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f Si’.lli ’i t >MR. <.'LAYTON, OF GEORGIA* .IK!ucr.b : i jfce Horn- • of iU-presoMativeson Wednes d; ..•:■■ . i633, i .1 ihi enforcing hill. Mr. Steaim.:;: It has been u. 11 s.i:d, by an old author, Mat \v n a !iu' . r.:i:n r.t intends to commit violence j on the r :hn ,fu people, its first attempt is to put it t tpe 1... - it lr rr, o;i like occasions, put out the . irdi niflg Os a step ill Minn Eeni ( ril of nr i:, nut tiiis will not excuse those who, ujc: a f. ice. n foresight ot a State temp, st, sliaii inline. «liai v i st fur and conscience overboard, discard am! q.nt rudder i compass, and so assist the danger thev jirvt- ni t> i -ar. Asa pretext to fall upon the people, they are t.) b : visited with frequent vexations, and lest these should he healed by tli t generous forbcaranc ’ to a love of country, their sores are to be regrained and ex asp rated, under all the urging circumstances that come w ithin the invention of scandal. And hence, ’tis a prin ciple in the politics of tyranny to make every infirmity t fault, and every fault a crime. Such as study to be [ rest by any means, must by all means forget to be just, (ml they that w ill usurp dominion over others, must first Become slaves to the worst of tyrants—a lust after pow er. Power, when u.ncliaiued, stops at nothing short of full gratification, and by nothing is it so much delighted as the red rilihs of wasted countries, desolated fields, and demolished habitations, and this scene is greatly heightened in its hell smitten aspect, if there be left to brood over the mischief, the solitude of widow hood, and the destitution of orphanage, isueh may be the result of .this day’s legislation, and there is to come out of it this lesson, that in the promptings of ambition, power cannot he purchased too dear, though it cost the blood of millions. In tin: contemplation of a principle so de sponding there is left one consolation, poor I confess, that it « ill not he the first supiemacy that has been won and worn upon the length and keenness of an usurping 6 word. It is tho re nidi U t*C an riiniinm omin, iin*« in uiwt ing upon the discussion of an important question, it is aii important to catch, in the beginning, the fixed atten tion of the hearers, and nothing is so well calculated to effect this object as the reading of some striking pas sage from a popular author. Knowing and feeling how much 1 need such aid, 1 will present you, from this same divine, that very stimnleiit, which he, in much good sens 1 , recommends. “The vessel (says he) of our ic public, driven bv the gales of discontent, and hurried still faster by the secret current of luxury and power, is following the same course, and fast approaching the same rocks, which have proved fatal to so many before us. Already may we hear the roaring of the surge; al ready do we begin to circle round the vortex which is soon to ingulph us. Yet we see no danger. In vain does experience offer us the wisdom of past ages for our direction; in vain does the Genius of History spread her chart and point out the ruin towards which we are ad vancing; in vain do the ghoats of departed governments, lingering around tiie rocks on which they perished, warn gusofjiur approalnng fate, and eagerly strive to terrify us ' fioin our course. It seems to be an immutable law of our nature, that nations, as w'eli as individuals, shall learn wisdom by no experience hut their own. That blind, that accursed infatuation, u’hich ever appears to govern mankind when their most important interest are toocerncil, leads us, in defiance of reason, experience, an I common sens •, to flatter ourselves that the same causes which have proved fatal to all other Governments, will lose their pernicious tendency when exerted on our own.” -Mr.Speaker: I am not so vain as to believe l shall, this night, make the slightest impression upon any member who favors the passage of the hill upon your table. 1 should fuel humiliated if tny discernment was so far sus pected as to raise the belief that 1 did not perceive the “malign influences” under which this measure is insid iously creeping to the execution of its purpose. To check if her:: 1 have no expectation. Blit, as 1 said on a former occasion, there is no place in this wide empire, from which the people may he so well enlightened, as from the lulls of Congress. It is the stand to which twelve millions of eyes are directed, and to the preach ings from which the same number of cars are listening. To this, more than ordinary attention, and still deeper anxiety, l address myself; and if there is left any thing of candor or judgment in this great auditory, free from the influence of party strifes, personal politics, or paltry and votion to a mans, 1 trust the appeal will not be made in vain. Tin: hid we are called on to pass, amounts to a dec laration, without mincing the matter, that the States of tais eoufi dcracr, as Stati s, may be compelled by the ■ military Ft MICE of the Government to yield implicit o ,i dionec to the laws of a majority of Congress, no mat. t r w .i.t it . be their character, and that there is no oth , ta i hi ! mi tli ■ virtue of the longest sword and the sir. : • o, wi" .oil under the dread alternative of trie.a,.li or:.