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 A jMh 
 
 AUGUSTUS SUMMERFIELD 
 

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 .1 
 
UTE 
 TO THE h' MY 
 
 BEL ATHER 
 
i»KKF.\CK. 
 
 h w.iH written for the rclalivo and friends 
 
 •f him to whoMT niemorv thevr |>aK«^ ^^^ dedicated, and 
 
 ^ written for those who loved him and who feel more 
 
 in his life and work. I 
 
 ' 'hem for its 
 
 •1. ,t ihev 
 
 claim 
 
 I bein){ what it is a work »if love. 
 
 Thf vrrr.itrr jwrt of the material for the sketch has In-en 
 
 T of conrse, from relatives and friend.s ; 
 
 Iroin >ketche?i wniien in the |>a-Hl: from old letters ajul 
 
 pnss-ciillinjjs. These are res|»nsible for many of the 
 
 facts hr- 1. 
 
 Asloti' . ;. ' •• "v of the subject, it has 
 
 U-en niv i»hjicl ; .: , . . .iy and Irnlhfnlly, as I 
 
 knew il ami rcvcrttl it. 
 
 If this description of a noble, nprij^ht life will Ix* able, 
 
 tinder Ciod's blessing, to adeqnately express the jjrand ix>s- 
 
 - of attainment for inlejjrity and Christian nian- 
 
 ijood, and thereby become even a tiny seed which will 
 
 ■ jjood fniit, this tribute will not have lx:en written in 
 
 \ wreath of memories, il is laid upon the shrine of 
 
 piiiuv I. love by one whom my father knew as 
 
HIS YrUTH AND KAKI.V MANIU )()!). 
 
 h; • ol lljf Old N« • ■ >S 
 
 • . • I i.Mf iv !i, ,\i *r .. .. I n 
 
 1 1 1» Mkk- 
 llc came into the world al the home ol his jjrand- 
 
 Thc old home 
 
 :Ltlal ihal time and 
 
 :iy and beauty. IncIoNed 
 hv iiu>iintnin!% on all side^ u|»on \vho^e summits seemed to 
 
 ' ! s- 
 • ■ •> I 
 
 • from them. 
 In this peaceful spot, beauty in Nature's ^jramleM forms 
 
 Aiiinan 
 
 ' . , \m\ for 
 
 , womai he one who 1 to mould 
 
 iito ijoodly form the impressionable character of her son. 
 
 .(!.•!;< ■ ; ;i)- I ;> :^i lO i1;l >wj - . . . - - 'i;i» 
 
 .i;iii Sim;. <-; ill McDowell Paxton, a daughter of (leneral 
 
 Charles McDowell, who, as well as his brother. General 
 
 •h McDowell, served with distinction in the Rcv(jln- 
 
 iry War. 
 
 Mary Pa.xton, it is said, was a very Ijeautifnl k'tI- She 
 had soft, silky brown hair, which her son inherited, and 
 bright. s()arklin^ eyes, which, with her/ ' irc, doubt- 
 
 less added charm to a personality that ; 1 above all 
 
 other charms the fadeless lustre of soul-beauty, the grace 
 of a meek and quiet spirit. In later years one who loved 
 
» AUCiUSTlS srMMKKlllM.n M Ki; K 1 M( )N . 
 
 lier told his cliilchcn, her oiaiiiicJiiltinii, of her affable 
 inaniiers and gentle iialure, of the li,Liht tread of her little 
 feet that one could scarcely hear at times as she walked 
 across the floor, and of such qualities that seemed charac- 
 teristic of her. 
 
 Of the ancestors of Branch H. Merriuion little is known. 
 He was born in Dinwiddie count\ , \'ir^inia, but the faniilv 
 afterwards moved to Tennessee. Branch was a gay and 
 thoughtless youth, but there came a great change into his 
 life when his youthful thoughtlessness was stopped by the 
 great questions of eternit\- and the salvation of souls. He 
 dedicated his life to the service of his Maker, and con- 
 nected himself with the Holston Conference of the Metho- 
 dist Episcopal Church, South. In the course of his min- 
 istrations in his circuit he met Mary Evel\n Paxton and 
 married her. 
 
 Branch Merrimon, with his }oung wife, came to live at 
 a place called Mills' River, where he began the business 
 of merchandising and farming in addition to his regular 
 duties as a minister of the Gospel. From this place the 
 little family moved again to a farm on the old stage-road 
 leading from Asheville to Hendersonville and beyond, and 
 here the mind of the \ouno: Au^j^ustus beuan to be s\s- 
 tematically trained under the guidance of a lady then liv- 
 ing in the family, Mi.ss Minerva Cunningham, afterwards 
 Mrs. Tatum, a woman of piety and sound .sense. She 
 remained in my grandfather's household for some vears, 
 and it was under her direction that my father's education 
 began, and at this place he passed his childhood da\s. 
 He has told me of his games with his sister, one of his few 
 playmates, wdien she would pretend to be an hotel-keeper 
 and he the master of a dro\'e of hogs, such as were seen 
 on the old sta^e-roads in those da\s. He would come to 
 
u:. 
 
 Al ol-.tTr.** Hi \|Mi:i;» IM.I» MKKUIMoN. .» 
 
 .? hotel -keeper if she could shelter 
 ,,ti iiiiii) ►r the ni^hl. The master of the 
 
 • - !•■ • ' 1 "H' of his 
 
 as the 
 
 ;ice soiiiuU ill iiiv ears to-dav. Some of the 
 
 4 and unique i 1 »«» himself and 
 
 ..,oh as 
 
 Uull- 
 
 li..\v j.ron.l hi- WIS when r lH>U);ht huii a new 
 
 • ' He wotiUl count the 
 
 ■;•• tl^rttT. 'UK* hv f»ne, 
 
 I he 1* 
 
 T' 
 
 I lit ciitl. Ill I his tolivc 
 
 •' - to town on a certain 
 
 A h:uv^'inK, the first 
 
 of the kind that the chi! .ooked U|K>n. 
 
 Who can tell hut that 1; :n; uiind was even then 
 
 ' ' -• - the stern justice of law? 
 
 family moved a^ain and, 
 It this lime, to a larije and Ix-autifnl farm on Hooper's Creek, 
 
 lie. Here it was that my 
 
 ifly definetl featiirt-s which 
 
 ^^ . after life and where, even 
 
 Hi lM.\:;.«>d, thoughts and feelings seem to have led him lo 
 
 fixedness of purpose and manly resolutions for the future. 
 
 •;' • ' •' 'its often reverted in after years in 
 
 . and he has said that that valley, 
 ed bv its sentinel mountains, was the loveliest that 
 Ills c ves had ever seen. 
 
 ■' ' < an old-fashioned while one, crownin;,' the 
 
 iineuce whose sides were green and beau- 
 
 'in the sweet summer-time, long ago." At the foot 
 
 2 
 
1<> AiciisTis siMNfi:i;iii:r,i> \ii:i: i:im<>.v. 
 
 of the slope, at some (li>lance from the house, flowed the 
 creek which turned the saw-mill still further away, and 
 over the hank leaned the willows, the profusion of their 
 droopint; lieads in contrast to the lofty mountain-tops. At 
 such a place as this, with surroundings so well calculated 
 to draw the boy's thoughts to hi^h and ennohlini; views of 
 the world, with Nature's broad domain before him, and 
 with resources suitable for the be.i^inniui^ of an eminently 
 practical education, he toiled on his father's farm. Driv- 
 in_i^ the sturdy oxen with their wood loads, or on duty at 
 the saw-mill, book in hand, the book of which he has so 
 often spoken — Towne's Analysis — he was doiui^ a double 
 duty, developinj^ himself mentally and plnsically. It is 
 probable that he recognized the fact that the best educa- 
 tions are thoroughly practical and that the \outhful mind 
 more clearly comprehends and more certainly remembers 
 theories of natural jihilosojilix' put into practice; that, 
 indeed, a mind stufTed with theories and rules, hut with 
 no experimental knowledge, is like an engine beautiful as 
 to mechanism but with no motive-power. 
 
 Augustus was the eldest of a large famil\- which num- 
 bered seven .sons and three daughters. Their father, though 
 unable to give them the best educational advantages, ear- 
 nestly desired that the\- might have ever\- o])portunit\' that 
 he could offer them for impro\ing themselves intellectualh'. 
 He strove to make his children a])j)reciate the value of 
 opportunitN' and of storing their minds with the wisdom 
 that jK-risheth not as well as with that which is of this 
 world. The evening .salutation often was, "(iet your 
 books, now, and go to reading." Xtme i)ut the .Mi-seeing 
 K\e knows with how much earnestness one of tiiose young 
 minds api)lied itself to labor that was destined to be crowned 
 with uurited achievement. 
 
AlGrSTUS .SUMMKUFIKI.I* MKKKlMoN. 1 1 
 
 Had a better record Ijeeii kept of his youthful t]iuiui»hs 
 over the trials of early school-days one inijjht tell with 
 more minute di-scription of iht- speeches nt the little school- 
 house on the farm, lauj;ht by Mr. A. T. IJviuj^ston; or one 
 mis^ht describe tlie young orator representing^, jx^rhaps, 
 Patrick Henry or Mark Antony, from the sloping hill-sides 
 addressing the \vf)Ofls Ix-fore him instead of an impassioned 
 mass of humanity. 
 
 He was fond of mathematics and history, and seemed to 
 study his books with earnestness and avidity. His father 
 Ufvtr had any trouble with him. and the boy from early 
 Nouth showed his strength and nobility of character; he 
 never did a mean or wicked act in the remembrance of 
 her who was one of his most constant companions in early 
 life, .\mong the number of those early playmates was 
 the son of his old negro nurse, Aunt Anis, l-'elix was the 
 name of the little negro who was the leader and the life of 
 many of the childish games. His mother had been given 
 to Mary Paxlon ;»l her marriage, and proved herself faith- 
 ful to her duty of helping rear the babies of the household. 
 This old negro lived to a venerable age and died some years 
 ago, her last days being brightened by the ministrations 
 of the children for whom she had cared so tenderly in 
 babyhood. 
 
 .\u(l lllll^ .\ugustus Merrimou grew into manhood far 
 from the false practices of city life, his mind plainly, 
 .soundly educated, his physical being well developed, and, 
 above all, his soul nourished from imbibing the rigliteous 
 characteristics of his father — righteous in the sense of mor- 
 tal righteousness, inasmuch as there are none immaculate; 
 no human life without its human frailties. He learned to 
 labor — to believe it man's prerogative a.ssigncd him by his 
 Creator — to labor iutelligentlv and to believe it honest and 
 
12 Ai'GrsTUs srMMi;i;i'ii;i.i) Mi:i;i;iMnx. 
 
 lionorable. Main- a time Ik- has spoken of those early 
 days when on the top of wood loads he dro\'e the oxen, or, 
 like Bnrns, guided the plow as the earth <^ave way before 
 the advancing shaft. With the same old book in hand he 
 carried these duties through oftentimes, and thus was pre- 
 paring himself sureU', steadiK' and laboriously for the 
 positions of honor and trust which, in after years, the peo- 
 ple accorded him. It seems that he toiled that each 
 to-morrow might find him more advanced in the path of 
 industrious achievement, than to-daN'. 
 
 How often, when the boy had grown into the man, and the 
 dark hair was silvered by the touch of age and care, and the 
 noontide of life was merging into the peace of eventide — 
 how often did his mind revert to those early days and to 
 the rural scenes in which he spent his boyhood — to the 
 spring at the foot of the hill-side, where the cool, clear water 
 bubbled up, and at which he stooped to drink in boyish 
 carelessness in the happy days of long ago. Hut ot all the 
 memories that clustered round that happ\- time only the 
 angels could give us an accurate account ot the dearest 
 and tendercst — the memory of his mother — her to whom, 
 it seems, he gave the wealth of his childish atlection. He 
 was her first-born — more of a comjxmion to her than the 
 others — and when she left him the sorrow of his heart was 
 one that lay too deep for tears. That beloved face — the 
 remembrance of her gentleness and virtues — the grave in 
 the old garden near the house — who can measure the inlln- 
 ence of these things on the susceptible character ot him 
 who had never before known so great a lo.ss? Who can 
 tell but that her spirit was the guardian angel of his lite, 
 continuallv beckoning him onward and upward to the haven 
 of eternal rest? Such precious memories dwelt with him 
 in manhood's vears and clustered around 
 
-I MMKKFIKI.I) MKi:iH\H>N'. 1-^ 
 
 IMS BOYIHM)I)S HOMK. 
 
 Htgh.— 
 
 ihr Atiit ? 
 
 Who kno«r» l»u( h "clf 
 
 •.» a« tniKlr. — 
 
 I' ■ • ■ ' .... 
 
 1 
 
 mil »in. 
 
 •..\,ii..i... l.U ..!.! i..i« rs. written ditriiiK the year 1850, 
 the f. - foniul, niul is copied here as an 
 
 inclic.ition ol the mriueiicc which his mother's mciuory 
 \crlcd over the early efforts of her son: 
 
 ! IONS AT MY MorilKRS CRAVK. 
 
 ' ' ' ' 'he western hilU and 
 
 -.■^ of the iiinuiitainA. 
 
 1: '•■ 
 
 :. ■■' 
 
 for MMiic tunc, to iix-nd a It-w minutr* at the ^ravc of my 
 
 - '• •• iH not far liiMant. not more than a hundred yards. 
 
 f, , -hcKarilrn. I steppe*! on more slowly than when I 
 
 ,, ■ ! ind dear. Ren- 
 
 ,», . If to me becanse 
 
 I was soon at 
 came over me I 
 
 •.%iii»: t"\ fiiifirr » rir!% i . .in {► »»ili .ii- .in.! in • xtracLn from hU diaries the 
 
 •1 many mis«pcllc<l words. 
 • than his knowledge of 
 
1 I Ar<;rsTrs simmkhfikld mki.mmmox. 
 
 I looked around, and how befitting were all things to my feelingsl All 
 was silent as the mansion, — the cold and dark mansion my dear mother 
 occupied. Not even a sigh could he herd in the foliage that oversprea<l 
 the sacred spot. All Nature seemed to mourn, it seemed to sympathise 
 with me, while I reflected on the loss I had sustained; — a loss, I mourn to 
 say it, irreparable. As I stood there alone, unseen, except perhapse l)y her 
 glorified spirit, (for I believe it still watches over me, at least the belief 
 influences my actions), memorj- turned mournfully to the past. I was 
 led to remember the pious lessons she had tauglit me; to remember the 
 good morals she had instilled into my boyish miiul. Ves, these recollec- 
 tions came up vividly before me, and I thought of the afTectionate and 
 maternal manner in which she did it. O, I could almost see her as she 
 took my little hands within hers and learned me to lisp my prayers to mv 
 great Creator; as she would sit with me at her knees and tell me how to 
 become great and good. If ever I make a great man it must be ascribed 
 to her pious instruction. I recollected all the past, and it swelled the 
 scene of the then present. I thought of the night on which she left this 
 for a better world; I could fancy I saw her angelic face as she slept her- 
 self away into an eternity of unuterable, inconceivable bliss. Yes, she 
 was smiling when dying, if dying it might be called, and even when ruth- 
 less death had done his work a calm and peaceful smile rested on her face. 
 Oh, how angelic was her appearance, and how symbolic of her blessed 
 compan}- ! Though her body was there, yet her soul was in heaven, freed 
 from care and all pain. Though she looked thus beautiful, how awful. 
 how indescribably awful were my feelings. I was conscious that I would 
 soon see the form I had loved and revered no more forever; that my great 
 counselor and instructor would never again commune with me. Yes. I 
 was conscious that I had lost, irretrievably lost, the best gift of Heaven. 
 All this come up vividly before me, and the night, the solemn stillness, 
 seemed to chime in with my mournful solitude. I thought of that 
 heavenly world where all is joj- and happiness, and said in my lieart, my 
 mother is there! That was a joyous thought— a thought worth more than 
 all the gems of earth. She was alone; no other person lay there with 
 her, but she was not alone in Heaven; no, there are myriads there, and 
 all join in anthems, loud anthems of praise to their great Creator and 
 Redeemer. She is there with all the old prophets; she is with Wesly and 
 Clark, with Whitfield and Chalmers; she is there with Coke and Asbury 
 and millions more. It was a solemn night to me. .\s I turned to go 
 away I thought that I, too, would one day lie down in the loansome, 
 silent grave, that the silver moon would shine loansomely and sadly 
 around my last resting-place, as it then did my mother's. 
 
.\l«l>Tr>* Ml MMKKFIKI.Ii MKItltlMoN. lo 
 
 And thus was tlic yoiilli of Augustus Mcrriinon sjicnt, 
 
 under the clear skv wiih Xaturi's jjreat 
 
 who may not say, to 
 
 _, . 1.1 t'v r»., ;,,,. ^(inrcc. 
 
 V and mentally inc: to his 
 
 ' of information as well as ; faithful ly 
 
 >l and indus- 
 
 . •., •» character at 
 
 He was eajjer fo Imrn, anxious 
 ■ tieid tor zealous end< .1, having 
 
 house 
 
 ^ , .:y the 
 
 '( attendin>; Mr. James \nrwo<xl's school at 
 
 >dva need rapid I • marked was 
 
 • hiui . I wnllcn expression 
 
 '^ f'" most proficient of 
 
 in the l 
 
 lions irom his diary, written alwut 
 'wn thoughts and 
 
 A S MHRRIMON'S DIAKY 
 
 OK HIS STinil^:*. AXIxrTIIKK CIKCl MsTvSi is • • >VN|/crRO THKRKWITIf. 
 ANt> ALSO OTIIKK i. KNTS. 
 
 ASHKVILLK MaLK ACADKMY, 
 
 Januar>- t6, 1850. 
 " l.ahor Omnia t'indi." 
 
 •»• /6.—Tfyt\a\ I enter ii|x>ii the important duty of the 
 
 i'hy. and Uy the aid of I'roviilence I intend to do honor 
 
 iny*elf nn«l my Teacher. I recite<l mv fir»t lei^son in Natural I'hiloso- 
 
 I''' -mate. ; and 
 
 ' ' the subjects on 
 
 . •neral detinitions. 
 - >ome Rules for acquiring 
 ^Jiich I approve<I ver>' much, and doubt not that by paying 
 
16 Amrs'iTs srMMi:i;iTi:i.i) mi:i;i;i.M(>x. 
 
 altention lo thciii thai I will be greatly benefitted In- them. Iiuleeil, Mr. 
 Watts seems to be an author who well understands tlie method of com- 
 tnunicating instruction as well as receiving it. 
 
 My second task was to get a lesson in vStcwart's Klements on the Mind. 
 I am very safe in saying that I never was more interested in reading and 
 studying any lesson before. It gave me more knowledge of the mind 
 and the manner of discussing that subject than anything of the kinil that 
 I ever read before. I am well aware that my time was not lost, and I 
 have the gratification to say that the lesson was of much l)enefit to me. 
 
 Thirdly, I emploj-ed from I4 past 10 untill twelve in .\rithnielic. This 
 exercise cousi.sted merely in reviewing rules of fractions. 
 
 At 12 M. ate dinner; returned to School and at half past i i'. m. I 
 recited a lesson in Rhetoric. The lesson was on the vSublime in writing. 
 and, as one would imagine, was one of no ordinary interest, setting forth 
 at every step the manner of carrying on a subject of the vSublime kind. 
 After reciting this lesson I spent the remainder of the evening in Arith- 
 metic. Returned from school, took some exercise by making my fire, 
 
 then indulged in social conversation with for some minutes. I am 
 
 at present (8 o'clock) writing and will at ten retire to rest with the grati- 
 fying thought of spending the day profitably. 
 
 Friday, Jan. iS. — Recited one lesson in Stewart this morning of mucli 
 importance. He shows in this chapter the utility of the study of the 
 Humane Mind. The outlines of the argument are the following: F'irst, 
 he shows the influence of one science over another; then shows that it is 
 the science which is derived from no other, and that all others emanate 
 in a degree from it, showing at every step its great importance to a proper 
 understanding of other Sciences. After this recitation I recited a lesson 
 in Natural Philosophj* on Attraction, the different kinds of Attraction, 
 their influence, 6cc. This Science is one of deep interest, and for which 
 I have a peculiar likeing. The subject is one of great importance to those 
 who make observations on natural things. 
 
 Saturday, Jan. /p. — Rose at 6 o'clock .v. m. and read a chapter in Watts' 
 works on the Mind, which I found to be very interesting. It had for its 
 object the improvement of the mind by observation. He shows very 
 clearly that one may improve his mind in every place and in all coudi 
 tions. If we rightly appreciate his rules, I doubt not that we will do 
 much for our own benefit, as well as for others. Then I reviewed the les- 
 son which I recited on yesterday in Stewart's Klements on the Mind. 
 After this I happened to fall in company with my highly esteemed friend, 
 
 . We walked some distance for e.xercise, in the meantime carrying 
 
 on a conversation which concerned us more than others. 
 
 This evening I have devoted myself to reading Rollins' .\ncieut History. 
 I am reading it with much care, and takeing notes. 
 
I \IMKICKIKI.I> MKKlClMuN. 17 
 
 ^u morniiiK at 6 aiKl rrtul a clmptpr in Ibr 
 
 tcr t rrail sntnc 
 
 ••! of the 
 
 . hut 
 
 : 1 
 
 tulrrcl Ihv ft . ;. 
 
 • .'f txU i..r.! 
 
 icr hrrnk- 
 . paot trii. 
 
 MIC COUhII- 
 
 I arc iiiaiic dtir- 
 •,,«. ,,. Khrt 
 
 • I llir rvrtisin* Ml «llltlH, 
 
 ' I rcarl a chapter in 
 
 ""'" f!i<- following; sut*- 
 
 I to »how the 
 
 -Icr to lay 
 
 ■''""' ' ■ ten A. M. 
 
 -u U cinl»r.icc<l 
 
 .' •» very n-itur.!! 
 
 lie than the follow- 
 
 I nil 111 v'ft my 
 
 hinj{ 
 
 « u, III (kr .1 III (!i I jT 1% I .••! Ill .f.'i iiic III iiiak- 
 
 I know that i^ucceiM await<» the |M-PM-vvrin}{. I 
 
 my oHii improvement. 
 
 ly to cmhrace jHrrjicvcr- 
 
 tn that which fully pay» 
 
 : I'inrs/.' Time flies, f) 
 
 ImpiDvr • •. for it is all you have; look not at the 
 
 ! ■ -. an«l always l)e careful 
 
 t" 'Ml"-* iie morrow which should 
 
 tic .'. 
 
 " Once more hath the earth completetl her daily revo- 
 
 ■ 1 ooce more I find myself engaged in recordinj^ my acts of the 
 
18 Aroi'STis siMMi:i;iii:i.ii m i:i;i;iMnN. 
 
 hours which have ju>t past. I arrost- this niorniiij.; at 5 o'chick and 
 read a chapttr in the Hihk-, then one in Watts, then coniiiienscd my IMii- 
 losophv lesson, which was upon the suhjcct of tlic theories of jihiloso- 
 phers on the subject of Perception. 
 
 I find in the study of I'hilosojjhy thai much study is required, and that 
 without close application one will make poor progress. These studies 
 are of vast importance, too, not only as a study for the purpose of acquire- 
 ing a knowledge of the phenomena of the world, hut also for the improve- 
 ment in reasoning. To-night I reviewed my lesson in Stewart, and also 
 looked carefully over another. I then read some in Watts, and closed 
 the labors of the day by ciphering. The rules of Percentage were those 
 on which I performed. I now lie down to take the necessary rest; may I 
 rest securely and rise in the morning to again prosecute my studies, O God ! 
 
 Sunday, Jan. 2j. — I arose this morning and after some necessary busi- 
 ness I commensed the reading of the Ancient History of Egypt and 
 Carthage. This indeed is wonderful. In some places we are filled with 
 indignation; in others we are pleased with the great magnanimity which 
 they possessed. Surely all things related with thos people are not so; 
 indeed, some thing are impossible, much less performed. 
 
 I spent the rest of the day in reading Moral Philosophy and social con- 
 versation with some friends. One who has more time to spend than is 
 necessary might spend it after the following maner profitably: If you 
 have no friend with whom to converse, apply yourself to some useful 
 book; if you have no book present observe what is near you — consider 
 what it is, how you obtain knowledge from it, for what purpose it was 
 made, by whom it was made; and if you have a friend with you talk to 
 him concerning these things; attempt to explain, as far as possible, how 
 and why you coucider the objects from which you acquire knowledge. 
 
 Much time is lost by persons who might im])rove themselves greatly. 
 How many do we see trifling away the precious hours of youth in foUish 
 talk, without improveing their minds in the least degree, nay, without even 
 [knowing?] how they learn to talk and eat or do anything else. Improve 
 the present, the future is unknown. 
 
 Afottdav, Jan. 2S. — After five this morning I commensed the incum- 
 bent duties of the ensueing week. My first lesson for consideration is 
 Stewart's remarks on the manner of actjuireing knowledge. I hope to be 
 prosperous during the ensueing week, feeling that I am under great 
 necesity of improvement. This study (Stewart on the Mind) is one i>f 
 no ordinary interest to one who has a desire for, or who has a mind 
 adapted to such studies. The language is plain, an<l his style is generally 
 of a jjure, unbroken nature. Such works are not only calculated to give 
 one the information which they profess, l)Ut also a style which the read- 
 ing of many inferior would fail to do. 
 
Al < ' MMKHFIKI.Ii MKKKIMoN. 10 
 
 In the e\"ening I rccilc«1 m Nittinl Philn-iophy, which never fails to 
 inlcM-'t me in »tich ad ^ [over] the U>^M)n a time or 
 
 tw<» I nvl tt ' >iit rri i\ 1^ to lie. I never knew the 
 
 hour yet ' : Kx|)cricnce teacltes that I never 
 
 will. If i -jn !i>i my nine j.r.>.n.i'.i\ i will no ilouht reap the reward 
 |)ronii»Ml 
 
 I u 1 an<l (Veome- 
 
 try. 1; inentH. This 
 
 world fierm% to he lull ol knowlrtlKr. and I Mip)Ki<(c the world to come 
 
 i^>!t have much more; if -•• ' '• ••— to l>c one who will enjoy a lar^e share 
 
 Prn«c%-rrrncc i* U' • » K^'™! etiucalion; thiit I have found 
 
 '■.now t-N'. t), It without it the ){reate^t ^(^'■11*1'* cannot 
 
 i .1 t as t«» enahle 
 
 hin« ■ ^ , I now ^in-nd 
 
 n Kudiricncy of time to nty iktudir*, and alM> have »ome two hourn every 
 ']\\ to sjienil in Rrt - ' - irch. I am fully aware, too. that devoting 
 
 •:,• time to «»ther ' mv mind will Iw lietter prepare«l to relish 
 
 II. \ •! ii'iN -xd with 
 
 OIK ..f iv\. . should 
 
 pay much attention to his intellectual |K>wer», since by these he must rise 
 or fall. 
 
