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ing, the hunt and the slaughter “were resumed, j and sixteen,” (all that could he round, J “-of the enemy slain , who had conceal and themselves un der (hr hanks."* Yet I will not urge that as a peculiar reproach against general Jackson, which 1 lather regai(l as a -.tain upon my country. — Ills ory will record, tnat nis bioody deeds were received by his conn rymen wim general ap plause, winie the clemency oi colonel Pearson was regarded with contempt and resentment. — Truly, sir, American ava ie of Indian muds ts ccjuul to Spainsn avarice of Indian gold. 1 am sorry, sir, to say a.iy thing mat may seem to affect general Jackson’s p. ivate cnaractei; hut I must remark, that the grant of lands he after wards obtained front muse same Creeks (me wil ling tribute of gratitude, no doubt, for his tender ! nt ire ies towards tneir name and mce) was con-! traiy to the known policy of tne government. It j wjs not the executive, nowever, out tne senate,! tii.il refused to give it sanction. f have here, sir, to mention a fact, which, strik-| ing as it is, and decisive ol tne character of tne ] man, is hardiy remembered, if it be not abso soiutely lorgoiten, except by a lew curious on servers. General Jackson’s recent seizure of; St. Mark’s and Pensacola, is not tlie first in stance in w hich ne has, of ms own independent sovereign authority, declared and waged war a gainst a nation with which Ins country was at p a, e. In Novcinher, 18 14, ne look Pensacola by storm, inoiigh ne c onfessedly knew at the time, that tne act was contrary to tiic views and poiß oy of the government.f The executive Whose commission be abused, congress, whose powers lie usurped, looked on in profound silence. As to the American people, they have ever seemed to imagine it impossible, that an invasion ol tne rigius of Spain could be accompanied with an invasion ol their ow n. rum your eyes now,sir, to the principal scene ol general Jackson’s glory: happy! it it were not aiso the scene ol unrestrained violence anil t). mi). 1 would detract nothing from tne real in >it ne displayed in his memorable d> fence of ]S ew-Orleans in 1814 15. 1 would not, il tne occasion were proper, enter into any criticism of Ins military operations; or attempt to ascribe to fortune, any portion of the glory, which skill and vamr claim, l’nut nis success was compute, that iiis victory was no less beneficial in its consequences man brilliant in its achievement; ali t.us 1 glauiy acknowledge. But to that extravagance of national giatitudc, umich lias manifested itself in a tame suilender of the constitution though but for a lime, and of the civil liberty ol any portion ol tne good people of .tins union now distant and small soever, I never Win assent while 1 have breath to make my pro test heard. General Jackson’s first step, after his arrival at New-Oileans, was to propose to t ie legisla ture oi Louisiana, then m session, a suspension ol tne hubras corpus, induced, it is said, to re commend tnat odious measure, by representa tions made to aim uy governor Claiborne, of tne disaffection ol the people. 11 the governor’s ap* prehensions were not inspired by tiie general hnnscll, the general knew as well as any body, wnat reliance w as io he placed on the governor’s judgment. The legislature knew its constiui ents as wall as the governor, and better than the general: that body certainly was n@t disaffected: it was, doubtless, tiie best judge, wuetner the proposed measure was necessary or even expe dient; and it was deliberating weave toicl,‘‘wuh great caution ’ (as well it might) “upon its rig .t { an ! power to adopt such a measure,” wnen gc- j mial Jackson not only suspended the habeas] | c r ie but proclaim l martial law. forthwith hLrj eity ot New-Orleans and its environs were v. i Cd into a camp, ami put under a rigorous police, j ---Is lus dcf iwc, rs course, iipop Uk x\ • ."■(•• lea, me **>>/. I'i i.n Mii'ii a iih'.wir’ v. as B• V, I il.tV < aIP :||!! ; \ 11 til. ! ,nll|si4H;i l and v'Clicr.ll J ’ B I Mil); ‘ > l i.’ ii that (joi.ni!i, ‘ HHu to be ii'll.' 7 1 si.ould hi;i j deny me mciv mm. During tilt* arduous situggie o‘. tiio :vvo- martial law was never once pi oc.nuiied. regin i < eluge e sand toTlcs were embodied iikhdu service of the enemy, aiid their friends and k’ofiied dispersed over the country, general \\ asmngton, though for a time clothed wiui ai r.i.'Ht dictatorial power, never proclaimed mar tial taw. When general Green'was flying be fit c iohl Cornwallis through the Carolinas, and his enemy was deriving almost as much aid from tin torii s as lie could obtain from tnc whigs of tiiai country, he yet never proclaimed niailiai law. Did they want prudence, circumspection, eiu igy? No, sir; but victory over the enemy wouid h -ve had no charms for them, it acliii veil a; tin expense of liberty. The ready resort to violent measures in ail situations ol difficulty, is generally tnc result of weakness of understand-’ ing and wickedness of heatt combined. 