Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1812-08-17
MOB LAW
Deliberately sanctioned by a federal meeting
ia thn Dint-;ct .f C,oL.....L L.:

Deliberately sanctioned by a federaE meeting
in the District Of Columbia.
Mobs, in general, have been heretofore
considered as riotous assemb ages, acting in
the heat t passion, without the authority of
the constituted civil authority. For the first
time, we are now to learn, that mobbish acts
L. acts by individuals, who take upon them
selves to Judge of Jaw and to enforce what
they may be pleased to term law, without
any decree of a regularly constituted tribu-
nal, may be, with impunity, committed on
mature dclberation: Witness the following
resolutions adopted in federal meeting at
Georgetown, in the district of Columbia on
the 9Th instant:
ReSoLUed, That when the civil power,
| formed for the protection of social rights.
either through iuke7varn1nesS or timioiity, suf-
fers those rights to be invaded or DESTROYED,
| their protection deVorVeS on the piytuouS and
brave Of socie:y, zYhoSe duty il is 10 rallu
| round me hz7v and euforce lis erecution' -
Which is saying, if the civil magistracy will
| not peremptoriIy grant and enforce whatso-
ever the passions of men demand, those men
ought to rise in arms, and fight their way
to their object Again:
" ResoiUtd, &c. That we will cheerfully
and Immediately obey the call of the civil
| power; 61.t should that be TOO SLOW 10 re-
dress The zvrong, we faithfully pledge our
| selves to rally round the laws" &c.
Now, we ask every rational federalist,
whether this last resolution, if not the first,
| is not the very essence of Dlo6OcYucu? Let
us put a case. A man commits murder:
| He is, by law, liable to be hung for it: But
the " civil power" is 800 Sk07V'' for the ven.
geance of those who feel for the party killed !:
In this case, according TO the doctrine of this
| federal meeting, the virtuous and brave Of
society,"" may, forthwith, hang the offender
up Is this MOI ia7v, or is it not
Your violent men invariably run into alb
surdity. The Baltimore mob mot Hanson's
mob) which Wagner condemns, may, under
the federal Georgetown resolutions, bg com
| pletely justified: for example /; the Federal
Republican slandered the populace: the law
affords remedy for Islander but the - ciuiL
Eo7ye1" is "ko0 Skozc" for the feelings of the
people therefore, the "vrtuous and brave
of society"-Qhat is, Uirtuous and 6raue''
like William Marbury) may redress the
wrong by taking up arms and killing Wag-
| ner aud Hanson Gud be praised, no repub
| lcans advocate such hurrid IDEAS and we
hope never viii.
VIM. G. G. CLAIBORNE, esq. is chosen
Governor of The new state Of Orleans by a
large majority.
Brig Gen. W1LRGN SON arrived at New
Orleans about the 10th ult. to resume the
command on that station.
Doctors Pendergrast and Ross of the u.
>. army in conjunction with DR.. ). l.. Mitch
| i'll, have discovered flint stones on the banks
of the Musconekunk river in Eew-Jersey,
adequate to the uses Of war.
| ~ We rccommence in this DAYS paper,
with great pleasure, the publication of the
" HISTORICAL LETTERS" so long in
terrupled by the pressure of other matter
during the sitting Of Congress and for some
weeks since the adjournment. The XXIIc
No viii be found in our first page The pub.
! lication of these neat and valuable compo-
sitions, heretofore so much admired by the
/ first literary characters Of our country, shall
be closed in the newspaper in the Course Of
a few weeks. About the 1st of October. the
editor eXrectsto publish them in q neat peck
ct volume.