The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1841-07-15

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Inenlsl SePaEais tie Government
fhem. and shat Is i Bat - ideal. infsngi-
ole ahlng! True Il j.. NhaA an invading
enemy i eappurei o. s8nen3ers. his liz
is protected b. The laws Of Rations. =
hey Aow st4Ad; bat not because The
authority Of his Government pr0iecis 4.
or that ne ! not responsible % the invsd-
cd eoanlrs. IA Is % be traced 10 : differ
cnf and higher senrce-fhe progress q
CIVILIZATION. which has miiigzied the laws
Ofwar. Originally It was different. The
life Of Al invader might he taken, whether
armed or diszEmed. He who captured
an enemy had q night % take his life.
The older writers on the laws Of nations
traced the laHfulness of making slave OF
a prisoner 10 the fact ihai he who captured
him had right 10 lake his life; and. il he
spzreli il, night 10 his service. To CON-
mute death unto seryitnde was the first
step in mitigating the horrors Of war.
That has been followed BY further miii-
gaiiol, which spares the life ola prisoner,
excepting the case Of spies, 10 whom the
laws Of war, rs they stood originally, are
sEill in force. But, because their lives
are SPACED, prisoners do not cease % b.
individually responsible 10 the invaded
country. Their liberty for the time Is
forfeited 10 IL. Shoald they attempt 10
escape, or If there be danger Of their being
released b. superior force, their lies MAY
be still taken, without regard 70 the fact
that they acted under the authority ofihsir
country. A demand on the part Of their
Government Cor an immediate release, on
the grcuud assumed in this case, would
be regarded as an act Of insanity.
Now, sir, ifthe Senators from Virginia
and Massachusetts Mr.. Rives and Mr..
Choaie could succeed il making the case
OF the attack on the Caroline to be an act
Of war, il would avail them nothing in
their attempt 70 defend the demand of Mr..
Pox or the concession Of Mr.. Webster.
Mcleod, il il be war, would be a prisoner
IL war, which, il il projected his life,
forfeited his liberty. In that character, so
far from his Government having right to
demand his immediate release, under q
threat DIVA !, our Government would have
the unqlestionable right to delain him till
there was q satisfactory termination ofihe
wr by the adjustment Of the question.
TO place this result in a stronger view,
suppose after the destruction OF The Caro-.
line, the armed band which psrpeiTa.el
.i's act had been captured on their retreat
Dy an armed rOiuS " @ar citizens: would
they not, IL the transaction is 10 be regard
ed aswar, justly have been considered as
prisoners of war, to be held as such, in
actual confinement, if our Government
thought proper, till the question was
iamicably settled! And would MT the de-
mand for their immediate release in such
a case be regarded as one Of the most
insolent ever made By one independent
country on another! And can the fact that
one Of the band has come into our posses
sion As Mcleod has, il it is 10 be con
!sidered Is war, vary the case in the least!
fisved in this light, the authority or
sanc,ionof the British Gsvemm snt would
be good defence against the charge Of
murder or arson, but it would be no less
50 against his release.
But, this is not case of war, formal OF
informal, taking the latter in the broadesl
sense. IL has not been thought SO nor SC
treated by either Government, and Mr.
Websier himself, in his reply to Mr.. Fox,
which has been so lauded by the two
Senators, speaks oft as "a hostile intru.
sion into the territory of power al peace. "
The transaction comes under class Of
cases fully recognised by writer's on inter.
national law as distinct from war-ihat Of
belligeranis entering with force the terri.
tories Of neHtrals; and it only remains "a
determine whether, when viewed in this
is true LIGHT, our Secretary has taken tn;
grounds which our rights and homo
Feqaired, against the demand Of the British
Minister.
Thus regarded, III, first point presenteu
for consideration is, whether Great Bri
tain, as belligerant, was justified in en-
teripg our territery under the circam
stances she did. And here let me re
mark, that il is fundamental principle il
the laws of nations, that every State oil
patton has full and complete jurisdiction
over its own territory to the exclusion o
all Others principle essential to indie
pendence, and therefore held most sacred
II is accordingly laid down by all writers
on those laws who treat of the subject
that nothing short of eIfreae Recessif,
can Justify beligerant in entering, witt
an armed force, on the territory of /;
Reutral power, and, when entered, in
doing any act which is not forced on then
by the like necessity which justified tn
eItenng. In both of the positions all
held out by the Secretary himself. Tn,
mex. point to be considered is, did Grea
Britain enter our territory in this east
under any such necessity, and, if she did
were her acts limited BY such necessity!
Here again may rely on the authority o.
the Secretary, and, if it had not already
been quoted by both of the Senators on