1 snail make one more remark upon the prin- ; cipm oi this measure,windi muse Mho ha\c stu- j died our institutions only will think absurdly su perfluous, but which whoever have studied our history aiso, will allow to be seasonable. Tnere is no man or body of men in mis nation, compe- i H , under any circumstances, to proclaim mar w within our own ten rite,ry. The piesi t; congress cannot; < oticurring BDBB I. .I-! m \ ian po.d : ’ iw ‘’ o. - ‘i “’ •. 11.l 1 . \.; - ‘ ; . - ■* ‘ I - : 1. . 11 ssA. whether In the actual exercise of the high pre 1 rogative with w . c.i ie nad eiotued aimself, he preserved any bounds of moderation? whether lie stopped short of xtremes, Which ho necessi ty required, which no expediency recummend ed, and to which he could hav e been incited, on-1 ly by tne intoxication of absolute power, the wan tonness of cap, ice, or the madness ot passion? While the event of the contest was yet doubt ful, on the vague information of one of iiis aids! (the noted Dun- an) that a design was agitated among the in moc s oi the legislature, to p.o ----p -sc a capitulation and sin , ender to the invading tir iii^^ si rui j act.son, though he must have kno m the actual state ol things (martial law still prevailing) such a design couid not be executed without Ins consent, “ ordered governor! Claiborne closely to watch the conduct of the le-l gislatuie, and the moment the project of offering 1 a capitulation to the enemy, should be ftiky dis closed, to arrest the tiie members, ami hoid them subject to nis luture orders, i’he governor, in his zeal to execute the command, and from aj tear ol the consequences involved in such con- 1 duct, construed as imperative an order which! was merely contingent; and placing an armed lo.ce at the door of tne capitol, prevented die piemoers from convening and their senemes from matmin I'lie historian does not assign a not.ier reason for governor Claiborne’s precipi tancy, winert I have heard, and have no doubt was the true one; that general Jackson had be fore threatened to nang mm, if he should hesi tate to do whatever lie was commanded, or pre sumed to exert isc nis own judgment. But if the governor be responsible for shutting the doors of tne legislature in the first instance, who is to bear tne biame ol keeping them shut? For, in fact, they Wire ke/it shut, from the 28tn of December, 1814, tiii about the 20tli of January, 18 15, when the enemy retired to his ships.f After tne enemy, foiled and broken, had aban doned the cntci prise, surely, sir, tne suspension ot civil law and justice, and the tyranny ol mar tial law, count no onger be necessary. Was ci 'il liberty ye restored to the city? No: military despotism wassail sternly maintained. On me 10th oi March, admi al Cochrane an nounced inrough Mi. Livingston, who nad been sent to tne British fleet io settle a cartel, that news of peace nad arrived at Jamaica. Certain ly, sir, the necessity ol military despotism was now at an end. Did general Jackson relax his absolute authority? ft was only the occasion of enslaving the /tress to nis im/irimatur. A few days after this intelligence, Mr. Louail lier, a member of the legislature, published a pa. agraph in tiie newspapers, calculated, we are tend, to excite mutiny among the troops, and to aflurd tne enemy intelligence of tne situation and disposition of tne army. Tne printer is incon tinently brought before the general, and compel led (tne poor printer afterwards told the story to ins country, but it had no cars to hear) to dis close the author’s name. Mr. Louaiiiier is forth ” itarrested by a file of soldiers, without care or tiiought ot the privileges of the assembly to wnich lie belonged dragged to camp, put into strait confinement,f audai raigned before a court murtaii as for a capital offence.s Mr. Louatilier was nor absolutely friendless, nor nad iiis friends entirely lost the sense of free dom. They applied to Mr. Hall, district judge ot tne United States, for an habeas corpus, winch he accordingly issued. The general knew (lie has been a judge himself) that judge Hall was i bound by nis oath of office and at