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** AN EXAMINATION . q
T or the
orvir, Annº INIsTRATIox. . . .
* wº BBº JAGIKSON:
t km ſºlorida.
* * ==
[From the National Intelligencer, Saturday, June 21, 18.3.
The Acts of General Andrew Jackson as a Legislator.
No. I.
We have often been asked by our distant friends, to refer them to
the evidence of that violent, arbitrary, and rapacious disposition,
which General Jackson was supposed, from general rumour, to have
exhibited, whilst fulfilling the functions of Governor of Florida, with
Yºbich he was invested, and exercising those of Legislator and Judge,
which he thought proper to assume.
At the present moment this application has been renewed with
great propriety. It is urged that, before we confer on him the Civ-
il Administration of the Union, it is prudent to enquire—how has
he discharged the Civil Administration of a province His future
conduct in the first, may readily be inferred from his former con-
duct in the last. While acting in the capacity of sole Legislator
and Judge, his character, temper, and disposition may with certainty
be discerned. When seated in his closet providing remedies against
the passions of others it would have been criminal to unrein his own.
When raised to the Bench, what temptation can justify the uncheck-
ed indulgence of Despotic Authority, violent emotion, of unmea-
sured resentment? He was then neither excited by danger, nor
flushed with victory. From a Legislator or a Judge we expect at
all times the fruits of philosophic meditation and dignified forbear-
ance: In the performance of their duties, the turbulent, angry and
revengeful, feelings of our nature shouid if ever be suppressed. And
surely while performing these duties no apology can be made for the
exhibition of a cruel, vindictive, and rapacious temper.
We have therefore recently reviewed the published Ordinances
of Gen. Jackson, whilst bearing the Commission, in 1821, of Gov-
ernor of Florida, and excercising the Legislative powers of the “In-
*tendant of Cuba,” in the hope of obtaining a distinct conception of
his character as a Legislator and a Statesman, and thereby ascertain-
ing uis fitness for the office to which he aspires.
Some of these Ordinances, it is known, were annulled by an act
... of Congress,” on account of their odious, rapacious and oppressive
. ; but it is not as generally known, that, as soon as commu-
nicated to Congress, they were repealed, with a celerity and unan-
* imity indicating the indignant emotions with which they were teceiv-
ed; and that not a single voice of approbation was, at that time, rais-
ed in defence of the deliberate legislation of the man on whom it is
now proposed to confer a share i.
e Legislative power of the Union.
*See lawi U. S. 1st Sess. 17th Cong. Chap. 86, page 65—“An actiºnelieve
the People of Florida from the operation of certain Ordinances.”

2
r
We shall publish two or three of these Ordinances, as the best
criterion, yet afforded, of General Jackson's peculiar qualifications
for Civil Rule, and accompany them by a brief commentary, expres-
stve only of the sentiments that dictated the condemnatory act of
Congress, and awarding the judgment that will be pronounced by
every American who can appreciate the value of Liberty, and is wil-
ling to extend its benefits to others.
The following is one :
AN OR DINANCE
BY
Major GENERAL ANDREw Jackson,
Governor of the Provinces of the Floridas, exercising the powers of
the Captain-General and of the Intendant of the Island of Cuba,
over the said Provinces, and of the Governors of said Provinces,
respectively.
That, with a view to the preservation of the good order, and health, of
the Town of St. Augustine, l Do or DAIN :
SECTION I. That there shall be appointed, annually, by the Governor, a
SECTION II.
&
SECTIon III.
SEctron IV.
3.
Chief Officer, to be called the Mayor, and six subordinate
officers, to be called Aldermen, who shall form a Council,
and have and exeercise ALL THE Powrks necessary to the
good government of the said Town.
That the said Mayor and Council shall have power, by or-
dinance or oth Eawrse, to impose fines, and forfeitures,
for the infraction of their regulations; and appoint such
officers as they may deem necessary to enforcé their ordi-
mauces; and to levy such TAxes. As MAY BE NECESSARY
for the support of their Town Government.
As the Christian Sabbath is observed throughout the civil-
ized world, it is ordained, that, in order to remove any doubt
which might be entertained with respect to the powers of the
JMayor and Council on this subject, that the said Mayor ,
and Council be authorized to make ANY REGULATIows:
on the due observance thereof, which Tha Ex MAY DEEM
- PROPER.
In order to remove all doubts on the subject of the limits of
the town of St. Augustine, and its dependencies, as well as
to place under the IMMEDIATE control of the Mayor
and Council ALL THE Fountains AND spanngs from
which the inhabitants are supplied with water, it is ordain-
ed that the incorporated limits of said town shall be as fol-
lows: Bounded East by the waters of the harbor: South
and West by the river St. Sebastian, and on the North by
a line fifteen hundred yards North of the gate of fort
St. Mark.
[Relating to matters of police, is omitted.]
[Gives to the Mayor and Council the power to acquire and
--
-
section V.
/* SECTION VI.
SECTION VII.
*.
... By the Governor :
&
Pensacola, July 18, 1821.
dispose of preperty for public º:
Inkeepers, grocers, and other retailers of liquors, are by
this ordinance expressly prohibited from runnishing, or ,
selling, ANY Liquor, or ardent spirits, whatever any
soldier in the service of the United States of Američºunder
the penalty of nineteen dollars for each offence, and to
stand committed to the common jail until the said penalty,
with costs, is paid.
Andrew Jackson,
doverno, of the Floridas, &c. &c.
W. G. D. WORTHINGTON,
Secretary, &c. for East Florida.
&#
3 *
7
" - . * Łr -
Qur brief remarks upon the principles contained in this Ordi-
nance, subversive alike of the most obvious maxims of law and lib-
erty, which awakened in the breasts of native Floridians regret for
the loss of immunities enjoyed under the yoke of Spain, must be de-
ferred to a future, number. . HENRY.
4.
[From the National Intelligencer, Thursday, June 26, 1828.]
* No. II.
The Ordinance, No. 1. to which we have adverted, passed by
Governor Jackson, in virtue of his assumed legislative power as the
“ºlntendant of Cuba,” is comprehensive in its terms, and abhorent
in its principles. It discloses a mind not only willING to GRAsP ALL
Power, whether legislative, executive, or judicial, but bent on re-
sistance to any power that could come in conflict with his own. In
a legislative act, deliberately adopted, serving as a foundation for a
new system of civil government, he spurns the restraints heretofore
considered necessary, by the wisest legislators of every age, in or-
der to protect the weak against the oppression of the strong. All
the powers which he confers are ample and unrestricted. He in-
dulges no fear of their possible abuse; nor does he dread the natu-
ral effect of human infirmity, when clothed with office. and raised to
a distinction too often swelling the bosom with unmeasurable pride.
Authority more despotic was never assumed; authority more des-
potic was never attempted to be delegated; and greater heedlessness
in its exercise was never displayed, than is manifestin the Ordinance,
to which the public attention has been called. t {
'Let some of its details be examined with the attention that its im-
portance deserves.
The first and second sections confer upon a Mayor and Council,
owing their creation and continued existence to the will of Gene-
ral Jackson, with absolute power “to impose fines, penalties, and
º: by ordinance, or otherwise;” with power to appoint
subordinate officers, though more numerous than the inhabitants,
whose substance they consume; with power to fix their own pay, and
the pay and emoluments of their dependants, with no limitation ex-'
capt the inability of the inhabitants to comply with still further ex-
actions ; and with power “to levy such taxes as Might, in their
judgment, be necessary” for the support of this infant Vice Roy-
altv.
+iu. Governor Jackson, disregarding the truths of history, as well
as the admonitions of the wisest Legislators who had preceded him,
inculcaſing the certainty that the possession of unlimited power, un-
accompanied by direct responsibility to the People, would lead to
abuse, not only assumes the power of taxing the People of Florida,
‘as he may please, but of investing his dependents with the same des-
potic authority. Nay, more, he clothes them, by his fiat, with “all
rhe powers” which they may deem “necessary for the good gov-
ernment of the town.” Exemplifying the fable of the sheep protect-
ed by wolves, he consigns to the humanity and justice of his de;
pendents, not merely the property, but the persons, the liberty, and
4
the lives, of the People of Florida, with no othet restriction than
their accountability to himself; and commands them to bind or loos-
en, to punish or pardon, to imprison or liberate, to fine or confis-
cate, “by ordinance, or OTHERWISE,” according to their discre-
tion, or, perhaps, more properly, the discretion of their Chief.
The manner in which these powers were exercised might have
been anticipated from the nature of man, prone as he has been, in
every age, to surmount the barriers devised by human wisdom, inºr-
der to guard against the effects of avarice, ambition, and Pride.
The transactions of that period, though exhibited amidst the wilds
of a newly acquired Territory, lying on the outskirts of our great
Confederacy, awakened feelings in the People of Florida that will .
never be forgotten; and are stamped in enduring characters upon
the chronicles of the day, the records of our country, and the page
of history The Florida Gazette, of October 20, 1821, furnishes
evidence of some of these transactions; and a Law of the Union,
speaking in the name of the American People, still re-echoes the
sentence of unequivocal reprobation. From this Gazette, we make
a liberal quotation.* º
“An ORDINANCE,
Passed in the City Council, on the 17th October, 1821.
#
wº
Be it enacted by the City Council of St. Augustine, That the following taxes
be laid and collected within the City:
Twenty-five cents on each hundred dollars on landed properly.
One dellar for each slave above the age of seven years.
Two dollars on each FREE person of color, over the age of seven years.
Five dollars, yearly, on each riding carriage with two wheels.
Ten dollars ou each riding carriage, with four wheels. $
Five dollars on each cart or dray.
Twelve dollars, half gearly, on each Retailer of wines and spirits.
One per cent, on the amount of stock in trade, seven and a half per cent. on
GRoss AMoUNT of sales at auction.
Two dollars on each dog.
Twenty-five dollars, half yearly, on all Billiard Tables.
Ten dollars, half yearly, oil every boarding house or tavern.
Fifteen dollars, half yearly, on every livery stable.
*The Statute Book can exhibit no censure more severe, or more direct, than
the act revoking these obnoxious ordinances. Although the Laws of the United
States are accessible to all, we transcribe it, in order to show the sentiments en-
tertained by an American Congress, in 1821, of these transactions.
“An act to relieve the People of Florida from the operation of certain ordia
Ilºilº Ces,
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, &c. That an or-
*dinance, number 3, made and passed, on the 18th July, 1821, by MAJok
* GENERAL ANDREw JAckson, entitled, &c. and an ordinance passed by the
* City Council of St. Augustine, on the 17th of October, 1821, imposing and
“laying certain taxes on the inhabitants, and all other laws, 3rdinances, and
* resolves, so far as they enforce or confirm the same, be, and the same here-
*by, repealed, and declared null and void. *g &"
*Skö. 2. That if any person shall attempt to enforce any of said laws, or-
“dinances or resolves, by demanding and receiving any tas, imposition, or as.
* sessment, authorized or prescribed thereby, such person shall, on conviction
“thereof, be punished by fine not exceeding two hundred dollars, or by impri.
'sonment not exceeding six months, either or both of said punishments.
“SEc. 3. Thit the President of the 9nited States.shall, in such manner and
.*under such regulations, as he may direct and prescribe, cause to be refunded to
**yperton any sum of money which he may have paid under or by virtue ºf ei,
*ther of said laws, or ordinances or resolves.” . *

