was not only disposed to express his congratulations, but about whom he was ready to place the strong arm of his protecting care in the future struggles of life. This was Gov. Thomas H. Bennett, the foster-father, in every sense of the word, of the deserving graduate.

I do not consider that it would be just to the spirit of my honored friend, whose history I am writing, should I not present more prominently than I have done the character of Governor Bennett, for whom Mr. Memminger always entertained the greatest respect and a love engendered by the noble nature of his generous friend and benefactor.

Returning to Charleston from his successful college course with his well-earned honor, Mr. Memminger entered the law office of Mr. Joseph Bennett, the brother of the Governor. In those days admission to the privileges and emoluments of the legal profession was only possible in South Carolina after a course of study that would in these latter days of rapid evolution be considered in some sections as amounting to a qualified interdiction. It was well that it was so.

The youth of Mr. Memminger was in his favor, while the training that his superior mind had received the better prepared him to grasp the subtle realities of the logical science he had determined to master. In the year 1820, when he formally began his law course, the Bar of Charleston was, as it has ever been, noted for the number of eminent lawyers who were practising there in the State and Federal courts. There could have been no better standards of professional ethics, as there were no higher expressions of the learning and the eloquence of the lawyer and advocate; no better school in which to absorb by the contact of association, as there was no better forum for the exhibition of the noblest expressions of true manliness. It was then that Stephen D. Miller, Hugh S. Legare, IIenry L. Pinckney, James L. Pettigru, Robert Y. Hayne, Henry Bailey, Daniel and Alfred

Huger, B. F. Hunt, Richard Yeadon, W. G. Dessassure, Alexander Mazyck, were among the master spirits of the court-room; when, at the General Sessions, the Court of Common Pleas, or at Chancery, Johnston, Harper, O'Neal, Butler, Dunkin, Richardson, Wardlaw, Earle, and Evans presided with a grace that would have done honor to Westminster or the King's Bench in the palmiest day of English jurisprudence. It was then that Calhoun, McDuffie, Cheves, and Hayne were statesmen expressing thoughts that were to outlive the centuries and "wander through eternity."

Among the young men just then coming to the Bar was Edward McCrady. For him Mr. Memminger formed an attachment, which was warmly reciprocated, and which continued an unbroken friendship during more than the average life of men. It has recently been my pleasure to converse with Mr. McCrady, who, at this writing, is still in life, and at the advanced age of ninety-three retains to a remarkable degree the faculties of his mind and a physical strength which I hope will prolong his useful life far into the "serene and solemn beauty of old age." Mr. McCrady describes his then young friend Memminger as being a man of untiring energy, a close, careful student, who lost no opportunity to acquire an accurate knowledge of the principles and the practice of his chosen profession; sincere in his convictions and devoted in the discharge of duty. "He possessed," said Mr. McCrady, "to an extent I have never known surpassed the ability to state a proposition and lay a case before a judge or a jury as clearly as it possibly could be done. There was nothing superfluous, no redundant expression; but stripped of all extraneous matters the proposition or case would be stated by him so clearly that there could be no mistaking it."

At this time there was an association among the men of letters in Charleston, known as the "Conversational and De

bating Society," to which Mr. Memminger was introduced, and of which he became an active member and regular attendant. The object of the association appears to have been "for the improvement of the mind and the cultivation of the amenities of life." It was in fact a social club, somewhat similar to the "Kit-Kat" and old October Clubs of London in the days of Johnson, Goldsmith, Reynolds, and other worthies of their day. The current topics of the day were informally discussed, essays were read, and occasionally such subjects as were of special interest were debated to the great pleasure and profit of those who were present. This institution was established at an early period in the history of Charleston, as I am informed by Judge George S. Bryan, and numbered among its members those who were prominent in all the pursuits of life-clergymen, lawyers, doctors, men of letters, and those engaged in commerce or the business pursuits of the city. The writer can well understand that while Mr. Memminger was preparing himself for the duties of his profession, the associations of this club were of great benefit to him. Among the gifted and accomplished men he met there any young gentleman possessing the natural abilities of Mr. Memminger must have received valuable suggestions, as he must also have been impressed with that imprimatur of manhood that made this era in our State's history one of peculiar attractiveness. This club was in existence for near a century. It was reorganized in 1842, but appears now to have suffered the fate of other institutions of our ante-bellum civilization, and to have gone into that wretched tomb which an unsuccessful revolution prepared, not alone for our material interests, but, alas! for the spirit and, to too great an extent, the æsthetic culture of a gallant people.

