Chapter XXVI: Front Matter (26)

A. I attended the circuit court held in Newcastle on the 27th and 28th of June, 1800. I was not present when the Court opened; but I think I entered the court house while Judge Chase was delivering a charge to the grand jury. After its delivery the grand jury retired; they were absent a short time: and as well as I can recollect before and when they returned, I was either out of the court house, or engaged in conversation with some person out of the bar. I think so, as I have no recollection of the question put to the grand jury, whether they had found any bills, and that put to the district attorney. I entered the bar while there was a pause, and silence prevailed. I recollect that the first circumstance that attracted my attention was the observation of Judge Chase to the grand jury, that since he had come among them, he had been credibly informed that there was a seditious printer within the State, in the habit of libelling the Government of the United States, and having received this information, he thought it his duty to call the attention of the grand jury to the subject. He appeared to me to be proceeding to state the name of the printer; but he did not name him. He said that might be doing injustice to the man, or that it was improper in him. I cannot say which was the term he used. I think he then asked the district attorney if there were not two printers in the State. He answered that there were. There was then some conversation between the judge and the district attorney. My impression was that it conveyed a request from Judge Chase to the district attorney to inquire into the subject on which he had previously spoken to the jury. Mr. Attorney said that he had not seen the papers. The judge asked him whether he could not procure a file of them. I do not recollect that the name of the printer was mentioned then, or during the whole sittings of the Court. Some person at the bar said a file could be procured. Judge Chase asked the attorney, if he could make the inquiry by to-morrow at ten o’clock. About this time I heard some observations made respecting the discharge of the grand jury on that day. Some of the gentlemen said it was a busy season, that they were farmers, and were desirous of returning to their homes. Judge Chase replied that might be very true; but that the business of the public was also important; it must be attended to: and therefore he could not discharge them. I do not pretend to say I have pursued the language used. I have only attempted to give my impression of the facts that occurred.

_Archibald Hamilton, sworn._

Mr. Harper. Please inform the Court whether you were present at a circuit court for Delaware in 1800?

A. I recollect that I was present on the 27th of June. I arrived about 10 o’clock, at which time Judge Chase was not there. Some time after, the Court was formed, the grand jury was sworn, and Judge Chase delivered a charge. Having retired for about an hour, the grand jury returned to the bar. Judge Chase asked them if they had any bills or presentments to make. Their reply was that they had not. Judge Chase then asked the attorney of the district if he had no business to lay before them. He said he had not. The jury requested to be discharged. Judge Chase said, it was not usual to discharge them so early, some business might occur during the course of the day. He told them he had been informed that there was a printer who was guilty of libelling the Government of the United States; his name is ----; here he stopped, and said, “Perhaps I may commit myself, and do injustice to the man. Have you not two printers?” The attorney said there were. Well, said Judge Chase, cannot you find a file of the papers of the one I allude to? Mr. Read said he did not take the papers, or that he had not a file. Some person then observed that a file could be got at Mr. Crow’s. Judge Chase asked the attorney if he could examine the papers by the next morning. Mr. Read said, that under the directions of the Court, he conceived it to be his duty, and he would do it.

On the second day the same questions, whether they had found any bills, were put to the grand jury. They answered that they had not. Mr. Chase asked the attorney of the district if he had found any thing in the papers that required the interposition of the jury. He said that he had found nothing which in his opinion came within the sedition law; but there was a paragraph against his honor. Judge Chase said, that was not what he alluded to. He was abused from one end of the continent to the other; but his shoulders were broad enough to bear it.

_Samuel Moore, affirmed._

Mr. Harper. Were you in the circuit court held in Delaware in June, 1800, when it met?

A. No, sir. I did attend early enough on the first day to hear the charge given to the grand jury. I think I did not attend before twelve o’clock. I attended as a juror. On the next day I attended early, and was in the court house when the Court met. When the jury returned into court, inquiry was made whether they had any bills or presentments to make. They answered no. The Court then inquired of the attorney of the district whether he had any business to lay before the grand jury. He said he had not. While he was making this reply, he rose, and laid hold of a file of newspapers, which I took to be the Mirror of the Times, and while he was in the act of presenting it, he observed that he had not seen any thing that in his opinion required notice, unless it were a publication reflecting on Judge Chase, which did not appear to him to come under the sedition law. Judge Chase answered, No, sir; they have abused me from one end of the continent to the other; but it is the Government, and not myself, that I wish protected from calumny. Immediately after the grand jury were discharged.

