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s . '. V- ' ''"' ' ' " '.'v , i i - ' s ' ' ' . . --.''if- '- r ' -.' 1 i ? I I . 1 1 ; v -A 'if. ((Hri tr th Uat of falriellf Vtful Pe, ' if. . -' . - , UiMrmrp'4 J party rtf to live Brthr i 1 v-,::;-" . .-) i:..i.' ? !j. ' ' - A. V:-. THURSDAY, JANUARY .31, 1811. i - . t. Vol. XII. 71 T t 1 11 ' " 1 1 - - - - ' ' DEBATE I TEBTTOIIY WEST of TOE PERDIIKX Af CLAY f from Kentucky nnM he crratiEcd tne if some other gtntlerom hid undertaken to. reply to the ingenious argument which you haye juit bend. But not perccmng any one imposed to do ao, a aente of duty .obli ges me; though Very unwell, to claim your indulgence whilst 1 offer ray: sen timent on this subject, io interesting to the Union at Urge, but particularly to the Western section of it. Allow me tr rt Dress my admiration at Ihe more than Aristidean justice, which, m a question or Territorial title between the United States and a foreign nation, in ;..rti certain eentlcroen to espouse the prttenMcnsoftheforeign nation. Doubt ' less, in any future negotiations, she wiil ba?e too , mucb magnammuy w herself of these spontaocous concessions in her fator, made on the floor of the Senate of the U. States. It was to hare been expected, that in a question like the present, gentle men, eren on the same side, would have different views, nd although' armm at a common conclusion wou!d do srby Various arguments. And hnce the ho norable geneman from Vermont en tertiinr doubt with regard to our title agaiast Spaint-whiM he feels entirely satisficd'of it against Frcnce. Bcfi- v bg, as I dcWhat our title against both powers i indisputable, under the treaty of SU Ildefonso, between Spain U France, and thetrcivy between the French Re public and the U. States, 1 shall not en quire into tiic treachery by which the Xing I Spain is.alledged to have lost his crown ; nor shall I stop to discuss the question involved in the overthrow cf the Spanish monarchy, and how far the power of Spain ought to be consi dered as merged in that of Fruncc. I shall leavethc honorable gentleman from Delaware to mourn jmr the fortunes of thefallen Charles. I have nocoromis- . aeration for Princes. My sympathies are reserved for the great mas of man kind, ard I own that the people of Spain have them roost sincerely. I will adopt the course suggested by hc nature of the subject, and pursued by other gentlemen of examining into our title to the country lying between the Mississippi' and the RioPerdido (which, to avoid circumlocution, t will call West Florida, although it is not the whole of it) and the propriety cf the recent measures taken for the occupa tion of itJ Our title drpcndi, first, up on the limits of the provioce or colony of Louisiana, and secondly, upon a just expos tion of the treaties before men tioned. On this occasion it Is only necessary to fix the Eastern boundary, la order to ascertain this, -it is proper to take a cursory view of the strleroent of the country, the basis. of European title to colonies in Ameiica being prior disco very or prior occupancy, lnr 1682, La Salle migrated from Canada, thtn own ed by France, desended the Mississippi and named'the country, which it wa ters, Louisiana. About 16'J8, lVIber viUe discovered by sea the mouth itthr Mississippi, esiablrshed a colony at the Isle Dauphine or Massacre, which lies at the mouth of the bay of Mobillc and one Dt the mouth of the river Mobillc. and was appointed by France Ouvernor of ihe country. In the year 1717, the famous West India Company sent inha- l bitants to the isle Dauphinc, and found some of those who had been f ettled there under the auspices of DIbervt!J . AVout the tame period BaSoxi, near the PascsgoU,. was sctUed. 1719, thr city of New-Or'eans was laid off and the teat of the government of LouUian was established there. In 1756, the French erected a foif on Tonbigbce. . These" facts prove thai France had the actual possession of the country as far east as the' Mobile at lest. But the great instrument which ascertains, be yond all doubt, that the cr un'ry io ques tion is comprehended within the hmijs of Louisiana -is one of the most, authen tic and so:emn character which thr nr. 1 chives of a nation can lurniih. 