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Sir, I say again, the people have the right, in
one sense of that term; they have the power to do
it— they are sovereign. They may assemble in
their majesty, and expressly say to their judge:
"You have given a righteous judgment, a judg-
ment consistent with the laws and with the rules
of honesty and equity; but it is not consistent
with our feelings, and therefore as we have the
power, so we resolve to remove you from your
scat to make way for one who will consult our
wishes. " They can do this, and the judge, driv-
en from his seat, has no redress. But is it,
therefore, proper? Is it, therefore, desirable to
do any thing which will encourage the exercise
of such a power?
No, sir, the innate sense of propriety common
to all, would denounce such a proceeding as ini-
quitous in the highest degree; and in the more
legitimate sense of the term I deny that the peo-
ple have any such right. Now, sir, what I main-
tain is, that when you make the judge the pup-
pet of the people, you virtually encourage and
often will cause this iniquity; that there is no
real security, but in the independence of the
judiciary.
Sir, the word "people" is with us, a word of
very largo import — of flexible and indefinite im-
port. It is said here, that the "people are eter-
nal and immortal. " They are certainly as im-
mortal as the government. No doubt of that.
But they have some other attributes, which the
public speeches of those who flatter them, are
not so apt to describe or descant upon. The ab-
stract theory of the honesty and purity of the
people is all very well, in political harangues in-
tended to court their favor. But is it wise to
regard those attributes alone, in framing a gov-
ernment and providing for the administration of
law? We do not thus act, in regard to other
matters; we make laws to punish Tice and all
sorts of mischief, and we expect them to be en-
forced. Against whom are they directed? Are
not those who are the objects of these criminal
provisions to be found amongst the "people" —
not the people to be sure in their aggregate, nor
in their abstract character. The "people" in
the sense in which we practically come in con-
tact with them, means that portion of them, who
have an immediate and direct interest or agency,
in a particular transaction. We must then have
respect to the numbe-, class and character of the
individuals, with whom we are to deal, in con-
sidering what is the object of the proposed pro-
vision in our Constitution — we must take things
as they are, as we know them to be — we must
stand on the platform, where the scene is to be
enacted; and view it in actual exhibition. Well,
sir, let us see how this proposed measure is prac-
tically to work. The people— thereby, meaning
those who are thus alluded to in the expression,
"a judge dependant upon the people" — act by
their votes— the only mode in which they can
act, or are supposed to act. How are those
votes obtained? Will it be pretended, much less
will it be believed, that each man for himself,
investigates the facts of the case; and with a full
understanding of them, and of the obligations of
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the law, calmly decides upon the moral conduct
of the judge, and regulates his vote accordingly ?
Will any man say this?
Sir, every man knows, that the decision will
be the result of prejudice, or interest, of excited
feelings and passions, and a thousand motives
not, at all, likely to enlighten the judgment or
inform the understanding. And then, whose
votes are they? Are they the votes of the indi-
viduals who deposit their slips of paper in the
ballot-box? Yes, sir, in one sense they are: so
far as the mechanical operation of placing them
there is concerned, they are so; but the mind,
the will, the end and object expressed by the
ballot, are those of another. We all know this.
We all know that one man often controls five
ten, twenty, aye, fifty votes. He does not liter-
ally put that number of ballots into the box; but
does it virtually by the influence he exerts over
those who do put them there. We know this to
be the case every where; we see it here in this
body. It is the necessary consequence of that
very feeling of our nature, against which I
would guard your judges; it is the effect of that
wealth, intelligence, activity, courtesy, and per-
severing energy, which give controlling influ-
ence to individuals, and enable them to advance
or impede the interests of those around them. It
results, in short, from the partial state of depen-
dance upon others.
And, sir, who are those men thus controlling
the popular sentiment through the ballot-box?
Not your easy, quiet, home-staying folks, who
meddle with nobody's business, but men of ex-
actly opposite character; men who actively par-
ticipate in public affairs; who take part in all
the neighborhood and county transactions, make
themselves useful, or at least busy, by advising
and counselling those around them, in their busi-
ness affairs, who take the lead in giving tone to
all questions of interests, and use every effort to
impress their opinions upon others; either natu-
rally excitable, or made so by participating in
all the excitement within their reach; men" of
exactly that class, who are as apt as any other to
be litigants themselves; or if not, almost certain-
ly the warm advocates and partizans of those
who are. Let us picture to our minds the case
of such a man— an opulent, influential, popular
leader, full of ardor in his opinions, and very
ample means to induce others to adopt them _ in
the attitude of a claimant in court, against some
unfortunate person who is the reverse in all re-
spects, with a mean spirit and ill-contrived tem-
per that make him the object of general dislike.
Let these be antagonist parties. Now the mean
man, whatever may be the infirmities of his
character, however poor and humble, and des-
pised he may be -- as much entitled to a faith-
ful adminis! ration of the law — of that law which
knows neither rich nor poor, neither high nor
low— of that justice which is appropriately rep-
resented as blind— as the most powerful or most
popular man in the land. If one part even of
his pittance be taken from him, or indignity and
injury be inflicted upon his despised person, he
has a claim to redress as certain, and as safe in
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