When President Lincoln, in 1861, authorized the denial of the writ of _habeas corpus_ to persons arrested on a charge of treason, Chief Justice Taney delivered an opinion in the case of John Merryman, denying the President's power to suspend the writ, declaring that Congress only was competent to do it.
The Executive Department paid no attention to the decision, and Congress, at the ensuing session, added its sanction to the suspension.

The Chief Justice, though loyal to the Union, was not in sympathy with the policy or the measures of Mr.Lincoln's administration..