 SalHrday, Feh. i. — [AAcr remarks on the day's occupation. ] I know the 
 nece«ity of c«>! 'in anything;. 
 
 Much lalK»r i- : • make a ^oo*! 
 
 nieri'hant, iinu h lo iii.iiwi a ^'^n^'*\ \\\.\\ ii>>(hiiix v.iii he accom- 
 
 plishe«l without ){reat lal>or and cl' aiou. If then all these are 
 
 requisite, why put off the time of commensement so loiijj? If we com- 
 mense now, we will only liccome the wiser and reap more of the paltry 
 which this worhl can give. It will fit us too for the world to come. Yes, 
 to enj<»v more of the pleasures of the invisilile I .\in. All these, nay 
 more, hid u> improve each moment as it passes hy. Then let us press on 
 toward the prize and never In? contenle<l untill it is won. We oiij{ht to 
 consider that what we gain now is not to Ik.* gainetl one day ami lost the 
 next, hut it is to give us standing among our fellow-men, and is to pre- 
 pare us for more enjoyment of the heavenly world, should we l>e so happy 
 as to get there. 
 
 Sunday, Ft'h. j. — Much improvement may Ik.* made hy reading goo<l 
 tKX>ks though they are not strictly scientifical; indeed without them, I 
 am persuadefl that we will not render scientific hooks profitable. One 
 should not Ik.* cramped up by sciiinifir studies and not read others which 
 are allmost of equal interest. 
 
20 AI(;CST(S SI \l\|i:i;ili,| I. \| i:i;i;i\|i>.\. 
 
 TufSi/dv, Ft'h. 5. — I was ready for hiisiiitss Uiis iiioniiii'^ at 6. I recited 
 in Stewart, as usual before dinner, and in Nat. IMiilosopliy after. 
 Holli of tliese lessons were interestini,'. I also read some other books 
 thi> morning. This I lliink to be of mneh importance. It not only gives 
 one good language; but it ])roves very serviceable in acquireing a general 
 stock of knowledge. A general knowleilge of things is necessary. One 
 cannot study every thing seperately. He nnist therefore find out much 
 by the reading of misselaneous books, which have to a great or less 
 degree something of these various studies connected with thein. 
 
 Nothing is calculated to make a more ready man than reading. Much 
 reading though, without digestion is worse, if possible, than none, as 
 we gain such a slight knowledge of things that we are led into dangerous 
 mistakes frequently. Therefore one should read much and digest well 
 all he reads. If he reads but little an<l digests well, it will be of nnuh 
 importance to him. 
 
 H^ednesday, Feb. 6. — I was uji and dressed by '2 after 6 this morning, 
 after having taken about 5 hours sleep. I prepared my lessons and recited 
 as usual. Both were interesting. To-night I have spent some time in 
 
 conversation with ; I have also been prepareing some remarks which 
 
 I expect to deliver on the Mexican War. This is a subject of general 
 dispute, and it is not even supposed that the (juestion will be decided with 
 iimch acquracy, owing to the very desultory arguments that will doubtless 
 be made. Much may be said; indeed, one may talk all night and then 
 remain where he left off. It is a dispute which has received much atten- 
 tion by all the great men of the Nation. 
 
 Thursday, Feb. 7. — This morning called to my meinory the sad scene 
 of this day was a year ago. I shall never again pass over another so sad a 
 day as it was, for that day my dear mother left this world for a better. She 
 now sings the Allelujahs of Angels, and will throughout cternitv. May 
 I meet her there. 
 
 .Satittday, Feb. 9. — I arose this morning at '2 i)ast five and commensed 
 imediately the business of the day. I in the first place read some of 
 description of Cicero, given by Dr. Olin. I then visited the Clerk's Office, 
 
 at which j)lace I found my friend . From him I procured a set of Dr. 
 
 Brown's Philosophy on the Mind, which I intend reading in conexion 
 with Stewart; I also read Tpham. I hope from the three that I will be 
 able to get a good knowledge of tlie human mind. I spent some time in 
 conversation today with Mr. N. W. Woodfm on the subject of Education. 
 
 In the evening I wrote some com])ositions, not for the purpose of exhib- 
 iting them, but only to improve my style of writing. Tiiis is, no doubt 
 the best plan on which one can fall to improve his style and language. 
 While there is hoi)c none ever linger; when, however, this mortal cheerer 
 vanishes the last gleam of life will soon be extinct. It sujiports all men; 
 
MMKUFIKLU MKKKIMoN. 21 
 
 the Mivngc a« well as the Chn»tiati. In a wonl. it is the ttahii nf life. 
 Few men. iiidecil none, ever live \%iiho«it it. He wmiM know the cer- 
 tainty of thinv- 't "> Ji'.iir \«hen he was not preparetl for it. Hope is the 
 anticipation - it therefore K'*'*^ ""*^ *'""" '** reflect if he 
 
 •hou' 
 
 .S'. thi<» niornini? at the u<tnal honr. and aAer 
 
 •day. I 
 II Ollin's 
 traveN. <M»nie in KoIIin*' lliMory. \\\ \.Utr*c arc very interesting, hnt not 
 near stt much a« another wnrV I rrail thi» cveuinx on the initnortality of 
 the .Sotil. Thi* wait %'ery intermtinK not only a.^ a literary di<w|ui.Hition, 
 hut ^'iil. The 
 
 •»oul • H, Yi*s. 
 
 )ir\ than the 
 
 thoii^ ^ it all con- 
 
 tinually K^a^p after. Knoc, t(M>. in what they ilesire in connexion with 
 
 life. We understand l>y Revelation tV * '' ■ '• ' Jive a» they •thould 
 
 here will l>e ailnntteil into Heaven, at \^ forever dwell. If. 
 
 ■ver 
 
 ii to 
 
 cUKaKc the atiriilion of aii; but we find • who would rather 
 
 •«|>end what time they have for proltation in . ::ii.t than to attempt 
 
 to Hcek the happinrtw in More for them by their pemeverence. 
 
 Tuesday. AVA. tj. — \ i|>cnt M>me time reaaling Rollins' History. Tlii.H 
 i« n vrrv inirrt-siim; work, and, iiidtt.il, the history of the ancients is 
 
 ' of all tli' ;•, men of 
 
 :iich they . :r |M>wcr. 
 
 I-'roni this history, too. we learn many jjoo*! laws, and we learn at the 
 same time error of many, and thereby we are prepare<l to shun them. I 
 recite«I as usual. To-ninht I have spent some time in readin){ Walts. 
 Brown and (lllin. ill interesting Books. I hope to receive a 
 
 lar^e fuiul of infor:: :!i them My present course is one which I 
 
 think will prove Itenciictal to me if properly attended to. I do not intend 
 to fail to xive due attention. I intend to make use of every power in my 
 reach to improve. 
 
 Saturday, Feb. /6. — I spent this day in the following manner, viz.: I 
 first read some in Rollins' History of the Assyrians, then wrote to my 
 Father, then read some of Ollin's Travels, then finished my coniposition, 
 then read history and Travels again. In short. I spent the day in read- 
 ing and meditation. Ail these things arc necessary for the accomplish- 
 ment of one. nay more, for men frequently live long lives and spend them 
 at Science, then fall far short of perfection. Man must be considered as 
 an imperfect being within himself. No one knows all things; no one 
 
22 AUGUSTUS slM.Mi:i;iIi;i.I> MI:i;i;iM()N. 
 
 will know all lliinj,'s. It was not iiiltiKkd hy the Dt-ity that man shoulil. 
 for if he did no doubt he would soon get above himself as oue man gets 
 above auother in point of property or respect. We should endeavor, 
 though, as far as possible, to acquire a good knowledge of every iniprovc- 
 ing every good thing that conies before us. 
 
 Sunday, Feb. //.—This morning I commensed the business of the dav 
 very early by reading History and Travels. In the day I read consider- 
 ably in the Bible, wrote my composition, and spent some time in compo- 
 sition as well as conversation. .All these acquirements are verv benefi- 
 cial. They all tend to itnprove the mind and prepare it for the walks of 
 manly life. 
 
 Tuesday, Feb. ig. — This evening I read my composition on the Influ- 
 ence of Anger. After the close of the school I spent some time in read- 
 ing Porter's Analysis. 
 
 How vain are the attempts of man to gain knowletlge without much 
 study and self-denial. If oue would be wise he must [not] cease at diffi- 
 culties. His overcoming one will actuate him to mount that which fol- 
 lows. Many for a want of perseverance have died in obscurity. Many 
 who had good advantages, through indolence have suffered themselves to 
 be overcome by trifling circumstances, and thereby laid themselves liable 
 to the censure of mankind. Perseverance alone can place a man above 
 the vulgar. All who have ambition therefore should yield to many sacri- 
 fices in order to carry out any ennol)ling principle which he mav espouse. 
 
 Saturday, Feb. 2^. — Owing to some domestic disadvantage. I did not 
 rise this morning untill daylight. After I rose I commensed the busine-;s 
 of the day by reading a chapter in Rollins' History, then one in Ollin's 
 Travels. 
 
 I took a small fowling hunt walk with my esteemed friend, . After 
 
 walking enough to take good exercise we returned. We indulged freely 
 in conversation during our walk. Sometimes speaking of literary sub- 
 jects, then of domestic happiness. It was quite an interesting and I 
 hojie a profitable walk. 
 
 This evening, a little before sun down, myself and took a walk in 
 
 the direction of my home. As I approached in sight of the mountains 
 which I could see from home, pleasurable feelings passed through my 
 tnind. Home is the hajjpiest j)lace for any one. One may become addicted 
 to being from home, and not care about returning imediately. but there 
 still exists some thoughts of childhood in the mind though it is approach- 
 ing manhood. There is something that endears the place where near and 
 <lear relatives live and sleep; one of whom, too, sleeps in the dust. 
 
 Sunday, Feb. 2/. — To-day's reading has been so desultory that I cannot 
 note it with much regularity. I have read extensively in the Bil)le, in 
 Rollins' History, Ollin's Travels, Porter's .-Xnalvsis, and various other 
 
-lMMKIlFIKI.r» MKICKIMON. j;; 
 
 J-'roni Iheiu nil I hiivc receivwl much instruction. Tlic Bihio I 
 
 - [is] truly 
 
 ,ty Mow 
 
 »«ctv»«Tn >l the prt-MMit (lay. 
 
 ' It W- - .."♦ of tluntc men who 
 
 "t he II •.» r of the authenticity of the 
 
 <n hwl li ... ij^^^^ 
 
 ' wnrk« It 
 
 ; '.hi in. S«>. siiiiplc nml 
 
 I" "-uril to turn from the wortl of t'.o«l to man. It 
 
 '•- • "- There i* •"••'' ■•■ Mnmen<tc flifTerrncc. The 
 
 '■ i» one !>■ worth. It inMructn mc 
 
 Ml ■ ■ ' '■ ■ 
 
 le*- 
 
 Mil 
 
 thill 
 
 the min)l with >|Urtlilir« of the mmtt - rncter. That ^rrat man 
 
 M^me<l to he t» ...i__i....^,,( „f ^ji |ij, ^,.,. ., .ind accompliMimcntn of 
 
 lit* ilav. Cat: V the extreme on the other haml, few men 
 
 I' Tliey give u» the 
 
 iiiit: tituatiomi. and the 
 
 ""'• - , iin more fully all the 
 
 -)t». All ; lulii, as far an pos.Hible, 
 
 .». tjuirr .1 •.;•"•■ " - " Written liooks*. Of jjooci 
 
 iMnilci. iiH thcv wi s«htch few fiTMscHH, true 
 
 kn. -..vi- their 
 
 own tiot ni.ikc 
 
 fMj jjreal a «h>play in oratory and ■ :i a<» we do. Thi» in perhajwe 
 
 one reaMin why the ancient<k di«l ;. l niore than they did in a short 
 
 time. One may leani something from everything. The little pebbles of 
 sand under hi-* fiet may teach him a lesson of which perhapse he never 
 
 lIlDUght of iK'for.' 
 
 /'hursJtty, ! i <lark and Kl'X'niy. To-nij{lit wc 
 
 had a gust of .■ miiful p.ile moon is now shining 
 
 and reminds me of the softness of >»onc-by days. These worrls strike 
 deeply on my ear. A precious Mother, who a little more than a year ago 
 doated on me, now lies silent in the tomb. The moon passes along and 
 she lies in august conijiosure. Her iniortal [soul] has put on incorrup- 
 tion. My heart is full while I write. I often think of her and am allmost 
 force»l to weep. But she is gone; yes, gone to dwell with Angels and 
 Go«l. M,iv I livi- the life she diil .uxl fx- preparer! to lie solemly and 
 
24 AidrsTis siMMKUKiKiii \i i;i; i: I M« >N. 
 
 seriouslv ami coinposc-illy while 11r> licauliful inoDti passes on in lu-r 
 regular course. This is the last nighl of the second month in the year 
 1850. Shall I have another lost friend before another February rolls 
 round, or shall I be lost to kind friends? The Deity only knows. O God, 
 save me, my friends and the world. 
 
 Salnrday, March ^.— The extra court for this county Hdjourned to .lay 
 
 at 12 M. I understand that Judge has dispatched business with his 
 
 usual speed, and that many cases, of importance, have been tried. Judge 
 
 is really a fine-looking gentleman. He seeuis to be very affable. 
 
 Such men are calculated to do much good for themselves and the public. 
 Several lawyers have been \n attendance this week. 
 
 Monday, March ^.—To-night, according to the recommendations of 
 Prof. N., I have taken up Thompson's Seasons. This is a beautiful little 
 Poem— one which I hope is calculated to elevate my ideas of nature. 
 To-night I have been reading some in Ollin's Travels. The chapter this 
 evening has been one of rather more than ordinary interest. It gives a 
 description of Mount Sinai and the mountains and valleys near to it. 
 Truly this is an awfully sublime place. Dr. O. spreaks in high terms of 
 its sublimity now, and what must it have been when the Great Jehovah 
 was there! Surely more terrible than all earth clashed together! 
 
 Our Town is quite silent to what it was last week. The court is over 
 and the countrymen have returned to their domestic habitations. The 
 beautiful spring has dawned on us once more; since this time last year 
 how many millions have changed this life for eternity? A solemn silence 
 prevails. No one dares to answer the question. And ere another such 
 season shall appear we may, like others, be sleei)ing in the cold and lonely 
 grave. God save us and the world, for in Thy hands are the issues of 
 life and death. 
 
 Tuesday, March /_'.— To-night I received my new Stewarts Philosophy 
 on the Human ISIind. It is a beautiful Bot)k, and I hope it will be of 
 great benefit to me in future. I find I will have to desist from my 
 general reading, owing to the recjuisite time I must spend in reading 
 Studies. I dislike this very much, but I mu-t prepare for the ensuing 
 exanjination. This is perhapse the last session I will go to school, and I 
 wish to make good use of my time. Time is precious; it is short with us 
 and we should therefore make a proper and profitable use of it. One 
 may be constantly emidoyed and not improve a great deal. This [is] 
 owing to a want of method and regularity. One should eiuUavor not 
 only to read and think a heaj). Init digest all he reads and thinks. .\ 
 great fault now prevalent is owing to this. Many who consider them- 
 selves advanced are mere i)ests to society and ilo much more liaruj to 
 mankind than good. It is indeed seldom that we find a man who knows 
 
ArursTlH H| MMKHFIKI.n MKKKIMnN. 2-) 
 
 fully lii* ilulv, MtiH r*-m nhrn hc fiiiil one who kno%%» it. he docs rnrcly 
 |>cr' 
 
 /' tA/fr A /^ — To-iiiKht I have <«|ient the principle part of my 
 
 lini> irt. ••Review nn<l repetition," siiy* L<Kk, "nrc 
 
 '"• . I..- i.|tg of ^^ |W«ok." I will now look over 
 
 ■ n (iraninicr I,e«»Hon ami retire to ri-'tt. 
 
 :. nu 
 
 ajctly 
 
 thrni 'I Men who are con<ttnntly 
 
 - llK- 
 
 .V in 
 niimt tiui in * liAt in the ni.ijurily ol rniMrs men 
 
 .r. .[ .,■ ....,1 • .. ....u-h re%t, ni<iny time* we -tee them 
 
 ^v in till* manner. Itoth extremes Hlumlil 
 
 /' ^ — I hnve •p**?!! *nm«> time tf>-n'i»hf in rrn»linj< Stew- 
 
 ive a hin- 
 
 : i . 'wern wa* 
 
 the He »eenn» to have liern at one time n Ixjy 
 
 in \' ' i<i u<kua1ly tlocMi. he out.Htripfietl 
 
 all. , 
 
 v.; ,H ill the 
 
 »>-» This is 
 
 >K-\iiii<l •ioiitit one •>! the nirnt intemttin^ work** i ever reaii or tttudieil. 
 
 It .strcn){tli< !:s tin n ,-...!iii.' i,..«.r*. )«ives me a knowleilgeof the Human 
 
 Mind an<: ^ua^e an<l expression. There are few 
 
 "'■ ■ A. ss;,! III,. I. \\i\:' :i nave all tli ' So few. that 
 
 •lo iii.iu has round .« lMM»k of ni"n- than Stewart 
 
 It is owe ;it conncclion 
 
 atentum ; ; < ct. and at the 
 
 same time reaij other lKx>ks of the same kind on the same subject. 
 
 SuHJay, Match ij. — I prepareil for the business of to-<lay at the usual 
 hour. I read some in the Bible, .some in Stewart, some in history and 
 s<»me in I'orter's .\iialysis. as well as Thompson's Sea.sous. .\t ii a. m. I 
 went to Church and lH[a]nl the Rev. W. Kerr preach a j^ocxl sennon. .-Vfler 
 returning from church, I s{>eiit some time in conversation with various 
 \.iun^ k:nitleujen. At night I went to Church in company with my friend 
 Ich. We listened with great pleasure at another sermou from 
 
 \ 
 
26 Al'iiCSTrs SIMMKIMIKI.I) M Ki; i; IM( »\. 
 
 the same niiiiisler tliat preached this iiioiniii.u;. He seemed to jjreacli. if 
 any dilTercnce, with more energy than in the morning. 
 
 Tut'si/ay, March /<?.— Toniglit is pleasant. Tlie new moon shines 
 brightly, the sky is clear and all nature harmony. We should make our- 
 selves contented with our present condition, knowing that we must in a 
 few years, at farthes[t] desert the s[c]enes we now behold. 
 
 Thursday, I\/arch .?/.— Last night I retired before the usual hour with 
 tlie expectation of l)eing at business this morning sooner than usual. Sure 
 enough I found myself erect and stretching abo[u]t 5 o'clock, but to my 
 chagrin I found my fire utterly extinguished. I think that I will study bet- 
 ter by going to bed at 10, and rising at five; this will leave 7 hours for sleep 
 aud is as much as nature requires. I have been accustomed to sit up very 
 late; but I find that such is not the best plan. 
 
 Friday, March i-i-.— This being the evening for debate at the Academy 
 I did not attend to my usual night studies. 
 
 I find that disputation is quite interesting and improving. It prej)ares 
 one for self possession in speaking in public. Many men have take[n] a 
 rise in debating societys that raised them to considerable eminence. Upon 
 the whole we mus[t] consider them very useful. 
 
 Thursday, March i-,**.— Owing to the uncommon inclemency of the 
 weather, and having no wood with wliich to make a fire hastely, I lay in 
 bed until daylight came. This is what I very much dislike to do. Punctu- 
 ality I have adopted as one of my characteristics, and I think it to be one 
 of superior worth. After making a fire and washing I commensed the 
 duties that I last night laid ofT to do. I got my Stewart lesson and recited 
 at the usual hour. In the afternoon I wrought in figures. After return- 
 ing from school I prepared fuel for tonight and in the morning which 
 gave me good exercise. I then read some in Thompson, some in Todd 
 and spent a few moments in meilitation before supper. .After supper I 
 commensed reviewing. 
 
 'Thursday, April /. — Commensed the business of the day at daylight. 
 After washing, shaving and dressing I commensed getting my Stewart 
 lesson. 
 
 After school in compliance with Prof. Norwood, I accompanied him to 
 his residence, with some other young gentlemen, and took tea. We had 
 quite a pleasant time. I returned imediately after tea and resumed the 
 business that lay before me. 
 
 Saturday, April /j.—l arose this morning some time after daylight 
 and read my last lesson in Todd's Students' Manual. I have now finished 
 reading this little Vol. and must say that it has afforded me Jiiucli 
 that is new and interesting. I, after breakfast, attended court for about 
 two hours. The Ju<lge onlere<l the prisoner, who had ))een guilty of an 
 awful crime, to the bar. .Xflii SlicrilT of the Count v brou-lil him for- 
 
' MMKKFIKI.h MKKItlMoN. 27 
 
 y\.tt'l 111- '.nr «-rrv frrlinK iiitmluctorv rrtiiark<t. vxliortol 
 
 ictil 
 
 •iJ." 
 
 'J li> K wiihout 
 
 -' •■ --.., . .... ; .1 iiiiu->H of 
 
 <-, I rrturiteil to my room aiul >;i>t !M>iiir 
 
 ,■" — I htvf »f>«^»l ilx- 'Iwv in rnn%-rngittoti aiiil rcu<iinx. 
 
 -I. t fiixt tlicni to 
 
 •»cr III ri-ml Ihcin. 
 
 Till Il<- • niatirr IImI c*ry •. ^liiow Th«»M- who 
 
 "■•' '•' ■■■ fcimwlftlxf %%ill tiiid 
 
 til All the our of which I 
 
 low II 
 
 .->;<';./.;». .ipis- . f<.i \\\ -. ' nUMllv ill the 
 
 Rihir. I went U\ y i \ u .1: 1 Kerr preach 
 
 n \it\ >;. with 
 
 li' .:>;ht. 
 
 Mihrrr I licrd « K*'*"^ Mmiiun Iroiii the •miiic miuistcr that preached this 
 
 .-/^mV ^.— After fliniirr I rrturnc<l to school ami a-Hkr<l {k.t- 
 
 lu ■ * ■ " ^t and I 
 
 rclii I arrivc<l 
 
 at home a iittk- liciun; ^uniiuwii ami was K'^'^te^l l>y my dear father 
 Ilrothcrs and SiMer*. 
 
 S.tlutiixn. jj. — Thi^ moniiii); I r«»!«c at an early hour ami prepared to 
 >|Kii<l the day plcaMirahly. I first went with niy father and some hands 
 to the farm on the road and there enio\e<l the pleasure of seeing them 
 •lilch for • invited me to j'o with 
 
 him into -<iuirrel>i. He furnished 
 
 me with a lowiui); piecv and oti we went. I'lifortunatcly we failed to 
 hrinx; anylhiuK within our grasp. I returnetl and spent the rest of the 
 • I. IV in company with my fattier and family. We converged much and 
 pie I I did not for>;et to read consiileraldy. I sat up very late. 
 
 .s,. -To<lay I s}x'nt with my friends until 12 M. At this time 
 
 I wa.- uu<i(.T tlie necessity of starting; to the place at which I now am. 
 
 M edncsday. May /. — .\fter school I came to my room and commeiised 
 my speech for the examination and close of the session. I hope by 
 .1,. ■'•>■■ .— '-t ..'.-■• t.. i>< .1:.- . .^' ! -ipeech. 
 
28 Ar<;isTrs s(N[Mi:i;rii:i.i» mi:i;i:im<in. 
 
 The si)(jccli above referred to is, I presume, llie one 
 inserted l)elo\v, and from its dietion and sentiments it will 
 be seen that lie had earnestly applied himself to his books, 
 and had endeavored to profit by snch opportunities for 
 intellectual advancement as were afforded him. 
 
 The first public speech I ever delivered or wrote. 
 
 Speech to be delivered at the close of the Spring and Mitiitiier session 
 of Asheville Male Acadetny. ending June 14th, 1850. 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE HUMAN MINI). 
 
 RkspeCTED Audience:— Aspirin ji to perfection the mind of man is 
 ever progressive. It had its origin in the IJeity and its irradiating influ- 
 ence is felt throughout the world. Trained in the school of science and 
 conscious of its own superiority, it disdains to rest in obscuritj-. Sur- 
 rounded by the mysterious mazes of nature, it combines all its invincible 
 energies to contemplate and decipher them in all their original splendor. 
 Destined by its divine Creator to high and undying enjoyments, it is ever 
 its province to solve the mystic problems of the instructive past; to muse 
 upon the decaying interests of the passing present, and to look forward 
 with philosoi)hic eye into the eventful future. To know what has been, 
 what is, and what is to l)e, is to possess one of the grandest attributes of 
 perfection, and the onward march of mind during the lapse of six thou- 
 sand years, sufficiently evinces to us that this is its prominent desire. 
 Though in the wise organization of nature mind is endowed with this 
 ambitious property, yet, omnescience is placed beyond its matchless grasp, 
 and as present associations pass away new ones present themselves for 
 our consideration. Doubtless the ancient Philospher, as he sat musing 
 over his splendid achievments, thought to himself that the exalting title 
 of perfection was to crown his own laureled brow; but behold how glo- 
 riously deceived! Look for a moment at what has been accomplished 
 since he went rlown to the silent shades of oblivion. Minerva is now 
 majestically seated on the throne of wisdom and the muses worship at her 
 sacred shrine. The world looks with amazement at the unparalleled pro- 
 gress of the Arts and Sciences, and the happy influence of the revolutions 
 of the great moral and political emj)ire of man. Ignorance and error are 
 dethroned and intelligence and freedom now occupy their places, — shining 
 forth with all the effulgence of the noonday sun. How vast the change! 
 
