HABEAS CORPUS. 



511 



removed to the " house of detention," where he was 

 retained until the day following, when he was again 

 brought before the Commission and informed that he 

 could have his liberty by signing the parole. He again 

 expressed his willingness to sign after he could have 

 an examination. Gen. Dix replied : " This is an exam- 

 ination that you have had." Mr. Wattles again de- 

 murred. He'wished to return to his home free from 

 all charges and suspicions ; but as there was no other 

 alternative, he concluded to sign. 



The case of the Messrs. Flanders, of Frank- 

 lin county, New York, contains some facts 

 which took place at an earlier date, which have 

 been thus reported : 



Not long after the transfer of the prisoners from Fort 

 Lafayette to Fort Warren, notice was given that on a 

 certain day Mr. Seth C. Hawley would visit the fort 

 for the purpose of ascertaining who among the persons 

 confined there were willing to take the " oath of alle- 



iance," as it was termed, as a condition, not of release, 

 ut of having their cases examined into and reported 

 upon. This oath reads as follows : 



" I do solemnly swear that I will support, protect, 

 and defend the Constitution and Government of the 

 United States against all enemies, whether domestic 

 or foreign, and that I will bear true faith, allegiance, 

 and loyalty to the same, any ordinance, resolution or 

 law of any State, Convention, or Legislature to the con- 

 trary notwithstanding; and further, that I do this with 

 a full determination, pledge, and purpose, without any 

 mental reservation or evasion whatsoever; and further, 

 that I will well and faithfully perform all the duties 

 which may be required of me by law. So help me 

 God." 



The Messrs. Flanders united in a reply to this propo- 

 sition, declining to take the prescribed o'ath for the fol- 

 lowing reasons : 



" We have been guilty of no offence against the laws 

 of our country, but have simply exercised our consti- 

 tutional rights as free citizens, in the open and manly 

 expression of our opinions upon public affairs. We 

 have been placed here without legal charges, or, in- 

 deed, any charges whatsoever, being made against us, 

 and upon no legal process, but upon an arbitrary and 

 illegal order of the Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary 

 of State of the United States. Every moment of our 

 detention here is a denial of our most sacred rights. 

 We are entitled to, and hereby demand an uncondi- 

 tional discharge ; and while we could cheerf all v take 

 the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United 

 States, because we are, always have been, and ever in- 

 tend to be loyal to that instrument (though at the same 

 time protesting against the right of the Government to 

 impose even such oath upon us as the condition of our 

 discharge'', we cannot consent to take the oath now re- 

 quired of us, because we hold no office of anv kind 

 under the Government of the United States, and it is 

 an oath unknown to, and unauthorized by, the Consti- 

 tution, and commits us to the support of the Govern- 

 ment, though it mav be acting in direct conflict with 

 the Constitution, and deprives us of the right of freely 

 discussing, and by peaceful and constitutional methods 

 opposing its measures a right which is sacred to free- 

 dom, and which no American citizen should voluntarily 

 surrender. That such is the interpretation put upon 

 this oath by the Government, and such its intended 

 effect, is plainly demonstrated by the fact that it is dic- 

 tated to us as a condition of our release from an im- 

 prisonment inflicted upon us for no other cause than 

 that \ve hare exercised the above specified constitu- 

 tional rights." 



After the Secretary of War, Mr. Simon Cam- 

 eron, resigned in January, he was appointed 

 minister to Russia. When he was nearly ready 

 to embark for that country, on April "loth, a 

 writ from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania 

 was served upon him at the suit of Mr. Pierce 



Butler for trespass, assault and battery, and, 

 false imprisonment on the 19th of August pre- 

 vious. At that time Mr. Butler was suspected 

 of a correspondence with the Confederate State* 

 unfavorable to the cause of the Union, and 

 during a moment of public excitement was ar- 

 rested by order of Mr. Cameron, without pro- 

 cess of law, and without any assigned cause, 

 his trunks, drawers, wardrobe, and entire apart- 

 ments searched, and private papers taken pos- 

 session of by the United States marshal and 

 four assistants. His office was also examined, 

 his books and papers taken, and in one hour 

 from the arrest he was on his way to Xew York, 

 with the marshal and his assistants, all armed 

 with revolvers, who conducted him that even- 

 ing to Fort Lafayette. A subsequent applica- 

 tion on the part of Mr. Butler's friends to the 

 Secretary of "War, to ascertain the reason of 

 his action, though in a measure answered, in- 

 duced no satisfactory response. 



He asserted that nothing was found among 

 his papers to call in question his loyalty to the 

 Government, and in obtaining the writ he re- 

 frained from arrest and the demand for security 

 from Mr. Cameron, as his wish was merely to 

 test the constitutionality of his imprisonment. 

 He was liberated five weeks from his imprison- 

 ment, without a reason being given for his dis- 

 charge any more than for his arrest. 



The following correspondence took place in 

 consequence of this arrest : 



PHILADELPHIA, April 16, 1SG2. 



SIR : By the directions of Gen. Simon Cameron, I 

 send you a summons issued by the Supreme Court of 

 this State, at the suit of Pierce Butler rersus Simon 

 Cameron, July 1, 1862 November 17. The writ is re- 

 turnable the "first Monday of May, 1862, and is for 

 trespass vi et armis, assault and battery, and false im- 

 prisonment. 



The cause of action is no doubt founded upon the 

 supposed misconduct of Gen. Cameron in causing the 

 arrest of the plaintiff, Mr. Pierce Butler, and placing 

 him in Fort Warren, or some other public fortification, 

 without authority of law, while he, Gen. Cameron, was 

 Secretary of War. As I am instructed, the act was 

 not the act of Gen. Cameron, and was done by those 

 who commanded it to be done for just reasons "and for 

 the public good. 



You will please communicate the fact of the suit to 

 the President and such other official persons as should 

 properly be advised of it, and have such action taken 

 as shall" relieve the defendant, Simon Cameron, from 

 the burden, cost, and responsibility of defending this 

 suit. 



By direction of Gen. Cameron, I have, as his private 

 counsel, ordered my appearance for him, while I also 

 invite and request the intervention of the proper au- 

 thorities in his behalf and for his protection. I am, 

 sir. trulv, &c. BENJAMIN H. BREWSTEB. 



Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. 



DEPARTMENT or STATE. 

 'WASHINGTON, April IS, 1S62. f 



SIR : I have received your letter of yesterday, stat- 

 ing that, by directions of Mr. Simon" Cameron, you 

 transmit to me a summons issued out of the Supreme 

 Court of the State of Pennsylvania, at the suit of Pierce 

 Butler against Mr. Cameron, for trespass ri et armis, 

 assault and battery, and false imprisonment, in causing 

 the arrest of the plaintiff without authority of law. 



This communication has been submitted to the Presi- 

 dent ; and I am directed by him to say, in reply, that 