5.
..And be it further enacted, That it shALL an run Durr of the Cellestor of
city taxes, to give public notice that his office will be kept open from the FIRST
to the rifteenth Novemsza next, for the payment of the above taxes; and
it shall be the duty of the said tax Collecter, from and after the said fifteenth Mo-
vember next, to take IMMiºdiATE lºst means for collecting the same, against
each and every defaulter. ", ‘. . . . . . . . te
..And be it further enacted, That it shall ‘ber the duty of the tax collector to pay
over to the city treasury all moneys received by virtue of this ordinance.
...And be it further enacted, That the following taxes be laid and collected by
the clerk of the market q
Fifty cents for each beef sold in market,
Twenty-five cents for each sheep or lamb,
Twenty-five cents for each goal or kid,
Twenty-five cents for each calf,’
Twenty-five cents on each hog,
Six and a quarter cents on each person telling fish in or near the market, per
daw.
ºna be it further enacted, That the clerk of the market be authorized to de-
mand and receive daily, the above tar; and, in case any person or persons do
neglect or refuse to pay said taxes, the said clerk of the market is hereby direet-
ed and empowered to call to his assistance any one or more of the city consta-
bles, and seize on, and take into his possession and SELL, so much of each ar-
ticle as may be necessary to pay the said taxes.
Passed in Council, this 17th October, 1821. J. G. FORBES, Mayor.”
If the bare reading of an act like this must fill every bosom with
dismay, let imagination realize, if it can, the emotions of those who
were the objects of its infliction. In every provision, and in eve
clause, it bears the lineaments of consistent deformity, and exhibits
the traces of a master-band. The exorbitancy of the taxes imposed
is equalled by the rigorous expedition with which they were collect-
ed, and the odiousness of the means by which they were enforced.
In fourteen days after the passage of the Ordinance, it went into ope-
ration. TEN DAYs, thereafter, were allowed to recover from the
terror it produced, and, if possible, to meet its requisitions. After
this protracted interval of paternal indulgence, IMMEDIATE measures
were ordered to be taken, to coerce the payment of sums thus extort-
ed from the penury of the widow and the tears of the orphan ; and
the means of coercion were “seizure AND SALE ;” possibly, impri-
sonment and exile.
The exorbitancy of the Taxes, though rivalling the rapacity of the
puplic plunderer, whose infamy has been rendered immortal by the
eloquence of Cicero, must create less surprise than the relentless
eagerness with which payment was enforced. º
After measures like these, authorized by the acts, and sanctioned
by the acquiescence, of Governor Jackson, well may his followers
attempt to allay the apprehensions of the public by proclaiming an
expected era of Moderation and Retrenchment; while others, judging
more from practice than profession, would anticipate from his gold-
en administration, seven and one half per cent on the gross amount
of sales at auction, of one per cent on the amount of stock in trade.
twenty-five cents a hundred on landed property, two dollars a head
on every free person of color over seven years of age, one dollar a
head on every slave over seven years of age, five dollars ºn every
cart and dray, twenty dollars on every béarding house, fifty cents
on every beef. and twenty-five on each sheep, lamb, goat, kid,
calf, and hog, and six and a quarter cents on each person, daily, for
º,’
6
the privilege of selling fish in or near a market. Nor would they
expect, unless the Gonstitution should, for-oncé, present a barrier
strong enough to resist his will, that a capitation tax would be with-
held from in FANCY rºtself. &
HENRY.
*
ſº [From the National Intelligencer, Saturday, June 28, 1828.]
sº. No. III.
The row ER or TAxation Assum ED, DELEGATED, AND Abuse:D.
The power of taxation, assumed by Governor Jackson, dele-
gated to officers of his own appointment, and exercised in the man-
ner already noticed, was alike unauthorized, by the laws of Spain,
the maxims of free Governments, and the fundamental principles of
our own. However extensive may have been the grant of powers
conferred on Governor Jackson by the act of Congress under which
he was commissioned, or constructively derived from the laws of
Spain, it was still a grant of powers to HIMszlf Alone, which he
had no right to delegate or portion out. They, in fact, were pow-
ers wholly incommunicable, except by an act of the supreme Au-
Thoalty of THE state, sanctioned by the People, in their Form
of government. Who would pretend that the King of England cau
delegate to a council the Executive power of the crown, or that
Congress can transfer the Legislative power with which they have
been invested by the People 7 Nay, can a trust of any kind be le-
gally assigned, except by the will of the party by whom it was con-
ferred ? The attempt, then, by General Jackson, to claim, for him-
self, the Taxing power, was of sufficient magnitude, because, in .
effect, it substituted his will for the will of the People, and divest-
ed them of their highest privilege, without their consent. But the
attempt to delegate to subordinate officers, of his own appointment,
the taxing power he had thus assumed, was an act of FLAGRANT
usurp Ation, without a parallel—except, perhaps, in the strides of
successful conquerors who overturn and establish Governments as
caprice may impel, and treat all rights emanating from the People
with contempt.
This act of Governor Jackson can find no apologist. It aims a
deadly blow at the root of all Government derived from the consent
of the People. Even the tyrant's plea, Lecessity, cannot be urged
in palliation. He required at that time no overflowing treasury to
enable him to support armies, whether for the purpose of punish-
ing Indian massacres or provoking Indian hostilities. Peace reigned
in our land, undisturbed even by the dishonor inflicted upon Spain
by the outrage upon Calava, the representative of her sovergignty.
His own salary, his sumptuous repasts, the expenses of his admin-
istration, and of his more than regal entertainments, were paid from
the Treasury of the Union: and it would have required an effort of
ingenuity to have devised a single object to which the money thus
collected could have been applied, except to gratify the luxury, and ..
swell the number of his retainers. It is certain that the necessity
for the exercise of the taxing power was as great before as after the z
rescinding act of Congress; and when that act was passed, prohib-"
7
iting future taxation, emptying the pockets of the mayor, the tax-
gatherer, and the council, and ordering every farthing collected to
be restored to the bona fide owner, we have yet to learn that pub-
lic mourning was proclaimed, or the State endangered. Yº a
. The principles of freedom; however cherished by the public,
are exposed to the continued assaults of rivalry and ambition, and
liable to be endangered both by weakness and depravity. From
the first institution of civil government to the present time, history
records but one great struggle, sometimes intermitted, but always
renewed, between lust of power on the one hand, and liberty and
justice on the other. In defiance of the restraints of law, and the
denunciations of punishment, trusts, delegated by the People for
the public good, have been perverted by their agents to private
ends; and Power, conferred in the overflowings of gratitude, as a
memento of confidence, or in seasons of danger as a shield against
oppression, has been used as the means of their own subjugation.
But, of all the powers confided by the People, the power of taxation
has proved most liable to abuse; and, when abused, most dangerous to
liberty. When conferred on irresponsible agents, property is inse-
cure; and where property is insecure, the People are spiritless
and degraded. It not only stimulates the passions of the ruler, but
affords the means of gratification. It takes from the People, and
give to their natural oppressors, money, the great moral lever by
which the world is moved. No political truth is, therefore, more.
firmly established, than that he who commands the purses of the
People can command their liberty, and has it in his power te behd
their inclinations to his will. Hence the necessity that this power
should either be retained by the people; or delegated with circum-
spection, limited in its range, and guarded from abuse by all the
restraints that human wisdom can devise, e
Now, it is this very power, so liable to abuse, so dangerous when
abused, which the People should guard with vestal vigilance, that
was assumed by General Jackson, by construction, without the
knowledge of his Government or the consent of the People. He
has done that from his own mere will, which, for attempting,
brought Charles the First to the block and tore America from the
crown of England.
If the idea can be tolerated, for a moment, that Governor Jackson
was authorized, by the constructive latitude of an Executive commis-
'sion, to assume the power of unlimited taxation over a Territory ce-
ded to the Union, but not represented in her councils—a power
which it is questionable whether even Congress can exercise, what’
can excuse his attempt to grant this power, in the same unlimited
extent, to subordinate agents appointed by himself?. But, if even
the original assumption, and the subsequent grant, were in as strict
accordance with the principles of our Government, as they are, in
reality, subversive of the maxims of freedom, by what standard shall
his criminality be judged, when we consider the indifference with
which he viewed the open pillage that ensued—committed, too, by
subordinate officers of his own appointment, acting under the author-
ity of laws which he had framed ? When he beheld the depositaries
of his constructive power, extorting sums of unprecedented magnitude,
with unheard of rigour, demanding, not a pittance, not a tithe, but
º
8
all that could be wrung from affluence itself; when he saw the com-
thencement of a system ºf exaction, established by lawyerempting
no calling, pervading all ranks, levelling all coiditions; griping in
its folds both infancy and age ; filling the inhabitants with"consterna-
tion, and, almost with despair : and yet, instead of making a move-
ment in their behalf, heaping oppression upon oppressier; levying
still greater contributions, and, by ordinance number 3,” mak.
ing Congress tremble with indignation, if not with fear, at the direct
invasion of their exclusive authority ?
The man who indulges in extortion, and the man who connives at
the extortion of his agents, must be, alike, the object of public detes-
ſtation. And theugh exaction may be veiled under the forms of leg-
islation, it strikes too deeply into the human bosom to find a friend
among the poor, or an advocate among the rich. It will, therefore,
be vain for the followers of General Jackson to attempt throwing the
burden of his responsibility upon the pliant instruments of his will,
or to hold up the names of his Mayor, and his Council, for the pur.
pose of attracting the public condemnation. The conduct of the
Mayor and his now unknown associates, though filling Florida with
dismay, and the Union with syāpathy, received from Governor Jack-
son neither censure nor disapproval. The legalized pillage of re-
mote, unrepresented, helpless Floridians, recently welcomed, as
freemen, into the bosom of our Confederacy, only to regret that
Monarchy, which they thought they had escaped, ignorant of their
rights, because ignorant of our laws, was committed under the eye
and by the authority of their paternal Governor. The rapacity
with which the assumed and delegated power of unlimited taxation
was exercised, was not more reprehensible than the principle of
tyranny from which it sprung. And it will be difficult to persuade
the Aumerican People that the power itself would have been so ea-
gerly assumed, or so lavishly bestowed, had General Jackson been
greatly unwilling to become a sharer in the spoil. .
*- HENRY.
.* To which we propose; hereafter, to refer,
* >
AN EXAMINATION
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• *. . . . . . cº-ºº ºs * , * ~ * • ‘ , ,r vº º * * *
The Acts of General Andrew Jackson as a Legislator.
** gº-º- º ~ ". •r, º No. Iv. * * , * * r.
Religious liberty invaded. The rights of property infringed. The * of humanity
proscribed. *
Having assumed for himself, and delegated to others, the power of
UNLIMITED Taxation, lèadiñg to the establishment of a system of
..º. next proceeds to show in how lit-
tle estimation he field the principles of Government; allowing Toi-
ERATION IN Mºrrêas of Reiigion ; and the ease with which he
could violate the natural and inestimable right to worship the Creator
• * * ,
/
wºt *
according to the dictates of conscience. * *
Rivalling the bold, but impious pretensions of King Henry the 8th,
he asserts (in section 3) his undoubted right “to Regulatº the due
observances of the Sašpath,” fºr the instruction and government
of the People of Florida. From this exträvägant pretension müst
beinferred the right, either to mould the religious opinions of the
People into a § with his own ; or to force a compliance with
“observances” at which their consciences would revolt. In either
case, man would lose the noblest attribute of his-nature, and sink in-
to a state of degradation but little superior to the brutes around him.
In the first, he surrenders his.reason to the guidance of a being not
less fallible than himself. In the last, either his body undergoes a
compulsatory homage, offensive to deity when unaccompanied by the
offerings of the heart; or he is harrowed with remorse for yielding
even a reluctant obedience to what he deems a commanded violation
*
of the laws of God. N.
Nor was it enough that Gov. Jackson should have raised himsel
to this pinnacle of SPIRITUAL Dominion, from whence to promulgate
Laws regulating the service required frºm man by his beneficent
CREATor. He delegates this power, also, to his Mayor, and his
Council, and makes a due submission to its exercise the meritorious
test of an acknowledgment of that omnipotency with which he had in-
vested them. Hence, he or DAINs “That in order to remove any
“doubt which might be entertained, with respect to the powers of the
“Mayor and, Council on this subject, [the Sabbath] that the Mayor
“ and Council be authorized to make any Regulations, on the due
* orºgavances Thereof [of the Sabbath] which they may preſſ,
“rīofen.” . . . **
**
*
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IO
*
\

