USA > Georgia > The bench and bar of Georgia: memoirs and sketches. With an appendix, containing a court roll from 1790-1857, etc., volume I > Part 4
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Resolved nevertheless, by the General Assembly of the State of Georgia, acting for and in behalf of the people thereof, That this State looks with the deepest solicitude to the re-election of General Jackson to the Presi- deney of the United States, because, in that event, we will have the certain guarantee that he will fearlessly go, as far as his official powers will war- rant, " in arresting the profigate expenditure of the public money, extin- guishing the public debt as speedily as possible, and restraining the government to its primitive simplicity in the exercise of all its functions."
The House Journal (p. 361) thus continues :-
Mr. Burnes moved the following resolution in lieu of the preamble and resolutions from Senate, and the foregoing preamble and resolutions offered by Mr. Beall, of Twiggs :-
.Resolved, by the people of Georgia, through their Representatives, That they highly approbate the opinions of President Jackson in behalf of the Union and rights of the States, and his administration generally, and that we carnestly recommend his re-election.
On the motion to receive said resolution as a substitute in lieu of the preamble and resolutions from the Senate, and the foregoing preamble and resolutions offered by Mr. Beall, of Twiggs, the yeas and nays were required to be recorded, and were,-Yeas, 57; Nays, 65.
So the House refused to receive Mr. Burnes's resolution as a substitute.
The question was then put on receiving the preamble and resolutions offered by Mr. Beall, of Twiggs, as a substitute for the preamble and resolutions from the Senate. On which motion the yeas and nays were required to be recorded, and are,-Ycas, 76; Nays, 45. So the House agreed to receive the preamble and resolutions offered by Mr. Beall, of Twiggs, as a substitute for the preamble and resolutions of Senate, and the said substitute agreed to by the House.
Without aiming to revive party creeds or associations to affect any gentleman, the author merely remarks that Messrs. Black, J. S. Calhoun, Dougherty, Haynes, P. S. Holt, Howard, Hudson, Jenkins, Ryan, Turner, and Young, voted for the substitute of Gen. Beall, and Messrs. Bates, Day, MeDonald, Schley, Towns, and Wofford, voted against it.
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It was at this session (1830) that the governor transmitted to the Legislature, on the day previous to adjournment, (the same day on which he received the original,) the copy of a mandate from the Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, enjoining the execution of George Tassels, an Indian who had been convicted in IIall Superior Court of the crime of murder, and citing the State of Georgia to appear under the writ of error.
The following is an extract from Gov. Gilmer's communication :-
The object of this mandate is to control the State in the exercise of its ordinary jurisdiction, which in criminal cases has been vested by the Con- stitution exclusively in its Superior Courts.
So far as concerns the exercise of the power which belongs to the Executive Department, orders received from the Supreme Court for the purpose of staying or in any manner interfering with the decisions of the courts of this State, in the exercise of their constitutional jurisdiction, will be resisted with whatever force the laws shall have placed at my command.
If the judicial power thus attempted to be exercised by the courts of the United States is submitted to or sustained, it must eventuate in the utter annihilation of the State Governments, or in other consequences not less fatal to the peace and prosperity of our present highly-favored country.
After being read, the message was referred with the accompany- ing document to a select committee, consisting of Messrs. Haynes, Beall, of Twiggs, Schley, McDonald, and Howard, of Baldwin, on the part of the House, to join such committee as the Senate might appoint.
On the same day, (22d December,) Mr. Haynes, from the com- mittee, made the following report :-
Whereas, it appears by a communication made by his Excellency the Governor to this General Assembly that the Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States has sanctioned a writ of error, and cited the State of Georgia, through her Chief Magistrate, to appear before the Supreme Court of the United States to defend this State against said writ of error, at the instance of one George Tassels, recently convicted in Hall county Superior Court of the crime of murder.
And whereas, the right to punish crimes against the peace and good order of this State, in accordance with existing laws, is an original and necessary part of sovereignty which the State of Georgia has never parted with.
Be it therefore resolved, &c., That they view with feelings of the deepest regret the interference by the Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in the administration of the criminal laws of this State, and that such an interference is a flagrant violation of her right.
Resolved further. That his Excellency the Governor be, and he and every other officer of this State is hereby, requested and enjoined to dis- regard any and every mandate and process that has been or shall be served upon him or them, purporting to proceed from the Chief-Justice, or any
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Associate-Justice, or the Supreme Court of the United States, for the purpose of arresting any of the criminal laws of this State.
