Memoir of John Howe Peyton Part 16

I reached here to-day on my return from the west, but am so much fatigued by a continuous journey of 800 miles that I have decided to lay over Sat.u.r.day and Sunday for rest and recuperation. It will give me an opportunity also to see the Hulls, Howards, Williams and other friends.

On Tuesday morning I expect to reach Staunton and will be glad to find the carriage at the Virginia Hotel to take me home. Tell Sheets to send my riding horse to Gregory, and have him shod all round. I write in great haste and will defer any account of my travels until I get back. I will tell you of the new scenes, the strange people and all the keen excitement consequent upon my wanderings.

Thank Lizzie for her letter which I received at Niagara, also Gallagher, for his received at the same place. He says you have had nothing but rain since he reached Montgomery Hall. I am glad he hasn't had a dry time and presume from the spirits in which he writes that his suit is likely to end in success. What says Mary.

I met my cousin, Dr. James McDowell, son of Governor McDowell, of Lexington, and his western wife, _nee_ Bent, of St. Louis, in Buffalo, N. Y. He was recently married and from the way he wined and dined (on Champagne, etc.,) I presume he is on his bridal tour with a pocket full of money. His wife is an amiable and sensible woman, is not pretty, but inherited four hundred thousand dollars. This will cover over a mult.i.tude of small deficiencies if she should have any, besides plain looks. They urged me to go down the St. Lawrence with them, but the scenery of the 1000 Islands would hardly compensate a third party for the boring society of a newly married pair. I therefore withstood all their importunities, and they were so earnest that I began to think they were tired of each other.

With much love to all the family, believe me my dear mother, your dutiful and affectionate son, J. LEWIS PEYTON.

P. S. If I should not arrive on Tuesday send Gilbert in with the carriage, from day to day, until I do reach Staunton. I expect, however, certainly to get back on Tuesday.

J. L. P.

FROM WM. MADISON PEYTON TO MRS. JOHN H. PEYTON.

Philadelphia, June 20th, 1847.

_My Dear Cousin_:

I arrived in this place a few hours since and finding from consultation with my children, that our respective purses are so nearly exhausted as to make it necessary that we should husband what remains and take the straight _chute_ for home. I have determined to confide the articles purchased for you to the care of Lawyer Davidson, of Lexington. Both the children and myself regret exceedingly our disappointment in the visit to Staunton, but their and my unexpected long absence from home, and the extreme anxiety of my wife for our return, leaves us no alternative.

We must select some more appropriate occasion and pay you a special visit from Elmwood. I have ransacked the whole country for teachers without success. The young lady recommended by Dr. Nandain, was engaged by Wyndham Robertson before I reached here. None others unite the qualifications specified in your memorandum, without requiring a salary greatly beyond your limit. I have, however, set a good deal of machinery to work, which will in a short time put me in possession of a great deal of information on this subject, and enable me to provide you with a good teacher, at a reasonable price. My children are improving very much where they are at present, and I regret exceedingly the necessity of their removal. Sally, (his daughter,) has employed a Dolce Cantati, a Dolce Digetati, a Danseuse, a chirographist and a "_parlez vous Francais_" professor--that is, a singing mistress, a pianist, a dancing mistress, a teacher of penmanship and a teacher of the French language,--with her fine _he_ and _she_ professors, she enjoyed the greatest advantages, fullest opportunities for information in the branches taught by them, and I think she has shown a most commendable disposition to profit by them. She goes to work as if she expected to make her living by teaching.

Susan[24] is so absorbed with religion that I think she heeds little except a professor of Theology in the form of an antiquated spinster, who daily mounts the tripod, and delivers her oracles to Susan and other anxious and enquiring spirits. Susan, however, is "a gem of purest ray serene," and promises to be to her parents a source of just pride and heartfelt gratulation. I like her religious temper, but would be pained to see her run wild with her youthful fervor and disfigure by fanaticism, what would otherwise be so beautiful.

[24] Col. Peyton's eldest daughter, afterwards Mrs. Jos. H. White.

