ity, both in England and in this country, is in accordance with the law as declared by the courts of Missouri in the case before us" (19 How. 468).
About 1840 Judge Scott removed to a farm some six miles west of Jefferson City. There he lived with his family until his death in 1862, and there his ashes are mingled with the dust of earth. He was a large man physically, somewhat awk ward in his carriage, and entirely wrapped up in his love for law
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THOMAS A. SHERWOOD
and literature. Many incidents are related illustrative of his stern sense of honesty, and of his abhorrence of hypertechnical efforts to escape just obligations. In a case which came before the Supreme Court, a county was resisting the payment of an order, drawn on its treasury, upon the ground that it contained a cut or representation of Ceres, Pomona, the Blind Goddess, or some similar figure, at one end, but entirely distinct from its body and sub stance, in violation of a statute requiring such instruments to be " printed in Roman letters without design or ornamentation," — a provision doubt less intended to prevent county warrants from being issued in similitude to bank-bills. After Judge Scott had listened to the effort to escape the payment of an instrument prepared and issued by the defendant county it self, and by it delivered to the plaintiff in payment of an honest demand, until he understood the situation, he picked up a con venient pair of scissors and quickly cut off the offensive illustration, and handed the warrant, " in plain print and without ornamentation," which remained, to the counsel for the county, with the remark that probably it would now be paid without any qualms of conscience on the part of the county officers. The recovery against the county was subsequently affirmed, on the ground that the statute in question was merely directory. (Young v. Camden County, 19 Mo. 309.)
Priestly H. McBride.
Born, reared, and educated near Harrodsburg, Kentucky, Judge McBride came to Missouri at an early age. He soon became prominent in politics as an unbending Democrat. He was appointed Secretary of State in 1829, but resigned in 1830 to become Judge of the Circuit Court, and remained so until his appointment to the Supreme Bench in 1845. His office was vacated by the Amendment of 1848, and he retired to private life and the management of a large farm near Paris, in Monroe County. While the conclusions announced in his opinions were generally well considered, he greatly impaired their value in seldom stating the line of reasoning by which they were supported.
James H. Birch.
This gentleman is better remembered for his public services than for those he rendered during his term as Judge of the Supreme Court. He was born in Montgomery County, Virginia, on March 27, 1804. His father removed to Kentucky while the son was still a boy. First taking up the study of medi-
