Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-09-12

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while regulated By the bad passions and se.hsi
I, III is true that time ard circamstan ,es hayl
s fsat 1pe isbeS existing ones, corr ctec
I the lights and sh AIDES, and hug about 1t be
| coming drapery, until, 10 the suAi observer Il
! bears the sessblGRee of perfection, The granite
) which is thrown, by me. Revision Of natui g
from the bowels to the surface OF the earth
mighty in its strength. and crushing in Its
weight yields to the chisel Off Praxiteles, un-
, til moulded into form aud feature of seeming
perfection; yet how easy does one false strok Q,
or misplaced chisel distOrt feat ure and dispel
the charm. SO society. in its crudest and native
| strength, has been sOitened and polished by the
hand of skill, yet the want of harmony in its
| components, the jealOusies and heart-burnlngs
of its artisans. often misdirect its machinery
and despoil its beauty.
Poor race of men," said pity ing spirit.
Dearly e pay for your primal fall
1 Some flOwere.s of Eden ye still inherit,
But the trail Of the serpent is FER them all. "
With these motives, these passions, this want
Of hlrmony in action. the Bench and the Bar"
are constantly in contact, and are TO a great
extent the regulators of the pendulum, which
moves. by IFS vibrations the machinery OF So
cIal government
When, fro the sacred pinnacle of that cOnse-
Grated mount, the lncisiVe voice of our great
Law-giver wrought in the stony tablets of 81
MA, ms Leg stature. and transmitted 1t ough
His Prophet Ltw-giver, Judge, and Advocate,
unto His chosen childreo, He furnished the
| great Code" for the guidance of man, across
the isthmus of life into the sea of Eternity
| This chart, given amid the lghtnings of ueay
en-, Is the initial point of Legislation. This
| centre from which radiated those auxiliary
legislative lights that CLEANED from portals
| they looked out upon the mystic banks of the
old Nile. and subsequently frightened the bOr-
| ders Of the Rgean. through the wisdom of the
| Amphyotrionic Council of Greece Chat iegis-
lanve cOnclaYe which has been beautifully
| termed ~the veStibule to the temple of enlight
ened legislation y this Code" of God is the
WrAn f1uW NNnVWa nfN az - 10
Casars drew inspiring draughts THAT common
millions might have quenched,l and, with their
giant strength, impressed its eternal principles
en- the civilized word. 1t was the magic of the
principles drawn from this sacred source, and
welded by the Roman mind, that made the
world tTemble at the thunders of her Senate,
ana tne renoiest parts Oflths earth, without re-
stance. render qntOCesar the things that were
O@ars.' From this grand old roof tree. plants
ed amid the thunders and lightuings of Sinai,
have grown over-shadOwing branches as the
genius of a people would inspire and their
wants demand Beneath this inspired legisa'
latiOn. and the ancllary enactment of man, as
an Kgis, even the Christian has in vain sought
protection and repOSe. While the decalOgue has
withstOod all revolutions, and neither been re
pealed, amended. nor modified, yet its sacred
edicts have not kept strife from the tents of the
lsraelite, nor from the temples of modern en-
hghtment. The same spirit of restless discon-
tent which moved Israel to murmur against
the laws Of the Patriarchs. and demand King,
IS, TO day, ile IN the land, breeding oppression
misrule, and sorrow, These jarring clements
of society. the edicts from Sinai could not regu-
late, the destroying angel. in hIs passing over"
did not check, nor the drOWnedsb hosts in the de
yided bosom of the Red Sea. The glory of Ma |
rathOn, nor the pass of ThermOpyl9-the strife /
OF Canine, nor the crossing of the BubcOn-the |
plains OF BosWOrth nor the blsOd of Waterloo |
the stOrmlngs of SebastOpOl, nor the surrender |
OF 1orktoWn-haVe but allayed its chatting for /
moment, and are to- day but landmarks on /
the angry ocean of human passions. Instead of |
peace, there have been multiplied Babels of |
confusion, resulting in an anarchy that needs |
be controlled and regulated by the coercige /
powerof legal enac ments and a5judcatiOns;
and in regulating this necessity, the BE CHI and 1
the Bar have been potent and efficient instrus
meuis.
The Bench AID the Bar" have ever eonstitu.
ted a medium through which the subj ects Of eve
cry well"regulated government have sought for
their grievances. The Judiciary of every eos
hghtened country. with raIe exceptions, has
stood as Il breakwater TO the tide of oppression
WheneTer 1t threatened to sweep away tha lib
critics of a people The natural love of power
inlaid in the constitution of mau. induces usur.
patton and tyranny, and through the channels |
of violence and blood, disregaTds the law
The long exercise of power. by hFr, ditary |
grant, or elective right, IS calculated 10 Iced the
flame of personal ambition, until il Consumes !
the softer virtues of the ruler.
