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1. -
SPEECH
tjr !rTd inieited two or three exed-
' OvfitrjY in Uis 5'Jilc we fcad cot iBUr,d
ro lure gtVa CJ ohert, until wc met
Vith ibe ioil-wioj pcctllent Speech of our
CU wenb Representative, which wecouJd
t(A tiUtlo from puhliihing :
Mr1. MACON siid, after failing in
tU attempt to amend the bill, be had
ctfjiklcred it of very little importance
jttd, in its present form, he was not
j-xious whether it passed or not ; and
tc hd intended not to have troubled
tie ccmroiitee oh the subjee, but the
iioee course which the debate had
ukwQ uad called him up almost against j
lis own consent, lie cculd truly 537,
ihii he would not, have offered a word
10 itc committee i had not those who
rppvic the bill hare brought into the
&:uttion Frtnch tnnuence, operating
lj a 10 it of m3gic on every act ot the
citciKUt. The conduct of the execu
mc td uudeigone the strictest scruti
ny lj Uiese gentlemen, and their own
laments would, I in bis opinion, con-j
nuce every impartial man, that it had
Decn perfectly Uir and upright to all fo
reign ca.uns the lcat attention to the
Cwvumtnia vbich have from time to
iicue been publuhcd would also con
.c evr ) man of it, and satisfy all
tUt the great object of the government
UJbctj. eacc, ud that peace was
ca.oi-1. ca ui.ul it could no looger be
daic without sui rendering almost eve
ry inonal nbru worth preserving.
Mr. M. said he would endeavor id. his
cbsimiicns to f&Uow the example
vhith hid been set the two last days
tot la utter a wordlto wound the feel
ings of any one ; nor wccld he refer to
iu ducununu, because cveiy member
possessed them, and they had been pub
Lihed for the information of the peo
ple ; tod he ws sure that the commit
Ue must be bred with hearing a cn
ttficc here, and a paragraph ttycre,
rcftd from them. The true way to tin
bcrsiii.d them was to read the whole,
hut he bad never been' in the practice
ot nukjng many quotations from books
cr documents, and he thoiigbt it unite
ccury to m-Ke any now, t He was
dearly of opinion that the gentlemen
wtowere opposed to the administra
te hid the right to say what they tho't
cl h, it jd to select the subject on which
they 'ou:d spe.k; anu as they had
-:.c iftc selection , he ' hoped thej
vruld have ah opportunity now of de
Iheiing their sentiments. He, howe
, regretted that they had selected this
tin ; iKCinjcf all the bills which may
b brcught before the House the pre
uia session, not one, he thought,
vclIu rtquirt d'patch more than this.
Tbe loss of it d y n, may be the loss
ol the next camjiga. He had expect
td that thU general debate, uhich
rcttv.s to include every thing but the
bul, v.oul J bae been delayed until the
should oe under discussion.
Thcoititi niacin the debate seem
bb lpt:smcn,. ; the right to ex
ptn.Lr ; the tight to naturalize, and
IrtLch irRucnce : iieither of which
uiMc any conncc ion with the bill, which
is to taise troops-lor one year. S:r,
s:id Mr. M. I wUl not retort a charge
of Biiiish i fluence, and so balance one
ascnin against ano.her, because I do
the nation ;but if I j was to say there
ai none, I should riot say what I be
l'tfe. People may honestly differ in
opinion as to the efTect which the suc
us cf tnrjlancl or France ever the o
t; er rright have on the interests of the
V. bates, wibout being under the in
fier ce of either, and this, no doubt, is
tU a st ttith thousands
1 wili,befc:e t proceed farther, notice
"rr.e cf the obei nations made by the
Ktntltn.ai frcm N. Vik (Mr. Emott.)
i I nac net ur;rIejsi;od h m or any
ilier gimlciuan cortrcily, I hope thai
'-aH Le ccriec:ci because U is my.
-' "trc i!cV:te to -'i' their sentiments
'-; iii.d it is i .-'ays possible to
-. t'cttn their .t words. He said,
' fiacre was any Ki;lih inQuence,- it
1 f.ie iint';cc il Loche and Sidney ;
-ii mihi he Imc spoke n of the in
- :- cl vuy other jpaii6tt'whorlifed
"" 'r Their itUuence will be re-
'v'eo wherever tlje t works shall be
f - ' ; Lui Hut fuitcf indeuce is not
COXGBESS.
the influence of which we hare heard
so muchi nd which I intend hereafter
to notice ' ; :
He alto mcniiobed the Influence which
drove the firit settler to Plymouth
x, sir, that influence was truirlBri-
ish ; and thit sorfof Influence C BrU
Ipm nas been exercising ever since the
exertions, got into a situation to be use
ful to her ; .and that influence, or rather
that- persecution, compelled the first
setUera of Carolina to leave the other
provinces, and tq settle a second time
in the woods and, s soon as they were
able, (o pay taxes. That same influ
ence followed them and made their
condition much worse it pursued the
people in every part of the continent,
until they declared themselves inde
pendent and trom that day tp thishe
has not treated the United States as
she has treated other independent nations-Mr.
