 His opinions were written in a vigorous, clear and concise style and he took pride in the fact that in his many opinions no dictum could be found.He had been on the bench only a few months when he wrote the opinion in Nicholas v. Commonwealth, 91 Virginia Report 741, which stamped him not only as an able judge but as possessed of good literary style.The facts of the Nicholas case are so ably presented that they seize the reader's imagination and the circumstantial evidence as detailed is convincing.