COL. GEORGE WASHINGTON FLOWERS 
 MEMORIAL COLLECTION 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 DURHAM, N. C. 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 W. W. FLOWERS 
 
OBITUARIES, FUNERAL 
 
 i 
 
 AND 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BAR 
 
 IN MEMORY OF THE LATE 
 
 HON. WM. H. BATTLE. 
 
 I$0 % " ? 9 
 
 RALEIGH, N. 0.: 
 UZZELL & WILEY, PRINTERS AND BINDERS. 
 1879. 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 HON. WM. H. BATTLE. 
 
 | From the Kaleigh Observer of March 15th, 1879.) 
 
 DEATH OF JUDGE BATTLE. 
 
 One of the truly good men of North Carolina died at Chapel 
 Hill yesterday, full of years and full of honors. In the death 
 of Judge Battle, which event occurred at one o'clock yesterday, 
 the State sustained the loss of one of her sons than whom no 
 purer in character has lived or died in any age. 
 
 William Horn Battle was born in the county of Edgecombe, 
 on the 17th day of October, 1802, and was consequently in the 
 seventy-seventh year of his age at the time of his death. He 
 was the eldest of six sons of Joel Battle, one of the earliest cotton 
 manufacturers of the State; and the Rocky Mount Mills, at the 
 Falls of Tar River, are still in operation under the management 
 and ownership of a member of the Battle family. The paternal 
 ancestor of the subject of this sketch came from Virginia, and 
 his mother was a daughter of Amos Johnston, of Edgecombe. 
 He was descended on both sides from Revolutionary stock, and 
 his forefathers and their descendants have always been among 
 the foremost people of Edgecombe. 
 
 At the age of sixteen William H. Battle entered the Univer- 
 sity at Chapel Hill, and in two years graduated, having the honor 
 of delivering the valedictory oration, then a prize of the second 
 scholar in the class, in which was the late Bishop Otey of Tennes- 
 see, the late Hon. B. F. Moore, and the venerable William Hill 
 
 P33572 
 
4 
 
 Hardin, late of Fayetteville, and now of Raleigh, and the only 
 surviving member of the class. It is not yet two years since Judge 
 Battle, Mr. Moore, and Mr. Hardin met together in this city, the 
 then surviving members of the class of 1820. 
 
 On leaving the University, Mr. Battle entered the office of 
 Chief Justice Henderson, where he prepared himself for the 
 Bar, reading for more than three years, during which time he 
 acted as amanuensis for that distinguished jurist ; and so proficient 
 was this young student of law found at the time of his examina- 
 tion for County Court license that the Supreme Court departed 
 from an established rule, and granted him both County and Supe- 
 rior Court license at the same time. 
 
 On the first of June, 1825, he married Miss Lucy M. 
 Plummer, daughter of Kemp Plummer, Esq., a distinguished 
 lawyer of Warrenton, and in January, 1827, settled for the prac- 
 tice of his profession at Louisburg. The early years of his profes- 
 sional life were not full of promise, and it was always his pleas- 
 ure, and with becoming pride, to attribute the success of his life 
 to the encouraging influences and superior character of his wife 
 He represented Franklin county in the House of Commons in 
 1833- 7 34, and associated with Thomas P. Devereux, Esq., re- 
 ported the Supreme Court decisions from December, 1834, to 
 December, 1839, inclusive. In 1835 he was associated with 
 Governor Iredell and Judge Nash in preparing the Revised Stat- 
 utes of North Carolina, and personally superintended the printing 
 of that work in Boston. He removed to Raleigh in 1839, and 
 the same year was a delegate to the convention which nominated 
 William Henry Harrison for President of the United States. 
 In politics he was a Whig, but he was never a partisan, and his 
 career as a politician ended with his elevation to the judiciary. 
 
 Upon the resignation of Judge Toomer, in August, 1840, 
 William H. Battle was appointed by Governor Dudley, and in 
 the following winter elected by the Legislature, one of the Judges 
 of the Superior Court of North Carolina. In 1843 Judge 
 Battle removed to Chapel Hill to superintend the collegiate edu- 
 cation of his sons, and in 1845 he was elected by the Trustees to 
 the Professorship of Law, without any regular salary, however. 
 
5 
 
 attaching to the position, and he being charged with no part of 
 the government of the institution. This position he continued 
 to occupy until the University went down in 1868, subsequently 
 to which he abandoned his law school at Chapel Hill, and came 
 to Raleigh to associate in the practice of the law with his sons, 
 Hon. Kemp P. and R. H. Battle, Jr. 
 
 On the death of Hon. Joseph J. Daniel, Governor Graham, in 
 May, 1848, appointed Judge Battle a Judge of the Supreme Court 
 in his place, but the appointment was not confirmed by the Leg- 
 islature ; although by the same body and within a very few days 
 he was, without opposition, elected a Superior Court Judge, to fill 
 the vacancy created by the resignation of Hon. Augustus Moore. 
 He was the choice of both the Whig and Democratic parties, and 
 members united in a letter to him requesting his acceptance of a 
 judicial office tendered without distinction of party, and that 
 he might deem it no reflection to have failed of confirmation for 
 the bench of the higher court, they said : — " The preference of an- 
 other to you for a still higher judicial station, was owing princi- 
 pally to your residing in a county where there are already three 
 Judges, a Governor, and a Senator in Congress." This letter 
 bears date January 9, 1849, and Judge Battle had that day ar- 
 rived in Raleigh to argue a case before the Supreme Court. 
 Urged by Chief Justice Ruffin, as well as the members of the 
 Legislature, to accept the position, he did so, and again went on 
 the Superior Court Bench, from which he was called to the Su- 
 preme Bench in 1852, and continued to preside as an Associate 
 Justice of that court until the inauguration of the Reconstructed 
 State government in July, 1868. 
 
 The Legislature of 1872-'73 selected Judge Battle to again re- 
 vise the statutes of North Carolina, under the title of Battle's 
 Revisal, and while it was a conspicuous honor thus conferred, it 
 was an act of injustice to devolve such a labor upon one man, 
 and such criticisms as may have been indulged on the work might 
 well have been spared in view of the fact that it w T as the labor 
 of one mind. His peculiar fitness for the revision of our statute 
 laws was made manifest in the Revised Statutes of 1838, and if 
 the General Assembly had seen fit to give Judge Battle associate 
 
 P33572 
 
6 
 
 commissioners, Battle's Revisal would, instead of unjust criticism 
 in some quarters, have received the commendation which the Re- 
 vised Statutes and Revised Code met with at the hands of the 
 Bar. As it is, it is by no means an inferior work to the revisions 
 of other States, but North Carolina having been accustomed to 
 the superior revisions of Iredell, Nash and Battle, in which the 
 latter performed the principal labor, and the Code of Biggs, 
 Moore and Rodman, it is not at all remarkable that the work of 
 one unaided mind should fail to come up to the high standard of 
 that of three such superior legal minds as were employed on each 
 of the two previous revisions. During the last year of Judge 
 Battle's residence in this city he was President of the Raleigh 
 National Bank. In the spring of 1874 he lost his wife, and 
 thus left alone to support the weight of declining years, the 
 lonely old man, leaning upon his children, made his home in 
 Raleigh with his eldest son, Kemp; and he followed that son 
 back to Chapel Hill when he took upon himself the office of re- 
 storing the University, and in that home found all the compan- 
 ionship, comfort and solace that earth could afford him, until 
 worn out at the end of a long life-journey, throughout which every 
 duty to God and man had been religiously and conscientiously 
 performed, he fell asleep to wake in the presence of her who 
 counseled and guided his footsteps from the morn of early man- 
 hood to the eve of an honored and honorable life. 
 
