Elizabeth-Town gazette. [volume] (Elizabeth-Town, N.J.) 1818-1821, 1819-02-23

| D "Ae@ W Jul susbtuttOiib ANU 10 Inc uQf
form practice Of the government, but j
was contrary to the obvious principle.
on which the general himself had pro.
ceeded; for, in forming the court, he had
levidently intended to proceed under the
rules and articles of war. The extreme
number they provide for is thirteen. pre-.
cieely that which is detailed in the pres
| ent instance.--The court HT6cee ded, moi
by a bare plurality, but najjSofny Of two
thirds. 10 the general order issued from
the Adjutant Generals Office, at head.
quarters, it is described as a coart mar.
tiat. The prisoners are said In these or.
ders TO have been tried. on the following
charges and Specifications. The court
understood itself to be acting as court
martial. TWAS so organized-it SO pro.
lceeded, having judge advocate. hearing
witnesses, the written defence of the mis-.
cradle trembling prisoners, who seemed
to have presentiment of their doom.
And the court was finally dissolved. The
whole proceeding n1anifestly shows that
all parties considered 1t as court martial.
convened and acting nnder The rules and
articles Of war. In his letter TO the Sec.
rotary Of War, noticing the Transaction.
the general says: These individuals
were triedunder my orders, kgany con
lvicted as exciters Of this savage aud negro
war, legally condemned, aud most Justly
punished for their iniquities." The Lord
deliver us from such legal convictions and
such legal condemnaiioHs The general
himself considered the laws OF his coun-
try to have justified his proceedings. II
was in vain then to talk Of power in
him hey end the law, and above the law,
when he himself does not assert it. Let
it be conceded, that he was clothed with
absolute authority over the lives of these
individuals, and that upon his own fiat,
without trial, without defence, he might
have commanded their execution. Now
II an absolute sovereign, in any particu.
lar respect, promulgate a rule which he
pledges himself TO observe. if he subse.
|quently deviate from that rule, he sub.
jects himself to the impufation of odious
tyranny. If Gen. jackson had the pow.
er, without the court to Condemn these
men, he had also the power to appoint a
tribunal. He did-appoint a tribunal. and
ne became, therefore, morally bound TO
observe and execute the sentence of thai
tribunal. In regard TO An.brister, it was
with grief and pain he was compelled to
say. that he was executed in defiance o.
all law; in defiance of the law TO which
general jackson had voluntarily. iflvos
please, submitted, himsf1is aud given b.
his appeal to the court, his implied pledg.
to observe. He knew but little of tb,
military law, and he had not taste, b,
what had happened, created in him loi
acquiring knowledge of more; but ht
believed there was 90 example on record
where the sentence of the court has bee,
erased, and sentence not pronounced b,
Il carried into execution. 1t had beer
suggested that the court had pronounced
two sentences, and that the general had a
right to select either. Two sentences
Two verdicts ! 1t was not so. The frs
by being revoked, was as though it hac
never been pronounced. And there re.
manned only one sentence, which was pu
aside upon the sole authority Of The com
manded, and the execution of the prison
er ordered. He either had or had not Z
right to decide upon the fate of that man
without the intervention Of court. II
he had the right he waved it, and, having
violated the sentence of the court, there
WIS brought upon the judicial administra.
Ition Of the army sreprOach, which mus
occasion the most lasting regret.
However guilty these men were, they
should not have been condemned or exc
cnted, without the authority Of the law
He would not dwell, at this time, on the
effect of these precedents in foreign coun
tries, but he would not pass unnoticed iheil
dangerous influence 10 our own country
Bad examples are generally set in the ca
| ses of bad men, aud often remote from the
central government. 1t was in the pro
vinces were laid the abuses and the
seeds of the ambitious projects which
overturned the liberties Of Rome. He
beseeched the committee not to be taker
captive by The charms Of eIoquence, and
the appeals made to our passions and oul
sympathies, SO as to forget the fiindament.
al principles of our government. The
influence of bad example would often be
felt when its authors and all the circsm.
stances connected with it were no longer
remembered. He knew Of but one anala-
gous instance Of the execution Of pris-
oner, and that bad brought more odium,
than almost any other incident, on the I'M
happy Emperor of France. He alluded
to the instance Of the unfortunate member
Of the Bourbon house. He had sought
an asylum in the territories Of Baden.
Bonaparte dispatched cops Of gen
d'armes to the place Of his retreat, seiz-