Charles Warren

“ Relying heavily on Charles Warren's analysis [61] of the Convention debates, petitioners argue that the proceedings manifest the Framers' unequivocal intention to deny either branch of Congress the authority to add to or otherwise vary the membership qualifications expressly set forth in the Constitution. We do not completely agree, for the debates are subject to other interpretations. ”

“ Judge Johnson resigned rather than undertake the labor. Finally, President Washington himself wrote, in August, 1791, that he hoped that Congress would give "relief from these disagreeable tours." [66] Besides the laborious duties it entailed, the system was defective for other reasons. "It has happened in more than one instance," wrote Jay to Rufus King, "that questions in the Circuit Court decided by one set of Judges in the affirmative had afterwards in the same Court been decided by others in the negative. As writs of error do not reach every case, this evil has no remedy. ”

“ It is to be wished that their defects should be corrected quietly. If these defects were all exposed to public view in striking colors, more enemies would arise, and the difficulty of mending them be increased. When it is considered that the important questions expected to arise in the Circuit Courts have now been decided in them, I can conceive no reason for continuing to send the Supreme Court Judges to preside in them, of equal weight with the objections which oppose that measure." [72] ”

“ Criticism of the Federal Judiciary is not foreign to political contests; no party when it finds its fundamental interests adversely affected by judicial decisions seems to hesitate to express derogatory opinions; the wisest of our statesmen have agreed on the impossibility of keeping out of politics decisions of the Supreme Court which are political in their nature ”

“ Warren was one of the great men of our land—one of our greatest men of science. But you must remember that there are many millions of people in this country who would say that he was a ‘liar.’ Remember his statement when he came out of China? I have found the solution of the origin of man. The last proof of evolution has been discovered.”
His eyes swept over us, and as no one spoke, he went on:
“In every college in this world evolution is taught as the only logical explanation of the origin of man. Every intelligent person accepts it. ”

“ In his unbalanced mind he would see nothing out of the way in such a request. You can picture what Warren must have said. It was like oil to a flame. As the minister looked at the scientist he would see him as the very enemy of society. Then, without a doubt, something snapped in his brain. He rose to say ‘good-by’ and suddenly stabbed him. In his first wild frenzy he thought of himself as doing the work of God. The cross was a symbol of that. And when he wrote the word ‘Ananias,’ the same thought was in his mind. ”

“ In spite of these arguments, Washington decided to appoint Cushing, who had served for nine years as Chief Justice in Massachusetts and was then fifty-seven years old—the oldest man chosen on the new Court.
In Pennsylvania, the President's field of choice was wide, for eminent lawyers were numerous. ”

“ It would be an additional satisfaction to be distinguished by your appointment, Sir, and to assist in distributing equal justice to a well-governed people." As to this letter Washington, writing to Madison in Aug., 1780, said: "What can I do with A (rthur) L (ee) ? He has applied to be nominated one of the Associate Judges; but I cannot bring my mind to adopt the request. The opinion entertained of him by those with whom I am most conversant is unpropitious; yet few men have received more marks of public favor and confidence than he has. ”

“ Minority, of course, was a traditional standing incapacity, and Charles been cr rect in concluding that this exclusion been correct in concluding that this exlcusion was probably based upon an interpretation of the state constitutional requirement that members must be duly qualified according to law. Va.Const., 7 Thorpe 3816. See C. Warren, The Making of the Constitution 423, n. 1 (1928) . Respondents, based upon their misinterpretation of the Pennsylvania case just discussed, criticize Charles Warren for concluding that there had been only one exclusion during this period. ”

“ As to the proposition, formerly much advocated, to abolish the Coiu't en- tirely and to place final power of judicial decision in the United States Senate, no trace of support can now be found.
To the proposal, advanced at various times of intense party passion, that the Court should be increased in number in order to overcome a temporary majority for or against some particular piece of legislation, the good sense of the American people has always given a decided disapproval ”

“ Warren's secretary very well. She comes to my church. You must know her also—Miss Harlan?” and he turned to Carter.
Carter shook his head; then said he knew her by sight and that was all. He added she was a very fine-looking girl.
“That's very true,” the minister eagerly replied. “She is not only a very fine-looking girl, but a very fine girl in all ways. It's absurd to think she knows anything about Mr. Warren's death. I saw her myself this afternoon.” ”

“ I have a letter from a wdl informed friend in Virginia who says, all the persons I converse with admowledge that the people are prosperous and happy, and yet more of them, including even the friends of the Government, appear to be alarmed at a supposed ^stem of policy tending to subvert the Republican government of this country — were ever men more ingenious to torment themselves with phantoms? ”

“ They may be narrow, uncultured and all that, but they are also sincere—the sincerity of the uneducated, and those who from the standpoint of the psychologist fear the newer knowledge. They want Sunday blue laws, censorship and, above all, to prevent by law all things in which they do not believe. He was right when he said that many of those people think Warren's death was an act of God.”
Ranville shook his head as if saying that such things were beyond his comprehension. He laughed a bit, and had a little fun with us by saying that it was time we became civilized; then lapsed into silence. ”

“ The blow had evidently reached the heart, and the scientist must have died at once. The faint cross on the forehead he could not explain, but he agreed that it had been made after death.
“But,” came the heavy voice of the chief, “why should any one wish to kill Warren? There are very few people in the town that know him. Though this is his birthplace, he has been away so long that he has hardly any friends here. He never cared to bother much with people.”
He paused to throw a curious look around the room. ”

