timore, now a prominent official of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company.

Wilfred Bateman received his earlier education in the public schools of Talbot county, and the private schools at Easton, which was conducted under the auspices of the late Bishop Lay. Later he attended Bethel Academy, near Warrenton, Va. He read law in the office of Thomas & Bateman at Easton, and was admitted to the Bar on December 5, 1881, and practised his profession in Talbot county until appointed Secretary of State by former Governor John Walter Smith, with the exception of an interval of about two years, when he served as Clerk of the Circuit Court for Talbot county by appointment of the Court, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of the late Thomas Hughlett. At the end of Governor Smith's administration, Mr. Bateman returned to Talbot county, where he continued to reside until his death on July 9, 1907, but on account of failing health did not again resume practice. Mr. Bateman was recognized as a sound lawyer and a most conservative and wise counsellor. As Clerk of the Court and Secretary of State he made an enviable record. For many years and up to the time of his death he was prominent in the affairs of the Democratic party. He loved his State and county with an ardent attachment; was a useful citizen in all the varied affairs of the community; was noted for his hospitality and unostentatious charities, and for his generous and unselfish friendships.

JAMES MCSHERRY.

Born in Frederick, Md., December 30th, 1842.
Died in the same city on October 23d, 1907.

Was entered at St. John's Literary Institute when in the eighth year of his age, went thence to Mount St. Mary's College when in his fourteenth year, and completed the course of study at the last-named institution in 1861.

Began the study of law in 1861, admitted to the Frederick Bar on February 9th, 1864. Practiced before the courts for nearly twenty-three years.

For twenty years a judge. November 1st, 1887, to the date of his death, Chief Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit. During the same period a member of the Court of Appeals, and from January 27th, 1896, Chief Judge of that Court.

First President of the Maryland State Bar Association. Received the degree of LL. D. from St. John's College in 1898, and the same degree from the University of Maryland in 1907.

Judge James McSherry was the first born of the five children of James and Eliza McSherry. His mother was before her marriage Miss Spurrier of Frederick county. Beginning with Patrick McSherry, his great-grandfather, who settled in America before the Revolution, all of the Judge's paternal line have been active and honored in one or the other of the fields of law, literature or public affairs. His father won reputation both as a lawyer and as the author of a History of Maryland. It was in his law office at Frederick that the distinguished jurist began an honorable and successful career at the Bar. From the time of his admission in 1864, his rise was rapid and continuous. His rare native ability, coupled with his great industry, soon brought him to the front, both as counselor and advocate. His experience during his twenty-three years at the Bar was an invaluable preparation for his subsequent service on the Bench, for his professional business was not only large in volume, but extended over the entire field of general practice. He was an able criminal lawyer, his capacity and learning commanded a large clientage in corporation cases, he handled and directed receiverships, in short he became familiar as a lawyer with all the varied phases of litigation and the diversified branches of legal learning, with which he had subsequently to deal as a Judge.

As an advocate he was brilliant, eloquent and convincing. As a counselor he was wise and safe, and possessed another

quality, which does not always accompany the first two-he was ready. This last was true, because, with a wide and accurate knowledge of the law, he combined strong common sense, quickness of apprehension and clearness of perception. When, on November 1st, 1887, Governor Lloyd appointed James McSherry Chief Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Ritchie, he came to the Bench with all the preparation afforded by a quarter of a century of studious application and more than two decades of professional experience. On November 8th of the same year he was elected by the people for the full term, and in 1903 was re-elected for a second term.

The first opinions filed by Judge McSherry in the Court of Appeals 68 Maryland Reports-established his status as a brilliant and able judge, and those which followed, down to the last, in 104 Maryland, but confirmed his rank and added to his fame.