- :-,u. And what is worse, though one is j i- oi t :r' other, yet the creator alone can com mit tr i. a. The creature has nothing to lose in the co 'A ’. I< tli tvvs its resources froln the author of its <bt-ii . :>y u i; ■ii it makes its conquests, and is sub. j, <rt at ... . !,ar p nal'.ies. While, on the contrary, tin Nate lias i ry tiling to forfeit, and pays the expense oi tho war, on both sides. Is this a false statement of tiie easel Then what has produced this state of things? Tn .t which li.ts produced morn real discontent than all other matters besides. I mean TAXATION. In coun tries where the people are taxed to support the splendor ot kings, the luxurious indulgence of noble families, of particular dynasties, and are educated to believe that such impositions are all right, and is the very essence of duty, it is a matter of littlcsconcern how much their op pressors afflict them. But in this enlightened country wher • men know their rights, and are taught, from the republican simplicity of their Government, that taxes are pioperty, and just so much, and no more, is requi r’d, as is honestly necessary for the frugal purposes of Government to protect the residue left m the hands of the contributor, it becomes a subject of just complaint whenever these limits are transcended. For whom, tneri, are these taxes levied/ Arc they for the Govern na int? Not so. The President has said they arc not ne ■essary —more than is wanting—ought to be reduced— ecotnmende it, and considers the south badly treated. . reduction of six millions of taxes, which the Secrcta of the 1 reosurv says can be readily spared, will end I our strifes, ami render this odious law perfectly un <Jess:iry. Uhv can it not be done? Was there ever if'ire an instance of pile portion of the people fighting aotlier to keep on the taxes and the government stand ug by, with its pockets as full as it wants, encouraging .he battle? Look at the matter in its true colors. The •south has been complaining for ten years, in every form bit hi)redressed injury can suggest, and they have been » i constantly repelled by every excuse that insatiable "uric) could invent, and none so often urged as the pi die debt. Well, now the public debt is paid. What . • vt? !5 • i *IJ tho Government in lia.iest truth comes out *d says, we have as wucii as we want out of you, and i >re too; but here arc a few eager manufacturers stand ; at our baeii, who st ite they are not yet quite satisfi , and urg-- as a reason why we should let them «üb ,ir. yo i a huh* longer, that you are putting on the <l?t» of rebellion, and it will never do—to permit you t quastio i our authority to tax you for whatever pur la! we please. True, these manufacturers have tkiv. i yo i to desperation, and to drive you out of U again, j'u.i s a pretext to keep un the tux**. Lay down your oi I, I ill o.i your knees, and raise your bunds ami eyes i supplication, and we have no doubt they will take the x viler into their sermon consideration at the next acs ■ ini of Gongi■,! Now, Mr. Speaker, you may think e w no hard na’t- r to S .at, and that ■> * ought to try it a little longer; but mark me v. e arc in and about the very point where it can be endured no longer, and this Longr. ss Mould do well to pause b« for 1 they move ativ further. At nut is it you want? Taxes? For what? For the Government? Take wfcat you please, to any amount. !or its honest purposes. I£ive you ever been stinted.’ hour Secretary says, you cannot il>iy spend more than fifteen millions, anil the allowance of this sum will ■educe our burthens six millions. Why will you not do it? Do you want more for yourselves? Only observe for a moment how bountifully you are supplied out of these fifteen millions. Bear with me while I lei! the people who are working under God’s curse, for what little they earn, how sumptuously their governors live. First, go with ine to the palace of your President— seethe splendors of Ins household—view the lawns, and artificial lulls ami dales that surround bis mansion, made on purpose to regile his eye, and varied every year to relieve his vision from the dulness of monotony! All this comes out of the fifteen millions, said to be wanted for the use of the Government! Come with me to the gaudy exibitions displayed ,n both halls of Congress— see our hundred white servants, subject to our heck and call we can hardly lift a draft of water to our lips with out their help! Sec the splendid gardens and enclosures provided for our especial comfort and refreshment! One IKivement, of ninety feet in length and forty m breadth, lias cost four thousand dollars! Oae enclosur of eight acres, for a botanic garden, in front of this magnificent building, is about to Co3t us twenty thousand dollars. I lie blinging of water from aspring in the adjacent country, to sport in a fountain before the Capital, is to cost thirty thousand more. It was but last night yon gave away to this city, alone, eigiit hundred thousand dollars, besides one hundred thousand for paving its streets. The appropriation for what is so wastefully scattered over this building and its various apartments— I mean fuel and stationary—is one hundred thousand dollars a year—a sum sullicient to defray the separate civil list of hall the States in the Union. Two thousand dollars