Here is a power claimed by a Governor of a Territor 1.2 yhich, if
assumed by a Governor of a State, or the Exeºutige of the Union,
would call down the merited vengeance of an ingensed, community;
and if attempted to be ex rtised ; a foreign State "wou dréºse ev-
ery American to arms. Here is a pºercisº *-
Here is a pow by Géârâlsack-
son, that would enable its posse º to rekindle, at any time, the fires
of Smithfield, and goad the furiés, of the Inquisition in pursuit ºf vic:
tims destingd to the torture and the axe." Here is a power claimed
by General J.askson, fºr himself, and for a subºrdinate council of his
own appointment, to blind the consciênces of mén: to prescribe the
“observances of the Sabbath,” to enter the public sančtuary, and
forbid the use of symbols, the surplice, or the cup; to open the pri-
vate recesses of the closet, and regulate the forms of secret devo-
tion ; to interpret, enforce, or repeal the Law delivered to Moses
from the Mount; or to publish, like the Prophet of Arabia, a sup-
plemental reveſation for the benefit of his followers—especially for
the benefit of those who, being taught to undervalue the divine sanc-
tions of the Christian system, erect the superstrücture of their faith
*
on the perishable basis of human authority.* . . . 2 * ' r *
. If so little regard has been shown, by this modern Legislator, for
the principles of Religious liberty,’ endeared, as they are to every
American by the remembrance ºf what his fathers have undergone
in their behalf, and guarantied by the Constitution to every individ-
ual who treads upon American soil, it could scarcely have been ex-
pected that more...respect would have been shown, to the flight of
property. , Accordingly, we find, from an inspection of his Ordi.
nance, that he considered the property of every individual as his own.
By the 4th section, and the ordinances of his Mayor and Council, the

