lk!iRilS^ I^ATIONAL POLITICS /- Class Book JOHN HANSON 'president of the united states in congress ASSEMBLED' {Oriyinal porlniil uiriicd ?>.// Doiighis It. Thoinuti) Maryland In National Politics y BY J. FRED'K ESSARY Waihington Correipondent of The Baltimore Sun; Editor of the Addresses and Essays of Isidor Rayner ^ ,^^ JOHN MURPHY COMPANY Publishers Baltimore Maryland VK Copyright, 1915, by J. PRED'K ESSARY il:i '^CI,A401118 Press of John Murphy Company, Baltimore. Md. MAY 25 1915 I This Volume Is Affectionately Dedicated To My Wife, HELEN K. ESSARY. INTRODUCTION This book was written with the idea of re- cording in some permanent form the splendid achievements of that group of Maryland pa- triots, statesmen, diplomatists and jurists who have contributed most to the greatness of the Republic, men whose public services estab- lished them as national characters, as contra- distinguished from purely State figures. In no sense is this a history of Maryland, nor is it a history of the United States. It is, however, a faithful presentation of the parts played in the nation's history by those distin- guished Marylanders of the past century who helped lay the foundation of this government, who have builded upon that foundation, who have made their country's laws and have had a potential influence in shaping its destiny. In dealing with the careers of these men the hard-and-fast lines of stereotyped biography have, in a measure, been abandoned. The places and dates of birth, the early education, the eccentricities of old schoolmasters, boy- hood pastimes and youthful love afifairs are, of course, affecting details, but they are not the circumstances in the lives of strong men that arrest attention and sustain the interest of those vi Introduction. who study success and honor greatness. It is the design of these sketches to comprehend the big vital facts concerning these illustrious Marylanders, facts that give them their true historical setting. No other work has come to my notice that treats, in this fashion, of Maryland's share in national politics. Biographies of a few of her individual statesmen have been written. Brief reviews of others are extant, but no previous efifort has been made, so far as I am aware, to assemble all the members of this famous com- pany in one volume, preserving in it a register of their service to the nation. I wish to take this opportunity to acknowl- edge my appreciation for the valuable assist- ance and advice given me in the preparation of these sketches by Judge Ashley M. Gould, Senator William E. Borah, Mr. Gist Blair, Dr. Samuel E. Forman, Mr. Arthur Peter, Mr. Douglas H. Thomas, Mr. William B. Rayner, Mr. Philip Francis Trippe, Mr. F. Julian Bailey, Mr. J. Henry Baker, General Thomas J. Shryock and many others. I may also add that I have consulted freely the published works of Bernard C. Steiner, J. A. J. Creswell, Frank Richardson Kent, Charles Francis Adams, Louis E. McComas, J.Thomas Scharf, Thomas Jeflerson and Mad- Introduction. vii ison Davis. The memoirs of Thomas H. Ben- ton, Gideon Welles, James G. Blaine, "Sunset" Cox, Shelby M. Cullom, Ben Perley Poore; the biography of Roger B. Taney, by Samuel Tyler, and that of William Wirt, by John P. Kennedy; the American histories of Henry Cabot Lodge, Woodrow Wilson, John Bach McMaster, James Schouler, Julian Haw- thorne, James Ford Rhodes and E. Benjamin Andrews; the Journals of the Continental Con- gress and the Debates of the Constitutional Convention have been referrd to for the ac- curacy of many of the historical circumstances outlined in this book. J. Fred'k Essary. Washington, 1915. —— CONTENTS CHAPTER I. John Hanson: First President of the United States in Congress Assembled—Author of plan under which Articles of Confederation were ratified and Crown Lands were dedi- cated to the general government 1-17 CHAPTER n. Charles Carroll of Carrollton : Commis- sioner to Canada during the Revolution Last surviving Signer of the Declaration of Independence—First Senator and father of Ihe Assumption Act i8-37 CHAPTER HL James McHenry : Secretary to General Wash- ington—Major in the Revolutionary Army Chairman of the Maryland delegation in the Constitutional Convention and Secretary of War under Washington and Adams 38-57 CHAPTER IV. Luther Martin : Member of the Constitutional Convention and of the Continental Congress —Counsel for Associate Justice Chase—De- fender of Aaron Burr in the trial for high treason 58-76 CHAPTER V. Samuel Chase: Delegate in the Continental Congress—Federalist leader in the State Associate Justice of the United States Su- preme Court and impeached by political enemies before the Senate 77-95 —— 1 X Contents. CHAPTER VI. General Samuel Smith : Hero of the War of 1812—Forty years a member of the Federal House and Senate—Insurgent against the Madison administration — President Pro Tempore of the Senate 96-1 1 CHAPTER VII. William Pinkney : Diplomatic agent of the government at London, St. Petersburg and the Court of Naples—Twice a member of Congress—United States Senator—Attorney- General and leading advocate of his day. 112-133 CHAPTER VIII. William Wirt : Prosecutor of Aaron Burr—At- torney-General through three administrations —Candidate for the Presidency against Jack- son and Clay on the anti-Masonic ticket. 