iiis peril, to is [ sue this writ. Every end he could have reason ! ab.y desired ~ad been answered by simply disre gaiding the preeepi. But ue was not content with mat; and, as if for tne purpose of showing that martial law. was something more than the suspension of the habeas corpus, he seized the person of the judge; exposed him and his func tion to ridicule and contempt; brought him un der guaml to camp; detained him lbr a time in close custody; and then sent him, by force, beyond tiie limits of ms encampment, which included the cuy of Ncw-Orieans and environs, with or ders to remain in exile from Ins family and his home, til; peace should be regularly announced; lor it seems from the order itself, that the gene ral knew that pc ace was in fact concluded, though not yet formally communicated to him. The district attorney, Mr. Dick, a brave and honora ble man, (I know him well) applied to judge Lewis for a /minus corpus to liberate judge Hall, which judge Lewis granted. The general in stantly arrested Mr. Dick and issued an order to arrest judge Lewis also. Both these gentlemen had recently borne arms, under the general, enemy.|| j At wrth, sir, civil liberty was l estorcdiWui ‘peace, Jackson was by j the judge for thiscontenipUm the laws in Lite his personjflMEmlhority. — “It,” said- the illustrate, object to the jurisdiction of tV befbeard: ! if his defence be a dental of the facts cimrired, or j that tney amount to a contempt; be : heard: it it he an apology tH the court?®mhow j that by the States, he had a i ivmrio do as the court will hear him.” Fa nis is not allowing enough! lie do -e i-i^Fih.ly :h r ;. hi printed, and is before liie public. I at its wTftched sophistry, if I were not alarmed at its audacity, and disgusted at the impudence with which he pleads, as his protection from summary punishment, the very constitution and laws he had so long and so recklessly trampled under foot, and denies his own plea of necessity as a proper foundation or the known settled prac * Life of Jackson, p. 319, 321. t Life of Jackson, p. 874. i I ife of Jackson, p. 878, 381. § Niles’ Register, VIII, 274. Lile of Jackson, p. 881 —Ndes’ Register, VIII, 372, tice of our courts of justice in cases of contempt. 1 He was fined a thousand dohars; interrupted, in sulted, and blow-beat tne judge on the judgment s at; and retired amid the huzzas of a people whom lie had tamed to wiougs, or this had been his iast.* Did the legislature of Louisiana remonstrate, or demand redress? In the unermost abjection of slavery, they durst hardly withhold from him theirt hanks. Did the people, in any part of the union, murmer or complain? The Tucks ; had not remained more quiet and contented. Did the press, the watchman of liberty (especial ly of its ow n) the warder on the wail, give the alarm? lie was either talking or pursuing , or fieradvcnture he slept and could not be awoke. — j Did the general humble himself at the feet of the ! constitution and pray an inquiry, into his conduct 1 and motives ? Did the executive of the United Spates order any trial, any inquiry or utter any censure, any disapprobation? Did congress pass act which, acknowledging the j purity of bis motives and the necessity of his measures, but affirming their illegality, obviated in some measure the dangerous consequences of the example, at the same time that it protected the officer from being punished or questioned?— No! history, sir, that records his ninety day’s tv- j ranny, records also, that his whole conduct stands unquestioned to this day, as if it were the regu lar exercise of undoubted authority. Still, 4r, many wise and good men may be in clined to linn an excuse for us all, in the circum stanc ‘s attending and following the transactions at New-()r-leans. But what will they -say, if in time of profound peace, without the least pre text of necessity, and contrary to all reasons of expediency, he has shewn the same disposition to set himself above all the constituted authori ties? Fhe union was laid off into large military dis tricts, during the late war; a measure of conve nience and utility, (I should think) utWrly unsuitable ot peace. The same organization, however, rough listlessness, or Jar inscrucable-to continued. liLAprt 1817*, ‘general Jackso^icommander of tne division of the south, published an order pro hibiting the officers of his division, from paying obedience to any order of the war department, unless coming through him as the proper organ of communication.! I shall not ston to examine t4e justness of a pretension, superlatively absurd eRL