Chairman, I was astonished when
the gentleman told us he was not a
friend to standing armies ; and, almost
in the same breath, aaid that at the last
session he voted for raising the 25,000
men, and that he did not mean, to go to
war when he gave the vote. For what
purpose then, could they be wanted t
Experience had already shewn that the
old establishment .was quite sufficient in
time of peace ; indeed a very considera
ble pari of that was raised soon after
the affair of the Chesapeake, and un
der an expectation that war would fol
low, and not for a regular peace esta
blishment.
The same gentleman told us, that
impressment by the British government
was' no new thing. Ibis' is certainly
true as far as regards her own subjects
and from her own vessels ; but the sys
tematic impressment of fore gners from
foreign ships, is a new thing and that,
too, when the men ana the ships both
belong to the same nation. That go
vernment never attempted to impress
Spaniards, Dutch, French, Swedes or
Danes from' vessels belonging 'to the
same nation with, the person; and it is
thitnew doctrine, which operates solely
on us, 01 wnicn we compiain. ine
question between us and England has
nothing to do with the doctrine that free
ships shall make free goods or free
men, if gentlemen please. And why
draw that into . the debate on the im
pressment of American citizens from
American Vessels I No law or prece
dent can be produced for this abomina
ble and wicked practice. It was never
attempted to be juiificd, notwithstand
ing impressment is no new thing with
her. Every sovereign, said the gentle
man, ha a right to the acrvice of all his
subjects in time of war. But this right
is like some others which sovereigns
claim it is withclit a remedy. 01
what avail is the proclamation of the
Prince Regent in this country, order
ing the British subjects home r None.
Many of them are still here,' and will,
probably, remain here until the termi
nation of the war, and the British go
vernment will never dream of punish
ing one of them for disobedience. But,
admit this right in sovereigns to its
fullest extent, and it does not give one
sovereign the right to impress the citi
zens or subjects of another ; ' nor does
it justify such an act of course it does
not touch the act of which we complain ;
that is, the impressing of American sea
men from American vessels.
It is curious that, throughout this
whole debate, there seems to have been
drawn a:distinc'ion between the rights
of a man' who cultivates the soil, and of
him' that follows 1 he tea, Aand that' this
distinction should have been drawn by
those rwho claim to be the champions
of commerce and of a" navy, and who
have told us that agricul'ure and commerce-are
inseparable ; ought it no1,
then fo follow,' that the rights of those
employed on land or water should also
be inseparable 1 This strange doctrine,
as was observed by the gentleman from
Louisiana '(Mr. Robertson) may dust
the eye but cannot stagger the under!
standing of any one.
The same gentleman said, that we
had taken no measures to exclude Bri
tish seamen' from American vessels for
what purpose was protections given to
Xmtnean seamen ? Surely; tb protect
them against impressment and to show
that we hid no desire to protect others ;
and what more ought to have been done,
he did not te II Tji"s t ask, did . any na
tion ever do more 1 Besides; has not
the U. State .over and over again of.
iered to make an arrangement with
FRIDAY. JM AKCH 12,,4813. -
hG. Britain on the subject of jsailbrs,
wnicnnouia oe satisfactory to optn
by Becuritig toach the usex .pf their
own sailors ? and tia she not always
refused to make snv arrangement a
bbuthem? And it. may be fairly
asked here, what measures G. Bri
tain has taken to prevent her officers
from impressing our seamen ? None,
that I have heard of, and she is the
aggressor wevhave not injured her,
while she has been impressing our
sailors wherever she could find them
and wanted them. If trie tJV States
wanted sailors ever so much, theyJ
could not impress one of hers, and
she knows this ; and she would not
suffer one of them to be impressed by
any foreign power ; and we mast de
termine to defend the rights of ours,
or it will be idle to talk about navi
gation, commerce and a navy. In
deed, if commerce and agriculture be
inseparable, you must defend the
rights of the persons concerned in
both, or both must be injured. There
are no neutrals able to carry our pro
ducts to market, and if 'you will not
protect your seamen they will not
carry them.
It is worthy of remarlt, that, for
twenty years past, the government of
the U; States has been trying to set
tle the question oi sailors with Great
Britain, and that every attempt has
failed, and that it is just now disco
vered, that we have always begun
wroncr. Mv colleatrue (Mr. Pear-
son') and the tr en tie man from Cont
uecticut (Mr. Pitkin) it appears,
could settle this great question with
out much difficulty. If they can, I
wish mo3t sincerely .they would ; I
am however apprehensive they are a
little mistaken,; because Gen. Wash
ington, when President, havinjg Maj.
