Frank Huntington

“ When, after the secession of the southern states, martial law was proclaimed in Maryland, Chief-Justice Taney, on application of John Merryman, arrested by order of Gen. George Cadwalader, ordered the release of the prisoner, issued an attachment against the officer, and filed an opinion, to be laid before President Lincoln, in which he denied the right of the president to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, affirming that such power is vested in congress alone. ”

“ The power of her impersonation created a sensation in London, and afterward in Dublin, while her sister's grace and beauty added to the success. She played other male companion parts with her sister, achieved a great success as Julia in “The Hunchback,” Meg Merrilies, a part that she had first performed at the Park theatre, New York, in 1841, Nancy Sykes, Lady Gay Spanker, and other characters, constantly added to her professional reputation, and made warm friends in the intellectual society of England. ”

“ In the following year a case that arose under the fugitive-slave law of 1850 came before Chief-Justice Taney. Sherman M. Booth, who had been sentenced by the U. S. district court for aiding in the escape of a negro from slavery, was released on habeas corpus proceedings by the supreme court of Wisconsin, which refused to take cognizance of the subsequent mandates of the supreme court of the United States in the matter. ”

“ Convinced that she had not served a proper apprenticeship in her art, she applied to the manager of the Park theatre for any place that might be vacant, was engaged to do general utility business, and soon made her mark as a leading actress. This engagement lasted from 1837 till 1840. In 1842 she assumed the management of the Walnut street theatre in Philadelphia, which she retained till 1844, when she accompanied Mr. Macready on a tour in the northern states, in the course of which she undertook the higher range of tragic parts with great success. ”

“ In the matter of a seizure of contraband goods, he delivered on 3 June, 1863, an opinion at nisi prius, in which he censured the duplicity of the government detectives, ordered the price of the goods to be restored to the smugglers, and mulcted the provost-marshal and his assistants in damages and costs. Chief-Justice Taney died on the same day on which the state of Maryland abolished slavery. His judicial opinions and decisions are contained in the “Supreme Court Reports” of Benjamin R. Curtis, Benjamin C. Howard, and Jeremiah S. Black. ”

“ Her final performance in New York at Booth's theatre, where she played the part of Lady Macbeth, was signalized by social and literary demonstrations. She took a similar demonstrative farewell in the same character in Philadelphia and other cities, and her career closed in Boston, at the Globe theatre, on 15 May, 1875. After a reading-tour to Rochester, Buffalo, and Syracuse, she retired with a large fortune to her villa at Newport, where she was seized with her final illness, and in October went to Boston and placed herself under medical treatment. ”

“ In his opening argument Taney declared of slavery that “while it continues, it is a blot on our national character.” In 1821 he was counsel in the important case of Brown vs. Kennedy, which involved the question of the original proprietary title to lands that had been reclaimed from the navigable waters of Maryland, and in the following year in one connected with the law of charitable trusts. ”

“ His first decisions showed divergence between his view of the constitution and that of his predecessor, who had been more and more drawn to allow a wide scope to the powers of congress and to limit the sphere of state sovereignty. ”

“ In 1827 he was appointed attorney-general of Maryland, and on 27 Dec., 1831, he succeeded John M. Berrien as attorney-general of the United States. He became President Jackson's most trusted counsellor, and encouraged and sustained him in his determination to remove the government deposits from the United States bank. There were only two members of the cabinet that approved this action, and when William J. Duane hesitated to carry out the president's decree he was removed and Taney was appointed secretary of the treasury. ”

“ In the Massachusetts and New York passenger cases the chief justice delivered an opinion that the state authorities could impose a head-tax on immigrants, on the grounds that the power of congress to regu- late commerce is not exclusive, and that persons are not subjects of commerce. ”

“ Her father rose from poverty to be a successful West India merchant, but lost his fortune, and died, leaving his family in straitened circumstances. Charlotte was a remarkably bright, sportive child, excelling her schoolmates and developing a voice of remarkable compass and richness, with a full contralto register. ”

“ It involved the question whether congress had the power to exclude slavery from the territories. The case was presented in 1854, and, after being twice argued, was finally decided in 1857. The opinion of the court was written by Chief-Justice Taney, who entered into an elaborate historical exposition of the status of the negro, the other five judges who concurred in the decision delivering separate opinions. ”

“ This powerful vessel had successfully encountered a strong fleet of U. S. gunboats, and fought them for several hours without sustaining material damage. There was nothing able to cope with her in the sounds. ”