“ He is a true patriot. I heard a man say the other day that if Joe Warren would only let politics alone he would soon be riding in his own coach. The rich Tories don’t like him much. They say it was he who gave Governor Bernard such a scorching in Ben Edes’s newspaper awhile ago. He is eloquent when he gets fired up. You ought to hear him in town meeting; you won’t find him stuck up one mite; you can talk with him just as you do with me.”
With the cheese under his arm Robert walked along Hanover Street to Doctor Warren’s house [17] . ”

“ From the Potomack, East, nothing remains to be settled. In South Carolina, where immense simis were due, they are doing well and, in a few years, will be in a very prosperous condition. Virginia will be the kat to do what her own interests required her long since to have performed." King, I. Justice Jay, Judge Gushing, and District Judge Henry Marchant, sitting in the Circuit Court for the- Dis- trict of Rhode Island, held a law of that State to be unconstitutional as impairing the obligation of contract, in the case of Alexander Champion and Thomas Dickason V. Silas Casey. ”

“ I gave him a dollar after impressing upon him that he must go at once to the chief of police and tell him the same story he had told me. He went away promising to do this, and I sat back to figure out his story. There was not anything suspicious, in a sense, in seeing a man climb a stone wall. But when I remembered that it took place around the time Warren had been killed, it began to look important. So far, from all the evidence we had, there did not seem to be any person who could have killed him. ”

“ He is liberal with his money, and is one of the few rich men in Boston who take sides with the people against the aggressions of King George and his ministers. Mr. Adams begins to be gray, but Warren and Hancock are both young men. They are doing grand things in maintaining the rights of the Colonies. I want you to make their acquaintance. By seeing and talking with such men you will be worth more to yourself and everybody else. Your going to market and meeting such gentlemen will be as good as several months of school. You’ll see more people than you ever saw on the muster-field ”

“ If you can reject those disagreeable to a majority, and expel whom you please, the House of Commons will be self-created and self-existing. You may expel til you approve, and thus in effect you nominate. The original idea of this House being the representative of the Commons of the realm will be lost.' 18 Parl.Hist.Eng. 367 (1775) .
68 Charles Warren concluded that 'Madison's reference was undoubtedly to the famous election case of John Wilkes * * *.' Warren, supra, at 420, n. 1. ”

“ Just why a man like Warren should have been killed is the question we must answer first. Until that is answered there can be no chance of answering the second—who killed him.”
The Englishman was thoughtful for a while, and then sinking back in his chair said slowly:
“That is true. The only thing we do not know about is what might have taken place in China.”
“I know about that,” commented Bartley, and as we both looked at him in surprise, he added:
“I ran into Niles Patton at the University Club yesterday. I have known Patton for a long time. He was with Warren in China. ”

“ Warren, of course, would bring in all of his goods without having to go through the customs. We do that always with big explorers. Those three boxes to the unknown man could have contained a good many thousands of dollars' worth of the drug. Only it seems there was a mistake, and they received one box which should have remained with Warren.”
“You are sure there is no way you can discover to whom Warren was to give those boxes, Patton?” was Bartley's question. ”

“ The Great Western rode at anchor in a shallow lake, whose crystal depths seemed never to have been agitated by any harsher breath than at that moment kissed without ruffling its surface. Around us swept an amphitheatre of hills, covered with a dense growth of tropical foliage and cushioned to the hem of the beach with thick sod of exquisite tint and freshness. ”

“ It is also possible, however, that he was referring to the Parliamentary Test Act, 30 Car. 2, Stat. 2, c. 1 (1678) , which had excluded Catholics as a group from serving in Parliament.
69 Charles Warren, upon whose interpretation of these events petitioners rely, concluded that the Convention's decision to reject Gouverneur Morris' proposal and the more limited proposal of the Committee of Detail was an implicit adoption of Madison's position that the qualifications of the elected 'were fundamental articles in a Republican Govt. and ought to be fixed by the Constitution.' 2 Farrand 249-250. ”

“ For a while they talked in the idle fashion men do when they are strangers. Then for a time they spoke about certain books. In the end, naturally enough, they came to Warren's death. It was the clergyman who brought up the subject by saying that he judged they would never find the murderer. Bartley made no response to this, but went on to say that the death of the scientist was a very deplorable thing for the intellectual world. And to my surprise the minister promptly said that he did not agree with this. ”

“ Pelt, this murder, of course, upsets me. We don't have many crimes that amount to anything here. My work is mostly small stuff. But this murder sort of gets me. To start with, Warren was the biggest man in this place. I can't for the life of me think of any reason why any one should bump him off.”
I made no reply to this, studying the man before me. There was something likable about the chief—something about the humorous smile he had that caused me to warm to him. ”

“ I have been wondering, Pelt, if you told me everything that you observed that night you found Warren dead in his library. From what Ranville and the chief tell me, there have been no clews of any sort. Not a thing which would point to any particular person as the murderer. ”

“ On the face of it there is no apparent motive in sight. Warren had no enemies one can think of. There seems no apparent reason for killing him. And the whole thing is a matter of—well, perhaps what you call the psychology of us Americans.”
I gave him a puzzled look, wondering what under heavens he meant by his remark. But Ranville seemed to find nothing out of the way in it, for he nodded in a very wise manner. I was just on the verge of asking Bartley what he meant when we heard Carter's car drive into the yard. And when he came up the steps, the first thing he asked was if lunch was ready. ”

“ The Englishman gave him a look to see if he was serious, then asked what he meant. Bartley half laughed as he replied:
“Really, it's not laughable, Ranville, for it is a state of mind which ought to have passed out in the Dark Ages. But there are certain rabid, fanatical groups which say in their weekly publications that God punished Warren because of his stand on evolution.” ”