“‘His Exc’y GEN. WILKINSON.’
“Together with a packet, which he informed me he was charged
by the same person to deliver me in private. This packet
contained a letter in cipher from Colonel Burr, of which the
following is, substantially, as fair an interpretation as I
have heretofore been able to make, the original of which I hold
in my possession.”
Mr. RANDOLPH said he should certainly have abstained from noticing the
circumstance he was about to mention, and which he had believed to be of
general notoriety, had it not been that within a very few days past, a
gentleman, (with whom Mr. R. was in habits of intimacy, and whose means
of information were as good as those of any member of the House,) to his
utter surprise, informed Mr. R. that he was totally ignorant of the fact.
Mr. R. said he held in his hand an actual interpretation of this
ciphered letter, which was made in the grand-jury room at Richmond, by
three members of that body, for their use, and in their presence; and
it was necessary here to state, that so extremely delicate was General
Wilkinson, that he refused to leave the papers in possession of the
grand jury: whenever the jury met, they were put into their hands, and
whenever they rose, the witness was called up, and received them back
again. Here was a copy--rather a different one from that which, “On
the honor of a soldier, and on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God,”
was as fair an interpretation as General Wilkinson was able to make. A
comparison of the two would throw a little light on the subject. In the
printed copy of the last session might be read, “I (Aaron Burr) have
actually commenced the enterprise--detachments from different points,”
&c. In the original the words had been scratched out with a knife, so as
to cut the paper--“I have actually commenced”--not the enterprise, but
“the Eastern detachments.” Now mark; by changing the word _Eastern_ into
_enterprise_, and moving the full stop so as to separate _Eastern_ from
its substantive _detachments_, the important fact was lost, that, as
there were Eastern detachments under Colonel Burr, there must have been
_Western_ detachments under somebody else! Now, with a dictionary in his
hand, could any man change “Eastern” into “enterprise,” and move the full
stop, under an exertion of the best of his ability? Again: the printed
copy says, “every thing internal and external favors views;” the original
has it “favors _our_ views.” The word “our” perhaps could not be found
in any English dictionary! The printed version says again, “The project
[this is the best interpretation upon his oath which a party who had
never suffered the papers to go out of his hand could make] is brought to
the point so long desired.” The real interpretation is, “the project, my
_dear friend_, is brought to the point so long desired.”
Mr. R. said, exclusive of other and direct evidence, tending to show
the dependence which these conspirators put on the army of the United
States, and that it was eventually their sole hope and support, and that
the moment they found they were to be deprived of it they changed their
purpose--exclusive of this, and that the conspirators were received at
Massac and the other forts below, and of their there getting arms and
stores, there was something in this suppression of words in the letter
that spoke to his mind more forcibly than volumes of evidence, the
implication of a man who, had he been innocent, would have given all
the evidence in any letter he professed to interpret. This suppression
did certainly convey to the mind of Mr. R. an impression, which he had
never attempted to conceal, of the guilt not only of the principal
but of many of the inferior officers of the Army. But guilt is always
short-sighted and infatuated. Not content with that dubious sort of faith
which it might sometimes acquire when not brought to the trial, it had
attempted not only to occupy the middle ground of doubt and suspicion,
but to clothe itself with the reputation of the fairest character in the
country, and in so doing, had torn the last shred of concealment from its
own deformity. It stood now exposed to the whole people of the United
States; and he left the House to say whether they would shut their eyes
and ears, as they had been almost invited to do, against conviction.
Mr. SMILIE wished to know of the gentleman from Virginia whether there
was not a motion before the grand jury to find a bill against General
Wilkinson?
Mr. RANDOLPH said he had introduced this subject in order to suggest to
the gentleman from Kentucky the propriety of modifying or amending his
resolution. He would now give the information required by the gentleman
from Pennsylvania, and hoped he should not be considered as intruding on
the time of the House in so doing.
There was before the grand jury a motion to present General Wilkinson,
for misprision of treason. This motion was overruled upon this ground:
that the treasonable (overt) act having been alleged to be committed in
the State of Ohio, and General Wilkinson’s letter to the President of
the United States having been dated, although but a short time, prior to
that act, this person had the benefit of what lawyers would call a legal
exception, or a fraud. But, said Mr. R., I will inform the gentleman,
that I did not hear a single member of the grand jury express any other
opinion than that which I myself expressed of the moral (not of the
legal) guilt of the party.
Mr. SMILIE said he would not detain the House on this subject; he had the
other day taken an opportunity to state his sentiments on the subject,
that in his opinion there was no power in the House to proceed in the
business. The same sentiments he yet entertained; and when gentlemen told
him that it was necessary for the public safety that this House should
exercise such powers, and at the same time they could not point out a
single expression in the constitution vesting the House with this power,
he could not consent to vote with them: nor had a single gentleman who
had spoken, attempted to show that they did possess these powers. The
gentleman from Virginia had spoken of their power to disband the army; if
the gentleman chose to bring forward a resolution for that purpose, Mr.
S. said he would meet him. He had also told them that they had a power
to refuse supplies: Mr. S. said he agreed with the gentleman in this:
but when they stepped out of the road, and assumed a power not vested in
them, he could not go along with the gentleman. Was it not the duty of
the President alone to inquire, who possessed full power to act on the
information which might be the result of an inquiry? Certainly it was.
The officer interested in this discussion was undoubtedly subject to
trial by a court martial, and no doubt also by a court of justice; for
if he was guilty of the crimes laid to his charge, they were of a high
nature, and would subject him to the cognizance of the civil law.
But he would ask gentlemen, if they succeeded in passing the resolution
upon the table, what was next to be done? Did the House believe that they
could remove or punish a military officer for misconduct? If they could
not do this, and he presumed no gentleman would contend for this, Mr. S.
could see no reason for an inquiry. Were they to become mere juries for a
court of justice--mere collectors of evidence--for it was admitted that
they could not act upon it after it was collected? He believed the courts
of justice were possessed of sufficient authority without this House
volunteering their assistance.
Mr. S. remarked what would be the effect of this motion, which was
substantially the same as that proposed by the gentleman from New York,
and rejected by a large majority. It would answer the purpose of holding
up this man to suspicion for years to come, for aught he knew, without
producing any other effect. He was willing to inquire; he had seen from
the beginning of the business that an inquiry must take place. There had
been a number of papers laid upon the table relative to this; he was
willing to transmit them to the proper department, there to be made use
of, and he hoped the House would go no further. For in regard to the
proceedings which had taken place, they had exercised a right which did
not appertain to them in proceeding in the business at all; they had no
right to beset the character of the man; and he rested his objections on
this point, that no man could show him an authority for it. He was very
sorry, because he thought it would produce effects of a serious nature,
to hear a gentleman this day denounce the army as corrupted throughout.
He must tell that gentleman that he could not credit the assertion. They
had tried (without meaning to express any opinion as to the officer now
involved) their officers and found them trusty. And to hold them up
as unworthy of trust at this time, in a crisis like the present, was
impolitic and unjust. If gentlemen knew of any particular officers who
were corrupt, why could and did they not lodge information against them,
not by clamor here, but by proof before the proper authority?
Mr. S. in conclusion declared that he should not vote for this
resolution; for, in any way, a procedure by this House on the subject
would be incorrect.
