The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-01 00:00:00

in any one—that by the law of nations the exertion
of the public force of a country—those acting
in obedience to the command of a superior in
the discharge of a duty which the circumstances
of the case seem to devolve upon them—were not sub•
ject to arraignment and trial for murder, though it was
hostile in its nature and calculated to destroy the lire of
a fellow-being. That defence, Gentlemen of the Jury,
has, by the direction of the Learned Judge who presides
over our deliberations, been excluded from our view.
Of that judgment it becomes not me to complain ; I
feel no desire to complain in the progress of this trial.
What, then, Gentlemen of the Jury, remaias? Are we
without defence? As far as our Supreme Court has
decided, though the Canadian territory had been in-
vaded by an hostile army which had established a
Provisional Government, and issued a proclamation in-
vitiog our subjects and citizens to come to their stan-
dard, and (though they were bound as American citi-
zens by their obligations to the law of that country and
of our own, to respect the peace of a neutral nation) to
rally and come to their aid and comfort—though our
arsenals were rifled, and armies were collected, arid bat-
teries were established, and cannonading had cern-
unlaced on the Canada main land, yet it the subjects
of Canada thought fit to exert their power to over-
throw this enemy, and should in the ex•2lcise of that
power put their feet on American sod, they were tres-
passing, and if they dared to take the of an Ame-
rican citizen, they were murderers. Although, I
say, the Suprema Court of the Stete of New York
have thus decided, have they swept from our posses-
sion every defence which can be relied upon for the safe
deliverance of M' Leod from the bonds which he now
endures ? No, Gentlemen, there is yet another remain-
ing. I have no belief—l have no coafidenee in the
doctrine which the Supreme Court has promulgated
in thie case. I shall repeat it—l shall abide by it—
and- I shad abide by the decision of his Honour here ;
but, if needs be, I' have taken the precaution to pro-
vide, to review the decision of his Honour here, and to
secure the right which will enable me to review the de-
cision of the Supreme Court elsewhere, so that in the
event of M'Leod's conviction, if that decision should
not be in accordance with the law of the land, it may
be reversed, and that established which I believe to be
the law of the land—namely, that where there was such
a war carrying on, the British Government might
properly exett its power to put down that war, and
that those who acted in obedience to that Government,
in the discharge of their duty as faithful subjects and
citizens, are not murderers.. I desire it to he under-
stood here, in this Court-house, and before this au-
dience, as well as to this nation, that I protest against
that doctrine being promulgated as the law of the land.
It is not the doctrine of the law of nations, and I, for

one, will never submit to it as long es it is necessary
to contend against it, for the safety of M•Lc.,nd. Oa
this trial I submit it—l wilt abide by it—l will submit,
so far as this trial is concerned, eithout murmuring,
and I only now refer to that doctrine of the Supreme
Court of the State, to express my regret that that
doctrine should he sent forth as the doctrine of the law
of nations, in their movements as belligerents in affairs
of war. The remaining ground of defence is that to
which I secondly allued on opening our defence to
you. It is one of common occurrence, and may
as well arise in a case of murder as in any other.
The true question for your determination is, where
was the prisoner at fee bar on the night of the 29th
cf December, 1837. If, as it has been proved on the
part of the prosecution, he was at Chippewa, it
does not follow from there that he went on board
the boats—that he was one of those who, at dead
hour of midnight, set fire is the steam-beat Caro-
line—that it was his hand which dealt the deadly
blow which deprived Durkee of !ifs. You are to
inquire when, in reality, was M'Leod at that
time ? Had he the honour or the disgrace to be en-
gaged in that expedition ? It he had, then, under
the law, as applied to this case, I confess it will be your
duty to find a verdict of guilty. When I make this
conles.ion, I must be understood as ref: rring, to the law
as it. has been lard down and established by one of the
higher tribunals of this State with reference to this case,
but not as I believe it, the firm and unshaken prineiples
of the law of nations. This case, gentlemen, presented
some features of great peculiarity, to which allusion
slaocld be made, and which you should fully understand
and properly appreciate. It is that from the beginning,
as I have before had occasion to mention, long before
the trial commenced, nay, nearly a year ego, the main
features of cur defence, with nearly every attending cir-
cumstance, were fully and perfectly known to the counsel
for the prosecution ; not indeed to the Learned Gentle-
man who now has it in charge, but to the Counsel for
the people. And further, gentlemen, long since—a
month ago, or nearly a month ago, our defence as
far as respects the evidence which we have produced
frem witnesses in Canada—so far as respects our evi-
eene.) taken by commission, was fully and perfecly
known. Although generally speaking such evidence
should be known to ourselves only, in cases of a high
criminal nature especially, yet have we been driven to
exhibit to the world as well as to the Counsel far tl:e
prosecution, long ago, almost every word of that evi-
dence, covering:every minute lneament of our defence
as it has bean spread out before you. The deposi-
tions were in the bands of our learned adversaries
days and days before their witnesses were pro-
duced upon the stand here to be sworn ; and
every word of those depositions bad been read
by their counsel. lam well convinced of this fact.
