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AND GEORGIA BY T. S. HANNON. TERMS. For the City paper, (thrice a week,) Six Do'J*” •it i annum, payable in advance, or Seven Dollars I not paid before the end o( the year. For the Country paver, (once a week,) TUre« WO lu-i per in advance^ —TTCtneiit 6Tdues, and not before. Advertisements will be inserted at the following rates: For the first insertion, per square, Sixty two aad a half cents; for each subsequent, succes sive, insertion. Forty three and three quarter cents: li all other cases 62 1-2 cents per square. When an advertisement is sent, without a speci fication in writing of the number of insertions, it w II be published until ordered out, and charged accordingly. LETTERS, (on business) must be post-paid—or they may nut meet with attention. XT In this paper the Laws of the United States (fe published. !■ hii«iwi mmmmm——m An Englishman’s idea of America. From the Philadelphia National Gazette. “Two Years, Residence in the Settlement of the English Prairie in the Illinois Country, United States. With an Account of Us Animal and Veee taole Productions, Agriculture, Ac. Ac. A descrip tion of the principal’Towns, Villages, Ac. with the Habits and Customs of the Back Woodsmen. By John iVo odi.” At the conclusion of our second article respecting the book of honest John Woods, we left him In the English prairie in Illinois, where hchad just arrived. After looking about him for some days with the in tention of buying land, he bought a considerable ■ farm at Birks prairie, four miles south west of Wauborough, Mr- Birkbeck’s settlement with much live stock slock, ami a great quantity of produce in the ground. Mr. Woods appears from the extent dfhis purchases, to be a man of substance. He describes, in detail, Mr. Birkbeck’s and Mr. Flow er's sett'ements, and treats fully of the character of the soil and climate of those settlements and the adjacent country. The construction and internal arrangement of the log cabins are minutely explain ed. “IBooks to doors,” he remarks, “are nearly unknown; but wooden bolts are common with the English: many of the American houses have only a latch, and some have not even that.” In this ac count of the live stock of the farms, the following paragraph may be noted: “Beasts, sheep, are all marked in their ears, by Cutting or notching them in all possible directions and forms, to the greatest disfigurement of many of *'i-ui; vet these marks are absolutely necessary in tni. wild country, where every person’s stock run at large; and they arc not sometimes seen by their owners for several months, so that without tome lasting mark it would bo utterly Impossible to know them again. Most people enter their marks wi,i the clerk of the county in which they reside, stmt no person is then allowed to use the same marks, if living in the same county, and within five miles of the person who has previously entered the same marks. The county e'erk’s fee for entering the mu: kis twelve cents and a half. And no person is allowed to dispute his marks with another of the sane marks, unless his ure also entered at some county office.” Mr. Woods adverts to the prejudice of the Ame rican against mutton as an article of food.—“ Many of them, who in the summer are sometimes short of meat, when their bacon is exhausted, would live on coca bread for a month, rather than eat an ounce of mutton, veal, rabbit, goose, or duck.” This anti pathy does not appear to prevail on this side of the mountains. “ A hog,” he says, “ of 20011)«. weight is here call od * fine* chunk of a fellow. Many of the Ameri can' tie a bell round the neck of one of their old ho s, to keep the gtinj as they cull it, together.— V\h are generally killed by the seller, ma after thev are scalded they are carried to the buyer, as it is very difficult to drive wild pips l« a country • like this —And as to Ibe fattening bestowed on them, it oulv en titles them 10 run much taster than they ever could before.” Wild beasts and reptiles, according to .Mr. are but little more thought of or dreaded, where lie is, than in England; game of every kind is in the utmost abundance, and, as to gome-laws —under which thousand of cases of imprisonment and transportation occur annually in England—the con dition of tilings may be known from the following quotation, ••Sapt. Ist No bustle to-day as in England, as we have no game laws, and tho lime 'll sporting la.*s from the first of January to the last day of December; as every person has a right of sporting, on all uniuclosed land, for all sous of wild annuals and game, without any license or qualification as to property. 