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DOCUMENTS ACCOMPANYING THE
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE.
JVIr. Fox to Mr. Webster.
W aiming ton, March 12, 1841.
Tbe undersigned, her Britannic Majesty’s
Envoy Extraordinary atul Minister Plenipo
tentiary, is instructed by bis Government to
make the following olhcial communication to
tbe Government ol tbe United States:
Her Majesty’s Government have bad under
their consideration the correspondence which
took place at Washington in December las!,
between the UnileJ Slates Secretary of Slate.
Mr. Forsyth, and tbe unde signed,comprising
two ollicial letters from the undersigned to
Mr. Forsyth, dated the 13;h and 29ih of De
cember, and two official letters from Mr.
Forsyth to the undersigned, dated the 2(kli
and 30th of tbe same month, upon the subject
of the arrest and imprisonment of Mr. Alex- j
under McLeod, of Upper Canada, by the
authorities ol the Stale ol New Yoik, upon a
pretended charge of arson and murder, as 1
having been engaged in (be capture and de- j
Ktrucimn of ilie steamboat * Caroline” on the
29th of December, 1537.
‘l’iie undersigned is directed in the firs! place j
to make known to the Government of the !
United States that her Majesty’s Government
entirely approve ol’ l lie course pursued by die j
undersigned in (lint correspondence, and of the |
language adopted by him in the official letters
above mentioned. j
And tbe undersigned is now instructed a- I
gain to demand from the Government of the
United Siaies, formally, in tbe name of tbe
British Government, the immediate release of
Mr. Alexander McLeod.
The grounds upon which tbe British Gov
ernment make this demand upon tbe Govern
ment of the United Slates are these: That
the transaction on account of which Mr. Mc-
Leod has been arrested and is to bt put upon
Itis trial was a transaction of a pub ic charac
ter, planned and executed by persons duly
empowered by her Majesty’s Colonial Autho
rities to take auv steps atul to do any acts
which might be necessary for tbe delence of
her Majesty’s territories, and for tbe protec
tion of her Majesty’s subjects, and that conse
quently those subjects of her Majesty who en
gaged in that transaction were performing an
act of public duty for which they cannot be
made personally and individually answerable
to the laws and tribunals of any foreign coun-
try.
The transaction in question may have been,
as her Majesty’s Government are of opinion
that it was, a justifiable employment of force
for the pu'pise of defending the British terri
tory from tiie unprovoked attack of a band of
British rebels and American pirates, who,!
having been permitted to arm and organize j
themselves within itie territory of the United
Stales, had actually invaded and occupied a [
portion of the territory of her Majesty ; or it
may have been, as alleged by Mr. Forsyth in !
It s note to the unitersigned of the 26th of
December, “a most unjustifiable invasion in
time of peace of the territory of the United
States.” But this is a question essentially of
a political and international kind, which can
he discussed and settled only between the two
Governments, and which the courts of justice
of the State of New York cannot hv possi
bility have any means of judging or any right
of deciding.
It would be contrary to the universal prac- i
tice of civilized nations to fix individual re-1
sponsibility upon peisons who, with the sane-1
•ion or by the orders of the constituted au- j
thorities of a State, engaged in military or
naval enterprise in that country's cause; and j
it is obvious that tiie introduction of such a !
principle would aggravate beyond measure
the miseries, and would frightfully increase
the demoralizing effects of war, by mixing up
with national exasperation the ferocity of per
sonal passions, and the cruelly and bitterness
of individual revenge.
Her Majesty's Government cannot believe
that the Government of the United States can
really intend to set an example so fraught
with evil to the community of nations, and the
direct tendency of which must be to bring
back into the practice of modern war atroci
ties which civilization and Christianity have
long since banished.
Neither can her Majesty’s Government ad
mit for a moment the validity of the doctrine
advanced by Mr. Forsyth, that the Federal
Government of the United States has no pow
er to interfere in the matter in question, and
that the decision thereof must rest solely and
entirely with the Slate of New York.
With the particulars of the internal com
pact which may exist between (he several
States that compose the Union, foreign Pow
ers have nothing to do; the relations of foreign
Powers are with the aggregate Union; that
l nion is to them represented bv the Federal
Government; and of that Union the Federal
Government is to them the only organ.—
Therefore, when a foreign Power has redress j
to demand for a wrong done to it bv any
State of the Union, it is to the Federal Gov
ernment, and not to the separate State, that
such Power must look for redress for that
wrong. And such foreign Power cannot ad
mit the plea that the separate Slate is an in
dependent body, over which the Federal
Government has no control. It is obvious
VOLUME I.]
- B uch a doctrine, if admitted, would at once g<
I to a dissolution of the Union as far aS its rela-
I. lions with foreign Powers are concerned ; ami
that foreign Powers, in such case, instead ol
i- accrediting diplomatic agents to ihe Federa
l< j Government, would sent I such agents hot to
that Government, but to tbe Government ol
j each separate State, and would make their
, r : relations of peace and war with each State
I- depend upon tbe result of their separate inter*
course with such State, without reference to
relations they might have with the rest.
Her Majesty’s Government apprehend that
“J. the above is not tbe conclusion at which the
’ Government of the United States intend to
e arrive; yet such is the conclusion to which
e the arguments that have been advanced by
n Mr. Forsyth necessarily lead.