to paper three rooms in the President’s palace— enough to liiiild forty habitations for those in the hum- Mer walks of life, who arc the tax-paving people. All this and 1 barely mention a ft:\v items, to show the character and extravagance of public expenditure—also comes out of this estimate nf fifteen millions of dollars, intended to stipp.y the wants of the Government! Yes, Mr. Speaker, theira/ifwof the Government! And when the people, with a holy devotion for the Government of their choice, are willing to submit to these impositions, and to gratify these frugal wants, it is not enough—they must contribute to the similar wants of private gentle men, and to the gratification of the like kind of splendor; because, forsooth, they have idle money about them that must be put to profitable employment, through the agen cy of the Government, and at the ex pense of the great mass of the laboring south. And when the south com plains, they are told, your conduct is insolent, your course is rebcUious, and your doctrines are treasonable! It becomes our duty, and is demanded by the dignity of our Government, in the language of the Chief Mag.s trate of the nation to a member of this House, “to put you down.” These additional taxes, over and above the wants of the Government, so long complained of, and now of a character no longer to be borne, has brought up the south to the point of resistance. South Carolina has said she submits no longer. The rest of the south will soon follow. Tyranny, always cowardly, has taken the alarm. Every thing is magnified into rebellion. Won. derful signs, as of old, have appeared. The earth and air are filled with prognostics. Expresses frighten the country, from Washington to Charleston. A steamboat has been seen to reverse its flag, the Union down. One star on a blood-read flag has been seen in the south. On the morning the proclamation made its appeatance in the Senate, no prayers had been said in that body. The flag of Congress, on that same morning, wts observed to he flapping in confusion, only half mast high. One of the thirteen stars, representing the thirteen States, in the Virginia Capital, fall on the day that that grave body were discussing federal relations. These were fearful omens of approaching war and rebellion; and, as history plainly shows, should never he disregarded by a cautious and wise Goveiniicnt. And, by way of showing you, Mr. Speaker, how necessary it is to watch the signs, and to regulate affairs thereby, let mo, without remind ing you of the oracles of old, bring to your notice what was clone by our sage and foreknowing fathers, in that island from which we sprang, about two hundred years ago, under similarcircumstances. I read from the Tracts of old Lord Somers, a quaint but hitrhly instructive au thor, to whose amusing and vastly edifying lessons I in vite the attention of the House. It is well to make comparisons between periods separated by long lapses of time, in order to mark our wonderful increase of knowledge, and the great improvement of our taste and judgment. To this end, I shall use this author frequent ly in the progress of my remarks; and, therefore, once for all, formally introduce him to your acquaintance, and commend him to your polite civilities. Well, what says Lord Soon rs as to signs?—Listen : “The whiggish signs and apparitions, foretelling their rebellion, and the Dutch war, as you will find in two pieces, entitled, Mirabilis Annis, 1 and 2, viz: “ Prodigious signs apparitions, denotiong war, &c. First, the likeness of a ship seen in the air at Stratford, by Bow, neat London, in September, 1660. “Two meteors like a streamer, or a besom, seen in Wood street, t2lh October, IG6O, means Van Trump's broom at his topmast-head. These relate to the Dutch war. “Now for whiggish armies, or their rebellions against the king. Strange and terrible noise heard in the air, as beating of drums, the reports of great and small <mns, in January, 1060. “The form of a town well fortified seen in the air, 22d April, 166 L “The noise of beating a drum, and of clattering of ar mour, and the groans of dying men beard in the air, 1 September, 1661. “Dreadful noise like the report of great guns, wit!* the beating of drums, beard in the air, l May, 1061. “The form of a lion, a unicorn, and bear, fighting for a crown, together with an army ol horse and foot, seen 29 May, 1661. “The form of a coffin, together with two armies, seen in the heavens, encountering each other, 22 June, 1661. Now (continues the author) what, prav, were these ap paritions prodigies, and judgments, printed privately, and handed about to the party for, if it was not with de sign to forctci, and also to usher in under the unbrage of miracles, their villainous plots and conspiracies; arid these encouraged the ignorant multitude, under their seditious preachers and leaders, to commit these unnat ural rebellious against his majesty’s person and govern ment; and I think they are too visible to be denied by the most audacious of their party.” Our author then states these signs were so frightful in their nature, and the Dutch and Whigs having threaten ed to take the forts and magazines of the nation, it so i nee ns id the people, that the king, highly offended, is sued a proclamation commanding all the Dutch ships in the ports of England to be stool; and all further treaties of pacification being laid aside, both nations prepare lor war.