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THE MADISONIAN. VOL. IV.-NO. 101.] WASHINGTON CITY, T U E 8 DAY, JIN E >'.i, 1841. (WHOLE NO. 6115. THE MADISONIAN. THOMAS ALI EX, Kdltor Md Proju-UUti. AGENTS Lewis H. Dorelbowem, 34 Catharine street, Phi ladelphia. J. R. Wkldin, Pittsburg, Pa. C. W Jamks, Cincinnati, Ohio. iIenhy 8 Mkkks, 404 Bowery, New York. Georoe W. Bull, Buffalo. Pi. York. Jacob R. How, Auburn, N. York. Sylvanus Stevens, New Haven, Ct. 'E. B. Foster, Boston, Mau Thomas li. Wiley, Caliawba, Alabama. Weston F. Birch, Fayette, Missouri. Josuh Snow, Detroit, Michigan. Fowzer it Woodward, St. Louis, Mo. The Madisonian is published Tri weekly during the sittings of Congress, and Semi-weekly during the recess, at $5 per annum. For six months, $3 The Madisonian, weekly, per annum, $2 ; do. six months, SI. No subscript.on will 1m- l iken for a term short of six months, nor unless paid for in advanct. 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SALLY CARTER [ Sinter to Leftenant Carter'* only Son J Near Springfield Mounting there did dwell, A lovely damsel, known lull well, Leftenant Carter'* only gal, Her lather s joy?and nam ed Sail. One day this damsel trip! it quick, Oown to a stieam, to berries pick. ?she hadn't picVd hut two or three, When her loot slipt, and in went she. And when into the stream she fell, She utter-ed a hoirid yell. And then sunk down beneath the wave, Became jio hand wan there >o save. Her 1 ver saw the aw ful sight, And to her ran with all his might; But when from out the stream he took her. All sign of life had quite forsook her. He roll'd and roll'd her all about, And quick-ly brought the water out. But when he found her soul hatJ fled, lie wiung his hands and cri-i-ed. And then her lifeless form he bore Unto her anxious mother's door. Saying Mrs. Carter here you see All that is left of Sal-al-le ! ! The awful news shot thro' her brain, And down she fell, nor spoke afain. The lover he some pizen took, And upward gave an earnest look. Anil told his ghost to follow arter, His own dear Sail, and Mrs. Carter. Spoons. 1-Hfsccllancous. STEAMSHIP PRESIDENT. I lie following 1< Her contains the opinion of Cap tain Hosken, ol the steamship Great Western relative .to the steamship President : Grbat Western, > New York, June 14th, 1841. < Uentlemen?On my recent arrival Mr. Buchanan the Brit sh consul, placed in my hands a condensed n porl of an inquiry which had been made at his in stance, into particulars relating to the President iteain "P- Some of the . pinions in the course of the in quiry I differ from most decidedly, and those opinions are calculated to leave a strong though erroneous im pression on the minds of the public, if allowed to pass without notice from some one pluced in a similar posi tion to me, who, from very many years' experience in ml di scripiions of vessels, has had opfiortuniiy of form ing a good judgment on the subject. The opinions to which 1 allude are those of Captain Cole, ol the PUD t 'P Orpheus, who, (by the report) said, "1 h .t ! "r??'uent 'hen mint have been shipping sras heuvi ly and fast ; ihat probubly these large bodies of water worked through into the Engine room or fire rooms, and extinguished the Jiret in which case the steamer would have been comparatively helpless." That the r resident was shipping water there is no doubt' but I reel a perfect conv,ciioo she could not ship sufficient to extinguish the fires-The fire plates ate two feet a bov-ihe platform of the fire rooms, and the platform two and a quarter feet above the floor in this sliip (the Pie-ident ? fire-places, 1 should think, stand higher ) I he openings lo the engines and fire rooms are so small as to render it quite impossible that a body of waler sufficient to overflow the fire places could find us way below, even with common precaution ; but with the necessary precaution, in such weather ol ba tening hatches down, &e. tlie supposi.ion ofsucl'i a result IS perfectly chim. rical. Cipiain Cole s opinion appears, by ihis report, to have been coincided in by oiher gentlemen, certainly good sailors; but with every respect lor Captain C. and those gentlemen, I do not hesitaie to say they are not comi* tent indues in this steam ship ease. I tully and entirely believe a good steamship the sal-si ve-s.M that evei went to sea; and there are nu merous instances where they have been placed in situ ations from which no sailing ship, however well mana ged could escape. A case in point occurred at Barba vvr (.'ur'n^ ''l1] '?st tremendous hurricane in ihe West In,lies Her Majesty's sleamer Spitfire, and mariy other vessels, were lying in Cailisle Bay the vessels were all l?*t ?r stranded; the Spit fire slipped her cables and put to sea, u. the I ice of the hurricane tier decks wereswpt, her boats and paddle boxes washed away notwithstanding which her fires were not extinguished, but she weathered i' all, by means of her steam power, which atom saved hei. The com maniler, Lieut Kennedy, R. N. described the sea as the most terrific he ever witnessed during forty years ox patience. If the engines are damaged, still steamships are good and safe sea boats with their sails I was compelled to slop this ship's engines at a moment in a heavy gale of wind and very heavy sea, just on soundings to the ca-tward of Newfoundland Grand Bank, and inline- , (lialely got after sail on her; and for two hours?the time ?e were compelled to stop?she lay t?o beautiful ly, as easily and as dry as any ship I as ever on board of in a similar situation. When encountering ice, a steamship lias a very decided advantage over a sailing ship. I d . not know the exact proportion of losses be tween sailing and steamships, but I am ure it is very much in I nor of steam. I am not called upon nor do I feel justified in offering an opinion, as to what may have happened to the President, which ship it is vet possidlc is above water-probably a log ki.iikino about at the ineicy of the winds and waves. Captain Roberts is i sailor, with energy of character, and from long experience has resources, which is a strong in ducement for hojies that the President will yet bk 'hears of. I am, gentlemen, your ob't servant, JAMES HOSKEN. The W!l 7i nf the West.?A recent Nashville I ni in contain* the following interesting para graph : A litfle ^roup of veterans?five i.. number, one ol u hum was (Jen, Jackson, all of whom were companion* in the early seitlement of ihe Missis k'PP! Valley--Iiapprnct( together at the post office in ihis place a tew days ago, when in the course "l Uieir conversation about events of olden lime ihey mention, d their several ages, w hich. added together, made an aggregate of :?88 years. Of 'he five Gen. Jackson, who was 71 in March is ?foe youngest. THE FISCAL AQENT AND NEW YORK 1 lie New ^ urk