New York Dispatch

THE CHIEF-JUSTICESHIP,

To our astonishment, the appointment of ex-
Governor and ex-Secretary Chase-a man on
whom more Billingsgate has been poured by
those opposed to the present administration,
than any other statesman of our time - has
been received with singular unanimity by

the Press of the country. Even the World,

which carps at everything the President does,

accepts the appointment as one that could not,

out of the party which it professes to defend,

be bettered.

We are very glad of this. Chief-Justice

Chase is a lawyer and jurist of unquestioned

ability, and is worthy the seat Marshall

adorned. Mr. Chase becomes the head of the

judiciary of the United States under peculiar

circumstances and at a time when the greatest

legal knowledge will be required in order that

grave questions, growing out of the rebellion,

may be satisfactorily adjudicated.

We are convinced from our knowledge of

Mr. Chase's abilities, that his intellect is en-
tirely sufficient to grasp the most difficult legal

problems, and that the dictum of his court will

be accepted everywhere without question. Of

course, like other men, he is fallible and may

make mistakes: but in judicial matters he

will rarely fail to meet the just expectations of

the country. The President must have been

satisfied that in nominating and the Senate in

unanimously confirming Mr. Chase to the seat

held by the late Mr. Taney, they were about

to place on the bench one who is sans peur,

sans reproche-one whose career as a public man

proves him to be truly great, not only as a

statesman but as a lawyer.

Early in his political career Mr. Chase em-
braced the most unpopular questions of the

day. He could not, even with the certainty of

success before him, accept of the repressive

doctrines which, not many years ago, were en-
dorsed by the greater part of the citizens of

the Northern States-doctrines which accepted

slavery as necessary and grounded on Divine

law. He had faith, however, in the people
that sooner or later they would repudiate the

horrible crime which placed a dark stain on

the escutcheon of Liberty; and has lived to

see effected a revolution in the public mind
that has doomed human bondage-placing it
among the things of the past; and for his
purity and consistency has received the high-
est and noblest appointment in the gift of the
President.