Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1810-05-25

prison. and there kept during che pleasure
aof that man or ses ii men lfsyery one oil
VOW be liable o. any time to DO cent 20 Jail
withou. .riai, and without oath mace against
vou. and there 70 be detained 90 long ash,
pisases the parties sending sou there (per.
, haps TO the end Of your lils) Without any
court to appeal to. without any means o., e.
dress, If this be the case, shall we still boast
ofthe laws and OF the liberties Of England !
Volumes have been written by foreigners %
|" well as by our own countrymen in praise OF
that part of our law, which in SO admirable
manner, provides for our personal SAFETY
against any attacks of men IN power. This
has indeed, been, in all ages, the pride Of
our country and il is the maintainancs Of
this principle which enabled US! to escape
that bondage, in which all the states and
Kingdoms in Europe were CENTRALIZED, bya-
Hardening and yielding i. up and we may
be assured, that if we now abandon ii, the
bright days of England's glory will sit in
the night Of her disgrace.
But, would tain believe that such is not
to be our fate. Our forsfa,hers made stern
grim yisaged preregatioe hide his head
they broke in pieces his sharp and massy
sword. And shall we, their sons, be afraid
to enter the lists with underlined fri,iiesse,
assuming the powers of preragatipe , .-a =
shall be told, perhaps. that there is not
much danger of this power being 4ery .fre-
quently exercised. The same apology may
be made for the exercise of any power what.
ever. do not suppose that the gentlemen
Of the house OF commons will send any OF
you to Jail, when you do not displease them.
Mr.. Yorke did not move fol- the sending OF
Mr.. Jones to Jail, until Mr.. Jones displeas.
ed him but i. is not very great compli.
men. to pay to any constitution to say, that
it does not permit a man 10 be imprisoned,
unless he has done something to disPlease
persons in power. 1t would be difficult, l
should suppose, to find any man upon earth
however despotic his disposition, who
would not be oontsnted with the power Of
sending to prison, during his pleasure. eve
ry one who would dare to do any thing to
displease him. Besides, when l am told
that there is little danger that the gentlemen
in the house of commons will eften exercise
this power, cannot help observing, that,
though the examples may be few, their ef-
frcts will, naturally, be great and general.
At this moment, it is true, we sac but one
man actually in jail for having d:spleaseG
those gentlemen, but, the fate of this one
man, Gas it is the efsc, of all punishments1
will deter others from expressing their OPT
Mons OF the conduct of those who have had
the powers to punish him. And, moreover,
it is in the nature Of all power, and especi-
ally Of assumed and unds fned power, to in. |
crease as it advances in sge and as Mag.
ma Charta and the law OF the land have not
been sufficient to protect Mr.. Jones, as we
have seen him sent to Jail for having des.
cribed the conduct OF one of the members,
as an outrage Upon public feelings what Sc |
euri,y have we, unless this power of impri- |
sonment be given up, that wa shall not see
other men sent &c Jail for stating their OPT |
mons respecting rotten boroughs, respecting |
placemsn and pensioners sitting in the |
house or in short, for making any declara-
ton, giving any opinion, stating any tact,
beuayins any feeling, whether by writing, I
by ,~ord@of mouth, or by: gesture, which /
may displease any Of the gentlemen Assem-.
bIed in St. Stephens chapel
Then again ,ss to the Kind of punishment;
why should they stop at sending persons to !
Jail? If they can send who they please to
Jail ;, if they can keep.,he persons, so sent,
in Jail, as long as they please If they can
set their prisoners free at ths end of the |
FIRST hour, or keep thrm confined for seven
years if, 10 short, their absolute will 10 to
have the force Of law, what security haye
you ,hae they will stop ~imtrisonment ,
If they have the absolute. power of impri.
soning and releasing, why may: they not
send their prisoners I'd York Jail as well as
a Jail in London! Why not cou6ne men
in solitary cells, or load them with chains
end bolts They have not gone these
lengths yet, but what is to restrain them If
they are to be cole judges OF the extent of
their powers, without any control and
without leaving the parties whom they
chose to punish, any mode oEsedress
That a. mower sslcb as th;. sh,,,l1 .-:..: