The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-01-10

sstion in Washington. Il vas . surprise 10
the Senate; it was doubtless . oonplets sur
prise to the leading republicans among the
Conscript Fathers; it was generAhurprise.
surprise even 70 the nominee himself. Who.
when informed of this new honor conferred
upon him, was packing up his trunks in order
to be of by the first steamer for England. N
rode for Spain. Yet this u . nomination
which amply supplies the high acquire
ments demanded for the Office. II Is .
nomination upon which the Senate may
properly dispense with a reference 10 the
Judiciary Committee, as in the case of Salmon
p Chase and it is q nomination which will
awaken no opposition from any quarter, but
which will challenge the approval Of intelli-
gent men of all parties, and will be acceptable
to all sections of the country.
The Office of Chief Justice, from the organi-
zation of the government under the constitu-
ton of the United States, has been regarded rs
requiring man to fill il, distinguished for his
attainments and comprehensive experience in
the law, for his sound judgment in his legal
opinions and decisions, for his Independence
of parties and party influences, and for broad
and lofty appreciation of his great responsible
ties. That Caleb Gushing in a remarkable
degree possesses these qualifications no man
conversant with his eventful public career
of the eventful period in our history of the
last forty years-will undertake to deny
Within this period he has been many times
member of the Massachusetts Legislature,
Justice in the Supreme Court of the State,
member of Congress, Commissioner to China,
General in the Mexican war, Attorney
General of the United States, counsellor of
the United States before the Geneva Tribunal,
and, we may say, confidential adviser at the
White House upon many matters involving
difficult questions of public law through
several administrations down to the present
time. In all these various positions he
has acquitted himself with credit and in
most of them with marked success He was
but the other day chosen Minister to Spain
and promptly confirmed, because Of his ripe
experience in and familiar knowledge of
the principles, authorities, examples and
bearings of international law, and because, of
all available men, he was esteemed the best
qualified to extricate Mr.. Secretary Fish from
his Spanish complications without resort to
the desperate alternative of cutting the Cor
dian knot \
Such is brief outline of the public career
of Caleb Gushing, reduced from the more ex-
tended sketch which we published . week
his quickness and perseverance, as student
than for his untiring industry in all the public
offices he has filled. He was teacher of
mathematics in 'Old Harvard" before he was
twenty years old; he was a successful
lawyer at twenty-five; he was admitted
by John Quincy Adams, his colleague in Con-
gress thirty years ago, to be one of the most
learned men in the House, and he proved
himself one of its readiest and most powerful
debaters. To Mr.. Gushing belongs the honor
Of the first treaty between the United States
and China; and thirty years later his pamphlet
on the Treaty Of Washington, in which he SO
mercilessly excoriated the English arbitrator,
Lord Chief Justice Cockburn, is by many re-
garded as our greatest success from the
Geneva Tribunal. 1t shows at least that
| although advanced to that period of life when
most men need and seek repose from its cares,
Mr. Gushing, with the advantages of his long
experience, retains much of the vigor and
elasticity Of vigorous man Of fifty summers.
His superior qualifications, attainments and
experience in the law are established and ad-
mitted; his vigorous constitution in the
seventy-fourth year Of his age is conclusive
evidence of careful attention to the laws of
health, such as temperance in all things and
systematic apportionment of the hours of
labor and rest. A man to accomplish the work
which this man has done and to maintain his
strength withal must of necessity be not only
Systematically industrious, but rigid disci-
plinarian in everything This too, is good
possession for the Chief Justice. Next, as to
that rare quality of independence in reference
to political parties and party influences, Mr..
Gushing, as public man, stands almost
alone in his glory. He has been q
wing, q Tyler man, democrat and
fs constitutional conservative; he was in
the confidence Of President Johnson, and he
has become prime favorite with General
Grant. He has passed through all the degrees
of our party creeds, from the American system
of Henry Clay to the new dispensation of the
fifteenth amendment. Having tried all par
ties, in order to prove that which is good, he
appears to have settled in the happy hunting
ground Of "the powers that be, not as q parti-
san, but as public servant Best of all, like
the patriotic Theirs, when made President of
the French Republic, Mr.. Gushing has reached
that time of life when his highest ambition
must be faithful discharge Of his public
duty.
In the fact that his nomination for Chief
Justice has been submitted to the Senate we
| have the needful euidence of his accenfanca Of