Commercial Aiivrrturr nutnUoni that a petition hu been |ir?t|itrtHl and kijjunl i/i that city, asking Congress to establish a Naiionai Bank. Wheltier this piayer will or will not be answered, is more than can yet be foreto!d , indeed (he ilule ot al fatr* at Washington render* It doublful whether Con gress will, at the present session, create any fiscal agent. By the way, two nr three of the New York paper* are out against Mr. Ewiug's scheme, and it ia evident that their hoelility ia caused by the pioposal to huve the ceutral or parent institution at Washington New York has acted from tbe opinion that because a large portion of the revenues ia collected at that port, a large portion should be expended there; or rather that hei cnizens should have a special influence in its disposul, overlooking the fact that it ia the consumer* who/>aj/,and consequently the west, wtiich I.as no cuiiom house, uiuat have a potent voice in the manage ment of the revenue derived from the customs. A* ihe fl?cal agent proposed by Mr. Ewiiig will have the principal management of exchanges it ia evident that New York must have a large portion of the ad vantage* resulting Irum tbe operation* of the agency, in which also New Orlean* must share; but New York may be coniidered a* rather too deeply interest ed (if not too strongly prejudiced) to have th* power of dictating the amount which should overflow from her coffer# to other commercial citiee. That New Yolk can ahnw argument* againat the Fiacal Agent not neces*anly founded on such motive* a* we have noticed above, we do not pretend to deny ; the plan ought not to be considered an |>erfec' ; but a* yet the object* are clearly referable to the location. We hate seen it elated in aome eastern paper, that Mr. E wing war making it unconatilutioual by giving to the elate* the right of refusing brunches within their limit*, when the very chartering of the Agent wa* a declaration of the right in the National Go vernment to establish brunches where it might deem it best. Tliis is a poor argument, ut any rule , be cause, even though it shou'd be admitted that Con gress had no right to e*. .ulish a National Bank in New York, it certainly cunnot be denied that il may charter one for the Dietrid, and ask fiermission of the states to extend branches; but ihe plan, without de nying thai Congrens may establish brancht s of a Na tional Bunk where it chouses, contemplates the cour tesy of asking pcrmisiiun that the exercise of a de puted right may not give offence, and that even a bene fit may nol lie ihrunt upon a commonwealth without its own desire. ? U. S. Oaxett*. from the Ha ngor Whiff. A Chili! Lust in the ll'utM*.? A daughter of JV1r David VV. Boobarof Linneus, in Aroostook county, on the morning of the 41It inst. was anil by her mother to a neighbor's house, hall' u mile distant, to borrow a little tlour for breakfast The girl is only nine years of age, and in going through thr woods, lout her way The next morning about It) of the neighbor! collected and went in pursuit, but rt turned without any tidings of the child. The next day the company was in creased to sixty persons and searched the woods all day, with no belter success.?On the following day, between two and three hundrerd of the settlers assem bled early in the morning, their hearts swelling with sympathy anil all eager to rest ire the little wanderer to the arms of its despairing parents. The company Kit out lor a thorough ami a last search. The child had been in the wood* three days and three nights, and many hearts were sunk in despon dency at the titter hopelessness of finding it alive Hut to learn its late or restore it, was the indomitable pur pose of each. Half the day had been expended in en lering the forest. It was tune to think of returning, but who could think of doing so while an innocent child might he wandering but a few roils in advance ! On the company pushed, still deeper in the dense wilds. The sun hail reached the meridian and was dipping down towards the West. It seemed vain to look farther and slowly and heavy those stout hearted men brushed a tear from their cheeks, gave up nil as lost, and as their hearts seemed to dictate within them commence their return. The line was itrecthed to include a survey of the greatest possible giouml, not a bush or u tree where n was (hisHilile for a child to be concealed, within the limits of the line, was passed without diligent search Those ut the extremities of the line tasked themselves to the utmost in examining the woods beyond the lines. They hail travelled for sometime, when at the farthest point of vision, the man on one tlunk thought he saw a bush bend. He ran with swelling heart He hesitaied. Was it his imagination 1 He gazed a moment. The bush bent again . and the head of the litt e wanderer was seen. He rushed forward, and found the little girl sealed on a log and breaking the twigs she had plucked from the tiush which so provi dentially led to her discovery. She did not appear to be frightened; and suid she had lain in the woods three nights, or had not seen or heard any wild beasts, and thai she thought she should get to iVlr. Howard's for the flour before night! At first she did not appear hungry or weak, but after eating a peice of bread her cries for more were very piteous. She w as found a hout three miles Irom where she entered the woods. Her clothing was very tliin, and the large shawl she had on when she left home, she had carefully folded and placed in the pillow case, not evi 11 pulling it over her during the niglit, as slie innocently said "to keep from dirtying it or hrr mother would whip her." Our informant >t .tes that she is now as Well and ha| py as the other children. JE3**Role8 for Dehate.?The Albany Eve ning Journal publishes the following letter from Dr Noit, President of Union college, written to a Graduate (who ha* passed under his immedi ate i ye and guardianship in his collegiate course) whi 11 about to take his'seat in the Legislature. This brief letter offers golden inles for debate, which every Legi-lator should endeavor to ob serve. They are complete, consise and wise : Union College, 20iIi Jan., 1836. Dear Sir.?Since 1 did not find you 111 the other day when I called, the interest I feel in your success as a public man, will be inv apology ior troubling you with a few observations, the observance of which may be of some use. Do not speak often, and only on important oc casions. When you do speak be brief, pertinent, and stop when you have finished. Speak ra ther in the furtherance of your own objects ihan in defeating those of others.?Endeavor to allay the prejudices which naturally exist between the cilv and the country. Be courteous on all occasions, espi riallv in debate and to your im mediate antagonists. Never indulge in person