'The only qualifiications re quired here, are a good rille, and a steady hand and eye. Many of the Americans will hardly credit you, if.vou inform them there is any country infhe world where one order of men are allowed to kill and eat game, to tnc exclusion of all others. But xvhcu you toll them that the occupiers of land are frequently among this number, they lose all pa tience, ■ nd declare they w ould not submit to be so imposed on Here if game do a former any mis chief, he may destiny it by night or day in any manner lie may choose, without fear of fines or penalties; and he is in no danger of offending his neighbor by so nomg. And it lie should kill any gn me, he may dispose of it at public or private sale, li . i inclined. Norare there here any excise laws; a person may make beer, leather, spirits soap, can dles, Itc. and not be troubled with excisemen; he juav likewise turn auctioneer, or any other culling, Without a license.” The must valuable grasses grow spontaneously, and wheat has been begun to he cultivated largely. *, The Americans usually halp eachother to cut their wneal, us they are fend of company when at work. this they return at some future time in the same way.” Extract from the above work. “ With regard to the language of this country, 1 have found no difficul ty to understand any of the Ameri cans, 1 have met with a few words o ily excepted. I have seen several from England, that came from a dis tant part from that in which I resided, that 1 have had far more trouble to Understand. Yet the manner of dis course among the true back-woods inen is rather uncouth to an English ear. I will attempt to give a speci men of it, in a conversation between two of them who met each other on the road ; one an Esquire, the other ajudge. Esq.—Well, Judge, how do you do ? I hope you are well. Juoge.—Well Squire, I am tole rably bad. How do you do ? Esq.-— I Well lam a heap better than I was ; but I have been power fully sick lately. Judge.— But, Squire, you have a powerful chance of plunder on your creature, what are you going to do with it ? Esq.— Well, I am going to town with a tolerable chance of plunder to get it carded at the mill. Judge. —Well, so you have got your wool to be carded ; I could not calculate what truck you had got. Esq.— Well, I fancy you have been to town. How goes times there ? . Judge. —Time are dull; I calcu lated to sell my creature there and then when I got home, to turn in and i earn some money to get me another. E sa . —Well, as you could not r trade away your creature you must turn in and work as well as you can. s I also must turn in and build a cabin s or two, to raise a little cash. . Ja.OE.-WeU, Jaskf, I b SfeS - I* -~-d •• vvmc (iIiJC. Esq.— Well, Judge, I also have ' hunted steadily ; and I calculated to make a heap of money of my truck, but I have got none. Judge. — Well, what truck have you got, to trade away to make mo ney ? Esq. —l have got a few beefs; and a tolerable chance of corn. Judge. —Well, I have also got some beefs, and a chance of corn, and some wool, that I must toat to town and trade away. Esq. —Well, Judge, I must go on and toat my truck to the mill and flien get right strait home. Judge. —Well, I must also get on, ai my woman is powerfully sick and tfeak, and I am fetching her some ' whiskey. Esq.—Well, but Judge, where did you get your creature ? It is a pow erful fine looking one. Judge. —Well, Squire, mine is a great little horse, I bought him of our general; but I must be going; fare well. Well, begins most sentences. Plun der and truck include almost every thing. 4 horse is general called a creature. Beefs are cows Toat means to carry any thing. Strait and turn in, are words they frequent ly use. Woman, —they always call their wives their women. Many of them, instead of saying yes, make a sort of noise, like 44 him, him,” oi rather like pronouncing, “m, m,” with the mouth shut; In this remote part of America, judges, generals of militia, colonels, captain?, nuU cstjuiit's, are not gene rally men of property or education ; and it is usual to see them employed in any common kind of labour. Yet I have seen men among them that possess very good abilities; far from ignorant, and much better informed than could be expected from their ap pearance.” PROM HOLMESES ANNALS. 4 Selected far the Democratic Press.] n 16G5 the governor of Rhode Island passed an order to outlaw all , Quakers, and to seize their estates, because they would not bear arms. The order was resisted by the People so successfully that it was never car ried into effect. In 1669, the Legislature of Caroli na passed a law, entitled 44 An act 1 concerning marriage” which de clared that, “ as people might wish to j marry, and there being no ministers,! in order that none might be hindered j from so necessary a work, for the 1 preservation of mankind, any two, persons, carrying before the governor ! and council a few of their neighbors, , and declaring their mutual assent, shall be deemed man and wife.”