James Fenimore Cooper's Frontier: The Pioneers as History

Chapter 31: 

[Different Views of Justice] Squire Lippet tells a horrified Oliver Edwards that 

Judge Temple had issued a warrant to search Natty's cabin, and that Natty was now liable to fine 

and imprisonment for assaulting a magistrate and threatening a constable with firearms. Edwards 

goes to see Elizabeth, who assures him that her father would never imprison a man who had just 

saved her life. However the Judge, who joins them, insists that he cannot allow his personal 

feelings to impede justice, and that the law must now take its course. An outraged Edwards 

accuses Judge Temple of having usurped possession of his lands; the Judge defends his title, and 

dismisses Edwards from his employment. Apologizing to Elizabeth, Oliver Edwards rushes from 

the Mansion House.