His death was sudden, and deeply mourned throughout the State, which
had delighted so long to honor him. His name is identified with her
history, as one of her brightest and best men.
The talents of Judge Lumpkin were of a high order, and though he
distinguished himself as a jurist, they were certainly more fitted for
the forum than the bench. Those who knew him best, and who were best
fitted to judge, unite in the opinion that his eminence in political
life would have been greater than that which distinguished him as a
judge. He was a natural orator, and his oratory was of the highest
order. His ideas flowed too fast for the pen, and he thought more
vividly when on his feet, and in the midst of a multitude, than when in
the privacy of his chamber. His language was naturally ornate and
eloquent, and the stream of thought which flowed on in declamation,
brightened and grew, in its progress, to a mighty volume. This, with
the fervor of intense feeling which distinguished his efforts, made
them powerfully effective. In toning down these feelings, and
repressing the ornate and beautiful to the cold, concise legal opinion,
his delivery lost not only its beauty, but much of its strength and
power.
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