New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-09-15

A. I'll events " ls ...r,it ~ ,hls r''rr'r'" 'h"t
~. rrinlce " iuds. plac. seems ,u be 80"
s,,vc,,i tie H,.i ties hls hs"d ~ 'he Law h"t
gns,p, ,la, ,p,t urh'il vr,h he l"tns '" t's'''na
ue &C. ise,nI.s end ur,lrh'nes.' 81 Judge Kane.
whence b, vp', natural tien'''l"n hh proceeds
J ., sLu,jpp rsssmote Williamson and 40 copclndes
bis lessen u 10 said that Tho rulai 81 lad,'s LOT
60, Nc hre pardon Of Tho ladies Tor mentioning
them in this connection ia always Ia ho found In
dc postscript. and u ia in Jljgo tach's post
s,tirt At riasc and hhuec that Tho strong points II
there arc any. Of his opinion are 10 bc sought AMI
found indred the eist Of tho whole opinion Is 10
be looked for In the very concluding sentence oft
The rcprcsrtt,ton OF the case which Judge
Hlack sives is this: Williamson is an obstinate,
cort,tiions fellow, ready to purchase the bon
"ors Of marty -dom in popular cause at almost
"ary price" wbo taking the law and facts as
,tated by his counsel, TO De correct, has "pre-
"yepttd Cd adjudication in favor Of his protegc',
"and thus did them wrong which is probably
ga greater oIerse in bis eyes than anything be
"couid do against Mr.. Wheeler srights." "Ttere
"is DO reason to believe" so ths advocate aud
spcloeist for the "learned and upright" Judge
Kane proceeds 20 add, ''that sny trouble wha ever
s'would have come out Of the case ifhe Wi liam
"son bad made trzs ful and special return of
call the facts for then the rights of all parties,
"back and white, would have beeO settled, or
"the matter dismissed for want of jurisdic
g ticn if the law so required" Having thus in.
situated that Passmore Williamson INTENDED and
desired to be committed for contempt tits
remarkable specimen of Pennsylvania
Judge winds up as follows: "The Pc
"t,tioner therefore carries the key of
ssbis prison in his own pocket. He can come
"out when be will by making terms with the
"court that sent him there. But if he chooes
"to struggle for rriumpt--if nothing will con-
"tent him but clean victory OF clean defeat
"-he cannot expect US to aid him. oar dHiHs
are Of uiGeiy different kind. They consist N
"diseouroeing as much as in US lies, all sreh con-
"tests nth The legal authorities Of the country.
d" The prit Of hGbeds corpus is rJfased."
Whether or not Judge Black has all the quallh-
cations reasonably to be expected in Judge OF
the Supreme Court of Pennsy lvaDia, we shall eaye
the careful student. of this opinion to settle tor
then selves But there are two or three other
points which this opinion certainly settles beyend
all dispute. Who, for instance, would think OF
disputing that Judge Black is admirably qualified
for an eec pioneering Nebraska stump orator. Or
that if the editorship Of The Pennsylvania should
become vacant he would fill that position to per-
lection and should be apply to the rezt Leeisa-
ture for authority to change his name from Black
to Blackguard, everybody surely must agree That
By this opinion alone he has made out case why
he, more fortunate than Psssmore Williamson,
should have bis petition granted.
But the blackguardism Of this opinion is BY no
means the most Objectionable part of it. 1t sur
renders the most essential legal rights, and that
too On pretenses equally false ia fact and unounded
in law. The prctense that Passm0re Williamson
is in prison for refusing TO make true, full and
special return" is false in fact. so far from
seeking quarrel with the Judge, he did make, in
the first place what seemed to him and his coun-
sci, "a full, true and special return aud that not
appearing to satisfy the Judge, permission was
asked to make it ttill fuller, which permission VAS
peremptorily refused Can it be doubted that tue
last thing in his thought was that Judge Kane
would imprisOn him for contempt But as Judge
Kane originally committed Pa'smore Williamson
to prif on the strength of talsehood OF which
not Williamson but Kane was gulty-the false
assumption, namely that the three persons claimed
by Wheeler hao ever been in the possession OF VII
lismson-so Judge Black and the Supreme Court
of Pennsy lyania very naturally resorts to another
falsebood by way of backing up Judge Kane and
the Judgment which he pronOunced-so true is IT.
Oh the Bench as we'll az elsewhere, that one false
hood generally leads to another. In this case the
result is specially disastrous. The single flasher
on the Bench Of the District Court has to be
backed up by four fal-ifiers on the Bench OF the
Supreme Court Of Pennsylvania.
Now falselood, lie, pervers:on OF fact 10
at all times an Objectionable thing. especially
on TIE part of judges; but it becomes peculiarly
so when it is wholly gratuitous and nothing is
gained by it. 1t is then not cline merely, but
what Tallryrsnd thought still wOrse-a butder.
II the fslsehoOd tina. Williamson refused to make
return to Kane's writ afforded any ressoE for
refusing to deliver him from imprisonment then
there might seem 10 be, on the part at least
of such Judges as Judge Black, some reason
for telling il. But suppose be did so refuse;
that does not help the matter in the least. The
writ itself, and the whole procedure under II,
was gross usurpstion on the part of Judge
Ksne, and Passmote Williamson was under DO
obligation 10 make any return TO it.
Judge Blacks falsifcatiOn Of the fac. having
thus failed TO afford any excuse for refusing to
deliver Pas.mOfe Williamson, he is driven to
fasify the law. And tbs l. the Extraordinary