Western Sun & General Advertiser, Volume 14, Number 6, Vincennes, Knox County, 8 March 1823 — Page 1

WESTERN SUN & GENERAL ADVERTISER.

BY ELU1U STOUT. VINCENNES, (IND.) SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 1823. Vol. 14. No. 6.

V

7't FA VTA V SSfTJST I Bul is to his charges against me, that

.... , 'I- i 'i ' I would turn your attention.

And first

. 1" , r. of that, which he says he passes over,

which may he discharged by the payment of TWO DOLLARS at the lime

of Subscription.

but does not pass over : my relation to :

my father. It the General could have

found any of my votes upon the public

oi rninscupuo.i. journals during the administration of my Payment in advance being the mutual J he b d imeiest ol both parties, that mode is so- as he & aterdalc

i

iiwiica. , r ! llut, during the whole of my father s adA failure to notify a wish to discontin- . : . , . r .t ' . ... . . ministration, I was absent from the counue at the expiration ot the tune sub- T, 7 . .. . , . , r -n i 'ii try. rur how much ot my tather s acts scribed for, will be considered a new . J . , . . ' anrn stlll,lu 1 am accountable, 1 ieate to your sense engagement. f justice to determine ; as I leave to the

11 " 3" J h hnl nflrrlmn nnr! mntv il papiv ntiP nt

you, to estimate the temper of the reproach thai I hate never been the rivaler of them. Another charge which the General brings against me, while professing to

until all arrearages arc paid

Subscribers must pay thepostage of their papets sent by mail. Letters by mail to the Editor on business must he paid, or they will not be attended to. Advertisements inserted on the customary terms. CT" Persons sending Advertisements, must specify the number of times they w ish them inserted, or they v ill be continued until ordered out, and must be paid for accordingly.

NATIONAL POLITICS AND HISTORY.

To the Editors of the Richmond Enquirer Washington, Dec. 30, 1822. OEKTLKMKN l . I A 1 n ...... .1 . r. QtYtirtVt o ronrc.

sentative in the congress ot the United'.. . . . . ,. r , c , . , tairly claimed by any man. rar from hav States, from one of the districts ot the.. 3 . . . . r ,

pass it over, is, that I have written a

gainst The Mights of man ; not only, he says, against the work thus entitled, but against the lights themselves This is a mistake. I wrote a series of papers, containing an examination of s nne of the doctrines in Thomas Paine's pamphlets entitled Phc Rights of .Man. I bsiicvcd many of its doctrines unsound. I think I have not' seen either the pamphlet, or my examination of it for more than thirty years. In that time I claim not more indulgence for changes of opinion, with re

gardtolhe principles of government and

commonwealth of Virginia, in a printed

address to his constituents, has introdu

ing written against the rights of man, I

appealed, in the papers alluded tofrom

gUUlCSS lO Ills COllSUlucma, lias iiiuuuu- - . , . , n . - , ... ... u- i t what I deemed the lnilammitory pnnciced my name with imputations which I . . . . . , i , . . . v. i i plesot i aine. to the sober and correct deem it my duty to repel that address r ... , ... r . ; . i i T principles ot our own Declaration ot Jn-

having been republished in your paper, I

principles of our own Declaration ot j

dependence. My opinion of Pane and

JOHN QC1NCY ADAMS.

To the Freeholders of

ttr r u n n i ' sonal, arc, m my opinion, worse than ll uthe, Gry8Qn liussell, J uzeivell, Lee ' f . r u- u- , t. ' y i worthless. 1 nc two parts of his Hurhts

ot Man, are characteristic of the same

mind and indicative of the same soul, as

and Scott,

FRIENDS AND FELLOW CITIZENS

you, though personally known to lew of U',e two P"? f hls AKC of "if ' , & 1 , . i ail proceeded trom the same near A his

you, because mychartcter has been ar

raigncd before you, by your representative in congress, in a printed handbill, soliciting your suffrages for re election, who teems to have considered his first claim to the continuance of your favour to consist in the bitterness with which he could censure me. I shall never solicit your suffrages, nor those of your representative, tor any thing. But I value your good opinion, and wish to show you that I have not deserved to lose it. He says, that if you will elect him once more, he shall have served during the whole administration of James Monroe; an administration upon which he passes a high penegyric, and whicli, he adds, he has found it agreeable to his judgment generally to support. While in the exercise of my natural right of self defence, I come to repel the charges of (leneral Smyth, I pray you to understand that it is neither for the purpose of moving you lo withhold your votes from him, nor to induce the General himscifto reconsider his opinion, or his intentions, as they personally concern me. He offers himself a candidate for your votes, as having been hitherto generally a supporter of the administration of Mr. Monroe. On that ground, and upon the reasonable expectation that he will continue his support to it, he has my sincere and warm wishes for his success. But, as to his opinions of me, you will permit me to be indifferent to the opinion of a man capable of forming his judgment of character from such premises as he has alleged in support of his estimate of mine. His mode of proof is this. He has ransacked the journals of the senate, during the five years I had the honor of a scat in that body a period, the expiration of which is nearly fifteen years distant ; and wherever he hasfund in the list of yeas and nays, my name recorded to a vote which he disapproves, he has imputed it, without knowing any of the grHrruTsTupon which it was given, to the norst of motives, for the purpose ot as cribing them tome. Is this fair? Is it candid ? Is it just ? Where is the man hn p pr served in n levisl itivp mnaritv