And be it further resolved, That his Excellency the Governor be, and he is hereby. authorized and required with all the force and means placed at his command by the Constitution and laws of this State, to resist and repel any and every invasion from whatever quarter, upon the administra- tion of the criminal laws of this State.
Resolerd, That the State of Georgia will never so far compromit the sovereignty as an independent State as to become a party to the cause sought to be made before the Supreme Court of the United States by the writ in question.
Resolved, That his Excellency the Governor be, and he is herewith. authorized to communicate to the Sheriff of Hall county, by express, so much of the foregoing resolutions and such orders as are necessary to insure the full execution of the laws in the case of George Tassels, con- victed of murder in Hall county.
The House Journal (p. 448) states that Mr. Turner offered the following as a substitute to said report, to wit :-
Whereas, the circumstances under which the citation to the State from the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Tassels, an Indian, convicted of murder in the Superior Court of Hall county, are unfavorable to calm deliberation; and whereas, the General Assembly have confidence in the intelligence of the Executive and Judicial Departments of the Government of this State, into whose cognizance the case of Tassels will more immediately come,
Resolved, That the action of the General Assembly is deemed unneces- sary at the present time in the case of George Tassels aforesaid.
On the question to accept this substitute the yeas were 11; nays, 62. Among the former were Messrs. Day, McDonald, Schley, Turner, and C. Wellborn.
On the question to agree to the original report the yeas were 73; nays, 10. Among the latter were Messrs. Day, McDonald, Schley, Turner, and C. Wellborn.
The next day the Senate concurred in the report, and at the appointed time the prisoner was executed under the sentence which his counsel attempted to reverse by writ of error. The case was not further prosecuted, as no relief could reach the plaintiff, thus avoiding the conflict of jurisdiction between the Federal and Stato Governments in the last resort, practically.
As another scrap of political history deserves preservation, the author makes no apology for a somewhat-extended notice of the Anti-Tariff Convention held at Milledgeville, and especially as Gen. Beall was a delegate from Bibb, and prominent in its delibe- rations. The official record of its proceedings is now before the author, and he copies the names of all the delegates, with such other matters as seem most relevant.
VOL. I .- 3
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The Convention met in the Representative Chamber at three o'clock in the afternoon of Monday, 12th November, 1832, when the following delegates appeared from their respective counties :-
1. Appling-Malcolm Morrison.
2. Baker-Young Allen.
3. Baldwin-William H. Torrance and Saml. Rockwell.
4. Bibb-Robert A. Beall and Robert Collins.
5. Bullock-Samuel L. Lockhart.
6. Burke-J. Lewis, E. Hughes, and David Taylor, Jr.
7. Camden-H. R. Ward and J. Hull.
8. Cherokee-Z. B. Hargrove and W. W. Williamson.
9. Clark-A. S. Clayton, Thos. Moore, and J. Ligon.
10. Columbia-Isaac Ramsey, W. A. L. Collins, and J. Cartledge.
11. Coweta-Thos. Watson and Owen H. Kenan.
12. Crawford-Henry Crowell and Hiram Warner.
13. Decatur-Drury Fort and Jehu W. Keith.
14. De Kalb-Lewis J. Dupree, D. Kiddoo, and O. Clark.
15. Dooly-Thomas H. Key.
16. Early-Josiah S. Patterson.
17. Effingham -- Clem. Powers.
18. Elbert-Beverly Allen, I. N. Davis, and J. M. Tate.
19. Emanuel-John R. Daniel.
20. Glynn-Thomas Butler King.
21. Greene-W. C. Dawson, J. G. Matthews, and W. Greer.
22. Gwinnett-J. G. Park, W. Maltbie, Hines Holt, and S. Mc Mullin.
23. Hall-W. H. Underwood, J. Mc Afee, R. Sanford, and N. Garrison.
24. Hancock-Thos. Haynes, Tully Vinson, and James Lewis.
25. Harris-Jacob M. Guerry and Barkly Martin.
26. IIeard-Rene Fitzpatrick.
27. Henry-A. R. Moore, Gibson Clark, J.Johnson and J. Coker.
28. Houston- Walter L. Campbell, Hugh Lawson, and C. Well- born.
29. Irwin- William Slone.
30. Jackson-David Witt, J. Park, and J. G. Pittman.
31. Jasper-Alfred Cuthbert, D. A. Reese, and M. Phillips. 32. Jefferson-Roger L. Gamble and Philip S. Lemlic.
33. Jones-W. S. C. Reid, J. L. Lewis, and T. G. Barron.
34. Laurens-David Blackshear and Eason Allen.
35. Lec-John G. Oliver.
36. Lincoln-Rem Remson and Peter Lamar.
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37. Madison-Thos. Long and W. M. Morton.
