Newspaper Page Text
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is preferable to
ATHENS, GEORGIA, DECEMBER 7, 1833.
who visited the west many years after, could ]
point to the exact place of his interment, now
emphatically' termed Braddock’s grave. It
is close to the northern side of the national
road, seven miles east of Union town.
It has been rumored from an early period
that Braddock had been shot by his men.—
More recently it has been stated, by one who ]
could not be mistaken, that in the course of
the battle, Braddock ordered the provincial
troops to form a column. They, however,
tions of the usual mechanical trades carrjed
on in the Penitentiary, and the great facility
with which many of those trades are acquired
by persons of ordinary capacity; as well as
from the epiuions of those whose opportuni
ties have qualified them to judge correctly
from actual experience in such matters, the
undersigned are fully convinced that a por
tion of the convicts may be profitably employ-
There was no sufficient provision in our
laws against the crime of kidnapping children,
because the act of 1829 provides generally
against the crime of kidnapping, without de
fining the term : and when we go to the En-
glish law for the meaning of the term, we find
that the taking and carrying away of a per
son must be against bis or her will, in order
to constitute the crime, and so the undersign
ed have defined it in this code—but childttm
have no power to- consent, and therefore the
crime should consist in abducting and carry
ing away a child against the will of the parent,
us provided in the code now submitted. In
ed in the Penitentiary for the short term of
one year, and they have therefore affixed that
period of imprisonment to some ofiences.
The Legislatures of 1820 and 1822, believ-
ing that imprisonment in the Penitentiarv for
. . *
•V * . .
i.
vol. n.
JJoctrn.
TOR THE SOUTHERN BANNER.
THE DISAPPOINTED HUNTERS.
Two hunters once there chanc’d to be,
Grown tir’d of the busy town,
Set out in high and cheerful glee, *
To hunt tho country round.
Each, many questions now propounds,
About the different wilds,
They fix on one where game abounds,
Not distant many miles.
■With ammunition well suppli’d,
The day uncommon fair,
Their markinansliip oft fairly tri’d,
Of game they certain were.
They went about a league or more.
Nor ever felt they weary.
And whore they saw much game before,
All now was lone and dreary.
Bnt still they kept a direct course,
Anil walk’d with leisure on;
But lo ! tho game they sought for most
Had from the country gone.
Their disappointment truly great,
They now gave o’er tho chase;
Retrac’d their steps ore yet ’twas late,
Back to their homes in haste.
To gain their game, there was no need
Of powder, shot, or aim:
I’m sum ’tis little thought indeed,
The Ladies was their game.
Le Chassf.ur.
[Tne following interesting extract descriptive of
English fair, is taken from the tale of Peter Sim-
>, (who it seems is really what his name imports,)
rhich is now in course of republieation in “ Wal
•s Select Circulating Library,” taken from the
rndon Metropolitan.]
PORTDOWN FAIR.
A few days after M’Foy quitted tho ship,
we all had leave from the first lieutenant to
go to Portdown fair, but he would only allow
oldsters to sleep on shore. We antic!
pnted so much pleasure from our excursion
that some of us were up, and went away
Ihe bout sent for fresh beef. This was very
foolish. There were no carriages to take us
the fair, nor indeed any fair so early in the
Inorning; the shops were all shut, and the
pluc Posts, where we always randezvoused
vas hardly opened. We waited there in the
dice-room, until we were driven out by the
laid sweeping away the dirt, and were forced
walk about until she had finished, and ligh
sd the fire, when we ordered our breakfast
it how much better would it have been
itve taken our breakfast comfortably on board,
lid then to have come on shore, especially
ji we had no money to spare. Next to be-
|tg too late, being too soon is the worst plan
world. However, we had our break
I, and paid the bill then we sallied forth,
went up George street, where we found
sorts of vehicles ready to take us to the
r. We got into one which they called a
Jly. I asked the man who drove us why it
as so called, and he replied, because he on.
charged a shilling. O’Brien, who had
lined us after breakfast on board, said that
is answer reminded him of one given to him
. man who attended one of the hackney
ich stands in London. “ Pray,” said he,
arc you called watermen 7 ” “ Wa-
len !” replied the man, « vy, sir, ’cause
upens the hackney coach doors.” At hist,
plenty of whipping, and plenty of swear-
and a great deal of laughing, the old
rsc, whose hack curved upward like a bow,
Dm the difficulty of dragging so many, nr-
red at the bottom of Portdown hill, where
got out and walked up to the fair. It re-
was a most beautiful sight. The bright
sky, and the coloured flags Happing
it in all directions, the grass so green, and
white tents and bootlis, the sun shining
bright, and tho shining gilt gingerbread,
variety of toy%and variety of noise, the
itity of people and the quantity of sweet.
little boys so happy, and shop people
alite, the music at the booths, and the
tie nud eagerness of the people outside,
le my heart quite jump. There was Rich-
son, with a clown and harlequin, and such
utiful women, dressed in clothes all over
I spangles, dancing reels and waltzes, and
fii*g «o happy! There was Flint and
jell, with fellows tumbling over head and
playing such tricks—eating fire, and
ag yards of tape out of their mouths.—
there was the Royal Circus, all the
scs standing in a line, with men and wo-
standing on their backs, waving flags
3 tho trumpeters blew their trumpets.—
I the largest giant in the world, and Mr.
ip, the smallest dwarf in the world, and a
Dale dwarf who was smaller still, and Miss
in, who did every thing without legs or
as. There was also the learned pig, and
i. Herefordshire ox, and a hundred other
»hts which I cannot now remember. We
liked about for an hour or two, seeing the
jitsidc of every thing ; we determined to go
1 see tho inside. First we went into Rich.
Ison’s, where wo saw a bloody tragedy,
[th a ghost and. thunder, and afterwards a
fUomime, full of tricks, and tumbling over
»another. Then we saw one or two other
3> I forget which, but this I know, that,
erally speaking, the outside was better
i the inside. After this, feeling very hun*
Srv» we agreed to go into a booth, and have
something to cat. The tables were ranged
all round, and in the centre there was a boar,
ded platform for dancing. The ladies were
there already dressed for partners: and the
music was so lively, that I felt very much in.
clincd to dance, hut we had agreed to go and
sec the wild beasts fed at Mr. Polito’s
menagerie, and as it was now almost eight
o’clock, we paid bur bill and set off.
It was a very cprious sight, and better
worth seeing than any thing in the fair; I
never had an idea that there were so many
strange animals in existence. They were
all secured in iron cages, and a large chande
lier, With twenty lights, hung in the centre
of tho booth, and lighted them up, while the
keeper went round and stirred them up with
his long pole; at the same time he gave us
their histories, which were very interesting.
recollect a few of them. There was the
tapir, a great pig with a long nose, a variety
of the hiptostomas, which the keeper said was
an amphibilious animal, as couldn’t live on
land, and dies in the water—however, it seem
cd to live very well in a cage. Then there
was the kangaroo with its young ones peep-
ing out of it—a most astonishing animal.—
The keeper said that it brought forth two young
ones at a birth, and thcii took them into its
stomach again, until they arrived at years of
discretion. Then there was the pelican of
wilderness, (I shall not forget him,) with
n large bag under his throat, which the man
put on his head as a night cap; this bird
feeds its young with its own blood—when fish
are scarce. And there was the laughing
hyaena, who cries in the wood like a human
being in distress, and devours those who come
to his assistance—a sad instance of the de-
pravity of human nature, as the keeper ob
served. There was a beautiful creature, the
Royal Bengal tiger, only three years old, what
growed ten inches every year, and never arrived
at its fall growth. The one we saw measured,
as the keeper told us, sixteen feet from the
snout to the tail, and seventeen feet from the
tail to the snout; but there must have been
some mistake there. There was a young el-
ephant and three lions, and several other an
imals, which I forget now, so I shall go on to
describe the tragical scene which occurred.
The keeper had poked up all the animals, and
had commenced feeding them. The great
lion was growling and snarling over the shin
bone of an ox, cracking it like a nut, when by
some mismanagement, one end of the pole
upon which the chandelier was suspended fell
down, striking the door of the cage in which
the lioness was at supper, and bursting it open.
