cjnss Eq>oS P)()()k_ I'RESKNTi:!) BY 1> ^•^'^'9-^-0^^w-0^-t^-0^-0^-t^' I B Brocbure. I him^im. ■•'-^•■'•-''bS. iff Hi >» pVL. itU-(Ltv c\ V c^ yj-t^ X-trv^ •lAA.«-»^ f f 4 ;S '^:^:^ :^.^;3 f^:-^:-^ f$.^:-S r^i-^:^ -3 -S'S'S '^'^3 ^^■i^^^ ^33 i^^^ ■S^^'S^3 -S ? "f ^. ^?P^-^-- 9} '»> '«> (111 (♦> (»» ;i?m ^-'S-^ ^£&^^ WT-'S-'S. ■:«-s^*^ a^^.e^ a^ 2 «-.s-.*: sr srs- e-.a-.a- e^a-*-. ira^* *s-.i iii CALOWELL FRANK, WARHEMTON. L— do s J- -Vr ^■^<^t:% Esu,. XLable of Contents. part jfitst. DURING THE WAR. A Ruse which deterred Butler, with liis Army of Thirty Thousand Men, from occupying Petersburg and saving Riclimond from attack, in an unguard- ed point ; with equal success a similar stratagem is employed at "High Bridge." Letter from Doctor W. \V. H. Thackston, the Aid de Camp Page 3 Letter from General William L. Cabell, stating the promotion of Colonel Scott to the i*ank of Colonel in Trans-Mississippi and containing a recital of his own campaign and battles, in Arkansas and Missouri, with his capture by the Federals in the open prairie Page 11 First Battle of Manassas, vivid and picturesque dis- cription by W. F. R; a cavalry pursuit, capture of the enemy's artillery, and a reproduction of the Report to Brigadier General Holmes. oNfajor Ma- son Gordon's interesting Letter Page 13 A double skirmish at Markham, with the charge of Stuart's Regiment of Eight men. Stuart's bold and successful opei*ations which enabled General Lee to interpose his Army for the protection of the Confederate Capital Page 30 part SeconO. after the war. The Coupon Controversy with the British Creditors, and the State's vital interest in the Result; the Tax-receivable Coupon and "The Coupon Crusher" ; Litigation in the Federal Courts, the Attorney General and two of the Commwealth's Attorneys being the defendants ; Colonel Scott's Answer to the Rule to Show Cause given, and its two grounds noted in connection with his Article in The Vir- ginia Law Register, in farther explanation and development of the argument; Testimonials to the litigant officers from the State of Virginia. .Page 34 a IRuse of Mar, B Brilliant lExploit. The followiug article was published in the Phila. Weekly Times, one of the most broad-minded journals of the country, soon after the war, and was afterwards incorporated in "The Aunals of the War by the principal participants North and South." W*^ omit notes verifying statements made, because the body of this article takes more space than we can afford in jus- tice to readers in quest of current topics and local news. We take pride in copying the article because a chief actor is a Fau- (|uier man now a last year's leaf, as it were, bronzing the foliage of Spring. When Col. Scott returned from his expedition to Butler's camp, a citizen of Petersburg the "Cockade Town of Va," said to him : "If that service had been performed in the Northern Army they would have made 3'ou a Brigadier Gener- al." To which Col. Scott modestly replied: "Such things are ([uite too common with us to receive or to merit attention." — Trip- Index. When General Butler, in the spring of 1864, landed at City Point and Bermuda Hundreds with an army of thirty thousand men accompanied and guarded by a fleet of iron clads and gun- boats, why he did not at once occupy Petersburg then without a DURING THE WAR. garrison to possess which afterwards cost so much blood to the invading army, is a question the answer to wliicli is not obvious. Petersburg lay on the line of railway leading south from Rich- mond, distant 22 miles. It was twelve miles from City Point, sit- uated at the junction of Appomattox and James rivers,and which was connected with Petersburg by a railroad, a navigable river, and a broad liigh-way running through a level country, not oc- cupied by hostile forces. Col, John Scott of P^iuquier was the oflHcer employed by Gen. Pickett in the production of causes which resulted in the preservati(;n of Petersburg from capture, and an account of his action is necessary to answer the question stated above. It will display some of the hazards and possibili- ties of war, on which often turn important events, and will af- ford a modicum of information to the historian of the future who would gather up all the facts to enable him, with an impar- tial pen, to rehite the story of the great war of the American Sections, the product of an unnatural Union and a prostituted Constitution. Moreover it will do justice, in a very trying, emergency, to the conduct and valor of M':ijor General George E. Pickett, a West Point cadet and an able commander in the re- nownedArmy of NortliernVirginia, whose reputation is very dear to the South. To render this incident intelligible to one not in- formed of the military facts to which it refers, and out of which it grew, it will be necessary to state the situation in the Depart- ment of North Carolina, in which Petersburg was included, or so much of it as affected that point. Though General Pickett had been relieved of the command of the Department he was still in Petersburg when Butler dropped, as it were from the clouds, on City Point. The troops for the defence of Petersbui'g had been transferred to North Carolina, excepting a single regi- ment of Clingman's brigade of Infantry', numbering about six hundred men; nor had any part arrived of the soldiers o'' Beau- regard, who had succeeded Pickett in the eonunand. Thus vhe defences of Petersburg, constructed with cost and skill, were DURING Tin-: WAK. left open to occupation by the Federal commander. Why so im- portant a point was left unguarded, even for a day, has never been explained to the public. Col. W.ilter Harrison, the biogra- pher of Pickett's men, states that, as early as the preceding No- vember, Pickett had penetrated the enemy's design to make by James river, an expedition against Petersburg and had held a conference witli the Confederate autliorities in relation to it. He had even carried his representations to Gen. Lee and had been referred to Beauregard, witii whom he liad consulted atWel- don. Ccl. Harrison continues: "But the expedition at this time was put on foot, much valuable time was wasted and the troops, which at once should have been ordered to Petersburg, were kept in North Carolina, doing little or nothing,while Pick- ett, in Petersburg, was left withmm-ely a handful of men." He then adds: "Beauregard was in no way responsible for this. He had no control of the troops, and, I have understood, strong- ly urged their being hastened to Petersburg to support Pickett." But the danger from the lower James was appreciated not alone by Gen. Pickett. A gentleman of the city, not connected with the army, a short time before the descent on City Point, had pointed out to Col. Seott,on one of the military maps of the day, its exposed condition from the river, and predicted that Ber- muda Hundreds would be the point which the enemy next svould strike. A short time before the occurrence of the events about to be related, Colonel .John Scott, but recently returned from Trans-Mississippi, where he had been promoted to the rank of Colonel, had reported to Gen. Pickett for duty. At the time of his arrival Petersburg was vacant of soldiers, everything was in repose, and he occupied the leisure by inspectinsr the fortifica- tions, and in other ways that pleased him. At an early hour while he was engaged with Schiller's "Thirty Years War," an otRcer of the staff summoned him to report without delay to Gen. Pickett. He found everything astir at Head Quarters, and was informed by Gen. Pickett that Butler had occupied City Point, 6 DURING THE WAR. and that, as he was the only cavalry otTicer on the ground, he must take a command of cavalry, to reconnoitre the enemy's position, to remain close to his outposts, and, if possible, to in- duce the belief that an attacking force was at hand; but that he had no troops, and that Petersburg must fall into his hands, unless Butler could be entertained with this false opinion until Beauregard could arriv^e from the South. The General was ask- ed where the command of cavalry was to be found? He respond- ed that he had no cavalry, but would exert himself to get to- gether a band of mounted citizens, and with these the duty must be performed. With characteristic energy the General set about to get together such a body as he desired, and, in so chivalrous a community, it was not long before Col. Scott found himself at the head of thirty horsemen armed with such weap- ons as each man could provide. It proved a difficult thing, on the spur of the occasion, for the commander of the party to pro- cure a suitable horse for his own use, but one finally was obtained a sup\rb animal, in the highest keep, recently bought from a James river planter, and named Planter, but for which a price was agreed to be paid large even in the depreciated currency of the Confederate States. A cavalry man, a very gallant soldier, at home on furlough, was the only enlisted man whojoined the expedition and was the only one killed on that tour of duty. As the mounted party passed outside the City on the road leading to City Point, the regiment of North Carolina infantiy wasseen camped on the right, as if thrown forward to opposo Butler's army, and what guns there were were mounted on the fortifica- tions on that side. It was evident that the intrepid Pickett was not dismayed at the storin-cloud svhich lowered over Peters- burg. Towards the close of the day the expedition came in view of the enemy's out-posts. The work of observation svas at once be- gun, the officer in command taking care to make as deceptive a display of his numbers as the lay of tlie ground permitted. I)l'IUN(; TIIK WAI!. From early morning these tactics were repeated tiie next day and tiie next. Tliere was a barn stored witii forage equidistant between tlie piclcets and tlie position iield by ttie Confederates. Butler would occui)y the house by day, but his soldiers would withdra.v' at uightfal], when Pickett's volunteers would obtain from it food for their animals. When the expedition first drew near the Fedei'al out-posts (xen. Roger A. Pryor, a successful lawyer and brilliant advocate at the New York bar, [now a wise and trusted .Judge] who had joined as a volunteer, was solici- tous to engage them. But the officer in command would not al- low it to be done. He offered no explanation of Pickett's de- signs and Gen. Pryor retired from what appeared to be, purpose- ly, a tame anil inglorious service. A collision of his loose ar- ray with diseipiinod soldiers. Col. Scott thought would disclose, to the acute perception of Gen. Butler, the deception he was seeking to impose on him. In this attitude things continued until the third or fourth day, (Pickett said that the expedi- tion was absent five days) when a reconnoisance in force preceded by skirmishes, issued from the Federal lines and ad- vanced on the highway leading to Petersburg. That morning the officer commanding the Confederates had been told by a cit- izen, who had come from his home to witness the outcome of those singular movements, that Butler's colored soldiers had visited the vicinity of their camps and had learned from the resident negroes the insigniflcent force opposed to them. It was evident to the officer then that the Federal reconnoisance had been sent out to discover the truth, and Col. Scott replied to his informant: "What was true yesterday is not true to-day, and we are prepared now to receive Gen.Butler's reconnoisance." The volunteers had been broken into many parts and were scat- tered along the enemy's frunt. With one of these, consisting of three or four men, the leader retired before the skirmishers un- til he reached tlie point were the rail-road crossed the higliway. There Colonel Scott halted and, after placing his men in a 8 DURING TlIK WAK. protected situation, returned to talce a nearer view of the ad- vancing skirmisiiers, an inexcusable act, for already he had won the prize for which he had been playing the game of war. His horse was fatally wounded in the head by a bullet from the skirmishers, but procuring another, he continued the retreat as before. As soon as the railway was crossed a dense body of wood was entered and it was observed that cavalry had been thrown before the skirmishers und were making ready to charge. It then became a contest of the spur, and the Southerners reached the Confederate outpost in safety. A round of musket- ry emptied a good number of saddles, and General Butler's re- connoisance retreated to his camps. The citizen soldiers did not reassemble, for each man was conscious that Pickett's de- sign had been carried into effect, and that Petersburg was safe. When Colonel Scott reported to Genera) Pickett that the expe- dition to Butler's camp had been successful he was received very cordially, though Pickett, indeed, by the arrival of Beaure- gard, was the first to be informed of the success of his own de- signs. Had Butler been apprized of the situation at Petersburg during the interval between the occupation of City Point and Beauregard's coming, fair Petersburg would have yielded her- self his captive and Richmond, in an unguarded point, been ex- posed to attack. His first object was to sever the Southern con- nexions of Richmond, as appeared by the attack on Port Wal- thall Junction, repulsed by the gallant Haygood, as wpll as by the attempt of Cautz's cavalry division on the railroad running South from Petersburg. Soon after these occurrences Col. Scott was sent to take charge of the forces stationed for the defence of High Bridge, spanning the Appomattox near Farmville, composed of three hundred re- serves — men over, and youths under, the military age. When Gen. Kil Patrick, with fifteen hundred Federal cavalry, reached Burksville, ten miles from High Bridge, with the purpose to destroy that link of the railway between Richmond and I^ynch- I)rRIX(i THE WAll. J) burg, Colonel Scott again employed with entire success, but un- der widely different circumstances, ttie stratagem of war whicli had been imposed on General Butler and so preserved that state- \y and costly edifice from destruction. Doctor Thackston, the distinguished dentist, and honored citizen of Farmville, having been embodied in the reserve branch of the Confederate army, was a most intelligent and efficient aid de camp on that occa- sion. A Note. W'hen, after the termination of the Civil war, CoL.Judson was a visitor at Warrenton Va., he expressed the wish that Colonel Scott would call to see him at his hotel, which, as soon as Col. Judson's wisli was communicated to him, he was very glad to do. Col. .Judson then informed him that he was with General But- ler at City Point, the time of his landing, in command of a regi- ment of horse and, along with other officers, had entreated the General to allow them to capture, or drive away the confeder- ates that were hanging about his pickets,but the General refused his permission, saying: "He was unwilling to expose his men to the masked batteries of the Rebels." Xelter jfrom Br. Xlbacf^ston to Col. Jobn Scoti, Farmvillf<:, Va., Sept. 14, 1894. Col. John Scott, Warrenton, Va., — Dear Colonel Scott: — I hasten to explain and apologize for an accidental delay in acknowledging a printed copy of General Cabell's letter, and your own account of the masterly strategy which under your direction and supervision saved from the enemy High Bridge and the City of Petsrsburg. Your enclosure was received while I was too much indisposed 10 DURING THE WAR. to write, or do any thing else, and in some way was misplaced and only just recovered from a package of letters and papers