 Judge Battle was the father of ten children, six sons and two 
 daughters of whom reached their majority. All have died but 
 three sons, Kemp, William and Richard. Two sons, Junius 
 and W. Lewis, were slain in battle. Mrs. Van Wyck, and the 
 other daughter, Susan, have both died since the war. Upon all, 
 the character of the mother, combined with the gentleness of the 
 father, was deeply impressed, and no home was happier in wife 
 and children than that of Judge Battle throughout his long life. 
 
 He was a Christian gentleman in the fullest meaning of the 
 term. If human perfection were possible, Judge Battle would 
 have attained it. " Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, 
 and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no 
 guile!" 
 
7 
 
 For forty years Judge Battle was a communicant member of 
 the Episcopal Church. He was a member of the General Con- 
 ventions of the Church continuously for twenty-five years, save 
 the interruptions of the war, and during that period he was a 
 member of the General Council of the Confederate States, and 
 attended its only session, held at Augusta. 
 
 The funeral services will be held at Christ Church on Sunday, 
 the church in which he was confirmed, and his remains will re- 
 pose in Oakwood Cemetery, beside those of his wife. 
 
 A good man and a great man has fallen, for no man is great 
 who is not good. Judge Battle was great in the goodness and 
 simplicity of his character. For modest excellence, unstained 
 and unobtrusive morality, unwavering courtesy, uniform kind- 
 ness, extensive learning, and a judgment firm and impartial, he 
 will be remembered by all who knew him. 
 
 (From the Raleigh Observer of March 16th, 1879.) 
 
 MEETING OF THE SUPREME COURT BAR. 
 
 On yesterday at one o'clock P. M., the following members of 
 the Supreme Court Bar assembled in the Supreme Court room, 
 pursuant to a call of Attorney General Kenan, to adopt resolu- 
 tions in regard to the death of the Hon. William H. Battle, late 
 a Justice of the Supreme Court, and a reporter of the decisions of 
 the Court : Chief Justice W. X. H. Smith, Justice Thomas S. 
 Ashe, Justice John H. Dillard, Hon. E. G. Reade, Hon. A. S. 
 Merrimon, Hon. D. G. Fowle, Hon. Geo. V. Strong, Maj. H. A. 
 Gilliam, Attorney General T. S. Kenan, Hon. W. R. Cox, A. M. 
 Lewis, Esq., Jos. B. Batchelor, Esq., Hon. T. C. Fuller, W. H. 
 Bagley, Esq., Hon. Montford MeGehee, Theo. F. Davidson, Esq., 
 R. T. Gray, Esq., S. G. Ryan, Esq., Capt. S. A. Ashe, T. M. Argo, 
 Esq., Col. Walter Clarke, Geo. M. Smedes, Esq., Geo. H. Snow, 
 Esq., Sam'l F. Mordecai, Esq., Jno. A. Moore, Esq., B. B. Lewis. 
 Jr., Esq., Wm. Bledsoe, Esq., E. R. Stamps, Esq., R. B. Peebles, 
 
8 
 
 Esq., W. C. Bowen, Esq., Jno. W. Hinsdale, Esq., A. W. Hay- 
 wood, Esq., and Jno. Devereux, Jr., Esq. 
 
 On motion of Hon. E. G. Reade, Chief Justice W. N. H. 
 Smith was called to the chair. 
 
 On motion of Hon. E. G. Reade, John W. Hinsdale and Jno. 
 Devereux, Jr., Esqs., were appointed secretaries. 
 
 On motion of Hon. A. S. Merrimon, it is 
 
 Resolved. That the members of the Supreme Court Bar have 
 learned with feelings of deep regret of the death of Hon. William 
 H. Battle. 
 
 Upon motion of Hon. E. G. Reade, it is 
 
 Resolved. That the chairman appoint a committee of eight 
 members of the Bar to meet the remains at the depot, and to 
 make the necessary arrangements for the part to be taken by the 
 Bar in the funeral and burial services of the Hon. William H. 
 Battle. 
 
 Upon motion of Hon. E. G. Reade, it is 
 
 Resolved. That the chairman appoint a committee of three 
 members of the Bar to prepare resolutions, to be reported to a 
 future meeting of the Bar, to be called by the chairman. 
 
 The chair appointed the following gentlemen upon the com- 
 mittee to meet the remains at the depot: Maj. Henry A. Gilliam, 
 Capt, R. B. Peebles, Hon. M. McGehee, E. R. Stamps, Esq., 
 John A. Moore, Esq., Maj. R. C. Badger, Jno. W. Hinsdale, 
 Esq., Capt. S. A. Ashe. 
 
 Upon the committee to prepare resolutions, the chair appointed 
 Hon. E. G. Reade, Hon. D. G. Fowle, and Hon. T. C. Fuller. 
 
 The chair announced the following gentlemen as having been 
 selected by the family of the deceased to act as pall-bearers : 
 
 Chief Justice W. N. H. Smith, Justice John H. Dillard, 
 Justice Thomas S. Ashe, Hon. E. G. Reade, Hon. Geo. V. Strong, 
 Hon. D. G. Fowle, Hon. A. S. Merrimon, Hon. T. S. Kenan, 
 Maj. A. M. Lewis, W. S. Mason, Esq., Hon. W. R. Cox, and 
 Hon. Jos. B. Batchelor. 
 
 Upon motion of Hon. D. G. Fowle, it is 
 
 Resolved. That the meeting do now adjourn to re-assemble 
 in this Chamber at 4J o'clock to-morrow afternoon, to hear the 
 
9 
 
 report of the committee, as to the part to be taken by the Bar in 
 the funeral and burial services. 
 
 W. N. H. SMITH, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 John W. Hinsdale, 
 John Devereux, Jr., 
 
 Secretaries. 
 
 ( From the Raleigh Observer of March 18th, 1879.) 
 
 THE FUNERAL. 
 
 As the sun came up out of the forests on the Sabbath morning 
 the old College bell tolled its solemn notes, and the Professors, 
 students and subordinates of the University, and all the villagers, 
 assembled in the Chapel to pay a last honor to a learned teacher, 
 a useful citizen — an old man full of honors and ripe for his re- 
 ward. After the Rev. Joseph B. Cheshire, Jr., had concluded the 
 services, the pall-bearers chosen from the Faculty and citizens, 
 and the committee of escort, consisting of five members from 
 each of the Societies, took up the sorrowful burden and proceeded 
 to Durham. On the outskirts of the village the long line halted 
 and stood uncovered as the small company passed by and went 
 on its way. 
 
