Mr. George S. Hawkins then spoke as follows: May it please the Court, and Gentlemen of the Bar: We meet here to-day to pay a sad but pleasing tribute to the memory of the late Hon. Charles H. DuPont. He has ceased to live; his decease is but another illustration of the awful fiat enunciated in the Magna Charta of our existence, that all must die; but we must remember that it is as natural to die as to live, and that nature, sooner or later, will enforce her inexorable decrees. We meet not here to go through the formal ceremonial of pronouncing eulogies, replete with fulsome adulation, but we come, I believe, with one accord, one heart, one voice, to record a heartfelt testimonial of the worth, the merit, and the virtues of our departed brother. Such a testimonial, connected as it will be with the judicial records of the Supreme Court of our State, will long remain, and it may possibly become his most appropriate epitaph, his most suitable monument. It was my good fortune to have formed the acquaintance of Judge DuPont many, very many years since. This acquaintance ripened into an intimacy and friendship which were never lessened or disturbed by any untoward event of the efflux of time; a circumstance unimportant in itself, further than it enables me to testify as to his high honor, his integrity, his moral and physical courage and bravery. His patriotism, pure and unselfish, at the first outbreak of our Indian wars, impelled him to take the field. He became distinguished as an efficient officer for his brilliant courage, his manly bearing and chivalry, and performed great and valuable service in behalf of his country. It may be superfluous to speak of his judicial career that is inscribed on the records of our highest legal tribunal, but we know that he was an able, laborious, painstaking judge; that his decisions were replete with an intellect of no common order, learning and research-decisions that will bear the test of time, of the ordeal of criticism. His judicial integrity was never impugned-indeed so perfect was it that the very snows from heaven would have sullied the purity of his ermine. It was the custom of an ancient people on the death of a distinguished citizen, in lieu of that praise so often undeservedly lavished upon the dead, or that "flattery" that could not "soothe the dull, cold ear of death," to appoint an accuser, whose duty it was descant upon the faults, the vices, perhaps the crimes of the departed. The unblemished career and high character of Judge DuPont would afford such an accuser no theme for accusation, no basis for critical or malicious attack. In his later years, adversity had thrown its sombre hue over his declining years, and he became the embodiment of the saying of a writer of antiquity, that a "virtuous man struggling with adversity is a sight worthy of the Gods." We know that he became the recipient of an appointment which would no doubt have conferred great benefits upon our State. The duties incident to the office were too arduous for his strength, and his health became seriously and alarmingly impaired; receiving, as he believed, a summons from that fell messenger, whose errand there was no gain-saying, he returned from a distant locality whither his duties had called him to die in the land of his adoption-a land that he loved so well. It must have been a great solace to him in his last moments that he was surrounded by friends, and that he could surrender his last breath in the bosom of his family; to them a solace equally great by the ministrations that love and affection suggest on so sad and trying occasion, and by the reflection, that he would not be "by strangers honored, and by strangers mourned." I knew In his domestic relations Judge DuPont was irreproachable. him only as a husband and a father-as to these he was a model for imitation; but Governor Walker has assured us that he was a most affectionate son, most scrupulously obeying that beautiful command enunciated in the Decalogue, by his ever honoring his father and his mother. Right well was the promise contained in the commandment fulfilled. He lived some years beyond the span of life allotted to man. Judge DuPont was a pious and good man; a christian in the true sense of the word. His piety was ever unobtrusive. Devoid of sectarian bitterness or bigotry, it threw a mild and softening influence over his strongly marked character; it taught him that charity without which religion is nothing; to love his fellow-man, charity in all things; it taught him to be lenient to the faults of others, and tolerant of the moral, religious or political opinions of those whose notions and ideas differed from his own. Next to the foregoing trait of his character, his great and absorbing sentiment was his love of country. Whether in the field, in the halls of legislation, or on the bench, he was always the same. His actions in public life were guided by and the results of the purest and most