LET it once
But play the Monarch, and its naughty brow
GtOws with beauty that beWilders thought, |
And unthrOnes peace for ever. Putting on
The pOmp of Lueifer, il turns
The heart TO ashes. and with not sBmIny
Left in the bosom for the spirits lip,
We look upon our splendOr. and forget
The thirst Of which We peri5hH
When by concentration of power in g remorse-
less grasp, the liberties ola people have become |
endangered, the Judiciary of the land has ever |
been looked 20 as the anchor of hope and safety, |
When the bAttle-aX of revolution has essayed |
TO cut the pillars upon which rested the safe
guards of society the judicial column has ever l
been the last to yield. Oft, when the waves of
popular clamOr have been dashed into fury, |
until they would fret and foam at the foot of !
the Bench it has been refreshing 10 see the |
yirtuouS bearing of a noble court resisting the |
pOpulace, and, like old Neptune in |
the storm, stretch forth the trident, and bid the |
chatting waves be still
Such has been the virtue of the Judiciary of
many countries, that occupants Of the Bench, |
when all else was gone, have resisted encrOach- |
ments from the Mamelukes Of power, until the
very citadel had been taken. So long as Judges |
remain lncOrrupuble, the rights of the people |
are safe; but when they become mere titular
dIgnitaries upon the political chess-bOard and |
are moved by the breath of passion, the love of
gain, Of power and place, JustieS flies her sacred
fame, and "Bertram's right is Bertram's might"
for the entertainments OF law are no longer re-
sistive Of the aSsailant's attack; the ermine be-
comes the shrOud, not the ornament, of virtue L
and dtetd from the Bench but death war; ants /
Of liberty.
Whenever the three grand relationships of /
society, of which 1 have spoken, l,se their /
proper connection and bearing, or the three CO. /
ordinate departments of government. which Il
control ana regulate the Dalance-WheelS OF these
relationships, cease to perform their respective Il
functions, independent Of each other, then truly Il
has the time for woe and wailing cOme-"Illa /
SupTema dies The struggle for the mastery /
between these separate. yet co ordinate depart |
ments, has been food for philanthrOpic rehec- /
lions. among political sages, in every age and /
country, In no instance, where the ascendancy /
OF one has been gained and used for the vrOstrG-
tiOn Of the other has II resulted otherwise than
disastrOusly 20 the governed.
An ErocutiUe, wholly dependent on a Lsgisld-
fv If tho
by which he clings TO his Ofice-tenure. and is !
permitted to play the automatOn. lie sinks |
under the shadow of his masters. content if he |
can but draw his official stipend, and wear the |
shadow Of the crown without the mace of |
power
The Legislature that trembles at the frown of !
the ErecHtiUe, aud is dependent for vitality |
upon his caprciOus breath. loses, By absorption,
its distinctive feature. while its parasite cOmpO
nents crawl, ~ vermin. about the fUotstoOl Of
power and cry Amen - to the legal and con-
sutuuOnal usurpations that eXtiEgush the
flames Of liberty.
If the Judiciary, which is supposed to rear its
front and SIT with even scales, rs umpire be-
tween the two, should deYIate I ON Tectitude
and yield TO the SyTen voice of the one, or the
seductive charm Of the other the spell is broken.
aud the sacred WoOlsack becomes a seat for
sOrdid hUeksters, who cry, ''Pecayil PecaviP
10 York OF Lancaster, as the red or white rose
IL cOnquerOr Some such vermin are found in
modern times, whose Judicial ignorance is only
surpassed by their pTesumptO1i They receive,
without cringing. their party lash, and crawl.
without shame about the golfers OF government,
with the "glyel giveI of the daughters of the
hOrse-leech kissing from their lustful lips. as
they prostitute the noble Bench, 'that thrift
may follow tawning'
Ii the glory of a Nation is in the valor Of her
Arms-if her pride is in the philosophy Of her
sagcs the elOquence of her orators, the SC ngS OF
her poets-then can We say, with patriotic
truth, that her honor consists in her tOue Of
justice and the purity q her, ,tudicidrV' Cor
Tupt a nations Judiciary, that source OF pro-
lection 10 life and liberty. and that nom snt the
| foundations Of her temples are being under
mined, and anarchy soon Obtrgdes her 'hOrrid
'front.' above the broken arches of a nations
tomb, and holds her orgies amid the saturnalia
of disaster and deSOlatiOn.
| While Greece wOIshipped. in spirit and in
| truth, the blind goddess " and kept her image
| hanging about the horns of her affairs; while
| she kept Dixie written in the vesti0ules Of
her temples, and upon, the marble columns OF
| her royal pOrticO," where poets were wont
| to talk with Socrates and Plato; while she
| selected her purCSt and best men to adludicate
| heT laws tRH,DeadenHy-tree alike from the
! fear Of reproach and the hone of Reverb from
the Executive and Legislative branches OF the
| government she continued TO increase In the
| glory of her arms. ia the eXpanse Of her com
| mcrce, IN the wealth Of her coolers, and in the
| wisdom OF her policies. Bat when she uu-
bandaged the eyes Of her 'gOdde s. that sue
might see the com drop IN her sea es, and feel
| its weigh, as argument. the peam was no
| longer equipOise; her judges saw the
| source OF wealth and power, and pandered to
| il; vice became the order vi the dar; the
| AreOpaguss mart Tor legal trilhc; the love OF
| Justice vanished, and, with it. the liberties o
| her people.
| When Justinian, incorruptibly, and from q
| egnse of right. pTuiiXed his aU,OgrephIc letter
| no the fnur hundred and thrt, live legal deci-
| sions Of Roman Judges, inv living toe public
| and =. ivate right OF citiZens-thus verifying
| them. as authOTity-he laid the indestractibe
| foundation of the great Civil Code" and
| stamped ''IHmol1diis" upon his Pandects.
| When in "thebetter days OF the Republic" her
| Judiciary were independent and dared DC
Tieht, without the fear ef losing place or pow
er, the rights of the stranger were as sacred as
those of the citizen, and the appeal Of the Cen
/ | turion before the Courts, was no more pot 'nt
| I'm tbc sIave no commanded. Yet, when in