The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1826-02-02


Whom do they threaten Their brethren
and the home Of their fathers. "They dit
not 20 out from us, because they were no
Of U.S." they are still children Of the grea
household, though settled on, and cultiVat
! ing different aliotments Of the common in
hartaDce- Their paternal sepulchres art
with us, and wall they leave us TO defent
them? The Scythian world not fight for hi,
pastures. his tents, or his hocks, but at The
grave OF hisiathcrsbe made deadly stand
! and drew with vigorous arm the bow o.
death. When in our sober autumns they
visit us, as they often do, they see the frai
memorials on the green-hill side, and read
the holy legends, which
"Teach the rustic moralist TO die"
viii they desert us when our common
country SHALL DC debased by luxury-diyi.
ded by i4ctlon- hardened by ambition
and arrogant by power; when the massy
and mountainous wcightof all our laws and
institutions thrown on this gigantic and
bloody brotherhood, which has drenched
thclnselycsin the slaughter of so many na-
tons, shall scarcely be weighty enough to
hold them down subcucd? We are embark
cd in one common vessel-in one great ma
tiond ship-bound on one common VOYAGE.
and having one common interest: will they,
forgetting all these bonds and obligations
to union of purpose and feeling, consent to
scuttle the vessel on lee shore2 Willthey,
in the hour Of assailment, pull down the de-
fences by which we are protected, and let
IN upon US the hostility of those who have
nothing in comrnon with us No. Why
then do they talk ofrctalalion? 1t is Ian
guage which brave men should never hold
10 brave men. We should knew how TO
contend together-how to DIE, side by side
contcnding for ourcommon heritage, butne-
vershouldwc glance hostilely oneach other
How w'll the Supreme Court become
dious? If it should become so, our coun.
try will abolish it. You cannot bind the
limbs Of Our gigantic coniedcracy by such
ligaments rs these. The Constitution
makes the Supreme Court separate. The
bill makes IT statlonary--the resolution
makes it moyeablc. II ought to be a sepa-
rate and superior court, looking over all the
other courts AS well in the great pOlity
of the Jewish theocracy might the High
Priest step from his dignihcd elevation, to
mihgle with the crowd, as the Supreme
Court blend itself with the ordinary tribu-
nails of the country. But who are these
men constituting the Supreme Court, who
are tn become odious? Such men as Story
and Marshall? lie meant rot TO disparage
the others, but he was acquainted with
Judge Story, and not to know the other was
to argue himself unknown.
But the opposers Of the bill say itincreas.
es the Supreme Court to ten, and the Judg !.
es will be taken from the West, and will
bring into the court sectional prcjud!ces;
and law is threatened TO menace us with
seven, eight, nine, or even ten, as necdiul
to decide { question. If adding three,
making ten, were the only objection, it
might be passed, for ten may deliberate
nearly as well as six. lie believed that
neither would the President nominate, nor
the Senate confirm, any Judges hut such as
were neither corrupt nor cOrruptble. He
is not confinedby the Constitution to make
his selection from the West, the East, the
North, or the South: nor would he desire
TO iiait the President to any section.
Some ofthcse objections he might have
suffered to pass over, but the little State of
Rhode-Island had not been passed over.
Rhode island did not come to the wedding
Let the gentleman W no cast it take the full
aenefit Of the sarcasm. Rhode-Island did
who recolIccted the history of the State
could tell, that if she was last at the feast,
she was first in the fight.
The evils pressed OH the attention Of the
House by the movers of the bill arc--lst,
nj accumulation of causes in the Supreme
Court; 2dly, an accumulation of causes in
in the Circuit Courts of the West. Both
agree in these evils; because lSO causes
lie over yearly on the Supreme Court dock
ct, for i've years on an average. The eX-
peuse of each suit is $500 for term fee !;
: 800 for expense of misunderstanding
an aggregate of expense of Sl0S,0OO, to be
paid before Justice can be obtained. This
accumulation will increase by relief at the
West. With regard to the second evil
the accumulation of causes in the Westcrp
Country-we find that 800, 400, 500, and
O0--in all, 1900 causes, lie over untried,
and these are accommodating.
These evils are TO be remcdied by the
bill by adding three judges to the Supreme
Court, making three circuits in the Missis-
sPpi valley.
What are the reasons for this bill? They
arc all contained in three.--lt will equali2e
lndlclal administration it will cqualize
Judicial representation: il will equalize lu-
dlcial knowledge of State laws. The evil
complained of by the gentlemanfrom South
Carolina, is, that in some parts the district
Judges distribute Justice, while IN other
parts the circuit judges distribute justice,
and therefore the distribution is unequal.
1t is said to be unequal because district
Judges in western districts hold circuit