• MMKHKIKI.Ii MKKKIMON. 2J> 
 
 hm* «ttMtmr!v pmurr^^u-r the Mind' TTinti;»h <iuch utaiuI rrHiilts have 
 
 \t only I . <toe ilinily thrnuKh tlic 
 
 :;iturr ihc ;. :.!j1c M>urrc* of cli'icovcn" 
 
 • inipmvnirnt of miml con9i<»t!* ihc happincii!^ of 
 
 •"""' " v^rrn man nntl his 
 
 ' ■ ■■ •••■• "■■ 'n . you cliiitroy a Kcni 
 
 \ 
 
 iliroti){h 
 
 ,. .. -.;incnt.H of 
 
 i'"" ■ •tj on the *wift wing** of 
 
 ''«'■ ' • <ini<l 
 
 the ■, i, 
 
 XI. .tti4 whw^ };lii:c{iu,{ i<;ui>4«.l4. n-*:f, aU>Vi- tltv loniprc- 
 
 Lei u« • that long jwricwl of uianS rxiitnncc 
 
 ift. r !.•, „.,t.i I,. .), .r ...,,,,„! hinincif a« the 
 
 Munrnt, of the Arts 
 
 1 let 
 
 the 
 
 liicr thrtt then 
 
 '.v, which ever 
 
 has ami ever will;— n love of knowle«lge nn<l freeilom. Then come clown 
 
 to that glorious era in the history of the worM when man first conceived 
 
 the iilea of transmitting to posteritv his name, emhla/oned with nil the 
 
 •tiing 
 :;i ite- 
 li miprovement, and lor the 
 ■ Ige. by inscribing it on the 
 walls of the eternal Pyramids of Kgypt; which themselves teach a lesson 
 not yet learnetl by man. Concentrate evry power of your fancy, and 
 with an air of solemnity, fix them for a moment on ancient ligypt, "the 
 laucl of S tions." In that land, rendert-cl sacred 
 
 by the uti achievments of its illustrious inhab- 
 
 itants, the original architect of human happiness and grandure, laid the 
 corner stone of that majestic Temple of \Vis<Joni, that is allready reared to 
 a height thai is seen from the uttermost parts of the world and which is 
 ' ■ ■ ' * •'• higher and higher, and shine brighter and brighter as end- 
 
*30 Ar<;rsTi"s simmi:i;|-ii;i.ii mi:i:i;imiin'. 
 
 less ages roll awaw The knowledge which llial Nation ])()ssesse<l of the 
 Arts and Sciences, Literature, Painting, Sculpture and Architecture will 
 ever he held in hoh' renieinhrance hy the Moralist and riiilanthropist. 
 They point to it as the beginning of intellectual history and with admira- 
 tion, trace from it, amid the mighty revolutions of devouring time, the 
 present high and unexampled state of human perfection. She chose to 
 write her history on stone and there it stands, braving the corroding tooth 
 of time and there it will stand forever. Her stui^endous pyramids, the 
 repositories of her dead, her towering oblisks and magnificent temples 
 will cease to exist only with time, as living monuments of the greatness 
 and grandeure of their ambitious anthors. Hut notwithstanding all mer- 
 ited greatness, she suffered the delusive phantom of imaginary perfection 
 to pervade her divinely favored domain, and transform into the devotees 
 of Bacchus those who before kneeled at the shrine of Minerva. And alas 
 for Egypt! alas for the world, her luxury and dissipation, the high road 
 to ruin, introduced among her proud inhabitants direful discord, the 
 inseperable concomitant of war and intellectual desolation. Bloody 
 Mars, the stern avenger of insulted genius, laid hold of her boasted 
 powers; — struck the deadly blow and she was learned egypt no more. For- 
 tunately for mankind intellectual improvment, like an ever-flowing 
 stream, is onward in its march, and though at times it moves at an imper- 
 ceptible pace, yet, at others it breaks forth with all the grandure of a fount 
 gushing from the earth, or the sublimity of the bursting forth of volcanic 
 fires in all their spontaneous and original force. Though the intellectual 
 fire that began to burn with such glowing luster on the Egyptian altars 
 had gone out, it was allready rekindling in another nation to burn with 
 redoubled [brilliancy?] and illume, not only its own proud clime, but 
 the wide extent of a benighted world. Greece, noble Greece, the land 
 of the Poet and the home of the Philosopher had already caught the end- 
 less strain, and as the bright star of Egyptian glory was about to set in 
 the gloom of an eternal night, she sang a mournful requiem to its untimely 
 departure. Animated by the unparalleled example of intellectual improve- 
 ment placed before her, she combined all the unconquerable energies of 
 her mighty genius to imitate it. And how well did she accomplish this 
 ennobling design ? Go seek an answer amid the desolate shades of her 
 classic halls, and a hollow murmur breaks forth, from within their silent 
 recesses, be thou the umpire of our departed greatness; — then turn with 
 solemn and pleasant emotion to behold the millions of libraries that now 
 deck the shining walls of the literary world, and ask the question, whence 
 came this world of learning? From all sides you hear the long and loud 
 response, Greece learned Greece is the high source from whence it 
 originated. No where else in all the bright realms of ancient learning do 
 we find such a concentration of genius to unf()l<l the hidden l)eauties of 
 
MMKRFIKMi MKKItlMdN. 
 
 •U 
 
 I ri .ition and rr-tnrr tn rlrunnrr :inrl refinement thr rlrijrade*! state of 
 f.illrii niin. ktrnmlup ml l>ehcl«l her- 
 
 . . ft,., ut.r ,., « ,, —••ttcil thrill- 
 
 tioii niid 
 ti for 
 ..• to 
 
 Uc prrrininrir 
 
 on ■ 
 nt-v 
 
 « !*h lur .(s t)ii 
 trui|>l.itr thr 1 
 lllc fitlur U 
 
 nation 
 
 <-tnn) iniprovinent. 
 
 -ni|]erinl city of the 
 
 liml Ii»tenc(l with 
 
 mill 
 
 l-i tlH 
 
 «nil whenever wc con- 
 
 T 
 
 tut 
 IiU 
 iiiir 
 
 Inmi an ini{>orl.int part in a 
 . .ii- derive from thi-m much of 
 In them we liehold the oriKiiial- 
 
 ihc 
 
 ■ r lOllS 
 
 ii.iitrmi inire«l hy all loven* of original genius, 
 
 only wlirii ; '• " • ite infinity and the aspiring 
 
 mind return ' ^i mind hud braved all oppo- 
 
 Mgh like the proud 
 
 • vision of onlinary 
 
 mortals >he was to encounter that enemy, which hut fur the unseen influ- 
 
 enc<- "' ' '• \v ...l!' irv votaries. \v<>iiM li.ivi- sunk her in that night on 
 
 whi r dawns 
 
 Tin MowiiMi <•[ tiu- Roman hnij>irr. the military mistress of every 
 n.ition, wrts the direful harbinger of that long perio<l of physical and 
 iiili inmotion that marks the history of the world. Theportcn- 
 
 tou- red ruin were seen hastening from the north to the south 
 
 of Europe, where they were to dispel their firy fury and lay in desolation 
 the once blissful alKxles of Orpheus and the Muses. Sanguin Mars, with 
 his liarljarous htwts. made the golden temple of learning the awful seat of 
 ! the halls of science with the noble blooil of their royal 
 
■ yJ. AUGUSTUS SlMMKltlMKLI) M Ki; I! I M( »N. 
 
 iiiiiiates. For llie loiii^ space of a thousand years intelk-clual darkness 
 pervaded the world. The glowing fires that blazed on the altars of Greece 
 and Rome had ceased to burn. The Poets, Orators, and Philosophers 
 were hushed in death and tlicir hones were bleaching on the soil where 
 they once taught. No light cheered the drooping head of science, except 
 the occasional appearance of some giant genius, that, like the passing 
 comet shined the brighter because of the surrounding darkness, and soon 
 faded from the excited view to be seen no more. All bespoke ruin and 
 in the language of the immortal Milton: 
 
 Earth felt the wound: and nature from her seat 
 Sighing through all her works, gave sighs of wo 
 That all was lost. 
 
 But all was not lost, no! Another mighty struggle was to be made. 
 Although the Promethean spark that lighted the intellectual firmament 
 had grown dim, and learning had shaken the mists from her pinions for 
 a long and perhapse eternal flight, mind unconquerable mind was to 
 make another effort to regain her fallen grandure. The cloistered homes 
 of the Liierati that survived the dreadful storm were now to be found. 
 Constantinople, the place of their refuge was made the seat of carnage 
 and they were dispersed through the European Continent to continue that 
 march which had almost ceased for ten centuries. In this mighty con- 
 flict for predominence the mind was victorious; — she resumed her directive 
 sway; — the dark clouds of raven despair began to dispel and the radient 
 sun of the intellectual firmament to shine with redoubled splendor. Then 
 was a new era in the histor\- of the world. The past was made the basis 
 of the mighty superstructure of intellectual perfection that now graces 
 the existance of man. 
 
 Who does not contemplate with the highest emotion the swift march of 
 mind during the last three centuries? Who, that is acquainted with the 
 records of the past, does not believe that it has made more than a propor- 
 tionate progress? It is admitted that the more the mind expands the 
 more are its capabilities; l)Ut taking this into consideration, has not its 
 march been more than a ratio? Behold what it has done, what it is doing 
 and ask yourselves the question whether this be true or not? So vast 
 has been its progress, that we might spend the thread of life and then fail 
 to tell half the wonders. We might refer to the reforiii in Philosophy 
 ami Literature; we might behold the improvment in Mechanics, and 
 point to the majestic ship as she proudly ploughs the stormy billows of 
 the mighty Ocean, and the steam engin that propels her, we might look 
 at the telegraphic wires that conduct news from one end of our conti- 
 nent to the other with the speed of lightning; we might look at the mill- 
 ions t)f twinkling spheres that shine in ethereal infinity; point them out. 
 
-I XIMKUFIKLI* MKKklMMN. M) 
 
 rxl rrvnlution^ wc niiKbt point to 
 ■ '. ami tluMi fail 
 "f thrM* biifi- 
 .Ir. 
 
 rotiMiinlly iliMrov- 
 
 in -.> i-oti^iM^ in it."» proj{ 
 
 ■<• il* unltoumldl |M)v*rr 
 
 »j..irW u III! .1 
 
 - ■ .. 1-. thr 
 
 iulr«putr<l 
 -he now 
 
 ■■ lh«l «!•• thunilrrnl from Stii 
 i..j ' •■ • •--• !• the liKlit Ihnt -.li.... - .>.ili 
 
 nirr HikIi ro««l to happint^w. Wc 
 
 DO utorr. \\ ' •>( mind, that it ha.H 
 
 llC< ! ... ,,^J,;,J 
 
 ■ r or 
 ; .ni.l 
 Fulton. Mnn plou){h« the billowy Ocean; play« with the lightnings of 
 Hvnven. nieaj>iirr« the plannetA nnci weigh^t the sun; how- long then will 
 I! }>r until the un<tccn wotulent of the ocean and the bowels of the earth 
 sli.ill l«- ■ ' " " ■ .lie; — nay, who 
 
 •l.in— to .. now «loes the 
 
 v;r«-.it w > t> iiiitiiurtal and wc have 
 
 xt II th ■ ^ , '1 What then are wc to 
 
 «ot), hit|' t<> happiness, when in the language of the Poet it shall 
 
 h.iM- |>.i--- 
 
 The flaming hounds of space and time; 
 The living throne the sapphire blaze. 
 Where angels tremble as they gaze? 
 
 Are we not to conclude that it is still onward; that it is still approaching 
 
 f!>.ii tM-rr>'.'ii>iii \.ihiih !■> tMri'i . t iiic] tlmiu'li it will livt- throughout etcr- 
 
34 ArcM's'iTs stMMi;i;ii i:i.i) mi:i;i;im()N. 
 
 nity, it will still be making new discoveries, (leiiionstnitiii<4 new truths, see- 
 ing new j^lories and enjoying new happiness? This is our conclusion. It 
 is onward and upward ! How great then is n)an, how great that spark of 
 Divinity, that has l)een kindleing for the long round of six thousand years 
 and which will continue to shine brighter and brighter throughout the 
 long ages of vast Kternity! 
 
 The father's moderate means did not ruhnit of the son's 
 beino sent to college, and, snch being the case, Angustns, 
 with the determination that characterized many of his 
 later actions, and which was strong enongh to snrmonnt 
 the difficnlties that beset him in nian\- wa\s, jirocnred a 
 position as assistant to his former teacher, Mr. Norwood, of 
 Asheville, and was thereby enabled to continue his own 
 mental training while endeavoring to train the minds of 
 others. He was not shnt off from difficnlties and tcmiUa- 
 tions, and therefore knew their nnderminino: streni'tli; but 
 it seems that the stnrdy fonndation of lofty character had 
 already been laid, e'er he left the home of his yonth, and 
 that he was fortified to resist the allnrcnRiits of temptation 
 by strength of self-discipline. Mis early writings, when 
 viewed in connection with the circnmstances of his earlv 
 life, his limited edncational advantages and the individnal 
 effort exerted to snrmonnt those limited advantages, reveal 
 the character of their writer, to a orcat extent, clearh and 
 unmistakably. 
 
 After assisting Mr. Norwood for some months in his 
 .school-work my father turned his attention to the study 
 of the law, the regular course in which he began, accord- 
 ing to his own account, on the 5th of December, 1S50, 
 being at that time but little more than twenty years of age. 
 Two of his cousins, the Mi.s.ses McDowell, had married 
 the well-known lawyers, X. W. and J. W. Woodfin, and it 
 may have been either from a-ssociation with them or from 
 natural inclination that he chose the studv of the law as 
 
IKI.I» MKKKI.MnN. .'l-'i 
 
 til- f !ii^ life. However, from the diary written 
 
 1 which is now in my possession, it may 
 
 pnrsned his chosen slmly wiili 
 
 in I .. . .i,ij.^ j|„(^ i„ rea<linj^ 
 
 til. Mlh the iH'anty an<l 
 
 nc of the expressions and sentiments, but also 
 
 > markt his 
 
 >, anci .11 >• >% I .III 1.% ii li the 
 
 lie that l)ear> sway through 
 
 till wli.U Tlie slronif |)oints of the character of the 
 
 in his words, noble and 
 
 ' •- •• r vouth. 
 
 .lid tinie- 
 \v..Tii '!<• unients, velh)w with aj»e, written in the boyish 
 h ijulwritinji characteristic of the writer, the ex; 
 
 aiJ ' ' ■ •^, with the faulty s|K*nin^. have been ; 1 
 
 ca : 
 
 i..v^ 1 I....V. V i.t vuY OF Till-: STIDIKS AND 
 \ S MHRKIMON 
 
 I roniiiicnM^I ihc «tuil> thai I jirc^unic will 
 
 • > •■•- •■• • -0.1 upon tlic MiiiJy of the 
 
 ■■■* tlir HikIi roail to wealth, 
 lu- cvrv 
 
 ,♦, ' it in 
 
 r it is front hitu cotnr!* all thiii);s. One 
 
 - - ns shall l»e wantin){ on my part 
 
 RelvinK on the inaxini. that 
 
 ;„ !<>r, though ikU with- 
 
 ,„.■ •,.» climb the mijihly 
 
 inii in repining; have piiinge<l the <lark abyss of 
 
 i. ..i... ...->,. ..V ..;cat (led save nie from this! 
 
 I ha\-c t«lay studieil the chapt. upon Absolute Rights of persons,— one 
 
 mil of interest, ami which I «loubt not I understand tolerably well. This 
 
 evenini; 1 rrid a chapt. in I'aley's Moral Philosophy upon the diflerenl 
 
 lent, which is quite interesting. Some domestic busi- 
 
.■)('» AUGUSTUS si>[Mi:i;iii;[.it mi:i;i;im()\. 
 
 ness prcvi'iitc'il iiic from reading as much as I had iiittiidcd, however I 
 had the hunger time to reflect on what I read, and reflection is heneficial. 
 
 This morning I went to my Preceptor's Oflice, J. W. Woodfin Esq. 
 and was soon met by him and Z. B. Vance Esq., who is my brother student 
 in Law, and is one whom I esteem much. I think him to be a young 
 man of more than ordinary talent, and at the same time possessing a 
 manly, gentlemanly disposition. I hope time will ])rovc us both good 
 friends an<i useful members of society. 
 
 Sunday, December j. — The day being very cold I felt disposed to keep 
 near the fire and enjoj' myself in reading. I read several chapts. in the 
 Bible, and not a little in other books. In the afternoon I went to the 
 Methodist Church and herd the Rev. E. Rowley preach an excellent ser- 
 mon, — one which did him credit and which I would suppose entertained 
 his audience very much. 
 
 gth and lolh. — This morning I arose at the usual hour and prepared for my 
 daily business. In the first [place] I read a chapt. in the Bible, and this 
 I will make a general rule, for the first matter to which I attend in the 
 morning. I then engaged in some light reading until breakfast, after 
 which I read Law, upon the subject of the Kings Prerogative until 9 
 o'clock. Then paid a visit to my relations, which was verj- pleasant 
 * * * After returning to my room I spent the day in the stud\' of Law, 
 except at intervals when I would be reading something amusing rather 
 than instructive. 
 
 The evening the top story of our Court House went up, not falling far 
 short of one hundred feet from the ground. May the abilit\- of the bar 
 be in proportion to the height of the house! 
 
 December 10. — This morning I prepared for business as usual. After 
 my Bible reading I commensed the very long chapt. in Blackstone, on 
 the Kings Revenue. It has occupied most of the day; some time, how- 
 ever, was spent in assisting Mr. H. Johnston in his store. This I can't 
 call lost, as I am thereby profited. This evening I spent some time in 
 conversation with my friend Z. B. Vance. This was quite a recreation as 
 he is full of life and fun. One loves to be relieved occasionally from the 
 close paths of such reasoners as Blackstone. Tonight for the first time 
 we have had an examination upon the Law. Mr. Woodfin examined us 
 about an hour and I believe we met his anticipations. 
 
 I will now, (12 o'clock), retire to rest, and find the peaceful enjoyments 
 of sleep, which seems to be rest, and the only rest which man has, frome 
 the cares and toils of busy life. Sleep, O sleep, thou art the balm of our 
 existance. * * * How wise, how great, how good is the Creator of 
 Man; — the dispenser of all blessings ! 
 
 December //. — I arose this morning at the usual hour and found nature 
 all serene. Beautiful as a virgin was the morning, and all seemed inviting. 
 
MKKKIKI.h MKICHIMON. .', t 
 
 - irnMiiit it in to 
 
 : of the hantmrr. the 
 
 M<, the 
 rotii- 
 
 ...i-.u Ihc 
 
 rrr. How vi»t, how 
 
 '< . lint 
 
 ; HI in 
 
 nr . 
 
 ■ ut with hi* 
 
 I that thiA 
 
 ; whrii 
 
 .;ty 111 
 
 - wiii he chcn»hetl. Ti« thnt 
 
 ivrrMilion with «aine viftitor», 
 
 ; \ .»!»«€• \i'' '11 wc Wfiit 
 
 r. • • Wr . k Aflir 
 
 •ui I lia«c •(■cut notne tiiuv ut ciaUuiK .nul will now, 12 
 
 -t. 
 
 I have to(l«y done my u»ual amount of reading. My 
 
 > - • -,| two chaptA. lioth dry and of little 
 
 •-al knowletlite. One cannot, however, 
 
 ivs; for he says 
 
 of this (juality. 
 
 yd, this would not 
 
 iw, it InrinK its ohjccl 
 
 t to tell u» our duty in plain and uninistakeable 
 
 I have spent the greater part of the day in reading 
 
 • vening I calletl on my friend Vance and we spent 
 
 ;illv. However. I paid well for our pleasantry as I 
 
 got wet on my way home. Tonight I tried for the second time in my 
 
 1,... f.. ..^ whether I could do anything with the Muses. I made a sort of 
 
 not very good. Indeed I dont believe I was made for a Poet. I 
 
 l.iste for I'oelrv, let alone writing it. I have for some 
 
 •*i 
 
38 
 
 AliiCSTlS SIMMKIMIKI.I. M Ki; I; I M< >N . 
 
 time been tr\ iiii; lu iiiii)r()vc my task- in tlii> ropeit, but with siiiiiinK liult' 
 effect. There appears to Ik- sumetliiiij^ of too small a nature or too j^reat. 
 I hardly know which. 
 
 January .:.,s'.— This morning for my Inst imjirovnu nt I have read a chapt. 
 in the Bible. This is a book that is not only valuable because of its 
 divine character; but also because of the vast amount of general informa- 
 tion it contains. It has something in it about allmost everything, some- 
 thing too, that all feel interested in. All should read and study it. 
 
 For the last -'^s of an hour I have been listening to the folly of youth, 
 and truly the folly of youth is folly, for in it is no worth' It is the 
 height of folly to pass one's time in the company of the vicious. Vet, it 
 IS impossible to avoid such company as we i)ass along the misty wrecks 
 of time. Wo unto the youth that spends his time in talking idly and 
 never thinking for a moment of that which is noble, of that which makes 
 original barreness present greatness and worth. 
 
 January i-p.— This morning I was up as usual and read a chajit. in the 
 Bible. After breakfast I finished the first Vol. of Blackstone's Com- 
 mentaries. How much I know of the science of Law I can't determine. 
 I have gone over the vast field of Rights of Persons and Rights of Things 
 and though I can perceive I know much to which I was before a stranger, 
 yet I can with equal facility see that there is much that I do not fully 
 comprehend. I have spent some time today in general reading. This 
 I consider an allmost indispensable requisite. My education is not that 
 of one who has all the advantages of a life of plenty, and I nui.st so far 
 as possible supply this requisite by increased labor and application. The 
 sun rose this morning in all his shining splendor but was soon obscured by 
 the dark snow clouds tliat pas.sed before his cheering presence. How 
 illustrative of this life! The winds are now howling the requiem of the 
 past day, and tell mournfully that we may never expect its return again. 
 Surely we ought to improve evry moment; for when once it passes us 
 we embrace it uo more, it is then with the eternity of the past. 'Tis 
 mournful to muse on tlie past: friends that once cheered our gloomy 
 hours are gone to the land of spirits, precious privileges have been per- 
 mitted to pass by unembraced and we are the dupes of indolen»-e and 
 ignorance. Where is the man who can say I know of no hour that I sj)ent 
 unwisely? Ah! he lives not, and though thousands of great and illus- 
 trious characters have graced the world, yet none have died without some 
 secret regret of some mist spent time. How careful shonl.l we bcl 
 
 January 3/.— \ have now commensed the business of the dav, bv read- 
 ing a chapt. in the Bible. I find this book of hooks more interesting 
 than at any previous time There is much that is interesting to me, both 
 as historical information and as that wich is of the Deity. One cannot. 
 
AIHJI'STIS SI MMKKIIKI.n M KUIJlMoN. .'^O 
 
 l«M> well uiulemtAiul the works of the Deity and there is no l)ook l)ettcr 
 ' to unfoM thrni thnn the nilile. 
 
 • • ilinner. was reading over sonic of the chapts. in Blackstone 
 on Personalty. I also read sonic of I»alcy'« remarks on religions systems. 
 I am not fully convinscti of his «Ioctrinc, ami further. I lielieve that our 
 own happy institutions j{o to prove the contrary of what he writes. 
 
 Since dinner I have lieen cnKaKcrl in reading my text-l)ook ami Shakes- 
 pear. 
 
 Ffhrui:- iriiiK the greater pari of the 
 
 day in r- . ; ■ .ne's ist and id Vols. This 
 
 evening my friend Z. B. Vance calle«l at my room and myself and 
 he, after taking no small cpiantity of very gooil apples, took a walk for 
 our exercise and amusement. Returncfi and examine<l the Court Mouse 
 as li' 
 
 I • iio*»le«lge of the Latin Language very much in 
 
 my way I am constantly comeing over I.ntin words and phrases that 
 very much frustrate mc in my comprehension of the intention of the 
 author. I see no way to overcome this difTiculty hut hy untiring perse- 
 verii; ' * tistant refTcreii '.«-st Kng. Dictionaries. 
 
 /* I read l.a« v until dinner. • • • >fy 
 
 tastr u.f !i. .|HK.Uy» I find is U. rtter. and much that I 
 
 once found ilull t«> me, is now \ This is calculated to 
 
 improve ones language and sentiment. The «lay is like a May day. The 
 sun shines beautifully and wannly. • • • \Vc see the bu.sy merchant 
 cngage<l behind the counter, we hear the rap of the in<lustrious carpenter 
 and see the stunly countryman as he comes to get his domestic neces- 
 saries and farming utensils. .Ml is busy life The student is shut up in 
 his study prepareing. with ho|)e, for future <lays and years. He looks 
 around at volumes of what others have clone and asks himself whether 
 he will be able to leave something of the same kind Inrhind him when he 
 is silent in death. He looks forwarri to the time when the world will 
 l>ehold him on the arena of life, contending with his fellowuian for honor 
 an«l tlistinction. .And while he thus me«litates, a deep emotion comes up 
 in his heart which causes him to doubt his strength for these things. Vet 
 with buoyant hope he still winds his way onward tiiroug the musty 
 records of the sages that are silent in death and live only in their works. 
 It is a consolation to him. to know that labor will make him at least 
 respectable. How vast the I'niverse. how expansive the mind of man, 
 and yet how little he really knows. 
 
 Fe'hruary 2j, /Sj/. — Tonight Vance and myself met and passed a short 
 examination. We will soon have finished the fourth book of Blackstone; 
 then I presume we will take up Coke, a long and tedious book. 
 
40 AicasTi s srMMi:i;Kii:i.i) mi:i;i:im«'\. 
 
 \\"e have heard from Ciov. Swain wlio thinks it advisable for ns to remain 
 here until July. By doing this we will he prepared to get County Court 
 Licens. I am of opinion that I will do as well to wait until next fall and 
 get Licens, as I will have more time to devote to general reading. This 
 is all important to me as my education has not been so extensive as it 
 should have been. Labor overcomes all things. 
 
