God, the incarnation of Evil,--is growing more and
more shadowy, and men again behold the heavenly Guardian of their State,
Americans feel, and the world agrees, that war, though it reaches other
classes and in different form, is really attended with less horror and
woe at the time than several judicial decisions have occasioned; and
that the lasting results of battles are incalculably more insignificant
than the judgments of courts may be.

* * * * *

Roger Brooke Taney was, when nearly sixty years old, placed at the head
of the Judiciary, at a critical time in American affairs. The Slave
Power, so successful in extending its dominion, and already the
controlling influence in the government, was pressing its unholy and
arrogant demands openly and without shame. It had destroyed civil
liberty in the Slave States, and was fast destroying it in the Free. It
was stifling the right of petition in Congress, and smothering free
speech in the States. The Executive was recommending that the mails
should be sifted for its safety. The question of the right of Slavery in
the Territories and the Free States was taking form, and the
slave-catchers claimed to hunt their prey through the Northern States,
without regard to the rights of freemen or the law of the land. Taney
had long been known as an astute and skilful lawyer, a man of ability
and learning in his profession--as ability and learning are commonly
gauged. He had been Attorney-General of Maryland, and in 1831 had been
appointed Attorney-General of the United States. He was an ardent
partisan supporter of the administration; and in 1833, when Duane
refused to remove the deposits, he was appointed to the Treasury as a
willing servant, and did not hesitate to do what was expected of him.

In 1835, while the country was deeply agitated by questions concerning
the rights of States and the powers of the government, he was nominated
to a vacancy on the Supreme Bench. His opinions on those questions were
well known, and the consideration of his nomination indefinitely
postponed.

But some time after the death of Chief Justice Marshall, which occurred
on the 6th of July, 1835, Taney was nominated as his successor, and in
1836, the political complexion of the Senate having in the mean time
changed, was confirmed by party influence, and took his seat at the head
of the Judiciary in January, 1837.

He was essentially a partisan judge, as much so as