The Albany patriot. (Albany, Ga.) 1845-1866, June 10, 1848, Image 1

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Newspaper Page Text*• .J L. T < j *-• . i' • ‘ f J * a v ~* ’•>' ' • >. ^ JL. st * "•** PUBLISHED ) BV TIFT & BOUGHTOfl....Proprietors. > orflcE —OPPOSITE THE AMERICAS HOTEL. ) feilumc Y Albany, Baker County, (Scorgta, Satuvbay ^flowing, June 10, 13*15. fit j PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY M0RNI5G. TERMS: »f\vo T)oi.i.ars per annum, if paid in advance, or Three Dollars at the end of the year. Advertisements not exceeding twelve lines, will insert’d at one dollar for the first insertion, and for each continuance. Advertisements not having tne number of insertions specified, will be nuMi^beit until forbid, * g a ies of Ia'tI and Negroes by Executors, Admin istrator? and Guardians, are required by law to be adverted in a public gajsettee sixty days previous to »he dav of s«d^* rpi l0 «i/a.« of Personal Property must be advertised W like ra inner forty days. Retire to Debtors and Creditors of an estate must hCpnMidiod forty days. \otire that application will'be made to the Court c f Ordinary for leave to sell Land and Negroes, must 1* published weekly for four months. Monthly advertisements, one dollar per square fo? rach insrruon. X7 All letters on business must he post paid. Mr. March’s Letter to General Scott. [Concluded from last trccA\] War Department. > Washington, April21, 1848.^ As a just ground of complaint, and a matter tween Monterey and the Rto Grande, and that it has interrupted the line of communication be tween the two plaees, and seized large supplies which were on their way to General Taylor’s army. “ If the hostile force between the Rio Grande and General Taylor’s army is as large as re- port represent it, our troops now on that river may not be able to re-establish the line, nor will it, perhaps be possible to place a force there sufficient for the purpose, in time to prevent dis astrous consequences to our army, unless aid can be afforded from the troops under your im mediate command. “ From one to«*wo thousand of the new re* cruits for the ten regiments, from this quarter, will be on the way to the Brazos in the course of three or four days. All the other forces will be directed to that point, and every effort made to relieve General Taylor from his critical situa tion. You will have been fully apprized before this can ranch you of the condition of things in the valley of the Rio Grande, and at the head, against the War Department It does more; it shows how rash and inconsiderate you have been in selecting topics for attack. But the most serious consequences are at tributed to the long, delay of these troops at the Brazos. For your sake, I sincerely hope these consequences are much exaggerated, because I am quite confident it will be shown {hat you alone are responsible for the delay. The War Department did not—and it was proper that it should not—issue any order in regard to the movement of the troops after their arrival in Mexico. The order from the department of the 30th of April, making a division of the new levies between the two columns, does not com tradjet this assertion, for these levies were then mostly within the United States; qnjy portions of them had then reached Mexico. Until this order took effect, the troop? at the Brazos, and. indeed, on t|ie Rio Grande and with Gen’l Taylor, were under your entire and unrestricted command. As to this matter, you were under no misapprehension; for on the 25th of April, before you were informed what had been done here to secure the Rio Grande line, you issued quarters of General Tailor, and have taken, I trust, such measures as the importance of the subject requires. I peed not urge upon you the j an order in relation to the troops at the Brazoil. fatal consequences which would result from any ! This place, .you well knew, was the general serious disaster which might befal the army un-1 rendezvous of the new levies from the United der Gen. Taylor, nor do I doubt that you w ill j States, and before you sailed qn your expedi- do what is in your power tp avert such a ca- tion to Vera Cruz you were notified that the of accusation, yon refer to your deficiency calamity/’ Mexican army were advancing upon General means to make the descent, and to capture the) Tne course pursued by the War Department | Taylor. To have assumed that yog had not city of Vera Cruz and the castle of San! on that occasion, which you ooovprt into a left at the Brazos, with a view to meet any Juan dTlloa, and assume that the extent of that ; charge, must on revision, I think, commend it-! probable contingency, orders for the proper dls- deficiency was the difference between what you 1 self to general