Litchfield enquirer., 1838-12-13

eyer, assured will be met by Her Maicsty's Government in a conciliAtOTy and friendly spirit, and instructions to enable the British Minister here to conclude such an arrange 'acnt will be transmitted to him without necdless delay. It is hoped and expected that these instructions will be of liberal character, and that this negociation, if suc- cesstul, will prove tn be an important step to- wards the satisfactory aud fIal adjustment of the controversy.
 I had hoped that the respect for the laws and regard for the re;ice and honor of their own country, which has ever characterised the citizens ofthe United Slti,s, would have prevented any pDrion of them from using any means to pru;lit,:c insurrection in the ter riiory of power with witch we arc at peace, and with which lbc United States are dosi- rous of maintaining tho most friendly rela- tions. Iregret deeply, however, to be oblig- ed to inform you that this has not been the casc, Information has been given to me, derived from official and other sources, mat many citizens of the United States lave asso- ciatcd together to make hostile incursicns from our territory into Ci.i,ada, and to aid and abet insurrection there, in violation of the obligations end jaws of the United States, and in open disregard of their own duties as citizens. This information has been in part cont;rE.ed, by a hostile invasion actually rlaIe by citizens of tho United States, in con junction with Canadians and others, and ac- companied by forcible seizure of the prop erty of our citizens, and an application there-
 of to the prosecution of military operations against the authorities and people of Canada.
 The results of these criminal assaults up- on the peace and order of a neighboring country have been, as was to be expected, fatally destructive to the misguided or de-
 luded persons engaged in them, and highly
 injurious to those in whose behalf they are
 professed to have been undertaken. The
 authorities in Canada, from intelligence re.
 ceived of such intended movements among our citizens, have felt themselves obliged to l take precautionary measures against them ; have actually embodied the militia, and as- stunned an attitude 10 repel the invasion to
 which they believed the colonies were ex-
 posed from the United States. A state of feeling on both sides of the frontier has thus been produced, which called for prompt and | vigorous interference. If an instruction
 existed in Canada, the amicable dispositions l of the United States towards Great Britain,
 as we'll as their duty to themselves, would ] lead them to maintain a strict neutrality, ] and to restrain their citizens from all viola tions of the laws which have been passed ] for its enforcement. But this Government
 recognizes still higher obligation to repress
 all attempts on the part of its citizens to dis
 turb the peace of country where order pre- vails, or has been re-established. Depreda-
 tions by our citizens upon nations at peace
 with the United States, or combinations for
 committing them, have at all times been re-
 garded by the American Government and people with the greatest abhorrence. Mili- { tary incursions by our citizens into countries
 so situated, and the commission of acts of violence on the members thereof in order to
 effect change in its government, or under any pretext whatever, have, from the com-
 mencement of our Government, been held equally criminal on the part of those engaged in them, and as much deserving of punish ment as would be the disturbance of the pub-5 lie peace by the perpetration of similar acts
 within our own territory.
 By no country or persons have these lrl- valuable principles of international law principles, the strict observance of which is so indispensable to the preservation of social order in the world-been more earnestly cherished or sacredly respected than by those great and good men who first declared, and finally established, the independence of our own country. They promulgated and maintained them at an early and critical pe- riod in our history they were subsequently embodied in legislative enactments of a high ly penal character, the faithful enforcement of which has hitherto been, and will, trust, always continue to be, regarded as duty inseparably associated with the maintenance of our national honor. That the people of the United States should feel an interest in the spread of political institutions as free as they regard their own to be, is natural nor can sincere solicitude for the success of all those who are, at any time, in good faith for their acquisition, be imputed to our citizens as crime. With the entire freedom of opinion, and an undisguided ex- presson thereof, on their part. the Govern ment has neither the right, nor, trust, the disposition to interfere. But whether the in- terest or the honor of the United States re- quire, that they should be made a party to any such struggle, and, by inevitable conse- quence, to the war which is waged in it's SUD- port, is question which, by our constitution, is wiselyleft to Congress alone to decide. H
 It is, by the laws, already made criminal in our citizens to embarrass or anticipate that decision, by unauthorized military op- eSA.ions on their part. Offences of this char acter, i2 addition to their criminality as vio- lations or iSSe laws of our country, have Gi- rect tendency ia draw down upon our own citizens at large the multiplied evils of for eign war, and expSse to injurious imputa- tions the good faith ana honor off the country.
 As such they deserve to be put down with
 promptitude and decision. I cannot be mis- taken, lam confident, in counting OF the cor dial and general concurrence of our te,!ow- citizens in this sentiment. A copy of tho proclamation which have felt it my duty to issue, is herewith communicated. I can not but hope that the good sense and patriot ism. the regard for the honor and reputation of their country, the respect for the laws which they have themselves enacted for their own government, and the love of order fol. which the mass of our people have been so long and so justly distinguished, will de- ter the comparatively few who are engaged in them from a further prosecution of such