Abridgement of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856 (4 of 16 vol.)

Mr. King. – Mr. Speaker, I should not have troubled this House with any remarks of mine, had it not been for the observations which have just fallen from my colleague from North Carolina. I shall not attempt, sir, to follow that gentleman in the history which he has given of the progress of party in this country, but shall content myself with stating, that, in our sentiments, we entirely differ; his is the doctrine of submission; yes, sir, the most abject submission; mine, I trust, is not. I am in favor of the resolution now on your table. I am aware, sir, of the many important considerations which will naturally suggest themselves to the mind of every real friend of his country, when he views the consequences which may result from the adoption of the measure now contemplated. When, sir, the habits of a nation, ingrafted, as it were, in its very nature, are about to be departed from; when the destinies of the country are about to be launched on an untried ocean, and when the doubt is about to be solved, whether our Republican Government is alike calculated to support us through the trials and difficulties of war, and guide us in safety down the gentle current of peace, I am aware, sir, that we should pause and ponder well the subject; that we should divest ourselves of those warm feelings which most generally take possession of our minds on viewing the unjust prostration of the rights of our country. Sir, that interest which I feel, in common with others, on the decision of a question of such magnitude and importance, will, I trust, induce this House to bear with me a moment, while, in a few words, I explain the motives by which I am actuated in giving my decided approbation to the resolution now under consideration. If, sir, I were merely to turn my attention to the local situation of that portion of the country which I have the honor particularly to represent; its extensive and exposed seacoasts, combined with its present commercial advantages; I should, without hesitation, give my vote to the proposed measure. But, sir, as in my individual capacity, I feel at all times willing to make not only pecuniary sacrifices, but to expose my person in vindicating the rights and interests of my country, in my Representative capacity, I will undertake to say, that my constituents will do no less. Sir, the demon Avarice, which benumbs every warm emotion of the soul, has not yet gained the ascendency in the South: the love of country animates every breast, and burns with inextinguishable ardor. Sir, they feel in common, I trust, with a great majority of every portion of this Union, the degradation of our country, in submitting for a moment longer to the dishonorable terms proposed directly or indirectly by the British Government. Mr. Speaker, I hold it to be correct, that, in discussing a subject of such importance, a view of the various matters necessarily connected with it, will not be considered irrelevant: but, sir, I will not weary the patience of this House with a detail of injuries, unparalleled in the history of former times, wantonly inflicted on a nation which manifested to the whole world her sincere desire to support the neutral stand which had been taken at the earliest period of her Government, and most tenaciously adhered to. We have carefully avoided, Mr. Speaker, any participation in that system of politics which has convulsed and distracted the European world. We have restricted ourselves in the full enjoyment of our rights, lest by strictly enforcing them, we might produce a collision with any nation, however little her conduct might be guided by the principles of equity. Sir, we have borne with injury, until, in the language of your committee, forbearance has ceased to be a virtue. We have remonstrated, we have appealed to the justice, to the interest, of the two great contending powers of Europe; every effort proved abortive; our calls for justice were drowned in the declaration that their measures were merely retaliatory, and not intended to interfere with neutral rights; thus, sir, the matter rested, when specific propositions were submitted to each. Yes, sir, by an act which has placed the impartiality of our country beyond the reach of suspicion, we demanded of each the revocation of her obnoxious edicts as the only means of preserving our friendship. We all know what has been the consequence: France has met our advances, has embraced our propositions. Great Britain not only refuses a repeal on her part, but, while she affects to lament the effects produced on neutral rights, takes the most effectual methods to render them perpetual. Sir, blindness and ignorance itself can no longer be deceived by British policy.