. . w ' - - , - in your councils whose character could stand a test like this ? The General once petitioned the members of a former congress " to be midful of the rule of jus

tice to others do what to thyself tlicu

vrishest to be don

it

procee

Letter to Washington. The latter thfee of these pamphlets, I am sure few vof you would now read with any other sentiments than those of abhorrence and disgust. They are rapidly passing into oblivion ; and the sooner they arc forgotten, the more propitious will it be to the cause of virtue. The world willlose nothing should the two others be forge; -ten with them. In entertaining these sentiments, it is certainly with all the regard and veneration due from me to Mr Jefferson, as one of the men to whom the nation owes its deepest debt of gratitude. am charged by General Smyth with an attempt to ridicule Mr Jeflerscn. An expresMon, distorted and misrepresented in the kennal newspapers of the present day, is the support which the General has for this accusation Of that expression, and of thecuise from which it proceeds, I will not now speak. If the an

imosities of political contention arc not to be eternal, it is time to consign that subject to silence. But I address )ou in the face of our common country ; and I hope and trust this paper will pass under the eve of Mr. Jefferson himself I s?.v, without fear of being disavowed by him,

. that he will not approve of the use of his

name by any one, for the puipose of casting odium upon me ; and I takehis opportunity to add, that I deprecate, with tqual earnestness, the unauthorized use, by any one, ot his name, to obtain favour of any kind for me. But, advancing from these skirmishes of the General's wit, to meet him in his main array. He objects to me that I am 'no statesman." To this you will not expect my reply. But he adds, u that pernicious passions warp my judgment, ami do not leave my mind in a proper state to decide on the interests of a nation, and to adopt an cnlaigcd and liberal system of policy." This is a serious charge, but the votes upon which (Kneral Smvth has passed so severe a sentence upon my character, vveie all given in the interval between October, li03, when I first took mv seat in the senate, and December, 1S05 At a distance of seventeen or eighteen years, it can scarcely be exptcted that I should be able to rccolIc'cL and still less to prove, the motives or the reasons upon which every one of those otes was given ; but I will show to your tjaUkUttiun, that all of them were fcund

have to request ot you the Uvor to pub- , J hsh the enclosed answer to it. bhould : , . &. ' : . .

... . . . , .iii i nave nui biiicc nidi in uc, iiacii iti my tsyou decline thih publication, I will thank- . , J 3 1 . . ; teem. As occasional addresses to popuyou to return me the manuscript as soon . . . . .. , r lar passions. 1 see, in all his works, the as may suit your convenience. T . V r , 1 . 4 ' flashes ol a powerful genius. Acknowl-

1 am, n till it.ouv.ii iiviuibitikui J uui I .i r i ' . . to edging the service of his common sense.

yWA wwwv. iwiih -iw.

and some other of ins writings during j our revolutionary war, all his subsequent

IT " irrtnn ' Pcations, political, religious, and per

- T

ed upon reasons very different from any which could originate in the motives charged upon me. And, after assigning those rcasuns, I will leave it to your candour to determine, whether they were of so weak a texture, that they can be attributed to no other than factious motives.

The first was on the 26th of October, ' 1S03, upon a bill enabling the President to take possession of Louisiana ; against which, as General Smyth saj s, I voted in a minority ot six Upon recurring to a private minute of my own, made at the time, i Hud the following lemark: " 1 he objection whs to the second section as unconstitutional. " To enable you to juoge of the sincerity with which 1 voted upon that principle against the bi J, I beg leave to ubmit to your meditations the section against which this objection was taken: 44 And be itfutihcr enacted, That un

til the expiration ol the piesent Congress, unless pioviMOii for the tempor

al)' government of the said territories be '

sooner made by congress, all the military civily and judicial puvjern exeiciseu by : the otliceis ot the existing government ' of the same, shall be vested in tuch fierson or person, anu shall be exercised in such tnanncr9aa the Jr evident oj the U. , Siaies shall direct, tor maintaining and protecting the inhabitants ot Louisiana in the free enjoyment ot their libeity, pio-; pei ty, and religion " i Let me ask you, before we proceed ,