Mr. RHEA, of Tennessee, called for the reading of the letter of ----
Duncan, contained in the evidence laid before the House this session
relative to the late trial at Richmond; it might be satisfactory in
explaining the differences between the version of the ciphered letter by
the grand jury and the translation made by General Wilkinson.
Mr. LOVE said, that although the form of the question had been varied,
by the resolution of the gentleman from Kentucky, (Mr. ROWAN,) yet the
principles of decision remained nearly the same as on the original
resolution; the same objections applied, as to the subject embraced by
the present form, and, so long as it thus remained, those objections
would continue to influence his determination.
These grounds of difficulty had been attempted to be removed by
the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. RANDOLPH,) by arguing, that the
investigation of the subject might lead to measures which no one would
doubt it was competent to the House to act on. By pursuing the inquiry,
it was said, it might be found that it would be expedient to disband the
army, or withhold its necessary supplies: this, said Mr. L., is begging
the question. The terms of the resolution, in their present shape, cannot
possibly conduct a committee to any such inquiry: it is confined to a
single object; it is, whether the present commander of the army has
been guilty of corruptly receiving money from Spain. The charge alluded
to is understood to be of an ancient date; it is not suggested by any
one that the army is tainted with this crime, specially set forth in
the resolution: the charge, if proven, could not then be a cause for
disbanding the army, or withholding the necessary supplies. If an object
of this kind is contemplated let it be so stated, and an inquiry into the
grounds of such proposition, however strange in idea, would only be the
exercise of a constitutional right.
The resolution, Mr. L. repeated, called the attention of the House to
a single fact, it exhibited a charge already made penal, both by the
military and civil code; it respects a character over whom we have no
constitutional control, by impeachment or otherwise. If an improper
character is commissioned to the command of our armies, and continues
so, let the responsibility fall where the constitution has placed it,
on the Executive; the attention of the Legislature must be called to
other things than judging of the merits or crimes of the soldiery. But
it is objected that the military tribunal appointed to make an inquiry
on the demand of the person accused, and which the House understood was
now engaged in the performance of that duty, has no power to compel the
attendance of witnesses, or the production of papers. He would not for
a moment so far impeach the patriotism of those gentlemen, who have
declared themselves possessed of knowledge on the subject of the charge,
as to suppose they would not attend the respectful summons of a tribunal
erected by our own laws, for the investigation of crimes which they admit
are of importance to their country. Those gentlemen surely too well
understand the rights of others to object to a cross-examination; but if
a military court is not possessed of a power sufficient to compel, if it
should be necessary, the attendance of witnesses, the common judicial
tribunals are so; the civil, as well as the martial code, has cognizance
of such offences as are suggested; the same effect, as it respects a
military officer, would follow the establishment of guilt before either
tribunal. If gentlemen object to a military court, which the law has
instituted, let them resort to a civil one; it is there they may without
apprehension or difficulty make those disclosures which the good of
their country requires; it is not here that a power is found, either to
prosecute or punish the offences of military men. He hoped the time of
this Legislature would be better employed than in the usurpation of the
powers of the Judiciary or Executive, in the investigation of criminal
charges against military men, whom they could neither hear the defence
of, nor punish their crime, if proved.
Mr. L. said, that as to the truth and weight of the charges made against
the military character in question, he felt no disposition to decide; to
determine a man guilty of crimes of great enormity, without a hearing,
without examination or testimony, and without a possibility of defence,
was so hostile to every principle of justice, and common humanity even,
that he had not permitted his mind to enter into any investigation of
fact, or his feelings to enlist in the prosecution; much detail of
circumstance had been used, which ought to put the House extremely on
its guard against the influence of feeling in deciding the present
question. A gentleman had the other day said, that he felt no delicacy
towards a man, whom he had on his oath been obliged to say was guilty
of misprision of treason; it was thus intimated that the grand jury of
Virginia district, who investigated the subject of Burr’s conspiracy,
had agitated the question of General Wilkinson’s criminality; (setting
aside the observation which might well be made that Burr’s conspiracy was
no part of the present inquiry) it appeared to Mr. L., that the question
having been agitated, and no presentment being made of the officer now
charged, a considerable portion of the grand jury must have said in like
manner, on their oaths, that that officer was not guilty of misprision of
treason; but to-day the same gentleman has informed us, that the reason
why no presentment was preferred against Wilkinson was, that he escaped
by a legal exception in his favor; that although the immorality of his
act was complete, (as well as he could understand the gentleman at the
distance he was from him,) the offence could not be located, or some
other legal defect. Mr. L. said he confessed he was not well informed
of the proceedings of the grand jury, he had heard some noise which he
had scarcely listened to about them: he had never before heard, that
the principal officers of the army were leagued in Burr’s conspiracy:
he would say, however, that the grand jury assembled on that occasion,
was as able and respectable a one as ever sat on any former occasion of
the kind, and he confessed he was surprised to hear they had omitted to
exercise a general power, which, when it appeared to them the officers
of our army were actually conspirators against the Government, as we are
now informed, it became imperiously their duty to exercise, by making
a presentment of the dangers of the country: any general evil a grand
jury may present, if they believe it to exist only in intention. The
acts of a legislative body, and some he believed of Congress itself, had
been presented by grand juries as of evil tendency; and one instance
at least has occurred of a grand jury having presented the very court
which presided over it. Certainly such an evil as a general conspiracy
of the officers of our army required some public exhibition of the
offence; even if it was such in them as well as the commander, as not to
be brought, in the opinion of the jury, within the form of an efficient
prosecution. Mr. L. said, he was sorry that he too had been led into
the notice of facts by the surprising things he had heard. He hoped
unnecessary delay would be avoided. The time occupied in the discussion
of this dispute had already, he would presume, prevented some of the
committees from reporting on subjects of the first consideration. The
present eventful and threatening aspect of foreign affairs demanded
attention; he particularly apprehended it might have prevented the
report of the bill for arming the militia, as well as other subjects of
national interest, from being taken up. Let us then, said Mr. L., meet
this question, decide upon it, and send to the proper departments the
information which will enable them to act in the manner we are told they
have attempted, under the laws in existence. The question which they
solely ought now to consider was their right to act. He believed there
was no man in that House who did not, after what had been said, wish a
thorough investigation, but certainly the mode to be pursued was obvious
and easy. He conceived it would be entirely sufficient if the papers and
information were transmitted to the proper department, and should, if
the resolution was negatived, beg leave, if he could get the floor, to
offer a resolution, with a preamble, detailing the reasons which governed
him in his vote, by which it might appear, that although he felt as much
anxiety as any man that the proper tribunals should act on the subject,
yet his objection to the present mode proposed, arose from a source above
mere matters of expediency or temporary feeling.
Mr. L. then said, as it was not in order in the then stage of the
debate, to propose his resolution, he would read it, in order that the
House might be apprised of his views. He then concluded by reading the
following resolution:
_Resolved, therefore_, That the papers and information laid
on the Clerk’s table of this House, relative to General James
Wilkinson, be referred to the Secretary of the War Department
of the United States.
Mr. LYON said, notwithstanding the impression made upon his mind by the
statement read this day, he should vote in the same way as he should have
done before he heard it, if the power of the House to make an inquiry
were not called in question. He would as soon cut off his right hand as
to say that this House had not the power to call in question the conduct
of the Commander-in-chief. Was this House prepared to say that they
had not the power to inquire whether or not the Commander-in-chief has
sufficiently the confidence of the people and of the Army? He would not
commit himself in this way; and, after what had been urged as reasons for
voting against the resolution, he could not promise how he should vote.
