were willing to abide the consequences of our own acts; but were unwilling, in answering a writ of that kind, to submit to illegal exactions sought to be imposed upon us under the pretence of law, when we know they were in open violation of it. When that document was presented to me by I offered, in the presence of more than twenty persons, to go to any other magistrate either in our , or Appanoose, or any other place where we should be safe; but we all refused to put ourselves into the power of a mob. What right had that constable to refuse our request? He had none according to law; for you know, , that the <​statute​> law in is, that the parties served with the writ “shall go before him who served <​issued​> it, or some other Justice of the Peace. Why, then, should we be dragged to where the law did does not compel us to go? Does not this look like many others of our prosecutions with which you are aquainted? and had we not a right to expect foul play? This very act was a breach of law, on his part, an assumption of power that did not belong to him, and an attempt, at least, to deprive us of our legal and constitutional rights and privileges. What could we do under the circumstances different from what we did do? We sued for, and obtained a writ of from the mu[nicipal] [p. 38]