* Among the teachers, or the taught, few can claim so distinguished a place
as Dr. Ely, of Philadelphia. He has, himself, furnished extracts from LETTERs
or INSTRUCTIow, issued from the *Hermitage, and addressed to him by General
Jackson, at the critical epochsin our Ecclesiastical history of April 21, 1823, and
July 12, 1827. In these letters the writer declares that “ disunion is evil, in
both Church, and State :” and, therefore, inculcates “Friendship,” “Love,”
“Harmony,” and “Union,” among all true Christians, with as much apparent
earnestness as if these virtues, instead of being co-eval with Divine Revelation,
were then, for the first time, revealed or enforced. Extraordinary pains, too,
were taken by the learned writer, to convince the public, in advance, that this
unusual, not to say presumptuous interference, in matters of church government
and discipline, by one, who, like himself, was not a member of any religious de-
nomination whatever, was occasioned solely by his decided “preference for
PREsBYTERIAN RULE,” and a tender concern for the “INTEREsts or the
CHURCH,” (“iny [his] mother being a member,”) demanding, it seems, at these
junctures, his special interposition and protection.
The instructions thus given, were not without effect. Considering himself,
possibly, as the favored diseipline, Dr. Ely endeavors to merit the distinction by
the diligence of his efforts, and the intenseness of his zeal. He engages manful-
ly in the defence and propagation of the Christian Faith, by proclaiming the re-
cent, and, perhaps, authentic declarations of General Jackson in its favor. Un-
der the guidance of his profound instructor, he displays, too, the rarest attain-
ments in Christian Ethics. He teaches “friendship,” but friendship founded on
interest. He teaches “love;” not love, a generous and diffusive sentiment, that
“thinketh no evil, and worketh no ill to our neighbor,” but love, an illiberal and
contracted feeling, branding with the seal of political exclusion, and condemn-
ing to a punishment, worse than exile, all who, in obedience to the Scriptures,
eonsult their reason, instead of following, implicity, the infallible standard cf
I l
original limits of St. Augustine are extended, for the avowed purpose
of placing under their “ºminédiate conthoi” “alf the fountains and
“prings from whichºthé inhabitants might be supplied with water:”
By this provision; connected with the powers previously conferred,
not only were the proprietºrs qf the springs divested of the control
of ..º.º. but the inhabitants of the town, might have
been subječttà Anºtößtión. which men, impelled by avarice or
passion, might have thought proper to prescribe. Let every patri-
ot who'loves his country, let every citizen who values his estate, let
every father who regards the honor and the safety of his family, con-
sider the tendency of measures like these, by which a single indiv al-
ual had clethed himself and his defendents, hot merely with power
to make any lºws; and impose tiny taxes, and exact any enalties, and
inflict any piniéliméhts,” by ordinance or ... according
to theit discretion, bat also with absolute cohtrol ever that elemen
which Nature has made necessary tº animal existence: "º
But a provision, not less arbitraryºthan any other, remains to be
considered. By the 7th section, Governor Jackson displays, in his
legislative capacity, his miliairy feelings; and endeavors to supply
an omission; which, it seems, escaped the wisdom of Congress
whét, they enacted the Rules and Articles of War. Pré proclaims
an edict; opérative, it is true, upon the citizen, but apparently de-
signed for the exclusive benefit of the sutler, or the soldier. He
prohibits “all INKEEPERS, GRocers, aſ RETAILER$, from
“furnishing or selling any liquor or . spirits whatever, to ANY
“soldier in the service of the United States of America.” under the
penalty of nineteen *. for every offence, and imprisºnment in
the commºn jailſºn'indefinite period, if unable to pay-fińe'and
costs. , , , - . . . . . “. . . . . . . .
this dráinance, ſet it be observed, Grogers, hikeepers, and Re-
tailers-embracing, in a seaport like St. Augustifie, the active clas-
ses of community, are prohibited from furnishing, as well as selling,
What are they prohibited from ſurnishing? Any liquors whatever,
And whom are they prohibited from furnishing the most compon
beverage 2 “..Any soldier of the United States of America.”
Thus, not only is the common right of purchase and sale prohibit-
ed, but the rights of hospitality and the obligations of, humanity are
proscribed: and to extend to a weary, fainting soldier “ of the Army
of the United States of America,” as he may have journeyed through
the streets of St. Augustine, a cup of any liquor whatever, might
have subjected the offender, if rada, to imprisonment for life! ! .


& *A * * *
his opinion. He teaches “harmony,” but it is the harmony that reigns in Hell—
a political agreement to defer the ebullitions of mutual rancor, whilst proclaim-
ing Disconn and war, with the resº of the World. He teaches “union,” uot
union, for the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom, but union for political
purposes—to raise up a Christian Party, whose avowed and only object is to
support each other, and No on E ELSE, for all offices depending on their suffrage;
a union commencing, it is true, with the persecution of but one sect, but leading,
most, certainly, to the persecution of all. In the blindness, if not the ardor of his
2eal; he exalts the authority of his new master, by undervaluing the testimony
of the one he professed to serve; enforces the precepts of Christianity by a re-
liánce on the casual or designed expressions of General Jackson, and attempts
to justiſ, this profanation of the sacred desk, by alleging that some of his “hear-
ers,” he was well convinced, “would more regard the word of their Hero than
the Word of God?” " *
º: 12
Regulations like these allow no room for remark. Compared with
them, what many have considered the fictions of History become
unquestioned realities. Nor need we doubt, hereafter, abolitiatis.
narrated of the presumptuous arrogance of Domitian ; of the affect.
ed modesty and profound dissimulation of Tiberius ; and stițiiless of
what is told us of Sylla, that prodigy of successful ambition&rapā-
cious avarice, and calculating tyranny.” “. . . . . . . . .
Here, thén, in the deliberate acts of General Jackson, may every
citizen behold the undisguised image of his character. Here we be-
hold him, not surrounded with associates who can share his respon:
sibility of divide his honors, but acting alone : he is seen, not in the
gotgeous costume of a Military Commander, so apt to dazzle, find
mislead—but in the plain habiliments of a Legislator, tracing with
his pen, the results of his experience and the overflowings of his
heart—disclosing, as if by providential admonition, what might be ex-
pected from miliary rule. At a time when every motive of policy
enjoined, towards our newly adopted fellow-citizens, the strict ob.
servance.of the dictates of justice, and the inculcation, by precept
and example, of the noblest principles of freedom, we are presented
with a code of Laws written, like those of Draco, in the legible cha-
racters of a ferocious despotism. The most sacred principles of Lib-
erty and Havºwere disregarded.'. The rights of property were ia-
vaded. The ancient land-marks were removed, The peaceful Towa.
of St. Augustine was ºbjected to the rigorous police of a Military
camp. , All powers were spncentrated in himself; his Mayor, and his
Council. By their authority alone, taxes of unprecedented magni
tude were imposed; fines, pedaties, and forfeitures, were inflicted
“by sordinance or otheawise;” property; liberty, and life, were.
suspended on the will of a single individual, or held by the tenure
of an informer's mercy :-and all the consolation that was left to the
astonished citizen was: this-that a despotism, so mlooked for, and
so unprecedented, would, in all probability, be of short, duration.f
Though public feeling was suppressed by the terror and dismay which
marked the existence of an evil of an unknown magnitude; the indig.
nant murmurs of the People were at length communicated by a con.
fidential Agent to an American Congress, not then enlightened by
recent theories of intellect, or schooled in the doctrines of military
supremacy. The Agent brought with him fio labored remon-
strance—no formal memorial—setting forth the wrongs of an oppres-
sed community, and expressive of the feelings of deep and merited
*
* * * * * ~
-*

' + Sylla, too, became a legislator. It is said of him “that he made new laws;
abrogated such as were inimical to his views; and changed every . ‘that
obstructed his ambition”—a fact that demonstrates the value of histºry, and
proves that a striking signitarity in character will, generally, lead to a striking
similarity in conduct. w . . . . . . . . . -
t For proof of this, we refer to the following extract from the Florida GA-
zEtte‘dſ. October 20, 1821 : - . . . * ... •
“At present, the momentous question depending is, whether the whole popu-
lation of the, Floridas hold their lives, liberties, and properties subject to the will
of one MAN. If sº, then the RE Exists, in the United States an instance of
This GREATEst prºspotrsy on EARTH. Fortunately, it cannot last long, and
may be rendered innoyious by the wishes-and-self commandiof the INDivipuar.
.* it. . But what American would kre under such a Government for a
71.6m 6718. -*. * * -- º
*
+
*
} 3
a ; Y ~x.
* .*. {
º *
resentment which rankled in every bosom. He brºught only the on-
binances bearing the signature of their Military Governoa. They
spoke a language; addressed toºthe judgment and to the heart, far
more impressive than the eloqueñt appeals of the mostable advocate.
No sooner were they communicatéâ to the SENA’re, than a bill was
introduced for their KELIEF, which received two reddings in a sin-
gle day, by UNANIMousconsent, and was passed with a rapidity rare-
ly known. The House of Representatives appeared to vie with the
Senate in their haste to terminate a despotism staining the annals of .
our country, and reflecting discredit on the age ; and, in a week, from
the time of introduction, it received the deliberate examination of
two important cºntrittees, the concurrence of both Houses, and the
apprºval of the President. '...' . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
..". By this act, the powers delegated by Göfernoºjackson were re-
voked, his oppressive edicts annulled, and penalties were denounc-
ed against the man who should dare to execute the powers that he
had authorized. As if, too, for the purpose of making reparation to
the wronged inhabitants ºf Florida, expressing the indignant eme-
tions, universally excited, and fixing on the ordinances the seal of
perpetual reprobation, Congress declared that the moneys thus cél-
lected against the priñciples of liberty, though sanctioned by the
forms; of law, should be returned to the individuals from whom they
had been extorted. * *. * - • '• *-*.
Thus, ended Ordinance No. 1, enacted, apparently, by Governor
Jackson, for the sole purpose of shewing the extent to which he
could carry his tisurped authority, wringing from the inhabitants of
Florida their last dollar—and, with the proceeds of extortion, filling
the pockets of his needy followers. And thus expired, amidst the
rejoicings of an oppressed Territory, his first deliberate act of Le-
gislation, marked, in the estimation of friends and foes, with tyranay.
the most revolting, orignorance the most profound. f
* - HENRY.,