_William H. Winder, sworn._

Mr. Harper. I will ask you whether you were in the circuit court of the United States, held at Baltimore, in May, 1803? I will, however, previously observe that it is not my intention to say or to prove that the witness, when he deposed to certain facts, knew that they had not passed. I mean only to impeach his correctness, and to infer that, as he was angry, he gave to what he heard the coloring of his own feelings.

Mr. Winder. I was present at that court when it was opened, and the jury impanelled, and I heard Judge Chase deliver his charge. After delivering the general and usual charge to the grand jury he said he begged leave to detain them a few minutes, while he made some general reflections on the situation of public affairs. He commenced by laying down some abstract opinions, stating that that Government was the most free and happy that was the best administered; that a republic might be in slavery and a monarchy free. He also drew some distinctions with regard to the doctrine of equal rights, and said that the idea of perfect equality of rights, more particularly such as had been broached in France, was fanciful and untrue; that the only doctrine contended for with propriety was, the equal protection of all classes from oppression. He commented on the repeal of the judiciary system of the United States, and remarked that it had a tendency to weaken the judiciary, and to render it dependent. He then adverted to the laws of Maryland respecting the judiciary, as tending to the same effect. One was a law for the repeal of the county court system. He also alluded to the depending law for the abolition of two of the courts of Maryland. He said something of the toil and labor and patriotism of those who had raised the fair fabric, (constitution of Maryland,) and said that he saw with regret some of their sons now employed in destroying it. He also said that the tendency of the general suffrage law was highly injurious, as, under it, a man was admitted to full political rights, who might be here to-day and gone to-morrow.

_James Winchester, sworn._

Mr. Harper. Please, sir, to state to this Court your recollection respecting a charge delivered by Judge Chase in the circuit court of Maryland in May, 1803.

Mr. Winchester. As already stated, that Court sat in May, 1803, in a room in Evans’s tavern. The Court and gentlemen of the bar sat round several dining tables. I sat on the left of Judge Chase, and the jury were on his right. He addressed a charge to them, the beginning of which was in the usual style of such addresses. He then commenced what has been called the political part of the charge, with some general observations on the nature of government. He afterwards adverted to two measures of the Legislature of Maryland; the first related to an alteration of the constitution on the subject of suffrage; the other contemplated an alteration in the judiciary. He commented on the injurious tendency of the principle of universal suffrage, and deprecated the evil effects it was likely to have. Incidental to these remarks, he adverted to the repeal of the judiciary law of the United States. I say incidental, for my impression was that his object was to show the dangerous consequences that would result to the people of Maryland from a repeal of their judiciary system, and to show that as the act of Congress had inflicted a violent blow on the independence of the federal judiciary, it was more necessary for the State of Maryland to preserve their judiciary perfectly independent. I was very attentive to the charge for several reasons. I regretted it as imprudent. I felt convinced that it would be complained of; and I am very confident from my recollection, and from the publications respecting it, which I afterwards perused, that all the political observations of the judge related to the State of Maryland.

TUESDAY, February 20.

_Walter Dorsey, sworn._

Mr. Harper. Please to inform the Court whether you were at a circuit court held at Baltimore in 1803.

Mr. Dorsey. I was.

Mr. Harper. Were you present when Judge Chase delivered a charge to the grand jury?

Mr. Dorsey. I was.

Mr. Harper. Were you in such a situation as to hear that charge?

Mr. Dorsey. I was.

Mr. Harper. Were you near Mr. Montgomery?

Mr. Dorsey. I was; I think there was only one person between us.

Mr. Harper. Did you attend to the charge?

Mr. Dorsey. I attended to what is generally called the political part of it, because it was novel, and contained speculations with respect to government in general, and remarks on national and State laws.

Mr. Harper. Do you recollect any thing in it respecting the Administration?

Mr. Dorsey. I do not. I recollect a part of it relating to the State and national judiciary, and to universal suffrage. I did not hesitate to state that it was an indiscreet thing; my attention was particularly drawn to it by seeing in the room the editor of a newspaper, and from expecting that it would be the subject of newspaper animadversion.

_John Purviance, sworn._

Mr. Harper. Please to inform this honorable Court whether you were present at a circuit court held at Baltimore in May, 1803.

Mr. Purviance. I was.

