PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS { JOHN FENNO, No. 69, HIGH-STREET, BETWEEN SECOND AND THIRD STREETS, PHILADELPHIA [No. 52, of Vol. lII.] WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 179 1 ' PHILADELPHIA, August 17, SUPREME COURT OF the UNITED STATES "Wednesday, August 3d (concluded.) JUDGE BLAIR said, that although it was true that the Writ ot Error was a Writ of Right, upon which account Mr. Brad lord had contended that its use was only to express the will of the plaintiff in error, to have the judgment re-examined, and that, therefore, it was not so material from what office it had is sued, especially as the Judiciary Bill was silent as to that, yet the writ was an indifpenfible requisite ; but a writ not issued in the legal mode ftiould be considered as no writ. The question then was, whether having ilfued from the Clerk's Office of the Circuit Court, where the judgment fought to be redrefled was rendered, it could be supported as valid ? He admitted, that the dire6tion that it fhouli be returnable to the Supreme Court did not, vi termini, necessarily imply that it ought to illuc ftom the Clerk's Office of that Court; bccaufe whatever may be the popular sense of the word * returnable,' writs which in England iirued from the Chancery, were, in a legal sense, said to be returnable into the King's Bench, or that Court where they were to be made use of. But that there being no such general and fepara'.e repo sitory of writs in America, he took it to be the general pra&ice to issue writs from the fame Courts to which, in a ftritt sense, they were to be returned, and never to issue them, as in the pre ient iriHance, from the Clerk's Office of the fame Court whose judgment was fought to be corre6ted. He admitted, that as the law now stands, it would be attended, in some initances, with great inconvenience and hardship, to make it necclfary for the plaintiff in en or to apply for the writ at the feat of government of the United States, from which the Circuit Court, where the record remains, may be too remote, to permit him to lodge a copy of the writ there within ten days from the time of render ing the judgment ; because, if not so lodged, it will not operare as a fuperfedeas to the judgment, and the recoverer may take out execution. It is true, that the plaintiff in error, without so lodg ing a copy, may go on with the Writ of Error, and if he ffiould finally prevail, will be entitled to rtftftution ; but still, to be ex posed in the mean time to an execution, would at any time be a serious evil ; and, in the now exifttng combination of circumstan ces in our country, peculiarly such. He thought, however, that this evil, whatever might be its magnitude, required legislative corre&ion, rather than that the Court ffiould, tor the fake of avoiding it, eftablilh an unusual, and very irregular pia&ice. A futut c -hi w may remove e very hardship, by allowing, instead of ten days, luch a length of time, for depofiung a copy ot the Writ of Error 111 the Clerk's Office, as may be pioportioned to its dis tance from the feat of government. For these reasons he was against the motion, for a rule to be made upon the defendants in error, to rejoin. JUDGE WILSON. The determination of the gueftion in will be of im poitance-not ouJy ro the parties immftfiaiciy i uterc Itcd,'"But aJf 0 to others : for it will piobably have an influence upon the de termination of future cases of the fame or of a (imilar nature. It is thciefore proper that, while I give my opinion, I (hould aflign the reasons on which it is founded. There are two modes of removing a decision from an inferior to a superior jur ifdiftion. One is by appeal, which is merely the art of ike party. But it is not contended that the proceedings in th- present cause, are or can be removed by an appeal. It they are before us at all, they mud have come before us by a Wnt of Error This is admitted by the counsel for the plaintiff; and on this supposition we are applied to for the exercise of juiildic tion, by giving a rule on the defendant to plead to the alignment ot errors. We are therefore led to the queftion —Is this such a V/rii as willjuitify and authorise the court in exercising a revifion ar} jurifdi&ion over the decision and proceedings of the Circuit Court of the Diftri& of Rhode-Island ? AWr t is deicribed, and very properly, to be a mandatory * lit ter. A Wiit of errpi, as well as other Writs, must partake of this mandatory quality. But how can a Court diieft a mandatory let ter to itfelf ? It was observed by the learned counsel for the plaintiff, that a ■writ of Error is a commiflion to revise proceedings. True. But it is defcnbed as a commiflion directed to a fupeiior junfdi£tion.