*
#
lº
* Aſ
*
& " A
[from the National Intelligencer, of July 17, 1828.) .
: ?No. .V. ,”
.rº
Aſil satis est inquil.
neque se majori pauperiorum
Turbae comparet ; hune, atque hunc, suppºrt labore, - " .
**
On crowds beneath he turns a heedless eye; : ,"
: Where, stripped of rights, his tremiſing “subjects”lie ;
But on the Great he bends his v(most force,
Lest they should stop his own impetuous course.
—- P -
- The ºf nature of Arbitrary Power. The esāeentration, in one person, by ordinance, ot.
- . iye, Judicial, and Executive Powers, º: Despotism. Courts authorized to tax 5
abolished; Rights secured by Treaty eli away; the Legislative Power of Congress
* % * J. a ’4” . * * *z, + *- $.
Legislaº
ury trial
It is a well known attribute of the human mind never to be con-
tent with Éresent acquisition. The successful banker, in the midst
sºms **.*
* A distinctive term, applied to People in a state of Monarchical degradation,
appropriately given by Governor Jackson wo the free citizens of Florida.
14
! .." + *
of wealth, looks with an eye of envy upon the possessions of his
rival, and, with every new acquisition, redoublés his effort. The
man, too, of ungovernable pâssion, towering pride, and’éâgerambi-
tion, pursues the chase of power with equal ardor; nor stops while
a single being can be found to question his inthority or resist his
will. . . . . . . . . . . * * * . . . . . .” - - , , , ,
This trait in the character ºf man has been strongly exemplified
in the short, but ifištructive Administration df Governor Jackson' in
Florida. . . . * . . . ' ' ' ' ', .* . . . .s". “ * * * * º º &
When appointed the Governor of Florida, in 1821, he received
three commissions from his Government. By the first, he "was ºp-
pointed an Agent to take formal possession of the provinces ceded
by Treaty. By the second, he was empowered to act as Governor.
By the third, he was is vested with certain powers as, provisional
Administrator. The first commission expired by the formal occu-
pation of the Previnces in the name of the United States. Of this
commission, therefore, it will be unnecessary to speak. All the
powers of Governor Jackson will be found in the other two com-
missions, both of which remained in full force during the whole ºf his
*
st

Administration. Toºbbviate the petty cavils of Editors, who’snéer.
at what they cannot refute, and deny what they cannot disprove,
these commissions will be given entire (A.A.) It will be perfeived,
**
by referring to them, that, by one; Goverhorºſackson was āūthºrized'
“to administer the Goverhiment, with the existing authorities; it the
“best manner in your [his] power; for the present;" and by the
other, “to exercise the powers heretofore exercised by the Gov-
“ernor and Captain General and intendant of Cuba, and by the
“Governor of East and West Florida, within the said Provinces re-
“spectively, under such limitations as have been, or'may hereafter.
“be, prescribed by instructions, [from the Presidetitjor by law . Pro-

vided, however; that the said...Andrew Jackson, or any persoh acting
under him, or in the said “Territories, shałęhave MD POWER or
“añthority to lay or collect any NEW or ADDITIONAL TAXES.”
It will be admitted that the powers thus conferred were sufficient-
ly ample, General Jackson, himself, declared, that these “towers
“were greater than he ought to have possessed, greater than he
“trusted would be ever again conferred.” But, extensive as they
were, do we find, from his proceedings, that he was disposed to
temper them with modération, or restrain them by “construction?”
Po we not find, on the contrary, that, considering it his “imperious
duty, he expressed his determination to exert, to the utiñost; every
iota of power with which he had been, perhaps, incautiously intrust-
el. As if because a Roman had, by law, the absolute power over
the Life of his slave, it therefore became his “imperious duty” to put:
him to death But, transcendant as these conferred powers widoubt-
edly were, was Governor Jackson content with even their rigid enforce-
ºnent?. His commission prohibited his assuming the Taxing power,
himself, or its exércisé by others; “acting under kinº Aware that
this power was the one most liable to be abüsed, the Government.
intended to guard, at least, the property of the People, by inhibit-
ing the imposition of any other ör greater tax than was at that time
Permitted by the laws of Spain. And yet, in violation of the express
letter of his commission, he assumes the Taxing Power, ifi the very
15

agº with which he delegates its unlimited exercise to his dependant
Council. To ºº::º ..earnest—and º: as-
sumptiºn and delegation afa power expressly prohibited, was not an
empty bravado against his Gºvernmentºr-he also delegates, with it,
the incidental means of rigorous enforcement, “by fines, penalties, for-
feitures, or OTHERWISE.” How faithfully these powers were ex-
ercised, oriather how shamelessly.they were abused, and how wise-
ly. lºyarnſhent had attempted, by parchment prohibition, to res-
train their exercise, has been seen by the ordinance of the City Coun-
cil, agiºcºher, iázı. . . . . * *
Biº. of the guthority of his Government—this open
usurpaiºa ;}. the cravings of ambition ? .
No!'s Its only effect was to inflame, not sober, the mind; to increase,
not satisfy; desire. The despotism established by Ordinance Nº. 1.
although complete, was limited.in its range to, the single City of St.
Augustine. It now became necessary to extend the sphere of its .
operation, and make it ce-extensive with the limits of Florida.- But
how, was this to be effected.?.. By assuming the control of Judicial,
as well as of the Legislative and Executive Powers... Without...in-..
deed, the assumption of Judicial pawar, a despotism, whose basis is -
fear, can never endure, although it may, perhaps, for a time, be es--
tablished: for, however unjust the laws, and rapacious the officers,
and, exorbitant the taxes, and odious the Government, the People
may still find some refuge from oppression in Independent Judges,
and JURY TRIAL. An unbending Coke had resisted: the power.
of the Crown, and maintained the validity of acts of Parliament,
though attempted to he repealed by Royal Proclamation: a virtuous
Hale had refused to become,the instrument of a Cromwell's rapaci-
ty; and ah English Jury preserved the Liberty of the Press, by ac-
quitting the printer of Junius of an alleged libel, for which he suf-
fered prosecutiºn by the command of the King. To prevent theſe
repetition, under his administration, of these dangerous examples... . "
Governor Jackson ordains a Judicial Department, from which,he
could have nothing to apprehend : for, by his own legislative act, he,
in effect, retains the Judicial power in his own hands. . .
By ordinange No. 4, enacted ostensibly for the purpose ºf promo-
ting the speedy, execution of the laws, he divides the Provinces of
Florida into two Judicial Districts, assigns a County Court to each.
composed of Justices appointed by himself, and, for upy thing that
appears from the ordinance, removable at his will; invests them.
with jurisdiction in all civil cases over $20, and in all griminal cases
whatever; Reserving To Huiſseur, However, the arrellate pow-
ER in civil cases, over $500, and providing, with commendable pru-º
dence, that no execution should fake place for a capital ºffence, with-
out his warrant; confers upon these courts the novel judicial Pow-
er “to impose on the inhabitants, such taxes as may be necessary,
“PN THEIR DISCRETION, to meet and .. the expenses
“which may be incurred in carrying this act into effect,” of which
expenses their own salaries must hage ſprºned a prominent item; and
to consummate the objects of this formidable judicial organization.
the RIGHT of TäIAL by Jury, of all ri the most important, the
only right that can permanently secure.the freedom of the Press, is
abolished : for, in addition to the omisiastºgravideºs its introduc-
16 . * . . .
tion, we see, by the tenth section, that the courts alone were author
ized, at Their discRetion, to direet the summoning of juries by spe-
cial veriire. (B.) Thus this modern Legislator, in the i8tºcºitury;
violates every principle of freedom. handed down by théº iñom of
ages, removes the fines of demarcation which have hitherto separa-
ted, as far as practicable, the Judicial, "Brecutive, and begislati We
powers; organizes a Judiciary:Pepartment of which, in imitation of
Kingly. Governments, the Executive is made the permanent head;
abolishes the institution of Jury trial, the conservative prºotiple of
liberty; and confers upon his court the tremendous power of Dis-
CRETIONARY TAXATION.
Having now established a system which enabled him to command
without the fear of disobedience, and "punish, without censure;
having concentrated all power in his hands, and portioned out so
much only to the agents of his will as he thought proper ; , having
extended the reign of despotic authority, from the limits of St. Au-
ustine to the reñótest boundaries of Florida; having destroyed, by
#. arrangement; the right ºf trial by Jury, the last aſid strongest
citadel ºf liberty—and subjected the property of the People":0 pil-

lage by his £ouncil-and-bis Courts; having seen the light of hope,
blended with the shades ºf despair, depicted on the gºintenances of
the dismayed inhabitants-whilstiiformed; upon thºut of stem.
porary departure, a time when, if ever, the heart is susceptible
of kindly emotions; that; notwithstanding the imprudence of some,
the innocent if demeaning themselves well will not be confounded
with the guilty : (C) Was he satisfied with rule like this 2 No; far.
ther than ever. He looked around in Florida—and all was submis-
sive to his will ; for every barrier was removed that wisdom and
Justice, have interposed between the passions of the Ruler and the
ights of the People. , Hè casts his eye upon the Government of
the Union, and burns with impatience at the thought that there was
* still a power suspended over him, which, if not equal, within the
limits of Florida, to his own, might assist the inhabitants to regain
their rights. The thought was inaddening. Impelled still onward,
he forgets the respect that was due to the Executive of the Union,
and informs his subordinate civil officers. that they should obey no
instructions from the President unless communicated through him :
as if this were not endugh, he seizes like Phaeton the reins from
those who, alone, were competent to use them ; alters, by Ordinance
No. 3, the provisions of a Treaty not less the law of the land than
the Constitution itself; and usurps the exercise of Legislative pow-
er confided exclusively to Congress. . . . . wº * ~ **.
The following is that ordinance. Its authenticity will not be ques-
tiened: tot, although the odiousness of its features, may not have
been unveiled to the public eye, its existence is fecegºized in the
act of Cºngress by which it was repealed. Lat its provisions be
examined by § ty man who wishes to learn the opinions of General
Jackson concérº; the rights of citizens founded on the Laws of
Nature, or ghatañed by treaty stipulations; and by every parent
who desires to leave to his children, as their most precious inher-
itance, a Government of Laws. . . . . . . . "

