Esq., being called to
the chair, the following resolutions were unan
imously adopted:
The members of the Bar in Charleston, deep
ly regretting the death of the lato Hon. Hugh
Rutledge , and bearing in mind the many public
and private virtues and important services to
his country, which distinguished him through
out a long and honorable life ; being convened
for the purpose of testifying their respect and
veneration for his memory, have adopted the
following preamble and resolutions:
Whereas , the Hon. Hugh Rutledge, late and
for many years, a Chancellor of this State, from
early life devoted himself to the service of his
country, during her struggles for liberty gallant
ly fighting in her ranus, and by his example
throughout, animating his eountrymeu in the
field, in captivity and in banishment, to meet
and sustain with heroic fortitude all various
trials of the Revolutionary conflict, and after the
establishment and consolidation of the indepen
dence of his country, requiting her well earned
confidence by the able and faithful discharge of
the duties of several high and important sta
tions, and in his late capacity of Chancellor,
(wherein those who pay this tribute were the
constant witnesses of his conduct) administering
public justice during a long course of service,
with great learning and ability, with unsullied
purity and inflexible virtue; always adorning
the judgment seat with a deportment mild and
dignified, humane and liberal; and in private
life uniting all those amiable and valuable quali
ties which prompt esteem, cement friendship,
and produce extensive usefulness: And Where
as the recent death of this excellent Judge and
most worthy citizen, is a public bereavement
greatly to be deplored, and is deeply regretted
by the members of the Bar, they have, there
fore,
Resolved, As a testimony of their sense of the
loss sustained by the public, of the esteem which
they bore to his person, and of the respect and
veneration which they cherish tor liis memory,
that the members of the Bar, now convened, will
put on mourning for him, by wearing a crape
on the left arm for thirty days, from the date
hereof.
Also, That the Chairman of this meeting do
request the Reverend Mr. Simons, Rector of St.
Philips Church, to preach a funeral sermon on the
occasion as soon as may be convenient to him.
That the foregoing preample and resolutions,
signed by tho Chairman, bo published in the
Charleston newspapers.
John Julius Pringle, Chairman.
January 21,1811. [Charleston Courier.
“ Chancellor Rutledge had lived in the most
tempestuous period of our history; he had gone
through the seven years of incessant trial and
conflict, and ho had endured all that such a
struggle had to inflict. War, with all the con
comitants of war, was followed by political di
vision, the most relentless and bitter. He did
not escape, but he met the violence and the fu
ry of party as he had previously met the com
mon enemy of our country; he put both at defi
ance, and he did so successfully.
Chancellor Rutledge early adopted the opin
ions of Washington and of Marshall; and with
his two brothers, the two Pinckneys, and oth
ers, was one of those South Carolina Federal
ists of whom the biographer of Mr. Jefferon has
spoken; he died as lie had lived, neither
changing his creed, nor compromising his doc
trine. But in behalf of such men, let it here
be said, that so far as this State is concerned,
the history of that party has never been writ
ten. And that when the bugle sounded again
in 1812, they were found standirg by their
country, seeking no emolument for themselves.
I have a distinct recollection of the three Rut
ledges, of the two Pinchneys, and of other men
of those days—Moultrie, Davy, Burke, William
Washington, Isaac Huger, Ac., Ac., —and I have
seen the man of whom we are speaking in
company with some of them, His appearance
was dignified in the extreme —somewhat stern,
but polished beyond mistake —and his manners
spoke his position and his training. Rigidly,
but courteously polite, and perhaps a littie se
vere in his deportment, it was impossible to be
in his presence and not recognize the school to
which he belonged. He was always the same
model of a republican gentleman, affable and ac
cessible, but never familiar; always gentle, but
never doubtful, and on questions of principle,
unyielding and immovable without reference to
policy or circumstances. The basis of his whole
character was truth, and though he never de
parted from the highest refinement, yet where
his own conceptions of integrity and morality
were concerned, he would neither give nor take.
He was inflexible himself, and not indulgent to
those whose conduct savored of delinquency.—
All his intelligence and all his research, seemed,
on this subject, only to confirm his natural dis
position.
I do not imagine that any one, with the ordi
nary knowledge of good breeding, could have
taken a liberty with such a man; and lam very
sure he never would intentionally have trespass
ed on the feelings of another. He was charita
ble and generous; he was kind, humane, affec
tionate and brave; his friendships were like his
“ will,” proverbially firm and unchanging. His
only pride was that which every honest man has
a right to indulge in, the consciousness of his
own rectitude and the strength of his own reso
lution, and he necessarily commanded the res
pect and confidence of every virtuous mind.
In life, Chancellor Rutledge performed his
duty without fear or favor, and with an utter
contempt for everything like ostentation or pa
rade. Believing himself, as a citizen, equal to
others, he nevor sought for patronage, but ac
knowledged the rights and prerogatives of all
men; and in death ho was calm and tranquil,
but still preserving his peculiar aversion to the
vanities of the world. Once when required to
prepare an inscription for the tomb of a friend
who was prominent in his regard, he simply
wrote,
“An honest man's tho noblest work of God.”
And when the last arrow was hastening him
away, having made his peace with heaven, he
turned to those who wept at his side, giving
them comfort and consolation, leaving with them
this injunction: “Place me near my brother,
Edward, but let no stone mark where I lie.”