The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-06-18

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II both governments. and
Tor himself ar his estate became
large. and his clients ne made ne
question Of taxation \ special stud
fils opinions on tbs subject were
sought by IL professional brethren
ne nAd been an GncompromfstnE
Union man and was a memoer OF the
convention in the fall or 1855. called
at the instance OF President johnson.
ana he was actice and influential IN
measures intended TO bEng about
rehabilitation OF the State as q part
or the Federal Union. and adapt X -
the changed conditions resulting from
the emancipation Of the slaves and
the loss Of much property Had the
work OF the convention been permit
ted by Fedora Government to stand.
instead Of being largely nullifed bv
the scheme Of reconstruction. so call
ed. devised by those who hated or
dtstrusted the South. II would have
been much better for all concerned.
as many OF those who favored X will
admit. As a practitioner he was dis
tIngufshed for his skill IN cross-ex-
animation OF witnesses. Thoroughly
learning the facts and understanding
the law OF his cases. he shaped his
questions 70 witnesses. so as to get the
facts tending to support the theory IN
which he hoped to win his case. as Nc
itd WORKED l. out beforehand. his
brethren sometimes likened him To a
slow fox hound that could be relied
on never to run over or lose his trail.
AS an equity lawyer he was pre-emi-
nent. and Rufin &C. j. was heard 10
say that he Would prefer TO have him
manage any case of his own involving
principles of equity and large inter
ests rather than any other lawyer at
the bar. His diligence and prudence
was such that Notwithstanding the
losses resulting from the war, he LETT
an estate Of nearly half a million dol
lars.
Thomas Bragg. younger BY nine
years than Mr.. Moore. was his rival
at the bar for man years before and
after the latter moved to Raleigh. He
was born in Warren. but began the
practice of law in Jackson, Northamp-
ton county. He was successfully
countv attorney, member of the Cen
eral Assembly. Governor of the State,
United States Senator and Attorney
General of the Confederate States.
His reputation as Of the great law
yers of the State was not made before
his return to the bar, after service
as Governor. Senator and Attorney
crate Government in Raleigh, after he
left the Cabinet, he exhibited his
qualities as an able and most pains
taking lawyer. His practice after the
war in state and federal courts was
large and his diligence in the prepara-
ton of his cases was extreme. His
knowledge of men was great, and his
custom seemed to be to apply his COM
mon sense and native intuition as to
hat was just and right to his cases,
before his investigated the law applica-
BILE to them. AS the common law IS
supposed to be the perfection Of COM
mon sense, and equity Jurisprudence
was devised to supply remedial justice
where the law was by reason of its
universally insufficient, Governor
Bragg, with such 2 bits of prepara-
ton and his great ability. was neces-
sarilv an eminently successful lawyer.
I believe I can truthfully say that, Of
all the lawyers In practice here during
the latter years of his life, he was,
taking one case with another, the most
successful. A very earnest speaker,
while he cared not for the figures of
rhetoric, he was sometimes quite
eloquent. His perceptions were so
clear, and his convictions so strong,
that he had no difficulty in command
ing the attention and often the SYM
pathy of court and jury. He was one
of the leading counsel for the mana
gers in the Impeachment of Governor
Holden, in 1871, less than a year be-
fore he died. While all the lawyers
in that great trial, presided over by
Chief Justice Pearson, sustained their
IepuldllOllS- lIIlIIh J. at IL III
preston of the times truly when I
say that, at the conclusion of the
trial the palm was in the hands of
Thos. Bragg. His toll in the prepara-
ton and trial of his many causes in
state and federal courts was unre-
hitting, and doubtless his life was
shortened in consequence. He was
in the SD year of his age at the time
of his death.
Samuel F. Phillips was a notable
figure in the galaxy of lawyers who
wrung from Chief Justice Chase the
high compliment to the bar, to which
/ have alluded. Born in Harlem, n.
Y, but removing to Chapel Hill with
his father, Prof. Jas. Phillips, when
he was two years old, he made that
his home until he removed to Raleigh
in 1866. Graduating with highest
hOnors at the age of II, and devoting
himself principally to the study Of the
law before and after he obtained Ii
cense, he laid the foundations Of his
legal learning so broad and deep that
he became, as l think, the ablest
lawyer in the State after George f.
Badgers sun had set. In public life
he was a member of the General As
sembly. and during one session Speaker
of the House of Commons, State Audi
tor during the war, m of the
convention of 1865, and Solicitor
General of the United States. Always
a student of the best classics of an
cient and modern times. n pro-
foundry versed in the law in all its
branches, every thing he wrote, or
spoke, marked him as q scholar and
a lawyer He was not altogether as
particular in looking into the details
of some of his cases as were Mr..
Moore and Governor Bragg, but in
the draft of pleadings, in law or
equity, he had no superior; While In
choosing the proper line of attack Or
defense, and holding it against all as
saults of his adversary he was emi1--
emily successful. 1t seemed to me that
he commanded the attention and conf
dence of the judges of the United
States courts, and of our Supreme
Court, by the weight, candor and fair
ness of his arguments, to a greater
degree Than any of his contemporaries;
and l have heard it stated by those
likely to form a fair estimate, that
while he was engaged in arguing cases
for the Government in the Supreme
Court as Solicitor General, he had no
superior in Washington as a lawyer
off or on that great bench. He had
! reached forty-seven years when he
died.
Edward Cantwell removed to Raj
eigh from New Hanove shortly be-
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