The recorder, or, Lady's and gentleman's miscellany. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1801-1802, 1802-03-06


milf thasMr, Breckenridge of eighteen hundred
and tue.
But" fays another correipondent, &c Won
promifed to be impartial, ana yet You are
&c condemnng Mr.. Morris, Whole fpeech has
Is been celebrated as a mott brilliant fpecimcn
of eloquence ," Our ceniure is not indiC
criminate. MIR, Morris has one or two very
good frokes in the frh of his two fpeeches;
and we ihall do them junicc.
MIR. Breckenridge had fated as an argu-
ment aganft the additional number of Judges,
that very little buiinefa came before them.
MIR. Morris {cts out with iome ironical en-
comiums up OH this mode Of argument; and
yes nothing an be plainer, OF come more ex-
aaly to the point. What is the ufe for eta
bEihing court, if there is no buiineis to como
before il? nd is not tic court which decides
a thouiand caufes per annum ten times more
ufef;il than that which decides but en- hundred
of the larrfc degree Of conequence Mr.. Nor
ris then hawis in the fooliih old tory of Alfred
the Saxon king Of ENGLAND, banging up purfes
of gold IN the highway in defiance of thieves
We cannot fee the application of this tale,
or, at betS, it is extremely itiancd.
ivlr. Morris proceeds 10 remark that the
exPsnce of the Judiciary amounts to r31 900
dollars; and that rae iaving of 10 great a fun
has been araed as an argument for the repeal
Of the law. He goes on with the tone of a
perion who was making a diicovery, o.tell
she icnate that only fifty thoufand dollars
would be iaFed Every member of the fsnate
kneyy thie, ae well as Mr. Morris did. MIR.
Breckenridge never i;.id 1hat all hundred and
thirty yen rhouiand dollars were to DC faved,
bur only part Of them. IF luch anexpreE-
1Ion fell from any other member, il was
mere zip Of the tongue, Which may happen
occationaty TO the belt of(peakers. TIE fave
theie fifty thoufand dollars, eve are called
&c upon,'' iays he, e to give up all tbaf IS
& oalaaJis to a nGfioni" This is mere ftoeh.
MIR. Morris next oblerves that there is very
iittla danger CT foreign war. From this he
makes iudden wheel round r. the courts of
lpiice, and expatiateS on their utility. We
ali know their value, as w ell as he does. Bat
TOO mgs5 81 oae thing IS god far ,satbiag, lays
1he prcye.6. We are not extirPating courts
OF iuGice. I lie bill only attcppts to reduce
sheN to what the fiends Of the repeal regard
as rea(onabie number. He AXIS what danger
Is TO be apprehended feom IN ARMY of ja4Fef5
I he aniw er is that, in gencral, Judges have
always been the flpple agents Of faction.
Their iFtegrity * asiittle go cetsufecd a. shat
of any o'her clals Of people. Witneis the
judges, in tEac reign OF Charles the ut, who
CONDEMNED the immortal Eanpden to pay
twenty ihillngs of hip money. They did this
In contempt u the laws, ana 81 the univerfal
opinion of the peopie OF England. Clarendon
himitlf fays tket their fentencc did more harm
30 the king than 10 Earlpde,l. All hif}ory
aboundSs wiei,s iHch nitances; and yet Mr..
Morris has been Glly enough to al; WHAT is
10 be feared from an army Eff iudgey?. And
as little as the gentleman NAV think Of Fifty
thouiaild dollars, they are an object TO the pee
pie of the United ifates. The very charge
Of collecting them viii, in many OF the taxes,
cot thirty thouland dollars more? This is
specimen of that fort of eloquence which ope-
yates without the 0iffanes IF rsqf5n.@
We are next alarmed with the prodieious
fatigue attending the circuits of the fupremc
court. The anfwer is that if the gentlemen
are tired, they bave if in their option to reign
ehcir places. They knew the nature Of their
talk before they undertook it. The country
has men well qualified TO incceed them The
old fYAem lated thirteen years; and If the
office Of E i1dge was TO wonderfully diRrelTng,
what was the rea(on that, in 10 long fine,
we never once heard of reGenation upon
this ACCOUNT Mr.. Morris quain1iy favs that
under the old iyitem, which is row 10 be re-
ftored, " we are Icfs to Geek the learning of
:" judge dian rae agility Of a poit boy" An
SbloIufe fiction.
Again, he axis, if the newly made Judges
are difpoited, g will il not be declaration to
the remaining judges that they hold their
otHce> fubje6f to vclr VIII and pleafure 20
No! But 4 they did fo,'t would be juft e nutb
the batter f'orhung could DC more complete
y fdaclons than t,.At part IF the federal con-
fHt'n which attempts % feeure the reEfi-
tudo Of judges. In New England, it is the
cdfo1l to elect judge annually; and this is a
snueh better method for enfurinC their atten-