The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1849-10-02

APPOlNIMENl By lHE FhtaSlDtNI L.
CHArLEs t. STUART, to be Surveyor of
the port of Alexandria, Virginia, vice
BENJAMIN T. Fendall, deceased.
The Union VS.. the United States Courts.
The allies of the Union cannot complain
of that journal for leaving any thing un-
done in proving its fidelity to its {" foreign
relations" In its justification, or pallia-
ton, of M. PoUssIN's insulting letters to
the Secretary of State, it has belabored
the people, the President, the Cabinet, Of
fcers of the navy, and turned up its nose
at the Supreme Court of the United States.
1t has signifed its hostility to the law and
usages of nations, which permit officers and
crews of public vessels to claim salvage
for services rendered distressed merchant
vessels on the high seas, and thus limited
its displeasure at the hardness of Con-
gress in discountenancing such claims by
formal statute.
1t has apologized for the insolence of
foreign officials, by reminding the people
that they were set of dupes and asses for
electing man to the Presidency SO in
competent to discharge the duties of his
office, that its foreign friends 4" believed
they could with safety alter their conduct
and tone of language in treating or nego-
tlatng with our cabinet"
1t has assaied the Secretary of State for
resenting an insult offered to the Govern
ment, in a correspondence which, on the
part of Mr.. Clayton, was conducted with
such dignity and prudence as to present
no point which can be successfully assailed.
1t has misrepresented Commander Car
pender, by intimating that he used the
public force to 90 seize" upon a merchant
vessel and detain her to satisfy ga private
personal claim"
1t has accused Captain Stringham of
making a statement in regard to the aban-
donment of the Eugene, which the nara
tive of Commander Carpenter disproved.
1t has aggravated the complaint of the
French government, by putting an Amer
lean officer in a more disadvantageous posi-
ton than his accusers charged him with
occupying.
And it has reproached the Secretary of
State and the Attorney General, for quot
ing the decisions of the Supreme Court of
the United States in interpreting prin-
ciple of international law. II says:
''Thc law Of nations is the only code which can
be appealed to in disputes between nations and we
are sorry to see that Mr. Clayton and the Attorney
General have established the precedent Of appealing
TO the laws passed by Congress- and 10 the decisions
Of tribunals (having authority in those tribunals
alone) in conducting negotiations with a foreign
power"
The Attorney General cited no law of
Congress. He appealed TO the decisions
of the Supreme Court Of the United States,
in ascertaining what the law of nations
was touching the case of the Eugene; and
this the Union calls ga Notifying specta-
Gle" The decisions of the United States
tribunals are as authoritative upon a con-
struction ST the law Of nations as those of
foreign tribunals. The Attorney General
cited cases also from the British Admiral
ty, and for so doing he is not censured;
but to quote cases decided in the United
States courts is "mortifying spectacle, -
and an abomination in the eyes of the
, Union.
To sustain foreign minister who in
suits the American Government, the
Union has derided the people; sneered
: at the President; denounced the Cabinet;
] aggravated an accusation against an Amer
lean officer; accused a captain of the navy
{ OF incorporating public document; and
dlscredited the decisions of the United
States courts in matters affecting the in
depreciation Of public law We know not
. what the Union will next do in its zeal,
0 unless It denounces Providence for having
y strewn the coast off Vera Cruz with reefs
0 deslgnedly to annoy and embarrass the
captain Of the French ship Eugene.
0 The letter from Paris which will be
y found IN another column is from the pen
0 OF BRYANT, the poet, who, removed from
o the strife OF Hunkers and Barnburners, is
9 renewing his better part from the foun-
tains of the antique world,