— Chalmers observes that, 44 during al most twenty years, we can trace no thing of clergymen in the history or laws of Carolina.” In 1681, Charles 11. gave to Wil liam Penn thy charter of Pennsylva nia ; he invited purchasers, and that year the first colony from England arrived in Pennsylvania, and “ com menced a settlement above the con fluence of the Schuylkill with the Delaware.” The next year, Penn himself, with more settlers, chiefly Quakers, arrived in Pennsylvania. The first assembly of Pennsylva nia was holdcn in Philadelphia March 12, 1683. A number of German Quakers this year arrived, and settled seven miles north of Philadelphia, and called their settlement German town. Lord Efllnglunn was this year (1683) appointed governor of Vir ginia, and expressly ordered to allow no person to use a printing press on any occasion whatever. The governor of Massachusetts, (1690) having no money to pay their troops, there was danger of a mutiny, j to avert which, they issued bills of credit.—This was the first paper money issued in the colonies. The imputation oi witchcraft, ac companied with a belief of its reality, was this year, (1(592) very preva lent in Massachusetts. The conta gion was principally confined within the county of Essex. Before the close of September, nineteen prison ers were executed , and one pressed to death, all of whom asserted their innocence. In 1692, the Legislature of Massa chusetts passed an act prohibiting any of the French nation to reside, or be in any of the seaports or frontier i towns within the province, without license from the governor & touncil. FROM A LONDON PjPKR. Mr. Mathews. —This! celebrated , comic genius, having bjen many years before the public aid devoted himself to the highest rani in his pro | session, in the year 1818, it the sug i gestion of Mr. Arnold, tl: proprie tor of the English Ope i House, ' bade adieu to the dramatic tage, and , resolved to travel singly , lit in a so ciable (not sulky) as the Jtader well ’ knows. Dibdin of sans hud me mory George Alexaudd Stevens, and U ~ J “ M inct w/th success 1 in the same mode previa^r.-, » uhout detracting from tb* ability of . those gentlemen, there '* B a * act — a , close observation or character—a fund of whim aboi/'^ r> Mathews, which mast have insured him still greater popular#. Mr. Mathew* started with his Mail Coach Advejdures, a selection of his own, the sebgs written principally by Mr. Jajaes Smith. The entertain ment immediately became what is technically termed a hit —the fashion flocked to laugh, and an immense sum was received, during forty nights, in which it had an uninterrupted run. The following season, 1819, Mr. Mathews introduced the Trip to Pa ris, and La Diligence. These en tertainments immediately gained the favour of the town, and 40 nights more of crowded houses, magnificent ly paid proprietor, actor and authors. The Trip to Paris, &c. were written by Mr. J. Smith, assisted by Mr. John Poole, the author of Hamlet Travestie. In the interval between the sea sons, Mr. Mathew’s, time is plea surably and profitably passed in vis iting the principal provincial theatres, where his success keeps pace with his London popularity. In 1820 the new entertainment was called “ Country Cousins,” in which Mr. Mathews undertook to shew some relatives the sight of Lon don. This season’s production, though highly attractive, was not so fully attended as in tiie former years. This piece was written also by Mr. James Smith. Mr. Mathews’s season coming on again I Ow I j <1 w its 3lcin> ed in the choice of a subject, for the exhibition of his extraordinary tal ents. His author hit upon the pro ject of sending him up in a balloon— and Mr. Smith furnishing the gas, Mr. Mathews found no difficulty in raising the wind. Being carried from home, & thro ’ a great variety of whimsical adven tures, it was found necessary to bring him back again. The a Polly pack et” was constructed for that purpose, in which Mr. Mathews represented himself and all the passengers;—his personations of the sea-sick French man and his little dogs. Major Longbow, Daniel O'Rourke, Theo philus Tulip and his mamma, can never be forgotten by the lovers of i genuine humour and laughter. This I last piece was the production of Mr. R. B. Peake, the treasurer of the En ; glish Opera House, and the author of i several successful dramas performed j there. i In the present year 1822, (the i fifth