The Federal mirror — Concord, N.H., 1796-02-23 00:00:00, page 2

ereaed by COngreft. The teg'&tore^vcony
' frqjence refolded, that a memorial and re
mooftrance Ihou'd be presented to Congiefi
on this fubjea. In thi& remonaraDce they
fay " that the proceedings and decree'of the
court of appeals, agaiuft the m^morialifts,
is derogatory to the dignity and indepeod
~ ancy of this State. That by the maritime
laws of the State, " no appeal in this case
could be allowed to Congreh, or any court
by them appointed, prior' to the confedera
tion ; which was ratified long after the de
finitive sentence of our Supreme Judicial
Court ; by which the property claimed was
-condemned and distributed : that the legis
lature were feofible, Corgrefs in 1775 ptff
ed a resolve, recommending that appeals in
all maritime caufe# might finally be made
to them, or such persons as Congress might
appoint for the hearing and decision thereof;
and many Sates in the Union adopted the
measure recommended. While this, and
some other States, conceiving the rule too
general, only adopted it in certain cases.—
That this State in consequence of a recom
mendation of Congreh, early ereded mari
time courts for the trial of all captures by
jury ; which mode of decision, io such cauf
ec, his been faeredly adhered to fioce : and
no appeal from the definitive sentence of our
courts to Congress, has ever been granted,
but only in such cases as the laws of this
State exprefsiy dired. The States io gen
eral, at the early period of the resolve re
fpeaing appeals, conceived a compliance
with the refolve# of Congress to be option
al, not having the force of law io any indi
vidual State ; 'till the fame had received the
fanftion of the legislature of that State.—
X The importunate applications of Cangrefy,
from time to time, to the refpeaive legidi
tures in the uaioo, prior to the confedera
tion, on the fubjed of maritime and other
affairs, confirmed this opinion. As the per
manent laws of ths State forbid appeals to
Coogreft, in the case mentioned in the me-,
morial, it muff be taken for granted, that
no power was ever delegated by the State,
to its member# in Congress, to repeal the
municipal laws thereof. That though it is
exp^fsly stipulated by the federal union,
that the final appellant jurifdi&iob, in mari
time causes, should be vested in the courts
by Congress appointed ; this only prove#
that thi# court might constitutionally exei,
cib such jurifdißiou in future ; but is no
evidence of their right to it, antecedent to
that period, but of the contrary ; that the
confederation guarantees to each State in the
union, all the rights of sovereign and inde
pendent States, not exprtfily given to Con
gress thereby; and that compaa does not
exprebly give the right of final appellant
iwildidion, m the cause, where they arro
gated to themselves such a power."
Upon this remonstrance being preferred
to Congreft, a committee was appointed
thereon, namely, Mr. Ellery, Mr. Hand,
? Mr. Spaight, Mr, Jefferfon and Mr. Lee ;
who reported, " that Ibefaid capture, hav
fen, while appeals to fob in such cases
were abblmely refuted by their legifo,
neither Congrefa nor any perfoos deriving
authority from them, had jurifdiaion io the
Newbampihire, Kqpgeiuana, Connecticut,
Newjerfey, Pennsylvania and Northcarolina,
•lui^/rthnfpfra find Maryland ao^inft
¥W°'°'
jhe queftioa for agreeing to the resolve re
ported by the committee was loft. rf )
A private story ol Congressional hiftory
is here related, that by the accidental indif
petition of one of the Virginia delegation,
the question was loft. Had he, as he was
urgent for agreeing to the report of the
committee, and in faft was one of them,
been present, the question of jurifdiaion
would perhaps have ever in future been still;
a# his vote would have completed seven
States in favor of it.
Doane, or rather the administrators of the
estate of Doane, in June 1784, commenced
an adioo of trover, founded bo the judg
ment of the court of appeals for reftorarion,
in the county of Suffolk, Commonweals of
Massachusetts, which was appealed to the
Supreme Judicial Court. Where in Feb.
1786, on the trial of the cause, the decree
of the court of appeals was offered in evi
dence to prove the property in the plain
tiffs, objection was made to its going in evi
dence ; when the question of jurifdiaion
was fully and at large discussed, and the
court consisting of Judges Cutting, Sar
geant, and Sewall, were of opinion, that the
court of appeals had no jurifdiaion of the
cause, and that the sentence ot the Superior
Court of Newhampthire Wat frial, and- re
futed to admit it in evidence. In canfe
quence of which the administrators of Doane
difcontiaued the suit.
Defeated in two States, and upheld only
by the court# of Congreft, who did not pof
fefi the power of carrying into execution
their decree ; the adminiftritors of Doane's
estate did not entirely quit the field ; but
again in March 1786, brought an adion
against the owners of the M'Clary in Penn
sylvania ; having found a brigantine there,
belonging to one of them, which they at
tached. In September 1787, the cause was
decided against the adminiftratoriof Doane's
estate ; upon the principle, it it said, that a
.common law court could not carry, into ef
feft byway of damages, the decree of a
court of admiralty.
