Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1819-02-23

S''F3TAVi VIZ TIE war III tistf man ,sp ltl-
Die to the punishment OF death, WHO lenGs
10 iae enemy only ,hr anti OF his Individual
phgsscat force, hnw. much More does he
deserve n, WHO, rs the moral force of his
delnSNe .'.omises aud rersmasions. puts
INTO action against us The plij sical force
III Whole tribe o. Indians Would noj
ca:iirary doctrine, IN effect, a,naun, to
Ibis, HAT whilst you may pun,sh the arm,
you Gusi'suaer the head 10 escape With
impruity.
SIR, Il MAS Arbut. not u Tho poured the
secret poison ui discomfort imio HE minds
O! TIE Indians twas lie Who awakened
HE sleeping tiger aud lei him loose "a
sainst us, wnh all his naive :erociiv
whell,d by cHaspeiaiiou il Mas he Who
slIorpencd vita new keenness the edge
ot The iomabawk II WAS lie iiu uscd lie
drhded savagts as the instrument OF his
| wicked purpose. AZ the man Who stabs
YOU 10 tlie heart makes use Of III. poinayd.
bai, said tile speaker, We have never. in
q Tony series ot wars,praciisr,l retaliation
ior Indian bai barilS. Sir, this is not re-
iaiiaiion. That consists IN a literal exc
cui,un OF HE great precepi of " an eye
ior aH eye, ana juOih tor Il ioo,h"-iha;
measures blood by drops, and bales MOI
one III The repay. Ii Is never appeased
until II sacrifice just as many ,icnms ass
The enemy ias, and those, too. of ih.. SAM.
grade, If wii!nE lis reach. Thus, if The
ln,iianS had Killed three hundred of our
men, women, au,i children, we should.
upon tins principle, put 10 death AN equal
ndmber of theirs. Retaliation then no,
only may, but frequently does, fall upon
tile innocent. The execution of these
tno men Is, III the most prominent points
OF view, the reverse of this. Instead of
the innocent, we have punished The guiHy:
instead OF counting The victims, and SD
critcing an equal number, though we
have lost hnd,cas, we have only execu-
ted uhaS. II Is said, however, that we
have never departed from the rules of
modern war, hut III burning their habila
lions and destroying their food. Is this
departure, indeed, allowable, and will
gentlemen yet say, that II is not mea-
snre OF more rigorous severity titan lie
deall OF the two rsen, W no are the sub
jcci ut this discussion
When we destroy their habitat ions we
turn out, not only their warriors, bui The
old and HE young, without respect 10
age or sex, wlillouia roof 10 shelter them
from The PeiIng OF the pitiless storm,
he miserable piiiance ofprOperiy which
HEY own, is all consumed by The same
devouring fame which DESTROYS their
dwellings and makes them house,ess
wanderers. When We DESTROY tbeirfood
we expose them 10 the danger OF all the
horrors Of famine, which NAV involve i'm
Understandable death the guilty and the
innocent whilst, in The execution of
these men, the guilty only have suffered.
Gentlemen have, indeed, in the nos,
glowing colors of pathetic eioquencp.
portrayed 10 us The sutferings of Ar
bnihnot and Ambris,er. II could din |
my pencil IN as vivid coiOrs as they have |
used, and IT had occasion 10 use them. |
l could present picture which, ! am |
persuaded, would excite the keenesi SYM |
paililes OF ihe human heart | would pre- |
sent 10 you, not t,DO gully men suffering |
death according 10 lie sentence of The |
law, but scene OF slaughtered i,inocence- |
not one or two suffering victims only. |
but group, aJanliiy groap. That is but !
miniature painting. To make ii as large |
as NE, would present yon almost Il na
ttonaf group. The figures represented on
II would be, old men bending beneath a
weight OF years, inhunauly butchered
muliIiudcs OF women and children. yor
Ell with wounds and weltering in iieir
own blood ; and others, sleeping in the
arms of death, with here and tl,erea soil
tary survivor 10 deplore their fate. But.
SIR, wi.l not attempt 10 harrow I'D The
feelings at the committee by even fur
iIer description Of such scenes-ii is not
necessary Tor cannot but believe that
The execution OF these men stands iusfi-
ned by the laws OF nature and of nations.
But, II has been objected, that whatev-
or our rights may have been. it was not
competent to The commenting general
10 execute them. Do gentlemen mean
A G.ty itaI nj.
bic before any court having criminal in
risdiction answer that they could net
have been tried III The United States, be-
cause The acts were not committed with
III our jurlsdiciional limits They could
moi have been tired in England for the |
same reason. And indeed, though The |
offences were committeii within lie terri
tonai lI'niis OF Spain, yet The author. nf |
them were OIL the lands owned, or al least !
occupied by the Indians. ] do not be-
lieVe that they could have bcentried there
for, willask, whether we should claim |
jurisdiction 10 punish an offence against |
a foreign government, committed by an |
Indian on the lands occupied by his tribe |
within our boundary This, however, is !
al objection 10 jurisdiction, founded up |
on locality only. assume much high |
er ground. Iobjecilo upon the ground |
OF the nature and character of the act COM |
milted. My principle is tls-iIlai il is
a right directly derived from, and apper-
iainlUg 10 war. and, therefore, the civil |
power has no jurisdiction over il. lNi!l
not undertake 10 say, that Congress
might noi have made some legislative
provision as one of The rules and regnla.
tons by which our army should be gov
erDed III relation to This subicct--bnl
however That may be, as 10 which now
sliall say nothing, | think shall be able
10 show, that IN the case under discus
q on. liz. commanding mn n el al nriad ..lIL-