fil- ed away to be attended to on my recovery. T beg to thank you for the two papers, which I have read with great interest and satisfaction, and especially for the handsome personal allusion you made to the service it fell to my lot to ren- der you at High Bridge. I don't exactly understand the need of General Cabell's letter. Has any one dared attack you military record? If so you may spare yourself any concern or solicitude, for there are hundreds and thousands of old Confederates yet left who stand ready to vindicate your patriotism and courage in the field and your a'jilities and skill as a commanding officer in the armies of the Confederacy. Had the war lasted a year longer, your office and title would have been General instead of Colonel of a regiment, Of this I feel assured and satisfied. Are you going to write a book of your campaigns? If you are set me down for a copy. Again thanking you, my dear Colonel, for your favor and kind rememberanoe, and with every good wish for your success, health and happiness, I again have the pleasure of subscribing myself very truly and faithfully your friend and obedient ser- vant. W. W. H, TlIACKSTON. Note, — As an explaiiation to Dr. Thackston we add that Gen- eral Cabell's letter was written to explain the military reason because of which the rank of Colonel was conferred on Col. Scott in Trans-Mississppi, the power to do which had been conceded to the Commandant of that Department by the military author- ities in Richmond after they had lost control of the Mississippi, and communication had become irregular and difficult. Editor of Fnde.r. I)UKIN(J TIIK WAR. H (3en'l Cabell's Xetter. Oeru ral W.L. Cabell — a member of the honorable and clistin- g-uished C.ib^ll family of lower Virginia, and a graduate of West Point, — when the civil war began was Quarter-Master General of Beauregard's command at Manassas, a position of peculiar re- sponsibility in the rapid organization of the first army to breast the onset of the great Northern power. Later General Cabell was promoted and was transferred to an infantry command in the South where he won fame on many a hard-fought held for conduct and gallantry, and from his men the appellation of "old Tiger," or rather "old T-i-g." Finally he was sent to the Trans- Mississippi Department of the Confederate States where he in- creased his high reputation as a solidier. His superior otHcers were General Holmes, Commandant of the State of Arkansas, and General Kirby Smith, the Military Chief of the entire De- partment West of the Mississippi, consisting of the States of Arkansas, Texas and the greater part of Louisiana. After the Federal gunboats obtained control of the Mississippi river the Department of Genei-al Kirby Smith, for the purposes of the war, was completely severed from the Confederate States and was thrown on its unaided resources. It was a diflficult thing then for a Confederate soldier to cross the river, policed night and day by gunboats and its banks patrolled by Federal cavalry, with spies and informers everywhere. Then it was that the power to bestow military rank was conferred on the Command- ant of the Department, thus sundered from the Confederacy, which was generally done on recommendations originating with the officers of the several commands. When the war closed General Cabell removed from the vicin- ity of Fort Smith, where his family had resided, to the city of Dallas in Texas, of which repeatedly he has been elected Mayor, a mark of the honor in which he is held bv his neighbors and 12 DURING THE WAR. fellow-citizens. The following letter addressed to the Common- wealth's Attorney of this county, explains itself, and shows the appreciation as a solidier in which ho was held l)y his comman- der: Dallas, Tex., Dec. 28, 1890. Col. John Scott, Warrenton, Va: Dear Colonel. — Your letter of the 16th came to hand to-day. It gave me much pleasure to receive it, and much more to know that you were still in the land of the living. It has been a long time since we parted, and I would state from memory that you reported to me early in the spring of 1863, probably March or April, as Major. Needing an officer of your experience and military knowledge to take charge of one of my important out-posts,I found trouble on account of your rank, and in order to make use of you as an officer much needed I made you a Colonel and put you in command. I reported it to Major General Holmes in command of the Department, and it was ap- proved by him and forwarded to General E. Kirby Smith who confirmed the appointment, as I alwaj^s understood he had au- thority to do ; and in a personal interview with both Generals Smith and Holmes your appointment was referred to, and both reiterated their approval. After my regiments were all filled with officers and after I moved my command to South Arkan- sas, yau applied to go to Virginia as Colonel, and was allowed to go as »ftuch. I can say that you did your duty as a brave, true and patriotic soldier; and I hope that you may live many years to come. As to this being an irregular warfare, I had one of the finest brigades in the Confederate service — as well drilled and disciplined as any brigade in the Army — fought as many hard battles as any one brigade — killed more federals, white, black and red, than any one brigade in the Army, The number of fights and the number of men lost in battle will prove what I say. Look at the losses of my Brigade alone at Back Bone jNIountain, Poteon River, Arkadelphia, Wolf Creek, Spooners- DURING THE WAK. 13 ville, Proniis Ij'Anne, Poison Springs, Elkins Ferry, Marks Mill (where I captured a train of nearly three hundred wagons, a bat- tery of artiller.v — Robb's Indian battery, six pieces— and four- teen hundred prisoners.) At Poison Springs we captured, Mar- maduke and myself, a train of 200 wagons, two pieces of artil- lery, about fifty prisoners, and killed nearly four hundred, prin- cipally negroes of the 1st Kansas, colored. Also Loutonville, Glass Village, Pilot Knob in Missouri, Franklin, Jefferson City, Lexington, La Mine, Independence, West Point, Missouri, the Little Blue, Marrie De Cj^gne, Mine Creek in Kansas where I was captured in the open prairie. Beside these the Brigade was in a great number of skirmishes. lam inclined to think that this is not the proper time for old Confederates to hi7nt up flaws, if any ever existed. In the rank of those men who went out to save their country. Yes, sir, you are a Colonel, with all the rank that could be conferred on you by Kirby Smith on the rec- ommendation of General Holmes and General Cabell, and I hope that you will Jive many years as pleasantly with your fam- ily and friends as you served with me. Will try and see your sons and hope that when you come to Texas that you will pay a visit at my home in Dallas. Please give my respects to my old friends, especially General Payne. Wishing you and yours a merry Xmas and a happy new year, I am your old friend, W. L. Cabell. jfirst /IDanassas. CLOSING SCENES OP THf: BATTLE — CAVALRY PURSUIT. The Dispatch has received the following, which is "inscribed to the ladies of Richmond for their generous fidelity to the lost cause." Dispatch. 14 DUKING THK WAR. Warrenton, Va. The Editor of the Richmond Dispatcli ; The subjoined letter, vvhicli I request you to publisli in your wide-spread and metro- politan journal, is from the artistic pen of Captain William Fitzhugh Randolph of Greenville, Mississippi. Ca[)t. Randolph, himself a gallant Confederate officer, is brother to Bishop Ran- dolph of Virginia, and of the military and historic family of the very distinguished Capt. Buckner Magill Randolph, of the Confederate infantry, as well as kinsman to the courageous and accomplished Colonel Robert Randolph of the cavalry corps at- tached to the Army of Northern Virginia, but who sleeps now witli the unnumbered dead of our great civil war. John Scott, of Fauquier, Colonel of Cavalry, Confederate States Army. Greenvit.t^e, August, 1895. Colonel John Scott: My. Deal* Colonel, — I hope you will excuse the delay which has occurred in my answer to your letter, received some weeks ago, which has been occasioned, first by my absence from home, and then by a spell of fever, from which I have only recovered in the past few days. The extract which you give from Col. Munford's report (see for the report itself, page 534, Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Vol. 11) is so entirely inaccurate and at variance with all my own experience,thatl think it better to supplement your own narrative by giving a brief account of my observation of some of the incidents of that memorable day. I did not at that time, as, perhaps, you are aware, belong to any organized command, but had been in company with a few choice companions, scouting in front of our army, and on the day of the first battle of Manassas acted as a sort of free lance, taking in DURIN(; Tllli: WAR. 15 the battle from the various stand-points, which gave the best promise of interest and incident. It is well understood now that we were on that day out-generaled at every point. Tlio Fed- eral commander, by a sham attack on the 18th, had masked his real design, while he marched the bulk of his army around by Sudley Mill, and thus precipitated a superior force upon the un- protected left flank and rear of the Confederates, turning our en- tire position, and rendering absolutely useless all the defences which had been erected at Manassas, the day being only saved by the indomitable courage of a few Confederate brigades, who fought with a persevering tenacity which has been rarely equaled and never excelled on any of the great battle-fields of the world. Our army numbered nearly 30,000, and less than 10,000 of that number, through that long and terrible day bore the whole brunt of the Federal onset. Step by step, contesting every inch of ground with desperate courage, our line was slowly but steadily driven back by the sheer weight of the Federal ad- vance, outnumbered, as they were, almost ten to one, HEINSELMAN'S REPORT. Heinselman, who commanded a division of the Federal army, stated in his report to the department at Washington, with grim satire, that their defeat was not the result of masked bat- teries, or overwhelmning numbers, but because regiments re- pulsed brigades and brigades drove back divisions. But not- withstanding this fact, the Confederate line was gradually forc- ed back up the long slope leading to the Henry House. When reinforced by a few regiments of fresh troops, which had been hurried up from Manassas, the thin Confederate line closed up for a last stand on the apex of the ridge which overlooked the stone bridge and the whole ground over which the enemy had been advancing. I stood close behind, looking at the long sol- id ranks of the enemy as they were massing for a final assault, for as I glanced along our line, it seemed almost certain that 16 DURING THK WAR. those worn pnd tired soldiers who had fought through the Jong, liot day, their ranks depleted to one half of their original strength, would surely be overwhelmerl at last by the impact of numbers. Bee and Bartow had fallen. Of the Fourth Alabama which had entered the fight 850 strong, more than 400 had gone down on the bloody field, and all that were engaged had suffer- ed in the same proportion, but with ranks unbroken, resolute, and dauntless still. Johnston and Beauregard both were urg- ing and encouraging the troops, and fully exposed to the whole Federal fire, the minnie-balls coming thick and fast. Jackson stood near his brigade, with cap diawn close over his eyes, stern and silent, awaiting the catastrophe, and rendered rather more consi)icuous by a white handkerchief wound around his left hand, which had been slightly wounded by a bullet. 8UCII THE SITUATION. Such wa« the sit nation when looking to our left. On the right flank of the Federal advance, and a little in its rear, we saw the gleam of bayonets on the crest of the hills. It was but a single brigade 3,003 strong led by Kirby Smith, who hearing the steady firing from the cars at Gainesville, had come across the country straight for the battle-field. As the brigade poured over the crestof the hill the p ice was quickened to a double-quick, rush- ing down on the enemy's flank, firing and shouting as they came. The Federal line halted, then wavered, wheelinga little to the right, as if to meet this fresh enemy, but their hearts seemed to fail them, before that onward rush, and the right of thp line began to crumble like a rope of sand. Then it was that I saw Jackson raise his wounded hand and point down to that wavering line. Those worn and tired soldiers needed no second bidding. They knew their time had come at last, and apparent- ly as fresh as when the battle opened in the morning, thosf^ young volunteers leaped like bloodhounds down the bill, and closed with the foe. DIKIXC; THK WAR. 17 The end had come, and the battle was won — a victory as amaz- ing as it was enexpected. A moment bpfore the advance of tlie solid blue lines seemed irresistible; now in the wildest pan- ic, the whole field covered with a host of disorganized fugitives flying as if all the devils of the lower regions were behind them. I was on many a hard-fought field afterwards, but never saw I a scene like that, musket, knapsack, everything in fine that impeded flight was thrown away, and the disorganized, panic-stricken masses poured like an avalanche across the turn- pike, over the Stone bridge, into the woods and fields beyond. THE PRESIDENT. At this juncture I was standing not far from the Henry house. Generals Johnston and Beauregard were with President Davis, who, hearing that the Confederate army was retreating, had come in a special car from Richmond, and had just ridden upon the field. Capt. Davis, at the head of the Albemarle Troop of cavalry, rode up tlie hill, and was immediately ordered in pursuit. As the troop was passing near me Archie Smith of Winchester, a member of the company, and a near relative, call- ed tome to join them, which I was very glad to do. We pass- ed close to Mr. Davis, with the two Generals, who raised their caps to us, and giving them a rousing cheer, we rode on. At first our progress was slow as we came up with the two regi- ments of South Carolinians, (Kershaw's Brigade,) who together with Kemper's Battery, had been ordered to follow the enemy. We crossed the Stone bridge, on the Warrenton 'pike, about a half mile beyond the hill, Atthis point the two regiments of infantry halted on the left of the road, and the Albemarle com- pany formed on their right. Kemper's Battery then unlimber- ed, the guns were run out to the front, and commenced firing down the 'pike at what appeared to be a receding cloud of dust. The firing was kept up about fifteen minutes, until all signs of tlie fugitives had disappeared, resistance on their part having entirelv ceased. 