We have been told, sir, that this will be a war for the support of the carrying trade; let me here remark, and I wish to be distinctly understood, as avowing my determination never to give a vote, so long as I have the honor of a seat on this floor, which will involve this country in a war, for the recovery or support of this extraneous species of commerce. I believe I shall not be incorrect when I assert, that nine-tenths of this country never did and never will derive the smallest benefit from it. But, sir, the right to carry in our own ships the produce of our own country to any quarter, not thereby violating the laws of nations, or contravening legitimate municipal regulations, is one which I never will yield; for, sir, in doing so, we paralyze the industry of our citizens; we give a fatal blow to the best interests of our country. Yes, sir, we yield the principle, we invite to further encroachments. Our country, sir, is agricultural, but so intimately blended with commerce, that the one cannot long exist unaided by the other. Sir, I will not yield an inch of ground, when, by so doing, I destroy an essential right of my country – or sap the foundation of that independence cemented by the blood of our fathers. We were told by a gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. Randolph,) a few days since, that we have sufficient cause for war. I ask you, then, sir, why do we hesitate? Shall we always yield? Shall we always shrink from the contest? The adoption of this resolution is the touchstone – by it we rise or fall. We have been asked, Mr. Speaker, why not lay upon your table a proposition to go to war? It is there, sir; it is contained in this resolution; the moment we give it our sanction we declare our fixed resolve to render effective the force contemplated to be raised. Yes, sir, unless Great Britain manifests a disposition speedily to do us justice – by her acts, sir, not by her words. The gentleman from Virginia calls upon the Representatives of the seacoasts, of the slaveholding States, and asks if they are willing to say to England "we intend to go to war with you." Does the gentleman mean to excite our fears for the loss of our property? As one of the many on this floor who stand in the situation mentioned by that gentleman, I step forth to declare for myself and my constituents, that, when loss of national honor is placed in the scale, and attempted to be balanced by pecuniary interest, we will, without hesitation, kick the beam. But, sir, we are now contending for the restoration of our rights, the deprivation of which strikes at the very foundations of our prosperity. Sir, to us, it matters little whether our cities tumble into ruin by desertion for want of employment, by poverty produced by British wrongs and aggression, or, in vindicating the cause of our country, fall by a quicker process. Sir, I have no fear of invasion, and, therefore, have no fears arising from the black population, which strikes with so much horror on the sensitive mind of the gentleman from Virginia. For my country, Mr. Speaker, I lament its existence; I view it as the bane, the curse of the land, and most sincerely, sir, do I wish that a second Moses could take them by the hand, and lead them in safety to a distant land, where their cries would never more strike on the ear of sympathy.

We have been told, sir, that this will be a war of aggrandizement, a war of conquest. I am as little disposed to extend the territory as any other individual of this House. I know that dissimilar interests must and will prevail from a too great extension of our dominion. But, sir, we will not here enter into a discussion, whether an accession of country would or would not conduce to the interests of the Government. Sir, this will be a war forced upon us; we cannot, under existing circumstances, avoid it. To wound our enemy in the most vulnerable part should only be considered. Sir, I trust, if our differences with Great Britain are not speedily adjusted, (of which, indeed, I have no expectation,) we shall take Canada. Yes, sir, by force; by valor; not by seduction, as the gentleman from Virginia expresses it. I have no reliance on their friendship – I hope it will not be calculated on. Sir, I am not deterred from the firm purposes of my mind, by the predictions of the gentleman from Virginia. I have no fears, sir, that the people of our country will desert their Government while asserting the rights of the country; and I must believe, that gentleman's assertion to the contrary notwithstanding, that Virginia will not be the last to afford supplies.

