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of the officers of the United States. The testimo- the port of New York, completely exonerate him y thus offered is not of a positive nature; and from all censure. The offence of this gentleman most of the individuals who have deposed, or cer- is that he attended a meeting of the electors of tified to their statements, speak from presump- the county, in which he resided, and was appointed tion and hearsay, not from their own knowledge. one of a committee, to prepare resolutions for The conduct of the officers at the navy yard in their consideration, which were afterwards reportKings county, is first complained of. It is alleged, (ed and adopted, as the sense of the meeting. These that col. Decatur, and other officers, brought up resolutions approbate the conduct of the vice-prethe persons in public employ to vote; and that sident, during the late war: and severely animadvert "improper attempts were made in a variety of upon the political course of his excellency; but it shapes to operate on the electors." That colonel does not appear that general Swift had any further Decatur, and other officers attached to the navy-agency in this transaction, than the other members yard, were active at the last election, is not de-of the committee. The letter from general Swift, nied by them. The substance of the charge against states, that he did not even know the political senthem is, however, successfully rebutted by the timents of his own deputy, nor of his subordinate certificate of the inspectors of the election, who officers, whom he is accused of influencing. Many are gentlemen of acknowledged respectability. of the individuals, attached to the customhouse, They explicitly declare, that they saw nothing un-in New York, who have subscribed the certificate lawful or dishonorable in the conduct of colonel marked "Customhouse, New York," No. 2, are Decatur, or of any of the officers of the general warm adherents of the governor, and exerted themgovernment; and that no illegal votes were taken.selves at the last election, in his support. The Colonel Decatur states in his affidavit, that, from letter of Mr. Beekman M. Van Beuren, and also the nature of his situation, he has no command that of the deputy surveyor, Mr. Samuel Terry, or official influence over the persons employed both of whom are his avowed friends, furnish adabout the navy-yard; and, while he frankly avows ditional testimony of the injustice of the attack his zeal at the last election, and the motives which upon general Swift; and of the deep regret with actuated him, he disclaims all interference on the which those gentlemen had seen it made. part of the general government, or of any officer, letters of Messrs. Innes, Darling, and Wood, and dependant, or agent thereof. The affidavit of the certificates of Messrs. Anderson and Gabagan, George S. Wise, jun. purser at the navy-yard, is corroborate the others, and prove how highly our of similar import; and the other documents rela-citizens value the elective franchise, by their sotive to his conduct are altogether satisfactory. By lemn protest against any encroachment upon its the affidavit of sailing-master Bloodgood, it appears lawful exercise. It is necessary to remark, that that the quarrel alluded to in one of the certifi- the individual, by whose affidavit the conduct of cates communicated by his excellency, was of a the customhouse officers is impeached, was, at the private, and not of a political nature; and the in-time, an inspector of leather, holding his office Huence of any officer of the general government over him, is denied. The affidavit of Amos Dickinson, the master blacksmith, of Amos Cheney, master laborer, and of James Cosgrove, gunner, exThe conduct of the two inspectors at Staten culpate colonel Decatur, and every other person, Island, Messrs. Van Beuren and Arnett, is adverted from the imputation of influencing their conduct, to, as connected with the department under the and show that those individuals conceived that they superintendence of Gen. Swift. Those individuals were exercising nothing more than their undoubt have long been known as activc republicans, at our ed rights, as free citizens, at the last election. elections. The certificate of the inspectors of the The certificates of doctor Hunt and of the rev, Mr. election, marked "Customhouse, Staten Island," Ireland, are conclusive, as to that part of the sub- No. 1, exonerates them from the charge of improject connected with their names; and must con- per conduct, and fixes it upon one of their ac vince every man, that no undue influence could cusers, whose outrageous and scandalous behaviour, have operated upon gentlemen, entertaining that caused the inspectors to feel some apprehensions high sense of honor, which is their characteristic. for the safety of the ballot boxes, and the offender The letter from Mr. Brockholst Livingston, jun. would have been committed to prison, had the is in reply to a part of the certificate of Mr. John proper officer been present. The numerous affiHunter, contained among the documents furnished davits, accompanying this report, detail a state of by the governor, in which Mr. Livingston is un- facts relative to the certificates transmitted by his truly stated to be a customhouse officer. This excellency upon this part of the case, which must letter was addressed to a member of the senate, excite much mortification and disgust. Some of before the reference of the message to the com- them were obtained from persons who could nei. mittee was known at Brooklyn, and is introduced ther read nor write, and who, being intoxicated at with the consent of the author. The committee the time, were induced to assent to what they have can discover no reason for supposing that the ge- since confessed was false. With the standing of neral government interfered at all in the election the persons who procured them, Messrs. Garrit in Kings county; nor that any organization of its Gilbert and Joshua Secor, the public are already officers existed. No illegal votes were taken; no sufficiently well acquainted. Every material fact person was compelled to vote contrary to the dic-contained in them, is disproved; the characters of tates of his own judgment; and the republican can- those who have certified, are impeached, both modidate who had represented the county the preced- rally and politically; and the whole, in the opinion ing year, and was again supported for the assembly, of the committee, exbibits an abortive effort to failed in his election. The number of votes given arouse jealousy and discontent, without any rafor governor was about the same as on former oc- tional ground for excitement.-That the vice-precasions; and their political complexion did not vary.sident should be assailed by such men, is no reThe documents referred to are marked "Navy proach; but the attempt to fasten upon him the Yard," from No. 1 to 13, inclusive. crime of executing a deed for property, by way o

