Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 182?-183?, 1832-02-10

! cate OF the nations honor, and To have been
| able TO repose my vote on the causes more
| satisfactorily assigned by another. But the
| question is about to be taken, and will not
| consent 10 allow an occasion 10 pass, without
raising my feeble voice 10 redeem the tar
nished reputation OF my country If other
| Senators accord with my opinion, it is assem-
| tial, sir, that the vote of rejection shall GO
forth associated with the reasons which in
huence it. Yes, sir, the honor and the dig
nifty of this nation, has- (and think il de-
monslratle) 1.-THE heretofore unsullied diplo-
matte character of the American Republic
has been stained, its lofty pride has been
lated-unnecessarily, wantonly hum
bled-by the man who is now proposed as its
guardian, and protector, and advocate; and
| as an American Senator, ] am not content
barely TO put upon him the seal of reproba-
ton in a secret session of this body. No.
sir, let the American Government-let the
American people, proud of their national
honor, know that no ruthless hand shall de-
secrate it with inpunity ; and let foreign ma
lions, and all the world know, that even an
American Secretary of State dare not pollute
its ermine
Mr.. President, mean to resist the confir-
nation of Mr.. Van Buren's appointment ex-
| clusively or the ground, that in his instruct
tions TO Mr.. McLane, on the subject of the
colonial trade, he has violated the honor of
the nation, has wounded lis high and elevat-
ed character, has evinced disregard to the
interests of the American people-nay, has
insulted that people in the person of their
| government, has attempted 10 promote the
objects ola party amongst us and has dsclos-
| ed total ignorance of the proper principles
and feelings which should adorn the diplo-
matist. For proof of these assertions mean
to rely exclusively on bis own words, DELHI
erately embodied in a state paper, and on
those 10 which he has himself alluded, and
found amongst the archives OF the Depart
ment of which he was then the head.
4 In directing the attention of the Senate to
particular part of the letter oil instructions
from Mr.. Van Buren, to the American Min
listers then at the British Court, | disclaim
the inference, that the residue OF that letter,
or that other letters of instruction contain no
exceptionable matter There are many
positions which, on another occasion, il
would be proper to dispute, and the whole
temper and tone of these dispatches breathe
an air of humility and concession, and con-
viction of error, and suppliant eEtreaty of
favor and notice, which no American citi-
zen, who thinks and feels as / think an A
merican freeman should do, can regard as
the appropriate language his government,
pledged as it is "to ask nothing but what is
right, and to submit to nothing that is
wrong"
The portion of Mr. Van Buren's work,
however, to which will more particularly
allude, is part of his letter Of instruction to
, MIR. McLane, dated Goth July, 1929 He
uses this language
"The opportunities which you have de-
! rived from participation in our public coun-
ellis, as we'll as other sources of information.
will enable you TO speak with confidence
Gas far as you may deem it proper and use
I ful so to do) of the respective parts taken by
, those TO whom the administration of this gov
eminent is now committed, in relation to
the course heretofore pursued upon the SUBJ
ject of the colonial trade. Their views on that
point have been submitted to the people of
MI the United States and the counsels by
which your conduct is now directed are the
result of the judgment expressed by the on
ly earthly tribunal 10 which the late admin
iStration was amendable for its acts 1t
should be sufficient that the claims set I'D by
them, and which caused the interruption of
| ths trade in question, have been explicitly
abandoned by those who first asserted them.
: and are not revived by their SUCCESSORS If
o Great Britain deems ii adverse TO her inter-
3 ests TO allow US TO participate in the trade
with her colonies, and finds nothing in the
extension oft TO others TO induce her 10 ap-
: ply the same rule to us, she will, we hone.
he sensible of the propriety OF placing her
refusal on those grounds. To set up the acts
of the late administration as the cause of for
, fixture ofpriviIeges which would Otherwise
> be extended to the people of the United
States, would, under existing circumstances.
be unjust in ITSELF and could not fail TO ex
cite their deepest sensibility. The tone of
o feeling which a course so unwise and unten-
q able is calculated to produce, would doubt
r less be greatly aggravated by the concious-
ness that Great Britain has, by Order in
f Council, opened her colonial ports to Russia
n and France, notwithstanding similar omis-
i sion on their part to accept the terms offered
9 by the act ofJuly, 1925.
T. "You cannot press this view of the subject
i too earnestly upon the consideration of the
a British Ministry. II has bearings and rela-
= tons that reach beyond the immediate aues-
c ton under discussion"
't Now, sir, when stripped Of lis verbiace
reduced to its plain import, what does the
IS Secretary Of State here press so earnestly p
C That Mr.. McLanp, The Minister, who had
> been member Of the political party of which
y the then President was the nominal head
o (and the Secretary ofState most cohspicu-
J. Gus supporter, with imputed anxiety toclaim
: a TeversOnary interest in the chieltainship, J
J That the Minister, who had been a member
+ Of this Senate, and in that character inform
a ed of the conflicting views of the different DO
J. litical branches or subdivisions into which
b the great American family had been arrang-
IT ed, should stoop TO avail himselfof this per-
j. sonal intimacy with our family dissentions
hl 10, ,gft