4 V
I.J 1 ?-
It is even i.e to ab.ui,, frotB I,,, wbicllf howem w mJ jooJ . th(j ,enib"talic."rf i,yt uhkh
find oo re.ponMwth.hart of tSWeitiasn, aad wUieB will b e,tde(1 whu Lud Ieinor$e The wUdom of w
leUlly en in grafting laws on Conscience. IK tW..
i,S,rt at Ik LWM ,vi4rM. J
, iiultomal l'er mlai or two rW!Urf ..It, it
...inf- Pirl"" '' ' al Ik
.Tf - -4 fcK"tM
.hi iMtil t ttlm forth Sril w.k,wl M
?JI cl lt r . ih.rnr. IMI
JJ 4 .11 iriuA 4f W t (titan, iw IMjr Ml
ti rtiri t. , 'A ' ' ; ' . ...Hi
V cn'lRfiSPn.YDENGJZ.
ii'lra fntfcti Saes. t
...,.,, j wMrot.. ruao the point,, that .-a--Jen,
f.-rt-Oftv.-- B1), . .which was nw
' "tnnWunicated to yoa.-whkh-teari5
ja'ts long, after you occupied St. Marks,
ind subsequently to the lime yodhsd
drtermioed to occupyPensacola, (see
1 v'our Utter of Jane 2dl8l8, to roe,
"published with the SeWmole docu
ment,) could give yimWhority to
occupy those post. I know that, in
quoting the lettes, you could not in
tend such ahsurbity to authorize such
an inference j and I must therefore
conclude that it was your intekion by
the extract to show that, atthV time
;' ion that the orders under whichWou
act. were intended to authokiie
ihe occupation of the Spanish posts
1 Ntvihig could have- been more remote
' from mv intention in writing iheletter.v
JheVw w wliich l' have'aUays taken of
your orders, and in direct contrad.c
ti )n to the President's message of the
2J.h Mrch, 1818, communicated but
a tw weeks before to the House of
Jlottr natives, (already referred to,)
and which g'ves nKirrttif 0ppW1
r,nstruction to your orderr. in tact,
the letter, on its fce, proves th.t it
m tTrcintentio of the - Govero
rre .t to occupy the Spanish posts.
? ferrnig to it, you will aee that 4
c..r! ,scd to the Governor a copy of
mv orders to General Gaines, of the
1 Gth December, 1817, authorizing
him to cr ss the Bpnth line, and to
ai: tck the Indians within the limits of
Florida, unless they bhould take shel
ter under a Spioish pot, in which
tvent, he was directed t rf port im.
medi u-tlv . to the iDeparxmcnt, which
order (iovernor'B'ibU was dircctedjo
t Jcr h hi autWity for carrying
' the war i to Florida, thtts clearly es.
'lu " o . m e .
r.b iii ig the fact that the order was
i?.ij-red "sinru.fuTcc,'aiia--obt
perded by thatwyatirtrwsag'
t assu n: the commaou in ocuu
ole war.
- N it cn mv letter of the 6th of Feb
ruary be, by any sound rule of con
rttruction, iaterprctei iuto an authqri
tv to ccapv the Spanish posts, or as
M.mtpninrino. on mv oart. such an
iiitrrpretanon of the orders previous
ly given M you. Your, letter of the
2i) h January, to which mine is in
answt-r, bears date at Nashville, be
fore yo i set out on the expedition,
an 1 r nsistsof a narrative of the mea
sur . 4dopted by you, in, order to
bri.ig your forces i uo the field, where
th-v were directed to rendnvous, the
time intended for marihiog, the or
ders for supplies given t contractors,
with other details of the same kind,
without the slightest indicating of v ur
intention ti act agiinst the Sparrisu
pois, a.id the approbation of the Pre
sident of the mexsurrs you had adop
ted co il l be Intended to apply to those
detailed in vour letter. I do not
think ih y ur letter of the 13th la
t in, oresonts the question, whether
thrExemtive, -orrwrlf Uced-the
true construction, consideterl as miU
itary question, on the orders under
which you acted. But I must be per
mitted sav, toat the co .struction of
th" f jrmcr is in strict conformity with
1 mv intenti.m in dralg' dp or
d-rs t nd that, if thev be susceptible
f i different construction, it was far
front being . my tntenihn they should
he. did not then suppose, nor have
I ever, that it was in the power of the
President, judder the constitution, to
""Her the occopTtiln of the po"sTs"fif 1
ati 'n with whom we were not at wa
fwhatever might he tht right of the
Qeneraf, under the law of nations', to
mack an enemy sheltered ioJerjhr
POH of aneutral poweri) and hsd I
been directed by the.P'esidcot to ts
t ue such, order, I should hive been
v restrained from lepm plying by" the
Vgher authority nf the constitution,
which I had aworn to upport, ' Nr
will I ditcun the auistion whether
Cfc qrdct 9 6eofTl lnhibii
8AusnuBTr,nowAr county; nc..:..:..ahoay. mrc h.
