John Jay’s Charge to the Grand Jury, Circuit Court for the District of Vermont, [25] June 1792
John Jay’s Charge to the Grand Jury, Circuit Court for the District of Vermont
[Bennington, 25 June 1792]
Gentlemen of the Grand Jury
To contemplate1 offences, and to prescribe2 punishments are unpleasing but necessary Tasks; being3 imposed by the nature of civil Society, and by those vices which too often prompt Individuals to violate4 the Rights of others.
Altho’ no Proposition is more true, than that the Interests & the Duties of men are inseparable; yet it is unfortunately and equally true, that their conduct does not always correspond with this excellent Principle. accurate Ideas of Interest are far from being universal; and even of those who know what is right, the number ^of them^ is not inconsiderable, whom the Delusion or Force of predominant Passions daily seduce or impel to do wrong.
Hence it is that Governments or Laws which are calculated only on the Virtues of mankind, always terminate in Disorder and Disappointment; while on the contrary, those which regard5 only their vices, are generally marked by oppression and undue Severity. Both should be considered with equal attention, or a just Estimate of their Influence and operation cannot be formed, nor a proper mean between the two Extremes observed.6 It is pleasing to remark7 that the national Laws appear to have been mindful of both8; for while they meet Transgression with Punishment, their mildness manifests9 much Confidence in the Reason and Virtue of the people— a confidence which the commendable observance of these Laws has fully justified.10
Let me remind you Gentlemen! That in all Societies there will be Individuals, whose conduct acknowledges no morality but convenience; and who can only be restrained from offences by motives adapted to their Ideas of Interest— that is, by Penalties and by Punishment.11 Proceed then to enquire whether any and what offences against the national Laws have been committed, and by whom, within this District, or on the high Seas by Persons in, or belonging to it.12 All Offences from Treason to misdemeanours are the
objects of your Inquiry13 It is important that none of the Laws be violated with Impunity, for being all made for the Good, and by the authority of the People, it is highly interesting to the Prosperity and Honor of the nation14 that they be respected and observed:15 But as they differ in Degrees of Importance, it is proper that your attention, altho extended to all, should be in a particular manner be directed to those whose Objects are of the greatest magnitude, and whose due observance more immediately concerns the public Prosperity—
Of this Description are those that Respect the Revenue— that Revenue which is to afford Funds for the support of our Government, and consequently16 of our Rights and Liberties; and for the Payment of17 those Debts which were contracted for their Defence and Establishment.18 Debts, which we are under the highest19 moral as well as political obligations to discharge with the utmost Punctuality and good Faith.
Among20 the Laws made for these purposes there is one,21 whose name and object have rendered22 it liable to misrepresentation, and23 to Imputations which it does not merit— I mean the one commonly called the Excise act—24 Similar names are apt to excite similar Ideas & Prejudices; but Things, and not names, ought to decide our Judgments. Enlightened Citizens will read and judge25 and see for themselves, and thereby avoid the Risque of those Impositions by which artifice usually dupes Ignorance and credulity. This act in its Provisions bears scarcely any Resemblance to those in Britain which have rendered their very Titles odious. They who will be at the Trouble of comparing the act in Question with them, will find that it omits and avoids all those improper Intrusions on domestic Rights, and all those arbitrary m[easures] oppressive Restrictions which have f and ever will and ought to excite the Indignation of a free People.
The united States present to the world an unprecedented Instance Instance of a nation providing for all their pecuniary Exigencies without having Recourse to direct Taxation,26 or burthening the Land or the any of its Productions with any the least Im Impost or Duty. Should Fraud be practiced and permitted to prevail, the present happy System would cease to27 supply the afford adequate Supplies, and necessity would constrain us to adopt modes of Taxation less consistant with our Feelings and in several Respects more inconvenient. Let it be remembered that this Revenue is the People’s Revenue— that the Government it is to support, is the People’s Government— That the Debts it is to pay, is are the People’s Debts— and28 consequently that they who defraud the Revenue, defraud the People.
Among the Crimes specified in what is generally called the penal
Statute, there are two so29 dangerous to Society,30 that in my opinion they are as always to merit particular Attention— I mean the crime of Perjury, and the crime of Forgery.31
Independent of the abominable32 Insult which Perjury offers to33 the divine Being, there is no crime more extensively pernicious to Society. It [illegible] discolours and poisons the Streams of Justice, and by substituting Falsehood for Truth, saps the Foundations of personal and private public Rights— Controversies of various kinds exist34 at all Times, and in all communities.35 To decide them, Courts of Justice are instituted— Their Decisions must be regulated by Evidence, and the greater part of Evidence will always consist of the Testimony of witnesses— This Testimony is as it was verified to the Court given under those solemn obligations which an appeal to the God of Truth impose; and if oaths should cease to be held sacred, our dearest and most valuable Rights would become insecure.
