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Ey:ra3 from fudge Walton* i Chargt to
the Grand Jury of Jejferf'm county .
I come now to the fecund part of the
propofcd fubjeif of this adarcfs, that
which is local and particular; ahd,*whiltt
I wish to avoid any harlhnefs of cxprelfi.
on, or asperity of sentiment, I feel it a
duty 1 cannot dlfpenfe with, ot animad
verting upon the frequent aggrcffion of
the peace in this county. Scarcely a Tin
gle court has been held ftnce itseftablilh
ment, without a trial for a capital of
fence being had. Murder, Rape, and a
catalogue ot other crimes, have occurred
in a rapid and unceasing fucceflion. How
lhall we account for all this ? Arc the peo
ple more vicious—more wicked than their
neighbors ? It is to be hoped not. Arc
then the magistrates badly appointed ? Or
do they neglcSl to do their duty ? Or is
religion, and are morals at a lower ebb
here than clfewhere in the state ? These
are enquiries which the magift rates, and
men of virtue, and the lovers of order,
ihould Terioufly make. A people giving
way to a loofencfs of manners, and a de
pravity of opinion, will soon arrive at a
point of turpitude, when innocence will
cease to be protected, and pc on andpro
" perfy*put without the pa]cjoi_£t£«y--iftd —
iccnrity.
in speaking thus strong, it is not my
'.mention to make aa impression, or pre
judice or bias the minds of the juries cal.
1 d upon to aflill the court in the present
Tedious. Far he it from me to pre-con
oeive aught agdnft any person now expeft.
ing to be brought to trial. An open,
fair and impartial investigation is not on
ly the beauty of our juridical system, but
the undoubted right of the citizen charg
ed ; and, so far as the fame lhall depend
upon, the court, it lhall he had; and I
have confidence in the fame line of con
dud in the juries.. Accursed will that
' country be, and precarious the lives of its
inhabitants, where a man lhall be profe
ftited from any other motives than that
of public justice. Every case (hould rest
upon it* own merits, and be tried and
decided according to the known principles
Ot the law, and the cftablilhed rules of pro
ceeding, without refpeft of persons. In
proceeding thus, the degrees and diftindi
onsof crime will be readily seen and elli
xruted. For instance, it is a vulgar pre
judice, that, in every case where one man
kills another, he is guilty of murder.—
Not so fays the law, A man may kill a
nother in his own defence, which is jufti
iiable; and so in a Tuddcn heat of paflion,
without previous notice, and upon fufli
cient provocation. This mild principle
in the law extends to divers other cases,
not material now to mention. But mur
der may be defined to be, that fell pur
pole of the heart, which maliciously aim
ed to destroy the Hie of a fellow-being.
To guard well these dillindions is our
heunden duty ; and never to fuller our
minds to be influenced by prejudice, or
warped by attachment. Trials conduct
ed upon such principles will always meet
the fauftion of public opinion, and the
approbation of the wife and good, be
their result what they may,
Liufvilley Sept, 7, 1802.
bulge Walton’s Charge to the Grand Ju
ry of Burke County.
Gentlemen of the Grand Jury,
UN APPRISED, as I am, of any par
ticular occurrence of crime in your coun
ty, lam almost without Tubjed of addreTs
*T> you on the present cccafion. ] cannot
but recolletft, however, that at the lall
term, the solicitor-general was called up.
on to give out such a number of indict
ments, and for such a variety of offence,
tts to have existed in my mind real senti
ments of regret. This arose from my
Tong acquaintance with the county, and
my regard for its inhabitants; from the
Sonftderation also, of its being one of the
~ bid counties of the revolution, and whefe
tot it had been to fulfer its full proporti
on of blood-lhcd and depredation ; and
from all which the hope of amelioration
was resulting and natural. To be sure,
fbmc allowances were to be made for the
temporary depreflion of religion and mo.
tals amongst a people, who had so lately
erected ourselves into a nation, by attach
ing an attention too close, and an admi
ration too great, towards the demoraliz
§ ing piinciples which accompanied the
more recent revolution of France, of
which we had been the innocent model.