It was all done in d second ; the chandelier
fell, the cage opened, and the lioness sprung
out. I remember to this moment seeing the
body of the lioness in the air, and then all as
dark as pitch. What a change ! not a mo
ment before, all of us staring with delight and
curiosity, and then to be left in darkness,
horror, and dismay ! There was such scream
ing and shrieking, such crying, and fighting,
and pushing, and fainting, nobody knew where
to go, or how to find their way out. The
people crowded first on one side, and then on
the other, as their fears instigated them,
was very soon jammed up with my back
against the bars of one of the cages, and fee-
ling some beast lay hold of me behind, made
a desperate effort, and succeeded in climbing
up to the cage above, not however without
losing the seat of my trowsers, which the laugh
ing hyaena would not let go. I hardly knew
where I was when I climbed up; but I knew
the birds were mostly stationed above. How
ever, that I might not have the front of my
trowsers torn as well as the behind, as soon
as I gained my footing I turned round, with
my back to the bars of the cage, but I had not
been there a minute, before I was attacked
by something which digged into me like
pickaxe, and as the hyaena had torn my
cloathes, I had no' defence against it. To
turn round would have been worse still j so
after having received above a dozen $tabs,
contrived by degrees to shift my position, un
til I was opposite to another cage, but not un
til the pelican, for it was that brute, had drawn
as much blood from me as would have led his
young for a week. I was surmising what
danger I should next encounter, when to my
joy I discovered that I had gained the open
door from which the lioness had escaped,
crawled in and pulled the door to after me.
thinking myself very fortunate ; and there
sat very quietly in a corner during the remain
der of the noise and confusion. I had not
been there but a few minutes, when the beef,
eaters, as they were called, who played the
music outside, came in with torches and loa.
ded muskets. The sight which presented it
self was truly shocking; twenty or thirty men,
women, and children, lay on the ground, and
I thought at first the lioness had killed them
all, but they were only in fits, or had been
trampled down by the crowd. No one . was
seriously hurt. As for the lioness, she was
not to be found ; and as soon as it was ascer
tained that she had escaped, there was as
much terror and scampering away outside, as
there had been in the menagerie. It appeared
afterwards that the animal had been as much
frightened as we had been, and had secreted
herselfunderoneofthe wagons. It was some
time before she could he found. At last
O’Brien, who was a very brave fellow, went
a-head of the beef.eaters, and saw her eyes
glaring. They borrowed a net or two from
the carts which had brought calves to the fair,
and threw them over her. When 1 she was
fairly entangled, they dragged her by the tail
into tho menagerio. All this while I had re
mained very quietly in the den, bnt when I
perceived that its lawful owner ‘tad come back
again to retake possession, I thought it was
time to come out; so I called to my mess
mates, who with O’Brien were assisting the
beef-eaters. They had not discovered me.
and laughed very much when they saw where
I was. One of the midshipmen shot the bolt
of the door, so that 1 could not jump out, and
then stirred ine. up with a long pole. At last
I contrived to unbolt it again, and got out,
when they laughed still more, at the seat of
my trowsers being tom off. It was not ex
actly a laughing matter to me, although I had
to congratulate myself upon a very lucky es
cape ; and sd did my messmates think when
I narrated my adventures. The pelican was
the worst part of the business. O’Brien lent
me a dark silk handkerchief, which I. tied
round my waist, and let drop behind, so that
my misfortunes might not attract any notice,
and then we quitted the menagerie ; ‘but I
was so stiff that I could hardly walk.
We then went to what they called Ranc-
lagh Gardens, to see the fireworks, which
were to be let off at ten o’clock. It was ex
actly ten when we paid for our admission, and
we waited very patiently for a quarter ot an
hour, but there were no signs of the fireworks
being let off. The fact was, that the man to
whom the gardens belonged, waited until more
company should arrive, although the place
was already very. fqjl of people. Now the
first lieutenant had ordered the boat to wait
for us until twelve o’clock, and then return on
board; and as we were seven miles from
Portsmouth, we had not much time to spare
VVe waited another quarter of an hour, and
then it was agreed that Us the fireworks were
stated in the handbill to commence precisely
at ten o’clock, that we were fully justified in
letting them off ourselves. O’Brien went out
and returned with a dozen penny rattans,
which he notched in the end. The fireworks
were on the posts and stages, all ready, and
was agreed that we should light them all at
once, and then mix with the crowd. The
oldsters lighted cigars, and fixing them in the
notched ends of the canes, continued to puff
them until they were all well lighted. They
handed one to each of us, and at the word
we all applied them to the match papers, and
soon as the fire communicated, we threw
down our canes and ran in among the crowd.