I have purchased for my sisters, Ann, Mary and Lucy, three of the finest and prettiest breastpins to be found in the Northern cities, and such as are in vogue at present. They are jewels for a lifetime, being of the finest and best workmanship. I also send them a pencil and gold pen each. I will add to this my daguerreotype for my sister Susan, who honored me by requesting it. To you, I send your granddaughters grouped with their father. Susan is reading her favorite book, the Bible, to her attentive father and affectionate sister. The likeness of Sue is perfect. Sally's doesn't do her justice. Mine looks like an Oth.e.l.lo.

Give my love to all the family, and accept for yourself the love of yours.

Truly and affectionately, W. M. PEYTON.

On the 3d of April, 1847, John H. Peyton died at Montgomery Hall in his 69th year, and it has been truly said that there was no one in his public and private relations who was more honored and beloved by those who knew him best. Among the numerous letters received on this occasion is the following. It alone has been preserved. It is from his brother, Col. Rowze Peyton, of Geneva, N. Y., to Col. John B. Baldwin:

Geneva, N. Y., April 15th, 1847.

_My Dear Sir_:

The receipt of your letter conveying the melancholy intelligence of the death of my much loved brother shocked me indescribably, notwithstanding his long illness and the helpless condition he was in when I left twelve months ago. I then hoped he might be spared a few years, as, if not actively useful to himself, he could be, by his advice, exceedingly so to his young and promising family. He was a most n.o.ble and generous man, a true man in every sense, and in heart and mind a great and good man, to whom I was ardently attached, and the thought that I shall never see him again in this world, causes a sorrow and sadness which may be imagined, but cannot be described. I sympathize, from the bottom of my heart with his dear wife and children. It is a terrible loss to them, and I pray they may have strength to bear it with Christian fort.i.tude, knowing that it is the fiat of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, who disposes of us as he will, and to whose will we should bow with humble submission. That this melancholy event may be sanctified to the salvation of each individual member of his family, and all connected with them, is the earnest prayer of, dear Baldwin,

Your sincere friend, R. PEYTON.

MR. PEYTON'S RESIGNATION OF OFFICE OF ATTORNEY FOR THE COMMONWEALTH.

In our last paper, the appointment of Thomas J. Michie, Esq. to the office of Commonwealth's Attorney for Augusta county, in the place of John H. Peyton, Esq., resigned, was announced. We now learn from a friend (having been absent from town at the time,) that upon returning into the hands of the court the office which he had so long and so ably and faithfully filled, _Mr. Peyton_ delivered a short but pertinent and touching valedictory. He said it was just thirty-two years since he had been honored by the court with the appointment, that in casting his eyes along the bench, he recognized but a single magistrate[25] who was present on that occasion. He saw the sons, however, the relatives and friends of his former friends; and that alike from the fathers and the sons, he had received tokens of confidence which had greatly gratified him in the discharge of his duties during this long lapse of years. His great purpose had always been to protect the rights of the Commonwealth, and perform faithfully the duties of an officer of the court; and he thanked the court for their forbearance when he had erred, and for their uniform courtesy and kindness and the confidence they had ever shown him.

[25] L. Waddell, Sr.

When _Mr. Peyton_ concluded his remarks so inadequately reported, _Lyttleton Waddell, Esq._, a member of the court, presented the following minute, which was adopted by a unanimous vote, and ordered to be spread upon the records:

"AUGUSTA COUNTY COURT, } 1st day of June term, 1844. }

"_John H. Peyton, Esquire_, who has acted as Commonwealth's Attorney in this county for thirty-two years, having on this day resigned the said office, the Justices of the county, in full session at their June term, do, with unanimous consent, express their high sense of Mr. Peyton's long and valuable services. They add a willing testimony to the distinguished ability, fidelity and zeal, with which he has guarded the interests of the Commonwealth within the limits of the county--to his impartiality, prudence, and firmness as a public prosecutor, and to the commendable courtesy which has marked his intercourse with the Court, as becoming a public officer and a representative of the Commonwealth. And it is the will of the Court that this testimonial, as an additional tribute of respect, be spread upon the records."

_Spectator, July 4, 1844._

Immediately after his resignation, the County Court, as the only honor yet in their power to confer, elected him a member of their body, and on several occasions, before his death, he presided in the Court where he had so long practiced.

