Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1880-09-30
Judge Buxton as Judge.

Hdge Buxton as Judge,
he REFUSES TIKI WRIT OF HAEEAs
CORPUS, IN, DEFIANCE OF THE
S'NsztTETIOM
Iheze is no more worthy object
of enfogy than the man who worth
ly fills indisi;.! station. The
station is the Legitimate goal for
the amb;t;cn of professional men.
1t presents wide sphere for the
cxertion OF learning. ability. and
high moral Qualifications, 20 a
rightly constituted mind there can
be no more corgeniai occupation
than the dispensing of Justice In
the business of lite nowhere does
merit meet with mofe ccatain ap-
probation. It high qualities as a
judge have been axi,ibiteJ j on "A
narrow theatre by any man, the
press, the professional tradition,
traditions among the people, pre-
serve his memory at least sor a
generation or two. If that theatre
have been a wide and commanding
one, his praise finds proportionate
audience. Not only his own, but
attertlnes dwell with pleasure upon
the tribute called forth LAy ais
career.
The position of a judge in North
Carolina possesses especial attrac-
tions. The people here are essen
TALLY a law-abiding people. and,
this feeling of reverence !nr the
law is extended to those who dis
pense it. The manly Difference
which our people pay to one who
is ut the same time a good Judge
and a good man, is the vcGy ex-
preston of that homage which
shonld be rendered to high pubic
tunctionary by a free people.
The external circumstances at
tending this station s.re sfngularly
propilious for the cultivation and
eXertion of the qualifications it de-
sA;snsFs. The judge is lifted high
above the ordinary currents which
agiiate society !; he is far removed
tron, the pursuits aid rivaEries
which awaken strife among men,
He is looked upon as guardian
as it were-of mems dearest
rights. Every thing conduccs to
sussesse 81 what IS e1uc to his station,
OF what is cue to himself; above
all, sense of what is due to his
fellow-men. The did;culiy seems
to be not L,o.. to- so right, at least
in intent, but how to 90 wrong
Perverted, indeed, must be that
nature which could abuse an Office
so honorable to the prejudice OF
any man and evil and perhdious
must be the nature which could
withhold just right from one who
should appeal to him in his capaci-
ty of judge. In proportion to our
admiration of the just Judge, should
be onr condemnation OF him Who
descra.cs the office by wrong.
In the dark days of 1870, when
in defiance of all law and of every
feelings of humanity, aged men OF
spotlcss character men, the pill
lars Of their respective chnrches-
were seized by band of baudiiii,
dragged from their homes and
families and thrust into n crowded
prison dnring the sweltering heats
OF Summer when the suffering
and inhrlniiics of age in its most
rcvered form which had been
reached after a life spent in the
practice of every Christian virtue
were daily made the butt of the
SCOTS and gibes OF brutal rutians
when with enfee5led frames, men
were pining under the distress OF
mind engcndered by the conten-
plation OF the ignobic fate which
threatened them application was
made III their behalf to Buxton,
then one of the Circuit Judges, for
the writ of habeos corpus. This
writ is the great remedy for dc
livcring a person from unjust i'm
prisionmcnt. 1t exists among Eng
lish-spcaking people, and exists
nowhere else. Among no other
people does an adequate remedy
exist for an invasion of individual
freedom. In all the vast heritage
of political wisdom derived from
our English ancestors, there is
nothing more valued than this 1t
is tho inallenable right of every
human being within the limits of
the State. 1t is SO declared by the
Constitution. 1t is so declared by
the Nabeas Corpus Act. Its sane.
tity has been enforced by every
judicial writer, by every judge
wherever the common law prevails,
and by our own judges down to
the Radical revolution. But this
writ, in defiance of the Ccpstitu-
tiou of tho law of overv continent