18 DURING THE WAK. NO ORDERS. No orders being received to continue tlie pursuit, tlie Caroli- neans remained wliere tliey liad lialted. Captain Scott, whom I tlien saw for tlie first time, rode out into the road, and called for volunteers to continue the pursuit. Captain Davis respond- ed that his troop was ready. Tlie gallant Captain Scott did not wait a moment, but dashed on, followed by Captain Davis's sixty men. Captain Scott, rendered conspicious by a white havelock, rode considerably in advance. Finding no obstruction to our adv^ance, our pace was greatly accelerated. Occasionally a few of the troopers would dropout of ranks, gather up some of the flying enemy, and start for the rear; but for the most part very little notice was taken of these fugitives, as they scattered right and left, we, riding through and over them, looking for better game. About sunset we descried in the distance a cloud of dust, evi- dently made by a part of the flying enemy. We S[)urred our liorses to a furious gallop, and dashed down upon them. We soon found what they were, some ten guns, I believe including tlie black 32-pounder, called "Ljng Tom," which was to play such havoc with the Confederate ranks! The cannoneers and drivers made a desperate dash with their guns at Cub Run bridge, which was iinmediately in their front. But, crowding too rapidly on the bridge, it broke under the weight, and bag- gage-wagon, ambulance, caison, and all fell through into the stream below, forming an impassable barrier, which blocked the way and effectually prevented further passage. The can- noneers and drivers leaped from their guns and liorses and dart- ed into the bushes on either side of the run, leaving everything an easy capture. ate:.[ptatio\. Tlie temptvition was too great for the avHrage cavalrymi(n,and Captain i)avis liiniself with most of his men,(lisniounted andcoin- mened work on the tangled wreck. I myself,was Jibout to dismount DUKIXC; THE WAR. 19 having an eye on a fine McClelland saddle, which I wanted to secure, when Archie Smith, who was still at my side, turned to me and said : " Yonder goes the "White Havelock, Will!" "All right," I replied and we dashed after Captain Scott, who was crossing the stream above the wreck and debris, waving to the men to follow him. About fifteen of Davis's men followed us, but tlie most of them remained behind to work with the guns and secure horses, saddles, and other plunder. We joined Cap- tain Scott on the other side of the run, and continued our wild ride faster than ever. We soon came to the foot of the hill upon which the little town of Centreville is situated. Crossing a small stream at the base, we rode rapidly up the slope, and on the crown of the hill came in immediate contact with a long blue line of Federal infantry, drawn up in battle-array. Riding up close to them Captain Scott shouted, "Surrender!" For a few seconds they seemed to hesitate, but hearing no sound of any advaning along the turnpike in our rear, an officer turned to his men and ordered them to Are. Our little band retreated at once and dashed down the hill rather faster than we had come up,re- ceivingas we went the whole fire of perhaps throe hundred in- fantry. Not a man, however, was hurt, and we were soon out of sight, hidden by the shades of night. A WHOLE BRIGADE. I ascertained afterwards that the troops we encounted on the heights of Centreville were a brigade, under Colonel Miles,which had never been in the fight, but had been left to cover the re- treat of the Federal army. With reference to the capture of the artillery and spoil at Cub Piun bridge, the assertion that any command, except the Albe- marle Trcop, led by Captain Scott, had anything to do with it is without foundation. No other cavalry was in sight or hear- ing at the time, and had it not been for the headlong, furious charge of these sixty men, all these guns, undoubtedly, would 20 DURING THE WAR. have cresset! the bridge in safety and been on their way to Washington long before any other command had reached the scene. To Captain Scott, therefore, and to him alone, the sole credit of the capture is due. The only part in the affair perform- ed by Col. Munford and his command was in manual labor, re- quired in hauling the cannon out of the wreck, securing the horses etc. Had the other cavalry leaders exhibited the same energy, daring and enterprize which characterized Captain Scott, it is not at all improbable that the cavalry arm of the service alone might have ridden to Washington that night. But satisfied with what had been done, the army remained quiescent, our generals not even knowing, until next day, that the enemy had disappeared. Thus ended the first battle of Manassas, mem- orable not only for the marvelous rout and panic which char- acterized its close but also for the absolutely inconsequential result which followed so complete a victory. That an army of 30,000 men, finshed with victory, enthusiastic, clamorous to ad- vance, without an organized force in its front, capable of resist- ance, should have laid in camp for six long months without making the slighest efforts, is almost incredible, and altogether past human understanding. Had the army advanced the next day, or even the day after, Washington would have fallen almost without a battle. We would have taken possession of Maryland and the whole face and character of the war would have been changed. That no attempt was made to do this exhibits on the part of our generals an incapacity and want of enterprize which has no parellel in the annals of war. General Johnston had visions of Patterson appearing on his flank and rear, and of frowning batteries on Arlington heights, when the truth was that Patterson had al- ready crossed the Potomac, and his army, ready to disband, was fast disappearing over the Maryland hills, . while the bat- teries on Arlington Heights had no existence at all. Had the energy and skill which distinguished the cami)aigns DURING THE WAB. 21 of Lee and Jackson been shown by our generals, who command- ed that day, then would the First Manassas have been ranked among those great battles of history which have decided the fate of nations and exercised a controlling influence on the civ- ilization of a continent. W.F. R. ^ajor (3or&on's Xetter. AT FIRST MANASSAS. THE CAPTURE OPTPIEGUNS AT CUB RUN BRIDGE. A LETTER TO COLOIIEL JOHN ScOTT. Charlottesville, Va, Feb. 12, 1896, Colonel John Scott Warrenton Va: My Dear Colonel, On Monday I received your letter of the 9th instant, with your address to the Junior Albemarle Light- Horse and your report of the effective service of the old com- pany at the First battle of Manassas, with Captain Randolph's letter, as a companion-piece, and read them all with pleasure and interest. This morning I called upon Captain Nelson, of our new com-* pany and presented him the papers, as you requested, but after reading them aloud to him I begged the privilege of retaining them for a day or two, as I am anxious to read them to a few of my old comrades, who are living in town, before they are pub- lished, which Captain Nelson proposed to have done. I hope you will pardon my delay in acknowledging the re- ceipt of your communication, addressed to the Mayor of our city. These papers were handed me by a member of our camp, about a week ago, with the request that I would attend to the matter. It was at the commencement of the February term of 22 DUKTXG THE WAR. our Circuit Court, when I was very busy, and could not give the subject the consideration and attention 1 desired, and which it deserved. I have not, liowever been unmindful of my duty in the prem- ises, for I have talked the matter over with several of my old comrades, whom I chanced to meet, and so far, every one of them has substantially sustained Captain Randolph's letter and your report of the capture of the enemy's artillery at Cub Run, and I am satisfied that your report and letter ai-e strictly and accurately correct; though I am sorry to have to acknowledge that [ was not one of the brave boys who followed the "White Havelock" across the memorable stream on that eventful day nor was I present in the barn at Camp Wigfall, when your report was written, for on that day our worthy and gallant captain had me detailed to cook dinner for the com- pany against my very earnest protest. Since I received your letter on Monday however, I have been fortunate enough to meet Willis Gooche, W. D. Wheeler and George Marshall, all three of whom were at Cub Run, and fol- lowed your lead across, and charged the line of infantry. Their recollection corresponds with the facts as stated in your report, and they all say that they saw no other cavalry in sight when you made the charge. I very well remember that the capture of the enemy's guns by the company was claimed after the battle by every officer and man in it. INDELIBLY FIXED. Many of the incidents of that day are indelibly fixed in my memory, and recently I have been refreshing my recollection by talks with those of my old comrades whom I chanced to meet. When your command was ordered forward from our position, near the Lewis House Walker's Battery, which belonged to Gen- eral Holmes's command had arrived on the field, and opened fire on the retreating column of the enemy on the 'pike, across fkill Run, and as well as I remembor his first shot |»longhed a gap in DURING THE WAR. 23 their rauks. Your command then went forward,! think in front of Kemper's Battery. Of course, as a private in the ranks, I could get very little general idea of the fight as it was going on ; but an incident which occured at a small frame house near the 'pike, which I remember very distinctly, makes me think I am right. Some seven or eight of my company had been ordered forward, as an advance guard. When we came to this house we found a number of Federals in and behind it. We ordered them to surrender, which they seemed very glad to do : but one fel- low did not throw down his gun as quickly as my comrade Pat Marshall, thought he ought. Whereupon Pat raised his gun and fired, but missed his man. Just then you rode up, and drawing j^our pistol said, "I will shoot the first man who mis- treats a prisoner,^' which scared my friend Pat more than the Federals had done. Soon after the occurrence, when a number of prisoners were being sent to the rear from this point, you moved our company from the road to the skirt of an adjacent wood, and then it was that Kemper's Battery opened fire down the road on the re- treating enemy. ASKED FOR ASSISTANCE. While we were drawn up in line on the edge of the wood, fronting a small field, an infantry soldier approached our line and stated that Captain Radford was dangerously wounded; that he had heard Captain Scott's name and asked that he would send some one to his assistance. You immediately or- dered Dr. William Shackleford, then a private in our com- pany, and myself to ^) to Captain Radford. We found him near the edge of the woods, about two or three hundred yards from where our company wasdrawnupin line. As soon as Shackleford looked at him and saw how he was shot he said that Captain Radford could not live thirty minutes, and I think he was dead before we got him into the ambulance. He was the 24 DURING THE WAR. first man that I ever saw die, and I well remember his last words, "God have mercy on my dear wife and children." It was while Shackleford and I were with Captain Radford, I think that you again started in pursuit of the enemy. This ac- counts, my dear Colonel, for my not being with you at Cub Run, and beyond it which I am glad of, for I would not like my old commander to think me a laggard when such gallant work was being done, under your dauntless leadership. I recall my service while under your command, as one of the pleasantest of my war experiences ; and especially the scouting party you took some six or seven of us on across the Occoquan. It was when you sent our horses back, and we footed it through the woods and fields to within a short distance of Alexandria, and learned that the enemy were getting ready to advance. (They had advanced, and a Baltimore Sun of that day was pro- cured which, as soon as we returned to camp, was forwarded to General Beauregard.) On that scout, while resting under the shade of the trees, I know you taught me some history and much States' right's doctrine. That day at old Mr. Nevitt's, where we were so kindly and hospitably entertained by the old people and their two beautiful daughters, has always been marked with a white stone in my memory; and I have often wished to read the novel which you promised the young ladies you would write, after the war, in which the scene was to be laid at and around Gunston Hall, and the fair damsels were to be the heroines of the story. When I get a little leisure time I will try to procure the state- ments of as many of the survivors of the old Light Horse as I can, in reference to the charge and capture at Cub Run, and for- ward them to you. Already I have seen three or four who have promised to come to my office, read your report and giv^e me their recollection on the subject. I have never read Colonel Munford's report, but I think my friend and neighbor. General Rosser, has the war series, and I will borrow it and read his account. DURING THE WA K. 25 I will be glad to do anything that lean to aid in this matter. With best wishes for your health and happiness, believe me to be, very sincerely, your friend, MASON GORDON. Sunday Bichmond Dispatch. Substance ot XTbe IReport Substance of the Re )oru made to Brig. Gen. Holmes by Cap- tain John Scott of Fauquier of the operations of his squadron of cavalry at the first battle of Manassas. At the battle of the 21st of July 1861 the extreme right of the Confederate Army was held by Brigadier (general Holmes with a brigade of infantry, Lindsay Walker's battery of artillery, and a squadron of cavalry. The last was composed of Captain Swann's Cavoline company, with Captain Eugene Davis' Albe- marle Light Horse under the command of Captain John Scottof Fauquier, the whole being quartered at Camp Wigfall, or the Hooe plantation, in the rear of Union Mills on Bull Run, mak- ing the right bank of that stream the Confederate line of battle. After the Federal General developed that his plan was to assail Johnston's and Beauregard's left at Sudley Mills, leaving the right unmolested, Brigadier General Holmes marched his force towards the left wing where the sound of cannon and musketry informed him that the fight had opened. By the order of march his cavalry was in the rear, but very soon he sent them to the front witli order*! to report to Beauregard at the Lewis House, where the command remained inactive until the Federal line was broken. Whilst it was drifting along in the forward move- ment, Captain Scott reported anew to Gen. Holmes for orders, who told us "to pursue the enemy.' Theu a period of activity began which was not slackened until the battle closed, though Swann's gallant and regretted companv was detached by Gen- 26 DUKTNG THE WAK. eral Beauregard's command "to guard prisoners," leaving Eu- gene Davis' Liglit Horse unsupported to obey General Holmes' command. After crossing Bull Run at Stone Bridge the com- pany encountered the Federal Reserve from which the prison- ers were taken spoken of in General Holmes' Report, an easy capture, for the cartridge box of each was full except the cart- ridge which was fouud in his musket. It was a little after the point on the turnpike was passed where the gallant Captain Radford lay mortally wounded that the Albemarle company was united with Colonel Kershaw's South Carolina brigade of infantry the officers of the res{)ective commands agreeing in conjunction to pursue the enemy, then visible in the turnpike not far ahead. When tlie Confederates liad readied the section of the turnpilce where the fall of the ground towards Cub Run Bridge began the pursuit ceased, it being near sunsetting. The gallant Kemper, with his battery, was in the advance, occupy- ing tlie crest of tlie hill and was engaged in a,n artillery duel with the enemy stationed near or across Cub Run. Kershaw's brigade was in the immediate rear of the battery, with Eugene Davis' company of cavalry on its riglit flank. To the rear of the of the extension of the right flank of the Albemarle men was posted another command