Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1819-02-04

To have been also restored but say this viii,
uenbt and difhdence.. That the President
thought the seizure of the Spanish posts was
an act or war, is manifest from his opeuin.
message, in which he saws that to have rel aimed
Them, would have changed our relations with
Spain, 10 do which the power of the Executive
was incompetent. Congress alone possessing II. :
The President has, in this instance deserved
well OF his country. He has taken the onIy
course which lie couid have pursued sousjstent
with the constitution OF the land And he deFed
Tue gentleman TO make good both his positions.
wa, wa ,he General was right in taking, and the
President right in giving up the posts. mir.
Hoints explained. We took these posts. he
sand, TO keep them from the hands of the enc
wand, IN restoring them, made il a condition
tmat Sla,n should not let oar enemy have them
we saitto her, here is your dagger we tound
II IN tue hands OF our enemy and sbavi,,,
wrested Il from him. we restore il TO Won In ii,e
hope that YOU will take bs tier care of i, tor The
in'nre.j MIR. Z proceeded. The gentleman
iact or principle was ALWAYS az ainst him Tho
spanish posts were not in the possession of tile
enemy. One old Indian only was found i'm The
rtncas. nonein Pensacola, none in st. Marks.
mere was moi even the color OF a threat of
Indian occupation as it regards Pensacola and
the BaIancas. Pensacola was TO he restored
Internationally and might therefore. immedi-
a'eiy nave come into the possession Of the InJi-
ans u 'hey mad the power and the will Ia take
me gentleman was in a dilemma from
~hrh mere was no escape. He gave up Gen
jackson when he supported the President
ana he gave npthe President who IA n q s,tspprt
Gu uen. Jackson. N.Y. G.. said he rejoiced TO
nave seen the President manifesiiug by The
restoration of Pensacola his dev otetInes. IN The
constitution. When the whole country was
ringing with plaudits tor lis capture. he said
ano ne SAID alone, IN the limited circle in which
ne moved, that the President must surren,ler
IL That he could not hold it, Ii was not His
Intention, he said, to enquire whe tler the army
Was o, was not constifutonally marched into
rior,oa LII WAS not clear question. and he
was inclined 10 think that the tsxnressartI,or;,y
OF Congress Ought to have been asked. The
gentleman from Massachusetts would allow
MIN 10 refer 10 part OF the correspon,lence
al Ghent ~iHerent from that which lie had
quoted. He would find the ceudition nj Tho
indians there accurately defined. And II was
widely variant from the gentleman's ideas o.,
inns subject. The Indians, according to the
statement of the American commissioners AT
Gbenl, inbabiting the United States, have a
qualified sovereignty only, the supreme sove
reignty residing in the government of the U. s.
They live under their own laws and customs !
may inhabit and hunt their lands; bur ackuow
ledge the protection of the United States, and
have so right 10 sell their lands but TO the
government of the United States. Foreign
powers or foreign subjects have no right 10
MAINTAIN any intercourse with them. without
our PERMISSION. 1hey arc not, therefore, indie.
pendent nations, as the gentleman supposed.
Maintaining the relation described with then,
we musia allow similar re lati0n to exist between
Spain aud the Indians residing within her
"om,nlons. She mus, he, therefore, regarded
AS The sovereign of Florida, and we are
accordingly {, eating with her for the purchase
OF 1t In strictness then we ought First In
have demanded OF her to restrain tic Indians
ana, That falling, we should have demanded a
, ,,sn! OF passage ior our army. But, ii tue
President had the power to march am army
INTO Florida without consulting Spain and
without the authority of Congress he had mo
power TO anfhorise any act of hostility against
ner. IL tue gentleman had even succeeded in
shewing that an authority was convened by the
Executive to Gen. Jackson To take The Sna
nish posts, he would Ouly have established thai
unconstitutional orders had heen given End
tnere0y transferred the disapprobation from
the military officer to the Executive Rut no
snch orders were, in truth, given The Pre-
silent had acted in conformity to the constitu
ton. when he forbade the attack of a Spanis,,
Io't a"u when,in tiir same spirit, he surrender
cd HE posts themselves.
tie would not trespass mneh Ionper unop
the Time OF the committee bnt he trusted he
should be INDUCED with some few refiections
upon the danger of permitting the conduct.
on which IL had been his painful duty IN
animadvert, 10 pass, without a solemn exnres.
sion OF the disarprobation Of this Honse.
Recall 10 yonr recollection. said he the free
nations which have gone before us. Where
are they now, and how have they lost their
libertlesl II we could transport ourselves
BACK TO the ages when Greece aud Rome
honrished in their greatest prosperity and
mlngl'ng in the ,hrong, ask Grecian il he did
n9i rear some daring military chiettain, cover
ed WIN glory, some Philip or Alexander, would
one day overthrow his liberties No! No
the confident and Indignant Grecian would
exciaim. we have nothing to fear from onr
heroes; our liberties will be eternal If |
roman citizen had been asked if he did nor |
tear the conquerOr OF Gaul might establish a |
throne upon the ruins of the public liberty. |
he wond have instantly repele9 the unjust |
ihs,nuation. Yet Greece bad fallen Caesar |
hau pasSeu me Rubicon, and the patriotic arm |
even OF Bruius could not preserve the Iiber-
ties OF his country, The celebrated Madame |
de Stael, IN her last and perhaps best work |
has said, that in the very year, almost the very
month, when the President of the Directory
declared that monarchy would never more |
show it's frightful head in France, Bonanarte
with his grenadiers, entered the palace of 81
CIond, and. dispensing with the bayonet, the |
uspplles OF the people, deiiberating oil the |
that vast fabric of despotism which, oyerska
lowed all Europe. He hoped not 10 be misun- |
derstood; he was far from intimatinr that !
Gen. jackson cherished any designs nimicai |
TO the liberties of the country. He believed |
bis intentions pure and patriotic. He thanked |
God that lie would not. but he thanked him |
still more that lie could rot If he wouId !
overturn the liberties of the Republic. But |
presidents, if bad, were fraught with the |
most dangerous consequences. Man has been |
described, by some OF those who have treated |
of his nature, as a bundle of habits Tie |
definition was much truer when applied to |
governments. preceseDts were their habits. |
There was one important difference between |
the fofmstion ct habits by an individual ard |
by governments. He contracts il only after |
frequent repetition. "A single instance fixes |
the habit and determines the direction of |
governments. Against the alarming doctrine |
of unlimited discretion in our military com
manders, when applied even to prisoners of |
war, he must enter his protest. II began upon |
them II would end on us. lie hoped that !
our happy form of government was destined /
60 he perpetual But ii il were TO be presery. |
ed it must be Ivy the practice OF virtue. by |
justice, by moderation. by magnauimity. by |
steady eye or tie Executive and, above all, |