II ; But be this as it may, her Majesty’s Gov*
* eminent formally demand, upon the grounds
c already stated, the immediate release of Air.
McLeod; and her Majesty’s Government cn
- treat the President of the United States to
J take into his most deliberate consideration the
• serious nature of the consequences which must
‘ ensue from a rejection of this demand.
The United States Government will per
. ceive ihat, in demanding McLeod’s release,
: her Majesty’s Government argue upon the
i 1 assumption that he was one of the persons
■ engaged in the capture of the steamboat
Caroline;” but her Majesty’s Government
1 have the strongest reasons lor being convinced
that Mr. McLeod was not in fact engaged in
that transaction, and the undersigned is here
. upon instructed to say that although the cir
cumstance itself makes no difference in the
political and international question at issue;
’ and although her Majesty’s Government do
1 not demand Mr. McLeod’s release upon the
ground that he was not concerned in the cap
ture of the “Caroline,” hut upon the ground
that the capture of the “Caroline” was a
transaction of a public character, for which
j the persons engaged in it cannot incur pri
vate and personal responsibility; yet the Gov
ernment of the United States must not dis
guise from themselves that the fact that Mr.
i AlcLeod was not engaged in the transaction
1 must necessarily tend greatly to inflame that
; national resentment which any harm that shall
| be suffered by Mr. McLeod at the hands of
the authorises of the Slate of New York will
infallibly excite throughout the whole of the
British empire.
The undersigned, in addressing the present
official communication, by order of his Gov
ernment, to Mr. Webster, Secretary of State
of the United States, has the honor to offer
him tl e assurance of his distinguished consid
eration. H. S. FOX.
The Hon. Daniel. Webster, Slc.Slc.&.c.
Mr. Webster to Mr. Fox.
Department of State,
Washington, April 24,1841.
The undersigned, Secretary of State of the
j United States, has the honor to inform Mr.
I Fox, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plen
ipotentiary of her Britannic Majesty, that his
note of the 12fli of March was received and
j laid before the President.
Circumstances well known to Mr. Fox have
necessarily delayed, for some days, the con
j sidoration.of that note.
The undersigned has the honor now to say
! that it lias been fully considered, and that he
has been directed by the President to address
j to Mr. Fox the following reply:
! Air. Fox informs the Government of the
United States that lie is instructed to make
known to it that the Government of her Ma
jesty entirely approve the course pursued by
him in iiis correspondence with Air. Forsyth j
in December last, and the language adopted I
by him on ‘hat occasion ; and that that Gov
ernment, have instructed him “again to demand
from the Government of the United States,
formally, in the name of the British Govern
ment, the immediate release of Mr. Alexander
McLeod ;” that “ the grounds upon which the
British Government make this demand upon
the Government of the United States are
these: That the transaction on account ol
which Air. AlcLeod has been arrested and is
to be put upon liis trial was a transaction ot a
public character, planned and executed by
persons duly empowered by her Majesty’s
colonial authorities to take any steps and to
do any acts which might bo necessary for the
defence of Jier Alajesty’s territories, and for
the protection ot her Alnjesty’s subjects, and
that consequently those subjects ot her Ala
jesty who engaged in that transaction were
performing an act of public duty, for which t hey
cannot be made personally and ind viduahy
answerable to the laws and tribunals of any
foreign country.” _ j
The President is not certain that ho under
stands the meaning intended by her Majesty’s
Government to be conveyed by the foregoing
j instruction.
This doubt has occasioned with the Presi
dent some hesitation, but he is inclined to take
it for granted that the main purpose of the in
struction was to cause it to be signified to the
Government ol the United States that the
attack on the steamboat “Caroline” was an
act of public force, done by the British colo
nial authorities, and fully recognised by the
Queen's Government at home, and that con
sequently no individual concerned in that
transaction can, according to the just principle ,
of the laws of nations, be held personally an
swerable in the ordinary courts of law as for a
private offence; and that upon this avowal of
her Majesty’s Government Alexander Mc-
I,eod, now imprisoned on an indictment for
murder alleged to l ave been committed in
that attack, ought to be released by such pro
ceedings as are usual and are suitable to the
case.
The President adopts the conclusion that
! nothing more than this could have been iu
j tended to be expressed, from the consideration
that her Majesty’s Government must be fully
aware that in the United States, as in Eng
land, persons confined under judicial process
can be re'eased from that confinement only by
judicial process. In neither country, as the
undersigned supposes, can the arm of the Ex
ecutive power interfere, directly or forcibly, to
release or deliver the prisoner. His discharge
must be sought in a manner conformable to
the principles of law and the proceedings of
i courts of judicature. If an indictment, like
that which has been found against Alexander
McLeod, and under circumstances like those
which belong to his case, were pending against
an individual in one of the courts of England,
there is no doubt that the law officer of the
Crown might enter a nolle prosequi . or that
the prisoner might cause himself to be brought
up on habeas corpus and discharged, if his
ground of discharge should be adjudged suffi
cient, or that he might prove the same facts,
and insist on the same defence or exemption
on his triah
All these are legal modes of preceding, well
known to the laws and practice of both coun
tries. But the undersigned does not suppose
tha f , if such a cae were to arise in England,
the jiower of the Executive government could
be exerted in any more direct manner. Even
in the case of ambassadors and other public
ministers, whose right to exemption from ar
rest is personal, requiring no fact to be ascer
tained but the mere fact of diplomatic charac
and to arrest whom is sometimes made a
highly penal offence, if the arrest be actually
made, it must be discharged by application to
the courts of law.
