County; but there, too, he was soon invaded, and there this feeble octogenarian, with none to sustain him but an invalid wife, two helpless girls, and his faithful slaves, was made to feel the effects of that vengeful rapine which knew no age nor sex. When the purpose to burn down his house was announced, he told the commanding officer that his wife was unable to walk, and that she was in that house; to which the brutal reply was, that the house would be fired in so many minutes. Amidst this heart-rending scene his faithful slaves' came to his rescue, and tenderly and affectionately lifted the bed upon which Mrs. Davis lay, and bore it far enough away from the house to be free from the danger of falling fire, where she remained until the enemy retired, after having plundered the premises.

After many vicissitudes and hardships Mr. Davis returned, at the close of the war, to Vicksburg. The enemy still had possession of his plantation, from which his only revenue was derived, and by falsehood, artifice, and bullying, endeavored to exclude him, and deter him from asserting his claim to it. He preferred charges of falsehood and theft against the senior officer of the Freedmen's Bureau at Vicksburg, who had proposed to surrender his property for a pecuniary consideration, which, though small compared to its income, was to him an obstacle mountain-high in the principle it involved. In keeping with the courage, integrity, and self-denial, which had always characterized him, Mr. Davis rejected the proposition with indignation and scorn, and, old and feeble as he was, defied them when they attempted to intimidate him by threats. He finally obtained possession of his property, but continued to reside in Vicksburg, in the midst of a large circle of relatives and personal friends. Here, like the Grecian sage, he had seen two generations pass away whose polity was enlightened by his genius and whose welfare was promoted by his counsel, and now the third caught the inspiration of his example. The last remnant of a past and prosperous age, he lingered far behind the contemporaries of his meridian manhood, and disappeared amid the darkness that had gathered over his country. He died in Vicksburg on the 18th of September, 1870, in the eighty-sixth year of his

age. His remains were borne down the river for burial, and when they reached the landing of the Hurricane, his former home, they were met by a large concourse of his former slaves, who, with loud lamentations, and bearing torches that sent a dismal glare through the darkness, seized the bier and bore it to the grave, where he was laid away by the side of his wife. He had watched with long and jealous care the growth and happy working of that system of jurisprudence which his services were so conspicuous in planting in Mississippi; and his death deprived its people of the last of those who, when the State was a Territory, strove to develop its resources, to elevate its institutions of learning, and to give dignity and purity to its Bench and its Bar.

CHAPTER III.

ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT-ITS JU- EMINENT

DICIAL ESTABLISHMENT - THE BENCH

JURISTS-1817-1832.

JOHN

P. HAMPTON-EDWARD TURNER-POWHATAN ELLIS-JOSHUA G. CLARK-JOHN TAYLOR-JOHN BLACK-RICHARD STOCKTON-JOSHUA CHILD-GEORGE WINCHESTER-HARRY CAGE-ISAAC R. NICHOL

SON-ALEXANDER MONTGOMERY.

In pursuance of an Act of Congress passed on the 1st day of March, 1817, a convention of delegates from the several counties of the western portion of the Mississippi Territory was convened, in the town of Washington, on the 7th day of July in the same year, for the purpose of organizing a State Government. Of this convention David Holmes was chosen president, and a committee of one member from each county was appoint ed to prepare a constitution and form of government for the new State. On the 24th of July, the committee reported the result of its labors, and on the 15th day of August, after various amendments to the report, the convention adopted the first, Constitution of Mississippi.

This Constitution contained the following provisions, now unknown to our laws: 1st, It required a property qualification for holding office. 2d, It restricted the right of suffrage to those who paid a State or county tax. State or county tax. 3d, It declared that ministers of the gospel, being dedicated to God and the care of souls, ought not to be diverted from the great duties of their functions, and that, therefore, no minister of the gospel, or priest of any denomination whatever, should be eligible to the office of governor, lieutenant-governor, or to a seat in either. branch of the General Assembly. 4th, It permitted the estab

lishment of State banks, and assigned no limit to the pledging of public credit or to the contracting of public obligations, except in regard to the appropriations for the army, which were limited to one year. The judicial power of the State was vested in one supreme court of appellate jurisdiction, which was to be held by the district judges, and a superior court, to be held by one of these judges in each county; but the judge of the superior court might not sit on the trial in the supreme court when his judgment in the court below was under revision; but it was made his duty to report in writing to the supreme court the reasons upon which his decision was based.

In 1821 the Legislature established a separate chancery jurisprudence in the State. This act divided the State into two chancery districts, and provided for the appointment of a chancellor, to serve during good behavior. It also prescribed the rules of practice in this court, and defined its functions.

In 1825 a special term of this court was provided for the city of Natchez, and Monroe County was erected into a separate chancery district. In 1827 this act was repealed; the system of chancery was revised, and four chancery districts were formed.

The Judiciary Act of 1818 created a county court, consisting of a chief and two associate justices, with the jurisdiction and cognizance of justices of the quorum; and the Act of 1821 gave to one judge the powers of probate and the registry of deeds. In 1822 a county court was created, composed of a judge of probate and two associates, with limited original cognizance, but with appellate jurisdiction over the acts and decrees of the probate judge acting alone as the ordinary.

By the Act of 1822 justices of the peace were made conservators within their several counties, and were empowered to take all manner of recognizances for good behavior, or for appearance at the circuit court. They were authorized to issue warrants for the apprehension of criminals, to take recognizances to answer, or to commit the offender, and might issue searchwarrants. They were required to take in writing the voluntary confessions of the accused and the testimony of witnesses, and certify the same to the circuit court. They might issue war

rants of arrest in cases of removal or escape, and subpoenas for witnesses, in State cases, to any other county, but they were to he indorsed by a justice of the county to which they were issued. They might also fine and imprison for contempt.

Appeals from the justices' courts were required to be tried de novo and summarily in the circuit court, and a trial by jury was granted in all cases which involved more than twenty dollars.

This system of judicature remained unaltered until the judiciary was remodelled under the Constitution of 1832. Let us now notice the eminent judicial functionaries of that period.

JOHN P. HAMPTON.

Judge Hampton, it is believed, was a native of South Carolina, and belonged to the family from which sprang the present eminent United States Senator from that State. He emigrated to the Mississippi Territory some time prior to the organization of the State Government, and was the first Chief Justice of the State of Mississippi, having taken his seat at the opening of the court, in the spring of 1818.

That he was a profound lawyer and able judge there can be no question. This is evident both from the fact of his elevation and the tenor of his decisions which are always marked with clearness, comprehension, and a lofty and unswerving regard for equity and justice. One of the ablest decisions rendered by our early courts was delivered by Chief Justice Hampton in the case of Stark's heirs vs. Mather (Walker's R. 180). This was a case of conflicting tenures arising under different grants, one of which was made by Spain and the other by the Government of the United States.

The court held that if the prior Spanish grant was a nullity in se for want of power on the part of the Spanish Government to effectuate it, yet, being embraced in the confirmatory provisions of the Georgia Cession, it was valid, and that consequently the subsequent patentee claiming under the United States was merely a trustee of the former grant.

This decision was ably assailed by the distinguished Mr.