sparkles in the eye of the astronomer, smiles upon the lips of the minstrel, frowns upon the brow of the misanthrope, decks the finger of the artisan, or emblazons the sword of the conqueror, the characteristics of genius are the same. It is only the purposes to which it is devoted, the motives by which it is guided, and the brilliancy of its manifestations, that give to it any variety of character; and these are as varied as the channels of human thought, the fires of human passions, and the spheres of human action. It is the same principle that gives inspiration to the poet, conception of beauty to the artist, brilliancy of argument to the advocate, a lucid discernment to the judge, religious fervor to the devotee, and ingenuity to the midnight burglar and the common swindler. But in whatever direction. its prowess may be exerted, its qualities are soon manifested. A man of genius is sure to assert his superiority in whatever walk of life he may direct his course, and whether it be for the good, or to the detriment of society, depends upon the passions by which it is actuated. "Such men," says Lord Bolingbroke, speaking of superior spirits in elevated positions, "either appear like ministers of divine vengeance, and their course through the world is marked by desolation and oppression, by poverty and servitude; or they are the guardian angels of the country they inhabit, busy to avert even the most distant evil, and to maintain or to procure peace, plenty, and the greatest of all human blessings, liberty." But, however certain may be the development of genius, its conspicuity is often governed by circumstances, and frequently trammelled by the presence of other and incompatible qualities. Chief among these is timidity-a lack of courage sufficient to command on all occasions the full and clear exercise of the fac ulties, and to lay hold with proper alacrity and vigor upon great and rare opportunities. It was from this cause that Cicero failed in his defence of Milo. He did not have the courage to display his usual and natural eloquence in the face of prejudice and under the frown of power; and Lord Erskine, through his reluctance to encounter Mr. Pitt and Edmund Burke, lost the great opportunity of his life in declining the defence of Warren Hastings; while, on the other hand, Lord Brougham wreathed his brow with immortal glory by his bold defence of the unfortunate Queen Caroline, in the face of courtly clamor and kingly opposition. Genius is often marred also by passion and prejudice. If it would retain its lustre, though clothed in the tinsel of eloquence, its lips must be rouged with the carmine of kindness and complacency. The angry invectives of Achilles gained him no sympathy, while the soothing eloquence of Nestor swayed the minds of the Grecian host. It is true that a judicious appeal ad hominem sometimes produces a wonderful effect, .as in the first oration against Catiline; but the eloquence of genius rarely distills from the pale lips of anger. The furious accusations of Tertullus produced no formidable effect; but we are told that when Paul reasoned the court trembled; and Lord Coke greatly impaired his efficiency, and injured himself in the eyes of posterity, by his virulence on the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh when he condescended to thou him as a viper and traitor.* Of all the schools of science, there is no one so prolific of the fruits of genius as that of the law. There is no sphere in life that presents so many necessities and motives for its exercise, and such a vast field for its development, as that of a lawyer. His constant intercourse with all sorts and conditions of men, and his frequent dealings with all the multiplied concerns of life, render him familiar with human nature, with all the workings of the human heart: its virtues and its vices, its strength and weakness, and the varied manifestations of its passions; and he necessarily becomes an expert in all the motives and a detective of all the springs of human action. The wide scope of his learning, the confidence reposed in his honor and integrity, his tutored conservatism, and usual freedom from the virulence of party and the malignancy of faction, *When all argument failed him, Coke, then Attorney-General, poured a torrent of abusive epithets upon the noble prisoner, and applied to him the term thou: "Thou hast an English face and a Spanish heart, thou traitor; for I thou thee, thou viper." A reference is made to this signification of thou in Twelfth Night, when Sir Toby Belch, in urging Sir Andrew Aguecheek to send a sufficiently provocative challenge to Viola, suggests: "If thou thou'st him some thrice, it shall not be amiss." constitute for the upright lawyer a just claim to be a leader of his fellow-men; and when to this broad field of knowledge he brings the rare gift of genius, it, at once, places him in the line of distinction, and, with the aid of other and usually concomitant virtues, raises him, sooner or later, to a