ridiculous on its face. I protest 1 discern motive to account for it. Was it perversnoss ? or pride ? or military etiquette ? or did the general design this order, to preserve by way of continual claim, his independence of, or rather his ascendant over his lawful superi ors ? II such were the design, it has for aught w e know, completely succeeded. T have heard that this contest for supremacy has been adjust ed to the satisfaction of the executive. I know that no atonement has been made for the insult and injury to the nation. The dignity of the government is a part of its authority ; with which it is clothed, as w ith all the rest, not for the per sonal adv antage or honor of ministers, but for the public good. T ask your attention now, sir, to the events of the present year. Gen. Jackson being again or dered the command of army in jWfcon, and to chastis*goireurb the Seminole's, the stale of doomed to behold his presence in Constitu tion of the U. the state [qinii l<i i %i f|~ ccrs of theiradpJTective militia, ana the consti tution (like the laws of State in the Union) appoimS the govenW, ex-officio, commander in chief of it’s forces, regular and militia. It is an authority, indeed, essential to the existence of the state sov ereignties, and to the integrity of our system. To the astonishment of the nation, general Jack son declares that his command virtually sus pends the constitution of Georgia, in respect to the military authority of ii’s executive at least ; and in what other respects, we shall know when occasions shall occur, as in Louisiana, to dovelope the full extent of liis pretentions. Governor Ra bun had issued an order to a militia officer, never doubling, 1 dare say, Ins own constitutional and lawful power. The order was most vilely ab used. General Jackson, not content with as supaing the power of redressing the abuse (for that was an usurpation,) questions and denies the authority of the order itself. In his letter of May 7, 1818, he tells governor RSbun, in plain terms—■“ You, sir, governor of a state within my military division, have no right to give a mili tary order while lam in the field.” Behold, sir, the monstrous consequences of this broad and bold pretension, if it should obtain ! Should an insurrection occur in any of the states belonging to the, division of the South, while gen. Jackson is in the fkld, the governor of the state, and of course every inferior officer of the militia, must patiently endure the horrors of a sivil war, till his high behests can be known ! Sir, I cannot re press the sentiment of astonishment I feel, that the legislature or the representatives of Georgia in congress, have not demanded his immediate arrest and trial. But in truth, fir, we have the best reason for believing that in general Jacksons’s opinion, whenever he is at the head of an army, all the powers ol every branch of our governmeffts, state and federal, are suspended or transferred to him.—His instructions for the conduct of the war against the Seminoles may be gathered from the president’s late message to congress: he w as authorised to pursue the savage enemy into the Spanish territory, if he should take refuge there, taking care not to encroach on the rights of Spain. According the laws of nations, it is absolutely unlawful to attack an enemy in a * Jackson, p. 383, 300, app. F. Niles’ Retns ill, 245, 253. jisiles’s Register, Jill. 320 r neutral country, or commit in it any other hos iiiiy ; hut if a neutral afford a retreat’to one bel ligerent, and allow him tme to recover, and watch a favorable oppurtiuii l )’ of renewing his attack on the territori-s ot the otner, that other nuy march into the neutral territory in uiest or his en my. Tuc orders wnich wer given-to gen-ral Jackson (as I und rsum them uithor ised turn o car. y war into Florida again t the Semino.rs, but not to commit nostility against the sub oets of Spain; and nis cm respa .dence shews, that ie himself understood them in ic the same light. I acquit tiie executive, there fore, of intending a violation of the constitution, in waging war without a previous declaration ol it by congress. Tne merits ot general Jack son’s conduct may be staged in a few woids. Dis. cgajxlii.g his orders, usuiping the power, ol congress, which alone by our constitution is ea pab.e of declaring war, he took St. Marks by by assault, and Pensacola by capi •nation; t.c first on the 7th of April, and the latter on the 27th of May. Wir tner in the interval of fifty days which elapsed between the seizure oi .lie two posts, the executive bad time to