scape, if it were in his
power to do so; and when the act is so publicly performed
by another, as in this instance, and is observed by so many
witnesses, the officers of the law should certainly have taken
some little pains to ascertain the facts before proceeding
to arrest so distinguished a dignitary, and to attempt to
incarcerate him in prisons with felons, or to put him in a
position to be further disgraced, and perhaps assaulted by one
so violent as to be publicly reported, not only then but on
numerous previous occasions, to have threatened his life.

"We are extremely gratified to find that, through the action
of the chief magistrate, and the attorney-general, a higher
officer of the law, we shall be spared the necessity of
further inquiring as to the extent of the remedy afforded the
distinguished petitioner, by the Constitution and laws of the
United States, or of enforcing such remedies as exist, and
that the stigma cast upon the State of California by this
hasty and, to call it by no harsher term, ill-advised arrest
will not be intensified by further prosecution."

Thus ended this most remarkable attempt upon the liberty of a United
States Supreme Court Justice, under color of State authority, the
execution of which would again have placed his life in great peril.

The grotesque feature of the performance was aptly presented by the
following imaginary dialogue which appeared in an Eastern paper:

Newsboy: "Man tried to kill a judge in California!"

Customer: "What was done about it?"

Newsboy: "Oh! They arrested the judge."

The illegality of Justice Field's arrest will be perfectly evident
to whoever will read sections 811, 812, and 813 of the Penal Code of
California. These sections provide that no warrant can be issued by
a magistrate until he has examined, on oath, the informant, taken
depositions setting forth the facts tending to establish the
commission of the offense and the guilt of the accused, and himself
been satisfied by these depositions that there is reasonable ground
that the person accused has committed the offense. None of these
requirements had been met in Justice Field's case.

It needs no lawyer to understand that a magistrate violates the plain
letter as well as the spirit of these provisions of law when he
issues a warrant without first having before him some evidence of the
probable, or at least the possi