THE COLUMBUS TIMES.
It is understood that Alexander AlcLeod is
holden as well on civil as on criminal process
for acts alleged to have been done by him in
the attack on the “Caroline,” and his defence
or ground of acquittal must be the same in
both cases. And this strongly illustrates, as
the undersigned conceives, the propriety of
the foregoing observations ; since it is quite
clear that the Executive Government cannot
interfere to arrest a civil suit between private
parties in any stage of its progress, but that
such suit must go on to its regular judicial
termination. If, therefore, any course differ
ent from such as have been now mentioned
was in contemplation by her Majesty’s Gov
ernment, something would seem to have been
expected from the Government of the United
States as little conformable to the laws and
usages of the English Government as to those
of the United States, and to which this Gov
ernment cannot accede.
The Government of the United States,
therefore, acting upon the presumption which it
has already adopted, that nothing extraordinary
or unusual was expected or requested of it,
decided, on the reception of Air. Fox’s note, to
take such measures as the occasion and its
own duty appeared to require.
In his note to Air. Fox of the 20th Decem
ber last* Air. Forsyth, the Secretary of State of
the United States, observes, that “if the de
struction of the ‘Caroline’ was a public act of
persons in her Alajesty’s service, obeying the
! order of their superior authorities, this fact has
: not been before communicated to the Govern
| ment of the United States by a person author
ised to make the admission; and it will be for
the Court which has taken cognizance of the
offence with which Mr. McLeod is charged, to
decide upon its validity when legally establish
ed before it;” and adds, “The President deems
this to he a proper occasion to remind the
Government of her Britannic Alajesty that the
case of the ‘Caroline’ has been long since
brought to the attention of her Majesty’s prin
cipal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
who, up to this day, has not communicated its
decision thereupon. It is hoped that the Gov
ernment of her Majesty will perceive the im
portance of no longer leaving the Government
of the United States uninformed of its views
and intentions upon a subject which has natu
rally produced much exasperation, and which
has led to such grave consequences.”
The communication of the fact that the
destruction of the “ Caroline” was an act of
public force by the British authorities being
formally communicated to the Government ol
the United States by Air. Fox’s note, the
case assumes a decided aspect.
The Government of the United States en
tertains no doubt that, after this avowal of
the transaction as a public transaction, au
thorized and undertaken by the British au
thorities, individuals concerned in it ought not,
by the principles of public law and the”gener
eral usage of civilized States, to be holden
personally responsible in the ordinary tribo
unals of laiv for the participation in it. And
the President presumes that it can hardly he
necessary to say that the American people,
not distrustful of their ability to redress public
wrongs by public means, cannot desire the
punishment of individuals wl ei> the act com
plained of is declared to have been an act of
the government itself
Soon after the date of Mr. Fox’s note, an
instruction was given to the Attorney Gener
al of the United States, from this department,
by direction of th Resident, which fully sets
forth the opinions of (his Government on the
subject of Air. McLeod’s imprisonment, a
copy of which instruction the undersigned has
the honor herewith to enclose;
The indictment against AlcLeod is pending
in a state court; bui his rights, whatever they
may be, are no less safe it is to be presumed,
than if he were holden to answer in one of
the courts of this Government:
He demands immunity from personal re
sponsibility, by virtue of the law of nations
and that law, in civilized states, is to he re
spected in all courts. None either so high or so
low as to escape from its authority, in cases to
which its rules and principles apply.
‘l’his Department has been regularly in
f >rmed, by his F.xcelleny the Goveri or of the
State of New Yoik, that the Chief Justice of
that Slate was as 1 igned to preside at the hear
ing and trial of AleLeod’s case, but that,
owing to some error or mistake in the process
of summoning the jury, the hearing was ne
cessarily deferred.
The President regrets this occurrence, as
he has a desire for a speedy disposition of the
subject. The counsel for AlcLeod have re
quested authemic evidence of the avowal
! by the British Government of the attack on,
land destruction of, the “Caroline,” as acts
done under its authority, and such evidence |
will be furnished to them by this Department, j
It s understood that the indictment has teen
removed into the Supreme Court of the State
by the proper proceeding tor that purpose,
and that it is now competent for McLeod, by
the ordinary process ot habeas corpus, to
bring his case for hearing before that tribu
nal.
The undersigned hardly needs to assure
Mr. Fox that a tribunal so eminently distin
guished for ability and learning as the Su
preme Court of the State of New York may
be safely relied upon for the just and impar
tial administration of the law in this as well as
in other cases; and the undersigned repeats
the expression of the desire of this Govern
ment that no delay may be suffered to take
place in these proceedings which can be avoi
ded. Os this desire, Mr. Fox will see evi
dence in the instructions above referred to.
The undersigned has now to signify to Mr.
Fox that the United States has not changed
the opinion which it has heretofore expressed
to Her Majesty’s Government, of the charac
ter of the act of destroying the “ Caroline.”
