The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1868-12-02
A CONTRAST.

Just six hundred and fifty years ago. on The lit
| tie island-mcadow in The river Thames, known as
! Runnymele the friends of freedom IN England
met King John, and wrestcd from him the British
right of Magma Chnpta, containing these words:
q No man shall be arrested. imprisoned, or de-
prved Of his own free household, or Of his liber-
ties or of his own Fl ee customs, or ou,lawcd or
banished, or injured in any manner: nor will We
pass sentence upon him. nor send trial upon him,
unless by legal judgment of his peers, or by the
Inv of tile nnd."
This germ of civil liberty was defended in Eng
land by two hundred and fifty years of war, and
ratified by many acts of Parliament and no King
or Parliament of England would dare TO restrict
the privilege Of the haJeas corpu, which was en-
grated in our constitution. Some six years be-
fore the Federal Constitution WAS adopted, Il re-
markable prophecy was uttered uuder the follow
ing circumstances:
sin 1850 Henry Laurcns. former President Of
the Continental Congress, was sent Minister TO
Holland On his way he WIS captured and i'm
prisoned in the Tower of London for fourteen
months. Wien Lord Shelburne became Premier
Laurens was brought up on hdbf0s corpus and re-
leased. After his release, lie Gned with Lord
Shelburnc, when the conversation turned on the
two countries Lord Shelburnc rcmarkcl i am
sorry for your people Why so:' asked Lali-
rens They will lose the habeas corpus, was The
reply Lose the hajcar corpus sud Laurens in
aslonishment. Yes said Lord Shelburnc we
purchased it with centuries OF wrangling. many
wears of fighting. and had il confirmed by at least
ffty acls of Parliament. All this taught the ma
tion lis value and it is SO iugralned into their
creed as the very foundation oil liberty, that no
man or party will ever dare TO trample on ii.
Your people will pick it up and attempt to use il /:
but having cost them nothing. they will not know
how TO appreciate it. AT the first great internal
fcud you lave, the majority will tramplc upon ii,
and the people will permit il to be donc and SO
will geyour liberty
When people, Without even protest, see
whole States DISTINGUISHED in time Of peace, says
the New York Express, the ballot taken from nun
lreds of thousands OF intelligent white men and
given to hundreds of thousands of negroes wien
suffrage AID majoritics are wrcstcd by military
force sud Radical usurpaiion from whole States as
in West Virginia, North and South Carolina, Ala
bana, Arkansas and Florida-and, as, from 1871
TO 1869, when there is quiet acquicscencc in The
mode and result of such lranshctions-tle prophe-
cy made to Luurens eighty yeght years since, has
simply become history. Tli- United Suites consti-
tuition, in It's guarantees Of personal liberty, WAS
founded upon lhc Magma Chara of our British
ancestors, and we have seen it trample1 undor foot
more times than the years which have passed
since 1850. 1t is both our fault and our misfor-
tune that this has hccn dune, that fragmentary
Congress has mastered the Federal Executive, up
set The Federal Judiciary, and often imprisoned
without trial. tried without jury. condemned
without hearing, and punished Without reason or
justice.
= ofieinl returns give Grant 4O. 800 maiority in