under the "state administration." The documents referred to, are marked "Customhouse, New York," from No. 1 to No. 9, inclusive.

The documents received from the surveyor of present, and for the purpose of procuring th

votes of electors in his favor, is not merely charac- ter, in the gift of the general government. Is it by teristic of the persecution which has been levelled against him, but manifests a greater degree of malignity than could well have been imagined. The documents relative to the election on Staten Island, are headed "Customhouse, Staten Island," from No. 1 to No. 12, inclusive.

certificates of this loose nature, that the existence of an “organized and disciplined corps" of national officers is to be substantiated? Will the people tolerate such an attempt to enlist their prejudices against the government of the union? The story, "that two men had been sent from Washington last. spring, to oppose the re-election of De Witt Clinton, whose expenses were paid at Washington,” is equally incredible; and major Cooper, who is designated by Mr. Ketcham, as the author of the statement to him, declares "the whole to be à base fabrication, absolutely false, and without the least shadow of foundation." The documents referred to are marked from No. 1 to 4, inclusive.

"The resolution of the citizens of Buffalo," implicating the persons who are attached to the commission for establishing the boundary line between the United States and Canada, would appear to have been prepared solely to confirm the charge previously made by the executive. It was passed a month subsequently to the speech of his excellency, and nearly eight months after the election to which it refers It is scarcely dealing fairly with our com- A perusal of the letter from Jacob Southerland, mon sense to offer this resolution as proof to sub- Esq. and the documents therein referred to, markstantiate an accusation, made long before its adop-ed "District attorney for the northern district." tion. This extraordinary paper is couched in language nearly similar to that employed by the executive in his speech, and sounds like its very echo. The officers of the general government are, in both, denominated a "corps" regularly “organized" to control and coerce the votes of electors. The meeting consisted of some ten or twelve persons; the chairman (Mr. John E. Marshall) held an office under his excellency's administration; and Oliver Forward, Esq. collector of the customs for the port of Buffalo, and at the same time a senator of this state, drew up, or presented this, with other resolutions, which were adopted by the meeting. The other resolutions alluded to, are annexed to this report to shew how little respect this assemblage of ten or twelve "citizens" were disposed to pay to the legislative branch of the state government, how ever obsequious they may have been to the executive branch. The letters and affidavits referred to, are marked "Resolutions of the citizens of Buffalo," from No. 1 to No. 4, inclusive.