approbation. Had it been in-j position of the troops which were, or might be received and what you required. It would be i different to the alarming condition of General | sent there, would have implied an opinion that quite as correct reason to say, that what you ! Taylors army, and forborne to use, at dm ear- you wanted suitably qualifications for the high had having proved sufficient for the purpose,! liest moment, the most energetic measures to j station which had been assigned to you. that difference showed the extent of the errors guard against the fatal consequences of its de-1 These troops w ere a part of your command, in your estimate. The truth lies, perhaps be-1 feat, then too probrible, it would have deserved j and subject to your orders; and if they remain- tween the two extremes. Yog had less, proba- i an arraignment as severe as that which you led one day at the Brazos after it was there My, than you should have had, and you requir- j have made against it for having done its duty j known that they w ere not needed on tfie Rio td much more than was necessary. That you ! in that critical emergency. When you first re-1 Grande fine, and would be serviceable with did not have more, and indeed, all you asked 1 celvud the reasons assigned for the course I your column, the fault was entirely your lor, I have already shown was not the fault pf adopted hprp, they appear to have been satis-; own, and in nowise imputable to the War De- the War Department. : tory. In your despatch of the 28th April, you j partment. If your opinion be not extravagant General Jesup was with you at Vera Cruz, say: “ Yesterday I learned, by your letter of;—and 3*011 say it is not—that but for the diver- tow your means, and is capable of forming an es- the 22d, and the Adjutant General’s of the 2Gtfi 1 sjon of Gen’l Cadwalader s forces from 3*ou, and timate of their sufficiency, lie is, as his letter ult, that all the recruits of the regiment—some herewith show’s, disposed fo fie just, and ewn three thousand—raised or likely to be raised in generous to 3*011 r fame. To his opinion on the time for this arm}*, have been ordered .to the subject, no well-founded exception can be t:i- Rio Grande.” You did not then intimate die ken. He says in reflerence to your complaints slightest dissatisfaction—mot even a premonito- on account of a deficient supply of surf-boats,\ ry symptom of that deep distress with which, siege-train, and ordnance stores; *Thp result instantly on Mr. Trist’s.arrival in Mexico, you ebons that lie (General Scott) had surf-boats! represent }*ourself to have been seized. It is a and stores enough !” And of the delay of which coincidence not unworthy of notice that thelet- you complain, he folly exonerates the War De- i ter containing 3*our first condemnatory remark partment, and ascribes the *vhole to yourself, 100 this subject was written on the day of (lie ami to unavoidable accidents. The imputation j date of Mr. Trist’s first note to 3’ou, and only r/iat you were designedly crippled in your j the day before your cautious reply to it; and jn means, is a charge a* preposterous as it is u&-1 both you assail the war department. Y"our founded. j withering disappointment seems to have sluni- I am a wane that the execution of some of the j bored for ten days, and then to have been arotis- arrangemeuts for the Vera Cruz expedition was] stl by the appearand of Mr. Trist in Mexico, obstructed aiul delayed by accidents, but they i and your quarrel with him. If the order from ! it is not important to inquire into that matter, were such as common sagacity could not fora- J the War Department had in fact “ diverted” the j But there is a question of serious import, to see, or human agency control. They were not, j force with General Cadwahjder, still it was 1 which I think the country w ill expect you to however, more than a considerate mind, bring- \ fully justified by the threatening aspect of affairs ! answer. thp “ much precious timp” lost at the Brazos, yoq “ might easily have taJcen this city [Mcxic.o] in the month of June, and at one-fifth of the loss sustained in August -and September,” you have, indeed, a most fearful account to settle with your counfry. 1 cannot, however, but regard yoftf specula tive opinions on this subject as fanciful and w ild. Y'ou really over estimate the force which landed at the Brazos and subsequently joinpd you. From the best calculation which can be made from data in the Adjutanf General’s office, the number was much less than you imagine, and did not probably exceed one fhousand.