Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1841-12-16
MESSAGE.

At twelve O'Clock, on Tuesday, the
President Of the United Stntes transmitted
to both Houses of Congress the following
message:
To the Senate and House of
Representatipss Of the United States:
In coming together, fellow-citizens, to
enter again upon the discharge Of the du-
ties with which the People have charged
US, we find great occasion to rejoice in the
general prosperity of the country. We
are in the enjoyment of all the blessings
of civil and religious liberty, with unex-
ampled means Of education, knowledge,
and Improvement. Through the year
which is now drawing to a close, peace
has been in our borders and plenty in our
habitations; and although disease has Wis.,
tied some few portions of the land with
distress and mortality, yet in general the
health Of the People has been preserved,
and we are called upon by the highest OBJ
legations OF duty to renew our thanks and
our devotion TO our Heavenly Parent, who
has continued 10 vouchsale to US the emf
nent blessings which surround us, and who
has so signally crowned the year with bis
goodness. If we find ourselves iucreas.
ing, beyond example, in numbers, in
strength, in wealth, in knowledge, in
every thing which promotes human and
social happiness, let US ever remember our
dependence for all these on the protection
and merciful dispensations Of Divine Provi.
dence.
Since your last adjournment, Alexan-
der Mcleod, a British subject, who was
indicted for the murder of an American
citizen, and whose case has been the sub.
ject of a correspondence heretofore CON-
municnted to you, has been acquitted BY
the verdict of an impartial and intelligent
Jury, and has, under the judgment of the
court, been regularly discharged.
Great Britain having made known to
this Government that the expedition which
was fitted out from Canada for the destruc-
ton of the steamboat Caroline, IN the WIN
ter Of 1887, and which resulted in the de-
~struction Of said boat and in the death oil
an American citizen, was undertaken by
orders emanating from the authorities OF
the British Government in Canada, and
demanding the discharge of Mcleod upon
the grounds that, il engaged in that expe.
dition, he did but fulfil the orders OF his
Government, has thus been answered in
the only way in which she could be an.
swered by a Government, the powers OF
which are distributed among lis several
departments by the fundamental law.
Happily for the people Of Great Britain,
as we'll as those of the United States, the
only mode by which an individual ar
raigned for a criminal offence before the
courts of either can obtain his discharge,
is by the independent action OF the Judlci-
airy, and by proceedings equally familiar
to the courts of both countries.
If in Great Britain q power exists IN
the Crown TO cause to be entered a noHe
prosequi, which is not the case with the
Executive power of the United States upon
a prosecution pending in a State court,
vet there, no more than here, can the chlei
executive power rescue a prisoner from
custody without an order Of the proper
tribunal directing his discharge.
The precise stage of the proceedings al
which such order may be made IS a mat
ter of municipal regulation exclusively,
and not to be complained OF by any Other
Government. In cases of this kind, q
Government becomes politically RESPONSE
BILE only when its tribunals OF last resort
are shown to have rendered unjust and
injurious judgments in matters not doubt
full. To the establishment and etucldation
Of this principle, no nation has lent It's au'
thority more efficiently than Great Brit
ain. Alexander Mcleod having his op'
ton either to prosecute a writ OF error
from the decision of the Supreme Court Of
New York, which had been rendered upon
his application for a discharge, TO the Su'
preme Court of the United States, or &c
submit his case to the decision of a jury,
preferred the latter, deeming II the readi'
est mode of obtaining his liberation anc
the result has fully sustained the wisdom
of his choice. The manner in which the
issue submitted was tried will satisfy the
English Government that the principles o
Justice will never fail TO govern the en-
lightened decision Of an American trlou
nal. | cannot fail, however, to sugges
to Congress the propriety, and in some de-
gree the necessity, of making such Prov
sions by law, so far as they may constl
tutlonally do so, for the removal at thei'
commencement, and at the option Of the
party, for all such cases as may hereafter
arise, aud which may involve the faithful
observance and execution of our interna
%:ional obligations, from the State to the
Federal Judiciary. This Government, BY
our institutions, is charged with the main
.enance of peace and the preservation o
amicable relations with the nations oil The
earth, and ought to possess, without ques
ton. all the reasonable and proper means
of maintaining the one and preserving tn
other. Whilst just confidence is felt IL
the Judiciary OF the States, yet thus GOV
eminent ought to be competent in itsel
for the fu!flment OF the high duties whict
have been devolved upon 1t, unGer the or
ganic law, by the States themselves.
In the month Of September, a party 0
armed men from Upper Canada invaded
the territory of the United States, AM
rorcibly seized upon the person Of ont
Grogan. and, under circumstances oil grea
~harshness, hurriedly carried HIM 6eyone
the limits of the United States, and dellv'
cred him up TO the authorities OF upper