F 326 .S19 Copy 1 TRIBUTE TO Hon. WILLIAM J. SAMFORD, LATE GOVERNOR OF ALABAMA, j Q X> (Reprint from Transactions 24th Annual Meeting of Alabama State Bar Association.) ^ TRIBUTE Hon. WILLIAM J. SAMFORD, LATE GOVERNOR OF ALABAMA, WILLIAM H. THOMAS, OF MONTGOMERY. r3ZL • S/f Author (Person) PRESS OF BROWN PRINTING CO. MONTGOMERY. William James Samford. By WiLLiA:\r H. Thomas. "He That through the channels of the State Conveys the people's wish is great, His name is pure, his fame is free." Tennyson. For the second time in tlie liistory of Alabama, her peoi)le monrn the death of a (xovernor in office. Autauga standing first in the roll call of counties, had the hon- or to furnish in the person of William Wvatt Bibb, the first Governor of tliis State, who, unfortunately, was s])ared but eight months to serve his people. To-day Ave come to do honor to the memory of him who last filled this responsible position, and the closing of whose life was as a glorious sunset fading from a fruit- , ful Autumn day, for tlie more resplendent dawn of the Morrow. Doubtless, by reason of the long personal intimacy with our beloved Governor, which, by good fortune, befell my lot, rather than for any preeminent fitness for the high task, did tlie choice fall upon me to pay this last tribute to his memory for the Alabama State Bar Association, of which body he was for many years an honored member. But my beggarly pen fails me now, and I bespeak your kindest indulgence. It was Hawthorne who said that "to take in the meaning of a ])icture, you must be alone with it.-' There, in the speaking solitude, are the blended beauties of light and shade seen and understood; there, the full conception, the thought, the emotion and noble aspira- tion that stirred the artist's soul and drew thence its 4 (liviue luiriiioiiies, are revealed to the loviiii;' student. But, however beautiful the ideal of a human artist, and executed though it be by the master-hand of a Raphipl, yet meagre is the scope, meaningless the lesson, and mean the comparison, Avheu contrasted with the splendid outlines revealed by reverent study of a noble human life sketched by the master artist — (rod — such a life Avas that of William James Samford. Now, were the supreme trait of character of this great man to be portrayed by brush aud canvas, he would appear as boAving reverently at the feet of Duty — for Duty was his Sinereign Queen. Duty to self, to family ar.d to his friends; duty to his social and business re- lations and religious tenets; duty to his neighbor, to his fellow townsman, his political faith; duty to the interests of the whole people of his State, — these were the voices, these the watchwords whose behests he heeded in achieving his superb career. Nor would this picture of his life l)e a complete one; for duty as he saw it, must look to all virtues happily blended by faith in the living God who shapes the destinies of man. The lives of great men rise above their fellows, as does the majestic solitude of the mountain from undu- lating field and plain that lie about the base. And lofty as is the towering range, grandly raised as it is above the valley whence it springs, there are yet bolder su- ])reme peaks lifted high above the foot-hills, high above the rugged fastnesses of the range, pillowing their heads in the bosom of the sky. Man's greatness rises in de- grees. All along the pathway of human exertion, there are strivings, toilings aud sutferings not htly conception of the bear- ing- and conduct of one aspirins;- to the liii»-liest maj;is- tracv in a proud and famous commonwealth. In pri- vate conversation with (Governor Jones, he said: "]My father was once a candidate for the office of Governor, and said he wonld lik(^ to see his boy hold it." Governor Jones, replying-: ''It has been a matter of snrprise to me that yon were not a candidate in 1890, when the office was so easily in yonr reach,'' the answer came : "You have just said, Governor Jones, that the Gover- nor's powers were so much greater for ill than for good, and I feared in spite of my best efforts I might do harm instead of good, and that consideration kept me from seeking- the office." In his discussion of political views and methods, from the beautiful valley along the winding waters of the majestic Tennessee, to the magnolia-laden air on the borders of ^Mobile Bay, from the East to the West, — all over our great Statc^ — he held up his piece of silver coin, and in tones that carried conviction to his audi- ence, exclaimed : "If, by the improper use of one dollar, or even one cent, I could be Governor, I wcmld not spend it." The people hearing, knew it was the honest ex- pression of an honest heart, and almost with (me voice made him their leader. The spirit of liis deep humility is shown in his speech of acceptance before the State Convention. "To be suddenly exalted," he said, "from the private paths of domestic life to the lofty station of honor and great re- sponsibility, suggests to poor, frail humanity, that pos- sibly there is a personal significance in the event. That temptation would have me in its power tonight but for the fact of human philoso])hy and human experience. I consider not this demonstration of