Mirror of the times. (Augusta [Ga.]) 1808-1814, February 26, 1814, Image 1

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! mirror of the times VOL; VI. AUGpSTA printed By DANIEL STARNES Os Co. west end of broad-street. SATURDAY Nioht, February :6, 1814. JfEPUiUCJZ 'XELOqjJEXCE. SPEICt of the Hon. Mr. HOLMES, Jn the Senate of Massachusetts, durin* the debate on 'he reported answer to the Governor''s Speech, ]VIr. President, When after eight dav'a deep cogitatjpn of the committee, an an swer Unreduced, which, I appre hend, vfll remain a standing iro - mimaotpf the degradation o: tins once reipt state ; ti;e pemle »nea ot f> e majority naust not deem it unrcj*t>nsbie, it I cccitpy some time ns raeriti. But io this, I ronic&i, l despair of mak ing anyji impression on the majority of this b oard. Aher having, dur ing a wfr of eighteen months, taken their ground against their country, and in favor es its enemy | ait r having condemned their own go veronvcpn, and justified the aggtvs sions aid auotuies of the e >ciuy, ju eveijr particular, without a soli tary exception, an attempt to a.s auade hem from this course, mun in thia tase be desperate. 1 might as vMH attempt to convc>; an -Atbeie toy scripture; 1 might at well g«i into the church yard, «e. bake the tombs, and expe&iuia;t with t e tdeeping ash<*» ot the dead. No, »4r, it is not thtm s whom * expect t<» convince or to edify : it is an &)p rebension,tbat silence may be deanur! an a q neaceuce iu the e infUcfetnry proceedings} is :> 10. the sate of my political friend* thai I staid forth the advocate of my injured country. I agre* vri:h his esceiieccv, th* the 1 berty of »pecch is important to a iret people, and he who would restrain it, is a fee torep. biican freedom. It is a privilege which I highly prize, and which 1 shall take advantage of iu di b te. True, it «n*y be abused : In ba 1 times, bad men wtd endeavor to excite discontent. Iu ihe icuto ineocemeut of war, slander ai/d abuse are wonderfully successful. There %va3 d-oger for a vrinle, mat the outrages ot party might drive the administration from office, or compel them to nuke an ignomu aiou* peace. But truth prevailed. Nctwithitanding every attempt to a (.tumbling block ui the way of Ue adroieutrauon in the day* ©f iheir difficulty and cii.tress cheir popularity has increased, and the pee de are more united than at me coamencement of the war. You •petit of the g-owing u tiie people; where is your evi_ dcolef In the elections ? In what eleotions ? In New York, »h.-wiost %«ourmercial state in the Union? In Sew Jersey, where everj D!viKb , wat regenerated in a year ? Iu *U rviriJ, where you but just-mug. file! in yeur governor r In Vcr uic-st, to &t sure, you have u sou nevity governor fat one year, ana 1 trust, for one yea: only. But, in the city of New York, at a ve.y law election, the American cauuc prevailed by a charigt ib«t wa. trily astonishing-. And ail of this in toe of war, gainst the lucc-saut el.mors and slanders of party, w.knut any sedition ac*., or uther ac to screen the admuusuction. His excellency informs us jhat he has received fifteen hundicd stmds of aruis from the secretary utwar; and you, in answ» i,stm bite this event to the efficacy of %o>r famo«B resolve of June last. 1« suppose that, that anticlimax, tbit complete apecimen in the art olsioking,could produce any other eftet tn the mind of the secretary of war, than ridicule, i- to me ab idutely incredible. It began with full of invecovr?, with a« Whereas” followed* by a string “ HOLD THE MIRROR UP To NatUße— Shakespeare, of accusations against the whole course of th.* mra-ures of the ad. ram'stratjen, and concluded with a “ Therefore, lie*o'ved, iba* the ad j jt»*ant grr.t r al be rt q »*'«(* d to write o Gen Armstrong io r arms, ftc.*’ | Ii was indeed a production which promised much, and performed no- ! thing, and l will add, effected I nothing. It is probable Gen. j Armstrong, agreeably to hu pro- 1 m »e, sent yo« the arms as so??n as I nuy w C re ready; bit nor.e the! -oont-r for your pitiful resolve. But this war is ut.j ist. Must i we travel over this ground eg .iu? This charge has been ruiuted mo-e than it thousand times. Bui dm nii'kea no ddf rence, they can re« n n vv it 5 though vanquished, they can argue atilt. The right of block ade. orders in council, *nd impress ment are brought up, &Dd all justi. ( h-d w'th ereater übstiuecy than in the British parliament. 