Minutes of the First Meeting of the Court.

BE IT REMEMBERED, That on Tuesday, the 14th day of July, 1868, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, E. WOOLSEY PECK, THOMAS M. PETERS, and BENJAMIN F. SAFFOLD, Judges of the Supreme Court of Alabama, elected under the Constitution of the State of Alabama, as revised and amended by the Conven. tion assembled at Montgomery on the fifth day of November, A. D. 1867, met together in the Supreme Court room, in the Capitol, and severally took the oath of office required by said Constitution to be taken by civil officers of the State, administered to them, respectively, by the Hon. W. J. HARRALSON, judge of the 5th judicial circuit of Alabama, and then and there entered upon the duties of their said offices.

It is ordered that E. WOOLSEY PECK be, and he is hereby appointed, Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama.

RULES ADOPTED AT THE JANUARY TERM, 1869.

ORDERED, by the Court, that the following be adopted as Rules of this Court, and that the same be numbered as Rule No. 35, Rule No. 36, Rule No. 37, viz:

RULE NO. 35.-It is ordered by the court, that any attorney in good standing, who has been regularly licensed to practice in the courts of this State, except the Supreme Court, and who has been so licensed for a term of two years, or longer, or who is a graduate, and has a diploma

of any respectable law school in any of the States of the United States, may, upon upon application to the court, in term time, or to the clerk in vacation, and exhibiting his authority so to practice, obtain a regular license permitting such applicant to practice in the Supreme Court without further examination, upon taking the necessary oath, and paying to the clerk the customary fees for the same; and the persons so licensed shall be enrolled as attorneys of this court, as if admitted upon examination in open court.

RULE NO. 36.-That the above rule shall apply to attorneys from other States of the Union, having a license to practice in the highest courts of the State from whence they come.

RULE NO. 37.-The oath required of attorneys in Rule 35, may be taken before any officer of this State, authorized to administer oaths, and filed with the clerk of this court.

A true copy from the minutes, page 55.

D. B. BOOTH, Clerk.

ADDRESS

OF

CHIEF-JUSTICE PECK

TO THE

MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

The Chief-Justice, on the first day of the January term, 1869, addressed the members of the Bar as follows:

GENTLEMEN OF THE BAR:-We are about entering upon a new era in the judicial history of the State. In many respects, the old foundations have been broken up, and new ones laid, upon which the judicial edifice is to be erected, by the labors of the Bar and the Bench. It will be the desire of the Bench to make these labors as harmonious and as pleasant as possible.

Our earnest, and, I trust, sincere prayer is, that we may have wisdom "both to perceive and know what things we ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same."

Our labors will be in the same field, in the administration of the common justice of the country, but in different departments of it.

Although our duties are not the same, but in many respects variant, and governed by different rules of action, yet we are all bound, or should be bound, by the same great and unchanging and unchangeable code of morals, one of the precepts of which code, by way of eminence, has obtained the name of the "Golden Rule."

The duties of the Court are so admirably described by Sir Edward Coke, in his Epilogue to the fourth part of his

10

ADDRESS OF CHIEF-JUSTICE.

Institutes, in which he addresses the Judges and Justices of the Realm of England, that I beg leave to read them in his own quaint words. He says: "And you, honorable and reverend Judges and Justices, that do, or shall, sit in the High Tribunals and Courts and Seats of Justice, fear not to do right to all, and to deliver your opinion justly, according to the laws; for fear is nothing but a betraying of the succors that reason should afford. And if you shall sincerely execute justice, be assured of three things: First, though some may malign you, yet God will give you His blessing; secondly, that though thereby you may offend great men and favorites, yet you shall have the favorable kindness of the Almighty and be His favorites; and lastly, that in so doing, against all scandalous complaints and pragmatical devices against you, God will defend you as with a shield."

With such advice and instructions to guide and direct us, if honestly pursued and followed, there need be little fear of falling into many or grave errors.

Mr. Justice Blackstone speaks of our profession as highly honorable; and it has ever been distinguished for the talents, learning, and courteous manners of its members. Among those now in the meridian of professional life, as well as those just entering upon it, how does the heart swell with virtuous emulation at the mention of such names as Pinckney and Dexter, Wirt and Webster, Emmett and Ogden, and Pettigru, and a bright cloud of names, that cannot here be mentioned, if not in every respect equally eminent, at least equally worthy of the admiration' not of the profession only, but of all good and great men.

With such reflections as these to stir up in us a just and noble ambition, let us enter upon our respective duties, with a true and earnest desire, with the blessing of a good Providence, not only to merit and secure the good opinions of our fellow men, but, also, the approval of our own consciences.

Hon. R. W. Walker, of Huntsville, responded on behalf of the members of the bar, in a few happy words, declaring their concurrence in the sentiments expressed by the

ADDRESS OF CHIEF-JUSTICE.

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Chief-Justice, and conveying the assurance of their hearty co-operation with the court in the discharge of their duties. On motion of Hon. Luke Pryor, of Limestone, on behalf of the members of the bar, in attendance upon the court, the address of the Chief-Justice, and the reply of Hon. R. W. Walker, were ordered to be spread upon the minutes of the court, and made a part of the records.