The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1808-02-02

*. believed ii was for this reason that no
man had ever heard, at least he had not, Of
"a court martial upon a commander in chief
Now, when he had the honor of laying before
the House the resolution which brought for
ward this discussion, his object had not ex-
tended to military enquiry-he had not
contemplated such a thing as a military en-
curry neither would a military enquiry at
tam his object, which was, that the, Presi-
dent of the u. s. to whom the commander
IN ohiet was responsible, should institute an
enquiry into the conduct Of that officer, & that
he should, after having obtained all the evil
dence (and he might say, all the information)
which was attanable, act as Justice to the
Individual and to the country, but more es-
pecially as regard to the public safety,
might require---and Mr.. r. would go further
and say as regard topnblic opinion might
require. His excellent friend from N. Ca
rolina (Mr. Macon) had few DAYS ago told
them that 1t was impossible that the people
OF the u. 3 could repose confidence IN the
commander in chief under present circum-
stances; the consequence would be that the
militia might not turn cut under such a COM
monder.
In the irregular manner in which he was
sensible he was addressing the House, tho't
IT was certainly not his purpose to say any
! thing. which had not a direct bearing On the
question Mr.. r. SAID he would make few
more observations.
They were asked for authority on which
to adopt the proposed measure Was it fair
(aithough in his opinion the case Of St Clair
was case in point in government like
ours, scarcely twenty wears Of aye, yet in It's
infancy, to ask for precedcnts in every case !?
must there not occur almost daily cases no
vel in their nature, cases unforeseen and un-
precedenteds A. curators of the ccnstitu-
| ton, as persons vested with the trust of see
| ing the constitution faithfully executed, they
mad right to act in this and everv other
matter I'm such manner IS would in Their
Judgment promote the public safety and the.
public good, so that they did not trench on
the exclusive provinces of other departments
OF the government, or on the authority OF the
states, or transgreSs the restrictions imposed
upon them by the constitution The Gentle.
man from PENNSYLVANIA had Quoted the cen
stltuuonal provisions touching the lie and
liberty OF the citizen in common criminal ca
ses. Let the gentleman, said MIR. r. take
the constitution in one hand and the rule
! and articles OF war; the ether, and see how
they would agree in this sense, Put did not
the gentleman himself in quoting the con
sutution, read an exception of all cases ari-
! sing In the land andnaval service: and there
fore to talk of an invasion of the rights Of the
citizen, while the House was taking measures
for the detection and exposure, aud removal
from Office, Off guilty. Of a dangerous militia
nv Character was entirely idle. There was
one motive that might be assigned for max
ing this enquiry, which Mr. r. considered
SQUAD; which was, that, after this House
should have taken such measures as they
deemed the public good to require, if those.
departments of the governments whose busy
ness 1t was also to Supervise the public con-
IL 7
duct would be one of the strongest reasons
for the proper punishment of such depart
ments /; and the power to apply this punish
hent rested at least in part with this House.
Mr.. X. would suppose that the House were
In possession Of information, instead CT IA
ron Burr, the late Vice-President Of tire u.
States having cpnspired against our nation
al existence, that the commander in chief
was that conspirator. Suppose this case,
(said Mr. X. and that we were tohave been
put out OF this house, not by Aaron Burr
but bv James Wilkinson. SuppoGe such in
formation were in possession Of the Housed;
should we do our duty, if, insscad of wasting
our time in idle debate, we did not request
the President instantly to cause an enquiry |?
But 1t seemed that the party liz question
had enjoyed the confidence of a, long line Of
Presidents, and that this was one reason for
supposing him innocent. Suppose him inno-
cent, said MIR r. that is one of the be st rea-
sons Tor asserting to an enquiry which is to
establish that innocence. Fut h',W hong had
lthecomc principle in our government that
confidence, not only in Presidents, but in any
in whom they might have confidsd at any
time, was to become the sole TIL of action
tothc Legislature the country /! If they had
acted on the principle of confidence, they
would have SAID that it was equally impos-
sible that Aaron Burr, man who had been
Senator Of the u. States from the great and
respectable state of N York, and who had
enjoyed the important Office of Vice resi-
dent OF the U. >. by an equal vote with the
present President-shouid be guilty of the
crimes laid to his charge But this sort of
reasoning did not accord with fact Oars is
not government of confidence, said Mr.
X. 1t IS government Of difiidence and sus-
picion, and 1t is OILY by being suspicious that
IT can remain a free government.
lie observed that it was wonderful rcvo-
luton in human affairs that could give sane
tIty TO and bleach inCo unsullied whiteness
characters that had remained under suspi-
clon, and strong suspicion too, for years.
When the present President of the u. States
first came into power, it was question with
the Leading and he might say ruling parry,
whether the army of the u S. could not be
reduced SO that the highest commander
should be excluded. There was a most de-
cided majority (aS the gentlemen then in
Congress knew in favor Of that reduction
but by hnesse unparalleled perhaps in e-
PiSlatiye history the diepCsitiou If Al, az rna