Mr. Harper. State what happened on that occasion.

Mr. Purviance. I do not pretend to recollect every thing which occurred; but as I attended to what Judge Chase said in his charge to the grand jury, I think I have a pretty distinct recollection as to the manner in which he delivered that address; he appeared to me to read the whole from a written paper lying before him. I never expected that this inquiry would have been made of me, and after such a lapse of time I can only speak of the impressions now on my mind.

Mr. Harper. Do you recollect whether Judge Chase made any mention of the present Federal Administration, and what was it?

Mr. Purviance. I have no recollection that he mentioned it, but as it was identified with the repeal of the law for establishing the circuit court of the United States; and so far as the Executive composed a part of the Legislature, he may have mentioned the Administration.

Mr. Harper. Was there any particular mention or allusion to the Executive of the United States?

Mr. Purviance. No, sir, nothing of the kind; I have endeavored to retrace in my mind every thing which was said, and I have not the smallest recollection that any remark was made upon the Executive Department of the United States.

_Nicholas Brice, sworn._

Mr. Harper. Please to inform this honorable Court whether you were at a circuit court held in May, 1803, when a charge was delivered by Judge Chase to the grand jury.

Mr. Brice. I was there and attended to the charge very particularly.

Mr. Harper. Did he say any thing respecting the present Administration?

Mr. Brice. Not in the slightest manner, further than mentioning the repeal of the judiciary law of the United States, which he mentioned incidentally in the course of his observations on the alterations of the judiciary system in the State of Maryland. One thing more I will add, with respect to the advice which it is alleged he gave to the grand jury: shortly after the charge was delivered, in talking over this subject with Mr. Stephen, I recollect that I rather thought it was an inference drawn from the charge, than any express advice of the Court on that point. Indeed, I am pretty sure the words were not used.

_James P. Boyd, sworn._

Mr. Harper. Please to inform this honorable Court whether you were present at the circuit court held in Baltimore in May, 1803, and what occurred at that time.

Mr. Boyd. I was there, but I do not know whether I was there at the opening of the Court; but I was there when the charge was delivered to the grand jury. After Judge Chase had gone through that part of the charge which is an instruction to the grand jury relative to the duties of their office, he proceeded to make some further observations, to which I paid particular attention because they were novel to me. I was under an impression at the time that Judge Chase was watched.

Mr. Harper. Did that charge contain a sentiment like those you have heard, that the present Administration was weak, or wicked, &c.?

Mr. Boyd. I have not a scintilla of recollection of a word of the kind, no further than as an inference to be drawn from what was said in relation to the repeal of the Judiciary law. I have, however, a faint trace of the idea in my mind, not from my own recollection, but from having repeatedly heard it stated that there was such a remark made in the charge.

_William McMechin, sworn._

Mr. Harper. Inform this honorable Court whether you were present at the circuit court held at Baltimore, in May, 1803.

Mr. McMechin. I was present and heard the charge delivered by Judge Chase to the grand jury.

Mr. Harper. Have you any recollection of his having said any thing against the present Administration?

Mr. McMechin. I have no recollection of any thing of the kind, either that they were weak, or of their having unfairly acquired power; such an idea was mentioned in no way, unless it be inferred from the remark on the repeal of the law establishing the sixteen circuit judges.

_William S. Govane, sworn._

Mr. Harper. Were you at the circuit court of Baltimore in May, 1803?

Mr. Govane. I was, and heard the charge delivered by Judge Chase. The room in which the Court was held was a long one, in a tavern; a range of tables formed the bar, and the seats around were occupied by professional gentlemen. I went to the bottom of the table, opposite to Judge Chase, and directed my attention towards him. Whilst he was delivering his charge he appeared to read it from a book, but generally ended the sentences by looking towards the grand jury; except this circumstance, he appeared to read the whole time.

Mr. Harper. Do you retain a distinct recollection of the substance of what the judge said?

Mr. Govane. I think I do.

Mr. Harper. Do you remember any part containing animadversions on the present Administration, such as that they were weak, feeble, or incompetent?

Mr. Govane. I think no such words were used. If I could swear to a fact negatively after such a lapse of time, I could swear that no such expressions fell from the judge. He said that a Monarchy might be free, and a Republic a tyranny; and then proceeded to define what a free government was.

_William Cranch, sworn._

Mr. Harper. Were you present at the circuit court held at Baltimore in 1803?

