The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1867-06-13
The Safeguards af Liberty.

Sometimes we learn valuable lesson;
in Craftsmanship, even in countries ruled
by constitutional monarchs. n othng i:
50 dear to a people as liberty. And the
lovers of free government, should be
constantly on the alert to arrest the en-.
croachnents Of arbitrary power. 1t is the
weak and deienceless who need protection
The strong are able to protect themselves
The Lord Chief Justice of England in a
charge recently delivered, has evinced
such high appreciation of the great prin-
ciples of liberty. as to endear himself to
every freeman. If the jurists of Eng land
plant themselves on the great principles
of the civil law, and against military tribu-
mails, for the civilians, should not the
jurists of this country also discourage and
arrest the course Of arbitrary power. The
Lord Chief Justice says:
1--WE should never forget that whatever
might be the charge upon which man
might be accused, rere he the ,rorst trait
or eccr Jrought to tie block, until he acas
conrictcd, and his life vos taken, he ccs
still subject untitled TO hose safeguards
that were the ve'y source Of justice. 1t
was impossible to deal properly with the
question of martial law without tracing it
TO its fountain head.
1t was time that Parliament should in
terfere and pat some check upon juris-
diction so purely arbitrary. despotic and
capricious. TIE difficulty in this case was,
that, with the exceptions OF these state
ments, there was 10 authority at all for
any such doctrine; they were unfounded
and untenable they were mischievous
and lie might say, dangerous. Whatever
the charge ofwhich man was accused.
though he might be the greatest rebel, till
he was convicted he was still subject,
and was entitled, when brought to justice,
to those safeguards which were the essence
of justice, and which had been found to
be necessary to prevent rash and hasty
conclusions, to prevent irreverence which
had the appearance of guilt being treated
as though the guilt were established. x
: If that was the law as applied to
the soldier, what was the law that should
be applied to the civilian? \ mutiny on
board ship might be put down at once;
committed in order TO bring it under the
cognizance of the law, but might put down
the attempt at once by the application Of
any amount Of force that might be neces-
sary; but that was not martial law. The
question to be considered in this case was.
whether the persons not actively engaged,
and who could not, therefore. be killed On
the spot, were to be subjected to law
which was entirely exceptional. A notion
having sprung up that there was such
thinG as martial iaw, distinct from militia
~ law the ruling Of Coke, Hale and Black
stone had been much misunderstood, those
eminent Gutbordics ncucr hdvjng dreamed
Of nsl'tary idtc as applicable to ciOHians."
It makes one feel that Marshall and
Story, The =. tt jurists of America, were
again speaking to us, who have so nearly
forgotten their teachings 1t will be well
five turn not away from the extract until
we fully comprehend the great truth it
contains. The Nes9 York Tr,bune speaks
of it as follows:
The great point in the charge Of the
Chief Justice is, the paramount authority
Of the civil law-an authority which can
not, he contends, for single moment be
rightfully set aside by any one man, how
evca exalted in statiln or Office Il is sure
ly something gained for the cause of con-
stitutional liberty to have this noble doe
trine proclaimed from the English bench
in tone and spirit worthy of the times
that gave birth to the immortal Petition
of Rights, or to our own grand Declar-
ton Of Independence.