Forgery involves and argues no common Degree of Turpitude and Guilt.36 Altho’ Passions cannot legally justify or excuse crimes, yet37 their Impulse sometimes drives men to commit outrages,38 which in their cooler moments they disapprove and repent— The public Good requires that they be punished,39 but they are nevertheless to be pitied. But40 he who commits Forgery, has no violence of Passion to prompt or to palliate his Conduct. With a Heart contaminated with41 Guilt, and a mind poluted with iniquitous Desires and Designs, he calmly and deliberately prepares and begins his work, and with patience and with Caution pursues it. He retires as usual to his meals and to his Bed, and from Interval to Interval, regularly resumes his Task— in Silence, in Secrecy, and in Solitude undisturbed, he prepares to do Injustice to his neighbours and Fellow Citizens— with care and circumspection he selects those, whose Credulity, Ignorance, or unsuspicious Confidence, render them the most Easy Prey, and exerts the utmost powers values ^of Thought and^ Reflection to render Fraud and Iniquity successful— The Folly of all bad men is to be regretted, but the Punishment of Persons so deliberately wicked, can merit very little compassion.
In a country like this, where Paper of various kinds has become a Medium in all our pecuniary Transactions, Forgery should be vigilantly watched, and severely punished; for whenever the authenticity of Paper becomes questionable, its credit must diminish, its currency be checked, and its utility be destroyed.42 If an injudicious and unjustifiable Tenderness for these atrocious43 offenders should encrease their numbers,44 and encourage their Practices; their arts would extend to every object on which this Species of Fraud could operate. Wills and Deeds not of our own making, would encumber
endanger and in many Instances, dispose of our Estates; especially if Perjury and should give to the works of Forgery, their numerous witnesses to prove their Truth & authenticity.
That Government may produce the Blessings expected from it ^it^ is highly requisite45 that their officers46 faithfully do the Duties of their respective Stations. I have no Reason to suspect that any of them have acted otherwise than virtuously and worthily; but it is nevertheless proper47 that attention be regularly paid to their48 Conduct,49 and that no Instances of ^corrupt or^ unlawful acts or omissions50 pass unnoticed. See that there be no Exactions in public offices, nor any of those reprehensible Practices tolerated, which under various Forms and Pretexts51 disgrace both the officers & the Governmt.
So far as the Prosperity of the People depends on a52 due observance of their Laws—and so far as a due observance of the Laws depends on the Detection and punishment of Transgressors, so far Gentlemen! you are responsible to the Public for the Diligence and Care with which your Duties may be fulfilled.
Be vigilant on the one Hand— be temperate on the other— Be cautious not to pay too little or too great [illegible] Respect to slight circumstances. Offenders know the Value of Silence and Secrecy; and Evidence apparently trivial, often leads to Evidence plain and satisfactory. First diligently inquire, and then maturely consider whether your Evidence be53 such as to justify your making Presentments, or to justify your omitting to make them— Let us strike at the guilty, but be careful not to wound the innocent.
Your oath superadds new and solemn obligations to those which result from the Laws of morality, against your permitting any Partialities, or any passions to warp or mislead your Judgments. You are called upon to look to the affairs of the Nation54 in this District— I presume you will find them in good order Governments in many Respects must act like Individuals.55 When our affairs are out of order, we should look to them to56 put them in order— and when our affairs are in good order, we should look to them to keep them so. For these purposes you Gentlemn are the Eyes of the public in this District; and being persuaded that you will direct and keep them fixed on the Objects of your Inquiry, and will discharge your Duty faithfully, I forbear adding to the Remarks which have already been submitted to your Consideration.57
AD, NNC (EJ: 13079). Endorsed: “Charge to Grand Jury at Bennington, June 1792.” This document is similar to the earlier charge that JJ delivered to the New York Grand Jury at the meeting of the Circuit Court for the District of New York on 5–6 Apr. 1792. Different sections of this earlier charge appear in two separate documents which the editors have labeled as the first dft and second dft. See Dft, JJ’s Charge to the Grand Jury of the Circuit Court for the District of New York, 5–6 Apr. 1792 (EJ: 08124 and 13207). The date and location for which the two documents containing the dft charge was prepared is derived by the notation of “Good Friday” at the bottom of the text of the first dft. The circuit court opened in New York on 5 Apr., on which date JJ delivered his charge, did not meet on Good Friday, 6 Apr., and reassembled on 7 Apr. No other court session met during JJ’s tenure as justice during a week that contained Good Friday. See , 2: 253–57, 282–86. For newspaper accounts printing the final text, and reporting that the charge was delivered on 25 June when JJ arrived in Bennington, see Vermont Gazette (Bennington), 29 June; Herald of Vermont (Rutland), 9 July; Vermont Journal, Morning Ray, Or Impartial Chronicle (Windsor), 10 July; Columbian Centinel (Boston), 28 July; Gazette of the United States (Philadelphia), 11 Aug.; Western Star (Stockbridge), 11 Sept. 1792. Significant changes in wording between the texts are indicated below, but changes in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, italicization, and paragraphing have not been noted.