Mr. Cranch. I was. The Court was held at Evan’s tavern, in Baltimore. Judge Chase was seated in an arm-chair, at one end of a long table placed before him. The grand jury were on his right, some sitting on benches placed along the wall and others standing. I stood myself about fifteen feet from the judge, who was sitting during the whole time he was delivering his charge; he generally held the book in his hand.

Mr. Harper--(showing a book). Is that the book?

Mr. Cranch. He appeared to be reading from such a book.

Mr. Harper. Did he read the whole, and did he read constantly?

Mr. Cranch. He appeared to me to read the whole charge, but I did not keep my eyes so constantly fixed upon him as to declare positively that he did.

Mr. Harper. Were there variations in his manner of delivering the charge, as if he was at one time reading and at another speaking _ex tempore_?

Mr. Cranch. He delivered some parts with more emphasis than others. He often raised his eyes from the book, but I did not observe that he repeated more than one sentence without recurring to the book; he repeated no more than a man might repeat after running his eyes hastily over a passage.

Mr. Harper. Did he raise his eyes for a longer time than a man might be supposed to do who was reading a composition of his own?

Mr. Cranch. I do not think he did.

Mr. Harper. Do you recollect the latter part of the charge?

Mr. Cranch. I recollect more of the latter part than of the beginning, because I paid more attention to the latter part.

Mr. Harper. Do you recollect any sentiments expressed relating to the weakness of the present Administration, and that they were not employed in promoting the public good, but in preserving ill-gotten power?

Mr. Cranch. No, sir, there was no such expression, as I recollect.

Mr. Harper. Was there any expression at all relative to the present Administration?

Mr. Cranch. Not as an Administration, nor any thing alluding to the Administration separate from the Government of the United States.

Mr. Harper. In what way was the Government alluded to?

Mr. Cranch. By alluding to the repeal of the act of February, 1801, for the establishment of the circuit judges. I recollect no other measure of the General Government which was alluded to, or any allusion to the present Executive.

WEDNESDAY, February 20.

[_The testimony on both sides being closed, the argument of the case began, Mr. Early, one of the managers, opening for the prosecution._]

Mr. EARLY.--The relative rights of judges and juries have at some periods of judicial history been so little understood, and the limits of each so indistinctly marked, that the benefits of the institution of jury trial were left much at the mercy of _arbitrary and overbearing judges_. But it was reserved for the honor of modern times to dissipate this uncertainty so baneful to justice, and to fix down the establishment upon its only proper foundation; that of the right to determine, without control, both the law and the fact _in all criminal cases whatsoever_. This right has now been so long practised upon in the United States, and may be considered as so well established, that it is scarcely to be expected we shall witness upon that point any difference of opinion. Still less is it to be expected that we shall witness such difference, when we are discussing principles which apply to cases capital. In such case it is the glory of the laws of this country, that the offence of the accused should be left exclusively to the judgment of those least liable to be swayed by the weight of accusing influence. It is no part of my intention to deny the right of judges to expound the law in charging juries. But it may be safely affirmed that such right is the most delicate they possess, and the exercise of which should be guarded by the utmost caution and humanity.

The accused shall enjoy the right to a “trial by an _impartial_ jury.” We charge the respondent with deliberately violating this important provision of the constitution, in arresting from John Fries the privilege of having his case heard and determined by an impartial jury; for that the respondent took upon _himself_ substantially to decide the case by prejudging the law applying thereto, at the same time accompanying the opinion thus formed and thus delivered, by certain observations and declarations calculated necessarily to create a prepossession against the case of Fries in the minds of those who had been summoned to serve upon the jury, thereby making them the reverse of impartial.

These were the acts of a man, who, from his own declarations, appears to have well understood upon what _points the defence would turn_. It was the act of a man, who, it appears, had been well informed of all that passed at the previous trial of Fries; who knew that there was no dispute as to facts, and that the whole of the defence depended upon the discussion and determination of those very principles of law which he had thus prejudged, and upon the application of those authorities which he had thus excluded in the hearing and very presence of those who were to pass upon the life and death of the accused. No argument had been heard from counsel; no opportunity had been afforded to prove that the offence committed did not amount to the crime charged; no defending voice had been raised in behalf of the accused; but, without being heard, and without having had any opportunity to be heard, his case was adjudged _against_ him. I say, _adjudged against him without the chance of being heard_. For surely the case was adjudged against him, when the only point upon which it was defensible was determined against him, and that determination publicly announced from the bench. That this was done before the accused could possibly have had a chance of being heard, is placed beyond contradiction by all the testimony. And that the judge knew the point which he thus prejudged, to be the only ground upon which the defence rested, is perfectly clear. For, from his own declarations at the time of announcing the opinion, it appears that he was well acquainted with all that had passed at the previous trial of Fries.

