Part 98

An attempt, however, is made to shelter the judge from this part of the accusation, by saying that he declared counsel would be heard although this opinion was given. Sir, this is another evasion. The opinion itself carries with it internal, uncontrovertible evidence of the determination of the Court that the counsel should not address the jury. What is the principal ground of the defence? what is the leading reason urged for giving this extraordinary opinion before the jury was sworn? It was, as the judge says, and as his counsel have argued, to save time. They state that there were more than one hundred civil causes then depending, that the delay of business in Pennsylvania had been long a subject of complaint, and the judge was anxious to make Fries’s trial a short one, in order that they might have time to proceed with the other business. Now suffer me to inquire how time was to be saved; how the trial of Fries was to be shortened, if his counsel were to be allowed to address the jury on the law which the Court had already decided? Was not the opinion of the Court given for the express purpose of preventing them from addressing the jury; or, if not for this, let me ask for what purpose it was given? Was it to prejudice the minds of the jury; to close their ears and their understandings against any arguments which might be offered them? Gentlemen say no. Was it to save time? This was impossible, because the time was still to be occupied by the counsel being permitted to address the jury. Why then, let me ask, was the opinion given? The answer is ready. It was intended to produce both these effects. The minds of the jury were to be preoccupied by the imposing authority of the Court, and in this manner it was expected to deter the counsel from addressing them on the law. Nothing, therefore, can be clearer, than that the counsel were prevented from addressing the jury, and that the judge “endeavored (in the language of the article) to wrest from the jury their right to hear argument, and determine upon the question of law.” But it is said that the right of the jury to decide the law does not give them a dispensing power over the law, and that therefore they are bound by the opinion of the Court. Nor does the right of the Court to decide the law give them a dispensing power over the law. The jury have a right to decide the law, and are not bound by the opinion of the Court. In order to enable them to decide correctly they have a right to hear argument, and any attempt to prevent this, is an attempt to wrest from them their right to decide the law, and is a high misdemeanor.

We are told, however, that if any thing wrong was done on the first day, ample atonement was made on the second. It is true that the judge exhibited some appearance of a wish that the counsel would proceed on the second day, but Mr. Lewis well remarked, that although the papers were withdrawn, the impression which had been made on the minds of the jurors could not be removed. What sort of an atonement, too, was this? It carried insult with it; and the language in which it was made had a still greater tendency to strengthen the impression made the day before. The counsel were publicly informed they might proceed as they pleased, but it must be at the hazard of their characters, under the direction of the Court. Is there a man of reputation on earth, possessed of the smallest spark of feeling, that would consent to disgrace himself by addressing a jury under such circumstances? This alone, if nothing else had taken place, was sufficient to drive them from the defence of their client; and if they thought that their abandoning him might eventually save his life, they were fully justified in doing so.

The learned advocates for the judge have talked highly of the independence of the judiciary, and have asked what inducements any judge could have to act as we have charged Judge Chase with acting. Are there then no inducements for a judge to swerve from his duty? Has he no feelings to gratify, and is it impossible for him to become a partisan? Does his character as a judge divest him of his ambition as a man? Is he so incorruptible that temptation cannot assail him? Look through the annals of other nations--read the history of England for the last forty years. Judicial independence has been for a long time as well secured there as here; and yet how many instances shall we find in that country of prosecutions in which the feelings of the Ministry had been engaged, and in which their influence over the judges has been too flagrant to be mistaken? In Ireland, miserable Ireland, a still more gloomy prospect presents itself. They, too, have boasted an independent judiciary; but an overruling influence has crumbled it into ruins. The demon of destruction has entered their courts of justice, and spread desolation over the land. Execution has followed execution, until the oppressed, degraded, and insulted nation has been made to tremble through every nerve, and to bleed at every pore. Let us then be warned by the fate of Ireland. In State prosecutions her judges look to the Castle; although they cannot be put down, they may be elevated. Some of our judges have been elevated to places of high political importance; splendid embassies have been given to them. I will not say that they were given or accepted with improper views; but they have been given, and surely they hold out inducement enough for a judge to bend to the ruling party. It is our duty to prevent party spirit from entering into our courts of justice. Let us nip the evil in the bud, or it may grow to an enormous tree, bearing destruction upon every branch. You have now an opportunity of doing it, and I trust you will not suffer it to escape you. I therefore hope that you will not only remove Judge Chase from the high office which he now fills, but that by your judgment you will for ever hereafter disqualify him from holding any office of profit or trust under the Government of the United States.

Mr. RODNEY.--Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Senate: The present trial exhibits a spectacle truly solemn and impressive. A man who holds one of the highest judicial offices under the Government, who, from the period of the Revolution, has filled many of the most important public situations, and whose hairs have been bleached in the service of his country, is charged before this dignified tribunal, by the Representatives of the American people, with the commission of acts in violation of his duty as a judge, and of the laws and constitution of the land.

On one hand, the character of an aged and respectable individual, which may be dearer to him than the small remnant of his life, is involved in your decision; on the other, the most precious rights of free citizens, and the dearest interests of society.

