Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-02-19

~ ual Courts, as well IS ~ TIE teMPHalI "
d less where there iss.n interest or IFoperl
i in the plaintiff, as in cases for tithss leg
= eies. or matrimonial contracts md y
Ike. Bac. Abr. -FaTdOn, ~ 20. o
b Latch 100. o =.
In Hesdon V. Mastersog, Hoe. .,92i it
e said in FoIleys GIse. 0 20. ny y II VI
o resolved that if man obtained PaIuO
+ / before conviction, he shall not f0'.feit n
: goods nor the profits Of his lands, AnC
\ | ID is afterwards said ia Coke { Y. ill = !
4 The same book (RniUet) it is saiii that
. q man has a charter of pardon, RI eide
2 date than the eyigent, his go$ds ar
p saved, for the cause of salvation appear
Of record
I Infamous crimes, like forgery ind pei
! Jury, are different things from politlea
r offenses. in which it is failure that con
, stitutes the crime. In the FORMER cases
) il is with some reason held that thougl
the Dardon restores the competency Z
. testify, it does not restore the credit
and was formerly held that the part.
could not be juror.
But no such infamy attaches to polit
zeal ofFenses, and especially to attempt
by whole States at revolution and to at
tain Independence, when the rebellion
IL it be one, becomes civil war. IL th'
Revolution OF l7T6 had been unsueeess
ful, it would have been pronounced bJ
history q rebellion, and Washington ant
his Generals would have been liaoIe t'
the pains and penalties Of treason.
1t is with reason, therefore, thitt ID re-
sneet to such OfFenses as these, tue par
don is held to ohl5terate the ofie 1se, and
make it as if It had never been. There
is not, in such a case, even the despOts
fear Of assassination to induce cruelty.
/ Republics should be impassive to fear,
and incapable Of cruelty or revenge and
when they pardon there should be nc
mental reservations or Ingeriags of an
/ ignOble anger.
/ The French Courts have uniformly
( held that although an amnesty is not
defined ia the constitutional law OF
/ France, it is admitted in the public
law and in the custom and prae-
I tice in France, as an act of the prince
NECESSARY to the common veal, after po-
I IitieaI connections, and that its effect is
/ to throw the veil of oblivion over acts
I termed crimes or delicts by the penal
I law, and to liberate from all prosecutions
/ or cOndemnations those who have com-
mitted such offsnses in SUCH manner
/ that, for the future, the condemnation
/ is as if it had never been" The offense
]
committed. saving as to rights vested in
! third persons. Every trace of the Of
! fsnse is efaced by it. The law attaches
/ 4 fiction to the very nature of the am
! nesty, bv which the party, even when
4 by condemnation civil death has super
! vened, is considered never to have lost
| the exercise Of his civil rights. It retro
| acts to the day Of the condemnation. 1t
/ efTaCes aud annuls the legal effects OF the
| civil death. It annuls the cllndemna-
/ ton, abOlisiles the past, and restores the
amuestied party tc the pleutitude Of civil
/ life, saving only the rights acquired by
/ third persons" De Gir0rdia V. Mayor
/ Of Saint LegeT-ies- B0is, AHge7s, Journal
/ dlt PIiGis, | Of i24l, 2G9.
/ PrOclamatiOns Of amnesty are made
/ for the general interest, and are not ike
/ Individual letters Of grace, which ouly
relieve from the punishment, leaving
Z the guilt unaffected. The object Of an
/ amnesty is. and its effect sh)uid be, to
! cover with the veil of DBL WON, and
/ efface, the recollection and effect OF con-
/ viciiors or suits to which the parties am
/ nestled were liable. The Ps5lic Prose
/ c,H0r Y. Chnrassol, CAssATlON, J0ic71.
/ 6H Pal > Of 1888, 552.
( An amnesty G5Oiishes the crimes and
| ofTenses which are the object of it 1t
| effaees even the remembrance of them,
and leaves nothing TO suOsist OF the con-
/ victiOus and sentences pronounced
saving only such restrictions as are for
mally expressed in this act Of royal
/ clemencyn COHsidgTe V. The Public
/ Prosecutor, CAssATION, JOU71. du Pal, &,
l Of lsI4, 793-
1 The object of an amnesty is COM
I pIetely 10 etiaee the past, that is to say,
{ to reinstate the amuestied in the same
1 position which they occupied before the
penalty was iscurred from which 1t re-
suits, that it produces the complete re-
establishment OF the amuestled III the
I enjoyment Of the rights VIII eh they had
/ before conviction, unless these IIghJs
| have become the property Of third per
sons. This is a forced restriction, made
[ necessary by the conservative principle
! of nou-retroactivity, and 1t IS the only
| one that can qualify the amnesty" De
/ Girdrciin V. May0r. etc, CESSATION,
! ,J0uru 1lu Pal OF J $3.50 N0'Rbrnl BiHOt
af a., CESSATION, ,ToliT7l. dU I'tl., Of
| 1852, 242.