But, sir, we must look further into the progress of this transaction. It was not enough that the poor trembling victim of judicial oppression should thus have his dearest privileges snatched from him, by a prejudication of his case; it was not enough that the impartiality of those who were to compose his jury should be converted into a prepossession against him, by the imposing authority of solemn declarations from the bench; but the small remaining, darling hope of life, was to be smothered by a preclusion of his counsel from arguing the law to the jury. This fact, though sternly denied in the answer of the respondent, has, nevertheless, been established in a manner which must irresistibly force conviction upon the mind. Mr. Lewis affirms it positively. Mr. Dallas confirms it in a manner peculiarly strong. Not being himself present when the opinion was delivered to the bar, he received from Mr. Lewis a statement of what had passed, and, in an address to the Court afterwards, repeated distinctly this statement, and particularly that part which attributed to the judge a declaration, that, if the counsel had any thing to say upon the law, they must address themselves to the Court, and not to the jury. To this statement no reply was made by the Court, either correcting or denying it. Thus stands the evidence in the affirmative. Opposed to this we have the negative testimony of Messrs. Rawle, Tilghman, and Meredith, who have no recollection of any such declaration. I address myself to those who well know the difference between affirmative and negative testimony. I address myself to those who well know the established rule in the law of evidence, that the testimony of one affirmative witness countervails that of many negative ones; and I am sure that I address myself to those who must feel the complete coincidence of this rule with the dictates of common sense. Upon this ground alone we might safely rest our proposition; but, sir, we will not rest it here. It appears from the testimony of the witnesses on both sides, that almost every observation from the council to the Court, on the second day, was predicated upon the idea that something had been said on the preceding day, restrictive of their privileges. These observations, although addressed to the Court, and carrying this feature prominent in their face, were neither contradicted nor corrected by the Court. This was a strong tacit admission of the correctness of the idea upon which they were bottomed. But, sir, we have not only this tacit admission, but we have in testimony, this strong and impressive declaration from Judge Chase, that “the counsel might be heard in opposition to the opinion of the Court at the hazard of their characters.”

But, Mr. President, we have the positive admission of the respondent, in page 18 of his answer, that certain observations were made by him condemning the use of common law authorities upon the doctrine of treason, and also condemning authorities under the statute of treasons, but prior to the English Revolution. [Here the passage was read.] By a recurrence to page 22 of the answer, it will be found that the respondent admits that these observations of his were made on the first day; yet, sir, nothing of all this is remembered by Messrs. Rawle, Tilghman, or Meredith. How light, then, how extremely light, must their bare want of recollection weigh against the positive affirmative testimony of Messrs. Lewis and Dallas!

Considering my position as uncontrovertibly established, I will proceed to observe that the offence with which Fries stood charged, was the highest possible offence which can be committed in a state of society. The punishment annexed to its commission, was the highest possible punishment known to our laws. The accused was, therefore, entitled to every possible indulgence. In favor of life, not only every possible ground should be occupied by counsel to the jury, but every possible argument listened to and weighed with patience and forbearance; and it should never be forgotten that Judge Chase had such a conduct set as an example before him in a previous trial of the same case. Yes, sir, a brother judge of his, who has since gone to the world of spirits, had set him an example conspicuous for the purity of its excellence, and which should have arrested his career in the commission of this cruel outrage upon all humanity. But Judge Chase predetermines the law, then prohibits the counsel from proving to the jury that the law was not as laid down. This was, in effect, an extinguishment at once of the whole right of jury trial. All the privileges and all the benefits of that institution were swept at once from an American court of justice, and scarcely the external form preserved. The law was predetermined by the judge, and the accused was debarred from pleading it to the jury. Of what avail is it, sir, that the jury should be made judges of law and of fact, when the law is not permitted to be expounded to them? Of what avail is it that the accused should have a trial by jury, when he is prevented from stating and explaining to the jury the only grounds upon which his case is defensible? The right to hear and determine facts is _not more the right_ of a jury, than the right to hear and determine the law. To deprive them, then, of the privilege of hearing and determining the law, is as much a violation of their rights, as to deprive them of the privilege of hearing and determining facts. The right of the accused to be heard upon the facts to the jury, is not more his right, than the right of being heard upon the law to the jury. To deprive him, then, of the privilege of being heard upon the law to the jury, is as much a violation of his rights, as to deprive him of the privilege of being heard upon the facts to the jury.