1 have said, and I rtpear it, that tba priority of the French decrees could be no excuse fur itiese or.. ' lers, if such had Deen tlie fact. vVhat,sir, re'.aiiate upon *n inno cent neutral thu aggrchsious which your tn« my has committed upon hat neutral. The priority of ay. gressiun makes no difference; Each nation must account with us, for cbo injury it has don a us i A have wondured that the government of rlie United States have ever cuu descended to ducus» tne q jestiou of the priority of these edicts; aUnougli ii is neyoud question, ihai the b!i><kaiie us the l/th of Mxy,* IBJS, wa* far more injurious to Aißericau cuitiinerce, than the Ber lin decree of the 21st of Novem ber IjUu wing. This esira©idinary oiccltade obstrucied the commerce o tirady one thousand mdes ot ie>>- ..Oa t, tucluding usany importaut cotumerciai cutes, and the mouttis of several Urge and navigable ri. vers, Bu. the advocates of firiiaiu say she had a right to do a>l this, bhe had force enough to invest this whale t-xient; therciore, it was legally blotkadtd, whether the foice was applied or not. So, 1 auppo c, gendernen would conitcd that some oih-ir coast, cquahy ex tensive, was actually b uckadtd, because it m’gNt be; and in this way, Britain m-ght biockade everj pou in the world at the same tinio. But the sirongett a ivoc * teg for re t«liatiOO, have no, preieujed that it couui be ju»t tied uiv.it »«f er no-- ttce of the fi.s. aggression, a.ul i neglwct or refusal to r.pel it.—- I Upwn what principle, then, was two Older 01 council of tne Bttt jao la ry, 1807, imposed ? This was bui j foriy.ji.v<*o days afttr 'he beiuu ; • decree, and before v/e could have i had nonce of it; and yet G i*t j Britain nad a-tight, sav they, to! retaliate on us tor an act widen we ; couiil not prevent, and of wuich we i did no. kuoA l it i t in vain to pre. ! tend that this order was not a icta. i li lion of vile Boilvi dcCiee, be- j cause leas tigorou* m it.nii. It; waa contrary to the known law of I na ions, aad Lin .am had not he to enforce it; bu* Fiance h«d no power to enforce ii r Je cree, and it couid be conducted ' bui an ciop y threat. Bui uis iUggc»'ed, 'hat thii war j it for ibe prelection oi B.i :sii sea. i u)cH. Ihi 3 -.na-g-; is vvi.H Hit c.ny i foundation. Wo are coiurndmg ior thv protection oi ou own sea- | •nca on board of our own ships, Ihe law ot nations ariin'is noi «n. | subjects of one u«*t»'iivo mier on board the ehip* ot an o her, and to i iake guefi as they shall jitige heir ' o«n. I’ne c,i. is »l<n r .e, *U i ta. , pablc of ueoior.giiauou. Jhe oca* I is die count) u nighway o: . atiuo*. (fa It, cauu has a Ou Cuifeut, Dot i tfither an exclusive jurisdiction. If, then, one nation ha-, a right to take such as she shad judge hei j O’vn suhj-ict*, ia this couvwon ja rindictii'Q, ihe retake the | same subj cr, if she judges him to be her own. If this nation has a right to rmpture, she his. atser. (tori, a right to retist the first tak. ! tog —so that pursuing your princi ple, «ne nation claiming a C't’Xen - in a jurisdiction common to bu h, > has a right to take Ivui f om ano , ther, white this other, if ohe claims , him. ha- a light to resist. But, though the jurudiction is concur rent on theocc?n,it is rot so on hoard ship. Here the jurisdic.ion ii exclusivvi The municipal law prevails here. Vattkl fays, that a per j son born on sh ip board is con lidered as the natur?l born labject ct fbe nation to which the Ihip belonged,* becaufc within the exclusive jurif did ion ot that nation. It is true that there are cases, in which a belligerent may be put on board for certain pur- ! poses; lor instance, to search lor Contraband goods, and to prevent a violation of the blockade. JBut these are ex ceptions, and go to prove the rule. It is inamfelt that * these exceptions, especially that relative to contraband goods, are the eftedt of com pact. They arc part of the conventional law of nations. The natural law never defi ned what articles were con traband. These executions, so ftritfUy defined, and care fully guarded, prove, incon- the general rule, that each nation has an ex clufivc jurifiJidtion on ocard its lliips on the ocean Hut to pretend that because there is one exception, there is therefore another; that bc caulc the officers ol one na tion have a right ta enter on j board the (hips of another, in • learch ol contraband goods, and if they find any that are ! lufpicious, they have a j 1 to carry in the ship formal, | that therefore inch officers i j have a right te enter on board , i and take such men as they j i fhali judge their own, with '■out triai, is, I confcG, aj i couife of realoning which 1 ido not fully underlland. If j this right exilts, why do not gentlemen give us the proof! ot it? They arc wife and; , ieai ned in the law of nations; j where is the writer on na-i j tional law, who has under taken to cflablid) the right of a nation to enter on board the ships