alities, never lose your t( mper, nor make an ene my if you can avoid it?Conquests may be made by conciliation and persuasion as certain ly as by ridicule and sarcasm, but in the one case the chains are silken and sit easy?in the other, iron and gall ihe Wearer. Though you point your arrows, never poison them; and if the ciub of Hercules must be raised let it be the naked club, not entwined with sements. These are hints merely hut n word to the wise is sufficient. And with Legislators or others, a man needs to live one life to know how to live another, and since this cannot be done literally, we can only do 11 in effect, by availing ourselves of the experience of others. Wishing you every success, 1 am, in haste, very sincerely your-. EL1PHALET NOTT. A Strange Place h> I He.?The Vicksburg Whig of the 29lh ult. says that a man was found on the day previous on the roof of a three story store, having apparently bewn dead for some weeks, as his body was horribly mutilated by the birds that had been flying aboui him. Who he was, whence he came, or how he got there, no one could tell. He was unknown by all about there, but had chosen that strange, grand death-bed where, in mid air, far above ihe (lull earth, alone in the tnnlsi of thai populous city, with the blue skies for a canopy and the stars for watchers, his spirit had passed to its long home. (?rait Trout I't thing?The Troy Whig says ? "TWO of our mums lately returned from a fishing excursion in the northern part of this State, having killed in one week with rtsls, three hundred and t.ven ty-riine (founds of salmon and brook trout. The greatest quantity killed in one day was foity three fish, weighing eighty-five pounds, the largest o! which I weighed five pounds eight ounces " CONGRESSIONAL THE CASE OF McLEOD. IN SENATE, Fhid*y, June 11, 1841. The business before the Senate bring the motion of Mr. Rtvas to refer m much of the PrniJfiit'a Mes sage an relates to our foreign affair# to the Committee on Foreign Affairs ? Mr. CHOA'l'E icgieited lo he obliged to ronaume a moment of the crowded nine of the Senate in.a dt? cu-iii'in which cuulil produce no pmctical re?ult?.? Hut the subject was forced upon the friend# of the Secretary ol State and of the Atlmini?iration ; K pos sessed a good deal of intrreat intrinsically, and there fore, holding a place upon the Committee on Foreign Relations, to wnoui n might he thought appropriately lo belong, he ventured to submit a few thoughts upon it less maturely considered than he could h ive wished. He feared he Could add little to the aplendid and mas terly apeech of the Senator (turn Virginia, (Mr. Kivea.) 1 confeaa (he proceeded) that when I read, a few day* aince, the letter of the Secretary of State to Mr. Fu*, on which the Senator Irorn Pennsylvania (Mr. Buchanan) has commented, it seemed lo in? written with much ability, arid that it ought to and would sa tisfy the judgment and feeling* of the whole Ameri can People. The view* it presented I thought Hound, cleur, and aoiue of them new, the manner, not un un imporiant consideration, good: frank decided, not rude, not boisterous, ffc>t timid; and the wliole tone, temper, and spirit elevated, national, American?worthy of ? be man, the c<UM, and the country. The objections 1 taken to it in tins debute seemed to me to be its essen tial merits. By conceding just what he did, and liy denying just what he did, lie hud gone t'ur, I thought, to withdruw this controversy about the Caroline from ! the false position it rented upon , and to place it on ? such grounds that it may be adjusted with ease and honor, or, if we must light, that we may cariy into I battle the approbation of our own consciences, and the suppoitsof a just pride. So the letter struck my mind. Other gentlemen, or, at least, one other, regard it differently. And in { the first place a doubt is intimated by the distin- : guished Senator from Pennsylvania whether the con- 1 cession of the Secretary that a prison in the asserted pretl iMmenl of McLeod is entitled to immunity He argue* that it does not; ami he holds the opinion that we may well enough hang that person for robliery arnl murder; that we may do this in entire conformity with the received ameliorated codes of internals mil law ol' the nineteenth century, and without Justly bringing on ourselves u murmur of disapprobation from any of! the families of man, or any individual of any family. Sir, let u.i pause tor u moment on tins great question of the nations. What is the concession of the Secretary of Slate 7 Why only and exactly this that a soldier or sailor? de facto such?actually engaged in a military or naval enterprise of force, under the authority, in obedience to the coinmnnd of his Government, and keeping him self within the scope of that authority, is not guilty, as the law ot nations is administered to-day, of a crime against the municipal code of the country upon which he thus help* to cairy war, that lie is not punishal le as for such ciii|ie by that country, anil that the respon sibility rests upon his own Government ulone to an swer, as nations answer for theircrimes to their equals That is the concession. He does not deal at all with the case ol a soldier strangling away from his colors to commit a solitary and separate murder He docs not deal with a case of alleged excess of authority lie suppose* him to obey tin precise direction* of Ins Gov eminent, and, so doing, he declares hi in clothed with a personal immunity It has been said in some of the discussions of this subject, although not here, that Mr Lend left the Caro line after the whole object of the enterprise had been accomplished, and committed an unnecessary and dis tinct ami malicious murder on shore. I can say onlv to this that no such fact forms any par t of the basis of the opinion of the Secretary, lie had either never heard of it, or he disbelieved it, or he assunu d that the courts of law or the Attorney General would allow its proper influence to a discriminating circumstance so important. If you turn lo the fourth page of his letter you may ?ee thai the murder for which he suptioses McLeod is indicted was "a murder alledged to have been commit led in the attack forming an inseparable, very pain ful part of the entire military violence exerted to cap ture and destroy the vessel, and not succeeding it For the purposes of lite concession, he takes for true the express declaration of Mr. Fox,' that the tiansac Uon on account of which Mr. McLeod has been ar rested and is to be put on his trial," including the ho homicide a* an unavoidable incident hi it, ' Was a pub lic transaction," conducted by Her Majesty 's Govt ru men t Such is the concession. I have the honor to sub mil, Jirtt, that the concession is ri^lit in point of in ternational law ; and then, that