Year: 1864

The Character of the late Chief
Justice Taney.


| We announced in the Enquirer of the
18th, the death of the aged and venerable
Chief Justice Taney, of the United States
Supreme Court. This event, from his
remarkable longevity, could not be unex-
pected, but it will create in the mass Of
his countrymeu, who have any respect
| for the Constitution, the greatest regret
and sorrow The Chief Justice was the
Representative of the best and purest age
of the Republic. He was among the
! foremost of class of statesmen, jurists
and patriots, who have now all passed
away. 1t was, indeed, true that. modern
ldegener3cy had not reached him. The
judicial ermine was never worn with more
unsullied purity, or graced by greater Dig


nifty and legal talent The successor of
Chief Justice Marshall, of Virginia. he
brought to his high office the same erudi-
tivn and learning, the same unquesticnen
integrity, that rendered Marshall illustri-
Gus ;sapd for nearly thirty years his dis


cussions have been models of justice and
wisdom. In, his judicial capacity, he has
thrown a food of light upon some of the
most important. controyerted questions
that can arise under cur political system.
Well would it have been for his country
men if they had followed the teachings
and more closely respected this oracle of
the past. -
The future bicgraphcrs Of this eminent
Judge will love to dwell upon that spec


tacle of moral grandeur, his decision in
the case Of Merryman, when he fearlessly
administered the law and expounded its
tenents in the face of Executive power
and military dictation-yes, in the face
Of organized public obloquy and personal
abuse. How touching and eloquent was
his appeal to Mr.. Lincoln to respect the
grert writ of habeds corpus, guaranteed to
every citizen in the Constitution he had
sworn to support, but which had been set
aside by his order in the case of Merryman,
then under review. The Chief Justice,
with all the impressiveness of age and
with all the dignity of the bench, held up
the authority of the law. and enjoined
upon Mr.. Lincoln obedience to it. In
! the mildest and most courteous, but new
ertheless most decided terms he rebpked
him for his faithiessness to it, How
melancholy to think that the coursels of
the venerable jurist were disregarded,
his authority spurned, and that beneath


the feet of the military the crmine of our
highest Judge was trodden under
foot ! From that time the Government
has progressed from bad to worse until
in the Executive has centered, practically,
nearly all Legislative as we'll as Judicial
power. s--s-


Chief Justice Taney was born in 1776,
the year of American Independence, aud
was therefore in his SSth year at the time
of his decease: Despite this age, his
mind was as clear and unclouded as ever
up to the very period of his death. His
adaptation to labor was remarkable, for
he participated in the active business of
the Court as earnestly and as faithfully
as if he had been but forty years Old
He would closely investigate-cascs, which
required the exercise of all human facul-
ties, sight, hearing and memory, at tims
OF life when the mass of men who reach
his age have been in retiraey for twenty
years. He was already old whenGhe was
appointed to tie Bench by President
jackson, in 1886 but he continued to
discharge its duties for nearly third of
a century thereafter; this, too, when he
was apparently a feeble and fragile man.
which the least shock to his system would
destroy. He was over eighty when he
gave his celebrated opinion in the case of
Dred Scott, which created SO great SEN
sation. A gentleman who was present at
the time he read the decision, expressed
to US his astonishment at the physical as
we'll as the mental power of the aged
Judge For over five hours he read that
mastcrly production. in a dark Court
room, without spectacles and by his un;
aided eyesight. Our friend declared that
he was the most extraordinary man he
had ever seen.


+ Judge fancy was eleven years older
than the Federal Constitution. He re-
membered when it was established, and
went to the grave under the impression
that he had seen its end-thaf it had per-
ished in the mad vortex of fanaticai vio-
lence and passion. One of the great acts
of Roger B. Taney's life was his removal |
of the deposits from the United States
Bank, by, order of President Jackson
fused to do it, viz: Mr.. Ingham and Mr..
Duane. Taney was then Attorney Gen
eral, hut at the solicitation of the Presi-
dent, he became Secretary, and removed
the deposits in the face of terrible clam
or from the Bank and its political friends.
All that however, had no effect upon him
when duty was to be discharged.


When Judge Marshall died, in 1886,
General Jackson, considering him the
ablest lawyer to fill his place, advanced
him to that high distinction from which
death has just removed him. He has
died with his harness on, and has left be- /
hind him name that the future histor
ian will place among the greatest that
have adorned jurisprudence either in this /
or elsewhere. He leaves Q void |
in the Supreme Court that may be filled
in name, but not in fact. Peace to his
ashes and respect to his memory.


H%e DoonIa falL ahoy,t q nereoo,o ha;n,