after revolution to 1805 89

Trade and Plantations in 1773, made up by James
Brooks, who included among his offices that of
Clerk of the Court of Appeals, the Provincial
Court is described as "the Supreme Court of Law
called the Provincial Court, which is held twice
every year at Annapolis".⁴⁴ Four judges who sat
on the General Court were appointed to the Su-
preme Court of the United States: Robert Hanson
Harrison,⁴⁵ Thomas Johnson, Samuel Chase and
Gabriel Duvall; but no judge of the Court of Ap-
peals was ever appointed to that court. The Gen-
eral Court, like the Provincial Court, is mentioned
frequently in contemporary writings, and always
with an evident sense of importance in the insti-
tution ; but there is very little mention of the Court
of Appeals at all. Taney, for instance, in the auto-
biographical section which he wrote for Tyler's
Memoirs⁴⁶ speaks only of the General Court as
that which drew the lawyers and students to An-
napolis in 1796, and he describes the sittings of the
General Court in some detail, while he makes no
mention of the Court of Appeals of the time.

44. Md. Hist. Mag. II, 362.

45. Judge Harrison had been General Washington's military private
secretary from 1775 to 1781, and was one of the first selected for
the new Supreme Court in 1789. General Washington wrote to
him urging him to accept, to satisfy those anxious for the respect
of the Supreme Court, and Hamilton wrote, "If it be possible, my
dear Harrison, give yourself up to us. We want men like you.
They are rare at all times." But Judge Harrison finally declined
and continued at the head of the General Court until his death,
April 2, 1790. Warren, The Supreme Court in United States
History, I, 42. It is sometimes stated that he declined the appoint-
ment to the Supreme Court because of a preference for the office
of Chancellor of the state to which he was appointed at about the
same time, but that is a mistake; Judge Harrison's letter declin-
ing the appointment as Chancellor is in existence, and he never
resigned his seat on the General Court. Thomas Johnson, his
successor on the General Court, was not appointed until after
Judge Harrison's death.

46. Tyler, Memoir of Roger B. Taney, 58.