— As the refutation of your charge against the department for diverting these troops is in no wise impaired by the number, be it more or Jess, that a measure which appeared to be so unwise and so injurious tq the operations of the army, could have emanated frpjn yourself; but they were less charitable towards the President and Secretary of War. Both* were denounced for what 3 T ou had donp; they were unscrupulously charged with weakness and incapacity; with being actuated by hostility to 3*ou, and a desire to sepure popularity with the volunteers, Nor wero these bitter assault intermitted, until it began to be suspected fiiat they werp mis directed, If you really regarded, on the Gth of May, th*. augmentation of your forces as being of such vital importance, it is almost as difficult tQ account for thp course takpn to re-pngage the volunteers, as for their premature dfephaf-ge. I am misled by information, Qn which 1 ought to rel)*, if many of these volunteers would not have continued in the service, if proper measures had been taken at Jalapa, while they were indulging the hope of participating in further triumphs, and of being among those who wqpld enjoy the enviable distinction of first entering as victors the proud capital of the Mexican republic.— Though the Subject was there presented to their consideration, no vigorous efforts seem to have been made-=-no attempt tq fornj pew companies —or to master them into spryice, until this powerful inducement was weakened or with drawn—until ffipy had been detached from a victorious army, as |f no longer deemed worthy to be a part of it—-gent sixty miiq# towards their homes into a ppstileptial region, and there brought within tUp systematic influence of the sentiments vyhich was natural that rnfltiy* should feel and manifest at the piomenf of embarking to return to their families and friends. (Con sidering thp manner in which the President’s order on this subject was attempted to be exe cuted, it is not strange that, among more than three thousand patriotic volunteers, sept away 1)3* your order of the 4th of May, onjy about “fifteen individuals” >vere found willing tq re engage, You geem to hpyp suddenly* conceived the notion pf converting (he army, “like Cqrtez,” “ into a sel f-sustaining machine and, to make the resemblance between yourse|f and thp Span ish hero more complete, 3*011 indulged a dream of fancy, until you seem to have adopted it as a matter of belief, that you were “ doomed qt Washington; and you became, Ijke him, nl- ways afraid that fee next ship op messenger might recall or further cripple” 3*011, 4 should not tie forgotten, that tljp design of this unac countable military movement was first commu nicated to «Mr. Trist, before you had given any intimation of it to your government, and tvhile under the perturbation of mind which h|s un welcome presence in Mexico had produced.— Had you confided thjs extraordinary plan of a campaign to him after tfie “ happy change” |n your relations—after you had digested his “ farrago of insolence, conceit, and arrogance’* —-and after he, (oo, mistaking notoriety for fame, had sought to win it by disobeying the orders of his government, defying its authority, and assailing its conduct—this distinguishing Jfumbo: 9. and your forgetfulness pf others, together with iiitspn from your misapprehension pf the text- l’/lO. I*nnoWlll mm/I r ■ i*r l i~ 11 n V Ann ’I'll A a. fhniu J*— . u ? A. li - . your fanciful conjectures and surmises. Your recall is, y*ou assert, the long suspended “blow of power,” which you figd the sagacity clearly to predict. It is somewhat remarkable that 3’oiir predictions preceded the events whjfph you imagine provoked that blow. As early as the 25th of Jujy, soon after “the happy change in my (your) relations, 4 bofe official and private, W’ith Mr. Trist, * 3*ou looked, you say “Ip be dismissed from the service of my (your) coun try*.” If your recall can fie regarded as a dis missal, you are entitled to all the credit pf the fulfilment of 3*oqr own early prediction. In presenting in its trap light the Preskjpnt’s compliance with 3’our owp request to be recall ed, whicji 3*ou now denominate your dismissal, I may bo obliged to strip it pf the embellishments 3*ou have ingeniously thrown around it; though in dq)ng this you may* be deprived pf much up on which you depend to sugfitin your claim to be considered a persecuted and injured man. As early as June you begged to be recalled. You allege that this application was “rebukingly decfiped. This is not saying the exact thing. The reply to your request wgs, “that it would be decided with exclusive reference to the pub lic good. When that shall render it proper in his [(he President’s] opinion (o withdraw y*ou front your present command, fiis determination to do so will be made known to you.” This was not a denial, but a suspension of present ac tion, accompanied with an assurance of future