Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Aguirre, José María

AGUIRRE, José María (ah-geer'-rhe), Mexican lawyer, b. in the city of Mexico in 1778; d. in 1852. He was a priest, but the authorities gave him permission to practise law, which he had studied thoroughly. His extraordinary ability as a lawyer was such that, in fifty-two years of continuous practice at the bar, he only lost half a dozen cases. He distinguished himself specially in defending persons accused by the Inquisition.