of Mr. Mathews’ appearance) it was supposed by the theatrical world impossible that the interest could be kept up, to induce Mr. Bull and his family again lo find them selves happy AT HOME ; —But the ingenious and judicious choice of the subject “ the Youth ful days of Mr. Mathews,” related by himself, has again attracted all London. Mr. Mathews’ patrons had hitherto been drawn together by, fictitious adven tures —but the matter of fact of his own history, the way it has been put together, the excellence of its delive ry, the whimsicality of the songs, with the neatly contrived acting piece ‘ STORIES’ with which he concludes his entertainment, have rendered this, the fifth year, the most productive that has yet occurred. The entertainment of ‘ the Youth ful Days of Mr. Mathews’ is the joint production of Mr. R. B. Peake and a literary friend—and the after piece ‘ Stories,’ was invented, writ ten, and solely contrived by Mr. Peake. Mr. Mathews purposes to sail for the United States of America, in the month of July; and with his vast power of multi formation, being like St. Paul, all things to all men, there | is little doubt that he will be at home, and all that sort of thing, and every thing else in the world, to our trans atlantic kinsman. If it was lawful and fitting to jest on so grave a sub ject, we might express our confidence, or say, in the American phrase, “ we gmss” that Ills gaiety will have a strong tendency to relieve them from the weight of a .great many Dolours. . From the Kew-Yorh Daily Adcertiser. } No more just or mor<Ustriking de scription of the disease that now a . harms and distresses the inhabitants of this city could be given, than that ’ contained in the language of Scrip ture “ The pestilence that walketh [ in darkness.” Whether it was in tended by the sacred writer to apply it to any particular malady known to the Eastern world, or to the pestilential diseases at large, this peculiar chrac -1 teristic is equally applicable to both, f and to none probably more than to 1 that which exists in our immediate - neighborhood. - In the year 1793, the city of Phi - ladelphia was visited in a most awful , manner with this desolating evil—in 1 1795 and 1798, this city experienced - the same afflicting calamity. The I origin and nature of the distemper ■ immediately became subjects ofdis , cussion among the faculty and others, i and us often as it has appeared in . nnsiji! CHIPS, and in r l **". f same questions have been agitated i with much earnestness and labour, i and still, as far as we have been able , to ascertain, nothing has been satis l factorily settled between the parties, the origin of the disease is just as I much a subject of dispute as it was > five and twenty years ago—the same ’ zeal, the same warmth, is manifested • in support of different theories, and it i is now just as much a matter of un i certainty whether it be of foreign or ■ domestic origin as it was in 1795. — , In this point of view, this t( pestilence . walketh in darkness,” and probably will continue to do so for years to ■ come. The nature and character of the : disease appear to be but little better ; understood. Mankind have learned • but little more, after so long and of ten repeated experience, than to shun i its approach, to flee when it draws near them. But whether it be con ! tagious, or infectious, or neither, are still points of controversy, and as far ■ as we can discern, are likely to remain ■ so. And whatever the more wise and ■ learned may imagine with regard to i their own attainments, it may truly ■ be said, as it respects the great body of the people who rely upon their own common sense, judgment, obser vation, and experience, in the above -1 mentioned particulars, this “pesti ■ lence walketh in darkness.” < The progress of disease is another • point altogether inscrutable to human • intellects.—Heretofore it has usually . made its appearance in the filthy parts of the city, near the docks, i where the otmosnhere hi ,rl k "~— ■ previously impure, and predisposed ; to the reception and propagation of ■ such a disease. This year, as a gen ■ eral remark, it has been otherwise. ■ Unless there was some specific local , I cause near the foot of Rector street, i that street, and the adjoining ones where it first prevailed, are among the • cleanest in the lotver parts of the city. ■ And if the particular nuisance that lias been said to exist in the early par ■ of the season in the neighbourhood of , Rector-street was actually there, it i j still remains a mystery how so small 5 a number of cases as at first occurred ■ in that region, could have contami ’ nated the atmosphere there, and in - the open streets