1 mear the patent granted in 1612 by Louis the Uth to Crozat. f Here Mr. Clay read snth parti of the patent is were cppli-- cable to the subject. According ta this' document, in describing the pro vince or colony of Louisiana, U is decla red to be bounded by Carolina on the East and Old and New Mexico on the West. Under this high record evidence, it might be insisted that we have a fair claim to East as well as West Florida agaiost France at least, unless she ha by some convention or other obligator y act, restricted the Eastern limits of the province. It has, indeed, been assert ed, that by a treaty between France and Spain, concluded in the year 1719. the Perdido was expressly stipulated to be the boundary between their rcsp-ctive provinces of Florida on the East and Louisiana on the West ; but as I have been unable to find any such treaty, I am induced to doubt its existence. About the same period, to wit, to wards the close of the seventeen h cen tury r" when France settled the Isle Dau phine and the Mobille, Spain erected a fort at Pensacola. But Spain never pushed her actual settlements or con quests farther West than the bay of Pensacola, whilst those of the French were bounded on the East by the Mo bille. Between those .two points, a space of about 1.1 or U leagues, neither natfon had the txrlusivc possession. The Rb.Perdido, forming the bay of the same name, discharges itself into the gulph of Mexico between the Mo bille and Pensjola, and, bcinfc a natu ral and the most notorious object be tween them, presented ite!f as a suita ble boundary between ihi po sessions of the two nations. It ar'coidingly ap pears very early to have been adopted as the boundary by tacit if not express consent. The ancient chart and histo rians therefore of the country so repre sent it. Dupratz, one of the most ac curate historians irv point of fact ,and de tail of the time, whose work was pub lished as early as 1758, describes the coajt as being bounded on the East by the Rio Perdido. In truth, fco Europe an nation whatever, except France, e ver occupied any portion of Wes Flori da, prior to her cession of it to England in 1762. The gentlemen on the other side do not indeed strongly controvert, if they do not expressly admit, that Louisiana, as held by France anf eriot to her cessions of it in 1762, reached to the Perdido. The only observation made by the gentleman from Drhvrare to thr contrary, to wit, that the bland of New Extract from the Grant to Crozat, dated FonUlnMeau, September 12, 1712. LOO IS, BY THE CRACK OF COD, &C. The care we have always had to procure the welfare and advantage of our subject , having induced us, 8tc. to seek for all possi. ble opportunities of enlarpnfr and extending the trade of our American colonies. ' We did in the year 1683 give our orders to undertake a discovery of the countries and lands which are situated in the northern part of America, between new France and New Mexico ; and the Sieurde la Sail, to whom we committed thatcnterprize, having had success enough to confirm a belief that a communication mijrht be settled romMrw France io the Gulph wfmMexif by means of large rivers ; this obli jred mv immediately after the peace of Rys wic, to jfive orders for establishing a colony there and maintaining a parrison, "which hat htpf and prettrved the pouetsion we had taken in the very yrar 1683, of the lands, coasts and islands which are situated in the Gulph of .Mexico, between Carolina on the eut and Old and' New Mexico on the west- But a new war having broke out in Europe shortly af ter, there was no possibility, till now, of reaping from that colony the advantages that might have been expected from thence, &c. And whereas, upon the information we vave received concerning the disposition and situ ation of the said countries, known at present by the name tf the prtrcihee of Law nana, we are of opinion, that there may be established there in a considerable commerce, &c we have resolved to grant the commerce of the country of Louisiana to the SfeUr Anthony Crozat, fcic. For these, reasons, &c" we by these presents, signed by our hand, have ap- x)inted and Uu appoint the said pieur Cro zt to carry on trade in all the lands , posses, sed by us, and bounded by New Mexico aitf by the land of the English of Carolina, all the establishments, ports, havens, t rivers, and principally tLe port and haven of the Isle Dau phinei heretofore called Massacre, the river of Hi. Louis, heretofore called Mississippi, from the edge of the sea as far as theillinoia, together with the river, St Philip, hereto fore ealled the Missouri, and of St Jerdme, heretofore called ' Ouabache," with all . the countries, territories, and lakea within land, and the rivers which fall directly or indirectly into that pat of the rier St. Louis. ; . , ;; . ThearricUi. L