of Confederate cavalry. At the termination of the artilleiy duel, but whilst things were in this attitude, an ofttcer, who proved to be Major Hill of Georgia, rode into the open space on the riglit making proclama- tion that he wanted a squadron of cavalry with which to cap- ture the enemy's artillery. As soon as the officer had reached the front of the position, occupied by the Albemarle Light Horse Captain Scott advanced and said to him : "I have not a squad- ron, but a company ready for the servici.'," The officer replied that a company was sufficient. It was in answer to a question from Captain Scott that Major Hill pointed across the turni)ike as the direction which he dersired tlie pursuit to take. To get clear of the soldiers who occupied the road it was necessary for DURING THE WAK. 27 the command to pass to the front of the battery and there cross the turnpike. But at some period before this had been done the Albemarle men had been recruited by two other adventurous spirits, one was a Doctor from South Carolina who had discov- ered that daj^ tliat he had joined the wrong arm of the service: the other was Captain William Fitzhugh Randolph, brother to Bishop Randolph of Virginia and of the family of the courage ous and accomplished Colonel Robert Randolph of Stuart's Cav- al ry. After the troopers had penetrated the open field but a short distance a Federal soldier was seen making his way over the hills in the direction of Centreville. The Column was halted and a trooper dispatched to capture the fugitive and bring him to the commander. Whilst this was being done the officer in command advancing put a revolver to the captive's head, say- ing: "Tell me the direction taken by your artillery." The sol- dier replied "you are going in the wrong dii'ection." The artil- lery has gone down the turnpike and is not far ahead," The prisoner was released, the column was reversed and headed for a lower point on the turnpike. That -ssas attained, its pace was quickened to half speed. Captain Randolph observing: "I sup- pose we are going to the devil, but I will follow the White Hav- lock." The sound from the armed iieels of sixty horses on the hard road might serve as notice to the Federals at Cub Run Bridge of the approach of the hostile body and it soon appeared that the notice had been received and had not bean disregarded. The crossing below the Bridge, where the passage was widest, was a pack of commissary ,quarter masters and suttlers' wagons from which, in the haste of departure, the lead horses only in some cases had been carried off leaving, a rich spoil to the cap- tor, whilst Cub Run Bridge was occupied by a train of artillery. The c.iunoniers with their attendants had been more faithful to their ch:irge than the wagon masters had proved. They did not abandon their guns until the Confederates were upon them I>U KING THE WAR. when they too disappeared in the circumjacent forest. It was reported to the commander that ten pieces of artillery with their caisons had been taken and amon^ them a gun which the Federals had named Long Tom and from which great results had been expected. The capture,at once, was turned over to Captain Davis' and Cap- tain Scott with fifteen volunteers crossed Cub Run, taking the Road to Centreville, to discover the whereabouts of the enemy and the extent of the disaster that had befallen the Federal arms. But the progress of the pursuers, at first rapid,was slow, the men often breaking from the command to pursue and cap- ture fugitives from Cub Run Bridge whom they would despoil of their private arms and immediately liberate. Coming to open ground the Confederates discovered Federal infantry on a hill before them over which the road passed. These were rapidly charged and when reached a demand of surrender made by the officer in command of the party. But instead of a surrender, the Federal officer gave the order '*to fire" which was obeyed, it was estimated by three hundred muskets. The little band of Confederates escaped destruction by the accident of having been halted on the turn of the hill where a rai>id discent began. As it was, neither man nor horse was injured. It was quite dark when the volunteers reached their command, Captain Scott proceeding to Cub Run Bridge where he met Col- onel Kershaw. Addressing Colonel Kershaw he expressed the opinion that on account of the vicinity of the enemy, the cap- ture would not be safe from' recapture, if left to the guard of cav- alry alone, and proposed that two companies of infantry should be brought to the Bridge to act as an auxiliary force. But Col- onel Kershaw refused his consent to this proi>osal, but said, as Captain Scott had inustered his regiments into the service at Richmond, and therefore was known to both officers and men, he was at liberty to enter his camp and induce two companies to perform the night's service. Captain Scott at once, unattend- DURIXG THK WAR. 20 ed, repaired to Colonel Kershaw's regiments and without dillicLiltj', or delay, brought back with him to the Bridge two of the gallant Carolina companies, from which their Colonel de- tailed pickets which he threw across Cub Hun. Captain Scott then resumed command of Captain Davis company which he conducted back to the Hooe Plantation, The next day as order- ered by General Holmes, to whom he had made a verbal report, he submitted a Report in writing, prepared in the great planta- tion barn, by which ho was sheltered from the falling rain, sur- rounded by his ollicers and men and with whom each part was canvassed before it was admitted into the lleport. It was dicta- ted by Captain Scott to Willoughby Tebbs, an A. M. of the Uni- versity of Virginia then a private in the ranks but who after- wards was elected to be an officer of the company, a distinction which he so well merited. He did not survive the war and was one of those priceless gems which the University of Virginia contributed from her graduates to the army of Northern Virgin- ia. After the battle the cavalry was thrown into regiments and Captain Scott was ordered to report to General Early for staff duty. From the Records of the war in the captured archives it appears that his written Report to General Holmes was not sent, with similar papers, to the Secretary of war and therefore all record of the service of the squadron in the fight was lost, but which it is hoped to substitute by this postponed but imper- fect account. It is true tiiat there is now a brief report, among the captured records, in which Gen. Holmes mentions the con- siderable number of prisoners and large amount of "property captured by Scott's cavalry" but he does not individualize the artillery, though, when it is known that all the property, cap- tured by the command in the battle, was captured at the time when the ten guns were taken at Cub Run Bridge, as shown by the foregoing narrative the word employed by Gen. Holmes was intended to include the artillery. Before the great battle, and under the command of General Early, Captain Scott with 30 i)i;RiN(i TiiK WAi:. two companies, Thornton's Prince William Cavalry and Davis' Albemarle Liglit Horse, liad piclceted tlie crossings of tlie Occo- quan and the landings of the Potomac. In preparation for the approaching combat that command, with other outlying forces, was ordered to Manassas to participate in the first great trial of arms between the North and the South. Joiix Scott of FAUciuiER, Col. of Cavalry Confederate, States army. STUART'S REGIMENT OF EIGHT MEN. Warrenton, Va., Jany. 30th, 1896. Ma J. Norman V. Randot^ph, Richmond, Va. Dear Sir: A pressure of business must plead my excuse for not returning an answer sooner to your letter, requesting from me a certificate of the period during which you were with my Cavalry Battalion in the War of tlie Sections and referring particularly to a skirmish with Federal Cavahy, at Markham, in which you were the only man with me, when I left the ground on which it had occurred. As it was thought by Stuart to whom it was reported by one of his Aids, who had witnessed it. to have been a creditable affair, I will, I suppose, best attain the object of your communication by writing a sketch of it, as far as the particulars can be recalled. The Cavalry Corps was falling back before McClellan's great Army of Invasion, which started from Harper's Ferr3', delaying its march by unceasing combats with its advance, to give Lee, then in the Lower Valle3'^,time to throw his armj^ between Rich mond and the invading force. It was whilst this was being done that the Cavalry, with which my Command was connected, was at Markham in the County of Fauquier. Its place in the Cavalry Corps was as an attachment to the Fifth Regiment, command- ed by the gallant and accomplished Col. Tom. Rosser. When DURIX(J THE WAK. 81 the march of the Fifth began for Barbee's Cross Roads, now Hume, all the men of tht Battalion, which were bringing up the rear of the Regiment, had been drafted for that day to act as sharpshooters under bravoCapt. Bullock, excepting eight men under my own command. The march had proceeded but a short distance from that part of the highway in front of Col. Strib- ling's residence, when a body of Federal sharpshooters issued from a wood on our left and attacked the Begiment. Major (icverly Douglas, so well and so honorably known in Virginia,at the moment, was in command. Very successfully and quickly ho charged the assailants and drove them back into the wood. One of my men an Irishman by the name of Kcegan, was about to follow the enemy into his covert, where he would have been bushwhacked, but I called him to return to me, as Major Doug- las only proposed to drive them otf. That, of course, was Major Douglas' affair, though the Battalion was fully engaged in it. It was claimed that the charge, had saved one of Stuart's batte- ries from capture. At least Major Dou\las, who was always a very gallant otBcer, claimed that as a result of the charge, and doubtless it was so. We had scarcely regained the road, and re- sumed the order of march, when the regiment was assailed in the rear by a body of Cavalry, coming from Markham now in possession of the Federals. Our pistols all had been emptied in the recent skirmish (I think I had one shot left) when the new attack was made. But, without orders, except from the urgency of the occasion, the two sets of fours, with their sabres drawn, turned on their assailants and forced them back into Markham on their reserves. But here another difficult^' was developed which threatenf^d to annul the value of the successful charge. When the men on the return mounted the hill, down which they had just driven the Federal Cavalry, it was discovered that the road in their front was occupied by the sharpshooters, whom ^lajor Douglas, so recently, had driven oft'. There was a stone fence too, on the right side of the road, next to the Blue Ridge, 82 DURING THE WAK. whilst the other side of it was effectually guarded by the advan- cing troops of McClellan. Here was a dilemma. It was soon re- lieved, however, by one of the men, who discovered a gap in fence, through which the command escaped, leaving the C-om- mander alone with Norman V.Randolph, but the two speedily followed the men. As soon as they saw their Commander the men gathered around him again and discovered that his horse had been wounded on one of his legs and was bleeding freely. When the Command had I'oached the top of the elevation across the road, and in front of Col. Stribling's house, the late Hon. Barnes Kerrick, Benjamin Figgins and others of the locality were recognized. From INIr, Kerrick directions were obtained as to the route among the hills which would enable us to return to Stuart. As we were descending the decline of the elevation, which looked west-ward, toward the Blue Ridge, our leader saw on the opposite elevation, or hill, only separated by a narrow strip of vallev, a body of Confederate Cavalry, apparently with- out an officer. He sent Norman V. Randolph to them with an order to report to him in the valley below very promptly, which they did. What ammunition there was among the men was distributed, and thus reinforced and prepared, the Command was ready for business again and none too soon, for descending the elevation, over which the Confederates had just passed a detachment of the Federal sharpshooters was seen in pursuit, expecting to kill or capture the original party of eight. But when they saw instead thirty or more of Stuart's Cavalry in line to receive them whose metal so recently, they had tried, they relinquished the pursuit and returned to their friends. The wounded animal, as an honored guest, was left at Mr. DeButt's residence in charge of the patriotic ''Secesh" ladies of the fami- ly, and after receiving the abundant and cordial hospitality of Mr. Henry M.Marshall for the night the Command united with Stuart at theCrossRoads,where,fortunately,the leader had a spare horse in his camp. Stuart was greatly pleased when informed I> L :RI N « T H E W A R. 38 of the affair by his Aide de Camp, and proudly called those sol- diers "his Regiment of eight men." I hav^e not the datesbut caii say generally, that, from its organization to the time when I left it, you were with me, though then but a boy of fifteen years. I have given the affair at Markham with some detail because it was but an example of the hourly combats by which our great Cavalry Commander delayed the Federal march, so that Lee could interpose his devoted army, as a shield, once more be- tween the invader and Richmond. A word about myself. As soon as I reported to Generals Holmes and Cabell, iu the Trans-Misiissippi Department, my rank was raised to Colonel of Cavalry to enable me to take com- mand of an important outpost across Arkansas River, relieving a Lieut. Colonel. I hope this loose memorandum will answer your purpose. It will at least enable you, as the memories of the great War grow dim, to recall our double skirmish at Markham, and the charge of "Stuart's Regiment of eight men," one of whom you were. Your obedient servant and friend, John Scott of Fauquier, Colonel of Cavalry Confederate State's army Addendum: — The foregoing sketch was shown to a soldier of mj'' battalion, who, being along in the scenes, which it describes reminds me of some forgotten particulars. It was a squadron of the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry which we, [the Fifth and my eight men,] drove through Col. Stribling's barnyard, which was adjoining the county road. In jumping the bars of the enclosure Major Douglas' horse blundered and fell throwing its rider and escaped in the direction of the Federal cavalry. But the activi- ty and courage of Norman V. Randolph , who was at my side, recovered the animal, though exposed to a heavy fire from the sharpshooters. The Federal cavalry attacked our rear but were repelled by a counter-charge, preventing the capture of a La. battery which, at tho time, was in the barnyard. I have been 3i DURING THE WAR. reminded, too, that the Captain of the battery thanked me for the service rendered him, but I was only an officer acting under the direction and employing the troops of Major Douglas, who was present. John Scott of Fauquier. Colonel of Cavalry Confederate States Army. \lnlir\to\(/ Ubc Coupon dontroversi^ The coupon litig-ation of the state of Virginia with her Brit- ish Creditors is worthy of a place in the popular recollection be- cause of two interesting questions of State's Rights which are involved. It had been provided by her two debt settlements that the coupons, or certificates of the year's interest, attached to each bond, should