action on the subject. Your request was still pending; a regard tq the public good then stood in the way of the immediate gratification of ypur wishes; but the President promised to act de< The principle there laid dpwn is qf vital impqiv tanee (o subordinate officers, and in nq respect impairs (he rights or the authority of those m chief cogimatid, As the principles which you arraign are thp preations ©fyour own fancy, and have no countenance or support from pay letter, I am (n np w*py implicated by “the fatal conse- quenepa” you deduce from them. Whether le gitimate or fanciful, they do disturb (he po sitions lajd dcr\vn in my letter. I cannot, however, fipt regard yoqr solicitude for the support of discipline to be more ostenta tious tjian profound. When a general at the head qf an army* of freemen, who do not lose their fights as citjgpns by becoming soldiers seta up pretensions to dictatorial power—when j contemns the authority of his government, and is mwefi more ready to cpnsure than to execute its prders and insfrpctions ; -yW’h en k° denounce* ; as an oufrpgc rgjd a punishpient the attempt to submit h|s acts, charged to be an offence against a subordinate officer, to an investigation in the mildest form—wfien he administers an indignant reproof to hjs puperior, for uphplding the sacred fight to appeal, upon which depend* the security* qnd protection of all under his com mand,—such a general sets an example of in subordinate cpnduct, qf wide and witfiering in fluence upon pound military discipline. By extending my comments upon ypur letter, I might multiply* proofs to show that your accu-' Rations against the head of the War Department are unjust—that your cpmplaints are uufound- ed—tljat the designs imppted by you to the gov ernment, to embarrass your operations, impair our rightful authority as commander, and to finffively on thp question when that obstacle offer outrage and insult *° your feelings, are all shpuld be removpd, Judging from the state of! the m^re creations of a distempered fancy ; but things at (fie headquarters of the army in Janu- to do jnore than I have done, would, in iriyr ary, lie concluded tfipt >t was removed, and that (judgment, he a work of supererogation, he ought no longer fo require of you reluctant { In conclusion, 1 may be permitted to say, service as commanding general. This certain- i that, as one of the President’s advisers, I, ha4 ly cannot be called persecution or punishment, j a full s^arc in the responsibility of the act which 1 do not deem it proper fp comment on the state ; assigned you to the command of our armies in of things at thp headquarters qf the army, to wfijcli allusion fs made in the letter grapting your request; nor to express pn opinion ps to thp ?hare of responsibility therefor, which rests upon ypurself or others; that (patter is, to a con siderable extent, involved in the investigations Mexico. I felt interested, even more than nat urally appertained fo my official position, that success and glory should signalize your opera- tlops. it w as my duty tq bring to your aid the efficient co-operation of the War Department I npver had a feeling that did not harmonize into view all tho vast difficulties ofthe case, on the Rio Grande ; but I am quite sure it did! If these ne\y levies, yvhich had just entered j mark of your confidence in him \yould have would have expected. When your complaints not divert them. No previous order from the j the service, >vould have enabled you to capture caused tnuch less surprise. This novel con- on this subject were first received here, evincing; department had designated any oilier place of j the city of Mexico jn June, w ith a comjiara- asthey (fid, that you intended to hold thedepdrt-1 rendezvous than the Brazos for the troops that i tively small loss,* why did you, at the very time went responsible for every untoward event, the j were to join your column. It was well under- you discovered that they were so much needed, heads of die several bureaus w*ere called on by stood, before you left Washington, that all the and w ould have beep so useful, send away from me to show how they had executed the duties ; troops for both armies were to be sent to that y*our army* three times as many volunteers, who which had been confided to tb^m, particularly | place, and there to fall under your command, had been many months in service, and were, as ‘ *' you acknowledge, “respectable in discipline in regard to matters referred to bv you. The j This arrangement was not, nor w as It expec- evidence they presented of having done all that j ted that it could be here changed, until you was required, or could have been expected, con- had penetrated so far into the enemy’s country vinced me—and I venture to