proud eminence of superiority, and procures for him a just title to the fee of fame. But, while the bar offers the most illimitable scope for its exercise, it is the severest test, and most precise and exacting of all the measures of genius. It permits no successful charlatanism, no ephemera of superficiality and pretention, but subjects every candidate for superiority, every claimant to the quality of excellence, to a just and infallible estimation. A title to fame acquired under the eye of such close, competent, and penetrating scrutiny, amid such exacting circumstances, and under such a nice adjustment of qualifications, is surely of an exalted character, and worthy of the highest admiration of mankind. Such fame is not of that kind which Pope would have us believe to be a temple of ice melting away with each returning sun; nor is it a mere second life upon the breath of others, or posthumous inheritance founded upon custom or arbitrary rules of descent; nor does its tenure depend upon any uncertain fine. It is the most certain and enduring of all carthly possessions, the ultima thule of human attainment, the crowning glory of pre-eminent virtue, the meed of an immortal name. No; Say not to me such greatness ever dies, Its shafts will rise where time knows neither youth nor age. The vast and intricate system of common-law jurisprudence, with its comprehensive doctrines, its nice shades, subtle distinctions, and unlimited application, has been from time imme morial a fertile field of fame. It is there that we find those brilliant precedents of eminence, those illustrious examples of true greatness, which have afforded marks and models for the aspiration of every country, and of every age since the days of Runnemede. It is there that ambition may revel among the most gorgeous pictures of glory; where genius can find an unlimited scope for the exercise of its utmost powers; where freedom may find shelter from the pelting storms of oppression; where the statesman can gather material for the fabric of the wisest government, and the patriot may clothe himself in more than Vulcanian armor for the defence of the liberty and honor of his country. It was in this field that Coke and Hardwicke, Mansfield, Eldon, and Burke, and a host of others no less renowned, erected their monuments of eternal glory. Notwithstanding the diffi culties of the way, the height and ruggedness of the ascent, there is no sphere in life where so many hands are beckoning from the lofty eminence, and where so many footprints lead to the summit, as the law. Nor are these confined to the steps of the Inner Temple, or to England's soil, but up the same pathway, and to a no less degree of eminence, ascended our Marshalls, Storys, Taneys, Kents, and Sharkeys, and others, to whom it will be no disparagement to add, to a less degree. It is the purpose of this work to trace the tracks made by the members of the Bench and Bar of Mississippi along this illuminated highway; to assign to each, as nearly as possible, the just measure of his progress; and to designate the qualities of mind and traits of character by which it was advanced or retarded; and, above all, to present a record of virtue and genius that will, for all time, inspire the young men of Mississippi with a lofty patriotism, a laudable ambition, and a determination to achieve distinction and success. CHAPTER II. THE MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY-ITS JUDICIAL ESTABLISHMENT THE BAR-EMINENT LAWYERS-1795-1817. THE Country comprised in the State of Mississippi formed a part of what was known as the Mississippi Territory, and prior to the year 1802, when it was ceded to the United States, belonged to the State of Georgia. It was also claimed by the King of Spain, as forming a part of British West Florida, and was occupied by Spanish troops from 1783 until 1795, when, by a treaty between Spain and the United States, the pre-existing rights of Georgia were recognized and confirmed, and the Spanish troops withdrawn. But, from the year 1783, and during the entire period of the Spanish occupation, Georgia, supported by the Government of the United States, continued to assert her claim of ownership in the soil, and by legislative enactinents maintained her right of sovereignty and eminent domain, and extended her laws and jurisdiction over the country. Neither Georgia nor the United States ever acquiesced in the Spanish occupancy; nor did the King of Spain exercise any civil jurisdiction over the country. His dominion was confined to the lines of his military camps and garrisons; hence, upon its evacuation by the Spanish troops, it was held that the wrongful occupancy left no trace of the civil law of Spain upon the jurisprudence of the country; and on the organization of the Territorial government in the same year of the Spanish treaty, the common law was declared in the Territorial constitution to be the law of the land. This provision was also held to be a nullification of the Georgia statutes, which |