be receivable for taxes and other public dues, and the Stipulation was printed on each coupon. The tax-re- ceivable coupon was an ingenious contrivance of the creditor to insure the application of the public taxes, in the first place, to the payments of the inteiest on his bond, however great might be the emergencj'^ pressing upon the Commonwealth, and was founded in distrust of the State's financial honor. These cou- pons, or certificates of interest, as they became due were separa- ted from the bonds, and were sold in the public market for as much as they would bring. In this way Virginia coupons had accumulated in the money centres of Great Britian, but chiefly in London, to an amount as great as four millions of dollars, but to become five millions, it was estimated, by the time the debt was paid, through the annual additions of coupon. As these debt settlements wore contested by the State for, unfair- 36 AFTER THE WAK. ness and unconstitutionalit.y,no provision had been made by the Legislature for tlie payment of the coupons. The conse- quence was a rapid depreciation of the Virginia coupon until it became a subject of speculation. A band of London speculators purchased coupons to a large amount to dispose of to Virginia tax payers. If the speculation should prove successful, and the market value of the coupon was established, it was evident that Virgin- ia would be brought to the condition of a bankrupt by having her treasury filled to repletion with tax receivable coupons as often as the legislature should impose taxes, for the state would be compelled in this way to pay the five millions of debt before she could devote a dollar to the support of her government, or her eelemosynary foundations. To avert so great a calamity as bankruptcy, inevitable in her then plundered and impoverished condition, the legislature employed several expedients and final- ly "the Coupon Crusher," as the act of Assembly was called, en- acted at a special session May 12th, 1887. That statute, so mem- orable in judical history, directed the county treasurer to report to the Commonwealth's Attorney of his town or county the name of each tax payer who had tendered coupons and also the amount of his tax bills, whilst it commanded each Common- wealth Attorney, under a penalty not less than one hundred dollars nor greater than five hundred dollars, to sue the recus- ant taxpayers in the Circuit Court of his county for his taxes so remaining unpaid. As the law was devised with the utmost le- gal skill it was confidently expected that it -vould do the busi- ness of the coupon, and the expectation was not disappointed. But a stormy experience awaited the Coupon Crusher, a prolong- ed and bitter controversjMn the Courts. The creditor, as the speculator became by the fact of purchase, was advised to have recourse to the Federal Courts, under the belief that they would enable him to destroy the obnoxious statutes. It was thought by the creditor and his legal advisers to be a club of Hercules in AFTER THE WAR. 37 their hands. Accordingly a suit in equity was instituted by the public creditor in the Circuit Court of the United States for the eastern district of Virginia to enjoin Hon. Rufus A. Ayres, the Attorney General, Colonel Morton Marye, the Auditor of Public Account« and all the Commonwealth's Attorney's of the state from bringing those suits. The complainant's bill sets forth "that they were British subjects and were the owners of a hun- dred thousand dollars of the tax-receivable coupons of Virginia for which they had paid thirty thousand dollars; that they had sold fifty thousand dollars of that amount for fifteen thousand dollars or more to the tax payers of Virginia who had tendered the same to the proper state officers in payment of their taxes, but that the said officials had refused to receive the same: that if the officers of the state were permitted to enforce the act of May 12th, the complainants would be unable to sell the remain- ing fifty thousand of their coupons to the tax-payers of Virginia for amj pricp, and their entire property would be lost; and that the said act of May 12th 1887 was unconstitutional and void." The Attorney General, Hon. Rufus A. Ayers, the Attorney for the Commonwealth of Fauquier County, Col. John Scott, and the Attorney for Commonwealth of Loudoun County, Judge J. R. McCabe, refused obedience to the restraining order issued from Judge Bond's Court by instituting the prohibted suits. Thereupon a rule was served upon each of those officers of the stiteof Virginia requiring them to appear in Judge Bond's Court and show cause why they should not be imprisoned and fined for a contempt of his Court. Ou the 22nd day of Septem- ber, 18S7, at eleven o'clock, a. m., the Commonwealth's Attorney of Fauquier County appeared in the Federal Circuit Court in Richmond and filed a paper containing his answer to the Rule, as did the Hon. Attorney General, and Hon. Commonwealth's Attorney for Loudoun County, but not at that time, thus mak- ing the issue complete between the United States and them- selves. The Court adjudged the Attorney Genei'al to be guilty 38 AFTER THE WAR. of the alleged contempt, and required him forthwith to dismiss the suit of Commonwealth vs Baltimore & Ohio R. R. Co., insti- tuted by him in the Circuit Court of the cityof Richmond, fined him $500.00 for his contempt of court and directed that he stand committed in the custody of the Marshall of the court until the same be paid, and to purge himself of his contempt by dismiss- ing the said suit last mentioned. In the other two cases sim- ilar judgments were rendered, except that John Scott was fined $10 aai costs, and J. B, McCabe was fined $100.00 and costs. The result was that the throe offic3rs on their non-compliance with the judgments of the Court were confined in the city jail of Rich- mond there to be kept until the judgments were complied with. The respondents in the equity suit and defendants to The Rule to show Cause, each petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States to grant them writs of habeas corpus that the legality of their detenti )n might be inquired into. The question when eliminated from these proceedings, excited an interest throughout the countrj', as well it might, [t was whether the officers of a State government ould be finod and imprisoned for preferring to obey the mandate of the State to the contrary or- der of a Federal Judge. It was indeed a question that readied to the bottom of a government of sovereign states. When stated truly the question was whether a state of the Union was to be degraded from the position of a sovereign statt- of the Union, where the constitution had placed it, to tiie condition of vassal to a Federal court. The Answer is given here of the Commonwea'th's Attorney for Fauquier County, presenting two grounds of justification for his refusal to obey the restraining order of Judge l:Jond, and for his preferring to obey the command of his state. AFTER THE WAR. 39 ANSWER OF JOHN SCOTT, OF FAUQUIER, TO JUDGE BOND'S RULE TO SHOW CAUSE. Filed September 22ncl, 18S7. Honourable Hugh L. Bond, Judge of the Circuit Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Virginia, at the Court- house in Richmond : May it please your Honour : In compliance witli a rule issu- ed by your Honour against me to show cause before your Hon- our, at the court-house in Richmond, on the 22nd day of Septem- ber, 1887, at eleven o'clock a, ra. of that day, why I should not be attached for contempt in disregarding a certain restraining order of your Honour, made in the cause of Jas. P. Cooper, H. R. Beeton, F. J. Burt, et als. v. Morton Marye, auditor, &c., R. A. Ayers, attorney-general, &c., et als., on the 6th day of June, 1887, I appear now in your Honour's court, and submit this pap«r, which contains my answer to the said rule. Your Honour's restraining order forbade me, as common- wealth's attorney for the county of Fauquier, to discharge cer- tain duties imposed upon me, as one of the commonwealth's at- tornies of the state of Virginia , by a statute of the legislature approved by the governor. May 12th, 1887, which in its 14th sec- tion provides, in case of disobedience by any officer to it, a pecu- niary penalty not less in amount than $100, nor greater than $500. As your Honour well knows, it is a principle recognized by publicists of all civilized countries, as the foundation of politi- cal life, that a citizen or subject doing an act enjoined upon him by the state is covered by the panoply of the state, and is exempt from every degree of personal responsibility except to his own sovereign. As a state can act only through the agency of individuals, this immunity is necessai'y to enable it to preserve itself and perform its other high functions. 40 A FTE R T H E W A K. An example of the application of this public law occuris in the history of the UnitedStates in the case of the state of New York against McLeod, a British subject, who was released from prison by the direction of Mr. Webster, secretary of state, ordering a nolle prosequi addressed to the attornej'-goneral of the state of New York. It was a command of the political power addressed to the judicial power, and was based on the fact that McLeod's action had been adopted by the British government as one per- formed by its authority. ("We))ster's Works.") The principle of exemption referred to applies with all its force to the states of the American Union and to their agents, for these states are admitted to be bodies politic in the highest and completest sense of the words. (Poindexter v Greenhow, 114 "United States Reports," p. 288.) But it is made a condition by thit decision, to enable a de- fendant to avail himself of the exemption, that "It is necessary for him to produce a law of the state which constitutes his com- mission as its agent, and the warrant for his act." {lb.) With this condition I comply now by directing your Hon- our's attention to the law of Virginia, before referred to, and to the third section, which is in these words : "The proceeding shall be by motion in the name of the commonwealth, on ten days' notice, and shall be instituted and prosecuted by the at- torney for the commonwealth of the countj' or corporation in which the proceeding is; or, if it be instituted by direction of the auditor of public accounts, in the circuit court of the city of Richmond." This Act of Assembly was passed obviously with the design to induce the holders of tax-receivable coupons to submit them for identification and verification, as required by the previous Act of .January 14th, 1882, the condition upon which the common- wealth allowed her treasurers to receive the coupons for taxes. This law has been examined by the Supreme Court of the United States in Anton! v. G'eenhow, and it was decided by that AFTER THE WAR. 41 final arbiter to be in accordance with the constitution (107, Uni- ted States Reports," p. 770.) The statute, to which I have referred in justification of my acts, being designed simply to render a previous statute effect- ual, must be regarded as equally constitutional with it: for the means are appropriate, and therefore ought to protect me from the censures of this court. But, in a very high quarter, it is contended that if the state law. which the agent or officer obeys, be subsequently held to be unconstitutional by the court trying the cause, it becomes a nullity, and does not protect the officer from penal consequences, for only those laws — such is the doctrine — which are decided to be constitutional, can be regai'ded by a Federal court as man- dates of the state ; an unconstitutional law or such as a majority of the court may choose to say is unconstitutional, being but the unauthorized act of the individuals who compose the state government. Thus is a state separated from its government, without which it ceases to be a state. To enable the learned judges to reach this eccentric conclu- sion, it was found necessary to define a state to be "an ideal per- son, intangible,invisible, immutable," and incapable of wrong or error. (Mr. Justice Mathews in Poindexter v. Greenhow, p- 291.) Thus, by the astuteness of a lawyer, a state is transformed in- to a mythical personage ; along such strange lines does the judi- cal imagination sportively wander ! From what source that definition of a state of the Union was obtained is not known to me; but certainly it was not obtained from the constitution and laws of the United States, the only lexicon which this court will consult in a case which so deeply concerns the highest franchise of a sovereign state, the liberty of its citizens, and the obedience of its officers. May it please your Honour, a state of the American Union is •i2 AFTKll THE WAK not a myth, but is a living corporation. It is composed of a col- lection of individuals, inhabiting a defined geographical space, with a government and laws to organize and impart to them the characteristics of a body political, and which maintains constitutional relations with the government of the United States, Thus defined a state is tangible, visible, mutable, and is capa- ble of doing wrong and committing error, as the secession of Virginia and the other reconstructed states of South section will doubtless prove to so loyal a citizen as Mr. Justice Mathews. The fourth section of Article 4 of the constitution provides that ''the United States shall guarantee to "ijvery state of the Union a Republican form of government." To convince your Honour that this guaranty has been complied with in the case of Virginia, I have bu^ to refer to the readmission of that state into the Union after the close of the civil war with a constitu- tion accepted as Republican by Congress. That was an act of the political power ; it binds all, and this court cannot contro- vert or annul it. Your Honour will take judicial notice that the Republican constitution of Virginia, accepted by Congress and guaranteed by the United States, created a government of the people of Virginia, who are the state of Virginia, and that its government must be presumed by this court to be cimducted in accordance with their wishes and by their commands. Its acts are their acts. They bind in contemplation of lawas much as the acts of any deputy can bind his principal. This presumption of law, not the Supreme Court, in the pleiititude of despotic power, seeking to subordinate the states to its absolute dicta, can break down or set at naught. Particularly is this true in this deplor- able debt controversy, out of which this constitutional problem has arisen — a flower grown from a fetid soil — so interesting to every intelligent jnind in the United States. It is linowii that AFTKK THK WAK. 48 over it the state of Virginia, or, to spealc with a stricter proprie- ty, a majority of the political body, has passionately taken ju- risdiction, moving its representatives as puppets and dictating legislation in relation to it. If this reasoning be correct, I conclude that whether the act of May 12 be considered constitutional or unconsttutional, it is equally the act of the state of Virginia, and that I,its command- ed agent officer, am not in contempt because, when placed in the dilemma of contrary orders, I have jnelded obedience to my nat- ural sovereign whose bread I eat and whose laws I have sworn to obey whenever I act as commonwealth's attorney. This, then, may be received as an established theorem : The uncon- stitutionality of a statute in cases like this does not render it less the act of the state; nor less effective in protecting the agent who obeys it from legal responsibility to any other au- thority'. The state which directs my official conduct, is, by the laws of the civilized world, accountable for it, and to the state of Vir- ginia I refer your Honour as the responsible party in this case . Arraign Virginia before your judgment seat; visit your pen- alties on her head — not on me, her agent and subaltern. But an )ther deduction may be drawn from this reasoning which it is well not to overlook in this place. If it be true, as a constitutional proposition, that all the acts of a Republican government are assumed to be the acts of the state, and that this ruling of the Supreme Court is, indeed, a blow struck at the sovereignty of the people of the states, it is a logical consequence that when a Federal court takes jurisdic- tion of a state officer it thereby assumes jurisdiction of the state itself. To hold otherwise is to evade its eleventh amendment, and to treat the constitution with contempt, instead of with honour and obedience. 