There is much less of success in life really dependent upon accident, or what is usually denominated luck, than is generally imagined. Much more depends upon the objects that one proposes to himself; what accomplishments or attainments he aims at; what constitutes the circle of his vision and thoughts; what he chooses not to be educated for, but to educate himself for; whether he looks beyond the present hour to the end and aim of the whole of life; or whether or listens to the appeals of indolence or vulgar pleasure, or to the stirring voice in his own soul, urging his amibition on to the higher and nobler objects of life. Pluck is better than luck, and energy is greater than genius. He rises highest that depends most upon courage and perseverence. Judge Summers, in early life, satisfied himself that the way to success did not pass over beds of roses, and that great men did not grow up on parlor carpets any more than trees develop in "hot-beds." He saw that men of commanding powers were made by constantly cultivating mind,body and soul. He also saw opportunities and availed himself of them. It is, therefore, no wonder that his was a successful life. When in his commanding presence, I have often thought that he wasa striking example of the influence of repblican institutions, in assigning to genius and talent their proper station and reward. He towered above the average man, as the stalwart oak rises above the shrubbery on the hill-side. He was a true type of genuine American orator, lawyer and statesman.

Mr. Summers was born in Fairfax county, Virginia, March 4, 1807. His parents removing with him to Kanawha county, while he was yet an infant; and in what is now perhaps the richest portion of West Virginia, he grew to manhood. In person, he was of medium height, stoutly built, with strongly marked features. He had a deliberate, though firm and uncompromising expression of countenance, that at once gave assurance of the make-up of the man. He was courteous and affable in demeanor, but frank in manners and expression. Possessing enlarged and liberal views, he formed readily his own opinions, and exhibited a uniform habit of devoting himself earnestly and efficiently to the discharge of his public and private duties.

In 1819, he matriculated as a student in the classical course at the Ohio University, at Athens, and graduated from that institution in 1826, taking the Master's degree three years later. Immediately after graduating from college, he commenced the study of law under the tutorage of his brother, Judge Lewis Summers, and was admitted to the bar in 1827. He was elected a member of the House of Delegates in the Legislature of Virginia, from Kanawha county, in the year 1830, and was several times re-elected to the same position. In the spring of 1841, he was elected a member of the United States House of Representatives, and was re-elected in 1843, serving throughout the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth Congresses. While in Congress he commanded the respect of his political adversaries as well as his own partisans; and when he spoke, he was given that consideration by his associates that his splendid abilities merited at their hands. In 1850 he was elected to the Constitutional Convention of Virginia, and occupied a leading position in framing the State Constitution of that year. In that noted Convention, he delivered a speech on the Basis of Representation, that was pronounced masterful both in matter and manner. This speech was generally regarded by the Judge's friends as the greatest effort of his life. He was unanimously nominated as the Whig candidate for the Governor of Virginia in the campaign of 1851. Prior to that time, the office of Governor was bestowed by the Legislature; but in 1851 it was made elective by the people. In this memorable contest, Mr. Summers was defeated by the Hon. Joseph Johnson, of Harrison county, the Democratic nominee. The contest was exciting and close, and was one of the most interesting gubernatorial campaigns ever conducted in the Old Commonwealth. In May 1852, Mr. Summers was elected Judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit of Virginia; and after serving six years in that capacity, he resigned his office July 1, 1858, there being two years unexpired of the term to which he had been elected.

The "Peace Conference," held at Washington, D.C., in the spring of 1861, was one of the most important gatherings of public men ever held on the continent. Judge Summers was a member of that conference, and took an active and leading part in defence of the Union. While he was in attendance upon this conference he was elected by his fellow-citizens in Kanawha, a delegate to the Richmond convention that passed the ordinance of secession. "These were times that tried men's souls." Judge Summers, great speech in defense of the Union, delivered in this convention, was perhaps the ablest and most forceful argument delivered for or against secession by any member of that great body of statesman. It was published in the Richmond Whig, and occupied over one-half of that large newspaper.

After the breaking out of war in 1861, Judge Summers retired to private life upon his farm at the western limit of Charleston, and ever afterwards persistently refused to accept any office tendered him by his fellow-citizens. He, however, in his retirement from public life, kept up the practice of his profession, which was always large and lucrative. As a lawyer, he was sagacious and able, and always in his arguments expressed himself with plainness and force. During the thirty years of his active practice of the law at the Kanawha bar, he was universally regarded as its ablest advocate. Indeed, as an orator he had but few equals, and, in the opinion of many competent to decide, he had no superior in Virginia. His voice was rich and resonant; his rhetoric was faultless; his language was full, flowing and forceful; and he was

It was said of Judge Summers, when in his prime, that he could make a jury believe everything he told them. Like all great advocates, he always depended upon his natural gifts as an orator to force his way out of a bad case; and he rarely failed in accomplishing his desires. He was an irresistible power in the court trial, hence his success in the legal profession, and, in fact, in everything he undertook.

Judge Summers was a worthy citizen, a great lawyer, an able jurist, a distinguished statesman, and an humble Christian. He wielded an influence in Western Virginia second to no other man that lived before or after him, and his death, which occurred in September, 1868, was mourned by thousands of his countrymen. He was buried beside his wife and brother at Walnut Grove, on the Great Kanawha river, where his ashes lie in dreamless sleep forever.