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No. 3] originated I may be wrong in my view of the subject; the order may be sanctioned by former precedents ; but my predecessors in office have left nothing for my guidance

He was no less explicit about his duty when, sought by the secretary of the navy a few months later for aid, he declared: "As my official duty is confined to the giving my opinion on questions of law, I consider myself as having nothing to do with the settlement of controverted questions of fact

A month after Wirt's death, on March 18, 1834, his friend, Samuel L. Southard—for some years his colleague in the cabinet—gave a public address in the hall of the House of Representatives at Washington on William Wirt's career. Speaking of Wirt's opinions as attorney-general, Southard said:

"They all relate to matters of importance in the construction of the laws They will prevent much uncertainty in that office hereafter; afford one of the best collections of materials for writing the legal and constitutional history of our country; and remain a proud monument to his industry, learning and talents"

It was seven years after Wirt's death that the first volume of the Official Opinions of the Attorneys-General, authorized by Congress, was issued. Similar collections have been compiled and printed at intervals ever since, and they constitute today a well-known and useful series. They amount to official justifications of the conduct of our Presidents. In the first volume Wirt's opinions occupied over five-hundred pages in a total of 1471. Not one of his predecessors was represented by