44 AFTER THE WAR. A single consideration will set this truth very clearly before your Honour. If, by afliicting the agents or officers of Virginia with im- prisonment and confiscation, the Supreme Court can succeed in forcing the treasurers to accept coupons without verification and upon simple tender, upon whom, I ask, does the consequence fall? Not upon the treasurers; not upon the commonwealth's attorneys. The consequence falls alone upon the state of Vir- ginia, whose treasury, by this means, will have been bankrupt- ed by unconstitutional action of the Supreme Court, The Su- preme Court needs not to be informed that behind those treasur- ers and these commonwealth's attorneys the state of Virginia stands to be affected by all the decisions against them. Through all these mazes and crooked paths, Virginia is the party whom the Supreme Court is seeking to reach ; that state is the game they are hunting. Although the only party in in- terest, Virginia is not made a party to the record, because the eleventh amendment, which forbids a state to be sued in a Fed- eral court by an individual, awkwardly stands in the way. No other reason can be assigned for the omission to stand her at the bar of the Supreme Court. Surely your Honour will allow that this court,because it is forbidden to entertain a suit against the state of Virginia, cannot therefore lay violent hands on me. A defect of power over the state is not a grant of power over the citizen. This defect of jurisdiction significantly suggests that w^hen the states fashioned the constitution they did not design to confer upon the Federal court that jurisdiction, and it affords strong support to the opinion that when the constitution de- clares a state legislature shall not pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts, it did not mean to include contracts made by the state itself, which, as a body political, it had the election to perform or not according to the dictates of its moral- ity. AFTKK TIIK WAR. 45 If, finally, it comes to be decided — for this great question is yet in a state of fluctuation — that a Federal court can constitu- tionally step between a state of the Union and its offici-rs and agents, and absolve them from obedience to it, a most fatal blow will have been struclv at the existence of tlie states of this Union. The clouds will have begun to gather, and preparation made for those evil times which prognosticators foretell are ahead of this Republic. The states called this Union into existence, and from having been the massive pillars of a Federal system, they will have sunk down into the degraded vassals of the Supreme Court. Your Honour will be pleased to take notice that this Federal Union, designed and constructed by the fathers of the Republic for the habitation of a free people, may be destroyed as ett'ect- ually by a consolidation of the states as by red-handed seces- sion. When a stretch of judicial power is proposed which, if successful, must produce that result, surely, by this court, for that reason, it ought to be condemned as unconstitutional ; but if your Honour shall reject my arguments as vain and illusory, and shall decide that I have acted in contempt of your Honour's authority, I am here to abide the consequences of your Honour's displeasure. All of which is respectfulij' submitted. JOHN SCOTT, Commonwealth's Attorney for Fauquier County. Virginia. Richmond, September 22nd, 1887. After solemn argument by able and distinguished counsel the Supreme Court at the October term 1887 decided as follows, Mr. Justice Stanley Matthews delivering the opinion of the court with Mr. Justice Field concurring and Mr. Justice Harlan dis- senting: "The principal contention on the part of the petitioners is that 46 AFTER THE WAR. the suit, noininaUv a0 AFTER THE WAR. The case of Alexander McLeod was relied upon to sustain that proposition of law. McLeod vv.is a British subject, who had been indicted in one of the courts of the State of New York for an alleged murder. The British Government avowed its I'esponsibility for McLeod's act and demanded his release from imprisonment and accusation. The homicide had occurred dur- ing the administration of President Tyler, and Mr. Webster, in a position appropriate to his great talents, was the Secretary of State. With a noble candor, which distinguished his diplomat- ic career, extending through two Presidential terms, and which imparted dignity to his office and lustre to his character, the Secretary acceded to the British demands, saying: "In the opinion of the United States, the avowal on the part of his gov- ernment protected McLeod from personal responsibility ." (The case of the Caroline, Life of Daniel Webster, by George Ticknor Curtis, Vol. II, p. 68.) This recognition of the public law by the United States makes McLeod's case a precedent of the highest authority in the jurisprudence of nations, where it stands as a fixed rock. But is it to govern in cases like that of the agents or officers of the State of Virginia, acting under the compul- sion and authority of the act of May 12th, when they are con- fronted with a restraining order of a Federal Court? That is the further question which we have to consider in the proposi- tion before us. Except where the Constitution of the United States applies, a casus foederis, the States of the Union in re- spect to each other, and to the government of the United States, are to be considered in the light of independent sovereignties, bound by the obligations and protected by the law of nations. It is not necessarj' to cite authority to sustain this conceded principle of Federal law. There is nothing in the Federal char- ter of granted powers, which confers on any department of the government, which it designed to create, any authority to pun- ish a State officer for obeying the State lasvs. If there were any such jurisdiction, it would put a State in chains and, at a A FT K n T 1 r K W A R . 51 single blow, destroy all States' Rights. If we would guard and protect the States of the Union, as (entities, and save them from becoming practically non-entities, we must extend to them the principle of the public law, enunciated in McLeod's case by Secretary Webster. Every reason of necessity and policy which entitles an external power, like Great Britian, to the applica- tion of the rule of law, equally applies, in the case before us, to the State of Virginiit. Government, except where obtained from a superior power as a colonial charter,is a growth of socie- ty. It is impossible for a community of human beings to exist without a government. This is true of political society, and in natural society there is the authority of the magister. When the North American States associated under a federative com- pact, for self-protection, each State possessed a government claiming and exercising the right of control over its subjects, and. as incidental to that great authority, and inseparable from it, the further right to protect them from personal responsibility to any other power for acts of obedience to the home govern- ment. The natural right of every political body to provide it- self with a government grows out of a necessary inherent sov- ereignty, and when Mr. Justice Matthews (page 505) instructs the country in the constitutional doctrine that the States of the Union are "invested with that large residuum of sovereigntj' which has not heen delegated to the United States," he in effect admits the natural authority of a State of the Union to create a government, an apparatus which cannot act, or even exist, without agents, who are sheilded from all external personal re- sponsibility. The right of protection is indeed the condition of the duty of obedience. When the man of affairs, instead of the idealogue, comes to deal with this problem, the misty atmosphere, with which met- aphysics invested it in a court-room, disperses. Happily for the cause of truth in this case, we are not without the authority of a very respectable precedent to sanction this position, which ought to command the assent of lawver and lavman. r^9. AFTER THE WAR. When the States of the South Section withdrew from fellow- ship and union with the United States to found a government in accord with their own ideas, the secession was effected by eacli State exercising an absolute jurisdiction over its citizens. It was the absolute power over its people which inheres in sov- ereignty, whether republican or nionHrchial,and nowhere in his- tory was that absolute principle more fully comprehended, as- serted or conceded than in the Southern Commonwealths of that period. Virginia, in that supreme hour, claimed to extend her sceptre over every man who had been born on her soil. He be- longed to her, she asserted, by a perpetual and in-.ilienable alle- giance. She Spoke lilce a king, "Once a subject,al ways a subject." She lifted up her great voice and her sons came to her from all climates and all localities. It was a proud moment in the history of that mother of statesmen ! Here is an hi&toric dec- laration of that principle, a defiance to the proclamation of President Jackson, from the pen of John Randolph of Roanoke, adopted with one voice by the people of Charlotte county: "The allegiance of the people of Virginia is due to her; to her their obedience is due, while to them she (uvos protection against all consequences of such obedience." (Home Reminiscences of Ran dolph, by Powhatan Bouldin.) Here also is another declara- tion of that organic principle of States' Rights by .losiah Quin- cy, another great man, Ijut born in the opposite section of the United States: "As it is with the people of every State, so it is with the people of this Commonwealth — the individuals com- posing this State owe to the people of Massachusetts an alle- giance original, inherent, native and perpetual." In the just meaning of the word "State," itceases to exist when it is despoiled of the right to protect its agents and otflcers from personal re- sponsibility incurred by obedience to the State. This right to protect is indeed the basanite and touch-stone of the retention of the sovereign principle. This tiuth Mr. Justice Matthews, and his learned brothers of the silken stole,knew as well as oth- AFTKU THE WAR. 53 prs. They understood well enough that, in the language object- ed to, they were cutting the tap-root of the States' system. This is one of the deplorable consequences of intrusting political power to courts and judges, as they are ever seeliing to widen and extend their jurisdictions, which acts of aggression, piously they call lau\ The right of protection denied when men's minds are engross- ed in the pursuit of gain, or are sunk in repose, was not called in question by the United States amid the throes of the seces- sion period. Among the great number of Confederate prisoners, captured with arms in their hands and blood stainson their uni- forms, not one was held in a treason trial for levying war on the United States, or for conspiring against their government. Even he. the Heresiarch, thus panoplied, was allowed to walk forth from his casemate, untried, unquestioned, unhurt. Why? Surely not because a justification was conceded to the right of secession, but because, under our system of a Union of Sovereign States, each man, the ringleader and all, were cover- ed from personal responsibility by the admitted duty of obedi- ence, each man to his State. But the States, which had assum- ed the responsibility for the acts of their statesmen and sol- diers, were punished by all the stern methods of war. Here the world has an exposition of the law of our Union, applicable to this case, made by the able men who had been put in charge of the Government of the United States bj' a great nation girded with the sword, the public judgement, and the courts as well, consenting. It is a precedent whicli ev^en the Supreme Court of this sleepy period might not entirely ignore if it wei'e possible for a lawyer to look abroad into universality and put by his catechism of the court room. It was an historic era which tells us in language, not to be forijotten or misunderstood, what in American law is meant by a sovereign State. It is not an idle form of words, as the Supreme Court appear to consider. This is the memorable lesson which the political power teaches to 54 AFTER T II K WAR. the judical power. But Mr. Justice Matthews rejects this inter- pretation of the Constitution and laws, and the appeal now is taken to the Areopagy of opinion. The autocratic Justice Mat thews thus pronounces the sentence of his absolute and final court: "The Government of the United States, in the enforce- ment of its laws, deals with all persoiis in its territorial juris- diction as individuals owing obedience to its authority. The penalties of disobedience may be visited on them without re- gard to the character in which they assume to act, or the nature of the exemption they may plead in justification. Nothing can be interposed between the individual and the obligation he owes to the Constitution and laws of the United States, which can shield or defend him from their just authority, and the extent and limits of that authority, the United States by the judicial power interprets and applies for itself. If, therefore, an indi- vidual acting under the assumed authority of a State, as one of its officers, and under color of its laws, comes into conflict with the superior authority of a valid law of the United States, he is stripped of his representative character, and subjected, in his own person, to the consequences of his individual conduct. The State has no power to impart to him any immunity from per- sonal responsibility to the supreme authority of the United States." Are we in St. Petersburg, or was this dictatorial language us- ed to the sovereign States by their own creature? In this ex- tract from its opinion, the Supreme Court chooses to ignore the fact that the nation of the United States is a federal nation, not a solid body of individuals, that each State under the Constitu- tion is a sovei-eignty, which the Supreme Court, in its interpre- tation of the Constitution, is not at liberty to impair or destroy. An important point of the argument is that without an irre- sponsibility in the persons and fortunes of its agents to the Fed- eral Government, or to any of its departments, the State powers may be destroyed, since a State must act through ihe agency of individuals and cannot act in any other way. AFTER TJIE WAR. Cannot a Federal judge be made to understand that any theory of Federal authority that would operate to accomplish that disastrous result would be, must be, unconstitutional? Surely tiie Supreme Court does not deny it to be as unconstitu- tional to strike the system in its entirety as to wound a particu- lar part of it! The Rt. Hon. Jatnes Bryce. in his survey of our Government, felt warranted in saying: "The States have learn- ed to fear the Supreme Court as an antagonist." indeed, it is a Constrictor- which tiiey feel may crush their system. The ap- prehension is well founded, and their sovereignty is the only practical limitation to its growing jurisdiction. If additional securities are not provided by the Constitution, or the Courts, it will happen that the States must consult the last volume of the Supreme Court Reports to be taught how much, or how Utile, of the old covenanted liberty has been left. The Supreme Court has become a maelstrom in whicli all ships that navigate the Federal sea may be drowned — a sun into whose glowing fur- nace, by an irresistible attraction, star, comet, system — all — will be precipitated. But tiie authority for the imperious language employed by Mr. Justice Matthews, quoted above, is O.