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VOL 4.]
PUBLISHED {WEEKLY . |
THOMAS A. PASTEUR J
O* TKRM&—The WasMugton News is fmb
i ‘liud weekly, a* Four Dollars a year; or Three
Dollars, if paid one half in advance, & the oth-j
£•> at the expiration of six months.
•T?’ No subscription wiil be received for a less
“term than six months.—All arrearages must be
’ j>aid before any subscription can be discontinued,
but at the option .of the proprietor.
(VJ* A failure to notify a discontinuance at the
end of the year, will be considered as anew en
gagement.
ITT* Advertisements (except those published .
monthly) will be inserted conspicuously at 75 cents j
per square for the first insertion, and 50 cents for |
each continuance.—ls the number of insertions is j
not specified, they will be continued until forbid,
and charged accordingly.
(GP All advertisements published monthly
will be charged one dollar per square for each in
sertion.
(TIT Letters must be post paid, or they will be
charged to the writers.
(O’For the information of our advertising l
fiends, we publish the following Law Requisites. !
Stiles of Land and Negroes, by Administrators
Kjiecutors or Guardians, are required, by law,
%o be held on the first Tuesday in the month, be
tween the hours often in the forenoon and three
in the afternoon, at the Court-House of the coun
ty in which the property is situate.—Notice of
these rules must he given in a gazette SIXTY
days previous to the day ofvsale.
N dice of the sale of personal property must be
given in like manner, FOKTY days previous to
the day of sale.
Notice to the debtorsandcreditors ofan estate,
must be published for FORTY days.
Notice that application will be made to the Court
of Ordinary for leave to sell land, or Negroes,
roust be published foi FOUR MONTHS.
From the Augusta Chronicle
PFiirors case,
“We defer several articles of our
own, and correspondents, together
with other matter, already in type,
to make room for the Report of the
Philpot case., which will he found
below, —sensible that, under the
great anxiety which has existed to
see it, since it has been stated to he
forthcoming, that wo could offer
nothing else of so much interest to
our readers.—We have heretofore
refiained from a free discussion of
this subject, from a desire to know
distinctly all the facts of the case
ere we did so, and want of room
necessarily restrains ns, now, from
saying more than this,—-that, while
the-justly high and irreproachable
character of the Reporter, both as
ajuiistanda man, forbid a doubt
of his veracity, or the scrupulous
correctness of his statements, to the |
bcstofhis knowledge or belief—we j
must believe, that if the law does i
not plainly justify the severe course j
taken against Philpot—and we can- 1
not perceive that it docs; but 01,
that, our readers can judge as well
as ourselves—it is a most flagrant
outrage upon the rights of the citi
zen—and if the law docs plainly
justify it, then our boasted liberties,
under such law, are a mere mocke
ry—a name, and nothing more—a
specious jargon of cunning terms,
“That keep the word of promise to the ear.
And break it to theliopcv”
This opinion, though formed by
one liable, like all others, honestly
to err, was nevertheless formed un
der a careful examination of the
facts, and is expressed with the
more boldness and freedom, as the
facts which created it, and with
which it is submitted, will enable
every reader to judge fairly for him- i
or error. And :
in iffimg|§ /Ins duty,
as a memJßjjiprf the highest and
most sacrecPniDtinal of his country,
and as he values his interest and
honor as an American citizen, to
judge with reference to the Jacts of
the case alone, and in doing so, to
divest himself of all extraneous in
fluence —and prejudice or partiality,
fear, favor, oraffection. Such should
he the conduct of a Juryman orjudge,
•vand how much more so, then, of
tT.ase who arc the highest judges
and jurymen of the land, and to
whom all other tribunals aie prop
erly subservient —the people! While
they remain honest, upright, and
impartial judges, we have nought to
fear, ultimately, for the protection
of our rights, and the maintenance
of our liberties; but, when they be
come otherwise, no other tribunals
will suffice to sustain them.
For the Chronicle fy Advertiser.
PHIL POT’S CASE.
