Samuel Chase
Samuel Chase who was born in Somerset County, Maryland, on the 17th day of April, 1741. He was the son of Rev. Thomas Chase who came from England to that province and became pastor of St. Paul's Parish in Baltimore, then a new country village and destitute of good schools. At the age of two years, Samuel was deprived of the tender care of his mother by her premature death. Under the instruction of his father he became an accomplished classical scholar. At the age of eighteen he commenced the study of law under the direction of John Hammond and John Hull of Annapolis; and at the age of twenty he was admitted to the bar of the Mayor's Court and two years after to that of the County Court and the Court of Chancery. He settled in Annapolis, Maryland and married Ann Baldwin.The Stamp Act
Mr. Chase and a band of kindred spirits under the cognomen of "Sons of Liberty," forcibly seized and destroyed the newly imported stamps and burned in effigy the stamp distributer. No further violence was then committed. The king's officers published newspaper accounts of battery against this furious mob directing their whole artillery against Mr. Chase. They were referred to as "busy restless incendiary-ringleader of mobs-foul mouthed inflaming son of discord and faction-a common disturber of the public tranquillity-a promoter of the lawless excesses of the multitude, etc. "The attack brought him fairly into the political field. So delighted were the people with the manner he handled the hirelings of the crown that they elected him to the Colonial Assembly. There he took a conspicuous part and became the uncompromising opposer of all measures that were not within the pale of the constitution or were tinctured with oppression.
Mr. Chase was a member of the Congress of 1774. "The deep solemnity, unparalleled wisdom and patient deliberations that marked the proceedings of that Congress-shed a lustre upon the cause of liberty then in embryo that forced applause from its most violent opposers. Had not the cabinet of Great Britain been blinded by sordid avarice, mad ambition and political delusion-had not the King been a mere automaton, scarcely a moving, walking, talking machine-the loyal and logical appeals from that august body of sages would have been treated with merited respect and quiet restored. The colonists asked for nothing but what was clearly right and asked in the most respectful and even suppliant manner. Ministers were left without excuse for their subsequent course. Their sacrilegious hands broke the great seal of the social compact-their agents sowed the seeds of rebellion-their cruelty kindled the flame that devoured them-their visionary policy severed the cords of maternal affection-their treachery spread the mantle of righteousness over the cause of the Revolution. We justly censure them for their corrupt designs but rejoice in the glorious result of their plans. Haman erected his own gallows. Grenville and North destroyed their own power."
In 1775 Mr. Chase was returned to Congress with instructions to pursue a conciliatory course contrary to his judgment but which he implicitly obeyed. He was active and persevering on committees and took a deep interest in every measure proposed in favor of freedom. He was returned to Congress the next year still trammelled with instructions which he truly predicted would soon be removed.
The Mission to Canada
In the spring of 1776 he was associated with Messrs. Franklin, Charles and Bishop Carroll on a mission to Canada to induce the people to join in the struggle for liberty. When he returned, he joined in the signing of the Declaration of Independence.Rev. Dr. Zubly of Georgia Exposed
A short time previous to the glorious 4th of July Mr. Chase discovered that a Judas was among them in the person of Rev. Dr. Zubly of Georgia who was clandestinely corresponding with the enemy. So bold and so suddenly did he expose the traitor on the floor of Congress that "the gentleman from Georgia" plead guilty and suddenly retired. His arrest was ordered.The Society of Friends (Quakers) Confined
In the fall of 1776, Messrs. Chase, Wilson, Clymer, Stockton and Smith were part of a committee to take charge of the War Department. Mr. Chase was upon the committee for suppressing internal enemies. Certain Quakers in and adjacent to Philadelphia were circulating papers adverse to the American cause and in communication with the enemy. A report containing documents proving the charge was submitted to Congress. As a result, several leading members of the Society of Friends were confined and the seditious papers suppressed.Meanwhile, the Tories took shelter under the wings of the British army and criticised the imprisonment of the Quakers.
Scheme of the British
In 1778, the British Parliament devised a stratagem to create a division among the patriots. Printed papers were circulated among the people containing conciliatory and flattering propositions and announcing the appointment of commissioners to perfect these inglorious terms of peace. So ingeniously were these papers worded that it was deemed necessary to prepare an answer. This important task was imposed upon Mr. Chase. Mr. Chase unmasked and exposed the base hypocrisy of the scheme.Soon after the close of the Revolution Mr. Chase was employed by the State of Maryland to prosecute a claim for bank stock in England and obtained for it six hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
In 1786 his worthy friend, Col. Howard, conveyed to him a square of ten lots in the city of Baltimore near the site of the public buildings, and bounded by Eutaw, Lexington, Fayette and Paca Streets, on condition of his locating there. He accepted the proposition and changed his residence to that of Baltimore.
In 1788 he was appointed Chief Justice of the new criminal court organized for the county of Baltimore. The same year he was a member of the Maryland Convention that ratified the Federal Constitution. In 1791 he was appointed Chief Justice of the General Court of Maryland. In 1796 he was appointed an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States by President Washington.