The conduct of the judge of the United States for the northern district of this state, and of the district attornies for the northern and southern districts, is next adverted to. With respect to judge Skinner, it is only necessary to remark, that he was elevated to the bench subsequently to his election to the senate, where he now holds his seats by the voice of the people and the sanction of the constitution. He is independent of the general govern Iment for the tenure of his judicial station, and above the suspicion of violating his allegiance to this state, under any circumstances.

Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4, will show that the charge against that gentlemen was unfounded. Indeed, the aliegation is not only an impeachment of his moral integrity, but if true, would have subjected him to a heavy penalty under our laws, and disqualified him from holding any office within this state, and it is therefore not surprising that he should have felt indignant at the effort made by the chief magistrate of the state, to fix upon him so foul an imputation. The person, whose affiidavit contained the aspersion (R. W. Rulifson) is a boy of eighteen years of age, who either ignorantly or malevolently represented as a general opinion, the idle conversation of a few individuals whom he refused to name, Mr. Southerland does not deny his earnest solici tude for the success of the republican candidates, at the last election; but protests against the doctrine that his rights as a citizen are forfeited or impaired by his holding a commission under the United States.

The official conduct of the postmaster general furnishes a prominent topic of complaint in the communication of his excellency; and one upon which the greatest reliance is placed by him, in his attempt to implicate the administration of the general government. The substance of his excellency's charge, upon this subject, is, that the postmaster general, previous and preparatory to the last election of governor in this state, removed se. veral deputy postmasters, because they were the political friends of the executive, and with a view to deter others from his support. This conduct of the postmaster general is pressed with much warmth, by his excellency, as furnishing, when added to the charges insinuated against the president, the secretaries of state, of the treasury, and of the navy, the most satisfactory evidence, that the president and the heads of all the departments of the general government, save one, were engaged in an organized conspiracy against the freedom and purity of our elections. To increase the odium of that offi cer's conduct, his excellency has seen fit to contrast it with that of his predecessor, and to indulge in the unqualified assertion, that "during the able and The certificate of Israel Ketcham, marked X, of impartial administration of the predecessor of the the documents communicated by the governor, is present postmaster general, those offices were conproved to be incorrect in all its parts, by the affi-ferred without any reference to state politics." davits of Robert Tillotson, Esq. and of Mr. William From the documents communicated to the comEaton, and the certificate of major Samuel Cooper. The statement of Mr. Ketcham is too improbable to be credited, independent of all contradictory evidence. He certifies that Mr. Eaton declared, that he was in Mr. Tillotson's office in April last, and there heard Mr. Tillotson direct a gentleman to go to certain persons in the western district and promise them any offices they wanted in that quar

The committee cannot suppress their belief that the clamor raised upon this subject, has been made to subserve other interests than those of the state, when they reflect that, notwithstanding how much has been said and written in relation to it, no attempt has to this day been made to test the right of judge Skinner to his seat. Either the senate are unanimously of opinion that the objections which have been taken are unfounded, or they have been greatly wanting in the discharge of their duty to the people.

mittee, they are well satisfied, not only that the complaints of his excellency are wholly unfounded; but that there is good reason to question the cor rectness of his remark, in relation to the conduct of the for ner postmaster general. While, however, the committee feel it their duty to lay before the legislature the evidence to disprove the allegations of the governor, in this particular, they desire not

ral, upon emoval, one of the avowed causes of which was, that the former incumbent, Mr. Woodruff, had supported Morgan Lewis, for the office of governor of this state. But this is not all. They further show that the abuses of the post office department, in this state, have been, for years, a subject of com. plaint; and that blank commissions or warrants were entrusted to his excellency, the present governor, and the present chief justice, by the late postinas. ter general, leaving the selection of the officer to their discretion. How far that discretion was expected to be influenced by political considerations, the