In about half a minute off they all went in the
most beautiful confusion: there were stiver
stars and golden stars, blue lights and cath-
arine.wheels, mines and bombs, Grecian
fires and Roman-candles, Chinese trees,,
rockets and illuminated mottoes, all firing
away, cracking, poping, and fizzing, at' the
same time. It was unanimously agreed that
it was a great improvement upon the intended
show. The man to whom the garden be
longed ran but of a booth where he had been
drinking beer at bis ease, while his company
were waiting, swearing vengeance against the
perpetrators; indeed the next day he offered
fifty pounds reward for the discovery of the
offenders, but I think he was treated very
properly. He was, in his situation, a servant
of the public, and he had behaved as if he
was their master. We all escaped very .cle
verly, and taking another dilly, arrived at
Portsmouth, and were down to the boat in
good time. The next day I was so stiff and
in such pain that I was obliged to go to the
doctor, who put me on the list, where I re
mained for a week before I could return to
my duty. So much for Portdown fair.
name of Fawcett, and with his sword rashly 1 a shorter time than four years was an expense England there is a special statute on this sub.
cut him down. Thomas Fawcett, a brother j to the State, abolished all Penitentiary pun-
of the killed, soon learned his fate, and watch- ishment for a shorter period, and restored the
ing an op|H>rtunity, revenged his brother’s punishments annexed to crimes, before the
blood by shooting Braddock through the bo- years 1816 and 1817. When these sweep-
dy, of which wound lie died. Thomas Faw- ing statutes of 1820 and 1822 were passed,
cett is now, or was lately living near Laurel the Legislature could not have been aware of
Hill. He is now 97 years of age. thq effect they would produce, or they ccr-
_ , rrrr ————; * , I tainly vould never hava be* n enacted. As the
Wonderful Power of the Turkcy-Buzzar . j aw now under those statutes, the less
A statement is made in the Turf Register at- crime> ig> in raany case8 punished with the
tested by the deposition of Major John Pilfers ter penahy> which absurditv ^ injustice
of Kamkaskia, Illinois, which confirms the im- would hanJly have becQ introduced into our
pression long entertained by some, that the , awSj if they had been f orese cn. Suopose,
Turkey Buzzard has the power of re-produ- howcver> for the ^ of the argument,'that a
cmg its eyes. The experiment made was shorter term Q f imprisonment than four years
this. v A Buzzard was Deprived of its eyes, ig expensive to State . wU1 any enlighten
by ripping them open so that no part of the ed and p hilanthropic Legislator say, that this
ball remained. “The head of the bird was u a sufficient reason t0 abandon that mode of
then placed under one of its wings; in which puQ j sbmen t, and introduce into our code the
position it rernauied a few minutes, when rai-1 crue j and san guinary punishments of the En.
sing its head, both eyes were reproduced
perfectly sound, free from blemish, and pos
sessing in every degree the power of vision.”
i This comparatively cruel experiment was
repeated at least fifty times, uniformly with
the same result. The writer also, being in
credulous as to these facts, not having wit
nessed them, made the experiment upon an
other Buzzard, with similar effect. It is as
cribed to the heuling powers of the down
from the inside of the Buzzard’s wing : which
is said to have cured several cases of ap
proaching blindness in men and horses.
glish law 1 It is hoped not.