say that on a full as to render your communication w ith that examination, it will satisfy any mind open to 1 place of general rendezvous difficult and dan- conviction—{fiat all your complaints, so far as gerous, they* imputed Mame to the War Department, or You also complain that thfe order was not any of its branches, are unfounded, it wifi do countermanded. If there had been such an or- sweh nyjre-rr-it will show what great industry, der, and it hufl been countermanded, what promptness, uncommon capacity, and oxtraordi-1 would have been the consequence ? The troops nary exertions, jn relation to everything connec-! w ould have gone forward from the United ted with the war, have characterized the action j States under the former orders of the depart- of each of these subordinate departments, A« went, which would have taken them to die a commendation justly merited these several same place. branches of tlje department, assailed as ffiey | Y T ou allege that “ the news of the victory of are indirectly by you, I see no good reason j Buena Vista reached Washington in time to lor withholding my opinion, that an instance countermand Cadw'aloder’s orders for the Rio cannot be found where so much has been j Grande before his departure from New Orleans.” done, in so short a time, by any similar body of, I notice this specification of neglect ot duty, to officers under similar circumstances. [ show the extent to which you have carried your As you have, by implication laid * heavy t fault-finding, and the industry with w'hich you band upon the bureau which is charged ivith the: have searched for occasion to indulge it •onerous duties of executing the laws and orders Your assumption is, that the news of the vic tor raising and seeding forward the recruits and' tory of Buena Vista should have satisfied the levies, 1 feel bound to affirm that you have done j War' Department that Cadwalader’s forces to that branch of the public service the greatest 1 were not needed on the Rio Grande; and ,the injustice. No industry has been spared—no j omission to countermand, as soon as that news possible effort omitted—to raise the forces | was received, the orders to send them there, which were anthGrized, and to send tfesm to; was a neglect deserting severe animadversion, their destination within the briefest practicable i How did you act under similar circumstances t Period. The numerous orders issued from the | With better means r#f information as to the ac- Adjutant-GencraTa office, and its voluminous tual condition of the Rio Grande frontier, after ^frespondence on that subject, will sustatn this thn victory of Buena Vista, you did not deem it I prudent, after beingTorty-one days in possession Aou have pressed with unwonted zeal the of the news of that victory, to issue positive or- c ^ r ge in relation to diverting the detachments; dprs to remove a siuglc man from that frontier; of the new regiments under General G’adwala-1 yet you venture to censure me for not having ^ ers command, to the Brazos, and have indulg- sent the troops away the moment the news reached Washington. You received information of that victory on or before the 14th of March, for on that day you proclaimed it in orders to your army. On ihe 25th of April, more than forty days thereaf ter, you issued an order to the commanding of ficer at tlie Brazos to embark for Vera Cruz “such detachments of the new regiments as may have been ordered by the War Department to Point Isabelbut you made it conditional with reference to the safety of the line of the Rjo Grande; and said to that officer, thatyod relied upon his “sojind judgment to determine on the spot whether that Uue would not be too much exposed by the withdrawal of the troops in question.” Thus it appears that you do not hesitate to impute neglect of duty to nie, for not having adopted and acted on the conclu sion that the line ofthe Ria Grande was safe the moment I heard of the victory of Buena Vista; but when acting on ffie same snbjec.t, you dared not adopt that conclusion,, although you had been in possession of th© same informa tion forty-one day* Your own conduct in this matter completely refutes this chargs of your* in the widest speculations as to the sad con- Renees which attended this impute*’, error. * fuming that my orders diverted these troops, ® ra nv others, (an assertion which 1 shall con- °' er t hereafter,) the circumstances justified the measure. The critical condition of General a *j or Recording to all accounts, receive*! here EM \* t ' me ’ ' s state< * * n ra ^ krter to 3 T ou.of the March. To show that the department ac- rf properly, though it incurred your reproof, it necessary to recall the facta as theyappeaned t re * They are presented in the following