it was the duty of the Secretary of Stair to make it, und oftbe Govern inrnt to act upon it, exactly us it was made and acted upon. In entering on this investigation, then, you observe that, to a certain distance, we proceed on all sides of the Senate harmoniously together. Thus.it laudmit ted by the Senator from Pennsylvania, and by every body, that persons taken fighting, or for having fought, in the battles of an open, geneial, regularly declared war. are nm responsible as lor crime committed by the act of fighting against the Country which they devas tate and wrap In mourning and blood. They become technically prisoners of war As such, on a principle of policy, ,is a mode of prosecuting war, lliey are sub jecied to lestraint; imprisoned held to ransom, ex changed, and otherwise disposed of, with in ire or lis* indulgence and 11um.iriity, according to circumst inres Bui criminals, robbers, murderers, by the act ol fight ing. although tin act involved the destruction of pru jm iiv and life, they ate not, by the theory or prac lice of any civilized race of men. Thus far we proceed together On tins admitted principle we all aland . and Irom this We all tukc our departure. The truth is, the nalons have agreed, i an>i that agreement mukis the law ol nations, t.iat it i is a duty and a virtue in the individual citizen, his first duty, I is lnglii st virtue, to be obedient to his owu Go vernment. They have agreed lo regaid him, as our 1 own Decatur, the elder Decatur, said of his childten, i as the property of his country Whithersoever lie g ics, whatsoever he does, wheresovei he lies down I slain in battle, in obedience to her sacred and parental command, it is, us the general rule, not imputed to | him lor crime at all. His nation, Ins nation, the col lective natural person, must answer it on the high place* of Ike world, and to the whole extent ol the un definable responsibilities of war If, therefore, McLeod had been one of those bodies of troops w Inch, during the last war, occasionally passed our line of boundary, hurtling our dwellings and killing our people, and had been taken even at the time, anil with the red hand, he Could not have been declared guilty of a crime against any law ot a State or of the U nion. Setting out from this admitted principle, the real , question is, whet lift the special circumstances under which McLeod'* Government sent liitn forth to this midnight work of strife and blood, withdraw him from the protection of the principle ol individual immunity with winch humanity slid wisdom have relieved and ? adorned the law of nations. What were those sih eial circumstance* ' Exactly these. He Was a soldier or sailor, dt J'aelo, lor the lime, for the act. in a inilt tary and naval expedition of force, planned and sent abroad by Ins ow n legitimate Government, having the right to exact Ins service to the I ist drop of Ills Mood sent abroad, not to plunder, hut, as it represi nted to him when i< called linn out of his lied, and disclosed its purpose, to do an act for the defence of the country helped in against invasion. This expedition was a single act, not preceded nor followed by any other it was preceded by no declaration of war, and, as thi Govcrnment alleges, it was unjustifiable. Such were the circuit stances ; and the question we debate is, Do ' they withdraw hiin from the principle of personal re sponsibility 1 Let me say, then, first, that in proceeding lo deter mine whether that principle shall or not be applied to a given special case arising in the ever varying devel opments of things, the inclination of civilized Slates will be, and ought to be to lake the principle Inrgi lv and liberally in favor nl individual immunity,and id exclusive national ic- |>oiisitiiiity. Every motive winch operated to introduce the principle into the law of na tions at I rst, is ,< motive tosn i nlarged and benignant construction and application ot it lo day. Its adop tion originally marked a vast advance on the ferocious systems of what we call natural society. It was a grand triumph of reason as well as of humanity.? Policy and wisdom carried the world up to it, as well as right feeling It was resorted to to relieve war of | ;i"? Imritii->K.. .. I , condition of man tonne ? ml in unuV "' 'l'* l1""1"1"' whom, in one age uuwuriiu.ifi' , country ; and to lift n er alb oi'll e rv ' VU'B,r a"d d"?r> bu"'""? of ge ry to a mrvue ot tflorv, in which ureal detc r i oTa luj n"" *n W",loul t,eKr*d*'??" and without princii li- i w,'rr lhe n" ' which the ^ v""r. Tl'L''"" 8' hr"'"f lli?, lu ? ".lion-, !? Lt,! T I ? "u m " a """>*? ??? ii the iijoht SirMi.i u1"',h: ,lu-V - Donoi "i ' "i S 'est glorie* of civilization.? 'ucUn i ! " ''-V a ??d re ? Mi* ll'r'',a""n and application! To .lu .o w.'uld i,'m ""w'0"l t;'ve 'I"' direction in which the i ii " ' do not know when wars ahull come 'neT; ' b""rv? ? 1 "u". ? the world Inure everv I ' " """ r,'?urii w!ir '""re ?'>d evil nil Ji\i "" "" evil, if a necewary ' " "",re tt"11 ????? ever, h ?r nn !* "^Ohrisiian and of chivalous for I i. owaida individual actors, atruck down, dis armed, and unresisting enUiBi'i'l"' n " "' "l? ,aw of Per,ona' immunity that ?.n f t'. Wh.,Ch "'e ,i,."e and ,h- ooumry de hi/ ' ' iU" L .t0 l,le *'K <'ial circumstances, one by one, which murk the case of McLeod, and see if t icy do or do not leave him the protection which if thrown round the captive of open, regular war. l "I I* 1>,41C?*. observe that the expedition oil wnion lie went out wus an expedition of war It was not an ex | edition to roll the mail, or to roh a hen roost or to throw on am.aa.iii or apy into an enemy's camp' iy win. Ii happy analogic* we have had il illustrated It wan an enterprise of war; undertaken under the ? iron respon* bil.ties,' .urrounded by the iron right* oi >v?r. litexact leyal denomination i* " informal, in ! *"Um" L* u. call things by their right name* and hold England and liuld ourselves up con sistently to tin* View of.he truiiaactioii. Look at it.? 1 here was a forcible loinporaiy occupation of our ter ritory by an armed foreign body, acting in organiza H' ",'r" " ''y u loreign Government, um u Gov ernment, not for plunder, but a* an alleged grave uiea aura ol -late policy ?for the alleged defence ofila own ?nil and ila own laws against revolutionary invaders from without. What sort of act is that, sirl The mover I* a Government; the inducement a high rea son >.'state; the inst.umcnts and the effect* auch aa ordinarily do the work, and murk tne giant tread of war Armed men Mob inly assail a vessel moored on our waters, wned by our citizen*, reposing, us weal lege, beneath the protection, not forfeited, ol the folds "I our flag. It is the cry of brief, but actual ballie which rises above the murmur of that onward, unrc turuing stieam. I he peuee of