Year: 1866

SOl OF conspiracy, VI Win eOhO ohO"eO VI


which The law lakes no notice. Either oI


any way, the men who undertook to try
them had no jurisdiction of the subject


matter.


Nor had they jurisdiction of !he parties :


Ii is not pretended that this was case oi
impeachment, or ease arising in the land
or naval forces. II is either nothing a all
or else il is simple crime against The Uni
led States, committed by private individu-
ais not in The public service. civil or militia
ry. Persons standing in thai relation 10 the
Government are answerable for The oflerses
which they may commit only 10 tho civil
courts OF the country. So says The Consti-


ulioD, as we read it and the act of Con-
gress of March 3, 1868, which was passed


with express reference TO persons precisely


in the situation of these men, declares that
they shall be delivered up Tor trial to The
proper civil authorities.


There being no jurisdiction o! the subject
mailer or OF the parties you are bound 10
relieve The petitioners. 1t is as much the
dnly of Judge to protect the innocent as ii
is 10 punish the guilty. Suppose that the
Secretary oil some department should take
il into his head 10 establish an ecclesiasli>
cal tribunal here in The city Of Washington,
composed OF clergymen ''orgaaized TO con-
vicI" everybody who prays after fashion
inconsistent with the supposed safety OF
the State. Ii he would select the members
with proper regard to the odium heoIog icitm
| think could insure him a commission
that would hang every man and woman
who might be brought before it, But would
you, The judges OF the land, stand by and
see their sentences executed ? No you
would inierpose your writ oil prohibition,
your habeas corpus, or any other process that
might be al your command, between them
and their victims And you would do that
for precisely the same reason which requires
your Intervention tere-because religious
errors like political errors, are not crimes
which any body in this country has iuris-
diciion to punish, and because eccleas:ical
are not among the Judicial institutions OF
this people. Our fathers long ago cast Ihem
both aside among the rubbish of the dark
ages, and they intended that we, their
children, should know them only that we
mi ighI blush and shudder al the shameless
injustice and the brutal cruelties which
;hey were allowed to perpetrale in other
times and other countries.


But our friends on The other side are not
all impressed With these views. Their brief
cores ponds exactly with the doctrines PRO.
pounded by The Attorney General, in a very
elaborate official paper which he published
last July, upon this same snbject. He then
avowed it 10 be his settled and deliberate
opinion that the military might ''take and
XII, try ard execute; q use his own words)
persons WHO had no sort of connection with
the army or navy. And though this be
done in the face OF the open courts, the ju-
dicial authority, according 10 him, are NJ
terly powerIess 20 prevent the slaughter
which may thus be carried on. That is The
thesis which the Attorney General and his
assistant couDseflors are TO maintain This
day, if they can maintain it. with all the
power OF their artful eloqnence.


We, on the other hand submit that
person not in the military or naval service
cannot be punished al all until he has had
a fair, open, public trial before an impartial
Jury, in an ordained and established court,
10 which the Jurisdiction has been given by
law to Try him for that specific offense.-
There is our proposition. Between the
ground we take and The ground they occupy
there is and there can be no copromise-
II is one way or :he other.


Our proposition ought TO be received as
true without any Argument to support il !;
because if that. or something precisely
equivalent TO il, be not a part OF our law,
this is not what we have always supposed
il 10 be, a free country. Nevertheless !
take upon myself The burden of showing
afTirmalivelr no. only that it is true, but that
it is immovably fixed in The very frame
work OF the Government, so that il is ut
teTy impossible 20 deiach it without de-
sroying the whole political structure under
which we live. By removing il you destroy
the life of this nation as com pletely as You
would destroy the life OF an individual by
cutting the heart out OF his body. | pro-
ceed 10 the proof


In The first rlace. the sef-evideni truth
will not be denied thai The trial and pun
ishment of an-ofsnder against The Govern
ment is the exercise OF judicial authority
That is kind of authority which would
be lost by being diffused among the masses
Of the people. A Judge wculd be no judge
if every body else were d judge as well as
be. Therefore in every society, however
rude or however perfect lis organization
the judicial authority is always commiued