The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-07-28
FRIDAY, JULY %, 1899.
Two MOST WORTHY NORTH CAR,
OLlNIANS.

IL " hO" jail III (AC oIoIN
library should be placed there. Hon.
calvin Graves, of Caswell, and Judge
Brooks, of Elizabeth City, richly de-
serve to be remembered among the
faithful. brave, conscientious North
! Carolinians. Mr.. Graves gave a cast-
ing vote that started a great railroad
movement in North Carolina, and at a
time when railroads were not popular
and people generally did not appreci-
.ote their great Importance as public
carriers and as developers of sections
they penetrated. The Post says:
'The North Carolina railroad is
going to perform a tardy act Of justice
by erecting a monument to Mr.. Graves
Let the state also thus honor this hero,
for his one act, under all the circum-
stances then surrounding, n which
we fear would not be overcome now as
he overcame them then, was as heroic
as ever characterized the sacrifice Of
man upon the battlefield. y = Calvin
Graves ave a casting vote knowing,
and realizing ever after, that it was
his political death. He served his state
n his people-thiS was the prize he
sought, and sacrificed himself in the
accomplishment of this purpose"
We do not recall the time of the
death Of Judge Brooks, but it was
probably fifteen years ago. We knew
him we'll and admired his pure, manly,
magnanimous character. He was a
true man, a staunch North Carolinian,
a faithful, upright judge. We suppose
first and last we have written a half
dozen editorials upon this noble North
Carolina gentleman. We have again
and again urged the duty Of erecting
a statue to his memory. We have
pointed to the painful fact that while
the bar of the state, or some part Of
it, has reared a monument in honor Of
Chief Justice Richmond Pearson who
at a great critical hour when the
usurping Governor Holden was car
rying it with a high hand and an out
stretched arm, m%enacing the liberties
and even life of some of the best citi-
-zens in the state, that Judge Pearson
4quailed before him and declared. when
he was solicited to grant to the i'm
prisoned gentlemen, guarded by human
wolves, "Kirke's Lambs" the writ of
udUcdS cOIpuS, lHdI lHc po"CLo VI
the judiciary were exhausted" Holden
a his own sweet way until Judge
Brooks appeared at Raleigh and upon
18th solicitation of the late Mr.. Justice
Joseph J. Davis, of the supreme court
Oater), and General NJ. w. Ransom,
issued the great writ that liberated at
once the four prominent gentlemen in
prison. Judge Brooks has never been
honored by the leading lawyers of
North Carolina He deserves to be
perpetuated in marble n bronze that
it may speak to unborn generations,
that here was in deed a man., worthy
of any heroic 6 or any great and he
roic people. The Raleigh Post has an
impressive and we'll written editorial
urging the honoring of Brooks and
Graves. OF the noble jurist who. stood
at the front in dark and trying days
and upheld valiantly the majesty of
law and the inalienable rights of free
men, it a most appropriately:
''Those of us who can remember when
our state was turned over to the reck-
less insolence of armed soldiery by
the state government, and u state
judiciary became helpless to render re-
lief if it desired to do so, this sturdy
old federal Judge Brooks promptly is
sued the mandate which opened the
doors of the prisoners and loosened
the manacleS placed upon an hundre
or more, and threatened others, of our
best citizens. Our own state govern
ment was the oppressor, our own state
Judges passive submissionists to the
or0 ,,Dnp tho 1harfinS of orr npO-
ple. Then, in our hour of despair, we
were but too glad to acknowledge our
gratitude to, and to have the prompt
service which we received, of the fed
eral court and a federal judge. We
then realized that the federal 1udge OF
the district of North Carolina was our
iudge-the court and his jurisdiction
belonged to us, and his duties under
the constitution required him to grant
protection not only to the liberty. but
the lives and the property of citizens
as WELL"
Knowing Judge Brooks so we'll we
are of those who are not surprised at
his prompt and bold action. He rebuk-
ed the violent governor who visited
his room to intimidate him, by saying
calmly and yet sternly-'lf you do MOI
treat me with respect, governor as
Won are. I will order you to jail" The
irate usurper SUNK away feeling ina
he had met a man far above him IN al
of the true elements that make grea'
character. There were not many sucf
judges then in any court as this grano
modest North C~arolinian was. we
doubt if you could find his fellow no"
oDoonD fo6ora1 i,l~oe o-1 fhaxv yUn1Il0
not count many in any of the courts
IT is we'll for a free, intelligent and
grateful people to cherish the memory
and preserve the name of men who
rise high in the scale of manhood and
who are superior to party Inc tempta-
tionNto do wrong.