Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 06.pdf/306

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The Court of Appeals of Maryland, them in their determination. Gen. Grant, the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army, was sent to Baltimore by President Johnson, with instructions to pre serve the peace of the city, and to resist by armed force the violation of the law. Gov. Swann appointed two police commissioners in place of those who had been removed, whereupon the old commissioners ordered

the new appointees to be arrested and lodged in jail. This high-handed pro ceeding caused the most intense excite ment in the city. The counsel of the new police commis sioners waited upon Judge Bartol, w h o was at his home in Baltimore, and pro cured a writ of Ha beas Corpus, which was made returnable at nine o'clock on Monday morning, November 5th, 1866, before the judge of the Superior Court. The writ was duly served upon the war RICHARD den of the jail, who declined to obey, until after the election on the 8th of No vember, which was a triumph of the Con servative over the Radical element. Judge Bartol decided that the Governor of Mary land, under the Constitution, had the right and authority to remove the police com missioners, and appoint others during the recess of the Legislature. The new com missioners were thereupon discharged from custody, and took possession of the office, and entered upon the discharge of their duties. Thus was the majesty of the law upheld, and mob law averted.

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A recent writer says with equal truth and beauty, that Chief Justice Bartol "combined with all the qualifications of a profound lawyer and jurist and a great judge, a heart as gentle as any woman's, a disposition so kind, a manner so dignified, courteous and deferential, a mind so fully stored with the treasures gathered in years of study and wide range of reading, that as a companion , he was delightful, and he was no less beloved as a man than he was hon ored as a judge." That this is a tribute as high as it is just, all who knew Chief J ust ice Bartol will bear witness. When Judge Bar tol resigned the Chief Justiceship in 1883, the Governor of Ma ryland appointed Richard H. Alvey, one of the associate justices of the Court of Appeals, his suc cessor. Judge Alvey was born in Saint Mary's County, Md., March 6, 1826. Af II. ALVEY, ter finishing his ed ucation, he com menced the study of the law, and while thus engaged he served as deputy clerk of the county court. Soon after passing the Bar, he removed to Hagcrstown, where he formed a partnership, first with John Thom son Mason, and afterwards with William T. Hamilton, who was subsequently Governor of Maryland. The year after he removed to Hagerstown, he was nominated to the State Senate against his wishes and personal inclination. His friends advised him to ac cept the nomination, because in canvassing the county he would become acquainted