Mr. Boyd. – Mr. Speaker, I should not have risen, on the present occasion, had not the honorable Committee of Foreign Relations requested all those that did not intend to vote for such ulterior measures as they might hereafter find necessary to bring forward, would not vote for the present resolutions, as they were a part of a system that might eventuate in war, &c. From those observations, I feel myself, and those that I in part have the honor to represent, called on to say how far I will go, and how far I will not go. Sir, when we talk about war, we ought to know for what we are going to wage it, and to see that the means are commensurate to the end. Let it not be thought by this that I have any apology to make for Great Britain, or her manifold wrongs. I have none. I say, perish the heart, the head and the tongue, that will attempt her justification or apology? No, sir, they are a nation of pirates, and have committed many wrongs on us; and it becomes us to look for our remedy, and how it is to be obtained. We are told that these resolutions are a part of a war measure. I do not receive them as such, but as preparatory to what may happen or become necessary. But, for argument sake, suppose it so, and that we are to have war – your army raised, and ready to march to the Canadas; with how many are you going to take them? In my opinion, not less than fifty thousand men will be required. Suppose the English should be driven out of Spain and Portugal, (which may by this time be the case, or it may soon be so,) what number of troops can she send to reinforce her possessions and meet you? But, say some gentlemen, American blood has been spilt, and we must avenge it. How is that to be done? For gallons will you spill torrents; or am I to understand that we shall have war without bloodshed? Sir, let those that think so turn their attention to the Revolutionary war – the Sugarhouse in New York, the Prevost, the Prison-ship, the Wallabout, Fort Washington, White Plains, Princeton, Trenton, Monmouth, Brandywine, Guildford, and many other places. New Jersey has had her full share of the fighting – other States the benefit; and if we have war again, we shall have our share of fighting – others the loaves and fishes. But, sir, I will not complain: we obtained our liberty, and I am willing to support it in the best possible manner. But here another question arises. You go to war for the right to export our surplus produce – tobacco, cotton, flour, with many other articles. Let me ask, what will be your export while that war continues? Will you have any? I think not. But I will suppose that you could export without interruption; would the whole of the exportable produce pay for the war during the continuance of it? No, it would not. Sir, it would take less money from the Government to pay for it, and make a fire of it. Nearly thirty years have elapsed since the Revolutionary war, and that war not half paid for. Is not the war-worn soldier calling on us every day with his demands? You are about to drain your Treasury, borrow money, enlarge your pension list, build additional hospitals, increase our national debt, not to be extinguished or paid off, but to be a lasting burden on the people. But, say the honorable committee, our honor requires it. It is well; I honor the spirit and magnanimity of the committee, and have no doubt of their courage and zeal for our country's rights. But, sir, you must take young men for action – old men for counsel. It is an easy matter to go to law or war, but it is a hard matter to get out of it. The gentleman from Maryland, (Mr. Wright,) in defending the character of the soldier, has given us a quotation, viz:

"Honor and shame from no condition rise,Act well your part, there all the honor lies."

I will give him another, from the same authority, viz:

"A wit's a feather, a chiefs a rod;16An honest man's the noblest work of God."

But, apart from this, let us suppose war, and admit that it will be successful, so far as proposed – the British driven from the Canadas and Halifax, and their trade intercepted for years to an extensive amount – what then has she to hope or fear from us? Nothing. Will she then respect our rights? No. But I will suppose that we force her to a treaty of amity and commerce, acknowledging our rights to the utmost of our wishes; how long will she keep it? Not an hour longer than suits her convenience or interest. There is no trust to be put in her compacts. Witness Erskine's arrangement. I say, keep on your restrictions; keep the country in peace, if possible, under all your privations, and they are many. Has not our country increased in wealth and population, in a superior degree to any country on earth? Are we not at this moment in the enjoyment of peace and plenty at home – every man under his own vine and fig-tree, and none to make him afraid – with complete protection for person and property? Yes. But our merchants must be protected – they have a right to our protection, say some – it is the merchant that gives life and spring to agriculture. I deny it. It is the planter – the cultivator – that is the foundation on which every other branch of our associated population depends; and it is the surplus of his productions that makes the merchant, and his profits that make the banks. You have made many laws for their protection; they have disobeyed them all, and will disobey them. Have they not told you, continually, to let them alone; that they knew their own business best? Sir, before I would engage in a war, to which I could not see a prospect of a favorable issue, I would let them alone. Sir, the President is made, by the constitution, the treaty-making power; he is also to give us the state of the Union. He is the Executive. He has given us the state of the Union, and made his requisitions; and if I give him what he asks, I give him enough; and that I am willing to give, and more, when he shall require it. But I am not to be forced further yet. It appears to me that the honorable committee has a mind to Gideonize us – rejecting the fearful and faint-hearted. Will they prove us by the waters, and reject all such as will not lap as the dog lappeth? For, sir, they have told us that all that did not intend to vote for such ulterior measures as they might have occasion hereafter to bring forward, ought not to vote for the resolutions. Now, sir, it remains for me to tell them and the House, that I will not leave the ranks of my country. I will vote for the resolutions, and consider myself at liberty to vote hereafter as the nature of the case may require, and my conscience shall direct. I have no more to say at this time.

