Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 6.djvu/267

 DNITED STATES ». FOSTEE. 256 �voters under the law of the land, and in rejecting their voteg tja^ defenda,ptB djd "negleet and refuse to perform a duty" required of them by the laws of Virginia and the United States, and they are teohnically guilty of the offence charged in the indictment. It only remains for me to say something on the question "sfhether the defendants negleoted and refused to do their duty in the premises with wrongful motive or initent. �You can only jndge of intention by worda and acts. Men were not made with Windows in their breasts through which we might read.the motives of theii conduct. We can discover intentions only from words and acts. It is shown that the judges acted upon the opinion in writing of the judge of the corporation court of Manchester, an officer upon whom the laws of the state devolve the ministerial, but not judicial, duty of appointing judges of election. It is certainly natural for conscientious men to consult the opinions of lawyers in whose leaming and judgment they have confidence. But judges of election ought as certainly to be cautious how they accept opinions not given under the sanction of an oath or of officiai responsibility, as the basis of their action in so grave a matter as the disfranchisement of citizens from the privilege of voting. It is not a part of the duty devolved by law upon judges of courts of justice to give opinions on ques- tions of law to other than grand juries, or persons or bodies having like relations to their courts. If given, such opinions are not officiai, have not the sanction of an officiai oath, and earry no other authority than the moral weight of the authors of them. The defendants in this case, as judges of election, would have had a right to call upon the attorney general of the state or the commonwealth's attorney of their corporation for his opinion on questions arising before them ; and such an opinion would have come to them under the sanction of the officiai oath ; but even with such sanction it wonld not have been binding upon these judges of election. They are officers who must act upon their oaths, their consciences, and their own responsibility to the law. If they "negleot and refuse to perform their duty" with wrongful intent, it is a ��� �