They were to Ik made also, from the ex
treme pains which had been taken, by
the haters of order, and regular govern
ment, to diiTeminate books of irreligion,
and a falle philofophv ; and wiiiift we may
justly felicitate ourselves on the rapid de
cline of the efleCts of this mifehievous
propagation, we should go on to endea
vour by better precept, and more etfUftu
al example* to root oat their very feeds.
I
a.
The bad condition of ihi reads and
bridges is a fubjert of grievous complaint,
almoff throughout the (tare; and, at
though they are not so much out of re
pair in this county as in some others,
there is ample room for amendment. For
instance, in the Ihort distance, which is
perhaps little more than twenty miles, by
the mceting-houfe, from Wayne (borough
to Loaifville, and over the belt poflible
ground for a road, there are at leait one
hundred logs fuffered to lie across it ;«and
some gullies to remain in an augmenting
date'. And, to the (hame of the police of
the counties of Jefferfon and Burke, it is
unquestionably apparent, that fix hands
and an overseer, in two days, might re
move the logs, and fill up the gullies 1
But it is not to the police itfelf, out to
the execution of it, that the evil is aferib
ab!c. In vain is it for the iegiflature to
make laws, if they are not carried in
to effeft. In vain is it for magittrarcs to
be appointed, if they do not their duty.
With refpeft to roads and bridges, it is
imposed on the inferior court to arrange,
appoint and order. If they neglcdt it, do
they not virtually dispense with the obli
gations do
—rrorTpeak county in particular;
and will not suppose in any case that it is
intentionally done. Things which have
been accustomed to be done in a certain
way, and at a certain time, if broke in
upon by any new order of things, so as
not to he performed in that way, and at
such time, are negledtcd to be done at all.
In this case, it has been the custom of
long (landing, and before the cultivation
of cotton, to work upon roads at fea
ions which now that culture interferes
with ; and thence the neglcd. The re
medy is plain. For the second or latter
working, it is evident, that the suitable
time would be, that which intervenes the
laying by, and the picking out of cot
ton, Be it recommended to the inferior
court of this counry to take the fubjeft
into their serious attention, and make it
the object of their (offering care.
It (hall be my endeavour, gentlemen,
to give to thebufinefs of your counry all
reasonable difjatch, that you may return
to your homes; and for which purpnfe, I
fir all immediately proceed to call the doc
quetSj,
*— ~w'ajneJlorough i Scv>t, 13, 1802.
The presentments of the Gran.l InqUeji
for the body of the county of Burke , at
Burke Superior Term } September 13,
I 802.
iff. We present as a great grievance
that many of our citizens are so harraffed
with suits in the Federal Courts by Messrs.
Miller and Whitney, on account of their
patent right for a piece of machinery for
cleaning cotton, said to be an original in
vention of the said Miller and Whitney,
and cannot have the business brought to a
final ififue.
We therefore recommend to our next
legislature to inveftigafe the business, and
"TTtfiey find the said Miller and Whitney's
pretentions well founded, that they will
purchase of them the right for the citi
zens of this (late to make and use the said
machinery,
2d. We regret the bad condition of the
roads and bridges in some parts of the
county, and recommend it to the projier
department to whom that duty is consign
ed, to be more circurafpeft, to poflefs
themfclves of the true situation thereof,
and order the necessary repairs.
We present our thanks to his honor
Judge Walton for his exprefiions of regard
for this county, in his charge to this bo.
dy. for his readiness aud promptitude in
""the business of this feflion, and requeff
that he will be pleased to order these pro.
fentments, together with his charge, to
be printed in one of the Augusta Gazettes.
GEORGE SEEGAR, ForPman f
William Royals, Isaac Odam,
John Sharpe, M‘Qmn Belcher,
Harris Tomlin, Samuel Sturgefs,
Henry Shaffer, Edmund Bynes,
Henry Moore, John Cafwell,
Josiah Hatcher, Mordlcai Evans,
EUfha Anderson, Richard Evans,
Abraham Belcher, Drury Wamble,
Francis Ward, Edward Tutte.
Carolus Warren,
Whereupon it is ordered , That the fore
going presentments, together with the
charge be pablilhed.
Extrafifrom the Minutes ,
Wm. WYNN, Clerk .
Judge Walton’s Charge to the Grand Ju
ry of Scriven county.