adjoining, to such a • degree as to have rendered it unsafe f for a person even to pass through • them. Much more extraordinary is • it, that when once thus contaminated, • no change of weather short of a se f vere frost is sufficient to purify it. I Neither rain, nor wind, nor thunder and lightning, appear to have any ! tendency to produce a salutary effect, ) but the whole region is so impure, I that though deserted by the inhabit l ants, and likely for weeks to come to I remain in that situation, no person ■ can without great hazard visit “ the 1 infected district,” before it shall be - purified by frost. This may for aught • we know, be explained to the satis > faction of individuals, but to the pco • pie at large it is, we believe, involved 1 in profound darkness. Os the effects of this dreadful > scourge to our city, we have evidence - enough—they are strictly in conform ■ ity with die remainder of the scrip > tural description—“ It wasteth at noonday.” As a judgment, it must ! be acknowledged by all to be of the ■ most distressing and afflicting charac : ter, one that must be ranked among those which are universally consider • ed as of the heaviest kind—such as 1 famine, earthquakes, and an invading ! enemy. The minds of the inhabit ■ ants that are left in the city, cannot • fail, in the silence and solemnity of the Sabbath, to be deeply impressed with this general subject. Their al most deserted streets, their closed 1 churches, and their anxious forebod ■ ings of the future, all combine to bring • it home to their bosoms with peculiar ■ emphasis. The more they reflect the , more they reason, and the more ex tensive their experience, we are per ■ suaded the more certainly they will 1 conclude, that (l The Pestilence walk ■ cth in darkness.” i An article in an Alabama paper, after allowing to General Jackson all the credit awarded to him by his country, for lus military services, but declaring him not so well qualified to act in a civil capacity, concludes with expressing a hope that u if he he made President, he will hang ever J ry scoundrel in Washington within , fve mihutes after his inauguration.” ■ [Nat. Intelligencer. 1 [He would hardly do this, as it is j ■ presumed he would not like to live j t in a deserted city.] >1 J - gHUPMitA* ! THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1822. * - . Mr. Hannon, I The following opinion was pro- I nounced by Judge Charlton, at the J i late term of Columbia Superior r ! Court, and is published at the request -1 of some of the gentlemen of the bar. } i It is proper to remark that, by con | i sent of parties the cause was continu- I I ed after the Judge Han given a pretty , 1 clear Intimation of what his decision : I would be, if forced to make one. '! The opinion was therefore pronouno ’; ed merely as an exposition of the i law upon the points submitted. It, t vs, > Mai; Pros : B. ) • By Thos. U. P. Charlton, Judge, This action is founded on an acquittal , for the charged offence of perjury, and ' the introduction of the exemplification of the indictment and verdict as evidence is > objected to, because there is no order of the Judge, before whom the case was tri . ed for such copy. The reasons assigned for the objection . is, that in every case of felony, the party who intends to sue for the malicious pro ■ seculion, most obtain leave from the I Court, lor a copy of the indictment. Two i questions then present themselves fur consideration ; Ist. Is a judge’s order for a Copy of ' the indictment, in a case of f'lony, ne cessary to the support, or rather main -1 tenance of an action of Mai; Pros: 1 founded on an acquittal of that felony ? ) And 2dly. Is perjury a felony, under the jurisprudence of Georgia ? ' 1. It is declared by the authorities, to ' which counsel in this case, have referred, • —that the records of the British Courts . are accessible to the inspection of any subject for his “ necessary use and be nefit”—and this inspection, would seem to mean a right to demand copies of them, if copies should be required for • the “ necessary use and convenience “of ! the subject. The inspection allowed by r the Parliament of Edward 3rd. involves the correlative right of a copy of the Ju ' dicial record.—Phill : Ev : P. 322. 3 . inst. 71. Pref: to 3 Rep: P. 3, 4—as . l.„ PKiJljps 1 This genera/ ngnl however of obtain-' I* ing a copy of the record is restrained says the authority “ in the case of an ac quittal on a prosecution for felony,”—in • which case, if the trial is at the old Bai -1 ley, a copy cannot regularly be obtained without an order from the Court.”—Di ! ructions prefixed to, Kelyng’s Rep : P : 3, order 7. f Some of the Judges in the reign of Charles 2nd, legislated on the subject, t and required, that such an order should . be obtained.