His mental characteristics were great vigor of intellect, rare power of logical analysis, an exact memory and an intense temperament. To his natural powers, which were cultivated to the highest degree by his studious habits, he added a mastery of style which may well be at once the admiration and the despair of those who read after him. His was a versatile style. Some of his more lengthy opinions consisted almost wholly of his own clear, forceful reasoning, stated in language so perspicuous that it is not only easy, but pleasant to follow, adequately supported by citations of authorities. where they seem called for, with scarcely any quotations from cases or text books, and such quotations as do occur, consisting of several lines only, but always appropriate and conclusive of the points they are used to sustain. Such an opinion is that which covers thirty-two pages in the Berry Will Case, 93 Maryland, 560. In contrast with this method is that of the opinion in the case of the Maryland Trust Company vs. Mechanical Bank, 102 Maryland 608, in which, with a discriminating perception of the exact application of the passages reproduced to the points under discussion, text

books, English cases and American Reports are quoted at length.

Judge McSherry's intense temperament doubtless contributed in no small measure to the force of his logic and the vivid clearness of his presentation. When a case had been considered by the Court, a conclusion reached on the law and the points at issue decided, his interest appeared to be if, anything, intensified, and he turned all the energies of his powerful mind and ardent disposition to the task of framing an opinion that would conclusively demonstrate the soundness of the Court's decision.

He knew the law, he knew how to apply it to the cases that came before the Court, and to a rare degree he possessed the power to state it with clearness, directness and force.

Most of us live out our brief allotment of time and pass into oblivion. Not so with any man who fills a place on the Bench of our Appellate Court. What he writes in that capacity will never lack readers, for so long as our system of jurisprudence endures his opinions will of necessity be read by members of the legal profession. And in that never-ending line of readers will be men of intellect, culture and highly-developed analytical and critical powers. The judges pass from time to time on the cases brought before them, For all time the Bar will pass upon the published opinions of the Court, and will give its judgment of the intellect, the learning and the judicial spirit of each member of our chief tribunal.

But Judge McSherry's opinions will be read not alone, because they are official utterances of an appellate court. The more striking of them will be read and re-read by intelligent and cultured lawyers for sheer pleasure—the pleasure to be derived from the perusal of cogent logic and masterly style. Mr. Brantly says "the many hundreds of opinions" delivered by Judge McSherry constitute not only "invaluable additions to our jurisprudence," but "also very interesting reading to those who take pleasure in seeing how a strong and acute mind, fortified with ample knowledge, deals with the difficult

and important questions which arise in the course of the administration of public and private affairs." Another says of him, "His opinions are pleasant to read and stimulating."

Judge McSherry was the type of man who was not uncertain himself about where he stood on important questions, and he was not likely to leave others in uncertainty when there was occasion to express himself. In politics he was a Democrat. During the war between the States he was a Southern sympathizer, and in consequence did not graduate at Mt. St. Mary's, though he had completed the course there. At the time he should have graduated he was in a Federal prison.

In private life he was courteous, genial, warm-hearted and generous, loving human companionship, witty, as well as wise, the life of any circle he entered. Those who were intimate with him held him in a warm regard that amounted to affection.

In 1866 he married Miss Clara McAleer, of Frederick, who survives him. Their six children are James R. McSherry, of Chicago; Mrs. John M. Alvarez, of Brooklyn, and Mrs. T. Frederick Alvey, Miss Caroline S. McSherry, Mrs. William Kurtz Wimsatt and William Clinton McSherry, of Frederick.

At the meeting of the Bar Association held in Annapolis in 1904, Judge McSherry contributed a paper on the Chief Judges of the Court of Appeals of Maryland. It is remembered by many who heard it then, and, now that he has passed on to the company of those of whom he wrote, the Bench and the Bar will read again with quickened interest his estimate of the abilities and services of his illustrious predecessors.

As the subject of this sketch had a prominent part in promoting the formation of this Association, was its first President (1896-7), and has always taken a cordial and active interest in its welfare, his demise cannot but be to us the occasion of recognition and appreciation of his many noble