Gentlemen of the Grand Jury ,
THE ordinary fubjefts of judicial ad
dresses to grand juries, in the nature of
charges, have been so often dwelt upon
and repeated iince the revolution of A
lueriea, and particularly in this (late, that
they faay be laid to have been, In a gene- .
ral view, exhausted ; and it is now only
on particular occasions that I think it nc
ccllary to deliver any. The present is
one such ; presenting a two-fold object:
one of a general concern, the other ap
plying to the county.
That part of our judicial system which
required the judges to convene at Louif
viile once a year, was repealed the Lift
fdfion of the iegiilature ; and the impor
tant and difficult cases which had been re- ,
ferred to that convention, were ordered
back to the counties to which they re
fpeCtively belonged, there to meet adju
dication in common with other cases; and
in thecourfe of the present circuit a num
ber of those referred questions have ne
ceflarily occurred. Discussions have ac
cordingly taken place, and dccifions have
thereupon been made. The judges riding
only in the circuits for which they are
appointed, it is important that such de
cisions, when made, Ihould be generally i
known. I have therefore thought it ad
visable to addtefs to some of the grand
juries the extent I have already gone ; and
through them, to the community. So
much I said in the county of JefFerfon,
I now repeat it in Scriven, with additi
onal adjudication.
The firft case that occurred was on a
fheriff’s deed ; and the question arising on
it was, whether it conveyed, by means
of its own force, a complete title i The
principal argument for its affirmative was,
that the sale did not take place until at
ter due publication ; was at market-overt,
and for valuable consideration. Onltie ~
other hand, it was urged that the Iheriff
could only fell and convey such right as
the defendant had ; and on this ground it
was adjudged that the title paramount
must be (hewn. This principle will also
necessarily extend itfelf to questions aris
ing under the faies of tax colleftors. And,
before I take leave of this part of the fub
jefts before me, I will suggest, for the
consideration of the legiilature, a scheme
for preventing such evils in future. If
the integrity of IherifFs, with refpeft to
their faies, has not been materially called
in question, the voice of clamor has been
raised, from St, Mary’s to Tugalo, a
gainst that of the tax colleftors; in{oT””
much as to produce an influence of depres
sion upon the price of our lands, at home
and abroad. Good policy surely demands
that a remedy Ihould be applied. This
remedy has been suggested upon the cir
cuit by Mr. Peter Early. Highly ap.
proving of it, I venture, with a just con.
fidencc, to propose it; and that is, that
one central paper Ihould be fixed upon by
law, in which all intended faies for taxes
or debt Ihould be advertised. Addition
al to which, it might be required to be
advertised at two or more public places in
the county. To such an arrangement, es
pecially as to tax collectors, no solid oh.
jeftion can he made. The confideration -1 '
that it would be giving to one printer an
unjust preference, and a monopoly of e
molument, is nothing in companion with
the good it would produce; and which
might he obviated by a conrraft on the
part of government. Profeffional men,
land-holders, purchasers, and men of o
ther deferiptions, would give to the pa
per thus felefted, an encreafed circulation;
and thence an advantageous contrast might
no doubt be made. At present, a collec
tor in Franklin or Jackson, by fending ad~
vertifements to the paper printed at St.
Mary’s, would comply with the law ;
and not fix numbers of that paper reach .
the middle or w'eftern diftrifts in a year.'
The laws surely will not continue to tole
rate such mifehievous absurdity. The
probability is, that if the plan here sug
gested Ihould be adopted, ail future frauds
will be detested and prevented ; an objeft
well worthy the serious attention of a
wife and protesting legiilature. I return
to my fubjeft.
Another case that occurred was that of
a deed under the commissioners of confif
catcd estates; and the question was, whe
ther such deed Ihould supply the place of
an original grant ? This question was pre
dicated upon one of two grounds, ill.
That the traitor held by allotment and
survey under the Britilh commiflioners of
the ceded lands before the revolution, or
had made settlement and survey under the
land afts of 1777 and 1778. The argu
ment which grew out of this novel fub
jeft was too much at length to be detailed
here. Suffice it, that the adjudication
was in the affirmative of the question,
and relied upon the grounds that inimical
holders of property of the defeription just
mentioned, were made the objefts of pu
nishment under the afts of confifcation ;
and no diftinftion was made in the afts,
either in the manner of the faies, or mode
of conveying such lands, from lands held
under grar,:. That they were made morr-.