— See troubles of Eng. p. 3, fol. 73. “During (as the history continues) the preludes of the approaching war, the Dutch, a more coutnnjelious than formidable enemy, inflamed the rage and hatred of the English people, by several scurrilous libels, medals, and and many base and sutyrical picturec, according to the innate insolency and barbarous vanity of that people. By one picture they did basely represent the Engligh nation a lion, depicted without a tail, with three crowns reversed. Another was a picture of many mastiff dogs, whose ears were cropped, and tails cut off. fvi ( J, ; Dr. L'oMin’s Survey of Mtucovy, cap. 70 ) In dishonor to the King and the English nation they i trailed the English colors, defiled with their excrem ents, through the streets, and at the stern of their boats, : whereby foreigners were persuaded that our navy were totally destroyed by the Dutch, and that they had gain ed the “sovereignty” of the seas. Other curious prints were divulged every where, of the English Pheatorfs being overthrown, not by the thunderbolts of Jove, hut hr the valor of the Dutch. It seems Britannia, or old England, was no longer seated on her globe, with her fact on the si a, but prostrate ot) the dry land, Holland being mounted on an elephant, trampling upon her. Al so, a boar cutting off the tails of the mastiffs, whereof some ran away, others sat licking their sores, others stood harking at a distance, w ith this inscription: The English dogs and vipers destroyed bij the valor of the Hollanders in such manner that they never shall give the worldfarther trouble, (vide Stub’s Farther Justifica tion, Ac. fol. 2,3. And lest we should stand in need of some of these extraordinary pictures of the Dutch, the Flying Post has supplied us with another. He tells us that some of their wanton limners drew King Charles the second, with his pockets turned inside out. This was when there was a secret understanding betwixt the Dutch and the faction in the whiggish Parliament, while they had agreed not to give him a penny of money, un less lie would consent to have himself dethroned by giv ing away his prerooative.” (vide Oate’s pic. 22.) Thus ends our author upon the notable subject of signs, and they hoar such a remarkable resemblance to our own times,! trust they have not been uninteresting. Our signs have denoted “villanous plots and conspira cies,’’ and the ignorant multitude, under their sedicious leaders, have meditated not only rebellion against his “Majesty’s Government,” but a dismemberment of the Union itself, and hence great preparations of war have been made. Troops have been sent from Norfolk to Charleston, “and fifty rounds of amunition to the gun" have been ordered. A part of the navy has beseiged that port. A reinforcement has been thrown into the arsenal of Augusta. And what is all this for? It is said information has been received from a certain quarter, ei. i c.j. ,i arc not be turnislicU, r<>» it has beet, . for and refused by this house, that the public authorities of South Carolina intended to seize the forts and arsenal. Sir, nobody believes this—there is not a gentleman in this House believes it—perhaps I mistake, there may be one or two. 1 appeal to the honor and candor of every disinterested man upon this floor to say whether, from their know ledge either personally derived, or from repu tation, of the characters of Governor Hayne.Gcu. Ham* ilton, John C. Calhoun, and other distinguished men of Carolina, which need not be mentioned, he believes they or any of them ever contemplated disunion, or designed to capture the military posts of the Government.—No, Sir, no man so abuses his own judgment, much less the integrity of these distinguished patriots, as to credit for a moment suspicions, almost too gross for the fanatic credulity of which I have just given a specimen from the venerable Lord Somers. But great complaint is made of the war preparations of South Carolina. Can any one be serious in saying that there is no causa for this? A State surrounded by military force denied the right to prepare to meet it! Take care, Mr. Speaker: this is alarming doctrine to the States! In vain the Constitution allows the privilege to the citizens to hear arms for his protection, if, when lie rubs up his musket and furnish es it with a flint, he runs the risk of becoming a traitor! Sir, preparation is no fores; as well may you tell me that the gentleman whosits before me with his sword cane, and which, no doubt, lie carries for his honest defence, is obliged to run -it in the first man he meets, because lie has thought proper to be ready for the assaults of either insolence or avarice. I well remember, Sir, inv own State had once to make warlike preparation against the usurpations of this same Got eminent, ands should like to sec the man who would dare to say she meant any thing more than the lawful defence of her undoubt ed rights. Against this Union she never meditated the slightest movement, but against the unconstitutional acts of its Government, —she did plant herself upon her arms, and hurled defiance in the very teeth of your usur ping laws. What Georgia has done in good