, 1841-07-03
CONGRESSIONAL.
THE CASE OF Mcleod.
IN SENATE,
THURSDAY, June 20, le41.

SA-
THURSDAY, June 20, le41.
Mr.. RIVES once more renewed his mo
ton th,t SO much of the Pre- sid. ut's message
as relates ~ our fnreisn affairs be referred IL
the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Mr.. BUCHANAN t%hereupnn rose and
addressed the SenIte, observing that when
he had FIRST read the correspondence between
the British Minister. Mr.. Fox, and the Ane-
rican Secretary of State, he had at once de-
termIned to make, upon the first fit orpnr,u.
nifty. some observations upon that cure
spundence in The face of the Senate and OF
the Country. lie regretted tna:. in finding
q fit opportunity. there had, contrary Ia his
own inclinaIion., been SD much delay; but
having at length iuund il, he would accom-
plush his original purpose. and wmld d., it
with as much trevIiv as possible; promising
however, that he should not have thought of
such a proceeding upon this mere motion of
reference. had not the example been set and
a prec dent established at the last session of
Congress bv tie present Secretary of State.
He mus be permitted Ia make one remark
by way of preface: and That was, that il he
knew himself, he was not actuated, in this
matter by any thing like party Political feel
ing. He trusted his construction of some
pnrtions Of the correspondence in question
might prove incorrect; for though he ac-
konwledsed himself TO he a party man and
strongly influenced by party feeling, it had
been his endeavor never TO carry TINT feel.
ing with him into the Commiiie on Foreign
Relations, (of which he had 70: many years
been a member,l and he trusted that he had
given sufficient evidence of this by his course
on that committee. Yet, rs he was firmly
convinced thai, a proper reg ird for the Anne
rican character. both ut home and abroad.
required that some commentary should be
made on these papers, he had, upon reading
the p, determined, al once, that commentary
should be made by him without fear, bu,
with respectful! regard to the feelings Of all
parties.
He had been asked, what objection could
be made to the letter Of the e4rh of April
last. lately published from Mr.. Webster, our
Secretary of State. 10 Mr.. Fox? There was
little, i~ndeed:-much, very much, that it
Contained, had his C 'rdial appreciation; but,
unfortunately, that letter had lit'le or nothing
10 do with the substance of the matter. 1t
did not make its appearance until nearly six
"CckS dflC lHt HnIOI'hiil i~iiCs VT
the two Governments lnd been transacted.
II was the letter Of the British Minister Of
the 18th Of March. and the Instructions Of
the Secretary Of State 20 the Attorney Gene
raj Of the United States, of the 18Th Of tie
same month, which contained the ,rne merits
Of the case. 1t was that letter Of ins,ruc-
tons, a copy of which had doubtless been
communicated 10 the British Minister, & had
been openly referred to in the British P..rlia-
menf; it was these Instructions. especially,
which Law at The root of the question. On
these two papers Of the 18th and 18Th March,
public opinion had been formed and must he
as well in En- LAND rs here; and the
last letter which came lImp'ng
along six weeks after, however Just and
however eloquent it might be. could exert
hut little or no Influence either in Europe or
In this country.
To understand the merits of the case a
brief rccapitula'inn "f facts was necessary.
A rebellion, said Mr. 3. OF, if you please, an
attempt at revolution, existed in Cannda;
during the course Of which the INSURGENTS
took possession IF Navy island, in The Nigga
ra river. A British militia force oftwo thou.
sand men was embodied nj Chippewa, On the
Canada suIe Of tie river. The American
steamboat Caroline, after having Carried pro-
vision. 10 the insurgents IN Navy Island, (for
] believe that was the fact.) together With
probably a single cannon. lay ut anchor. ai'
Ter her trip. fastened TO The wharf at Scilns-
ser. a small village not"ri"usly within the
Jurisdiction of the United States, under The
ncrsd e,is OF our protection. Ard thai
country rnnst be recreant to itself and to It's
ciizen., which wonld not. until the very last
maintain and vindicate its own exclusive
sovereignty over its soil against all ior-
eign aggression.