, gageahle by. land w'ere Korfga^ ; I
k c to secure the pimKaCe ; and J e ? e / I
dared revenible upon forcdolure; and I
all fdch cases re-foid and eonveved in f iS
No intermediate grant to another thet!’ I
fore could he admitted to defeat the !' I
right under the con»miffi I
On the grounds further, that it Was .* I
new course of proceeding, created in an ‘! It
by the revolution ; and was unitormlv *B
observed and pursued by the IcgiQative K
executiv9.and judicial powers of the date’ B
through ail the stages of the operation* B
of rhefe ads. ‘ J ■
It has also been ruled and adjudged on I
the present circuit, that, in cases when, I
the statute of limitation is pleaded, the I
plaintiff lhall go on before the country to I
make out his case, and where it (hall an ■
pear upon the face of the record that the I
llatute runs, and no intervening aflumpfit I
proven to take it out of the statute, the I
‘ ""court will arrest the case, and cause an I
\ entry to be made of its being barred, and I
I dismissed. I
It having been made a question whe. I
ther the action of ejedment survives un- I
dcr our statute, the practice was fettled 3
upon argument in the county of Jefferfon, |
In the affirmative it was said, that where I
it originally lay, it ought to survive.
That, by the old, or English, law it
would lie against executors; and ought
to survive against them here under our lb,
tute. Against it> it was contended, that
the Englilh law ought not to guide; be,
cause the tenure by w'hich lands arc most
generally holden there, is different from
the tenure of lands held here; and that
it would expose the interest of minors by
the possible fraud or collufton of executors.
Upon this argument, the question was
decided upon the principle—who was by
law obliged to answer ? A teftafor, who
has by will appointed executors, with his
confidence, gives to them the possession.
The former puts out of view the possible
fraud or collufton, while the latter fub
jetfs them to thecompulfion of answering,
it called upon by original process. It
was thence adjudged, that, where the
defendant died testate, and leaving execu
tors, the case should survive, and that
it should be optional to come in without
or wait the writ of ftteri facias.
The decision was declared, however,
not to extend to cases under intestacy;
where administrators are without the con
fidence of thedeceafed, and are not pos
sessed, either by his aft, or by the ope
ration of law. In such cases, therefore,
where the defendant dies, in any flage,
they abate; unleis the heirs of age, or
minors, by guardian, voluntarily come
in.
Another question of a new impreflioa
was also fuhmitted in the county of Jef
ferfon. The case was. A judgment ex
isted, unfatisfied between two parties,
and the execution in the hands of the fhc
rift. The defendant in execution having
abfeonded, a third person issues a writ of
attachment against his absent debtor, and
serves it upon a fourth person who was
supposed to be indebted to the party ab
sconding. He proved to he a substantial -
garnilhee, and returned that he had so
much in his hands. The plaintiff in at
tachment proceeded to cftablilb his debt*
and issued execution against the garnilhee*
Thefheriff received the money ; and the
point made was, who was entitled, the
plaintiff in the original execution, or the
one in attachment ?
The two principal grounds relied upon
by the latter were, ift. Thar money in
the hands of a garnilhee were not leviable
upon by fieri facias ; and zdly. That the
i parties in attachment were other than
those in the judgment.
Cn the other hand, it was relied on,
that, by our statute, all the property of
the defendant was bound by the judgment;
and that the money in the hands of the
garnilhee was the defendant’s, and bound,
and coming into the hands of the (heriff,
must go to fatisfy the elder judgment.
It was decided upon the grounds, that
| the elder judgment hound all the proper
-1 ty of the defendant; that the defendant
was fuhftantially the fame in both cases ;
that a debt, in the hands of a third per
son, was property, and if its amount
was brought into court in money, it must
firft be Applied to fatisfy the elder judg
ment. But as the money was brought
into court by the agency of the attach
ment, the costs of th.at proceeding were
/ ordered to be paid. The court seemed to
incline to the opinion, that the debt or
I money might have been made the fubjed
of the firft fieri fnaas y under our sta
tute, and the case reported in Douglass ;
both of which lean to explode the old
dodrine, that money is only the sign of
property, and not property itfclf; when,
in fad, it is paramount to ail other proper-,
ty from its certainty.