and not always by his own, which will be in their turn disregarded by his successor, there can be neither uniformity nor certainty in the laws for the security of the rights of persons or property. It is an awful reflection that property, life, liberty, and reputation are, with us, dependent upon the decision of a single judge, uncontrolled and uncontrollable within his circuit, and not always distinguished for ability, intelligence, and integrity. The confusion produced by cotemporary contradictory decisions every day increases: property is held and recovered in one part of the State, and lost in another part of the State, under the same circumstances; rights are asserted and maintained in one circuit, and denied in another, in analogous cases. So much depends upon the opinion of a presiding judge, that suits are matters of speculation and management. The most astute lawyer, scrupulously conscientious in the advice given to his clients on cases submitted to him, can only inform them what will be the result if actions are brought and decided during the term of the then presiding judge. Suits are brought or postponed, pressed to trial, suspended or delayed, by the parties, according to the known or supposed opinion of the presiding judge and the nearness or remoteness of the time when a new election of judges must occur. We have all the complicated judicial machinery for the correction of erroneous judgments. Appeals, writs of error, motions for new trials and in arrest of judgment, are used as if in mockery,—since the appeals are tried, the writs determined, the motions decided, by the same judge whose erroneous judgment is to be corrected, arrested, or set aside. power All the delays of the English system are permitted; but time only is gained or lost, unless, indeed, the presiding judge has a mind of extraordinary vigor and magnanimity, capable of discovering and prompt to confess its errors, or death or a new election removes him from his place. The destruction of this judicial octarchy by the substitution of a single supreme judge, whose decision should govern in all the circuits, would be an important improvement. It is not necessary to vest such tremendous in the hands of one individual. The object to be accomplished can be attained by less dangerous means. The most simple and obvious remedy is the establishment of a court for the correction of errors, &c. This remedy cannot, in my judgment, be applied without a change in the Constitution, which requires that "errors shall be corrected and new trials determined in the Superior Court of the county in which the action originated." Under this clause of the Constitution, however, conventions of the judges have been required; and in these, properly regulated, a palliative may be found for the existing disorders, until a radical cure can be effected by an alteration of the Constitution. The administration of Gov. Forsyth was disturbed by no bitter contests. He adhered to the policy of his predecessor, from whom he received the Great Seal of State,-which was, indeed, strictly in accordance with his own principles and convictions. His message of November 3, 1829, closed as follows: I congratulate you on the present condition and future prospects of the State. Blessed with peace, health, and abundance,-with immense resources in possession and greater in expectancy,-what is there we can rationally desire to effect that we may not hope to accomplish? For the manifold bounties bestowed upon us by a benignant Providence more is due than humble gratitude and heartfelt thanks. These become all men; but public agents must remember that from those to whom much is given much is expected; and, if unwilling to be classed with the unprofitable servant who buried his talent in the earth, the gifts bestowed must be turned to useful account by unremitted and well-directed toil. May that Being in whose hands men and empires are dust and ashes smile on your labors, secure you here the reward of well-deserved applause, and crown you hereafter with immortal joy! At the session of the Legislature in 1829, Gov. Forsyth was elected to the Senate of the United States, and soon became the champion of Gen. Jackson's administration in that branch of Congress. His powers of debate and capacity as a leader will be noticed elsewhere in this memoir. The Tariff of 1832, which operated so unjustly upon the South, contained the odious minimum feature, as will be seen by the following clause from the second section :— On all manufactures of cotton, or of which cotton shall be a component part, twenty-five per centum ad valorem, excepting cotton twist, yarn, and thread, which shall remain at the rate of duty fixed by the act to amend the several acts imposing duties on imports, of 22d May, 1824: And provided, That all manufactures of cotton, or of which cotton shall be a component part, not dyed, colored, printed, or stained, not exceeding in value thirty cents the square yard, shall be valued at thirty cents per square yard; and if dyed, colored, printed, or stained, in whole or in part, not exceeding in value thirty-five cents the square yard, shall be valued at thirty-five cents per square yard. On this plan, a yard of cotton goods which cost the importer eight cent spaid as much as a yard that cost thirty-five cents,both taxed eight and three-quarter cents per yard, making more than one hundred per cent on the inferior article. It was this principle, bearing so heavily on articles consumed by the masses, that excited the South against the Tariff, as it had the effect of keeping out all foreign fabrics and giving the market exclusively to home-manufactures of cotton at the enhanced price. For reference, the following table is given, showing the vote on the passage of the bill in the House of Representatives, June 28, 1832: The members from South Carolina who voted for the Tariff of July 14, 1832, were James Blair, William Drayton, and Thomas R. Mitchell; and the member from Georgia who voted for it was James M. Wayne. The Representatives from Georgia who voted against it were Augustin S. Clayton, Thomas F. Foster, Henry