Mr. Bourne, the agent for the adminiftra
lors, from thenceforth determined, no more
to apply to State courts to try his cause ;
p they had decided uniformly in favour of
State jurifdidioa, whenever that was the
question before them. As the courts of
Congress had as uniformly decreed, that
the, had jurifdiaion. And of all the cir
cumstances we meet with in courts of law,
there ii none so ludicrous ; if such a term is
legal when speaking of them, as this, of a
courts deciding whether they have jurisdic
tion. They always have, and we trust, they
always will determine, that they have. Rom
the deputes between the chancery and the
common law courts in Cokes day, to the
time of the M'Clary cause. Judges have
been dfati, " ampliare jttrijdiaionem" and,
it is ading the part of a good Judge.
[To Jr c^taed]
CONCORD, feb. 23, 1796. ^ty
NO NEWsTnO NE^S! ft
O When there is no News, the people fay, Hang
the printers ! there's no news now—we won't have
the papers—But flop, good folks and gentle readers,
do not determine too haftily—ln all probability we
ft.all have News enough by and by-though we have
intereiiing ouropean inieingcucv
to communicate at present-a very general, ¥
taining and interesting assortment is hourly expert
ftha fAfAinn orrtvalc K
aDDetites-Be tafo^ance
are &tw, torotfet great diffi^m)—
good friends-when the Newsarrivesm will care
fully cull the most Wonderful ! the meft Interring !
the mefl Sorptifog ! these we'll forward to you
„fi-b^fa. ——As to ourr
DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE,
the affairs of the United States never appeared more
, .favorably—the most j>&fe& tranquility appears to
reign every where—Congress moves quietly along ;
the jacobins hare hung themselves for shame—the
Mobiles shrunk into oblivious darkness—Peace in
quiet holds her gentle reign—and the public mind
reposes in confidence—O happy, happy land! long'
may thy prosperity continue—May thy Agriculture
be improved—thy Commerce extended—thy Arts
refined—and Wisdom's own hand guide all our
public councils.
PORTSMOUTH, (Eng ) NOV. If.
. Admiral Sir John Jarvis is failed with the
Mediterranean fleet § and Admiral Corn
wa!lis is failed with the fleet under his com
mand, to relieve Admiral Harvey in Qaib'4
eron-ftiy.'
The Weftindia fleet flffl remains at St.,
Helens, the wind prevailing from the west
ward. s^c^h [4
Another embarkation of 7000 troops for
QuiberoA-Bay, is talked of.~
The bill to prevent feditioos affemblie#,
was on the 13th Nov. ordered to be read a
third time in the House of Lords,;
Contents +4l
Proxies 25
66 I
•Non Contents 5 JI
Proxies 2
— 7 &
Majority for the bill 591
Lord Thurlow retired before the divifioo.
In the House of Commons, on the tach,
Nov. it was ordered to be read a fecund
time.l
Ayes 133
Noes
Majority for the bill 112
EMIGRArioNIo AMERICA. '
Arts, Commerce, Manufactures, and Agri
culture, are all emigrating co America.—
Mr. Hadfield, brother to Maria Crofway,
the eminent architect of Gainsborough, who|
designed the elegant bridge at that town,, ,1
and Mr. Groves, of Birmingham, have all,
followed Mr. Russell, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Ed
dowes, Mr. Humphries, Mr. Cruger, Mr.*[
Vaughn, Mr. Church, Mr. Goring, Mr. -|
Waikiofon, Mr, Shipley, Mr. Atterbury,
and the two Bakewell#, to America. Law,l
Physic, and Divinity, are following; Dr. „|
Briefly, the Rev, Mr. Wells, of Bromf
grove, Mr. Rains, the barrister, and Dr., la-^
ten the Ph,fcian, are amoagft the most "
eminent. ^I
— ifefye — - -1
Fourth Federal CongrefSfr' }
HOUSE—feb. i.l
(THE important.bill for establishing trad-J
!ing houfe# for the Indians, has been difeuff- ^ ,
cd. The cantal to be appropriated to the f|
objea, it has been moved should be One $
Hundreds Fifty Thoufaad Dollars—[
And after a confiderabte debate has been
adopted.! The debat^ia not tetereffmg 11
and the bill passed to be engroffed—sß■
member# fifing in favor of it.
£ CENTINEL--- BOSTON, fbb.% '|
iOaMonday Jaft arrived here, the ship RU- |
by, Captain Cote, to 70 day. from Spain, „|
^°' o °m ^ hi &:"bJXo%'uX'd J
Pinckney, on the one parr, and the Duke ' ।