disinterested patriotism and a strong pervading sense of duty to his fellow-countrymen and the public. No one ever suspected the rectitude of his intentions. He will long be remembered by every true Floridian; his virtues, his lofty and elevated character cannot be forgotten; and even after death, they will throw forth and leave a lustre upon his memory, like the long train of light that follows the sunken sun. Peace has its glories, its triumphs, as well as war. As before remarked, Judge DuPont fell a victim to a disease engendered by the severity of the labors incident to the duties of his appointment. By this, he became as much a martyr for the good, the benefit and the prosperity of his State as though he had died on the battle field, amid flaunting banners, the shouts of contending hosts and the roar of artillery. Well and appropriately may be applied to him the somewhat trite lines of the Roman poet: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. Et moriens dulces, reminiscitur Argos. Mr. R. C. Campbell then paid an eloquent and appropriate tribute, which has not been obtained for publication. Chief Justice Randall then said: I had a limited personal acquaintance with the late Chief Justice DuPont, but brief as it was, I was impressed with the air of candor, probity, christian modesty and simplicity which forced itself upon the consciousness of every one with whom he held intercourse. Every feature of his character, which has been so well remarked upon by members of the bar, seem but to be reproduced as we remember the cheerfulness which beamed from his kindly face on greeting an acquaintance, and the courtly dignity and heartiness which graced his bearing marked and distinguished him as a gentleman of the olden time. The poet has said: "We may make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Our lamented predecessor not only made his life sublime, but left the stamp of his character, his intellectual qualities and his learning, inscribed upon a monument more enduring than the "sands of time," in the hearts of his fellow-men, in the pages of the jurisprudence of this, his adopted commonwealth, and in the practical discourses and valuable contributions to the agricultural and domestic literature of the time, which frequently welcomed from his busy pen. were SO This much, and more, is due from me as a testimonial of his worth. acknowledge that I have always consulted his opinions with a respect that was entirely spontaneous, and due to the intrinsic force of the logic and the patent integrity impressed in every line. The court entirely concurs in the sentiments of the resolutions presented, and it is ordered that they be recorded, together with the proceedings of the meeting of the bar, in the minutes of the court. The court then adjourned. IN MEMORIAM. GEORGE S. HAWKINS. At a meeting of the members of the bar of the Supreme Court, at the court-room in Tallahassee, on the 11th day of June, 1878, on motion of Mr. Geo. P. Raney, Chief-Justice Randall was elected chairman and D. L. McKinnon secretary. On motion of Mr. D. S. Walker, Sr., a com.nittee of three, consisting of Messrs. C. C. Yonge, D. S. Walker, Sr., and Angus Paterson, were appointed by the chairman to draft suitable resolutions commemorative of the late Hon. George S. Hawkins, deceased. The meeting then adjourned until 9 o'clock A. M., June 17. The members of the bar met pursuant to adjournment, June 17, 1878. The committee, through their chairman, Col. C. C. Yonge, of Pensacola, presented the following resolutions, which were adopted: The committee, appointed at a meeting of the bar of the Supreme Court of Tallahassee on the 11th inst., to prepare resolutions commemorative of the late George S. Hawkins, late member of this bar, and once a member of this court, departed this life on the 15th day of March, A. D. 1878, at his residence in Marianna, Florida, aged about 70 years. Judge Hawkins was born in the State of New York, and removed to Florida at an early period of its history, about the year 1827. He had been intimately associated with the Territorial as well as the State Government of Florida in various official relations for nearly a half century; and whether as legislator, judge or soldier, had, in all the positions which he had been called to fill, exhibited the same fidelity of purpose, devotion to high principle, courage, learning and ability, for which he was so justly distinguished in private life. In commemoration of his virtues, and in testimony of the respect and esteem we entertain for our departed brother, be it Resolved, That we, as members of the profession of which he was so bright an ornament, in common with the people of the State of Florida, deplore the loss we and they have sustained in the death of this distinguished jurist and citizen, a man whose public and private life was without stain, and whose example is so worthy of our imitation. Resolved, That we tender to his family