I am pleased at had ah
%,-iportunity of avoiding the cAisui -.
which hv*s been ljsvellsd at tnc, for
WASHINGTON, (GA.) SATURDAY, MAY 7, 1831.
I sending the following Report to the
(Journal for publication. AruiiUSU
iul press of matter upon that paper
| has placed it in my power to recal
the report, and I avail myself of the
; earliest opportunity which has of
fered, since its return, to give it
publicity in this place.
In submitting the following Re
port of the case of John N. Philpot,,
to the public, it is proper to remark,
by way of apology for its length,
land for the minuteness of its details,
! that various and contradictory ru
! moms are in circulation, relative to
I the case. Misunderstandings have
! arisen between the court and some
of the counsel engaged in the cause
as to several matters which trans
pired in the progress of the case,
(and particularly as to the manner in
which the conflicting decisions oi |
Judges Holt and Lamar, were to,
have been settled—Judge Ilolt main- j
tabling, as it is understood, that the
cause was left to the final decision !
of Judge Crawford, and that no- j
thing which they have said, when
taken in connexion with the circum
stances attending their remarks,
could fairly he construed into such
ail agreement. —that the controversy
being between the Judges, was not j
one which they conceived themselves
at liberty to settle by agreement
und Judgq Holt, by his own sug
gestions, made under very peculiar
circumstauces, had prompted the
counsel to express a preference, and
then turned this intu an agreement,
by which he had professed to be go
verned ever since, though the cir
cumstances under which it was ex-
’ pressed, underwent an entire change,
by his own conduct, in a fortnight’s
time afterwards.
In this state of things, t determ-1
ined to make out a full Report of’
the case, and to set forth, upon ail
points which I thought would admit I
of dispute, which was said and dent
by the court and counsel, rather
than the impressions said to have
been received by each, upon such
occasions; and to omit no remark
which fell from the court, from the
beginning to the end of the case, I
which J could remember. Accord
ingly, I made out such a report,
chiefly from memory, as the papers j
in the case were removed from the
Clerk’s office ut this lime, and sub
mitted it to Judge Holt, with a re
quest, that he would correct it—at
tiie same time informing him, that
i had left blanks in the report, for.
the matters of record, which should
be inserted as spoil as the papers
should he returned to the office, j
His Honor soon after returned the
report, with u note, informing me!
“that it presented so false a coloring, |
and was so erroneous, as not to ad- j
mit of correction, but by a distinct |
report*, which it was not then hisj
purpose to make.”—This reply of!
the court, left hie no alternative, -
hut to suppress the report entirely,
or to [Publish it upon my own respon
sibility, at the hazard of the Judge’s
power. I feel it my duty to adopt
the latter alternative. I regret, ex
ceedingly, that 1 was denied the aid j
of the court, in placing the facts of
the case beyond dispute. It was
my intention to have submitted to
his Honor's corrections, invariably,
where I could not have supported
my views by at least two witnesses,
or by one witness ;Td the records of
the court—and always to have giv
en his Honor’s statement, with my
own, where they couhl nqtJhs^recon
ciled. Alter
port, every thing whiem, v-rui* fioy
confirm in the manner just StunSfciji
it is not materially altered from* a
substantial copy of that laid before
the court; and the public will bo en
abled to judge from it, when its er
rors shall be pointed out, how far
his Honor was justified in pronoun
cing the sentence which lip did upon
the first. That there may have
been errors in that, and that there
may he in this, is not improbable—
but that no intentional errors were
committed, in either, is most cer
tain. The records are in an ex
tremely confused condition, in the
office—very few of the proceedings
indeed are recorded ataal most oi
them are upon J?ntalj| loose pieces
of paper—many of the orders are/
without date, and. except the few
which are recorded, ifot One, it is
believed, is dated by the clerk, —
nor are entries of the clerk made
upon them, by which it can be as
certained when, or in what case,
they were made. There are no en
tries on the affidavits, to show when
they were filed.—The Orders and
papers, in the case of the woman,
are commixed with those which ap
pertain to the ease of the boy; and,
in one instance, there was an im
portant and interesting sitting ofthe
court, upon Philpot’s case, which is
distinctly admitted by Judge Holt, I
in his decision (with a slight error ns
to date,) and yet, there is not a pa
per in the office which shows that
there ever was such a meeting of the
court, except in an indirect manner.
