The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1879-01-02
THE VALLEY VIRGINIAN
srAUNroN, VIRGINIA.
For the VALLEY v1RG1sIAN.
RecoIections Of John Howe Peyton.


Recolections Of John Howe Peyton.
One Of the truest tests of the greatness OF
Q man is very often the impression, as l
think, which, without intending. he ma es
upon the mind OF the young with whom he
may come In contact. Theic are few OF US
who do not remember having met In our
earlier days. with men whose presence filled
US with respect and awe, before even. per-
haps, we had learned their names and repu
tations, and who In after years seemed to-
stand out from amid our youthful recollec-
tons, apart and distinct from the memories
Of other men. Men who unconsciously
stamp their individuality not only upon our
minds, but who often serve, though We may
not perceive 1t, rs models upon which our
own conduct IL, or ought 60 be, moulded,
and the impress Of whose attributes, and vir-
tues serves as standards by which VIC Judge
of other men.
The impressions have Of John Howe
Peyton are those which formed when
youth, but they were such as TO- stamp him
not only es an able and good man, but as g
great man in the truest acceptation ct the
term. sa LA -
When boy at school in Waynesboro,
Augusta county, with the Rev. James c.
Wilson, D. D., as my preceptof, famous
criminal trial was progressing In the Circuit
Superior Court at Stanton. Mr.. Peyton
was the prosecutor, and was regarded as the
abiest prosecuting attorney in the Common
wealth OF Virginia. Shortly after that, while
every one was talking OF the trial, l saw
standing in the porch Of the hotel at Waynes-
boro, gentleman Of splendid form, broad
shoulders and extended chest, with a mag
niicent head, which he carried erect, and
could be aptly compared to that of Daniel
Webster. His eyes were large and bright,
his features straight. finely chiseled, forming
face OF Grecian lineaments. I did not
then know who he was. The idea which. on
my youthful mind, formed Of him, YVES
that he must be great man. 1 inquired re-
speeding him, and was told that he was Mr..
John Howe Peyton. had often heard my
father speak OF Mr.. Peyton az one OF the
great lawyers In Virginia, then having her
johnson, her Wickham, her Tazewell, her
Baldwin, her Shelley, her Writ, her Leigh,
her Tucker, her Stannard. and other emf
nent men, all OF whom were his cotem-
poraries I had never seen Mr.. Peyton I'M
til now. There was something, however, In
the appearance and bearing Of the man that
.l<t. Il
the beholdrr. The opinion so formed by
me, was afterwards upon better acquaint-
ance, fully justified.
i I knew little OF Mr.. Peyton. person
ally, being but boy, until after l entered
the University OF Virginia, with hia son, John
Lewis Peyton, In 1912. both OF us members
OF the law class under the late Henry st.
George Tucker. father Of the Hon. j. Ran
dolph Tucker, so eminent as lawyer and
statesman. Mr.. Peyton, at that time, Com
monwealth's Attorney in Albemarle. and 10
the other counties composing the Circuit
presided over by Judge Thompson when in
Charlottesville, attending the court. soioui n
ed at the residence Of his hrother-in-law,
John Cochran, Esq, now surviving in his
seth year, upon which occasions, at his re-
quest. his son and myself spent much time
with him. Mr.. Peyton manifested deep
interest, naturally,in the progress Of his sou,
and in my own, because Of his deep and in
innate friendship for my father. 1t was dur
ing the frequent conversations which 1t
pleased him to have with us, that learned
to appreciate the great power of his mind,
not perhaps so much as to its capacity, but
more especially as to the wonderful faculty
he possessed Of simplifying and rendering
clear the most obstruse subjects. And in
this perhaps, more than in anything else.
lay the secret OF his success as lawyer
He could take, for instance, the most diff
cult and complicated point OF law, and in
few well chosen, pithy sentences, place it
clearly and forcibiy before the minds Of his
hearers. As an illustration, remember,
shortly after we had commenced the study
Of Law in the .!nnior Department, he made
special inquiry as to our progress. examined
US upon what we had gone over and In
Quired the subject OF our next examination.
We replied that 1t was uses and Trusts"
frankly conicssing that although we had
read the text. we still felt ignorant Of the
and went into dissertation upon that
intricate and difficult subject, and in q
OF perhaps Of two hours, gave
us history, minute in chronology. accurate
in detail, profound and clear in the whole
science, and this without book before him,
Indicating the profoundest learning, and
the subject so clear to our minds,
as that when we went 10 the review the
whole field seemed to be laid open before
us, thus demonstrating not only his power
before courts and iurles, but likewise the
ability he possessed to impart to others In
the plainest and most comprehensive man.
ner what had heretofore seemed to them
difficult.
character that he seemed ever anxious to
impart information AMI knowledge to the
young. He rarely lost an opportunity OF
instructing, and this. in such an easy, unaf-
fected conversational style that it captivated
your attention, while 1t instructed your
mind. In the many conversations with his
son and myself, during this and the next
succeeding term at the University, It seem
ed to be his constant pleasure to communl-
cate to us historic and philosophic knowl-
edge, and to lead US insensibly into the deep
delights OF history and general literature.
In this connection must say that after a
longer and more extended acquaintance with
Mr.. Pe,ton, learned to regard him as
man Of the profoundest learning. not only
liz the great principles and scierce of the