Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1807-03-17

1,Yiv lccc OF the writ of habeas corpus with !
efficient laws. | beg them to profit by the
experienced f others and grow wise in time.
Ivt il not be said that we are less Jealous !
ci oar personal liberty than the people of !
England, or that the important privilege |
which guards it is less dear nus, because |
we have not. like them, waded through |
blood TO maintain il. Let us with the con-
stitution, acknowledge the Importance and
snnc;itv of the privilege, and proceed with
ont DELAY, to fortifv it with penal statutes.
The warnings which we have lately receiv-
ed call loudly on us to guard it more e1ec-
tualy in future. 1t has been too generally
our misfortune to wait until offences have
been committed before we have provided
punishment; but when such offences have
been committed, the public attention has
been awakened and laws have been made
70 gard against them in future. The vio-
lation of our constitutional privileges at \.
Orleans have shewn clearly the insufficicn-
cy of existing laws and the irapcricus nc
ces ity ofproviding the remedy. five will
not be reused from our s'umbcrs bv the eX-
pcricnce which we have had shall despair
that we shall ever he awakened n any SEN
siblity OF our personal rirhtS-fDr let it be
remembered that these abuses arc not Cf an
ordinary charactcr-they have been COM
mitted by military oifiCer at the head of
the army Of the United States, and in the
full view OF the highest authorities of the
union. The civil authority at New Orleans
has been trampled under foot and the COM
mander of the army in the plcnitude of his
power avows his disobediencc to laws and
constitution, and takes on himself all the
responsibility of the violation OF our corsti-
tutional rights of personal liberty. Lost in
Arrangement at this bold and unprecedented
stretch of power we can scarcely he scnsi-
bic of its extent unless we contrast 1T deli
berateiy with the constitution. The con-
stitution declares that no warrant shall is
sue but upon probable cause supported by
oath or affirmation. That no citizen shall
be deprived of his liberty without due pro-
cess Of law, and that the accused shall en-
joy the right of a speedy trial by a Jury
or the district where the offence was COM
mitted; vet in defiance of all these constr
tutlonal provisions, our citizens have been
arrested without any warrant and without
any process Of law whatsoever, deprived Of
their liberty, confined in military prisons
and transported under military guards two
thousand miles from the place where the
offence was committed. The constitutional
privilege of the writ ofhabeas corpus which
is to secure these rights tothe citizens, has
been treated with contempt, and a militia
rv officer vauntinglv take upon himself all
the responsibility OF wilful disobedience to
the writ. For all these violations we are to
b be told that the conspiracy which existed
In that country will aiEhrda sufficient iusti-
ficaticn With respect to the conspiracy,
whatever might have been its contemplate
ed extent. VIC have reason to believe that
it is now at an end, and without determin-
ing whether the aspect which it had at n.
Orleans was really alarming to the general,
or whether any circumstances do exist
which NAV palliate his conduct, this much
we al know, that his power was employed
in the arbitrary violation of the rights of
the citizen, and that the conspiracy, is to
furnish the justification. Such conduct, and
even such a justification look upon with
adherence and dread for if upon every
alarm of conspiracy our rights of personal
liberty are to be entrusted to the keeping
of military commander, we may prepare
to take our leave of them forever. For my
own part | wish to live under a govern
ment of laws and not Of men, for however
pure and upright be the intention of our mi
litarv commanders. however virtsous and
even unsupported be their conduct, I can
never agree that my right to personal IL
berty shall depend on their forbearance and
discretion. ] know not whether these men
that have been arrested are innocent or
guilty of the treason with which they are
charged; but whether innocent or guilty
they must be arrested and tried according
tolav. However atrocious the crime which
has been committed the punishment must be
according to law for in tranSgressinr the
limits of the law to revenge upon a crimi-
nal the wrongs of society we are guilty of
injustice both to society and the criminal.
The manner and circumstances attending
these arrests have been OF the most uncom-
mon kind. II is said that all intercourse
between one Of the prisoners and his fami- |
~ and friends was cut of, and that not a |
soul except military men was suffered to an |
proach him. That after being detained |
under close military confinement for nearly |
two weeks he was transported by the way !
OF Baltimore to this city, and that upon his !
arrival here he was informed that there was
no evidence 70 support any charge against
him whatever. But whether this man or
the others who have been arrested are gull
ty, or not, " can have no influence upon our
deliberations NJ this time for If even these
violations now affect only the guilty., they
may, ut the discretion Of the military Off
Ger, be extended 20 the innocent. II is O.
nough for us TO know that rights of person
al liberty guarahtce1 b'' the constitution,
have been openly violated in the pc rson of +,
a citizen of the United Stotes, and that no
laws exist sufficiently efecual to prevent Z