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if he desired to continue. This matter was once criticised by a Massachusetts judge in a conversation with the late Judge Poland; the latter said he could see no objection to annual elections, "for" said he, "we have the advantage of you in Massachusetts; we are sure of one year anyway, while you are in for good behavior only." Objection is often made that the Legisla ture frequently elects one of its own mem bers to a judicial position; there is no dis qualification of a member in this respect, and it is certainly true that our best judges have been obtained frequently in that manner; e. g., Chipman, Paine, Prentiss, Phelps, Pierpoint, Peck, Wheeler, etc. Of the seventy-six judges, forty-three were members of the legislative body at the time of their election; of the thirtythree remaining judges, seven were ap pointed, in the first instance, by the execu tive, in case of vacancy. Of the seventeen elected prior to 1800, Lot Hall was the only one who was not a member of the Legislature at the time of his election. Four of the present Bench were members when elected, and the other three were, in the first instance, appointed by the execu tive. Since the change in 1857, of those who had not served prior to that time as judges, Barrett, Homer E. Royce and Timothy P. Redfield are the only ones that have been selected from outsiders; the others have either been elected from among the mem bers, or appointed by the Governor. It must be confessed, however, that if a member is of an " electioneering disposi tion," he has a great advantage over an outsider. REPORTS. In 1793 Nathaniel Chipman issued what is undoubtedly the smallest volume of law reports ever printed in America. There are but two volumes older, Kirbv of Con
necticut, which I think deserves to be ranked as the first, and Hopkinson's Judg ments in Admiralty, both printed in 1789. There are twenty-five cases reported in the Chipman volume, principally jury trials. Mr. Chipman was Chief Judge, and his as sistants at first were Noah Smith and Samuel Knight, and later, Mr. Knight and Elijah Paine. The reports covered the two years in which Mr. Chipman was Chief, from October, 1789, until October 1791. The little volume must have been valu able at the time of its publication, for al though the cases were reports of trials at nisi prins, the judges were recognized among the ablest of the day, and the charges of the court were clear and able statements of the law. In Rhodes v. Risley, the defendant's counsel cited a case from Kirby's reports, then lately issued, and the Court said : "Kirby's reports are not to be cited as authority here, nor are the determinations of courts in other states, but you may cite their reasons." Included in the volume are dissertations on the statute adopting the common law of England, the statute of conveyances, and of offsets, and on the negotiability of notes, with an appendix containing the rules of the Supreme Court and forms of special plead ings. Royall Tyler, who served as judge from 1 80 1 till 181 3, published two volumes of reports, principally of jury trials during the years 1800 to 1803 inclusive. It is said that Tyler's reports are not considered good authority even in his own State, but this is not a just criticism; the cases were tried by jury and contained the substance of the law as stated to the jury, and while the opinions are not necessarily as complete and thorough as in well considered cases of a later date, they contain much that is valuable and at the time must have been a great aid to the profession and the courts