Our pleasure is, that aU the aforesaid lands, countries, streams, ri vers and islands be, anJ remain comprised wi der the name of the government of ' Lvuiriana, which shall be dependent upon the 'general government of New France,; to which' it it subordinate s and further, that all the lands which wc possess from the Illinois be united, ice to the general government of New. France Orleans being particularly .mentioned could not for that reason constitute a part of Louisiana, is susceptible of a very satisfactory answer. That island was excepted out of the: grant to Eng land, and was the only part of the pro vince east of the river that was so ex cepted. It formed in itself one of the most prominent and -important Objects of the cession to Spain originally, and was transferred jtp her with the portion of the province West of the Mississip pi. It might with equal propriety be urged that St. fiugustine is not in East rlorida, oecause St. Augustine is ex pressly mentioned by Spain in her ces sion of that province to England ; from this view of the subject I think it results that the province of Louisiana compri zed West Florida previous to the year 1762. i What is done with it at this epoch ? By a secret convention of the 3d of No vember of that year, France ceded the country lying West of the Mississippi, and the Island of New Orleans to Spain; and by a contemporaneous act, the ar .rcles preliminary to the definitive trea ty of 1763 she transferred West Florida t England. Thus at the same instant of lime she alienated the whole pro- vin e. 'Posterior to this grant, Great B itain having also acquired from Spain her poss-sstons east of the Mississippi, ejected thr country into two provinces, East and West Florida. In this State of things it continued, until the peace of 7S3, when Great Britain, in conse quence of the events of the war, surren dered the country to Spain, who for the first lime cam in the actual possesion ; f West Florida. Well, how doesshe dipose of it ? She re-annexes it to the residue of Louisiana extends the juris diction of that government to it, and subjrets the governors or commandants of the districts of Baton Rouge, Felici ana, Mobile and Pensacola, to the au ho- rity cf the Gov. of Louisiana, residing at N. Orleans ; whereas the Governor ot East Florida is placed wholly with-; out his control, and is nnde amenable directly to the Governor of the Havan nah. And' I have been credibly in- f rmed that all the concessions orgrants of land, made in West Florida, under thr authority of Spain, run in the name ".f the government of Louisiana You rannot hvc forgotien that about the pe riod when we took possession of New Orleans, under the treaty of cession from France, the whole country rung with the nefarious speculations which w-re alledged to be practising in that ci ty, with t'hc connivance, if not actual par- icipation of the Spanish authorities, by the procurement of surreptitious grants of land particularly in the district ot Feliciana., West Florida, then, not on ly as France had held it, but as it was irv the hands of Spain, made a part of the province of Louisiana ; as much so as the jurisdiction or District of Baton Rouge constituted a part o .yvest Flo rida. - - .. . 7 . What then is the true construction of the treaties of St. Ildefonso, and A pril 1803, from whence our tittle is de rived I If an ambiguity exist in a grant, the interpretation most favqraljle to the; grantee is to be preferred It; was the duty of the grantor to have expressed himself in plain and intelligible terms. This is he doctrine n?t of Cuke only (wliosa dicta I adroit have nothing to do with the question) but of the code of universal law The doctrine is en titled to augmented force,' when a clause only of the instrument is exhibited, in which clause the ambiguity lurks, and the residue of the instrument 'is kept buck by the grantor. The entire con vention of 176, by wljich trance transJ. ferred Louisiana. to Spain, is concealed and the hole : of the treaty, of St., Ilde fonso, except a sclitiry clause; We arfe thus . deprived of the aids which' V .full view of both of those ibstrumerit's would afford, But we have nq 'occas6n to're' sort to an rules of construxu'bhi hbwer vrr reasonable in themselves, d'cstaW i i . T.