The question was altogether varied by the motion now under consideration;
the former and original question was, whether they would request the
President to perform certain duties; it was now moved that they should
perform these duties themselves; and he should certainly vote in favor of
it, if it were contended that this House had not the power to pass it.
As to the creed of the gentleman behind him, (Mr. LOVE,) he could not
subscribe to it; it was too long for his comprehension; but if it were
intelligible, he would tell the gentleman behind him that he could not
agree with him.
He should be satisfied to see what the court of inquiry would do in
this business; and if they did not do what would satisfy the nation, he
should be perfectly willing to proceed in the inquiry. He thought that
then, feeling as his colleague (Mr. ROWAN) must feel, it would come
properly before the House. Mr. L. had long had a suspicion of this man,
and his mind was much at variance on the subject. None of his feelings
would induce him to surrender the right of the House to inquire, and if
this were made a general ground of opposition to the motion, he should
assuredly vote for it.
Mr. TAYLOR confessed that the importance of the subject was sufficient to
claim his ardent attention, and from the consideration he had given it,
he was opposed to the resolution, and felt it a duty not to give a silent
vote on a measure, which by the terms of the resolution offered was not
to inquire on a general subject, (which even on this subject unconnected
with any individual, but as he might be incidentally concerned, might
be excusable,) but to inquire about the conduct of a single individual;
or in short and plain terms to denounce the man; a man, too, holding an
office out of the immediate control of this House, amenable to other
tribunals, and liable, if guilty of all that has been asserted against
him, to the sentence of death, both by our civil and military courts.
This measure of denouncing an individual whom this House cannot impeach,
said Mr. T., is then a new case, and one which, if adopted, will
establish a precedent dangerous to this Government, dangerous to the life
and liberty, the honor and reputation of the citizen, and calculated in
its effects to put at hazard every institution and sacred provision in
the constitution under which we profess to act.
We shall in the first place interfere with the Executive Department--with
which department the constitution has expressly intrusted the care,
the responsibility of watching over the army; and in respect to the
inquiry proposed to be made by a committee of this House, when we have
made it, we can pass no sentence, we can ground no impeachment against
the denounced; we should then have to come back and acknowledge our
imbecility, by asking, or requesting the President to do that which we
found ourselves unable to perform.
We assume to ourselves the responsibility which properly attaches to that
department. I rejoice that here the maxim is monstrous and exploded, that
the Executive can do no wrong; that here the ministers are not liable
for the acts of the superior, but the superior accountable for the acts
of his ministers and agents. If General Wilkinson is the monster in
iniquity his enemies state him to be, if the President has continued
him in employment after he had evidence positive of his guilt, or if,
as has been charged, he has turned a deaf ear to the proof about to be
offered by an ardent, a disinterested friend to his country, why has
not this blazing patriotism burst out in a direct and not an indirect
impeachment of the Executive? But the sense of the nation is too well
known to venture at this thing. No, say the advocates of the resolution,
this has nothing to do with confidence in the Executive--and yet if the
Executive has a spark of that patriotism which he ought to possess, if he
is not the protector and upholder of a knowing traitor, would he dare to
disregard the information, if legally substantiated, which the gentleman
from Virginia and the delegate from Orleans had laid on your table? If
confidence has nothing to do with this, why did not these gentlemen hand
in to that department of the Government which had the constitutional
cognizance and final control of this business, all the information they
had on this subject? Why make this House the great gun from which to
thunder their denunciations and fulminations against an individual, when
there was a shorter and more easy way of getting at their object? A
corrupt Executive would desire the very measure proposed. Interfere with
his functions, assume his responsibility--what would be the result? You
denounce the agent, the tool of such an Executive, (the Colonel Vernon
of Cromwell, for example.) You order, or you request, that his conduct
should be inquired into. Well, in obedience to your order, this corrupt
Executive appoints a corrupt board of officers. The conduct is inquired
into, and the accused comes out glossed over with an honorable acquittal
from this court, and ready and more fitly prepared to execute the
ambitious designs of his protector. Ask of the Executive why is this so?
He answers, I have obeyed your orders, the responsibility is yours and
not mine. This will be the effect of our travelling out of our defined
orbit and taking upon ourselves what never was intrusted to us by the
constitution under which we act--already, when gentlemen say that we are
not to know that a court of inquiry is ordered in this case, but which
every one does know, is now sitting--I say, already do they anticipate
the result, and in a fore-handed way make it a theme of abuse against
that Executive, with which they tell us confidence or diffidence has
nothing to do in this question.
But to be done with these words, so offensive to the chaste ears of the
supporters of this measure. Mr. T. said he would ask these gentlemen if
they would allow their own judgment, views, and conduct to be judged of
by those who by duty were compelled to decide upon the measures they
proposed? They surely did not claim that infallibility which they denied
to others. Well, then, said he, place them in one scale, with all their
acts or with any particular act, and place the Executive in the other,
with all or with any of his acts. Nay, sir, take the present subject only
as a criterion. Let the nation hold the balance. I have no hesitation in
saying that their scale would kick the beam. This I am compelled to say;
I have more confidence in the present Administration than I have in those
who brought forward and now support the presentation. I seek for nothing
but truth--I would not kiss my hand for any thing that the Executive
could do for me or mine. I am not one of those politicians who expect pay
for doing nothing.
I come now, said Mr. T., to my second grand objection to this
measure--that it will interfere also with the Judiciary Department of
our Government. Treason and perjury have been alleged against this
individual; by what tribunal are these crimes cognizable? Certainly by
the courts of law. The constitution has guarantied to every citizen the
right of a fair and impartial trial by his peers, a jury unbiased of
his countrymen--will this right be preserved to General Wilkinson after
the denunciatory speeches which have been uttered on this floor are
published? Will this right be preserved to him, when the whole continent
has been searched not only for all that Burr could collect, but for a
new enlistment, a host of witnesses against this man? Your committee
of denunciation collects the testimony, the committee makes report of
the whole to this House, and it is published. I say, will not this be
prejudging the man, and condemning him, before he has been brought before
your judicial tribunal, to which he is amenable if guilty of all that
has been urged against him on this floor? After such a procedure would
there be a possibility of this man’s obtaining a fair trial, of his
enjoying that right which is secured to him by the sacred provisions of
the constitution, and which even in a country far less jealous of the
liberties of the citizens than ours ought to be, he would have secured to
him?
I come now, said Mr. T., to my third objection to this measure--and
which is nearly allied to the last--and that is, that in our military
courts too you deprive this man of a fair trial. Every observation I have
made in respect to the right of a fair trial by jury, I contend applies
equally strong to the trials in our military courts. But this man is a
soldier, he is Commander-in-chief of your standing Army, therefore he is
fair game--therefore we must hunt him down. Let us see what power the
constitution gives us in this respect--we have the power of disbanding
the Army at any time by denying the vote of supplies--we are forbid to
part with that power for a longer term than for two years, we can then
disband the Army, in its climax of misconduct and disaffection, in spite
of the Executive. Mr. T. asked was this the object at present? If it was,
why did the gentlemen make the terms of their resolution wide enough
to embrace the whole Army? But he gave them the credit due to their
candor--they drove openly and above board at the man.