log from attack he Spanish,, posuj, (a
copy of which wan sent to you,) was
in fact, and according to military
usage, an order to yrni, and of course
obligatory until recinded. . Such, cer
tainly, was my opinion. I koow that
yours was different. You. acted, ok
yoaf"TOMtrucUQablieviniiiu.cjrbe.
riglit j and, in pursuing the course
wrtuch-I- hv dooer I jU;nt.aa ttral
right acton the construciotJ which
I Concevied to be correct,-knowing it
to contarm to my lutentions in issuing
the i prjeri; But in waiving now the
question of- the true construction of
the orders, I wish it however to be
understood, it is only because ! do not
thiok it presented by your letter, and
not because I have now, or ever had,
the least doubt of the correctness of
the Opiuion which I entertain. I have
always been prepared to discuss it on
friendly terms with you,' . ai appears
by the extracts from Mr. Monroe'a
correspondence, and more recently by
1828, covering a copy of a letter of
Mi jor If. Lee, in which ! decline a
correspondence that he had requested
on the subject oi the construction of
vouf orders In ' mv letter to Maior
er trr
e public documents o ily for the con-
stVuctT)n which the ExrxutvvTgave to
theorders, I infer tlut in this suhjer.t
youXhave not,iud access to 4h Gen
eral's (Jtckson's) privte papers but
it I he in an error, and if the c..n-
sTru"ctup ivliicfi" ''We',"a"3mThTsTfo'n'
gave toyrhe ordefs to be "not stated
with sufficient dintmctness in the then
President's correspondence with hi m,
I will cheerfully give, as one of the
members"ofhe Administration,, mv
own views fully in relation to the or
ders, if it be desired by Genet al Jack
son j but it is nly with him and at
his desire, that under existing circum-
stances, I should feci mysel! justified
in corresponding orthis or sny other
subject connected ih his public con
duct to which ! add in my lettej to
youf...,xoy.Ming..op.y.o.t..tI)e.lettcr.'.of.
which the above is n extract, " with
you I cannot -ave the slightest objec-
tion to correspond on this subject, If
addition d information be desirable."
You exnressrd no-dcsirrfoV further
CTtoTmairai?'! loirlt- forwted
that Mr. Monroe's correspondence
with you, and the public dicuments,
fufiiished vou a futl and clear cot:rp.
lion of the construction which the Ex
ecutive, gave to .y(iurorders ; uader
which impression I remdned till I re
ceived your letter ol the 13th inst.
Connected with the subject of your
orders, there arc certain expressions
in vour letter, which, though I a n at
a loss to understand, I caonut pass
over in silecce. A'ter announcing
vour surprise at the contents of Mr.
Crawford's letter, you aik whether
the information be correct, "under
all of the circumstances, of which you
nd I are both informed, tlut any at
tempt seriously to affect me was mov
cd and sustained by you in cabinet
council, when, as is known to you, 1
was executing the wishes of the gov.
ernment." If by wishes, which you
have underscored, it be meant that
there was any intimation given by my
self, directly, or indirectly, of the de
sire of the government that you should
occupy tne spanisn post, o i '"
wxn- nfor md. I had nottnej
slightest koowleage oi any sucn inti-
-
mtion, nor did J ever hear a wnisper
of any such before. H it I cannot im
agine that it is your intention to make
a distinction .between the wishes and
the public orders of the governme it,
j 1 fiid no sach distinction in your
correspondence with the President,
nr in any of the public documents j
h,.t. nnthe contrirv. it Is strontly re-
hutted bv vour relvine for yoar justi
fication constantly and exclusively on
your pib'le oirjers. Taking, the i7
the 'wishes o the goveromept ' m oc
hui another expression for its orders,
I must refer mhe proot aireauy oner,
ed, to show thst thu wishes of the
ipvcrnmeot, relation to the Span
ish posts, were not such it you as
sume them to be. -Hiving,
I trust,, satisfactorily es-
..ki'..v.l tKai there has not been the
1... utmie as to the construction of
lyour urdcrs, l wdUovr proceca to
state the part which I took in the de
liberations of the cabinet. My atate;
ment will be confined strictly to mv
self, as I do not feel myself justified
to speak, of the course of the other
members of the administration t and.