get intelli gence of nis proceedings, and send new orders to the General ? wnetlier it did send him such Or ders ? and whether he was instructed to persist in or to forbear further aggressions against Spam ? are questions, which well deserve a solution but which arc not to be discussed in the actual state of the information before the public. This only we know, that the president, while to presm-ve peaceful relations with Spain, ae eral Jackson’s proceedings, at the saincmnie ex cuses and .applauds that officer for these very acts. Whether the w hich I came to general Jackson’sknowledge, during the campaign, w just cause of a declaration Spain, is not the those ( ‘ ’WLUric . il in ’ . I!' : i \ I” . I ‘ • ‘ nor denies iiis right to make an Indian tribe in peace with tne protection of the United States.. his own mouth I condemn him. The laws of nations, sir, afford no more pro tect* on to individuals against the violence, of Luis officer, than to sovereign states. I allude to the trial and execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister. To give a general character of these strange pro ceedings ; they were indictments , convictions and capital executions , of foreigner .for high trea son against the United States , to which they owed no allegiance, committed , and prosecuted in a foreign territory und jurisdiction! The first objection, to w'i.ich those proceed ings are liable, is, that admitting these men were guilty of all the offences alledged against them ; admitting, that, according to the law sos nations, they by such guilt incurred the forfeiture of their lives they were not amenable to the tribunal before which they were arraigned. Our courts martial have no lawful jurisdiction, beyond that, which is given them by the acts of congress es tablishing die rules and articles of war ; and it will hardly he pretended, that these have vested in them any cognizance over crimes of the nature of those imputed to these unhappy men. If the jnrsisdi- tion be adinitt cl, the sentence against both of them was unjust in law; and the sentence against Arbuthnot was unjust in point of fact. Arbuthnot was found guilty by the court mar tial, on two chaiges: Ist, < f inciting the Creek Indians to war against the United States, he him self being a British subject and his nation at peace with ours; 2d, of aiding, abetting ancl comforting the enemy, supplying them w ith the means of war. It will hardly be believed, that the only proof adduced, applicable to the first of these two charges, was, the evidence of John Winslet, detailing the contents of a letter the witness had interpreted for an Indian Chief call ed Little Prince, which the witness said was signed by a Mr. Arbuthnot, without stating that it was signed by the Arbuthnot who stood accus ed, though it appears he was acquainted with iiis hand writing; and the evidence of William Hambly (Arbuthnot’s known and mot.nl enemy) that the wi ness had been told by the Indians, that Arbuthnot had instigated them to war against the United States, and to the murder and plunder of our citizens. When the public is informed, that the rules of evidence are the same hi courts martial, as those that prevail in courts of law, it will be at no loss to make a fair esti mate of the merits of this conviction. As to the second charge (discarding the hearsay evidence ot the same \\ . Hambly) the principal proof of the charge was drawn from the prisoner’s own correspondence, and some other documents. I say, confidently, that those papers contain not the least proof, that he ever incited the Indians to offensive war, or aggression of any kind, against th<rUnited States or their citizens; to measures of defence and aggressions upon the Indians, fijfr froija insti gating them to war, he consjdtred their utter ruin asUn*€ertahi jronsequcndWlfra war withthe y.4*fftes. He lexers,'therefore, toimftHWsAipon their minds, upon OTh British minister at Washington, and on other correspon dents, that the a nci oachments of our itizens were not countenanced by the president. In his whole correspondence there is not to found one word stronger than the following letter to our Indian agent, General Mitchell, of January 19, 1818 : “ In taking the liberty of addressing you, sir, in “ behalf of the unfortunate Indians, believe me I “ have no wish but to see an end put to a war, “ which if persisted hi, I foresee must eventually u their ruin; and, as they arc not the aggress ors, if in the height, of their rage they have “ committed any excesses, that you will overlook u them, as of an indignant efSk