her is not material, and does not change or modify the act
or duty of the judge.

Now, Neagle was an officer of your court, charged with the
duty of protecting your person while you were engaged in the
performance of your official duty. _His_ duty was to see
to it that you were not unlawfully prevented from performing
_your_ official duty--not hindered or obstructed therein. For
the State authorities to indict him for repelling the assault
on you in the only way which he could do so effectually seems
to me to be as unwarranted by law as it would be for them
to indict him for an assault on Terry when he assisted in
disarming the latter in the court-room last year.

When, therefore, it was conceded on the argument that if the
affair at Lathrop had taken place in the court-room during the
sitting of the court, the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court
would be unquestionable, it is difficult for me to see why
the whole question of federal jurisdiction was not embraced in
that concession. Assassinating a judge _on_ the bench would no
more obstruct and defeat public justice than assassinating him
on his way to the bench. In each case he is _proceeding in the
line of official duty imposed on him by law and_ his official
oath. The law requires him to go to court wherever the latter
is held, and he is as much engaged in performing the duty
thus imposed on him while he is proceeding to the place of
his judicial labors as he is in performing the latter after he
gets there.

It would, therefore, seem to go without saying that any acts
done in defense and protection of the judge in the performance
of the duties of his office must pertain to the exclusive
jurisdiction of the court of which he forms a part.

The fact that the assault on you was avowedly made in revenge
for your judicial action in a case heard by you gives a darker
tinge to the deed, but, perhaps, does not change the legal
character of the assault itself.

That Neagle did his whole duty, and in no way exceeded it, is
too plain for argument.

Yours faithfully,
W.D. SHIPMAN

Mr. Justice FIELD.

Letter from James C. Welling, president of Columbian University,
Washington:

HARTFORD, _August 15, 1889._

MY DEAR JUDGE:

It is a relief to know that Justice, as well as the honored
justice of our