LXXIX.-PHILANTHROPY.

FRANCIS WAYLAND.

It is not in the field of patriotism alone that deeds have been achieved, to which history has awarded the palm of moral sublimity. There have lived men, in whom the name of patriot has merged in that of philanthropist, who, looking with an eye of compassion over the face of the earth, have felt for the miseries of our race, and have put forth their calm might to wipe off one blot from the marred and stained escutcheon of human nature, to strike off one form of suffering from the catalogue of human war. Such a man was Howard. Surveying our world like a spirit of the blessed, he beheld the misery of the captive-he heard the groaning of the prisoner. His determination was fixed. He resolved, single-handed, to gauge and to measure one form of unpitied, unheeded wretchedness, and bringing it out to the sunshine of public observation, to work its utter extermination. he well knew what this undertaking would cost him. He knew what he had to hazard from the infections of dun-" geons, to endure from the fatigues of inhospitable travel, and to brook from the insolence of legalized oppression. Ho knew that he was devoting himself to the altar of philanthropy, and he willingly devoted himself. He had marked out his destiny, and he hasted forward to its accomplishment, with an intensity," which the nature of the human mind forbade to be more, and the character of the individual forbade to be less." Thus he commenced a new era in the history of benevolence. And hence, the name of Howard will be associated with all that is sublime in mercy, until the final consummation of all things!

And

Such a man is Clarkson, who, looking abroad, beheld the miseries of Africa, and, looking at home, saw his country stained with her blood. We have seen him, laying aside the vestments of the priesthood, consecrate himself to the boy purpose of rescuing a continent from rapine and murder, and of erasing this one sin from the book of his nation's iniquities. We have seen him and his fellow philanthropists, for twenty years, never waver from their purpose. We have seen them persevere amidst neglect and obloquy, and con tempt, and persecution, until the cry of the oppressed having roused the sensibilities of the nation, the "Island Empress"

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rose in her might, and said to this foul traffic in human flesh, "Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther."

LXXX.-INDEMNITY TO THE NIAGARA SUFFERERS.

WILLIAMS.

BUT the gentleman insists that if the government is not bound to pay for such losses, we cannot claim to be independent. Sir, I have read to you, from the page of impartial history, some of the acts of pillage and cruelty perpetrated by the enemy in our Revolutionary war; were these losses ever paid? No, sir, the old Congress denied the right of the sufferers to indemnity, and invariably refused to grant any compensation whatever. Was our country, therefore, not independent? Yet the gentleman says we must either pay such losses ourselves, or compel the enemy to pay them, or we are not independent. Sir, we suffered much under the British Orders in Council. Was compensation allowed in the treaty of Ghent? We suffered sorely under the Berlin and Milan decrees. Has compensation ever, to this day, been allowed for these losses? No, sir; and it is very questionable if the nation will go to war to obtain it. Will the gentleman, therefore, maintain that the States are not, at this day, independent? Sir, the thing is not done by any government, nor can the argument be sustained by an appeal to facts. The true rule is, that government is bound to obtain such allowance, and to make such compensation, if it can be done conveniently. But would the gentleman say that, in order to get the allowance of one million, the whole nation must be plunged into war, at an expense of one hundred millions? In such cases the demand becomes a question of policy. It was a maxim (attributed, I believe, to Mr. Adams), at one time, in the mouth of every American, "Millions for defence, but not a cent for tribute." There is something of honor in such questions. What was the language of President Madison to Cockburn, when he commenced his ravages? Did the President say to him, "Admiral Cockburn, pray forbear; forbear, if you please; if not, we must pay our citizens for the injuries you may inflict?" No, sir; he said, " Forbear; if not we will retaliate." This, sir, is the only note for such an

ear as Cockburn's-the dread of retaliation is the only con sideration which can hold such an enemy in check.

But, the gentleman relies much on the merits and sufferings of the inhabitants of the Niagara frontier. Sir, I have much regard for those inhabitants, and I am inclined to believe much of the representations in their favor, which have been given by the gentleman from New York; but still I feel great doubt whether they were sufferers to anything like the extent they would have us suppose. I do know that inany who send us the most heart-rending accounts of their calamities, placed themselves voluntarily on the frontier for certain cominercial purposes, and I have been very credibly informed that the frontier, generally, received more benefit than injury from being, to the extent it was, the seat of war Sir, those people, many of them, could well afford to have their houses burnt, if they received at such a rate, the public money, which was then concentrated, and expended with the most lavish profusion on that frontier.

