The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1873-06-18
TRIBUTE TO JUDGE WARDLAW,
Meeting Of the Members Of the Bar
and of the Citizens Generally.

Immediately after the ADJOURN
ment of the Court on Tuesday last
a meeting of the citizens was hello
in the Court House for the purpose
of. paying a proper Tribute Of re-
spect to the memory of the late
Hon. D. L. WardIaw. On motion
of Edward Noble, Esq.,, the Hon
Armistead Burt was called to the
Chair, and ". A. Lee requestedstc
act as Secretary. ....-
. The Chairman upon assuming his
seat, presented an elaborate review oI
the life and public services of the de.
ceased, and paid glowing tribute tc
his high endowments and pre-eninent
virtues, to which in our brief synopsis
we can do only meagre justice. He
said that itwas eminently proper whilst
the notes of woe and tributes of respect
and regard were coming mp from every
city, town, and hamlet, that Ahbeville,
which had known and loved the de.
ceased so long, should not be wanting in
the exhibition of its love and admira-
ton. 1t was especially incumbent upon
him not to be silent, who had known
him so long and so well. Ee had first
met the deceased in 1928, upon coming
to Abbeville, aud for thirteen ycal was
intimately associated with him attheBar.
In that period he had learned to love
and admire the man, and now with the
recolleciions of long and Intimate asso-
cia.ion, he had no heart to use the words
of cold and studied eulogy, but must
:.peak out from gushing heart, the Ian
guage of emotions which struggled for
utterance. He tllen presented q minute
and elaborate review of the life Of the
deceased from his birth on the Is March,
1899, to his death in Abbeville on the
8 June, 1873-first the school boy distin-
gushing himself at. the Wilmington
4 cademy at the early age Of twelve
years-then passing to the South Caro-
lima College, and after q two years course
bearing off the honors of his class be-
fore attaining the age Of eighteen years
then student in the office of Govern
or Noble, soon his associate, and in 1928,
when he first knew him, in full practice,
and ranking with the foremost of his
profession. He had come to the Bar
fully educated and thoroughly prepared,
and was qualified to hold his place in
the very froNt rank. Upon his Circnit
were some of the uiost eminent men of
the day, and who had reputation, net
only in the State, but in the United
States. Here, we've Young and Irby, of
Laurens, Butler and Bacon, of Edgetield,
To or1n onI Thnprcnr onl nf
Davis and Whitner, of An
tlerson, Noble and Bowie and McCraven
and Lomax, of Abbeville, and among
these he stood proudly eminent. Great
as he was in other respects, the speaker
thought him pre-eminently great as q
lawyer, For this profession, his snatural
pndownlents and his education had fully
him. His thorough knowl-
edge, convincing logic and elaborate
prepalatio made hiA, invincible, and
enabled him even to bear off the palm
in contest with McDutfie. Elected to
the Legislature he soon established a
high. position in that body, and was
finally made Speaker. His record
shows him to have been the author of
some of our best laws, and the eempila-
ton of the Manual bears witness to his
and untiring industry. From
1926 to 1S41, when elevated to the Bench,
he maintained his devotion to his pro-
fession-and in that respect he differed
from. the speaker, who had Jndulged in
all episode-a respite from the judi
cial arena. This was to- be
deprecated as the law was jeal:
Gus mistress and reserved all its choic-
est gifts for its true devotees. On the
Bench Judge Wardlaw exhibited all
the great qualities which make up
the character of the great jurist.
With acuteness, comprehensive
ness, devotion to truth, learning, native
force and vigor of intellect, and capac-
ity for work he was the peer of any of
his fellows-indeed discharged more
than his share of duty, and especially
from his familiarity with. our statute
law, was called to render most of the
decisions which involved its construc-
ton. On the circuit he brought to bear
all the admirable qualities of his mind,
and exercised the highest traits of the
judicial character-!laboriousness. pa
tience, devotion to the cause of the
truth and the oppressed. He EN-
phatically the poor mans friend,
and held the scales of justice with
an even hand. During that long
service of twenty years on the
Circuit, it is remarkable fact that
he never missed Court, either from
sickness or otherwise. His hours
of leisure were devoted to the ,prepaTa-
ton of sncll useful manuals as Pressly's
Law of Magistrates, and Miller's Com
pilation, and some valuable notes upon
decided cases, which are monuments of
his accuracy, learning, and laborious-
ness. Besides these professional studies,
he found time for the exercise Of his
in every department of human
knowledge-iu the wide fields of liter
ature and science-and In whatever
ministered to the development of the
and the moral nature. SO
perfect was the development, and so ad-
the balance of all his faculties,
so wide were his sympatllies, SO kind
his temper, so genial his nature, 80 Sc
rene his dispositisn-with kind words
to the childShat he met. and the cordial
greeting to the friend on.the street. he
was mau to be loved and admired.
Two years ago he gave the first indica-
.lOuS Ol LudI ldillIlS ucdith "hiCA ca
:ited the fears of his friends, and since
hen he has been waiting with hero
SIN truly sublime the slow approaches
IF death-.all without rnurmur, with
calm, patient resignation. lie lived
md died as a Christian and phil0so-
oher. Like some August sun, that with
,tfulgent beams, and no cloud to obscure
IS radiance, sinks to its home in the
West, so brightly and serenely did he
lie.
The following resolutions were then
'ffered by Thomas Thomson, Esq; and
ustained by him in an appropriate aud.
address: "
Resolucd, l. That by.the death Of the
Hon. D. L. Wardlaw, the State has lost
son whose public life, for nearly half
! century, is entwined with her own
history.
2. That, graduating with the first hon
,rs of his class, he exhibited IN early
md ripe scho1a rshiD ever afterwards