But if in fact in 1822 the convicts of a
shorter time than four years could not, or did
not by their labour defraytheir own expen
scs, the cause is to be sought for, not in the
system itself, but in the want of proper man.
agement and competent skill in those persons
who then conducted the affairs of the Peniten
tiary. v It would be very difficult, if not im-
possible, to graduate the punishments and
adapt them to the nature and extent of the
.crime upon the Penitentiary system, and at
the same time, to do equal justice to convicts
unless a shorter terra of imprisonment is
Destruction of Human Life by Ciiol- , ,
era.—The disease called spasmodic cholera adopted, oecause many crimes that deserve
appears to have been unknown previous to penitentiary pumshment and cannot he prop-
1817, when it appeared in India. Since P^hed in any other way, would not
that time till near the end of 1832, a period ?all for as long an imprisonment as four years,
of about fifteenyears, there havebeen through- Ifthcn the Legislature take this as the short-
out the world, as nearly, as can be estima- « st term of imprisonment, many crimes, such
ted, 100,000,000 of cases. Of these fully for »‘ 8tance as involuntary manslaughter,
one half, at least, must have died; which rescue, some spcciesoflarceny, and various
gives a mortality from this single disease, of ^ er offences, would have to be punished by
50,000,000 in the above period, or upwards finc imprisonment fhe common jail, or
of 3,333,000, annually. In India alone the V whippmg, branding, pillory, &c. &c.—
mortality has exceeded 18,000,000. These The first mode 18 to ° , S ht \ and very often
calculations have been made by Jonnes. the °P eratC8 more as a punishment on the county
celebrated French physician, and it is estima. wluch has to defray the expenses, than on
ted that they are rated under than above the I the conv,cJ » and the ,ast 18 to ° sanguinary.-
truth.—Balt. American.
<£rovgia ^Legislature.
House qf Representatives, Nov. 11.
REPORT
Of the Committee, appointed by the Governor,
in pursuance qf a Resolution qf the General
Assembly, passed the loth December, 1832,
to propose a plan for the Buildings ^ I Jibertv of'the cittern'" The Shade’s and de~-
/Ii/tbpI tv Piiplnin nr I /mmo /C»i* I • _ .
The only just mode then is by confinement
and labor in the Penitentiary for a time suited
to tho nature of the crime, and the degree of
guilt. •
It will be perceived that in the code now
presented, much latitude of discretion is lodg
ed in the Judge ; and however dangerous this
power may at first view appear to some per
sons, it is nevertheless absolutely necessary
for the purpose of justice, and in fnvor of the
Braddock’s Defeat.—A writer under
the signature of “ Ohio” in the Pittsburg Mer
cury, gives the following description of the
ground on which general Braddock was de
feated.
Nine miles above Pittsburg, and immeei-
ately upon the north bank of the Monongahe-
la river, is the celebrated battle ground called
“Braddock’s Field.” It is famous for the
destruction of an army intended to capture
Fort Du Quesne, crush the extending power
of France, and control the Indians on our
western border. Here Washington fought
and Braddock fell. On this spot 50 French
men and 250 Indians nearly destroyed the
forty-ninth and fifty-first regiments of British
regulars, though aided by a number of Pro
vincial troop?. The battle was fought on the
afternoon of the 9th July, 1755. Seventy
years have passed away, and yet the crum
bling bones of men are seen in every field
for a mile in circuit. For iqany years they
were shrouded by a mourning wilderness of
shadowy trees, but this has yielded to the
busy axe, and the plough is annually driven
among the skulls of the slain and the bones
of the brave. Rich harvests wave over fields
fertilized by the blood and bodies of a thou
sand unburied meu. The partridge whistles,
and the reaper sings on the spot where the
cries of mortal anguish told the dread revel
ry, of battle. *Twas here the wild whoop of
the fierce savage quelled' the rallying cry of
Europe’s warriors. Twas here they drove
the ruthless tomahawk deep into the crushed
skull of the vanquished, arid with yelling joy,
tore the scalp from the head of the feeblfe,
and the wounded, the dead and the dying.
The retreating survivors carried their woun
ded General with them until he died. He
was buried about 40 miles from the battle
ground, in the centre of the road his udvan
cing army had cut. To prevent the discov
ery of this, soldiers, horses and wagons were
passed over it, to save the body from savage
dishonor, by thus concealing the place of in
terment. Some of Braddock’s affectionate
soldiers marked the trees near the spot where
he was laid, that the recollections of those
To the honorable the Senate and House of Rep
resentatives of the State of Georgia in Gene
ral Assembly met.
