The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1810-11-13

daj-Ndt. Int. -s-
Frons,he Na'ehes Weety Chronicle.
Judge ToULNIN's address TO the GrsnG
Jury Of WaiAington County.
Reports haVing existea Of an in,ension on the part
ofceytain settlers in the eastern section of rhe
Mississieei territory, TO ,nale an .ssraei on the
to,rn Of Mobile; the fudge Of the disiyief Of
Wash,iston made the foifouainS observations on
rae sxolecf IN his address 10 fhe Grand Sury
az fhe commencement Of tie fate September
Term. :
There 10 one circumstances, gentlemen of the
brand Jury. to which deem it essential to call
your particular attention Public rumor has
declared, the remonstrsnces Of the governor of
an adjacent province have alleged, and the COM
Inunications of an active leading partzan, GLOW.
ing, as 1T should seem, with the confidence of
success. have admitted-that there exists among
Ms an association, for the purpose of making war
upon the doninions of the Ring ofSpain.
That we have suffered long-that we have
been upgenerously oppressed-that our industry
has been taxed and burthened for series Of
years, almost past endurance, by the power hol
ding the province of Florida, is what we all feel,
and what every man must acknowledge That
settlement ofpoor American cultvators ,amoun
ting in all perhaps, till of late, not to three thou
sand, should have p$d 10000 dollars a year in
tribute to a foreign power, merely for the sake
OF enjoying natural right, is fact which Dug ut
to excite Indignation from one end of the Amer
can continent to the other What would be said,
had an English III an of war forbidden any exit
out or. or entrance into the Delaware or the
Shesapeake, but on paying twelve per centum on
the cargo to his britannia Maiesty. The cry
ct war would have echoed from shore to shore
But there IS, 1t will be said, difference in the
cases The difference, however, lies not in the
principle, but in the operation In the one case
many are afiected in the other few only-
The matter of right is the same in both cases.
The right of people who reside at the mouth
OF river, to render river useless to those who
occupy simost the whole country on its banks
cannot, on principles of reason and nature and
national law, be any greater than that ola peoples
occupying an island in the ocean, to render the
nations which use the ocean tributary to them
Power, mere brutal power, ungraced by Justice,
~ ali mat can be alleged on either side and
power can as righuully block up the bay of Ches
peration---or whether they act by land or water.
can make no possible difference in the real merits
ofthe case, -
But what then ?--Does the oppression Of the
Spanish government give any right to us, a mere
handful OF the American people, scarcely known
ss part OF the nation, the right Of making war
upon the king of Spain? Suppose that the
British biockaded the Delaware l-Would this
S,veto the people Of market street. in Phi,adel
Pima, who are probably more numerous than we
or would 1t even give to the whole population
OF that great city, Alright, without The concur
renee consent or knowledge of the American
nation, to fit out fleet, and make a hostile inya.
sion ofthe British Isles.
t would be too dangerous (says a great wri.
Ter on national law to give every citizen the
liberty OF doing himself justice against foreign
ers, as every individual OF nation might involve
!. IN war. right OF so great moment--the
right OF Judging whether nation hath real
cause OF complaint--whether It's case allows of
using force and having recourse to arms-whe-
tner prudence admits, and whether the welfare
OF the state demands it, this right saw can only
belong to the body of the nation, or to the sove.
IS, i's representative, Thus the sovereign
a7o. y 'AAe war - = a'fe'
Nothing m fact can be more absurd, or more
repuynant to the fundamental principles of civil
society, than this assumption of power on the
part Ola section of the nation, 60 invade foreign
territory. The prerpgatiyes of body polite
must be vested and consolidated in some known
and acknowledged body of magistracy. When
SO vested, and when exercised by the proper or.
gans, whatever is done is recognized, even <by
hostile powers, as national act, and their con-
quot with relation to it is regulated accordingly
Ihus prisoners, taken in an attack upon a To-
reign country, made by an army acting under
the authority OF their own sovereign, are trea-
ted as prisoners ofwarbut prisoners taken in such
an attack made by body unknown to the consti-
tuition and. laws Of their country, would be exc
cuted as prisoners ofjustice.
Were this power Of engaging in military ex-
spedltions divided and distributed about among
All the members OF society, to be exercised by
them, or any number ofthem, at their pleasure
tiiere could be no good reason why the Iegisla-
tive, executive and judiciary powers should not
be divided and distributed in the same manner
and thus every vestige ofciyiI government would
disappear. Indeed no nation, which suffered
voluntary associations to be formed among its
citizens, for Che purpose of invading at pleasure
the property OF other nations, would be
suffered to exist----It would be regarded
merely as den of pirates and robbers, and il
would be as much for The interests of ether ma
lions to combine for IFS destruction as il il the
interest OF honest men to associate together IN,
civil society, for the preservation of their lives
ana property against individual aggressors Nor
can oy any means see how any public officer
Gan reconcile his engaging in voluntary military
expeditions, with his soemnly +" swearing that
ne VIII support the constitution of the United
Stateso =
mat constitution vests exclusively with the
Congress of the u. States, the power to de
clare war, to grant letters Of fnarque and repri.
SAL and to make rules concerning captures on
land and water" BY what other name than de.
claring and making war this invading of a TO-
reign province--tbIs carrying Of fire and sword
against its inhsbtants--this plunderjny of their
houses and attacking their forts, can be called.
Know not and j, is impossible that auy public
officer can reconcile il with the oath which he
has taken to support a constitution that vests
TINS power only IN the great council of the
nafinn "