, 1863-04-04
THE EIABE:AS COKpaJS.
An Excellent Article that EVERYBODY
Ought to ReuI.

Gentlemen who, in denouncing the bill re-
latfng to the habtus corpHs,. derIainl about !
Charles First losing his head for disreg.rding
the writ, ETC., should be very sure Of their !
history before beginning their oratons, The
Revolution that killed Charles and banished
his son James, was completed By the corona
tion Of William Third as King Of England,
and the law Of England respecting the sus-
pension Of the hdbeas eorpus WAS settled BY 4
precedent in the first year Of Williams reign.
In 1859, when Ireland was in open rebellion,
q conspiracy against the King was discovered
in England, and the leaders were arrested by
order Of William. He then at once applied
to Parliament for advice, thereby acknoWl-
edging that the act must be approved By
them. The house thanked him, empowered
him to arrest for limited time, all persons
lie should hare just cause to suspect, and re-
iected an amendment that it should never be
made a precedent.
Thus the English law is that the privilege
Of the writ Is to be suspended BY the consent
Of the whole Government, executive aud 1esis-
latiyc. Or, as Blackstone states it: sit is
Parliament only, or legislative power, that
whenever it sees proper, can authorize the
Grown, By suspenling the habeas corpus act
| fora short and limited time, to imprlson sus-
pected persons without giving any reason for
| 20 doing. The nation parts with its liberty
for 4 II bile in order to preserve it foreyer-'
| The English practice has been that IN the
| absence OF Parliament, or even while it Was
in session, when the case demanded instant
action, the ministers have suspended the pri-
| yilege Of the writ, and then asked consent of
| Parliament, whose authority upon the subject
| is conceded to be supreme, and whose sane
| ton Is retrospective In Its operation
Mr.. LincOln'6 action has conformed exactly
to the Enyllsa precedent and to tile tradition
| Of cons itutfonal liberty In the absence Of
Congress, and In the extreme peril Of the
country, with the plain provision of the Con-
etitntion before him which allows tic suspen-
SIGN without naming the s1lspeutling power,
be did exactly what William Third, what any
clear-eighted and honest supreme executive
officer, would instinctively have doue. At
tbe same time be summoned Congress and di
rectly upon its assembling laid the case be-
fore 1hem in 4 few words OF simple good sense,
which We reproduce hire as most timely and
wise, and indicative Of that candor and sag;,c-
ity which are not less remarkable in the Pres
idt Mt than his nn5weTying fidelity not only to
the laws, but also, what il to us III uuaccus-
toned spectacle in the administration of the
| Presidential office, to the spirit Of the laws.
''Thc whole Of the laws which werer required
to be faithfully executed were being resisted,
and filling uf execution in nearly one third
Of the States. Must they be allo we'd to finally
full OF execution, even had it been perfectly
clear that by the use of the means Necessary
to their execution, some single law, made in
| such extreme tenderness Of the citizen'a lib
ertF that practically it relieves 1nore Of the
]
limited extent, be violated? To state the
question more directly, are all the laws bus
| one to 70 uncxecntcd, aud the Government
itself 90 to pieces lest that one BIZ violated
! | Even in such case, would not the official
oatl, be hrnken, if the Government should s,t
: oyershrown, when it was believed that disrc
ga7t]irg the single law would tend to preserve
: it, But it Was not believed that this question
WAS presented. 1t was not believed that any
: law was violated. The provision Of the Con
stitution that the privilege Of the writ o.
k.t'.os eotp"s shall not be suspended unless
.. wEtn, in eases Of rebellion OF invasion, III.
public eufety n,ly require it," is equivalent II
YEoyision-is proyisiou-that such pgiyI
G legc may be suspended, when, in cases .
9 rebellion or invasion, the public safet,
:, des require it. It waa dceidcd th''
4 public safety does require the qua1iflc
Suspension Of the writ which was authorize
to be made. Now 1t is insisted that Congress
t | and not the Executive, ia. vested with thi
4 power, But the Constitution itself is sileu
:. | as to Which, or who is to exercise the power
l. ard as the provision WAS plainly made for
r dangerous emergency, it cannot be believe
|, that the fElmcrs Of the instrument intcnde
t that in every case the danger should run it
s course until Congress could be called togetl
0 cr; the very assembling Of which might +
prevented, MS was intended in this case, b
n | tic rcbellion.h
d lie then submits NIL necessary lcgis1atio
j. Hron the subject to "thc better judgement
r. Of Congress, and Congress has responded
% ,l.c act which patriots of the Marshal Knr
school declare to be subycrsiye Of all the Ill
= efty Of the citizen to conspirc against the TN
If and existence of the nation.
Tho whole question is most thoroughly an
exlt.1stive]y discussed in Dir. Fishers "Tri
Of the Con-itu ion"