The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-05-12

Gisdiction of the court is abridged, The labor
of the judge is diminished. is it Hprivilege
which is clsimcd for the advantage of the
court, or of the individuals who cIhnpose it !
BY no means 1t is the priviiegslof the CT
tizeu, and as long rs have the honor of
seat ON the bench. I will conside3 myself as
one oil. the guardians of this privilege Ga We
ny feeble one I acknowledge and with a
steady and unvaryiny eye fixed upon the
constitution as my guide, / shall march
forward without entertaining the guilty
wish to limit this privilege where the citi-
zen may fairly claim it, or the desire not
less criminal to enlarge its boundaries be-
cause tits claimed.
If then the validity of the decree of the
district court be established upon the ground
u reason-upon the basis of the constitution
A-In part upon the opinion of congress and
|1ecisions of tue supreme federal and state
courts more than once given, what follows
That the governor of this state had no pow
Ter to order the defendants to array them
lselves against the U. S. acting through its
judicial tribunals, and the legislature of the
tate WAS equally incompetent to clothe him
with such power, had it so intended. The
defendants were bound by paramount duty
10 the government of the union, and ought
lot to have obeyed the mandate. There
we're but two modes by which the general
government could assert the supremacy OF
! Interference of the civil authority, or by the
lvord. The first has been tried and the de-
ndants are now called to answer for their
pnduct before a jury of their country. Will
by man be found bold enough to condemn
his mode OF proceeding, or complain that
his alternative has been chosen. But if the
accused can plead the orders of the governor,
as Justification of their conduct, and if the
efficiency of such a plea is established, the
civil authority Is done away, its means are
inadequate its end, and force must be re-
sorted to. Are we prepared for such state
OF things The doctrine appears to us mon
strous; the consequences of i: terrible We
regret that it was preached. 1t was con-
tended that in a case where state govern
mcnt authorizes resistance to the process of
federal court, though in a cause wherein
the court had competent jurisdiction. the
! only remedy in such an emergency is nego
! station. IF there were no federal, no com
mon head, this position might be admitted,
ard on the failure of the negotiations. the
ultima ratio must be resorted to- But under
our constitution of government which de-
clares the laws of the United States, made
IN pursuance of that Instrument the supreme
] law of the land, and which vests in the courts
{, OF the United States jurisdiction to try and
= decide particular cases, am altogether at
loss to conceive how in the case stated, ne
quotations between the general and para
\ mount government in relation TO the powers
n granted to 1t, and state government can be
necessary, and could even be proper.
speak not OF the ho7ver, but OF The right OF
resistance.
But it is contended that the defendants,
standing IN the characters OF subordinate
Sfncers to the governor and commander in
Chief OF the state, We're bound implicitly %
obey his orders !; and that'althoagh the or
ders were unlawful, still the officer and those.
nnder his command We're lustihahlein obey
!Ag lhem. ~ Knis, regiment Is laapos,Iig, out
81 sk;s nnsuHtntl In state Of oIsn ard public
n ~ flece M iteai'x law eiA,is, and the;
~ ~ y2ecs oIs1 tffnSfE,ti law IS urowisu
Il syti5s 22n 81 81 ~ y<sx.s aqqaaseencies mast,
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