Pinckney, now Major General Piock
ney .for minister at London, tried
without efTect ; Mr. Adams renew
ed it with Mr. King for minister j
Mr. Jefferson with CoL Monroe and
Mr. Pinkney, now the Attorney
neral 1 and Mr. Madison with the
last .named Pinktiey; all these Pre
sidents and ministers with the aid of
every cabinet have failed. Every de
scription of political opinion with the
greatest talents, has been employed
and have done nothing ; at the end
of 20 years we have gained nothing
and lost our labor, the question is as
unsettled as ever ; and we have been
worsted in this way, that while we
were negotiating they were impress
es v . .
We have been told by my col
league, that it is not the right, but the
abuse of impressment of which we
complaint It is true", sir, thaf we
do not complain of G. Britain im
pressing her own subjects; she may
do as she pleases r with them, that U
no concern of ours ; all we ask of her
is to keep her hands off our people ;
and we deny her right to impress A
merican citizens, and if the abuse be
the impressing them, of'that we do
complain and not without just cause,
because she has impressed many of
them, and compelled them to fight
her battles ; and I have understood,
after we had declared that war exist
ed between her and us, that she de
tained those she had before impress
ed as prisoners of war, and this may
be a part of her public law. Indeed
we have heard much about universal
law and public law, neither of which
from the statements made,' seem to
have much regard to right or justice,
which ought to be the foundation bf
altlaw. One universal law seems to
be, that sovereigns can command their
subjects to return home in case of
war, another, that no person can ex
patriate himself i and G. Britain is.
no 'doubt willing to acknowledge ano
ther, by . which she might impress
sailors from all the, world. As to
the rirsty we need not.
e otir-
selves about it, and the second the
U. States have not acknowledged ;
and we arc now contending against
impressment ; and permit me hereto j
observe, that the Kepubitcans nave 1
always consiacrecv trrc ynprcwmcui y
of citizens a more ierioas injury wan
the spoliation of property. - V
Ts it not strangeiTair", that sbme of
tljie gentlemen snouid taii, so mucn a
bout pulsHc'Iaw and that others should
saythere is now po 'public law, that
the JEmperor of France had destroyed
it?" That: he and the British navy
together Have destroyed it, .is rer
taiqly true in the wotk of destruc
tion they are united- force with
them .now constitutes reason, and
they are each of them endeavoring to
make their will. a new law of htuiens
aod-ifwe suffer American citizens
to be impressed from American ves
sels to serve on board the British, na
vy, we ought never to talk about law
again. It ever there was a universal
law, it wgs that of expatriation the
right to live in the country men pre
In every age and in every
nation, men have left their native
countries and settled in others and
so expatriated themselves &nd from
the days of Joseph, to the present
time, all nations have naturaliztd fo
reigners.' If I am mistaken in this7
I will thaok any gentleman tq put me
right ; but it would seem by the pre
sent debate, that sailors had not the
same right to expatriate themselves
which other men had if this be true.
would follow that they could not
be naturalized : and vet the constitu-
ionf the United SLues does not,
I except them from the genet al rule
1 i
i should really like to hear how a j
man loses his right by going to sea.
But does Great Britain admit, that
she cannot naturalize ? Certainly
not .she naturalizes sailors by hun
dreds and thousands, while she de
nies that any of her subjects can ex
patriate themselves and be naturali
zed in another country. , Nayj does
she not naturalize hy impressment.
provided the person impressed serves
a certain'time on board her navy ;
And does not every goVernriient in
Europe naturalize ?r -Prince Eugener
was not pi sGermn ; ;War$hal Saxe
was not a Frenchman anc the cele
brated Keith was nota Prussian :
there is no nd ito examples which
might be produced.' TheHVery. man
who now commands in Canada is be
lieved to be the descendant bf a na
turalized Swiss. We all recollect
PTvemois, Who has written so much
against this country and France he
was not only naturalized, but also
kmghtijiec!, if I. may make a word j.
Dumont and others might be men
tioned, but it is usJes, we have ex
amples enough in our own country :
the Germans in Pennsylvania and the
Carolinas, when provinces the
Greeks in Florida, when Geat Bri
tain owned that country. And has
she not also naturalized citizens of
the United States in Canada and is
she uot indebted to the Hiigonots,
whom she naturalized, for much of
her prosperity ? With respect to na
turalization,' she may be compared to
a gulf, which takes every thing in and
Jets nothing out. We have been tojd
that France does net admit the .right
of expatriation. We all know that
some years past she was very anxious
to naturalize the fishermen of the
United States and very lately she
has naturalized Irihmtn :' indeed at
one time she seemed willing to natu
ralize or fraternize with all the world.
