son, and ought to have been delivered to the legitimate magistrate, to be prosecuted as a traitor."

Judge Martin goes into a short, but satisfactory argument, to prove that a citizen cannot be prosecuted as a spy under the articles of war. Whether, however, the General and his advisers considered Louallier as a spy, or a traitor, he was arrested on Sunday the 5th of March, at noon, near the Exchange Coffeehouse." He applied to a gentleman of the bar for legal relief. An application for this purpose was made to Judge Martin, (our author) one of the members of the Supreme Court of the state. The judge thought he had no jurisdiction over the case, and could not interfere. Hall, the District Judge of the United States, was then called upon for a writ of habeas corpus, which was granted. The attorney was directed by the Judge to inform the General of his application for the writ and the order for issuing it.-This was in courtesy.

"On receiving Morel's communication, the ebullition of Jackson's anger was such, that reason appeared to have lost its control. Those who had suggested the harsh measure against the French citizens, and the still more harsh one against Louallier, imagined the moment was come, when their enmity towards Hall might be gratified. We have seen that a number of individuals, who had hitherto sustained a fair character, were now known as accomplices of the Barrataria pirates. Frosecutions had been commenced against some of them, and Hall manifested that stern severity of character, which appals guilt. The counsel of these men had conceived the idea that he did not view their efforts to screen their clients, with the liberality and indulgence they deserved. The opportunity now offered of humbling this worthy magistrate, was not suffered to remain unimproved; and Jackson was assured that Hall, like Louallier, was guilty of an offence punishable with death.

"The general's attention was drawn to the seventh section of the rules and articles of war, which denounces the last punishment against persons aiding or abetting mutiny; and he was pressed to prosecute the judge before a court martial. As a preparatory step, with that promptitude of decision, which Eaton says is a leading trait in his character, he signed an instrument at once, the warrant for the arrest, and the mittimus for the imprisonment of Hall. He wrote to Colonel Arbuckle, who commanded at the barracks, that having received proof that Dominick A. Hall had been aiding, abetting, and exciting mutiny in his camp, he desired that a detachment might be ordered forthwith, to arrest and confine him; and that a report might be made as soon as he was arrested. "You will,' as it is said in the conclusion of this paper, 'be vigilant; as the agents of our enemy are more numerous than we expected. You will be guarded against escapes.'

"The prosecution of the judge was intended to be grounded on the seventh section of the articles of war, which is in these words :- Any officer or soldier, who shall begin, cause, excite, or join in, any mutiny or sedition, in any troop or company, in the service of the United States, or in any post, detachment, or guard, shall suffer death, or any other punishment, as by a court martial shall be inflicted.'

"Hall was not an officer, in the sense of the act of Congress-he was not a soldier, in the ordinary meaning of that word; but, according to the jurisprudence of head quarters, the proclamation of martial law had transformed every inhabitant of New-Orleans into a soldier, and rendered him punishable under the articles of war.

"The judge was accordingly arrested in his own house, at nine o'clock, and confined in the same apartment with Louallier, in the barracks.

"As soon as this was reported at head quarters, Major Chotard was despatched to demand from Claiborne, the clerk of the district court of the United States, the surrender of Louallier's petition, on the back of which Hall had written the order for issuing the writ of habeas corpus. It has been seen that there was not any officer of the state government, nor of the United States, out of the army, who imagined that a proclamation of martial law gave the general any right, nor imposed on others any obligation, which did not exist before. The clerk accordingly answered that there was a rule of court, which forbade him to part with any original paper lodged in his office; and he was ignorant of any right, in the commander of the army, to interfere with the records of the court. He however was, after much solicitation, prevailed on to take the document in his pocket, and accompany Chotard to head quarters.

"In the meanwhile, an express from the department of war had arrived, with the intelligence that the President of the United States had ratified the treaty, and an exchange of the ratifications had taken place at Washington, on the 17th of February, the preceding month. By an accident, which was not accounted for, a packet had been put into the hands of the messenger, instead of the one containing the official information of the exchange of the ratifications. But the man was bearer of an open order of the postmaster, to all his deputies on the road, to expedite him with the utmost celerity, as he carried information of the recent peace. He declared he had handed an official notice of this event to the governor of the state of Tennessee.

"On the arrival of the clerk at head quarters, Jackson asked him whether it was his intention to issue the writ : he replied it was his bounden duty to do so, and he most assuredly would. He was threatened with an arrest, but persisted in his asseveration that he would obey the judge's order. He had handed Louallier's petition to Jackson, and, before he retired, demanded the return of it; this was peremptorily refused, and the paper was withheld. It appears the date of the fifth of March had been originally on this document, and that being Sunday, Hall changed it to that of the following day, the sixth. The idea had been cherished, that this alteration might support an additional article, in the charges against Hall. It is not extraordinary, that those who imagined that, as Louallier might be tried for a libel, in a court martial, Hall might for forgery. Thus one inconsistency almost universally leads to another.