 March S, /Sj/. — The brilliant sun has just gone down behind the west- 
 ern hills; — all behind him looks sedate. Ten million tw inkling stars shine 
 far above our heads. The silver moon moves placidly along in her ethe- 
 real track * * * Truly the works of the Deity are wonderful, nay, 
 sublime. If we suffer ourselves to rove in the widest fields of imagina- 
 tion, we then fail to picture nature in all her beauty, in all her majestic 
 grandure. How beautiful, how majestic, how sublime all around above 
 and below me. 
 
 O God thou art a God of greatness. Truly thou ought to be rever'd. 
 
 A/arch g, /S_$/. — The day is beautiful. It is now 3 o'clock. I see posted 
 along the streets gangs of white boys, men, and negroes: — quite a revolt- 
 ing sight on the sabbath day. Men surely have very little self respect to 
 be thus profaning the Lords day. They would be much V)etter employed 
 at Church, or in reading some good book: but alas, where "ignorance is 
 bliss tis folly to be wise." How unfortunate for the individuals them- 
 selves, and how much more so for our own country. It is to be regretted 
 that our State Legislature does not interpose in such matters. If we look 
 around upon our country we see that it is quite ignorant, even of the most 
 common topics, and yet, there is little effort making for intellectual 
 improvement. So long as this is the case, so much the slower will we be 
 in risiug to the highest point of national disti[n]ction and worth. 
 
 April 14, 1S51. — Since morning I have been closely engaged in reading 
 Blackstone, and Fearne on Remainders. The latter is decidedly the most 
 intricate book I ever read. I hope to understand it at least tolerably well 
 hy the time I am done with it. I dont believe that any one ever fully 
 understood it, not even Fearne himself. 
 
 Tonight I spent a few minutes in reading Cheinistrv; ;i subject that I 
 have hitherto neglected. 
 
 M<^y 21 . — For the last two days I have been engaged in reading Law 
 etc. etc. I have not been engaged all the time and this I have to regret, 
 for time is always precious and is doubly precious to me. If I spend it 
 unprofitably then I have the greater cause of regret. He who would l)e 
 great must be assiduous, however, great his genius may be, and he who 
 would be nought, (and which God forbid I should be), then let him spetul 
 his time idly. This I seldom do, and this is perhapse the reason I have 
 such bitter reflections on passing time idly. * * * j look back and 
 see how little I have accom]jlished, then look foruard to the work I have 
 
AUorj4Tr.S :4(MMKlCFIKI.Ii MKICHIMoN. 41 
 
 to do and :ini fil!r<1 wrrh ijijirrfTrns-nn* of fcnr ii=5 ?-> tnv huccchs in the 
 MorM. I ' \rr. thiit in a.s liinitiil 
 
 afi<l unf.i 'i' hnvr :;ic highest ilis- 
 
 tinction 
 
 \V !) a hiinl of 1i1»crty. 
 
 thr he roati is o]K-n ami 
 
 on, • TViu\ Mmw of tlie 
 
 writ I know not that I 
 
 rvrr rc^il lh<- ' Napoleon with more »ynipn- 
 
 thy than hi*. ,L- •> .- in<I the nio«t of all w.i« he, 
 
 himself WAS the author ^. We have to pity the weak - 
 
 nrM of ii; . - to lie tiiorc pittie<l 
 
 whrn v»r 
 
 Men I- iinil. ot Kfratiiewi hut h1«» liow frail they are 
 
 when «»• 
 
 yumf I ;ii* to have on li now. Tlterc 
 
 are tent': " -n w wn- scurry around him. 
 
 Tlir wh< '.4 arc »milinK with grain and 
 
 all - 
 
 W :i it nn .i!t: 1 TTindc all theitc wonder*. Surely 
 
 he dcM-rve^ our ili Morsliip Hard nuitt l>c the 
 
 heart of him who : — > -i-- •.•.■•(■ Coil. Surely 
 
 »urh a mortal mu»t he <y>iiK- I <^'*"^ 
 
 l>rlic\e there are Mich. \sii<> \\'>iii'i w iiit .i ixiirr proof of Ood than 
 Nature. 
 
 Jmm( t in rrntlinjj ltlack*>tonc nnd Saun- 
 
 den». I :. - evening. I recited my first Latin 
 
 lesaon lht« evening to Kev. H. Koulcy.— a gentleman whom I con»ider 
 well qualifievl to iuMruct me in that language. I have commensed the 
 study of I.atin liccausc I hclicve it will lie of great advantage to me and 
 liecann I ' -■ cupied in such a study. 
 
 Jttnf . , . . reading Hume's history of 
 
 Kngland. it is very dry i must however notwitlistan<Iing this read it 
 ond reiul it rUwely. It is of vast im|K>rtance to the well un<lcrstanding of 
 the English law. 
 
 July /. /.*>-/.— This morning I read a chapt. in Itlackstone, then read 
 History, then spent some minutes in rea<Iing Burke on Taste. I then 
 went into Court anil s|K-iit my lime till 12 M. • * • This is the first 
 day of July. How fast time flies! How we should improve it too as it 
 parses. 
 
 July iS, aVj/.— This moniiiig I read several chapts. in the Bible. After 
 )>r(.akfa»t spent some time in reading News Papers. At ,'j after 10 o'clock 
 
 6 
 
42 ATGUSTUs srMMi;i;i"ii:i.i) mi:i;i;im<>n. 
 
 I WLiit to the M. K. Church and hunl a very good serinon from Rev. W. 
 Hieks. He is a very fervent man. His appeals to sinners are very vehe- 
 ment. This evening I attended the Preshyterian Church and herd a very 
 good sermon. It was well delivered and was written in good style. 
 
 Afonday. — Th\s monung I commensed the business of the new week 
 by reading the chapt. in Biackstone on the Feudal System. This is quite 
 an interesting and important chapt. After reading this I read one in the 
 4th Hook, which was no less interesting. I then spent the remainder of 
 the fore part of the day in reading Hume's History. 
 
 Since dinner I have been prepareing my Latin lesson. Latin requires 
 a very great effort of the memory. It is not so pleasant on that account. 
 I think however, that I will gradually acquire a sound knowledge of latin. 
 
 .liigust s, /lSj/. — This morning I commensed the business of the day 
 by reading the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh. This was quite interesting. 
 In the greatness of man there is also weakness. He was a great man, 
 yet like all others he had his infirmities. I then read a chapt. in second 
 Biackstone on Estates in Possession Remainder and Reversion. This 
 chapt. thoug intricate, was very interesting. 
 
 It was at this early period of his career that my father 
 met lier who was to be his helpmeet through forty years of 
 life together, Margaret Jane Baird, daughter of Israel and 
 Mary Tate Raird. The latter was a daughter of Samuel 
 and Elizabeth Tate, of Pennsylvania, several of whose 
 descendants of the old family of Tates may now be found 
 in Western North Carolina. Israel Baird was the son of 
 Bedent Baird, who, with Zebulon and Andrew, his brothers, 
 removed from New Jersey and came to North Carolina, 
 settling in the mountainous district of this vState, of which 
 section they may be regarded as among the pioneer settlers, 
 where they became large land-owners and well-known citi- 
 zens. 
 
 Margaret Baird was but a school-girl at the time of which 
 I write, possessed of intelligence, refinement and beauty, 
 and the heart of the young law student was taken captive. 
 In spite of other suitors he won this, the most important 
 of the early cases of his practice, and henceforth lite held 
 
MMKItKIKI.I) MKKUIMoN. 4.'J 
 
 for him n double dtHv nnd a still further inceutivc to caruest 
 
 r in ih' years of his profcssioual career 
 
 1,;. Mic ha'! ■ uianfully 
 
 - 1 ••• ■ ... . ,.^ht ajjaiust. 
 
 : houie coui forts, sleep- 
 
 ometiuies U|x>n his office beuch at ui^hl or eudtiriu}^ 
 
 oilier di^ * heeulered 
 
 tip.ti 111 ri^hl pros- 
 
 jK^iN..! nl iu view, uo sure reward before 
 
 him iu the field of labor he had choseu 
 
 To him I- ' dul\ ; tir.>i, in.s ciiosiu 
 
 •••'•., then i..^ A ibat radiate from aud 
 
 or around .» .:h kuowledjjc of I^w, Rcueral lit- 
 
 re, history, travels, biojjraphy, were to Ire read aud 
 
 ■ with the prixlucts 
 
 ^. , ... , juversalion, Ixxlily 
 
 ihe>e were im|K*rtaut to him as bear- 
 ing upon his Miccessful study for professional life, when he 
 rec«' V of time. 
 
 p, , ...... ihcr diarv ktnt «lMriii'4 
 
 the r 
 
 lu^a : HtT* momttjv' I r»-««nt»' 0»r prs^rli^r of Jonmalizinx, 
 
 • thrutiKh 
 
 ./.in>» is a 
 
 • mu«rtiirtit. and it i* at the »«nic time, very J»cncficial. It 
 
 • ■ • - if all he has done and many 
 
 h !!kucce<lin>; day. that might 
 
 '. ihouKh he cannot 
 
 ry to us, we know 
 
 little almul. and hence the great nece^-ity ot avaiiuiK ourselves of what 
 
 we "lo and can leam from the past. 
 
 In the forenoon my law reading include*! a chapt. in Story on Con- 
 
 •Agcncy."' It contains only a cursory view of 
 
 .•t. Haveing read a more extenile<l treatise on 
 
 the ~ 're. it serve<l me well in refre>hini; my mind in 
 
 T,y '.ant and leading features. I spent some lime in 
 
44 Ar(n'sTi's srMMKKi'iia.D mki;];imiix. 
 
 reading lis^ht literature before ditiner — Moore's Poems, Ivsojj's I'al)les, 
 &c. I am fond of Moore's melancholN' poetry, and quite amused at 
 Esop's Fables. Everybody ought to read tliem. I do\i't known how I 
 have neglected this so long. 
 
 .higtcst 2, /Sjj. — l find that my literary aj^petite (juickens evrv day 
 and I should not be surprised, that, though formerly I cared little about 
 light reading, I make it convenient to spend many hours in reading the 
 English Classics. This would not be limt- ill s])ent bv anv means, — evry 
 man ought to be well read, and indeeil, if he would be a good speaker, or 
 be considered an intelligent man, he must, both read and study what 
 is termed light reading, or literature. It is matter of pleasure, amuse- 
 ment and advantage to one to make himself fully accpiainted with literary 
 books. 
 
 Tonight I attended the Division of the vSons of Temperance. There 
 was quite a small turn out tonight. I fear that the glorious cause of Tem- 
 perance is not moveing on as rapidly as I could wish. 
 
 August J, fSjj. — There is now great excitement in regartl to the Con- 
 gressional election. 
 
 In a Republican Government like ours, of all classes of men, dema- 
 gougcs are to be feared the most, and I do not hesitate to say, that if 
 this happy country is ever ruined, as I most sincerely hope it never will 
 be, it will be done by the acts of demagouges, base slaves to political 
 asprations and ])refcrmcnts. It is to be hoped that there will always be 
 men enough, I mean good men. to save the country of the quicksands of 
 disunion and dissension in evry crisis. Ivvry patriote ought and does 
 deprecate anything that has a temlency to weaken the bonds that bind 
 this great and glorious nation together. Our Union is our safetv, our 
 safe guard, our all and may the ruler of all things ever j)reserve it! Who 
 does not love the Union? Where is the man so base as to even wish to 
 see one single lie that binds us as one people dissevered ? If there be such 
 a one let him blush in shame and die the death of an infidel. 
 
 . I tiff list 6, /.S^?- — This evening I have spent some time in reading. 
 Tonight all is lovely, nothing is to be heard save the cricket upon the hearth 
 and the Catadids among the trees. How lovely! how melancholv! how 
 pleasant to him who woes solitude! Let the soul on a night like this 
 withdraw herself from surrounding circumstances and contemplate for a 
 few minutes herself. How high her being, for what noble purposes created, 
 and to what end destined ! ! Who can estimate her worth, who can meas- 
 ure her height? Not the tallest Ark Angel in Heaven. She is the vital 
 part of man, the important part of man, let him look well to his present 
 existance and prepare for an eternal one. 
 
 August S, /S^ji. — The fore part of the day I spent in reading Law. I 
 read the law of Bailment. 
 
-I MMKItKIKI.il MKKKIMiiN. !."» 
 
 I h^rr An^HH rr-^tme 'hr S«^tt.h Chtr^ Tl.. V.-.k i* uol Hrillcn in 
 
 IK <i»«i it i» not 
 
 hcroinm. high. 
 
 ■io»c «lio arc nt 
 
 ;it i(|IiaI nf Sir Wil- 
 
 '« h Ihc virlor* of nil 
 
 r. It alM> prcM-iitik III a 
 
 r llir S« ■■(t» lliii 
 
 wrrr n 
 
 I (car 
 
 '!l <T ! jic y Imvc 
 
 .uul that thrv 
 "' t. 
 
 ' "« »«u»ily rncn^r.! in rraduiK '.!» 
 
 irwluiK. i hiivr ihouKht v The ilay hoit 
 
 €.U« I I,,.. . . ...,,, .„^,,.rr« Ml ,<,r , :;,.,„ ^l^^.^^ ^^^^^ 
 
 t«» Churrb. 
 
 i from hU lalior 
 ""'■ 1 H a day i.f Mmi 
 
 *"" • "••<-l\r» rrwlinK ati«| thinking; 
 
 ' ' '• '■"K^K^i «n rcailiiii: 
 
 'V on Lontrarlt aiul 
 **" vrW*, an.l highly ilntcrvui); cvry 
 
 *"' :» I fcrl niiirh iM-nrlittcI t.v tlu- 
 
 . htcurf ;f. /«;; TTii* m.-m mil- I < • >ninirn»r<l a review of Ii;.,. ^-i-.n, 
 "^ ■ ■««! more interest ing evry time I 
 
 •"*■*'' •• • ■ ■ "'" •* " '• w— In all my rtaditix I 
 
 have not found a %»t>rk on anv ;rchen*ive.— All ihc law 
 
 rfti cxtcnde<l view of the sub- 
 
 -ter's hand, and the more you 
 
 1 are cnpahle of understanding him on 
 
 ■ L>f toilay. I have Inrcn euKa^efl in rcad- 
 
 injc Starkie on Hvidencc. and other niiM-ellaneous reading. Tonight is 
 
 ■ -^^ Is myself. Kvrything 
 
 V look* - r it has none of the 
 
 l*^'- -itic. il look» like llii- work of a (Jod. What a 
 
 *''^'' O that I could understand its origin, it as it is 
 
 and ii!» dcMiny ! ! 
 
 .'Imgmst jt, /cVjj.— Today is the last day of summer, and who has not a 
 tear to »hed over the summer gone? Could it not have been spent more 
 profitably than it has.> Ask ourselves the question. Another half year 
 
46 .vn.isTis SIMM i;i;i iKi.i' .mi;i;i;imi>n. 
 
 is yonc and with il what iiiiKlUy Ihiiij^s have- coiia- ami kouc— Ten Ihou- 
 saiul glorious crops have come, and ten thousand more beautiful fields of 
 flowers have come, and millions of new things have come,— are gone or 
 partly so. hut more than these are gone. Some of the greatest and Inrst 
 men of the world are gone, mighty things are gone and we shall see them 
 no more. We too are passing away.— will soon have filled our course 
 here and let us do it well, we can, we should. Let the next six months 
 of the passing year witness greater efforts on our part to do evrything 
 that devolves upon us to do. 
 
 Thursday, Sept. /. /cSj-j.— I'all with her leveling sythe is commensed 
 her deadlv work. Flowers are gone and the leaves are following fast after 
 those beauties that are already gone. Nature is a great book for all to 
 learn from and we should all share what was no doubt intended for our 
 common benefit. If man had nothing to teach him, but the broad Tni- 
 vers, he surely could not be ignorant.— What lessons he might learn 
 from the Globe on which we live! What lessons from the moon and stars 
 and sun ! ! With these silent teachers man ought and surely would be a 
 great and intelligent being. But we have more than this, we have all the 
 learning of all the ages that are rolled back on the ocean of things that 
 were. All that our fathers learned is at our command. In view of all 
 these facilities how learned we might be, what great knowledge we might 
 possess,— nay, how -wise we ought to be ! ! How wide the feild of thought! 
 Where is the limit? Mind is eternal, its grasp is infinite and its aim 
 should be to search after those things that have the greatest to promote 
 the happiness of the same.— How few think of the strength, of the intel- 
 lectual strength of man, of what he really is? How few think of his 
 capabilities, of his destiny! Few. indeed few. Men move on and live as 
 though it were a matter of course that they should live, little thinking of 
 their high destiny or of that that devolves upon them as a duty. Fearful 
 idea! -I hoM that evry man has a great duty to perform. We all are 
 inilebted to society alike. It is evry man's duly to do all that he can do. 
 to promote the greatest and best good for all mankin.l. It is his bounden 
 duty and it is his interest to do it. but how few believe il! How selfish 
 is man! How few love the great heard of the human race! When we 
 look at things in this regard in their i)roper light how melancholy a state 
 of human affairs do we In-hold! ! 
 
 Thursday, September S, A. D. /.V5,'.— Tculay is the biilhd.iy ..f luy 
 wife. She is ttnlay nineteen years old. fresh and l)eautiful as ever. She 
 has a devoted heart, a constant heart. A Good lady. This evening I have 
 read Law. 
 
 Friday, Sept. 9. /.Vjj.— This morning is very damp and unpleasant. 
 I have comniense«l investigating the subject of guo Warranto to<lay, 
 with a view of commenseing a suit of that nature shortly.— 1 find that ihe 
 
AirasTrs srMMi:i;rii:i.() >[i:in:iM<»N. 47 
 
 Knxlish rraclice on that portion of Law has been quite loose. Our prac- 
 tice I apprehend is more so. 
 
 How nnromfortahle one is ren<lere<l by a lonj^ spell of wet damp weather. 
 Wet weather however, is a part of the course and operations of nature, 
 and «>ne should Ik: reconcile*! to all temporary inconveniences ami un- 
 pleasantness. I have always found l>y my own experience and that of 
 others too, that Nature iloes all thinj^s as they should Ik-, that in the end, 
 evrythinji works together for C'iCmI. I'rovidence is the l>est j^uide. Mans 
 ken is too short to order the course of nature. The w isest and greatest and 
 iK'st men many times fail to direct the small .ship of a single state properlv 
 and safely and how could he steer the vast ship of the Tnivers, with 
 all its ilifferent <lepartments through the great Ocean of infinitv? The 
 task is loo great, the tf)ur too hmg. the ship too stupeixlous for a man or 
 a set of men to guide her. Then why repine at the doings of a being, 
 the only l)eing that can control nature! It is folly.— it is foolishness! 
 
 20 minutes after 8 o'clock.— I have just Ijccn reading from the Home 
 Journal, a literary paper of some merit an<l not without .some reputation. 
 I have just llnished rea<ling an .\rticle, or rather an extract published in 
 it and formally endorse«l by the e<litors. as l)eing very goo«l, on Ivnglish 
 life. It is well enough written and I have no doul)t is correct, if we sim- 
 ply lcK>k to one grade of .society in that country. The objection to the 
 extract is. that it represents the English f>cople all as lieing a people of 
 most polished manners and practiceing the mo.st accomplished modes of 
 liveing. As aliove remarke<l. this is true if we confine ourselves to one 
 grade of .society, but if we take the bulk of the cnglish peojjle, I appre- 
 hend (piite a different tale might be told. The Hnglish people though, as 
 polishe*!. as a nation of people as almost any other nation, nevertheless 
 this high state of refinement is not a characteristic of the english nation 
 and the error is. that the extract prorluces the impression that it is giveing a 
 sketch of what is a common characteristic of the English Nation. The peo- 
 ple of a particular town or village may lie very polished, but to give a de- 
 scription of the people of that town would be very far from giving a correct 
 description of the manners and customs and the general style of a whole 
 people. One town, neither does one class, make up a nation of people, 
 but it is evry body in the nation taken collectively and when one would 
 give the correct history of the manners, customs, and styles of a nation 
 of people, let him be careful to have an eye to the nation as a mass and 
 not as a part. PMitors of Papers and Periodicals should be careful as to 
 the matter they permit to go into their papers &c, for, let them recollect 
 that newspapers and periodicals have much to do in making up the sum 
 of information of the youthful generation, much to do in forming their 
 opinions and principles, both political and moral and I might add relig- 
 ion- \i.-' liowever. we have few good Editors! Notwithstand[ing] the 
 
48 
 
 ACcrsTCS SIMMKitFiKij) M Ki: I; I M< (N". 
 
 .uraiid ami iinportaiil position of an lulitor. we see scores of men niakinj^ 
 their tlail[y] bread off of the public, in this capacity, when they could 
 hardly write a business note of the siniples[t] nature correctly. 
 
 Sepii-mlH-r 75, /.Vjj.— Today is a beautiful day. I have been enj^ajied 
 all day in l>usiness and readinj/. This is my birthday. I am today twenty 
 three years old. One third of a long life, if I should live a long one, is 
 gone, gone forever and how much I have to reflect upon! Have my days 
 been spent as profitably as they ought to have been ? Ah, that's the ques- 
 tion. I have seen much and heard much and learned something. I hope 
 I have done many virtuous and beneficial acts, at the same time I fear 
 that I have done many things I ought not to have done. I have the pleas- 
 ant reflection however, that I have endeavored to do no one harm and 
 that I have never done an act that if it was necessary, I would be afraid 
 for the world to know. This is a consolation, a great consolation, a proud 
 consolation! The importan[t] part of life, in the preperatiou to act, is 
 almost past. In youth we ought to prepare to act in manhood we ought 
 to act, act for the good of ourselves and the good of our fellow man. If 
 I should live twenty three years longer, I hope to improve them more 
 profitably and substantially. May I do so! 
 
 Monday, September 26, /55j. -[.^fter reference to occupations of the 
 day.] Tonight is pleasant,— nothing disturbs quietude, while nature 
 assumes her nightly mantel. A few thin clouds float lightly through the 
 almospher and ten thousand little stars seem to sing sweetly together. 
 What is there to make man unhappy here?— nothing, save that restless 
 disposition to move on, onward forever! Man is not a stationary being; 
 he stops at no certain point. One degree attained he desires another and 
 when the soul has rcach[ed] the perfection of an angel, the probability is, 
 onward, onward; will be the watchword. .Mans mind, in its thoughts, is 
 infinite,— time and space cannot contain its wanderings. It reaches to the 
 highest Heaven and goes down beneath the lower Hell. How great is 
 man! how great and O, how weak! Mind is infinite and yet man cannot 
 comprehend a blade of grass. What weakness and strength combined! 
 Who can understand all of man ? 
 
 Tuesday, September 2j; .1. D. /Ssj. — l neglected to note down that I 
 read a very interesting Chapt. in Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric, last night 
 after I had finished writing for the tlay. It was a criticism on the style of 
 Dean Swift. Dr. Blair is very complimentary to the Dean, nevertheless 
 he discovers many errors in his coniposition. He analyzes closely and dis- 
 covers hundreds of inaccuracies tliat even a close thinker, and observer 
 would not notice. The aim of Mr. Blair seems to be to infuse into young 
 writers the sjnrit of care in regard to composition, to l)e careful to use 
 proper words and to use them in proj)er places and in a jjioper manner. 
 I admire his m.-miur of crilisism and wliile he does amjile juslise to the 
 
MMKKFIKM* MKKIUMoN. lit 
 
 nuthor whme m-nling* hf i* rrvirw-njr. hr- points out to his readers many 
 
 'I. This is well. an«l cvry 
 /ictoric. 
 /Hunday, Sept. .• ioday I found a man, (who became tny 
 
 . 'i. ti - >.. I . ... .. 1 . 1. .- I . 
 
 f a writ 
 
 iiixious 
 
 lo liiiit il).tl. he who 
 
 "wl, for he that would 
 
 t. 
 
 , 'JJ.— This i* the l«<»t ilay of the fjn»t month of the 
 
 fall M-a<M>u of the >c«r. One twelfth of a year ha.*. pA.<t<tc«l of m> soon, how 
 
 little!: ' • - -' ' • • • • .V nnich oujtht to have 
 
 been ■: 
 
 Have had many 
 
 '<ver, my circum- 
 
 have »»ccn twd and I now »ee clearly that I 
 
 tii .f i.'-orita))]y than I diil. But "tis vain to 
 
 •le. let us improve the future and the 
 
 1"-'"' ' ■ future. 
 
 We all MX ,; i,^ to 
 
 '' '..It we acted 
 
 " , • to improve 
 
 thr prmcnt and the future. It i» well too that we look at the comluct of 
 others. We may leani to avoid many errors, if we will closely watch the 
 conduct of our fellows, and many times, we may find virtues to imitate. 
 
 :.-.l 
 die. 
 ^ . : we ou^ht to submit. Why do 
 
 men mouru when death comes and a friend is called to the land of spirits? 
 It does no good, none,— it rather docs harm. It affects the mind, some- 
 times seriously and Rreally fatigues the physical system. There are occa- 
 sions when I thi; xo weep and lament; but not when the 
 Maker of all th;: ^ wi.s<lom and justice to claim what is his 
 own. 
 
 Saturday, Oct. S, A. D. /.'fjj.— Last Sunday evening I left home for 
 Court in Henderson County— Rode to my father's sunday evening, a dis- 
 tance of 14 miles. Had a pleasant ride, found my father and family well. 
 As I approachetl the home of my early youth. I felt sorrowfnl, sorrowful 
 !i[t] that I would meet glad and merry faces, but I knew 
 I one fond, and my best friend. No, no, my Mother, O, 
 my Mother bad years ago gone to the silent house of death. My thoughts 
 
50 AUGUSTUS srMMKUKIKI.I) M Ki; I! IMON. 
 
 were solfiii ami niouriifiil. — I recollect, distinctly that I never left lioine 
 in my Mother's life time and returned without beinj; j^reeted by her first 
 on my return. — But my dear Mother greets me no more, no, no, she is 
 gone to the Spirit land. — I visited the spot where she lies mouldering to 
 dust. It was after dusk, when I approached the sacred spot and O, how- 
 solemn it was. No sound disturbed the stillness, the stars looked down 
 in sacred silence and all nature seemed to chime in with my solemn feel- 
 ings. I loved my Mother dearly and now cherish her memory with a 
 sacred pleasure. She moulded my character in a great degree. She was 
 a woman of most excellent mind, and a purer Ijeing never lived. She 
 strove to do her whole duty and she accomplished it, if ever mortal did. 
 She was a noble woman, loved and esteemed by all who knew her. 
 
