Family-histories and genealogies : containing a series of ...

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It will be seen that Mr. Griswold's course was not prompted by any
spirit of private revenge ; he shrank from the act of personal violence,
and only resorted to it in behalf of. others, because no other redress could
be obtained. In accordance with the spirit of the times, "honor must be
maintained." If he had been a Southerner, he would have promptly chal-
lenged Lyon to a duel ; being a Northerner, accustomed to self-control,
and attaching a high value to human life, he did but stand on the defensive
in a manly use of nature's weapons. The power of the old Griswold
champion, his ancestor, came over him ;
the sense of right and an indignant
revolt against the gross injury he had received added strength to his tall,
athletic form ; and in the presence of the Congress before which he had
been insulted he vindicated his cause, and silenced his opponent.
"As a judge," to quote again the words of another, "that sincerity, that incor-
ruptible integrity, which adorned his life, eminently appeared. His very respectable
associates on the judgment-seat, and the suitors and advocates who witnessed his
deportment, will testify that all the vehemence and ardour of the advocate were left
at the bar, and that candour, patience and deliberation governed his conduct. His
discernment and virtue were a protection to the innocent ; the oppressor and the
fraudulent, like the wicked, were scattered with his eye.""'
During the brief time he occupied the gubernatorial chair, though
already suffering from mortal illness, he was unsparing of himself in his
devotion to the interests of his native State, amid unusual perplexities
arising from national events, as well as from the settlement of delicate
questions which they called for, concerning the relations of State to
National authority.
He was a dutiful son, an affectionate husband and father. He was of
a social nature ;
warm
in his friendships, gracious of deportment in the
general intercourse of society, sympathetic towards all objects of public
utility, and a benefactor of the needy.
'" Daggett's Eulogium, ut supra, pp. 13-14.
86