gave freely to him of his confidence and friendship. After living for many years in the District, he removed to Baltimore, but while he became a leading member of the Maryland bar, he gained his earliest laurels at the bar of the District of Columbia, where he was long and well remembered.

William L. Brent was born in Maryland, from which State he emigrated to Louisiana, and from there was sent to the Congress of the United States, serving in the House of Representatives from 1823 to 1829. At the end of his service in Congress he settled in the city of Washington, and commenced the practice of the law. The records of the the courts and the reports of the cases tried before them show that his practice was extensive and important. At one time his name appeared in almost every case of importance, and it is concluded that he bore himself so as to merit the favor shown him.

It is impossible in the brief space allotted in this work to do justice to the abilities, character, and acquirements of such a man as Philip Richard Fendall. He was born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1794, after the cession of the part of the State in which that city was situated to the General Government for the purposes of the Capital City, and so he can be well considered a native of the District of Columbia. In 1815 he graduated at Princeton, in New Jersey, and in 1820 was admitted to the bar of Alexandria, and a few years later came to the city of Washington to live. Mr. Fendall, from the beginning of his career, was distinguished for that intellectual excellence which comes from faithful mental training and culture. No man was more exact in his knowledge, more careful and reliable in his statement about every subject to which he addressed himself. He first attracted attention by his writings on literary and political topics, and several of his essays were recognized as deserving of great distinction for the beauty of the style in which they were clothed and the depth of thought and power of reason which they displayed.

But though Mr. Fendall, through his long life, always manifested a love for the charms of literary culture, he was seriously devoted to the sterner duties of his profession with his whole mind and soul. Professional distinction came more slowly, but it came all the more truly. He was a painstaking, most careful, laborious, and industrious lawyer, and it was not long before those who knew how to value such qualities sought his counsel and professional assistance. We do not mean to dwell upon the professional career of Mr. Fendall. best evidence of his success as a lawyer is to be found in the fact that he filled the office of United States attorney for the District of

The

Columbia from 1841 to 1845, and again from 1849 to 1853, and that during the period in which he held that office he prosecuted successfully some of the most important cases that ever came before the courts of the United States. It was somewhat remarkable that in all and through all the active scenes of his professional career Mr. Fendall should have preserved his scholarly character as completely as he did. In all of his arguments to the court, in all of his speeches to the jury, this peculiar characteristic was ever a striking feature, and he was at all times remarkable not only for the beauty and completeness of the style of his efforts, but for the charm of his manner as an orator. After a most honorable career, he died in 1868. The city manifested its grief for his loss in a pronounced demonstration, and the courts and the bar paid his memory the fullest honors. He was preeminently devoted to his family, some of whom survive to-day, and it is manifest that his talents, his excellencies, and his virtues have been inherited by those who are now treading in his footsteps.

Richard S. Coxe, who came to the city of Washington from the State of New Jersey, brought with him from that State a reputation for considerable eminence already acquired. He had reported some of the decisions of the courts of that State, and had compiled and published a general digest, which was recognized as authority of the very highest character. Nothing more was wanted than these achievements to show that he was thoroughly equipped for the work of an active practitioner of the profession of his choice. But his studies were not confined to the law; he had devoted himself so assiduously to the study of the literature of our language that he had become the author of a work called "A Dictionary of the English Language, by an American Gentleman," which at the time of its publication, and long afterward, was esteemed authority of the very highest character. Those who remember him, and who associated with him in his best days, cannot fail to recall his wonderful familiarity with the writings of the best of our English classics. But these were merely accomplishments; the reputation of Mr. Coxe was based upon more substantial acquirements. No one excelled him in his excellence as a lawyer in any way, and the best proof of this is to be found in the fact that it was said of him, at one time, that he was employed in more cases upon the docket of the Supreme Court of the United States than any other lawyer in the United States. It was in such a forum as the Supreme Court that his talents were best exhibited and appreciated. The very facility which his early training had given him in the use of the English language, served him a great purpose in the court, and his

arguments gained new strength from the fact that they were always clothed in such pure and beautiful English. Through a long life Mr. Coxe was always distinguished as a lawyer, and died in Washington greatly esteemed and respected.

For nearly fifty years Joseph H. Bradley was engaged in the active practice of law in the courts of the District of Columbia, and was most of that time admittedly one of the leading members of the bar. It would have been difficult at any time during his attention to active practice to have found anywhere in the country a better trial lawyer than Mr. Bradley. What distinguished Mr. Bradley in his practice was his entire devotion to the interest of the client whose cause he undertook. Everything else was forgotten by him for the time being, and every energy, talent, and capacity he possessed were devoted to the matter in hand. He worked and toiled early and late for his client; he left nothing undone that could be done in his cause; no expedient was left untried. Indeed, so earnest was he always that, if need be, he was ready to make his client's case his own personal quarrel, and it took very little to make him fight for him, if need be.

Fortunately, he was a man of wonderful physical capacity, else the constant strain upon him of an immense practice, so full of toil and care as he made it, would have insured an early death. It was very fortunate, too, that Mr. Bradley was blessed with a fund of good spirits, a buoyant disposition, and a self-reliance that always stood him in good stead through the changes of a life full of activity and neverending variety. He never held a public office, but was more than once urged by the members of the bar and his fellow-citizens for a position upon the bench, and at one time he probably would have accepted it, but he was not selected by the power having the appointment, and he died as he had lived, in private station. During his whole life he was an idol of the public, and his death was most seriously mourned.

James Mandeville Carlisle was the contemporary of Mr. Bradley, and the two not only stood for many years side by side in their position at the bar, but for many years their names appeared upon one side or the other of every case of importance that came before the courts of the District. Born in Alexandria while it was a part of the District of Columbia, he came to the city of Washington when a mere boy and really had no other home. Mr. Carlisle may be said to have been a self-made man, and all that he was and all that he became were the results of his own application and determination. He made himself an excellent classical scholar, and was always noted