1 The transcript of the record, made
j out for me by the Clerk, is, if pos-j
! siblo, more confounded tiian the j
| papers in the office. Those inat
j tors which stand together on the
tiles, und those of the same date,
are separated here, arid all arc
transcribed, in my exemplification,
without the slightest regard to or
der, time, or connection. Under
such circumstances, it will not be
considered surprising, iff shall have
omitted or misplaced some matters
ot record even. I believe, howev
er, that I have committed no error
ol this kind.—l have omitted the ar
gument oi the counsel, for the sake
oi brevity, und introduced their rc
! marks only, where I thought they
bore an impoituut relation to some
thing suid or done bv t.h court,
THE REPORTER.
| Sometime in the year 1829, in
■ teliigerjeo reached Augusta, that a
j negro woman; by mim,e VVinney,
j alias Jane, then in the possession
jof lv. M. were free. Upon receiv
| ing this.intelligence, R. M. return
ed the negroes to Jonty N. Pun.rb r,
from whom ho had recently purcha
sed them, Philpot hud purchased!
them from a stranger, and had been j
in tile undisturbed possession of!
j them for uhotit seven years. Soon j
I alter they were re-delivered to Phil- j
! pot, tiie woman found her way toj
j the premises of \V. S. where Phil- j
| pot found her, and required her to
go home v. itlr him, which she refns- j
ed to do, uml he was proceeding to’
force her a\vay, when W. S, inter-)
posed, arid with the threatening of a j
drawn sword, compelled him to tie-j
sist and leave the premises.
On the 18th October, 1829, 11.,
rU. made an affidavit before one of,
tire Justices of the inferior Courts j
setting forth that said negro won an, 1
then in the possession of W. S. was.*
as deponent believed, free, & that j
there was danger of her being for-!
: oil-ly taken from the county of Rich-’
moiidt- i
Thereupon, the Justice address-!
ed this order to the Jailor of the!
county:
“At GtisTA, ISth Oct. 1829. j
Sir :—1 have received informa
tion, on the oath of It. R. that a|
certain person, named Wiitney, is!
in danger of being enslaved, and isj
free. You will receive and keep
in custody the said person, named |
Jane, or Wiuney, until demanded
by my order,”*
On the same day that this order j
was passed, a Writ of Habeas Cor
pus was issued by the same Justice!
upon the petition of R. It. directed |
to IF. 8. requiring him to produce
the body of said girl, to which was j
added this order: “You are hereby
to lodge the said girl,
Winney Tir Jane, Tor safe keeping,
ill fMiiMPgl.nl on jail of Richmond
coJilfteSiake there shall he auy
danger.Vf fiet removal, by fraud ot
force, from yqiujc- vtfody.”
On the sanjejpP&he jailor gave
the following receipt: “Received of
W. S. the body of ‘rie§M£2f]jViiinc\,
alias Jane, according toSHfe within
Writ of Habeas Corpus, and I pro
mise not to deliver her up to any
person, except by the authority ol
the within named officer.”
It will be observed, that all tile
* I liave placed this order before the
orpus, because it occupies this tie
transcript of the record, made out Vy the Clerk
l'ciiiups itihryild UUow the ‘ A
‘foregoing proceedings tooa place on
the Sabbath —or they are all erro
neously dated. Agreeably to the
mandate of the Writ, W. S. ap
peared before some of the Justices ofj
the Inferior Coutt, on the 24th ofj
October, 1829, and in his return,
stated that the Woman Was left in
his possession by Mr. S., by whom
she was hired—that she was so left,
because Mr. S. feared to remove
her from his lot, where she acciden
tally was, and from which John N. j
Philpot was attempting to take her
by force—that repliant believed she !
was free born, although she was j
I claimed as u slave, by John N. Phil-!
pot. Thereupon, the Court order-*]
ed that the further consideration oT
the Writ, be postponed until the!
