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devoted to each case, even though it cause delay in the decision of other cases. Hasty and ill-considered decisions are unprofitable to the public, unreliable as precedents and authority for the legal profession, or the citi zen, and discreditable to the court that makes them." From these words we may gather something of his ideas of the duty of a judge. Judge Haymond was a man of medium height, heavy build, of a round contour. A man of agreeable and graceful manners and of even temper. In his later years he was not actively engaged in practice except in the Supreme Court. Judge Hoffman was born in Weston, Lewis County, Virginia, June 25, 182 1. He was ed ucated in the common and select schools of the State, and about 1841 began the study of law at Clarksburg, Virginia, with his uncle, Judge G. D. Camelen, a prominent lawyer of the State. He was a young man of good habits and of a modest, unassuming disposition, and was a careful methodical student. From the out set of his career he seemed to be imbued with the idea of making a success in his profes sion, and at the same time that no act of his should cast a stigma upon his honor as a man. He lived a life of labor and of self-denial in his early professional life; he devoted him self to a careful study of the land laws of Virginia and invested largely in the timber lands of the State, which he was able to pur chase at that time at a very low price. There have been few lawyers in Virginia who have surpassed him in his legal knowledge on all questions affecting land titles. He was agreeable and attractive in his manner, and became quite popular with the people. He was a pronounced Whig in his politics but did not take an active part in the political campaigns. In 1858 or 1859 he was elected on the Whig ticket a mem ber of the Virginia Legislature, and although the county was largely Democratic, by his popularity he overcame this majority. He was not ambitious politically and did not oc

cupy any other official position until in 1872 he was elected a member of the Supreme Court of West Virginia. On account of sickness he was obliged to be frequently ab sent from attendance on the sessions of the court, but his opinions were marked by thoughtful care and an accurate knowledge of the law. On account of sickness he resigned his position on the, bench in 1876, and retired to his home in Clarksburg, where he resumed the practice of the law and the care of his property, and died November 18, 1877. He was in the South during the War, and in his later years was a member of the Demo cratic party. His devotion to his profession and his success therein is a worthy example to the young men of the present clay, and he in his life well exemplified the adage, " There is no excellence without great labor." The judge was a very large man, and about the only amusement in which he engaged was a game of euchre or whist now and then with his friends that he might invite to his rooms at his hotel. The judge was a bachelor all his life, and boarded at one of the hotels in Clark slnirg. One evening, as one of his friends tells the story, he, together with Elisha W. McComaa and A. A. Lewis, were in vited to the judge's room for a friendly game of cards shortly after the close of the Mexi can War. This friend and the judge were partners and beat McComas and Lewis three times in succession, and each time taylored them. The victors, of course, were elated and bragged of their success. Thereafter the tables were turned, and the Judge and his partner were beaten every game although they were never taylored, but their rejoicing over their later victory became very exces sive and the judge's friend very much quieted the excessive enthusiasm by remarking that "We prefer Bragg to a Taylor." This ref erence is to Taylor and Bragg of the Mexi can War. After hearing this story I at once consulted the dictionary to ascertain the meaning of the word taylor, but failing, I