in fact, only of my own In aelf-de-
lancejuodcr -the- xtraerdinary-ctr.
cumstancet connected with this cor
And here I roust premise, that the
object -ofricbincr',coanciiia"inr3f "16
bring together opinions already form,
ed, but to form opinions on the course
which the government ought to pur
sue, after full and mature deliberation.
Meeting in this spirit, the first object
is a free exchange of sentiment, in
which doubts and objections are freely
presented and discussed, it is I con
ceive, the duty of the members thus
to present their doubts and objections,
and to support them by offering fully
all of the arguments in their power,
but at the same time- to take care not
tec form vropf otointtt all ihr facilin
views are fully brought out, and everv
doubt and objection carefully weighed.
In this spirit I came inti the meeting.
The q testions involved were aumer
ons and important $ whether you had
transcended your orders j if so, wh n
course ought to be adopted what was
the conduct of Spain aod her ofHcers
in Florida j what was the state of our
relation with Spain; and,' through
her, with the other Lurepean powers
a question, at that tims, of uncom
mon com plicati on .. and d ffic ul ty.:
T'iese questions bad all to be careful-
y examined and wMghed, both aepsr-
ately aod in connexion, before a final
pinion could be wisely formed j and
never did I see a deliberation in which
every point was more carefully exam
ined, or a greater solicitude displayed
to arrive at a correct decision. I was
the junior member of the cabinet,
and had been but a few months in hr
administration, as Secretary ofWr.
I was more immediately connec ed
with the questions whether you ha:l
transcended--your orders and, r if so,
hat course ought to be pursued. I
was of the; impression that-you bad
exceeded youif ordera, ' and h ad acted
on your owo. responsibility j but I nei
ther questioned your patriotism nor
your motivesT Baievtrig-thii-where
orders were transcejtded, investiga
tinn, as a matter of course, ought to
follow, as due in justice to the g-ivern-mcnt
and the officer, uiless there be
strong reasons to the contrary, 1 came
to the meetiag tinder the. impression
that the usual course ought to be pur
sued in this case, which I supported
by presenting fully and freely all the
arguments triat ocrured to me. They
were met by other arguments, grow
ing out of a more enlarged- view M
the subject, as connected with the
conduct of Spain and 'icr ojfL era, a.d
the course, of policy which honor and
interest dictated to be pursued towards
her, wi'h which some of the memb-rs
of the cabinet were more fam. liar than
myself, and whose duty it war to pre
sent that aspect, of the subject, as it
was mine to present that mre mm
diately connected x with the military
operations. After deliberately weigh
ing every question, when the me n
hers of the cabinet came to form their
final opinion, on a view, of the whole
cround, it was unanim ousjv determin
,--1 -understodfis-iw-ef thejls-t-mef-aml-e x remely-Wim kal t
course adoped,- and -wh".h- ws - fully
made inown to yu oy mr. .ionroe s
letter of the 19th of July, 1818. I
gave it my assent and snpport. as be.
a a
in? mat wntcn, uuuer an uic iiaum
u . . . . . 1 .
ttaaces, the ptibHeioterest required to-
be adopted. . .
1 shall now tnrn to the examination
of the version which Mr. " Crawford
has given of my course In this impor
tant deliberation, beginning with-his
" apology for having disclosed what
look "place in the cabinet meeting.'1
He s'avs. In the summer after the
meetinr. an extract of a letter from
Washington w is published in a Nash
ville nsner. in which It was stated
that I (Mr. Crawford) had proposed
to arrest (ieoeral Jack son, out tnat ne
was triumphantly defended by Mr.
.... a.'a asMi a
Calhoun and Mr. Adams. 1 ma let-
iftUnrti would nrobs'jlr ha mora cor
rect, at least si ippliesb'a U nt sssmbsr of
tnc cnbioev.
ter I always believed, was written bv
Mr. Calhoun, or by his directions.