"Duplessis, the marshal of the United States, had volunteered his services, as an aid to Jackson; a little after midnight he visited head quarters. The imprisonment of Hall, and the accounts from Washington, had brought a great concourse of people near the general; who, elated by the success of the evening, met the marshal at the door, and announced to him, he had shopped the judge. Perceiving that Duplessis did not show his exultation, he inquired whether he would serve Hall's writ. The marshal replied, he had ever done his duty, which obliged him to execute all writs directed to him by the court, whose ministerial officer he was; and, looking sternly at the person who addressed him, added, he would execute the court's writ on any man. A copy of the proclamation of martial law, that lay on the table, was pointed to him, and Jackson said, he also would do his duty.

"A large concourse of people had been drawn to the Exchange coffee-house, during the night, by the passing events, which were not there, as at head quarters, a subject of exultation and gratulation. The circumstances were not unlike those of the year 1806, which Livingston describes as so new in the history of our country, that they will not easily gain belief, at a distance, and can scarcely be realized by those who beheld them. A dictatorial power, assumed by the commander of the American army-the military arrest of citizens, charged with a civil offence-the violation of the sanctuary of justice-an attempt to overawe, by denunciations, those who dared, professionally, to assert the authority of the laws-the unblushing avowal of the employment of military force, to punish a civil offence, and the hardy menace of persevering in the same course, were circumstances that must command attention, and excite the corresponding sentiments of grief, indignation, and contempt.''

We have made our extract so copiously of this dangerous and

extravagant proceeding, because we wish it to be represented in the language of the author, and not by any abridgment of ours. General Jackson having received intelligence of the treaty which he chose to agree that he relied upon, addressed a despatch to the British commander "to anticipate the happy return of peace." We again take up our author.

"Jackson now paused to deliberate, whether these circumstances did not require him, by a cessation of all measures of violence, to allow his fellow-citizens in New-Orleans, to anticipate this happy return of peace, the account of which, the first direct intelligence was to bring to him, in an official form—the untoward arrival of an orderly sergeant, with a message from Arbuckle, to whom the custody of Hall had been committed, prevented Jackson coming to that conclusion, which his unprejudiced judgment would have suggested. The prisoner had requested, that a magistrate might be permitted to have access to him, to receive an affidavit, which he wished to make, in order to resort to legal measures, for his release. Arbuckle desired to know the general's pleasure, on this application. Naturally impatient of any thing like control or restraint, the idea of a superior power to be employed against his decisions, threw Jackson into emotions of rage. Before they had sufficiently subsided to allow him to act on the message, some of his ordinary advisers came in, to recommend the arrest of Hollander, a merchant of some note. What was the offence of this man, has never been known; but Jackson's temper of mind was favourable to the views of his visiters. He ordered the arrest of the merchant, and forbade the access of the magistrate to Hall; the idea of allowing his fellow-citizens to anticipate the happy return of peace was abandoned, and measures were directed to be taken for the trial of Louallier."

The boasted "promptitude and decision" of the General's character, admirable qualities in their proper places and under proper regulation, carried him on, deeper and deeper, into the violation of the most sacred rights of a free citizen, and of the immunities of the officers of the law in the administration of the laws.

"Dick, the attorney of the United States, made application to Lewis, one of the district judges of the state, who was serving as a subaltern officer, in the Orleans rifle company, and whose conduct during the invasion, had received Jackson's particular commendation. Believing that his duty as a military man, did not diminish his obligation, as a judge, to protect his fellow-citizens from illegal arrest, Lewis, without hesitation, on the first call of Dick, laid down his rifle, and allowed the writ.

"Information of this having been carried to head quarters, Jackson immediately ordered the arrest of Lewis and Dick.

"Arbuckle, to whom Lewis's writ, in favour of Hall, was directed, refused to surrender his prisoner, on the ground he was committed by Jackson, under the authority of the United States.

"The orders for the arrest of Lewis and Dick were countermanded."

The effect of such proceedings, without parallel in a free government, and without apology any where, may be well imagined.

"The irritation of the public mind manifested itself, in the evening, by the destruction of a transparent painting, in honour of Jackson, which the proprietor of the Exchange coffee-house displayed, in the largest hall."

This brought the military in support of their General.

"A number of officers had compelled the proprietor of the Exchange coffee

house, to exhibit a new transparent painting, and to illuminate the hall in a more than usual manner. They attended in the evening, and stood near the painting, with the apparent intention of indicating a determination, to resist the attempt of taking down the painting. It was reported, a number of soldiers were in the neighbourhood, ready to march to the coffee-house, at the first call. This was not calculated to allay the excitement of the public mind. The prostration of the legitimate government; the imprisonment of the district judge of the United States, the only magistrate, whose interference could be successfully invoked, on an illegal arrest, under colour of the authority of the United States, the ascendency assumed by the military, appeared to have dissolved all the bands of social order in New-Orleans."