 At Durham they were met by a delegation of citizens who 
 joined the funeral train and acted as a guard of honor until the 
 body was put on the Eastern bound train. Professors Winston 
 and Grandy of the Faculty, the Society committees, and a num- 
 ber of gentlemen from Durham accompanied the remains to 
 Raleigh. At the depot they were met by the following gentle- 
 men, the committee of arrangements appointed by the Bar: 
 
 Maj. Henry A. Gilliam, Capt. R. B. Peebles, Hon. M. 
 McGehee, E. R. Stamps, Esq., John A. Moore, Esq., Maj. R. 
 C. Badger, John W. Hinsdale, Esq., and Capt. S. A. Ashe, who 
 took charge of the body, and had it placed in the rotunda of the 
 Capitol, where it lay in state for several hours. 
 2 
 
10 
 
 Promptly at 5 o'clock, the hour appointed for the funeral, the 
 pall-bearers, Chief Justice W. N. H. Smith, Justice Thomas S. 
 Ashe, Hon. E. G. Reade, Hon. Geo. V. Strong, Hon. D. G. 
 Fowle, Hon. A. S. Merrimon, Hon. T. S. Kenan, Maj. W. H. 
 Bagley, Maj. A. M. Lewis, W. S. Mason, Esq., Hon. W. R. Cox 
 and Hon. Jos. B. Batchelor, repaired to the Capitol, and in the 
 following order the procession moved to the south entrance of 
 Christ Church : The pall-bearers, the committee of arrangements, 
 the Bar, State officers, citizens of Chapel Hill and Durham, the 
 family, citizens. At the South entrance the body was met by 
 the Rector, who preceded it, repeating the solemn promises of the 
 service. The church was densely crowded and the aisles and 
 galleries were full. The Rev. Dr. Marshall was assisted by the 
 Rev. Mr. Rich, and the Rev. Mr. Cheshire. After the echoes of 
 the last prayer had died away in the gray old church where the 
 venerable man had worshiped for many years, all that was 
 left of him was carried to the city of the dead, that lies along- 
 side the city of the living. Troops of friends followed in car- 
 riages and on foot, and the cemetery was populous with us of 
 to-day honoring us of yesterday They laid him away in his 
 family lot, by the side of her who made life almost as peace- 
 ful and happy for him as the rest to which God has called him. 
 His life was gentle and his death was peace. 
 
 (From the Raleigh Observer of April 3d, 1870.) 
 
 THE LATE JUDGE BATTLE. 
 
 In pursuance of a notice given by the Chief Justice, there was 
 a large meeting of the Bar yesterday, to engage in the ceremo- 
 nies commemorative of the life and services of the late Judge 
 Battle. 
 
 Chief Justice Smith presided. There were present Mr. Dil- 
 lard and Mr. Ashe, of the Supreme Court, Mr. Kenan, the 
 Attorney General, Messrs. Merrimon, Fowle, Reade, Cox, Gil- 
 
1 1 
 
 Ham, C. M. Busbee, Fuller, Ashe, Gray, W. H. Bagley, Fab. 
 H. Busbee, Clark, A. M. Lewis, Harris, Stamps, R. G. Lewis, 
 Mason, Pace, Ryan, Smedes, Overman, W. P. Batchelor, Mon- 
 tague, B. B. Lewis, W. H. Bledsoe, John Devereux and Gudger. 
 
 Mr. Reade read the resolutions adopted by the committee ap- 
 pointed at a previous meeting. They were as follows: 
 
 The committee appointed at a meeting of the Bar on the 14th 
 of March, to prepare resolutions commemorative of the life and 
 services of the late Hon. William H. Battle, respectfully report: 
 
 William Horn Battle was born on the 17th of October, 1802. 
 He was the eldest of six brothers. His father was Joel Battle, 
 and his mother was a daughter of Amos Johnson. They were 
 of the first families in Edgecombe county. 
 
 William H. Battle graduated at the University of North Caro- 
 lina, at the age of about eighteen, with distinction, delivering the 
 valedictory address. 
 
 Soon after graduating he began the study of the law with 
 Chief Justice Henderson, and some three years thereafter was so 
 well prepared that the Supreme Court gave him license for both 
 the County and Superior Courts at his first examination, which 
 was unusual at that time. 
 
 He married Miss Lucy Plummer, the daughter of Kemp 
 Plummer, a distinguished lawyer of Warren, and soon after 
 located at Louisburg. 
 
 He had not the qualities to push him early to the front in his 
 profession. He was modest and retiring, and won his way to 
 public confidence by industry and fidelity. 
 
 He represented his county for a few years in the Legislature, 
 but his public services were almost entirely professional. 
 
 From 1834 to 1839, he was, in conjunction with Thomas P. 
 Devereux, Reporter to the Supreme Court. 
 
 In 1835 he and Governor Iredell and Judge Nash were ap- 
 pointed to revise the statutes of the State, and to his learning and 
 industry the Revised Statutes owed much of its excellency. 
 After he was seventy years of age the Legislature again appointed 
 him alone to revise the statutes, allowing him but little time 
 for the work. This was a high compliment, but it was too much 
 
12 
 
 for any man to perform, and he did not complete it to his own 
 satisfaction. 
 
 He republished some of the older Supreme Court Reports, 
 with annotations, and at different times published four volumes 
 of digests of the Reports, which are the only digests now in use. 
 
 In 1840 he was appointed by the Governor, and during the 
 same year was elected by the Legislature, a Judge of the Supe- 
 rior Court, which office he filled with great acceptability until 
 1848, when he was appointed by the Governor to fill a vacancy 
 on the Supreme Court Bench. The Legislature, however, did 
 not elect him to that position, solely on account of his location, 
 in a county where there were already three Judges and a Sena- 
 tor in Congress; but he was, however, by the same Legislature, 
 reinstated in a very complimentary manner upon the Superior 
 Court Bench. In 1852 he was elected to the Supreme Court 
 Bench, which place he occupied until 1865, when all the State 
 offices were declared vacant. He was then again elected to the 
 Supreme Court Bench, and occupied that position until the new 
 organization of the Court in 1868. The discharge of his duties 
 on the Supreme Court Bench w r as entirely satisfactory. His de- 
 cisions were just and his opinions plain and learned. 
 
 He was for many years Professor of Law at the University, 
 and many of the lawyers of the State were his pupils. After he 
 left the Supreme Court Bench in 1868, he associated himself 
 with his sons, Kemp and Richard, in the law firm of Battle & 
 Sons, and prepared and argued cases in the Supreme Court. 
 
 Judge Battle gave not a few years of worn-out life, but his 
 whole manhood of a half a century, to the service of God; not 
 a cold, formal service, but a warm, active, useful service, to which 
 everything else was subordinate. And he died supported by the 
 Christian faith, on the 14th of March, 1879, without fear and 
 without reproach. 
 
 The following resolutions are recommended: 
 
 The members of this meeting will wear the usual badge of 
 mourning during the present term of the Supreme Court, 
 
 That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the family of the 
 deceased by the chairman. 
 
13 
 
 That a copy of the resolutions and report be presented to the 
 Supreme Court, with the request that they be entered on its 
 minutes. 
 
 E. G. READE, 
 D. G. FOWLE, 
 T. C. FULLER, 
 
 Committee. 
 
 HON. A. S. MERRIMON's SPEECH. 
 
 Mr. Merrimon, addressing the Chairman, said : 
 Mr. Chairman: I was acquainted a long while with the late 
 Judge Battle. I came to understand very well and to appreciate 
 highly his character and worth as a man and as a citizen in pri- 
 vate and public life. I entertained for him while living pro- 
 found respect and an unusual warmth of friendly feeling. Now 
 that he has passed away from our midst forever, I venerate his 
 memory. My recollections of him will ever be fresh and of the 
 most pleasing and agreeable character. I experience a mourn- 
 ful satisfaction in joining in these solemn ceremonies, and am 
 glad to have this opportunity to pay a brief and imperfect tribute 
 to the worth of my departed friend. 
 
 Judge Battle's was a high type of personal character. He 
 possessed a vigorous and well developed intellect, and took large 
 and clear views of every subject that came within the range of 
 his thought. His mind was well stored with general and varied 
 information. He had decided convictions upon most questions 
 interesting to him, and when necessary, acted upon them with 
 becoming firmness; but he was singularly free from bigotry. 
 He was catholic, just and tolerant in his views of men and things. 
 His moral nature predominated in his character. He had a high 
 moral sense. He thought that the happiness of society, collect- 
 ively and individually, depended upon the rectitude of human 
 conduct in all the relations of life. He loved the right and to 
 promote all its ends. It was always his purpose to think and 
 act rightly; he did no intentional wrong. If sometimes he 
 made mistakes, he generally gave his support to the right side 
 
14 
 
 of all questions involving doubt. He was foremost in the advo- 
 cacy of such measures as his judgment approved and he deemed 
 important. 
 