The Impeachment of Judge Chase
In January 1804, John Randolph obtained the passage of a resolution in the House of Representatives of the United States instituting an inquiry into the official conduct of Judge Chase. The committee to which the resolution was referred reported on the 6th day of the ensuing March, acquitted Judge Peters and recommended the impeachment of Judge Chase, the real object of political revenge. On the 26th of the same month articles of impeachment were reported based upon the following premises.The Case of John Fries for High Treason
In 1800 Judge Chase presided on the bench of the U. S. Circuit Court at Philadelphia, assisted by Judge Peters of the District Court of Pennsylvania when and where John Fries was put upon his trial a second time for high treason against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, owing to some informality in his previous trial before Judges Iredell and Peters. Having been fully informed of the points of law at issue and of the proceedings at the first trial, Judge Chase had prepared an elaborate exposition of the law upon treason without referring to a single fact in the case. With the approval of Judge Peters he furnished a copy to the counsel for defendant, the District Attorney and reserved one for the jury after the trial should be completed. Messrs. Lewis and Dallas, counsel for the prisoner, affected to consider this a pre-judgment of the case and permitted Fries to be tried without the aid of counsel-unquestionably intending and successfully succeeding in creating a general sympathy that procured his pardon immediately after conviction. "Fries subsequently called on Judge Chase and thanked him for his impartial and generous course upon the trial. The whole matter was then looked at in its true light-a ruse of ingenious counsel. No one attributed bad motives to the bench. The approval of honest clear-headed Judge Peters is conclusive proof that Judge Chase was judicially right-prima facie evidence that his motives were pure. He had written an opinion upon the law-not upon the facts of the case. This he had frankly furnished to the counsel-not to the jury before the trial. He was bound to explain the law to the grand jury before they should proceed to their business-to the traverse jury when he gave them their charge. This constituted the first charge in the articles of impeachment."" Shortly after the trial of Fries Judge Chase presided at Richmond, Virginia, when and where one Callendar was tried under the Sedition Law for publishing a libel upon the President.
During the trial Judge Chase refused the admission of certain testimony offered on the part of the prisoner which exasperated those who were opposed to the law in question. He honestly believed the law salutary as a check upon the venality of the press; others thought differently. That his decision was legally correct must be presumed from the fact that under the great excitement then existing no writ of error was taken in the case. This formed the foundation of the second charge.
Judge Chase proceeded from Richmond to New Castle, Delaware, where he presided, aided by Judge Bedford. In his charge to the grand jury he gave his views frankly upon the Sedition Law that they might fully understand what constituted a breach of its provisions, knowing that one or more cases of its violation would come before them. As an illustration he alluded to certain matter published in a high-toned party paper printed in that district that violated the provisions of this law. This gave great offense to the opposite party. The allusion to the paper was legal under any circumstances by way of explanation but may be considered uncourteous until we understand that it went immediately into the hands of the grand jury as testimony which made it in all respects a legitimate document to be alluded to by him. Ingenuity could not then nor with its prolific growth could it now construe the act into a pre-judgment of the case. The publication was before him-he alluded to that but to no individual. It was clearly a violation of the meaning and intent of the law-who published it was left for the jury to determine if they could. This constituted the ground of the third article of impeachment.
In delivering his charge to the grand jury in 1803, Judge Chase made sundry remarks upon the polities of the day reflecting upon certain acts of the democratic party. This was a surplusage of duty but not cause for impeachment."
" It resulted from his sanguine temperament, the great political excitement of that period-not from any impurity of motive. He believed laws had been passed for party purposes that were unconstitutional. If he was in error then, his position has often been verified since. Freedom of speech is a constitutional privilege-he used the same liberty practised by his opponents and which was not then trammelled by the obnoxious Sedition Law. It was not a proper time or place to read a political lecture but it does not follow that his designs were corrupt or his conduct criminal. The ermine of a judge is not beautified by being powdered with the farina of politics-his right to think and speak upon the subject none will question. If he speaks at an improper time and place it is an error-not a crime. He animadverted upon the change of the right of suffrage in the constitution of his own state to which he had strong objections. With him many of the devoted patriots of the revolution deemed the elective franchise unsafe with ignorant men who did not fully comprehend and appreciate their rights. The reasons for this opinion grow less as intelligence increases. In some of the states a property qualification[Pg 76] is still necessary to entitle a man to vote and in others he must be a freeholder to entitle him to hold certain town offices. An anxiety to preserve the government pure unquestionably pervaded the bosom of Judge Chase."
Judge Chase Acquitted
"Upon these premises six articles of impeachment were framed at first and at the next session of Congress two more were added-the natural increase of a year. On the 2d of January 1805 Judge Chase was arraigned before the Senate of the United States. A majority of the members were politically opposed to him but amongst them were men who loved justice more than party. The herculean powers of John Randolph were brought to bear upon him in the full plenipotence of their force. The trial continued until the first of March except a short recess. A portion of this time the Judge was confined by illness. He was ably and successfully defended by Messrs. Martin, Hopkinson, Harper and Key. Of five of the charges he was acquitted by a majority of the Senate. A constitutional number could not be obtained to convict him on the others-he stood approved, acquitted, triumphant over his enemies at the highest tribunal of his country-looking upon his colossal vanquished political foes, with mingled pity and contempt. He had never doubted the favorable result and properly regarded the prosecution as a political bagatelle."Judge Chase died on June 19, 1811.
Source: The Sages and Heroes of the American Revolution by L. Carroll Judson