The New York herald., 1921-11-20

horse as the lamented Fatty Bates used
session at Philadelphia, a general
proclamation or recommendation to the
people throughout the Colonies to sus-
pend horse racing and other sports and
prepare for the troublous times that were
close at hand. The Judge said the
sportsmen and their race horses all went
c1 quietly home, the people at that time
paying more implicit Obedience to Con-
gressional recommendation than they do
now to a law, or even an amendment to
the Constitution.
Judge DuvaI's Public Career.
Within a few months after this cpl
sode the youthful turfman OF 23 found
himself in the thick OF the struggle,
first as clerk of the Maryland conven-
ton and then as secretary OF the Council
OF Safety, which steered the ship OF
state through the rapids and the whirl-
pool in the transition from proprietary
to popular government. The archives
OF Maryland show that his was no
mere clerical position but one OF high
responsibility. That he discharged its
duties with general satisfaction is
shown by his election to Congress in
1894 and his appointment by President
Jefferson as Comptroller OF the Treas
ury and then by the Governor of Mary
land as a Judge of the Supreme Court
Of his native State.
President Madison appointed him to
the Supreme Court of the United States
on the death OF Samuel Chase. in 1911.
and he served until 1886. when deafness
caused him TO resign. During this period
many of the most important decisions
in the history of the court were made
in cases involving Interpretation of the
Federal Constitution. and though Mar
shall probably wrote moro of the opin-
| ions than all the rest OF the Judges taken
| together, Gabriel Duval was no me
too" kind OF a member of the court.
That he did not hesitate to take a
| line OF his own" In fox hunting par
lance, was shown In the case of Minna
Queen vs.. Hepburt, reported in Cranch
EOS, which involved the freedom OF a
negro woman and her child held in
slavery in his own State. The decision
hinged on the admlssibility OF hearsay
evidence. While tho majority opinion,
written by Marshall, was unfavorable
to the plaintiff, Judge Duvars dissenting
opinion reads well il It does not ring
sound in law los years after. He said
in part:
"Icarsay evidence is admissible upon
the same principle upon which it is ad-
mitted to prove custom. pedigree or the
boundary of land--because from the an
tiquity of the transaction to which these
subjects may have reference 1t is i'm
possible to produce living testimony.
1T appears to me that the reason for
admitting hearsay evidence upon a
question OF freedom is much stronger
than in cases OF pedigrees or in con-
troversies relative to the boundaries or
land. 1t will be universally admitted
that the right of freedom Is more I'M
portant than the right Of property. and
people of color from their helpless con-
dition under the uncontrolled authority
of master are entitled to all reasona-
Bile protection. A decision that hearsay
evidence in such cases shall not be
admitted cuts up by the roots all claims
of the kind and puts final end to them
unless the claim should arise from a fact
of recent date, and such n case will sell
| dom, perhaps never. occur.
An interesting circumstance In con-
| ncction with this case is that the negro
woman and her child were represented
In court by Francis Scott Key. then a
young lawyer unknown to fame, who the
next year wrote 'The Star Spangled
Banner" after his eventful overnight
captivity in company with the future
|
| the secondhand last-war with Eng
land Another circumstance worth noting
is that when Judge Duval resigned from
the Supreme bench President Jackson
| filled the vacancy by appointing Roger
| Il. Taney. "A Marylander of dtametrically
opposite views. who in 1857 wrote the
abhorrent Dred Scott decision ON the
status of the slaves and slavery, which
breathed the breath OF life into the
unfedged Republican party and fig-
ured conspicuously in making Abraham
Lincoln the next President
Tributes TO Judge Duval.
When Judge Duval died. in the ninety
third year of his age, William Il. Porter
said of him editorially in the Spirit OF
the Times:
FOR more than half century Judge
Duval was connected with the turf. and
few gentlemen in the country we're more
familiar with the old Maryland blood
and that Of the oldcn time. Within a
few years he has done us the honor to
address several communications to this
journal on these subjects
In later issue OF the Spirit Mr..
Tayloe, himself high authority on early
racing. said of Judge Duval:
"He was perhaps the last bright link
that connected us with the early Revolu-
tlonary age. lie had a vivid recollection
OF the famed races won by Selim and
Nancy Bywell at Annapolis several years
anterior to the Revolution. In this re-
spect his recollection was so distinct that
he could furnish memoritcr an account
of the racing OF that memorable period
for some six or eight or moro years :
and with such accuracy as 70 place every
l horse in each heat in the races Of most
note. TO his pen the American TUrf
Rcoister IS indebted for the interesting
descriptions of the races and OF the
horses OF that cherished 'oldeu time lie
could have supplied the history OF the
turf as connected with the National
] Course near the city of Washington -
"a dcsideratum much nocded--from the
formation of the Jockey Club, about the
year 1900, until It's records were lost
Some fifteen years ago. by tho miscon-
duct OF an absconding secretary.
'As tho intimate and associate OF
the cages and heroes OF the Revolution