faith against the desig.s of arbitrary power, t am willing to accord tn other States, without imputing had motives to the,act. But, Mr. Speaker, these wonderful signs have produ ced another wonderful consequence; like the Dutch ap paritions that frightened the English King, they have brought out a similar proclamation. A proclamation, I will venture to say, that may safely challenge the world for its parallel. By what authority was it issued? Sir, I ain about to make a declaration that 1 dare any man to deny. 1 afliin that there is no authority in this Govern ment for any proclamation from the Prescient of'the U. States, that is not founded upon some notorious law. The King of Great Britain dare no* issue his proclama tion unless supported by some known statute. Now, show me the law that authorises the proclamation in question. I boldly say there is none. VVhat! have we come to this, that a proclamation, like the edicts of the Grand Sultan, is to be the rule of action for the free peo ple of these United States? That the President shall pro claim in written instruments what lie considers to he the law; what is his interpretation of the Constitution; and that, according to his views of cither, the sovereign States shall be bound? Is any here so credulous as to believe that if such a paper had been issued bv the ex pected successor of the present incumbent against such a State as Virginia, it would have been tolerated for a single moment south of the Potomac? No, Sir, it would have been burnt in every town and himlet throughout all that region. And pray. Sir, what is the nature of it. In one breath it reasons; in the next it threatens; now it argues, then it raves; here it is pathetic, there it is satvr i •; in one moment it is sarious in another it is ironical; sometimes grave, at others pctulnt; in some places it is persuasive, in others intolerant; in many parts absolute, and every where dictatorial. It arraigns the motives of men; is abusive of particular characters, imputes base designs to the public authorities of a.State, and denoun ces tli-i leaders of the peOph of that Slate as traitors; losii!£ sight of the dignity o'a State paper emanating from the Chief Magistrate oft great Government, it de scends to personalities, and hose are directed against personal enemies; its author cills himself the father of the misguided people of South Carolina. The “father]" mind hat! the language used to the red people of the west. Yotir “great father” says so and so; in the name of every thing have we come to that? The States sunk into Indian tribes! But, Mr. S|*taker, the worst part of this matter is to he told; that while this friendly, feel ing, flattering,fatherly, and fighting proclamation is re claiming a State from the error ol its ways, it is deliver ing over the whole of the States ,nto the hands of the General Government to be consolidated, and henceforth to he known no more as sovereign States. The repub lican party who have bean contending for Statatc rights for upwards of thirty years, and fondly believed they had gloriously achieved their object, have had their trophies levelled in the dustata single blow, anil them selves bound hand and foot, ami thrown into the power of their old vanquished enemies. What a revolution! and how suddenly accomplished! But it is said the proclamation, though erroneous in principle, was issued from the best of motives. Yes, Mr. Speaker, there is not a whipping |iost, a jail, or a gallows, that may not claim the same merit; but when they are abused for the purposes of fraud and oppres sion, it is but of little comfort to the sufferer to point him to the good motives that lie at the foundation of their institution. I wish, however, this celebrated in. strument had even tltu virtue of their design for it ap pearance. This proclamation has been followed up by a cool, calculating message, confirming all Us principles, and demanding the bill now under discussion. This bill requires force to put down, the tumuhnot of a few indi odualsacting upon their own responsibility, hut the so lemn and delilierate act ol the people of a whole soveregu State, assembled in convention in the same manner in w hich they assented to the Federal Constitution, ami as serted under all the forms known to a well and independent Government. Sir, this bill blink the question; it asks for the power of declanTiy war against against a State, and for the use ol the army and navy, to give success to that war. And, Sir, we are about to grant it. We are adout to do that against j a sister State, which we dare not do against a foreign nation. We dare not, without a formal declaration of war, which alone rests with the representatives ot tiie people, where it should rest, for they arc answerable for unnecessary wars, confer upon the President the power to use the army and navy against any nation that should prove unmindful of its obligations. Sir, the message contemplated war, whatever persons may say as to its peaceable character. Did not the President enter into a learned legal disquisition, displaying his usual pro found research into tiie depths of that science, even down to the feudal origin of hig subject, to show that the posse comitatus was a military force, and as such might be resisted? What was this for! That if South Carolina should attempt to use this instrument, which she and all other Govern nerits have used time out of mind, to carry into effect her legal process, and which she will continue to use, when necessary, in all other cases where her own citizens are alone concerned, it is to he considered the use of force on her part.