There was another power given to the Legislature of the United States by
our constitution--to pass laws for the regulation and government of the
Army. Had this power been exercised? It had. Had the Legislature been
restricted in the severity of the laws enacted for this body of men? They
would see by looking over them. Mr. T. said he had looked over them. One
hundred and one articles were contained in the statute book, every one of
which (except about half a dozen) were distinct definitions of crimes.
Of the statute book he wished to speak respectfully; the severity of
this code might be necessary; but duty compelled him to speak of it as
he found it. It would seem as if the Legislature in penning this law
had borrowed the pen of Draco, dipped in blood. Every step they took,
from article to article, was marked with blood, with scourges, and with
death. No less than sixteen definitions were there contained of crimes
capital and punishable with loss of life. After having armed the courts,
which, said Mr. T., are appointed to sit in judgment on these soldiers,
(and remember that not only the standing Army, but the militia also are
at times subject to these rules,) with the power of life and death placed
in their hands, the scourge, the halter, and the musket, for lacerating
and destroying the infractors of these articles, the Legislature, with
all this severity, tempered the whole with one divine, one beneficial
principle. This box of Pandora contains hope--the hope of a fair,
impartial, and unbiased trial, by their comrades, by their peers. But
this hope, by your present resolution, is proposed to be destroyed: as
if the gloom around the arrested soldier was not sufficiently dark, you
now are about to establish a precedent, which whenever used will shut out
every gleam of light. Would it be surprising that men thus proscribed,
marked out as the fit objects on which to pour out your vials of wrath,
should in time become disaffected, should turn their arms against their
country? Yes, by the course proposed you prejudge a citizen--you mark
your victim. What despotism can be worse than this? The pious Parliament
of England who brought Cromwell into power did this very thing. They
were not content with the uncertainty of the proceedings of the criminal
courts of that day--they appointed a committee, (as is proposed now,
sir,) a court of high commissions, to take care that the courts of law
and the military courts should let none go whom they had marked for
destruction. How did this business end? The very pious and country-loving
Parliament, who were so intent upon the public good as to break down
and trample on every opposing impediment either of law, religion, or
morality, and all for the public safety, (the very motive we hear now
urged,) were kicked out by Cromwell and that very army they had supported
at one time and proscribed at another; and were sent, according to the
language of that day, to seek the Lord elsewhere. And their degradation
produced gratulations from every part of the Commonwealth to the
Protector, and confirmed him in as absolute power as the Emperor of the
French by similar means has at this day acquired.
Why should I go back, said he, to the days of Cromwell. The effects of
the mistake in this respect of a gallant and infatuated nation now exist.
History need not record it for our instruction; the fatal error happened
in our time. It would be too painful to travel from step to step, and
detail the whole of the misfortunes of this gallant people. I will take,
I think, the most interesting incident in the French Revolution--the
point of time which decided that France was not to be a Republic. The
Girondists, who were the most enlightened, the most virtuous, perhaps
the only real Republicans in France, denounced Marat. Marat and his
friends made head against their opponents and in turn denounced them.
Marat was destroyed by an enthusiast, but his party prevailed. Yes,
from the rostrum in the conventional hall proceeded the poison, from
the National Convention was administered the dose which annihilated
all true Republicanism in that country--the system of prejudging the
criminal before his trial. How was this denouncing system improved upon?
At first, indeed, there was kept up the show of a trial in the courts
below, but the victim was nevertheless as certainly marked, or certainly
doomed to destruction. But the orators in the Convention, having a long
session, and finding nothing better to employ themselves in, multiplied
the victims so fast, that to be possessed of a handsome house or estate,
a beautiful wife, sister, or daughter, was crime sufficient to incur
denunciation--the courts became so crowded with victims, that to expedite
the business, instead of formal trials, the courts condemned _en masse_:
ten, twenty, or fifty, were delivered over to the public executioner,
with only the ceremony of passing in review before the judge; a motion of
his hand, or the waving of his _bonnet rouge_, was a sufficient signal
for the executioners to lead the denounced to the guillotine.
We have a constitution, (said he,) we have laws enacted for the
prevention and punishment of crimes. The rights of our citizens are, I
hope, sacredly guarded by the provisions contained in them. Shall we then
adopt this revolutionary measure?
All history shows--the experience of all ages ought to have impressed
this important truth on our minds--that in religion anathemas, in
politics denunciations, in popular assemblies, have led to the same
slaughter-house--fell intolerance and bloody persecution. Shall we now
throw aside our chart and compass, and venture in this wide, boisterous,
and dangerous sea of expediency?
Look at the constitution--search for this denunciatory power vested
in this House. What is it? We have a right to impeach a civil officer
for misconduct. What punishment can we demand for him when convicted?
Dismissal from office, and disqualification from holding any future
office of trust and profit. In nothing does the wisdom, the inspiration
of the framers of this instrument more appear than in this restriction.
They well knew the danger of introducing personal feelings and
resentments, of party rage and fury in this body; of gathering here armed
with the power of destroying one another.
I have said, on a former occasion, that this House had no power itself;
its committee cannot have the power of sending for persons, papers,
and records; it is nowhere directly given; it cannot be derived
incidentally, in a case, the cognizance of which is not given to us by
the constitution. I then stated the cases where this incidental power is,
_ex necessitate rei_, derived, viz: 1st. For collecting testimony whereon
to form articles of impeachment. 2d. Testimony may be thus collected in
deciding on the expulsion of a member, 3d. Where an election is contested.
The gentlemen who support the resolution have been desired to show the
power of the House for this purpose in this constitution or in any
law. They have not done so. They are obliged to resort to expediency,
and that expediency, I have contended, will not hold them out. But,
say they, the courts of inquiry and courts martial have no power of
collecting testimony, and we must do it for them. Will the depositions
taken before this House, or before your committee, be evidence in your
courts? They will not. To sum up the whole, although I must acknowledge
that the motives which actuated the mover and myself are, and must be
the same; I declare I think he means as well as I, the good of his
country; yet I would defy him to instance a more oppressive, a more
unfair mode of procedure in the Spanish inquisition than the preliminary
trial, for it is a trial of General Wilkinson, now carrying on, on this
floor, and about to be prolonged by hanging it upon tenter hooks before
a committee. Gracious God! what innocence can withstand this mode? He
is charged with being a Spanish pensioner in 1796--again, on the river
Sabine--a conspirator with Burr--a perjured man--a conspirator against
the liberties of the citizens whom he arrested as traitors and coadjutors
with Burr. These, denunciations are enforced with eloquence, mixed and
commixed, compounded and animadverted upon by as great talents as any in
the nation. No notice is given to him to attend and make defence. Thus,
with accumulated denunciations, but with but one document before us which
can look like evidence, and that _ex parte_, this House is to be pressed
into a vote which is to fix the stamp upon the character of the man, is
to mark him as the victim of the courts below. If he were a demon I would
not use him thus unfairly.
TUESDAY, January 12.
