of whose names are even now unknown, or, if ever known, forgotten by some of us-of the Prestons, of Taliaferro, of Summers, of William Green, of John Baldwin, and of other worthies of the Bench and Bar of the State.

So cheerful was he that even the announcement to his friends at the whist table that the doctor had told him that afternoon that he had a mortal disease, from which he might die at any time, depressed him less than it did those about him. Unostentatious he was, maintaining that simplicity of life which had ever characterized him. Calling himself "a countryman in town," he was to me and to many others one of the most attractive of men. It was not with him morosa aetas. Age seemed rather to have softened him than to have hardened him. His friends became more and more essential to his happiness. His nephews and niece, who were his nearest kin and who were most attentive to him, were ever the objects of his thought and regard.

I heard him argue the last case which perhaps he ever argued in the Court of Appeals-the case of Rosenbaum v. Seddon, reported in the 94th Virginia. So feeble was he that he sat at the Bar as he spoke, and yet I remember now how he warmed up as he proceeded. Although unsuccessful, his argument made an impression upon all who heard him.

He had come of a sturdy Presbyterian stock, and before his death he united himself with the Church of his fathers. In this faith he died, having left to his friends the recollection of many kindnesses bestowed, to our profession many able and instructive opinions, and to this Association a constant and abiding friendship and esteem.

ROSEWELL PAGE.

R. TAYLOR SCOTT.*

I have been requested to present the memorial and resolutions of your committee upon the life and character of the Hon. R. Taylor Scott, whose lamented death deprived this Association of one of its most honored members, this Commonwealth of one of her most distinguished and patriotic citizens, and his friends of one who was ever wise, faithful, and true in all his relations to and dealings with them. For myself I cannot recall the time when the ties that bound us together were first formed. In the very dawn of my memory he was my friend, and so remained amid all the vicissitudes of life, without "variableness or shadow of turning," until he was called to enjoy, I trust, in a higher state of existence, the reward of a life devoted to the faithful discharge of every duty. I shall have no occasion to exaggerate his virtues; I need not, indeed, indulge in those terms of eulogy which custom sanctions when we are speaking of the dead. I have but to tell you the story of his life to portray to you the man as he walked among us and as I knew him to be so brave in adversity, so modest in prosperity, so true to every trust, so just and upright in all his dealings, whose life was governed by principle, and who walked with conscience as his guide.

Had I the art to tell you to-day the simple truth you would know that it might be well said of him, "This earth that bears thee dead, bears not alive" a truer gentleman.

On behalf of your committee I have the honor of presenting the following memorial and resolution:

Robert Taylor Scott was the son of Robert Eden Scott, whose

* This memorial, which was prepared by Judge James Keith, President of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, and read before the Bar Association of the city of Richmond October 16, 1897, is here reproduced by permission.

reputation as a statesman and a lawyer is a part of the history of this Commonwealth, and who met his death in 1862 in the chivalric endeavor to protect the defenceless women and children of Fauquier from the depredations of deserters and marauders, who infested that section. His grandfather was Judge John Scott, who has had few equals and no superiors upon the Bench of this State. His mother was Elizabeth Taylor, daughter of Robert I. Taylor, of Alexandria, of whom Chief-Justice Marshall once said that his arguments were models of excellence; "he never said one word too much or a word too little." His mother died when he was only a few days old, but this can scarcely be reckoned in his case as a misfortune, for he was nurtured and reared in the family of his father's mother, a woman worthy to have been a Roman matron in Rome's palmiest days. He was educated in the public schools of Warrenton and Alexandria, and for a time at a private school in his father's house, and in 1851 he entered at the University of Virginia, where he remained for four sessions. Having thus acquired an excellent classical and professional education he in 1856 commenced the practice of law in Warrenton. He succeeded from the first, and in 1858 he married Miss Frances Carter, eldest daughter of Richard H. Carter, of Fauquier. In 1861, upon the breaking out of the war, he organized a company of infantry, of which he was the captain, and which was mustered into service with the Eighth Virginia Regiment under Eppa Hunton as its colonel, and served with it until he was put upon the staff of his kinsman, General George E. Pickett, with the rank of major, where he remained until 1865. The war ended, he returned to Warrenton and at once entered upon a lucrative practice. In 1867 he was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and in 1881 was chosen to represent the counties of Loudoun and Fauquier in the General Assembly. In 1889 he was nominated for the position of Attorney-General, was renominated in 1893, and was on both occasions elected by great majorities. He was a candidate for a third nomination under circumstances which