I find among the papers of Mr. Memminger the reported proceedings of another club, which I apprehend was formed

among the young lawyers of Charleston. The name, as given in our English participle-"The Lying Club "-is not so classic as it might have been made, but it is none the less suggestive. This club met, as it appears from the proceedings, in general sessions, at the Charleston Coffee-House, a temple whose fame in that goodly day was as great in the old city by the sea as was that of Mercury in ancient Athens. From the old and well-authenticated records of this club it is clear that Mr. Memminger's was one of those happy tempers which varied at times the stern realities of life with the genuine good humor of a merry soul.

He had the sweet humors of a happy disposition moving as a deep undercurrent in his strong and manly nature. There was no element of the cynic, no asceticism in his character. Under no circumstances did he ever display the solemn phariseeism of a Uriah Heap.

In after years, when he was burdened with the cares, the responsibilities, and many vexing annoyances of a Cabinet officer, the writer was brought into intimate official relations with him as the chief clerk and disbursing officer of the Confederate Treasury Department, and was admitted into his confidence as his private secretary and executive officer for at least one year of his term of service. I never knew him to lose control of his temper; never at any time, even when annoyed, as but few officials could be, and always found him ready at the proper time and place to enjoy a good joke, and to relish, with a keen sense of appreciation, a genuine witticism.

In his infancy his grandparents, who were then his guardians, did not realize the advantage of having him made an American citizen under the provisions of the naturalization laws then of force. He could not be admitted to the Bar as an attorney and counsellor-at-law until this step had been taken. Under the auspices of Mr. Van Buren, an act of

Congress providing for such cases was passed, and under its provisions Mr. Memminger became an American citizen. The following is a copy of the certificate issued by the United States District Court:

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA-SOUTH CAROLINA DISTRICT.

To all to whom these presents may come-greeting:

Whereas at a Federal District Court, held in the city of Charleston, under the jurisdiction of the United States of America, on the 22d day of June, Anno Domini, 1824, and in the 48th year of the Independence and sovereignty of the said States, Christopher Gustavus Memminger, late of the Duchy of Wurtemberg, in the electorate of Suabia, came into the said court and made application to be admitted a citizen of these, our said States, and having complied with all of the conditions and requisites of the acts of Congress in such case made and provided for establishing a uniform rule for naturalization; and the oath to support the Constitution of the United States of America, and to renounce all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, potentate, State, or sovereignty whatever, being administered unto him in open court before the Honorable Thomas Lee, District Judge, he, the said Christopher Gustavus Memminger is, by virtue thereof and the premises, declared and enrolled a citizen of the said States.

In testimony whereof, I have fixed the seal of the said court to these presents, at the city of Charleston, in the district aforesaid, the day and year above written.

[Signed]

JAMES JERVEY, District Clerk, S. C. D.

It is fact of note that two of the most prominent and trusted officers of the Cabinet of President Davis were foreign born-Judah P. Benjamin and Mr. Memminger. It does not appear that Mr. Benjamin was ever a citizen de jure of the United States. He moved on in his remarkable career, reaching eminence as a lawyer and distinction as a Senator; became famous as a brilliant expounder of constitutional law; championed the cause of the Southern States, and subsequently throughout the administration of President Davis, became his trusted counsellor in the Law Department, the War Department, and finally, as Secretary of State, without ever having renounced his allegiance to the