The weekly clarion., 1872-07-11
Hon a. NJ CIayGon's Tribute 10
she late .Iudcs. VIM. Yerx.er.

/
Hon w. p. Harris to whom the sub
Joined letter is addressed, has kindly
placed it at our disposal It is the
tribute of Hon A. NJ Clayton, former
ly of the Supreme Bench of Mississippi,
to the lamented William Yerger.
/ WOOD CoTE. Miss,
June Il, 1872.
HoN. w. z. HARRIS.
DEAR SIR Permit me to tender you my
sincere acknowledgements for your noble
tribute 70 the character of William Yerger
The praise you award him is very high, but
not in the least degree above his deserts.
lneorruptible and learned as d Judge-faith-
ful and dilligent as lawyer, just and true
In all the relations of life, he presented AN
example of all that is calculated to exalt
and ennoble our nature, in its highest moral
and intellectual aspect.
regret that | could not have been pres
ent, to have borne my testimony to his
| worth.
It's singular that Carlyle should have
| given definition of genious. so nearly alike
that which you quote from Scott first of
all it means says he, the Stranscendent Ca
pacity of taking trouble Singular that
two men of great natural endowments,
cultivated to a rare degree. should thus have
given to the practical, not the ideal. the
highest place in human characteristics.
As part of this capacity to labor, either as
cause or consequence, is the faculty TO ex-
tract and condcnse the materials, which
labor accumulates. To the laayer whose
resources fill so many countless volumes,
this faculty is Cf more moment than TO any
other class.
The greatest of wits, whose sharpness
seemed to cleave with tile brightness and
quickness of lightning, said there could be
nothing great without labor: and rising
above and beyond all, is the religious senti-
ment that '-labor is the worship of God"
To attribute ''every virtue under Heaven"
to any human being, may be regarded as
the too partial estimate of friendship, but
it may with safety be assumed, of our Ia
meuted friend, that as few imperfeetions
belonged to his character, as ever fall to the
lot of frail humanity.
Amid the 10 list of worthy and of
honorable names, who have preceded him
in the realms of immortality, few are en-
titled TO an equal measure of unqualified
appreciation.
The ranks of those, who throngcd the TO-
ram of Mississippi thirty years ago, are
fearfully thnncd. Smith, Prentiss, Quit
man, Mayes Boyd, McMurran, Guion, the
four 1ergers, Smedes, Glenn, Thacher Bar
ton, TrOtter, Powell, Il noble band. have all
gone! The few survivors OF that day
stricken in years, and almost solitary. stand
in awe of the final summons. All the high
er forms of human Intelligence. found in
this departed race, their fit and congenial
impersonation. The effulgence and pathos
of eloquence-the flash of wit-the embel-
lishment of faney-the searching argument
of logic-the profound deductions OF wis
dOm-the mature conclusions of ripened
judgment were all displayed in surprising
lustre.
Alas, all silent now, hushed in the dream
less sleep, which knows no waking.
Guilty, or not guilty, at the close of the
war, | had to sue for pardon; and l found
no hand more ready 20 help me, than the
one you have so recently consigned to the
grave.
May his heavenly judge find in him no
more to censure, than have we his fallible
brotheys; and award him wreath Of un-
fading happiness.
With my best wishes, l am very sincerely,
Yours.
ALIEN. NJ. CLAYTON.