— It must cease to be employed in cases where the General Government is a party—and, if use-), it is to be treated as a military force, and shot down by the army and navy of tbe United States. As well may the courts and their sheriffs he considered as a military force, and treated in like manner. Does not every one perceive that this is the way tbe civil war is to commence ? The sheriff, with his unarmed posse, are, by a forced construction, and at the special instance of the President, to suit the occasion, made a hostile array as against the Federal Government, (but perfectly lawful as against the State’s own citizens,) and as such, are to be mur dered by the United States’ troops. Dueg any man in his proper senses believe, that when such a scene commences, the good people of South Carolina are going to stand around >i,o ihfAil lindiosof their sen-. with folded arms, and tamely submit to such butchery? Ana it they Will not, wiiereuu l to stop 1 Do gentlemen flatter themselves it will he confined to S. Carolina alone ? They must have a very contemptible opinion of the other southern Stales, either as respects their courage or veracity, for they have more than once said they will not submit to the tariff; and I trust they will have dis cernment enough to see, that the destruction of Carolina is sought on that very account. The south may prove recre ant ; it may falsify all its former strong asseverations ; it may abandon South Carolina after the work of death begins ; they may turn out to be a talking and not a fighting people ; hut I shall not believe it till 1 see it, notwithstanding the Proclamation and this bill is supported by some southern 1 members. The first and fifth sections of this bill allow the President louse military force,and these are to remain in operation to the end of the next session of Congress. The other sec tions confer great powers on the federal court, and are in tended to he permanent. I think I can perceive, that in some of these provisions, my own State is to have another diffi culty, either with the Indians or the General Government; hut as she can, as heretofore, take care of herself, I shall not new moot this point with the House hut go on to show that, under the fifth section, a common marshal, especially if he be opposed to his own State, a thing not very unlikely may involve this whole country in one universal blaze of civil war. The President is authorised to cal! out the military force when informed by a federal judge that “ any law or laws of the United States, or the execution thereof,” is ob structed by “any unlawful means, too great to be overcome by the powers vested in the marshal.” Now, who informs the federal judge of this fact? Does not every one see it must be the marshal? Who judges of the “unlawful means too great to be overcome V Is it not the marshal ? And must not the judge certify, upon his information ? Should he choose, in the plenitude of his great wisdom and caution, to consider an assemblage of the good people of Charleston, at the circus, convened to express resolutions on federal re lations, as “ unlawful means, too great to be overcome,” and should they not disperse, upon the coming of the Procla mation, what is to hinder the army and navy from doing their deeds of death upon this unoffending people 1 Sir, the power is too tremendous to be given to any one man that ever did or ever will live upon this earth, especially in limes like these, of personal passion, party prejudice, and power ful excitement. I would not grant it to the President, even if he could be personally present, with all his peculiar mod eration and love of peace, to judge of the “ unlawful means” himself, much less a partisan marshal, bent upon the tri umph ot his party, even at the expense of the lives of his adversaries, a passion which has not been without its mani fest exhibition, even within these walls. Have we not some experience how dangerous it is to con fer unusual power on those whose ardent temperament leads them to a loose construction of it. In ordinary cases and under ordinary powers, there is little or no danger from any public functionary; his own interests and public opinion will keep him straight; but on great occasions and tinafr un usual excitements, no man should be made absolute,and, least of all, General Jackson ; for we do know that, on seve ral occasions, he has known no law but his own will, *nd that if a law stands in his path, he gives it just such mean ing as furthers the strong purpose of his mind. As I feel *o inclination to make an assertion without the proof, I her leave to submit a case or two. It will be recollected that a certain meeting took place at Hartford, in Connecticut, by some of the first citizens of the northern States; it was a political meeting, and so far as I know, peaceable. Ido not mention it to reproach any one, tor on the present occasion ! do not intend to hurt the feelings of any ; my purpose lies in