the old Supreme Court room which echoed to the eloquence of Clay, Webster, Choate, Sargent, Binney, Atherton, Kennedy, Crittenden, Phelps, and others, his companions and admirers.

To the excellencies of the advocate, the counsellor, the judge, the attorney-general, the senator, and the statesman, Mr. Berrien added the crowning virtues of an untarnished social and Christian life. His home was the dwelling place of civilization, morality, and of every attraction. There are those who still cherish in lively remembrance the refined courtesies of his residences both in Savannah and in Habersham county, the elegant table, the rare old wines, the choice cigars, and, above all, the charming converse and the genuine hospitality.

Judge Berrien was by nature what men call an aristocrat, not in any offensive signification of the term, but by reason of his love of refinement and cultivation, and his distaste for everything common and unclean. He lived in that noble period, now, alas! only a stalwart memory, when a patriarchal civilization engendered an independence of thought and action, a habit of control, a ready acknowledgment of personal responsibility, mutual confidence, and a high standard of individual honor, integ rity, and manhood. Amid the changed circumstances and under the influence of the commercial methods which unfortunately dominate in such large degree the present, the type of men who then occupied prominent stations, commanded the respect and moulded the tone of communities, is fast disappearing. While affable to his equals, Judge Berrien was habitually reserved. A Chesterfield in deportment, he was elegant and courteous at all times and in all places; but never, "unless within the privacy of his own home, did he condescend to the free and careless mood." Among other positions held by him may be mentioned the presidency of the Georgia Historical Society, and of the Georgia Branch of the Order of the Cincinnati. For thirty years he was an honored and influential trustee of the University of Georgia, an institution which, in 1850, complimented him with the degree of Doctor of Laws. He was also a member of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.

A contemporary has left us this pen-portrait of Judge Berrien : "He was not a man of the people. He had none of the heartiness of Mr. Clay. He was too highly refined by his studies and by the discipline of his genius * * to feel a very earnest con-cern in the rough-and-tumble relations and contests of men, from

which he stood aloof as much as possible to seek happiness in a purer region-his own thoughts. Not that he was destitute of sympathy or benevolence: his whole life negatived such an idea. But it was only when distress was made dramatic by intensity, or by the train of sufferings associated with it-loss of reputation, the griefs of old age, the tears of childhood, the agony of bereavement, or the perils of life-that the fountains of his heart became unsealed, and the sacred tide rushed in subduing torrents, giving to his voice on such occasions more than human potency in the court-room, or in whatever forum he appeared. Judge Berrien was the most finished orator of his day so far as the rules of art contributed to form an orator. His organs of speech were perfect. Every word and every syllable had its proper stress and intonation. There was no slurring or haste in his delivery. Smooth, grave, and musical, his voice satisfied the ear. Occasionally it was like the church organ in the depth or richness of its tones; then, with softest beauty, it would glide into the soul and take captive its emotions. Yet in all this opulence of effect there was evidently a preparation of the severest kind. It is said that the great tragedian Cooper gave lessons to Mr. Berrien in early life. The orators of Great Britain, in the days of Garrick and Kemble, were glad to have private interviews with these autocrats of the stage for improvement in elocution, and Napoleon the Great was instructed by Talma, the French tragedian, in the graces of attitude becoming the imperial dignity."*

As a member of and an office bearer in the Episcopal church, Mr. Berrien's conduct was consistent and above reproach. In the convocations of that denomination his voice and influence were potent. Between himself and that lovely priest of the Most High, and ideal type of the Southern gentleman, the Right Reverend Stephen Elliott, D. D., existed an intimacy of the closest character, As the shadows lengthened upon his dial, while withdrawing himself from the ordinary employments of his calling, Judge Berrien still lent his great talents and rich experience to the conduct. of important causes. Never did he entirely put off his armor; and, when the summons came on the first of January, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, it found him walking in the path of duty with the composure of a philosopher and the hope of a Christian. In recognition of his distinguished public services Georgia has *The Bench and Bar of Georgia. Miller, Vol. 1, p. 103. Philadelphia, 1858.

named one of her counties in his honor, and the reputation of his good name and brilliant career abides as a stainless column challenging the emulation and the gratitude of the profession of which he was such a conspicuous ornament.

