The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1808-03-03 00:00:00, page 3

be the clerk of the superior court of that
county in which such district court shall
iuive been holden. And the appoint
ments so to be made, shall, on or before
the first day of March next,be certified
by the judges to the several county
courts, who shall proceed to take such
bond from the said clerk, and administer
such, oaths to him, as were heretofore
required in the case of the clerks of dis
trict courts.
Ac it further enacted, That the clerks
of the several courts hereby established,
shall have power to appoint deputies,
with the approbation of their several
uourts, who shall be qualified as depu
ties of the county clerks are usually
qualified ; and thereupon such deputies
fe.ull have lull power and authoritv to
do aud perform all the several acts'and
dunes enjoined upon their principals.
Be it further enacted, That each judge
ol the general court shall have power,
motion made and for good cause
. .wt, n at the liar o! any superior court
y.unm his circuit, to change the venire
in any cause depending in either of the
co urts hereby established within his cir
cuit, so that such change be to some o
tuer court wi.hm his circuit. But the
£> ncr.u court shall have power, as here
toloie, to change the venire from cir
cuit to circuit.
^‘L it funner enacted, That all jiiclp"
iiients rendered in the district courts
Wlore the first of January next, which
'■tail,© t that day, be wholly, or in part,
unexecuted, shall be executed by the
lc3t)' ctive superior courts of those coun
m wni„h the same sla *11 have been
tendered. ^ And every ju lgm nt ren
dered by the court of apj eals, after the
sa.d iiis«t day ol January, upon any ap
])eal, writ of i rr« r, or supersedeas at
law, shad be certified to the superior
court of t.uu county, in which the first
ju Ig.uent stiall have been rendered ; and
taj power and duties of the said last
mentioned court, and of the clerk there
x, snail be the same in relation to such
ju lament, as the power and duties of
t'i' disti ict court, and the clerk thereof,
Would have been if this act had never
betn passed.
lie it further enacted, That every cause
<ti wnich the venire hath been, or shall
be, changed by the general court, prior
*f> the said first day of January, and
Winch shall remain untried on that day,
tth.ul be tried by the superior court of
th < county to which the same shall have
hffeu removed ; and the superior courts
of those counties in which the respec
tive district courts are now holden, shall
have jurisdiction to try all such causes
as, on the first day of January next,
shall remain on the dockets thereof, and
which shall not be transmitted to some
other county for trial, by virtue of this
act.
Be it further enacted, That all the pa
pers hereby directed to he certified by
the clerks of district courts to the clerks
ot the courts hereby established, shall
be delivered to the last mentioned clerks
on or before the first day of March, in
the year 1809, who shall thereupon pro
ceed to prepare dockets for the first
terms of their respective courts.
Be it further enacted, That it shall he
lawful for the clerks of the district
courts, to issue all such original writs,
or process thereon, until the first of
March aforesaid, directed to the several
sheriffs or coroners within their respec
tive district?, as they might heretofore
have lawfully issued ; but all such writs,
or process thereon, as would have been
returnable to the district courts, shall
by the several sheriffs and coroners, be
returned into their several superior
courts, in the same manner as if the
same had been made there returnable.
[The act here declares what courts
shall have jurisdiction over the borough
courts of Pctersburgh and Williams
burgh.J
Be it further enacted\ That all acts
and parts of acts Iv retofore passed and
now in force, in respect to the district
courts, their clerks, and other officers,
shall he in force as to the superior courts
hereby established, and their clerks and
other officers ; and their respective pow
ers, duties, ancl rules of proceedings
shall he the same.
All acts and parts of acts coming
within the purview of this act, shall be,
and the same are hereby repealed.
This act shall commence and he in
force from and after the first day of Ja
miarv n vt.
From the Virginia Gazette,
SENATE OF VIRGINIA.
Tuesday, y antt ary 19.
The Senate went into committee of
the u hole, to take into consideration the
resolutions of the House of Delegates,
to procure amendm nts to the Federal
Constitution ; lor authorissng Congress,
I by a vote of a majority of both Houses,
lo remove the federal judges, uud for i
empowering the State Legislatures to
recal their Senators in Congress at plea
sure. The first proposition being un
der consideration, Mr. Doddridge com
menced the debate with the following
speech:—
Mr. Chairman,
This is a subject of vital importance.
I deem it the duty of every member, to
impart to the committee all the light he
possesses, in order to induce a correct
decision. This duty, I will proceed to
discharge in t> • best manner my poor
abilii: s viil c le me: and I will en
deavour .o confine myself to such im
portant topics, as have escaped the at
tention of other gentlemen, during the
long and able discussions of another
body.
The administration of criminal justice
is, by our constitutions and laws, confi
ded to courts and juries : to courts t*
expound the laws, and to juries to en
quire into the facts. A complete j udici
al independence, if it exists at all, must
exist in both these bodies ; and it is by
embracing them both in our views, that
we can, alone, arrive at a proper conclu -
sion. Instead, therefore, of confining
myself to the tenure by which the judges
hold their commissions, as most gen
tlemen have done, I will consider it, in
connection with the tenure of the she
! rifts office. And first, in order of time,
I will examine the latter.
Sheriffs in England, were first elect
ed by the people, annually, and commis
sioned by the king. They continued to
be so elected until the reign of Edward
the Second, when, on pretext that popu
lar elections had grown turbulent and
tumultuous, they were abolished, and
sheriffs were assigned by the chancellor,
treasurer, and the judges. During the
time of the Tudors, the power of ap
pointment was vested in the chancellor,
; resident of the king’s counci', chief
justices, and chief baron. This council
of appointment was constituted of the
king’s creatures ; all of them holding
their own offices at his will. By influ
encing the judges directly, and the sum
moning of juries indirectly, the king was
capable ol sacrificing every su:ject/
marked out bvhis ministers for destruc
tion. Not content, however, with this
indirect influence, this arbitrary line of
princes, particularly Henry the Sixth,
and after him Elizabeth, usurped the
power of appointing sheriffs without a*
ny previous nomination, and of commis
sioning them durante bene frlacito. The