_General Wilkinson._
The House resumed the consideration of a resolution moved by Mr. ROWAN,
for the appointment of a special committee to inquire into the conduct of
Brigadier-General Wilkinson, with power to send for persons and papers,
and to compel their attendance and production, which was depending
yesterday at the time of adjournment: Whereupon, Mr. ROWAN moved to amend
the resolution, to read as follows:
_Resolved_, That a special committee be appointed to inquire
into the conduct of Brigadier-General Wilkinson, in relation
to his having, at any time, while in the service of the United
States, corruptly received money from the Government of Spain,
or its agents; or in relation to his having, during the time
aforesaid, been an accomplice, or in any way concerned with
the agents of any Foreign Power, or with Aaron Burr, in a
project to dismember these United States; and that the said
committee have power to send for persons and papers, and to
compel their attendance and production; and that they report
the result of their inquiry to this House.
A motion being made to amend this resolution, which gave rise to much
discussion, Mr. ROWAN withdrew it, and Mr. RANDOLPH immediately renewed
his original motion, in these words:
_Resolved_, That the President of the United States be
requested to cause an inquiry to be instituted into the conduct
of Brigadier-General Wilkinson, Commander-in-chief of the
Armies of the United States, in relation to his having, at any
time, while in the service of the United States, corruptly
received money from the Government of Spain, or its agents.
He said he had withdrawn it only to give the gentleman from Kentucky an
opportunity of taking the sense of the House on his proposition; to do
which, in his opinion, every gentleman had a right. He perceived that the
gentleman from Kentucky was about to be deprived of taking the sense of
the House by an evasion of the question, and now renewed his own motion,
which he had only withdrawn with an intention to renew it if that of the
gentleman from Kentucky should not be adopted. He would here say, that
though he did not agree with all the doctrines of the gentleman, that he
thought all his arguments which bore upon this case were unanswerable.
The House agreed to consider Mr. RANDOLPH’s resolution--51 to 36.
A further extended and heated discussion took place, interrupted by calls
for the question.
The question, on Mr. RANDOLPH’s resolution, was then taken by yeas and
nays--yeas 72, nays 49, as follows:
YEAS.--Evan Alexander, Lemuel J. Alston, Burwell Bassett,
William W. Bibb, William Blackledge, Thomas Blount, John Boyle,
William A. Burwell, William Butler, John Campbell, Epaphroditus
Champion, Martin Chittenden, Matthew Clay, Howell Cobb, John
Davenport, jr., Joseph Desha, James Elliot, William Ely, John
W. Eppes, Barent Gardenier, Francis Gardner, James M. Garnett,
Charles Goldsborough, Edwin Gray, John Harris, William Helms,
William Hoge, David Holmes, Benjamin Howard, Reuben Humphreys,
Richard M. Johnson, Walter Jones, James Kelly, Thomas Kenan,
Joseph Lewis, jun., Edward St. Loe Livermore, Edward Lloyd,
Nathaniel Macon, Robert Marion, Josiah Masters, Daniel
Montgomery, jun., Thomas Moore, Jonathan O. Mosely, Gurdon S.
Mumford, Thomas Newton, Timothy Pitkin, jr., Josiah Quincy,
John Randolph, John Rea of Pennsylvania, Jacob Richards,
Samuel Riker, John Rowan, John Russell, Dennis Smelt, Samuel
Smith, John Smith, Richard Stanford, William Stedman, Lewis
B. Sturges, Peter Swart, Samuel Taggart, Abram Trigg, George
M. Troup, Jabez Upham, James I. Van Allen, Nicholas Van Dyke,
Killian K. Van Rensselaer, Daniel C. Verplanck, Jesse Wharton,
Marmaduke Williams, Alexander Wilson, and Richard Wynn.
NAYS.--Willis Alston, jr., Ezekiel Bacon, David Bard, Joseph
Barker, Robert Brown, Joseph Calhoun, George W. Campbell,
Peter Carlton, John Chandler, Richard Cutts, Josiah Deane,
Daniel M. Durell, William Findlay, James Fisk, Meshack
Franklin, Isaiah L. Green, John Heister, James Holland, Daniel
Ilsley, Robert Jenkins, William Kirkpatrick, Nehemiah Knight,
John Lambert, John Love, Matthew Lyon, William McCreery,
William Milnor, Nicholas R. Moore, Jeremiah Morrow, John
Morrow, Roger Nelson, Thomas Newbold, Wilson C. Nicholas, John
Porter, John Pugh, John Rhea of Tennessee, Mathias Richards,
Ebenezer Seaver, James Sloan, John Smilie, Jedediah K. Smith,
Henry Southard, Clement Storer, John Taylor, John Thompson,
Archibald Van Horn, Robert Whitehill, Isaac Wilbour, and James
Witherell.
Mr. EPPES said he had stated on a former day, in his place, that no
information had at any time been received by the present Administration
which went to charge Brigadier-General Wilkinson with being a Spanish
pensioner. This statement was made in reply to a gentleman from Kentucky,
who thought it unnecessary to forward to the Executive the evidence
exhibited against General Wilkinson, on the ground that this evidence was
already in possession of the Executive Department. A fact so important
to the public ought not to rest on the assertion of any individual. If
corruption has at any period of our political existence fixed its fangs
on this Government, if men known to be Spanish pensioners have at any
period been honored with confidence by any administration, it is proper
the people should understand at what period this confidence commenced,
and by whom it was reposed. So far back as the year 1789 or 1790,
information was forwarded to the Executive Department of this Government,
that a combination between citizens of the United States and the Spanish
Government had been formed, for the purpose of dismembering the United
States. The information (together with the names of most of the persons
concerned in the combination) was forwarded to the first Administration
formed under this Government, at the head of which General WASHINGTON
was placed. It was known to the second Administration under Mr. ADAMS,
and additional information forwarded to him by Mr. Ellicott. If General
Wilkinson was originally concerned in this combination, he must have been
appointed to office by the first administration under this Government,
and continued by the second, with a full and complete knowledge of this
fact. The present Republican party found General Wilkinson in office, and
abundant proof can be produced that he possessed the confidence of the
two preceding Administrations. If he was originally a member of the old
Spanish combination, or has, at any period prior to the year 1801, been
guilty of any act calculated to destroy the public confidence, let the
responsibility rest on those who appointed and continued him in office.
We have seen in one State of the Union a member of this combination
removed from the important office of judge, on the ground of being a
Spanish pensioner. A charge of the same kind is now made on oath by a
member of this House, against an officer of the United States. It is time
that all the information possessed by the Government of the United States
on the subject of this combination, should be brought fairly before the
public. With a view to obtain this information, he offered the following
resolution:
_Resolved_, That the President of the United States be
requested to lay before the House of Representatives all the
information which may at any time from the establishment of
the present Federal Government to the present time, have been
forwarded to any department of the Government, touching a
combination between the agents of any foreign Government and
citizens of the United States, for dismembering the Union, or
going to show that any officer of the United States has at any
time corruptly received money from any foreign Government or
its agents; distinguishing as far as possible the period at
which such information has been forwarded, and by whom.
Mr. RANDOLPH seconded this motion.
After a few objections to this resolution from Mr. QUINCY, on account of
its being too comprehensive, not giving the President power to withhold
confidential correspondence, the question was, on motion of Mr. RHEA,
taken by yeas and nays, and carried unanimously, every member present, to
the number of one hundred and twenty, voting in the affirmative.