our territory was dis turhe.l, its sanctity wax violated, the charmed life id" an American citizen was taken in light, the pro.iertv | ol an American citizen, itself pait of'the general wealth Ol the community, was destroyed. This sir in the language of the publicum, is "informal hostility " : ..gainst (he United State*, and the respons.b.htv of I Kngland, who ordered it to be committed, and the i.n | munity ol (he *oldiern who enforced the order with the bayonet and cutlass, result, of course, according io the' principle on which, as 1 have said, we all tuke our stand, and in which all publicists agree. I do not say ll.at by this act England intended to begin a war on the I tilled State* or to impair our strength, diminish I "i.r treasure, or insult our Hag us a nation < 'erta.n y not Mill the act which she does is to invade our t. r ntory Inrcihly and unlawfully, lor the pur|a>sc of reach j mg and destroying the property of one of our citizen*, which she had no right an to reach and so to destroy, 1 and in effect that purpose by military violence and by alledding innocent blood In battle. A nil this act i* ( hoMtiiity ugainst u?, btcauae our right* are outraged, and they lire outraged by the method* and the process,' and according to the forms of war and because everv ; nat'on and every man must be holden to intend the ^ acla which he does, and their necessary consequences. How do you distinguish this proceeding from the attack on Copenhagen, in I80H to which the Senator : Irom Virginia alluded to last evening 1 What w:,sih..| ttansaction 1 England, cherishing no hostile feeling against Denmark, (for Denmark, Tike herself, was a" tually in arms against the Emperor ol the French,Con ceived a leal thai I hat urn ient gallant.but not verv pow eiful nation might fall b. fore In .-,, in whichu.se her*ix teen stii|)s ol War would become his?a formidable ac cessionto ihe etrengih by which he waa urging foi j wurd his aim ot universal dominion Thereupon he j sent Admiial Gambier to Copenhagen bombarded it killed and wounded above a thotisu.d (.. rsons, and carried ofl the whole Danish lleet. l'hat is, she forci bly invade* the Danish territory for the purpose of I possessing herself of divers ship's, of which, as against I Denmark, she had no right to take possession ; not for j the purpose of weakening or insulting her but to prevent | their becoming, in other hands, the instruments ofan ( noyance against herself. So here. She invades our i territory with a military lone, for the purpose ot pos | sensing herself ot a vessel, of which, as against .is, she had no right lliua to take possession , not to awaken, or | insult us. hul lo prevent its being, in other hands,'the j in irumcnl o! annoyance airnitist herai'If. The ruse# are alike easei of informal war against the nation whose nan.-rial rights are invaded. In the affair ot | C pci.hi.gi ii, the object of the invasion was the capture ol Danish Government ships. If. instead of I that, it had M en Danish merchant ships, lest their cur , goes igl t goto till the c, ff. rs ot France, or to tran* j po.l I icncli munitions of war, would the act have been , at all the leas an act of hostility againat Denmaik? i Nay, it Denmark ! .d been neutral, ; n the object had been to cut out a French ship wine , i. ,d tie,| to Copen hag. n lor shelter, it would anil ha>. ec. a hostile ag- ' [ gresgion ugains Dcnmar* herself. i';j, attack u|. .n Copenh .gen was u|?.n n grander acale than that upon J the Ca roll til ; more slupa, more men, gie&.er nam. s, u | more picl.ircf^ue arrangement of the -peciule of w'.r 1 Mill lie essel.nal character, the leg ,1 nu nc, the le ? al consequences, n ilion.il and personal, Were the same S,r, ii "i"' Government trespasses on the lights ot an other by thee i. ploy ue.it ol warlike nistru ocn s, it is. to tin extent ol the liespass, war on the injured na lion Mut I nd'unce to a second and far mote impoitant circumstance I'll'* expedition in which he served I was il.e act of a Government competent to comiN-lluin to serve In.lcpend, nl of, and prioi to anv knowl- 1 edge or approval of the uct by the mother country, it I was*,.. I wholly r.j ct the suggestion I hat this dar- ! ing enterprise wus at first an unauthorized proceeding 1 of individual*, and that it sulwequ. ntly became the j uct of a Government by ratification. From beginning j to end it was the work of a G.tvc nu.ent, and of u Go vernment having I he light to exact McLeod'* obedi- 1 ence to the last drop of his blood. Who planned mid conducted the all.uk! The colonial authonti. s Such is, for substance, the explicit declarut on of Mr. : i-ox Such i- the legal conclusion Irom the facts tilted by Sir Franci Head in his despatch of the ?-?ih ol January, 1KN Sir, the m .tier stands exact ty thus The colonial authorities specially einiajw ered ( ol McNab lo defend Her M..jesn , term, * and lo delend Her Majesty'* subj.eis Such is the concurrent statement of Air. Fox and Sir Francis! Head, l or this purpose ll.ey expressly empowered ,l"" nd"lH nil dlul defensive uieaaures and ll.ey thereby clothed him by inevitable implication with the discretionary power ofjudging what measure* were needtul. In the exercise ol ihat discretion he judged this measure to be needful, and he adopted il .Now, tor the etion of the soldier by whom it was achieved, it is precisely as if the colonial authorities had .hrectiy and in term* planned and commanded il ol ' lor this purjH.se conclusively represented then. I low could n common soldier prom..,nee or r in jeeture that the iudg..,. r.t of the official representative was erroneous i Sir, he had the right, and was bound to assume il to be the judgment of the colonial authorities And who w, re they ! Why is between tliein and McLeod, and tor the purple.,- of linn ..in s- i lion ol individu ,| immunity as helvveen Mcl,, o.l and ourselves, ihey were In* rightful and only Government ?Nice question* may be moved on the compciency ol a colonial Government from it* su-ordinate relations! to the imperial head, to set on fool an enterprise of I war. Mut it is every where conceded that such a Government may undertake defensive war The mother country,' by the act of esi?bb?hi..g it, clothe* it with flie power and imposes on it the duty of defend nig Knelt, and ii clotl.es it al?o w.lli the power of judging lor itaelf in the first instance how that'duty shall he done When, therefore, II resolves thai a | particular measure of war is .necessary lor its defence, j and that the crisis requires a blow to be struck.al once and without wailing lor advice from the paia nouni power at home, it may call the whole colonial papula- ' lion to arms by day or night, and obedience to such a | call is as righltul as unavoidable, and as effective for individual immunity as the obedience of a conscript or *n impressed seaman. Such was this case. Wis McLeod lo ?ay that the colonial all lloilties mi "judged onI he question of necessity ? They told htm thai the defence of the territory and of the nstitution ot Up PTj r*nad* fcquired this act. Did he know better 1 Did he command a wider horizon of view ? Could he !'