+ Bcfides, in considering this commiflion, we must view n«t only the junfdi&ion to which it is directed, but likewifethe authority from which it flows. Shall it flow trom an inferior to a superior Court ? This courfc would be unnstural : it would be the stream of authority inverted. It was also mentioned by the learned counftl for the plaintiff in error, that, in the ast of Congvels, it is not fpccijicd from ■what Com t the Writ of Erroi must issue. This is very ti ue. But since it is not fpecified, we must form our opinion on general principles and usages. Thele, as we havejuft now feel), will lead us to the superior rather than to the injerior jurifdittion. The 14th fc£tion of the ast of Congress, however, seems to put the solution of the prefrnt beyond the poflibility of a doubt. By that ft&ion the Courts of the United Stales t{ have power to issue '• all Writs not specially provided for by statute, which may be 44 neceflary for the exercise of their refpe£tive jurifdi&ions, and agreeable to the principles and usages of law." Now, this is the Court which is to exercise jurifdiftlon—this is the Court to ivhich application is made by the plaintiff himfelf, for the exer cise of its jurifdittion in the present caufc. This, therefore, is she Court, which, in the teims of the a£\, shall il have the power 11 to issue the Writ neceflary for the exercise of that jurifdiftion." The Court from which the Writ of Error is to iffwe, is not fpe cialiv pointed out by ftatnte. That Writ must therefore issue 44 agreeably to the principles and usages of l»w." Ofthofe prin ciples and usages, we have already fecn the dire&ion and the force. From ihele prcmifes, the inference seems to be conclu de that the Writ of Error must issue from this Court. An inconvenience was luggelltd and prell'ed with much strength ar.d ingenuity by thccounfel tor the plaintiff ; that at a great dif lance from the feat of government—in Georgia, for instance, or Kentucky -it would be impoilible, afterthe judgment complain ed of, to comply, in the limited time of ten days, with the con ditions required by the ast for rendering the Writ of Error a fu perfedeas to an execution. If this inconvenience (hould fuhfift in all the force which has been fUted ; it nral be removed by tnothei power. We ast in the judicial, not in the Itgijlative de partment. The inconvenience may perhaps be mitigated by a method which 1 (hall suggest ; not, however, as a part of my opinion iri the determination of the point before us. A Writ of Error may kcar icftc and may be obtained before the " giving of the judg nnt" in the Court below. This, in England, is the uiual course i< preventing and fupcrfeding execution.}: Indeed this mode Cms to be intimated by a claufc in the Writ itfelf. tc Wecom 'nand you, that, if judgment be given, then you fend the record 4 Snd procefs,"J| See. tis true that the expence of a Writ of Error obtained in this miner will be fupeifluous, if the party who apprehend a judg nnt against him, fhail obtain one in his favor. This lupernous e>ence, however, can be the occasion of no very great hardship. I ate the expedient as calculated to mitigate the inconvenience coplained of t but not as forming a ground ot my opinion in th caufe.^ ly opinion i«, that the proceedings of the Circuit Court for th diftriftof Rhode-Island are not jndicially before us; and that, fothis reason, the motion of tht counfcl tor the plaintiff cannot beuftained. 3 Bl - 2 73' 2 Bac. 187. 2 Bac. 199. March 140. |3 81. app, 21. j l 11 —Would not the inconvenience here fitted ie removed wholly, by ti Clerks of the fever al Circuit and Dijlritl Courts, J up flying em ' jelm with blank Wt its of Error, properly fettled and signed by the C lerk of t). Supreme Court, and b\ having them ready for suitors, whevevei wand. In P ennflvania, the Prothonotory ej the Supreme Court diflrt bute.blank writs of certiorari and habeas corpus, through thefcvcal couries of the slate, which are always at hand on the fhortefl notice, whe\reauihte for the removal of a cause : so that if oppression or injus tice t attempted by hurryiny on a cause in the lower Courts, a removal by th oppojite party afords an opportunity of obtaining more complete and)erfefl jufiice. JUDGE LUSHING. Tie writ offered to'the Court at present, by the counsel for the *>laitiff, does not appear to me to be such a writ as will bring the rocecdings of ibe Circuit Court of Rhnde-Ifland, properly befoe this Court. By the ast of Congress, it is true, that • Wnt of Eror m» iflue either from the Circuit Court, or trom this. But ly necefTary implication, it feemi, that when it is for the pur poferf removing a cause from a Circuit, to this Court, the autiori ty ftould be derived immediately from this court. I cannot be lievethat Congress designed, a Circuit Court (hould have power to renove its own proceedings to this Court; but that the authori ty foi this end, (hould flow from the Court that was to exercise the contiouling and reviflng power. If such, then, be the meaning of the National Legislature, it is not our province to alter or amend their acts, but to ground our opinions upon them. If inconveni ences (hould arise, in carrying their laws into effett, with them lies the power of correcting the inconveniences, and not with us. As the writ before us, therefore, is not from this, but from the Circuit Court of Rhode-Island, I cannot think, that upon its au thority, we can proceed to rtvife the judgment of that Court. aU£E=jr*TTrw r—- amgned, are fully explanatory of my opinion, it were needless to repeat thera. I need only, there, fore, suggest my concurrence with my brethren " The Court, therefore, refufe to grant the rule moved for yes «« terday in this cause, being itnanimoujly cj opinion, that Witts oj 14 Error, to remove cause* to this Courtfrota inj'erior§nnet* t can rcgu il larly ijjue only f rom the Clerk's Office oj this Court." EXTRACTS.—On EDUCATION, ONE of the fir ft laws of Maflaclmfetts provid ed, That the SeleiSmen shall have a vigi lant eye over parents, that they lhall duly endea vor, liy thetnl'elves, or others, to iiiltru<fl their children in learning; and that if, after warning given by the Selectmen, any parent shall be neg ligent, he shall be fined." Some think this Jaw to have been rather arbitvary, but the reason the law-makers thcmfelves aiTign will be f'atisfaJtory. They r ay, " left the children should grow bar barous, rude and stubborn, and lb prove pests, ttijleadof biejpngj to their country." The learned and patriotic Dr. Price, in a late difcoufe, fays, " Our firft concern as lovers of our cointry, must be to enlighten it. Why are the tiaions of the world so patient under defpot il'm ?b it not bpcaufe they are kept in darkness and w:nt of knowledge ?