rode as hard as anybody and followed the hounds with as much eagerness. By the end of the winter I was a confirmed fox hunter." But in the spring of 1796 he was tired of the idleness, and impatient to begin the study of the law-, which profession he preferred. He then entered the office, at Annapolis, of J. T. Chase, at that time one of the judges of the General Court of Maryland. There ne applied himself with great industry for three years, and in the spring of 1799 was admitted to the bar. He says that for weeks together he read law for twelve hours out of every twenty-four, and went very little into society, an omission which he deplores. It was the golden age of the Maryland bar, with Luther Martin at its head. The great lawyers, whom the young student saw and heard, stimulated his ambition, and he made every possible effort to prepare himself to be their worthy associate or opponent. His keen and analytical mind was particularly adapted to master the forms of practice that were at that time prevalent in Maryland, such as special pleading and the peculiar form of writs of entry. His rise at the bar, however, was somewhat retarded by his father's wish to have him settle in Calvert. There at the age of twenty-two he was elected to the General Assembly as a Federalist. He failed, however, of re-election in 1800, and in 1801 moved to Frederick, where he entered in earnest upon the practice of his profession. In 1803 he was again a candidate for the Maryland Legislature, and again was de feated. In 1806 he married Miss Key, a sister of the author of "The Star Spangled Banner." The next few years of his life were without incident, and apparently the first notable cause in which he was engaged was in 1811, as counsel for Gen. Wilkinson, com mander in chief of the army, who was tried by a court-martial for being an accomplice of Aaron Burr. Mr. Taney was successful in the conduct of the defence and refused any compensation for his services. During the war of 1812 he was nominated by the Fed eralists for a seat in Congress, and was
defeated at the polls, but in 1816 he was elected to the State Senate. These political experiences do not seem to have had any influence, beneficial or otherwise, upon his development or training. But in the spring of 1819 there came an opportunity which he embraced with enthusiasm. He then suc cessfully defended one Gruber, a minister of the Methodist church, who had been indicted upon the charge of inciting servile insur rection. In view of Taney's later conduct in the Dred Scott case it seems important to quote a few sentences from his argument to the jury: "There is no law which forbids us to speak of slavery as we think of it. Any man has a right to publish his opinions on that subject whenever he pleases. It is a subject of national concern, and may at all times be freely discussed. . . . He did rebuke those masters, who, in the exercise of power, are deaf to the calls of humanity. . . . He did speak with abhorrence of those reptiles who live by trading in human flesh and enrich themselves by tearing the husband from the wife, the infant from the bosom of the mother. ... A hard necessity, indeed, compels us to endure the evil of slavery for a time. It was imposed upon us by another nation, while we were yet in a state of colonial vassalage. Yet, while it continues, it is a blot upon our national character; and every real lover of freedom confidently hopes that it will be effectually, though it must be gradually, wiped away, and earnestly looks for the means by which this necessary object may be best attained." During these years Taney was retained more and more as the junior of one or the other of the great leaders of the bar, such as Martin, Harper and Pinkney. Upon the death of the latter in 1823, the future Chief Justice moved from Frederick to Baltimore, where he at once became the acknowledged leader. At this time also he changed not only his residence but his politics. The Federal party, ever since its initial opposition to the war of 1812, had been more and more