The second, third, and fourth articles, exhibited by the House of Representatives, charge the defendant with a course of conduct upon a particular trial which affords many grounds of accusation. In this case it is true no unfortunate individual was charged with an offence which demanded his life as an expiation; yet, sir, there were other rights involved equally sacred in the laws of a free country. The liberty and the property of the accused were the price of a conviction. In casting our eyes over the ground upon which the different scenes of the transaction now about to be examined are spread, we are struck with a feature not usual in the history of human concerns. It would seem that even the restraint of appearances was no longer felt. We find the respondent setting out with a conduct, which seemed to prove that the fate of the accused was fixed. We find him pursuing a system of conduct throughout, which wrested from the accused some of his established and most valuable privileges. We find him endeavoring to heap shame and odium on those who occupied the station of advocates, because they would not tamely yield to his unwarrantable invasion of long-established rights.

Mr. President, notwithstanding the labored attempts made by the defendant in his answer to exculpate himself from imputation in compelling Mr. Basset to serve upon the jury, in the trial of Callender; yet, sir, I must be permitted to say that those attempts appear to me to be only the exertions of a mind conscious of impropriety, and seeking to impose upon the understanding of others. The test adopted, by which to try the impartiality of the jurors, in that case may possibly by some be held a correct one; but the manner of applying that test as then practised upon, is what I believe can be accounted for upon no other supposition than that of a determination on the part of the judge to procure the conviction of the accused. Upon what other principle can it be accounted for, that the jurors should be asked whether they had formed and delivered an opinion upon the charges laid in the indictment, when they knew not and were not suffered to know what those charges were? Why else could it be laid down by the judge, that because the individuals called to serve upon the jury did not know what charges were in the indictment, (having never seen it nor heard it read,) that therefore they could not have formed and delivered an opinion upon the subject? And why else did the judge, when this monstrous logic was contradicted by the fact of one of the jurors delivering in open court an opinion upon the whole subject of those charges, without having seen or heard the indictment read; why else did the judge, in the teeth of this damning fact, order the jurors sworn?

Every juror sworn might, like Mr. Basset, have formed and delivered an opinion which concluded the conviction of the accused, and yet because they did not know that the subject-matter of such opinion constituted the charges in the indictment, having neither seen it nor heard it read, the expression of such opinion created no disqualification. Unworthy evasion! An evasion which prevents the doctrine of disqualification in a juror from receiving any practical operation. An evasion which effectually puts at naught that principle of the constitution so often adverted to in a former part of the argument, that “the accused shall enjoy the right of a trial by an impartial jury.” Upon this point I beg leave to read two authorities. [Mr. Early here cited 3 Bac. Abr. 176, and Co. L. 157.]

But, sir, the scene rises upon us. We have now to examine a part of the transaction for which, I had supposed, human invention might be tortured for a palliation in vain. I allude to the rejection of Mr. Taylor’s testimony. The reason assigned for that rejection was, that the witness could not prove the truth of the whole of _any one charge_. Let us, for a moment, examine the consequences of this doctrine. According to the judge’s own decisions then, as well as his doctrine now, each charge laid in the indictment must have constituted a separate offence. For it is explicitly declared both by Mr. Hay and Mr. Nicholas, that when an application was made to continue the case, because of the absence of some material witnesses, the application was rejected, upon the ground that it did not appear from the affidavit filed that the witnesses, so absent, could prove the truth of all the charges. That proof of the truth of a part only, would be of no avail, and that the whole must be proved to entitle the traverser to an acquittal. Each charge in the indictment, then, must have constituted a _separate offence_; for the charges cannot be made to help each other out. One charge, however, it seems might consist of different facts. This was the case with several in that indictment. It was particularly the case with the very charge, the truth of which Mr. Taylor was called to prove. “The President was a professed aristocrat. He had proved faithful and serviceable to the British interest.” Here was a charge made up of two distinct facts; so distinct in their nature, that the knowledge of their truth might not only rest with different persons, but was extremely likely not to rest with any _one_ witness. Put the case of a man charged with any offence--murder, theft, or any other crime you please. There may be a string of facts upon the proof of which the defence may depend; some within the knowledge of one man, some within that of another. Was it ever heard of before, that, because one witness could not prove the existence of all those facts, that, therefore, such witness should not be examined as to what he did know? Or, if some of the facts depended upon written testimony, was it ever heard of before, that, therefore, a witness should not be examined as to those resting on oral testimony? To these questions no man will answer in the affirmative. Why, then, was an unheard-of and palpably absurd doctrine brought to bear in Callender’s case? Was the defence of justification, under the sedition law of the United States, such an anomaly in its nature, that none of the established rules of jurisprudence would apply to it? Was it a thing so _entire_ in its nature, that it could not consist of different parts? I have always been taught, and the respondent’s answer confirms the principle, that a defence must apply to the whole of a charge. If, then, a charge consist of different parts, surely, so must the defence. But, according to Judge Chase, be the parts ever so many, they shall not be proven, unless the proof can all be made by one witness, or unless it appear that the defendant has proof in reserve to establish all.

