THE ECLECTIC MAGAZINE

Vol. 148.

MAY, 1907.

John Tyler and His Presidency.*

By His Son, LYON G. TYLER, LL.D.

No. 5.

T

THE first Virginia President, George Washington, had just com

pleted the first year of his Presidential office, when a boy was born in Charles City County, near the banks of the James River in Virginia, who was destined to be the last of the illustrious line of Presidents furnished by the mother of States and statesmen. The name of the boy was John Tyler, the fourth in direct line in his family, who had borne that name. His father was a man of much consequence in the politics of his State, when to be a leader in Virginia was to be a national character. During the American Revolution John Tyler, Sr., was Speaker of the House of Delegates, and afterwards, Judge of the State Supreme Court, Governor of the Commonwealth, and finally Judge of the District Court of the United States. In the long period during which he gave his services to the public, he was brought in contact with all the eminent men of Virginia. He was especially the personal friend of Thomas Jefferson, of Patrick Henry and of "Copyright, 1907, by Eclectic Magazine Printing and Publishing Company.

James Madison, and with John Marshall, the chief justice of the United States, presided in the Federal Circuit Court for Virginia.

The judge's acquaintance with Jefferson began in 1764, in Williamsburg, Virginia, then the capital of the Colony. Tyler was a student at William and Mary College, and Jefferson was studying law under the celebrated George Wythe at the same time. His acquaintance with the second, Patrick Henry, began the next year, when with Jefferson he stood in the lobby of the House of Burgesses and listened to Patrick Henry's speech on the Stamp Act. Young Tyler was carried away with admiration for Mr. Henry, and became so bitter an opponent of the British government that his father often predicted "he would be hanged as a rebel." Afterward he saw a great deal of Mr. Henry in the Virginia conventions and Legislature, and exchanged letters and visits with him. On the occasion of the christening of Tyler's eldest son, Wat Henry Tyler, Mr. Henry was a guest, and was curious to know why that name was selected. He was answered by Judge Tyler that it was done in honor of the "two greatest rebels in English history, Wat Tyler and Patrick Henry.' When Mr. Wirt wrote his life of Patrick Henry, he was greatly assisted by Judge Tyler in the preparation of the work. In repeating to Mr. Wirt his recollections of the great commoner, he mingled his own fiery eloquence with the bare outlines of Henry's speeches on the Stamp Act and the war, as remembered by him. So that the speeches ascribed to Patrick Henry are as much Tyler's as they are Henry's.

Judge Tyler's acquaintance with Mr. Madison began in the Legislature in 1780, and they were connected very closely in the measures which laid the foundations of the Federal government. They served together on the committee to whom the question about revenue and commerce was referred, but it was Mr. Tyler's good luck to force through the Legislature in January, 1786, a measure for a convention of all the States to be called at Annapolis for amending the Articles of Confederation. As every school boy knows, the Annapolis convention led to the celebrated convention held the next year, 1787, at Philadelphia, which formed the present Federal constitution.

Judge Tyler was vice-president of the State convention called in 1788 to pass upon the work of the Federal convention, and, in the great contest between Madison and Henry over the question of adoption, sided with the latter. One of the strongest points which he made against the constitution was its authorizing the continuance of the slave trade which Virginia had abolished in 1778. "I want it to be handed down to posterity that I opposed this wicked clause," he said. This antagonism in the convention did not

create any hard feelings, and Madison, as President of the United States, many years later, showed his confidence in Judge Tyler by appointing him to the highest Federal office at his disposal-the judgeship of the United States District Court. Not only was it an important office, but there were particular reasons why the appointment was agreeable to Judge Tyler. At the time of the adoption of the Federal constitution, he was holding the position of Judge of the State Admiralty Court. This Court was absorbed by the new constitution into the District Court of the United States, but Washington, instead of appointing Judge Tyler to the position, appointed Judge Cyrus Griffin-a man of good family-a mild Federalist, and of upright intentions. "General Washington gave Judge Griffin my old office," wrote Judge Tyler to Mr. Jefferson, "because I was not for the new Federal government without previous amendments. This kind of conduct began the strong distinction which has embittered the cup of life, and, in a great measure, produced a spirit of retaliation when the Republicans prevailed."

