WILLIAM
CAMPBELL
PRESTON.
IV. By Walter L. M1ller of the South Carol1na Bar. I HAVE already stated that Mr. Preston met and had converse with many of the celebrities of his day. Miss Martin tells us that while he was in Europe, he was for a while a guest of Walter Scott at Abbotsford. During his stay in Washington, he had the pleasure of forming the acquaintance of the famous John Bright, the great English statesman. In her journal, Mrs. Preston says: "To-day, Mr. Bright dined with us, and professed himself highly pleased with what he sees this side the Atlantic. Mr. Calhoun asked him about the welfare of England (uotas to nullification) in general, and London especially, and I was amused to hear Mr. Bright say that London was grow ing very fast. To my mind it had long seemed full growth." I must not fail to mention one of Mr. Preston's important and extremely practical qualities — his ability to remember well the names and faces of people. Like a great many fine scholars, Mr. Preston wrote a hand that was hard to read. In connection with his writing, Dr. Baer relates the following touching incident: "I remember, in December, 1854, going to his house, and asking him for the proper read ing of a word in a note he had sent me, along with some volumes he had donated through me to Wofford College. He shook his head, and pointing to a life-size portrait of his wife, standing on an easel near by, remarked, the big tears coursing down his cheeks : ' There was the only person ever could read my writing.'" Young men who depend on their genius to get along without putting forth much effort will not find their views strengthened by studying the life of Mr. Preston. He was
the advocate of work. He told the students of the South Carolina College that, no mat ter how brilliant they were, they need not expect success without great effort. " He said that he had never spoken without nights and days spent in laborious preparation." While Mr. Preston's elevation to the pres idency of the South Carolina College gave eelat to that institution, swelled its roll of students, and, in a variety of ways, contributed to its prosperity and reputation, still, we are informed that as an administrative officer he only ranked fairly well. His administration, however, as a whole, was regarded as a bril liant success. He was a fine instructor, and young men delighted to be under his influ ence and to catch, as they fell from his lips, words of wisdom. He did not slavishly confine himself to the text-book, but would branch out and seek truth and its illustra tions from far and near. How did Mr. Preston succeed at the bar? I have already anticipated this question, and, on an earlier page, I have answered it to some extent; but I have not discussed it at all fully. Was he a successful lawyer or not? Did he make for himself a reputation as one of the great lawyers of the State? To this latter question, I answer : " No," and then I quickly hurry to change it to "Yes and no." On the criminal side of the court, he was a decided success, and ranked much above the average. He was employed in important cases — those of great magni tude and where life itself was at stake. Not only was he employed, but he managed them with great skill and won that which at last is the crucial test, — the verdict of a petit jury. The reputation which he won on the crim inal side of the court, both among lawyers