—And it is laid down, “ as a - general rule of law,” by C. J. Holt, that “on an indictment and acquittal for t felony, the party who intends to sue for I a mal: pros: must obtain leave of the 1 Court for a copy of the record.”—l. La . Rayne : 253. Phillips says that the rule of the Judges (that 1 presume, adopted at the old Hailey,) states, “ that an ac -1 tion against a prosecutor cannot be main i tained, without a copy of the indictment, 1 and that a copy is not to be given, with s out an order of the Court. We have it then as established law, ’ down to the epochas of the rule at the ' Old Bailey, and the reiteration of that . rule, by Holt, Ch : J ; of the Court of r King’s Bench, as announcing “ the geue r ral rule of law,” that au action against the prosecutor cannot be maintained, ’ without a copy of the indictment, obtain > ed under leave of the Court. It was also adjudged by Lord Mans j field : “ that where a person was indict j ed for felony, it was necessary, that a co n py of the record should be granted by the Court, before which the acquittal was e had, in order to ground au action for a 1 mal; pros : If it is said, that the Reports of Black . stone are ofinferior authority to his Com j menlaries, it will be found, that the re ported adjudication of Lord Mansfield, and the text of the Commentaries, are 1 perfectly reconcilable—for the commen -3 taries declare, “ that where there is the , least probable cause, the judge will de ny a copy of the record and if it is de ’ nied, according to the dccidon es Lord • Mansfield, there is no basis for the action tof mal: prosecution. In opposition to ? these authorities, the counsel for the . plaintiff' referred to the case of Legatt. r rs. Follervy, hi* which, a copy of the in > dictment was not allowed to be read, be ' cause there was no order of the court, > and therefore a nonsuit was entered.— r But the Court of King’s Bench, through . the medium of its C. J. Ellenborough, . set aside the nonsuit, not upon the ground J. that the rule at the Old Bailey was notin ' force;—not, that the decisions of Holt I and Mansfield had not truly announced . that rule as general law; but that a co | py of the record ought to be read, be came it torn offered in evidence, and if the order of the court had not been previ > ously obtained, why, the officer of the r court furnishing a copy, had been guilty ; of a contempt, in doing that, which he . ought not to have done—and for which of course be subjected himself to punish " meat; —yet, that this contempt and offi • cial transgression, ought not to deprive - the plaintiff of its benefits as testimony, 14 East. 302. Upon this adjudication, iff am not mis taken, the counsel for the plaintiff rested I his chief hopes for the admissibility of the copy of the record, as evidence. He 5 might have gone further and ostensibly 1 supported tills esue by other authorities. In Brangam’s case, Willis C, J - Rh ported to have said, that by tb c the realm, every prisoner, up ott l/HSI quittal, has an undoubted right UHS to a copy of the record, for any use wH he may think proper to make of it ■VB that after a demand, the proper might bo punished for refusin'*- to nHI out a copy. This case is however authority, for subsequent to it tve iSkI las J ustice Noll has said in the r c , 0| the constitutional court of our 1 State, “ the Old Daily rule was re HE lished by order of the Court.” ‘■H We have then only to contend withflEl case of Jordan vs. Lewis—Lord borough’s decision in East, and the oHB ion of Phillips, (the compiler of the [flfl of Evidence) “ that the rule laid dolß (in Jordan vs. Lewis) is the corral rule.” In that case, “ the order at the Old Bailey was there read by of objection to the evidence offered ; «H| the Ld : Ch: J ustice Lee in that said, that he could not refuse to let tjHf plaintiff read the copy of the indichm-uH though obtained without auy order H the court for that purpose.” S From the authorities thus collated, fl would appear, that the rule at the (Jifl Bailey is only assailed by the casts J Jordan vs. Lewis, and the very modern decision of Lord Ellenborough. counsel for the plaintiff in another case almost immediately preceding it, had tul deavored, or was about to endeavor to shake a Nisi Trios decision of the same Chief Justice Ellenborough, upon the ground, that it was modern law— no t iu corporated into our jurisprudence, and therefore repudiated from our judicial system. I willingly assent to this doc trine, whenever the modern adjudica, tion subverts the antient common law of adopted statuary principles, instead’of