It does not think that the transaction can
be justified by any reasonable application or
construction of the right of self-defence,
under the laws of nations. It is admitted that
a just right of self-defence attaches always to
nations, as well as to individuals, and is equal
ly necessary for the preservation of both.—
But the extern of this right is a question to
be judged of by the circumstances of each
particular case; and when its alleged exer
cise has led to the commission of hostile acts
within the territory of a power at peace, noth
ing less than a clear and absolute necessity
can afford ground of justification. Not hav
ing, up to this time, been made acquainted
with the views and reasons, at length, which
led her Majesty’s Government to think the
destruction of the “Caroline” justifiable as
an act of self-defence, the undersigned, ear
nestly renewing the remonstrance of this Gov
ernment against the transaction, abstains, for
the present, from any extended discussion ol
the question. But it is deemed proper, never
theless, not to omit to take some notice of the
general grounds of justification stated hy her
Majesty’s Government in their instruction to
Mr. Fox.
Her Majesty's Government have instructed
Mr. Fox o say, that they are of opinion
that the transaction wh : ch terminated in the
destruction of the Caroline was a justifiable
■ employment of force, for the purpose of de
i lending the British territory from the unpro
’ voked attack of a band of British rebels and
> American pirates, who, having been “ permit
ted” to arm and organize themselves within
“THE UNION OF THE STATES, AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE STATES.”
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, THURSDAY MORNING, JUNE 17, 1841.
the territory of the United Slates, had actu
ally invaded a portion of the territory of her
Majesty.
The President cannot suppose that her
Alajesty’s Government, by the use of these
terms, meant to be understood as intimating
that those acts, violating the laws of the Uni
ted States and disturbing the peace of the
British territories, were done under any de
gree of countenance from this Govermenf, or
were regarded by it with indifference—or
that, under the circumstances of the case, they
could have been prevented by the ordinary
course of proceeding. Although he regrets
that, by using the term “ permitted,” a possi
ble inference of that kind might be raised yet
such an inference, the President is willing to
believe, would be quite unjust to the intentions
of the British Government.
That on a line of frontiersuch as seperates
the United States from Her Britannic Alajes
ty’s North American Provinces—a line long
enough to divide the whole of Europe into
halves—irregularities, violences and conflicts
should sometimes occur, equally against the
will of both governments, is certainly easily to
be supposed. This may be more possible, per
haps, in regard to the United Slates, without
any reproach to their Government, since their
institutions entirely discourage the keeping
up of large standingarmies in time of peace,
and their situation happily exempts them from
the necessity of maintaining such expensive
and dangerous eslablishments. All that can
be expected from either government in these
cases is good faith, a sincere desire to preserve
peace and do justice, the use of all proper i
means of prevention anti that, if offences can- j
not, r.everthe'ess, be alwsys prevented, the |
offenders shall still be justly punished. In all
these respects, this government acknowledge
no delinquency in the performance of its du
ties,
Her Majesty’s Government are pleased also
to speak ot those American citizens who look
part vvilh persons in Canada, engaged in an
insurrection against the British Government,
as “American pirates.” The undersigned
does not admit the propriety or justice of this
designation. If citizens of the United States
fitted out, or were engaged in fitting out, a
military expedition from the United States
intended to act against the British Govern
ment in Canada, they were clearly violating
the laws of their country, and exposing
themselves to the just consequences which
might be inflicted on them if taken within the
British dominions. But, notwithstanding this
they were, certainly, not pirates, nor does the
undersigned think that it can advance the
purpose of fair and friendly discussion, or has
ten the accommodation of national difficultes,
so to denominate them. Their offence, what
ever it was, had no analogy to cases of piracy.
Supposing all that is alleged against them to
be true, they regarded it as a civil war,
and they were taking a part on the side of
the rebels. Surely, England herself has not
regarded persons thus engaged as deserving
the appellation which Her Alajesty’s Govern
ment bestows on these citizens of the United
States.
It is quite notorious that, for the greatest
part of ihelast two centuries, subjects of the
British Crown have been permitted to engage
in foreign wars, both national and civil, and
in the latter in every stage of their progress;
and yet it lias noi been imagined that England
has at any lime allowed tier subjects to turn
pirates. Indeed, in our own times, not only
have individual subjects of that Crown gone
abioad to engage in civil wars, but we have
seen whole regiments openly recruited, em
bodied, armed, and disciplined in England,
with the avowed purpose of aiding a rebell
ion against a nation with which England was
at peace ; although it is true that, subsequent
ly an act of Parliament was passed to pre
vent transactions so nearly approaching to
public war, without license from the Crown.
It may be said that there is a difference
between the case of a civil war, arising from
a disputed succession, or a protracted revolt
of a colony against the mother country, and
the case of a fresh outbreak, at the com
mencement of a rebellion. The undersigned
does not deny that such distinction may, for
certain purposes, be deemed well founded.—
He admits that a Government, called upon
to consider its own rights, interests and duties
when civil wars break out in other countries
may decide on all the circumstances of the
part'cular case, upon its own existing stipu
lations, on probable results, on what its own
security requires, and on many other con
siderations. It may be already bound to as
sist one party, or it may become bound, if it
so chooses, to assist the other, and to meet
the cousequencts of such assistance.