to be considered as admitting that the conduct off the postmaster general would have been subject to just censure, if he had made the selections for those appointments, from among the republican citizens of this state, who are not included in his excellency's denomination of "friends of the state administration." For although the committee are not the advocates of political intolerance, or of Injustice of any kind, they can neither stifle nor abandon the conviction, that a just and patriotie administration ought to confer its favors on those, who, at periods of great public embarrassment, as well as of national peril, have sustained and sup-cotemporaneous letter of the chief justice, and the ported the government, in preference to those who are, and have been incessant in their labors to stig. matise its motives, and frustrate its efforts in the

known political course and temper of the gentlemen by whom it was to be exercised, connot fail to indicate.

Nos 12, 13, and 14, explain the transaction, in public cause. In this state, at least, and in this relation to which the conduct of Mr. Borland is particular, this course, which is dictated by justice, censured. The whole affair is, in the opinion of and would be consecrated by patriotism, the com- the committee, too trifling and irrelevant to require mittee regret to be obliged to say, has not been a single remark. pursued. The certificate and affidavits, marked A, B, C, The postmasters, whose removals are complain-D, and E, relate to the reception given to the ed of, are Halsey Rogers, Levi M'Keen, Alpheus vice-president, last spring, upon his arrival at NewDoty, Stephen B. Leonard, Samuel Smith, Slade D. York from this city. This appears to have been Brown, Hezekiah L.. Granger, Nathan Chamberlin, and David Holt. The documents marked "Post Office," from No. 1 to No. 14, relate to this subject. No 1, shows that the postmaster general was not actuated by the motives attributed to him.

No. 2, That Halsey Rogers was removed at the instance of the two members of congress representing the district in which he resides, (one of them Mr. Gross, an avowed and distinguished political friend of the executive), on the ground that "the people had lost all confidence in him as a public officer."

projected and conducted by militia officers,” who having formerly served under him, anxious to exhibit a mark of their entire confidence in his integ rity and patriotism, notwithstanding the obloquy which had been heaped upon him. This tribute of respect, paid to the vice-president by the militia officers, was nothing more than a voluntary testimonial of gratitude for public services; the officers of the general government had no considerable participation in the arrangement; and an indiscribable obliquity of perception alone, could have discover. ed in it the manifestation of a design to corrupt the purity, or to prostrate the independence of the state government.

No. 3, Is a letter from Mr. Schuyler, the member of congress from the district in which Mr. M'Keen resides, stating the grounds on which his removal The declarations attributed to Dr. John H. Sac. was asked. In addition to this letter, a great num- kett, are positively denied in his letter, marked F, ber of letters, affidavits, and other documents, be- and the certificate of lieut. W. D. Agur, marked ing the papers on which this removal was made, G, corroborates such denial. Admitting, however, have been laid before the committee, which incon- that Dr. Sackett had used the expression ascribed testibly show, that the removal of Mr. M'Keen, to him, it may be asked, is a declaration made at a and the appointment of Mr. Van Ness, were called breakfast table, in a public boarding-house, serifor by all parties, and on grounds wholly discon-ously considered by his excellency as proof of the nected with politics. The great length of the documents has prevented their being incorporated with this report, and they are therefore filed with the clerk of the assembly.

Nos. 4, 5, and 6, show the grounds on which Messrs. Doty, Smith and Brown were removed, and that they were not political. It is conceded by the message of his excellency, that the alleged reasons for the removals of Messrs. Holt, Leonard and Chamberlin, were other than political; and the committee are persuaded that the reasons assigned by the postmaster general, are those by which he was actuated.

No. 7, Is submitted to show, that the application for the removal of Mr. Chamberlin, originated with the representatives from the county in which he resided.

organization of the officers of the general govern ment, "to break down the power of the state."

