116 court of appeals of maryland

throughout the first half of the century, except
for an addition of $300. to that of the chief judge
in 1834,²¹ and with time the position came to be
regarded more and more as a low-salaried one,
and one which demanded more and more sacrifice
of a lawyer starting in it.

The judges of that era made an able court, and,
in the estimation of the bar, gave it a high position
in the country. This is evidenced by a frequency
of citation of their decisions in earlier text books
and decisions of other courts, after 1847, when the
first digest of Maryland decisions was published,²²
and by statements of lawyers from other states
which have been transmitted to us. But an even
better measure of the value of these judges lies in
the tradition of high character and purpose on
the bench and general respect for the office which
have lasted to this day, and have done much to
keep up the quality of judges and the satisfaction
of the people with the justice administered by
them, even through times when judges elsewhere
in the country have not had such entire approval.
The judges of whom we now speak were not only
lawyers of ability; they were leading men of their
time, of a character that comported with the judi-
cial function, and highly respected for it. If it
was not they who founded the tradition, and
gained this respect for the office, at least they
confirmed and strengthened it, and so passed it on.
A European writer on life in America in 1829²³
said:

21. Act 1834, ch. 220.

22. William Henry Norris, George William Brown, and Frederick
W. Brune, Jr., Digest of Maryland Decisions, Baltimore, 1847.

23. Capt. Basil Hall, Travels in North America in the years 1827
and 1828. Edinburgh, 1829, II, 429.