 I found my little brothers and sisters all well and jovial. They were 
 glad to see me and I felt that I was at " My Father's Home once more." 
 
 Monday morning I reached the Court aVjout lo o'clock, found a large 
 collection of people. At ii o'clock the Court House bell rang and on 
 entering the Court room I found many intelligen[t] members of the Bar, 
 
 and on the Bench the Hon. Judge . Judge is a tall man, rather 
 
 slender and at present quite lean. — His looks indicate that he is about the 
 age of 65 years. His face is very much wrinkled and one would infer 
 that the old Judge has indulged too freely the sparkling bowl. 
 
 In a few moments Court was opened. The Grand Jury called and the 
 Judge then proceeded to charge the same. — His charge was very short 
 and it seemed a hard task for him to perform. Brevity seems to be a 
 characteristic of the old man any how, for I noticed that everything was 
 done in the shortest order.— The State side of the Docket was taken up 
 first. No cases of importance.— Most of the cases were Assaults & 
 Batteries, brought about by whisky drinking. — It required the time of 
 the Court until Wednesday 12 o'clock.— I appeared in one State Case. 
 My clients were charged with the offense of Mallicious Mischief. We 
 expected the State to make out a strong case, and hence the counsel 
 employed with me and myself prepared the case well. We anticipated 
 that we would make one or two points of law and we went into Court 
 fully prepared. When the case was brought before the court and the 
 witnesses examined, we found (juite to our surprise that the State had not 
 made out the case at all.— The Judge seeing our books, I suppose sus- 
 pected that we would make two long and we[a]risome legal speeches and 
 to comply with his rule of brevity, he said as I rose up to open the Argu- 
 ment for the defense, "Gentlemen there can be but one point in this case 
 and that is, was there mallice lo the owner of the property." "Von will 
 therefore, confine your remarks to that point."— I therefore cut my 
 remarks short and detained the court only a few minutes in regard to the 
 facts. The Court remarked lo the Solicitor that the State had faileil to 
 
Al'il MMFIU'IKrr* XfKIJKIMoN. •") ] 
 
 lii. !•>.». ..Ill .1 I .i-« , lilt Mu- .^luii iwii iii»ist<>i iijum a vcnlict. \Vc siicccctlctl 
 in having our threr clicntit ac(|uittc<l. There was little business of impor- 
 tance " • Ic. 
 
 f r- ; onfiT nnil ilrcorum in our courts are not J)ct- 
 
 •> not act ihc hijjh station they occupy, neither 
 
 . -, ' •> '" ' ; .. rail a lawyer from the Bar ami ask 
 
 him for a chew • . and I have frequently, during the week, seen 
 
 ••' 'Ti.lK'e sit u .. f jjj^ jji , , ^jjj^ 
 
 - me. ns ir inn of n i lis want 
 
 i.l pr. of atiy 
 
 «»"t • . >. a iHnly 
 
 of men ihcy arc «|Uitc talente«i, and many of them arc accomplishc<l jji*"- 
 ii. tn. II Til. t have however. MifTerol themselves to fall into this loose 
 inattention. Nothing of importance occurretl during; the 
 \*'< k. "'Ill ..1.1 man. wh. .nt 
 
 the court-house nitil f«-ll lie 
 
 thouxht when ! ■ i. ' ' t> Hrcl«.hol Iruits ot whisky lirink- 
 
 in>{I ••In !ic yesterday cveninf{. 
 
 WfJueuiay, Lhloftft ij. /.v<,v— Court opened this mornin){ at lo o'clock. 
 \ small case was taken up first ami has occupic<l the lime of the Court all 
 day. — It ouxht to have licen disposcti of in half the time. • • Lawyers 
 ouj^Iit to learn to do ' nul to arrive at what is just Inrtween 
 
 man and man. I d<. !t is t!jr duty of a lawyer to assist a 
 
 Miiiin.lrel in car : .lud his nei){hhor. It can- 
 
 not .iiid is not h uty lo sec that the real inter- 
 
 ests of his client arc looked after, and by this I mean his just rights. 
 
 Thursday, October ij, /Sjj. — I read tonight Fletchers Studies on 
 Slavery. —I read the same last nii;ht.— I find it unusually interesting. It 
 takes a practical view of t' • same lime a philosophical 
 
 one. It gtx-s back lo lli. lors it in the abstract and 
 
 exj>oscs the fallacy, and groundiess objections, philosophers and fanatics 
 have raisetl against the Institution of Slavery ever since the same has 
 been an institution, and the work shows clearly thai slavery was in exist- 
 ance at the earliest times of which we have any account. If .Mjolitionists 
 in this country would read the work with an unbiased mind and free from 
 prejuilice it would serve to disj>el many illusions from their minds, and in 
 the end re<lound to the welfare of this whole country. I hope such a day 
 will come. 
 
 Saturday, October /j, /.Vjj.— This evening the Agricultural fair came 
 off for the County of Buncombe. It is the first occasion of the sort for 
 this county, and this is no compliment to the intelligence, industry aud 
 pride of the county. Many thiugs were shown and most of the animals 
 
''>2 AUGUSTrs sr.MMi:i;i-ii:i.i) .mi;i;i;im(».\. 
 
 and article;; exhibited were creditable to the owners. An Aj;ricultural 
 Essay was read to the Societ}-. 
 
 I hope this day's work has given an injpulse to the agricnltural interests 
 of this county, which are by far its greatest interests, that will be felt for 
 years to come, and that those who to day witnessed the first Hnncoinbe 
 Fair may live to see many more. 
 
 Friday, October 2/, /Sjj.—I have been attending Madison Court. I 
 had a pleasant ride down the romantic French Broad River on Sunday 
 evening last. The River winds its way in a northerly direction from Ashe- 
 ville, through a gorge extending through a solid bed of mountains between 
 sixty and seventy miles broad. On either side of the River stupendous 
 mountains rise up while ten thousand massive cliffs project out towards 
 the river. The whole bed of the River forms a shoal nearly the whole dis- 
 tance of sixty miles. I don't know of a more romantic and interesting 
 peice of road than that lying immediately on the bank of the French 
 Broad for the distance of sixty miles. — I reached Jewell Hill, the place 
 where the court was held, on Monday morning. The house in which the 
 court was held, is a miserable one, very open, with no seats, but two or 
 three very indifferetit ones, and the majority of the people that attend the 
 court, are worse than the house. Men and women attend the court and 
 drink and quarrel and fight and get drunk. —It is due that I say there are 
 some clever genteel people in the county, but the masses are little better 
 than heathens. It is much to be regretted that we have such societv in a 
 country like this. It should not be and I hope the day is not far distant 
 when the people will come to a proper knowledge of themselves. Little 
 business was done in court, more was done however, than ought to have 
 been done. To attempt to hold a court of justice in such a house as the 
 one at Jewell Hill is a mere mockery of Justice. 
 
 Tuesday, October 25, iSs^.—Ow Saturday last, there was a considerable 
 collection of people in the village, attending the nmster that took place 
 on that day.— I believe a pretence was made to muster, barely a pretence. 
 It is a serious fact that our Malitia System is worse than none.— We have 
 poor Malitia Laws and they are as poorly executed.— This ought not to be 
 so. It is very important that all able to bear arms should know how to 
 do so in times of emergency. Our citizens will never learn under our 
 laws. 
 
 Tuesday, November 2, iS^^.—Xw honest citizen who had a difficulty 
 some time since came up to me on the street and with a greatful heart 
 offered to pay me a dollar for "my very best advice," as he termed it, in 
 regard to the settlement of his unpleasant family difference. — I had 
 advised him to compromise with his wife and not suffer his ca.se to come 
 before a court of justice. He did so, and it was with an air of gladness 
 and gratitude he hailed me the settler of the unpleasant difficulty. — I couM 
 
not rtiiisf t.i T Ik" tii> j-..,r n ii-i\v -. Moilar, ihoiiKh. I cliil not take it ns 
 a fere. Mny he ami his wife live a Iniit; ami happv life aHer this. 
 
 lyednesday, "K Mrs. 
 
 Stciw'H \%ork c>t \c»rk has 
 
 l)cen puhlinhed but I Itave never read it until the last twodays. — 
 
 !• h .^ created a ^.. .. . c in this countrj- and in HnKland, ami why this 
 
 I am at a low to understand. — It is H-e11 roniposctl, but thousancls of 
 
 : the 
 
 I rue, it 
 
 .ilnise«l. 
 
 Thisd«x-H not affect the Institution as such. ofscoumlrels use 
 
 the Christian Church as a cloak to cover tlu.. i^etls, but does this 
 
 prove that the Church is an evil or corrupt * Surely not. And because 
 
 inner it does not prove 
 
 ■II this rnniUrv is here, 
 
 ' institu- 
 
 •iv; more 
 
 than show the almscs of Slavery. l»efore she will succeed is accomplishing 
 
 her wishes here. 
 
 Slavery has certainly existe«l from the earliest times down to the pres- 
 ent, an<l it won' " is, in one sense, of divine aptK)intment, 
 \h'.-* ••• r\f\r fr»" ?>ijt whether there can Ik* slavery ufwu 
 
 question ami one upon which my 
 MC to the opinion that it can. — I am 
 nowcxamining the subject to satisfy myself. — I am thoroughly convincecl 
 that Slavery in this countr>- cannot be al»olishe«l without greatly endanger- 
 ing our country, and indee^l, whether it can \ic at all. If it is an evil in the 
 I would l)e a greater evil to altolish it here, and therefore, I 
 
 • : !iy movement to do it. Those fanatics in the North, inste[a]d 
 
 of heiptng the evil, as they tenn it. are only making it worse and the 
 sooner they cease their noise the l>etter. — They can never accomplish 
 their wishes, and I should greatly regret it, if they could. 
 
 Tuesday, Xovember ^, t $$3.— • ♦ • It was my intention to attend 
 the Sons of Temperance tonight, but my indisposition has prevented me 
 from doing so. I <lislike exceedingly to l>e deprived the pleasure of 
 attending the meetings of this noble order. Evry sober man at this day 
 should lie a son of Temperance. His influence ought lo be thrown into 
 the scale of reform. It will do the temperance man good as well as the 
 whisky drinker, in that, that pest of society is in some degree done away 
 with, in evry individual reform. No man can live for himself alone in 
 this age. Evry one is affected more or less by the toper that lives in the 
 town or neighborhood. How important then that sober men use all the 
 
•')4 AU(;rsTrs simmkki'jki.I) .Mi;i;i;iMnx. 
 
 weight of their iiilluciioe in hchalf of the reform of tlie inebriate I He 
 uot only improves society, but many times he applies healing balm to a 
 breaking heart and sends clothes and bread to naked and starving children. 
 It is the duty evry one owes society to do all the good he can for the 
 same. Selfish indeed, is that man who mocks at degradation and secretly 
 and silently prides himself upon the superiority he possess[es] over his 
 fellow. Such a one, is at least, no philanthropist. Evry man should 
 and is bound to do all he can, consistently with his own preservation and 
 that of his family, for mankind at large, upon the principal, if no other, 
 that it is laudable in the eyes of the world and therefore adds to his own 
 individual happiness. I would that all men loved their fellow as they 
 should. 
 
 Thursday, November lo, /.S'jj.— The fore-part of the day I spent in 
 reading Chitty's Pleadings. — Read the first chapt. and several sections in 
 the 2d. — This is a great work on Parties to Actions, the different kinds of 
 actions and the Pleadings in the same. — I intend giveing the work a thor- 
 ough Revisal this time. It includes evry thing almost, connected with 
 the practice. — This evening I have read Starkie on Evidence and Fletcher's 
 Studies on Slavery. 
 
 Sunday, November ij, /Sjj.—l have just finished a perusal of Fletcher's 
 Studies on Slavery. * * It is an able work and one characterized by 
 great learning. — I have seldom seen so able a work.— His style is plain 
 and neat and forcible. It abounds frequently with the most cutting sar- 
 casm. If we had more works like this, and these generally read it would 
 be better for our country. Mr. Fletcher writes with great composure and 
 does not suffer his mind to be carried off from a calm and just view of his 
 subject. 
 
 Tuesday, November /j, /.Sjj. — I rose very early this morning and rode 
 into the country to my Father's. — Had a cool ride in the early part of the 
 morning. — Reached there at >2 past lo o'clock. — Found my Father's family 
 all well.— Our dear one was absent, — My Mother, — She is gone. Evry- 
 thing seemed desolate in her absence. Ten thousand sad memories sprang 
 up in my mind, as place after place familiar to me came before my view. 
 All was there save one fond object. — Spent two or three hours with my 
 father and his family, then turned my face towards home. — It was night 
 before I reached home. About dusk the beautiful moon rose in all her 
 splendor. And how fine a time I had for silent reflection, as I rode over 
 the good plank Road, all around was silent save the constant clatter of my 
 horses feet. I thought of the past and hoped for the future.— When I 
 came in sight of the village it looked silent and the soft light of the moon 
 seemed to look down on a village wtapped in slumber and I thought how 
 busy are the ])eople, all still jjusliing and toiling ahead careless of the soft 
 moonlight or the silent workings of nature all aroun<l them. 
 
l.u. 
 
 
 
 I r. 
 
 
 
 ttiiKUi 
 
 il>. 1.. 
 
 -hoi 
 
 |{ 
 
 -IMMKKFIKM) MKRiClMoN. .-,.-, 
 
 '•'JJ — I hnvr M^ ii; tl.o niost of the day in 
 " Thw cwniiiK I thcncwH.-Ton'iKht 
 
 — ' ' • • • ,. 
 
 f «li*- 
 
 •vifh 
 
 Th. 
 trait 
 I 
 
 " k'rcnt n 
 ■^ con.uU m»uy author* to K^t a superficial knonlolKc of 
 
 Thi« momini; I rratl I,aw,— Chittv'^ 
 
 • >iice», to 
 
 ii»i»t I got 
 
 More. — They con- 
 ^ . ^^ >•• >« .. -ir to improve my utock 
 
 ■"Ol. 
 
 S/. 
 
 Rem! the nihle. 
 
 • "In the character 
 
 ■ ju*;Kr. Hi» iicr>ice» were peculiar and of the 
 
 "'■ 7"* '""' ' nol.lemen. did great -ervice for his country 
 
 reccivctl ii.> i , .. i. . - > • _, ^' 
 
 thi, count: • -The iHToplc of 
 
 eutit!.'- He IS surely 
 
 ^"<l [they ?] 
 
 f ^ - '.'J Ik." the aim 
 
 * '^^' "* **«^ public with the true character 
 
 of SU< . , 'J* - 
 
 ;"g of reverence for our ,iul 
 
 a ^pir.i oi patriotic offection time and circumstances couhl i e 
 
 r,4rsJa,y. Xoirmh^r 2,. fSjj.-l commensed the labor of U.c .lay by- 
 reading an hour or two this morning. I read law-the law of evidence. 
 ". , ' rs-lhen fini>he.l a little history of the Battles of 
 
 ""^ '' Rev. J. T. Headly. 
 
 His N..,„.i.c„i ami his Man.halls' is certain Iv unrivalled for the pic- 
 turesque, the wild and fanciful that characterizes every page I read it 
 with pleasure, because I sympathise with the unfortunate Napoleon 
 
56 AUGUSTUS srMMi:i;iii:i.i> mkkkimon. 
 
 This evening I have been reading hiw and takeing notes on the same — 
 Read Chitty's Pleadings. I think the practice of takeing notes I>eneficial. 
 
 I find Scott's Novels interesting and wish I had more time, leasure 
 time to devote to reading them. They are written in fine style and evry 
 page has more or less of something of thought that is valuable to the man of 
 general information. I have also read two chapts. in Blairs Rhetoric. I 
 find this very interesting and evry one who has any fondness for literary 
 improvement ought to read it. It is full of the most solid information 
 and contains many valuable suggestions and directions to the student. 
 
 Thursday, November .?/, 1853. — I comniensed the business of to day 
 by reading law — read two or three hours this morning, went to the Vil- 
 lage, conversed, attended to some business in my office, returned home, 
 then went to church, this being thanksgiving day and heard some very 
 
 good remarks made by the Rev. Mr. . He is not a good speaker 
 
 but a sensible man and he preached a very patriotic sermon. He seems 
 to have a heart and soul large enough to enfold our great, glorious and 
 prosperous Republic. Long may our land, Columbia's soil be the land of 
 freedom and may the glorious Stars &. Stripes forever float proudly at 
 home and abroad! Who does not love his country, his whole country? — 
 Since dinner I have Ijeen engaged in reading Chitty and takeing notes on 
 the same. This evening I have continued my perusal of vStarkie on Evi- 
 dence — it continues to increase in interest. 
 
 Sunday, November 2j, 185^. — This morning I read several chapts. in 
 the Bible— The History of the Life and death of Christ. This I found 
 interesting. Truly he was a man, a God of sorrows, while he sojourned 
 upon the earth. "He had not where to lay his head." I read several 
 chapts. in the book of Job. This is poetical. The writers of the Bible 
 are emphatically the most forcible and many of them the most beautiful 
 in the world. If the Phrophets were not inspired, they were men of great 
 learning and deep research, not in lore that existed before them, but in 
 nature itself. I would I could understand the scriptures and that I were 
 free from an aching doubt. Is it possible for a man to die and be saved 
 after the system of Christianity, doubling ? And who can understand and 
 
 comprehend so well as to free his mind from all doubt? "help thou 
 
 mine unbelief." 
 
 I have read a portion of a sermon on the Judgment by the Rev. Dr. 
 Bascom. He preaches with his usual force of style on this subject, but 
 seems unable to grasp the magnitude of the same. 
 
 Tuesday, Noveuiber zg, /Sjj. — Tonight I attended the Division of the 
 Sons of Temperance for the first time in some weeks or months. I was 
 pleased with the meeting. This body of men has done great good towards 
 stemming the dreadful current of intemperance that has inundated our 
 
' MMKUKIKI.U MKinUMMV 
 
 whnfr hrip{.\ !.,i,.| • i !„., ^^,n . . . 
 
 •••1 m-l thoiis.iinls 
 
 loiijj fliMance 
 
 ' the 
 
 -ral 
 
 -ami no one 
 
 ■ K i.lilOr. 
 
HIS PROFESSIONAL CARKHR AND ITS 
 ATTENDANT CIRCUMSTANCES. 
 
 That self-reliance is eiii^endeied b\" the ver\' need of it 
 is illustrated in the character of some of the world's great 
 men who, from boyhood, had to battle for themselves 
 against opposition, difficulties and dangers in myriads of 
 forms. It would seem that opposition but brought to the 
 front the strength of character in tlu^se determined to suc- 
 ceed; that it whetted the appetite for success and gave 
 courage a new impetus to overcome all obstacles. Alas! 
 such is not the case always, but it .seems to have been true 
 of him of whom I write. 
 
 Having obtained county and Superior Court licen.se, my 
 father was fairly launched upon the great .sea of legal prac- 
 tice with youth and inexperience, but with courage and 
 determination. He soon attained the reputation of being 
 a good collector of claims, and from the complimentary 
 passages in letters received at that time he seems early to 
 have won the confidence and esteem of his clients. His 
 characteristics as a collector were promptness, fidelity, good 
 judgment and perseverance, and another characteristic 
 which was appreciated by some of his clients was the mod- 
 erateness of the fees charged them. He was uiade County 
 Attornex' for Buncombe and other counties in that district, 
 and his friends seemed confident as to his future success, 
 desiring him to .seek a broader field of labor in a larger 
 city and even to aspire to jiosition in the halls of the law- 
 makers at Washington. It must have been gratif\ing to 
 the young practitioner to receive such words as the follow- 
 in<j from men in authoritv: 
 
MMKRKIKI.Ii MKIUIIMON. ~)0 
 
 I I. .v.- .M^.ri .. •., .M f„„| you <■••• I lar^c share 
 
 A«r«I a( \ TV ainl Irnrn- 
 
 A 111 ihc 11 reference to 
 
 the |Hj|iiic.s ' . .... ^.....;c<l his resolu- 
 
 lioii.s for future UMrfulncss: 
 
 '• Vrm hnvr *.hf tntrn*^ ntv! rvtfr-^M ?r» Vttt«?t! ttp i rhnnrtrr f-ir vmirHcIf. 
 
 !..!. 
 
 •If. 
 ■ii-i- 
 
 i ■ ■ ' -I lf» 
 
 Y\x\\ iH . ,„^ 
 
 1. I 
 
 '■' -■• ' ■ "•" "• '^S?- 
 
 The year ' ^' '* ' ^ ••• >«"•■• - :i;j for- 
 ward in his l,v his 
 inteKrily, justice and patriotism; surely but steadily cliinb- 
 inj^ the hei;,'hts of i>>pular esteem; not waiting; for others 
 to prepare the way for him, but advancing; bravely to meet 
 the ditTicult questions of the day — he sought to promote 
 the welfare of his country. The war approached. Seces- 
 sion sentinu !>^ emphasized, and those who saw 
 
 in advance I... ..css of war, the useless sheddinj; of 
 
 blood, the strife and hatred enjjendered between the sister 
 States — those whose lielter judjjment recognized these 
 facts, but whose " ned the warmth of South- 
 ern patriotism, h. ...... l.... ves to avert the impend- 
 ing danger and warned and expostulated, but to no efTect. 
 They may have seen in the dim light of future years the 
 effects of four years of civil strife, the Sunny South 
 depressed, impoverished, dwarfed in growth and retarded 
 in her efforts for advancement. But the feeling that had 
 
no ArcirsTis sr.M.Mi:i;i iKr.i) MKiMiiMnx. 
 
 been orerniinatinj^- for years burst forth, and Ci\il War with 
 all its blasting-, blit^htin,^- eOects, its bloodshed and havoc, 
 soared like a vulture over the sister States, — satiatint^ its 
 thirst in the blood of brother fighting against brother. 
 
 In the year i860, Augustus IMerrimon was elected mem- 
 ber of the House of Commons ft)r Buncombe. His politics 
 were those of a strong Union Whig; and while in Raleigh 
 attending the session of the Legislature he used the oppor- 
 tunity of speaking to the people and of expressing his 
 strong convictions with all the fervor of earnest belief con- 
 cerning the then impending calamities. Before the war 
 he maintained strong Union sentiments ; and with the 
 earnest convictions of what he deemed best for his country, 
 tending toward good government, it seems that he was 
 unwilling to shirk a duty honestly plain to him. Not 
 only did he desire the welfare of his countrymen, but his 
 efforts liad that end in view. Looking into social condi- 
 tions and the evils of government with a view to render- 
 ing aid in rectifying them, he battled with the defects of 
 the times and afterward reaped the reward of his people's 
 trust and confidence. It mav have been bv the losric of 
 sound rea.soningthat he foresaw the uselessness of secession, 
 the sacrifice of noble lives, the desolated homes; however, 
 his own loyal principles caused him to seek to maintain 
 the rights of the Union in recalling the seceding States, 
 and he vigorousl)- upheld those rights and endeavored to 
 lead the people to see the vanity of attempting secession. 
 But when war became inevitable, though his judgment 
 had pleaded for the peace and order of a stable Union, vet 
 his patriotism and love for his section drew him to the sup- 
 port of his own people and State. 
 
 Many diflficult questions were then brought before the 
 people and their law-makers for discussion and settlement, 
 
MMKKFIKI.I) MKKKIMoN. (>I 
 
 "' cxlcnsion, ad Z'ahmn taxation 
 
 'T"' »"'J wl ;jr part in the discussions rcla- 
 
 »ns ol the day, my father's friends 
 
 >e with 
 
 f> •> V... Such 
 
 wo: lat confidence: 
 
 ■• Yoor friciuU ntv to much plra.«c«l wilh vour cniimc in rrKanl to th<>*e 
 
 tlii-» 
 •II." 
 I in 
 
 ll.r 
 
 • •iifM- nirrt% ihr .ip{>r<>i> u loll of «U con«crvativc men of l»oth 
 inrn mIio votol ax'in^t yu arc now among your wannest 
 
 And st> much the more must these words have encour- 
 ajjed him, as he felt the force of what a friend wrote him 
 about tiiis time: 
 
 ■■ '^ i«-tion your |K>sition a» a 
 
 rcpfVT^ 111 .11 1* t is ,1 <n,;> ii< ,iu'i rr-jH MiMiur "uv 
 
 I^ ' ■ ' • < • wrillcn while 
 
 in 1< , 
 
 NoVKMHKR 17. 1S60. 
 Scores of the menihem of the I.cvi!*1nturc arc now hcrp nnd the 
 
 >niinK \ 'liat 
 
 I am II \lint 
 
 ■ to our Fc«icral relations. • • » I confess 
 
 ... .it what seems to I>c the feelinj; in reference 
 
 to \\ All are indivtnant at the result of the Presideutial 
 
 electa •11. Ill' !!io-T i>i' the members of the Legislature love the Union and 
 arr not now wiltini; to ywo it np, • • ♦ i shall act with yreat care 
 
 '•>ility that rests upon me. I 
 
 •.i.-ly, haveing in view nothing 
 
 hut the honor, the welfare and safely of the people I have the honor to rep- 
 
 r. -. lit .11.1 f 1... vvh..i, . ..i.iif r, vvih-h I have made up my opinion as to my 
 
62 AUorsTrs simmkufiki,!) mkkkimon. 
 
 duly, then I sliall act ])roiiiptly and (.-lukavor to discharge uiv whole diitv 
 and at all hazards. * * * I have heard nothing said of Internal Im- 
 provements yet. As I feared would be the case, Federal politics engross 
 the whole attention. This evil must he combatted as successfully as pos- 
 sible. 
 
 R.^LKIGH, N. C, February 3, 1.S61. 
 