But whether the revolt be recent or long
continued, they who join those concerred in it,
whatever may be their offence against their
own country, or however they be treated, if
taken with arms in their hands, in the terri
tory of the Government against v, Inch the
stamljiid of revolt is raised, cannot he denom
inat'd pirates, without departing from all or
dinary use of language in the definition of of
fences. A cause which has so foul an origin
as piracy cannot, in its progress, or by its suc
cess, obtain a claim to any degree of respect
ability, or tolerance, among nations! and civil
warsi therefore, are not understood to have
such a commencement.
It is well known to Air. Fox that authori
ties of the highest eminence in England, liv
ing and dead, have maintained that the gen
eral law ol nations does not forbid the citizens
or subjects of one Government from taking
part in the civil commotions of another. —
There is some reason, indeed, to think that
such may be the opinion of Her Majesty’s
Government at the present moment.
The undersigneJ has made these remarks,
from the conviction that it is important to re
gard established distinctions, and to view the
acts and offences of individuals in the exactly
proper light. But it is not to be inferred that
there is on the part of this Government, any
purpose of extenuating, in the slightest degree,
the crimes of those persons, citizens of the
United States, who have joined in military ex
peditions against the British Government in
Canada. On the contrary, the President di
rects the undersigned to say that it is his fixed
resolution that all such disturbers of the na
tional peace and violators of the laws of their
country, shall be brought to exemp’ary pun
ishment. Nor will the fact that they are in
stigated and led on to these excesses by Brit
ish subjects, refugees from the provinces, be
deemed any excuse or palliation; although it
is worthy of lieing remembered that the prime
movers of these disturbances on the borders
are subjects of the Queen, who come within
the territories of the United States, seeking to
enlist the sympathies of their citizens, by all
the motives which they are able to address to
them, on account of grievances, real or imag
inary. There is no reason to believe that the
design of any hostile movement from the Uni
ted States against Canada has commenced
with the citizens of the United States. Ihe
true origin of such purposes and such enterpri
ses is on the other side of the line. But the
President’s resolution to prevent these trans-
Igressions of the laws is not, on that account,
the less strong. It is taken, not only in con
formity tohis.duty under the provisions of ex
isting laws, but in full consonance with the es-
tabiished principles and practice of this Gov
ernment.
The Government of the United States has
not, from the first, fallen into the doubts, else
where entertained, of the true extent of the
duties of neutrality. It has held that, howev
er it may have been in less enlightened ages,
the just interpretation of the modern law ol
nations is, that neutral States are bound to be
strictly neutral; and that it is a manifest and
gross impropriety for individuals to engage in
the civil conflicts of other Stales, and thus to
be at war, while their Government is at peace.
War and peace are high national relations,
which can properly be established or changed
only by nations themselves.
The United States have thought, also, that
the salutary doctrine of non-intervention by
one nation with the affairs of others is liable to
be essentially impaired, if, while Government
refrains from interference, interference is still
allowed to its subjects, individually or in mas
ses. It may happen, indeed, that persons
choose to leave their country, emigrate to oth
er regions, and settle themselves oil uncultiva
ted lands, in territories belonging to other
States. This cannot be prevented by Gov
ernments which allow the emigration of their
subjects and citizens; and such persons, hav
ing voluntarily abandoned their own country,
have no longer claim to its protection, nor is it
longer responsible for their acts. Sucli cases,
therefore, if they occur, show no abandon
ment of the duty of neutrality.
T he Government of the United States has
not considered it as sufficient to confine the
duties of neutrality and non-interference to the
case of Governments whose territories lie ad
jacent to each other. The application of the
principle may be more necessary in such cases,
but the principle itself they regard as being
the same, if those territories he divided by half
the globe. The rule is founded in the impro
priety and danger of allowing individuals to
make war on their own authority, or, by ming
ling themselves in the belligerent operations
of other nat ons, to run the hazard of counter
acting the policy, or embroiling the relations
of their own Government. And the United
States have been the first among civilized na
tions to enforce the observance of this just rule
of neutrality and peace, by special atul ade
quate legal enactments. In the infancy ol
this Government, on the breaking out of the
European wars, which had their origin in the
French Revolution, Congress passed laws with
severe penalties, for preventing the citizens of
the United States from taking part in those
hostilities.
By these laws, it prescribed to the citizens
of the United States what it understood to be
their duly, as neutrals, by the law of nations,
and the duty also which they owed to the in
terest and honor of their own country.
At a subsequent period, when the Ameri
can colonies of an European power took up
arms against their sovereign, Congress, not
diverted from the established system ot the
Government by any temporary considerations,
not swerved from its sense of justice and of
duty by any sympathies which it might natu
rally feel tor one of the parties, did not hesitate,
also, to pass acts applicable to the case of col
onial insurrection and civil war. And these
provisions of law have been continued, revis
ed, amended, and are in fu'l force at the pres
ent moment. Nor have they been a dead let
ter, as it is well known that exemplary pun
ishments have been inflicted on those who
have trangressed them. It is known, indeed,
that heavy penalties have fallen on individuals,
citizens of the United States, engaged in ibis
very disturbance in Canada, with which the
destruction of the Caroline was connected.—
And it is in Mr. Fox’s knowledge, also, that
the act of Congress of March 10th, 1838, was
passed for the precise purpose of more effect
ually restraining military enterprizes from the
United States into the British provinces, by
authorizing the use of the most sure and deci
sive preventive means. The undersigned may
add that it stands on the admission of very
high British authorities, that during the recent
Canadian troubles, although bodies of adven
turers appeared on the border, making it ne
eersary lor the people of Canada to keep them
selves in a state prepared for self-defence, yet
that these adventurers were acting by no
means in accordance with tlie feeling of the
gieat mass ol the American people, or of the
Government of the United States.
