PREFACE. A BOUT two years before the death of Chief-Justice Taney,* in a conversation with him on the Lives of the Chief Justices of England, by Lord Campbell, he expressed a wish that I would write his life. It was accordingly agreed between us that I would do so; though I was fully aware of the difficulty and the delicacy of the undertaking. And how, almost entirely, I have had to rely upon my own resources for the materials of the life, will appear by the following letters from Mr. Campbell, the son-in-law of the Chief Justice, and a distinguished member of the Baltimore Bar. MY DEAR SIR: BALTIMORE, November 4, 1864. I this morning received your favor of the 3d. It gives me and the family great satisfaction to learn that you intend writing the Chief Justice's life, and have been for some time making collections with that view. I shall be very happy to contribute any information to you which I possess. I do not know whether you have ever seen Van Santvoord's Lives of the American Chief Justices. The volume was published by Scribner, of New York, in 1854. Many of the facts in it, and particularly those relating to his English ancestors, were communicated to the author by me, ex relatione of the Chief Justice. Van Santvoord says that the name Taney is of Welsh extraction, but I think that a mistake. There is a church known as Taney in Ireland, and I think in the county Dublin; and the name appears in the Rolls of Letters Patent and Closed in the years 1203 and 1221, published by the English Record Commission. I have a copy of a pedigree of the Brookes beginning in 1602 and ending in 1717. It records the aspect of the Planets at the time of the births of several of the children. If you think it would be worth while, I will send you a copy. I will also send Van Santvoord's book, if you have not got it. Great men have often simple tastes, and the Chief Justice was no exception. He was passionately fond of flowers, and always thought well of one who liked them. Yours, very truly, SAMUEL TYLER, ESQ., Frederick City, Md. J. MASON CAMPBELL. Taney is pronounced Tawny. MY DEAR SIR: BALTIMORE, November 29, 1864. I received your letter of the 26th, and to-day send you the Lives of the Chief Justices. The Chief Justice kept no copies of the letters he wrote, and, with very few exceptions, destroyed all he received. I have not yet examined his private papers, of which he left very few, but have no idea that any which he did leave would be of any service to his biographer. The Supplement which he wrote to the Dred Scott case was copied by Mr. William J. Stone of Washington, and sent to Bishop Hopkins, to be used by him in his then forthcoming work on Slavery. He made no use of it that I am aware, and would no doubt return it to Mr. Stone on his application. I will send you a copy of the Brooke pedigree, and I will also send you a copy of a protest which he addressed to Secretary Chase, against the taxation of the salaries of the Judges of the Supreme Court. Although the other Judges did not unite with him in it, it received their approbation so far, at least, that they directed it to be recorded on the minutes of the Court. I shall bear in mind the necessity of furnishing you with everything available for your work, which I am glad to know is in such fit hands. SAMUEL TYLER, ESQ. Yours, very truly, J. MASON CAMPBELL. With the small aid furnished by Mr. Campbell, my long intimacy with the Chief Justice enabled me to inquire at the proper sources for the information which I have given in the Memoir. It is all perfectly authentic. I spared no pains in verifying everything. To vindicate one who had been so misrepresented, so hated, even after he had gone to his grave, has necessarily imposed upon his biographer the duty of dealing somewhat harshly with his political enemies. I have forborne to speak of some public men, who deserve censure, because I feel that I have sufficiently vindicated the character of the Chief Justice without doing so. Get but the truth once uttered, and 'tis like NOTE.The engraved likeness of the Chief Justice, in this volume, is a perfect representation of him in his eighty-fifth year. It was thought best to represent him as a private citizen, as he appeared every day. CONTENTS. Reasons for writing his own life - His father, Michael Taney - The Home- stead in Calvert County - His forefathers on his father's side - They were Ro- man Catholics-The disabilities of Roman Catholics in Maryland, under William and Mary - Poor schools- His father educated at St. Omer's and at Bruges, Jesuit Colleges in France-Returns home before the American Revolution-Mar- ries the daughter of Roger Brooke, a wealthy farmer on Battel Creek - Roger Brooke's genealogy given according to the superstition of Astrology - His mo- ther-He goes to a school when eight years old - The queer teacher - The Bible and Dilworth's spelling-book the only books - The illiterate condition of the people - Barring the teacher out of school -- Goes to another school — The teacher imagines himself a disembodied spirit; is drowned attempting to walk over the river more than two miles wide- David English becomes tutor in the family-Goes to Dickinson College — An assiduous and successful student- Graduates with high honors, 1795 - Specimen of an acrostic on his own name, by a teacher who wrote a geography in rhyme - His college friends - The election of Mr. Taney by the students to a literary honor - Delivers an oration - His view of the rewards of ambition- Returns home in the Fall of 1795 - The state of society-Fox-hunting a chief amusement — The hunters breakfast on hominy, bacon, and egg-nogg - Himself a fox-hunter - In 1796, begins the study of law at Annapolis - The General Court — Its jurisdiction - The able judges - The able bar - His studies - Objects to Moot Courts - His fellow-students- The leaders of the Maryland Bar: Martin, Pinkney, Johnson, Key, Mason, Shaaf, Harper, and others - Portraits of Martin and Pinkney - Pinkney the greatest advocate he ever heard - Admitted to the bar in 1799-His first case in the Mayor's Court of Annapolis - Very much embarrassed - His constitutional sensibility and melancholy - Elected to the Legislature - The mode of con- ducting the election - Death of General Washington - The deep impression made on the Legislature - Returns home - His love of the country - Love of the romantic-Candidate for re-election to the Legislature - Is defeated - The reasons for his defeat - Takes up his residence in Frederick- - His first speech - - - Alienated Description of Frederick -- The business of the place-The refined soci- - - CHAPTER III. LIFE IN BALTIMORE. - A. D. 1823-1836. - Takes up his residence in Baltimore- The origin and character of the -- - - -- cal stage-The great measures of the different administrations - General - - CHAPTER IV. JUDICIAL LIFE.-A. D. 1836-1856. Appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States- |