ex- to°m that letter: , J ne information which has just reached usin T» rumor8 » ** th® situation of Gen. an< ^ tarces under his command,has the most painful apprehensions for their It is almost certain that Santa Anna J^ipatated the laige army he had collected it m , 3 de Potosi upon Gen. Taylor; and l>e that the General has not been able to -to the advanced position he had seen fit ttK* ** Ago* Nueva, but has been obligato » it ° n Monte »T* h w equally certain * «Uexican.force has been interposed be an d efficiency,” and who had distinguished themselves at Vera Cruz and Cero Gordo, and, in the hour of peril, had fought by the side of your vet.ertan troops, and merited an honorable share in the glory of those memorable conflicts? The period of their engagement had not expired. When thus, sent away, bat one of the seven regiments had less than thirty, and most of them had more than forty-five days to serve. Ac cording to your own opinion, concurred in by the department, they could have been legally retained on your line of operations till the hist hour of their engagement If not deemed ex pedient to take them on towards Mexico with you, their services, at that critical period, would have been of inestimable value in holding the post at Jalapa—sp important, and so unexpect edly abandoned-^f-and in keeping open a conu- municatiori between Vera Cruz and your head quarters, whereby supplies, munitions, and re cruits could be safely and expeditiously for warded to you. Had this been done, you would have been spared the trouble of inditing many items of grievance and complaints against the War Department for having failed to furnish them. If you had retained die twelve months’ volunteers until the end of their agreement*— and no sufficient reason has yet been shown for their premature discharge—you might, for a season at least, have received, without touch obstruction, supplies from the main depot on the Gulf; the army might have been strength ened by re inforcements at an earlier period; and many of the revolting scenes of barbarity on die road from Vera Cruz to Jalapa, in which so many lives of our fellow-citizens have been sacrificed by tMfc ruthless guerrUlerqs, would not have occurred. Another and will tnorc lamentable calamity is, I think, fairly to be ascribed ,to the early obstruction of this important fine of communi cation. The brave and patriotic men who were hurried on to Mexico, in small detachments, in order to re-in force your army, were unexpect edly, but necessarily detained at Vera Cruz until the numbers there collected were sufficient to force th,ejr $vay through the strong guerilla ban4s which held tjio difficult passes on the Jalapa road, Whfie (bus detained on that in hospitable coast, iq the sickly season, fhey were exposed to the attacks of a wasting pesti lence, more formidable, and, as it unfortunately proved, more destructive, than the Mexican army. When the unwelcome news of the premature discharge of ^this laige body of volunteers was received here, unaccompanied by any explana tion to show the necessity of the act, it excited very general surprise and regret. Its conse quences were at once foreseen; but the step had been taken, and could not be retraced. It was loudly condemned. Many did not believe ccpi:°n, so suddenly apqpted, was as suddenly carried out; your army was, |ndpcd, converted “ into a self-sustaining machine;” you dischaig.* ed the twelve months’ volunteers, and broke up your posts at Jalapa and on the way to your main depot, “resolved,” as you announced, “ no longer to depend on Vera Cruz or home” —you put yourself beyond the reach of the supplies which had been provided by the gov ernment, and render yourself, in a great meas ure, inaccessible to the recruits and levies (ex cept in strong parties) which had been raised to augment your command. In this way, y*ou rendered unavailing, for a time at least, all that had been or cou|d be done by the assiduous and incessant labors of the War Department in all its branches; and then you recklessly put forth the groundless complaint of “ a tojtal want of support and sympathy” from it» Your letter qf the 25th of July, which was not received at Washington until the 30th of December last, abounds with coqlplaiuts against the department, and refers in strong terms to the wants and sufferings of the army at that time. Before you ventured to make its then destitute condition a ground of charge against the War Department, you ought tQ have recol lected that these afflictions fell upon it in the midst of your experiment of making it “ a self- sustaining machine”—and were tlie legitimate fruits of that experiment. These sufferings came upon it before your estimated period of isolation from “ Vera Cruz