Maryland Historical Magazine, 1936, Volume 31, Issue No. 1
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MSA SCE^M-^I MARYLAND HISTORICAL MAGAZINE PUBLISHED DNDKK THE AUTHORITY OF THE MARYLAND HISTOEICAL SOCIETY VOLUME XXXI BALTIMORE 1936 CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXI. PACE ROGER B. TANEY AND MB. BIDDLE'S BANK. By Charles W. Smith, Jr. 1 BIBLIOGRAPHY ON MARYLAND DURING THE TIME OP GOVERNOR HORATIO SHARPE, 1753-1769. By Paul H. Giddens, 6 EARLY RECORDS OF THE CHURCH AND PARISH OF ALL FAITHS. By Senry J. Berkley, 16 BALTIMORE COUNTY LAND RECORDS OF 1681. Contributed by Louis Dow Scisco, 36 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 40, 171, 353 NOTES AND QUERIES, 63, 176, 269, 356 LIST OF MEMBERS, 65 THE ST. MARY'S CITY PRESS: A NEW CHRONOLOGY OP AMERICAN PRINTING. By Lawrence C. Wroth, . ' 91 CHARLES CARROLL, BARRISTER: THE MAN. By W. Stull Holt, . 112 BENJAMIN H. LATROBE AND THE CLASSICAL INFLUENCE OP HIS WORK. By William Sener Rush, 126 A LIST OF MARYLAND MILLS, TAVERNS, POROES, AND FURNACES OP 1794. By J. Louis Kuethe, 155 ROBERT MILLS TO HIS WIFE, 170 LETTERS OP A MARYLAND MEDICAL STUDENT IN PHILADELPHIA AND EDINBURGH (1782-1784). By Dorothy Machay Quynn and William Rogers Quynn, 181 GOVERNOR HORATIO SHARPE RETIRES. By Paul H. Giddens, .... 215 NEW RINEHART LETTERS. Edited by William Sener Busk, .... 225 BALTIMORE COUNTY LAND RECORDS OF 1682. Contributed by Louis Dow Scisco, 242 STATE OP MARYLAND IN 1798, 247 MARYLAND NOTES JPBOM VIRGINIA RECORDS. Contributed by Louis A, Burgess, 254 MUSTER ROLL OF " A" COMPANY UNDER THE COMMAND OP CAPTAIN JOHN OWINGS, 1812-1814. Contributed by Milton P. Owings, . 260 BOOK REVIEW, 265 WITCHCRAFT IN MARYLAND. By Francis Neal Parke, 271 LETTERS OP CHARLES CARROLL, BARRISTER, 298 JOSEPH HARRIS OF " ELLENBOROUGH." By George Forbes 333 FBIBBY FAMILY. By Francis B. Culver, 337 Edited by J. HALL PLEASAITTS, M. D. jPu-blished by authority of the State VOLUME LI Proceedings of the Court of Chancery of Maryland, 1669-1679. (Court Series 5) The fifty-first volume of the Maryland Archives, the fifth of the Court Series, is one of the outstanding issues of this distinguished series. Aside from the inherent interest of the body of the text itself, the letter of transmittal which serves as a preface to the work, contains a comprehensive summary of the matter and is in effect an important historical paper in itself. This is followed by an " Introduction to the Legal Procedure" contributed by the Honorable Carroll T. Bond, Chief Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals; and this in turn is followed by a scholarly monograph " The First Century of the Court of Chancery " an illuminating discussion of the history and growth of the Chancery procedure of this State. In the preparation of the legal section of the index, the Editor has had the collaboration of Herbert T. Tiffany, Esq. the Eeporter of the Court of Appeals, so that the volume is of the greatest interest and value to the legal profession, as well as to the lay reader. Volume fifty-one is an honor to the Society, to the editor, and to his distinguished collaborators. THE MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY INCORPORATED 1843. H. IBVINE KEYSEB MKMOEIAL BUILDING, 201 W. MONTJMIWT STBKET, HI I II I HIM OFFICERS. President, CLINTON L. RIGGS, yioe-Pre$identa GEORGE L. RADCLIFEE, J. HALL PLEASANTS. RICHARD M. DUVALL.* Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, J. ALEXIS SHRIVER. JAMES E. HANCOCK. Treasurer, HEYWARD E. BOYCE. THE COUNCIL. THE GENEEAL OFFICERS AND REPKESENTATIVES OF STANDING COMMITTEES: G. CORNER FENHAGEN, Representing the Trustees of the Athenaeum. J. HALL PLEASANTS, " Committee on Publication. L. H. DIELMAN, " Committee on the Library. WILLIAM INGLE, " Committee on Finance. DANIEL R. RANDALL, " Committee on Membership. LAURENCE H. FOWLER, " Committee on the Gallery. KENT ROBERTS GREENFIELD, " Committee on Addresses. WILLIAM B. MARYE, " Committee on Genealogy. • Deceased January 19, 1936. MARYLAND HISTORICAL MAGAZINE VOL. XXXI. MARCH, 1936. No. 1. ROGER B. TANEY AND MR. BIDDLE'S BANK. By CHARLES W. SMITH, JE. Roger B. Taney first came into national prominence as a result of his part in the struggle over the attempted re-charter of the second Bank of the United States. The part that he played and the opinions he expressed in connection with that struggle are important in their revelation of the thorough- going democracy of his political theory. It is evident that he was certainly not merely the pliant tool of Jackson's that he has sometimes been pictured. He regarded the struggle as a conflict of interests between a group of wealthy owners of corporate stock and the masses of the people. In his opposition to the Bank he was a step ahead