M DUFFIES EULOGY ON HAYNE ^^G^^ Qass t B40 Book ^H^- i I / A EULOGY UPON THE LIFE AND CHAKACTEK OF THE LATE HON. ROBEMT Y. MAYJNE : DELIVERED ON THE 13th FEBRUARY, 1840, ^- AT THE CIRCULAR CHURCH, BY APPOINTMENT OF THE c:T>/Er.S OF CHAIILESTON. 1 ' J < I By yas the gratification of his own generous feelings and the approbation of his own conscience." Hun- dreds in this assemblv will no doubt bear me out in :)9 » the opinion, that there h.is seldom existed a public nian, in whom a deep and abiding sense of the va- rious duties and responsibilities of private and do- mestic life, was so little impaired by the exciting cares of public business or the pursuits of ambition. His own family, indeed, was a circle of domestic felicity and himself the presiding genius. And often have I remarked with admiration the facility with which he could withdraw himself from the toils and conten- tions of the great political arena, and devote himself exclusively in the bosom of his family, to all the af- fectionate offices, and tender enjoyments of a hus- band, a father, and a friend. He was scrupulously just and honorable in his dealings whh mankind, and his heart and his hand were always open to claims upon his generosity or his public spirited liberality. It is the remark of one who knew him well, that " money, except as a means of simple competence and independence was as little regarded by him, as if he had not, in fact, be- lonijed to the 19th century,*' and that " of all active men, his thoughts were least occupied with schemes for increasintr his orivate fortune." 1 believe there is not that man living who can impute to him the commission of an intentional wrong, or a violation of any of the obligations of faith, justice, truth, or hon- or. Just to all others, he was also just to himself. — He enjoyed the good things of this life with habitual temperance, placing a just and philosophical esti- mate upon them all. He was not insensible to the rational pleasures and amusements of social life, but he always enjoyed them in moderation, and never permitted them to interfere with his duties. His house was the seat of unostentatious hospitality, where his friends were always received with a wel- i 60 come as hearty and sincere as it was unprctpnding. Possessing naturally strong sensibilities easily exci- ted, the prudence and self-command for which he was remarkable, indeed, I may say, his whole character, was in a great degree the result of moral discipline, restraining every impulse within its proper limits, and conlining each to its proper function. In a word, his private character was as^pure as his public charac- ter was illustrious, and, " take him for all in all'' — sel- dom, very seldom, have we looked upon his like, and seldom shall we " look upon his like again." The sudden and untimely departure of such a man from the cares and responsibilities of his earthly career, while it impressively admonishes us that neither wis- dom nor virtue can postpone the inevitable hour, is not without its consolations even to those who are most deeply affected by the awful bereavement. If his country has been deprived of his living services, his high example will illustrate her annals and ani- mate the patriotic struggles of her freeborn sons, when successive ijenerations shall have passed away. If his afllicted widow has been deprived of the alTec- tionate offices of his protecting kindness and conju- gal love, she can dwell with a melancholy and in- creasing pleasure on the memory of his virtues, and derive a soothing consolation from the universal sympathy of a whole commuuity in her sorrows. If his children have been deprived of his parental gui- dance and fostering care, he has left them the im- perishable inheritance of an illustrious name — and long, long may they preserve that inheritance, and transmit it from generation to generation in all its orii![innl puritv niul lustre. APPENDIX. Tho following coinmiinication was received since the delivery of the Eulo- giiun, and is inserted to iLustrate more than one feature of General Hayne's character. Charlesto>', Feb. 1st, 1840. My Dear M'Dufiik, — My absence from South Carolina, during the present winter, has prevented my attending more early to your request, that I should furnish you with any recollections, I may have preserved, of our inestimable and lamented friend Hayxe, with whom it was our pride and happiness to have been intimately associated, both pub- licJy and privately, during the best portion of our lives. As your own knowledge of his admirable character, and tiie communications of others, have doubtless afforded you the most interesting illustrations of his life, I will briefly confine myself to one anecdote, which furnishes an exponent of the feelings he car- ried into the public service ot his country, at a moment of no small ditliculty and peril. In the midst of the painful excitement which existed in this city, in the interval between the 'passage of the Act of Nullification and Mr. Clay's proffered compromise, one evening about nine o'clock, Gen. Hayne despatched a messenger to me, with a request that I would immediately call (o sec him. I found him alone. He had but recently given me the command of the volunteers in Charleston and its vicinity. To be prepared against an assault of the federal forces ot the Government, then in the harbor of Cluirleslon, we were both engaged, daily, in completing our field train, and the heavy ordnance intended for our stationary batteries, at different points in the city. After giving me some or- ders for the succeeding day, he appeared to be exceedingly thought- ful, and was obviously oppressed with much anxiety and care. He said to me, " 1 have always supposed, General, that if, unfortu- iiatL'lv, the stru":iilt; between the General Government and ourselves did come on, it svould bo confined to an issue between the regular troops of the army of the United Slates and ourselves, and* how- ever greally 1 may rcgiel such :m issue, nevcrlheloss, in defence of our own laws, 1 am willing, in blood, to abide it. But, I have come painfully to the conviction, within a few days past, notwith- standing, our hopes to the contrary, that, from a mistaken sense of duly, a large portion of the Union parly, in this city, will stand in the ranks wiih the United States army, and that our streets may run with l>aternal blood. God knows how soon we may be cursed with this calamity. In this event, the struggle would almost cease to be one between the Government of the United Stales and our- selves, but become a domestic civil war of the worst character. Let, therefore, the responsibility rest on our opponents. It is impos- sible to say what accidental conflicts may arise, we must stand on the defensive. Let us, by no means, be provoked to strike the first blow. For, you know, that among our opponents, there are men, whom we have long known and loved, and with M'hose families we are all intimately connected. If we are driven in the defence of the laws of our own State, and the process of our own courts, and, in self-defence, not only to stand by our arms, but to use them, we shall have done our duty before God and our country." I never heard him speak with a deeper sensibility, combined with a greater tone of firmness, in a crisis, in which he displayed those delightful resources of kindliness of feeling, joined to a high courage, which fitteil him for any exigency, however dark and lowering. You know with what an anxious and earnest benevolence he contri- buted to a final pacification of parties in the State. He has left us, my dear friend, in the midst of his unfinished labors, and created a chasm which we will not see soon filled. And for ourselves, where arc we to look to have ihe void supplied in our friendships, which this bereavement has occasioned 1 I remain with sincere and unabated esteem, Yours faithfully, J. HAMILTON. Gen. Geo. M'Duffie. ^.v •LE N "10