Mr. ROWAN said that although a decision on his resolution had been
eluded, out of respect for the opinions of gentlemen who objected to
particular parts of it, he had modified it, and offered it as follows:
_Resolved_, That a special committee be appointed to inquire
into the conduct of Brigadier-General Wilkinson, in relation
to his having at any time whilst in the service of the United
States, either as a civil or military officer, been a pensioner
of the Government of Spain, or corruptly received money from
that Government, or its agents; and that the said committee
have power to send for such persons and papers as may be
necessary to assist their inquiries; and that they report
the result to this House, to enable this House the better to
legislate on subjects of the common weal, and our foreign
relations, and particularly our relation with Spain, as well as
on the subject of the increase of the Army of the United States
and its regulations.
A motion to consider this resolution was negatived--60 to 46.
Mr. HOLLAND moved that a committee be appointed to wait upon the
President with the resolutions this day adopted.
Mr. LOVE moved that the evidence or information laid before the House
relative to the conduct of General Wilkinson be transmitted to the
Executive.
On motion of Mr. ROWAN, seconded by Mr. RANDOLPH, the words “copies of”
papers, &c., were inserted; and the resolution for transmitting copies of
the papers was agreed to without a division.
The motion for appointing a committee to wait on the President with
these resolutions and copies, was agreed to without a division. Messrs.
RANDOLPH and EPPES were appointed the committee.
FRIDAY, January 15.
_Government Contracts._
On motion of Mr. BASSETT, the House went into Committee of the Whole
on the resolutions submitted by him some days ago relative to the
contractors.
The first resolution being under consideration, as follows:
_Resolved_, That provision ought to be made by law to prohibit
the officers of Government from making any contract, on behalf
of the United States, with any person being a member of either
House of Congress, or with any other person for his or their
use:
Mr. BASSETT said he presumed that this proposition possessed sufficient
intrinsic merit not to require the aid of extensive talents or laborious
exertions of any gentleman to advocate it. He assumed it as an axiom,
that fundamental principles must rest for their security on the purity of
the Representative body. He should, however, trust the support of this
measure to its own importance.
The resolution was carried--59 to 15.
TUESDAY, January 19.
_Naturalization Laws._
Mr. BURWELL begged leave to offer a resolution to the consideration of
the House, on the subject of which it was not his intention now to make
any observations; it was upon the subject of the naturalization laws of
the United States. Upon examination of the constitution, it would be
found that Congress had now, since the 1st of January, 1808, full power
to act on the subject, and dispose of it in such manner as the public
good might require. It was now in their power to exclude foreigners from
the country altogether, or admit them under such restrictions as might
be deemed consistent with the public interest. He therefore hoped the
resolution would be agreed to, and give him an opportunity of introducing
such a bill as he contemplated, and on which the House might then decide.
The resolution is as follows:
_Resolved_, That a committee be appointed to inquire into the
expediency of amending the act of Congress, passed the 14th of
April, 1802, entitled “An act to establish a uniform rule of
naturalization, and to repeal the acts heretofore passed on
that subject.”
The resolution was agreed to, and Messrs. BURWELL, QUINCY, MACON, G. W.
CAMPBELL, SMILIE, FISK, and J. MONTGOMERY, were appointed the committee,
with leave to report by bill, or otherwise.
_The Militia._
On motion of Mr. M. CLAY, the House went into a Committee of the Whole,
on the bill more effectually to provide for the national defence by the
militia of the United States.
The first section being read, as follows:
“That all the militia of the United States, liable to do
duty, over twenty-one and under ---- years of age, shall be
deemed and held in requisition, and called the junior class of
militia. And the President of the United States shall be, and
he hereby is, authorized, on the appearance of national danger,
to order out the same, or any part thereof, to any part of the
United States or their Territories, for not more than one whole
year at any one time. And whensoever a part of the said junior
class shall, by the President of the United States, be called
into actual service, such call shall commence with those that
are lowest in number, as to age first, and so in rotation: the
same shall not be compelled to do duty a second time until the
whole of the said junior class shall have served one tour; and
when called into the actual service of the United States, they
shall be armed and equipped by the United States. For this
purpose two hundred thousand stand of arms complete, shall be
deposited in such places as the President of the United States
shall direct, and whensoever the whole, or any part of the said
junior class of militia, shall be called into actual service by
the United States, and shall be armed and equipped by the same,
it shall be lawful, and they, and each of them, are hereby
permitted to retain the said arms and accoutrements, as their
own property, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.”
Mr. M. CLAY said it was necessary to fill the blank in the first section,
before they proceeded any further, and it was incumbent on those who
were friends to this project, to show that there were defects in the
militia law as it now stood; and, if they could prove to the House
that the system offered was better than the old one, he presumed there
could be no objection to the bill under consideration. At all events he
wished gentlemen to take a serious view of the subject; it was a great
national question, on which the salvation of the country depended. He
would endeavor to bring forward the best testimony that could be had to
prove that the present system was defective, and he hoped he should be
able to do it. I will commence with the adoption of the constitution
under which we are now acting. We find that President WASHINGTON always
kept this subject in the view of the National Legislature. This shows
that there was something in his opinion to do; it was not his business
to tell us what it was, but ours to find out. If gentlemen will take up
the Presidential communications from the commencement of the Government,
they will find that the subject has been uniformly recommended by each
successive President of the United States to the present time. I state
this as a strong evidence that, in their opinion, a change was wanting
somewhere. Next to this I will call your attention to the communications
made from the State Executives to their Legislatures. We find also, that
the State Legislatures, almost every year, and in every session, have
had the subject under their consideration, and turned it over in one way
or the other. This proves that there is in their opinion some defect.
We must now remedy that defect if we can; it behooves us to do so; and
if I shall be fortunate enough to point out the propriety and mode of
making this alteration, I shall have done my duty. We will go further
back than the adoption of the constitution; we do not recollect the
whole body of the militia ever to have been brought into action to such
effect as our strength of numbers would have warranted, if the militia
had been properly organized; there was a defect somewhere, which should
be remedied without going either to one extreme or another. If gentlemen
will turn their eyes to the bill on the table, they will find that our
project is to steer between the two, not to harass the militia, but to
render them fit for efficient service, by taking only those that can be
best spared from home, and, when in actual service, can be most relied
on. History itself furnishes no instance, let the mode of warfare be
what it might, where the whole body of the militia were ever called into
actual service, and kept there for any length of time to advantage. If
there was much marching and fighting, the old men with families would
soon find the way home; they could not be relied on for a length of
time. I remember often to have heard this complaint made before the
Revolutionary war; when we were at war with the Indians. Nay, further, if
we go among the savages, we find that they do not all turn out to battle,
and leave their women and children only behind; they take neither old nor
young men, I mean their lads, to battle, but such only as may be useful
in the field.
When we recur to the times of the Revolution, which every old gentleman
recollects, and every young one has heard of, every one then in service
will attest the fact, that wherever the body of the militia were called
on to march, old and young together, the old men soon found their way
into the hospital; they would complain of old rheumatisms, &c.; they
would often fatigue and break down the young men by imposing on them the
additional burden of their knapsacks.