This principle OF constrIing p9rdOns,
amueslies, and acts Of grace literally,
/ for the honor Of the sovereign and the
| benefit Of the commonwealth, prevails
in all codes. It originally obtained IN
[ England, whose kings were once OF right
/ kings of Eranca, and Of the proud, fiery,
and vet .senerous Norman race. For
/ everyw4>re, when a civil war ends, the
! great Ty.fp0ses Of wise rulers comes 10 be
I that peace a1d the old npeing OF unity
and the Old good LumOr should he re-
1 stored, and the gaping wounds Of the
country healed. Il is moi 10 England,
under the Tudors and Piantagenets {;
under the cruel, treagherOus, knavish,
and Gnwardiy James the First under
I the self-willed, vindjctive Elizabeth,
/ Jealous almost To insanity az her prerog-
/ ative, even to control cuusciences; under
/ the first Charles, arbitrary and faIthless ;
| or under the second. fearful Of second
great rebellion; it is not ID the England
( Of those days the England OF Ieilrles
/ and Scfoggs, aud OF the Judges who de
cidad that James the Secuud had the dis
peusing power, that we should naturally
/ look for generous or just law as to
/ treasOns aud pardOns and yet we mud
/ the great lawyer COke intrepidlv apply
ing the identical principles that do so
much honor TO France. 10 cannot be
/ too often or too emphati.auy repeated,
/ in what, it is hoped, viii l,a once again a
{ united country, that " 4 AMNESTY OR
/ A PARUON THOWS THE vE..LOF OBLIVION
/ OVER ALL THE PAST, EFFACES LIE OF
/ FENsE, AND MAKES 1T AS IF IT HAD
4 NEVER BEEN COllHITTE)." C0uhsca
! tiOn afterwards pursued, is robbery, and
/ would diskonar even a del,pOt.
/ IL Is not, and never was true, that 8
/ pardon does not restore the JOrHifr ca
( Facity Of the party, but s.tve- him a ae'e
! one. IL does not make heSc man. The
/ notion of Blackstone On that subjec;
/ is bat one among a thousand instances
/ i'm which tie English law under
| the influence Ofarbitrary power and royal
! jealousy OF whatever a-saiied its divine
/ right OF rule ana persGliaI sancjlty. had
/ Gegeuerated from the principles drawn
from Norman sources ard asserted with
an intrepiiity worthy of al admiration
by Coke, More, Hale, Holt and the
others Of the Nobility OF The Bench.
For it IS to be- remembered that it was
| the turbulent Barous Of England, as il
| vas the great Feudatories Of France
who chiefly caused IL TO become a eoroI
larry of the royal prerog alive, that trea
( son could never be Iuily' cCndODed.
France, even with only Charter
under aking of the House of Bourbon ol
Orleans, reasseTts The Old law OF the \ or
mans as 20 the pieaGrq effect Of pardon
or an amnesty. la FL gland, where tbt
! traditions of Divine right still ljnger, tn,
law bsbbles upon thiSimbieet, as upon al
others that concern tile royal prerOga
tive. It ought not TO be difficult for ,
Constitutional Republic TO decide by
which set Of pTeceden ts il viii be gov
erned. II, by a;eans )f test oaths, thos'
pardoned after a eivii var can be dis
franchised and even excluded from th'
practice Of their profession, we shall haVi
adopted the worst and most Odious prac
ices of the worst uliss; and those com
muHiiies that are STATES in name VIII b
but Provinces and Pro Consulates II
fact. To pardon, % forgive, and stin T.
: punish. is contradiction Of terms. Il
pretend 10 pardon, and still to pun
ish. is q baseness that surpasses tn
: trescaeries Of James the First and L0ui
z the Eleventh, who foryave, that the.
8 might SO disarm those amenable to th
law and liable 10 the penalties Of trea
2 son and who profiu,d by the reintegra
} | ton of pardous. The Williams and tn
{ bourgeois, the peasant and the Jacque
q Bon hommes we're I tile affected by IN
storms OF state They bowed and th
E blast blew over them. They we're OF to
little consideration TO be hated by PoWel
; lt was the great dukes, earls and baron
, Of England, and the peers Of Frsnc'
| continually &C war with the crown, VII
= were to be cut out, root and branch, b
e the law OF High Treason. The whol
Z ministry Of RichGeu was a war again'
o the great feUdal mobiles, and an appeal {
-.