Knowledge is the treasure of the mind; virtue is the parent of earthly happiness. In this enlightened age and in our free country, ignorance is a voluntary misfortune arising from idleness, the parent of want, vice, and shame. Under the benevolent arrangements of the present day, every child, youth, woman and man can have access to books, and generally to schools. At no era of the world has the mantle of science been so widely spread as at this time. All who will may drink at the pure fountain of intelligence, and go on their way rejoicing in light. By a proper improvement of time, the apprentice of the workshop may lay in a stock of useful information that will enable him, when he arrives at manhood, to take a respectable stand by the side of those who have been illumined with the full blaze of a collegiate education. In his own hands are the materials of future fame, oblivial obscurity, or shameless infamy. He is the architect of his own fortune, and will rise in the scale of being just in proportion with his mental exertions. Youth of America, if you desire to remain free, store your minds with knowledge. Several bright examples have already been spread before the reader, in this review of the lives of the signers of the declaration, of men who raised themselves by the force of their own powers and industry to the loftiest pinnacle of enduring fame.

In tracing the career of George Walton, another instance of the same kind is presented. He was a native of Frederic county, Virginia, born in 1740. Without any school education he was apprenticed to a morose carpenter at an early age, who was so penurious as to deny him a candle to read by, after having faithfully performed his task of labour. So great was his desire to become familiar with books, that he would collect pine knots, which afforded him the only light for the prosecution of his studies during his boyhood and youth. He served out his time in strict accordance with his indentures, and when manhood dawned upon him, his mind was stored with a rich stock of useful intelligence and practical information. This he had acquired alone by the dint of industry during those hours of the night when a large proportion of other boys and youth were either reposing in slumber, or were wasting their time in corrupt and vicious company, demonstrating most clearly that ignorance is a voluntary misfortune.

When he arrived at his majority he went to Georgia and commenced the study of law with Henry Young, Esq., under whose instruction he rapidly acquired the elements of the profession, and was admitted to the bar in 1774. During his investigation of the principles laid down by Blackstone and other able writers, he was most forcibly struck with the gross violation of the chartered and constitutional rights of the colonies. His indignation became roused, he communicated his views and feelings to other kindred spirits, and was among the first to oppose British oppression in his adopted state. The interests of the crown were sustained in Georgia longer than in either of the other provinces. A temporizing spirit pervaded the minds of many of those who desired liberty, but believed its attainment beyond their reach. For some time they preferred enduring their present sufferings, lest a severer fate should overtake them. They knew their own weakness, they dreaded the physical power of England. But George Walton and a few other bold patriots were not to be intimidated by a display of military force. They considered that to die in the cause of liberty was more glorious than to wear the chains of a tyrant. They were determined never to bow the knee to Baal, or offer a sacrifice at the altar of monarchy. They resolved to be free or nobly perish in the attempt.

In order to test the public mind, Messrs. Walton, Noble, Bullock, and Houston, over their proper signatures, published a notice for a meeting of their fellow citizens to be held at the Liberty Pole, Tondee’s tavern, Savannah, on the 27th of July, 1774, in order to take into consideration the constitutional rights and liberties of the American subjects of the British empire. This was the first liberty pole planted in that state; this was the first meeting that put the revolutionary ball in motion in Georgia. A large number of citizens assembled at the time and place appointed, and were eloquently addressed by Mr. Walton, who, from that time, became a prominent and able leader of the popular party. A committee was organized for the purpose of rousing the people to a sense of impending danger and to a vindication of their injured rights. Governor Wright, with the hireling phalanx of the crown, used great exertions to obtain from the inhabitants of every parish a written pledge to sustain them in executing the nefarious designs of the mother country, and to submit their necks more implicitly to the yoke of bondage. Fascinating promises of redress were held out, and the people were in a measure lulled into quietness by a renewal of their petitions to the throne for the repeal of the unconstitutional laws of parliament. But the fire of patriotism had commenced its insulating course. From Mr. Walton and his compatriots its holy flame continued to spread from heart to heart, from sire to son, from parish to parish, at first slowly, but finally illuminating the horizon of liberty with cheering refulgence. The struggle of many of the more timid patriots in that province, between policy and duty, was long suspended on the pivot of indecision. Present self-interest and self-preservation influenced many to remain inactive for a season, who subsequently became the bold advocates of liberal principles. In January, 1775, the members of the assembly were so equally divided upon the all-important subject of the revolution, then rolling upon them, that they adjourned without any definite action relative to it. The same wavering spirit was manifested at the public meetings and by the committee of safety. To restore the public mind from this political paralysis, was the province of Mr. Walton and a few other noble spirits. All the other colonies had united in the common cause against the common enemy and had sent delegates to the Congress convened at Philadelphia the previous year. That Georgia should be the last to hug the chains and kiss the rod of oppression, was to him a source of mortification and regret. But he determined not to desert his post. His exertions became equal to the herculean task before. His powers of mind rose with the magnitude of the occasion; his eloquence and logic bore down all opposition, and when the cry of blood—of murder—from the heights of Lexington was heard, the people started from their reverie, rose in the majesty of their might, buckled on the armour of opposition, burst the cords that bound them, and bid defiance to British power. In May, 1775, the parish of St. Johns sent Lyman Hall to the Continental Congress, and in July, a convention of the province sanctioned his election, joined the confederacy, and sent four other delegates to aid him. The council of safety was re-organized, and vigorous measures adopted to aid the cause of rational liberty. In these measures Mr. Walton was one of the leading men. In January of the next year the legislature appointed Mr. Bullock, a bold and active patriot, president of the executive council by a large majority. British authority was at an end. Governor Wright threatened the members with bayonets, the next hour he was their prisoner, and permitted only the liberty of his own house on his parol of honour. This he violated, fled on board of the armed fleet in the harbour, commenced an attack upon the town, was shamefully defeated, and retired from the vengeance of an enraged, insulted, and injured populace.