It had the desired effect 1 Gener
Jackson became inimical to me, and
tnendiy to Mr. Ualhouu.
I am not at all surprised that Mr.
Crawford should feel tha? he stands in
need tf a - apology far betraring thc
deliberations ot the cabinet. It is. I
ucueve, oi ooiy ine-nrst' instance-in
our country, but one of a very few
int taticta to bet foulialB'finyHuory; or
any age, that aniudividualhasfelthim
Self absolved from the high obligation
which honor aad duty impose on one
situated as he. was. It1 is not, how.
ever, my intention to comment on the
morality of hit disclosure.) that more
immediately concerns himself 1 and I
leave him undisturbed to establish his
own rules of honor and fidelity, in or.
der to proceed to the examination of a
question in which I am more immedi-
atelyconcerned- the truth of his ap-
ology. '
I deitreww speak harihly Bf-Mr.ilv7rK"
Crawford. I sincerely commiserate
hia misfortune. I may be warm in
political contestsj but it is not in me
to retain enmUy, particularly, towards
the uusuLCessful. In the political cony
test which ended in 1825, M" Craw
ford and-myaelf.iook-oppoite-AidajLular-i -cannot lav my-hand-o-th
but whatever feelings of unkmdncrt it
gve rise to, have long since passed
twty on my part. jThe contest end. j
ed m an entire change nf the political j
elements of the country t 'aid in the!
I found myself acting with many oi
he friends of iMr CrawbM 10. whom
I had been . recently opposed, and op.
posed to many of my ft i cods, with
whom I had, till then, been associated.
In this new state of things, my incli
nation, my regard foy his friends who
were acting with rat; and the success
of the cause for which we were io'tnt-
ly contending, allcontributed to re
m ,ve from , my bosom every feeling
towards htm, S4VC. .pity. for.hujnLs..
Wtu ne I -wsHd-tKt -apeak -a-bara rrf
rd, itl-oukl avoid it f and it is
cause of painto me that the extraor-
me--em-m-idMftnc;To
Ivtj UvlHi' y wvai V J HIS VUilNVVWII
I ipearnn this plrfcwlreTisjen
is I do that his apology ha no Toun-
Jatiooln truth, lis offers no rcjis.n
for charging me with so dishoaerable
an act as that of betrayiag theprocee
r r.u . . 1 u t .u
Jiuffsol the xabiuct, and. that, lor .the
purpose of injuring one of my associ-
kte. in the administration. Thecharge
. 11 l- . .
rests wholly n his suspicion, to which
t ' ' .l
t oppose my pusmvc .nacriiuu iim n
tin r i'j il 4 l 1
is who'Iv unfounded. I had noknowl-
edgebfthelet.er.orconnexUnwithit,
nor do I recollect ihatlevcrsaw the!,.
B.i 1
ut why charge me and not
it . 1 1 1 ,
Mr, Adams f I wish not to be under.
.toud as intimating ihat Mr. Adam.
had the leastconaeJion with the affair.
1 l . . . w,i S 1
I beneve him to be wholly Mcspaole
ot such baseness. 1 had then been bu
a few months-in the administration,
anJ Mr. Crawford and myself were
o the best terms without a feeling,
certainly on mv part, of rivalry orjeal-
ousy. In assigning the motive that
he does for the letter, he furgets the
1 1 1 , 5 .
relation which existed then between
... if 11 . 1
you and himself. He says it had the
j jfl-..u. u rij
desired effect, thstyoubecame friend
itremelinimical
M.-HJo-.reUr
vour hostility to him long preceded
. - . . 0 "
this penci, and had a very different
ti .'i j .1 I
origin. He certainly could not have
anticipated thst a copy of hi. letter
- . .t t. t . t . " . . i . t
Wftum w pi'SCvti1 iw yvxxr ninu.
These are not the only difficulties
accompanying the apology t there are
others still more formidable, and which
must Compel him to assign some oth
er reason for disclosing the procee.
dings of the cabinet.
