Excerpt from An Argument Against the Jurisdiction of Military Commissions: To Try Citizens of the United States, Delivered in the Case of Wm; A. Bowles, and Others Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Commission: I appear for Col. Bowles and Mr. Humphreys, who have directed me to discuss the question of your jurisdiction to try them. Before proceeding to this discussion, however, I may be pardoned for briefly referring to some preliminary considerations. I will not deny that I am oppressed with the greatness and weight of the labor assigned me. Many circumstances conspire to make this day's work a burthen, while but few sources of external encouragement and support are to be found. I meet at the threshhold of the solemn duty of this hour, the settled hostility of the Administration, the fierce and relentless spirit of the dominant party, and a strong tide of prejudice and passion created by a partizan press which, during this trial, has continually prejudged...