The mind which could contemplate, unmoved, such a scene, cannot feel for the welfare of the people, or the honor of the nation, and must be equally insensible to the finer sympathies of life, and the practice of its charities and affections.

The public anxiety manifested by this deeply interesting trial must be evident to all--a trial of the first importance, because of the first impression--a trial not confined to a single act in the conduct of the accused, but embracing a variety of transactions at different periods of his life--a trial which departs from the ordinary mode of decision, whose novelty and magnitude have excited so much interest and attention that it seems to have superseded for the moment, not only every other grave object or pursuit, but every other fashionable amusement or dissipation.

The task of prosecuting is always very unpleasant, and to me extremely painful; but my rule has ever been not to suffer private considerations or personal feelings to stand in the way of a firm and independent discharge of public duty.

To this exalted tribunal I look with confidence for a display of that dignified impartiality, which will do credit to their elevated situation, and reflect honor on their country. You will raise yourselves, I am convinced, above the common level of human prejudices, personal or political, and will suffer no considerations but those which are perfectly correct to be blended with your inquiries or mingled with your decisions.

Party, it is true, is a spirit of so subtle a nature as to diffuse itself almost imperceptibly over the human mind; it frequently pervades the system without being felt, and sometimes warps the judgment when least suspected. Against the influence of this spirit I need scarcely caution the judges whom I have the honor to address. It cannot approach within the pale of this Court, or enter their hallowed walls.

I have marked, Mr. President, in the questions which you have so correctly put to the witnesses in the course of their examination, that singleness of eye, which looks to the discovery of truth alone, without reference to the party whose case it may affect; whilst your conduct in maintaining that order and decorum suitable to the solemnity of the occasion has exhibited an example worthy of imitation.

I have observed, with heartfelt pleasure and honest pride, the unwearied and impartial attention paid by the members of this Court during the progress of this momentous cause. To my mind it presages a decision worthy of themselves, and serviceable to their country, and is a sure pledge that their determination will be honest, upright, and independent.

If, after a fair and full inquiry into the facts, illustrated by the arguments for and against the accused, and a careful examination of the law, commented on by those whose duty it is to support the impeachment, and those who are opposed to it, the Senate shall be of opinion that the charges have not been substantiated, and pronounce a verdict of acquittal, believe me, sir, I, as a citizen faithful, obedient, and affectionate to the laws of my country, shall most cheerfully acquiesce in the decision. But I do confidently trust that it will not take place, on the principles or the precedent established in the case of Warren Hastings, the Governor of Bengal, that plunderer of India, that destroyer of the people of Asia, that devastator of the East, whose crimes were without number, and whose enormities exceeded calculation. What fields have been dyed, what streams have been tinged with the innocent blood of victims sacrificed on the altar of his avarice or his ambition! An obligation however solemn, a treaty however sacred, interposed but a weak and feeble barrier to the views of his personal or political aggrandizement. Even a zenana, the sacred retreat of women, holy and consecrated to the fairest work of the creation, by the religious customs of that country, has been violated whenever the silver and the gold, the jewels and the diamonds, were sufficient objects to attract his attention or gratify his rapacity.

The House of Representatives, so far from deserving blame, in my humble opinion, merit commendation for the reluctance with which they proceeded to accusation, and for the care, caution, and dignity which have marked their steps. I have frequently heard an unbecoming zeal reprobated in a prosecutor; but never before did I hear from the lips of a counsel for an offender, a complaint of delay and remissness in charging his client with guilt. What a striking contrast does their conduct furnish, compared with that of the defendant! They betrayed no thirst for prosecution, but an unwillingness to accuse; no eager appetite for conviction, but an anxious desire that impartial justice should take place between the public and an individual, whom irresistible evidence had compelled them to present before the highest judicial authority of the nation. Not, it is true, for the murder of despotic princes whose will was the law, and whose laws perhaps were as sanguinary as those of Draco; nor for the plunder of empires, swayed by an iron sceptre as oppressive as the dominion of Hastings. Far other crimes are laid to his charge. The defendant, a citizen of this free land, sworn to support our mild constitution and our equal laws, and bound by his oath of office to administer justice impartially, having a perfect knowledge of his duty, (for of ignorance the whole world will acquit him,) stands charged with plundering, in the holy habit of a judge, a jury of his country of their most sacred rights, and injured and insulted freemen of their constitutional privileges.

He was indeed providentially prevented from imbruing his hands in the blood of poor Fries, but he stands accused of shedding, with unfeeling severity, the life-blood of the constitution itself.

Such are the crimes for which he is arraigned at your bar, and which one of the gentlemen has been pleased to term petty offences. In the dark catalogue of criminal enormities, perhaps few are to be found of a deeper dye. If I were an advocate of the doctrines of constructive and cumulative treasons, of which the learned judge appears to have been a great admirer and a zealous supporter, I would say that he himself was guilty of judicial treason against the constitution of the country and majesty of the people.