Mr. McDuffie's letter mf of the
14th instant, of which I enclose a copy,
proves that Mr. Crawford spoke freely
of the proceedings of the cabinet on
his way 10 Oeorgis, in the summer of
1818, and datea will show that he
could not at that time have seen the
extract from the Nashville paper, on
which he now rests hit apology. The
deliberation of the cabinet took plac
The letter of th UV Ceerf Udufi,
Appt ollc nwk4 tt.
betireeD the 14ih and 25 Juiy t 1818
On the former day, Mr, Mi.roe re
turned -to Wash'u t'ion from Luudon, .
and on the latter a general exposition
of the views of the Government in re '
latiort.to the opei atiutis in Florida ap
peared in the lntelligeiweri. fher let
tgf of fCMdaroe vihTrStfr
Jtujy-jaiflLjxei pmbably tht A Jt ,,
the final, dexisiotl of th cihltiei, Tt
Crawford passed
the llth Auorust. as. anoounced'm th
papers of that city, on which day, or
the precedinfr, his conversation,- to
which Mr. MrDufhVs letter relitetj
must have taken placet Oi a com
parison of these dates, you will tee
that it was impossible that Mr. Crav
ford could have seen tfie extract from
the Nashvila paper when he was tn
Edgefieldand he must consequently,
fi id sombthe'r apology for his discl.
surcs.
his was not the only tnstanc
of his
aking the disclosures . heforei
he saw the extract. He was at Mil.
18 18, a few days after he passed A "
though Augusta,, and a little . after,
there appeared a statement in the '
Georgia JourUl, somewhat! varied
from that made in Edgefield, buj .
agreeing with it in mostot the partic.'
article, but have a distinct recollection
of it. You no doubt remembsr iu
CifCumstahees fixed it on Mr. Craw
ford, and it has not to my knowledge
been denied. T
L:.k.. t . c TV
fttK i k;
own motives and actions, it would b
unreasonable- to . suppose - that -Mr
Crawford's statements will prove mora
correct in what relates to me. I will
now proceed to examine them : Hev
first states that I proposed that you
should "be punished in some form,
nr renritnanAfA in annua Cavm " .
LQ make m coure more 0(lio t '
.UDDo.., he adds, that Mr. nalhrtn-.-
;n Ai "i 1-;:r-..f--. - -
.f.fr,rtnn; .aH . -
mcnt which on ( f , . , abfurd
punUhcd without arrett Mfl lria,r
5J.!i?t?.u'4,C. rny under- . 7
sunQng-very4ow,".'x::r::;i
The next allegatTbOequTrea mucfT'""''
more attentioa.-. IIe.says,iIadcedIlZI.
my own views on the subject had on- T
J . . 1 . :
acraone a material cnanee alter tha '
it -at 7" v . -
"b.net had been conyenedfr (ral--
iTt 7? t.letur:
that General Jackson had wruteo to -
, .. , lit
the President, who had fortrotten thai
, , , , ,
he hid received such a letter, but said 1
t . , , . . .
thJT
. . fc . 7 .
(lis csninei luu orouROt 11 out. in II "
. . , 6
General Jjcksnn approves of the de '
, ... t J rt
'efm'0' 0 . Qf"
k UP Amelia island and Ga v. .
town 1 aod gave It also as his opinion
. . .. . 'a
V ' l V, c, DV.'? .
uoiiea niaici. 111 aaoeu, ll -might. :
be delicate ratter for the Exeeutiva
todec.de, but il the President ap
proved of it, he had ouly to give a
hint to some confidential member of
w -"7 T 7f V.
would do it, and tike the rei-wmsth U- .,
... . , ,, . . . iL i' .7 -
tr on hiinselir- I -asked the Presidentrr
. , .. . ... . , .
f the letter had been answered r he r
... , . . . - ...
"fJZlJZVZ 'pjl'JJlS.
. u . ,' . . f
lion, ib takinff IVntarnN hml,A Um
" 'j. " "k.k. i?
ws doing what the hxecutive wished. :
, w.i" 7 . .
" u " ,
fliction of punishment on General
Jackson, who had consideted the st- ;
lence of the f resident as a tacit con-
sent 1 yet it was after the letter was
read 1 that Mr, Calhouo made the. .
preposition to the Cabinet for punish '
ing the General." Again t "1 do not
kniatr thirl vertilotedwatlhe letter
to the rresideoti yt th- tc'.ur had
most important bearing on the dclibt
eratlons of the cabinet, at least in my ;
mind, and possibly on the minds of '
Mr. Adams and the President" j but '.
neither expressed any opinion on the '
subject. It seems it had pope- on the
ralod of Mr, Calhoun, for it made 00
change to his conduct. ;
It will be DO easy matter fjr Kl-
Crawford to reconcile the atatcnaJ,
" it"
.
4 -
...
0