- l' .A usn our Hue. j compcicni.Yu:lcMbc of thc facts,- connected 'with the case, ind a candid appeal to tHeVtr(atic , are alone. aufBcientto manifest crurtight The negbciatprs.of the .treaty '-of i.6y5 havrng signed fwjth the? us'ual ceremony two (Copies, one iri thciEnglfsri Ec the o ther in the'Frcnch language; it has been cohtendedi ; that in hc English'veTsiorr the term . cede'i has: been crrbneoiisl' used instead of retrxcedei,whichJis the akpressiolri in r the French; copfc I Anri it ts'targued that.wje;4r JhiJ' by the1 pnraseplogy ot tne rencn cppyi pecausei iis 4ecliitl)aiihe rcat Vrai! agrecdj It would not be very unlair to' enquire it this, is not like the common tase, in private life where? individuals, enter into a contract,' f of which each! pajty retains-a copy duly executed. In such case . neither has the preference. We might as, well say to Francejwe will cling by the Eng lish .copy, asshe could insist upon an adherance to the French copy ; and if she urged ignorance on the part of Mr. Marbois, her, negoriator, of our lan guage, -we might with equal propriety plead ignorance on the part of ou.r rie gociator of her language. As this how ever is a disputable point, I do not a- vail myself of it ; gentlemen shall have the full benefit of the expression in the French copy. According to thrs, then, in reciting the treaty of St. Ildefopso, it is declared by Spain in 1 1300, that she retrocedes to France the colony or provigce of Louisiana, with the same extent that it then had in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France pos sessed it, and such as it should be aftet the treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other States. This latter member of the description has been sufficiently explained by my . col league; j ' . ... ; It is said that since France in 1762 ceded to Spain only Louisiaha' We?t of the Mississippi, and the island of New Orleins, the retrocession compieheiiu ed no more that the retrocession ex vi termini was commensurate with and li mittedby ihe direct cession from France to Spain. If this were true, then the description, such as Spain held it, that is in 1800, comprising also West Flo rida, and such i as France possessed it, that is in 1762, prior to the several cessions, comprising also West Florida, would be totally inoperative. But the definition of the term retrocession, con tended for by the other sde, is denied. It does not exclude the instrurp.entalr.y of a third party. It means restoration or reconveyance of the thing originally ceded, and so the gentleman from De laware acknowledged. I admit that the th:ng restored must have come to the restoring party from the party to whom it is retroceded ; whether direct ly or indirectly is wholly immaterial. In its passage it m;iy have come through a dozen hands. The retroceding party must claim under and in virtue of the right originally possessed by the party to whom the retrocession takes place. Allow me to put a case : You own an estate called Louisiana. You convey one moiety of it to the gentleman from Delaware, Sc the other tefme : he con veys his moiety tome, and I thus be come entitled to the whole. By a suit able instrument I reconvey or retrocede the estate catled Louisiana to you as J now hold it, and as you he!d it : what passes to you I The whole estate or my moiety only ? Let me indulge ano ther stippcsi tion -that the! gentjeman from " Delaware, after lie received his rooie'y , had rbesQwed a new depomi-. nation upon it and called it West Flori da would that circumstance vary tht operation fof ;roy act; of teirotessio'n '.to you I The case supposed is fn truth the real one between the United Slates and $pain. France' in ,1762 transfers Loui siana west ' of .the Mississipi ta $pain, and at the same time conveys th Eas tern pprtion of it exclusive of New Or leansi to Great itainTwenty one years aftcVthat isj in. 1 783, Great, lfi- tain cedes her part to Spain, whoa bus4 becomes1 possessed of ' the entire .riro vtrice'i one portion by "direct Jdfession from France ahd iii'di rect cession. Spain then held the. whole of Louisiana itndct France and invl f tue of the title of France; The Whole moved or passed fromv: France dher. When fchereforeV irt this state of fjiins' slie 'say Vr In, the treaty of SulWefensoj thai- jshe i.Ktrocede'f the province li to France, can 'a doubt exist' that sjhte. parts with and ' gives 'htfa to Frartcet th eh- tirt .colon);?) recluejmssiby lit) of sqch;.a doubt,; she adds ihat she restores, itnot ' in . ,a mutilated conditi on but ifi thatfryrecise? condition in which France and nerhefseif possessed jt.v v- Havng tnns shewn, as I conceive, a cleap night vm Uh'his- tb Wjest ; -Flonda 1 pveceeid to enquire if thjxrcK: damaib'n-pCthel'sI occijpa trorlr ot prone rt v i w hichis7' thus fainy acquired by solemn treaty, be an unautrioi8e& mdasutVoT war ahd'oie gislitionv as has be'en -Sruended ; - 'TlacoO two ifection bf 'ppetitWitl Prir ; sident is authorise o! to ootuBf f:ftSe- ter- ritorievceded to us by France in tfie! Al l to in that languaqre. n pril precedine:., The other Empowers the President to establish a provisional government is limited in restricted to toere. ; i.ne .nest section itsuribnf?