 His nature and his conduct were alike gentle, affable and 
 kind — he was just and charitable, generous and merciful, cour- 
 teous and honorable — he was polite and paid due regard to his 
 fellow-man in every condition of life; he was justly beloved by 
 everybody who knew him, of all classes. I do not think he had 
 an enemy in the world. He was not insensible to praise; he 
 appreciated commendation, and he did not withhold it from the 
 meritorious. 
 
 He had deep religious convictions. He believed firmly in 
 God and the Christian religion, and earnestly and consistently 
 laid hold of the Cross as the sure foundation for his hopes of im- 
 mortality and eternal blessedness. 
 
 His physical stature was not large; it was well proportioned; 
 he had a manly presence and bearing, but he was not obtrusive; 
 on the contrary he was modest and retiring. His face was usually 
 lit up with a pleasant smile, and good will beamed forth in every 
 feature. 
 
 Judge Battle was an earnest and true patriot. He sincerely 
 loved his country and her institutions. He was ever the firm 
 and unyielding friend of civil liberty. I never saw him more 
 earnest and determined than in a protracted struggle in behalf 
 of public liberty some years ago, in which he bore a leading 
 part. 
 
 His views on political questions and measures were decided, 
 and he quietly identified himself with some political party, but 
 he was never a politician in the ordinary acceptance of that 
 term. 
 
 He was a well-read, painstaking and sound lawyer. He was 
 well grounded in the great principles of the law, and was espe- 
 cially familiar with the laws and judicial decisions of our own 
 State. Indeed, there has been no lawyer more learned than he 
 in the laws of this State. He was exceedingly fond and proud 
 of his profession, he upheld its honor always and everywhere, and 
 he was an honor to it. 
 
15 
 
 He was a learned, patient and upright Judge. In this capac- 
 ity, he was much identified with the public and most distinguished. 
 He sat upon the Superior Court Bench for many years, and for 
 a much longer period on the Supreme Court Bench. His deport- 
 ment as a Judge was orderly and dignified, always commanding 
 the confidence, respect and affection of the legal profession and 
 the people. His judicial opinions were well considered and able, 
 some of them strikingly so, and they afford an enduring monu- 
 ment to his memory, while they reflect high distinction on the 
 Bench of our State. 
 
 I shall not say that Judge Battle was a great man in any 
 single respect, but he was great in the unity, symmetry, good- 
 ness and beauty of his character. His whole record is stainless. 
 It is a long one, alike honorable to himself, to his profession, the 
 Bench and the State. His life was a long and eminently useful 
 one. In the order of things, he died peacefully, full of consola- 
 tion, and crowned with blessings and honor. 
 
 It affords me pleasure to say these plain words, because they 
 are true and just. Let us ever remember and endeavor to emu- 
 late this noble example. May my end of this life be that of our 
 departed friend ! 
 
 MR. S. A. ASHE'S SPEECH. 
 
 Me. Chairman: — Although my acquaintance with Judge 
 Battle was of comparatively recent date, my association with 
 him was so agreeable that I cannot remain silent on this occasion, 
 when we have assembled to do honor to his memory. 
 
 To portray the virtues of departed citizens who have worthily 
 filled high station in the State, has been the custom among men 
 in all ages and all countries, and the practice is no less honorable 
 to human nature than it is beneficial in its tendencies to the social 
 condition of man. 
 
 By presenting to public view the characteristics of men emi- 
 nent for noble qualities of mind and heart, and tracing the 
 relation which these characteristics have borne to an honorable 
 career, we recommend them to those who would profit by human 
 experience and convert the illustrious dead into living influences 
 
16 
 
 even more potent for good than while they yet moved in their 
 accustomed places among the homes of men. 
 
 By this means men survive their material annihilation, and 
 live through time as bright examplars, or as beacon lights to 
 warn posterity against the defects of human character. 
 
 In the lapse of years as the period of their activity recedes in 
 the obscurity of the past, what they had in common with man- 
 kind is utterly forgotten, and they are known only in an action 
 or a sentiment which elevates their names above the stagnant 
 waters of oblivion. Thus the virtue of Cato, the patriotism of 
 Cincinnatus, the heroism of Leonidas, are now the ideas these 
 names evoke, the lessons they teach to each succeeding genera- 
 tion of distant nations. 
 
 Fortunate then is that land where monuments are erected to 
 the memory of its illustrious dead, where the lesson of their 
 lives is constantly enforced and where their great actions, noble 
 qualities and their virtues are not buried away out of sight with 
 the useless dust that once was vivified by the immortal parts of 
 departed worth. 
 
 There was little about Judge Battle to dazzle the fancy, excite 
 the imagination or inflame ambition, but yet the story of his 
 life is one of the most valuable to be found in the history of our 
 State. 
 
 The heroes of our battles, it is true, have not engaged in car- 
 nage either for conquest, plunder, or lust of glory. Our states- 
 men are honored in proportion as they devote themselves to se- 
 curing the rights of man, to ameliorating the condition of their 
 fellow-citizens and establishing society on the eternal principles of 
 justice. But these are actors in exciting scenes; their lives 
 feverish; their success uncertain and subject to varying vicissi- 
 tudes; their triumphs oftentimes mingled with bitterness; their 
 pathways beset with dangers and full of snares. Courageous, 
 patriotic, virtuous, wise as they may be, their career not unfre- 
 quently terminates in disaster, and their sun goes down with 
 lowering clouds obscuring its effulgence, while envy, jealousy 
 and repining augment the evils that have overtaken them. 
 
 But when we consider the life of Judge Battle we feel emo- 
 
17 
 
 tions of pleasure similar to those which affect us on viewing some 
 lovely and picturesque landscape. The awful chasm, the stu- 
 pendous and grand mountain, the sublime and majestic ocean 
 moved by an unseen and mysterious power, are absent from the 
 picture. All is placid, serene and harmonious, and we are 
 sensible of a lively gratification whether the eye rests upon any 
 particular part or we take in the entire scene at one general view. 
 
 Here are displayed great amiability, joined with firmness and 
 decision of character; unusual modesty, associated with self-re- 
 liance and courage of opinion ; learning and high station, adorned 
 by a gentle carriage and polite courtesy ; a laborious life, uncan- 
 kered by scheming ambition ; virtue and honor, fostered by manly 
 sentiments, and resting on the simple faith that the source of 
 all virtue, and the fountain of all honor, is that Supreme Being 
 to whom he ascribed his creation, preservation, and all the bless- 
 ings of his life. 
 
 There was a roundness and completeness about Judge Battle's 
 character that accords well with the symmetry of his life. 
 
 In every relation he was a true and lawful man. Assuming 
 duties he discharged them zealously and to the best of his ability. 
 
 As a lawyer, he w r as studious, conscientious and faithful, and 
 never deviated from that honorable deportment whose general 
 observance has exalted our profession above all other secular 
 employments. 
 
