88 JUDGES AND LAAV COURTS. [CHAP. XXV. 



whether it was true, and I asked if any one of the 

 party could name a tradesman in their town who 

 had not failed once in the last twenty years. They 

 were only able to mention two. 



I was surprised at the number of lawyers at 

 Tuscaloosa who enjoyed the title of Judge, and 

 equally amused when the cause was explained to me. 

 False notions of economy have from time to time 

 induced the democracy to lower the salaries of the 

 judges, especially in the inferior courts. The con 

 sequence has been, that as the State can no longer 

 command the services of the best lawyers, the bench 

 has grown weaker than the bar, and the authority of 

 judicial decisions has been impaired. Hence the in 

 creased number of appeals to the Supreme Court of 

 the State now sitting at Tuscaloosa. Yet, in spite 

 of this augmentation of business, the income of the 

 judges in this court also has been lowered from 3000 

 to 2500 dollars ; although lawyers in good practice 

 in Mobile have been known to make 10,000 or 

 14,000 dollars a year. It is by no means uncommon, 

 therefore, for one who has a large family, to give up 

 the bench and return to the bar ; but, in that case, 

 the title of Judge is still given to him by courtesy, 

 and is much prized, especially by northern men, 

 who are willing to make a sacrifice for this honour 

 by serving a few years on the bench and then re 

 tiring from it. 



I have before alluded to the deep ravines recently 

 cut through incoherent strata in Georgia, after the 

 natural wood has been felled.* One of these modern 



* Ante, p. 25. 



