leave him in the indulgence and expression of
opinions formed under that high sense of the res-
ponsibility, which he owes to Him who gave
him his being. This is the rock of his safety. On
this he looks with no fearful concern for his se-
curity, although the waves dash furiously at its
base. He knows and feels they cannot harm
him, and he treads with as firm a step as if the
sea before him were calm and unruffled.
Now, let us consider the opposite hypothesis;
let us so arrange matters, as that the influence of
the man of wealth and power shall be brought to
bear directly upon the most important items in
the comfort or convenience of the judge; in fine,
upon his very official existence; and then how
may we expect the arrangement practically to
work?
I do not mean to say, there are not men proof
against all such opposing causes; men who would
jeopard their lives in the strict performance of
duty, and become martyrs to their principles.
We have had Martyrs—men who have rushed
to the stake to vindicate the truth of their opin-
ions. Religion can make men Martyrs. We
have had warriors and heroes, to take the advance
in a forlorn hope, and with fearful and
countless odds against them, to plunge into dan-
ger and death, to rescue a nation or an army.
Why are Martyrs at the stake, the objects of our
veneration? Why are Warriors and Heroes,
who have poured out their blood on the battle-
field celebrated in history, and cherished with
admiration?
Sir, it is because they are rare. If every man
was a Saint, or a Hero, the character would lose
its charm. But, again, let us consider the wide
difference in the cases. The Saint on earth is
sustained, and borne through his fiery ordeal by
the strong hope that he is presently to be a Saint
in Heaven, and to receive an ample reward for
his sufferings here. The Hero knows that he is
to acquire perennial fame, while the habits of his
life, his passions and feelings, make him regard
all things as unworthy even of comparison with
so high an object. How is it with the poor
judge? He is assailed by the influential adversa-
ry, with charges of incompetency or misconduct.
His destruction being the object, the means most
effective will of course be resorted to. If his
ability be well established, his purity must be at-
tacked; if he has more character for integrity
than for talent, then the latter must be defamed.
Once got him into bad order, and the business of
thrusting him still lower and lower, will not be
difficult for such agents. And what is the result
to him? Honor and fame and immortality
amongst men ? No, sir. Infamy, disgrace, ob-
livion—these are his portion, when those who
riot in the ruin of his character, have accom-
plished their ends. Few can, still fewer mil,
examine minutely into his history. He is a de-
graded judge, offensive to those who lead and
control the sentiment of the community, charged
with numerous delinquencies, and by that com-
munity condemned. You first compel him to
decide, and then for deciding conscientiously, you
doom him to a hopeless degradation, robbed of
60 |
his reputation, and probably thereby deprived of
the means of future acquisition, either of char-
acter or property.
I am aware, sir, of the attempt which some
persons make to obviate these difficulties, which
they cannot but feel and acknowledge, an attempt
by which I believe they do actually deceive them-
selves. They say they admit the necessity of
having the judge independent, and they wish to
make him such. I was quite amused the other
day, lo hear one of the gentlemen across the hall,
full of zeal in what he regards a "reformation"
of our judicial system, and repeating the phrase—
"In, independent judge dependant upon the people!"
it shows the fact, at which I rejoice, that there
is a deep-seated conviction of the GREAT TRUTH,
that a judge should be independent—even with
those who have been innoculated with the virus of
pseudo-reform—of change in every thing. Sir,
it is an inbred element in the constitution and
character of the Saxon—this respect, for law and
for the purity of its administration—and as es-
sential to it, the independence of the minister of
law.
Now, sir, paradoxical as it may seem to some
I propose to show that there is at least as much
reason for making the judge independent of the
people in this country, as there is in England for
making him independent of the crown. It cer-
tainly is the boast of the English Constitution,
that the judges there are no longer tenants, at the
will of the Crown. It was a brilliant achieve-
ment in favor of liberty—a great popular tri-
umph. The measure was, to a very considerable
degree, effected by the 13th William III, and it
was completed by 1st George III, which was the
first to enact that the commission should not ex-
pire with the demise of the King, and which also
made his salary permanent. Every man at all
acquainted with the history of jurisprudence, or
indeed with political history, appreciates the in-
estimable blessings guaranteed to the citizen—to
the humblest, the most persecuted citizen—by
this independence of the judge under the British
government. Yet I hope to satisfy those who
will listen, and will allow the argument to have
its fair effect, that all the reasons which make it
valuable and necessary there, apply with all their
force, and some of them with much greater force,
to our condition here.
Let us go back a little way into English his-
tory. Before the independence of the judiciary,
the system was virtually a tyranny. And why?
Because the rights of the individual citizen were
held at the will of the Sovereign, uncontrolled
by fixed and known rules of law. That is the
very definition of tyranny. It may exist in a
monarchy, in an aristocracy, or in a democracy,
but in either form, if the will of the sovereign
power is not controlled by settled laws, which
secure the rights of person and of property the
government is essentially and emphatically a
tyrannical government. The sovereign in England
was the king, and the king, without the
control of law, was therefore the tyrant. I do
not mean to say that he constantly acted out the
character. A man may have power which he |