The undersigned having been appointed by
his Excellency the Governor, in conformity
to a resolution of the'Legislature, passed on I ^ adequate punishment, whilst in others five
the 15th December, 1832, “ to prepare a I hundred dollars fine and thirty days imprison
plan for the buildings of the Penitentiary ; di. men t might not be more than a just chastise-
gest a system of laws for its government and ment> Again, take the case of rape. If this
organization; and to revise and amend the crime be committed by an inconsiderate boy,
penal laws of this Stato, so far as relates to I ought the punishment to be as great as if
the punishment which that code prescribes, I committed by a man of full age and hackney-
and r port the whole to the next general as-1 ed j n j be W ay yf vice ? • One of the under-
Penitentiary, digest a system of Laws, dfc.
grees of guilt are so numerous in almost eve
ry crime, that equal justice cannot be done
by affixing a certain and determinate punish
ment to every offence, leaving no discretion
in the court. By, way of illustrating this idea,
take the case of assault and battery—in some
cases a fine of five or ten dollars would be
sembly for its approval or rejection”—have
had the several subjects embraced in the res
olution under consideration, and now ask leave
to make the following Report:
signed recollects a case of rape in which he
was compelled in his then official capacity to
pass sentence of four years imprisonment and
labor in the Penitentiary, on a boy of fifteen
By the terms of the. resolution it would I years of age, when, under the circumstances
seem that the Legislature intended to have of, the particular case, he would have been
the penal laws of the State revised and amen-1 glad of the power to reduce the time to one
ded so for only as regards tho mode and quan- or two years.- And whilst-one or two- years
turn of punishment; and yet the preamble to would have been a sufficient penalty on. this
the resolution takes a much wider range, and I boy, ten or more years might not be too long
sounder view of the subject. The under-1 in an aggravated case, where the convict is
signed have therefore endeavored to enter, in-1 of full age, and bad character. These ex
to, and effect, as far as the limited time allow- amples are stated to show the impracticabili
ed them would permit, the real object and in- ty of affixing to any crime except murder and
tention which the Legislature had in view.— a few others, a certain punishment to be in-
And this they have attempted to do, by revis- dieted in all cases, and therefore great lati-
ing and amending the penal laws of the State, I tude of discretion must necessarily be given
not only as regards the punishments, but also to the judge in order to subserve the ends of,
the definition and classification of crimes, justice.
with many additions of matter heretofore I The term “ felony” according to its tei;h
omitted. And they have moreover endeavor- nical meaning in the English law, which is
ed to bring together and consolidate into one “ a crime that induced a forfeiture of goods
code, all the criminal laws of the State, which and chattels, lands and tenements,” can have
are enforced by way of indictment in the Su- no application in our laws, he.cause they, im-
perior Courts of the State. I pose no forfeiture. And yet th'e undersigned
The amended code of criminnl law now j felt the want of some word to designate a cer
presented to the Legislature is composed of tain class of cases heretofore known as “ fel
the code of 1817, with such alterations and onies” and therefore, as they could find none
additions as were deemed necessqry and pro- that would so well and so. clearly convey the
per. Some sections of that code have been idea, as that to which the people have always
omitted, being in the opinion of the undersign-1 been accustomed, they have thought it most
ed useless or improper, and other sections advisable to use the wor<J “ felony” - arid to
have been altered; and new ones added ei- give to it such definition as will be in accord-
ther from other statutes of our own, or from ance with our system of laws. They have
other sources; and the punishments in the therefore adopted this .word, and defined it to
Penitentiary have been graduated to the na- be“ an offence for which the offender on con-
ture of the crime and the degree of guilt. viction shall be liable by law to be punished
From their own knowledge of the useful, by death, or imprisonment in the Pemtcn-
ncss of ordinary labourers in the rough opera-1 tiary.”
jeCt.
