after revolution to 1805 79

Delegates in 1778 as a means of meeting the diffi-
culty in filling the positions. On October 10,
1801, the Governor appointed William Cooke,
then of Baltimore County, and Richard Potts, of
Frederick County, to fill the vacancies caused by
the deaths of Judges Murray and Wright. Cooke
was one of the ablest lawyers of the state, less
known than he should be, perhaps because of his
having been a loyalist and so not prominent during
the Revolution. He declined the appointment;
and Pinkney writing to him from London on
August 8, 1803, expressed regret at his having done
so. Richard Potts accepted. He too was one of
the leading men of the state, had been a member
of the convention which ratified the constitution of
the United States, and of the Continental Con-
gress, and a Senator of the United States from
1792 to 1796. Littleton Dennis, of Somerset
County, was appointed to the place declined by
William Cooke, and he accepted. A joint com-
mission, not only to Judges Potts and Dennis, but
to all the five judges, including the three appointed
in 1778, was issued under date of November 3,
1801, but it must have become apparent then that
joint commissions, with the order of precedence
to be established by them, were suited only to the
appointment of temporary bodies to be replaced in
their entirety, and not to the appointment of per-
manent bodies, of members to be replaced one by
one, for the device of a joint commission was never
again used in the appointment of judges. Only
Judges Potts and Dennis took oaths of office, on
November 3, 1801.