The good sense, we are told, of some of the most influential characters in the city, prevented the extremities to which these proceedings were fast approaching. The injured and the irritated were assured, "that Jackson's day of reckoning would arrive; that Hall, with the authority (though now without the power) of chastising the encroachments of the military, possessed the resolution, and would soon have the power to punish the violators of the law." The court martial, by whom Louallier was tried, acquitted him.

"Jackson was greatly disappointed at the conclusion to which the court martial had arrived; he, however, did not release either of his prisoners, and on the tenth issued the following general order :—

"The commanding general disapproves of the sentence of the court martial, of which Major-general Gaines is president, on the several charges and specifications exhibited against Mr. Louallier; and is induced by the novelty and importance of the matters submitted to the decision of that court, to assign the reasons of this disapproval.""

He gave his reasons at length, which only show how hard it is for certain tempers to acknowledge a wrong, or return to the right.

"The court martial consoled themselves, by the reflection, that their sentence, though disapproved by Jackson, was in perfect conformity with decisions of the President of the United States, and of the supreme court of the state of NewYork, in similar cases."

There is something in the name and character of a Court, which assures us of its respect for justice and the law.

"The independent stand, taken by the court martial, had left no glimpse of hope, at head quarters, that the prosecution of Hall, on the charge of mutiny, on which he had been imprisoned, could be attempted with any prospect of success-the futility of any further proceedings against Louallier was evidentJackson, therefore, put an end to Hall's imprisonment on Saturday, the 11th of March. The word imprisonment is used, because Eaton assures his readers, that Judge Hall was not imprisoned; it was merely an arrest.' Hall had been taken from his bed chamber, on the preceding Sunday, at 9 o'clock in the evening, by a detachment of about one hundred men, dragged through the streets, and confined in the same apartment with Louallier, in the barracks. Three days after, it had been officially announced to the inhabitants of New-Orleans, that Jackson was in possession of persuasive evidence, that a state of peace existed, and the militia had been discharged, the door of Hall's prison was thrown open, but not for his release. He was put under a guard, who led him several miles beyond the limits of the city, where they left him, with a prohibition to return, till the ratification of the treaty was regularly announced, or the British shall have left the southern coast.'

"This last, and useless display of usurped power, astonished the inhabitants. They thought, that, if the general feared the return of the British, the safety of New-Orleans would be better insured, by his recall of the militia, than by the banishment of the legitimate magistrate. It was the last expansion of light, and momentary effulgence, that precedes the extinguishment of a taper.

"At the dawn of light, on Monday, the 13th, an express reached head quarters, with the despatch which had accidentally been misplaced, in the office of the secretary of war, three weeks before. The cannon soon announced the arrival of this important document, and Louallier was indebted for his liberation, to the precaution, which Eaton says, the President of the United States had taken, to direct Jackson to issue a proclamation for the pardon of all military offences."

Judge Hall had suffered indignity without being disgraced; he had submitted to physical force without yielding his spirit to debasement; or surrendering one of his official or personal rights. His reward awaited him, and it is eloquently recorded by our historian.

"Hall's return to the city was greeted by the acclamations of the inhabitants. He was the first judge of the United States they had received, and they had admired in him the distinguishing characteristics of an American magistrate-a pure heart, clean hands, and a mind susceptible of no fear, but that of God. His firmness had, eight years before, arrested Wilkinson in his despotic measures. He was now looked upon to show, that if he had been unable to stop Jackson's arbitrary steps, he would prevent him from exulting, in the impunity of his trespass."

Dick, the District Attorney, has a fair claim to a participation in these honours.

"He was anxious to lose no time, in calling the attention of the district court of the United States, to the violent proceedings, during the week that had followed the arrival of the first messenger of peace; but Hall insisted on a few days being exclusively given to the manifestation of the joyous feelings, which the termination of the war excited. He did not yield to Dick's wishes till the 21st. The affidavits of the clerk of the district court, of the marshal of the United States, of the attorney of Louallier, and of the commander at the barracks, were then laid before the court."

The case presented to the court, was substantially such as appears in the foregoing narrative. Hall was as resolute in his court, as Jackson at the head of an army; the Judge was as fearless in maintaining the law, as the General had been in trampling upon it. "On motion of the Attorney of the United States, a rule to show cause, why process of attachment should not issue against Jackson, was granted."

On the return day, the General, accompanied by one of his aids, appeared before the court, and presented his answer to the rule. Some legal questions were discussed and decided on the propriety of admitting the answer. Finally, the rule was made absolute, that is, the attachment was ordered. The General is still haunted by bad advisers.

"Jackson's advisers now found he could not be defended on the merits, with the slightest hope of success, as the attorney of the United States would proba bly draw from him by interrogatories, the admission, that both Louallier and the judge were kept in prison, long after persuasive evidence had been received at