This trial has not gone forward without having ears
listening ; and I have reason to believe that there have
been what may be called committee rooms, where those
witnesses have had read to them from time to time the
evidence which had been given in the case, and where
they have had their minds prepared for the part which
they themselves were about to take in the case. And
you may be assured there was not one of those witnesses
who had not a full knowledge of the depositions. Ido
not say, that the counsel for the prosecution have
instructed the witnesses in this way, but do you
suppose that the Learned Attorney-General for the
State of New York, that the District Attorney for the
County of Niagara, that the District Attorney for the
County of Oneida, and the Learned Counsel from
Buffalo, who was himself one of the committee of vigi-
lance ; do you suppose that these arc the only persons
engaged in upholding this prosecution? I desire that
such a misconception should bo removed from your
minds. These four gentlemen ate but the corporal's
guard of the army which spreads itself from one end of
the State to the other. There are generals, colo-
nels, subalterns, and privates, employed in this cru-
sade. The post-office department has been made
subservient to their purposes ; secret communi-
cations hays been successfully kept up, and no
effort has been left unexerted which was calculated
to secure the conviction of M'Lead—and for what ?
Net, certainly, that they desire the blood of an in-
nocent man should be shed on the scaffold, but that
the two countries should be involved in war, and
that these persons may, by that means, be enabled
again to enter Canada, though not as the vanguard,
yet as the rear-guard of an American army, for
the purpose of wresting it from British dominion.
So strong was the evidence before Judge Ballwin,
showing that M'Leod had no participation in the affair,
that he determined to release him on his recognizance
for his appearance. Bat as it happens in that dis-
trict of the country, an appeal lies from a judicial
officer to a popular assembly. But 1 thank God
that here no midnight mob, assembled to the noise
of martial music, has the power to exert an influ-
ence over our deliberations. You will have it in
your power to open the prison doors, and set your cap-
tive free ; if in your deliberate judgments you deter-
mine that justice requires that you should do so, with-
out fear of popular tumult. 'When you have given
your verdict, after due deliberation, you will not find it
necessary to apologise for the judgment which you
hare formed. No, gentlemen, Utica. Oneida, America
itself, I hope, will be spared another exhibition so dis-
graceful to our law—so subversive of our liberties.
I shall have occasion yet to show up the blackest per-
jury that was every brought to bear upon a trial. In-
dulge me, Gentlemen, is another remark, before I enter
upon the tedious and thankless duty of examining the
testimony of the witnesses one by one. It is, Gentle-
men, and it is not the first time that the thought has
been suggested to you—it is that either one side or the
other must be destitute of truth. That it is impossible
for human ingenuity to reconcile the two sides of this
case so as to furnish an apology for the witnesses on
both sides. To that Being alone who gave us existence
is attributable the power of Übiquity. It is impossible
for a human being, tabernacled in clay, to be in two
pieces at once and the sense instant of time. Alexander
M'Leod was not in Stamford at all as it has been
proved he was, if be had the slightest participa-
in the attack upon the Caroline and the murder
of Durfee.
e
lilsLeod was not at Schlosser if
helt wfoalslowast, Stamford,t hfore a
Gentlemens w
e e
e
maintain
f thehe Jury,
that painful as (must be the duty, you cannot
escape its discharge ; you must find that either the
I one side or the other of the evidence which has been
adduced before you is utterly false—a sheer fabrication,
got up to answer the purposes of the present trial. Now,
gentlemen, allow me to as what motive could there be
for the witnesses on the part of the defence to come
forward and fabricate falsehoods, while on the other
hand you have seen motives strong as death, viz. their
darling object to involve this country in a war with
Great Britain. I charge it upon them unhesitatingly.
All their witnesses are of this character and descrip-
tion—if there are any exceptions they do not occur to
me at this moment. Members of those secret
lodges, bound by frightful oath to act in concert for
the accomplishment of that which they dare not disclose
for fear of being subjected to pui3hment by the laws.
They certainly cannot complain of us if we
judge of them
by their fruits ; and what are those fruits? In the first
place, the contribution of money, which is the sinew of
war, to carry on their unholy purposes ; next, the con-
tribution of personal services, encountering danger and
cold and hunger ; also, the contribution of food and
raiment, munitions of War ; every species of material
necessary to carry on war against our neighbours. All
this has been done by those mere who compose