A purer character than
John Taylor Lomax' whose lamented death we have lately chronicled, never graced
Virginia in her best days.
He was born on the 19th of January, 1781; studied the profession of law, and obtained the first rank in the courts in which he practiced.
In 1812 he joined the army and hold the rank of
Colonel till the close of the war. At the solicitation of
Ex-President Jefferson; he was appointed
Professor of Law at the Virginia University, a post which he filled with signal honor and usefulness.
In 1831, he was appointee,
Judge of the
Fredericksburg Circuit, and a few years thereafter was made
Doctor of Laws by St. John's College at
Annapolis, His legal works, published about this time, received the highest recommendations from the jurists of the old Union.
He was thrice elected to the office of Judge, and for more than twenty-five years wore the judicial ermine with a dignity, ability, and reputation rarely equalled.
An honor almost unexampled was paid to him by the
Virginia State Convention.
That body passed an act to limit the age of a Judge to seventy years, and had sent it to a committee to be engrossed, but as seen as it was made known that this would deprive the
State of the judicial services of
Judge Lomax, the limitation of age was stricken from the bill.
In 1858, he resigned his office and retired to private life.
Never did any one present a more beautiful example of the
Christian Judge and the
Christian gentleman.
The close of his life was as serene and unclouded, except by the political tempests of the times, as its meridian had been brilliant and elevated.
He had been ardently attached to the
Constitution of the United States, but when the sword was drawn by
Lincoln he gave his vote for the withdrawal of the
State from thraldom, and accompanied it with one of the most touching and eloquent addresses at the ballot box that these stirring times have elicited.
He died as he had lived, calm, resigned, with faith in God and in peace and charity with man.