After he had acted as Judge for over twenty years, Griffin fell sick and died; and Mr. Jefferson, then in retirement, broke through his resolve "never to embarass President Madison with his solicitations," and in 1810 wrote a letter urging him to appoint Judge Tyler to the vacancy. The following is an extract from Jefferson's letter and is sufficiently eulogistic: "It will be diffi cult to find a character of firmness enough to preserve his independence on the same bench with Marshall. Tyler, I am certain, would do it. He is an able and well read lawyer, about 59 years of age. He was popular as a judge, and is remarkably so as a governor, for his incorruptible integrity, which no circumstances have ever been able to turn from its course. Indeed, I think there is scarcely a person in the state so solidly popular, or who would be so much approved of for that place. A milk and water character in that office would be seen as a calamity. Tyler, having been the former State judge of that court, too, and removed to make way for so wretched a fool as Griffin, has a kind of right to reclamation, with the advantage of repeated elections by the legislature, as admiralty judge, and Governor. But of all these things you will judge fairly between him and his competitors." The appointment followed, and Judge Tyler resigned his office of governor which he then held, and once more went on the bench. He was brought, thereby, in direct relations with Chief Justice Marshall, who sat with him in the case of Livingston versus Jefferson-a case which excited much interest throughout the Union. The firmness on which Mr. Jefferson relied seems to have been manifested. The suit was improperly brought, and Judge Marshall proposed to adjourn the matter to the Supreme Court, but Judge Tyler pressed the propriety of

entering an opinion, and his colleague consented. Incidentally, came up the question of the relation to the Federal government of the common law, which Judge Marshall maintained was a part of the national jurisprudence and Judge Tyler as stoutly denied. This difference in opinion involved the much controverted question of the nature of the Union, and was finally decided, as far as such a question could be decided, in favor of Judge Tyler's contention; and it is an interesting fact that despite the centralization of power which has taken place since, the idea which he expressed is yet the accepted rule of construction -that no power can be assumed by the officers of the Federal government unless expressly granted by the constitution or statute made in pursuance thereof. It is yet admitted that the government of the United States is one of limited powers, and international in interpretation.

Judge Tyler has a claim to remembrance for two other important acts. He was one of the earliest judges to hold that the judges could set aside an act of the legislature, if it was not in accord with the Constitution. As Governor of Virginia, he secured the establishment in 1808 of the Literary Fund for the purposes of education.

Many stories are told illustrative of the character of Judge Tyler. He was very fond of young men, and aided them in every way possible by words of advice and encouragement. William Wirt was one of those who in his youth was indebted to him: "When I went to the bar I became engaged in a case in which my fee, dependent on success, was a large one. The lion in my way was Charles Copland. When the day arrived for the trial of the case the terror increased upon me, and so continued until I fell in with Judge Tyler, one of the judges of the court, who inquired as to my success at the bar. I replied that I had on that day a case coming on which would yield me a good fee, but that I was terrified in having to encounter Mr. Copland. 'Pooh, pooh,' said the judge, 'all nonsense; if the law is with you, the court will take care of the balance.' Thus encouraged, I entered on the argument and gained the cause."

Judge Tyler was conspicuous for his intense patriotism and hatred of the British. In 1784 Edmund Randolph explained that there were three parties. in the Legislature: "Mr. Henry had one corps, R. H. Lee a second and the speaker (Tyler) a third, founded on a riveted opposition to our late enemies and everything that concerned them." After the Revolution he was a warm Republican, who fretted greatly under the British policy of impressing our Seamen. He welcomed the war of 1812, and decided the first prize case that came up for adjudication in that war. As he left the bench after giving the judgment of condemnation, he rubbed his hands and declared: "There, by