This Government, therefore, not only holds
itself above reproach in every thing respecting
the preservation of neutrality, the observance
of the principle of non-intervention, and the
strictest conformity in these respects, to the
rttles of international law, bu.it doubts not
that the world will do it the justice to ac
knowledge that it has set an example not un
fit to be followed by others, and that, by its
steady legislation on this important subject, it
has done something to promote peace and
good neighborhood among nations, and to ad
vance thecivilization of mankind.
The undersigned trusts that, when her Brit
annic Majesty’s Government shall present the
grounds, at length, on which they justify the
local authorities ol Canada in attacking and
destroying the “Caroline,” they will consider
that the laws of the United States are such as
the undersigned has now represented them,
and that the Government of the United States ;
has always manifested a sincere disposition to
see those laws efficmally and impartially ad
ministered. Ifthere have been cases in which
individuals, jusily obnoxious to punishment,
have escaped, this is no more than happens in
regard to other laws.
Under these circumstances, and under (hose
immediately connected with the transaction
itself, it will be lor her Majesty’s Government
to show upon what state of facts and rules of
national law the destruction of the ‘ Caroline”
is to be defended. It will be lor that Govern
ment to show a necessity of self-defence, in
stant, overwhelming, leaving no choice of
means and no moment for deliberation. It
will be for it to show, also, that the local au
thorities of Canada, even suppos'ng the ne
cessity of the moment authorized then* to en.
ter the territories of the United States at all,
did nothing unreasonable or excessive; since
tbeact, justified by the necessity of self-defence,
must be limited by that necessity, and kept
clearly within it. It must be shown that ad
monition or remonstrance to the persons on
board the “Caroline” was impracticable, or
would have been unavailing; it must be
show n that day light cou'd not be u’aited for ;
that there could be no attempt at discrimina
tion between the innocent ami the guilty; —
that it would not have been enough to seize
and detain the vessel; but that there was a
necessity, present and inevitable, for attack
ing her, in the darkness of night, while moor
ed to the shore, and while unarmed men were
asleep on board, killing some and wounding
others, and then drawing her into the current,
above the cataract, setting her on fire, and,
careless to know whether there might not be
in her the innocent with the guilty, or the liv
ing with the dead, committing her (o a fate
which fills the imagination with horror. A
necessity for all this the Government of the
; United States cannot believe to have exis
ted.
All will see that if such things be allowed to
occur, they might lead to a bloody and exas
perated war; and when an individual comes
into the United States from CanaJa, and to
[NUMBER 19.
the very place on which this drama was per
formed, and there chooses to make public and
vain-glorious boast of the part lie acted in it,
l is hardly wonderful that great excitement
should be created, and some degree of com
motion arise.
This republic does not wish to disturb the
tranquility of the world. Its object is peace,
its policy is peace. It seeks no aggrandize
ment by foreign conquest, because it knows
that no foreign acquisition could augment its
power and importance so rapidly as they are ;
already advancing by its own natural growth j
under the propitious circumstances of its sit- j
uation. But it cannot admit that its Govern
ment has not both the will and the power to
preserve its own neutrality, and to enforce the
observance of its own laws upon its own citi
zens. It is jealous of its rights, and among
others, and most especially, of the right of the
absolute immunity of its territory against ag
gression from abroad ; and these rights it is
the duty and the determination of tins Govern-;
ment fully and at all times to maintain ;• while
it will at the same time, as scrupulously re
frain from infringing on the rights of others.
The President instructs the undersigned
to say, in conclusion, that he confidently trusts
that this and all other questions of difference
between the two Governments will be treated
by both in the full exercise of such a spirit of
candor, justice, and mutual respect as shall
give assurance of the long continuance of
peace between the two countries.
The undersigned avails himself of this op
portunity to assure Mr. Fox of his high con
sideration. Daniel Webster.
Henry S. Fox, Esq. &c. &c.
Copy of Instructions to Mr. Crittenden,- en
cli sed in the above.
Department of State,
Washington, March 15th, 1841.
Sir : Alexander McLeod, a Canadian sub
ject of Her Britannic Majesty, is now impris
oned at Lockport, in the State of New York,
under an indictment for murder, alleged to
have been committed by him in the attack and
destruction of the steamboat Caroline, at
Schlosser, in that state, on the night of the
29th ot December, 1837 ; and his trial is ex
pected to take place at Lockport, on the 22d
inst.
You are apprised of the correspondence
which took place between Mr. Forsyth,- late
Secretary of State, and Mr. Foxy Her Britannic
Majesty’s minister here, on this subject in
December last.