Mr. Peyton was a member of the committee, appointed in 1843, to prepare an address to the people of Virginia, and aided in the preparation of that able and interesting doc.u.ment, but as it covers over fifty pages and may be found in the newspapers of the day, it is not necessary to insert it here, in order to make clear what were his political opinions.

The committee was composed of B. W. Leigh, Robert W. Carter, James R.

Hubbard, Chas. J. Faulkner, Wyndham Robertson, Chapman Johnson, and John H. Peyton, and was said to have united more talent than any similar body ever raised in Virginia.

SKETCH OF JOHN HOWE PEYTON,

BY

COL. JOHN T. L. PRESTON, A. M., OF YALE, PROFESSOR OF MODERN LANGUAGES &c., IN THE V. M. INSt.i.tUTE.

The late John H. Peyton, Esq., of Staunton, Va., was one of the finest specimens that we have ever known of the complete lawyer. During the prime of his life he pursued the profession with a laborious a.s.siduity rarely equalled, and though as age advanced upon him he remitted his efforts, he did not discontinue his practice until a short time before his death, [he took no new cases after his 60th year]. None of his contemporaries secured a more ample reward in either reputation or pecuniary emolument.

We have spoken of Mr. Peyton as a complete lawyer. Law as a practical profession, has several departments, and it is not unusual to see a lawyer distinguished in some of them, with a compensating deficiency in others. Some pract.i.tioners are successful collectors; some are much esteemed as judicious advisers in matters not strictly legal; some are designated good judges of law, or, in other words, safe counselors, and with some the _forte_ is, Common law practice, while others are distinguished as Chancery lawyers. The organization of the courts in Virginia, and the nature of the business, at least in the interior, requires every lawyer to enter upon the whole of this miscellaneous practice; and it is not to be wondered at, that some, even good lawyers, are not equally strong in every part. Mr. Peyton knew every part of his profession thoroughly. He had studied diligently as a student, and had known the expectant struggles of the young pract.i.tioner; he had practised under the old system before the reorganization of the judiciary, and afterwards under the new; he had met in contest the strongest men in each department of the profession, and he had made himself a champion in all. We may add that some lawyers who exhibit the highest skill in securing the rights of their clients, are foolishly ignorant of their own; in other words they let slip the fair, well-earned profits of their profession. Not so with Mr. Peyton. He knew the value of his professional services, he gave them to the fullest extent to those who applied for them, and then he insisted upon just remuneration. We notice this point, not at random, but to present a feature belonging to the character of the complete lawyer.

The characteristic of Mr. Peyton's life was efficiency. This efficiency had for its elements native vigor of intellect, great resolution of character and courageous self-confidence, ample and thorough acquirements and the quickness, precision and dexterity of action that belong only to those who have been taught by a varied experience to understand thoroughly human nature. In conversation, Mr. Peyton was ready, entertaining and instructive. But conversation was not his _forte_, though he was fond of it. He was not fluent. His manner was sometimes too direct for the highest style of polished social intercourse of a general nature, and besides he had a remarkable way of indulging in a strain of satirical banter, when his words would be so much at variance with the expression of his countenance, and particularly with the expression of his mouth, that the hearer was often in an uncomfortable state of uncertainty how to take him. His person was large and his bearing dignified, but not graceful. His manner was unaffected, but not without formality, nor was it perfectly conciliatory. Some styled him aristocratic, while none could deny that his self-respect and confident energy gave an imperious cast to his demeanor. We have oftener than once thought applicable to him, in a general way, those lines of Terence,

"Ellum, confidens, catus, c.u.m faciem videas, videtur esse quantivis preti, Tristis severitas inest in voltu, atque in verbis fides."

His voice was true and clear, and capable of sufficient variety, but without a single musical intonation, and a little sharper than you would expect to hear from a man of his size and form. If it is asked what is the style of his speaking, it may be replied, just what might be expected to belong to such a man as he has been described, that is to say, never was the speaker a more complete reflection of the man than in his case. We cannot believe that any one who knew him was ever surprised when they heard him speak; what he said was just what they could expect him to say. This is often the case with speakers and writers, but not always. Energy, reality, and efficiency were his characteristics as a man, and equally so as a speaker. Distinctness of conception lay at the foundation of his excellence. Some great speakers, some even pre-eminently great speakers, not unfrequently hurl unforged thunderbolts. They feel the maddening impulse of the G.o.d, but give forth their utterance before the true prophetic fury comes on.

