Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-03-02

department. 81 the judiciary was created 20 inter
pref and pronounce the meaning Of law and If
the law thus declared by the courts Is not in
accordance with the popular wishes, it is to be
corrected by new legislation. But one depart
ment cannot invade or coerce the other. when
each confines itself to its constitutional bOunda-
mes. These rules are very old and very familiar;
but they assume n new and wonderful signIh-
canoe IN the light Of present events They are
Ike the face Of old friend beheld Unexpectedly
under terrible and startling circumstances. do
not alude 10 them az this time because | suppose
they are new 90 the humblest mind in the land.
allude to them, however, sir, for the pu )se of
asserting, a | do here now in my place as a
Representative of the people, that the present
Executive Of this Government has usurped the
powers of the judicial and the legislative depart
menis OF the Constitution 20 an extent which Is
totally subversive of republican institutions, and
not TO be borne by free people. | make the
charge and will submit the proof TO my candid
countrymen.
1t will not be denied on this floor OF elsewhere
that the suspension OF the writ OF habeas corpus
/ by proclamation, TO which have alluded closed
the civil Courts Of this country, from ore ocean to
the other. against the trial of any one arrested by
the order OF the President or his subordnates. Ii
gave access to the vaults OF the prison, but not 10
the bar OF justice. IL is part of the nature OF
/ frail 10 sin against laws, both human and
divine, but God himself secures him trial before
! punishment. and tyrants alone repudate the JUS
tice OF the Almighty. To deny TO an accused per
son the right to be heard in his defense is pre-
inently the attribute OF tie worst ages OF brutal
despotism. Condemnation without trial and pun
ishment without Limitation, j. the exact definition
TO my mind of the most atrocious tyranny that
ever Toasted on the groanS of the captive, or ban
| quoted on the tears Of the widow and the father
less. And vet on this spectacle of horror and of
shame American citizens have been gazing for
more than a year. The great bulwark which
generations in bloody toll have erected against the
wicked exercise Of unlawful power has been torn
away with parrcidal hand Every citizen in
this Republic, the farmer at his pillow, the me
chanic in bis shop, the merchant at hi counter.
every calling and profession IN lite from the proud
I man in his mansion TO the good man in his cabin.
/ all stand this day naked and exposed, utterly and
entirely at the mercy of one man, and OF the
/ fawning mnions who crouch before him for pay.
i state fact in the hearing of the country and
wherever my feeble words may penetrate wit
nesses will rise up and solemny attest its truth.
1t would be the natural supposItOn of every in
teiligent mind, that an argument To prove that
there is a warrant in the Constitution for this
state OF affairs would be an insult 10 the genius
OF the Revolution in which our liberties %ere won,
an outrage OH the memory of the great dead OF
/ that period, AMI a mockery TO the common sense
OF the world But the spirit OF abiect seryility,
which always invites the arrogant assumptions OF
power and precedes the downfall OF liberty, Is per
forming lis loathsome office on every hand. We
/ hear every side the old cry OF the courier and
the parasite. At every new aggression. at every
additional outrage, new advocates rise up to de-
lend that source of patronage. wealth and fame
the department OF the Executive. Technical and
obscure rules, cunningly devised special pleas,
and skiiliui and deceptive sOphlstry, AL combine
Ia the hands OF the supporters OF this AdmniStIa-
ton to away from the people the protection
OF the laws of their own making Such assistance
4 has always waited on the most malignant efforts
of tyranny. Nero had his poet laureate and
Seneca wrote his defense for the murder OF bis
mother The present dark hour affords ample
evidence that human nature is the same that it
was two thousand years ago.
/ Amid the opening scenes of this disastrous and
deplorable war, the President suspended the Cper-
atons OF the writ OF habeas corpus III certain
settled and afflicted cities and portions of the
country. This was in my judgment. withuut au-
thority ofthe Constitution but the people bore with
heroic patience their own wrongs rather than add
To the disorder and calamites OF the nation. But
this partial assault the principles of free govern
menr is rendered insignificant in view of the dar-
ing and gigantic stride taken in September ana
which the blandishing tongue of fattery and adu
/ laton commend and sustain III the American
| Congress. and in the face of the American people
| Nth this last act in the mourniul tragedy of ma
tional honor, and, fear, national existence, |
shall more especially deal at this time
Sir, | might content myself Is the power of
the President TO suspend the writ OF habeas corpus
by resting upon judicial precedent | might de
clare to this House and To the country, in the
! language OF that eminent iurst late Justice of
/ the Supreme Court of the United States, Benja-
mi nd Curtis of MaSsachtsafts hat. 4,
only judicial decisions which have been made
upon this question have been adverse to the power
| OF the President" might array negative upon
negative, and cite In support OF my position the
great OF judicial history, before whose glory
in the higher walks of useiul fame among men the
most exalted names OF TO day would be as the
! feeble sparks of the slow-worm IN vain compe-
| titlOn with the blazing sun AT it, meridian. |
might show from the recorded transactions OF the
past that the nineteenth century and the land OF
much vauuted freedom have produced a Pre>i-
dent and Cabinet who, ina species;of delerium,
/ have detied, spurned, and sought to crush and
humlliate the legal decisions OF centuries made
in behalf OF personal security and personal indie
pendence; decisions which salute the eve OF the
wayiarer and downtrodden of every age and of
every cline like light houses on the stormy beach,
! reckoning the mariner in the midst of darkness
and despair to the shelter OF a peaceful harbor
| might DO all this and it would seem that it would
be ample enough; but it would be no moIe than
| has already been done with far more ability than
belongs to my humble powers. All the world
/ knows these things Even the Representatives
who mlsrepresent the people on the other side OF
/ this Chamber know ali this, and shrink and trem-
bic before the application when future history
+ will make OF past history. | wish, however, To
/ dwell Tor few moments AMIDST the historical
associations OF this immortal writ OF human free
dom anu human progress. ! wish To sean its pur-
pose and discover its spirit wish TO inquire
what causes produced 1t. | wish 10 see why it
was ever thought OF in connection with civil gov
eminent. What diditpropose To accomplish. what
did il oppose, and what did it favor? Who have
been for 1t. aud who have beer against itl The
answers TO these questions. drawn from history
will. according u my mode OF reasoning, throw
immense light on the question OF the power OF
any executive officer to suspend its operations
and deprive the people of its benefits.
Sir the history of the progress of liberty, next
TO the history OF the Christian religion, is the
most sublime ana instructive lesson taught in the
annals OF the world Its fortunes indeed have
been various, but no season OF adversely has ever
suihced 10 quench the vestal fires which burn on
IL affairs. And in all the terrible struggles with
which it has Jared the nations and liberated the
people, its sole antagonist has been the principle
that 10 one man belongs the right 10 govern the
many. Kings, and the cOUrtlerS of kings, who
talk of the divine right to the possession ana tx
ercise power, have been the enemies which liberty
has had to encounter Every contest it ever
/ waged has been 10 nut restraint ana control on