The committee lament, that loose, and inadver tent observations, are thus treasured up by the executive, inasmuch as it furnishes some ground for the belief, that a system of espionage is in opera tion, and that the movements of our citizens are watched, and their words marked down to their prejudice: A system, inconsistent with the spirit of our free institutions, and subversive of all indepeñdence of action, and of the freedom of speech., A system, which must inhibit social intercourse, and excite animosities, fatal alike to our moral happi ness and political prosperity.

Upon a careful examination of the documents thus recapitulated, the committee feel confident that the conviction of every mind must be, that the The papers, numbered 8, 9, 10, and 11, will ena. charge made by his excellency against the geneble the legislature to estimate the justice of the ral administration and their officers in this state, attempt, on the part of his excellency, to implicate has not been substantiated, and is wholly unfoundthe conduct of the present postmaster general, by ed. The committee must express their unfeigned contrasting it with that of his predeoessor. These regret, that his excellency had not deemed it con documents show that the very gentleman (Mr. Mo.sistent with his ideas of respect for the general nell) who first called on the postmaster general, on government, to have solicited an inquiry into the the subject of the recent removals in this state, subject of his accusation, before a positive charge and who has been among the most vehement in had been prefered. The agitation of the public denouncing those measures, received the appoint-, mind, and of the national legislature, relative to the ment of postmaster from the late postmaster gene- admission of Missouri into the union, and the then

approaching presidential election might, and in the narrowed them down to the simple enquiry, wheopinion of the committee ought to have indicated, ther the house of representatives can take cognito his excellency, that the time which he selected zance of contempts committed against themselves, to arraign the conduct of the national administra-under any circumstances? The duress complained tion, and of its officers was peculiarly inauspicious. of was sustained under a warrant issued to compel The frequency with which attempts to excite sim-the party's appearance, not for the actual infliction ilar alarms, have been made from the same quar- of punishment for an offence committed. Yet it ter, has proved highly prejudicial to the character cannot be denied, that the 'power to institute a of our state, and has sullied her dignity. Her in- prosecution must be dependant upon the power to fluence in the union has been checked; her pros- punish. If the house of representatives possessed perty at home diminished; the tranquility of her no authority to punish for contempt, the initiating citizens disturbed; and the most bitter political process, issued in the assertion of that authority, animosities engendered. So often the theatre on must have been illegal; there was a want of juriswhich hostility to the general government has been diction to justify it. displayed, this state has, in a measure, lost the con. It is certainly true, that there is no power given fidence of the wise and good men of other states: by the constitution, to either house, to punish for and we regret to say, is too much regarded as the contempts, except when committed by their own focus of intrigue, around which the discontented of members. Nor does the judicial or criminal power all parties rally, and raise the standard of disaffec-given to the United States, in any part, expressly tion. Her wealth, her resources, her public spirit, and her patriotism, entitle New-York to a distinguished rank in the nation; and demand that the policy which has hitherto impeded her merited elevation, should be abandoned, and a more liberal) and enlightned course pursued; a course, which shall be characterised by magnanimous and manly feeling, ingenuous towards the national administration, respectful towards our sister states, and honorable to ourselves.

extend to the infliction of punishment for contempt of either house, or any one co-ordinate branch of the government. Shall we, therefore, decide that no such power exists?

does not draw after it others, not expressed, but vital to their exercise; not substantive and independent, indeed, but auxilliary and subordinate.