—enlighten them, and you wil elevate them." Shoild the feniinaries of learning be neglect ed by lie Commonwealth, there can be no way to fupprt them, but by enhancing the price ot educaton. The rich men will then give their childra an education, « hile the people in the middlevvalk of life, and the poor, will be denied the priilege of learning. The people will then be oblied to hold learning in contempt, to ex clude . from their public afiemblies; or, the powersif government, and the offices will be held by the ich in exclusion of the others. The firll alternate leads toaflate of barbarism, the other leads to riltocracy and despotism. Tlieres in men a natural pride, and a natural envy, lie wealthy are apt to hold the poor in contemp and the poor are apt to envy the opu lence ofne great. These tempers, however re prehenfile they are, have their use in iociety ; the firlt lads the wealthy to support govern ment, th<latter induces a spirit of equality,which prevcntshat government from rising to a itate of defpofni. The hairs and education of the rich lead to ariftocrar, and if they can have a monopoly of the learing of tVie country, there will be an end of dcmo'acy ; the equality which is uow the 125 Hks° [Whole No. 240.] glory of our country, will never more be seen, and rlie calamity of America will blast the hopes of the patriotic pare of the European world. Paiems are led by their fondnefs for their pos terity, to try to give ihem an education: hue they have but little imerell in the business in comparison with what society has—Parents are soon removed from their tender connexion with their children, but society remains forever, and mull be happy or miserable, in proportion as knowledge and information are poll'efled by it. Reasons for ejiablijbing public Schools, reported by the School Committee oj the Tozu/t of Augujli, 1789. " jit. T TaEFUL knowledge generally diffiifr-T among the people, is the furti'i of fecuung the rights of man, of proim public prol'peiity, and perpetuating aie i of a countiy. " ad. As civil community is a kind or tenancy, in respeCt to the gifts and audi individual members thereof, it leems noi s . per, that the dilburfement* necefiaiy to tj those individuals for ufefulnefs, should be i;. from common funds. " 3<l- Our lives and properties,in a free ftatc, are so much in the power of our feliow-citiznis, and the reciprocal advantages of' daily iiuet courfe are so much dependant on the inl'ofiliati on and integrity of our neighbours, that no wile man can feel himfelf indiffei ent to the progrefi of ufeful learning, civilization, ami the preler vation of morals, in the community wheiehere- fides " 4th. The raoft reasonable objedt of getting wealth after our own wants are l'upplieri, i» to benefit thole who need it ; and it may with great propriety be demanded, in what way «au iliofe whole wealth is redundant, benefit their neigh bours more certainly and permanently, than by furnilhing to their children the means of quali fying them to become good and ufeful citizens, and of acquiring an honefl livelihood ? " sth. In Schools established by public autho rity, and whole teachers are paid by the public, there will l>e reason to hope for a more faithful and impartial discharge of the duties of inftrue tion, as well as of dicipline among the scholars, than can be expected when the matters are de pendant on individuals for their fupporr. PETERSBURG H, March 29 ON the 20th inft. we enjoyed a superb fpetfa cle here ; the regiment of horse guards de filed along the Imperial Castle, bearing to the fortrefs the trophies of Ifmail, composed ofnear ly 500 horsetails, commanders (laffs, maces, stan dards and colours.—lt is said, that the better to perpetuate the remembrance of this important conquest, nnd the other advantages gained by Prince Potemkin over the enemies of the Chril lians ; and in opposition to the Alcoran and Sword of Mahomet, our august Sovereign intends to present Prince Potemkin with a bible richly bound, and set with brilliants, together with a sabre of inimenfe value. PARIS, June j6. Abjlratt of the late], f Proceedings of the National A§cmbly t June jt/>. The Aflembly referred to the committee of enquiry a letter, by which the directory of Gi ronde, gives notice of the fermentation excited at Bordeaux, by the establishment of a monarchi cal club, and of the manoeuvres of the agents of the club, which obliged the directory to put a stop to their meeting. June 8. Decreed—That persons in the public service fliall enjoy the rights of atfiive citizens, in the places where their duty calls them, iho they may not have resided there the year requir ed in common cases. Articles decreed to secure the independence of th• Legislative Authokitt. I. Tliofe concerned in attempts to preventthtf re-\mion, or effect the diflblution of a primary or electing aflembly, fliall fuffer death. 2. If troops of the line surround the place of fitting of the aforefaid aflemblies. or procure ad mittance into the aflembly, without being au thorised or required by the afleinbly, the minis ter or commander who ihall liav# figncd the or-
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