134-154 CHAPTER IX. Roger B. Taney : Attorney-General and Secre- tary of the Treasury under Jackson—Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court Author of the Dred Scott decision and of the first anti-trust opinion of the highest court 155-174 CHAPTER X. Reverdy Johnson : Counsel in the Garland, Dred Scott, Cummings and Surratt cases Attorney-General—United States Senator Defender of Andrew Johnson and Minister to the Court of St. James 175-193 —A Contents. xi CHAPTER XI. Henry Winter Davis : Founder of the Ameri- can party—A Representative in Congress Uncompromising Unionist — Opponent of Lincoln—Greatest' orator of his time. 194-219 CHAPTER XII. Montgomery Blair : Organizer of the Repubh- can party—Postmaster-General in Lincoln's Cabinet—Counsel in Scott and Cummings cases—Friend and counsel of Samuel J. Tilden—Defender of Belknap 220-242 CHAPTER XIII. Arthur P. Gorman : Chairman of the Demo- cratic National Committee that elected Cleve- land — Democratic minority and majority leader in the Senate—Leader of the oppo- sition to the Force Bill—Joint Author of the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act 243-263 CHAPTER XIV. Isidor Rayner: Congressman and Senator Counsel for Admiral Schley in the Naval Court of Inquiry—Leading authority in Con- gress upon Constitutional and International Law issues 264-286 CHAPTER XV. Conclusion : Maryland's representation in twenty Cabinets, in the Diplomatic Corps, upon the United States Supreme Court— century's record of leadership in the House and Senate of the United States—Figures in various Presidential contests 287-303 JOHN HANSON 1715— 1783 Civilization accords no rarer privilege to the men who make history than the privilege of founding orderly government. Thousands there may be who have builded upon an order, once established; other thousands who have been privileged to defend it and to enjoy its usufructs, but there are only a few men whom all mankind honor as pathfinders, as bold pio- neers in the development of a system of human authority. And this is just as true of the American Re- public as it is of any of the governments that have gone before it or any that have come after it. A mere handful of figures stand out pre- eminently in the great struggle that gave this country its equality D 3re the world and its people their right to "life, liberty and the pur- suit of happiness." A vast multitude of men made sacrifices of their property, their blood and their lives that this end might be achieved, but oblivion has claimed ^11 but that small group of giants who complemented the work of the sword by welding the colonies into a confederation and the confederation into an indissoluble union. 2 Maryland in National Politics. And as the revolutionary period recedes, as the perspective grows, interest in its dramatic events and in its dynamic personalities be- comes more and more absorbing. The men who made this republic possible; the men who laid its foundation upon deep and enduring lines; the men whose brain brought into be- ing the organic law of the United States are more and more profoundly venerated by each succeeding generation. John Hanson, the first President of the "United States of America in Congress As- sembled," that is, the first President under the Articles of Confederation, stood among the strongest of these nation-builders as a peer. It was his leadership that brought the last of the insurging colonies together under a com- mon bond; that united their fortunes and their fate forever, and that gave them their first perfected plan of centralized government. It was the leadership of John Hanson that di- vorced the colonies from the Northwest Ter- ritory and paved the way for the ultimate for- mation of the group of great States beyond the Allegheny Mountains. For all this Hanson was rewarded with the Presidency of the re-formed Continental Con- gress the day his second term in that body be- gan. By his election Hanson, already recog- Maryland in National Politics. 3 nized as the first Marylander of his day, as- sumed the rank and prerogatives of the First Citizen of the Colonies. Washington the sol- dier, and Hanson the civilian, typified the spirit of this new nation. During three sessions Hanson presided over the deliberations of the Continental Congress. In that period he saw the American arms tri- umph over Great Britain.