G. Lamar, Daniel Newnan, Wiley Thompson, and Richard H. Wilde. The bill passed the Senate July 9, 1832, by a vote of 32 to 16,-the following Senators voting against it :-Littleton W. Tazewell and John Tyler, of Virginia; Bedford Brown and Willie P. Mangum, of North Carolina; Robert Y. Hayne and Stephen D. Miller, of South Carolina; JOHN FORSYTH and George M. Troup, of Georgia; George M. Bibb, of Kentucky; Felix Grundy and Hugh L. White, of Tennessee; Elias K. Kane, of Illinois; William R. King and Gabriel Moore, of Alabama; and Powhatan Ellis and George Poindexter, of Mississippi. At the Annual Commencement of Franklin College, in August, 1832, a number of gentlemen consulted together on the grievances of the Tariff, and held a public meeting at Athens. After the preamble, reciting the acts of Congress complained of, and their injustice to the South, the meeting adopted the following resolutions: 1. That we, as free citizens of Georgia, will not longer submit to this system of legislation, which is arbitrary, unequal, unconstitutional, and therefore unjust; that it be recommended to our fellow-citizens in the several counties to elect delegates to a State Convention to assemble at Milledgeville on the second Monday in November next, and to invest them with full power, in behalf of the good people of Georgia, to maintain, preserve, and defend the rights and privileges of the free citizens of this State. 2. That John Macpherson Berrien, Augustin S. Clayton, Thomas Glascock, Joel Crawford, Samuel Rockwell, William H. Torrance, and William C. Dawson, be a committee of correspondence to confer with our fellowcitizens of other States on all matters connected with our common interests. Pursuant to this call, the people of sixty-one counties appointed delegates to meet in convention at Milledgeville. Accordingly, in the afternoon of Monday, November 12, 1832, these delegates assembled in the Representative-Chamber, and organized by electing the Hon. George R. Gilmer President, and William Y. Hansell, Benjamin T. Mosely, and Mansfield Torrance, Esqrs., Secretaries. The Hon. John Forsyth, Col. William Cumming, and Hon. John P. King were the delegates from Richmond county. A list of all the delegates may be seen elsewhere in this work.* A resolution was offered by Mr. William H. Torrance, and agreed to, as follows:— Resolved, That a committee of twenty-one be appointed, whose duty it shall be to report resolutions expressive of the sense of this Convention in relation to the protective system, and the best and most efficient means of obtaining relief from the evils of that system; and that the said committee be further instructed to report what objects ought to engage the attention of this Convention, and what will be the most efficient means of accomplishing the same. The President appointed the following gentlemen as that committee: 1 David Blackshear, 10 James M. Tait, 11 Samuel Rockwell, 21 Thomas W. Harris. On the second day of the Convention, Mr. Forsyth submitted the following resolutions : Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the President to examine and report to this body at its next meeting the authority of the persons assembled as delegates from the different counties of the State to represent the people of their respective counties; the resolutions, if any, under which the election in each county was held, the manner of holding it, the number of votes given at the election, and the number of votes in the county. * In the memoir of R. A. Beall, vol. i. p. 34. Resolved, That the individuals who have been elected as a committee of what is known as the Athens meeting be, and they are hereby, requested to present to this body the correspondence they have held connected with the object of their appointment. Mr. Torrance proposed a substitute for the first resolution, and Mr. Berrien an amendment. The debate took a wide range. Mr. Forsyth had ingeniously presented such a demand that not a single delegate could have furnished the evidence unless himself and his colleagues had taken the precaution, knowing the ordeal to be instituted. It was a It was a plausible ground, this call for authority. He opened the discussion calmly, in statesmanlike order, and gave specimens of eloquence never before heard in the Representative-Chamber. His inquiry was to ascertain if the people had really clothed the delegates, who professed to speak in their name, with power to bind them. Action of some kind was to be taken by the Convention; and it was to be either binding or not binding. If the former, the delegates should produce their authority, showing that they were selected in good faith and in open day. He would not deliberate with men, however respectable, on issues so grave, unless they exhibited their authority to speak in the name of the people. He would not go into an examination of the Tariff, whether or not the people of the South had just cause for resistance, until the preliminary investigation was had,—a measure demanded by the self-respect and dignity of the Convention. Such was the scope of the argument and the bearing of the question. However imperfectly noted here, it was sufficient at the time to draw forth all the orator, the politician, and the patriot. Mr. Berrien was evidently surprised by this side-blow at the Convention. He was no doubt fully prepared, on the Tariff, to demonstrate the grievances of the South; but his reply to Mr. Forsyth was unequal: it lacked his usual cogency: it had the beauty of a picture, but not the strength and vitality of argument,—such an argument especially as Mr. Berrien always made on constitutional questions. The galleries applauded when he rose; but he gently raised his hand in token of disapprobation, and set his eloquence to work, producing the round, oily periods, the dulcet tones of voice, richer than the organ, which no man living can rival. Mr. Berrien delighted the vast audience. He always preferred time to reflect, to arrange his views, and to make his points to the best advantage. That opportunity was now denied him, and he had to grapple with the best off-hand debater in the world. Burke may |