Alexandria advertiser and commercial intelligencer. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1800-1803, 1802-02-27

H. u? ~ uHsy VI eliS SOsJt W dOilSIc 10
" the contribution, and 70 declare the aa
!" nhii and VOID. II is an iruportaa,
I" principle, wls;ch in the diicoiion Of
" qacIioas Of this kind, ought never to
/" he lca eight o., shatihe judiciary in
!" this country is nor fabordinate, but
/" Coordinate branch Of TIE government" -.
'ihc chief magii:ratc OF Penniylyan,a has
recently expsei.ed The fame fsn,inents,
and the correetaeis Of his legal opinions
will nor Be called in qaeiticn by any par
+, ; in sfigning his resfons for NOT app.o-
inga law, he isys: "AudI cannon from
/" a confidence ia the legal knowledge,
!" integrity, and f,stitude Of my former
+" brethren in the tagte:ae court, riik my
90 char: ster in 4 JUDICIAL deeiiion on this
/" qaeltion, when ! 90 not foreicc any
/" advantage to De derived to my coaa-
j" Try from roaibility of tacceG."
Bu,, Sir, if i, is ence eitabl!ihed that
the Judiciary is iubordinate and de-
p: rdant branch Of the government, |
acknowledge that they have no righs
to judge Of the conf.tu:ionalty OF
law, or If they have the power, they
v,ll be a.raid to exerciie it. Upon this
principle where will an influential par
.izanand an inignidcant individual meet
to adjat their claims; il this hou!e or 10
a tribunal under tic :aAaence Of this
Ioas! Where will The p1.7srtui fate of
Virginia and the fare OF Delaware meet
s.2oa ;erms of equally, in ibis baais, CT
Il tribunal under he immediate CON
$50, Of his houie ? Where could the te- /
d-ral ADA. mi fra,ionot jjat,ce IN this conn
try be depoited with more h'ety than
where Is is En'renched as Cur Judges
are, they can DO bit !;tsle harm, bu, much
good; from their Grua,icn they can have
no temptation TO make inrosds upon tie
rights Of the people there is no fuch
thing as Judicial patronage; they can sp-
point 10 officers, collect 70 money, raile
no armies, railc no fleets. They have
nothing but their virtue and ta:ents to
recommend them to the people. If it is
within the power of human coutrivance to
felett fpot, where the fTean,s Of ;uft:ce
will fow pure and uncontala:nated, 10 is
in tribunal cfindependent judges.
] The three grand branches CT our GO
vernmene are we'll arranged. The Pref
dent. has his pfofortionatc weight in the.
judiciary, by appointing the judges, ana
when they are appointed they are in
dependent and in this G,uation are to
guard the Legislature from making en-
cfoachments on the liberties of the peo-
pie. TIE legillaturein turn have check
on them by, bringing them TO trial and
punilhment, if they fhould bscome COR
rupted : This trial is to commeuce in
this houss, which will always be re-
poftory of Efficiency of PATTON and
fpiiit to commence the impsachmensif
there is Reasonable cauie- trial i,
to be ended in the Senate, where the
members, from. their permanency, will
be likely tobe cool, and net convief, un-
LET'S they are guilty. Thus the parts ale
ineerwovsn operating as checks and con-
trouls on each other; but once cut the
ligamens, and perhaps the dreadful COME
quences have osbeen too highly colored.
The effect may not be immediate, but let
the psinciple be prastiied upon by two or |
three changes of administration, and it
will become as much matter OF courfe. to
remove the judges, as the heads ofdepart-
mens, and in bad times, .he judges would
be no better than iword 10 the hands of !
party to put out ofshs way great ard
obnoxious characters for pretended trea-
The independency of the judges was
a great poin! gained By the people Of
England. While the tenures Of Office de-
pended on the nod Of the crown, they
fupper,ed the arbitrary mealures of tie |
king 10 one ;neaacc they decided tia.
tn. king had right to levy fhip money, |
without the content of Parliament or peo-
pie; and many an initance might be bro,
to the recollection Of the honorable CON-