our sincere sympathy in their great affliction. Resolved, That the Supreme Court, now in session, be requested to enter this testimonial of our esteem and respect for our deceased brother upon the minutes of the court, and that the court be requested to adjourn for the day. The meeting then adjourned. Upon the opening of the Supreme Court, June 18, 1878, Col. Yonge addressed the court as follows: Since the last term of this court a distinguished member of this bar, and once an Associate-Justice of this court, has passed from the scenes of earth, and his voice, so often heard within these walls, will be heard no more. As is stated in the resolutions I am instructed to report to the court, George S. Hawkins departed this life on the 15th day of March, 1878, at his residence in Marianna, in the bosom of his family and surrounded by his friends. This sad event recalls to the memory the names of many of his contemporaries and friends; also members of this bench and bar, whose names are familiar as household words to the older members of the profession-Anderson, Baltzell, DuPont, Wright, Bronson, Carmack, Jordan, Samuel J. Douglas, Thomas J. Douglas, Thompson, Semmes, Brockenborough, Archer, Papy, Hogue, and others, all of whom have gone before him to their final account. This long death roll most impressively teaches the lesson of the shortness of life and the certainty of death, and is well calculated to dispel the delusion expressed in the line: "All men believe all men mortal but themselves.". It also conveys to us the solemn warning: "Be ye also ready." We know not how soon others may be called on to perform for us the same sad rites we now pay to the memory of our departed friend. It was my fortune to have had a long and intimate acquaintance with Judge Hawkins, dating back to the time when he first came to Florida, which, I think, was in 1827. From that time to the date of his death, with occasional intervals, he was connected with the administration of the Government in various official relations. In 1829 he was a secretary of the Territorial Legislature. Afterwards he represented West Florida, which then constituted one Senatorial District, in the Legislature. Then he was U. S. District-Attorney for the Western Judicial Circuit. Then a member of the first State Legislature, representing Franklin county in the Senate. Then Judge of the Western Circuit, and Associate-Justice of the Supreme Court. After this he was Collector of the port of Apalachi-cola, and subsequently a member of the U. S. Congress. At the time of his death he was engaged in digesting the laws of the State under appointment by Gov. Drew, a work for which he was eminently qualified. Judge Hawkins was found equal to the grave and responsible duties of all these positions, and discharged them with fiaelity and marked ability. But our friend found time to serve his country in the field as well as in the Cabinet. He had a command in West Florida during the Indian war, that ravaged the country from 1835 to 1840, and with the assistance of the late Col. Robert Myers and the now distinguished Gen. W. W. Loring, of the Egyptian army, as his Lieutenants, he fought and won the battle of Alaqua. The courage and gallantry displayed by him in that engagement is yet the subject of remark and admiration by the people of Walton county, and will not be soon forgotten. But as we all must die, so at last has George S. Hawkins died, full of years and full of honors. [Col. Yonge then read the preceding resolutions.] Appropriate remarks, commemorative of the character and services of Judge Hawkins, were then made by Mr. D. S. Walker, Sr., Mr. J. F. McClellan and Mr. Raney. Mr. Justice Westcott, speaking for the court, said: as MR. CHAIRMAN: The resolutions of the bar, which you present, bring to our attention the death of another distinguished and eminent jurist of the State of Florida, the Hon. George S. Hawkins. The court can add but little to what is so well expressed by the resolutions which you, the representative of the bar, present for enrollment upon our records, We deem it, however, not improper to say something upon this occasion. Judge Hawkins was distinguished as a judge. This th records of this court disclose. Here, likewise, is found the evidence of his general capacity and faithfulness as a lawyer. For years before his death Judge Hawkins had ceased to take any prominent part in the public affairs of his State, and as F, upon one occasion, remarked to me, he felt that he belonged to the past. With the great changes in our population he ceased to be so generally well known as he was at an earlier period of his life. Then he was prominent in the which many political contests of the times. He then held the banner followed. He then led, as a leader should lead, with a true courage, a thorough devotion, and an untiring industry in the cause he espoused. At the time of his death he stood one among the few remaining repre |