Being employed in 1837 in behalf of a negro woman who was claimed to be a fugitive slave, Mr. Chase argued that Congress had not the right to impose upon State magistrates any duty or confer any power in such cases.

Again, soon after, while defending James E. Birny, who had been arrested for harboring a negro slave, he held that slavery is local, and dependent for its legality upon State law, and that therefore a slave who made his escape into Ohio became free, and might be harbored with impunity.

In 1846, Mr. Chase, together with William H. Seward, was defendant's counsel in the Van Zandt case, before the Supreme Court of the United States. In an elaborate argument, he contended that, by the ordinance of 1787, no fugitive from service could be reclaimed from Ohio unless there had been an escape from one of the original States; that it was the clear understanding of the framers of the Constitution, and of the people who adopted it, that slavery was to be left exclusively to the disposal of the several States, without sanction or support from the National Government; and that the clause in the Constitution relating to persons held to service was one of compact, and conferred no power of legislation on Congress.

Other cases ensued in which Mr. Chase defended the same positions, and thus became identified with those who

Devoted to his professional pursuits, Mr. Chase avoided for a long time all positive alliances with political parties, but had voted sometimes with the Democrats, and at other times and more frequently with the Whigs. In 1841, however, he became one of the originators of the "Liberty" party of Ohio, and was the author of their address to the people. In 1843 he was a member of the convention of this party which met at Buffalo. While one of a committee nominated by said convention, he opposed the resolution, "to regard and treat the third clause of the Constitution, whenever applied to the case of a fugitive slave, as utterly null and void, and consequently as forming no part of the Constitution of the United States, whenever we are called upon or sworn to support it." This resolution was accordingly rejected by the committee, and not reported, although it was afterward renewed by its original mover, and adopted by the convention. When twitted in the United States Senate by Senator Butler, of South Carolina, for the mental reservation seemingly sanctioned by this resolution, Chase responded: "I have only to say, I never proposed the resolution; I never would propose or vote for such a resolution. I hold no doctrine of mental reservation. Every man, in my judgment, should speak just as he thinks, keeping nothing back, here or elsewhere."*

The New American Cyclopedia. New York: D. Appleton & Co

In 1845, a convention, at the suggestion of Mr. Chase, met in Cincinnati, of "all who, believing that whatever is worth preserving in republicanism can be maintained only by uncompromising war against the usurpations of the slave power, and are therefore resolved to use all constitutional and honorable means to effect the extinction of slavery within their respective States, and its reduction to its constitutional limits in the United States." The gathering was large, consisting of two thousand delegates and four thousand interested visiters. The address the main burden of which was opposition to the extension of slavery was written by Mr. Chase, and was widely circulated. When the second convention met, in 1847, Mr. Chase opposed the making of Federal nominations, believing that the general agitation throughout the country in regard to the Wilmot proviso would extend the basis of the movement against slavery extension, and afford a less restricted foundation for a party.

In 1848, however, distrusting the Whig and Democratic parties, Mr. Chase again called a convention in favor of free territory. It was largely attended, but it merged itself in the National Convention, which met at Buffalo in August of the same year, and nominated Martin Van Buren for President. The Democratic party of Ohio having now adopted the free-soil views of Mr. Chase, he accepted their nomination for the United States Senate, and in 1849 was elected. He continued to act with the Democrats of his State

until 1852, when, upon the nomination of Pierce, they accepted the platform of the Baltimore Convention, approving of the compromise acts of 1850, and denouncing the further agitation of the question of slavery extension. Having abandoned his old allies, he gave in his adherence to the Independent Democratic Convention, assembled at Pittsburg in 1852, which adopted a manifesto mainly prepared by Mr. Chase.

When the Nebraska bill agitated the country, and induced the formation of the Republican party, Mr. Chase, finding its principles in consonance with his long established views, eagerly joined it, and became one of its leaders.

In 1855, Mr. Chase was nominated as Governor of Ohio, and being elected, was inaugurated in January of the succeeding year. He gave proof, in his new office, of a moderation and discretion which many were disposed to question, in consequence of his supposed extreme opinions on slavery. At the close of his first term he was disposed to retire, but was so urgently pressed to accept a re-nomination, that he was prevailed upon and re-elected Governor.

After the expiration of his second term he was again elected senator of the United States, but resigned his seat to accept his present position in the cabinet of Mr. Lincoln, of which he is considered not only one of the ablest, but firmest members.

Simon Cameron, a man of humble origin, successively a printer's apprentice, printer, journalist, a local politician, a United States senator, and now the

secretary of war, was born in Pennsylvania. He has been for a long time one of the most influential men in that State, and the success of the Republican party there was greatly indebted to his efforts. Wielding a large capital actively employed in railroads, mining operations, and other active enterprises in Pennsylvania, he was enabled to exercise a wide influence, which was owing not less to his financial than to his political ability. His executive talents, thoroughly exercised by his extensive business relations, are calculated to make him an effective officer in the busy department of which he is the chief.

Gideon Welles was originally a printer, and subsequently editor of the Hartford Times, in the skilful conduct of which he has acquired all his political fame. His reputation had, however, hardly extended beyond the limits of his native State of Connecticut, when he was called to a position in Lincoln's cabinet, at the earnest solicitation, it is believed, of his brother-in-law, VicePresident Hamlin. As the editor of the Hartford Times, he was considered one of the most forcible exponents of the Democratic policy. Warmly expressing the doctrine of non-extension of slavery, he soon identified himself with the Republican party, of which he was an ardent supporter. He has frequently represented his State in its own Legislature and Senate, but never in the Federal councils. It may be doubted whether, with his reflective habits as a political thinker and writer, and his

127

restricted experience of the business of state, he has the scope of view and energy of action necessary to the chief of the naval department during a great war.

Montgomery Blair, a son of the vigorous Democratic journalist, Francis Preston Blair, the founder and editor of the Washington Globe, was born in Kentucky. Like his father, he is a valiant defender of the Republican cause, and is supposed to have been one of the most emphatic of the cabinet to urge the full exercise of the Federal authority in checking treason, as he is among the most resolute in favor of vigorously waging war against rebellion. His energy of will and sanguineness of temperament render him a spirited coadjutor of the executive in the stir of conflict; but in the quiet of peace, his fitness for office, and especially that practical one which he holds, might be more questionable.

Edward Bates, the attorney-general, was born in Goochland County, in Virginia, in 1791. Having been carefully educated by a relative of high culture, he emigrated with a brother to Missouri, where he began to practice law. He soon acquired eminence as a jurist. Although he served in the Legislature of Missouri, and represented that State in Congress, his life has been mostly devoted to the pursuits of his profession. In 1847, however, he was a member of the convention which met at Chicago for the advancement of internal improvements, where he commanded attention by a brilliant speech