The fifth and sixth articles rest upon grounds so extremely simple, and so easily comprehended, that it appears totally unnecessary to fatigue the patience of the honorable Court by dwelling upon them.

The seventh article is as follows:

“That at a circuit court of the United States, for the district of Delaware, held at Newcastle, in the month of June, one thousand eight hundred, whereat the said Samuel Chase presided, the said Samuel Chase, disregarding the duties of his office, did descend from the dignity of a judge, and stoop to the level of an informer, by refusing to discharge the grand jury, although entreated by several of the said jury so to do; and after the said grand jury had regularly declared, through their foreman, that they had found no bills of indictment, nor had any presentments to make, by observing to the said grand jury that he, the said Samuel Chase, understood ‘that a highly seditious temper had manifested itself in the State of Delaware, among a certain class of people, particularly in Newcastle County, and more especially in the town of Wilmington, where lived a most seditious printer, unrestrained by any principle of virtue, and regardless of social order; that the name of this printer was’--but checking himself, as if sensible of the indecorum which he was committing, added, ‘that it might be assuming too much to mention the name of this person, but it becomes your duty, gentlemen, to inquire diligently into this matter,’ or words to that effect; and that with intention to procure the prosecution of the printer in question, the said Samuel Chase did, moreover, authoritatively enjoin on the District Attorney of the United States, the necessity of procuring a file of the papers to which he alluded, (and which were understood to be those published under the title of ‘Mirror of the Times and General Advertiser,’) and, by a strict examination of them, to find some passage which might furnish the groundwork of a prosecution against the printer of the said paper; thereby degrading his high judicial functions, and tending to impair the public confidence in, and respect for, the tribunals of justice, so essential to the general welfare.”

The respondent stands here charged with a conduct, than which, in my opinion, nothing could be more at war with his official duty--nothing more tarnish his official character. The constitution and laws of this country certainly intended in erecting high judicial tribunals, that those who might be appointed to minister therein, should be impartial dispensers of justice between such as might resort thither for an adjustment of their differences. In public prosecutions more especially was it intended that such dispensation should be made without respect to persons. In these, above all other cases, ought a judge to stand aloof from influence, free from predilection towards one, or prejudice against the other. Most peculiarly here is it his duty to stand firm at his post, resisting the overbearing influence of a powerful public, and protecting the rights of the accused in so unequal a contest. But Judge Chase, disregarding these principles, always held sacred in a land of laws, converts himself into a hunter after accusations. He who, in the humane language of the laws, should be counsel for the accused, becomes himself an accuser. He, whose duty it is impartially to decide between the prosecutor and prosecuted, becomes himself the procurer of prosecutions.

The eighth article charges the respondent with prostituting
the judicial character by making a political speech to the
grand jury at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, against the
Government of the United States and the Government of Maryland.

There are features in that part of the judge’s official conduct, charged in this article, which place him in a point of view awfully grand. We have heretofore been viewing him as bringing his talents to bear upon individuals. Here we see his genius rising, in the majesty of its strength, to far higher objects. Here we see him consigning over whole governments to the scourge of his own avenging wrath. Whithersoever he turned his eyes, whether to the State constitution and laws, or to the laws and constitution of the whole Union, they were equally exposed to the whip and the rack.