Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1820-08-11

wi'hess, WAS below, AMI SAW nothing OF
h-bni heard The clasiiiDg Of arms, and
he Captain after Il time beg for his li.e
mat tho Captain and Marines were af-
ierNards sent AWAY in one of The beats
but he does moi ku"w what became of
The Lieutenant. That whru The alrray
commenced, Thomas Jones, one of the
prisoners, WAS below will, The witness.
| but was called Oh deck by some oMr in
the midst ol H.. Thar he did mol see Tie
other ~ Witnesses, and does mol know wlie-
ther any them were actually engaged
| IA The nIuiiuy or mol. That he believes
the mu,l0y VAS wholly ocvas!0ned By
| The refusal Di The Captain To wall for tie
man tho was left on The Island, and The
subsequent conduct Of The officers. That
lie believes there was no previous concert
10 take the ship, as he heard al none.
|, lie states moreover, that after sending
Tue officers from The ship The crew shaped
their coarse for The u. Sldes, aud HE
neAi day appointed Robinson, Tie gun
ncr, Captain. Thomas Bush. % officer,
and ioar other officers. That il was "a
greed on ali hands 10 make tie best Of
iheit way 10 Charleston, and no niten-
,lon was avowed OF cruising or capturing
the vessels oi any nation, bat he heard
some OF The crew aav that They would suf-
Ter no vessel 10 fake tlieOi Lui All English
| or an American one. That the second
Gay after determining 10 com c 10 lie u.
States, they saw three sail. but "A, citrd
speaking iiiem by making sail ji0m Them
That afterwards they Tell ia with an Egg
fish Brig which received three oi the
crew, aud ;lieD with an American schoou-
er, which received on board fifteen or
sixteen niore-and these were the ouIy
vessels which they spoke or their pas
sage.
That on the second or third dav after
The officers had been sent away, tiie mo-
ney y hich lIad beeu taken from The Span
ish Feiucca WAS distributed among The
crew IN different proportions. That the
witness leit the ship off Curriluck in COM
paby with the prisoners, after scul,.in.
her, and was appsehcnded about eight
days after and taken before The Mayor.
Lastly he iaies that The prisoners are,
as lie believes, all Of them Angfishmen,
| 0Rd nat citizens ofthe u. .Stafc:. That lie
sailed from the u. States in HE CuriaZo,
priratccr, with Amos Raiclil, but he ne
yer saw HE Other prisoners until he met
"i'ii lbem In BueDos Ayres, on board
The General Rnudcau. Tina, they aluays
passed IN The ship for Eaglishmcn and
had represented themselves 10 he 50, long
before their arrival OH Grtneia, but he
knows nothing c,i tie taci himself except
| from Tins representation and r-puiaiinn."
have Oeen more particular in stating
this n'an's evidence, because | believe
II varies IN several respects from his State
ment before The hayor, and il certainly
| eioes not altogether agree with statements
made elsewhere by others Of the crew -
| ihe difference, however, would not affect
my opinion on ihe main question in the
case and !fit would. ! am Obliged TO take
the evidence as find il. II AN impor-
tant variation ~ere'proved and perjury
established against Smith, upon shat
| ground alone The Prisoners ought to be
discharged, since lie is The only witness
| against them, and by DESTROYING his cred
| IL nothing III the nature Of evidence could
remain 10 affect them.
| On The facts presented IN This case by
the warrant OF Commitment aud tie tes,i-
mony OF Smith, several very Important
| questions arise.
They are,
/. Whether state officer has Authority
| 10 grant warrant OF commitment
! agsinst All individual Tor II breacii oil
Tie erin iiIal laws OF the u. States
.. Whether, as The arreai is under CO.
lonr OF authority from iiie United
! States, j, as State Judge, have any
! right, under the ilabcas Corpus aci,
10 take cogniZanoe OF The case and
3. Whether any crime has been com-
miiled by the Prisoners, over which
any Court IN TIE United States has ;u
ylSdiction
]. The first question depends upon Tie
consiitutinnaliiy of Tie 33h section of the
act of Congress, commonly called the
Judicial Act and il involves considers
tons peculiar delicacy aud importance.
Already ii has received contradictory
decisions. IN The case of Almeids, who
was committed TO jail by Thomas w.
Griffith, justice OF Tie Peace for the
state OF Mary land, for a supposed VIOLA
lou OF The laws of ihe United States
Judges Bland and Hanson ordered his
discharge upon d Habeas C0rpus solel,
on The ground iiIai the state officer had
no authority TO commit, and that ihp act
o! Congress comforting IT, was unconsi
iniional. See Niles Register, Vol. %
L. li5.
On the other hand, Judge Chevrs, i,
south Carolina, de cijed IN the case o
Andrew Rhodes, hat Tie warrant Of com
m!imehi Was Il nnHiSteTidi aud not a jntii
cini act and rs such, might be consiiiu
tionaily conferred on state officer, ant
constlluliOnaIly exercised. Niles Re.
gisier. Vol. IL, p. 2G4.
His argument in The case was after
wards replied TO by Judge Baad in a We
~ elaborate aud learned essay OH III
question:" Can Congress constitution
ally invest any Of the public lunciiona
ries Of stale with power 10 declare. l.
expound, or To execute, laws, for, aud i
the name Of, The United Siat0sg' Niles
. Register, Vol. ~, p. 337.
? II there Is no difference between usin
, The iHdiciai officers of The several stale
e as agents 10 arrest and bring offenders I