<? mile lie had a 11 the the element* of a tnumlrr upinioitt Consider that to the colonist residentu'lhe colonial Government i* every iliing It is all of majesty, mon archy, of rristocracy that he ever sec* in hi? life To that all hi* duties ap|iear tu lit nvnnjj ami consider, too, that the spirit ol Ins grand principle of individual responsibility i?, that butiajldc obedience tu hi* actual and lawful Government on a requisition ot warlike service aliall never be reckoned a crime in any man. You have liefore you, then, the caae of a Govern ment commanding a subject, who wu bound to obey, to ahaulder hi* musket tor the defence id' hi* country. It is true, the Senator from Pennsylvania tell* ua, that Mcl ^eod wu a volunteer. But he deduce* no legal concluaion from the fact; undoubtedly because he re iiieinticr* that, by the admitted doctline of interna tional law, no diatiuction i* recognised between vo lunteer unci any other told era He will remember that Vattel, at page 401, in a direct authority for thi*. In the reu*on of the case there can be no distinction. 1 he regulaily enlisted soldier engages voluutaiily, at first, for a longer term and for all ihe service; tho vo lunteer engage* lor a shorter term and for a special ?erviee. Hut both alike go foitb to execute an autho ritative public will, and both stand, therefore, on the auine plane of immunity and hazurd. Conaider, air, what a gieat concern of all nation* it ia, and of oura more than all other*, to hold a rule of international law on thi* subject that sh.,11 make their inhabitant* willing and ready to leap to arms, at half a moment'* w "ruing, at the midnight cry of their country. You have, then, I repeat, the ca~e of a Government commanding u subject to go forth to an enterprise of war Why is he not, then within the terms and spi rit of the great principle of immunity which we ull agree surrounds the soldier of a formal war 1 What are the peculiarities that distinguish this particular service from the general trade of war 1 Why, sir, they are said to be these that it was a single act of hostility, not preceded nor followed by any oilier, not preceded by a declaration, and wholly unjust. This is ull true; but for lbe objects of this inquiry it is wholly immaterial. Sir. publicists and the practice of nation* recognise various modes, kinds, and degrees of hos ility. War is not always general or "perfect,' nor is it always preceded by a dec aration. It some times begins and ends with one single crushing blow Such wan the attack on Cojienhugen, in I80I, and thai in 1808. It may be limited to one single act of reprisals, by a single individual, under a license com municated to him alone. A foreign Power has seized his ship, and Ins own Government gives him Ictteisof marque to help himself to another In point of fact, too, war often begin* without any declaration at all, at home or abroad The bolt outruns the 11 ish ? Modern history is full of such instances; but 1 spare you the reheaisal of ihem. Now, sir, what 1 would say is. that, for the purposes of immunity to the sol dier and sailor, all these mode*, kinds, and degrees of war Come exactly to the same thing They are all and all alike modes of governmental action, involving only governmental responsibility. In many things they certainly differ one from another ; some of them arc more chivalrous, more magnanimous, more con formable with a strict and punctilious proceeding and technical law of war than others Some of them af ford less ground of complaint to the Government as siitled than others. But, for thi' purpose of personal irresponsibility, they are all one and the same-thing ? In reason it must be so. Consider that a leading ob ject ol this principle ol immunity is the protection of Ihe unfriended instruments of ambition or patriotism who furnish the rank and file of war. It is to protect the common soldier. Arid what an unavailing, un certain, ensnaring thing it would prove for him if his title to it depended on such shade* of diversity as these ' How does he know whether the war, to which you hurry him away from all that is dearest to him 111 the world, is just or unjust1? How does he know by w hat heialds of declaration it has been preceded ! How doe* he know whether. the desperate midnight enterprise for which you have called him up from sleep is to be a single enterprise, or whether it is de signed to kindle the fires of a war that shall enctrcle the world 1 Sir, he knows only thut his own Go vernment, in obedience to which he was bred?that the land of his birth?that the land of his fathers' graves, bids him go forth , and ih-?t, if he shrinks for a moment from Ins post when the storm ol battle rages highest, he die* by the hands of his officer* ; and he goes foitli relying on the armed but manly justice of civilized war. And so are all the authorities. The Senator from Virginia recited them so copiously to you last evening that I shall spare you the repetition, and content my self with a reference or iwo. The Senator from Penn sylvania and the Secretary of State tell you that the attack on the Caroline wan unjust. But look into Vattel, on pages 380 and 383, and Rutherforth, 2d volume, page 54f>, and you find that they concur that the injustice of the wnr doe* not affect the soldier's title to immunity. If it did, the nations would at once tetiirn to the murder of pri*onei? , for was there ever a war in which each belltgerant did not think his antagonist in the wrong 1 But you say this was only a single act of hostility ; bieakmg out in a time of general peace, unannounced by any declaration. So it was. But Kutherforth ex pressly declare* that this does not withdraw it from the law of immunity I read at large the passage fiom page MS of his second volume, and commend it to the meditations of the Senator from Pennsylvania. "This external lawfulness, in respect of the members of a civil society, extends to public wars of the im perfect sort, to reprisals, or to other acts of hostility." Such is the doctrine of this publicist, vindicated and illustrated tiy a masterly train of reasoning ; approved by the heait and judgment of universal civilized man Against this authority there cannot be placed one soli taiy net of a Christian nation for the last five hundred \ears, nor one word of anv writer who undertake* to record the existing systems ol international law.? Wlia' is tie nation now on earth, or di scended into the grave* of e opire ; where is the modern