New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-09-13
,.,o oo0,iou.d 10 ,bt. day had no. an additions

plea Of jurisprudence. uh"o' P''""'o '" s"
inc herndIc distinctions Tho court ut this tiIne
was converted into powerful engine OF oppro'-
sion Tho frat person to call attention In public
aud cfJ,c.ual manner to this now usurpation was
-, man not 10 be charged with radicalism or with
.nv u,nt Of due reverence for the executive and
judicial authority being other IN TACT than Ed
ward HYDE, afterward the so famous Earl OF Clar-
endon. Being chosen q member OF the " short
" Parliament of I6i0 he called the attention OF
that body to the proceedings of the Earl Marshals
Court of which be mentioned several remarkable
instances. A citizen Of London had beea ruinous-
" fined BY this court, because IN an alteration
with an insolent waterman who had wished to i'm
pose upon him, be bad spoken deridingly of the
swan on the waterman's, bridge and had called it
acoose" The case was brought within the juris-
dictiop of the Earl Marahal's Court BY showing
that the waterman was an Earls servant, and that
the swan was the Earls crest and 1t was under
pretepse that be had dshonOred this crest that the
citizen was so severely punished.
In like manner Passmore Williamson speaks
| derisively of Mr.. Wheeler's black chatse, and
of his claim of property in her, speaking of her
and to her as though she had been free woman,
of which atrOoity Judge Kane claims jurisdc
ton. on the ground that W aeeler is the servant
of Mr.. Pierce and his Embs.sador to Nicsragua,
and that the United States having adopted negro
slavery as q badge, to speak against it or for
Passmore Williamson to p ct ,nd that the woman
was not in his possession after having gone the
ler 9th of tell pg her she free and not ia any
body's possession, was rank PERJURY and Goa
tempt of court, to be punished BY perpetual
imprisonment.
Another case in the Court Of Chvslry men,
toned by Hyde in his speech in the House OF
Commons, was that of q tailor who had often
very submissively asked payment Of his bull
from q customer of "gentle blood" whose pei
igree was duly registered at the Herald's Col
kQe. On threat of personal violence for his
importuIity, this unlucky tailor was provoked
into saying that he, the tailor, WAS "as good
"man az his debtor" For this offensive
speech, which was alleged to be leveliag at
tack upon the aristocracy, this audaciOus tailor
and impudent dun was summoned before the
Earl Msr.bal's Court, but mercifally dismissed
with a reprimand--On releasing the debt!
Here, too, we may discover analogy to the
| proceedings in PassmOre Williamson's case.
That notorious culprit had the audacity to tell
Mr.. Minister Wheeler that his black woman,
whom, in spite Of the laws of Pennsylvania, he
was trying to smuggle through Philadelphia as
a slave, was as free as hmselt-not only ac-
cording to Judge Kane's estimate of it, piece
of unnecessary and impairment intrusion, but
little if any short of a reasonable alta tx up
the Constitution of the United States, which,
according to Judge Kane's interp citation of it,
secures to all slsveholters, and slaveholding
ambassadors in particular, the right of trans
porting slaves through all the States, the laws
thereof to the contrary notwithstanding. OF
course Judge Kane would rot fail to punish such
auoacity by cooking up some pretense for put
ting Pas.more Williamson into jail. But then
Judge Kane, like the Earl Marshal in the case
cited, is o very merciful mas, end as he commits
Passmore Williamson to the custody of tho Mar
sbs, no. in this case is the jailor instead of the
judge-if indeed it be possible to tell which is
wbich-he gently whispers in his ear that If no
will pay Mr.. Minister Wheeler the virginia
value of his lost chanels, or get them back Tor
him, he will the n consider the contempt purged,
snd will let him out Of prison.
The account given by Hyde of the proceed
inc of the Earl Marshaps Court producsd al
most as strong sensation in the House of Com.
mons as ba, lately been produced in the public
mix generally by Judge Ksne's proceedings In
Passmore Wiliamsons case. But before any
thing was done, Charles dissolved the Psrlia.
ment, and the Earl Marshars Court taking cour-
age tterefrom, went onSmore fdriously than
ever. Unluokily, however, for the Earl Marshal,
the King, before the year was out, found himself
obi, ed to summon the famous long Parliament,
and Hyde, being chosen member of th.t. brought
up again the Earl Msrshals illegal proceedings.
He told the House that for words OF supposed
defamation of which the law took no notice,
"more damsges had been given by the sole
Judgment of the Earl Marshal In two days
than BIZ juries in all the actions tried in West
minister Hall during whole term" 30 our
Kane, for supposed contempts Of which the Law
takes no nOtlce-for how could it, since these
supposed contsmpts have no existence except
in the Judges own mudded brain goes far
beyond any punishment which could be grounded
Oh the finding Of half-a-dozen juries Hyde
further proved that the whole proceeding in
the Earl Marshsrs Court was mere usurpa- |
ton during the reign Of Charles /, the earliest
precedent Of its having entertained . suit for |
words running back not more than seven years.
Judge Kanes assumption of Jurisdiction has
still less antiquity to boast of. The reign Of
Frank Pierce, patched out by that Of Fillmore.