^born r. Bank of the United States, the Ohio case, as recognized by judges and lawyers, whicli is found in 9th of Wheaton's United States Reports, page 738; and I cannot, in justice to the cause, which I presume still to champion, forbear its mention here. It has been a landmark in the profession, and idol to which men have bowed, but, happily, it can no longer, I think, be regarded in that light. By a statute of Ohio a tax of $500 was imposed on each bank of the United States doing business within the State, and by the authority of a warrant,or execution, from Osborn,the Auditor, as the statute provides. Harper entered the bank at Chillicothe and carried off coin and notes sutflcient to satisfy Ohio's demand, and delivered the money to Curry, the Treasur- er, who placed it to the credit of the State on the treasury books yet kept it in a trunk separate from other monies. 56 AFTER THE WAR. This particular fund, with the rest of the treasar3''s contents, was delivered to Sullivan, Curry's successor, who receipted for it as Treasurer, "not otherwise," but it was retained in the trunk where Curry had placed it. On the 4th day of September, 1819, a bill for an injunction was exhibited in the Circuit Court of the United States for Ohio against Osborn and Harper, and the injunction was served on Harper whilst he was on his way to Columbus, and on Osborn before Harper reached Columbus. In September, 1820, a supplemental and amended bill was fil- ed making Osborn, Harper, Curry and Sullivan parties, On that bill the cause proceeded to a decree against the defendants, and was appealed to the Supreme Court, and heard at the Feb- ruary term, 1824. The Judges treat as undeniable law, and founded their reasoning upon it, that a principal in a trespass is jointly liable with the agent who commits it, and that it is error if he be not joined as a party to the suit. The court say: "The fact is made out in the bill that Osborn employed Harper to do an illegal act, and that lie is jointly lia- ble with the agent who commits it, is as well settled as any principle of law whatever." (Page 837). This responsibility at- taching to an individual trespasser, who acts through an agent, the court applies to a State of the Union. "The direct interest of the State in the suit," the court say, "is admitted, and, had it been in the power of the bank to have made the State a party, perhaps no decree could have been pronounced in the cause, un- til the State was before the court." "(Page 846-7). According to this exposition, in absence of the eleventh amendment of tliu Constitution of the United States, the respondents to the amended and supplemental bill would have been Osborn, Har- per, Curry, Sullivan, and the State of Ohio, represented by its Governor and Attorney General, according to the precedent of Chisholmv. Georgia, 2 DaUasiW. In this condition of parties by the public law, as stated by secretary Webster, the bill as A FT K K Til I-: \V A R. 57 soon as the relation of the parties was discovered by tlie Court, would have been dismissed as to the respondents, but retained against Ohio; for already the Court had said they had jurisdic- tion to administer any law connected with the case (page 820- 23), and, of course, the public law, a part of all civilized codes. Sustained b.y these authorities, we stand now on the hard ground of this proposition : Before the adoption of the eleventh amendment to the Constitution, an agent of the State could not have been held to a personal responsibility by a Federal court, because the State, the responsible party, might be produced be- fore the court as a respondent. If, after the adoption of that amendment, the agent is held responsible, it must be because the amendment creates the re- sponsibility. H«re, in its puissance, is the eleventli amend- ment, and let it speak for itself: "The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one of the Uni- ted States by citizens of another State or by citizens or subjects any foreign State." This amendment confers no power,it trans- fers no res))onsibility, it is wholly prohibitory. It interdicts, in particular cases, suits against one of the United States, and that is the whole scope of the amendment. By what authority, then a reader may inquire, is the agent of a State suable, after the offending actor has been guaranteed and protected by an inter- dict of the Constitution? If such responsibility, which did not exist before the adoption of the eleventh amendment, exists af- terwards, it must be because of the words of the amendment, or some proper deduction from them, which we see is not the case. If such responsibility be transferred to the agent, from the exon- erated principal, the amendment is made craftily to undo its work. What did Ohio gain, it may be asked, or what did the bank lose, by the eleventh amendment? The court compelled the State oflficer (Sullivan) to enter the treasure-house of Ohio — it was an act of violence — and take the monev out of the trunk 58 AFTER THR WAR. where Curry had placed it, and hand it back to the bank, the very thing that must liave been done it tlie eleventh amend- ment had not been appended to the Constitution. What a nose of wax has not the Constitution become in the dextrous hands of the Supreme Court! The object of the eleventh amendment was to vindicate the sovereign principle, attach- ed to each State, which had been impairetl by the Constitution as at first made, as we learn from Chisfiolrn r. Georgia. The principle of State sovereignty was made the sub-base of the Constitution, and it lies there still, as does, in Indian seas, amid all convulsions, the coral foundation of their islands and continents. The judge who rendered the opinion of the court felt the bur- den he was assuming. He said : "It was not in the power of the bank to have made the State a party, and the very difficult question is to be decided whether in such a case the court may act oyi the agents of the State and the property in their hands." But thedifflculty, by a masterful effort was overcome, the pioneers smoothed and leveled the way for succeeding judges and courts, and now, instead of the hesitating, apologetic language of the pioneer jadgs, the States are bearded by the autocratic dictum of Mr. Justice Matthews. So power grows ! The amendment, when pi'operly construed, covers with its aegis as well principal as agent: for in every human transaction, by every code, the agent is but the alter ego of the principal. In law they are the same man. It is not necessary to say more on this point. To punish or compel the agent of a released principal, it is clear enough now, was a palpable violation of the Constitution. It was decided alst) in Oshorn v. The Bank, that a State could not be regarded as a party to the suit unless it was so named in the record, the interest of Ohio in the case being conceded in the court's opinion. With a purged vision the Supreme Court now say in the habeas corpus cases: "To secure the manifest pur- poses of the Constitutional exemption guaranteed by the elev- AFTER THE WAR. 59 enth aniendinead,ro(iuirGS that it should bo interpreted, nut liter- ally and too narrowly, but fairly, and with such breadth and largeness as effectually to accomplish the substance of its pur- pose. In this spirit it must be held to cover not only suits brought against the State by name, but those also against its agents, officers, and representatives, where the State, though not named as sneh, is nevertheless, the only real party against which alone in fact the judgement or decree effecctively operates." But in the ()hi(^ case a very serious obstacle was interposed. Such a conclusion would have ousted the Supreme Court of jurisdiction in the cause, as in the habeas corpus cases, a conclu- sion to which, in the inflanied condition of parties, that Court, by any process of reasoning, did not intend to be conducted. Party interests were paramount with the judges of the Supreme Court at that period of the nation's history, as they have been sup- posed to be since. If the Ohio case is to stand as law, and also the autocratic ju dgnu'ir t of Mr. Justice Matthews, the result we have reached is that the Constitution has turned the Judges out of a jurisdiction by the front door, but, with false keys, they have entered again by the back door. John Scott of Fax quikr. U'arrenton, Va. TESTIMONIALS. The State of Virginia, in her nobleness, as well as to reward the loyal obedience shown to her high, and superior, author ity, and, perhaps, to hold it up to other times, awarded to each of her officers, engaged in that important business, a Testimonial of her sovereign approbation. To heighten the honour, and ren- der the gifts more rich, those evidences of the State's apprecia- tion, were sent, to the Recipients, through the gallant and dis- tinguished Confederate General, His Excellency Governor Fitzhugh Lee. Xote to ixKje 59. — WliPii the two grounds, taken in the foregoing answer of the (.'omnion weal til's Attorney of Fauquier County, are analyzed, thev are seen to be rooted both in the bed-rock of State sover- eignty, and though coming from ditlereut directions, yet they concur in the protection of the States' agent from every species and degree of extei-nal responsibilty. By the first the agent is shielded by the sovereignty of the States as respected and hon- oured by international law, enunciated by secretery Webster in McLeorl's case [ante]. In the second ground the irresponsibility of the State's agent, or officer, is deduced from the Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution, according to the principles of Law. Let it be understood that the Eleventh Amendment only re.ttores to every State of the Union the high and sovereign priv- ilege of exemption from the suit of an individual of which the Constitution, as first written, through inadvertence, or mistake, had deprived a State. In the first go-otl' of the new government that departure from the principle of the Constitution produced an angry and hostile defiance of the authority of a Federal Court, by the State of Georgia. The whole country saw the fatal error that had been committed in the structure of the Union between those sovereignties and the Eleventh amend- ment, through the fortunate power of amendment, was added to the constitution. Now, by the wise decision in the Habeas Corpus cases, the State's agent, no more than the State itself, under that part of the Constitution, is suable by an individual, or by a collection of individuals, such as proposed to degrade and bankrupt the state of Virginia by the hocus poc us ol suing the State's agent when the Constitution forbade* them to sue the State itself. The Eleventh Amendment, with its instructive history, has an important bearing on the unending controversy, whetherthis unexampled American system is a grand congrega- tion of sovereign States, banded in an experiment in government or a mere huddle of federal vassals, whose precarious fate is de- cided in a quadrennial election. Sovereignty in the Union is an indivisible entity, the "residuum" being left with the States, whilst the other part is delegated, or entrusted, to a Central Agent, under the instructions of a written Constitution, until the Principal chooses to revoke the Agency. The system then does not violently execute the judgment of Solomon! When will the American politician, and the Supreme Court, learn that they eternize the Union when the.y agree to construe the Consti-' tution in accordance with its fundamental principle, and not keep the States alarmed lest they be destroj-ed by a huge Octo- pod at Washington. states are great and powerful enough to lead the nations in the noble enterprize of a common delivery from slavery to gold. In the power "to regulate commerce with foreign nations" the con- stitution has forged the weapon with which it has armed Con- gress for the conflict. Taught by a painful experience the Con- stitution-makers were aware that it might become as necessary to the interests and rights of the nation they were forming, to be able to wage a bloodless commercial war, as to maintain hos- tilities with the sword. "]iTngland is a creditor nation and should require payments in gold," as Mr. Gladstone, in the words of a mon?y-lender, has been pleased to announce as a becoming poli- cy in Parliament. She is represented here as the Shylock of this period of the world and should be dealt with as the grind- ing usurer, and be chosen as the nation upon wiiich the experi- ment is to be tried and where the example would prove most ef- fective. The United States may well revive, as becoming her character and position, the superb maxim of Rome, debzlare su- perbos, and compel that old and haughty nation to abandon the maxims and practices of a money-changer. England demone- tizes silver, and induces an unauthorized and disobedient Amer- ican Cbngress to imitate her example,that her interest and debts may be paid in appreciating gold — the crooked wisdom of the usurer. It is time for the United States to employ all the reser- ved powBrs of their constitution to break this fetter of gold. If Congress, in the plentitude of its authority, were to authorize the President to prohibit, in the whole or in part, British trade with the ports and harbors of the United States, unless the Brit- ish government would agree to remonetize silver, within a stip- ulated period, that concession, so important to the producing classes of the Union speedily would be made. The immensity of British trade with the United States was well stated by Presi- dent Harrison in the letter accepting a nomination for a second term. Its bulk and value expressed the dependence of the Uni- ted Kingdom u[)on tlint interchange of products and showed 3 that it was as absolute as that of a nursing infant. The Vene- zulean scare exposed a truth that with propriety may be alluded to in this connexion. It revealed the prudent solicitude of Lord Salisbury to preserve unimpaired the cordial relations of the Queen's government with the republic of North America. The British are a brave and martial people, but are also a polity peo- L-i pie, and no one, probably, is better informed of this than the in- telligent Premier. Contrast the amiable, good-natured, and ac- quiescing negotiation with Mr. Cleveland, who w^as so entirely a volunteer in the boundary dispute of British Guiana, with the menacing attitude when the young Emperor of Germany pro- posed to interfere with British pretensions in South Africa! AVith