The Litchfield County post., 1827-08-09

the grossrsi insult io the secretary, General
Armstrong aud in effect 60 the whole govern
ment. "He expressed the establishment he
fclt, that such orders should have Origina-
ted with the famous author Uf the Nelr6urg
Letters, the then redoubtcd advocate for sol
Ilicrs' rights" I mean not TO exaggerate
! his fault. | confess, that in my opinion, he
was actuatcd by the generous motives of az
| lection Tor his volunteers. And as TO Gen.
| Armstrong, it may have been a prOvidential
I dispenSatiOn of Justice, that he should be re-
preached in his old age with the unatOncd
crime of his youth, and made to feel in his
own person the evil Of arms unrrstrained by
subordinati0n. But deliberate diSObedence
OfOrders, wiliul disrespct towards sulreriOrs,
! and especially towards government, are Of all
crimes in a military officer Of the first magni-
tudc. General Jackson was guilty of them
all. appeal TO military men, whether thr
lmpunity of such offences I've not the dcstruc-
ton Of discipline Whether it was ever known
before that such an offender escaped without
punishment of any kind, without trial, with
ont inquiry at least! The humiliation OF the
government, and General .JacksOn's victory
were complete. Thencriur;h. Il new relation
was established between them Of which. as
We SHALL see in the sequel. both parties were
sensible, and have borne themselves accord
ngly.
lido not intend to follow him through the
war he conducted against the Creeks in 1878
a. / mention the bloody massacre of Tai
apo0se, only to express my grief for it, shame
and abhorrence. In vain has his too partial
hiographcr pleaded the law Of retaliation in
his defence in vain alleged that the Indians
nhcfiDafnlU napSiStaH in, bn,,.,l.s,c
and would neither ask nor accept quarter; in
them to surrender and spare the eff,lsiOn of
their own blood, and that they fired upon his
flag the historian admits. that the general
well knew they had ample reason for their
desperation : and the general himself tells the
world. in his official despatch, that, after the
pursuit, or rather the hunt l!iteraIly, with fire
and sword) and the carnage, had contirAhed
till darkness concealed his miserable victims
after he was appraised, that Of their thousand
warriors, not half Il hundred remained after
whole night to cool and reflect, on the merit
morning, the hunt, and the slaughter "qcere
resumed, and sirtcen Gall that could be found)
Of the enemy stain, ,cho had concealed themselves
u7.der the bnnks."t Yet will not urge that
as peculiar rcprOach, against Gen. jackson,
which rather regard as Il stain upon my
country. History will record, that his bloody
deeds were received by his countrymrn with
general applause, while the clemrncy of Col.
Pearson was regarded with contempt and re-
sentiment. Truly, sirs, American avarice of
Indian lands is equal to Spanish ;varice of In
dian gold.
l am sorry to say anything that may seem
to affect Gen. Jackson's private character
hut | must remark. that the grant lands he
afterwards obtained from these same Creeks
(the willing tribute of gratitude, no doubt, for
his tender mcrcies towards their name and
race) was contrary to the known policy of
the government 1t was not the Executive,
however, but the Senate that refused to give
it sanction.
Ihave here, to mention fact, which, strk-
ing as it is, and decisive of the character of
the man, is hardly remembered, if it be not
absolutely forgotten, except by few curious
observers. Gen. Jacksen,s recent seizure of
st. Marks and Pensacola is not the first in
stance in which he has, # his own independ-
ent sovereign authotity, declared and waged
war against nation with which his country
was at peace. In Nov. 1914. he took Pensa-
cola by storm, though he confcsscdly knew at
the time that the act was contrary to the
views and policy Of the governmental The
Executive whose commission he abused,
Congress, whose powers he usurped, looked
on in profound silence. As to the American
people, they have ever seemed to imagine it
impossible, that an invasion Of the rights of
Spain could be accompanied with an invasion
of their Own.
Turn your eyes now, Sirs, to the principal
scene Of Gen. JacksOn's glory happy if 1t
were not the scene of unrestrained violence
and Tyranny, | would detract nothing from
the real merit he displayed in his memorable
defence of New Orleans in 1S14-5. would
not, ifthe accession were proper, enter into a
ny criticisas of his military operations or at
tempt to ascrihe to fortune, any portion of
the glory, which skill and valour claim
That his success YVES complete, that his VIC
tory was no less beneficial in its consequent
ces than brilliant in its achievement; ali this
gladly acknowledge. But t, that extrava-
gance ofnational gratitude, which has mani
tested itself in tame surrender ofthe cOnsti-
tuition though but for a time. and of the civil
liberty of any portion of the good people Of
this union how distant and small soevcr,
never will assent while have breath to make
my protest heard.
Gen. Jackson's first STEP after his arrival
at New Orleans, was to propose to the legis-
lature Of Louisiana, then in session, Il suspen-
sion OF the iabeus corpus ; induced, it is said
to recommend that odinus measure, by rep
reservations made to him by Gov. Claiborne
NkN1,.4 Al.