It is true, that such a power, if it exists, must be derived from implication, and the genius and spirit of our institutions are hostile to the exercise of implied powers. Had the faculties of man been competent to the framing of a system of govern. ment, which would have left nothing to implication, Nothing can be gained, but every thing is haz-it cannot be doubted that the effort would have arded by a policy which tends to excite discord and been made by the framers of the constitution. But discontent between the general and state govern- what is the fact? There is not in the whole of ments; and the peculiar organization of our repub-that admirable instrument a grant of powers which lic, renders harmony between them indispensable to their permanency. Mutual dependence ought to ensure mutual confidence: unfounded jealousies beget recrimination, and ought never to be indul. The idea is utopian that government can exist ged. This confidence between the general and without leaving the exercise of discretion somestate governments being once destroyed, and these where. Public security, against the abuse of such jealousies once aroused, who can anticipate, with-discretion, must rest on responsibility, and stated out serious apprehensions, the consequences which appeals to public approbation. Where all power must ensue. Then, indeed, would the "aspirations is derived from the people, and public functionaof ambition" have full scope; the fair fabric of our ries, at short intervals, deposite it at the feet of the liberties be prostrated; and the majesty of the peo-people, to be resumed again only at their will, indiple humbled before the sceptre of some successful vidual fears may be alarmed by the monsters of imtyrant. If the hope expressed by his excellency, agination, but individual liberty can be in little danthat "impartial posterity" will applaud him for his ger. "conduct on this occasion," can afford him any consolation, the committee feel no wish to dispel the flattering illusion; but they cannot refrain from expressing their entire conviction, that from the just censure of the present generation he cannot escape, The committee offer, for the consideration of the legislature, the following resolution:

No one is so visionary as to dispute the assertion, that the sole end and aim of all our institutions is the safety and happiness of the citizen. But the relation between the action and the end is not always so direct and palpable as to strike the eye of every observer. The science of government is the most abstruse of all sciences; if, indeed, that can Resolved, (if the honourable the senate concur be called a science which has but few fixed princi. herein,) That the accusation, made by his excellen-ples, and practically consists in little more than the cy the governor, against the officers of the gener-exercise of a sound discretion, applied to the exi al government, charging them with interfering, as gencies of the state as they arise. It is the science an "organized and disciplined corps," in our elec- of experiment. tions, and of violating the "purity and independence of our local government," has not been substantiated, and is wholly unfounded.

All which is respectfully submitted.
By order of the joint committee.

SAM'L. B. ROMAINE, chairman.

Anderson vs. Dunn. Opinion of the supreme court in the case of Anderson vs. Dunn.

Mr. Justice JOHNSON-Notwithstanding the range which has been taken by the plaintiff's counsel, in the discussion of this cause, the merits of it really lie in a very limited compass. The pleadings have

But, if there is one maxim which necessarily rides over all others, in the practical application of government, it is, that the public functionaries must be left at liberty to exercise the powers which the people have intrusted to them. The interests and dignity of those who created them require the exertion of the powers indispensable to the attainment of their creation. Nor is a casual conflict, with, the rights of particular individuals any reason to be urged against the exercise of such powers. The wretch beneath the gallows may repine at the fate which awaits him, and yet it is no less certain that the laws under which he suffers were made for his security. The unreasonable murmurs of individuals against the restraints of society, have

Nor is it immaterial to notice what difficulties

a direct tendency to produce that worst of all des- | favor; for "non constat" from the pleadings, but that potisms which makes every individual the tyrant this warrant issued for an offence committed in the over his neighbor's rights. immediate presence of the house. That "the safety of the people is the supreme law," not only comports with, but is indispensable the negation of this right in the house of represento, the exercise of those powers in their public tatives draws after it, when it is considered that functionaries, without which that safety cannot the concession of the power if exercised within be guarded. On this principle it is that courts of their walls, relinquishes the great grounds of the justice are universally acknowledged to be vested, argument, to wit: the want of an express grant, by their very creation, with power to impose si-and the unrestricted and undefined nature of the lence, respect, and decorum, in their presence, power here set up. For, why should the house be and submission to their lawful mandates, and, as a at liberty to exercise an ungranted, an unlimited, corollary to this proposition, to preserve themselves and undefined power within their walls, any more and their officers from the approach and insults of than without them? If the analogy with individual pollution. right and power be resorted to, it will reach no farther than to exclusion, and it requires no exuberance of imagination to exhibit the ridiculous consequences which might result from such a restriction, imposed upon the conduct of a deliberative assembly.

