Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1863-03-31
sPEEcH OF
HON. MILTON SAYLER,
OF HAMILTON COUNTY.

OF HAMILTON COUNTY,
Dsliusysd In the Ohio House Of Repyesentatipes
January 29M and 3Oh, on The Right of Per.
sOnal Libsyty-Mr. Dresel's Resolutions al
to Arbitrary Arrests being under considers
tion, ~.
[oohtinued.l
From the reign of Charles III, we NAV datf
the complete restitution Of English liberty
taken away by tho Norman conouest. This
glory OF this belongs to the people, however
and not to the king. As II 10 written OF him In
tho ancient records, Tin truth he was a iollv
king, and had squeeze Of tho hand for everv
visitor and Jest for every OCCASION" and vol
like somc other illustrious testers, he demon
strates very we'll how, in England as we'll as in
Denmark, man "can smile, and smile. and be
a villain" So far as tho second Charlea him.
self is concerned the whole tendency and effort
OF hie reign was TO undermine the libertiea of
the people, and yot In spite of that tendency and
effort, the people Wrested from him and cstab.
liahed for themselves sufficient power TO assert
and preserve their liberty whenever Invaded
by tho royal prerogatiyo. Tho corner-stone Of
their powor and aecurity was tho habsas coypns
act, by virtue Of which, Lord CampbeI eavs.
"personAl liberty has been more efrfctuaIlv
guarded in England than it has in any country
10 tho world;" proud boast, sir, which Amer.
lea has hitherto disputed with the mother land.
but which now, to her shame. she must Weld.
The strength with which tho liberties oc ,bs
Englieh people had been fortified by these suc.
cessive atruggles Ia well oyinced In the nom.
orable catastrophe of the next reign. For who,
James II, brother Of the late king, aitempted N
enslave his subjects by obtaining the reneal {
the habeas corpus act, which Macaulay tell1 u5
"he hated as IL WAS natural that tyrant shouId
hate the most stringent curb that ever ler,a
lation imposed OIL tyranny" no found that
Tories as well as Whigs were against him
and that the great writ was prized not lcss by
the one than by the othor. And afterWaFd
when he attempted TO exercise the power of
dispensing NTH the OPERATION Of lao as apDlied m
particular Individuals, and imprieoncd the geven
Bishops because they refused to concur in said
assumed power, the judgea reaffirmed the lights
OF the subject, and lanes III was driven from
the throne OF his anco5toTs. Nor were William
and Mary permitted 10 ascend the throne until
Parliament had set forth that there gae an orip
inal contract between king and people, which
JameH had broken, 0nd had published Deolar.
alton OF Rights, in which they affirmed: THAT
tho pretended power of suependine laws, and
the execution of laws, by regal authority with
ont consent OF Parliament, is illegal; that the
commission for creating the late Court of Com
missioners for ecclesiastical causes and all other
commissions and courts Of the like nature, arc
illegal and pernicious; that elections OF MEM
bers OF Parliament ought 30 be free; and that
the freedom of speech or debates, or proceed
ings in Parliament, ought not to be impesched
or questioned in any court or place out OF Par
Lament"
The Bill of Rights, the federation act, and
the Act of Settlement, with its conditions,
Blackstone tells ue, "haVe asserted our liber-
ties in more clear and emphattical terms; have
confirmed aud exempli6ed the docriae of re-
sitt,nce, when the Executive Magiefrate en-
desvors TO subvert the Constitution; and have
maintained the superiority OF The Idws abOue the
hing, by pronouGcing his dispensing power 10
be Illegal"
The reign Of Charlca IL. may be given as the
period OF the thorough and complete c.estab-
lishment of the civil and Political hbert icfl OF
England, but the revolution of 1858 ia the hap.
py era OF their full and explicit acknowledge
menL and definition. From ths day forth no
monarch has dared attempt any serious intgac-
tion upon them Amid oil the connections of
subatquent years, amid pariy sirifes, amid for
eign war5, amid domestic instructions, these
ltheiteI have blood unshaken, and their great
palladium, the act of habcss corpus, haa been
Kept safe within tho temple untouched by the
baGhIegious hand OF king or queen. To shoW
hp" securely these liberties were guarded, ard
how Tar bsyond tho poser OF the king Nas the
suspension oil the writ OF habeas corpus, and
90 Whht limited extent only IL might bo i'll
terierGd with oven by act OF parliament, l
need but refer yon TO the events of l745. Du.
ring this year England was disturbed at once
by war abroad and rebellion at home. While
the troops of Geor o III we're on tho continent
giving battle to the French, Charles Edward,
tie Pietender, asserted his right 20 the throne,
and at the head OF Scottish clans, led by chiefs
bearing such great names 40 Clanlonald, Nc
Donald, and Cameron of Lochiel, marched for
ward aud crossed the English borders. With
a foreign war and domestic inaufrection on
his hands at once, his best troops abroad, the
land full Of hidden enemies, and the fears OF
the loyal people justly aroused, now, If ever,
the monarch might be expected to stretch his
authority. The habeas corpus act Has indeed
suspended, but by whom and to What exteut2
Even then
'TnE EXECUTIVE PowKR," says De Lolme, in his ad.
mrable essay on the Constitution of England did not
thus, Of ITSELF stretch s authority; tho precau.
tves OF the people and the detanng of individuals In
consequence OF the suspension of the act was limited
TO certain fixed time Notwithstanding the lust fears
OF internal and hidden enemies, which the
OF the times might raise, the deviation from the former
course OF the law was carried farther than the single
point we have mentioned. Persons detained by order
OF the Government were to be dealt with In the same
manner those arrested ut the suit Of private ndiyid
uas the proceedings against them 70 be carried on
no otherwise than In public place; they were TO be
tIed by thei, peers and have all the usual legal
Of defense allowed to themsuch as calling OF Witness
es, peremptory challenge Of juries,' etc,
Twenty years later Q765) Blackstone wrote
his celebrrted Commentaries on English Com
mon Law. 80 clearly was the doctrine of tho
persoual liberty Of the sabject established at
thls time that he thus relers tu it:
"ln former part OF thes0 Commentaries
wc expatiated at large on the personal liberty
OF the subject This mas shown 10 be u natural
inherent right, which could not be surrendered
or forfeited unless by ihe commission of come
great and atrocious cfIIoe, aud which ought not
TO De abridged IN any case oihOu The special per-
mission Of ido A doctrine coeVal with the
first rudiment Of The English Constitution and
handed down TO ue, from ouG Saxon ancestors :,
notW this landing oil their struggles with the
Danes, and the violence OF the Norman con-
quest; asserted atterward and confirmed by
the conqueror himself and he descendants:
and though som times q little impaired by the
ierocity of the times, and the occasional des.
p0tism OF jeal0us Or uHuPping princes, yet es.
tsbliahed on the firnest basis by the provisions
of Mdsns ChaytG, and long succession Of
statutes enacted under Edward Ill To assert
-. 4.