of President Jackson, not a step behind. Taney was appointed Attorney General in the cabinet shake- up of 1831. Although he was recognized as a great lawyer, his political views at that time were not widely known outside the state of Maryland. His friends knew that he was hostile to the Bank, but not even they dreamed then that this newcomer in national politics would soon become the main driving force in the war against the Bank. Most of the new cabinet were regarded as friendly to the Bank. Nicholas Biddle, the Bank's president, hoped that he could get it rechartered without having to face Jackson's op- position. He got in touch with Livingston, the new Secretary of State, and McLane the Secretary of the Treasury, and was assured of their support. The stockholders of the Bank author- 1 2 MAETLAND HISTOEICAL MAGAZINE. ized an application to Congress for a renewal of their charter. Biddle and the two cabinet members set to work to win Jackson's acquiescence, and seemed largely successful. Jackson consented to accept a modified charter and finally agreed to say in his next annual message that he now left the matter with the repre- sentatives of the people. A few days before sending his message to Congress in Decem- ber, 1831, the President called his cabinet together to hear it read. This was the first meeting of the new cabinet where the Bank question was discussed. In a written account of the Bank struggle, which came into possession of the Library of Congress only a few years ago, Taney relates what occurred at that meeting. He, as Attorney General, " having no Department had no statement to make previous to the preparation of the message " and knew nothing of what it was to contain until it was read to the cabinet. He was the only member of the cabinet aggressively opposed to the Bank. It was natural that he should listen, as he says, " with a good deal of interest & anxiety when Mr. Donelson who was reading it came to that part of the message." He suspected that McLane, to whose department the Bank question more immediately belonged, would have had a good deal to do with the part of the message relating to the Bank. However, when Donelson, the President's secretary read that part of the message Taney was startled. Jackson's original sentence read, " Having conscientiously discharged a constitu- tional duty I deem it proper without a more particular reference to the subject to leave it to the investigations of an enlightened people and their representatives." This seemed to imply that Jackson, having brought the subject of the Bank to the atten- tion of the people in previous messages " was prepared to acquiesce in their decision—and would regard the action of the new congress whatever it should be as an expression of their will." Taney felt it his duty to object to this method of handling the question. Years later he remembered the whole scene distinctly because it had been such an unpleasant task he had felt bound by duty to perform. He describes his position. EOGBE B. TANET AI^D ME. BIDDLB'S BANK. 3 " I was new in cabinet discussions and in the concerns of the General government & was comparatively a stranger to Genl. Jackson: for all of the other members of his council had been in public life with him before he became President & had been personally & familiarly known to him for many years. It was my first conflict in the cabinet. I stood alone in it; and in opposition to Mr. Livingston & Mr. McLane who were ex- perienced politicians, & in both of whom I knew that the President at that time reposed the highest confidence." Discussion on the subject continued until it became evident that Jackson was " worried & wished it to end." He intimated that he did not think it necessary at that time to say definitely what he would do if confronted by a bill for rediarter—the Bank, and he did not seem disposed to alter his message. Taney concludes, " I left the Cabinet meeting when it had broken up, with the belief that I had failed & that no alteration would be made: and with strange doubts also whether under the influ- ence of his new advisers he would not be persuaded to consent to the recharter of the bank. ." When the President's message was made public the enemies of the Bank were dismayed. The vagueness of Jackson's state- ment on the Bank question made them fear that he had changed his viewpoint, or that he at least wanted to avoid the issue. Biddle, however, was far from satisfied. Jackson's enemies, the National Republicans, urged him to apply for a re-charter immediately and make an open issue with the President. The friends of the Bank in the Democratic party advised against such a step. Thomas Cadwalader, lobbyist for the Bank, was on the job in Washington. After " a long & frank conversation with Mr.