My object is to leave at home the senior and minor classes as much as
possible; nothing but imperious necessity and imminent danger should call
them to the field, and that within their own State, or in the neighboring
State. I wish not to derange the state of society, which must be the case
if the whole body of the militia are called out at once. During the last
war, we saw not only fields and neighborhoods, but whole States, laid
waste from being deprived of their cultivators. I wish to avoid this
evil; I wish to leave men enough at home to cultivate the earth and take
care of the crop. It is well known to gentlemen of the Revolution, that
while we lay at Valley Forge, in Pennsylvania, at Middlebrook, in New
Jersey, and at other places, we were almost in a state of starvation,
because all hands, meaning the whole body of the militia, had been
called out, and cultivation and manufactures neglected. I have seen (and
an awful sight it was) not less than five thousand men on parade at a
time, in the midst of winter, almost naked, without shirts or shoes;
of times have I seen them march on the frozen ground barefoot, marking
their footsteps with blood as they marched. At the times here spoken of,
the Army was reduced to the awful necessity of going into the adjacent
country and threshing out the grain from the straw, and, while thus
engaged, the poor and almost naked women, with their helpless babes
crying round them, would ask, with tears running down their withered
cheeks, for God’s sake not to take all, telling the soldiers that that
was their all, and when that was gone they must starve; that they had
no money, nor wherewith to get money. Now, my object is to avoid such
another scene--not only on this account, but in some of the Southern
States, we have an internal enemy, an enemy within our own families.
There should always be a sufficient force left at home to awe and keep
that enemy down. By taking out the junior class only, we shall always
have a sufficient number left to quell and keep down insurrection at
home. We shall presently show that we have a sufficient number of young
men under the age of twenty-six and over twenty-one, to meet the enemy
whenever they are called on. We have three great points of assault, New
York, Charleston, and New Orleans, and I shall I trust be able to show
that we have a sufficient number of young men of the junior class to keep
up a continual force, if necessary, to meet all attacks. It behooves me
now to show what disposition I intend to make of the minor class--young
men under twenty-one years of age. It is not my intention that they
shall be called into service, except in case of the utmost necessity,
and then only within their own State. We find, from report, that to be
the rock on which the Emperor of France has split. He takes his men when
in their infancy, from the age of eighteen. They ought to be left until
they are twenty-one, to lay in a sufficient stock of information to carry
them into life. Let them learn trades or attend to their studies; for
we consider the trade or profession which a man learns in his youth,
whether mechanical or mental, as a fortune; and therefore we do not wish
to interrupt them until they have completed their studies or trades,
except imperious necessity should require it. It is necessary that every
man should have somewhat from which he may receive subsistence during
his passage through life. During his minority he lays up by learning a
trade or profession, a principal, the interest of which supports him
after he attains the age of twenty-one. We also well know that young
men under twenty-one cannot stand hardship; they may do some service;
they may march about a little, but their system is not matured; they
cannot undergo fatigue. We also know that it will almost take two men of
eighteen years of age, each, to cope with one of twenty-five in bodily
strength.
We shall now proceed to show the numbers of each class, as nearly as they
can be ascertained from the census of 1800. We have taken the authority
of the best statistical writers for the progressive numbers.
The census of 1800 gave of males from twenty-six to forty-five,
432,193. I am not very particular as to fractions, they being of little
consequence. The annual increase from 1790 to 1800 was about three and
one-half per cent., which we will assume for the increase since the last
census, being seven years. This will give us an increase since 1800 of
105,882, which added to the number by the last census, makes 538,075.
From these deduct, unfit for service, as nearly as we can ascertain,
35,000 or 40,000. We have taken, for the sake of equal numbers, 38,075;
which leaves 500,000 men, who may be relied on if the danger should be so
great as to call for all men over twenty-six and under forty-five.
By the census of 1800, those over twenty-one and under twenty-six,
were between 190,000 and 200,000 men. To this add, for the increase
since, by the rule just laid down, 49,400; which will make 249,000,
under twenty-six and over twenty-one. Deduct from this number 8,000
or 9,000, for those unfit for service. For the sake of round numbers
deduct 9,000; which will leave 240,000 able men. We will suppose wanting
at any one time, 30,000 or 40,000 at each of the three great points I
have mentioned, which would still leave enough at home to supply the
succession and deficiencies. Out of this class of men, then, between
twenty-one and twenty-six, could be called out sufficient for service, at
any one time, from 90,000 to 100,000, and leave double that number still
in requisition. If, however, it should be thought that 240,000 would
not be a sufficient number, we have only to take all under twenty-seven
instead of twenty-six. Those between twenty-six and twenty-seven, added
to the others, would form a body of 280,000 men, without taking any
under twenty-one or over twenty-seven. It is about this time of life,
twenty-six or twenty-seven, when a man begins to know mankind; they
have then sown their wild oats, as we generally say; they then wish to
settle and see a family rising up before them; they feel vigorous, and
wish to show their activity and strength, in running, tumbling, and
wrestling; they think themselves great men; they wish to travel and see
the world; they have a roving disposition. This is the moment to lay
hold of them and make them good soldiers. I know well that it will be
said by some that it is an invidious distinction to stop at twenty-six
or twenty-seven. Why may not the same be said of stopping at forty-five
or beginning at eighteen? It is said that this classification will tear
up the old militia system. I do not care how soon it is plucked by the
roots; we have had enough of it. Why persist in a system which we cannot
get along with? What is the consequence? To show what that is, it is only
necessary to read the report of the Secretary of War. Under an exertion
of all the energies of the commanding officers, after the insult of the
22d of June last, on the Chesapeake; after the Executive officers had
exerted themselves to procure the best information upon the subject of
the militia held in requisition, what is the result? The report just
mentioned will show that you cannot rely with confidence on the militia
in its present state; nor can you on volunteers. The last will do for a
moment at the commencement of a war. In case of invasion they will do
very well for the moment. They do not go out with a view of brushing
their own coats, washing their shirts, and to cook their victuals; they
expect to call for the best of every thing at every house. Some gentlemen
volunteers went down lately to Norfolk from Petersburg and Richmond.
They conceived themselves on a level with the officers; it would not do;
they came home disgusted, and you will not get them to go again. What
was the case during the last war? When a large troop of volunteers was
raised (I know the fact, I had a brother among them, and can therefore
speak of it) they came prancing to General WASHINGTON. The old General
asked them what they could do? “Fight for our country,” said they. “Will
you go into camp with the Army and do regular duty?” They answered “No.”
“You have my thanks, then, gentlemen,” said the veteran, “go home again.”
This was only to make a show, they intended nothing else; they may do for
a moment; but there must be method and regularity in our Army. It will
not do to have a large body of men collected for any purpose without it.
And therefore it is, that as the great mass of our militia now stand, no
reliance can be placed upon them. It will not answer to rely on regular
troops. It is easy enough to raise a standing army, but it is difficult
to disband them. We had at the close of the last war an awful testimony
of the truth of this. Nothing but the vast weight of character of General
WASHINGTON, who, descending from his high office of Commander-in-chief,
mixed with them as a brother soldier, could have prevented them from
revolting. See what a clamor is now raised, and rumors afloat through the
country, about your standing army of 3,000 men. Get a man sufficiently
popular for Commander-in-chief of a large standing army, and what sort
of government should we soon have? We may shudder even to think of what
might be the result. Look at the contrary side, as now proposed to
regulate the militia. You take them from the bosom of their families for
one year. At the end of that term they will be anxious to return home.
Mutiny will not arrest them. With avidity they will return; a tear of joy
will bid them welcome.
Gentlemen say the bill does not give us detail sufficient. We can fix all
this when we have once passed upon the principle. This I repeat; nearly
one year has elapsed since the outrage committed on the Chesapeake, and
yet no return of volunteers or militia. This goes to show that volunteers
are not to be relied on, and also that the militia laws are defective.