Mr. Peyton's mind was no sybils cave whence came forth wind-driven leaves inscribed with mighty thoughts disposed by chance, but a s.p.a.cious castle, from whose wide open portal issued men at arms, orderly arrayed.

He had hardly opened his case when the hearer was aware that he had thought over the whole of it, had given a course to pursue, and would close when he came to the end of it. This distinctness of conception comprehended the subject as a whole, and shed its light upon each detail belonging to it. This insured the most perfect method in all that he said. Before he began to speak he had determined in his own mind, not only the order of the different parts of his discourse, but also their relative importance in producing the general impression. Hence, he was never led away by the tempting character of any peculiar topic, to expatiate upon it unduly; he did not take up matter irrelevant to the case because it might touch him personally; he never spoke for those behind the bar, nor did he neglect to secure the fruits of victory in order to pursue an adversary to utter discomfiture. He spoke as a lawyer, he spoke for the verdict, and expected to gain it by showing that he was ent.i.tled to it. Some speakers hope to accomplish their object by single, or at least, successive impulses--now a clinching argumentative question, now a burst of brilliant declamation, and now a piece of keen wit, or a rough personality. Such speakers forget, or do not know, that a jury may admire, may be diverted, and even moved, without being won. He that gains the verdict must mould, and sway, and lead, and this is to be effected by continued, persistent pressure, rather than by _tours de force_. This Mr. Peyton knew well and observed it with perfect self-command. His hearers came away satisfied with the whole, rather than treasuring up remarkable points and pa.s.sages. Let it not be supposed, however, that he was a cold speaker, who treated men as mere intellectual machines, to be set in motion by the pulleys, screws and levers of logic, far from it; he understood human nature well, and knew the motive power of the feelings; but then he knew, too, that the way to excite the most effective sympathy is not to make a loud outcry, but to make a forcible exhibition of real suffering--that the best way to rouse our indignation against fraud, deceit or oppression, is not to exhort us to hate it, but to show its hatefulness. One of his most distinguished contemporaries upon the same circuit was celebrated for his powers as a criminal advocate; his manner was obviously upon the pathetic order, perhaps a trifle too declamatory. We have seen them in the same cause, and have thought that if the eloquence of Gen. Briscoe G. Baldwin flushed the countenance quicker, the earnestness of Mr.

Peyton stirred the heart deeper. Of the oratory of a cla.s.s of speakers by no means rare (not, however, including in his cla.s.s the distinguished jurist above alluded to,) it has been well said, "declamation roars while pa.s.sion sleeps," of speaking justly characterised by this line, Mr. Peyton's was the precise reverse. With him thought became pa.s.sionate before the expression became glowing, as the wave swells before it crests itself with foam.

Mr. Peyton's language was forcible, pure and idiomatic. It served well as the vehicle of his thoughts, but contributed nothing to them. There is a real and legitimate advantage belonging to the masterly use of words, of which many great speakers know how to avail themselves. Mr.

