SUPREME COURT OF GEORGIA,

MACON TERM, 1850.

TUESDAY, February 12. The Honorable Supreme Court met pursuant to adjournment, &c.

Upon motion of Hon. C. B. Cole, a committee was appointed by the Court to report, to-morrow morning, suitable resolutions in regard to the death of WM. H. ANDERSON, Esq. late a Member of the Bar of this Court; whereupon, the Court appointed Hon. C. B. Cole, Hon. C. B. Strong, Hon. C. J. McDonald, Hon. A. H. Chappell and O. C. Gibson, Esq.

WEDNESDAY, February 13.

The Hon. Supreme Court met, &c.

Hon. C. B. Cole, from the committee appointed yesterday, made the following Report, which, upon being read, was ordered to be placed upon the minutes.

WM. HENRY ANDERSON having departed this life since the last term of this Court for this District, we embrace the first opportunity to express our profound and heartfelt respect for the memory of our young and gifted brother.

Six months ago, Mr. ANDERSON appeared before this Court, at Decatur, buoyant with hope and health, and in possession of all his bodily and mental powers, ready to compete with the ablest, in the glorious struggle for intellectual supremacy. He is now a clod of the valley-a tenant of the cold and cheerless grave. What a commentary on the value of human pursuits and human objects! What a lesson to his survivors, on the frail tenure of earthly existence, and the baseless structure of all earthly hopes and earthly greatness!

Mr. ANDERSON was born and educated in Virginia, and came to this city a little more than a year ago, and commenced the practice of law, with the most flattering prospects. Nature had

Tribute of Respect to the Memory of Wm. H. Anderson.

gifted him with a fine and commanding person, and a mind at once clear, comprehensive and energetic, which he had carefully cultivated and stored with a fund of professional and general knowledge.

In his disposition, he was frank, friendly and sociable; in his intercourse with the world, he was, in all respects, the finished gentleman; in his family, he was most exemplary, and all that a fond and affectionate husband and brother could be. No wonder, then, that the early and unexpected death of such a man should electrify a whole community, and should be most deeply deplored-it would be matter of surprise if it were not so. Indifference and apathy at such an event would mark, with a foul blot, the moral sense and feeling of any community.

To his bereaved wife, his death is truly irreparable. In the apparent enjoyment of robust health, and with the prospect of many years of domestic happiness in the bosom of his family, he is suddenly seized with the fatal malady that snatches him from their embraces, and transfers him to an early grave, but, as we hope, to a brighter and happier world.

Most sincerely do we sympathize with the mourning relations of our deceased brother. Their grief can now admit of little consolation-time alone can assuage it-a resigned submission to the inscrutable, but unerring decree of overruling Providence, can alone mitigate its poignancy.

The husband and friend has descended to the tomb, at the threshold of his usefulness, but in the full meridian of his talents; leaving to them, as a rich inheritance, a name without a stain, and a character of superior knowledge as a lawyer and exalted worth

as a man.

Resolved, therefore, That we deeply deplore the early death of our young and much esteemed brother, WILLIAM HENRY ANDER

SON.

Resolved, That we sincerely condole with the bereaved wife and family of our deceased brother.

Resolved, That for the purpose of rendering merited honor to his memory, and of perpetuating, as far as it is possible to perpetuate, this expression of our love and respect for our deceased brother, we will wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days, and request the Court to enter these proceedings on its records, and transmit a copy to his family.

Tribute of Respect to the Memory of Wm. H. Anderson.

Upon the reading of the report and resolutions, Judge LUMPKIN, from the Court, responded as follows:

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Bar:

My response to your report will be brief, for the reason that my acquaintance with our deceased brother was exceedingly limited. I met him, for the first and last time, at the August Term of this Court, at Decatur, where, it seems, he contracted the fatal malady which has hurried him so rapidly to the tomb.

I well remember his striking personal appearance-his manly beauty of face and form-his respectful bearing toward the Bench, so befitting a stranger-his courteous demeanor toward the Bar, so becoming, at all times, a professional gentleman.

He appeared before us in behalf of an unfortunate fellow-being, who had been convicted of murder. Among other grounds taken in his behalf, was the refusal by the Circuit Court, to grant the prisoner a new trial, for the reason that, owing to the popular prejudice, he could not get justice. It appeared, from the record, that in addition to the oath of the accused, several other affidavits were submitted to the presiding Judge, to the effect, that no such excitement prevailed in the community, as would prevent a fair and impartial trial; but whether this contradictory evidence was elicited by the State or the defendant, was not stated. If adduced by the prosecution, it was irregular, and should not have been considered-if by the prisoner, it authorized the Court to exercise its discretion and refuse the continuance.

Unwilling to refuse a re-hearing upon a mere rigid rule of law, namely, that the record must show, affirmatirely, that the judg ment below was wrong, the question was propounded, by one of my colleagues, to the deceased, as to the truth of the case. He had reason to suppose, that the fate of his client was suspended upon his answer. Still he did not hesitate. He responded modestly, but firmly, that the additional testimony was offered by the accused.

This incident fixed the character of Mr. ANDERSON in my esteem-it will never be obliterated from my recollection. Chastity is the strength and bulwark of woman's character-devotion to truth, that of man's. So long as he rigidly adheres to truth, under all circumstances, however pressing the temptation-he may

Tribute of Respect to the Memory of Wm. H. Anderson.

be addicted to drunkenness, or any other unfortunate habit-he is still" a man for a' that."

Let the resolutions be entered on the Minutes of the Court, as a lasting memorial of the estimation in which our departed brother was held by the members of this Court, and of the Bar with which he was associated.

CASES

ARGUED AND DETERMINED

IN THE

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA,

AT MACON,

FEBRUARY TERM, 1850.

No. 24.-BERRY RODGERS, plaintiff in error vs. JOHN P. EVANS, defendant.

[1.] The judgment of a Court which has no jurisdiction of the cause, is entirely void.

[2.] But where the Court has jurisdiction of the cause and parties, and only proceeds erroneously, the judgment, notwithstanding such error, is binding, until it is vacated or reversed.

[3.] Upon an affidavit of illegality, to the execution, the validity of the judgment cannot be attacked.

Levy and illegality, in Bibb Superior Court. Decision at July Term, 1849, by Judge FLOYD,

It appears that one W. J. Bollock had obtained a fi. fa. vs. R. K. Evans, J. P. Evans am Berry Rodgers, in February, 1841, for $308 15; that Rodgers paid it off, and at the November Term, 1842, of Bibb Superior Court, obtained an order of control, under the Act of 1840. The order recites, that Rodgers was the last indorser on the note the foundation of the said fi. fa.; that he had been compelled to pay it in full; and that, by testi