It is true, that the courts of justice of the United States are vested, by express statute provision, with power to fine and imprison for contempts, but it does not follow from this circumstance, that they would not have exercised that power without the aid of the statute, or not, in cases, if such should Nor would their situation be materially relieved occur, to which such statute provision may not ex-by resorting to their legislative power within the tend; on the contrary, it is a legislative assertion district. That power may, indeed, be applied to of this right, as incidental to a grant of judicial many purposes, and was intended by the constitu. power, and can only be considered either as an in- tion to extend to many purposes indispensable to stance of abundant caution, or a legislative decla-the security and dignity of the general governration that the power of punishing for contempt ment; but they are purposes of a more grave and shall not extend beyond its known and acknowledg-general character than the offences which may be ed limits of fine and imprisonment.

But, it is contended that, if this power in the house of representatives is to be asserted on the plea of necessity, the ground is too broad, and the result too indefinite; that the executive, and every co-ordinate, branch of the government, may resort to the same justification, and the whole assume to themselves, in the exercise of this power, the most tyrannical licentiousness.

This is unquestionably an evil to be guarded against, and, if the doctrine may be pushed to that extent, it must be a bad doctrine, and is justly denounced.

denominated contempts, and which, from their very nature admit of no precise definition. Judicial gravity will not admit of the illustrations which this remark would admit of. Its correctness is easily tested by pursuing in imagination, a legislative attempt at defining the cases to which the epithet contempt might be reasonably applied.

But, although the offence be held undefinable, it is justly contended that the punishment need not be indefinite. Nor is it so.

We are not now considering the extent to which the punishing power of congress, by a legislative act, may be carried. On that subject the bounds of their power are to be found in the provisions of the constitution.

The present question is, what is the extent of the punishing power, which the deliberative assemblies of the union may assume and exercise on the principle of self-preservation?

But what is the alternative? The argument obviously leads to the total annihilation of the power of the house of representatives to guard itself from contempts, and leaves it exposed to every indignity and interruption that rudeness, caprice, or even conspiracy, may meditate against it. This result is fraught with too much absurdity not to bring Analogy and the nature of the case furnish the into doubt the soundness of any argument from answer-"the least possible power adequate to the end which it is derived. That a deliberative assembly, proposed;" which is the power of imprisonment. clothed with the majesty of the people, and charg-It may at first view, and from the history of the ed with the care of all that is dear to them; com-practice of our legislative bodies, be thought to exposed of the most distinguished citizens, selected tend to other inflictions. But every other will be and drawn together from every quarter of a great found to be mere commutation for confinement; nation; whose deliberations are required by pub- since commitment alone is the alternative where lic opinion to be conducted under the eye of the the individual proves contumacious. And even to public, and whose decisions must be clothed with the duration of imprisonment a period is imposed all that sanctity which unlimited confidence in their by the nature of things, since the existence of the wisdom and purity can inspire: that such an assem-power that imprisons is indispensable to its conbly should not possess the power to suppress rude-tinuance; and, although the legislative power conness or repel insult, is a supposition too wild to be tinues perpetual, the legislative body ceases to suggested. And, accordingly, to avoid the pres-exist on the moment of its adjournment or periodisure of these considerations, it has been argued, cal dissolution. It follows that imprisonment must that the right of the respective houses to exclude terminate with that adjournment. from their presence, and their absolute control This view of the subject necessarily sets bounds within their own walls, carry with them the right to the exercise of a caprice which has sometimes to punish contempts committed in their presence, disgraced deliberative assemblies, when under the while the absolute legislative power given to con-influence of strong passions or wicked leaders, but gress within this district, enables them to provide by law against all other insults against which there is any necessity for providing.

It is to be observed, that, so far as the issue of this cause is implicated, this argument yields all right of the plaintiff in error, to a decision in his

the instances of which have long since remained on record only as historical facts, not as precedents for imitation. In the present fixed and settled state of English institutions, there is no more danger of their being revived, probably, than in our own.

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