Judge Asa Biggs
lie was an able* lawyer and statesman. When
asked by llie supreme eourl lo retract an
opinion, lie left the state rather than sur¬
render liis convictions.
IT MAY bo that it is but tlie en¬
chantment of distance, or as Dr.
Samuel Johnson put it. a “sun gilt
prospect," yet it seems to me that
Carolina does not today produce
men of quite the calibre of a former
day a day when patriotism meant
more than party, and when principle
meant more than patronage. Let u*
look at the ease of an eminent son of
t arolina who left his native state
rather than forswear a cause iu which
he believed.
Asa Higgs, member of the distin¬
guished Martin County family of that
name, was horn in 1 SI 1 . and attended
the academy at Williamston which his
father had assisted in founding, llis
family had been Whigs, but he ns-
sorting that independence which was
one of his chief characteristics, be-
came a Democrat, and at an early age
1 ■
-ми
t" bike a leading part in the
political life of the state.
Active Political Career
A lawyer by profession, he was a
member of the Constitutional Con¬
vention of 1S35 — the one in which
Judge (iaston made his great speech
on religious liberty — being the
younge.i member of that l>ody. lie
was in the Commons in 1S10 and
1 ' : iu the Senate in 1S44; in Con-
иге*»
in 1-15. His ability a> a lawyer
statute law of the state. He
in the Senate that year, and
member of that body, with-
g a candidate, he was elected
d States Senator — becom-
•tnber of That bodv when only
ree years of age. In the Sen-
took u leading part in the
lebat.-s upon the issue of slav-
it
|«1гч1
tfi*
ьаЬ!
if AMnion nf
lie
Hy R. C. LAWRENCE
«•linn. The former judge. Henry Pot¬
ter of Cumberland, had been in
chronic ill health for years and on
that account the prestige of the court
had fallen to a low ebb. Judge Itiggs
wu* reviving this when the cataclysm
of the Civil War fell upon the land.
Judge Biggs was an intense "State's
Bights" advocate, and when Presi¬
dent Lincoln issued his proclama¬
tion in April. lSGl. Judge Bigg* im¬
mediately sent in his resignation,
writing the President: "I hereby re¬
sign my office of District Judge of
the United States for the State of
North Carolina, being unwilling
longer to hold a commission iu a
government which has degenerated
into a military despotism. I sub¬
scribe myself yet a friend of consti¬
tutional liberty.”
In June. 1 SGI. Judge Biggs wa*
appointed as District Judge in the
Provisional government of the Con¬
federacy; and upon the formation
of the regular government he was
again commissioned to that office h\
President Davis, tilling the high |m
sition with distinguished ability un¬
til the downfall of the Confederacy.
He then resumed private practice at
Tarboro where he remained until
Most Famous of Contempt Cases
There have been some famous con¬
tempt cases in Carolina, such as when
a railroad agent was found guilty of
jury tampering at Salisbury; when
Josephus Daniels was attached for
contempt of Federal Judge Purnell;
when the entire Bar of Robeson was
attached by -Judge Peebles. But by
far the most famous contempt case
arose in 1669. when one hundred and
eight democratic lawyers were at¬
tached at the same time for the same
cause.
A tierce political battle had been in
progress, which had been partici¬
pated in by certain Republican Su¬
perior Court judges. Certain of the
Supreme Court justices, including
Chief Justice Pearson, had also lent
their names and the prestige of their
high office to political addressee to
tin* people of the state. Leading dem¬
ocratic lawyers to the number of
••ne hundred and eight joined in
voicing a “solemn protest” against
judicial participation in partizan
politics. This famous protest was the
joint work of Judge Biggs.
В.
F
Moore and E. G. Haywood. It was
published on April 19. 1S69. iu the
Sentinel, edited by the fearless, but
vitriolic Josiah Turner. Jr.
The names signed to this protest
included some of the greatest in the
history of the state, such a* Zebulon
B. Vance, Governor and Senator;
Chief Justice Augustus S. Merrimon.
Judge Edward .1. Warren. Supreme
Court Justice Joseph J. Davis,
Judge George V. Strong. Judge Spier
Whitaker. Governor Thomas J. Jar¬
vis. -Judge Henry R. Bryan, Chief
Justice James E. Shepherd. Judge
Charles M. Cooke. Supreme Court
Justice Walter A. Montgomery. Gov¬
ernor Alfred M. Seales, and a num¬
ber of other eminent men.
The court, after n hearing, wrote
an opinion in the ease of a leading
practitioner. Bartholomew F. Moore,
administering quite a voiding to that
distinguished gentleman, “excusing"
but not “acquitting" him. In other
cases, including that of Judge Biggs,
it was ordered that the participants
be required to file with the Clerk a
written instrument disavowing their
act in signing the protest. On failure
to tile this, those who failed were to
be excluded from practicing before
the court.
Left the State
Judge Biggs had signed the pro¬
test not as a matter of form, or on
account of his political affiliations,
but because of deep rooted conviction
So satisfied was he of the moral
strength and correctness of his view,
that he courageously refused to sign
the required retraxit. He could easily
have done as others did - simply
have bowed before the "might-makes-
(Continued on page eighteen )
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