pioneers of the spoils system, there are those in this country who should be grateful to the memory of their benefactor, even if they do not envy him the distinction; On the other hand, it is but just to inquire if the people who received such appointments were unfit for them; and that does not seem to have been the case, whereas, as will be seen in the course of this article, Pennsylvania owes her greatest Chief-Justice not only to Mr. McKean's wisdom of choice, but also to his sticking to his opinion when the popular voice objected to the man he had chosen. And in the famous impeachment of ChiefJustice Shippen, Mr. McKean's upholding Judge Brackinridge against the noisy dema gogues of that day is another signal instance of his stanch rectitude and independence. The character of Thomas McKean is so marked, among the leading men in Pennsyl vania history, that the preceding general allusions to his times seemed worth making before coming to a particular account of the man himself. He was born in Chester County, March 19, 1734. He studied law in Newcastle, Delaware, and was clerk to the Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas. When twenty, he was admitted to the bar of Chester County. Among the many well known names from all parts of the country of those who subscribed to the first Ameri can edition of Blackstone, printed in 1771, appears that of "Thomas McKean, Attorney at Law, Newcastle, Delaware." Adamses, Cabots, Livingstons, DeLanceys, Pringles, Middletons, and many more are in that in teresting list. Mr. McKean was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court in 1758. During these days he joined what was known as " Richard Williams' Company of foot." A month after his admission to the Supreme Court, he went to London. It is plain that in spite of the practical sort of training which his legal experience thus far must have given him, he felt the need of a quality of education that could not be had on this side of the water. Until 1877 his sojourn at the Middle Temple was not
known; but in that year the curious acci dent of an old law-book's turning up, in which was written "Tho. McKean, of the Middle Temple," led to the discovery of his name in the records of that place, entered on May 9, 1758. This lengthy schooling equipped him in the law as none of his pre decessors had been, and enabled our State reports to start off after the Revolution with such admirable decisions, that no less a per son than Lord Mansfield wrote to Chief-Jus tice McKean after reading the first volume of Dallas : " They do credit to the court, the bar, and the reporter. They show readiness in practice, liberality in principle, strong reason, and legal learning." Another con temporary wrote: " I had a high esteem for him, believing him to be a very honest man, although a very violent one, who had no command of his temper, but spoke what ever he thought upon all occasions." An incident that occurred when McKean was forty years old will give a notion of his keen and aggressive personality. He was counsel in a slander suit for the defendant, who bore the happily apt name of Buncom, and the plaintiff's case was so clear that Mc Kean made no attempt to dispute the facts. Instead, he brought out an army of witnesses, who testified that his client was such a noto rious liar that no man in Chester County (his dwelling-place) believed anything that he said. This led to the conclusion that the plaintiff 's good name could not possibly be damaged by a word that came from the defendant's mouth, and the verdict was ac cordingly for the defendant! By this time, 1774, Mr. McKean had held nine public offices, many of them of great responsibility; and national politics now called him to fur ther and more important duties. He had already, in 1765, been a marked figure in con nection with the Stamp Act Congress, to gether with Caesar Rodney (his right-hand man), from Delaware, James Otis, Timothy Ruggles (who was its President), and oth ers. The upshot of this is characteristic of McKean and discreditable to Ruggles. Both
