The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1805-09-17

NO. III.
Another fubieG of complaint in Pennfylvan;a
is the Judiciary, and this appears to require A
thorough reform. Arbitration will of itieif re-
form great part, but much will remain &c re-
quire amendment.
The courts of law fill continue to go on, as
to practice. in the fame manner as when the
tate was a Rritifh colony. they have nor vet
arrived at the dignity of independence. They
hohble along by the ftits and clutches of Eneliih
and ant,quated precedeRts. !. Their pieat,ings
are made up of cafes and reports from Englilh
law books; manyof which are tyranuical, and
all of them are now foreign to us. Our courts
require 20 be domefticated, for as they are at
pref conducted, they are dithonour to the
national foveregnty. Every cafe in America
ought To he determined on its own merits, ac-
cording to American laws, and all reference to
foreign adjudcations prohibited. The intro
dL,son of the m into American courts ferves on
~ to waite time, embarrafs cauies. and perpex
Juries. This reform alone will reduce cafes to
a narrow compass eafy underGood.
The terms uted in courts OF law, in iherilT''s
fales, and on fevera other occalsns in writs, and
other legal proceedings, require reform. Many
ot thoie terms are Latin, and others French
The Latin terms were brought into Britain by
the Romans, who fpoke Latin, and who CONT
years, from the hrit nvation of il by Julius Cfe-
far, ttty-two years before the chriftian era
The French terms were brought by the Nor
mans when they conquered England in 1906,
as l have before ihewn, and Whole language
was French.
Theie terms being fill ufed in Engliih law
courts, thew the origin of thofe courts, and are
evidence OF the country having been under TO-
reign Ju1idittion. But they ferve 70 myRity, by
not being generally underttood, and therefore
they fcrve the purpoie of what is called law,
whole buiinefs is to perpiex; and the courts III
England put up with the difgrace of recording
foreign jurifdiction and foreign conqueft, for
the fake of uiiug terms which the clients and
the public DO not und rrfand, and from thence
20 create the falie belief that law is learned fc-
ence, and lawyers are learned men. The En-
SIlih pleaders, in order to keep UP the farce of
the profcfiicn, always compliment each other,
though IN contradiction, with the title of my
!sa,ncd brother. Two farmers or two mer-
chants will fettle cafes by arbitration, when
lawyers cannot icttle 1t by law. Where then
is the learning OF the Law, or what is it good
for!
1t rs here necetiary to diitinguiih between
Lagcyer'5 lay, and hegjgatrVe LaqU. Legislative
law Is the law of the land enacted by our own
legislatures choten by the people for that pur-
lpofe. Lawyers law is a MATS OF opinions and
decliions, many of them contradictory 10 each
other, which courts and lawyers have lnttituted
themielves, and is chiefly made up of law re-
ports OF Cafes taken from Eugith law books
The cafe OF every m an ought Ia be tried by the
laws OF his own country which he knows, and
not by opinions & authorities from other coun-
tries, OF which he may know nothing. A law
| yer in pleading, will tax !evera hours about
law, but it is lasgycr'J law, and not hsgiRativs
lay, that he means.
The whole OF the Judiciary Eeeos reform. L,
is very ootely appointed in mof of the fates
and alto in the general government. The cafe,
| iuPpoie, has been, that the Judiciary depart
ment in contribution has been left to the law
| yers, VINO might be in convention, to form,
and they have taken care 10 eave 1t loofe. To
| fay, that judge GiaIl hold his Office during
good 6fb6Vionr, is laying nothing; for the term,
gcod be3aVioHr, has neither legal nor 4 moral
definition. In the common deception of the
term 1t refers rather to file of manners, than
to principles, and may be applied to ignify dit
terent aud contradictory things. A child of
| good behaviour, aJudee CT good behaviour, a
folder OF good behaviour in the field, and a
dancing matter of good behaviour in his fchool.
cannot be the fame good behaviour. What
Their is the good behaviour Of Judge?
Many circumstances in the conduct and cha
ratter OF man may render him unfit to hold
VIC ol!lCS OF aJudSe, yet not amount to caufe of
impeachment, which always fuppofes the COM
million OF fome known crime. Judges ought
to be held to their duty By continual refponGbi-
| lity, infead of which the contribution releafes
| them from all responsibility except by impeach-
ment, from hich, by the loofe, underlined eitab.
| Iifhnent of the Judiciary, there is always hole
to creep out. In annual elections orleelIlators.
every iegiflator is reipondble every year, and M
good reafon can be given why tboie ertrua ed
with the execution of the laws fhoIld not he ao
reiponi'bIe, at ftated periods, as thofe entruhed
with the power of enading them.
| Rcleaing the judges from refponGbilitv is in
imitation Of an aft of the Eng!iGl parliament for
rendering the judges 70 far independent of what
is called the crown as not to be removable bv
| 1t. The cafe is, that judges in England are an.
pointed by the crown, and are paid out of the
kings civil lit, as being his representatives when
fitting in court; and in all profecutions for trea-
fon and criminal offences, the kline is the proGr-
cutor. 1t was therefore reafonab!e that the
Judge, before whom man was to BE- tried
fhould not be dependant for the tenure of his
Office on the VII Of the profecutor. But this
is no rcafon that in government founded ON
the representative fyfem, Judge Ghoud not he
refponfbie, and alfo removable by fome conGi-
fUtiODaI mode v,ithouf the fej;u,,o ne, 4 a.,...