ruffled plumes Eugland then showed that she was still the gamecock of Europe, To this readiness for war, and genius for the affairs of peace, that historical nation owes its suprema- cy in westera Europe. It shows another thing that its primary interests do not lie in America, but on the Dardenelles and in the further East. With her hand on her sword she negotiates in the Mediteranean and the Balcic, but she can afford to be agreeable with the West. The jurisdiction "to regulate commerce with foreign nations," though expressed in general, perhaps in- definite, terms, has yet a defined historical meaning. The Arti- cles of Confederation, or first Constitution of the United States, contained no such power as that now conceded bj'^ the United States, to Congress, and the want of it enfeebled the Government so far as to frustrate action when it sought to protect the foreign commerce of the country. But the States have received a com- pensation for their losses, thence resulting in the vigorous amended Federal Agent to which attention is now directed. As s)on as the independence of the colonies was acknowledged by the home government the war of arms was succeeded by a war of imposts, in intention by the British government,in effect by the rest of Europe. Adam Smith but a few years before had published "The Wealth of Nations," instructing government that freedom in commerce was necessary to its prosperity. The great work had been given to mankind two montlis before Jefferson read his Declaration of Independence to Congress, so nearly co- temporaneous were those productions. In truth, the two men, one living in the old world, bj^ the boisterous Garman ocean, the other in the new world as a philosopher, but announced parts of the same valuable truth — one the freedom of man's property', the other the freedom of man's person. Adam Smith's book was eagerly read in America and made the sub-base of both con- stitutions, but its radiant light more slowly was diffused among the statesmen of the" continent, for there trade was still hob- bled and hampered by hindrances and prohibition3--so difficult is it to pluck up a rooted error. It was by such causes that the oil industry of New England was destroyed, whilst they render- ed unproductive to the planters the rice and indigo of the Caro- linas, and the tobacco of Virginia and Maryland. The custom- house, as part of the taxing apparatus, was withheld by the States. Stretched along the seaboard those States, but Virginia particularly, attempted retaliatory measures, but with disas- trous results. The exclusions and disadvantages enacted by State statutes drove foreign shippers and cargoes to neighbor- ing harbors, where they were received upon more hospitable terms. To Washington, although in private life, all grievenances were carried, and his correspondence is the source of much in- formation relative to the concerns of that period. To the Mar- quis de La Fayette, the confldant of his opinions,apprehensions and hopes, Washington thus paints the dreary picture: "When- ever we have an efficient government established, that govern- ment will surely impose letaliatory restrictions on the trade of jo State shall pa s^ airy I no impairing the obligation of Contracts,^' an in- capicity which attaches to Congress equally as to a state. This incapacity in Congress to pass any law imparing the obligation of contracts is created by the character of the federal instrument which provides a government of granted or ennnierated jjoicers. so that if we discover that authority to do a particular thing is not to be found in the constitution, fairly construed, the neces- sary conclusion is that the power has been denied. That was an important, perhaps a vital, part of the work, for protection to the sacredness of contracts was a base upon which those Con- script Fathers designed to found civil society in the LTnited States. Tile quoted language was a proclamation from those sovereign democratic communities, in their high federative ca- H pacity, of a moral law, as well as the enactment of a convenient constitutional restraint. The legislator knows, if he would build strongly, that he must build on the foundation of rectitude, a principle in nature — God's law — which this clause of the constitution reveals to have presided at that Council of The Fathers. If this silent, but potential, negative, which its framers left behind them, is to be taken out of the constitution, or reduced to a nullity by the cun- ning of lawyer and judge, let it be done bj' a declaration as plain and positive as that which binds a state of the Union, for if done by the Supreme Court, it would leave the States still in fetters whilst the miscliievous project would introduce irresponsible Congress into a new and alarming jurisdiction. It would be to let the treacherous ocean to neiv^ beds. No good reason can be suggested why so delicate a power should be withheld from a state, yet be entrusted to Congress, and such appears to have been the conclusion of the great men who fabricated the consti- tution. Were the important question, agitated here,allowed to be determined on the words and meaning of the Great Treaty among the States, there would be little room for doubt, for this part of the fundamental law is a plain piece of work. But the Supreme Court, at once autocrat and oracle, has spoken on the important question and it is necessary to attend to its utter- ances, [n Julliard against Greenman the opinion of the Court, the whole Court, except Mr. Justice Field, contains these un- pleasant words: "Under the power to coin money and regulate its value. Congress may issue coins of the same denominations as those already current by law, but of less intrinsic value than those by reason of containing a less weight of the precious met- als and thereby enable debtors to discharge their debts by the payment of coins of less real value." The case may be found in 110 U. S. Re()orts 421. The Supreme Court removes all difficul- ties and confers on Congress, the jurisdiction with the free hand of a proprietor. Tliis power, thus generously liestowed is de- 9 rived, as we see, from tlie power "to coin money," [good money of course,] for the transaction of business. But how derived? As an incident, the authority to do ji wrong and pernicious act from an authority to do a rightful and beneficent act. Is evil then the legitimate offspring of good, and has the Creator thus organized the moral law? We know how the fathers of the Con- stitution have dealt with the subject of the repudiation of con- tracts. We know too .how the inner conscience detests and con- demns the act, and we demand some higher authority than Supreme Court Judges to legitimate and sanction this new juris- diction of fraud. Another school of Latitudinarians has sprung into existence — "men not restrained by settled limits of opin- ions." That sect has assaulted the constitution as once it assail- ed the Scriptures. It is hoped that some compassionate and friendly overseeing power will save the constitution from the vivisection and arrest the Supreme Court judges who have be- come a dreaded corps of sappers and miners. To limit the term of offlce of the court is the only etiicacious mode of correcting the evil. The Judges will tlien become responsible for what they have said and done. We don't want an autocrat in our republic. He does not fit into the s^'stem. But, if we are to have autocra- ic power, every lover of his country, and friend of virtue, will pray that it may not be lodged in the bench of judges so bitter- ly denounced by Senator Vest for annulling the act of Congress which taxed the incomes of the moneycrats, or plutocrats, if the Greek word is better liked. That scandalous decision it is hop- ed, will not bj! forgotten when the new Congress assembles. The Free Coinage of Silver Party have not raised a standard of fraud for dishonest debtr^rs to fiock under. They do not wish to pay debts with fifty cent dollars. But they do earnestly de- sire to liave the constitution delivered from such a perverted construction as prevailed in Julliard against Greenmanand that the nation be allowed to retain the liigh morality of the consti- tution and not have thrust upon society tlie low morality of the 10 Supreme Court. They know if the victory be given them, tliat the free coinage of silver will raise the price of the white metal to the former standard of 16 to 1, for it is a part of the free coin- age monetary system tiiat goverment should create at each mint an unlimited demand for all the silver bullion and all the gold bullion that is offered, at the relative value of 16 to 1. Our own experience has shown that even the gold discoveries of Cal- ifornia, that wonderful event, did not at our jpwn mints disturb- this steady balance. Aplenty of metal money would result from the free coinage of silver which would injure no man, un- less the usurer. The productions of the shop, the manufacture, the mine, the farm and of every other honest em ploj'^ment, would rise in value, the hire again would become worthy of the laboror and pros- perity would revisit the homes of the people, which is the final object of government. .John Scott of Fauquier. Warrenton Va., August 6, 1896. APPLICATION OF PRECEDENT TO THE WRITTEN LAW. from the true index. Editor of the True Index: — It'is a serious affair when a govern- ment miscarries in one of the main purposes of its foundation and the language and meaning of a written constitution are set at naught by the insolent power of construction. A hasty look at Julliard against Greenman, 110 United States Reports, page 421, has revealed to the reader in what manner the Supreme Court, the Court of the constitution, has produced such a result. That ben^h of Judges, with the constitution open before them, decided that the authority "to coin money" empowers Congress to coin depreciated dollars with which previously contracted debts might be liquidated, and in consequence, the creditor de- 11 frauded of part of his property. Never before has knavery been taken as a ward of the court, and never before so great violence done to human language ! Was it ever known before that au- thority to do a right tiling was to be used to authorize a wrong- thing to be done? Yet there is no appeal from that decision, unanimous, if the dissent of one member of the Court be except- ed. Not only is there no redress for the wrong inflicted in that case but the decision, by the law of precedent, stands as an au- thority for later Judges to follow. The reader sees now, very plainly, how the Federal Judge by the autocratic power of con- struction, helped along by the hiw of precedent, becomes legis- lator and even constitution-maker. The decision of the Supreme Court, in Julliard against Greenman, is now the constitution, though the men who made it turn in their graves. The reader must awake to new times ! The constitution, as written and and adopted, though still in theory the Supreme law, on that point henceforth takes a back seat, or ''retires from active ser- vice," as the pensioned Federal Judge might express it. A Su- preme Court lawyer, if consulted, might say : "As to the power of Congress to coin depreciated money to pay debts withal the constitution has been construed and the construction of the Judges supercedes the original instrument." That is what precedent and construction, those active co-operators and joint conspira- tors in wrong, have done for the constitution. It is not easy to see what possible call, with two such forces at command, the Supreme Court can have for the recreating power of amend- ment. It appears that already the Supreme Court is master of the entire sy«tem, the States only their vassals. The law of precedent in the American Courts was derived from England, the realm of John Bull, and is the God of his idola- trj'. John Bull is persuaded that all wisdom dweUeth in the past, and that what has not been done or said before is not worthy to be said or done at all. It is quite useless to argue that point with John Bull. He says 12 he was never wrong in his life, and before he will surrender his opinions, he will pnt his grea^ fleet in commission and call to the field his invincible army of volunteers. That great landed proprietor, it is known, staj'S a great deal at home and hence moves much within the circle of his own ideas. Another of John Bull's notions is that an English Judge never errs, and his American brother too has planted himself on that deepset rock. But a Free coinage of silver democrat, from a supposed lunatic condition, is to be treated with some indulgence. Taking ad- vantage of that gracious privilege, he would en-juire into thfi origin of precedent in courts of justice and the propriety of ex- tending its application to cases turning upon the written luw. It is known, even to the laity, that, in the beginning, in the ru- dimentary condition of Society, from which it emerged, the com- mon law was but a customary law of the King's realm. The au- thority, or rule of conduct, which the people time out of mind had been obeying as the law was the law administered in the Courts. Particular customs are excepted. The Customarj' or Common Law, was to besought in the treaties of learned men but the abundant and perennial source of that jurisprudence was the decisions of the courts and the opinions of Judges. It is obvious that such a legal system must rest upon the law of precedent, the rule of slnre decisis. But to take that rule, one Judge invoking another Judge, and with no other authority for the law to look to, out of the common law courts and apply it to a class of cases where there is an ordinance, or statute, to ap- peal to, is to do an absurd and contradictory thing. What ob- viously is the function of Judges where there is a written law? To apply the law as written to cases as they arise, for there is the law in the very words of the Supreme power. By what au- thority does the Judge go anywhere else for the law it may be asked? If he consults another decision in another case, made by another Judge, he may find the law wrongly decided. No! he must refer to the law as written, that alone is his guide. He 13 must not consult an oracle no hij?her than himself. The judg nient of a court where there is a written law, is naturally only its sentence, and is confined in its operation to that case. Thus are we rid of the slavery of precedent! By it a wise judge may be compelled to go wrong, because some blockhead has gone wrong before him. One of the departures of tlie French revolution from the beat- en track of old Europe and which greatly increased the bitter- ness of English hostility, [see Burke's indignant invectives], was the unceremonious manner in which the law of precedent was treated by the French lawyers. The Code Napoleon directs each Judge to Interpret the law for himself. I speak withdiiB- dence for I have not read that monument of legal wisdom, but, if rightly quoted, the example illustrates the point before us. In this insurrection of the oppressed masses against the gov- ernment of the Money-power, it is hoped that, in the General Redress of Greivances, the Constitution, impressed with the seals of the Fathers, may be rescued from the beaks and talons of the Supreme Court .Judges. I remember to have heard an able member of our bar, FTon Charles T. Green, with more em- phasis than piety, express the wish that all the lieported cases might be burned. .JoHx Scott, of Fauquier. lb Mr '09 /tr" t ^ y*>. ..A. S.J.I31J.V: ► r/yttOit^/X ■"/re:- if rs Oft I pi>»\l -e.fjf • TU'DJ-J.-T. rjT' -afoifj • H0IMN33ao\ ■fen A \--