Huntsville gazette., 1882-09-02
SOUTHERN GLEANTNGS.
"reminiscences of Ben Hill of Georgia

hehiiniscences of Ben Hill of Georgia.
Southern correspondent relates the fol-
owing incidents in the career of the late
senator Ben ii. Hill: In 1855 Mr. Hill de-
1''ieu hlnself candidate for congress in the
soafth Congressional District, and at an in
orhlu meeting of representatives of the
wing party, held in the town of Newman. his
rahoiaacy was indorsed In this Campaign
air Hill was in reality the candidate of the
| American or "Knownothing" party which
4 hiad Just taken shape in Georgia. He was op-
posed by ex-Chief Justice Hiram Warner OF
nreenslle who ran as the nominee of the
democratic party. The race was warm and
closely contested. Warner winning by the
trihlng majority of &c votes ina district which
I prlor 20 that time. was accustomed to roll
| up democratic majority of $500 votes. In
| 800 Hill was placed on the electoral ticket
Tor Mlllard Fillmore. 1t was during this year
that MS wonderful powers on the ''hustings''
We're HfSt shown to the best advantage he
havmg met and vanquished both Alex lnder
! H. stephens and Robert Toombs in debate
| III the town of Lexington, Oglethorpe
! county. TOombs didn't care to fight him,
but stephens was so incensed mt the
| new great man who had literally laiu him out
on ms own stamping ground that he forth
| With challenged him. In reply Hill wrote that
celebrated note which as now a part of the
! political history of the State. It was in these
words; " will not fight you have q con.
/ scic zee and a family. You have neither" In
| lN55 Hin was retained TO defend William A.
Choice, who killed the baliff, Webb. at Allan
ta The case is reported in 81 Georgia. and is
famous. Bill Choice, as he was called was a
man OF good education and marked talent
! belonging to one of the best families of Rome
Ia While on visit to Atlanta he got on
| spree, and while drinking with some friends
in the bar of the old Atlanta Hotel, which
then stood where the Kinball House now
stands, James Webb, the justice court bailiff,
suad 4 o o n0tce h hShowng that he had
that he attempted to punish Webb on the
/ spot, but was prevented by bystanders.
Early the following morning, fresh from the
nights debauch, Choice walked into Prior
street, and, seeing Webb standing on the op-
| poSlte side OF the street. several hundred feet
away drew his pistol, and having taken de-
llDerate aim, shot him down without the slight
est warning The town was in an uproar in
few minutes, and many of the best cit
izens We're 80 outraged ut the act that they
| declared for lynch law. Choice defied the Of
ficers, saying that he would kill the first man
who laid hands upon him. He was finally
captured by strategy and safely lodged in the
| lookup just before the bowling mob, clamOr
Gus tor his blood, reached the station house.
Many able lawyers we're engaged to defend
him, young Hill among the number. Public
opinion was against the prisoner. The de-
tense pleaded insanity, and after the longest
and most exciting trial in the annals of Eul-
1 ton County, the prisoner was convicted. I'LL
! mad thrown his whole soul into the case, ana
was bent upon saving his client. In those
/ days the pardoning power was vested in the
State Senate. Hill went back to Troup Coun
/ pai IN, and was elected to the state Senate,
1 where he made his celebrated speech for the
1 pardon OF Choice. OF this remarkable effort,
State senator William Harris, OF w orth Coun-
! ty, once said: cit WAS the grandest effort that
! ever fe from human lips. Mrs. Choice, the
good and lovely mother of the J1ris oncr dress
7 ed in the deepest black, leaned upon the arm
OF young Hill, as, pale, slender, and thought
! full. he walked down the aisle. The galleries
were packed, and the excitement was smOth-
cred but intense. Hill spoke many hours.
/ His tongue seemed ito drop mamma, for surely
such exquisite strains of pathos never fell up.
on the air. / he Senate was in tears. The Prcsi-
| dent Wept aloud. The women screamed. L
1 shah carry to the grave two sentences OF that
| marvellous speech. They ring in my ears even
/ now ana that scene was enacted twenty 1Vc
| years ago. He said, speaking of Choices in
/ sanity: 'Sott rs the zephyr rom the orange
! grove, carrying the prayer of an angel, the
! spirit of Webb viii whisper in your ear Spare
I him for he knows not what he did And
again: If you hang William H. Choice, in
scribe upon the galOws in letters of blood,
that all time may syllable the shame, this 1s
| Georgias Lunatic Asylum" Choice was de-
| clared insane by an Overwhelming vote and
| sent to the asylum. Hill was the ablest and
bitterest opponent in Georgia of the recon
struction measures, and at the peril Of expa
tration, delivered speech OF the bodest
and most fiery invective in Davies Hall at
Atlanta in 1856, in which he denounced the
United States authorities and fiercely Vi
tuperated and deied the Nothern SOL
diery, who. accompanied by their Of
fcers, formed part of the audience. Toombs,
!
been asked to address the people on the
situation, bat Hill alone had the audacty to
speak his sentiments in public. He contln-
ned his opposition to reconstruction by writ
ing his ''Notes On the STANDARDIZATION arc
regarded in the South assthe finest philippics
since those OF Demosthenes-and at vast
meeting of the people OF Georgia, held at At
lanta in 1868, he gave utterance to his cele-
brated Bnsh Arbor invective, in which he not
only advocated the social ostracism of Re-
publicans in Georgia, but advised their own
wives TO leave them. Howell Cobb and Bob
Toombs spoke at the same time and place,
and ut the conclusion of Hits speech 1oOmb5
arose in the presence of the vast crowd and
congratulated him, saying: ''Sir, it was the
grandest effort overheard" Bullockfled the
State in 1871, and upon the coming into power
OF the Democrats. in 1872, Hill, Gordon, and
Stephens offered for the Senate. Gordon was
elected. Upon the death of Mcmillan, of the
Ninth Congressional District Hill, who lived
part of the time at Athens, in that district,
became a candidate for the nomination. The
convention broke up iii q row, and Hill made
the race before the people, beating his oppo-
nent Estes. His term having expired he was
renominated and returned to Congress with
out opposition. In 1876, while still in Congress,
he antagonized Norwood for the United States
SenatOrship. The people held meetings IN 3
various parts of the State, urging the Legisla-
ture to elect HIl and he made a three hour
speech, advocating his claims in a mastery
manner. and then left for Washington. Nor.
wood remained in Atlanta, buttonholing
the members. The galleries were crowd
ed during the three days balloting,
IL
wood held his own pretty well. but the 4
pressure was too great, and on the third day,
q Norwood man changed his vote to Hill the
Norwood men stampeded, and enough votes
were changed to give Hill the prize. The Re-
publicans and negroes IN the Legislature yot-
ed for HILL 1t has often been said that in
oratory Cicero was Mr. Hill model, and it is
known that of the great men of this country
his favorite was Henry Clay. Hill himself
gave the best definition of the true orator
mot excepting that of Dcmosthenesl the cor
rpsDOndent ever heard He said: THE true
orator is he who has the intellect to see the
truth, the heart to feel it, and the courage to
speak it." How could q definition be more
concise or comprehensive? MIR. HUI was dis
tinguished in civil as wei as criminal law,
ana received the largest fee ever paid to
lawyer in Georgia in a single case 1t was
$4,000, paid by Thomas Metcalf, one OF the
wealthest men OF Augusta. III a cotton claim
ease argued by Hill in the United states Court
at Savannah just after the war.
miscellaneous Items.
Jonesboro, Ark, had sensation at a