( ; the expiration of ,the Uhen session, or. congress, f p he act tne re- Sort ; of Mafchi; 1 8D4 j;e'caritithr previous act tf October shotlld.coritinue in forceV uinit the) fi rst Octobers jO s applicable 6be second and hotthe,first -section, andw intended 'toootinue the provfsiorlaovernment of thr; Pre sident. Bv the act of 24th FebV"! 804. for laying .duties oh gioods impptted. in- to the cedd ef rjtories te Presidenr is 0 erapowerea, ;unenevr m aum it expe- ? dicnty to erect the; bay and river Mobile, Sec. into a separate diatrict, anMfi estab-; lish thereirWa pori of entryVishci deliVeryl By this same act- the Orleans territory ' is laid off, and its boundaries are so de fined as to comprehend f West Florida By rther' arts ; therpresidentil atltBoris ed to remove by force, under certain c i rcu m st ances, perso itl.set tlihg or lajci n g- possession of lands ceded to the United ':' States. ? These' laws", furnish a legislative1 cohstruciion of Miiif'dtii' dent with tha'Cgiyeniby and they vest this Government ! indispytably ;; ai'ppwjerto) : take possession itf tjha coup! ;r,wheTiever it might be proper in his ciretfon.--rV The President hasho1 therelbf, vioja- ted the con stuution and. usurped the, war 1 making power-TutJhe wpuid (rHveio- I iatetl that 'prosistQvlific to see that the-laws are. faithfully exe ;, cuicu, ii ne a ioirger ioroorne vq act v It is urged that he ha-ssutileew Tv annex me portion oi v.v iprKia,pe- iwccn iHc Mississippi anp tne jreroiao to the Orleans Territory V f But G6h- gress, as; has ben shewriihaslredy v uiauc i uc annexaiioRtne iirous otne Orleans Territory as , pneibedby Congress, comprehending th couh-ry kiquestjon. The PresMentbjriis vp o clamation, has not made av; law, but' has mcrciy tieciarco to tne people ci west FlOnda what the lawis 'This1isthelot fice of a proclamation, and that Territo ry should be thus notified. By the act occupying the country the gov niment, . de fattoj wht ther ot Spain o the Keyo- ( lutoonists; ceased to txistnd-tjne 1 of the Orleans Territory applicable to the jcountry, byfoperatioti andfbrfe of r lawt attached to it. But this w4s a fetat of things which th';ijeOilemfght; p ot know, and eve ry dictate of justice and : humanity- required, therefbrev that it should be proclaimed. Ircoside the t nilf before u rritirely; inthe Hent of'de . aral?ry : ) . : . Never could a more propTiioils mol ment, psentjitif for trie exercisbfthe -1 discretionary power placed In the Pre -'. sident and had he ; failed "to embrace itj , hej would have benrirninal'y iriatten f iye ta the dearestlinte rests of ihisjcu-" ' try If' cannot fbe too bften fepeatt'd, i hat If Cuba, on the.onV hand, and Floi- ridaa.QnheHiotJne''at j of a I rri artti nic ;powe-f,it he 'i jrri ;: mense country b?l(-pging tx tr amies, varicu uy suceki's Mcua'Mig' themselyesintotlieGulfof Mexitibat is, one-thrdi nay inore than wothhd of the Uv S tompre is placed at the mtrJy ofthat rWery 4 The possession of ITltd.i s'ar 2' . apspiiiteiy ieces5arysm ihe- naativpf) tho gentleman 6rii the most &!iucoV occao'bfj the'ebu ; upon ,the America what is & be Hon reacefur posseslojrfhi ? which we ae fairiye the 1. wcoiJKtui possoaurs uuuer tne 9Uinoruy of ; Spain assaitotfr troops;, L trust tjb ey will retneVer1ie1jo in 'thease of the Ch esa peake; Suppose an4 attack 'upon ay '-'hio'nvof th'Aroe't ncan atmy wuiihi ine;.acjirowcgea,ijr; .mlts o. the TJhed States,-by aSpnisk forceIrt!sueve?there k?i ist but! ,i atuc; a- w M,itw t wffiij , f course. . i ne gentjeman. conceives is nn&rfrftn ttiat A shnuld--As. thtk- mfl."j iWssdrt alludes bVthemm ler'Ofher:eniy!i;'occupyWe tnestfc ieresting transctioMifcat degree, our rtghts,vuhouf lmeritrence, -m : n vim iirriuii cu . tu zcim iui eii;ii uuw; v.-.j k..-. !,.,- i it abbut -mm t4 m ft 4 fc'i 4 Mi i i i'-' ' Is - - 3 4 -! ! .'. . ' ' 4- - ' - ' : .'''. - i. (.'. -v - s; '
The Weekly Raleigh Register (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Jan. 31, 1811, edition 1
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