Believing that it is the duty of the Legis-
laturc to make some provision in the penal
code, to protect the people against frauds
committed by banks, and by factors, common
carriers, and other bailees, the undersigned
have devoted considerable labor to that branch
of the duty assigned them, and hope that the
provisions they have made on that subject,
will, if adopted by the Legislature, have a
tendency to prevent the commission of frauds
upon an unsuspecting and confiding commu
nity, heretofore practised with perfect im—
punity.
. For the purpose of ensuring obedience on
the part of the convicts in the penitentiary, to
the orders of those officers whom the laws
have placed over them, it has beeD deemed
proper to make any act of resistance, with a
dangerous weapon, constitute the crime of
mutiny, and to affix to that crime penitentiary
punishment; and in all cases of the trial of u
convict for. mutiny, escape, &c. any other
convict is declared to be a competent witnesr.
The offences of forcible entry and detain^
cr, have been incorporated in this Code, be
cause it is proper that they should be punish
ed, and that persons who arc forcibly ousted
of their possessions,should have a more sum
mary mode of regaining possession, than the
long and expensive civil remedy of ejectment.:
Our laws provide for regaining possession in -
a summary way, of personal property, and
certainly a stronger reason exists,‘ why we
should, in a summary way, be allowed to re-
gain possession of lands and houses, from
which we have been ejected by the strong
hand of power, and which, in many cases,
may be the only means of providing bread
for a helpless family, and of affording shelter
from the inclemency of the" weather. The
English laws on this subject are enforced in
some parts of the state, whilst in other parts
they are considered not in force. This state
of things ought no lo’nger to exist. The law-
should be uniform in all the circuits; and as
we have no head to our judiciary to declare
what the law is, the Legislature must enclehv-
or as far as possible, to remedy the evil.
Gambling of a certain description, by the
present law, is punishable by confinement and
labor in the Penitentiary. This punishment
is not suited to the crime, and instead of hav
ing a tendency to prevent its perpetration, ac
tually operates to encourage it, or ratheT the
law remains n dead letter on the statute book. I
Public opinion is against this statute on ac- .
count of its severity, whilst at the same time
it is decidedly opposed to gaming, arid would
readily sanction and enforce any law to sup- '
press it, the penalty of which would bo a just
and adequate punishment. Under this con- •
viction, the undersigned have awarded to this
offence such punishment os they believe will
be enforced, and have the effect of lessening
or preventing, in a good degree* the commis
sion of the crime.
The undersigned have deemed it proper to
apply the wholesome provisions of a statute of
limitations to criminal prosecutions. Is the--
statute of limitations in civil cases wise and
beneficial; one calculated, os declared-in a
recent case by the Supicme Court of the Uni
ted States, to afford security for our proper-
ty against stale demands, after the true state
of the transaction may have been forgotton,
or be incapable of explanation, by reason of-
the death or removal of witnesses, the loss
and destruction of papers, and decay of mem
ory ? Does not the same reasoning apply
with equal, if not greater force, to crimes anil
misdemeanors? Is property more valuable
than personal liberty ? If not, why forbid that
a suit or action shall be brought for land and
negroes, after a limited time has expired, and
yet subject the owner to be tried and convic
ted for an offence that would incarcerate his
person for life, or a protracted period, in the
State prison, at any time, after such offenco
is committed ? Having wisely thrown off’the
antiquated errors of dark and barbarous ages;
from our political institutions, it is imperative
ly demanded, that We discard also their.legal
absurdities. Among these stands forth prom
inently the legal maxim, “ that no time runu
against the King.” The progress of reform
abroad in our sister States, calls aloud upon
us to follow at least, if we are unwilling to-
lead, in the march of human improvement.
Let it no longer be our reproach, that an ac
tion for slanderous words must be brought
withiri six months after the speaking of the
words, or the party injured shall be deprived
of the right forever, when the same person,
for publishing a libel, may be indicted at ony
, time during his life.
The doctrine of contempts, as understood
and enforced at common law, .is at variance
with the genius of our peoplo, and their free
institutions, and therefore the undersigned
have considered it expedient both to define
and limit it. All admit that order must be
preserved, and authority respected in our va
rious judicial tribunals. wuw ~** ****“ 1
Without this, the
