The Louisville gazette. (Louisville, Ga.) 1799-1800, April 16, 1799, Image 2
LOUISVILLE,
TUtSDJr, /pi 16, 179<;.
Vr The Rev. Mr. Roth well
will preach in the Stale Iloufe t on
SUNDAY NEXT.
April 1 6.
The Grand Jury brought in
their presentments.
Whereupon it is ordered , that
the fiif?, third and fourth hr
laid before the Icgiflature, and
that the whole be published, at
the requeft of the Grand Jury,
and that the charge be publifhed
by order of court.
Pre/enlments of the Grand Jury
Jor the County oj JeJferfon.
WK, the Grand Inquefl
for the County of JefFer
fon, on oaths prefent as a great
grievance, the bad condition of
the public roads and bridges,
and wc find it a fubjc£l of gene
ral complaint in other counties.
We are induced to believe that
the prefent fyftem is defe&ive in
policy, and inadequate to the
accomplishment of the great and
falutary purposes of making and
keeping of good roads and
bridges.
Wc therefore take the liberty
of recommending to the General
Affetnbly, the laying of mode
rate taxes, which will reach every
perfon now liable to work on
the roads, in lieu of the prefent
mode, in which it is found that
the greater number avoid turn
ing out and laboring as the law
directs.
2. Wc alfo present the little
regard which is paid to tha reli
gious obfervanco of the Lord’s
day, and recommend to our
magiflratcs a wore rigorous exe
cution of the laws for the pre
vention and punilhment of the
violation of this neccffary duty.
g. We prefent as a grievance,
that the laws are not revifed and
promulgated, whereby the ma
giflratcs may be better enabled
to perform the duties of their
offices, and the people at large
acquainted therewith,
4. We prefent as a grievance
the want of a court-houfe, and
recommend that application be
made to the next IcgiOaturc, for
leave to fell a portion of the
commons of the town, to be
laid out in lots in aid of the
other county funds for this pur
pole.
We perfeflly accord with his
honor the judge in his opinion,
•* that the charaHcr of Grand
Juries Jhould he above [upport
ing the finking popularity of
any mifckUvous irflucnce , or ad
ding weight to a domineering
faction” (And wo are happy
farther to obferve, that no fuch
influence has come within our
knowledge); we fliould rather
reprefs than countenance fuch
political evils, and have no hefi
talion to declare it as our opin-i i
ion, that former Grand Juries ;
» have a&cdupon that principle.
We therefore feel it our duty
to difpenfe with the ufual recom
mendation for the publication ot
his honor's charge, it being evi
dently calculated to produce the
clfcfts which he recommends us
; to avoid by our prefentments,
and aims unmerited ccnlure at
the heads of other departments,
contrary to his own maxims.
We further recommend that
our prefentments be publifhed.
James Parfons, John Raiford,
Jofeph Barber, John Harrington,
Thomas Neily, Blafs Harvey,
Jofcpn Chairs, Benj. Brouning,
[ames Spivy, Peter Chaflein,
Vinfcn Rowell, Philip Clayton,
Mathew Carfwell, David Jamic
fon, John Clements, Benjamin
Darfey, Z, Lamar; Abner Ham
mond, Bird Tarver, John J.
Schley, John Kennedy.
Extract from the Minutes ,
Wm.M'Dowell, Clerk .
Loui[villc % April 13, 17 99,
Judge Walton’s Charge to the
Grand Jury of the County of
Jeffcr[on.
Gentlemen of the Grand Jury ,
HAVING delivered a courfc
of charge* on the prefent circuit,
with a view of Brewing to the
community the prevalence of a
party fpirit, the clfc&s of which
had reached the tribunals, and
leffencd their refpcdl and author
ity ; and as they are equally
proper to be laid before you, 1
will read them in the order in
which they were delivered.
Tfacfc charges have been well
received and attended to, in the
counties where they were ref
pe&ivcly delivered; and I have
learned, with pleafure, that, by
the recommendation and advice
of my affociatcs, the principles
they contain are prevailing in
the two other dillrifts.
Having fecn, therefore, the
revival and pra&lce of thefe
principles; fo elfential to the
good order, authority and purity
of the courts; and of their hap
py impreffion on the public
mind, I concluded I had laid
enough upon the fubje6l, as my
charge in Wafhington county
(hews.
The Governor has, however,
by addrcffinga party publication
to me, written with analfeftation
of moderatiom and refpeft, but
with real heat and indecorum,
relating to thefe charges, made
it neccllary for me to go further, j
I will firft fay, then, that 1 fpeak 1
of principles and of fath, which
relpetl and afFeft the judicial j
part of government, and care!
not where they apply.
I am the more con (trained
to take fomc notice of this ad
drefs, as its publication fo imme
diately before the commence
ment of this term, was evidently
calculated to awe the court, or
to influence the Grand Jury :
of the fir {I there is no danger,
and of the fecond I rely noon 1
the law, the obligation of your
oaths and your lenfe of juflice c
and independence. The G> »
vcrnor has nothing to Jo with
r this tribunal.