another way. In speaking ol this meeting many years af terwards, Gen. Jackson said in a letter, and of «ourse under due deliberation, that he would hang them under the second section of the rules and articles of war, if he had been in their neighborhood, as commanding general. Now what is this second section ? It will create amazement when it comes tube seen, to think that the lives of so many individuals might have been taken under such a construction. Well here is the far famed SECOND SECTION. “ Be il farther enacted, That j n time of war, all per sons, not citizens of or owing allegiance to the United States of America, who shall be found lurking, as spies in or about the fortifications or encampments ot the ar miesof the United States, or any of them, shall sufle! death according to the law and usage of nations, by sen tence of a general court martial.” I pass over the scenes at New Orleans and St. Marks, “ us laws are si lent amidst arms,” hut I must exhibit the case of the Spauish Governor of Florida, the celebrated Col. Calla- Vi, Ilia case is familiar to every one. Tiie manner of his being seized and imprisoned by Gen. Jackson be cause he would not give up certain papets wi ich he considered private, was made a subject of complaint by the Spanish Minister to our Government. with that *1 have nothing to do. It is with the construction of pow ers and the meaning of the language in which those powers are conferred, or the meaning of instruments to which they relate. I hold in my hand another proclam tion from the same author, to which I beg the serious attention of the House, if they regard it as a matter of any consequence to know whether great and extiaoidi nary powers have been used by their depository, about to receive similar powers, with proper and safe discre tion, The proclamation sets out with a long stringof titles, such as, “By Maj. Gtn. Andrew Jackson, Governor of the Provinces of the Florida-*, exercising the powers of the Captain General, and of the Intendantof the island of Cuba, and of the Governors of the said Provinces res respectively: whereas, by th>- seventh article of the treaty concluded between tho United States and Spam, it was stipulated, that the ‘officers and troops of his Ca tholic Majesty, in the territories hereby ceded to the I miied States, shall lie withdrawn, and possession of the places occupied by them shall be given within six months after the ratification of the treaty, or sooner if poaaible. And whereas, it has this day been made known to me that tho following officers of hisCatli ■ij..it, to wit, (eight in number,) arc (union*’ many things related Under a goodly number of whereas es the autkors of the follow,ng false, scandalous, an 1 mdecet" pul.l.catton: (Now listen to th,« scan aloue and indecent publrcation.) vi*. [ n spiking of Colonel Callav as appearance before General Jacks™ I 11. B. ought to have stafco that none of the inter™ '■ vies and highly of r were faithfully inter;»lCai]aVSJ was liMalV^Vili * 'a how innocent he was of said c liargiTw unqualified honor was endeavored to be stained s S in sum, are the observations wc had to make on statement of 11. B , and we bone that he and the Dull! will be convinced, that we acted from no prineinl 8 pusillanimity ; that if, on the one hand, we shutlde 8 at tiie violent proceedings exercised against our or, we knew, also, what was due to a Government wr"B is on the most friendly footing with our own. VV e "8 &c. [After stating how offensive this the proclamatson concludes.] This is, therefore 8 make known to the said officers to withdraw tbcmse’i 8 as they ought heretofore to have done, from theFlorJß agreeably to the said seventh article, on or before third day of October next; after which day, if t |, ev ■ any cf tiiem shall be found within the Florida* all cers, civil and military, are hereby required to -. 1 ,H and secure them, so that they may be brought to be dealt with according to law, for contempt and bedienceof tliismy proclamation.” That is, to be lia *8 ed, I suppose. ’ Against this proclamation of banishment under struction of the 7th article of a treaty, which only uieail a formal delivery of the lorts, and the withdrawal theil from of the troops, as a body of troops in six nio itll leaving every individual, as such, the privilege of J uiaining in this free and happy country, SpmJ minister bitterly complained. With regard to the r 1 lication. considered so scandalous and indecent 1 which furnish the pretext for banishing eight indindj als from a land of liberty, and where we boast the es ;B tence ol a free press, the minister makes the most J gerit complaint. After showing how ungenerous and ■ founded was the treatment of these me*i, he adds in order to make the irregularity of Gen. Jackson’s { J ceedings more evident, 1 will grant for a moment tS .hey are certain and proved ; l will admit that th!