of another, and to take lath as (he may deem her own, without fuhmitting j tne q’jtilion to an . tenia- j tionai tribunal ? [ Bat gentlemen infimate, that Brmth fubjei‘ts t “w;iom we have naiuiai:/ J, .m th--; fubjed of contention ; and they infid on the doctrine of . pe r petnal allegiance ; or at lead, that a naturalized citi zen, has but a local protec tion. That is, inasmuch as J allegiance and protetftion are reciprocal ; and this protec tion does not extend beyond the territory or exclusive ju ! rldiclion of the nation, so the allegiance is lubjeft to the fame limitation. As a confcquence of that doctrine, a Britiih fubjed, naturalized here is obliged to fight a gaintl his native country un til he gets three leagues from the shore, a\d the moment he crosses this imaginary line, he is absolved from his allegiance, and obliged to fight for his native againlt his adop : cd country. This con* sequence, alone, is fufficient :to make the propofkion ri diculous. But the law has removed every doubt on this ! fubjett. Naturaliz tion is denied, the giving a foreign er the rights of a cruizcr j or converting a foreigner into a citizen. The word itfclf carries with it its own defi nition. — Our own law has determined its eflfedt.—lt wis decided in New-York, •that it operates retraElively, and places the man in the i fame situation as if he had ! {always been a citizen. The j | principle is the fame in ; England. Coke and Black | hone tell us, that, if a man be made a denizen, the children born after he was denizated dull inherit, but j not thole which were born before. But it is not so in the cafj of naturalization ; j [ bccaufe naturalization has a retrol'pedtivcenergy. Butthe ißrituh tlatuie which pro- 1 ! vides for the naturalization of such foreign Teamen as fhali have lerved two years ion board their fhtps, puts j this quediori beyond doubt. The a£t makes them as na- ; tural bom lubjedh or natives I within the kingdom. w i But the anlwcr to his ex cellency t fpcechlus brought up ihcqueition of retaliation ; 1 and a wonderful degree of ! sympathy is excited for his majeity’s lubjeCtc Newark ; is artrully feleded, prot3abiy , as the licit aggretfion. 1 sup pose the burning the defence- , lels villages on the 111 ares of the CneUpcake, are inltan cts of Lrtiilil mercy. Ine excinng the Indians to i.idif criminate mafiacre, was Bu t’fh mercy. The brutalities oi mat Vandal, CoCKBUKN, arc inllnnccs of tins mercy ! Tiie cold-blooded rrvirJe s us ■■ V No. 280. ' I ****** MMMkM that Goth, Proctor, are ; further inftancci of it! Who were the aggieflW? in thii. bulinefs of retaliation ? The (advocates of perpetual alle . glance will fiy A ncr-ca ! i With them, a man i« fixed to I the lpot where he drew his tirft breach. If an American, onavifit m England, happens to have a son born there, though the parent should , immediately return with him to America, this child owes an allegiance which he can never (hakeoff; and it thir ty years afterwards, in tie i fending his foil from Eritilh 1 pollution, his houle from conHagiation, his wife and ; children from rape, he hap peneu to be made piifoner, he is condemned as a vile traitor to hts Mijefly, is fen. tcnced to be hanged by the neck until he is almost dead, to be cut down, his bowels ‘ torn out by violence and thrown in his face, Ins head cut off, his body diffcdtcd in quarters, and the quarters to be at his Majesty’s dilpofal : This is a necellary confc quence of Bririfh humanity. Put we arc charged with driving the aborigines from their inheritance. It is but : a Ihort time iince Mr. Jef ferson was an ©bje<st of ri dicule, for his regard for the Indians and his difpofuion to civilize them. Now, that they are the allies of his Ma jedy, all hostility again!* them is cvidcnceof a disposi tion to exterminate them— Never was a charge more unfounded, cruel, and per nicious—Wc have uled them as children.—They hive no ground of complaint again!* ; us; and what good motive could have induced his Ex ; ceilency to infulc into the minds of the people, and of thole Indians, that the Uni ; red States a»e determined to I drive them off? I’ he effect iis beyond doubt. —lt will awake them to vengeance, !and the innocent blood which may how m conse quence. may one day he re quired of us, who difTcmi natc charges so groundless 1 and injuriour. J3.it it is hid that this is a ; war again!* New-Eogland. | Here is the attempt again to exciie local jeaJou i.s.— Nevv-England has interests pcctilidr to herhlf; !he mast bu leparate. The honorable chairman, probably looks forward io the period, when we can fucak of the king (iom of New-Eugl inn ; ami poflibly antic»o-ffS Jo si ah the Itßsr H).»y be