Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/403

 HALE 389 tie J tria an himself to represent them. The state nvention struck his name from the ticket and placed another nominee in his stead. Mr. Hale ran as an independent candidate, sup- ported chiefly by the "independent demo- crats," but was defeated. In June, 1845, he attempted to make a speech in the Old North church at Concord, vindicating his course ; but frequent interruptions soon turned it into a sharp debate between himself and Frank- lin Pierce, which lasted from 2 P. M. till sun- down, and is still the most memorable in the history of New Hampshire. The popular ver- dict gave the victory to Hale. In the follow- ing year he was elected to the legislature, .me speaker of the house, and before the ose of the session was chosen United States or for six years from March, 1847. In the senate he steadily maintained the position he had taken on the slavery question, and op- ed the compromise measures of Clay. In 1 he was counsel for the defendants in the lals which grew out of the rescue of the fugi- tive slave Shadrach. In 1847 the liberty party vention at Cleveland gave him a nomina- for president, which he declined, and sup- the Van Buren and Adams ticket in In 1852 he was nominated at Pitts- rgh by the free-soil party, and received 157,- 85 votes. From 1853 to 1855 he practised law in the city of New York, and in the latter ear was again elected as United States senator >m New Hampshire, to fill the unexpired of Mr. Atherton, deceased. In 1858 he was reflected for a full term of six years. To the administration of President Lincoln he gave a hearty support, speaking frequently on the most important subjects of legislation du- ring the civil war. On retiring from the senate in March, 18G5, he was appointed minister to Spain. He had discharged the duties of this office for about three years, when a quarrel ose between himself and Mr. Perry, his sec- tary of legation. Mr. Hale was charged with ading the revenue laws of Spain by importing, ider his privilege as a minister, goods which ere put upon the market and sold as ordinary rchandise. He averred that the secretary as the real culprit, and that he had used the ature of the minister without his knowl- for illegal purposes. The result was that th minister and secretary were recalled by sident Grant. Returning from Europe in 70, Mr. Hale was prostrated by paralysis, d in the summer of 1873 his hip was dis- ted by a fall, which was the immediate ,use of his death. HALE, Sir Matthew, an English jurist, born at Iderley, Gloucestershire, Nov. 1, 1609, died here, Dec. 25, 1676. His father, originally a wyer, abandoned his profession on account f conscientious scruples. The son, an orphan an early age, was committed to the care of Puritan relative, who placed his ward in 626 at Magdalen hall, Oxford. He had been signed for the church, but becoming involved in a lawsuit with a person who laid claim to part of his paternal estate, he exhibited such aptitude for legal science that the lawyer who was charged with the defence of his case per- suaded him to study law. He applied himself with remarkable diligence, reading, it is _ said, for several years at the rate of 16 hours a day. The variety of his studies was remarkable. Philosophy, anatomy, and physiology, as well as theology, are mentioned as only a few of the subjects which received his attention. He probably began practice as a barrister in 1636 ; and he was employed in most of the celebrated trials growing out of parliamentary troubles in 1640. Bishop Burnet states that Hale was as- signed as counsel for Straflfbrd, but he is be- lieved to have been only privately retained by that nobleman to assist in his defence. In 1643, however, he was expressly assigned by parlia- ment as counsel for Archbishop Laud. In 1647 he was appointed one of the counsel for the eleven members of the commons whose im- peachment was demanded by the army. He is said to have been retained as counsel for the defence of Charles I. ; but as the king refused to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the court, his counsel took no public part in the proceed- ings of the trial. In 1643 Hale had taken the covenant as prescribed by parliament ; in 1651 he professed allegiance to the commonwealth, " without king or house of lords ;" and in the following year he was one of a commission for considering the expediency of reforming the law. He was raised to the bench of the court of common pleas in 1654, and soon afterward was returned to Cromwell's first parliament for his native county. Several instances are related of his resolute rejection of the arbitrary dictation of Cromwell in the administration of law. On one occasion he discharged a jury which he discovered had been packed by ex- press directions of the protector. Cromwell reprimanded him severely, adding, "You are not fit to be a judge." "That," replied Hale quietly, "is very true;" and soon after he de- clined to serve on the trial of a person who had revolted against Cromwell's authority. In 1659 he represented the university of Oxford in the parliament which met after the death of Cromwell; and in the following year he sat again for Gloucestershire in the conven- tion which recalled the Stuarts. Soon after the restoration, the lord chancellor Claren- don with some difficulty persuaded him to ac- cept the appointment of lord chief baron of the court of exchequer (1660), when he was knighted. His name appears among the com- missioners for the trial of the regicides, but it is supposed that he was not present at the trials. During the period that he sat in the court of exchequer two women were indicted for witchcraft. Hale is reported to have ad- mitted to the jury that he did not doubt the existence of " such creatures as witches." The women were condemned and executed. He was the last English judge to sanction the con-