The
defendant pleaded in bar--
"
That the legislature of the state of Vermont, at their
session holden at Montpelier, on the second Thursday of
October, 1819, passed a special act or statute law on the
first day of November, A. D. 1819, in favor of the defendant;
which said act is in the words and figures following to wit:
'An act for the relief of Silas Hathaway. It is hereby
enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Vermont, that
the body of Silas Hathaway of St. Albans, in the county of
Franklin, and state aforesaid be and hereby is, freed from
arrest and imprisonment by virtue of any writ of attachment,
or execution, issued, or that shall be issued, by, or under
the authority of this state, for the recovery of any debt due
by bond, bill, note, covenant, contract, or promise,
heretofore made, or entered into, for and during the term of
three years from and after the passing of this act; and every
sheriff, deputy sheriff, jailor or constable, or other
officer, who shall have the said Silas Hathaway in custody,
by virtue of any writ of attachment or execution, issued, or
that shall be issued, as aforesaid, for the recovery of any
debt, or sum of money, due as aforesaid, within the said term
of three years, shall, on receiving a copy of this act,
certified by the secretary of state, discharge him, the said
Silas Hathaway, from such custody; for doing which, this act
shall be his sufficient warrant. Passed November 1, 1819;
' as by said special act or statute law, a copy whereof,
duly authenticated, is ready here in court to be shown, will
appear. And the defendant further says, that at the term of
the supreme court, holden at St. Albans, within and for the
county of Franklin, on the 29th day of January, A. D. 1821,
the said Shadrach recovered against the said Silas Hathaway
the said judgment mentioned in the plaintiff's
declaration, as therein set forth, the said judgment being
for a sum of money due by a promise made and entered into, by
the said Silas, to and with the said Shadrach before the said
first day of November, A. D. 1819, upon which judgment, the
said Shadrach prayed out, and caused to be issued, his writ
of execution, as the plaintiff in his said declaration hath
also set forth; and the said Silas, having been arrested on,
and by virtue of, said execution, and committed to the
custody of the defendant, within the common jail in St.
Albans, within and for the county of Franklin, on the 30th
day of March, A. D. 1821, the defendant then and still being
keeper of the said jail; and the said Silas being in close
custody of the defendant, within the walls of said prison, by
virtue of said execution, did, on the said 30th day of March,
A. D. 1821, complain in writing to Joseph D. Farnsworth,
chief judge of the county court of the said county of
Franklin, (it then being between terms, or in vacation of
said county court,) stating as follows, to wit:
"
'To the Hon. Joseph D. Farnsworth, Chief Judge of the
Franklin county court, in the state of Vermont.--The
subscriber is imprisoned in the common jail in St. Albans, in
the county of Franklin, by virtue of an execution in favor of
one Shadrach Hathaway against your complainant, issued and
dated the 10th day of February, 1821, and sighed by Horace
Janes, clerk. The complainant further states, that the
Legislature of the state of Vermont, at their October
session, holden at Montpelier, in the year 1819, passed a
special act for his relief, entitled " An act for the
relief of Silas Hathaway; " and the said writ was issued
by and under the, authority of this state, for the recovery
of a debt due by an implied contract, made before the first
day of November, 1819, if ever made, and before the passing
of the aforesaid act: and he prays that a writ of Habeas
Corpus may be granted him, and an inquiry made into the cause
of his said commitment. SILAS HATHAWAY.
"
'St. Albans Jail, 30th March, 1821.'
"
Which complaint was duly presented to the said Chief Justice.
And upon such complaint, and upon a view of the copy of said
writ of execution, the said Joseph D. Farnsworth, Chief
Judge, as aforesaid, in vacation, on the day and year last
aforesaid, at St. Albans aforesaid, awarded a writ of habeas
corpus, directed to the Sheriff of Franklin county, and
keeper of the jail in St. Albans. And said writ of habeas
corpus, being duly presented to the defendant, sheriff and
keeper of said prison, as aforesaid, the defendant received
the same, and afterwards, on the said 30th day of March, A.
D. 1821, the said defendant returned the said writ to the
said Joseph D. Farnsworth, Chief Judge, as aforesaid,
together with the body of the said Silas Hathaway, with the
following return and causes of confinement, to wit:--'To
the Hon. Joseph D. Farnsworth, Chief Judge of Franklin county
court: In obedience to the within writ, I now have the body
of the within named Silas Hathaway at the place appointed,
and for the cause and day of commitment of the said Silas
Hathaway to my custody, show that the said Silas was, on the
30th day of March, 1821, committed to the keeper of the jail
in St. Albans, in the county of Franklin, by virtue of an
execution to me directed, as sheriff of the county aforesaid,
by one Shadrach Hathaway, Esq. against said Silas
Hathaway.' [Here follows a copy of the execution, in
common form, and the sheriff's return thereon.] And on
the day last aforesaid, in St. Albans, as aforesaid, the said
Silas Hathaway, being brought, by virtue of said writ of
habeas corpus, before the said Joseph D. Farnsworth, Chief
Judge, as aforesaid, the said Chief Judge then and there
proceeded to examine into the causes of the said confinement
of the said Silas; and it appearing to said Chief Judge, that
the said Silas was confined without sufficient cause, he, the
said Chief Judge, did then and there adjudge and determine,
that the said Silas Hathaway was confined without sufficient
cause, and did then and there discharge the said Silas
Hathaway, and did then and there order and direct the
defendant, being sheriff and keeper of said prison, as
aforesaid, to discharge the said Silas from his said
confinement, as by the record and proceedings of the said
Joseph D. Farnsworth, Chief Judge as aforesaid, in the
premises, a copy whereof is ready here in court to be shown,
will more fully appear. And afterwards, to wit, on the same
day and year aforesaid, the said Silas, by virtue of the said
judgment and determination of said Chief Justice, and of the
said order and direction of said Chief Justice, for the
discharge of the said Silas, he the said Silas, not having
before committed any escape, did depart from said prison, and
out of the custody of the defendant; which is the same escape
complained of in the plaintiff's declaration. All of
which the defendant is ready to verify. Wherefore he prays
judgment, if from having and maintaining his said action
thereof against the defendant, the plaintiff ought not to be
barred, and for his costs."