- 8 cers have been deserving of the chastisement anddiß nor which they have suffered ; hut yet no body wii|B ny tne, t hat, before it was inflicted upon them tkß ought to have been cited before the proper tribuß have heard the charges, and have had liberty and tiß for their defence. These are fundamental principlesß the laws of Spain and of the United States, and of ev 8 civilized country. Yet; wliat has haen the conduct 1 Gen. .hickson ? Without giving them the least J tion, he publishes in a language foreign to them a i,M clamation, expelling them from the province ’gh,B them scarcely tune to arrange their nffiiirs, and .iutlioj mg all officers, civil and military, to apprehend tleß and bring them before him!!” ■ Air. Speaker, wliat a reproach ! And this stand* ,8 on the r cords of your country, giving the perpetud 18 to the vaunted assertion of our Constitution, that o.rsß the land where the freedom of tiie press and trial hiifl ry remains inviolate. So much for broad construcii® ami such was the consequence of it, that it wrung U.M General Jackson himself the declaration of hia “ h-J that no living man should ever in future be clothed such extraordinary authority.” Lei us take him at 8 wor.l, ami remember wliat we arc about to do. it is tfl same person to whom unlimited power isaboutonce n8 to be given. Gen. Jackson is but a man, and uursistlß Government where we trust the lives of the people 8 the hands of no man. If the scenes I have just refl you, create a sense of mortification, what may not 8 the extent of that feeling at a future dav, gnmin-8 ol the present transactions. Fifty yeiirs hence'ifl this measure will be viewed with astonishment; we ourselves, after our bickerings and shall have ceased, may live to blush a-t our own ■ 1 have anothe case, Air. Speaker, to show the danJ of employing military force for civil purposes; thouJ 1 should remark, Gen. Jackson has no concern witbihfl I adduce it to prove the utter impropriety of placingtlß execution of tiie laws in the hands of soldiers v modes of thinking and action are all turned on war.B The ease comes within my own knowledge. In 8 siiinmi rof thirty, some fifteen or twenty of our 11098 ami respectable citizens of Georgia were seized, in « own State, because they happened In be within the <8 rokec nation, by a federal military force, and witiol suffering them to visit their homes*, or supplying th«H selves with a single coinfort or convenience for asgl den ami laborious march, but tying them together, til pinioning their a.'fns behind them, they were inarcll oil'from their families, destined for Savannah,a dislail of nearly three Iniridrei, 1 miles. These men, I hough il nest, were poor, and many of them had bravely foijiH by the side of Gen. Jackson himself, had rornmittß no crime, but were torn from their friends, and paradl through the country with a little lieutenant struttingH their front, and the bayonets of a brutal soldiery glistl uig at their backs, like so many galley slaves, a gazl stock tor men, women and children, as thev passed farms and villages of the country. And, Mr. Speilfl but for my interf* rence, and with pride 1 speak it,tlxH brave and respectable citizens would have been manfl ed oil to Savannah—and there, in a land of strangcil fur from home, without money and without friends, tlufl was a thousand chances to one, their fate would baß proved an eternal separation from their wives and chiH dren. As it was, they were driven fifty miles from hoifl by forced marches. Sir, it was fortunate for them military force, ay, Sir, the military force, such as yaH bill contemplates, chose to exhibit a military flouti^B through the populous village in which 1 reside avail themselves of a triumphal entry into that town. Bcingclothed with a little brief authority, I ed to issue that writ of writs, called the habeas corpi® and Sir, believe me when I tell you, ujioii an investiM tion of tlicircase, their only crime was a return to M Cherokee nation, for the purpose of reclaiming a B working toolswliich they had left at the gold pits a sfl time before, upon leaving the nation under the ordetsß the public authorities of Georgia. Tibs. Sir. using military force, instead of the civil authoiitv country, where the accused can ha\;c his friends him, can have a bearing, can have bis own and confront those of his accusers. And is this to become th ) mode of cx cuting laws! Are we drifting to the habits of European eminent*, whose arbiter is the muscle of the and 1 -r.aud whose executioner is t lie murderous edge ol * I was told, by a gentleman from Tennesei Isacks) that these tilings I knew of Gen. Jackson he was re elected, and yet I was in favor of him- ''H General Jackson within proper bounds, and he the American people no possible harm. Ours Government of laws, and, so long as they to the Constitution, no public functionary can mischief without doing himself n greater. was lor him as President, it does not folio# that invest him with royalty. A man, within P ro P fr trietions, may make an excellent President, « °> unlimited power, would make a desperate tyrant- lion is a noble and generous animal, and lighted to view him in his cage,but if hizker|# r * politely offer tn turn him out for our speem. * uient, I venture to say someone would km< ? him, and instantly remind him, that lie is i' l of doing mischief when unchained, and yet nc'c jH by think of offering disparagement to the ia Congress, who arc the keeper* of *.ll the pub confine them to thoir proper limits, um * lri Rl ( j a men, and nut ns gods, and then there ’j® This much 1 intended to have said, and askt'- Sf reply to Mr. Isacks, but waa denied *fd P rc ' B tin. cal! of the previous question- K