 My DE.\R F.^Ther:— * * * You have learned by this time that the 
 Convention Bill has passed into a law. You will learn its details from the 
 papers— I voted uniformly for a convention, because I thought and still 
 think , the people ought to act in the present great emergency. But I w as not 
 satisfied with the Bill. It limits the action of the Convention to federal 
 affairs, when, in my judgment, the action of that body ought not to be lim- 
 ited at all. I thought so for many reasons with which I will not now trouble 
 you. It is sufficient for us to realize now that a Convention will, in all 
 probability, be called by the people for a particidar purpose. And it 
 becomes the great and patriotic duty oi good, conservative men to see that 
 none hui good and reliable men— men of cool, .so^^i?/- judgment compose the 
 Convention. Such men will certainly do enough in the Convention, and 
 fire-eaters and rash disunionists ought not to be trusted at any time and 
 especially at a time of great peril like the present. It is therefore, that I 
 hope, the moderate men of our county will see that a good man, an //;/- 
 _/7/7/r/z/;/^ man becomes a candidate «/ o;/r<' for the Convention. * * ■■' 
 If the moderate men of the State control the convention, then we are 
 safe in the Union if possible, out of it, if absolutely necessary and only 
 in this event. * - * The prospect of a satisfactory adjustment of 
 pending difficulties is gloomy enough indeed, now, but I am glad to be 
 able to say to you, that the prospect within the last two or three davs is 
 brighter than for some time prior to that. I look with some confidence 
 to the action of the commissioners from several States which assemble at 
 Washington tomorrow. I think that convention will at once agree upon 
 terms of compromise and these will be acted upon by Congress and sub- 
 mitted to the people. If so, then our country may yet be saved, — if not. 
 then will hope be almost extinguished. * * * While I hope for the 
 better, I fear the worst. * * * 
 
 My private affairs need my attention and I am anxious indeed to be at 
 home, but since I have undertaken for the i)iib]ic, I must do >nv whole 
 duty. * * * 
 
 I have endeavored to discharge my whole duty here and I have reason 
 to believe that I have brought no dishonor to the name I bear. 
 
 For years before this e.xcitin.i;- period of the vState's his- 
 tory he liad been zealously working for reform, writing 
 
-t MMKKFIKI.I. .MKRItlMoN. jj;} 
 
 1 he fx-oplcs rigliLs he esleeiiiecl of paraiiioiint 
 
 ' iJjc pr vocate the ideas 
 
 • "^»'" ' • ix-ople. 
 
 I. in w him at 
 
 •'"e mm mm; ,f .'^rN !,rh., i.L.-„ . t.. .1 1 
 
 Al this time, seekiiiK to a.Ivance th« r-r...,. r,.. ..r ijj^ 
 Mitt tlir..ujjh the previ ami through to 
 
 is not surprising that we fiiicl 
 > .- •■'•lowing: 
 
 f r»*'rfnif*T. I.H57.] 
 
 ''ly whole 
 
 "f State 
 
 lie iiicMt 
 
 ■ ' • • i* 
 
 ■•'I' \ . ..iiirol 
 
 •ri- 
 ■ rcfcmicr to n proper r. 
 
 "lit L-jhcy. 
 try tnuM 
 
 And in Januai we find his sentiments mnch the 
 
 same as fonnerlv : 
 
 I ni: 
 
 iiti I I •. 
 
 ouirhi 
 
 the firm and unwaverinif stand you have 
 
 vcs the 
 
 ■ 1) Caro- 
 
 ; «'i our ic«icral I nion. that she 
 
 "t, the fjue«,tions of rcfonn that 
 
 of onr people, are rapidly ljecomin« the paramount 
 
 "id I .rdenlly hope they may swallow up federal 
 
*> I ArcrsTis SIMM i:i:iii:i.i) miikkimon. 
 
 politics next suiiuiitr. Xolhiiin shall bt- lackiiii^ on 1113- part to efTtctuate 
 this most desirable eiul. ^- * * / am for rt/onn in North Carolina. 
 The peoj)le are for it and they are all powerful when they act. 
 
 I am for the Constitution, the I'nion and the laws of the land, and while 
 I have a country, I know no north, no south, no east, no west but one 
 coinnion country. I love this priceless heritaj^e bought with the best blood 
 of the Revolution and consecrated by God himself. 
 
 If unfortunately the Union should be dissolved, then, of course, I shall 
 be for the South alone, and as true to its interests as I now feel, to the 
 interests of the American Union. I solemnly believe that ninetv nine 
 one hundredths of the people in this section of the State entertain similar 
 views. 
 
 That man who advocates disunion, would sap the very foundations of 
 this (Tovernment and spill the life-blood of its firmest and most patriotic 
 supporters. Washington looked upon disunion as the worst of political 
 evils. He well knew its tendency in any government, and especially in 
 one like our own. And he admonishes us to look to union as the jjalla- 
 dium of our political safety and prosperity. He learned well, the worth of 
 union in the struggle for Independence. In it he hoped for success; he 
 fought under its banners, victory crowned his efforts and we are this day 
 the blessed enjoyers of the result of his and his brethren's toils. Union in 
 effort saved us from English oppression, union has made us one of the 
 most powerful nations on earth, union has caused us to prosper and enjo)' 
 prosperity for three quarters of a century, and where is the man that does 
 not say (nion. Union now and forever, one and inseperalile I ! 
 
 WIk-h tlie crasli of .separation cainc, and the Sontli 
 plnn<;ed into the blood\- conflict, in\- father \-ohuiteered in 
 the Rouoh and Ready Gnard, a company from liis native 
 mountain section, bnt he afterward accepted a captaincy in 
 tlie commissary department of service as a.ssistant to Colonel 
 William Johnston, and served at Fort Macon, Ocracoke, Wel- 
 don and elsewhere. IJeinj^ appointed Solicitor for the Western 
 District by Jnd^e French, he accepted the position, and it 
 is said that he rendered valuable aid in qnellinn disorder 
 and ci\'il strife in that section of the State and in insnrin:^ 
 respect for civil measnres. He was elected to the- same 
 (jfTice, which he held until his election by the Leoislatiire 
 to be Jiido^e of the Superior Court of the Eii^hth Judicial 
 District in the year 1S65. 
 
KLI> MKKKIMOX. »{.') 
 
 -. .. iiiM .n. count of such scent's 
 
 •1 tbnt ttiij^'hly civil slruj,'j^Ic; 
 
 ^''^ irctJ by mortal art 
 
 ! accurate accounts 
 
 • • Tuis of victory 
 
 ts such words 
 
 l»ui vjivc the shadow oi reality that lies iK-hind the causes 
 
 <rn a nation's welfare. The result of 
 
 civil strife may be foun«! ■ ' 'Mv 
 
 eii-ravcd upon the hearts and homes made ck . a 
 
 void that even now is felt. 
 
 ^'•^■'^^ . . ^.,j^j endured that war than 
 
 ^""-''* ' " 'he cannon's mouth. The 
 
 :ern women, who also had 
 |>iivauun> to .share, in anxiety and lonelines.s, their little 
 
 "e, a double care and 
 
 vvn and un.r • ' •• ' d. 
 
 •At home the dan^-ers were sometimes jjreat. k nd 
 
 maratulers were not unknown visitors in various localities 
 *^"*' ' ■ ' ' ' ' to the autocratic rule 
 
 "' ^'' r, , 'J'-'* and parties. The 
 
 idea that all's fair in war .seemed to hold sway in such dis- 
 and it required courajje, dauntless resolution and 
 ' •' "^''■^■^ '«' ''••» who would withstand the opposiuj^ cur- 
 rent of popular feelin;». 
 
 •■^^ ■■ '» s»ch turbulent localities it is said that 
 
 my taihd .-, life was often imperiled in his efforts to vindi- 
 cate civil authority; but the principle apparent in his char- 
 acter in later years seems to have urged him to the per- 
 formance of what he l^elieved to be right and his duty, cost 
 what it might of personal danger. 
 
 .\n incident that occnred during the period of his Solici- 
 torship is told of him that shows his fcarUssn.-.< of conse- 
 
n(] Ar<;rsTi"s srN[Mi;i;iii:i,i) Mi:in;iM<»N. 
 
 queticcs when he knew his actions to be ri^ht. The inhab- 
 itants of Madison connty, men of strong Union sentiments, 
 had made an incursion on Marshall, the county-seat, whose 
 people, it seems, held opposing views and were warm 
 secessionists. Plundering and depredation were the result 
 of the lawless attempt. A large number of armed men 
 from Buncombe, angered at this manifestation of lawless- 
 ness, set out to inflict punishment upon the offenders. In 
 the face of opposition, and the dangerous whispers of some 
 that he was tr\'ing to screen Union friends, the \oung 
 Solicitor dared not sanction the violation of justice and 
 insisted that civil power remain inviolable so that civil 
 measures might be taken to punish the offenders and not 
 the means that unjust and unreasonable anger dictated. 
 
 Such letters as the following show the extent of lawless- 
 ness that then prevailed in some districts of the State and 
 the corresponding amount of courage required in him who 
 would rashly seek to subdue it : 
 
 "Ci.AVTONvn.i.H, X. C, May lo, 1865. 
 "A. S. Merrimon, Esq., 
 
 '"Mv OKAR Sir: — We have a coininittce of five apjioiiited hy a jjuhlio 
 meeting held at Brevard to ask the United States military authorities at 
 .\sheville for some sort of protection. We expect to he at .-Isheville bv 
 10 or 12 o'clock on Friday (to-morrow) and want a conference with you 
 and the head ofiScers of the command together immediately on our arrival. 
 
 "The cruelty of many of the rol)beries are perhaps unheard of in civil- 
 ized life, such as roasting men in the fire to extract from them hidden 
 
 treasures. * * * They roasted J O 's gold out of him. They 
 
 built the fire to roast night before last after all other means had 
 
 failed, but was prevailed on to defer it until Friday night by his sick 
 daughter, Caroline, who promised them to dispcse of a fifteen hundred 
 dollar note for gold and let them have what she could sell the note for in 
 gold. There is not a day or night but more or less robberies are com- 
 mitted. !^Iany of the best farms are stripped of almost everything and 
 not a horse left to plow. says if there is a knife, fork, spoon, table- 
 cloth, plate, pillow-slip or sheet or blanket left on his place he does not 
 know it, cxcc])t what was over and under his sick daughter, and scores of 
 
MMKKFIKI.O MKKKIMiiN. li? 
 
 • — ■"■ - ■' ■•• I 'hrir |>crson<( <t|i.-inicrully 
 llic rol>l>cric» wrc com- 
 print 
 
 ^ 4iiy 
 
 '.tc% ai<l u»> If not. will they allow 
 I. S. G." 
 
 '"''■■' ! ihc Soulh 
 
 I-osl Cause 
 
 ! Willi ihc lives of those who loved it, then were 
 
 llu ip of bitterness to be drained and the 
 
 II- and contention to be rca|x-d by all the 
 
 ! IK 
 
 It was a time of disorder and confnsion. Says one, 
 writing; to uiy father about this time: 
 
 Mil wc arc here on a %'ol- 
 
 '• ■ itc of the 
 
 iiric«l." 
 
 And another: 
 
 •Corruption »lalk» altroad rverj where; violence uMirpA the place of 
 law " 
 
 Just after the war, when President Johnson ordered an 
 '' " ■ ' " ' ^ ■ '' :ition to be held in 
 
 ' . candidate, but was 
 
 defeated by Rev. Dr. Stewart. In December, 1865, the 
 Legislature elected him Judge of the Eighth Judicial Dis- 
 trict, and he was qualified in January following. 
 
 The duties of such positions were by no means light at 
 that time and the same difficulties that had met him as 
 Solicitor now lay in his way to the performance of the 
 trust his people had confided to him. However, he was not 
 deterred from the prosecution of that which was for the 
 
ox .vrciCSTis scMM i:i;i'ii:i.i) mi:i;i;im()\. 
 
 good of tlie j)cople and the vState; wliicli fact was sliown h\- 
 his vioihincc and faithfnlness in caiTNing out the law to 
 tlie letter and by his .summary manner of dealing with 
 those who willfully defied authority, even though the swav 
 of civil power and peace was gained with the cost of 
 friendly feeling towards himself. Such a course was fol- 
 lowed in the counties of Clay, Cherokee and others where 
 hostilities were imminent among communities and even 
 among neighbors, and where the reign of law had to be 
 re-established upon firm and unconij)romising terms. 
 
 Reconstruction stalked abroad with all her ignominy to 
 the Southern people, and not only b\- the masses were her 
 measures severely felt, but by those in authority and there- 
 fore more exposed to the jolt of collision between civil and 
 martial power. While holding court for a certain district 
 Judge Merrimon received orders to suspend proceedings 
 against certain parties from General Sickles. But in this 
 instance there w^as no collision of authority, as the case 
 was continued on affidavit. The like orders were received 
 at still another sitting of the court, and, recognizing his 
 inability to cope with military power, my father resigned 
 the Judgeship, feeling that only by .so doing could he 
 remain true to his oath of allegiance to Constitution and 
 State. He gives the reasons that influenced him in his 
 resignation in a letter addressed to Major-General D. E. 
 Sickles, which was found among his old papers: 
 
 My settled convictions of dnty, j^rowiug out of my ohlitjations as a 
 Judj^c of the State under the Constitution and laws of the State an<l of the 
 United States, will not allow nie to recognize or obey any military onler 
 whatsoever that may come li> me while exercisinj^ my ofticc in court or at 
 chambers. 
 
 I have accepted a hij^h and imiinrtaiit olTicc under tlie State (iovern- 
 ment put in operation by it and have taken the oath-i of office indicated 
 above. I as Judge cannot deny the validity of the State Government, and 
 
MMKRKfFr!* MF!Jlt!M«»V ({;> 
 
 (in l.lWs 
 
 r The 
 
 •IIH, 
 
 -up. 
 ■ II cvmU, in lime to relieve my pre«enl emlwirra^^rtl ••iiua- 
 
 I thrrrffire <lrrm it due to rou mid mv«eir to »tate now in the frankrHt 
 
 in<l 
 
 .11.1 
 
 ■ii'i. iii>r 
 il. iiml I 
 
 inc 
 
 -1. I 
 
 tile one 111 \.n\ 
 
 .1% you niiiN "lirr. t with- 
 
 raptinUH 
 
 •II |K>licy 
 
 I. no f«r from thi*. I am anxinut atiove all tliingA 
 
 ' - '• ' .. ,„ ,,f the I'nion. I niii 
 
 nth ran have no tolcra- 
 !.;> >l<^::i. ill ^fusjitriU 111 aiiv rtsfjvtl utilil lh'.--» i!» «lone. 
 
 H.iviu}^ sent his resij»iiation to Governor Worth, JiicIkc 
 Merrinu»ii ^ •■'"■'•'! to withhold it until after he .should 
 preside at ti. .l; term of Chowan County Court, at 
 
 which term the famous Johnson will case was to be decided. 
 It has l)een said that this case was [xrrhaps the most impor- 
 tant civil case ever tried in North Carolina, and one which 
 involved the validity of bequests of the largest amounts 
 ever contested in this State, and also that on both sides there 
 was drawn toj^ether the most brilliant array of legal talent 
 that ever pleaded in one cause in the annals of our Supe- 
 rior Court judicature. The trial of this case lasted four 
 
''* AUGUSTUS sc.M.Mi:i;iii:i.i. MKKIJIMoN. 
 
 weeks, and (luriuL; lliis liine inaii\- iini)()rlanl points were 
 bronglit np for the decision of the Conrt. It must have 
 been gratifyino to the Judge who presided on that occasion 
 to know that upon no point was he overruled by the higher 
 Conrt, but instead, his well-defined grasj) of the nianv 
 points at issue, his wise rulings for the adn)inistration of 
 sound justice, were approved and conipliniented. His 
 characteristics as a Jndge at this time may be shown bv 
 such words as the following voluntary expressions of his 
 friends: 
 
 "To l)e enj,'ai;e(l in the trial of one cause for four weeks, and in tlie 
 almost infinite number of points raised during that long period not to 
 make a single mistake, is remarkable and is entitled to laudatory com- 
 ment." 
 
 " It gives me great pleasure to say to you that the brethren everywhere, 
 and they are in the main the best judges, concur in expressing the highest 
 approbation of your official qualifications."— A*. B. Gilliam. 
 
 "I am more than pleased with your system and industry in dispatching 
 cases, and not less with your humane and considerate and wise manner of 
 distributing justice to the freedmen, so different from some wlio love to 
 gratify an insane hatred to the poor blacks because they are free, bv 
 lashes— lashes— lashes."— /?. F. Moore. 
 
 "It may gratify you. Judge, to know that the single term wliicli you held 
 here had a happy and manifest influence in elevating the judicial charac- 
 ter and in inspiring respect for courts and a desire to see their dignity pre- 
 served. I think it cause for public regret that you find it necessary to 
 resign your place as Judge. I am afraid that we are breaking all the 
 fastenings that bind us to civil and constitutional liberty and that we 
 shall soon be without law, powerless— helpless— on the broad sea of 
 anarchy."— ybj^/*///. Davis {1S67). 
 
 On the acceptance of his resignation b\- the (Governor, 
 Angnstus Merrimon resumed the practice of the law and 
 removed to Raleigh, where he entered into a i)artnershi|) 
 with Hon. Samuel V. Phillips, afterwards United States 
 vSolicitor-Cieneral, under the firm name of Phillips ^ 
 Merrimon. Here he obtained a successful and lucrative 
 
Al «.i MMKRKIEI.n MKRUIMOX. 71 
 
 «mi\ n-^idiiits of liis 
 , hul also various firms 
 in the 1 :es, Xcw York, Philadelphia, Halliinore, 
 
 Charleston aiul others. Besides his rejjular lej^al pursuits, 
 a fertile field for practice then Ixinj * ' in the Federal 
 C<Mirts, he l<H»k j^reat interest in tli< which vitally 
 
 K'.nerned the |K-ople, and in the restoration of a sound 
 and siahle jjovernnjent. As a nienilxr of the Democratic 
 party he was for a time Ciiairman n( its Kxeciitive Com- 
 Tni'tf-e, and hy that committee was nominated in 1S6.S for 
 Mior. He declined the nomination. A fterwards he was 
 hiitninated for " Justice of the Supreme Court. 
 
 The decision wa-. y. '• ' * ' ' • the halancc of 
 
 |M>wer that lay in the if Democracy. 
 
 For a time one of the Directors of the Western North 
 
 ■jna Railroad Company at an im|>ortant jK-riod of its 
 
 ..i>:"iy, he interested himself in the welfare and material 
 
 prosjx'rity of his State; he thouj^ht for the betterment of 
 
 her condition as well as for his own achievement. 
 
 Who may sa> how little all human achievement ai)peared 
 to him then, when, in the presence of the death of two of 
 his little darlinj^s, his heart was bowed beneath the weij^ht 
 of afHiction and sorrow C»od had seen fit to send upon liim 
 — sent in the infinite purpose of Him who knows the 
 earthly clin^^injj of the heart to earthly idols, and with 
 Divine love Ixdiind the dis|x?nsation. 
 
 The golden locket with their pictured forms was a 
 sacred memento which he kept and treasured through the 
 remainder of his life. 
 
 His was no heart of adamant, but he possessed a great 
 and noble spirit, zealous in the cause of the right and of jus- 
 tice, but easily touched by the sufTcrings of others, by the 
 j)afh<fir .111(1 the i.iti.iMf That lu- ix.ssr^^t-d tlie beautiful 
 
72 Aiiiisii s srMMi:i;iii:i.ii Mi:i;i;iM(tN. 
 
 trait ol' s\iii])alliy for tlu- dislrcsscd, k-t the words of a 
 j^ratcful friend tcstif\ , who says: 
 
 "I feel now my inability to pay either in words or any other way a frac- 
 tional part of the debt of j^ratilnde tliat I owe yon, bnt I hope it may not 
 always be so; and when I think that what you have done was done when 
 you could see no hope of reward in this world, it only makes me feel llie 
 more so; rest assured, my dear sir, that I will always be as ready to help 
 you in any hour of trial as you have been to helj> me in this my darkest 
 day in life." 
 
 In iSjo ni\- father zealously fouo^ht the evils incident to 
 the "Kirk War," and of his conduct at that time his 
 friend, Mr. Arniistead Jones, has .said: 
 
 "Ilis voice was constantly raised in defense of civil liberty, and energies 
 directed towards check inj^ the usurpations of the political party then in con- 
 trol of the State and Federal tiovernmenls, when it became a part of the 
 policy of that party to foist upon the South the reconstruction amendment 
 to the Constitution, which placed under disability many of the best class, 
 and extended to the ifjnoranl and incapable the power of control, and when, 
 in order to successfully execute tliat policy, the writ of habeas corpus was 
 suspended and martial law declared in certain counties of the Slate, and 
 men were arrested and imprisoned by a quasi nuWiAvy authoritv, one of 
 ihe first to come to the rescue was Judj^e Merrimon. His talents were 
 devoted towards sustaining the law of his fathers and upholding the prin- 
 ciples of civil liberty that were so near to his heart. He was one of the 
 first to apply for writs of habeas corpus and to apjieal to the judiciary, 
 and finally he was largely instrumental in ])rocuring the release of the 
 persecuted by order of Judge Hrooks." 
 
 His earnest efforts in behalf of tiie prisoners illeo;ally held 
 by Kirk won a well-deserved recompense in their j^ratitnde 
 and affection. Following; the e.xcitiiii^ e\enls of tliis j)eriod 
 came tlie imjjeachment of Governor Holden, in which canse 
 Jnd^e Merrimon was associated with Hon. Thomas Brao;o^ 
 and Hon. \V. .\. (iraham as conn.sel for the pro.secution. A 
 friend, in sj)eakino^ of the jxirt a.ssigned my lather in that 
 trial, has said: 
 
\ MMMKKIIKt.I* MKKUIMnN. (.5 
 
 "To him rt.i- ni'i'ii ihe duty of exaniininj^ the witnesses, nn<l his 
 exatnination was perfect. It was as fine an exhihition as has ever lieen 
 'net of a 1< . From that time Judj^e Merrimon's 
 
 ; on the u. :ul en«lurin>; foiunlation." 
 
 In 1H71, witli ex-(iovernor Hragjj, D. M. Marringcr and 
 < r. H. Alford, he was a candidate from Wake county for 
 dtlf^^ate to a State Convention to Iw.* called by a majority 
 of the votes of the people, and to be held in Raleij^h. He 
 was defeated and the Convention was not held. In 1S72 
 he was nominated by the DenuKratic party for (iovcrnor 
 and, it is said, made a stronj^ and able canva.ss of the State. 
 Hut ay^ain defeat was to l)c met, and Covernor Caldwell 
 took his seat by virtue of a small majority. The idea 
 of contesting the election was advanced, because it was the 
 opinion of some of Judge Merrimon's friends that he had 
 been rightfully elected. Hut having faithfully endeavored 
 to perform the duly incumbent upon him as his party's 
 nominee, he acquiesced in defeat that brought with it no 
 dishonor. To quote the opinion of the press: 
 
 "It is not too much to say that, thou>;h over|)owere<l in that canipai^^n 
 hy the force of I'cileral supervisors at every pollinjij-place. Judge Mer- 
 rimon, by his magnificent canvass, by his able and <lignifie<l discussion 
 of the issues then paramount in a gubernatorial campaign, strengthened 
 the Democratic party for two coming struggles in 1S74 and 1876, and 
 preparetl it for the great victory which, with Vance leading, made North 
 Carolina the first State in the column of the Solid South after recon- 
 struction." 
 
 "His speeches were indeetl masterly. He often spoke for hours, and 
 all know the vehemence of his declamation, the earnestness and force 
 which characterized his forensic efforts. Only a frame of his great phys- 
 ical power could have enduretl the strain. It was a wonderful demonstra- 
 tion of his mental capacity and physical endurance." 
 
 Though nominal defeat crowned this, one of the greatest 
 efforts of his life, yet it was not wholly defeat; doubtless 
 he endeared himself in that memorable campaign to the 
 
 10 
 
74 .vrtirsTi - >i mmi:i;i ii:i.ii Mi;i;i;i\inN. 
 
 hearts of many by his jxitriolic enthusiasm, his stirrini; 
 words of unmistakable meaning; with reference to the j)rin- 
 ciplcs of Democracy, and beNond thc-sc — (hities of citi/.en- 
 sliip to a common count rw 
 
 In December, 1S72, at the assembling; of the Lej^islatnre, 
 his name was brought forward for the United States Sena- 
 torship. The name of Hon. Z. I'. \'ance was also |»re- 
 sented. To quote the press again: 
 
 "There was a long contest over tlie Senatorsliip, which at lenj^th was 
 brought to a close by the withdrawal of both Vance and Merrinjon. vSub- 
 seqnently the Democratic caucus again nominated Vance, and almost 
 immeiliately the Houses met in joint session to take a vote. The Repuli- 
 licans, hoping to disorganize the Democrats, voted for Merrinion, and some 
 Democrats who had remained out of the caucus voted with them, and two 
 or three, perhaps, who had participated in the caucus again voted for 
 Merrimon, and elected him. All of this was without his knowledge. The 
 news was comnmnicated to Judge Merrimon while engaged in the Fed- 
 eral Court. On consideration he did not decline the election. He 
 thanked the men personally who voteil for him; l)ut he did not allow the 
 manner of his election to swerve him from his adherence to the partv." 
 
 " He would not accept the place until he had called together Governor 
 Graham and other discreet, wise and highly honorable gentlemen to con- 
 sider whether under the circumstances he could with proper .self-respect 
 accept the place. They unanimously decided that he could do so." 
 
 That comment, even severe criticism, .should be made 
 upon his accepting the election goes without .saying. But, 
 heeding not the fal.se accu.sations leveled against his integ- 
 rity as a politician, he pursued the course he believed to 
 be right and honorable. That this was true a friend testi- 
 fies, who wrote the.sc words: 
 
 "I think you to be one of the few who does take a part in politics and 
 is honest." 
 
 And 
 
 "If ' I'eace on earth, goo<l-will to men.' is yojir i)latform (and I believe 
 it isi I ajji with you most cordially." 
 
ArorSTl'S SrMMKUFIP:LI» MKIUilMoN. <•) 
 
 "I Ihonyhl that at a time when censures were lK;iu>» heaped upon you 
 h\ many of those who were recently loud in your praise it nii>;ht be 
 pleasant to vou to know that that class of your friends who have hut little 
 to do with politics, and no personal ends to serve hy party issues, have 
 still unabated confidence in you, and rejoice that one of the best types of 
 moral character uncs to the highest place within the j^ift of the people of 
 the State." — A**-?- .Vr. Reid. 
 
