The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1864-10-20
The Late Roger B. fancy.


The Late Roger B. fancy.
The Washington correspondent of the Phil
adelphia Press, "Occasional'-Col. Forney-
thus speaks of the late Judge fancy
Roger B. fancy, Chief Justice OF the gu
preme Court of the United States, earned
great and Just renown after ne wae caileu ny
Gen. jackson to the hign place from winch
death has lust removed him. de was accept
ed as the best embodiment OF pure ana con-
scientious justice, lnueeu' NC Decane solnS-
THING sacred to all mems eyes. His simple
habits and his retired life, though doubtless
comnelled by his feeble health, gave him the
rsnnte of a Cato, who lived only to serve his
country. But when Slavery, long the bane of
the Republic, sought to rule it, and demanded
a decision from the Supreme Court, Roger B.
fancy gave 1t. That fatal decree, In great part,
has been the source of all our woes. But for
that James Buchanan would not have consent
ed to spoliate Kansas, to repudiate principle,
and to trample under foot the most solemn of
pledges. He used Judge Taney's decision as
protection for his weak and wicked betrayal.
The Supreme Court, from that time, became
political, 1t not party tribunal, and the awe
and generation that had so long surrounded its
chief were supplanted by suspicion and dis
trust-the two sinister genii that, once awak-
ened against the judiciary, can never be allay-
ed by the most spotless reputation or the pro-
foundest learning. Nobody doubts that Justice
fancy died with his heart beating for the re-
bellion. He scarcely took pains to conceal
his feelings. Some of his decisions In the ear
ly days OF that most murderous revolt were
held to be almost partisan. Hence, however
we may remember and respect his past exam
pie, no true friend of the Government can feel
that his loss is a national loss. will not say
that it is gain-but will say that hope a
friend of Freedom viii fill the vacancy created
by his DEATH 3E lE
The following is from the New York Even
ing Post: 48 rw
When Mr.. fancy became Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court, he was already considers
bly, past the prime of life-he was fiPty-nine
years of age. He had previously been law
yer in good practice and of considerable local
repute; originally Federalist in politics, and
at one time of his life the friend of impartial
liberty.
In defending the Rev. Jacob Gruber from a
charge OF melting slaves to disorder In Mary
| land, In 1878, Mr.. fancy used these memora-
| BILE words, which we quote at length as the
most honorable record of his life: "a hard
necessity indeed compels us to endure the evil
| of slavery for time. 1t was imposed upon US
by another nation while yet we were in a state
Of colonial vassalage. 1t cannot be easily or
suddenly removed. But while 1t continues it
| is blot on our national character, and every
real lover of freedom confidently hopes that it
will be effsctually, though it must be gradual
| ly, wiped away. and earnestly looks for the
means by which this necessary object may be
attained. And until it shall be accomplished,
until the time shall come when we can point
without blush to the language held 10 the
Declaration of Independence, every friend OF
humanity will seek to tighten the CALLING chain
of slavery, and better to the utmost of his pow
er, the wretched condition of the slave"
After briefly sketching the judicial career Of
the departed Chief Justice, and referring in
terms of just condemnation to the elaborate
bred Scott decision-worthy of the Middle
Ages-the Post says:
This decision, which was intended to lend
the sanction of our supreme judicial tribunal
to the great purpose of Matchmaking slavery,
by declaring it-frst, to be recognized by the
| Constitution; second, to be valid in the Terri
tories, and third, to be entitled to a sojourn
and transit in the free States, was at war alike
with history, with Jurisprudence, with moral
principle, with common sense and human feel
ing, and defeated its own ends. 1t SO shocked
the moral convictions of the nation that more
than any thing else, perhaps, it led to that up
rising OF the free sentiment OF the North which
became apparent frst In the Fremont cam
paign, and second In the Lincoln election,
which marked the second grand epoch In our
national history. The fearful war which has
since 1851, desolated the land of the slave-lord
IS IN large part the fruit OF that nurture
whlcn was given oy the supreme Court to the
neresies and decisions OF the ambitious South
ern ohgarcns.
The following are the concluding narapranbs
os,ho poot,o ar,;o,o Tha &C., - -.
" 'Ao : o's :. '.o'o' An s' - "i'neiine
tnougn IL refers 10 one VINO now sleeps his
last Sleep but then truth is always whitening
when it deals with Injustice. falsehood and
wrong.
Even II that decision had not been so preg'
nant with political consequences as 1t was; il
It had been mere reckless and passing word.