Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1870-06-09
Circular.

ry DiUision
Through the influence of par
tial friends, / have been induced
to permit my name to be used as
a candidate for Chancellor. /
would not have done SO, but for
reasonable assurances of my ac-
ceptability.
/ AS it would not comport with
usage or propriety to enter upon
a canvass, | have deemed it ad-
visable to speak with you through
the medium of acircular. l shall,
however, endeavor to see as many
of you as possible, by a visit to
the county towns between this
and the election, if not prevented
by sickness in my family.
The remark of a great and
wise statesman is peculiarly ap-
plicable to Judicial station -
"Power, and eminence, and con-
sideration are things not to be
begged. They must be command
ed"
Holding the exalted views
which ] do of the dignity and i'm
portance of the Office, it is with
hesitation and distrust that / be-
come a candidate for its great re.
sponsibiIities and obligations.
The Judiciary may be esteemed
the most vital function of the
government, because it is in i'm
mediate contact with our civil
rights and liberties. The citizen
feels its actual presence and pow
ers.' Through it the breaches are
generally first made upon human
rights.
Hence the people ought to hold
their Judicial offices in the highest
esteem, and be very cautious in
their bestowment. It will be a
misfortune to any people to make
the road to judicial station too easy.
Let such a hard culture be re-
quired, as to command the ablest
of the legal profession, and it will
not only impart dignity to the
Bench, but furnish the surest
guarantees of the permanence of
our government. / claim no
more than an approximate quail
fication for the Office. But if cleo
ted shall strive to make con-
slant improvement.
As to personal matters, / would
remark, that all personal consid-
erations should sink before the
public good. 1t is true that per-
sonal character might adorn and
add force to judicial ability, but it
would not supply its lack. 1t is
also true that one who has tried
to live the law, will give assn.
rance that he may be trusted to
administer it fairly to others.
1t would be immodest in me to
sound my own trumpet, and I'M
just to attempt to magnify my
own, by depreciating the merits of
my opponents. l have no points
of invidious contrast to raise be-
tween myself and them, either
personal, political, or military.
However signally | might
have used the tongue, the pen,
and the sword in the defence of
our rights and liberties, it would
prove that | was possessed of the
heroic virtues of courage and pa
triotism, but would not prove my
fitness for the office of Chancel.
lor. II elected ! shall try to take
the ldao, not the s,cord upon the
Bench.
/ have been more than q quar-
ter of a century devoted to the
practice of law, with but few in.
terruptions. / leave it to 9th.
ers to pronounce upon my qualif-
cations.
To the people of Lincoln coun-
ty lam no stranger, having spent
my life amongst them. In the
most of the other counties | have
acquaintances, especially men,
bers of the Bar, to whom / refer
those who do not know me. In
the collisions of the Bar, impelled
by excessive zeal, l may have un-