vour esteem as beariiii;- any i>ers()iial sisiiiiticauce; I take to mvself no STK-li tribute as that." In the languai;e of his pastor, Dr. Moore: "That demonstration Avas uothin<>- if it Avas not a demonstration for the splendid character of the nmn who had just been the recipient of the highest honors whicli that Convention could bestow." It Avas the "esteem*' in whicli he was held by his people, and his nomination was the ''tribute" for Avhich the assem- bled representatives of the brain and brawn of the State had come from home and fireside to pa}'. In the discharge of public trust, no man could have been more conscientious. I have seen him in the pri- vacy of his home, and in the Executive Office, examin- ing every phase of a public question, with a supreme disregard of consequence to himself, having only in view the right of the matter from the standpoint of the greatest public good. I have seen him Aveighing the different applicants for public office, carefullj' con- sidering their (lualifications Avith regard only to the question of fitness for place. Never Avas he known to view an applicant from the standpoint of the political influence that his appointment might exert. I liaA'e seen him in the consideration of bills or resolutions for executive approval, patiently pondering every pro- vision Avitli an eye it seemed especially to detect any possible defect, and approAn'ng or disappro\ing without once looking to the endorsement of the bill to knoA\' Avho Avas its author. In the press of the last few days of the session, Avhen human endurance of members, clerks and all officials Avas taxen to the point of break- ing, yet Avlien repeated hearings Avere sought by the friends or opponents of measures under consideration, to Avhich the fullest hearing had been already granted, he Avould uniformly reply to all tender protests that sought to shield him: "Let them be heard; they have a right to be heard." 8 Well do T reiueiiiber how ou the last ni<»ht of the session, when, his feeble body strained to point of col- lapse, he considered carefully all bills cominj^ into his oltice. On my accompanying; him to his home, he thanked me for the little help 1 had been able to give him, and bade me "Good night/' As I withdrew, his familiar voice recalled me to his bed-side: ''It is all over now," he said, ''and I am satisfied. I know I have done my dnty fully, fearlessly and faithfully. A mo- ment ago I said something of your help, but I must tell you the two that have helped me most." Then looking up to Heaven, with a grateful expression, pointing his forefinger, said softly, (as if he feared he might dis- turb an angel), ''THEEE;" after some moments, he lowered his hand, his features relaxed into the loving smile, that we all knew so well, pointing to his faithful Avife, said softly, (as if she might hear him). "AND THEIvE." What an example in such a life; honored with the highest public trust in the gift of his people, and notwithstanding his physical weakness, discharg- ing it honestly, faithfully to God and ]Man I Would that every public ofificial would with him point heaven- ward, saying he looked for help and guidance "There! ' In the classic "City of Oaks" was the scene of his last public service and his last illness. As Pres'dent of the Board of Trustees, he went to Tuscaloosa, that he might be present at its sessions. Important ques- tions AA'ere for consideration, and he attended and re- mained at every session .of the Board. He had resisted long and patiently his infirmity. He knew tl^} end must soon coine; and could hardly have found a more beautiful place to put oft' "this mortal coil" for the habiliments of Eternity. From his bedside, his fading sight lingered lovingly along the broad sweeps of Ihe l^niversity campus, green with its acres of lawn, and waving with its long avenues of towering oak, pausing 9 iuiou to trace the stately outline of the venerable piles of stone, brick and mortar — whose highest iui;^i'ests were so dear to his heart. The day l)efore his death, fully conscious of his des- perate condition, he besought his worthy sons to re- turn to Montgomery, the one to the Executive Office, the other to his duty in laying of the fundamental law of our State. >Vith this last exhortation of "Duty" from his lips, sorrowfully they bade him a last fare- well. But not forever, for they will meet again, we trust, where Eternity begins and ends. Of him truly may be it said in the words of the poet : "Firm at his dangerous post he stood — Each call for needful rest repelled With dying hand the rudder held." When death's angel hovered nigh, he was heard to pray a prayer greater even than the life he had lived ; not for himself, not for his family, nor for his loved ones or friends, but the prayer echoed to him fro na Gethsemane: "Oh, Father, if it be Thy will, spare me to my people." The ways of Providence pass the ken of man. To hear not the fervent prayers that went up from the heart of a loving, trusting, sorrowing people for the life of this good ruler ! Who can read the riddle? Who fathom the mystery? So illy could his people spare him. When shall we look upon his like again? As Sir Walter Scott said of Fox, so it may be said of