Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1863-04-16

lei by simple change of names. But
in the days Of Charles l., more than two
hundred yenrs ago, our ancestors Gid no,
allow the snbject to drop at the naughty
bidding even Of king. They met the
issue. Bold and fierce discussion follow
ed, until the unwafranted arrest and i'm.
prisonmcnt OF five EDglishmen gave rise
to the famous PETITION or RToHT, which
was clear and explicit affirmation Of the
principles Of Magma Charto, and an ap-
plication Of them to existing grievances.
/ quote that portion Of it which so forci.
bly, reminds us of the high and sacred
rights which have been stricken down
by the present Administration in our own
midst
"III. Aud whereas. also, by the statute called
"the Great Charter of the liberties Of England, :"
it is declared and enacted that no freemen may
be taken or Imprisoned, be disseized Of his free.
hold or liberties, or bis free customs OF be ont
lawed or exed, or In any manner DESTROYED but
by the lawful Judgment Of his peers or by the law
Of the land.
"lv. And in the eighth and twentieth rear
OF the reign Of King Edward III, it was declared
and enacted by authority Of Parliament that no
man, of what estate Or condition that he be; shod
be put out of bis lands or tenements, nor taken,
nor imprisoned nor disinh eri;ed, nor put to death
without being brought TO answer by due process
Of law.
"V Nevertheless, against the tenor of said
statutes, and other of the good laws and statutes
OF your realm, 10 that end provided, divers Of
your subjects have Of late been inrrisoued with.
out any cause showed; and when, for their deiv.
erance, they we're brought before your Justices
by your Majesty's writ of Hdbeos Corpus, there
to undergo and receive as the court should order.
and their keepers commanded to certify the eau.
ses of their detainer, no cause was certified, but
that they we're detained BY your Maiesty's special
command, signifed by the Lords of your Priyy
Council, and yet were returned back to several
prisons without being charged with anything to
which they might make answer according to law +"
The king signed new guarantees Of lib
erty to meet these complaints, but, in an
unhappy hour for him, broke his royal
word and again trespassed upon therights
Of the people. The struggle again com
menced, and ragged until Charles |. fell be-
meath the axe Of the executioner; and that
mysterious and unexplained enigma of
history, Oliver Cromwell, triumphed over
him in the name of popular right and
constitutional government. And though
the practical fruits of this mighty revo-
luton were for long years turned to dust
and ashes upon the lips Of England, yet
the public mind of the world had learned
a grand and overwhelming lesson. The
English people taught mankind of every
age and of every country that no sanctity
OF prerogative, no dignity of blood, no
prescriptive customs, no pagentry of roy
al state, no bayonets surrounding the pal
ace, can protect one man in plundering
the multitude of their personal liberties.
1t is lesson. sir, which the humblest
American citizen knows by heart to-day
and treasures up as al everlasting inher-
itance.
But there was another great period in
history in which our ancestors developed
their devotion to the progress of liberty,
to the principles of 4Nagna Harta. In
1859 another member Of the house OF
S uart, forgetiul Of the fate of his father,
possessed himself of the atrocious instru-
ments OF oppression, and attempted to
subvert the laws and the liberties of his
kingdom. But the spirit which brought
Charles |. to the block exiled James ii,
and changed the dynasty forever from the
house of Stuart. And the same causes,
the same aggressions against the person
al rights Of the subject which produced
the PETITION OF RIGHT under Charles |.
produced the Bill OF RIGHTS under
James III. 1t was the same venerable
issue, and is contained in the following
sections :
al. That the pretended power of suspending
laws by legal authority, without consent of Par
Lament, is illegal.
- ii hat the pretended power of dispensing
with laws. or the execution of laws by legal au.
thority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of
late, is Illegal"
Mr.. Speaker, we have here, then, the
three grand acts in the sublime drama OF
English liberty, and the unity of immor.
tai principle which pervades and sustains
them all is SO complete that Lord Cha
than consolidated them in his mind, and
proclaimed them to be "the Bible of En-
glisn constitution" The inspiration was
confined, however, to no nation and to
no age. Their application to civil rights
was as universal as mankind itself They
speak in tones Of hope, of dignity and
manhood, to every heart worthy to be
free which beats beneath the sun. They
constitute frowning and defiant bulwark
against arbitrary and despotic power
but a radiant and smiling angel of liberty, |
peace, fraternity, and securely to the toll
ing millions whose strong arms uphold
the wealth, commerce, the progress, and
the civilization of the world, And when
then the next great struggle in behalf of
liberty for the citizen a.
gainst the unlawful assumption of power
by one man, which startled the nations
in 1776, had closed in triumph on the
soil of Virginia-wherc the voice of Pat.
rick Henry first aroused 1.-THE material
for those clauses of the American Con-
stitution which secure the personal indie.
pendence and personal rights Of the citi.
zen, was ready and ample, rich inherit
ance of the past, and only needed to be
reassured in the form of an organic law.
Our constitution is simply one more de-
nial recorded in history Of the power to
the written law in order to
reach and injure the citizen in the enjoy
ment of life, liberty and property. 1t is
simply one more declaration, added to
those already made, that the people pos
sessed an inherent power to protect them
selves against their old enemy-execu.
tive usurpation. 1t was a solemn pro-
test, in the name of human nature that