The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1808-10-14

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strI fgti,--in victory, a crown OF g!ery ~ h:s
Ico,unry. Whose triumphs were the triamDi,s
OF The nation; IN which every honest heart could
participate But what could lave been the con.
dition OF this union then what would il be now.
with war upon your hands, If a.despera,e-an
! unprncipled--a proiiigate military adventurer,
/ by levying bands of armed nea without any au
thority, could in;rude, could force himselfupon
this people as the leader of their armies There
Us no danger that can beial us, from which cur
ruin would so inevitably follow. Under such a
general, defeat would be the sn:ldcst form that
misfortune could assume. Ever victory he
should obtain, would be bat step to his own af-
gra',iiSeiuent ut the eApencc OF our freedom,
and the more brilliant h.s success Night be- the
| more Formidable would DC his means for rivctiny
CHAINS upon this country Sir, design Ike this,
ought to have met from Senator OF tho Union,
from one OF the guardians of the peoples rights,
iistead of encoarsSeme nts, the most determined
| opposition. And from this Senate j. ought as
conceive, to meet the most pointed reprobatiou.
Ii is my deep convection Of tis, aRt. certainly
I personal luminosity to Mr. Smith, which has oc-
casoiicd the zeal in the course of this proceed
| ing, which has been made the occasion of re-
preach against ne. The gentleman from Vi.;c-'
( MA, with all the Powers of his eloquence, has
| this day appealed to the sympathetic feelings OF
| the Senate and reused every sentiment of com
| passion, which good men always delight to in
dulge, in behalf of MIR Smith He was painted
in colors glowing with ardent bencyolencc, the
isu!'ermgs which must ensue 10 Mr. Smith, and
| the distress OF An amiablc family, which dcci-
| sion unfavorable to him would occasion. SIR
ihonor the source from which such observations
4 proceeded; to the sentiments which dictated
them, trust, our hearts all instinctively respond
Bst permit me TO say, they are not ths sentiments
| upon which the merits of this question can be
property decided. In the feelings of the man,
we are not to forget the duties of the citizen
and OF the lerisl.,fnr. We have the hill.
Iact L., L al.
execute justice upon crime of the most heinous
| and aggravated character. We are now to de-
termine, whether another of those great political
institutions, on which the liberties of the nation
are founded, shall be laid PROSTATE before Che ar
tsices OF conspiracy and treason. The resort to
the tenderness of,our nature, and to the afflict-
i ons OF an innocent family, augurs indeed not We.
ry auspiciousiy to the Innocence upon which we
are called to pronounce. Ills an act of duty, and
not OF inclination which feel myself bound to
discharge, and that duty will still compel me to
vote for the adoption fthe resolution.
4 Mr.. G1LEs-Mr. President, must acknow-
ledge my obligations to the gentleman from Mas
sachusetts Mr. Adams) for the display OF can
dor he has just given to the Senate. Tie gentle
man from Georgia { Mr.. Crawford) misconceived
the object OF my call upon the favorers of this re-
solution. did not call upon them to put thei
fingers upon any particular paper or document,
winch proved any particular criminal act but |
@aisu upon ueHi 10 put their ringers upon any
criminal act, which they conceived to be proved
by the whole or any part of the evidence by one
link or any number OF links, or the whole chain
taken together The gentleman from Massachu-
sets has SO understood me and has undertaken
TO comply with the call. have so much conf
dence IN the candor and Judgment of the gentle
mar, that always deem it a misfortune TO differ
with him in opinions but cannot help observing
that ON the present OCCASION, his observations
have added greatly to my confidence in the opi-
mons before expressed. ! conceive the subject
now before us to be stript of most of its o tIicu-
tues ut 1s now reduced within very narrow limits
Inc gentleman has put ms finger upon only two
acts of crimInality against Mr.. Smith. II is
therefore falriy to be presumed, that in his iudr-
ment, there cannot be any others imputed to him
These two acts consist in Mr.. Smith riyinar his
two sons permission to accompany SURF i'll the
settlement OF his Washita lands /; and in his con-
versauon with Col. Taylor respecting the sepa-
ration OF the Union. Let these two acts of i'm
puted 'crlmnality be examined. With respect to
MI smith giving permission to his sons to &C
company Burr in. the settlement of his Wasbita
lands, 1t should be remarked that all The informn
ton we Lave upon this subject, comes from Mr.
Smith himself, that 1t was communicated tn the
Secretary at War, Immediately after the recent
OF the President proclamation, and long before
Mr.. Smith had been accused or suspected: and
when he could not possibly have Anticipated Ell
ther suspicion or accusation If MI Smith
thSlctVEc concerned tIS TO be a. CRIMINAL ii
possible to conceive that ke would have con,mu
mcated 1t TO the Secretary at War Would not
conscious guilt have induced INN to conceal the
circumstance Mr.. Smith communicates fhe
tact and the object; IN neither OF which can |
see the smallest semblance ofcriminalitv There
can b. nothing Criminal in permitting his sons to
Partake OF MIR. Burr's promised bounty in the
distribution OF his Was!iita lands as little cri
mlnality do see In his permission to his sons 70
accompany Burr in an expedition against Mexico.
in the eUent u war NTH Sbaia-4the condition A.
lone, upon which the enterprise was to be under
taken nor was this declaration of Burr's NJ all
calculated to alarm Mr.. Smiths suspicious or to
| lessen his misplaced confidence III Burr Sun
pose any gentleman i'll this Senate, residing in our
| northeastern frontiers, were to say in debate
that IN the event of with Great Britain. he
would head company of volunteers and be the
first to march into Canada would it alarm orr
suspicious Would it lessen our confidence in
his integrity or patriotism Certainly not
| Why then should Mr.. Smith be condemned
when under precisely similar circumstances. tht.
same expression did not alarm his suspicious. r.
enable him to penetrate into Burr's trcasonabie
designs 1t should be recollected that Mr.. SIS
confidence in Burr continued until the arrival of
the Presidents proclamation before that was
| known, he believed Burr's views to be honorable
but as soon as Burr was denounced by the pre-
sident, Mr.. Smith with laudable confidence in
the proceedings OF government, surrendered his
IN tf1ts.fN nj Lee