sion to the working of that provision of the constitution of 1829 which authorized the General Assembly, by a concurrent vote of two thirds of both houses, to remove a judge. It however was never acted on during the existence of that constitution. By the constitution of 1851 the judges are elected by the people; the judges of the Supreme court of appeals for twelve years, and the judges of the Circuit courts for eight years: And they are all re-eligible after their term of service is expired. Although there have been complaints of the delay of justice in Virginia, delays arising rather from the defects in our judicial system than from any defect in the persons who filled the office, the public mind has ever reposed with an unquestioning confidence in the purity of its administra tion. And although an unfortunate suitor might well believe that human judgment is fallible, none ever questioned the integrity of the decision. How much of this judicial integrity and public confidence was due to the system, and how much was due to the men who administered the justice of the country, or what influence the system exerted upon the men, it were vain now to enquire. Certainly the selections for these offices were generally most fortunate, if not most sagacious and patriotic: And every Virginian will recall, with an honest and honourable State pride, the many names enrolled in the list of our judicial worthies, who in all respects, as men, as citizens, as gentlemen, and as judges, were the ornament and the pride of the country. What will be the working of the present system, time, the wisest of all things, must determine. Certainly no apprehension can be felt of any immediate failure of those qualities which have honoured the bench of justice, and secured to it the public confidence. Integrity in a judge, and purity in the administration of justice, is so thoroughly a part of the moral sense of the public and the individual man, that years must pass, under the influence of the worst system that could be devised, before a judge in Virginia can realize that it is not a necessity of his position that his judicial conduct shall be above suspicion; and it will probably require a still longer period for the public mind to be reconciled to entertain a doubt on that subject. If, indeed, the people shall realize the truth that every power is a trust, the abuse of which, from the necessity of its ne ure, carries with it its own punishment, and the proper discharge of which elevates whilst it prospers, then may we well anticipate the happiest results from this experiment. And although the wisdom of experience may excite fears, we are to remember that we are not any other people; and all our past history teaches that we are not to be measured by their capacities. What we can do we must learn from ourselves; and the duty and the business of every man is, not to excite doubts of success, or apprehensions of failure, in a matter upon which the people have determined, but to unite with all his heart in the effort to accomplish a successful result. Believing that our past history affords many evidences of the guardian providence of God over us as a people, we go forward with an abiding confidence in the same kind care in the future. JUDGES OF THE COURT OF APPEALS DURING THE TIME OF THESE REPORTS. WILLIAM H. CABELL, PRESIDENT. JOHN J. ALLEN. BRISCOE G. BALDWIN. WILLIAM DANIEL. RICHARD C. L. MONCURE. ATTORNEY GENERALS. SIDNEY S. BAXTER. WILLIS P. BOCOCK. * * Elected under the constitution of 1851, and went into office on the 22d day of January, 1852. |