Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-04-15

- AAo
CHIEF JUSTICE CHASE was an orig
inal abolitionist, and, like many
another leader of the abolition party,
became so by shrewdly looking ahead
as to what would turn up. He knew
well that a fanaticism, which there
was no interest to oppose in his sec
ton, would grow by that persistence
which is SO natural to all fanatics, and
would, in Ohio, finally -overmaster
the State. And he saw without diff
Guilty, and for himself quite fortunate-
ly, on (which side his bread was but
tered" Circumstances favored the
turn which thus things took with
him. Being a young law practition-
er in Cincinnati in 1s34-5, he had the
good fortune to get on the right side
of the Presbyterians of that city, and
to be employed in the celebrated law
suit between the Presbyterians Of the
sold School" and the " New SCHOOL,
for the possession of Lane Seminary.
Upwards of one hundred students
were so addicted to abolitionism and
so busy in the underground rail-
road'' projects that they could not at
tend to their studies, and they were
consequently expelled from the in
%stitution by DR.. Lyman Beecher him
self, the father of the present Brook
Ign celebrity. This was the begin
ming of the Oberlin College of all
colors and sexes, and the fire spread
rapidly throughout the State. Chase
took the popular side; he went with
the boys and rose rapidly into notice
on the abolition tide. He became a
champion, and predicted the final
triumph of the abolition party, not so
much because he saw that in the fu-
ture,as because it was what he wished,
now that he was committed to it.
Accordingly he is lucky enough
to be able to make the boast
that he had declared as early
as May, 1916, that the exclusion of
the colored people as a body from the
elective franchise is incompatible with
Democratic principles" This was not
an issue with the Democrats of the
State at that time, and so, taking the
Democratic side in politics, he had
the advantage of other Democrats in
combining with the Democratic the
abolition strength in his favor. So it
turned up in the chapter of accidents;
and having talent enough, combined
with great industry, to warrant it,
this was the secret of his promotion,
and was what placed him in the SEN
ate of the United States over the
shoulders of men at that day his in
tellectual superiOrs. Thus, " circum-
stances make men," and frequently
place men on the top round whose
genius alone would hardly have en-
abled them to reeSh the middle of the
ladder. Now, of course, he is feted
and honored blythe leaders of the col
ored race, and has the opportunity to
step up another round on the shoulders
of Sambo, as appears from the "re-
markable and wonderful letter
which we received by telegraph and
published yesterday morning.
Judge Chase, like Greeley, is a SEN
sible man, and with his former pres
cience, takes ground in good time for
general amnesty, which he is COM
PEELED to see is not only statesmanlike,
but is destined soon to become the
demand of all fair minded
men of the country. He has risen to
eminence wherein he deserves to
be respected, and car afford to
be magnanimous. He suggests
that the Fifteenth Amendment
takes no power from the States as to
the regulation of the franchise, only
providing that the restrictions on all
shall be the same. This accords
with his declaration of 1916, and places
him right on the record as the first to
incorporate in a political platform,the
doctrine of negro equality. He is
at fault in saying "every
good man must rejoice in the progress
the colored citizens of the
United States have made in educa-
ton, in religious culture, and in the
general Improvement in their condi-
This assumes for fact what has
not yet become quite apparent where
we have an opportunity to know.
But as the Chief Justice would have
it so, and is a good way of, and does
not now mingle with the "~citizens"
Of the sable hue, the mistake is easily
accounted for and may be charitably
excused.