The independence of the Judiciary, the political tocsin of the day, and the alarm bell of the night, has been rung through every change in our ears. They have played upon this chord until its vibrations produce no effect. The sound is rather calculated to stun us into an insensibility against real attacks, for the poor hobby has been literally rode to death. To the rational independence of the Judiciary, I am, and ever have been a firm and uniform friend. But I am no advocate for the inviolability of judges more than of kings. In this country I am afraid the doctrine has been carried to such an extravagant length, that the Judiciary may justly be considered like a spoiled child. They are here placed almost beyond the reach of the people, though not beyond the immediate power and influence of the Executive. I wish not to see them the slaves of any administration, but the faithful and impartial executors of justice. My desire is that the laws, like the providence of the Deity, should shed their protecting influence equally over all.

It will be allowed that the hopes of an individual are as powerful inducements to action as his fears. Whether the Executive can depress or exalt him, his influence is equally great. Whether he can punish his errors or reward his faults, his dominion is the same. We all know that an associate judge may sigh for promotion, and may be created a Chief Justice, whilst experience teaches us, that more than one Chief Justice has been appointed a Minister Plenipotentiary. These facts are staring us in the face, when we talk of judges being independent of the Government.

What has been the natural effect of such conduct? Have the judges stood aloof during the political tempests which have agitated the country--or have they united in the Io triumphe which the votaries and idolaters of power have sung to those who were seated in the car of Government? Have they made no offerings at the shrine of party; have they not preached political sermons from the bench, in which they have joined chorus with the anonymous scribblers of the day and the infuriate instruments of faction? Let a recurrence to past events decide.

I wish to be understood as speaking on these topics in the abstract, and not with a view of imputing improper motives to those concerned in the arrangements which have taken place.

The people of the United States, on the other hand, have no offices of profit and emolument to bestow. They have no post immediately in their power to give, except a station in the House of Representatives, which a judge would not accept from their hands. But, let me ask, was there no vacancy in the gift of the Executive, to which the defendant could aspire, and to which his conduct might furnish him with a passport or a letter of introduction?

Some observations have been made on the independence of the judges in England. In that country they are removable by an address of both Houses of Parliament. By what a slight tenure, by what a slender thread, are their offices held! The voice, nay, the whisper, or the breath of the Minister for the time being, may remove them, and yet they have generally manifested a spirit of real independence, even in the season of alarm and terror, of which I fear our judges at a similar period cannot boast. But in that country, a seat on the bench is considered as a place of rest, and they look not beyond it. There the judges are not made Envoys Extraordinary or Ministers Plenipotentiary.

We ought not to be imposed upon by names in this country. Give any human being judicial power for life, and annex to the exercise of it the kingly maxim “that he can do no wrong,”--you may call him a judge or justice, no matter what is the appellation--and you transform him into a despot, regardless of all law but his own sovereign will and pleasure.

Suffer me at this place to notice the remarks of the learned counsel who spoke yesterday, (Mr. Harper,) with so much sensibility and feeling for his client, on the change of parties in popular governments, and the proscriptions, persecutions, and punishments, too frequently inflicted by those who are triumphant, on the fallen victims of their authority; when acts, innocent in themselves, because against no known law, have been converted into crimes to gratify the vindictive passions of the victorious against those whom the fortune of political war has placed within their power. No man can deprecate more sincerely than I do, such a state of things. To the situation of affairs in this country, I presume these remarks cannot have the most distant application. If they were made with reference to the present Administration, to the Executive or Legislative Departments of the Government, the allusion may, perhaps, have the light support of visionary imagination, but has no substantial foundation in reality. It may be fancy, but is not fact.

The illustrious Chief Magistrate of the Union has furnished a precedent, by his liberal and enlightened conduct, of which the lamentable annals of mankind afford no example. Under his wise and his mild guidance, what auspicious beams of public sunshine have been diffused over the whole face of the country! until, to the discontented few, the language of the Latin poet might justly be applied--

“O fortunati nimium sua si bona norint.”

This enlightened policy has been adopted in conjunction with the luminous constellation of distinguished worthies, by whom he is surrounded; whose exalted character and talents add to the usefulness, the dignity, and splendor of his measures, and increase to an extent almost incalculable the general sum of the happiness of this great and independent nation.

Turning our eyes to those who have exercised the high and responsible functions of legislation, we find their acts equally deserving commendation. Their proceedings are calculated to excite at once the envy and the admiration of their opposers and the world. They breathe not the fell spirit of resentment and persecution. To their honor be it spoken, that, instead of enlarging the circle of offence, they have reduced the scale of criminality. They have abolished an odious, and, I believe, an unconstitutional sedition law, which had been executed with a rigor and severity perfectly congenial with the passionate policy which gave it birth. The decrees under it, if not written in the blood of the sufferers, were written in their tears. A more dreadful engine of persecution and oppression cannot well be conceived. With this instrument in their hands, they could have smote their enemies and shielded themselves. It would have been a sword and a buckler, but they disdained the idea.