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

and Philip IT Mace5ou. The struggle has Lever
ceased The people grasped NJ power for 10
them the possession % po~cr i freedom Crowned
heads claimed il their right: for TO them IL was
the gFatltcati0n OF a passion more consuming than
al Others that corroded the human heart
the avarice Of comnOn-the lust for personal
supremacy. The safety Of the people lay in
written laws judicialy interpreted. and this they
soon learned Kings sought 20 govern by proc
lamatioifs which suspended or disregartied law
henee arose those glorious efforts 10 Tx the
boundaries between the ruler aud the citizen-tO
put restraint the one. and give security 10 the
other. which constitute the chief glory OF Eng
land and tn just pride of Enslishmen. WHY did
the British Barons meet At Runnymedel Why
u the name OF that spot immortal2 What causes
produced that wonderful assemblace ia the
month OF June and in the year 1918! Why Is
u that We talk today of that event Transporting
more than six hundred years ago with the IA
mllianiv which belongs 20 an event of Yesterday
Or, the old eontending principles were there
brought face 70 face, and great landmark was
erected IN behalf of personal liberty and against
the abuse OF power. as high as the heavens and
as enduring az the earth. The people confronted
hing John, who had been arresting citizens with
out charge, and Furnishing them without trial, and
made him 10 record an oath before angels and
men that he would forever abandon the practice
OF such outrages This was Magma Charta.
/ hese were the causes which produced it. Ii
became perpetual law, and every English
monarch, from John TO Victoria. has sworn
in express form of words part of the coro-
nation oath TO support il. Listen, sir, to its
oldfashioned and homely, but most glorious
text:
No freeman shall be taken imprisoned, dissezed
or outlawed banished anyways destroyed, will
we pass upon him, will We send him unless by the
lawful Judgment Of his peers By the law the land
We viii sell 10 vii. DENY
either justice right
his the voice of people in whose minds
clear perception of legal forms had yet
dawned; but it the clear. high voice of liberty,
which when once spoken never ceases TO echo and
resOund from age age until the angel shall close
he book of time. love TO listen TO its pesling
strains. No music this side OF the winged cheru-
bin of God is 50 sweet to my ear. | contras; it
with the harsh. discordant notes OF the Executive
usurpatiOns of the present hour. aud the AFFECT
tones OF those who feed on the smiles OF Executive
favor. turn away from the sad omens which
surround Us to renew and strengthen my faith in
the ultimate success Of free institutions. by con
templatlng the scenes through which they have
already passed ] turn away from the sight of
expiring liberty in this land TO myself by Il
contemplation OF other days that il cannot alto
gether die.
Mr. Speaker, we cannot over estimate the value
of the victory obtained by the popular will over
the doctrine of the one man power when the Great
Charter was extorted from England's pertidious
king. Every enlightened lover of human freedom
has borne testimony TO the importance of this
grand Achievements. The great Earl OF Chatham.
in pleading the cause OF constitutional liberty in
100 uaid tribute to it as follows:
is To your my Lords i, the English
barons that indebted for the laws and constitutions
possess Their virtues rude and uncutvated 4,
but they were great and sincere Their understandings
were as little polished their manners but they had
hearts to distinguish right from wrong; they had heads to
distinguish truth from falsehood they understood the
rights OF humanity and they had spirit TO maintain them
Ny Lords think history has done justice their
conduct when they obtained from their sovereign that
great acknowledgment of national rights contained in
Magma Charta. they did confne themselves alone
but delivered il common blessing to the whole people.
Sir James Macintosh dwells upon il in glow
ing periods. Says that brilliant historian and
sta eSman:
Whoever. in any future yet unborn nation, may
admire the felicity of the eXpedient which converted the
power Of taxation into the shield of liberty by which dis
cretionary and secret imprisonment rendered i'm
practicable and portions OF the people trained
ercise larger share of judicial power than was
allotted them in any ether civilized State, in such
TO instead Of endangerng public
guilty: whoever exuts az the spectacle of enlightened
aud independent assemblies which, under the eve of
well informed nation. discuss and determine the laws and
policy likely to make communities great and happy; who
ever Is capable of comprehendng all the effects OF such
institutions. with all their possible improvements
me lnlhd genius OF people, S9credy DOunu
speak with reverenta gratitude OF the authors of the
Great Charter. To have produced it, tn have preserved
H. TO have matured il, constitute the immortal claim of
England upon the esteem OF mankind.
Why, Mr.. Speaker, has Magma Charta been
thus esteemed By the wisest minds of the world
TO be worthy OF such lofty encomumsy Why
does it tower up with such magnitude over all
other considerations in the construction of free
gOvernmentsg The answer is very simple plain.
brief. 1t is because, in the language of Hume,
the historian
This famous deed either granted secured very i'm
porant liberties and pr veges every order of in
the kingdom-to the clergy to the barons, and to the
people.
1t IS immortal and dear sir to all people, and
more especially to the American people at this
time, because in the discussion of its principles
Hallam declares:
From the era therefore, of King Johns charter
have been clear principle of Constitution that
man can be detained in prison without trial
Ii is an authority in point to day against the
daily practices OF those who now administer the
affairs of this republic, because Sir james Mack
lntOsh has pronounced its browning glOres, y
which fill the world with grateful admiration to
be those essential clauses which protect the per-
SOnal liberty and property of all freemen, BY
giving security from arbitrary Imprisonment and
arbitrary spOliation."
Such. sir, are its claims upon the dearest affec-
tons OF mankind. 1t was born in the hearts of a
proud, free race, and its mission on earth WAS to
confront and resist that pernciouS dogma of ty-
rants, that the liberties OF the people in any
event be left to the control Of any solitary indi-
vidual, whether he be called Car, Emperor,
King President And in every contest with
Its enemy it has beer. eventually victorious. The
people of England compelled their soveregns to
soemniy ratiiy il more than thirty times in the
space O. four hundred years
But. hearing in mind the causes which pro
dnced Magma Charta, aud the great object it
was designed to accomplish, let uS take another
step III the history of the progress OF personal
liberty and personal security. In 1921 com.
menced that wonderful English revolution which
fills so many memorable and bloody pages of
history Ii commenced over the old question
of power. The King arrested Hampton. Oar
mel. and other citizens for refusing 10 pay certain
taxes, and threw them into prison They ap-
piled to the Court OF Kings Bench for the
writ of habeas corpus. in order that it might
be known whether their commitment was "bv
the law of the land, aud upon what charge it
made.
The writ granted but the warden Of the fleet ade
return that they detained by warrant from the
Prvy Council informing him of particular cause OF
imprisonment, bat that they committed by the spe
cial command of his Majesty.
We have had MANY such returns in this land
OF freedom during the past wear. and every mind
will suggest the ready parallel by simple change
Thames. But in the days of Charles l. more
than two hundred wears ago, our ancestors did
not allow the subject to drop al the naughty bid
ding even of n KING They met the issue buld