Washington telegraph., 1851-10-29
Charge of Judge Kane.

Charge of Judge Kane.
In consequence of the determination
of District Attorney Ashmead TO send
bills to the Grand Jury against the per
sons bound over for treason for their al
! leoed participa ton in the late deplorable
outbreak at Chrstiana, Judge Kane
deemed il proper that he should lay down
the law of treason to them before they
acted on the bill. The opinion is given
below, and will be read with interest aud
profit by the people of the United States
generally. 1t is ably written, and pre-
sents the law Of treason in a clear aud lu-
cid mauner;-
GENTLEMEN OF THE GRAND JURY--Il
has been presented to me, that since we
met last, circumstances have occurred in
one Of the neigEboring counties of our
district. which should call for your prompt
scrutiny, and perhaps for the energetic
action of the Court.
1t is said that citizen of the State Of
Maryland, who had come into Pennsyl-
vahia to reclaim a fugitive from labor,
was forcibly obstructed in the attempt by
body of armed men, assaulted, BEATEN
and murdered; that some members of his
family. who had accompanied him in the
pursuit, Were at the same time, and by
the same, party, maltreated and grievously
wounded; and that an officer of Justice
constituted under the authority of this
court, who sought to arrest the fugitive,
was impeded, and repelled by menaces
and violence, while proclaiming his char
acter and exhibiting his warrant. It is
said, too, that the time and manner Of
these outrages, their asserted object, the
| denunclations by which they were pre-
| ceded, aud the simultaneous action of the
most of the guilty parties. evinced a
combined purpose forcibly to resist and
make nugatory a constitutional provision,
and the statutes enacted in pursuance of
this, that for some months back gather
! ings of people. strangers as well as citi-
zens, have been held from time to time
in the vicinity of the place of the recent
outbreak, at which eXhOrtations were
made and pledges interchauged to hold
the law for the recovery of fugitive slaves
as OF nc validity, and to defy its execu-
ton.
| Such are some Of the representations
tha: have been made in my hearing, and
| in regard to which it has become your
duty, as the Grand Inquest of the district
to make legal inquiry Personally, [
know nothing of the facts, or the evil
dence relating to them. AS a member
of the court before which the accused
person may hereafter be arranged anG
| rl,f l. ,i,,,l o1
together free from any impressions Of
their guilt or innocence, and even from an
extra-ludicial knoW,edge OF the circgm-
stances which must determine the legal
character of the offence that has been
perpetra!ed. 1t is due 20 the great inter
ests of public Justice, 20 less than to the
parties implicated in criminal charge,
that their cause shall be in no wise, and
no degree. prejudged. Aud in referring,
therefore, to the representations which
have been made 10 me, have no other
object than 10 point you 10 the reasons
for my addressing you at this advanced
] period of our sessions, aud to enable you
/ to apply. with more facility aud certainty
/ the principles and rules of law which |
shall proceed to lay before yon.
Ii the circumstances to which L have
adverted have in fact taken place. they
inyolye the highest crime known to our
laws. Treason against the United States
is defined by the constitution, art. ), sec.
g. ell l, to consist in ''levying war against
them. or in adherlqg to their enemies,
giving them aid and comfort" This
definition is borrowed from the ancient
,,,, of En0Iand Stat % Edw 3 stat
5, chap. 2, and its terms must be under
I, stood of course in the sense which they
bore in that law, and which obtained
here when the constitution was adopted
The expression "levying war;" SO regard.
ed, embraces not merely the act of formal
or declared war, but any combination
forcibly to prevent or oppose the execu
ton or enforcement Of a provision of the
constitution or Of public statute, If ac