Page:United States Reports, Volume 2.djvu/396

 ` gpo Cans ruled and adjudged in the H9;. pnnifhment of Treafon, mifprifion of Treafon, Piracy, coun- vwrv terfeiting any public Certificate, flealing or falfifying Records, Btc; for the punifhment of various crimes, when committed within the limits of the exclufive jurifdiélion of the United States; and for the punifhrnent of bribery itfelf in the cafe of a ]udge, an Olhcer of the Cufloms, or an Officer cf the Ex- cife. t. Vol. Swyiir Edit. p. too. Ibid. p. 236. _/Z 66. Ibid. p. 327.jZ 47. But in the cafe of the Commiflioncr of the Re- venue, the AC! conflituting the oflice does not create or declare the offence; 2. Val. p. 1 ra. 6. it is not recognifed in the Adi, ‘ under which propofals for building the Light-houfe were invit- ed; 3. Vol. p. 63. and there is no _other Aft that has the flightefl relation to the fubjeé}. Can the odence, then, be faid to arife under the Confiitution, or the laws of the United States? And, if not, what is there to render it cognizable under the authority of the United States? A cafe arifing under a law, mult mean a·eaf`e depend- ing on the expofition of a law, in refpeél to fomething which the law prohibits, or enjoins. There is no chnraétetiftic of that kind in the prefent inltance. But, it may be fuggefted, that the oliiec being efiablilhed by a law of the United States, it is an incident naturally attached to the authority of the Unit- ed States, to guard the oHicer againft the approaches of cot- rnption, in the execution of his public truit. It is true, that the perfon who accepts an office may be fuppofcd to enter into a compact to be anfwerable to the govemmcnt, which he fenres, for any violation of his duty; and, having talten the oath of office, he would unquefiionably be liable, in fuch cafe, to a profecution for perjury in the Federal Courts. But becaufe one man, by his own ad}, renders himfclf amenable to a particular jurifdiétion, {hall another man, who has not incurred a fimilar obligation, be implicated? If, in other words, it is fufiicient to ueft a jurifdiftion in this_c0urt, that a Federal Officer is con- cerned; if it is a fuflicient proof of a cafe ariling under a kv of the United States to affect other perfons, that fuch oiliccr is bound,  law, ro difcharge his duty with fidelity ;—a fource of jurifdiélion is opened, which muft inevitably ovcriow and deflroy all the barriers between the judicial authorities of the State and the general government. Any thing which ca-n pre- vent a Federal Officer from the punétual, as well as from an impartial, performance of his duty; an atlaulr and battery; or the recovery of a debt, as well as the oth of a bribe, may he made a foundation of the jurifdidiiou of this court; and, confidering the conftant difpofition of power to extend the fphere of its influence, fiélions will he rcfhrtetl to, when real cafes ccafe to occur. A mere fiction, that the defendant is in the culled-y of the niarfhal, has rendered the jurifdiétion tire wg r

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