In his note to Mr. Fox, on the 20th of that
month, Mr. Forsyth says : “If the destruction
of the Caroline was a public act of persons in
Her Majesty’s service, obeying the order of
their superior authorities,- this fact has not
before been communicated to the government
of the United States by a person authorized
to make the admission, and it will be for the
court w hich has taken cognizance of the of
fence with which Mr. McLeod is charged to
decide upon its validity when legally estab
lished before it.
“ The President deems this to be a proper
occasion to remind the Government of Her
Britannic Majesty that the case of the Caro
line has been long since brought to the atten
tion of Her Majesty’s principal Secretary of
State for Foregn Afl'airs, who, up to this day,
lias not communicated its decision thereupon.
It is hoped that the Government of Her Ma
jesty will perceive the importance of no longer
leaving the Government of the United States
uninformed of its views and intentions upon a
subject avhich has naturally produced much
exasperation, and which has led to such grave
consequences.”
I have now to inform you that Mr. Fox has
addressed a note to this Department, under
date of the 12th inst. in which, under the im
mediate instruction and direction of his Gov
ernment be demands, formally and officially,
McLeod’s immediate release, on the ground
that the transaction,- on account of which he
has been arrested and is to be put upon his
trial* was of a public character, planned and
executed by the persons duly empowered by
Her Majesty’s colonial authorities to take any
steps, and do any acts, which might be neces
sary tor the defence of Her Majesty’s territo
ries,- and for the protection of Her Majesty’s
subjects ;■ and consequently those subjects of
Her Majesty who engaged in that transaction
were performing an act of public duty, for
which they cannot be made personally and
individually answerable to the laws and tribu
nals ot any f reign country; and that Her
Majesty’s Government has farther direc
ted Mr. Fox to make known to the Govern
ment of the United States that Her Majesty’s
Government entirely approve of the course
pursued by Mr. Fox, and the language adopted
by him in the correspondence above mentioned.
There is. therefore, now, an authentic dec
laration on the part of the British Govern
ment that the attack on the Caroline was an
act of public force, done by military men, un
der the orders of their superiors* and is recog-*
nised as such by the Queen’s Government.—
The importance of this declaration is not to
be doubted, and the President is of opinion
that it calls upon him for the performance of
a high duty.- That an individual forming part
of a public force, and acting under the au
thority of his Government,- is not to be held
answerable, as a private trespasser or male
factor, is a principle of public law, sanctioned
by the usages of all civilized nations, and
which the Government of the United States
has no inclination to dispute. This lias no
connexion whatever with the question whet her,
in this case, the attack on the Caroline was, as
the British Government think it, a justifiable
employment of force for the purpose of defen
ding the British territory front unprovoked
attack, or whether it was a most unjustifiable
invasion in time of peace of the territory of the
United States, as this Government has regar
ded it. The two questions are essentially
different; and, while acknowledging that an
individual may claim immunity from the con
sequences of acts done by him, by showing
that he acted under national authority, this
Government is not to be understood as chang
ing the opinions which it has heretofore ex
pressed in regard to the real nature of the
transaction which resulted in the destruction
of the Caroline. That subject it is not neces
sary, for any purpose connected with this
communication, to discuss. The views of
this Government in relation to it are known to
that of England ; and we are expecting the
answer of that Government to the communi
cation which ha3 been made to it.
All that is intended to be said, at present,
is that since the attack on the Caroline is
avowed as a national act, which may justify
reprisals, or even general war, if the Govern
ment of the United States, in the judgment
which it shall form of the transaction, and of
its own duty, should see fit so to decide, yet
that it raises a question entirely public and
political, a question between independent na
tions, and that individuals concerned in it
cannot be arrested and tried before the ordi
nary tribunals, as for the violation of municipal
law. If the attack on the Caroline was un
justifiable, as this Government has asserted,
the law which has been violated is tlie law of
nations, and the redress which is to be sougl t
is the redress authorized in such cases by the
provision? of that code.
You are well aware that the President has
no power to arrest the proceedings in the civil
and criminal courts of the state of N. York.—
If this indictment were pending in one of the
courts of the United States, I am directed to
say that the President, upon the receipt of
Mr. Fox’s last communication, would imme
diately have directed a nolle prosequi to be
entered.
Whether, in this case, the Governor of
New York has that power, or, if he has.
whether he would feel it his duty to exercise
it, are points upon which we are not in
formed.
it is understood that McLeod isholden also
on civil process, - sued out against him by the
owner of the Caroline. We suppose it very
clear that the Executive of the State cannot
interfere with such a process; and, indeed, if
such process were pending in the courts of the
United States, the President could not arrest
it. In such and many analogous cases the
party prosecuted or sued must avail himself
of his exemption or defence by judicial pro
ceedings, either in the court into w hich he is
called, or in some other court. Blit whether
j the process be Criminal or civil, the fact of
j having acted under public authority, and in
j obedience to the orders of lawful superiors,
must be regarded as a valid defence otherwise,
individuals would be holdeii responsible for
injuries resulting from the acts of Govern
ment and even from’ the operations of public
.war.
Yon will be furnished with a copy of this
instruction for the use of the Executive of
New York, and the Attorney General of that
State. You will carry with you, also, authen
tic evidence of the recognition by the British
Government of the destruction of the Caro
line as an act of public force done by national
authority.
