The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1873-05-08
The Late Judge William L.
Sharkey.

that the remains Of Judge Sharkey have
been deposited in a casket, and will be
removed to Mississippi for interment in
the fall
In the death Of this illustrious man
the people Of Mississippi have lost
citizen who bad long stood conspicuous,
even among the giants of the genera
ton in which he acted his part. Coming
to the State from Tennessee in his child
hood. here he had spent almost all OF his
life which, when he was called hence,
bad reached the ripe age Of seventy-tour
years. In his early manhood he repre-
sented Warren county in the Legislature
in 1919 he accepted the office OF 7.
(. Consul to Havana, but soon REIN |
auisbeI it as not suited to his taste and |
trainine-in 1880 he presided over the
State Convention Of citizens which init |
ated the Nashville Convention, that |
was called to inaugurate resistance
against Northern encroachments, of
which body he was also member, and
over which he presided-and in 1860 he
wa. selected by President johnson TO fill
the office Of Provisional Governor Of
Mississippi in the execution Of the plan
Of reconstruction devised by the Federal
Administration. In his political career
there Is nothing to distinguish him as
man Of extraordinary mark, except
his speech before the State Convention
Of 1850. in which he expounded the ma
fure Of the Government, and, with pro-
phetic vision, penetrated the vale of the
future. and described with unerring pre-
ci-ion the calamities which would result
from Northern fanaticism and rapacity,
/ if not checked. A brief extract from
+ his remarkable address will not be map
propriate in this connection
.. we had fattered ourselves that the ca
pacity Of man for self-goyernment was no
I longer question Of doubt. We have boast
/ ed Of ours IS an example of free govern
ment. based on enduring foundations. |
T trust ii may prove so, but events of recent
occurrence seem to forbode danger. The
convocation of this assembly-the intense
excitement manifest in every countenance
here. are proofs that there is cause Of
alarm. For a time we have been prosper
t Gus AID happy under a free government
! but that time in the history of man is but
/ "a brief space. The page of history is yet
! fresh with records OF our existence as a
nation OF freeman. Scarce has the stain OF
I revolutionary blood. shed for liberty. faded
! from the face of the land, before it has
+ been found necessary for the people Of the
/ South 10 prepare 30 check the dggreSsor. And
whence this danger? No foreign foe threat
/ ems as. our counCrymen, our brethren, are
arrayed in strife against us. Blinded by
/ me poison Of fanaticjsHa, they seek to aJridge
| otar constitutional rights under the mask Of
false Humanity"
And speaking of the safeguards erected
/ by the trainers of the Government for
the defence Of local elf-government and
community independence against the en-
croachments of consolidation, he uttered
this memorable sentiment:
4 great consolidated government would
have risen up, which was an eUu If all
Others most dreadedand most rigidy guarded
against by declaring that all powers not
expressly granted to Congress were reserved
to the States or to the people. Hence, no
power can be exercised unless it has been
granted by the constitution. The safety of
the States and of the people is best Pre-
served by holding Congress steadily within
the limits or The delegated poecerS. No rule of
- l.. -
upon tndtUtdual rights.
WE lot the South) ARE NOT THE AGGREs-
sORs, AND II THE RESULT SHOULD PROVE
DISASTROUS, LET THE BLAME REST ON THOSE
WHO PROVOKED THE QUARREL.-Address of
Hon. w, L, Sharkey, Appendix House Jour
nal, Mississippi Legislature, 1850, p. 277.
These deliberate utterances from Judge
Sharkey, whose position on the bench
had kept him aloof from the excitement
Of the times and aided him in the forma-
ton Of ideas free from the passions of
prominent actor in the events of the
hour, and from a man of his profundity
and conservative opinions, are historical
landmarks to which recurrence cannot be
too often had by those who would vindi-
cate the truth of history from the calum-
MES Of false witnesses. They deserve to
be handed down to future generations as
testimony for a people whose sense of
right was only equaled by the heroism
which they displayed on the battlefield in
defence Of constitutional liberty.
But in sketching the epochs of his
career, it is proper to say that it was on
the Bench that Judge Sharkey was pre-
eminent. In that office, he lowered |
grandly like Saul, "a head above his
brethren. OF him in that station, well |
may it be said that the Roman Senate
in its Fabrician state could not have |
shown patriotism more free from possibil-
ity of suspicion, personal dignity and civic
worth more clearly developed, or deliber-
alive reason more perfectly Invested from
the letters and shackles of prejudice and
the bias of self. Doubtless all classes
of our citizens will vie with each other in
paying proper respect to the memory of
the great man who has this day fallen in
Israel; but it will be the especial province
If the members of the noble profession
which he adorned to embalm with pecu-
-Iar sanctities the services which he per-
formed IN his favorite sphere of action,
md which have recorded his name on the
.ame roll with the worlds most distin-
guished jurists