38. Marion-Wiley Williams.
39. McIntosh-Thomas Spalding and James Troup.
40. Meriwether-W. D. Alexander and Hugh W. Ector.
41. Monroc-John Macpherson Berrien, Thos. N. Beall, Gec. W. Gordon, and Elbridge G. Cabiness. 1921409
42. Montgomery-Joseph Ryals.
43. Morgan-W. S. Stokes, Van Leonard, and C. Campbell.
44. Muscogee-Allen Lawhon and A. S. Clifton.
45. Newton-Charles Kennon, Richard L. Sims, and Seth P. Storrs.
46. Oglethorpe-George R. Gilmer and John Moore.
47. Pulaski-Burwell W. Bracewell.
48. Putnam-L. W. Hudson, C. P. Gordon, and W. W. Mason.
49. Rabun-Samuel Farris and Henry T. Mosely.
50. Randolph-Benjamin Holland.
51. Richmond-John Forsyth, William Cumming, and John P. King.
52. Scriven-A. S. Jones and P. L. Wade.
53. Talbot-Samuel W. Flournay and N. B. Powell.
54. Taliaferro-Absalom Janes and S. C. Jeffries.
55. Tatnall-Joseph Tillman.
56. Thomas- William H. Reynolds and A. J. Dozier.
57. Troup-Samuel A. Bailey and Julius C. Alford.
58. Upson-Reuben J. Crews and John Robinson.
59. Walton-Thos. W. Harris, T. J. Hill, and Orion Stroud.
60. Warren-Henry Lockhart and Thos. Gibson, Jr.
61. Washington-S. Robinson, J. Peabody, and Morgan Brown.
From the above roll, it appears that one hundred and thirty delegates presented credentials from sixty-one counties. The Hon. GEORGE R. GILMER was elected president, and William Y. Hansell, Benjamin T. Mosely, and Mansfield Torrance, Esqs., were appointed secretaries.
On motion of Mr. Torrance,
Resolved, That a committee of twenty-one be appointed, whose duty it shall be to report resolutions expressive of the sense of this Convention in relation to the Protective System, and the best and most efficient mode of obtaining relief from the evils of that system; and that the said com- mittee be further instructed to report what objects ought to engage the attention of this Convention, and what will be the most efficient means of accomplishing the same.
After the appointment of a Committee on Rules to govern the
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Convention, nothing more was done the first afternoon. On the second day, Mr. FORSYTH submitted the following :-
Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the president to examine and report to this body at its next meeting, the authority of the persons assembled as Delegates from the different counties of the State to represent the people of their respective counties; the resolutions, if any, under which the election in each county was held; the notice given of the time of the election; the manner of holding it, the number of votes given at the election, and the number of voters in the county.
Resolved, That the individuals who have been elected as a committee of what is known as the Athens meeting, be, and they are hereby, requested to present to this body the correspondence they have held con- nected with the object of their appointment.
Mr. Torrance offered, in lieu of the first resolution, the following as a substitute :-
Resolved, That a Committee of Elections and Appointments be now appointed to inquire into the right of any member to hold his seat, when- ever the same shall be contested, and report the facts to the Convention.
After a little skirmishing the resolutions and substitute were laid on the table for the present. The president then announced the appointment of the Committee of Twenty-one, to wit :- Messrs. Blackshear, Berrien, Forsyth, Cumming, Clayton, Cuthbert, Gamble, Reese, Spalding, Tait, Rockwell, Beall, of Bibb, Taylor, of Burke, Bailey, Warner, Dawson, Haynes, Gordon, of Putnam, Clark, of Henry, Janes, and Harris.
On the third day, on motion of Mr. Rockwell,
Resolved, That the Governor, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Judges of the Superior Courts, and the Hon. David Johnson and Chancellor Harper, of South Carolina, and editors and reporters of newspapers, be provided with seats within the bar.