Peyton attempted nothing of the sort. His diction was thoroughly English, with a marked preference for the Anglo Saxon branch of the language, and his sentences came out in the most natural order with unusual clearness and vigor, but not unfrequently with a plainness that bordered upon homeliness. His style, however, was always that of speaking, as distinguished from mere conversation--a distinction which some of our modern speakers forgot, when in order to appear at their ease, they treat, with no little disregard, not only the rules of rhetoric, but the rules of grammar as well, and use words and phrases which are (to take a word from the vocabulary which we are condemning) nothing better than slang. On the contrary, there was in Mr. Peyton's style the fruit of early studies and high-bred a.s.sociations, a cla.s.sical tinge, extremely pleasant to the scholar, though not perhaps appreciable by those for whom he generally spoke. It must not be supposed from what has been said of his excellent method, that he resembled in this respect some of our able, but greatly tedious lawyers, who take up, in regular succession, every possible point in the case, however minute, and worry us by officiously offering help where none is needed. So far from it, he showed his consummate skill as well in what he omitted as in what he handled, and, as a general thing, his speeches were shorter in duration, and yet fuller of matter than those of his opponent. His use of figurative language was easy and natural, and not stinted; but his figures were always introduced as ill.u.s.trations and not as arguments. It is not unusual to meet with a speaker who is unable to enounce distinctly the general principles he wishes to use, throw out an ill.u.s.tration to enable himself to pick out the principle from it, or at least to give his hearers a chance to do it for themselves; not so with Mr. Peyton. He held up the torch of ill.u.s.tration, not to throw a light forward to guide himself in his own investigations, but to enable those following the more readily to tread the road along with him. He had a very noticeable fondness for recurring to the primary fundamental principles of morals, and doubtless he was restrained, by his practical judiciousness, from indulging this disposition to the full. One of his favorite books was Lord Bacon's essays, and under other circ.u.mstances he might himself have been a distinguished moral essayist.

As well may be supposed, his general vein was grave. The high idea he entertained of the dignity of his profession, and the earnestness with which he gave himself to it, alike precluded either levity or carelessness. However, he was fully able, quite ready upon occasion, to avail himself of a keen wit, that was all the more effective, because it was dry and sarcastic. It occurs to us to mention an instance, well known to his circuit, not ill.u.s.trative of his severity, but of his pleasantry, in a criminal prosecution. He, as prosecuting attorney, was opposed by two gentlemen of ability, whose pathos had been so great as to draw abundant tears from their own eyes. One of them, a gentleman who has since filled a distinguished national position (Hon. A. H. H.

Stuart, Secretary of the Interior of the United States, 1850-53) was noted for the facility with he could cover over his brilliant eloquence with the liquid varnish of his tears. On this occasion he had been singularly lachrymose, and supported by his colleague, General, afterwards Judge Baldwin, in the same way, the sensation produced was very considerable. Mr. Peyton commenced his reply by regretting the disadvantage the Commonwealth labored under in being represented by him who was a very poor hand at crying, and certainly was not able to cry against two at a time. The ludicrousness of the expression completely neutralized the pathos of his opponents. He was not averse either to a bit of farce, now and then, as is shown by a story told of him. In a remote part of the circuit a lawyer wished to adorn a moving pa.s.sage of a speech he was just rising to make, with an apposite example, and applied to Mr. Peyton, sitting beside him, to help him to the name of the man in the Bible who would have his pound of flesh. With imperturbable gravity, he answered Absalom! The effect of thus confounding Shakespeare and the Bible may be imagined.

We have said that Mr. Peyton was thoroughly furnished in every part of his profession; in one department his qualifications were peculiar and unsurpa.s.sed. Without disparagement to others, it may be said, we think, that he was the best Commonwealth's Attorney in the State of Virginia.

He was the lawyer of the Commonwealth, and he treated the Commonwealth as a client, and he labored for her with the same industry, zeal and fidelity that he manifested in behalf of any other client. The oft-quoted merciful maxim of the common law, "better that ninety and nine guilty men should escape than one innocent man suffer," he interpreted as a caution to respect the rights of the innocent, and not as an injunction to clear the guilty, and he labored to reduce the percentage of rogues unwhipt of justice, as low as possible. With a clearness and force rarely equaled would he point out the necessity of punishing the guilty in order that the innocent might be safe, thus exhibiting the absolute consistency of strict justice with true mercy.

So simply and earnestly would he do this, that he not only bound the consciences of the jury, but also made them feel that they were individually interested in the faithful execution of the laws. Here his clear perception of the moral principles upon which rests the penal code, and his fondness for recurring to general principles, stood him in great stead. It was delightful to hear him expatiate upon this theme, for upon no other was he more truly eloquent.

Mr. Peyton served at different times in both branches of the Legislature, but we speak not of him as a politician. Our purpose has been solely to exhibit some of the qualities which made him an eminent member and ornament of the legal profession.

SKETCH OF JOHN HOWE PEYTON,