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Hampshire to put young men on the bench, and the practice has been amply justified by the results. They carry no prejudices of long standing to their position, and they are less likely to act in the dual capacity of judge and counsel. With substantial ability, and a sufficient stock of legal knowledge, and above all sound health, there certainly is more to be expected from the studentjudge of thirty than

from the lawyer-judge of fifty; and this has been conspicuously illustrated in several instances in the judi cial history of our State. Judge Gilchrist soon attracted atten tion by his judicial ex cellences, and it was eminently fitting that he should succeed to the vacancy created by the resignation of his distinguished asso ciate, the Chief-Jus tice. In this honorable position he remained until 1855, when his friend, President Pierce, appointed him Chief-Justice of the Court of Claims, then WILLIAM H. recently established at Washington. His learning was wide and exact, and he was a student to the hour of his death. He pos sessed an admirable judicial temperament, quite in accord with his equally admirable judicial understanding and intuition. The dust of antiquity was as rubbish to him, and the ponderous tomes of black letter never cumbered his shelves. In living law he firmly believed, and distinguished it from the accidental forms through which it had manifested itself, for he had the tact to perceive what must be done to adapt judi cial utterances to the progress of the age.

Chief-Justice Gilchrist was a gentleman of the old school, — a finished man; and during his fifteen years on the bench his influence was potent for correct law and correct, deportment. Associated with Judge Gilchrist at differ ent times were Nathaniel G. Upham, Leon ard Wilcox, Andrew S. Woods, Ira A. East man, Samuel D. Bell, and Ira Perley, — the last two becoming Chief-Justices under a subsequent politi cal overturn of the judiciary. Judge Woods went on the bench a few months after Judge Gilchrist, and suc ceeded him as ChiefJustice; but unfortu nately for his ambi tions, the honor was an exceedingly empty one, for in four months a political revolution occurred which swept the Superior Court and all its judges into utter desuetude. Judge Woods was a painstaking servant, devoting himself un tiringly to his duties; H. ALLEN and while not a prodigy of learning, was plen tifully endowed with common-sense, and he knew when to apply it. He was exact and steady, and the lawyers understood what to expect from him. As a trial-justice he was at his best. His temper was calm, and noth ing ruffled it, and yet he permitted no smart conceits and sleight of hand to take the place of sound reason. With him business was seasonably despatched, and litigants were promptly disposed of. His rulings were ready, but remarkably correct, few of them ever being set aside by the full bench. It may be truly said that Judge Woods