The truth isvthey are both willing to
get subjects by naturalizing, but un
willing to lose one by expatriation.
The Irish have gone into the service
of almost every government in Eu
rope, and we have not been informed
that the English government punish
ed them for itBut the sailors of
all countries are poor, though liberal
and generous; "and it may be added
almost friendless-they appear cjveo
to want frienui'oathc.er:8ide of
the House: their' poverty ahd want
of friends,is no doubt thtreason why
tHe universal law or pubhclaw, or
some other law, forbids them the
rights of expatriation and naturaliza
tion. But, admit all we. have heard
about. England and France not per.
muting their subjects to expatriate
themselves, and it only:, proves .that
tiev havje municipal laws' to that cf
fect,which it is impossible to execute ;
and their having Iaws oq the subject
1,
L . t T- ' .'.3- J A V M ' a T
sc.-.
shows plainly that they, do hot cdnsii
der them deprived, of the right by the),
law of nations, hilej on ithe -subject
of universal la iV, 'permit -je to notice?
another which has not been, merition
ed, and which, like the bths is not
regarded It is this, that rip govern?
ment shall assist rebels? to. assist :
those (iom monarchs deem rebels is
with them the sin not -to be forgive ui
Each of thern js always willing; to
have itenforceh in hisowri case, : anct'
generally willing to aidsth.ose that an
other may deem rebels.- The go-vernmentsbf-
G. Britain and France
have both acknowledged, this law, and
have both violated it whenever an bp- j ?
pdrttinity offered, and; they thought'
it their interest tp.cfoso Great Bri
tain assisted the, DutcH and the Ven
deans F rarice the Scotch and the
U.States. Monarch s are not apt to be
very nice abotit their actions,' though
they make a great fuss about their
principles 5 except Francis thc, "irst
of France They Have generally
been willing to benefit themselves by '
taking advantage . of any commotion ,
in a neighboring Kingdom, pr any o
therl circumstance which mav han-
pen. . England and France have bert
remarkable for taking , part in the re- ;
bellioub which have existed in each v
other, and if one existed in either a
this moment, the other would be as
willing to take part as ever. I have ri
brought this subject into, viewto show
that tht notions about universal law r M
are illusory, to say the last of therfi,
and that the great powers of Europe f.
have never, in their acts, vrspecied
the m, and we shall always find .our.
3Llves mistakeh, if we lck for public . .
law any where but 10 irfe actions pf
natfan3. Treaties are only law tie
tween the persons which make them.
Indeed ptiblic law can only be col-
lecte frofn'faets, that is, from what
nations havedoae. But; admit t am 'j
mistaken in this, and that h is a set
tled code deriyed from reason the
result' wUl hot be changed because
reason would justify the right to ex
patriate arid to naturalize: anoVi the
j facts prove that all nations have o atu
rahzed, aad no one more than t-Eng-land,
who, we have been told never
gives up her pretensiorisfsp tnat? let -us
do as we will, she will continue to
naturalize and to de clare that her sub--
jects capnot espatriatejthemsejves. .:
But thii same Englanri has yfeltled
the point in the case of Napper . Tan
dy and France did not'puaish the
great Xonde or M arshai Turtnne
and she has jh a case veryfsirnilar,
yielded to the Unfted States, I mean
the case of Gen Charles Lee . h e
was saved from h-r, pretension 34 and
the same energy, decision-and unan
imity, which saved him, would now
save our f.eamen frorn impressment.
Tvly colleague has stated that the
orders in Council were repealed in sis
days after the: declaration of war. '
The fact is undoubtedly so, c.if ther
modification, as I understand it, be a'
repeal. However, be this as it may,
it is easy to discover the cause of the
change in' thV JBritisH policy. This '
will be be3t done by going back to the
embargo there can be no cuestion
but that produced the 'arrangement
with Mr. rsklne, which she refused
H to carry into execution, notwithstand
ing we now hear so much of her good
faith. The non-importatiotr,. toge
ther with the message of the Presi
dent to Congress, at the last session,
and the act to raise ' 25,000 men,which
passed the 11th of fast January, pro- -
duced the modification qfthdrdera ;
in council. Having mentioned the .
non-importation act, it is due to truth
to say, that it h'sfo produced effects on
Great Britain which I did not expect.
Can it be supposed that the orders i n
council were modified without a cause ? .
No one will suppose' so, Who is the
least acquainted with the plundering t ;
which took - place under them ; as
long as we wouid suffer ourselvt" io ;
be plundered under them, to long
thev wonld have continued in force ;
and so long as we suffer her to im- .'
pfiess American citizen; so long-she-. .
will ;f ontinue to impress "them. .:i3 , ..
she uot acting towards tis iu the, mo
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