Monday week following, and that J
the girl be confined in jail, for safe |
; keeping, in the meantime. On the j
j 2d of November following, she was j
(again brought before the Court, j
when Philpot appeared by tiis coun
sel, (no opposition being made,) and
resisted tiie whole proceedings. But j
the Comt ordeied her back to jail, I
tor Safe keeping, &c. until JohnN.l
Philpot, or whoever else claimed her,
should give boud, mid good securi
tp, in SI,OOO, to produce her, when
required by the Court. Under this
order, she remained in jail rathi.r
more than seven months, when she
petitioned the Judge of the feoperi
or Court, (->1 sl May, 1830,) in her |
own name, lbr a Habeas Corpus.
In her petition to his Honor, she
tendered her grateful acknowledge
ments for the well-intended orders
by which siie laid been imprisoned,
ffiit aiiuorl, tllßt they had actually \
deprived her ofthe right of loeomo-j
tion. Bhe therefore prayed the
Writ of Habeas Corpus, “t/iffi her
case Might Oe investigated, and jus-
tice dune.”
Judge Holt granted her petition,
and she was accordingly brought up,
by the jailor. An effort was now
j made to oriubfish tier freedom; and
fto that end, the affidavit of vV: B.j
i was read, going to show, that elu* j
j was free-boru. Pnilpot again ap
i peered by his attornics, and resist
| ed the proceedings, as before.
The J udge decidesj. the question of
freedom could not he fried upon the
I Writ of Habeas Corpus;, but that,
j under this writ; the Court might pass
; an order for the protection ot persons
j of color.
Upon this suggestion, Winney
; withdrew Iter petition aud whs re
: ma tided to jail, under the former or
-1 ders—where u is believed she still
1 remains! j
On the lfith Get. 1829, a petition, j
’ unsupported oy affidavit, was filed by I
: R. it., for a Writ of Habeas Corpus,
in behalf of tiie negro boy James,
i setting fort! that, in the opinion of
the applicant, the said boy was
j tree.-*-Whereupon a Justice ofthe
Inferior Court granted the Writ di
| rented to Philpot, (who was alledged,
i in the writ, to be in the |iossession of
: the hov,) requiring him to produce,
! &c.
Judge Ilolt happening - to he in
town, intermediate the issuing and
the return ofthe writ, it was returned
before lmn. Philpot appeared, with
! iiis counsel, and stated that the negro
boy was in his possession, was over
| in Beach island, and it time were al
lowed him, until the following Satur
! day, he would make a full and per
fect retdrn, by procuring the hoy. *j
Ihe case was postponed, from time j
to time, until the 13th Nov., 1829, t j
* This is givcit as Judge Holt lias rcpenledly |
asserted llie fact It? be. Both rhilpot aud bis ‘
j counsel state that his honor issinistakeii inascrib- j
ing this statement to Philpot. A similar one was j
made by Philpot’s counsel, and is thus explained i
by him and Philpot. When the writ was thug serv
ed, bis counsel asked Philpot it'he could produce
the boy. Philpot replied that he did not know—
that he had sold him, but supposed he could get
him if he had time to go after him. His counsel
said that he would go before the Court and ask
time. Accordingly, he went before his Hohor,
and after making un unsuccessful attempt he set
aside the writ, Ut (the counsel) begged until the
following Saturday, to produce the boy—which
was granted. Philpot did not tell him where the
boy w as, and he never heard of his being in
Beach Island, until he saw it mentioned in his Ho
nor’s decision.
11 have fixed the dqle of *his meeting on this j
day, because tine last preceding adjournment
was to this day. But I may be mistak *i. All I
j can say, with certainty, is, that the meeting took
place between the 2nd and 28th of November.
I (Though it was a meeting of some interest, as will
qjmpear by the report, there is not a paper in the
clerk s ollice, which shews (except j
I # ftl €Ver tvgs fuci* a meetljtif. ,
[New Series—;\o. 4(f>.