1. Here, in the first New York dft, JJ wrote “dwell upon.”
2. Here, in the first dft, JJ excised “inflict”, before interlining “prescribe”.
3. JJ wrote “they are” in the first dft.
4. JJ wrote “render Individuals regardless of” in the first dft.
5. JJ wrote “contemplate” in the first dft.
6. Here, in the first dft, JJ wrote “Both should ^be^ regarded with equal Attention, or a just Estimate can never be formed.”
7. JJ wrote “observe” in the first dft.
8. Here, in the first dft, JJ wrote “not have been unmindful of either”.
9. JJ wrote “indicates” in the first dft.
10. In the first dft JJ wrote “their ^Laws^ has justified.”
11. JJ wrote in the first dft “Penalties & Punishmt.”
12. Here, in the first dft, JJ excised: “The penal Laws of the U.S. are not numerous, nor intricate—they have frequently been particularized on similar occasions, & are generally known. It cannot be necessary therefore only to observe, that”.
13. Here, in the first dft, JJ excised “The Court does not”.
14. Here, in the first dft, JJ wrote “it is interesting to the whole community”.
15. Here, in the first dft, JJ wrote in the margin the words “Finance Excise Forgery Perjury”. In the second dft, he excised the following passage “when considered in Relation to their various objects, they will be found” before continuing” ^but as they^ to differ in Degree of Importance, and it being proper therefore it becomes ^is^ proper that your attention altho extended to all, should be in a particular be directed to those whose objects by their ^are of the greatest^ magnitude, most powerful essentially ^& whose due observance more immediately^ concern the public Prosperity, and ought therefore most powerfully to attract our observation—”.
16. Here, in the second dft, JJ excised “for the Security”.
17. Here, in the second dft, JJ wrote “discharging.”
18. Here, in the second dft, JJ excised “& which” before interlining “Debts wh”.
19. Here, in the second dft, JJ wrote “po.”
20. In the second dft, JJ wrote the following paragraph at the end of the document and inserted an “X” at the beginning of this paragraph to indicate that it should appear here.
21. Here, in the second dft, JJ excised “that”.
22. Here, in the second dft, JJ excised “by being” before interlining “rendered it”.
23. Here, in the second dft, JJ wrote “many of those who s and exposed it”.
24. The Excise Act of 1791, passed 3 Mar. 1791: “An act repealing, after the last day of June next, the duties heretofore laid upon Distilled Spirits imported from abroad, and laying others in their stead, and also upon Spirits distilled within the United States, and for appropriating the same.” See , 1: 199.
25. Here, in the second dft, JJ wrote “judge for themselves, and hence it is that that few who ^many^ of those who are most ^and few of them are found to be^ averse to this act are ^not^ of that class. This Act in its Provisions bears little scarcely any Resemblance to those Acts in Britain which have very justly rendered the very name odious— They who will be at the Trouble of comparing them find that the american act avoid avoids all those improper Intrusions on our domestic Rights, ^&^ all those reprehensible arbitrary measures which have furnished such abundant matter for Complaint ^in other Countries^, and which ought never to be adopted or authorized in a ^any^ free Country”. The Herald of Vermont printed the beginning of this sentence as “Enlightened citizens will see and judge.”
26. Here, in the second dft, the remainder of the sentence reads “without burdening our Lands or the Produce of them as with any the least Impositions.”
27. In the second dft, the remainder of the sentence reads: “supply the Sums necessary for these Important purposes, and public necessity would constrain us to adopt modes of Taxation less consistant with our Feelings, and infinitely more in inconvenient in a variety of Respects ^more inconvenient^.”