 I'or Ijiinsclf, he could say: 
 
 I feel invincible streUKth in the rectitude of my intentions and acts. 
 
 And of his fnttirc actions: 
 
 A^ .1 Senator, by the ble»sin){ of I'roviflencc, it is my unalterable pur- 
 lo my utmost to benefit and bless the whole people, and especially 
 my ;;inuediate constituents of all classes, conditions and colors. I shall 
 insist upon ri^ht for all, I will not willingly tolerate wronji; or oppression 
 to any. I am anxious to see the I'nion rest firmly ancl forever ujkju the 
 Constitution — to see it completely and cordially restore*! in the hearts of 
 the people, ami its j»overnment so administered as to make it indec<l, their 
 paramount political j;oo<l. I wish to sec its Kovernment just, great and 
 glorious, exercising its mighty powers for its own protection, as well as 
 for the maintenaure ami protection of all the rights and jmwers of the 
 Stales comf>o>iug it, within their respective spheres as governujejits. 
 
 I am essentially Conservative in my opinions and comluct, and as in the 
 past so in the future, I shall lie a Conservative, having for my political 
 guidance no other political chart than the Constitution of my country. 
 I will never cease to a«lvocate and uphold those great principles of free 
 government and civil liljerty I had the honor to proclaim during the late 
 political campaign in this State. 
 
 Haviiiv^ taken his seat in Conj^ress, he applied himself to 
 unravel the difficult problems and intricate questions of 
 material importance to the country at large which then lay 
 before the law-makers for solution. He amassed information 
 concerning the important subjects pending discussion at that 
 time in Congress, and worked aggressively for the mainte- 
 nance of his State's right and honor among her sisters. And 
 so six years were passed, wherein the days, even night hours, 
 were iriven to the earnest stud\- of a nation's welfare and 
 
76 AUGUSTUS srM.Mi:i;iii:i.i» mi:i:i;imon. 
 
 interests. His sjk'CcIk-s {IclivLixd in that au*;iist Ixnly arc 
 fitliu}; representatives and ineinorials of his efTorts; such 
 were the followiu};: ( )n the Financial Condition of tlie 
 Country; on the Subversion of Civil Liberty in Louis- 
 iana; on the Civil Ri^^lits Bill; on Militar\- Usurpation in 
 South Carolina; on the Silver Bill; on the Exercise of 
 Elective Franchise; on the Japan Refundin<^ Bill; on the 
 Thurnian Bill in respect to the Pacific Railroad Companies, 
 and others, includiui; a bill for the expansion of the cur- 
 rencv to the extent of $50,000,000 in an increased issue 
 of greenbacks. The bill was pa.ssed by Congress, but was 
 vetoed by President Grant. Of his speech on the Loui.s- 
 iana question a friend wrote: 
 
 "IVrmit nie to couniicnd that feature in your speecli wliich calls back 
 those of our Northern Senators who seem to forget their obligations to 
 their country. Glorious clays returning when a rebel Senator from North 
 Carolina rebukes with all the earnestness of his nature Northern Senators 
 in Congress for infidelity, to the Constitution and sustains himself so 
 well."—;!/. H. Justice. 
 
 " .\llow me to say that I feel grateful to you for recalling to the Senate's 
 attention the great fundamental principles of liberty, from which there 
 was a gross departure in the mode of our reconstruction. .Andrew John- 
 son's fame will eventually rest on his vetoes, which exposed the 
 departures." — /A /'". Moore. 
 
 And no doulH there was additional encouragement 
 afforded him in these criticisms in regard l(» uthcr v^ena- 
 torial arguments : 
 
 "I admire vour speech for its genuine tone of Southern .sentiment, cast- 
 ing l)chind the past and invoking the honest jmlgmeut of the North in 
 behalf of the South. I think you have effected much to restore good 
 relations between the sections." 
 
 "The great masses approve your support of Hayes and your efforts to 
 destroy sectionalism and animosities." 
 
 Besides takin:^ part in Congressional debate — one of his 
 efforts, it is said, occupying an entire niv^ht — he served 
 
\i I.I -II - ~i MMKKI'IKI.H MKIUUMON". < ( 
 
 usefully upou the cuniuiiltccs ou liic post-office, ou post 
 roads, ou privilcj^es aud clectious, on claims, ou rules, ou 
 the District of Columbia, and was a member of the com- 
 mittee to investigate the difficulties concerning tiie Presi- 
 dential election affiiirs in South Carolina, in the interest of 
 which he visited that State. In the examination of evi- 
 dence in tliis, as in other Senatorial investigations, his 
 knowledge of law must have been of great usefulness to 
 him; that he made use of it is shown by tlie declaration of 
 Hon. Oliver 1*. Morton, who, it is said, publicly declared 
 him to be "the ablest lawyer on the floor of Congress." 
 
 At the close of his term of .service friends warmly 
 expressed the desire that he should be returned. Their 
 apj)roval of his course as a Senator is evidenced by many 
 letters received by him at the time: 
 
 "You have \k'VU a fuithful and valuable reprcMriitalive of your State 
 an«l of tlic South during your wliole term of service. I h.ive hail occasion 
 to ol>serve your hi)ih integrity and <lcvotion to principle, aud to a<lniire 
 it." 
 
 "How you can fnid liuie. whether as an eminent statesman in your 
 seat in the United Stales Senate deeply eufjrossed in Ihouxhts and meas- 
 ures to promote the l)esl goo<l of the country and of your State and the 
 South, or whether at home thinking; and working for the best good of 
 North Carolina in all her sections and relations, to stop occasionally for a 
 few minutes to read humble productions like mine and to say a kind 
 word to me and others, passes my understanding. But you do it, you 
 answer everylxxly's letters, you are always ready to serve a true North 
 Carolinian, you are always at your post, always thinking aud acting for 
 the people of North Carolina, with a heart that beats true and steadfast 
 for the country at large."— N. 5". Salchxvell. 
 
 "Senator Merrimon has already attained a national reputation— a 
 world-wiile fame as one of our greatest statesmen; therefore let us use 
 wis<lom, not prejudice, in the matter and retain him m the Senate so long 
 as he continues the able and assiduous statesman and patriot he now is." 
 
 However, he was not returned to the Senate at the 
 expiration of his term of office. The respect and admira- 
 tion of his friends were a merited recompense for his labors. 
 
78 Ai'(irsTrs srM.Mi:i;iii:i.i) Mi:i:i;iMnN. 
 
 "Vuu have inaiiy warm friciuls in tliis ^>c•cti(>ll of the Stale, friL-iuls xslio 
 have watched you for years, and who not only rejoice that your ])nhlic 
 record is without a blot, hut that there is not even an act over whicli they 
 feel called upon to cast the mantle of charity." 
 
 "Althouj^h it is my lot to difTer from yourself in my political tenets, I 
 cannot hut express my admiration for your majjnanimous course in the 
 race for Senatorial honors, and must say that your many friends in North 
 Carolina think that even in defeat you were victorious." 
 
 At the eml of hi.s Senatorial .ser\icc his own words tes- 
 tily that he had followed the course he had prescribed for 
 himself at its be_oinnin<;: 
 
 I have endeavored to serve my State and people and the whole country 
 faithfully. * * * j think I can truthfully say, that I have not neg- 
 lected the business interests of any one, rich or poor, white or black, and 
 without regard to party affiliations, when the same have been brought 
 Id my attention and I might be properly charged with them. And while 
 I have paid due regard to the highest interests of the country and par- 
 ticularly those of the people whose immediate servant I am, I have 
 been ever faithful to the democratic party. 
 
 I can't conjecture what the future has in store for me; but under all 
 circumstances I intend to do what I conceive to be right and leave no 
 stain on my name when I shall be calleil to my final account. It is my 
 purpose to go at once into the active and zealous ])ractice of my profession. 
 
 While rej)resentin_<4 his State in the councils of the nation 
 at Washington, his law office at Raleigh was kept open by 
 two of his friends, with wliom a coiJartnershiji had been 
 formed — Hon. T. C. Fuller, now Jndge of one of the 
 Federal Courts, and Hon. S. A. Ashe, nnder the firm name 
 of Merrinion, F'nller 6s: AsIk-. Reluming from Washing- 
 ton, my father entered upon a lucrative juactice of the law. 
 On the withdrawal of Mr. Ashe to jMirsne journalism the 
 firm became Merrimon 6c F'nller. In the practice of law, 
 which he finally pursued alone, he continued to labor, gain- 
 ing from it, i>erliaps, a better income than that which 
 awaited him upon tlie bench. In the year i'"^S3 he was 
 app(jinted 1)\- (lONernor Jarvis to the .scat upon the vSupreme 
 
I l*S srMMKRKfKI r» MKKIUM«»V. , '.» 
 
 C«Mirl Ix-ncli made vacaiu L'\ liic ieM;;nauon of Ju(l)^e 
 Thomas Ruffin, Jr. Tliis appointment was twice confirmed 
 by the votes of the people at the polls. 
 
 On the death of Chief Jnstice Smith, in November, 
 1SS9, Jnd^e Merrimon sncceeded him as the chief jndicial 
 officer of the .Stale. The i)eople a^ain showed their confi- 
 dence in his fitness for the position by K'^'"J^ him, it is 
 said, abont 40,000 majority at the election followinj.,' the 
 appointment which had been made by (Governor I), (i. 
 Fowle. 
 
 As occnpyinjij this honorable position it .seems that he 
 acquitted himself, as in the discharjje of former dnty con- 
 ferred npon hijn by the jK'ople, with inflexible purpose for 
 the triumph of ri};ht ajjainst wronjij, jnstice over oppression, 
 and the maintenance of the law's demands inviolable. As 
 a Jiidj^je it was .said of him: 
 
 "Wliilc upon the Supriiiu- Court IkmuIi much of his attc-ntiou was 
 nivcii to sctlliux the practice un«ler the Cmle, uml he was sj>ecially fitted 
 for this work. He cleared away the uncertuitity that envelopetl puiiits of 
 practice, construing the statutes in a plain and concise way, so as to have 
 it express its true nieanin>;. His opinions, >>eKinnin}{ with the Kgth vol- 
 ume of our Rc|)orls and cxtendin}^ throuj^h the uxjlh volujne, abound 
 with such force and learninj^ as will ever mark him one of the greatest 
 and purest Judj^es of mo<lern limes. He was broad, and at the same time 
 possessetl a power of concentration that enabled him to discern the true 
 principle and deal with it at ease. He was a l)old, just Judge, fearless of 
 consequences when he l)elieve«l he was right. He at no time stooped to 
 popular prejudice or opinion, and sustained through life a spotless name. 
 While upon the bench he scorne<l the idea of lH;ing influenced by outside 
 popular feeling, and had the courage and mauhoo<I to give his opinion of 
 the law as he in conscience understood it. 
 
 "What was more natural than that this man whose life-work had been 
 spent in following precedents, in establishing highways through the intri- 
 cacies of legal questions, in the support and maintenance of those princi- 
 ples of human conduct that the experience of the best and wisest of men 
 has determined to be most durable and most worthy, and who illustrated 
 by his own ways that the most exalted plane of highest virtue was his con- 
 
80 Ar<;rsTrs srMMi:i;iii:i.i) .mi:i;i:im<'N. 
 
 slant aim, shoiiM l>f foiiiKl at tht- last with his t-yt-s fixtd u]><'ii Him wlio 
 is the fomitain and sourrc of all law, of all thiiiK^ whirh arc for the hcst 
 of uiaiikiml? 
 
 "Yes, the closing scenes of his life gave evidence trunipct-tongned 
 that he who loved truth in law here shall stand forever blessed in the 
 presence of Him who is the great lawgiver and maker. 
 
 "His hclicf and his mode of living here were in the eternal fatherhood 
 of God and the boundless brotherhood of man. In the world above, where 
 the reign of law is supreme and without infringement, shall this just man 
 live forever."* 
 
 *From the speech made by Mr. Annistead Jones at the presentation of JudRc- Merri- 
 mon's portrait to the Supreme Court, on Tuesday, March 27, 1S94. 
 
Till-: lUvM'TV < >1- HIS LI1-1-: AND CI lARACTICR. 
 
 Without donht the strong; jHiints in the cliaracler of him 
 of whom these pages have soujjht to tell were broiij^ht out 
 pronuneully iii his life-work, iu his whole career at the 
 bar, iu the Senate and on the bench. To enlarge upon 
 them in descrij)lion is, perhaps, unnecessary, and yet there 
 are in human character many minor jx-culiarities, shades 
 of tem|Hramtnt and disjHisition which the world knows not 
 of, but which make up the complete ujan, and, blended 
 with the more marked characteristics, constitute for each 
 one an individuality. To descrilx- the delicate fabric of 
 character with accuracy, and to give to others one's own 
 view of it, and the significance of every detail of its com- 
 position, is not an easy ta.sk. By its fruits the tree is to be 
 judged, and in a man's life-work are most clearly seen the 
 thoughts and inltuts of his heart. 
 
 Froiu the cordial expressions of his friends, with refer- 
 ence to mv father's character, the emphasis of their admira- 
 tion -seems laid upon his integrity, his uncompromising 
 uprightness, as upon the strong foundation on which the 
 sterling qualities of his character were built. That such 
 were indeed component parts of it is shown in instances 
 during his early life when he sought to maintain the broad 
 principles of right and justice in opposition to party preju- 
 dice, and, in the words of a friend of his boyhood days, did 
 not allow himself to be swayed from the right b\- e\er\- 
 breath of popular opinion. He was glad to believe that 
 from youth his attainments were, humanly .speaking, the 
 result of his own earnest endeavor and individual effort. 
 II 
 
82 An.rsirs srMMi:i:ii i:i.i> \i i:i;i;i\ntN. 
 
 His ctlucatioii — not the coiiipk-tu colkjL^iale course of tlie 
 bc)\s of lo-(1a\-, but more nuliinentar\-, with more of out- 
 side toil for hiui who would succed, his uuiuual labor on 
 the farm, his first toilsome years of practice at the bar, 
 with the succeedinjj^ difficulties occasioned by the Civil 
 War — all these were steppinj^-stones for him, laboriously 
 ascended in face of disadvanta_Lje and to be made conducive 
 to still further advancement. God gave him natural ability ; 
 he, for his part, did not fail to improve the talent given 
 him. If "the esteem of our contem|)oraries is the highest 
 reward of the citizen," surely that reward was his ot whom 
 these words were written: 
 
 "An iiicorriiptihle man. Threats could not intimidate him, money nor 
 the trappings of office could not bribe him. Honesty was written in his 
 very countenance; bad men feared him, and good men looked up to him 
 as the bold and eloquent defen<ler of their rights an<l the rights of the 
 people." 
 
 It has been said that "There are four qualifications for 
 a Judge: Inflexible integrity, intellectual ability, learning 
 in the law, and the judicial temperament. If to these are 
 added long experience and a just sense of the dignity of 
 the bench, the result is a magistrate /r/v.v atijuc rohindicsy 
 
 Whether Judge Mcrrimon possessed these characteristics 
 or not it is for the world to determine, but with an innate 
 sense of justice he combined the (iualil\ of mercy, a trait 
 that should eunobk- and biautify the character of every 
 Judge, making him no mere mechanical adjudicator for the 
 people, meting out a certain portion of pejialty to every 
 offender, but whatever the rulings miL;hl be behind them 
 lav the heart's warm symi>alhy for the weak and the 
 oppres.sed. The administration of justice in such a man- 
 ner betokens that spirit which is destined to triunijih finally 
 over the crime of our land, to supersede our work-houses 
 
\V(i\ - IMKKI IKI.h MKKKINInN. 83 
 
 iiMi j.i ii;u iiiiii 11 > .111(1 to circumvent and conc|ucr the pur- 
 poses of lawlessness by its own pure weapon — the sword 
 of the Spirit. 
 
 This trait of my father's character — sympathy for the 
 p(K)r and wretched — is manifested in readinj^j the words of 
 a jjratefnl friend who tells of "a circumstance that will 
 never Ix* efTaced from my memory — you rose from a Ixd 
 of sickness in very cold weather, had me released as a cap- 
 tive to return to a family in distress." 
 
 With this kindness of heart and warm, sympathetic nature 
 there wa.s combined a slronj; devotion to justice and rej^ard 
 for the rijjhts of others. These he resjx-cted and disliked 
 to see them infriu;;ed upon. He was courteous and polite 
 to hijjh and low, t<» each race, without distinction. It was 
 often that one mi>;ht hear him say to a .servant, "Well 
 
 , have y<»u said your prayers to-day?" and aj^ain, 
 
 talkinj^ to those whose life was passing in caste and scale 
 much lower than his own of relijjion and that which makes 
 each human .soul alike in God's sijjht — a common bunkii 
 of sin. In his mcxle of livinj^, as in his charity, he was 
 unostentatious, and back of the mere alms-j^ivintj lay the 
 fellow- feel in j^ for the j^ood of him to whom the charity was 
 offered. In the affairs of daily life he was punctual and 
 methodical. He himself said: "My rule is promptitude 
 in all thinjijs," and durinj^ his entire term of .service on 
 the Supreme Court Ix-nch (up to the time of his last ill- 
 ness) he never missed a moment of being punctuall\ at 
 his place on the openintj; of court. Indeed, from early 
 manhood, duty had led him on to fulfill the requirements 
 of his profession, and he realized that "the practical law- 
 yer's life is not one of ea.se and lu.\ury, and especially in 
 that section of the country." With good grace could 
 he give to another the advice bv which he himself 
 
84 AUGUSTUS srMMi:i;Kii:i.i» mkiiiiimon. 
 
 had profited: " DetciiniiR' to ox't-rcoine cvcr\' obstacle, 
 however imposinj^ in its character or diineiisions." 
 With respect to his own metliod of dealinj^ with his 
 fellow-nien lie said: "It is a rule of my life to deal 
 fairly with all men and to never exact more than a fair 
 compensation for services. Indeed, I do not always exact 
 this." He loved his profession and was a stndent in its 
 realms. In snmmer, when the session of active dnty was 
 over, and the mental toil and earnest application in the 
 work of the Court seemed to have wearied him, he would still 
 read his law-books, review cases, write opinions, and in this 
 wav continue his w^ork, while in truth his health required 
 absolute mental and physical rest. Especially during 
 the latter part of his life did he seem wedded t(j the books of 
 his profession — the law, its philosophy and history. But this 
 did not preclude his interest in and fondness for works of 
 other kinds. He was a svstematic reader of the Bible, and in 
 his library one might find many ])ooks treating of the great 
 truths of religion, the momentous questions of life, its 
 mvsteries and its purpose. Liddon's Bampton Lectures, 
 which he had been reading shortly before his last illness, 
 were arguments full of thought and force to him. In 
 lighter literature he was fond of Dickens and Thackeray, 
 especially of the former, whose alternate i)athos and humor 
 could touch his heart and bring the tears into his e>es, or 
 draw forth his hearty laughter. He loved to reread the 
 scenes that inii)ressed him in Dickens' graj)hic word-paint- 
 ing of child-character, the death of Little Nell, of Paul Dom- 
 bey and of Vagabond Joe in Bleak House. My father 
 understood the motive of the writer of the latter scene, 
 which so stronglv appeals in so simple a manner to the 
 liecdless world that forj^ets the wretched d> iug in igno- 
 rance about us. 
 
-rM.MKKHKI.I» MKIIIIIMON. s.") 
 
 This little note written to a friend who had loaned hin. 
 a tender little tale of child- life, cvi.l.nces his love for s„ch 
 pure and pathetic literature: 
 
 iZZV' '*'""'' *"" ^"^ **" "PP"''""''^ '" "•-« •MiH.m.ler- 
 nii.l iMiirhi-. mv I, "iv nature 
 
 ■-•1 up with 
 «cll cxprr!«c*| in the purest 
 
 hcirtrtrhc* -i' 
 them! 
 
 TI.C lUllo hook-, ulc «,.imp|,_„.„,„„ II , .. ,.. „f ,„„ „ 
 
 - . . .t:„; ™,;r' '• '" •"■' '-• •• - — '"- "" ••■••" - >'" 
 
 nimv w.,it.„ h..,r t -the voice of 
 
 i'^." mill hear 
 llrnru • • • hum,c 
 
 • ("»» the earth." And 
 
 '• Kr«.v with nKc. like poor little Humphrey. U- nhle 
 come: nicon ■•"•c«tla*l. Mother? Oh. Moihcr! Ill 
 
 r\u- • 
 
 ••Va; '' l>">«iil»t-y." 
 
 ■ ■• of the touch- 
 <"' I won't My »o. 
 ., .. lory to nie. 
 
 Yr. frieml. ASM 
 
 Mf.n.lay morniiiK. January 7. "89. ■ • m. 
 
 Kut my father's friendship for authors in the world of 
 fiction was not confined to the writers referred to above 
 tor he had atnassed a valnable collection of the works of 
 the world's great thinkers, and his librarv was a sotirce of 
 deep interest and pleasure to hin,. He understood the 
 value of good books and their saiutarv iufl.ience over uir- 
 ruwunnds for fron, then, he had acquired his own broad 
 held of inforuKition and was enabled therebv on so great 
 ^' nn.nl.,., ,. -aried subjects to give his intelligent and edifv- 
 
8() Ar<irsTrs srMMi;i;i iii n Mi:i;i;iMnN. 
 
 iiii; opinions. The- law was indLcd his si)ccialt\', hut by 
 no means were the len^^lh and breadth of his strong, far- 
 rcacliin.^ mental powers circnmscril)ed within this narrow 
 limit. 
 
 He was a Ibient and elTective speaker, whether in Con- 
 gressional debate, on the hustings, at temperance meetings, 
 or school commencements, fnll of earnestness on those 
 themes that lay so near his heart, and always with some- 
 thing to sa\- that met some need. The cause of temper- 
 ance was dear to him; he had seen the sting and sin of the 
 evil of intemperance and pronounced it "the crowning 
 temporal curse of humanity.'" Education for the ma.s.ses, 
 intelligent labor and progress for all classes and conditions 
 of people, were subjects which he could discuss with more 
 than theoretical interest. He believed in the nobility of 
 labor, be it of the hands or of the head. To him there 
 was no degradation in honest manual toil. The honor or 
 dishonor rested upon the manner (jf doing the work, not 
 upt)n the work itself. A friend said of him: 
 
 "He believed in every man's havinj^ a purpose, and devotinjj himself lo 
 his life-work vii;orously and earnestly. He never made a si)eech in which 
 he did not strive to impress upon those who heard him the dignity of 
 labor and the beauty of uprightness and justice. He haled the distinc- 
 tions which modern custom puts on the word labor. He once said to me: 
 ' I have no respect for a man who does not work. The Creator made all 
 men to labor, and the man who is an idler, and who is not a laborer, is not 
 followinji the mission of his creation. I iin .i-< much a working man as if 
 I shoveil the plane or worked on the farm. I have worked on the farm, 
 but I never labored so hard or became so fatijjued as since I have 
 been a Judj^e. .All men who do their lUity are laborers, whether on the 
 bench, at the forge or in the field.' * * * He believed in work, and 
 he believed in integrity of life. He jjracticed what he believed. His life 
 was free from blame, Jind he always had unwavering f.iilh in CkmI." 
 
 My father loved Nature; the singing birds, llie soft, 
 green grass, the blooming flowers and verdant slirul)s were 
 
\ IMKI{FIKIJ» Mi;i;iMM«>N. S7 
 
 --M.i vv ^ M i.,.!c pleasure to him; he would watch the j^raceful 
 maples, the j^lossy maj^nolias, tlie dense-leaved oaks through 
 whose branches the golden sunlight flitted, and the horse- 
 chestnut trees as they grew and expanded year by year; all 
 these were interesting to him in their beauty of growth and 
 development. Sometimes when the roses bloomed, in his 
 walks among his favorites, he would cut a deep crimson or 
 full-blown pink one and bring it in to j^resent to some one 
 of the family as an offering l>eautiful and acceptable. He 
 loved to hear the songsters in the trees, to watch the ducks 
 ill their abhitions, or the playful antics of the cat, and to 
 give to his faithful horst- and dog the evidence of their 
 master's afl*ection and regard for the welfare of his dumlj 
 creature.s. It was but natural that he should love to con- 
 template the broad realm of Nature, for from infancy and 
 boyhood she had snrrouufled him with her grandest forms 
 in mountain, stream and valley. ( )f those early scenes 
 he says: "The glorious mountains! ( ), I love them as I love 
 my.self. " 
 
 This love of Natnri i«- shown in letters written by m\ 
 father to those who held the first place in his heart and 
 whose welfare was first in his thoughts. E.xtracts from 
 those letters are given below, and just here it may be .said 
 that his writing was not very legible; indeed, to .some it 
 was a troublesome matter to read his letters, so unusual 
 were the formations of some of the words. "Your writ- 
 ing," wrote a friend, "is hard to decipher, and were it one 
 of your 'opinions' it might come ver\- well under the 
 description of Ar non scn'p/n/'' 
 
 Washington. I). C. 
 
 I sit lliinkiiig c>l hmiK- ;iii>l tlie dear ones there while I write these hasty 
 lines. I feel lonely. Did yon ever feel lonely with hundreds all around 
 you? It is not always that the heart feels cheered by company — mine 
 often runs off after distant ones and no charms can call it back. Mv 
 
HJ^ AiiiisTrs siMMi;i;i'ii:i.i> mi;i;i;imi>\. 
 
 heart is al honit-I And liow iUmt Imim- is! Hoim-, lioiin-!! Word llial 
 stirs tlif soul \villi iiitLiistj loiij^inj;! Tliure is no place like huiiiel There 
 one may find friends indeed — tlii>se who appreciate — those who love and 
 sustain. Dark hours and days may cast their shadows there, but behind 
 tlie shadows — 'neath the rain-fall, however dark, tlie lij<ht of love and 
 sympathy shines on brightly and truly. I often think of this and it affords 
 me pleasure. Here and elsewhere I see the smiles of affected friendship — 
 I turn only to home and dear ones there, to find that love and friendship 
 which is jjure and will never die. 
 