explaining it. This decision in East does subvert the antient principle—ackucw. ledges too, its violation of allegiance, and only justifies the treason by a sort of commisseration for the plaintiff, who is permitted to give that in evidence, which he has obtained through a punishable breach of duty, of the officer affording it. This case bows to the authority of Jor dan vs. Lewis, and as Jordon vs. Lewis is in hostility with the rule at the Old Bailey and other anterior cases, it must also be rejected as the incorporated law of Georgia. Policy and justice are too, on the side of the rule at the Old Daily, and are sensibly assigned in the reason for the adoption of the rule thus consecrated by the opinions of Holt and Mansfield; ‘-for the late frequency of actions against prose cutors (which cannot be without copies of the indictment) deterreth people from prosecuting for the King (and we may here say the Republic) upon just occa sions. 2ndly.—lf for pilure of land or goods, as urged by plaintiff’s counsel is the cri terion for the ascertainment of felony, then it is admitted, at least by me, that there is no felony in this Stale, ' Black stoue says that the true criterion of felony is forfeiture. The punishments of perjury (continues this author) was anciently, death ; afterwards banishment, or cut ting out the tongue; then forfeiture of goods, and now it is fine and imprison ivw-flt d- ' -S’ —* livhp f9l*»We of bearing testimony. By IheStat.ofjthEliz. imprisonment—perpetual infamy—a fine and both ears nailed to the pillory. The Stat. of Goo. 2, superadds a power for the court to order transportation for 7 years; and makes it felony, without benefit of clergy, to return or escape within the lime. By salutary punishments of England, perjury therefore could only be considered felony, upon a return from transportation : But forfeiture is not, and never has been since the o»;a»ization of our government, a component p*rt oft punishment for felony. What. tu„ j, our notion of felony f—lt is, as has bt,, adjudicated, the commission of a.crimes which subjects to infamous punishment. This definition pursues the genius of the English law, as adopted in this State, without its gothic appendage of forfei ture—equally applicable to a capital pun ishment and petit larceny. The punish ment inflicted for perjury by the Penal Code of Georgia, is as infamous and may be protracted te the periods prescribed for acknowledged felonies, such as burg lary, one species of arson, robbery, and the higher grades of larceny- What can he found then in our legal or political ethics to exempt this atrocious crime of perjury, striking with inveterate hatred, as it necessarily must, at the very ro«t and foundation of all our sacred rights ot life, liberty and property, —what 1 re peat can exempt it from the appelation ot felony ? Law, reason, justice, the moral sentiment of my countrymen believe it felony, and 1 take leave through this de partment of the Government so to pro claim it,—l mean perjury, as contained and defined by the Penal Code of C*eor* gia, and when prosecuted by indictment under that system. The perjury howe ver of the record before us though al ledged to have been committed posterior to the passing and operation of the * eua * Code, has no technical or other reference to it except in the conclusion, which pru suesthe form prescribed by the Pen _ Code, and as that cannot be deviate*! from—it is questionable, whether any other conclusion explanatory of the ol fence, that is, whether it is charged as au offence at common law, under the sys tem of the Penal Code, or against a pair* titular Statute, need appear upon the face of the indictment. 1 presume how ever if the offence is Statutory, that Mr. Attorney General would prefix to e conclusion as prescribed, or has been m the habit of prefixing the terms “ con * ry to the form of the Statute (or the ac / in that case made and provided. - ut * terms would technically and definitive y designate the basis of the indictmen , whether the prosecution was mten under the Penal Code, or any particJ Statute. But these additional terms come unnecessary as explanatory 0 offence, intended to be prosecuted, w the indictment adopts the words au u fiuitiou contained in the Fenal Code, least such is the exposition given Penal Code, and such is the P ractic ® impression which prevail in the sec the State, where I have the honor to pr* side.—The better opinion probably* that in order to bring the offence the Penal Code or a Statute one of tb two courses must be adopted, P to the general conclusion “ceM&V the form of the act of Assembly w tute in that case made and provide". » to recite the tenor or unbalance