and home’* had half expired. When you had designedly and un necessarily abandoned boffi, and entered upon your self-sustaining position, “ cut off from all supplies and re-inforcemepts from home, until perhaps late in November,” by what pretence of justice do you complafo of the Wpr Depart ment for the distresses you thus voluntarily inflicted upon yourself and the gallant army under your command? Something very differ ent from censure and reproof is due for the extraordinary a/forts which were successfully made fo reach you with recruits and supplies in your sequestered situation, and to rescue you from the embarrassments in which your ill-judged measures had involved you. I have brought into view this unaccountable movement of yours, with no purpose to make any com ment upon it as a military measure, but solely to show that the evils resulting from it are not just grounds of accusation against the War Department, and that the labored attempt to pervert them to such a purpose discloses the manner and spirit with which you have executed the assumed task of its accuser. As you have indulged in the widest range of speculation in regard to the alleged sinister mo tives and covert designs of others, I feel less re luctant to present my views as to the main ob ject of your last communication. Throughout the whole of it, and particularly in the conclu ding part, yqu manifest the utmost solicitude to place yourself in the position of an injured and persecuted man. With all the aid you cande- rive from dexterous strategy, you will be likely to fail in your attempt, unless you can have the full benefit of your high coloring gjfapne facts, before the court of Inquiry* now sitting in Mexi- j wifii the full and fair discharge qf this duty.— co. Your request to be recalled, thus ultimate- j I know it has keen faithfully performed. There ly grapted, was prefaepd with imaginary com-j arc spine men for >vhom enough cannot be plaints, whiefi could npt he passed w jthqut po- j done (p make them grateful, or even just, unless tice, npr noticed without exposing their ground-; acts of subserviency and personal devotedness lpssnees. If the exposition has given offence, j are suppradded.- From you I exppeted bare you can blame only yourself for introducing i justice; but hayp been disappointed- I have complaints so entirely unfounded. j found ypu piy accuser. In my vindication, I ✓ The crowning outrage, as you regard jt, is ! have endeavored to maintain a defensive line; the simple fact that you, and “the three aprest- and if I have gpne beyond it at any (ime, it has ed officers,” are q|l to be placed together before beep done to rppcj unprovoked aggression. To the same court—4he innocent and the guilty*—! 3’oqr fame I have endeavored to be just I have the accuser and the accused ; the judge aruj his I beep gratified w|lh the many occasions I have prisoners are dealt with alike.” “Most impar-1 had to bear public testimony to your abilities, tial justice!” you pxplaim. And why is jt not! and signal servjcps as a military commander in impartial justice ? Op what ground of right the field. It has been, and, under any change can you claim to have your case discriminated ! in our personal relations, it will continue to bo, from theirs ? It is true* you have assuAed to . my purpose to be liberal in my appreciation of be the|r judge, and hayt pronounced them guilty; j your distinguished military merits. In respect and cpmplain and ppp|ue that the laws of the | to your errors and * your foults, though I could country 00 not allow yqu, their accuser, to in- j not be blind, I regret that you have not permit- stitutc a court to register your decree. But you ; ted me to be s||ent. are not their rightful judge, although they were I I have the honor to be, very respectfully^ your prisoners. Before that court you all stand j3 r our obedient servant, on the same level, and a|l have equal rights.- Though you may have (he self-satisfying con viction that you arq innocent and they are guil ty, the government could act upop no such pre sumption. By bQeumjng an accuser, ypu did not place yoursp|f bey ond the reach of being accused; unless ypu are clothed with the im munity of despotic power, and can claim the benefit of the maxim “that the King can do no wrong,” I know not why your conduct, when made the subject of charges, may pot be inves tigated by a court of inquiry; nor can I per ceive what other or better right you have to complain of and arraign the government, than live other officers whom you have accused, ard whose cases pith yours, were referred to the same court. If yours is a hard case, theirs is not less so. If you can rightfully complain of persecution by the government, so can they, with equal justice, au<J