the untimely taking off of William J. Samford : "For talents mourn, untimely lost. When best employed, and wanted most; Mourn genius high and lore profound. And wit that loved to play, not wound; And all the reasoning powers divine, To penetrate, resolve, combine." The great-minded and many-souled Charles Dickens understood the tragedy of such a loss when he said : "Oh, it is hard to take to heart the lessons that such 10 deaths will teach, but let us not reject it, for it is one ail must iearu, and is a niii^htv universal truth. When J)('ath strikes down, for every fragile Inriu from which he lets the pantinji, spirit free, a hundred virtues rise in shax)es of Mercy, Charity and Love, to walk the world and bless it. Of every tear that sorrowing mortals shed on such green graves, some good is born, some gentler nature comes. In the Destroyer's steps there springs up bright clear creations that defy his power and his dark path becomes a way of IJglit to Heaven." On the eleventh hour of the 11th day of June, 1901, when the matchless spirit of "Alabama's Beloved Gov- ernor" took its immortal tiight, truly there was the going of a great and good man, a pure and lofty spirit. Of him, his people could but feel, that — "Of sucli as lie was, tliere be few on earth., Of such as he was, there are many in heaven; And life is all the brighter that he lived, And all he loved more sacred for his sake; That death is all the brighter that he died. That hea,ven is all the brighter and sweeter that He's there." To learn the lesson of Governor Samford's life, we must regard not only his public career; but know his ju'ivate walk as well; and belter still, (if we may), the unselfish purity of his most secret thoughts. In the solitude of our own heai-ts we should contemplate the j)erfect picture of his life, that it may lengthen short- sighted views, expand contracted thoughts, and chasten selfish motives; and that the splendor of his genius, the warmth of his love and the nobility of his nature may enal»le us to fully comprehend his great soul. ^Mlliam James Samford was born in Merriweather County, near Greenville, Georgia, on the lOtli day of September, 1811, from a long line of worthy ancestry, in whom he had great pride. His father was of giant intellect, the usefulness of wliich through a long life was gravely impaired by jihysical discu-der. But of the 11 soil, t\w gifted parent entertained brightest hopes; — and it was for him tofulhll to the brim the most san- guine expectations of his extensive family and troops of admiring friends. His character was not the single growth of one life; bnt generations of broad-mindedness and great-heartedness, from both branches of his par- ental stock, were in him happily blended. It is then bnt natnral that in his day he should stand out a tit representative of the by-gone era of true statesmanship; when the "Demagogue and petty i)olitician" could ex- ercise no influence, while big brains and big hearts were called to nmke the laws and execute them. In the language of Mr. Blaine, young Samford ''was a poor boy in the same sense in which Henry ('lay was a poor boy, in which Andrew Jackson was a poor boy, in which Daniel Webster was a poor boy; in the same sense in which a large majority of the eminent men of America in all generations have been poor boys." The poverty of a county devastated by war, in which all are engaged "in a common struggle, and where a com- mon sympathy and hearty cooperation lighten the bur- dens of each, is a very different poverty, different in kind, different in intiuence and effect, from the con- scious and humiliating indigence which is every day forced to contrast itself witli neighboring wealth on wliich it feels a sense of grinding independence." Ruch poverty is no poverty; it was to him the laying of the foundation for material wealth, the toughening of moral sinews, the learning the lesson of life from nature, the realization of the boundless possibilities before him. Splendid opportunities for culture and improvement lay at the hand of the young man in the famous col- lege of his native town. Auburn, in the refined com- munity by A^hicli he Avas surrounded, and in the atmos- phere of learning that pervaded his own household. 12 l)()iil»ll('ss his fatliei- was one of the most learned men ill tiie State, and in wonderful conversational ])OAvers recalled the best traditions of old J)r. Samuel Johnson. Of all these intiuenees, the bij;- mind of the young Samford \\as most receptive. He absorbed much ajid assimilated all that he absorbed. In his college course he occu])ied an eminent position, and at aii early date gave indications of his rare linguistic gifts, his ready eloquence and his devotion to literature. In ISGl, when the red flame of war flashed athwart our Southern skies, and the reverberations of our Civil War were echoing around the world, though a boy only seventeen years of age, he shouldered his musket, turned from his cultured home, and Aveut forth to battle. For three long years did he join in that dismal contest, in defense of home, in defense of equal political rights, and in defense of the honor of his country. Keturning to the devastated fortune of his parents, lie, with