LXXXI. INDEMNITY TO THE NIAGARA SUFFERERS.

JOSEPH VANCE.

LET me say to the gentleman, that in Buffalo, he might, on one day, have found a family well housed, well clothed, surrounded with every comfort of life, who, from its hospitality in throwing open its doors to the American soldier, was the next day houseless and homeless, destitute of all things; if he had chanced, eight months afterwards, to be wandering on the flats of the Ohio, he might there see a family scarcely covered by a wretched house, in squalid poverty, one day shivering with ague, and the next consumed with raging fever; if his compassion should lead him to enter and inquire into their situation, he would hear them say, our father lived in plenty and comfort, on the Niagara frontier-he saw the American soldiery ready to perish-he opened his door to take them in--and for that we are here, ruined and in wretchedress. Sir, the sufferings of the French, on their retreat from Moscow, present not too strong a picture to convey a just idea of what was endured while the whole country on the Lakes was converted into one wise cantonment. Had the gentle

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man seen an American regiment on that frontier drawn up on a frosty morning, and supporting arms while their limbs were chilled to the bone, standing, in their cotton dress, in snow two and three feet deep; had he seen these claimants opening their houses to receive men in immediate danger of perishing (many of them did perish), and afterwards turned. out of house and home for doing it, he would not, he could not, deny that something ought to be done for their relief.

The gentleman has insinuated, that the inhabitants of the frontier are actuated wholly by a principle of selfishness; that, unless stimulated by a sense of interest, they will do nothing in their own defence, and will surrender up their property an easy prey to the enemy. But, sir, that gentleman surely did not consider the feelings of the American people when he advanced such a sentiment. If nothing had operated on their minds but selfishness, the army of the frontier could not have been kept together a single day. No, sir, not a single day. There were our soldiers, lying naked and perishing on one bank of the Niagara river, while, directly opposite, they could see the British sentry parading backward and forward in a good comfortable watchcoat, and hear him cry out, cheerfully, "all's well." They had only to cross en masse to the British side, to exchange a lodging on the ground, in their cotton that admitted the rain, and, when the rain was over, froze upon their bodies, for warin clothing and good quarters. Had selfishness been the ruling principle, where would have been your militia? Where would have been your regulars?

--at their own homes, or over the British lines!

LXXXII-SUPPRESSION OF PIRACY.

P. P. BARBOUR.

SIR, I think the strength of our measures may be ascribed to the imbecility of Spain. That weakness has produced the necessity of adopting the powerful measures in question But, if it is said that they have been adopted with the inten tion of taking advantage of the weakness of Spain, 1 answer, blessed be God, the United States have nothing to wish, and nothing to fear. We are prepared to rejoice with our fortynate neighbors and. if they are unfortunate, to pity then

O!

Surely if, in the tide of time, any nation ever existed, calling for the compassion of mankind, that nation is Spain. how she is degraded-how she is sunk-a foreign bayonet supports a tottering throne, whilst her imbecile monarch is watching, with a jealous eye, the progress of everything that is patriotic or worthy. His counsels, in his native country, have been more di-astrous than the march of a desolating conqueror. His decrees are dictated by fear, cruelty, and despotism, and written in blood-at their approach, whatever is worthy, retires, as from the bond of death-in their van, amazement and flight; but behind, sorrow and solitude. In fine, the annals of Spain are like the Prophet's scroll, which was written within and without, and there was written lamentation, and mourning, and woe. Were it possible for America to desert her high career, to add an additional drug to the cup which Spain has been doomed to driuk, we might well fear that we should provoke the vengeance of that God whose kind Providence has enabled us to march, with a giant's stride, to the fulfilment of our happy destinies, and whose favor is to be conciliated only by deeds of moderation and justice.

These robbers are more ferocious than the Algerine corsairs; they spare neither age nor sex, but all fall beneath their murderous hands. Out of twelve vessels, not one was suffered to survive! Can the records of any age produce anything more monstrous or barbarous than this? These are the powerful motives which have induced us to recommend the adoption of such decisive measures; it is to save our property from plunder, our citizens from being murdered, and our flag from being insulted, and that it may become an inviolable safeguard over whatever subject or whatsoever sea it may wave.

LXXXIII-COMMUNICATION WITH MEXICO IN 1825.

THOMAS H. BENTON.

THE use of an unmolested passage between Mexico and the United States, is as necessary in a political, as in a commerial point of view. They are neighboring powers, inhabitants of the same continent, their territories are contiguous, and their settlements approximating to each other. They