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The Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia. ject, dedicated to Judge Hinton. Judge Hinton is an unostentatious and kindly natured man. He is a great admirer of the common law, and is as familiar with the English as he is with the American cases. Judge Robert A. Richardson is a native of the county of Smyth, and is the only member of the court from Southwestern Vir ginia. He is a manly judge, very much

liked by the bar. The last five named judges who have been briefly sketched — to wit, Lunsford L. Lewis, Benjamin W. Lacy, Thomas T. Fauntleroy, Drury A. Hinton, and Robert A. Rich ardson — constitute the present Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia. They were all elected in 1882 for terms of twelve years, and these terms will expire Jan. i, 1895. Their decisions com mence in 77 Va., except Judge Lewis's. He was appointed Aug. 28, 1882, and some of his opinions can be found in 76 Va. ROBERT A. Up to the date of this publication Vir ginia has had forty-eight judges of its court of last resort regularly elected in the mode prescribed by law. Their lives and the places of their nativity are all mentioned in the preceding pages of this sketch. It appears that but three of them were born outside of the present limits of Virginia. This is not only singular, but it shows a very interesting effect of the basis of represen tation in the State Legislature allowed the white inhabitants of the Co.mmonwealth from June 29, 1776, the date of the adoption of the first Constitution, until 1860, nearly one hun-

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dred years. The effect of the extension of the right of suffrage to its whole white popu lation was never felt inside of the Common wealth, because the extension was made and the principle of manhood suffrage was recog nized only under the pressure of an impend ing and " irrepressible conflict." "The White Basis Question" had nearly torn the State asunder in the famous Con• stitutional Convention of 1829-30. But that convention is famous more for great names than for great leader ship. Madison, the father of the Federal • Constitution, and Monroe, and Marshall, the great Chief-Justice of the United States; were all there. But the President's voice on Friday, Jan. 15, 1830, declaring the convention adjourned, had scarcely died away before grievous signs of discontent began to show themselves. The chief cause of the failure of that Consti tution was that repre sentation was not RICHARDSON. based upon the free white population of the State — "the only true basis," as was declared on the floor of the convention. The reason this was not made the basis of representa tion was because of slavery. Under the first Constitution slaveholders were given a representation for their slaves on a principle similar to the celebrated " Federal number." A great writer speaking of " the three-fifths compromise," and how it came about in the Constitution of the United States, says : "The strife broke forth over the question of representation and of direct taxation. Wilson of