propriety of his professional conduct. In this he was always honourable and candid; he was free from envy; and ever anxious to aid the efforts of rising industry or genius. As a politician, the best monument to his fame is in the facts and incidents of his public career. His penetration into character was remarkable; and is proved in the selection of his friends-from whom, it is said, he experienced in every instance that warm reciprocal attachment which was due to his judgment, his ardour, and his constancy. By these means, in moments of great political difficulty and danger, he united around him a force of talent and character, eminently serviceable in promoting and supporting his patriotic designs. These designs were uniformly stamped with the manliness and the energy which marked his character. The champion of that illustrious band, which in North Carolina first opposed the encroachments of arbitrary power, all his actions were founded on principles as correct, as his motives were disinterested and pure. When he engaged in revolutionary measures, he was fully aware of the dangers to which he exposed his person and estate; yet in spite of untoward events, his enthusiasm never abated, his firmness never forsook him. In times the most disastrous he never desponded, but maintained the ground he had assumed with increased intrepidity. |