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Full Title
A report, of the whole trial of Gen. Michael Bright, and others: before Washington & Peters, in the Circuit Court, of the United States, in and for the district of Pennsylvania, in the third circuit, on an indictment for obstructing, resisting, and opposing the execution, of the writ of arrest, issued out of the District Court of Pennsylvania; in the case of Gideon Olmstead and others, against the surviving executrices of David Rittenhouse, deceased.
Author
Lloyd, Thomas; the arguments of counsel and charge of the judge, revised by each respectively.
Contributor
Bright, Michael, Gen. Lloyd, T. fl. 1788-1819 Olmsted, Gideon, 1749-1845 United States. Circuit Court (3rd Circuit)
Date Added
13 January 2014
Language
English
Publish Date
1809
Publisher
Philadelphia: Printed for P. Byrne.
Source
Pennsylvania
Topic
Bright, Michael, Gen. Trials, litigation, etc. Trials (Resisting an officer) Pennsylvania Philadelphia
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it .. ii ;i;.f:.f;iii(I5;71i9i1i‘i)7.'it r’f5:'- :1 7
, L ,oi1sstruiggle's to getgat the spirit and intention of the ft-Kainers,‘ V
, M ofthe.'cons’ti,turion, Iffearlthatithistinvaiualilecharter of-;'ourf9.
rights: tvou1d,3in’ztg'veryr httlez titt1V't1,"‘shti=:cntlr:cly ;:coust1-tied’ “
, attv;1y,‘‘' and l)ccon1"e.iz’:1ttt’.length so‘clis;fi'gured; th'at:i’ts"ifottntlers
7 : would zrecollecttvery few7of,its or.igin:tl‘features'.[. 3But;therej’ up
' l a'ppeaijs to beai:solidvreason;,for->the‘limitation ofjthe amend- ,
7 ’ menkt-,;totc’ases‘at‘ law and -in equity. ex And. this will ithrow“ ,i i
,‘ i isomeiiiligltt, upiongthet preceding branch of" this-largtitnent. if M K
4 x 5 -Suits at law and-in eequityican'not9be prosecutedjagainstgaj ;.
‘iistatc, withoutemaking her a part.y.p and-the juclgment acts di- i i
rectlv upon her.’ ‘ Butgin whatmanner was theiexecution to‘
.7 l)6‘nl21(lC‘CllCt2tllRl? The subject was a delicate one... and it
was thought bestxto avoid having itIpractic:tlly1test’e(l., :But,.‘ ‘i
' in-cases of :i‘dt"niralty and maritime‘jurisdictitm,.the4proper- .
ty in (lisputeis, geneirallx ,,in the possession ofthei court, lot L
, i ofpersonsihound toproduce it, or its’ equivalent, and thee’
'-Avhfplroceedings‘arejn rem.,; The court decides in whom the A
" '.-’rigl1t’is, and distpprihgitiestthe proceeds accordingly." .In3such‘.-,
. ,i :1 case, the court needpnot depend upon the go.od;willgof;-ia.
‘ ‘state’claimit1g"an interest in fthee-thing. ‘tot-n:thle'it;to '(;'XC-‘f L 6. .
‘ V'cute itsidecree.-e. Allthe world are parties to suchia Sl.llt,"tViVW
‘and of’ course are bound by the sentence. The state may’ i
, einterpose her claim and have it decided. But she cannot lye , g .
‘by. and after the decree is passed, say she was a party-,‘and,V' A ‘
‘ rthe‘rel'ore, not bound for want of jurisdiction in the court.’
rThis>doctrine, in relation to the proceedings of a'courL:of‘.A
, “the law of nations, and in tvhioh’ all nations are interested, '. ’ A,“
"3 ‘ might be-productive of the most serious consequences to the ‘ ' T
pi general government, to whom’ is confided all our,t‘relations"':
V with foreign governments. As attpresenttadvised,‘then, ‘tvVe[.f
think, that the amendment to the constitution ‘does‘not[ex-
A tend to suits of admiraltv and maritimejurisdiction. < ' ”
‘Thesecond ground ofjustification is foundedaupon‘ the or-
V ders ofjthetgovernor of this state ; issue'd,.as it is contended,
‘ ‘ under the sanction of a law of the state. Whether the true‘
‘meaning of that law has been mistaken or not, it would per--,'
, , haps ill become this court to decide ; hut it will not, ‘I trust,
' ‘ ibedeemed indecorous, if we express a hope that it was so; It;
is more agreeable to think, that an individual should have, fl
been tnistakevn in hisjudgmcnt (and,in this case, we arebloundg’ ‘
:to think,'that‘the- error, ifany, was not of the heart‘) than that
thelegiislaturei should'have intcndediso open an attack, upon,
the constitution and government of the Unitedgstates. But ;
ifsuch was thedesi’g‘n.of thelaw,,’7we must lament the cir-, ,
cumstance, and must, withoutrescrvie, pronounce it to be un--.4
i. J‘;