Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1832-03-16


contempt for the laws of this Union,
winch 1t was pretended they did feel. He would
not believe 1T, altho fifty witnesses should swear |
ON the Holy Evangeliss of Almighty God that
Georgia would thus disregard her own pligh'ed
faith. lie should believe they were dcludcd-hc
would believe any thing rather than that they
spoke the truth. For what State in tins Union
mad received more benefits at tho hand OF tins Co.
vcrnmcnt than Georgia! When she had but
handful of inhabitants not more than twenty
thousand at the time of the Revolutionary War;
and tho she had never sent more than three or
Tour hundred soldiers, to the Army oil tnc kcvoi-
ton, and Tor three none nj all still she was
protected by the arm of the Union from the pow
or ofthcsc red men whom then she dreaded, tho
now she dcspisc them. Since he had been men,
Der OF that House, Georgia had been Paid large
Sums merely for having defended herself against
these Indians. When the country came triumph
ant out of the Revolution, at the time when Viz
Giuia with libcrality not to be parIllccd, surrcn-
dcrcd up her immense Western territories for the
public good and when New York, with hberahy
scarcely inferior, gave up an empire To pay the
debts of the War; Georgia refused to follow the
example. She cnrcatcd to rchnquish the
land which had been won not by the sword of
Georgia, but by the valor and the blood of other
States. She refused TO do 1t. The State retain
ed the territory within her grasp, and when the
prc-cmpton right WAS at length yielded it was at
the expense to the Union OF many millions of dol
lars. AS the law and the Constitution obliged
them to do, they sold the presumption right on
CONDITION OF the payment OF milton and quar-
ter of dollars, the discharge of the claims which
previous purchasers had upon them for monies
advanced, and the cNtinguishmcnt of the Indian
title. They had since received the whole e1uiva-
lent in money and land, to an amount in all of
twenty five millions of dollars; they now had it in
possession, under contract made but twenty four
days after the passage of what was called the in
tcrcoursc law. Georgia had received her twenty
five millions from the Union: and would any gen
tlcman make him believe that State, in viola
nj al met, Il x.r,
would set the Government at defiance? Would
she break the agreement while she held the consi
Iteration on which that agreement had been made?
lie would never believe the caumny. He said
nothing about Alabama or Mississippi. He believed
there were many men faithful and true in all
those Statesmen actuatcd by the noble spirit of
true patriotism; and who would consider such an
assertion as foul reproach to their name
n gentleman from the State of Alabama had
told the House that she was embarked in the same
cause, and whatever the House might do with re-
gard to Georgia, it would do at the same time
against her. And he had further said, that the
memorial urged Congress to wage war against
three of the States. Mr. Ii. said il was not SO -
Nor was it any thing like this On the contrary.
1t was but fair to send the memorial 10 a Commit
tee OF the Whole on the state of the Union The
u States held rod no one. The House
would wait, If the Memorial was thus referred, to
see the effect of the mandate of the Supreme
Court; the Nation was waiting for this. Ii waited
not IN hope, but in the perfect assurance that
Georgia would do her duty. 1t was no violation
OF her sovereignty to abstain from carrying into
effect an Illegal sentence against the missionaries
1t was merely the fuhlmcnt of her own solemn
agreement. The House had every assurance that
Georgia would do her duty. Let the Memorial,
then, go to the Committee, when it might be call
ed up at any time.
He could not but deeply regret that the gentle
man from Georgia had preached the subject with
that fury of spirit, the corruscations of which the
iiousc had witnessed more than once. He could
not agree with the gentleman as to the manner il,
which the Memorial should be treated When he
and his fellow members stood in that House they
dld not stand on an cmincncc SO high, or behind a
Shleld so lnpenetrablc, as to escape the voice OF
suppllcation or remonstrance from the most ncon.
siderable or humble citizen. The gentleman might
think that we dwclt too far in the region of the
sun to be reached by the cold and lev complaints
OF the North. But citizen of these U. States,
in whatever portion of the Union he mipht live
was entitled to be heard in that House, if he ad-
dressed 1t III respectful terms. For the gentleman
10 call request, so expressed, and presented,
an act OF lmpertincnce was departing far, very
far, from that high dignity with which every gen
tieman on that floor had been entrusted by his con
stltuents TO turn about, and to make him who
complains the offender, species of cduiyo-
cation which lowered the gentleman in the pre-
Scnce OF the whole American people, ANY gen
tlcman who treated petitioner in that manner
mistrcatcd himself, and i'll so doing he was very
sure the gentleman misreprescnted his constitn
ents. Georgia, he was well assured, would not do
so. The Legislature of Georgia herself would
have treated respectful Memorial from any citi
zen, however humble, if not degraded by vice
| with respect.
The citizens of Georgia had been called high
minded and chivalrous, and they well deserved tc
be so designated. But would a high-mindcd ant
chlvalrous State treat with contempt and contumc
~ any one who wore the form of human ma
ture! Never Yet, the gentleman, in the nam,
of Georgia, had done this. The people of Geor
gia were not the hot-headcd inconsidcratc people
That gentlemen had represented them to be. Ii
was not specimen of the Georgia character that
that House had had before if. He confidently ap-
pcdlcd to the House whether there was any fhino
in the conduct of the other members of the dele
CATION from that State to warrant the belief that
that gentleman had given To the House of Reprc
scntatives fair specimen of the temper or the
manners of Georgia. He should be sorry TO think
so. lie would not believe that Georgia felt as that
gentleman represented, nor that she would
treat TINS Union, and the sacred bond
which held 1T together in the manner that that
gentleman was pleased to suppose. Nor would
she treat the opinion of the Supreme Court of the
Z. states with that Sovereign contempt" he seem
cd so much pleased to anticipate. The decision oF
the Supreme Court, the House had been told
would be condemned by the wcll.educatcd portion
OF the people OF Georgia. Sir, the lawless Bcdoun
who lives upon his Sword--who tracks the travel
lcr over the Arabian desert, and mnples with tho
sand, the blood and the bones of whole caravans
would, when made to understand its meaning pro
nounce the name of ALLAH over this mandate and
acknowledge its justice. Pirates of every sea.
while they might every hour violate it's principles
could not treat with contempt its digniicd and sa
cred requirements. The bravo, the very hircIinr
OF blood, would look at the high and holy iniunc
lions OF this judgment with that awe and fearful
ness which, even when Plungng the dagger into
the bosom of his victim, will come over his spirit
if memory bring to his ear the mandate of the
Eternal, "Thou shalt do murderw No il v,as
not IN mortal man to treat Il written decision of
that Court with deliberate contempt. When the