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TEX.\S STATE LIBRARY
district judge is defined and its general exertion limited and located to the district for which he is elected- 4. The district judges, in their courts, and in the appellate tribunal in association with the Chicf- Justiee, do, under the plain letter and import of the Constitution, com- pose mainly the third coordinate branch of the government and a check and· counterpoise to the Executive and Legislature; for all questions arising in the interpretation and application of the constitution and laws are finally a11<1 impcrati,·cly determined either in the Supreme or district Courts. In one sense this third branch is subor<linate to the Legislature in being denic<l legislative power and in being obliged to enforce all constitutional acts of congress without re- garding in the least their wisdom or expediency; but in another sense it is paramount to the Legislature in being entrusted with the vital and high conservatiYe power of annulling unconstitutional laws and of guard- ing defending & transmitting the grand basis of the government. 5. Tho' the districts arc carved out for the public good and economy, they are required to be established by the constitution; and there must be a district court and a district judge to hold it in each county-and hence districts must be continued. 6. The office of district & asso- ciate Judge cannot be abolished. The officer, at his election and in- vestiture, enters into a solemn compact with the government and nation to perform faithfully the duties of the trust; and the government and .nation correllatively vest in him the rights to exert the functions of the trust, to be obeyed in his place ancl in. the lawful clischarge of his functions, to enjoy the comparative benefits to him rlerived from his local ministry, and to receirn his compensation. 7. Every infraction of the constitution, or violation of a right it exalts for the most sacred protection, can only, in effect, clog the action of the government, or weaken its sound operation, or endanger its durability, relax the public confidence, and taint the fountains of those virtues, on whose livinµ: existence and active exhibition the integrity of the government and prosperity of the people depend. . These principles are not only self-evident, but they are sanctioned as sound, salutary, primordial nnd essential, by the concurring doc- trine::: of the Sages and Jurists of all Nations, in analagous instances, nnd the highest adjudication upon such subjects. He, who is un- acquainted with the elements of jurisprudence; he who is ignorant of constitutional law, or who is capable alone of grasping particulars, without the power of receiving the entire fabric in its foundations superstructure and uses, may be honestly betrayed into a denial or non observance of those principles. To the wilful disorganizer no admo- nition but fear cnn be directed. He, with the time-server and corrupt aspirant, are rep:ardless of all consequences, except such as may be per- sonal to themselves, & you might as well expostulate with the ashes of the dead as with them. Necessarily the constitution not only permits the number of districts to be fixed by Congrei;s, but allows, tacitly, to that body, the power, 80 to chang-e those established ns to admit a new district, in conse- quence of the spread of population and the formation of other coun- ties, or the districts established to be enlarged so as to includ'e such counties. But the question first arising is, •ca.n Congress abolish · an
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