Monday, December 16

Foreign Relations

The House then resumed the consideration of the unfinished business, being the report of the Committee of Foreign Relations.

Mr. Randolph said that he could not express his deep sense of the politeness of the House, except by the regret he felt at the very poor return which they were about to receive for their indulgence. He lamented that it was not in his power to thank, in the name of all the old Republicans of 1798 and 1799, his worthy friend from North Carolina, (Mr. Stanford,) for the sound, sensible, pertinent, and constitutional speech, which he had delivered the other day against this resolution. But he feared, if a writ were to issue against that old party – as had been facetiously said, in another body, of our valiant Army – it would be impossible for a constable with a search warrant to find it. There must be a return of non est inventus. Death, resignation, and desertion had thinned their ranks. They had disappeared. New men and new doctrines had succeeded. He was astonished at the frailty of some memories; or rather, at their aptness to remember to forget every thing but what subserved their present purposes.

The nation had been brought into its present alarming and unprecedented situation by means in nowise unaccountable – by steps as direct and successive as Hogarth's celebrated series of prints, "The Rake's Progress," beginning at the gaming table and ending in a jail, or in bedlam. Our difficulties began to show themselves in 1805 and 1806, when a wise man from the East (Bidwell) was sent to govern the American House of Commons, in quality of manager. With what degree of fidelity he had discharged this duty, we might judge from that which he had since displayed in far inferior trusts. We had commenced our system somewhat on the plan of Catharine of Russia, when she lent her nominal aid to the coalition; we had dealt even more profusely than she in manifestoes; we began, under the instigation of mercantile cupidity, to contend by proclamations and resolutions for the empire of the ocean. But, instead of confining ourselves as she had done to this bloodless warfare, we must copy the wise example of her successors, and after our battle of Friedland, he supposed, we also should have our peace of Tilsit. He gave the little minority praise for having kept the Administration in check, under the salutary restraint of a rigorous examination of their acts – although the Administration had run away with the credit of wishing to take a strong attitude, and had thrown the blame of thwarting their measures on the opposition. That opposition had been composed of all sects and persuasions; but he now perceived that the greater part of them (the Federalists) had gone over to the Court party, for a very obvious reason – because they foresee at the end of the journey, Mr. Speaker, that your defeat will secure their triumph. I wish the gentlemen on my left (the majority) joy of their new travelling companions.

The gentleman from Maryland had expressed surprise at Mr. Randolph's manner of speaking of our origin from an English stock. Could that gentleman repose his head upon his pillow without returning thanks to God that he was descended from English parentage? Whence but from that origin came all the blessings of life, so far as political privileges are concerned? To what is it owing that we are at this moment deliberating under the forms of a free representative government? Suppose we had been colonies of any other European nation – compare our condition with that of the Spanish, Portuguese, or French settlements in America? To what was our superiority owing? To our Anglo-Saxon race. Suppose we had descended from those nations – from the last, especially, which stood self-condemned, on her own confession, as incapable of free government, hugging her chains, glorying in her shame, priding herself in the slave's last poor distinction, the splendor of her tyrant master? Had we sprung from the loins of Frenchmen, (he shuddered at the thought!) where would have been that proud spirit of resistance to Ministerial encroachment on our rights and liberties, which achieved our independence? We should have submitted to the tea tax, the stamp act, and the whole train of Grenville and North ministerial oppression. That which we lifted our hands against in determined scorn, would have been deemed an indulgence. Look at the province of New Spain, or Mexico, as it is, not with strict propriety, called. With a physical force greatly superior to ours in 1776, she had not dared to burst the chains of Spanish despotism, divided, weakened, almost extinct as was the Spanish monarchy. Mr. R. adverted to historical documents to show that America ought to be proud of her Anglo-Saxon descent. We were vastly particular about the breed of our horses, cattle, and sheep, but careless of the breed of human nature. And yet to our Anglo-Saxon origin we owed our resistance to British tyranny. Who were the members of our first Congress? From Massachusetts, Samuel Adams, (and t'other Adams too,) Robert Treat Paine, not Tom. From Connecticut, Roger Sherman, a man of the most profound political wisdom. From New York, James Duane, John Jay. From New Jersey, William Livingston. From Pennsylvania, Thomas Mifflin. From Delaware, Cæsar Rodney, Thomas McKean. From Maryland, William Paca. From Virginia, Peyton Randolph, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Edmund Pendleton. From South Carolina, Henry Middleton, John Rutledge, Christopher Gadsden, Edward Rutledge. In what school had these illustrious men formed those noble principles of civil liberty asserted by their eloquence and maintained by their arms? Among the grievances stated in their remonstrance to the King, a "standing army" met us at the threshold. It was curious to see in that list of wrongs, so many that had since been self-inflicted by us.

