Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: i mind capable of comprehending the details of the most complicated subject. As u speaker, he is slow and deliberate; plain in tag statements, but forcible in expression; ready with homely illustrations and convincing in his argumentation. His speeches never tire his audience, and although they do not abound in high flights of oratory, they plt-ase, interest, instruct and convince. As a popular speaker, he is indeed of rare excellence. 1I..X. ALFRED MOOKE SCALES, GOVEKNOlt OF NOKTII CAKOUXA, Was horn November -‘Dih, 1827, at Ingleside, the homestead of his father, Dr. Robert, JI. Scales, in Rock- ingham county. He attended sciiool ai. the Caldwell Instil me. and in 18-1(5 entered the Junior Class at Chapel Hill, remaining there only one session. On leaving the University, he taught a free school in his native county, which afterwards became a subscription school. He taught in the Caldwell Institute ..ne year, after which he began the study of law with Judge Settle, and later with Judge Battle. In ].S.V2 he was elected County Solicitor lie was a member of the House of Commons in 18f2-'3. In loo he was, l candidate for Congiv.-s, as u Democrat in hisdMrict, which usually gave.a Whig majority of one thousand. He was defeated, but by a largely decreased majority. In is:,4 be was again elected to the Legislature Where he served a Chairman of the Finance Committee. In 18;7 he wa- again a candidate for Congress, and after a spirited contest was elected over bis former competitor lion K C. 1'uryear. Two years later he was unani- m..u.-ly nominall for re-election, but was defeated by General J. M. Leach, the Whig nominee. In 1858 General Scales was elected Clerk and Master of the Equity Court of Itockingham county, and held the office until the civil war began. He was nomin…