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Drayton, William Henry, 1742-1779

Statesman; born in Drayton Hall, S. C., in September, 1742; educated in England, and on his return he became a political writer. In 1771 he was appointed privy councillor for the province of South Carolina, but he soon espoused the cause of the patriots, and protested against the proceedings of his colleagues. In 1774 he addressed a pamphlet to the Continental Congress, in which he stated the grievances of the Americans, and drew up a bill of rights, and substantially marked out the line of conduct adopted by the Congress. He was appointed a judge in 1774, but was suspended from the office when he became a member of the committee of safety at Charleston. The first charge to the grand jury at Camden, S. C., in 1774, by Judge Drayton is conspicuous in American history. “In order to stimulate your exertions in favor of your civil liberties, which protect your religious rights,” he said, “instead of discoursing to you on the laws of other states and comparing them to our own, allow me to tell you what your civil liberties are, and to charge you, which I do in the most solemn manner, to hold them dearer than your lives—a lesson and charge at all times proper from a judge, but particularly so at this crisis, when America is in one general and grievous commotion touching this truly important point.” The judge then discoursed on the origin of the colony, the nature of the constitution, and their civil rights under it, and concluded by saying that some might think his charge inconsistent with his duty to the King who had just placed him on the bench;

William Henry Drayton

“but, for my part,” he said, “in my judicial character I know no master but the law. I am a servant, not to the King, but to the constitution; and, in my estimation, I shall best discharge my duty as a good servant to the King and a trusty officer under the constitution when I boldly declare the laws to the people and instruct them in their civil rights.” This charge, scattered broadcast by the press, had a powerful influence in the colonies, and, with other patriotic acts, cost Judge Drayton his office. In 1775 he was president of the Provincial Congress of South Carolina. In 1776 he became chief-justice of the State; and his published charge [155] to a grand jury in April, that year, displayed great wisdom and energy, and was widely circulated and admired. Mr. Drayton was chosen president, or governor, of South Carolina in 1777, and in 1778-79 was a member of the Continental Congress. He wrote a history of the Revolution to the end of the year 1778, which was published by his son in 1821. He died in Philadelphia, Sept. 3, 1779.

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