equal claim to public sympathy. The charges against you did not emanate from the government, nor did they relate to a matter in which jt could feel any peculiar inter est Not befeeying 4 impossible for you to do wrong, or that you were exempt from oft re sponsibility for whatever y*aif /nighjtfeoyc done, the government deemed jt proper, when charges are preferred against you, cpnfeng from a source entitled to respect, id cause them to be investi gated, As tlve usqaj and mildest mode of pro- W. L. MARCY, Sccretajy of War, Major General Winfield Scott, S. Army, Mexico. The Dignity of Labor. There is no word so much abused as that of labor. The rich and poor, clerk and mechanic, merchant and farmer, all abuse it. One calls labor “ dignity,” another looks upon it as dis graceful. As applied to a man who wqrks, the word has a dignified connection only as being the name for the employment of one of God’s created beings, and in this case it© dignity is comparative according to the creature pf wpom it is spoken. Dignity cannot be appjfed tq any thing inanimate. It can onjy be appjipd fo sen sitive beings, and probably <0 map pfone. Dig nity cannot therefore be predicated pf labor. It applies to the laborer, and not to him because he is a laborer, but as it respects his character. Nor, on the other hand, cap degradation be ap plied to labor. Custom, however, has taught us U> regard certain kinds pf labor as dignified or Honorable, and certain other kinds degrading. This is a false sentiment. Man should, and yet will, be looked upon with every mark of respect, independent of his daijy occupation. Hie right means to bring about such views generally, is that of noble sentiment and intelligence- bold- ing up the man for his worth independent of (ha ceeding, they were referred to a court of inqui-! name of thp occupation of which ho bon^stfy labors. Thp mechanical classes are divided ry. Until you can show that you enjoy the trancendental privilege to have your official con duct exempt from all examination in any form whatever, you have no cause to complain ofthe course taken in regard to the charges against you. If your extraordinary pretensions are fo de rive any support from v 0 ur distinguished servi ces in the field, you ought to be mindful that the three accused officers put under arrest by you have like claims for distinguished services. On the pages of ini partial history, their names and their gallant deeds must appear with yours; and no monopolizing claims, seeking “malignant ex clusions” at the expense,of the “truth of History,” will be permitted to rob them of their fair share of the glory won by our gallant army while un der your command. With ypur assault upon the character of your “erratic brother,” I shall ncit intermeddle; but I must repel jour charge tfiat he has been favor ed for being a political deserter “ to the true faith”—for signalizing Ids apostacy by accep table denunciations of one “to whom ho hod formerly” professed (and not without cause) the highest obligations. The reasons for not see ing your charges against Brevet Major General Worth to the court of isquiiy, are set forth in my letter of the 13th of January. I regret that thpy are so entirely unsatisfactory to yon, but! am consoled with the assurance that they are in ofoer quarters more favorably received. The errors of your commentary on my letter have Whig papers." Whatr into cashes, One class of tradesmen fopjcdown upon another, and all classes ;are «norp $r less imbupd with the same feelings, Suc£ senti ments should be banished fodm <pvery breast “ Tis worth that makes the maj;.”—'S&CMifc American. An American Consul wrhing feomoae ofthe most distant ports, where our flag -of cpuimerco visits writes thus: “ The course that tfie Whig party and the Whig presses in particular are taking against the Mexican war and the honor of our country, and their bitter and malignant opposition to the administration of the govevnment, is looked upon by foreigners resident here,.a^yery* strange and irreconcilable with a due regard to u* honor of thejr oountry, and make me blush; sometimes and I feel mortified to think of it—t that meji Here in a free country, protected by it, coul4 entertain and offer suph tory and un-* patriot sentiments as I have seen used in the man with an American soul in his body, can sustain a party with such a reputation *t‘ home and abroad. ' Mr. Adams was once asked what he most la mented in his life. He answered—" My impetf nods temper and vituperous manner of speech, which prevents me frpm returning good for ev3, and induces me, in madness of my blood, fo say things lam afterwards ashamed of”

Georgia Historic Newspapers

The Albany patriot. (Albany, Ga.) 1845-1866, June 10, 1848, Image 1