It had been asked, why was the country unprepared for defence? Was he expected to answer this question? The Administration and their overwhelming majorities must answer it. They had wantoned in the plenitude of their power. Who could say them nay? Was it Mr. Randolph's fault that the gentleman from South Carolina had never, in the course of his extensive experience, heard of a proposition to arm the whole body of the militia? which had been damned with a faint appropriation of two hundred thousand dollars, when millions were lavished upon miserable oyster boats. The Clerk of the Senate could not forbear a sneer when he read the title of the bill, at the recollection of the means to enforce it. Mr. R. had proposed himself an annual million until the work should be accomplished. He would forever stand up for the militia. It was not in the scoffs of the epaulette gentry, who, for any service they have seen, are the rawest militia, to degrade them in his eyes. Who were they? Ourselves – the country. Arm them and you are safe, beyond the possibility of danger. Yearly did the standing army sweep off the money, while the militia received empty praise. He would rather see the thing reversed. But there will forever be a Court and Country party. The standing army is the devoted creature of the Court. It must forever be so. Can we wonder that it should be cherished by its master? He spoke of a mercenary soldier in terms of the strongest abhorrence. He would ever uphold the militia; and he detested standing armies, as the profligate instruments of despotism, as the bloodhounds of hell. They would support any and every existing Government. In all history he remembered only one instance of their deserting their Government and taking part with the people; and that was when the Duke of Orleans had bribed the army of the last of the Bourbon Kings. A mercenary soldier was disgusting to our senses; was odious and detestable to the eye of reason, republicanism and religion. Yet, that "mere machine of murder," rude as it is, was the manufacturer of all the Cæsars, and Cromwells, and Bonapartes, of the earth; consecrated by a people's curse, not loud but deep, to the infernal gods. As from the filth of the kennel and common sewer, spread the pestilence that carried havoc through a great city, so from this squalid, outcast, homeless wretch sprung the scourge of military despotism. And yet we are told that there was no danger from an army of 30,000 or 40,000 men. With 5,00 °Cæsar had passed the Rubicon. With 22,000 he fought the battle of Pharsalia, which rendered him master of the world. To come to later times – what number had Bonaparte, when, deserting his companions in arms, he returned a solitary fugitive from Egypt, to overturn that Government, which if it had possessed one particle of energy, if it had been possible for the civil authority to cope with military power, would have cashiered him for having ruined one of the best-appointed fleets and armies that ever sailed from a European port? Well might the father of political wisdom (Lord Chatham) say to the Parliament of England, "entrench yourselves in parchment to the teeth, the sword will find a passage to the vitals of the constitution." As good a Republican as ever sat on that floor, (Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun,) had dissolved his political friendship with the Earl of Sunderland, when he found him supporting an army; and the event justified his sagacity. Cromwell, the affected patron of liberty, always encouraged the army. We know the consequence. It was a fundamental principle of free Government that a Legislature which would preserve its liberty must avoid that canker, a standing army. Are we to forget, as chimerical, our notions of this institution, which we imbibed from our very cradles, which are imprinted on our Bills of Rights and Constitutions, which we avowed under the reign of John Adams? Are they to be scourged out of us by the birch of the unfledged political pedagogues of the day? If he were the enemy of this Government, could he reconcile it to his principles, he would follow the example set him in another quarter, and say to the majority, go to your inevitable destruction! He likened the people under this joint operation of the two parties, Ministerial and Federal, to the poor client between two lawyers, or the cloth between the tailor's shears.