He is of a judicial mind, and achieved suc cess at the bar before he went on the bench. He is an eloquent and logical speaker. Has the capacity for hard work, and gives to the causes submitted to him an intelligent mind carefully trained, and his opinions are marked by the most careful research and supported by ample authorities. It is not unusual for him to support his judgment with a line of opinions unanswerable, and on points deemed only secondary by the counsel in the cause, and yet, after reading the opinion of Judge Dent, they readily observe their weight and correct ness. Judge Dent is conscientious and of a deeply religious character. He is often in his opinions and reasoning quite facetious and novel in his style. In the recent case of At kinson v. Plumb, 45 W. Va., a contro versy between two members of the same church, he uses this language : " But JOHN W. while it was the the hand voice of Esau, of itJacob. was His confidence was
ties that fit him to so ably fill the position he now occupies. It has been my pleasure to know him inti mately in college and in the intervening years, and the qualities he displayed in his college days have ripened into a rich fruitage. He is still a young man, and bids fair to take a still more prominent part in the State and nation. Some men have a tendency in their dispo sition to soon wander away from the pa ternal roof tree and the State of their birth and early youth. Not so with Judge English. He was born January 31, 1831, in Jackson, Virginia, now West Virginia, and is the son of Job and Mary Warth English. When only four years of age he, with his parents, removed to Maiden, Kanawha County. He attend ed the common schools of his neigh borhood until he was sixteen years of age, ENGLISH. Jacksonville, Illinois, where when Illinois hehetook was College, the sentfull to
abused under the guise of friendship, which blinded his eyes and he was despoiled by those of his own household; and with the earnest plea for retribution he seeks justice against his despoilers. What we have we freely give unto him, — the suit appears to be a contest over a bag of wind." Judge Dent is of a genial disposition, agree able and gentle in his bearing, positive in his convictions, fearless in their expression, quali-
course and graduated with honors at the age of twenty years. He was not able at once to engage in the practice of the law for which he had prepared himself, but for some time aided his father in his mercantile and salt manufacturing interests. Judge English continued his studies dur ing his spare hours under the direction of his uncle, Judge Warth, Judge Summers and other prominent attorneys, and in 1855 be
