State

Judge George E. Badger Л lawyer of oulstniifliii!' ability, a groat Mat «‘мили an«l a man uli«> stooil by his con¬ victions despite all «ipposition that might he brought against him. ERAI.D .loll NSON’S latest book i« со Hod "The Silver A lie.’’ mol covers I lie period of Andrew tliiekson. -I» dm Calhoun, Men iv Пау. mid Daniel Webster. Ii wa* I 'resident .laeksoii vvh<i threw down the challenge in his great toast at a banquet: "Our Federal I’nion: It must ANDSIIAI.I. II К preserve»!." It was Henry ('lav who uttered the famous aphorism: "I would rather lie riuhe than In- Presiilent.” And from Webster, the orator, came the |iecr!ess |>eroration: “Liberty and I’nion. now and forever, one and inseparable." To this era belong. GEORGE E. BADG¬ ER «»f North Carolina. lie wa* horn at New Hern in 1797», a remarkable member of a most re¬ markable bar, some of whose outstand¬ ing member* Were referred to in a re¬ cent article in Tin State under the caption, "Har of Craven." lie was ed¬ ucated at Vale, and rend law under his near kiiisniaii. the fatuous Congress¬ man *1 oil n Stanly, who fought the duel with (I n v e r n о r Richard Dobbs Spuight. and in whose honor our county of Stanly we* named. He wa* thrice married: First wife was a daughter <>f Governor .lames Turner of Warren; •croud wife n daughter of Colonel William Folk of Raleigh ; the third, a daughter of Sherwood Hav- nood, ..f Raleigh. Served in Legislature lie W1IS ill the legislature of 1*1 «1 when ju*t twenly*one. Elected to the Superior Court Im-iicIi in 1820 hut re- signen' in 1 825. It was before the day* of rail transportation, and the •lodge drove from court to court with Imrse and buggy. He Was known for his fondues* for staying up late at night and sleeping late in the morn¬ ing. It i« related that on his way to a court he had to pass the night at a farmhouse ami requeued that his host- ••** give him an early breakfast. "Well. .Iiidgc." said *he, "I’ll do the best I can; but by the time I fee»l the stock, cut tl«. wood, milk the cows, get ten head of children dressed and eoolc breakfast, •ometiuu- it i- mighty- near daybreak More I get ii on the tabic." "Don't worry yourself, madam." said By R. C. LAWRENCE the Judge, “jii't call me in time for an early slipper.” I undertake no review of hi* career or ability a* a lawyer, lie lived at Hillsboro for a few years' where he took over the practice of Judge Thoma* Riilfin after that learned law¬ yer wa* elevated to the Mich. The remainder of lii* life wa* s|»ent in Ra¬ leigh and hi* name i* identified with that city. Judge George Rountree of Wilmington, himself a distinguished lawyer and a quite competent critic, says that Badger was bv far the ablest lawyer our state has produced, al¬ though it produced Bartholomew F. Moore. William R. Davie, Thomas Ruffin, Richmond M. Pearson and other great lawyer*. But my concern is more for the statesman than for the lawyer. The Whig party wa* at the zenith of its power. The party wa* *o firmly entrenched that it possessed the Gov¬ ernor, both Pniled State* Senator*, and hail a majority in both branches of the legislature. It was, in reality, top-heavy and was divided into two groups: “Federal” and “Republican" Whigs. The hurtling issue was: “Does (Congress |m.**cs« the power to control slavery in the territorii-.?" The Fed¬ eral Whig*, led by Badger, answered this question "Yes"; the Republican Whigs, led by Mnngum said "No." Candidate for Senate In 1810 Badger was a candidate for the Ptlitcd States Senate and was sup¬ ported by the Federal Whigs, lie was opposed not only hv the Democrats hut by the Republican Whigs. A com¬ promise finally resulted in the election of Graham and Mangum (both from Orange County) and the defeat of Badger. In October Ш0. there was a great Whig inn-ting held in Raleigh, and it was at this moating that Judge Wil¬ liam Gaston's "Carolina" was sung in public for the first lime. The sensa¬ tion of the meeting was Badger’s great speech favoring Harrison for Presi¬ dent — a speech which placed him in a commanding position n* a Whig loader in the South, so much so that upon Harrison's election, ho promptly named Badger a* See let ary of the Navy. Much of Badger’s career was a suc¬ cession of disappointment*, and the first of these now fell upon him. Har¬ rison lived hut a short time and wa* succeeded in the Presidency by John Tyler. Tyler had hardly assumed the duties of his high office when a breach developed between the President ami his party, a breach which drove Badger from the cabinet ; threw Sena¬ tors Graham and Mangum in opposi¬ tion to the policies of the President, and weakened the Whig party in Car¬ olina. Badger, like Clay, would "rather he right than President"; he would not serve a President of whose poli¬ cies lie could not approve. In IS-Hi Badger was eleeted to the I " nited States Senate, his colleague being Willie P. Mnngum. William A. Graham, after serving a* Governor, became Secretary of the Navy. Badg¬ er was the nominee of hi* party for re- election in 1848. hut his view* on the slavery issue, on which he look strong ground that Congre** held full control over slavery in the territories, ren¬ dered apathetic some of the Whigs who would naturally have supported Badger, and intensified Democratic opposition to him. However. Badger was re-elected. Opposed to War In the Senate Badger become the recognized lender of the Federal Whigs. He was known a* an Old Line I’nion Whig. He held firmly to the doctrine that a state possessed no right to withdraw or secede from the Pnion. Ho strove earnestly to avert or at least stave off the “irre¬ pressible conflict"; lie supported with all the power at hi* command all compromise measure* which seemed to tend to at least |M*t|>onc die ap¬ proaching cataclysm ; and hi* wa* the predominant influence in enlisting the l»owerful support of Webster in that behalf. He was nominated by the Presi-