 The Bar has ever been the mainstay of popular liberty. It 
 has long been its traditionary office to hold the mean between 
 license and oppression ; to preserve the liberties of the people, to 
 conserve the just pow r ers of government on whose efficacy de- 
 pends the whole fabric and structure of our civilization and 
 social polity. Knowing the limits of lawful power, it is our 
 glory to have ever interposed to check by peaceful means its un- 
 lawful exercise. From generation to generation the story repeats 
 itself. And in our own day we have witnessed Bragg, Graham 
 and Battle (and another still living) standing side by side in a 
 doubtful contest for the supremacy of law and the right of the 
 citizen to freedom and personal liberty. 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 It would hardly become me to pass even favorable judgment 
 on this distinguished jurist, who served most acceptably upon the 
 Bench for more than a quarter of a century. 
 
 His opinions as written in the reports speak for themselves. 
 They will go down to posterity an enduring monument of his 
 judicial excellence and juridical attainments. It is enough for 
 me to say that his fellow-citizens placed him on the Bench with 
 Ruffin and Pearson — noscitur a sociis! 
 
 As a Judge he was upright, learned and full of veneration for 
 the sages of the law. 
 
 In the administration of justice he was patient, prompt, firm 
 and courageous. 
 
 A trivial incident recently narrated to me by one who wit- 
 nessed it, illustrates a phase of his character. It was many 
 years ago, when he was riding the circuit in a distant county. A 
 Solicitor, who was a man of desperate resolution and unbridled 
 will, not unfrequently appeared in Court greatly under the in- 
 fluence of drink. His high spirit and determined and reckless 
 bearing had apparently deterred some of the Judges from enforc- 
 ing decorum on these occasions. Indeed, it was supposed that 
 he would not submit to interference or rebuke on the part of any 
 Judge. When, however, Judge Battle rode that circuit and the 
 Solicitor appeared in Court intoxicated, the Judge promptly told 
 him he was in no condition to perform his duties, and directed 
 another lawyer to take charge of the docket, and then added : 
 "And if you, sir, appear before me intoxicated again, I will put 
 you in jail for contempt/ 7 It is said that after that, other Judges 
 found no difficulty in making the same order. 
 
 It was my fortune to have been associated with this distin- 
 guished citizen, not only at the Bar, but in some other relations. 
 And I may be pardoned for making a brief allusion to the fervor 
 with which he discharged his religious duties. A person of his 
 cast of mind and singleness of purpose might well be presumed 
 to have strong religious convictions. His faith was indeed a 
 part of his daily life. Believing, he accepted Christianity, and 
 the principles of the Gospel became his principles, and its pre- 
 cepts, as far as may be, his practice. Speaking after the manner 
 
19 
 
 of men, he was an ornament to the Church with which he was 
 connected, and his Christian faith and walk in life adorned and 
 ennobled his character, enlarged and refined his virtue, and gave 
 him an indefeasible title to be known as a Christian gentleman, 
 the worthiest appellation that can be earned by mortal man. 
 
 It is said that when Judge Battle first came to the Bar, he 
 was, like Blackstone, so unsuccessful in obtaining business, that 
 for years no case was committed to his charge. And yet he 
 achieved the highest honors in his profession! Truly in his case 
 may it be said, that labor conquers all things. 
 
 Possessed of no dazzling qualities, not gifted with splendid 
 genius, unversed in the art of pushing one's fortunes to a suc- 
 cessful issue, by his shining virtue, by his high character, by his 
 solid learning, by his industry and professional attainments, he 
 won for himself the respect and admiration of a noble people, and 
 gained without solicitation the measure of a worthy ambition. 
 
 Little could he have anticipated when year after year passed 
 and left him as it found him, briefless, despairing, hopeless of 
 professional preferment, that in his after life there would be full 
 compensation for all the despondency of that gloomy period. 
 But a cold winter brings its hot summer, and with him the thaws 
 of spring gave way to a warm sunshine that lasted far into the 
 autumn of his life, until indeed he was in the sere and yellow 
 leaf, ready to fall when nature should do its kindly office and 
 transfer his immortal soul to another sphere. 
 
 Such is the record of this man's life! Many days well spent; 
 many duties well performed; a life of labor high in judicial 
 station; a life of courtesy and stainless honor; a life devoted 
 to his country and his God ! 
 
 Than this, lawful ambition hath no higher mark ! 
 
 REMARKS OF HON. WM. R. COX. 
 
 Mr. Chairman: — In placing a garland upon the tomb of 
 our distinguished brother, I do not propose to linger upon his 
 early struggles, his triumphs at the Bar, nor dwell upon his ac- 
 complishments as a Judge. For those matters have been com- 
 prehensively and appropriately epitomized by those who have 
 
20 
 
 preceded me, some of whom have known him longer, but not 
 more intimately than myself. 
 
 The few remarks I propose to submit, shall be confined chiefly 
 to his distinguishing characteristics as a private citizen and as a 
 public man. From our first acquaintance he impressed me with 
 his great purity and simplicity of character, and though then in 
 the zenith of his fame, there was nothing ostentatious, nothing 
 pretentious in his manner or bearing. 
 
 I readily perceived that his promotion had not been in any 
 respect meretricious, and sought to discover by what means his 
 success had been achieved, and the task was not a difficult one. 
 It arose from a zealous economy of his time; a methodical 
 manner; great purity of character and a conscientious and 
 punctilious observance of every duty required of him. He was 
 steadfast, but not obtrusive in his opinions, charitable to all, firm 
 and unswerving in his personal and political integrity. 
 
 And thus he furnished to the young men of the profession, to 
 whom he was ever kind and considerate, a living example of 
 what may be accomplished without brilliant talents, by a rigid 
 adhesion to principle and a diligent improvement of those oppor- 
 tunities which may be enjoyed by all. 
 
 He took much pleasure in attending the general and Diocesan 
 Conventions of his Church, and in these bodies of distinguished 
 men ever occupied a prominent, yea, a leading part, and here- 
 after his absence will be greatly lamented. His Christian char- 
 acter at all times was hopeful, cheerful and conspicuously 
 exemplary, and was the crowning glory of his old age. There 
 was nothing ascetic in his nature. In every enterprise calculated 
 to promote the welfare of his State, he took an active interest, as 
 well as in those matters which were intended to benefit the com- 
 munity in which he lived, and in discharging the duties then 
 imposed upon him through committees, without demurrer on his 
 part he moulded the thought and performed the chief part of 
 the labor. 
 
 Wielding a ready pen, I assert with confidence, without enu- 
 merating his various memorials, that he contributed more to the 
 legal and biographical literature of our profession than any man 
 
21 
 
 in the State. He was a friend to popular education and sensitive 
 to calls of poverty and distress, which he relieved with a gener- 
 ous hand, according to his ability. "Take him for all in all," 
 he came nearer employing usefully all the talents with which he 
 was endowed than any man with whom I was ever brought into 
 intimate relations. 
 
 On the Bench his uprightness and integrity of character caused 
 even the humblest to feel that justice would be administered 
 without prejudice or favor, and his courtesy to the Bar restrained 
 and controlled those ebullitions of feeling which will occasionally 
 arise in the trial of important causes. 
 
 When Sir Matthew Hale died, his friend Baxter purchased a 
 Bible, in which he placed a print of the deceased, and underneath 
 wrote these words: "Sir Matthew Hale — the pillar of justice, 
 who would not have done an unjust thing for any worldly prize 
 or motive." 
 
 This eulogium to England's great judge may be truthfully 
 applied to our distinguished friend, and those who knew him 
 intimately and his conduct in regard to his elections can most 
 fully appreciate its appropriateness. However coveted the prize 
 of the ermine, no assurance of success could tempt him to veer 
 from what he believed to be right to secure it; he considered 
 that a judgeship should be a free-will offering, and the same 
 purity and independence which ought to distinguish its possessor 
 should regulate the action of those by whom it was conferred. 
 
