HALE. 466 HALE. denced hii Language (1883), and The Iroquois JUmk of kites (1883). HALE, John Parker (1800-73). An Ameri- eau statesman and orator, born in Itochester, N. H. He studied at Phillips Exeter Academy, graduated at Bowdoin College in 1827, and three years later was admitted to the bar. His polit- ical career began in 1832, when, as a strong Jacksonian Democrat, he was elected to the New Hampshire State Legislature. In 1834 he was appointed by President Jackson United States District Attorney tor New Hampshire, was reappointed by Van Buren in 1838, and served until removed by Tyler in 1841. His nomination and election to Congress in 1842 followed natural- ly. Once in Congress, however, he soon asserted las independence, and spoke and voted against the adoption of the 'gag rule' (q.v.), intended to put a stop to anti-slavery petitions. He still remained a stanch Democrat, however, sup- ported Polk and Dallas in the campaign of 1844, and was renominated without opposition. Be- fore the Congressional election, however, Texan annexation having been adopted by the Demo- cratic Party as one of the main features of its programme, the New Hampshire Legislature, in December, 1844, passed resolutions instructing its Senators and Congressmen to favor that policy. Hale, however, came out with a public statement opposing annexation on anti-slavery grounds. The Democratic State Convention was thereupon hastily reassemlded at Concord. Hale was branded as a traitor to the party, and his name was stricken from the ticket. In the subsequent election he ran as an independent candidate, and as neitber he, the regular candidate, nor the Whig candidate obtained a majority of the votes cast, the district was unrepresented. In the face of an apparently invincible Democratic majority, he set out to win the State over to the anti-slavery cause, addressed meetings in every town and village in New Hampshire, carrying on a remark- able canvass known as the 'Hale Storm of 1845,' and was rewarded with seeing the State choose a Legislature in whicb the Wbigs and Independent Democrats had a majority of the votes. He himself was elected to the Lower House, and was chosen Speaker, and in 1847 was elected to the United States Senate. True to his convictions, he alone refused to vote in favor of the resolu- tion tendering the thanks of Congress to Scott and Taylor for their victories in the Mexican War. in 1849 be was joined in the Senate by Chase and Seward, and in 1851 by Sumner, as co- advocates of the anti-slavery cause. In 1848 he supported Van Buren for the Presidency. In 1851 he was counsel for the rescuers of the slave Shadraeh in Boston. At the national conven- tion of Free-Soil Democrats, held at Pittsburg in 1852, Hale was nominated for President, and George W. -Julian, of Indiana, for Vice-President. The ticket polled 157.685 votes. At the expira- tion of his Senatorial term in 1853. Hale was succeeded by Charles G. Atherton; but after two years, which he spent in law practice in New York, the Legislature of New Hampshire having again an anti-slavery majority, he was elected to (ill the vacancy caused by Senator Atherton'j death. In 1858 he was reelected, as a Republican, for a full term, and served until 1865, completing, in all, a service of sixteen years in the Senate. During the war he was a consistent supporter of President Lincoln's policy, and upon his retire- ment from the Senate he was appointed Minis- ter to Spain, where he remained for four years. HALE, Sir Matthew (1609-76). A distin- guislied English lawyer and judge, born at Al- dcrley, in Gloucestershire, November 1, 1609. His paternal grandfather was a wealthy trades- man, while his mother was a member of the noble familj' of Poyntz of Acton. Left an or- phan at the age of five, he wa.s placed under the care of the Puritan Vicar of Walton-under- Edge, who prepared him for college. He entered Magdalen Hall, Oxford, at sixteen ; at the age of twenty he was enrolled as a member of Lin- coln's Inn, and entered upon the study of the law with great zeal and industry. During this period he is said to have worked sixteen hours .a day, reading and rereading all the year-books, reports, and law treatises in print, delving into the records of the Tower of Lomlon and other repositories of antiquarian law. He also devoted considerable time to investigations in Roman law, in mathematics, in physics, chemistry, history, philosophy, medicine, and theology. Called to the bar in 1637, he quickly gained a large prac- tice, and soon became prominent also in public affairs. While a Puritan in principle, he was not a partisan by nature, nor was he an anti- royalist. As long as possible he maintained a position of neutrality between the opposing fac- tions in the State, having taken Pomponius At- ticus as his political model. Upon the triumph of Parliament he signed the Solemn League and Covenant, sat in the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, tried to bring about a settlement between the King and Parliament, and after the death of Charles I. threw in his lot with the Commonwealth. Although, as a member of the Commons, he spoke in favor of subordinating 'the single person' to Parliament, the Protector made him a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1653. He declined a reappointment by Richard Cromwell. Having taken an active part in the restoration of Charles II., that monarch appoint- ed him Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 1660,' and made him a knight. Eleven years later Hale was advanced to the Chief Justiceship, which he held until failing health forced him to resign in February, 1676. L^pon his withdrawal from ]iiddic life he retired to his native Alderley, where he died the following Christmas. Hale's fame as a lawyer and a judge is very great. Lord Campbell accounts him "the most eminent judge who ever filled the office of Chief Baron." His authority upon legal questions was deemed Avell-nigh infallible during the latter years of his life. His Analysis of the Law fur- nished Blackstone with an outline for bis Com- mentaries. The other legal publications of Sir Matthew Hale which are most highly esteemed are: De Jure Maris;, Commentary to Fitzher- hert's Natura Brevium ; and A History of the Common Law. He bequeathed many valuable manuscripts to Lincoln's Inn, where they are still treasured. Consult: Burnet. Life and Death of Sir Matthew Hale (London. 1682) ; Williams, Life of Hale (London. 1835) : Campbell, Lives of the Chief Justices (Boston. 1873). HALE, Nathan (1756-76). A Revolutionary patriot, who met his death under circumstances that have made him famous in American history. He w.as born at Coventry. Conn., graduated with high honors at Yale in 1773, taught school at