CHARLES C. JONES, JR., Chairman.
R. L. BERNER,

A. R. LAWTON, JR.

SAMUEL BARNETT, and

FRANK H. COLLEY,

Committee.

MEMORIAL OF HON. JOHN T. CLARKE. *

REPORTED TO SUPREME COURT AND ORDERED PRINTED IN THE MINUTES OF THIS ASSOCIATION.

The committee, appointed by this court for the purpose, beg leave to submit the following memorial commemorative of the life, character and public services of Judge John T. Clarke:

In Putman county, Georgia, the twentieth day of January, eighteen hundred and thirty-four, John Thomas Clarke was born. His father, James Clarke, was an able and well-known lawyer and large planter. His mother, Permelia Wellborn, was a sister of the Honorable Marshall J. Wellborn, distinguished as a lawyer, jurist, statesman, and, in the latter years of his life, as a zealous, devout and pious minister of the Gospel. His only brother, Hon. Marshall J. Clarke, is now judge of the Superior Courts of the Atlanta circuit. His sisters, now living in Atlanta, are Mrs. Edward E. Rawson, Mrs. Joseph P. Logan and Miss Eugenia E. Clarke. Mrs. Sidney Root and Mrs. Moses Cole, residents of the same city, passed into eternity before their brother.

When Judge Clarke was about three years of age, his father moved to Lumpkin, Georgia, and there, except when at college, the son spent the days of his youth and early manhood, under the guiding hand of a most pious mother, with all the advantages that the times and wealth could supply, and surrounded by the refining influences of a highly cultured and happy family. His whole life pulsated with the correct and pure principles that had their birth in this home. After spending the winter of 1849

*This memorial should have appeared in last annual report. (See 7 Ga. Bar Ass'n, 143.) No manuscript or copy of this memorial, however, accompanied the report of the Memorial Committee, nor was any correction of the proof noted by the Chairman of the committee; and its omission escaped the Secretary's attention until the minutes were in type. It is, therefore, inserted here.-SECRETARY.

and 1850 in Columbian College, Washington City, and receiving therefrom an honorable discharge, he, in the latter year, entered Mercer University, and graduated thereform in 1853, sharing the first honor with J. W. Kilpatrick and Henry T. Wimberly. He at once commenced the study of law, at Columbus, Ga., under the instructions of his uncle, and in 1854 was admitted to the bar, and into full copartnership with Judge Wellborn in his extensive and lucrative practice. With such peculiar advantages, he was enabled to demonstrate to the public, much earlier than most young men do, that he had made good use of the very favorable circumstances that had environed him from his youth, and his fitness for the profession he had chosen.

On the second day of May, 1855, he was united in matrimony with Miss Laura F. Fort, of Stewart county, a most estimable woman who, in the words of his last will and testament, with which we heartily concur, "has loved and cherished me from her youth, been patient and affectionate under all circumstances, rejoiced with me in all my joys, lamented with me in all my sorrows, and stood heroically by me in all my conflicts and troubles." To them were born two children. One, Alice Georgia, died in childhood; the other, Wellborn F. Clarke, is a lawyer, and at this time ordinary of Stewart county. Frank A. Hooper, called in his will his "foster son," and commended to his own son as a brother, and loved by him as his own child, who was, at the request of his mother, a sister of Mrs. Clarke, taken in his early childhood and carefully reared to manhood's estate, and under his instructions prepared to practice law, pursues his profession at Americus, Ga.

Soon after his marriage, Judge Clarke settled in Lumpkin, and in copartnership with his father practiced law, taking upon himself the burden of the work, and for several years sustained himself with great credit. While thus engaged in a prosperous business, he became convinced it was his duty to preach the Gospel, and after suitable preparation he abandoned the practice, was ordained in 1858, and called to the pastoral care of the Second Baptist church of Atlanta, and took charge of the same in January, 1859. In the latter part of the year 1861, being warned by his physician, on account of loss of voice caused by throat disease, to desist from public speaking, he resigned his charge and retired to a farm in Stewart county, and until January, 1863,