In February, 1776, Mr. Walton was elected to Congress, and entered upon the important duties of legislation. He at once took his seat and proved a bold, energetic, and efficient advocate for every measure calculated to advance the cause of independence. He warmly supported the declaration of rights and most cheerfully gave it his vote and signature. He continued to be annually elected a member of the national legislature until 1781, excepting 1779, when he was governor of Georgia, he rendered essential service on various committees. When Congress was compelled to retire to Baltimore on the 13th of December, 1776, in consequence of the approach of the British army, Messrs. Morris, Clymer, and Walton, were left as a committee of superintendence with $200,000, to be expended for the use of the army. Mr. Walton was also a member of the treasury board and marine committee, and ably discharged every duty that devolved upon him. In addition to his civil honours, his brow was decked with the epic wreath. In 1778, he was commissioned colonel of militia, and bravely sustained himself at the battle of Savannah between the American troops under General Howe and the British under Colonel Campbell. The battalion under his command made a desperate resistance until he received a shot in his thigh, fell from his horse, and was captured by the enemy. So long as his wound confined him he was held under a parol of honour; when he recovered, he was sent to Sunbury and confined with the other prisoners. He was soon after exchanged, and again entered into the service of Congress, having been absent during the session of 1778. In January, 1783, he was appointed chief justice of Georgia. He was subsequently again elected governor of the state, and also a member of the United States senate, and served several sessions in the state legislature. He was a judge of the superior court, when he closed his laborious life on the 2nd of February, 1803, which had been almost entirely devoted to the service of his country. He was also one of the commissioners that effected a treaty with the Cherokee Indians in Tennessee. His high reputation as an able and faithful public servant, imposed upon him numerous and onerous duties, all of which he discharged in a manner that did honour to his name and his country. The only difficulty in which he appears to have been involved during his public career, was as singular as it proved harmless, and lost none of its odd features in its final adjustment. During the war, a jealousy existed between the civil and military powers in Georgia. At the head of the first was Mr. Walton; at the head of the latter, General M’Intosh. In 1779, when the former was first elected governor of the state, a forged letter, purporting to be from the legislature, then in session at Savannah, was forwarded to Congress, requesting the removal of the latter to some other field of action. The governor was charged with a knowledge of the transaction; but few, if any, believed it, and he declared himself ignorant of the whole matter. The documentary proofs were laid before the house in January, 1783, and whilst under discussion, Mr. Walton was appointed chief justice of the state; the next day a vote of censure was passed upon him for participating in the forged letter, and the attorney-general directed to institute proceedings against him in the very court over which he presided, and the only one that had cognisance of the charge against him. The vote of censure may have healed the wounded feelings of General M’Intosh; it certainly never injured chief justice Walton, and was never afterwards agitated. It was more like a political compromise of the present day than any revolutionary farce that has come under my notice.

During the latter part of his life, Judge Walton confined his public duties to the bench of the superior court; and during the intervals of its session, enjoyed the comforts of domestic life with his family, consisting of one son, and his amiable and accomplished companion, the daughter of Mr. Chamber, whom he had married in 1777. He was not wealthy, was free from avarice, and was contented with a competence which was afforded by his public emoluments and the produce of a small plantation. He indulged in good living, and suffered much from the gout at various times. He was a close student during his whole life. He continued to add to his experience a general knowledge of the sciences, and became an ornament to the judiciary of his state. He was also a ready writer, and possessed a peculiar talent for satire, which he occasionally resorted to as a correction of error and folly. He was of a warm temperament, easily excited, resenting every indignity, but highly honourable and just, moving within the orbit of propriety under all circumstances, showing clearly that the inflammable passions may be governed and controlled by a wise discretion. He was open and frank, a stranger to disguise, ardent in his attachments, firm in his purposes, stern and reserve in his manners in general society, but very familiar in the private circle with his friends. He was an indignant but manly opponent; his enemies knew just where to find him. He was fond of brevity and despatch in conversation and in business, and systematic in all his proceedings and arrangements both public and private. Taken as a whole, he was one of the most useful men of his day and generation, and has left examples worthy of the imitation of the apprentice, the student, the lawyer, the judge, the magistrate, and the statesman. By the force of industry and perseverance he rose from the humblest walks of life to the most dignified stations in the community. Let every youth whose eyes meet this brief sketch, be stimulated to embrace every opportunity for improvement, and drink often and freely at the crystal fountain of knowledge now accessible and open to all. Soon the affairs of a mighty nation will devolve upon you; without intelligence you cannot be prepared to guard its dearest interests and counteract the corrupting and baneful evils that are often put in motion by wild ambition, sordid selfishness, and dark intrigue.