New-York daily tribune., 1856-08-02


.ss sudaoity to refufe the bad offered oy hoo'nso'
and his comp .nior g. and to hold them - they no"
ARR held. in close imprisonment OF many montns
As 10 the other great legal achievement OF Ls'
comn,e-tbe Indictment Of the hotel and the print
ing-of5ces at Lawrence as nuisances, and theii
suuusry destruction under that pretense BY mob
claiming to be Sierifrs pOsse, inseniously drawn
together at the expense Of the United ssates-l'
MIGHT ,eem to detract 9 little from the
mt rits of that affair, that the idea wsa
not original with Judge LecOmpts, but borrowed
b, him from the Mormon Police Court Of Nsuvoo'
which took that same method Of suppressins
a rewspaper established in that city, and
which bad the temerity to deny the supernatural
prete psions of 10. Smith. The audscty however,
of Judge Lecompte in following such precedent
and in employing the same method to put down
opposition 70 the pretensions of the bogus Legsia
ture of Kansas, that was re.or,ed to BY Jo Smith
to suppress opposition to bis own equally well
founded pretensions, may be well reckoned as more
than compensation for any lack Of originality, and
as placing him in the very first rank OF our afro
cious Judges.
Nevertheless, all things considered, we are con-
strain ed to admit that 1t compte has been outdone
By Crawford, who, by bis lsw, laid down In Her
berts case, and by which the scquittal OF that mur
derer was secured has established permanent
aid enduring claim to Border. Rufhan gratitude,
.uch as nobody will find it very easy to o1tod
Whist Lecompte has done was highly merltortous
in ito way, Of great momentary utility toward ex-
pellirp the Free-State men from Kansas, and
toward erecting that Territory into Slave Ssasc'
But, that object accomplished, thelaw as laid down
by Lecompte will in great measure Rave fulfilled
its entire function. Arrests for treason, and de-
stroyipg hotel sand printing Offices as nuisAnces are
not things that can be repeated every day. CraS-
fcrds law, on the contrary, is thing Of permanent
and perpetual use, flowing stream that will never
dry up, and from which further rufiisni'm may
day after day and year after year, draw cease
less comfort and refreshment. 1t was not
merely useful for the nOnce to procure the
scquttal of Heibert-it opens the way for the
committal of endless murders without the least
danger of any legal consequences to the murderera.
And besides, 1t has the additional advantage
which must greatly recommend it to the numerous
admirers Of Preston 8. BroOks--Of turning COW
ardies into an apology and justification Of crime.
The law of homicide, as laid down BY this eminent
mseistrate and eIpectant Chief Justice, is this:
Whosoever, under fear and apprehension "of great
"botily barn." no matter whether that fear be
well founded or not, kills another, must be con-
sidered to have acted in seltdefense, and the act
will be justfable homicide
To what an extensive daily use this convenient
doctrine may be put, will be evident as the first
glance The Border -Rufien party and all its indi-
vidual members exist in perpetual state of terror
Terror is the very element in which they live and
move and bresthe-terror ut the idea of having
their throsts cut by their Own slsves terror lest
their slaves may be induced to run away BY
proving Abolitioniss terror lest the market
price of slaves may fall or not rise sufficiently to
enable them by selling now son and now dsugh-
ter, aid DOW cast of concubine, to meet their
annual expenses; terror lest the Union be dis
solved; terror lest Fremont be elected President;
terror lest after all Kansas should fail TO be made
Slave State; terror lest the lsbOring men Of tho
North should at last open their eyes and refuse any
longer to su sain slavedriving Democracy. The
whole politics Of the Border Rafian party is thus
made up Of terror Individually they are also cow
ards, or at least that is true of those whom they
re coenize az their leaders and representative men.
Edmundson and Brooks go skulking about sup
posing Themselves "in imminent danger Of great
bodily harm" from the superior strength of some
body whom they propose to attack, and from
supposed pistol in that somebody's pocket. They
are horror struck with the idea that somebody
whom they would like to have the name of having
challenged il dead shot with the rifle, and after
having sent challenge don't dare to 90 to the ap.
pointed place Of meeting, for fear Of mobs, assas-
srs, prisons, penitentiaries, bais and coost.bles
and last, though not least, though they don't say
much about it, Of the challenged partys rife. For
persons in this state Of mind, chronis with the
Border. RufRan party, how convenient Judge Craw.
fords law Of jusiifable homicide, as q supplement
to the pistols and bowie. e.knves which they habit
ually carry in their pockets! How much more
convenient for Brooks, Keitt, Edmundson and ,he
rest of the South Carolina delegation TO get
together and, under the influence Of bodily terror,
to shoot Burlingame out Of window or from be.
hind corner, than for Brooks to encounter him
alone on the other side of Niagara Should
Chief Justice Tsney die before Pierce's term ex
pres, or should Buchanan be elected 10 succeed
Pierce, Judge Crawford's Chief Jwticeship m.y be
set down as dead certainty.
Mr.. Buchanan may be Q man Of great sagscity
Though we do not think him such); but he is