When the Republican party was organized, adopting as its principles on the subject of slavery that it might remain undisturbed where it then existed, but should on no condition be extended into territory where it did not then exist, he accepted those views as the best terms for freedom to be obtained peaceably, and perhaps the best the lovers of freedom were warranted under the constitution in demanding. In 1855 he was a member of the convention which organized the Republican party of the state of New York. In the same year he was the candidate of the Republican party for election as justice of the supreme court of the state, to succeed Robert H. Morris, but his party was in the minority. In the same year (1855) he was appointed, by the governor of the state, justice of the supreme court, as the successor of Henry P. Edwards, deceased. In 1856 he was appointed justice of the supreme court of the state to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of James R. Whiting. In 1857 he was again the candidate of the Republican party for justice of the supreme court, but the party was not sufficiently strong to elect him. He served on the bench of the supreme court the terms for which he was appointed, and received more than the votes of his party at the times he was nominated for election.
While serving as justice of the supreme court, and when his term in that court was about to expire, he was offered, by the governor, the appointment of city judge. This would have made him judge of the court of general sessions, the principal criminal court of the city, having jurisdiction of cases of the highest class. This appointment he did not accept. In 1858 he was appointed, by the governor of New York, commissioner of quarantine, to succeed Ex-Gov. Horatio Seymour, with authority to abolish the then present station and erect a new one elsewhere, as the commission might decide. His associates in this commission were men of the highest character, and the commission was one of importance at the time,—just after the quarantine buildings had been destroyed by a terror-stricken mob, and the wildest fears that contagious diseases might be transmitted from such a station had taken possession of many minds.
In 1862 he was appointed, by Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, judge of the United States Provisional Court for the state of Louisiana. This court was called into existence by the necessities of the federal government in respect to its foreign relations, after the conquest of New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana by the army of the United States, during the late war of the rebellion, and while that territory was held in military occupation. A large part of the population of New Orleans and Louisiana was persons of foreign birth and allegiance, having claims on their respective governments for the protection of their rights. Those governments, when appealed to, made demands through their ministers, resident at Washington, on the government of the United States, and the number and importance of these claims had become so great that the state department was much embarrassed by them. Mr. Seward, secretary of state, had been more than half his time since the conquest occupied by them, and they had, in some instances, assumed such proportions as to threaten seriously the relations of the government with foreign powers. In this condition of things it was resolved to constitute a tribunal which should be empowered to decide all these questions, and keep them from the department. Accordingly, the government resolved to establish a court at New Orleans, which should have power to hear and determine every question which could possibly arise out of human transactions, and to make the decisions of that court conclusive of the rights of all parties. To effect that purpose, the following order was made by the President of the United States:—
EXECUTIVE ORDER,
ESTABLISHING A PROVISIONAL COURT IN LOUISIANA.
Executive Mansion, }
Washington, October 20, 1862. }
The insurrection which has for some time prevailed in several of the states of this Union, including Louisiana, having temporarily subverted and swept away the civil institutions of that state, including the judiciary and the judicial authorities of the Union, so that it has become necessary to hold the state in military occupation; and it being indispensably necessary that there shall be some judicial tribunal existing there capable of administering justice, I have, therefore, thought it proper to appoint, and I do hereby constitute, a Provisional Court, which shall be a court of record for the state of Louisiana, and I do hereby appoint Charles A. Peabody, of New York, to be a provisional judge to hold said court, with authority to hear, try, and determine all causes, civil and criminal, including causes in law, equity, revenue, and admiralty, * * * his judgment to be final and conclusive. And I do hereby authorize and empower the said judge to make and establish such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the exercise of his jurisdiction, and to appoint a prosecuting attorney, marshal, and clerk of the said court, who shall perform the functions of attorney, marshal, and clerk, according to such rules and regulations as may be made and established by said judge. * * * A copy of this order, certified by the Secretary of War, and delivered to such judge, shall be deemed and held to be a sufficient commission. Let the seal of the United States be hereunto affixed.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
William H. Seward, Secretary of State.