 And thus able, amiable, courteous, unselfish and just, true to 
 his country, endeared to his friends, respected by all his neigh- 
 bors, tender and exemplary in his family relations, he closed a long 
 life of usefulness and ended his mission surrounded by his child- 
 ren, after having participated in the baptism of a descendant of 
 the third generation. After such a life, who would not desire 
 that his last days might be such as his? Thus departing, he has 
 left e'en upon the mountain top of death a light which gives assur - 
 ance of a blessed immortality. 
 
 " Light be the sod which rests upon his breast; green be the 
 grass that grows upon his grave; eternal be the laurels that 
 flourish round his tomb." 
 
22 
 
 SUBSTANCE OF THE REMARKS OF MR. F. H. BUSBEE. 
 
 Mr. Chairman: — It will be difficult to add aught to the 
 well considered eulogies we have just heard, but my own grati- 
 tude to my dead friend will not permit me to keep silent. My 
 first lessons in the law were learned at his feet, and as a student 
 at the University, of slender means, I received kindnesses at his 
 hands which I shall never forget. 
 
 A recent newspaper has sneeringly commented upon the reso- 
 lutions and addresses of meetings of the Bar in honor of deceased 
 brethren, and suggests that our admiration of, and love for, these 
 gentlemen was never suspected while living. The shaft falls 
 hurtless to-day. It is true, that while our brethren are with us, 
 there is no occasion for an expression of our estimates of their 
 lives and characters, and it is only when they have passed "over 
 to the great majority beyond," that we are called upon to place on 
 record the memorial of their life-work. I have been struck to- 
 day with the moderation, and, as far as I can judge, the accuracy 
 with which Judge Battle's character has been portrayed. He 
 was no splendid genius, no thrilling orator; he was a laborious 
 and learned jurist; he lived and died a Christian gentleman. 
 Who could desire a n6bler epitaph ? 
 
 I desire simply to point a single moral from his life for the 
 instruction and encouragement of the younger members of the 
 profession. The leading features of Judge Battle's career were 
 his unwearied industry, and his unbending integrity; wherever 
 these characteristics came into prominence his success was sure. 
 At the University he stood among the first in a class of great 
 intellectual ability ; as a law student his preparation was so 
 thorough that the Supreme Court gave him both Superior and 
 County Court licenses upon a single examination. And then, 
 when he had settled in the quiet village of Louisburg, came the 
 days of doubt and despondency. Possessed of a small library, 
 his studies were for the most part confined to the old text-books, 
 and to the North Carolina decisions, the latter especially. Not a 
 popular orator, with no art of the demagogue, daily seeing men, 
 his inferiors, attaining a success in the smaller Criminal and 
 
23 
 
 County Court practice beyond his own, how he must have 
 wearied in his work, and have asked himself what good will all 
 this labor accomplish? The temptation to follow in their easier 
 pathway must have been strong. Yet he was then laying the 
 foundation for his future success in life; but for the struggling 
 years of slender practice at Louisburg, his familiarity with the 
 decisions of North Carolina could never have been attained, and 
 his subsequent career would have been totally different. 
 
 When the opportunity came, an opportunity so gratefully and 
 gracefully acknowledged in the preface to his Digest, he showed 
 in his work upon the Reports the stuff that was in him, and his 
 future was assured. Step by step, laboriously he rose until he 
 received the highest professional honors in the gift of his State, 
 and won them by the divine right of labor and of merit. 
 
 I shall not trespass upon the time of the meeting by adding 
 my appreciation of Judge Battle's Christian character. It per- 
 meated the whole man. You cannot view him as a lawyer, as a 
 judge, or as a citizen, without seeing everywhere his perfect faith 
 in Christianity, his stainless delicacy of thought and expression, 
 his unswerving honor and honesty If he be not a fit exemplar 
 for the young men of North Carolina, I know not w T here one 
 can be found. He crowned a long life of usefulness with a 
 peaceful death among his kindred, and in sound of the college 
 bell that had called the best youth of the State around him for 
 so many years. I join Mr. Lewis in congratulating his sons 
 upon the manner and the time of his death. Felix non solum 
 vitce claritate, sed etiam opportunitate mortis. 
 
 SUBSTANCE OF THE REMARKS OF MR. E. R. STAMPS. 
 
 Mr. Chairman : — I only ask the indulgence of the brethren of 
 the Bar for one moment. I have seen somewhere that a certain 
 Englishman had such reverence for the character of Sir Philip 
 Sidney that he said he wanted no prouder epitaph upon his 
 tomb than this: " Here lies the friend of Sir Philip Sidney," 
 and so I arise simply that I may be recorded as a friend and ad- 
 mirer of our honored brother. A man is never great, Mr. 
 Chairman, unless he is good. Judge Battle was good and true, 
 
24 
 
 and his death, unlike that of most of us, causing but a slight 
 shadow upon our own family hearthstone, casts a sombre gloom 
 across our whole State. I will mention but one trait of his 
 character that has come to my notice, and which has not been 
 touched on by the gentlemen who have preceded me, that is, he 
 never used his tongue to back-bite his fellows, he never "took 
 up a reproach against his neighbor," but was always kind and 
 courteous, and ever ready to cheer and encourage his younger 
 professional brother. Mr. Chairman, no man should desire a 
 nobler heritage than that which Judge Battle has left, the glory 
 of a life of toil, and an unsullied name. 
 
 (Obituary by Mrs. C. P. Spencer in the Churchman of April 12th, 1879.) 
 
 JUDGE BATTLE OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 One of the representative men of North Carolina and of the 
 Church of Christ has been laid to sleep and gathered to his 
 fathers. 
 
 The Hon. Wm. H. Battle, LL. D., late Associate Justice of 
 the Supreme Court of North Carolina, departed this life March 
 14th, 1879, in Chapel Hill, at the residence of his son, the Hon. 
 Kemp P. Battle, President of the State University. He was 
 born October 17th, 1802, in Edgecombe county, where his an- 
 cestors were among the earliest settlers, and where the Battle 
 family has always been numerous, prominent and respected. 
 
 Judge Battle graduated at the University of North Carolina 
 in 1820, having the honor of the valedictory oration. He read 
 law in the office of Chief-Justice Henderson, and entered upon 
 the practice of his profession in 1823. In 1825 he married 
 Lucy Martin, daughter of Kemp Plummer, Esq., a prominent 
 lawyer of Warrenton — a union which largely determined the 
 advantage and happiness of his future life. His rise in his pro- 
 fession was at first slow, and those early years of probation were 
 cheered and stimulated by the unfaltering devotion, cheerful- 
 
25 
 
 ness and energy of his admirable partner. In later life, when 
 many and well-deserved honors had crowned his labors, Judge 
 Battle was fond of recalling that time and ascribing, with no 
 ungraceful pride, much of his perseverance and success to the 
 gentle but powerful influences of his home. 
 
