PETIGRU’S GRAVE, _in St. Michael’s Yard_: When Woodrow Wilson was attending the peace conference at Paris, a message came to Charleston that the president wished the inscription from the grave of James Louis Petigru in St. Michael’s Churchyard. It was furnished at once by Joseph M. Poulnot, then postmaster at Charleston. Mr. Petigru was an eminent South Carolinian. Notwithstanding that he opposed Nullification and Secession he held the high opinion of the community, and commanded its respect. Mr. Petigru, through his mother, was a grandson of the French Protestant Pastor Jean Louis Gibert, who led French settlers to the Abbeville section in the late 1760’s. The inscription on his tomb which is widely quoted says in part: Future Times will hardly know How great a Life This simple stone commemorates; The tradition of his Eloquence, His Wisdom, and his Wit may fade: But he lived for Ends more durable than Fame. His learning illuminated the principles of Law: His Eloquence was the Protection of the Poor and Wronged. In the Admiration of his Peers: In the Respect of his People: In the Affection of his Family, His was the highest Place: The just Mead of his Kindness and Forbearance, His Dignity and his Simplicity, His brilliant Genius and his unwearied Industry. Unawed by Opinion, Unseduced by Flattery: Undismayed by Disaster, He confronted Life with antique Courage: And Death with Christian Hope: In the great Civil War He withstood his People for his Country: But his People did Homage to the Man Who held his Conscience higher than their Praise: And his Country Heaped her Honours upon the Grave of the Patriot, To whom, living, His own righteous self-Respect sufficed Alike for Motive and Reward. Mr. Petigru’s funeral took place March 10, 1863. To a Unionist who went with his people into Secession, highest honors were paid even while the forces of the United States were battering away at Charleston!