further, to slop here ; to reflect well upon the extent and consecpuenccs of the power conferred in this section, by ihe Cong! ess, upon the president of the United States, and then to open the constitution of the 'Jnited States, and point out to me the article, section, and parag'agh of that instiuinent, which authorizes the congress to confer upon the president of the United States this tremendous pow-t-r. If you can produce it now, 1 will plead guilty to General Smyth's charge ol factious motives for voting against this bin, if you can prducc it now, it is more than ti-.o majority were able to do thcu. They were called upon to produce it and could not. They could fi. id it only in c.unr action. Observe, that I do not now deny the existance of this authority in the constitution : but it is a constructive power : and at the time i was called 10 record my vote upon it, the question was new to me, and new lo congress with reference to the legislative exposition of the constitution, i lie principle had not been settled ; and it was the first time it had ever been made my duty to act, as a member of the legislature, upon a question involving the extent of the powers ot congress. I believed as I still believe, that the constitution of the United States was a constitution of limited powers That some of these poweismust be construc.'ivi', I never doubted ; but that this consti uction must itself have some limits. I was equally convinced ; and 1 could not reconcile it to my judgment, that the authority exercised in tins section was within the legitimate powers of congress conformable to the constitution. Were the question now a new one, I have no hesitation in saying that I should retain the same opinion and give the same vote. And I am willing now to record it again : and to Ic we to my country and to posterity the opinion that all the other constructive pavers, assumed by congress from the 4th March, 1 789, to this day, put together, are, whether considered in them selves or in their consequences, unequal to the transcendent power assumed, exercised, and granted by that little section. It was upon the snmc principle, a conscientious belief that congress had not, by the coi..r-. : the power to exercise the au'.h; ;u..':ed in them, that, in the ( f.Urvf . t . SCSSlOtl, 1 VOted ag: the j relating to Louisi ana, enumerated in General Smyth's address to you. Tin y formed altogether a system of absolute and unlimited power, bearing upon the people of Louisiana, arid exercised by the congress of the United States. I believed that this power had not been granted to congress either by the people of the United States or bv the people of Louisiana : and when it was assumed by contruc-izn I could not perceive any limitation to the constructive power which could consistently be maintained by these, who could find in the constitution of the United States authority for the exercise of all those powers in Louisiana. General Smyth has, thcreforc,donc me great injustice in drawing from these

votes the conclusion that I was gov m. d. in giving ihem, either by principles of faction or by hostility i0 Louisiana It is wch known to all Hum: , I acted at that time, as wel as n.os-w hose votes concurred will, mine, as ihose who sanctioned by their v.-tc. these assumptions ef constructive powi rs that my voice and opinions wt-re in fav.r of ihc acquisition ol Louisiana, and of the ratification otthe treaty by uhich it was acquired, i he power to make treaties is by the constitution given to the President, with concurrence ot two tl.iids ol ihc senators present, upon the qucMion tor their advice and consent xvith'.ut limitation. It extends to whatever can form the subject of treaties between soveieign and independent nations. Cf tl.e power to make the tiealy, thett fore, I hid no doubt, as having been granted by the constitution. But the power to make a treaty, and the power to cam it into execution, are by the organiz ition of our government, not the same. The formeris merely a transaction with a foreign nation. To have limited that would have been to limit the power of the nation itself in its relations of intercourse with other states. It would have been an abdication, by the nation itself, of son..- of the powers appertaining to sovereignty-, and have placed it on a footing of' inequalit) with other soveieigns. Hut the latter, the power to carry a treaty into execution, imports the exercise ot the internal powers of government, and was subject to all the limitations prescribed by ihe constitution to the exercise of those powers. In the very message by which president Jefferson communicated this treaty to congress, viler its ratification had been exchanged, he said, You vyill observe that some important conditions cannot be curried into execution but with the aid of the Legislature." I his is a ciicumstance comnif n to many treaties ; and has frequently given occasion to debates in the house of rtpresentatives how far they are bound to sanction, in their legislative capacity, stipulations, wiih foreign nations, oh mnly made and ratified by the treaty making pow er. But ti t Louisiana purchase treaty did, in my opinion, to be car ried into execution, require something more It required the exercise of powers which hau not been granted to congress itself; of powers reserved by the people of the United States to themselves, and of powers inherent by natural right in the people 01 Louisiana. The union of the two people require the express and forma! consent ot both. So far as the righis of France w ere concerned, they had been extinguished by the treaty. To appropriate and pay the money stipulated for tl e purchase of the territory, I befcive to be within the legitimate powers of congress ; though even that was a constructive power. But that the social com.

pact, with all its burthens and all its blessings, all its privileges and all its powers, should be formed between the people of the United Slates, and the people of Louisiana, was, according to theoty of human rights, which I had learned fiom t ie Declaration of Independence, an act, the sanction of hich could be consummated only by themselves The people of the United States had not, much less had the people of Louisiana, given to tf.o congiess of the United States the power to lorm this union. Anil until the consent of both people should be obtained, every act of legislation by the congress of the United States over the people of Louisiana, distinct from that of raking possession of the tcrtitoty was in my view unconstitutional, Se an act cf usurped authority. My opinion, therefore, was, that the sense of the people, both of the United States and of Louisiana, should immediately be laken ; of the first by an amendment of the constitution, to be proposed and acted upon in the regular form; and of the las , by taking the votes of the people of Louisiana immediately af er the possession of the territory should be taken by the United States under the tica ty. I had no doubt that consent of both people, would be obtained with as much ease, and little more loss of time, than it actually too!; congress to picpare an act for the government of the territory ; and I thought that this course of proceeding, while it would terminate in the same result as the immediate exercise of ungi anted transcendental powers by congress, would serve as a landmark of correct principles for future times, as a memorial of homage to the fundamental principles of civil society, to the primitive sovereignty of the people, and the unalienable rights of man.

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