Christian nation ihnt has shed the bio. d of a prisoner because the war to which his Government detached him was informal, insolemn unannounced by a declaration, b 'ginning and ending with one single act ? Call up the nation, if such there is or has been, and let it nn s?ei to the out I aged spirit of law ' Did Denmark claim the right to do such an atrocity ; humbled and exasperated bv the repeated bombardment of her capi tal ; did that ancient and gallant r*ce ever dream of avenging the defeats of the castle by the triumph* of the gallows? Did Spain, the most formal, the most punctilious of Governments, and adhering the most tenaciously to the slow and prescriptive *olemnitie* and technicalities of the old fashions of war; did Spain dre nn of ii when, in 1801, England, in a time ol'peace, intercepted her treasure ships returning from America, and capiured or destroyed them 1 Nor C(in you find, as 1 have said, a wotil in any ap proved expounder of the actual law of nation*, lo op pose (lie text of Rutherforth. Dicta, of Grotios, seem to conflict with it Bui they only sceiu to conflict with it liven these the Senator from Pennsylvania has not availed himsell of, because he know* thatGrotius, admirable fir hi* genius, hi* studies, his most enlarged and excellent spirit, lived too early to witness the lull development of Ins own grand principles and the ac coiiiphshment of his own philanthropic wishes. The existing law of'nations has been slowly built up since his time, and to learn it we must have recourse to wri ters, fur hi" inferiors in capacity and learning, but for tunate in being able to record the ameliorated theory and practice of a better day than his l-'roin no one of the e can you cite any thing in opposition to the authority I have relied on. The Senator from Penn s\ Iv una thought he had discovered some such doctrine us lie needs in 1 he Tit It section of bonk 2d, chapter tit h, ot Vattel But the Senator from Virginia was cn tiielv accurate in his observation upon this passage ; tSit it plainly refers to Ihe case of ail individual act ing without authority from his Govern uent, and to nothing else Anil then, in support of the |M>sition of Kutherforth, I may remind you that as the law of na tions is hidden now, no war requires to be preceded bv a declatati in Martens. 271 2d Wheaton's Laws of Nations, 12; 1st of Kent's Commentaries, 51, 2d edit. Defensive war never required it, according to any other theory Vattel, 317 But it was defensive war to which McLrnd's Government assured hint that he was summoned forth. The want of declaration, therefore, cannot a fleet him, unless we are guilty ot the indecent and ludicrous barbarity of requiring htm to' judge better than his Government on the necessity of lesorting to a particular measure of armed resist ance to a threatened invasion. 1 submit, then, sir. that Mi L.eod is not responsible lis I. r crime sgainsi the municipal law ol New > ork | or ? ? t tins IJnuin by part lei pull rig in this act ot l.ng hsli national wrong Criminal in England, in him it vv i* no crime. Le me :n Id that if, in thoughtlessness or anger, we had stoop* d to shed his blood, it would j have impressed a stain on the radiant ll ig ot our pride , and love which a hundred victories, ay, a hundred years of victory would riot wijie away The concession Id the Secretary ol State wa* right, then, in point of international law. But the Senator from Pennsvlvanii thinks he ought not to have made | It, right or wrong. 1 submit, then, in the second place, lh?t he ought to have made it, and the Govern mi nt U) have acted on it, exactly as U *ss made ?nd acted on. _ . _ . W hat wu the duty of the Secretary of Rtate on the 12th of March la?i, when McL*.hI, guiltj of no manner of crime against the law of Nrw 1 ork by participation in the attack un the Caroline, had been indicted imprisoned, and srdered for trial to be bad on till- 23d of \larch, a* for such criinc, under circum stances justifying a reasonable an*ielf lest he might fall u victim to u natural and a tremendous popular excite mem, and when her Majesty's mintster came forward, announced thedoctiiiie of international law, wjncn we all kn-.w to lie just, and demanded that McLeod should be hold. II entiil.d io imtiiun ty under it I What was the Secretary of S at. to d.. 1 Should he have wrap ped lua diplomatic, mantle about him and hav? aniwer i*il, Sir, I do not know abo il vour doctrine of inter national law ; the American Government la not ad vised whether it may hang pnsoners of war or .not, besides, it happena to have nothing at all to do with the matter; McL end ia in the hands of the State ot New Yolk , a ureal and paiuotic State Mr. Mini* er, giving forty odd electoral votes; ?he will do what ia right, if she hangs him, why then we shall know that he deserved il, and if she docs not, ao much the belter for hiui-elf Should he really, saying, have bowed the minister out, and have retiealed into an Epicuiean heaven of indiflcrenc. and n?n commutal, until he and you were startl.d by the thunder ot an enemy'* cunnon?a music I acknowledge ai which a brave nation ha. no great objection ai any moment to wake up 1 No, sir. I submit, on the contrary, that the duty of our Government was perfectly clear, to avow it. acknowledgement of the doctrine of inter national law advanced by the minister ; to declare its purpose to secure McLeed ihe benefit of It; to do It; and then, having removed this disastrous interlocuto ry controversy out of the way, to demand satisfaction at once of England for the burning ol the Caroline, as that language is understood ?anmng nation* ot the first class 'l'o .implity the matter somewhat, sup pose that McLeod had at that moment been in our jail in our courts instead of those ol New \ork, then, 1 rJpeat it was most palpably our duly to have con ceded l lie proposition of law , to have el pleased our assurance that the court, would a. tjuit him ot the ac cusai ion of crime against our municipal codes, anil even I hat the Attorney General representing the tjov ernment w. uld enter a n. lie nroityui, thus commit ting him to the dispoaal of the Executive as a prisoner. ,,r u (|uai>i priaoner of war, ol whatever else Ins legs character might be; and then and thus having washed our hand, clean, and set ourselves right before Uod and man, to call llns island mistress of a thousand btuiwol war to mutant account. That this was ihe doty of our Government ia too plain to be debated. Was it not iU duty to cauae this nation to keep the law of national Was it not 1U,'U* tv to be just 1 And was not this bare ju-tice to Mc Leod, to England, to the universal spirit of humanity I W?? it not Us duty to preserve peacetl it might be had with honor, and, il war must come, to secure us one in which a Christian people might draw its sword I I Now sir, the difficulty was, that, on the lull ol March, we were in an eminently f.dse position. With ample ! materials of the highest tone of complaint, perhaps ! even of reprisal* or war against England, lor her con duct towaid* us, here she was holding us up tx-fore all the world, for a little pi.ee of our own conduct, in which we were, or were apparently, just about to be entirely in the wrong. N\ itn th?