 T(i his (langhter: 
 
 I am glad to see that you enjoy contentment — that you are learning — 
 that you begin to love to learn and that you have the soft sunshine of 
 contentment in your soul. * * * We ought to draw pleasure from all 
 about us— did you ever think of this? There are the sun and moon and 
 stars — the trees, the shrubs, and then too, especially, flowers. What a 
 field fiowers afford for innocent pleasure! Then to do this, you must 
 understand their nature — their form, their color — their scent and the 
 seasons that suit them — all these things and more you must know of them, 
 and you can learn from books. 
 
 My dear little daughter, God bless, jirotect and direct you in all things — 
 save you from sorrow and sighing through all the i)atliway of life, and 
 after awhile when you shall quit this world, I want you to l)e, I trust you 
 will be, a beautiful angel in a world far more beautiful than this! Good 
 men iu all ages have firmly believed that there is a fairer world than ours, 
 and I love you so much and so tenderly, that I want you to go to that 
 beautiful land. Isaiah says, "And a highway shall be there, ami a way, 
 and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over 
 it, but it shall be for them; the wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not 
 err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up 
 thereon— it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there. 
 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs 
 and everlasting joy ui)on their heads; they shall obtain joy and gbulness, 
 and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." What beautiful \Nords and how 
 comforting! Don't you think so? And would you not like, when you 
 have to leave this world, to go there? In llie same chapter it is said. 
 " The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the 
 desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." What beautiful words ami 
 thoughts! I almost want to go to that land; don't you? (iet your Bible 
 and read the 35th chapt. of Isaiah and tell me what you think of it. 
 
 While sitting here alone in my room a few moments ago reading, I 
 heard some one in the parlor not far off, singing and pl.tying on the j)iano. 
 
MMKUriKI.I) MKHItlMnN. Sit 
 
 .\t,irrr tn } •/",/ ;,. / n, , .\"4 tllC HlU'iic, VCfV SWfrCl. ffll OH IIIV CafS, I 
 
 felt very »a«l. «n«l in a moment my thnii>{ht!i were with yoii at home. 
 
 tjnx a moment. I *ai«l to myM-lf. what cities this mean — this iilca 
 
 <T my C.ofl to thee?" What is(;<Kl? And why shouM I wish to Ix- 
 
 near to Ctotl? Well. I have an idea of what (toil is; hut I fear it is an 
 
 imperfect one; my n<>ii>>ti i- that (mmI is the incomprehensible — supreme 
 
 in nil re<tpect»— tiriii. c — that made nil things— that upholds all 
 
 ' (t fills etcriii'.\ t: ' - cxiste»l — that exists now and 
 
 exist in alisolute \ liowever or liv whomsoever con- 
 
 •f. And lie ;i;.i.lv for a pnrjiose, n 
 
 •M-. lie made uh, r a ho<k1 and wise 
 
 -e. that we mi^ht «»l>ey the lawn pre*cnlieil lor our ){<'vcrnment 
 
 • if we olfHcrvc the course of conduct He has prrscrilK-*! for us. 
 
 our nature will lie in ali»olute harmony with His —Our ohject ou);ht to l)e, 
 
 ;r nature 1. • • • We flesire to go 
 
 it r«l«- • • 'ii» "o. we must nvl nearer 
 
 1. and I ! to Thee" -that 
 
 irer to a I • I am sure, when 
 
 I consider our nature — our wants — our «lesireH — our rcT|uirement.s — the 
 
 consistency and harmony that ought to prevail in human conduct— that 
 
 we mnv come to desire that the «•»// o/ Cod he done; the perfect 
 
 i!id that the ihiing that will 
 re is no happiness \>ithout 
 this. • * » Why IS It, seeing the^- things, that we will not observe 
 this jicrfect law — will of CJofl? Ah. this is a grave question, and to me it 
 implies a great mystery. Why should we wish to do wrong, when we 
 know that the consequence of so doing is misery, unhappiness. discon- 
 tent! Can you tell me? See if you can. • • • Why should any one 
 lie, swear, steal and do a thousand things that bring shame — disgrace and 
 misery ? Is it not strange indee<l, that thousands r|o so? And why will we 
 not practice virtue in all our acts and thoughl'i — -iincerily, honesty, upright- 
 ness in all things, especially when we see that from such a course of con- 
 duct come peace, confidence, comfort, ease of conscience! How confident, 
 how tru»tful, how respectable, how fearless, is he who has conscious inno- 
 cence! I think that many persons do wrong from carelessness — from 
 inadvertence — they do not reflect u[)on what is right — they contract habits 
 of doing wrong and one wrong leads to doing another. * * * We 
 ought to think of our acts before we do them — look at the nature of them 
 and the consequences to flow from them — and this question should always 
 \y*i present in our minds — is this right — can I stand by this proposed act ? 
 If we would >x- thus careful, I'm sure we would be much better than we 
 rtfe. Tin- birds sing » * * they follow out the law of their nature. 
 ■\hy may not you do so too? See the flowers that you love — 
 
90 AlfilSTrs SlMMKItFIKI.I* M Ki; I; I M< "N. 
 
 llify follow the law of Ihcir iiaUirf— the law of God— how heaiitifiil they 
 are — thev do their oflicc — why may yon not do the same and he more 
 beautiful than they ? 
 
 I want vou to be ever j^l^'l '"^"'^ brij^ht — then you will make your mother 
 and me so. If I hear a bird siny cheerily, I feel eucouraj^ed and cheered; 
 don't you? Strive to make all about you happy; lift up your soul— live 
 while you may and make the most ami best of life! 
 
 On the death of his wife's sister: 
 
 I can well understand that you are sorrowful and gloomy — that you all 
 are so. Hut it is not well to give way too much to gloom- God has spoken 
 — He knows l)est. We should submit to His supreme will, and learn from 
 such manifestations of His Providence, the deepest wisdom. By and by, 
 we too must pass the like solemn test. Shall we be ready? Let us so 
 square our lives, that in the end, we can pass from this life ([uielly with 
 confidence and living hope! 
 
 To his SOU at school: 
 
 Be sure to read your Bible regularly. From it you can get rich stores 
 of information that will fit you to live and die. Do not wait to see what 
 others do in this respect. — You must set the example. 
 
 This is my birthday. This day I am fifty three years old! .\nil how- 
 little I have accomplished in life for myself, for my family, for society 
 and for God! I feel sad indeed, while I reflect how much I might have 
 done and how little I have gotten out of life! But still, my life has been 
 one of constant labor. — I have not known what are commonly called the 
 pleasures of life. I have sought for that I have not gained. I have how- 
 ever, one comforting reflection -I have not brought reproach on the name 
 I bear— if my family and friends have no reason to be proud of me, they, 
 on the other hand, need not blush for me. I might have done more and 
 better; I might have done less and worse. O, that I had <lone more! — .\s 
 I stanil at this point in life's way, I ask myself the solemn question, what 
 shall the future be? How shall I go, in what way, what shall I do, to 
 acconqjlish most— how shall I most surely extract the juice— the essence, 
 of the remnant of life left to me? How shall I ennoble my own life, how 
 shall I benefit and bless my family ami society, and above this, how shall I 
 get nearer to God? I want to do what, under nature and Go»l, I ought to 
 do. But I am weak and ignorant — I go stumbling along in the dark, 
 through doubt and .ipijrehension. What shall I do, how ^hall I do to fill 
 the measure of dut\ — of life! My prayer is, that GckI will help, strengthen 
 and direct Jiie! - I realize that life is lapsing fast— at most. I must go hence 
 
MMKHKIKI.I> MKKUIMnN. \i\ 
 
 before a long while. anH O nhrrr* Mv life is chaAtciutl hy tlic <lfpartiire 
 of dear niic«», I ?»han •« in lliis Jifc. I fin<l myself 
 
 ...11-.' inrli. 'liMiL II.' ..r • If the qur^lion, when shall I 
 
 linil me. ami no forward 
 wnii 111 ii-ii- -' j.'r- ■ ''•do life's 
 
 •Inly' Th.il i* ii • ; do all I 
 
 ran • 
 
 Ti Till t-arth. Ihe 
 
 Minihine. Ihe tree*. Ihe *hmh*, the fjravi. th' ill thinj^s 
 
 "' ■ '" -■ • ■' ...(..' . -..,.. ..f .. . ,,;; tj,p „ir| 
 
 And I send 
 
 th- (!>vvep». the trees 
 
 .er I \on\c Mjx.n them. 
 
 • w Hwcet id — 
 
 ^ How I, , , arcl 
 
 They rhrer ni. iid liMen. and think of dear Mary nml 
 
 her Hweet fMHi^" .m-i i.-n^; {•• ■.« < m r. 
 
 \' ' ' • ' love of Nature lay my fathers 
 
 foil' ; nnisic, for sonjjs that dwelt 
 
 upon the purest themes and those that told of Heaven. 
 Amoii^ his favorites, were " My Aiii Coiiiitrie," ''Nearer 
 my God to Thee," "On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand," 
 and "Jesns, I my Cross Have Taken." On the Sabbath, 
 liis work laid aside, he nsnally attended the chnrch of his 
 preference, the Hdenton Street Methodist Episcopal Chnrch, 
 Sonth. However, he was not bij^oted with respect to this 
 preference, bnt often enjoyetl worshipin;^ with the members 
 of other denominations. If on the Sabbath he failed to 
 attend service for some reason he deemed a snfficient 
 hindrance he would read his Bible, the Psalm.s — David's 
 beantifnl sonl-cries, and John Wesley's Sermons. The latter 
 sometimes he would read aloud for the benefit of whoever 
 mijjht be with him. Hall'.s, Marvin's and Ba.scom's Ser- 
 mons were amon<:^ his favorites also, but the fertile mind 
 of Wesiey seemed to brinj^ forth more fully and clearly 
 that which satisfied his need. Up to a short lime before 
 
02 Aif^.TsTrs scmmi:i;iii:m» mi;i;i;im()N. 
 
 his release from iho fk-sh lie had not forinall\- coniicclcd 
 himself with the Church; but his mind had been dee])ly 
 en<;aged upon the \veio;hty questions of eternity and of the 
 salvation of human souls. He was an honest man; his 
 honesty was apparent in this, the most serious question of 
 his life; and he had deferred takin^ the vows of the Church 
 until, from his inmost soul, with the taith of a little child, 
 without which none shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, he 
 could repeat those solemn words. 
 
 This was indeed the crowning beaut\- of his life, the 
 summit of its achievement. Like Newton, it seems that he 
 realized that man's wisdom is but the shadow of God's 
 knowledge — yea, foolishness with him; that the highest 
 pinnacle of human attainment is but a feeble elevation 
 from which the mind can more clearly perceive, though in 
 but meagre part, God's infinite love and plan and purpose. 
 
 Physically my father had been a man of robust health, 
 stout but strong and vigorous before disease laid its deadly 
 hand upon him, and then the change was but a gradual 
 one. His face and head were finely shaped. His brow 
 was broad and high and his countenance frank and gentle, 
 with an underlying expression of strength and firmness. 
 But the face became thinner as the days passed on, and 
 paler; the body was yielding to the demands of a too 
 incessant mental labor, in.somuch that he was forced to con- 
 sult a specialist of Philadelphia. The case did not seem 
 critical, and with ]:)roper mental rest it was thought 
 that good effects would result. Dyspepsia, an old enemy, 
 troubled him greatly; the sorely needed rest was not 
 taken, and work went on ajjparently unwearyini.;!)' until 
 the tired frame refu.sed to obey the will, and on the 
 14th day of September, 1S92, he la\' down to obtain the 
 rest he had denied him.self so louir. The immeiliate cause 
 
-IMMKUKIKM) MKKlUMoN. !>.*'. 
 
 of his illness was malaria, and in his wcakcnctl condition the 
 old disease ihal had Ironhlcd him for several years gained 
 ascendancy of Nature's recnix-rative |x>wers. Sciatica and 
 d\ ' ' ' ' • . ^,,(1 tlic proiKT nonrish- 
 
 ni' ' iMiild np the fast cl)l)ing 
 
 strength. For eight long, weary weeks the once powerful 
 frame sought earnestly to free itself from the shackles of 
 dis<."ase and to rise to •. ' ' ain. How anx- 
 
 ious he was to Ik- up. ; ^ • Court and iK-ar- 
 
 ing his share of the burden there I How often the work 
 seemed present to his thoughts, when, even in the wander- 
 ings of his mind, he atldressed the ; ry client, or 
 sjKjke in pitying tones of tme wln»se ul failed, "a 
 poor woman." Propix-d up with pillows and .sustained by 
 strong, loving arm.s, in face of the opposition of physician 
 and loved ones, he signetl the ' , for the law students 
 who were at that tinu* to Ik* « 1. That Irenibling, 
 faithful hand as it traced tht)se wavering lines .sought in 
 the hour of weakness, with the signs of ebbing life upon 
 that pallid face, to Ix* true to the trust his |X'ople had com- 
 mitted to him. It was remarked how i)aliently he b(jre the 
 pain and di.scomfort of his illness, how patiently he waited 
 to be up and at his work again. His clothes were brought 
 out at his request, ready that he might put them on. All, 
 he resumed them no more! And when h<jpe seemed fading 
 away he spoke of giving place to another who could serve 
 the people in his stead and do the work which he felt should 
 be done. 
 
 "It is honest and honorable," he said, forgetful, it would 
 seem, of his own labors and deserts, and thoughtful of the 
 good of the State and the accomplishment of the work of 
 its judiciary. 
 
 What thoughts were sometimes his, as he lay with closed 
 
<)4 .vrcrsTis simmi:i;i m:i.i> mi;i;i;i\hin. 
 
 eyes, are revealed io us in tliese words, wliicli he was lieard 
 repeatinj;: "My (iod! I worsliip and adore Thee; I trust 
 in Thee! I will be ready when Thou callest me henee — 
 in Thine own good time." 
 
 On the afternoon of November 2d he made the following 
 statement to his pastor, Rev. J. X. Cole, who took the 
 words down, as nearly as he remembered them, after leav- 
 ing the sick-room: 
 
 "Mr. Cole, I don't know whether I am to live or to die, Imt I think I 
 am i^ettinji close to the end. 
 
 "I am prepared to die. I am ready for the great event. I am not 
 afraid to die. And the ground of my preparation is faith in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. He is everything in salvation. 
 
 "I want you to receive me into the Methodist Church. I am a Metho- 
 dist. ISIy whole life has been in the sympathy and love of Meth- 
 o<lism. And I want you to announce next Sunday, without ostentation, 
 that Judge Merrimon has been received into the Methodist Church; that 
 I am not able to come to the church, but desire to have this announce- 
 ment made because it is proper that it should be made." 
 
 On the next day he assumed the vows of the Methodist 
 Churcli, and with her who had been his beloved companion 
 in life's journey since his boyhood, and with tho.se who 
 loved him, he partook of the ble.ssed sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper. His faith was firm and bright, and he was 
 waiting, yea, ready, for God's will to be done. 
 
 About a week before the end .some of his favorite songs 
 were sung to him, and he repeated to the uur.se a ver.se of 
 one of them that .seemed iue.\i)rLSsibly beautiful to him: 
 
 ".\n' these sights an' these sounds will as naething be to me. 
 When I hear the angels singin', in my ain countrie." 
 
 How soon he heard that .song of inexpressible beauty! 
 On the morning of the 14th of November, 1892, ere the 
 sun had jiladdened the earth with his morning ray.s, the 
 
-I MMKHFIKLn MKKKIMON. <».-, 
 
 soul of Augustus Mcrriinon passed into the presence of the 
 Suu of Righteousness and into the realization of the beau- 
 tiful words he had so often read: 
 
 •I will Iwhnl.l ; „ ri>{hlcou*ncs*. I shall l>c Mtbficil. wlun I 
 
 auakr. with Thv : 
 
 ,(i^'5i^ 
 
!k; au(justus srMMi:i;iii:i.ii mi:i;i;im(>n. 
 
 "Spirit! Thy labors are o'er, 
 Thy term of probation is run, 
 Thy steps are now bound for the untrodden shore 
 And the race of immortals beyun. 
 
 "Spirit! Look not on the strife 
 
 Or the pleasures of earth with re>;ret, 
 Pause not, on the threshold of limitless life, 
 To mourn for the day that is set. 
 
 "Spirit! No fetters can bind. 
 
 No wicked have power to molest, 
 There the weary like thee — the wretclied, shall find 
 A haven — a mansion of rest. 
 
 "Spirit! How bright is the road 
 
 For which thou art now on the winjj;, 
 Thv home it will be with thy Saviour and God, 
 Their loud hallelujah to sing."* 
 
 *A favorite of iiiv father's. 
 
u x.vfx.. ... nu\. \vAi/ri-:R ci.ark at tiii- 
 
 MKMORIAI, MHKTIXC, oF Till' HAK 
 
 NOVHMBHR 7\. 1893. 
 
 Mr Cmaikm%n — It ww *aic| Uv one of old thai tin? "rrirmUhip of n 
 
 >*•' l.y M<lf at 
 
 '!'• -^ . .>ur homes 
 
 lav m thr •..iinc <|)rri«t..n. .h to niitl from this 
 
 |>l.irc, I mine lo '. • iloj^y anil 
 
 ailmirnlinii. hut in ..d.- of tin* 
 
 . V t.. 
 
 kiuw hiiii *\€ U ilure »«* a hi the •.implirity of his 
 
 '''""■'• "' ' - »■'■"•' ... ..,, oews of iiieii mill thiii){s. 
 
 of hi* eoiivictions. ami more than 
 
 H He 
 
 the iii-i- -UkxI 
 
 have sot ;, coin- 
 
 inniuie<l their resi)ect ninl their entin And none have more 
 
 deserve<l it. "To the last he kept tht- »n.;< ... -.h of his soul, and so men 
 mourn over him." lie first saw the liji^ht in Transylvania, in the midst 
 of that glorious land of peak and valley. 
 
 "Where the heart of Nature 
 Beats strong; amid her hills." 
 
 There. of the Poetic Genius of Scotland, the guardian 
 
 Fate of 1 ' I'ound him at the plow and threw her inspiring 
 
 mantle over him." From that moment to the scene which was his latest 
 he was always fountl in the path of duty and honor. From the hour he 
 entered public life his State heape<l her honors upon him, refraining not 
 from the very liiy;hest and rarest in her )<ift, nor until, with the slow 
 moving feet of those who Itear the dead, and with the voice of them that 
 wept, from this chani>»er where they lay in state, the mortal remains of 
 the MVLiiih Chief Tii>ti. r of thi- Court were borne in honor to their last 
 
98 AnUSTlS SIMMKKIIKI.h M Ki; i; I M< >\. 
 
 rcstinjij-placc. Tlit>u,v;h not an olil man, harily turULd of three score, lie 
 has departed full of honors, while the friends who hcj^an the tnarch of life 
 with him have been scattered like leaves in wintry weather. 
 
 North Carolina has long since made up her verdict upon the character 
 and services of this, her son. No hleniish in the course of a long and 
 splendid public career ever attached to his name. 
 
 In the Senate of the United States he so bore himself that none could 
 doubt that he had no other end in view than to serve the best interests of 
 his State and country-. After he had retired frotn the Senate, one Gov- 
 ernor, with universal public applause, placed him on this Court, and 
 another gave him its chief place. Both appointments were unanimously 
 indorsed by the conveutionsof the Democratic party, to which he belonged, 
 and were ratified by overwhelming majorities at the polls. 
 
 The report of the committee has so completely outlined the leading 
 events of his career that it would be repetition to refer to them, nor shall 
 I allude to that record of his industry and talents which is to be found in 
 twenty-two volumes of the Reports of this Court. 
 
 We cannot but be struck with the rapid changes which have succeeded 
 one another on the bench where he sat. In the last quarter of a century 
 there has been a vacancy, on an average, every year and a half. In the last 
 three years three of its five members have been removed by death. In 
 some respects the public lives of all three bore a resemblance. Each of 
 the three, before coming upon this bench, had represented his State in 
 the National Councils at Washington, and each had come from that ordeal 
 with fame untarnished and without so much as the smell of fire on his 
 garments. With Judge Davis his relations had l^een especially close. 
 Together for years at Washington, where one sat in the Senate, while the 
 other was in the House, they were later reunited on the bench of this Court, 
 where they sat side by side for many years, and almost together they went 
 down into the tomb. "Lovely and pleasant in their lives, in death they 
 were not divided." 
 
 A few weeks since some of us stood with the Chief Justice amid the 
 thronging crowd when upon the lonely hill-side ami<l tiie sighing pines 
 the bcKly of his frientl and ours was lai<l to rest. And now he, too, has 
 passed beyond our gaze. Thus we are again brought face to face with the 
 great Mystery. They whom so lately we met in these walls, and with 
 whom we talked as man to man, will return no more. In which of yon 
 wheeling worlds now move those deathless souls, those inextinguishable 
 spirits, which yesterday knew as little of the future as ourselves, but which 
 now in wider intelligence survey the vast orbit of creation? Or is it in 
 some more distant world, far removed from mortal sight, that they await 
 the final trump of the resurrection? In vain we ask these questions — 
 but again ami again as the purlal swings wi lo open and with never-ceas- 
 
-TL'S SUMMEKFIKM) MKKUIMn\. !>«) 
 
 inx tramp brother after brother passes down and out into the illimitable 
 beyond, humanity asks the ever-repeatefl. never answeretl question- 
 whither? 
 
 "^\' tidslift 
 
 l: 
 
 li antl above suspicion, they were Ixjth an honor to tluir 
 
 il lil)crty. can in 
 
 1 n.s they in full 
 
 ; ol Its integrity. If 
 
 ''«l." North Carolina 
 liH- lta.1 iiu niWiicr son-*. We iiclieve them now 
 
 "SomethiuK far advance«I in Mate " 
 
 riw , went not h ■ ■ - . . 
 
 work cr. 
 
 >|'iril» iiitxc-refi by the nhore; t»ut 
 
 ■V. 
 
 'i 
 
 .\n.i \\ ,,Ki .1 Ml J ir .1.1:- 
 
 ^' was Hlowly sinkinf{ 
 - of the sunset, their 
 
 rn skies 
 
 The ,>«et of paxaninni who lives amid the l.la/c of the now expirine 
 nineteenth century tells us — 
 
 "Pal. 
 
 ...V' fic stands. 
 
 W h< ■ 
 
 III 
 
 nut death is not immortal. There was a time when it was not and 
 hence there must come a day «hen it shall surelv cease to l,e. Vet were 
 It true that there is no future for the soul, there would still Ik? an immor- 
 tality for the Koo<l dee.ls whose influence, perpetuated bv one generation 
 acting u,K,n the next, shall live in ever widening circles as "the great 
 world spins forever down the ever ringing grooves of change." Our 
 brethren are not dead to us. For us they still live, move and breathe in 
 the example and the influence of noble lives, and these things can never 
 die. 
 
 "Were a star quenched on high 
 For ages would its light. 
 Still traveling downward from the sky 
 Bless our mortal sight: 
 
 "So when a good man dies, 
 For years beyond our ken 
 The light he leaves behind him lies 
 't^'v the paths of men." 
 
100 AlHir^TlS SIMMKUI'IKI.I) M i:i; i: I M( tN. 
 
 As I repeat these lines, Mr. Cli.iirmaii, I know lluil there conies l)aek to 
 you those well remembered words of Tacitus, in sjieakinji; of one who in 
 his day also deserved to be remembered well of his countrymen. Said he 
 in the sonorous tongue of old Rome: * 
 
 '' Quidquid ex eo amaviiiius, quidquid adiitiia/i siinius, mauct, iiian- 
 surumque est in elernitatc teniporiim el faiiia renint " — 
 
 " Whatsoever of him we have loved, whatsoever of him we have admired, 
 remains and will remain in the eternity of time, and in the fame of his 
 deeds." 
 
 Judge Mcrrimon was long an anxious and earnest seeker after the 
 eternal truth. It was a subject on which he loved to discourse. Of 
 him it might have been said in those enduring lines: 
 
 "I pray thee, then, he said. 
 Write me as one that loves his fellow-men — 
 The angel wrote and vanished. The next night 
 It came again with a great awakening light, 
 And showed the names whom love of God had blessed, 
 And lo! his name led all the rest." 
 
 In his last illness the longing of his heart was gratified, and he found 
 that peace which passeth all understanding. The star of his life went 
 not down behind the darkened west, but it set like the morning star, 
 which melts in the brightness of the coming day. 
 
 These are not idle ceremonies. The lives of good men are not lived in 
 vain. A State does well to arouse the emulation of the rising generation 
 by the example of those who have served the people faithfully and well. 
 Rome and Greece filled their temples and porticos with busts and i)aint- 
 ings of their illustrious dead. We can at least place before the living the 
 simple but truthful story of those who, in the hours of danger and 
 threatened disaster, by their eloquence and tlieir moral courage upheld 
 the wavering cause of civil liberty, and who, spurning every temptation, 
 found their reward in the gratitude of an admiring people, and reached 
 the highest honors of the republic. 
 
 Here Ijelow our deceased friend is henceforth only a recollection, and 
 if, unlike wealthier commonwealths, we cannot turn his features into liv- 
 ing bronze or monumental marble, let his memory and the memory of 
 such as he be copied in the lives and deeds of those who shall come after 
 us. Then when hereafter shall come days of danger and disaster, then 
 when shall come, as come to us they must, days of evil, there shall be still 
 men like unto him in the land, and our people shall not need to cry out 
 in vain and hopeless agony, as so many nations have done, "Oh! lor the 
 touch of a vanished hand, and the sound of a voice that is still." 
 
.Uiti I fiitirii n mice from heaven sayhif^ unto we, li 'n/t\ 
 I'li are the dead whieh die in I he /jtrd from henceforth: 
 Yea^ saith the Spirit, that they may rest Jrom their labours; 
 and their worhs do folloio them. And they shall 
 
 seel: ind his name shall he tn their foreheads. And 
 
 ihull be no ni^ht there; and they need no candle, 
 n, nfier lij^ht of the sun; for the la^rd Cod f^iveth them lii^ht: 
 ""./ they shall reign /or rver and ever. — Ri:v. xiv: 13; 
 
 4. 5- 
 
'"'^ IV IMIO 
 
""fill 
 
 mmiiii 
 
 ° 005 37, 307 5^