 Between the years 1827 and 1840, Judge Battle resided in 
 Louisburg. He represented Franklin county in the Legislature, 
 and was engaged in reporting the Supreme Court decisions from 
 1834 to 1839. In 1835 he was associated with Governor Ire- 
 dell and Judge Nash in preparing the Revised Statutes of North 
 Carolina. He removed to Raleigh about 1840, and was elevated 
 to the Superior Court Bench in that year. In 1843 he removed 
 to Chapel Hill, the seat of the University, for the purpose of 
 educating his sons in an institution which was an object of life- 
 long affection to him as an Alumnus and as a Trustee, where his 
 father and five brothers, and where, finally, all of his own six 
 sons were educated. Here he was elected to the Professorship of 
 Law, conducting for many years a successful law school. In 
 1852 he was called to the Supreme Court Bench, and sat as Asso- 
 ciate Justice till the reconstruction of the State government at 
 the close of the war. The University going down in the same 
 revolution, he again moved to Raleigh, and, associating his sons, 
 Kemp P. and R. H., with him, built up a leading and lucrative 
 practice at the Bar. In 1866 he was elected President of the 
 Raleigh National Bank. Two years before, he lost his devoted 
 wife. Upon the revival of the University, his eldest son, K. P. 
 Battle, was elected President of the institution, and the Judge, 
 having made his home with him, in 1877 accompanied the family 
 back to Chapel Hill, to close his wearied eyes among old friends 
 and well-beloved scenes, soothed by the tender care of children 
 and grandchildren, and sustained by an unfaltering trust in that 
 Saviour in whose love he said emphatically he believed, to whose 
 Cross he clun<j, and to whom he committed himself "without a 
 shadow of fear." 
 
 Judge Battle and his wife saw eight of their ten children reach 
 maturity. Of these, three sons only survive, and are their best 
 legacy to their native State and to their Church. 
 4 
 
26 
 
 The highest eulogy of Judge Battle is to describe his character 
 in simplest terms. His whole life, private and public, was 
 marked by modesty, purity, unblemished integrity, a firm and 
 sound judgment, and an unostentatious charity. His learning 
 was extensive, and as a faithful and judicious expounder of the 
 law, he had no superior. The confidence felt in his calm, be- 
 nignant judgment was unbounded. For more than forty years 
 he was a communicant of the Episcopal Church, and loved her 
 courts with ever-increasing devotion. He was a delegate to her 
 Diocesan and General Conventions for twenty-five years con- 
 tinuously, where his counsels and presence ever afforded a strong 
 element of dignity and conservatism. He was a churchman of 
 the old school, and gave in his life of unswerving attachment to 
 her principles and her service — a life of unsullied goodness, a 
 life hid with Christ in God — the best exemplification of the 
 influence of her teachings on the minds of her children. All 
 classes and all denominations loved and honored the Church in 
 him. For such sons the Church may well rejoice and give 
 thanks, even while she mourns that her earthly courts shall know 
 them no more. 
 
 " what a marvellous awaking 
 
 Will the last sweet Easter morning to the faithful-hearted be I 
 With what untold joy and rapture they will hail the glory breaking, 
 And before the unveiled presence, in its glory, stand with Thee." 
 
 Chapel Hill, N. C, March 27th, 1879. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH 
 CAROLINA, AT THE ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT, ON THE 
 FOURTH DAY OF JUNE, 1879, BY THE HON SAMUEL F. 
 PHILLIPS, SOLICITOR-GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 By persons used to these anniversaries, the face and hand most 
 missed to-day are those of William Horn Battle. For more 
 than thirty years he has been one of our most constant attend- 
 ants. His fresh and hearty greeting of visitors, unreserved sym- 
 pathy with the anxiety and enthusiasm of youthful orators and 
 
27 
 
 scholars, punctual presence at every session and exercise, and un- 
 flagging interest in every circumstance, were manifestations of 
 an exuberant good-will towards man, and a conscientious regard 
 for official duty — the more delightful because known to be mere 
 samples of conduct in all the stages and in every sphere of a 
 long, busy and honored life. We have had no citizen in the 
 State better fitted to be held up as an example to young men. 
 There have been citizens of more imposing ability, and of careers 
 better calculated to impress youthful imagination ; but in a State 
 fruitful of such products there has been none who has given to 
 the public, his friends and his family, service more conscientious 
 and its place more valuable, or who, to all human estimate, has 
 rendered to the Great Taskmaster a more just account of even- 
 talent originally entrusted. It is by such tests that exemplars 
 are proved, and therefore it is that Mr. Battle's daily appearance 
 before the students of this Institution during the many years 
 for which he resided here, has been indirectly an element of edu- 
 cation for which their friends may well give thanks. So far as 
 his great modesty has permitted their attention to be drawn to 
 him, they have had before their eyes a living example of dis- 
 tinguished success in the public and more difficult walks of life, 
 attained by the force of merit alone. They have observed his 
 industry, his integrity, his piety, the sweetness of his temper, 
 his charming domestic life, the reverence in which he was held 
 by his neighbors, the gentle and silent submission of his un- 
 usually sensitive nature to bitter bereavements — some by war, 
 some common to late life's transitory scene; and in all there was 
 nothing which in their best moments they may not well have 
 aspired in like case themselves to be, or in striving to become 
 which in after life they will not have raised themselves to all 
 that God permitted. 
 
 As the son of a gentleman who was himself amongst our 
 earliest Alumni, Mr. Battle was fortunate in having his prepara- 
 tory education well cared for, so that upon reaching the Uni- 
 versity he became distinguished as a scholar, and at last gradu- 
 ated with the highest academical honors. Subsequently he read 
 law with Mr. Henderson, in those days one of the great lights 
 
28 
 
 of the Bench — still held in reverence as a master of the common 
 law, and noted for the charming candor and simplicity of tem- 
 per which once marked his life, and still shines in his judicial 
 opinions. Mr. Battle's habits of study, and ability to learn fol- 
 lowed him here, and so well was his proficiency understood, that 
 upon applying to be called to the Bar, the Supreme Court de- 
 clined to examine him, and although two different examina- 
 tions, with an interval of a year, were then usually required, 
 these in his case were dispensed with, and both licenses were 
 given at once. 
 
 There was nothing especially notable about Mr. Battle's career 
 as an advocate, except that he occupied the enforced leisure that 
 so generally falls to young lawyers by editing a volume of the 
 early North Carolina Reports. Nothing could be better con- 
 sidered than this early challenge to public and especially pro- 
 fessional attention, and nothing more satisfactory than its results. 
 His edition of " First Haywood," which is a most interesting 
 and profitable book to the North Carolina lawyer, may be pointed 
 to distinctly as the corner-stone of his fortunes. It suggested 
 his appointment upon the Commission to revise the statutes of 
 the State and afterwards as one of the Reporters of the Supreme 
 Court, and out of the manner in which he discharged his duty 
 in these connections arose that unsurpassed familiarity with the 
 statutes and decisions of North Carolina which, together with 
 unruffled patience in hearing, and sound judgment in determin- 
 ing, constituted Mr. Battle's excellent qualifications for a seat 
 upon our Bench in the last resort. His rising to the rarer honors 
 of the profession was due to the impression made in this way 
 upon his leaders at the Bar, rather than that other method 
 which in popular governments is the more beaten track — I 
 mean, an appeal to the people, begun in a display of brilliant quali- 
 ties at the forum and upon the hustings. It is a rather curious 
 matter of reflection that professional success in North Carolina 
 has so rarely owed its foundation to the making of books. Pub- 
 lications by members of the North Carolina Bar have always 
 been too few, and that it may be well to recall their attention to 
 the instance before us — the more because within a few days past, 
 
29 
 
 after an age of repose from such labors, they have been startled 
 by having a "carpet-bagger" devise and tender for their use the 
 most valuable manual that has ever abridged and simplified 
 their toil. 
 
 It would be to give to this notice of Mr. Battle a character too 
 technical were I to attempt to analyze his connection with the 
 Revised Statutes of 1836. The importance of the work to the 
 public, and the value of its preparation to him as a lawyer, 
 will appear from 'the statement that up to that time the written 
 laws of North Carolina could be authoritatively ascertained only 
 exploring the vast British Statutes at large, as well as the Acts 
 of our General Assembly, whilst after the three years' labors of 
 the Commissioners had ended, that same law was to be found in 
 a single octavo volume of some 700 pages. The change from 
 the perplexing and unsatisfactory researches amongst black-letter 
 type and scattered volumes of State laws to the abbreviated 
 form, clear arrangement and beautiful typography of the Re- 
 vised Statutes must have been felt by the Bar of that time as an 
 escape superas ad auras. 
 