28. Here, in the second dft, Jay excised “that”.
29. Here, in the second dft, JJ excised “exceedingly”.
30. In the second dft, the remainder of the sentence reads: “that I think it proper to direct your attention to them in a particular manner”.
31. Here, in the second dft, JJ wrote: “To begin with the first—”.
32. JJ wrote “dreadful” in the second dft.
33. Here, in the second dft, JJ wrote “the majesty of the divine Being”.
34. For the remainder of the sentence in the second dft, JJ wrote “in at all Times, in all Communities”.
35. In the second dft, the remainder of the paragraph reads: “and ^in order^ to render Right to all, Courts of Justice are instituted— By the Evidence of right they must be regulated, and of this Evidence the greater part will always consist in the Testimony of witnesses— This Testimony is given under the ^high &^ sacred Obligations of oaths, and if of oaths cease to be regarded in that Light ^as sacred^, if they cease to operate as they ought on mens Consciences, our dearest and most valuable Rights, and become precarious and insecure—”.
36. In the second dft, this sentence reads: “Few crimes involve a higher degree of Turpitude and Guilt than Forgery,—and there are few from which Society have more Reason to apprehend Danger.”
37. Here, in the second dft, JJ excised “these are”.
38. In the second dft: “enormities which in their cooler moments they very sincerely disapprove and regret—”.
39. In the second dft, JJ wrote “that they be punishment^d^”.
40. This sentence reads in the second dft as: “But he who commits forgery has no ^violence of^ Passion to ex prompt or ex palliate his Conduct”.
41. In the second dft, this passage reads: “vice, he calmly and deliberately sets down to begin his work of Fraud— he retires from his iniquitous Tasks to his meals and to his Bed— he resumes his base Employment from Interval to Interval, from Day to Day— In Silence and in Secrecy, and in Solitude undisturbed, he passes many a guilty hour Hour in preparing and finishing his Instrument
of Fraud— He then proceeds with Care and Circumspection to he selects those whose Credulity, Ignorance, or honest unsuspicious Confidence render them the most easey Prey to his artifices— various are the snares he prepares for his fellow Citizens, and and exerts the utmost powers of calm Reflection to render Fraud successful— The Folly of all bad men is to be lamented— but ^the punishment^ men so deliberately wicked cannot excite or merit much Compassion—”.
42. In the second dft, this sentence reads: “In a Country like this where Paper of various kinds are negociable, and have become essential to all our pecuniary oper and mercantile operations Forgery is to be ^vigilantly^ watched and severely publis punished. When the authenticity of Paper becomes doubtful, its Credit diminishes, its Currency flags, its utility is destroyed.”
43. JJ omitted the term “atrocious” in the second dft.
44. In the second dft the remainder of this paragraph reads: “and render the Vice prevalent, these Evils a would unavoidably follow, and would rapidly extend to every object which would on wh. this Species of Fraud could operate— or it. Wills and Deeds not of our making would ^endanger and perhaps^ dispose of our Estates and the Security of every kind of Property be [so?] shocked & endangered; especially if Perjury should give to the Works of Forgery the Proof and Stamp of Truth and authenticity—”.
45. In the first dft, JJ wrote “it is of much Importance,” a phrase that he had excised from the beginning of the sentence.
46. Here, in the first dft, JJ wrote “the public officers”.
47. In the first dft: “it nevertheless appears to me highly proper”.
48. In the first dft, JJ wrote “to the^ir^ conduct”.
49. Here, JJ excised “of the nation” from the first dft.
50. Here, in the first dft, JJ excised “be”.
51. Here, in the first dft, JJ wrote “Pretences” rather than “Pretexts” and included: “enhance the Expence of Business”. The Vermont Gazette printed “which render various forms and pretexts”.
52. In this sentence and the following one of the first dft, JJ wrote “the due observance” instead of “a due observance”.
53. Here, in the first dft, JJ excised “sufficient”.
54. Here, JJ added “touching the observance of the Laws” in the first dft.
55. In the first dft, this sentence reads: “Governments like Individuals in this, as in some other Respects, ^must^ act like Individuals.”
56. Here, in the first dft, JJ excised “keep”.
57. In the first dft, this sentence reads: “For these purposes and for these objects you Gentlemen! are the Eyes of the Public; and being persuaded that you will direct your attention to the objects of your Inquiry, and to your Duty, I forbear to detain You by further Remarks ^do not appear to me to be necessary—^”.