The Convention then resumed the unfinished business of the previous day and took up the first resolution of Mr. Forsyth, which, being read, Mr. Berrien proposed to amend it by striking out the following :- " The resolutions, if any, under which the election in each county was held ; the notice given of the time of the election ; the manner of holding it, the number of votes given in the county"-and insert in lieu thereof the following words, to wit :- " and that the report of the said committee, when approved by this Convention, shall be attached to the proceedings of this body, to be submitted to the people of Georgia for their approba- tion or rejection."
Perhaps on no other occasion in Georgia was there such an imposing display of eloquence. Mr. FORSYTH stood forth in the
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majesty of his intellect and the graces of his unrivalled elocution. For three days the Convention and the crowded galleries listened to the debate with rapt attention. All conceded the victory to Mr. FORSYTH in the preliminary discussion. He seemed as a giant, bearing down all obstacles in his way. Mr. BERRIEN took the floor amid plaudits from the gallery. He waved his hand and shook his head gravely, his beaming face upward, to repress the demonstration in his favor. What delight he afforded all present by his polished style and sweet delivery, may be imagined by those who ever had the good fortune to hear this American Cicero. Other speakers participated in the discussion; but the author does not remember all of them, although a spectator. Col. WILLIAM CUMMING, in point of dignity and force, called to mind a proud Roman Senator. Messrs. CLAYTON, TORRANCE, ROCKWELL, CUTHBERT, SPALDING, BEALL, G. W. GORDON, HAYNES, and ALFORD, were among the principal debaters. Gov. GILMER made an argument with his usual zeal and ability on the main question, at another stage of the Convention.
In the mean time the president submitted to the Convention communications from the IIon. David Johnson and Chancellor Ilarper, touching political events in South Carolina, which were severally referred to the Committee of Twenty-one.
On Friday, Gen. BLACKSHEAR, Chairman of the Committee of Twenty-one, made a report, which was read to the Convention by Mr. BERRIEN, the author of the report. It is too long for inser- tion here, though its ability would interest the political reader. After a brief preamble, it affirms, -
1. That the Federal Government is a confederacy formed by the States composing the same, for the specific purposes expressed in the Constitu- tion, and for those alone.
2. That every exercise by the Federal Government, or by any depart- ment thereof, of powers not granted by the Constitution, notwithstanding it may be under the forms of law, is, in relation to the constituent States, a mere usurpation.
3. That a government of limited powers can have no constitutional right to judge in the last resort of its own use or abuse of the powers con- ferred upon it, since that would be to substitute for the limitations of the constitutional charter the judgment of the agents who were employed to carry it into effect,-to annihilate those limitations by a power derived from the same instrument which created them.
4. That the Federal Government is a government the powers of which are expressly limited by the Constitution which created it, and can there- fore have no constitutional right to judge in the last resort of the use or abnse of those powers.
5. That it is essential to a confederated government, the powers of
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which are expressly limited by the constitution which creates it, that there should exist somewhere a power authoritatively to interpret that instrument,-to decide in the last resort on the use or abuse of the authority which it confers upon the common agent of the confederating States: that such a power cannot belong to the agent, since that would be to substitute his judgment for the constitutional limitation; and that, in the absence of a common arbiter expressly designated by the Constitu- tion for this purpose, cach State as such for itself, and in virtue of its sovereignty, is necessarily remitted to the exercise of that right.
6. That the several States composing this Union were, at the adoption of the Federal Constitution, free, sovereign, and independent States; that they have not divested themselves of this character by the relinquishment of certain powers to the Federal Government,-having associated with their sister states for purposes entirely compatible with the continued existence of their own original freedom, sovereignty, and independence.
The seventh resolution declares the several Tariff acts of Con- gress, designed for the protection of domestic manufactures, unconstitutional and void. The eighth avers attachment to the Union, and perseverance in the means of redress. The ninth refuses to submit, and asks for consultation and concert with sister States to resist usurped authority ; and the tenth recommends the aggrieved States to hold a Southern Convention. The eleventh authorizes the president to appoint five superintendents in each county to take the sense of the people on the proceedings of the Convention, by voting at polls to be kept open from the 15th De- cember until the second Monday in February then next. The twelfth requires public notice of the result to be given, and the citizens to elect, by general ticket on the fourth Monday in March, delegates to represent Georgia in the proposed Convention of States. The thirteenth is for the Convention to meet again on the first Monday in July. The fourteenth is the following :-
Resolved, That the President of this Convention do communicate the aforegoing resolutions, from one to ten inclusive, to the Governors of the several Southern States having common interests with us in the removal of the grievances of which we complain; to the Governors of the other States at his discretion, and asking them to give publicity to the same within their respective States, and earnestly inviting them to unite with us in Convention as the sure, perhaps the only, means of preserving the peace of the Union.