 In illustration of the principle already mentioned as charac- 
 terizing his progress, Mr. Battle, in the year 1840, was appointed 
 by Governor Dudley one of the Judges of the Superior Court, 
 and in 1848, by Governor Graham, a Judge of the Supreme 
 Court. This latter appointment, however, was not rendered 
 permanent by election until 1852, when he w r as chosen by the 
 Legislature to succeed that profound jurist, Chief Justice Ruffin. 
 In one or other capacity — as counsel, Reporter or Judge — Mr. 
 Battle's name occurs, during forty-two years, in fifty-six volumes 
 of our Reports; for a longer period, therefore, as I suppose, than 
 that of any other lawyer. His judgments, as member of the 
 Supreme Bench, are to be found in twenty-one volumes. 
 
 There is very little in the ordinary course of action by a 
 Judge that interests the general public. The keen interest in 
 such action taken by litigants, and the extraordinary attention 
 that it receives from the Bar, are fairly balanced beyond that 
 narrow circle by indifference and even aversion. I do not recol- 
 lect that Mr. Battle, as member of the Supreme Court, was ever 
 
30 
 
 required to take part in any matter of historical importance or 
 of dramatic interest. I have already said that his peculiar 
 qualifications for the place consisted in an extraordinary famili- 
 arity with the course of the law in North Carolina, whether 
 written or unwritten, together with the confidence generally in- 
 spired by his equanimity, soundness of judgment and total free- 
 dom from sinister influence. The very great value of such a 
 Judge is in the consultation room, and at the vote. Lawyers may 
 recognize the characteristics of Mr. Battle in his opinions, which 
 are clear, accurate, brief and unpretending, and have a profes- 
 sional way of handling questions; but they will probably place 
 his special merits in what is inferred to have been the part played 
 by a man of his natural and acquired endowments, in directing 
 the general practical conclusions reached by the Court whilst he 
 was a member. How valuable and how far from universal a 
 quality this is, none know so well, I venture to believe, as 
 lawyers in full practice. It is very important and not always 
 certain that brilliant speculations upon the Bench shall be prem- 
 ises for correct decisions between the particular litigants. It is 
 one of the scandals of the profession that arguments which have 
 adorned and even advanced the science of law have not seldom 
 been delivered in cases in which they were impertinent to the 
 real question, or prefaced a decision against the very rights of 
 the matter. Two of the most celebrated constitutional judg- 
 ments of the Supreme Court of the United States fall under the 
 former category, whilst the latter finds illustrations probably in 
 every series of Reports: 
 
 A jeu cVesprit of a late English Judge represents one of his 
 predecessors as meeting in the Elysian Shades a number of 
 people whose names are famous among lawyers in connection 
 with important leading cases; such as Messrs. Crogate, Shelley 
 and Twyne. The general complaint of these persons was that 
 the merits of their cases had been entirely lost sight of by the 
 Courts, amidst an enthusiasm in working out some legal prin- 
 ciple! Mr. Crogate, in particular, could not be appeased, al- 
 though his learned interviewer assured him that his name had 
 become inseparably connected with the doctrine de injuria — that the 
 
31 
 
 decision was a most sound one, had been admirably reported by 
 Sir Edward Coke, and had given the rule to countless decisions 
 since — for the unhappy man protested, that he did not care what 
 u resolutions" the Judges had made, but knew one that he had, made 
 himself, and that was never to go to law again, although that had 
 been too late, as his beasts had been sold to pay the lawyers' bills, 
 and he ruined. No doubt in such cases the fault often lies in the 
 technical system administered, and not in the Court, and such 
 probably was the cause of Mr. Crogate's particular misfortune ; 
 but at other times the failure is due, not to the system, but to 
 want of sobriety of judgment and common sense in the Court. 
 It may well be claimed by Mr. Battle, shat his faculties were 
 admirably fitted to secure what should be the great glory of 
 a Court — correct adjudications upon the merits of whatever eases 
 came before him. 
 
 Following the example of his own teacher as well as that of many 
 other eminent Judges, Mr. Battle was also for many years an in- 
 structor in law — before, as well as after, he came to the head of 
 that department in this Institution. In this respect he was kind, 
 attentive, patient and successful. His pupils have done him great 
 credit. Without mentioning other names, I may be allowed to 
 instance those of both of our Senators in Congress and the present 
 Representatives in Congress from this and an adjoining district. 
 
 No sketch of our brother would be complete that failed to 
 speak of his domestic relations. In these he was singularly 
 happy. Providence smiled upon the choice dictated by his 
 youthful fancy, and he might have appropriated Mcintosh's 
 celebrated eulogy upon his wife, or better still, that of Words- 
 worth : — 
 
 The reason firm, the temperate will, 
 Endurance, foresight, strength and skill ; 
 A perfect woman, nobly planned 
 To warn, to comfort and command. 
 
 I avail myself the more readily of an opportunity of men- 
 tioning this beloved lady because the course of our business and 
 celebrations here have a natural tendency to give an undue promi- 
 nence to virtues displayed by members of the other sex. Mr. 
 Battle owed it to his wife, as most men in like case do, that his 
 
32 
 
 children developed into interesting and attractive young persons 
 — the survivors amongst them taking distinguished position 
 amongst the men of influence and usefulness in the communitv. 
 As we contemplate the present scene, and observe what has been 
 so well and successfully done towards reviving the University, 
 and the manner in which its prospects brighten from one day to 
 another, let us not forget how much it may be due to inspirations 
 imparted and cherished by this most excellent North Carolina 
 woman. 
 
 Mr. Battle was a religious man. He lived in constant prac- 
 tical recognition of his obligations to God. Warmly attached 
 to his Church, and regular in attendance upon her offices and the 
 sessions of her courts, he magnified his profession by a state of 
 perfect charity towards all shades of opinion, desiring, with Ben 
 Aclhern, the angels to write him as one that loved his fellow-men ! 
 This trait led him greatly to enjoy social intercourse, the pleas- 
 ures of which he enhanced by cordiality, well-bred simplicity of 
 manner, modesty and good humor. The anecdotes with which 
 he enlivened and illustrated conversation were always innocent, 
 and at any time of his life his blushes and confusion upon the 
 introduction of a broad story or allusion indicated the extent of 
 his purity and sensitiveness. 
 
 1 need only add that our brother was for about forty years a 
 most valuable Trustee of this Institution. During the twenty- 
 five years for which, in the administration of President Swain, 
 he resided at this place, he was the intimate personal and official 
 friend of that gentleman. They were a great deal together, at 
 their respective houses or out in the open air. Former students 
 and residents of Chapel Hill will readily recall the picture pre- 
 sented by the tall and peculiar person of the President, and the 
 small symmetrical figure of the Judge traversing together, hand 
 jjassibus cequis, the paths, fields or high open woods in the en- 
 virons of the University. 
 
Date Due 
 
 ; r~r^ 
 
 AUG | 6 
 
 i&hj)ecl6g 
 
 Form 335— 35M— 9-34— C. P. Co. 
 
. N^C. S75.6 Z99C 1860-79 v. 1 Ncs. 
 '. '' ' 1-21 P25£86 
 
 •HIS VOLUME T>OSS CIHCOLAT*