ROGER B. TANEY. To the stranger who for the first time visits the Capitol at Washington, there is no more interesting or attractive place of resort than the hall where are held the sessions of the Supreme Court of the United States. It is situated on the ground-floor of the building, in the story below that which contains the chambers where the two branches of the National Legislature assemble. The approach to it, through the main part of the Capitol, is by no means inviting. It is from the dark, damp, cellar-like, circular enclosure immediately under the rotunda, where groups of colossal columns are thickly clustered together for the support of the dome above, conveying to the mind the sole idea of solid, massive, Egyptian-like architectural strength. A hall leading from this enclosure to the south entrance of the Capitol conducts to the Supreme Court room, an apartment of moderate size, which, though neat, is perfectly plain in appearance, and simple in its decorations and furniture. This apartment is lighted by windows immediately behind the seats of the Judges-the bar and the audience sitting in front. The consequence of this arrangement is, that so far as the audience is concerned the light is defective, and it is often difficult, and in a dark day impossible, for those sitting immediately in front, to distinguish the features of the members of the Court after they have taken their seats. If the visitor desires to see the Court in session, he has but to take his seat and wait patiently until the appearance of the Judges. He will ordinarily observe some few members of the bar, other than the counsel engaged in the cause under argument, sauntering in, and taking their seats, and occasionally strangers or other visitors attracted by interest or curiosity; unless, indeed, some advocate of distinguished reputation is to address the Court, or some cause of more than usual interest is to be called, in which case the Court room is quickly filled, and often by an imposing and brilliant audience of ladies. It may be perhaps a few minutes after the appointed hour of meeting, when, without any flourish of parade, or announcement, the Judges enter in their black silk gowns, in procession, ranked according to the dates of their respective commissions. At the head of the procession you observe a tall, thin man, slightly bent with the weight of years, of pale complexion, and features somewhat attenuated and care worn, but lighted up by that benignant expression which is indictive at once of a gentle temper and a kindly heart. With a firm and steady step, by no means indicating the years which have actually rolled over his head, he approaches to take his seat. His brothers and associates range themselves on either hand, according to their rank, determined by the date of their respective appointments. Immediately on the right Mr. Justice McLean of Ohio, the oldest Judge in commission on the bench, takes his seat; Mr. Justice Wayne of Georgia on the left; and so alternately on the right and left Mr. Justice Catron of Tennessee, and Mr. Justice Daniel of Virginia, Mr. Justice Nelson of New York, and Mr. Justice Grier of Pennsylvania, Mr. Justice Curtis of Massachusetts, and Mr. Justice Campbell of Alabama. Presently the crier will open the Court with that quaint and half ludicrous old formula, which has come down to us from the earliest times, commencing, "O yes-O yes," and ending, "God save the United States and this honorable Court!" The Court is now in session and you are in the presence of one of the three co-ordinate branches of the Federal government. If it be a cloudy day, you will not be able to distinguish, beneath the dark mass of hair which overhangs the forehead of the tall, thin, venerable old man who has just taken his seat in the midst of that group of Judges, anything more than the mere outlines of his features; but you will presently hear his voice, in the blandest and most affable of tones: "The Court is ready. to hear you, Mr. Attorney-General," whereupon the ment of the case at bar immediately proceeds. argu The person who has spoken these words is Mr. ChiefJustice Taney, of whose life and judicial career I am now to attempt a sketch. He is just seventy-seven years of age,* and though not in the enjoyment of robust health, as his countenance indicates, yet he continues in the full possession of his vigorous intellectual faculties. The present session completes the eighteenth year of his service on the bench of the tribunal over which he presides, and to which he was appointed as the successor of Chief-Justice Marshall. Roger Brooke Taney is a native of Maryland, and was born in Calvert county, in that State, on the 17th day of March, 1777. His ancestors, both on the father's and mother's side, were among the earliest settlers of Maryland, having emigrated from England to that colony in Cromwell's time. The name of Taney is of Welsh, or at least of aboriginal British origin, and though not common in England at the present day, is, I am informed, still known there. The paternal ancestor of Mr. Taney, who came to Maryland about the year 1656, was of the Catholic faith. Like the Puritans of England in the time of Charles I, he sought repose and liberty of conscience in the wilds of the new world; for the otherwise liberal policy of the Protector, in matters of religious worship and faith, did not embrace the Catholic, and indeed scarcely included the prelatist, within the pale of * March, 1854. Its orthography there seems to have corresponded more closely with its pronunciation. The case of Tawney vs. Crowther may be found in 4th Brown's Chancery Cases. |