I hope we have shown that we have strong reasons to suspect that the
present militia system is not the best that can be devised. We have
shown this from the best testimony in our power from the adoption of
the constitution to this day. From the communications of the President
of the United States to Congress, and from State Governors to the State
Legislatures, it may be seen that the subject has almost always been
introduced and recommended to the consideration of the Legislatures. If
this is not the best system that can be adopted, I am willing that any
gentleman should propose a better. Let us see any other system, we will
examine it thoroughly and act with our best judgment on it. This is a
time when the whole United States are in danger, and some modification of
our present system must be made.
Towards the close of the last war the militia began to fight very
well. In Kentucky the fighting men were numerous. After the attempt
of the army at the close of the war, to turn their arms against their
country, Government placed their soldiers when out of service on the
frontier, with the natives on their borders, with whom we were then at
war. Virginia gave lands to her soldiers which were in the background.
Why? Because it would not do to fix these men of seven or eight years,
standing among the body of the people. We will give them this land, said
the officers of Government, and let them go and fight the Indians. The
reason was, that they had served seven or eight years in the regular
army. This fungus, a standing army, was applied on our frontiers as a
breastwork and safeguard, to keep off the savages; we wanted to keep them
out of the way. We could have burnt up the Indian towns and put an end
to the whole race immediately; but we did not wish to do it; we wished
to keep our old soldiers fighting till they cooled off from the habit of
inactivity acquired by service in the war.
We have endeavored to show that volunteers will do but for a moment, and
that when there is nothing to do, and they can have both male and female
waiting upon them. They cannot be relied on in war. They are not the kind
of troops for service when invaded by a powerful enemy. Volunteers may do
for sailors or marines, if they choose to go to sea. We have endeavored
to show that classification is the only mode by which they can be relied
on for the real service of their country; that old men are not the best
for service; that young men under twenty-one ought to be kept at home
till they get enough of experience to serve them through life; and that
young men, over twenty-one and under twenty-six, have a propensity to be
in action, to serve their country and to acquire fame.
Some gentlemen make objections to the mode of officering. I have no
doubts upon that subject; the thing will work well--this the constitution
has reserved to the States themselves. When officers are wanting, young
men can always be found peculiarly qualified to conduct their companions
to the fight--young men of high standing and weight of character. The
soldiers, having themselves choice of their commander, will choose
one out of many candidates, as there always will be, in whom they can
confide. I presume, young men of first talents and enterprise will have
preference. Let them have a man to command them of their own age. They
will say one to the other, I know this man; I have known him from my
youth, and can confide in him.
As a reward for the services of these young men, after a campaign is
ended, let them keep as their own property the arms with which they
fought, which will be handed down from father to son: “This is the piece
I fought with.” Let it be engraven on the barrel, this belongs to such a
one, he earned it by serving his country at such a time. After men have
served one year, sufficient numbers will be found to replace them, who
will be anxious to see the country, and travel over the Union, emulous
of fame: and when they have served a tour will long to return to their
kindred, loaded with an honorable pledge of the service done their
country.
It is certainly a desirable thing that the physical strength of the
country should be applied in the most advantageous manner to the
protection of the country. We admit that some men marry early. In
this case let them hire men as substitutes from their own class. This
substitute may serve out his time and return. By that time another
young man may have married, and his substitute, being accustomed to
service, may go out a second term. By the adoption of this principle of
classification you get the best blood of the country, that which you can
rely upon. You will not see your hospitals filled with old men disabled
by the rheumatism and gout; nor will you see children in the ranks,
trembling at every leaf that falls around them, not sufficiently hardened
to lie out upon the ground covered with ice and snow. If we go on in the
same bungling manner as heretofore, we shall never have an efficient
militia; you will annually receive the President’s Message recommending
the subject to your consideration.
I hope gentlemen will think with me, and not impute impure motives--the
fact is, I have two sons that will soon be twenty-one, and I love them as
much as any man can, and perhaps can say what few can. The first property
I gave each of them was a gun; and have enjoined it on them in my will,
that it I was given them to defend that country which their father had
assisted in delivering from bondage. My son’s gun will impress on his
mind that he must fight when his country calls for his services; it is
his fortune.
I hope gentlemen will take a serious view of the subject--that every man
will lay his shoulder to the wheel, and rise up to the East and West,
South and North, to prepare for the protection of his domicil. Gentlemen
have said that this was a new project, that it will create confusion now,
when the service of our militia is most wanting. It is because of the
crisis that I have at this moment brought the matter forward. The present
system is acknowledged to be defective; we wish to make it as efficient
as possible--that our countrymen may know who must march at a moment’s
warning.
In Virginia, during the last war, young men, merchants, lawyers, and
doctors, went out to battle, stayed two or three weeks, took sick, and
went home. As long as every door was open, the hand of every man giving
them friendship, and caressed by every woman, they stood their ground;
but when dependence was placed on them for service, they were off. I
recollect a circumstance of some new militia just come into camp on the
eve of a battle. The time of battle soon came; these men were placed in
front; but no sooner did the redcoats, as they called the English, come
within one hundred yards, than they threw down their arms and ran as
though their lives depended altogether on their heels for preservation.
When they were asked, where are you going, boys? Did you ever see the
like, said they, we cannot stand them. When the redcoats come now it will
be just the same. Substitutes towards the close of a war become good
soldiers. I know that substitutes are objected to by some gentlemen,
they wish every man to stand in his own place, all to stand on the
same footing. In my humble opinion this would be bad policy, because
all men have not the same gifts. Some cannot fight, from religious
principles--others cannot fight for the want of nerve. The bill has made
provision for such, if they cannot fight let them furnish a substitute.
We know all men are not gifted alike: the strength of some lies in one
way, and in others another; Samson’s lay in his hair. Now on this floor,
some gentlemen of strong minds, who think a great deal, never talk; while
some who talk incessantly, appear never to think at all. It certainly
would be a great economizing of public time and money, for some to think
more and talk less. I am not in the habit of public speaking, not being
mechanically bred to it; I nevertheless offer my mite in support of
the proposed system. It is a great project; and although not fluent of
speech, yet I am willing to be tested by my votes and actions, from the
year 1776, the time I commenced my political career, to the present day;
and I defy any man to say that I ever gave other than a republican vote,
or did any other than a republican act, while acting as a public man. I
know the word republican is with some a hackneyed word; but I mean the
true electric principles of Republican Government. I went young into
the army myself, I was never out of it, after I entered it, until the
conclusion of the war. I have been thirty-two years in public life. I
mention this to show that I am entitled to claim a knowledge of mankind.
You may exercise your militia from the age of eighteen, till they arrive
at forty-five, and after the whole twenty-seven years mustering they will
not know the manual. My object is not to call out any man until he is
wanted; and when they are wanted, to call them out, and in one fortnight
they will be ready for service, and in a month may take the field,
already soldiers--comparatively speaking. There will attend this system
no expense in time of peace. I have seen a number of projects for taking
legions into camp for six months at a time. The project will not do.
When you take your men to the field, let them think of nothing else but
fighting--not even of women. These half-way soldiers, half regulars and
half militia, would be of no account. They would be a heterogeneous mass,
fit for neither the one thing nor the other.[56]
WEDNESDAY, January 20.
_General Wilkinson._