* _*
* f * t ‘.
*
3.
f
. .17
º r
-w * * ºn -
w * *. - , r -
- w *
t . . . . . sºlo. 3. . . . . . . . . . * **,
- * +
-- * --"
1. g”. v * * * - - 4 w * r * - * * •’ & -
* + -
* . . . . . AN of pinANCE . . . . . . . . .
* - *
* * .* • * c & -
Providing for the Natiºnalisation of the inhabitants of the eeded ferritory,
--> - - ~ y, * * . . Y. - ~. "'."
1 * by MAjoR GENERAL ANDREw JACKSóN, - . . .
*:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
wº -Provinces respectively. x * - -- * *
An oaminanck prescribing the mode of carrying into effect the Sirth Article
• ‘of the Treaty ºf Amily, settlement of differences and limits, between the Unit-
... ed States eſ Amerita.and his Catholie JMajesty...?... . .”.
• * * * * : " . * * * * *, *, * * w * * * t • , &
- :whiteras by the sixth article of the said treaty, jt is, amongst other things,
• provided, that, on the entrance of the céded Territories into the Union, the in-
habitants thereof shall be “admitted to the enjoyment of all the rights, privi-
Ieges, aid immunities, of the citizens of the United States " Now, therefºre,
as well as with a view to guard against impositions.which may be practised by
*foreigners, as to secuhr to the inhabitants their FREE choice to become ci-
tizens, of the United States, under the provisions of the said Treaty: .
ŠEction 1.' I ho-onpain-That the JMayor of the City of St. Augustine, *pd
. . ...: , , , suchr other‘āersons as ſhay be appointed for the purpose, in any
... - sº ... ºtgwn or cºunty of these Provinces, shall open a Register, and
. . . . .”... cause tº be inscribed the NAME, Age, and occupation of every
”* * * * * FREE MALE INHABITANT of such town or county, whº mºde
** * desirous to profit by the provisions of the sixth article of the Tºgaty
* * * , as aforesaid, in part recited : PRoviden, the ...;
itant, who may thus desire to have his uamie inscribed, is J.E.
Furst sAtisfy the Mayor, or'such persons as may be appointed
• to open registers, that he was really dri inhabitant ºf the éeded
* Territory, on the 17th-day of July; 1821. And PRoviden àLso,
• * : * : that he will, of his own free will and aecord, abjure all foreign
• * * - , allegiance, "afiº take théðath of allegiance prescribed by the
º, ..., , laws of the United States. . . . . . . . .” ... " r
Section II. . That the said office, or register, shall continue open, for and
“. during the space of twelve months, when the same shall be closed,
— t ..f * , * -

*, * * y
A.

- or other persons appointed to open registers, to the Secretaries of
* * * the said Territories. .* ..
Section III. That; from and after the period that the said register shall be closed,
“. . . No oth ER FREE MALE INHABITANT above the age of twenty-
' ' ' ' one, and entuled to make his election, as aforesaid, shALL Br,
* ... within the ceded TERRitoRIES, ENTrried to anxkar
. .” the flights, PRIvileges, AND IMMUNITIES, or A crºzºn
* , , , “ or THE UNITED STATEs, but saALL, to all intents and pur-
* 2...poses, BE considered As For EIGNERs, ANI subjecT to THE
* * Laws of The UNITRD STATES IN RELAfron rô ALIERs.`"
SECTION IV. It shALL BE THE Duty of the heads of families, within the said
Provinces; being desirdus to, profit by this act, to füritish the
JMayor,.6r such other person as may be appointed to open regis-
ters, with the name and age of every free male member of his fam-
ily, and the said JMayor shall'cause the same to be inserted in the
* register as before provided for. w
SECTION V. In order to guard the more-effectually against impositions as well
* . . . as to give to the inhabitants. The security which citizenſhip
will afford them abroad, It is £uath ER on Darwen, that the Se-
* * * , cretary or Secretariés, of the ceded Territories, grant such in-
* . . . ; habitants as may be desiroës of ‘receiving the saiſie, Certificates
, , , , , , of Citizenship ; HE on .rary being Firsr satiºned THAT
. . . . . . ºrhE PRovisions or. This oadinance, shAEL HAVE BEEN
’’ ‘’’ compiled with. . . . . . •. . . . . . .
SECTION VI. The evidence upon which the Secretaries, or Secretary, shall
proceed to GRANT certificates of citizenship, shall be a cKRT1F1-
**
*
*
3
*
and a copy thereof trausmitted, under the seal of the said Mayor, - *
* *
**,
Pensac
# ti- Ş f * > * º,
By the Governor : ,
St. Augustine, August 20, 1821.
*$
18
* * :) .* -
care of the C1 ºnk of the Mayor, or stºhether person; as may
be appointed to open registers, that’ the applicantºkagº .# plied
with the requisitions of this ordinance; upon thes igeiºskfwhich
it shall be the duty of the Secretary or Secrétaries to grant to all-
and every such applicant or applicants, grºtiricates ºf. Grrr-
'ZENship, for which the said Clerk and Secretarietºatia.
,' tied TO ONE DOLLAR EACH ; and for every name entered on
the register, THE MAYOR, or other person authorized, to open
gł
* ...sugh register, shall. Receive one DOLLAR
olā, . . . . . . . . " " " ,
º ** *
gº * te $ 5
: ... -- * *
= ** S *
+
July 18, 1821.” * * . … . . .”, “ . . . . .
zºº. - ... . . . . ... ANDREW JACKSON, ..
* , --, * Goverrior of the Floridas, &c. &c. &c. .
t * . + . . * * * . •,• : , , ,
# 1 * W. G. D. WoRTHINGTON,
Secretary, &c. for East Florida.
t
Before we offer a few remarks upon this extraordinary ordinance, *
it will be necessary to review the flrticle of the Treaty which that
ordinance proposes either to amend, modify, confirm, or annul. …
{ *,
* *
at #
**
4-
*
$
* --
, Y ~ * * HºNRY.
* • .
* * * * r .*. $. -
*
* * * * * * **
*. - # t &
* * * * Ar * * * i , A. t? * .
* 2. " " , ( - g ºt ... • $ g * * # y º *
} - Commission to General Jacksonyas Governor of the Floridae. . . . ~~
JAMES 'Mºss
* 4 *{AA
or; Präsident of the United States of America, to in to whºm
Å. these presents shall come, greeting : . . . " * :
à
x -t. *s, ‘. $
Whereas, The Congress of the United States, by an act passed on the third
day of the present month, did provide, that, until the end of the first Session of
the hext Congress, unless provisión be sooner made for the temporary Govern-
ment of the Territories of East and West Florida, céded by Spain, to the Uni-
ted States by the treaty between the said parties, concluded at Washington on
the twenty-second day of February, one thousand eight hundred and hineteen, .
all the military, civil, and judicial powers exercised by the officers of the exist-
ing Government of the same, shall be wested in such person and persons, and
shall be exercised in such manner, as the President of the United States shall
direct, for maintaining the inhabitants of said Territories in the free enjºyment
of thei
f
r liberty; property, and, religion : * g
* *
* * > *-ſ ºf *4 & . . . A →. . . . " f : . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nów, know ye, That, teposing special trust and confidence in the integrity,
patriotism, and abilities, of Major General Audrew Jáckson, Ida
in yirtue of ,
the above recited act, appoint him to exercise, within the said cºis,
**
under such limitations as have been, or may hereafter be, prescribed to him by
my instructions, AND BY Law, all the powers and authorities heretofore ex-.
ercised by the Governor and Captain General, and Intendant of Cuba, and by
the Governors of East and West Florida, within the said provinces respectively;
and do authorize and empower him, the said Andrew Jackson, to execute and .
fulfil the duties of this present appointment, according to law, and to have and
to hold the same, with all its powers and privileges, until the end of the next
Session of Congress, unless provision be sooner made for the temporary Go-
vernment of the said territories, so ceded by Spain, to the United States "Pºo-
video, However, AND It is the TRUE INTENT AND MEANING of TREsm
Passrºrs, THAT THE said Andrew Jackson, or ANY PERson Acting UNDER.
HIM, or in the said Territories, shall have no power or authority to Lax on
colºr:cT ANY NEw on ApprpronAL TAxEs, or to grant or confirm to any per-
son or persons whomsoever, any title or claims to lands within the game: «
In testimony whereof, I have caused these letters to be made pºtent, and the,

seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed; Given under my hand
2,
at the City of Washington, the ténth day of March, A. Djºzi, and of
the gºspendence of the United States of America the forty-fifth.;
By the President : ' ' ' , . . .
John QUINCY AbAMS,
JAMEs Monsoº.
.#
Secretary of State.
19
- " . .
... • . . º, ". . . . . . . . . ... . .” . **, , . . . . . " - ." *
‘. - - - • * * - - : i3. **A. e., ". . 3, . ; * : * * . . . .” *** -- ‘. . , -
* . . . . - - ; : . . . "a * { ... *A. ºx ** **, *...*. . . . . . . ****'. . . . .
* - - . . . } > ; •' -, - . . . . . - - % - * : * -
3 A. . . . . .",
* * - -
.” - . . . . . . . . . . . 's 3. s “j . - - * • 3. . * . . . t -
Special commission to General Jacksºn for carrying into effect the stipulations of
- - ºr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * * * : - . . . . . . . .
JAMEs Monaos, President of the United States of America, to Andrew Jack-
. . . . . . sº... . . . . ... son, Greeting : . . ... " -
Whereas, by an‘act bf Congress, passed on the third day of the present month,
entitled “An act for carrying into execution the Treaty between the United
States and Spāin, concluded at Washington on the twenty-second day of Fe-
bruary, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen,” it is provided, that, until
the end of the first Session of the next Congress, unless provision be sooner
made for the temporary government of the Territories ceded by Spain to the
United States, by the Treaty concluded at Washington on the twenty second day
of February, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, between the two nations,
all the Military, civil, Ann a uniciarº powzās, exercised by the officers of
the existing. Government of the same, shall be vested in such person or persons,
and shafī‘āe exercised in such mannèr; as the President of the United States
shall'direct; for MAintaining THE inhabitants or said träRitoRIES IN
THE FREE ENJoyntºn'ſ brºthrift iºnºty, property, AND RELIGrow ;
And, whereas, on the tenth day, of the present month, I did, by letters palent,
under the seal of the United States, in pursuance of the powers vested in me,
as aforesaid, appoint you, the said Andrew Jackson, to exercise, UNDER CER-
TAIN LIMITATIows, within the said ceded Territories, all the powers and au-
thorities heretofore exercised by the Governor and Captain General, and by the .
Intendant of Cuba, and by the Goyernors of East and West Florida, within the .
said Provinces respectively, with the clauses and conditions in the said letters
patent expressed . And, whereas it appears to me expedient that you should be
vested with the other powers hereinafter specified: Therefore, beit known, that,
in virtue of the above recited act of Congress, I do, by these pregénts; appoint,



sº The following sections are extracted from ordinance No. 4, enacted and
signed by Andrew Jackson, Governor, &c. at Pensacola, and dated July 21,
and authorize you, º, to administer, the Government, .
with the existing authorities, in the best manner jºyour power; for the present,
and to report, withoutfielay, the actual state, with sichºlterations ºyºmay.
think advisable; that further instructions may be given 'respecting the same :
and I do moreover, authorize you to suspend any officer or officers, in the said
Territories, which the public good may seem to you to require, with the except."
tion, always, of such as are, or may be, appointed by the Président of the
United States; making a report to this Government of your proceedings therein.
These letters patent are to continue in ſorce until the end of the first session of
the next Congress, unless provision be sooner made for the temporary goveru-
ment bf the said 'I'erritories, so as aforesaid ceded by Spain to the United States,
and unless it should be sooner revoked by the President of the United States.
In testimony whereof, I have caused these letters te be made pâtent, and
the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed. Given under my ...
. . . hand, at the City of Washington, the 20th of March, A. D. 1821, and
of the Independence of the United States of America, the forty-fifth. .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAMES, MONROE.
By the President: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - * . . . . . . .
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, . . . . . . .
Secretary of State. . . . . . .
*... c. -
* -
tºº-ºº:
. . . . . . . . .
- > . *
- B.
1821 : - ... " . . . . . . . a . . . . . . . . ..., "...” w - . . a . .
“Section II. In each of said Counties, and for the government thºsoi, there
*hall be established a Court, to be designated a County Court, and to be com-
•º
&
º
&)
em; *. k,
* ... *
- • * aw A * ~ : * & *
,3; w.” - * g * * * *.
Y- - sº .:
4.
a *. *
t 's- - *** - 2 : * -> * : " r . . . . . *…* * . . . .
pased of five justices of the peace, any three of whom isiſ #ºn 㺠quorum,
and the eldest by appointmešt to be President of said Court; ºose jurisdiction
shall extend tâ all civil cases origináting in the said county, where the matter in
controversy shalf exceed twenty dollars, and to all criminal &#sº saving” to
the parties the right of appeal to the Governor, ºn all eases abore the sum offvé
hundred-dollars; and that there shall be alo executiou for a capitat offee;é, until
the warrant of the Gávernor by first had and obtaiſied. . . . . . . . * * * :
“sect. IX. That the Judges of the said County Gourts shall HAVE Power
ro Laſtos.E such raxies upon the inhabitanis of their Counties, respectively,
as, in thºra pišćarrios; may be necessary to defray the expenses which may
-*.
*
*
be incurred in carrying this Ordinance into effect. *:
rº
“Sect: X. That the said County Court shall have, and exercise, the powers
of directing, by special venire, or otherwise, the summoning all Jurors, grand
and petit.” - - * • * l A.
* * ‘. s. x- * *. t * t *.*. ... * * wa **
The following.is a pºrt of the Address of Governor-Jäcksos té:the People
4. * - . . . . . ... " . * •,• J . . .
of Florida, dated.”
~, * * < *, *, . • . . . . PEN'sAcora, Qct. 6,-1821,
... “But the islatitants of the ºridas may rest assured, that, whatever may

ºétis a poprºeºerºektºniºus bfºshºir win have no effect ºpen my
ſeeing, swºres—ºxºm, ºr sº goszºri
ths guitry, and AEL wilteoritinue to experience the same prºtection and fes-
pect for their #gº, which have heretofore been extendedºradyºp they de-
mean themselves ºffith that prºpriety whiêh becomes every good citizen and sun-
Y} Y. z \* * ºA - & . - * * ~ * * - \ .- * * t (*
J ECT. * * * * > . . . * - , - . -. t – ' ', .-
N - Cº-º - * º
*...* ,” - - \. § * * ...-f
- * *— - 3. -
**
+
* _* * *
[from iné National Intelligencer. Saturday, August 2, 1828.].
• * * * . . . . * * * * * * *** * ~ * , , - • *, " ;
1 * *
* r + fa - *
f ** º:
wº. " -" ... " * , - . , - ' ... " No WH, * A tº , . * - ‘’s
e e
* *
* *
. . . . . . . "ordin ANCE No. 3-REVIEWED.
The provinces of Florida, prior to their peaceable annexation to
the United States, formed, it is well known, a part of a limited mo-
narchy, in which the principles of freedom were cherished as well
as understood. It was the glory of Spain, to have been the first,
among modern, Egropean States, to set bounds to royal authority,
and assert the inherent rights of the People.’ During all the muta-
tions of her fortune, we may discover that attachment to. liberty
which occasioned, in early times; the establishment of the Justiza,
in Aragon, and of the Cortes in Castile; which pointed out to the
nations of Europe the true source of the legislative and the taxing
power; which asserted the right to depose as well as to elect their
kings; and finally led to the adoption in 181?, of a writiengönstitu-
tion, preserving, it is true, the forms of monarchy, but breathing
the spirit of a pure Republic. . * , . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It was, chiefly, this unwavering attachment to liberty, the pre-
dominant trait in the Castilian character, that prompted the people
of Florida to forego the strong attachments by which they were bound
*
*
*
---
-
t
e ºf
2 * -
* ~
*
*
~k.
,' " w
21
to the home of their ancestors; te desire a severance from a mo-
narchy, however limited by a written Constitution ; and to prefer
an incorporations with the Aifierican States, where the abstract
rights of man were fully resognised, and, whose short career had
exhibitedthe ºrightest example of po litical isdom and Republican
virtue. * *, *... ... . . . . . . . ." . " . “. . . .
while these señtiments prevailed in Florida and in Spain, let us
cndeavor...tgretrace the feelings of the American People, when
proposing, ºtheir Government, to the inhabitants of Florida, so im-
portant.ºgh gºin their political condition as dismemberment from
the mother:cºuntry; and astransfer of their allegiance to the Uni
ted States.…Would they have exacted, even from the inhabitants.
of ºesºuered provinées, the degrading condition of acknowledged
inferiority fºor, like Rome, excluded them from the privilèges of
native citizens? Could a magnanimous People have insulted a high-
minded and an intelligent community, by proposing, as the terms of .
a voluntary.political association, any thing less than perfect equality
in political rights?" It may be affirmed, with confidence, that they
couſd not. Everygnotive of consistency, policy, and justice, would
have impelled the American People to welcome the inhabitants of
Florida into the American family, not as degraded dependents,
having nothing at stake; but as freemen capable of estimating the
value of the Republican institutions which, thenceforward, they

s .