The three other resolutions provide for the appointment of a Central Committee in Baldwin, to whom all the county superin- tendents shall certify the action before them ; for the publication of twenty thousand copies of the proceedings of the Conven- tion, &c.
In the appendix to the Journal of the Convention, it is stated
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that the following substitute to the Report of the Committee of "Twenty-one" was offered by Mr. FORSYTH, in committee, and rejected :-
Resolred, That it is not necessary to reiterate in a new form the opinions of the people on the subject of the Tariff, or the necessity for the abandonment of the protective system, to preserve the Union and to maintain harmony among the States.
Resolved, That a Southern Convention should be called to consult on the best measures to procure a final and speedy abandonment of it by the General Government.
Resolved, That the Legislature should provide for the appointment of Delegates to meet a Southern Convention whenever ALL THE STATES south of the Potomac and north of the Mississippi agree to appoint their delegates for that purpose.
Before a vote was taken in the Convention on the Report of the Committee of "Twenty-one," and after the rejection of his resolu- tion touching the "authority of gentlemen to speak in the name of the people," Mr. FORSYTH laid on the secretary's table a pro- test signed by himself and about fifty other delegates, all of whom then retired together from the Convention. The scene was very exciting, but it passed off quietly, and the remaining majority pro- ceeded with their business as though nothing material had occurred to weaken their deliberations.
After sundry propositions and a few slight amendments, the report was agreed to by a vote of,-Ycas, 64; Nays, 6. Com- paring the roll as given with those voting on the adoption of the report, the names of the seceding delegates are pretty well ascer- tained ; and on this basis the author has marked them in italics, merely for reference as to old party divisions.
Two important committees were appointed,-one to address the people of Georgia, consisting of Messrs. Berrien, Clayton, Gordon, of Putnam, Beall, of Bibb, and Torrance; and the other, styled the " Central Committee," consisting of Messrs. W. H. Torrance, S. Rockwell, John II. Howard, Samuel Boykin, and James S. Cal- houn, whose duty it should be "to take all necessary steps to giving effect to the measures of this Convention,"-both of which committees soon afterwards published able addresses to the people of Georgia on the matters with which they were respectively charged.
The author has dwelt freely on these topics for the principal reason that the young men of the State may understand the condition of parties more than twenty years ago, at a season of great peril to the Union ; and also because the Convention referred
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to was anterior to the "Ordinance of Nullification" in a sister State,-all the proceedings in Carolina in opposition to the Tariff having the hearty sanction of Gen. Beall, whose opinions are to be illustrated by facts. Of the ten gentlemen on the two committees who thus appealed to the people of Georgia against the oppressions of the General Government, Maj. Howard is the only survivor ! No formal action was ever had at the ballot-box to carry out the objects of the Convention.
One incident, or rather legislative expression, though omitted at the proper place, connected with the public life of Gen. Beall, the author begs to introduce here. At the session of 1830, the late Gov. Towns, then a Representative, offered in the House a set of resolutions, the character of which may be inferred from the closing sentence of one of them :- " That disunion, it is firmly believed, will bring in its train discord, misery, and civil war; and finally, that the people of this State deem those as their worst and bitterest enemies who seek to sow the seeds of disunion, and introduce the wretched doctrines of Consolidation and Nullification amongst them." On the motion of Mr. Dougherty they were laid on the table for the present,-Yeas, 86; Nays, 42. Mr. Bailey then moved to lay on the table, for the balance of the session, the resolutions of Gen. Beall, (to be seen elsewhere in this memoir,) and those offered by Mr. Murray, which was refused,-Yeas, 49; Nays, 74. On the question to adopt the preamble and resolutions of Gen. Beall, Mr. Brewster, of Gwinnett, moved to amend by adding,
And be it further resolved, That the people of Georgia disapprove of the political opinions of the Hon. George M. Troup, as expressed in his toast at the Jefferson celebration dinner at Washington City, and in his letter replying to an invitation to the Columbia dinner.
The amendment was, on motion of Mr. Turner, laid on the table for the remainder of the session, -Yeas, 93; Nays, 31. Among those voting against laying the amendment on the table, were Messrs. McDonald, Schley, and Towns.
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