Cur government, according
{ to the coniiitution. confifls of
• three parts, the legiflative, exe
cutivt and judicial; with fcpa
i rate and diflinft powers, fo that
neither ffiould interfere with the
[ other —I will explain by men
tioning a recent and plain cafe,
Abram Jackfon, efq. was lafl
t year one of the fecretaries of the
Executive, he was defirous of
being a member of the Icgifla
jture, but being a member of
another department, he was nor
• eligible : he therefore refigned
his fecrctaryfhip, and thereby
removed the obflaclc—he was
clc&cd and ferved in the other
j department accordingly : were
it not for this juft feparation and
balancing the powers of govern
ment, an extraordinary influence
being acquired by one of them,
and extending itfclf to the other
two, would bear down the whole,
and a defpotifrn would rife upon
• the ruins.
r lam farther contained to
take notice of this addrefs on
another account —he appears to
deny that the courts of juftice
have been weakened in their
efficacy, by the intrufion of any
party influence, and this obliges
me to refort to other and ficQi
inflanccs—l will proceed there
fore, to (late a cafe, flrong in its
features, and indifputably true.
In the year 1797, fourperfons
were indi&cd in the county of
Richmond, where fudge Few
prefidtd, for murder, and the
bill was found by as refpeftable
a Grand Jury as ever was con- j
vened in the flate, I [peak ad
vifedly, for 1 had the honor of
being foreman of that Grand
Jury, and had perfonal know
ledge of every member of it :
the teflimony before the Grand
Jury was i’ubflantially ; that the
perfons charged, with a fifth,
went to the houfe of the dcceaf
ed in open day, and took him,
interrogated him with threats
refpe&ing a new negro, which
one of them had loft, then tied
him and carried him to a tippling
houfe, confining him in a room
—they Raid there till feme time
j in the night drinking—they then
took him outiome diflance fiom
the houle, and told him, with
oaths, that unlefs he confellod
they would hang him—-here
upon the fifth perfon being;
j coroner of the county, and who
not long before had received a
brand of manflaughter, faid he
would not be prefect and left
I them; the man was thereafter
| miffing, and his fate was the
lubjefl of general report and
general belief.
j That the body was afterwards
found in the woods, not far
I from the place where the coroner
left them, with the appearance
of having been there hanged,
and cut down in the edge of a
wooded flafh.
The perfons charged, cried;
out yazoo and perfecution, and
were admitted to the bail by the
Judge, after the indiclmcn!
been thus prefcnted a true Lift
and by this indulgence thev
were enabled, and were f c *e a
night and day treating apd drink
ing, with perfons who might be
called upon their life and death
and on their trial when the evi.
dence was more pointed by the
voluntary Sc bravado confeflions
of one of them ; indead of being
confined to the bar, they were
permitted to go in and out in
the face of the court. And the
pi ogre fs of the defence was hop
ped by one of their counfel
moving in thefe words, t; may
it pleafe the court our Jr lends at
the bar require no more plead
ing for them, they are fatisfied."
And every ferious and reflcftino
man in the enlightened and
commercial city of Augufta,
turned with dilgufl and horror
from the proflituted fccne—the
Judge himfelf in reporting the
cafe, which he was bound to do
by law, endeavored to extenuate
the guilt by faying, that the de
ceafed was of bad fame; true,
he was a poor obfeure indivi
dual, who probably never heard
the name yazoo : but admitting
, J o
him to have been of bad fame,
did that authorise individuals to
take bis life, for a crime too of
which he was innocent. The
negro being a run-away was
aftei wards found at the houleof
I a refpe&able planter:
{ Thus a citizen was laid violent
hold of* and torn fr om his family
by private individuals, without
the fliadow of authority, hanged
like a dog upon a tree, and left
to be devoured as a bead of the
field; and the perfons charged
being dsclaimers againfl the
yazoo purebafe, were thus fa
vored in the bailment and trial.
I have heard of other partial
ities, but I fpeak only of what
I know, in addition to what I
have before faid; and this cafe'
is diffident to demondrate that
I have been well founded in the
charges I have already delivered.
But, gentlemen, there cxifls
ample proof that the evil is
fpreading to a more alarming
degree, fucli has been the public
exercife of legal power during
fome time pad, that the people
in feveral parts of the date, hr M
taken the law in their own hand.*,B
and Grand Julies have reconcile®
it to their confciences, to lejfC'B
bills in the face of pofitive te>l
timony, for affaults committeflß
under what is called lynch-latfl
To juflify themfelves, leveraiH
icTpcclable men havcaflurcd ntfil
; on the prefent circuit, that ne-K
ceihty and felf prefer vation coib*l
pelled them to the pcafure. I
The only way therefore yB
putting an end to this mifcW c *»B
| is to execute the laws in ITICrC -;■
furely; but with flri&nefs
ccitainty : the courts will t; --*
be a terror to evil doers.
indufhious citizen will be i n: P
j red with confidence, that h e: ;B
fecure in hisperfon, his ih-> a: * J B
the fruits of his induflry. ■