The President is impressed with the propri
ety ot transferring the trial lronvthe sceno of
the principal excitement to some other and
distant country. You will take care that
this be suggested to the prisoner’s counsel.—
The President is gratified to learn that tlm
Governor ot New Y r ork hasalready directed
that the trial take place before the Chief Jus
tice of the State,
Having consulted with the Governor, you
w ill proceed to Lockport, or wherever else the
trial may be holden, and furnish the prisoner’s
counsel with the evidence of which you will
be in possession material to his defence. You
will see that he have skilful and eminent
counsel, it such be not already retained ; and,
although you are not desired to act as counsel
yourselt, you will cause it to be signified to
iiim, and to the gentlemen who may conduct
his defence, that it is the wish of this Govern
ment that, in case his defence be overruled
by the Court in which he shall be tried, prop
er steps be taken immediately for removing
tlpe cause, by writ of error, to the Supreme
Court ot the United States.
The President hopes you will use sucli des
patch as to make your arrival at the place of
trial sure before the trial comes on ; and ho
trusts you w ill keep him informed Os whatev
er occurs, by means of a correspondence
through this Department.
1 have the honor to be, Mr. Attorney Gen
eral, your obedient servant.
DANIEL WEBSTER.
Hon. John J. Crittenden,
Attorney General of the United States.
Bank Defalcation:— The Rumor was rife’
yesterday, founded upon the authority of pri
vate letters received in this City, that Macon
has been the theatre of another bank robbery,
which has just been detected in the Branch
of the Central Railroad Bank, in Macon. The
Cashier of the Bank is said to bo the
individual, who, disregarding the plain pre
cepts of the eighth commandment, has lined
his pockets with the needful.- We have not
been able to learn the precise extent of the
deficit in his cash account,- but all seem to
concur in the opinion, that “it is quite large,
probably twenty thousand dollars. A few
more such disclosures, as these Macon exhib
its, and Georgia will stand in the front rank
of bank robberies. This is another ot the
curses of an inflated, irredeemable* non
specie-paying The whole country
becomes deranged with the mania tor specula
tion and growing suddenly rich, and some of
those Who Cannot obtain riches by fair means,
steal whenever an opportunity presents.—Au
gusta Chronicle, May 29.
Tre Tallmadge Dinner. —the express
of this morning contains a report of the
speech made by N. P. Tallmadge at the din
ner given him yesterday by his friends. In
the course of it, he undertakes to declare
what measures should be passed at the extra
ordinary session of Congress about to assem
ble, and enumerates the following, I The
Independent Treasury law is to be repealed J
& There is to be a National Bank estab
lished; 3. The proceeds of the public lands
are to be distributed among the States; 4.
A bankrupt law must be passed ; 5. The
expunging resolution is to be rescinded ; and
6. Money is to be given to the family of Gen.
Harrison,’ 1 ’ These, according to Mr. Tall
madge, are the great measures of reform by
which the Whig party are to render them
selves immortal.—N. Y. Post.
* If the public money is to be thus disposed
of, we Would beg these generons gentleman
to bear in mind that both Mr. Jefferson and
Mr. Monroe died poor and embarrassed, and
that no money has ever been given to their
families? We merely call their atttemion to
the fact, lest they may have forgotten it.—Balt.
Republican.
Spaf.k Catcher. —Anew contrivance, for
the purpose oflocoinotive spaik-catching, has
leen invented by Mr. D. Matlbews, of Sehe
nedady, N. Y. In addition jo relieving the
passengt r fiom the inconvenience now expe
rienced by his optics, all danger of foe 1o he
apprtliendtd from the machine is entirely
done away with. On a recent occasion the
inventor placed a pound of powder on the top
of the car next to the locomotive, and made
(be run from Schenectady to Utica and back
a distance of 15G miles, without igniting it.
Use of Coal in the United States.— ln
1820, says the Western Farmer, stone coal
was introduced into the eastern cities, as a
substitute for wood. In 1820, the consump
tion increased to 48,000 tons, and in 1840, it
was augmented 845,000 tons.
In England it is in general use, and ma
chinery equivalent to the labor of 40.000 000
of men, is now moved in that country by its
use.
It is now applied to steam power in this
country, as well as to iron furnaces, which has
reduced the price of its manufacture near 40
per cent.
In 1740, the amount of iron made in Eng
land and Wales was but 17,000 tons. In
1796, it had increased to 125,000 tons—in
1830, to 700,000 tons—in 183 G, it was the
enormous amount of 1,612,000 and within the
last nine years, $84,000,000 worth of it was
exported to this country. In the U. States,
the amount made is 220,000 tons; but it is
fast increasing, and since the introduction of
bitumous coal for the furnace it is hoped that
we shall soon be able to supply ourselves.—
Last year we imported from England and
Russia, to the amount of SIO,OOO,OOO—N.
Y. Sun.
Savaoes —The Boston Mercantile Journal
quote* the following, as a prayer used by the
inhabitants of Madagascar —] e. ple whom we
call > avag •:
“O E‘ernal! have mercy upon me, because
lam passing away. O Infinite! because lam
weak. O Sovereign of Life ! because I draw
nigh to the grave. O Omniscient! because C
am in darkness. O Ail Bounteous! because l
am poor. O All Sufficient! because I am
nothing. ’