‘when Rhilpot was again brought bw
foi'e thu Court. Ho now filed an af
fidavit which he had made oh the 2d
Nov. previous, to have been used at
I ihat time, hut which was not filed or
j used then; hut was reserved, as the
case was continued. In this affida
vit, he stated, that the hoy was not
in his possession or custody at the
time the writ was served*, nor had he
been since, and that is was not in hia
power to produce him.
| When this affidavit was offered,
■ the court met it with decided marks
of disapprobation, strongly intiniat
j ing, that Philpot would not he per*
■ initted to deny having the boy (or his
i power to produce him) after what he
bad said in the hearing of the Court.
! Philpot’s counsel now asked the court
lif he was certain that, Piiilpot tiad*
’ made the statement ascribed to him,
i adding, that Philpot himself maiu
taiiu’d that the Court was mistake*!
in attributing the statement to him*
The Court and the opposing counsel
both pointed to the spot where he
stood (or his relative situation to the
I Court,) whom lie made the state
| meat. Philpot’s counsel observed,,
■that he could not again say the state-
ment now made, as ho was not present
when Philpot was first brought be
fore the Court, “lie certainfy did
•make the statement,” said the oppos
ing counsel, “ami I shall move the -
Court for this order.”* He tiour
i presented an order, in which it was
set forth, that John N. Philpot hav
ing been required to produce the
boy, and the said John N. Philpot
pray ing further time to produce him,
it was ordered, that the said John N.
do produce the said negro on the fol
lowing Saturday, and that he theft
olake a full and perfect return to the
writ if Habeas Corpus, &c. This
order was passed, and the Court was’
about to adjourn, when Philpot’a
counsel insisted upon filing his uffU
daqit, at all event—nliicli he did,
the Coilrt neither assenting or ob
jecting! To this affidavit aecepti-
I ons were then filed, aqd the Court, ad-?
Ijournod- No fart tier proceeding of
consequence were hud, in either of
the cases, until the last May Term
of Richmond Superior Court, wiierj
the case of the woman was argued,*
nad disposed of, as befoie st-nted.
The following rule was then mov
ed for, and granted by the Court.
“In the mutter oi the boy, James/
it appearing that John N. Philpot
hath not made a full and perfect re
turn to the writ of Habeas Corpus',
inasmuch as he has not br ought tho
body of the boy James before (he
■ Court, as ho was required to do by tho
Court, and as he promised to do, up
om time granted to him—lt is order-
that the said John N. do shew
cause, at nine o’clock to morrow
morning, why an attachment should
not issue against him, for his row-,
tempt of writ of Habeas Corpus, of
the authority of the Court and bis fai
lure to comply with his undertaking
to produce the Said boy James, and
to make a perfect return to the writ
of Habeas Corptis—it is further or
dered, tiiat a copy of the writ be
served,” &.c<
la oppositioii to this rule, Philpot’s
counsel, among other things, relied
upon his affidavit, heretofore filed.
The Court observed, that the affida
vit was drawn with very great cau
tion—that it would he trifling with
the justice of the country to permit
Philpot to come into Court and say
that he could not produce the boy,
i after what he had stated in the pre- -
j sence of the Court.
] The counsel who drew Philpot’s
affidavit, stated, that to the best of
j his knowledge and belief, tlicie whs
no design of equivocation, either od
the part of Philpot or his counsel, in
drawitg up the affidavits.
The Cojirt granted the rule ms,
A day of two afterwards, Philpot
appeared, und for cause against
making the rule absolute, he tiled a,
second affidavit, in which he swore,
that the boy was not in his power,
custody, or possession,—He admit
ted, that he was, at one time, under
the impression that he could produce*
him, but in this he had been disap
* There is an order of similar iiupoil on (be
files, rt'h'ch bears date on tlit J7;b October pi e,
viou-. ii ibcre be uo mistake in fho <tute of this
, oni. i, then liieie were two orders to
‘feet, 0119 of wtych rs