Page 9

                      JEFFERSON'S M[ANUAL.                             9
Representatives" themselves from the single act of " arrest in
all cices except
treason, felony, and breach of the peace, during their attendance at the
ses-
sion; *-f their re'pective Houses, and in going to and returning from the
sane,
and from being questioned in any other place for any speech or debate in
either
Houz-."--Const. U. S., Art. I., Sec. 6. Under the general authority
'; to make
all laws necessary and proper for carrying into exe'cution the powers given
these," Const. U. S., Art. II., See. 8, they may provide by law the
details
which may be necessary for giving full effect to the enjoyment of this trivi-
leze. No such law being as yet made it seems to stand at the present on the
following ground : 1. T'ne act or arrest is veid at nactio, t tra., c8t.
z. Tne
member arrested may be discharged on motion, 1 B1. 166, 2 Stra 990 ; or by
Habeas Corpus under the Federal or State authority, as the case may be ;
or
a writ of privilege out of the Chancery, 2 Stra. 989, in those States which
have
adopted that part of the laws of England.-Orders of the House of Com. 1550,
Feb. 20. 3. The arrest, being unlawful, iý a trespass, for which the
officer and
others concerned are liable to action or indictment in the ordinary courts
of
justice, as in other cases of unauthorized arrests: 4. The court before which
the process is returnable, is bound to act as in other cases of vnauthorized
proceeding, and liable, also, as in other similar cases, to have their proceed-
ings stayed or corrected by the superior courts.
  The time necessary for going to and returning from Congress not being de-
fined, it will, of course, be judged of in every particular case by those
who
will have to decide the case.
   While privilege was understood in England to extend, as it does
here, only to exemption from arrest, essssdo, morassdo el re deuusdo, the
House of Commons themselves, decided that "a convenient time
was to be understood."-1580-1 It~ss., 99, 100. Nor is the law so
strict in point of time as to rer:.ire thfe artv to set out immediately
on his return, but allows him tin-ne2 -o s ele his private affairs and to
prepare for his journey; and does not even scan his road very nicely,
nor forfeit his protection for - L:'.e deviation from     that which is
moSt direct- some necessity rert : : coeStraining him to it.-2 Stra.,
9Sit, 997.
   This privilege from  arrest, privileges of course against all process,
 the disoledience to which is punishable by an attachment of the per-
 son: ac a subtipna ad respondendum, or, testificandum, or a summons
 on a j':ry: and wivth reason, because a member has superior duty to
 periorma   axothcr place.
   Vhen a :pr cn:e      is withdrawn from his seat by summons, the 47,700
 people whom 1- re re -. lo'se tihir voice in debate and vote. as they do
in
 his volunL.:-.r     : "r...  -     . -   .    -' n     :     . his
State
 loses half its voice in debaee and ,'o:., rý-:  -c e in his voluntary
absence.
 The enormous disparity of evil adni:- no comparison.
   So far there will probably be no difference of opinion as to the privileges
 of the two Houses of Congress ; but in the following cases it is otherwise
: In
 Dec., 1795, the House of Representatives committed two persons of the names
 of Randall and Whitney, for attempting to corrupt the integrity of certain
 members, which they considered as a contempt and breach of the psivileges
 of the House ; and the facts being proved, Whitney was detained in confine-
 ment a fortnight, and Randall three weeks, and was reprimanded by the
 Speaker. In March, 1796, the House of Representatives voted a challenge
 given to a member of their House, to be a breach of the privileges of the
 House ; but satisfactory apologies and acknowledgments being made, no fur-
 ther proceedings were had. The editor of the Aurora, having, in his paper
of
 Feb. 19, 1800, inserted some paragraph defamatory to the Senate, and failed
in
 his appearance, he was ordered to be committed. In debating the legality
of
 this order, it was insisted in support of it, that every man, by the law
of na-
 ture, and every body of men, possesses the right of self defence ; that
all
 public functionaries are essentially invested with the powers of self-preserva-
 tion  - hat they have an inherent right to do all acts necessary to keep
ti-na-