* burning ot the a roline with the groundless yet |>eitinacious grasp ol our territory in the Northea*', with the repeated sei zures and searches of our ship* at sea to complain of and go to war about, if a wise and moral people had a taste for such entertainment, we were actually jU*t about compelling England to declare war on u. for hanging one of her soldier* because he did not run away from her colors ! W by, sir, thi* was not a po*i tion for men of sense to stand on long enough for her Maiesty'i Minioterto pull ofl his hot. Policy, honor, justice,' honesty, humanity, all required us to quit it in an instant. Why give England such a J^rilousiad vantage a* to make up a false i**ue like tins I Why unite all her classes, and every man in every class in , what thev must think a holy war I W hv ahenate tho I sympathies of the world by such a thing. Why commit a blunder as well a* a crime ? Why fortf* that he is trebly armed that has Ins .[uarrel just! Why stn>ck and shame the pride of America by turning aw ay from England to strike down McLeod 1 Sir, it you speak of blow s, I believe the people of this coun try would clioese to be seen alining lull at the front ot the p.oud and giant master, rather than dragging the servant, unormed, unfriended, ond handcuffed, to tni sallow*. They feel that no laurel, are to be won in such afield bv a nation of gallant men of men ot ho nor, and of Christians. 'I hey will seek those laurels rather where they do naturally grow, tar up on the ? perilous edge of battle when it rages Sir, I wa* lust now to d that the late Chief Magistrate observed to a friend, some time during that fleeting month of his administration, that in a just cause, it Congress would give him.men and money, he had no objection to going into war with England, but that he could not bring himscll to buckle on hi* armor and take the field against Alexander McLeod. 1 can appreciate tho disinclination ol this kind, brave, and just old man to "U/repeat, then, sir, that if, on the 12th Mc Leod had been awaiting trial in the courts ofthe Uni ted State* we ought to have replied to the demand ot h?r Majesty 's Mini.ter thus We admit your proposi tion of international law ; we are not quite so rude and recent among the nations a* no! to know the element* of the code that knits the families of the earth together. From this accusation of municipal offence your subject is safe And now will you in your turn inform us (forthree years we bate waited in vain to know 1 on what pretence her Majesty's forces, at the dead hour ol nieht crossed the inviolate hneof our boundary, inva ded our soil, dishonored our flag, wasted the pr0|ierty and shed the blood of American citizens I It happened, however, that at the time when his de mand w\s made, McLeoJ wa, awaiting histnal in the courts of New York. He was in a New \ "^ prison, under New York process ; and tbe d.stinguished Sena tor from Pennsylvania insists that tor this cause, at least the Government should have done nothing, and said nothing to the demand, but ju*t directed Mr. Fox I,, ti ll his story and carry his law to New ? ork . We should have made no concessions of the legal principle; we should not have dared to communicate to the Lxecu live of that State the official evidence of the claim, and of the doctrine of England, and our own opinion of it; we should not have lifted a finger, we should have stood speechless, unconscious, innocent and dignilieU, to see England, New Yoik, and McLeod settle this lit tleconcern of nationsl law, peace, war, life and death, among themselves. ? Sir the position McLeod stood in to that great anil admirable State undoubtedly limited the rights and em btrrass. d the action of the General Government. liut, because we could not do all that we would, were we not to do the little that we could 1 Were we ,to do nothing ' Whom have we oflended 1 I he State ot New York 1 Howl By desiring to secure to this prisoner, to whose f&l*e intere*t so large and wpn1 cious were attached, a fair mal I Sir, I cannot believ. ,t New York was proceeding ag-nnst him in the or dinaiv course of ihe administration of cr.mina l.w_ To recognise In r jurisdiction over inn which in the amplest iiiaiinerlhis Government did, and ' n t" wish tor bun just what New York wished lor him, that I rat of soi l .1 privileges?a fa r tnal was there any thing i? .Ins I . affront her pride of character 1 any thing to rutHi- a feather iii the plume ol lu r acknowledged pre ' iluV'we sought to ojierate on the government of that St it.- l>v communicating our opinion on the points ot international law, and in effect advi.ingit what course to pursue. Well, sir, does ihe conveyance ol advice imply disrespect towards the object of it, or a distrust of Ins integrity or his capacity I Does it prove any thing more than that you feel a deep solicitude that, in a great crisis of his fortunes and yours, lie shall, lor his sake and yours, make no mistake Sir, ier. a Stale Willi the physical power of engaging you in a national war. If hostilities followed the execution of McLeod, it would not have bee a war on New J orh alone but on Louisiana, on South ( 8r '"1' "" Ian I en Massachusetts If they should be mote irn . I .. i,vour valor Slid your treasure .i "? t* y: then, might plunge youin a ^'^J^j^^nd direct Sheh ri^ri! ill ^ treatv nit? r It flan begun. ^ 'I'^tJvcUyouralione. Those trsns cendent iin,* rial fsiw.-rs, by which and through which w. .r. known to the nations, are your ?",?*,,rs And now is it possible that a Stale, prohibit* I by the Con stitution from making war, from making treaties, may consummate an act for which we must answer with our |..-st blood, on the field snil on the deck ; and yet that this Government, clothed by Ihe Constitution with all these great trusts, chsrged with the conserva lion ot peace, with the conduct, expenditures, and ha tards ol war?this Government, whose (lag alone it is that wiim-s over the universal American larmier, wheresoever a member of tt wanders, on lain thai we cannot reapeclfully approach sny '? ? the communicati m of advisory sugt'. cion, ,ate with her on a subject of grest novelty, d.fficuUy and importance ' 1 have no gres ^ Iranscen lenlsl.sm of delicacy a. a m((nor , mng electoral votes, jhissiIiI) . }4ir New Government for manly; *n| v ^rnl|rmen of both York is ably represented here, ^??er for W J political ^iti?", ond tn