The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1868-02-25


is not recognized, or, if recognlzad, is not
accepted. There man is made for the
government, not government iur man.
Here the power is in and Of the people.
and the government is made by them ami
fer them. Our Institutions are free and
invite the people Of all nations to come
and enjoy them with Us, ami prescribcs
the regulations under which they may
become citizens Of the republic Now,
SIR, obligations Of the citizen and the gov.
eshment are reciprocal. The subject
abandons that 10 Which he is entitled
when free from the restrainsts of an OF
ganizcd societ;. lie no longer protects
himself by natural law, which is simply
the law of force, but yiells !eaIty, allie
glance, obedience 10 an organized govern
ment. Then the faith and honor Of the
Stlte are pledged to hi. protection. S:rp
wherein are the obligations Of Il natural
led citizen loss or inhil'.rent than the OBJ
legations Of native born cit!z,n! Are
they not the SAM! i not each equals
bound by his oath to regard the law and
support and defend the Constitution
Then sir, if the obligations are the same
wherein does tha duty CT the government
TO each differ! Certainly nowhere. We
canno! plead difference in obligation -
We can only plead nan p0,sqmB in view
Of the OIL! feudtl doctrine stated by Black
stone AMI adopted as Il part ofthe common
law OF England, that cuca a citizen by
the acc lent of birth cXpatriauon under
anY circumstances less than the Consent
of the sovereign is an impcss.bilty. The
doctrine. sir ii not oaly at war with the
theory Of our institutions, but is equally
at wax with every principle ofjustice and
OF sound public law.
am aware, sir, that NC are about
taking step which may involve Us in
difficulty with European powers. 1t is
to be hoped that our position viii be ac-
cep,cd. II no', sir, we must take the
consequences. Personal death is better
/ than personal dishonor. War is better
( than natiCnal '!i,honor.
! We arc iii in the able anl exhaustive
report presented by tie chairman Of the
committee on lorai4a att ,irs llr. Banks
that about three-fiths Of aur people are
OF foreign descent. They with the native
born have fought for the honor of our
flag they with the nrtive born have pre-
served their country and our country
their bones lie mingled in the soil of every
battlefield of the rebellion. ireland, with
a people as brave, as patriotic, as patient,
and as oppressed rs any nation Of En-
rope, looking to L. as an example and de-
mlnling the recognition of rights which
she deems to be justly hers, has the sym
plihy Of thousands Of her gallant sons III
our country. For the expression Of that
sympathy within our jurisdiction EnClan
arrests AMI imprisons them, flr having
violated their nltural AMI ind feasible al
Ie-iance; and upon the same principle, il
hereafter through war we shall be Obliged
to teach our arrogant mother another
lesson, every patriotic lrishman who will
then stand, as he already has stood, by
the flag of his adopted country, will, il
captured, commit the crime of treason,
and be liable to be hanged upon an En-
glish gibhet. S.r, It ID high time that we
assert calmly but firmly and in unmistak-
able terms the true doctrine of public law,
that this Rcpu'lc viii at any AMI every
hazard rcuier 10 the na,uralized citizen
the same rights and the same protection
that i does to tie native L)rG.
We can pursue no other course If we
adhere to the accepted PRINCIPLES upon
which our government was established
and it is TO b. hoped that the enlightcne
nations of Europe, cOnceding that we
plant ourselves upon recognized public
law, upon abstract justice, and uron a =
cessity arising as well from the condition
o. our society AS the theory of our cOv~
ernment, will readily yield their old teu-
dal relic to our reasonable demand. The
question, it must he admitted, is involved
in difficulty. for il trenches upon both the
custom and the prejudice Of Europe -
And yet the time seems TO have arrived
when, by positive enactments, the doc.
tr.ne which we have long asserted, and
respecting which 50 much skilled and pol
itic diplomacy has been exhausted, should
be enunciated and firmly adhered 10.
The fist provision in the bill reported
by the honorable chairman of the commit
tee on foreign affairs Mr.. Banks is &
manly an firm declaration of our posi-
ton; bat, sir, the sentence Immediately
succeeding seems TO me TO paralyze it
force The declaration of the principle o
"pubiic law" would seem to amount t,
nothing bat guide to the Executive t,
secure by negotiation what we demand a
a right. Why, sir, the claim is not new
Cne. 1t has been subject Of dipompc,
with almost every administration sine,
the foundation of our government. y,
one can have forgotten the celebrated pa
pers Of Webster and Marcy; each claim
ing this to be the true principle of publ
law which the United States could no
yield. And Mr. Seward, IN his lette
to our Minister at Prussia, respecting tn,
arrest OF natives of Prussia who haC
sworn allegiance to our government upor
a temporary visit to their native country
on account of their liability to military
service, says that the United States hav,
accepted and established goyernmen
upon the principle of the rights of mel
who have committed no crime to choos
The State in which they will live and t'
a