*
were bound to defend. • * . . . " " ... • *.
To fulfil the expectations of the People of Florida, justly tena-
cious of their fights, and act consistently with 'the character of
American citizens, the declared advocates of liberty throughout the
world, the negaciators of the Treaty of 1849, ceding Florida to the
Ugited States, iriserted an article; which served as the basis of Go-
vernor Jackson's ordinance No. 3, and requires, for the elucidation.
of that of dinance, to be given entire. It is in the following words : *
.*.Art:6. The inhabitants of the Territories which his Catholic
“Majesty cedes to the United States by this Treaty, shall be incor-
“porated into the Union of the United States as soon as may be
“consistent with the principles of the American constitution ; and
“admitted to the enjoyment of all the privileges, rights, and immu-
“nities, of American citizens.” . . . • ‘. . .
H will readily be seen; that this article contains two distinct mem-
bers, looking fit two distinct objects. . The first member provides
for the incorporation of the Territory into the Union, as a State i.
the second sedures to the inhabitants the rights and immunities:9f
American citizens. To the first, (providing for the incorporation
into the Union) is very properly annexed a condition; because, in
addition to the sanction of the President and Senate, by whom the
Treaty was formed, the incorporation into the Union would require
the confirmation of an act of Congress. To this member, therefore,
alone, could the words “as soon as say be, consistent with the
“principles of the Federal Constitution,” have been intended to,
apply: The second member of the article (securing to the in-
habitants the enjoyment of the rights of American eitizens) is ab-
solute and imperative in its terms. It is dependent on nośndition,
*
22
As a beneficial compact, it cannot be construed to take effect pro-
spectively, at the will of one of the parties, especially at the will
of that party upon whom it was intended to operate: for, this would
place the weak in the power of the strong; render the enjoyment
of the stipulated rights both future and uncertain ; and; in effect,
declare that, until this optional boon should be conceded; the in-
habitants were to remain in a state of unqualified political slavery.
Much less is the absurd interpretation to be received, that the in-
habitants, should enjoy these rights and liberties “upon the incor-
“poration of Florida into the Union as a State :” for this construc-
tion would not only render the enjoyment of the stipulated rights
dependent upon a future and uncertain event, which might be de-
ferred to an indefinite period, at the will of the stronger party—
but would render the clause itsehſ wituecessary and unmeaning; in-
asmuch as the citizens of a State, admitted into the Union, would
enjoy the rights and privileges of citizens of the United States
without the aid of a treaty stipulation. . . . . . * * * *
, If, then, in the interpretation of Treaties, we are bound to ſol-
low the plain meaning of the words, when that meaning is consis-
tent with justice and the probable intention of the parties; if,
adopting the reasonable supposition that something was intended by
every clause, we are bouad to give to severy part, if possible, a
“practical effect; if, in cases of doubt; we should avoid an interpre-
tation which would lead to manifest absurdity ; we must adopt the
conclusion that the article of the Treaty, to which we have advert-
ed., was designed to confer, upon the inhabitants of Florida, imme-
diately upon the transfer of the Province to the United States, the
rights, privileges, and immunities of American citizens. .
It cannot be urged, against this natural and reasonable conströt-
...tion, that, so long as Florida remained in a Territorial condition,
its inhabitants could not be admitted to the enjoyment of the rights
and immunities of citizens : ſer, in the first place, this proposition
is not true. Persons who reside in Territories, not admitted into
the Union, may still be citizens of the United States: and the inhab-
itants of the District of Columbia, shorne as they are of political
power, would be in no enviable condition, especially under military
rule, if not protected by the prohibitory clauses, of the Constitu-
tion, and elevated by the consciousness that no power can deprive
them of the inherent rights of American citizens... But if, in the
second place, the proposition were as true as it is manifestly
false, it would not.constitute a valid objection to the enjoyment of
stipulated rights as far as consistent with a Territorial condition.
... We consider it, therefore, a position, not less certain than the
obligatory force of Treaties, that the inhabitants of Florida were
entitled to the rights and privileges of citizens of the United States
from the moment that the American flag was seen to wave from the
fortifications of Pensacola, the emblem of our sovereignty, and the
token of their allegiance. . . . . . . . . .
Now, it was the singular fate of governor Jackson that he en-
deavored to annul, by ordinance, the stipulations of Treaty, and to
divest the inhabitants of Florida of rights essential to freemen,
#3
23
founded on the first principles of justice, and guarantied by the high
ºbligation of national faith;ºkastād ºf regarding them as American
citizens, whose rights aid:liberties were secured by the provisions
of law and the faith of compacts, he evidently viewed them as
joreigners, ejected frºß théºbošom of the mother country, and not
received into the household of the country of their adoption ; as
wretched, upprotected outcasts, whom he could either elevate by
his commandºor banish as aliens from their native land. §
... It will readily be supposed that a decision so erroneous must have
proceeded'ſ oth a strange. misconception of the provisions of the
‘Freaty. This idea acquires strength from examining the preamble
to the ºrdinance No. 3. It has been seen that although, #.
article of the treaty, the provision for the admission ofthe Ferritory
intº the Union, was prospective and eonditional, the inhabitants theth-
selves were entitled to the immediate enjoyment of the rights and
privileges of American citizens. But Governor Jackson, adopting
a construction less favorable to liberty, and furnishing a striking evi-
dence of the tendency of his mind to arbitrary Government, hakes
their enjoyment, of the immunities of citizens not immediate; but
prospective; dependent on the remote and contingent event of the
admission of the Territory into the Union.,. Perverting the object
of a treaty, in the very preamble to an ordinance by which it was
preposed to carry it into effect, he declares: ‘Whereas, by the 6th
article of the treaty, it is, among other things, provided that;§:
‘entrance of the ceded Territory into the Union, the inhabitants there-
of shall be entitled to all the rights, privileges, and imtausities, of
• the citizens of the United States.' ' " . . . . " 'º.” ‘’’; ;
Let us patise for a moment, to consider this proposition, déliber.
ately advanced by a Governor, a Legislator; and a Judge: *Adopt-
ing the preposijärötis idéa that the framers of a Treaty had gravély
provided that, when Florida should be incorporated into the Union,
as an independent and sovereign State, the inhabitants should-be en-
titled to the rights of citizens, he, in effect, addressed them in the
following language : “Floridians : Debarred from the privilèges of
'Spanish subjects, without acquiring the rights of American citi-
* Zems; dependents, not members of a Republic; bound by the Leg-
"islation of Congress, and therefore within the limits of the juris-
'diction of the Union, but not entitled to the limitations upon arbi-
• trary power provided in their written Constitution, the pāiamount
law of that Union ; you may, perhaps, suppose that your rights
"have been infringed, and that your freedom is endangered "but,
‘be consoled, . It is provided in the Treaty, for the purpose of al-
‘laying unreasonable apprehensions, that when, in the lapse of time,
“your population shall entitle you to incorporation into the Union,
‘as members of a sovereign State; you shall then enjoy, as Ameri-
“can citizens, the rights and privileges which can no longer be with-
“held. In the mean time, rest assured that, although.occasionally
“excited by the “impropriety,” of somé, and the “imprudence”, of
* others, the possession of unlimited power will not induce mé to
“immolate the “innocent” with the “guilty”; “provided,” however.
‘that they shall not be exposed to unjust suspicion, and shalfton-




24.
‘tinue to demean themselves with that propriety which becomes every
‘good citizen and subject.” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The importance, and perhaps the object, of the principle thus an-
nounced in the preamble to the ordinance, may be seen by examin-
ing its subsequent enactments. . . . . . HENRY.
* For Governor Jackson's address to the dismayed “Citizens of the Floridas;”
see National Intelligencer of July 9th, 1828. - -
AN EXAMINATION
, , , i. l of this ..
cIVIL ADMINIs TRATIon
(BOYBREroſ, JAQKsort 2
¥nt ſºlorida.
[From the National Intelligencer, August 7, 1828.] -
The Acts of General Andrew Jackson as a Legislator.
+. No. VII.
THE REVIEW OF ORDINANCE No. 3.-Conclude:D.
Nostri autem magistratus, imperatoresque, ex hac una re maximam laudem ca-
pere studebant, si proviucias, si socios equitate et fide defendissent—Cicero.
Our Magistrates and Generals, in the virgin days of the Republic, won the con-
fidence of the People, and maintained their reputation, not so much by their
military achievements, as by the Eau iTY with which they administered their
Pſkov in CiAL Goveruments.
Having, in the preamble to Ordinance No. 3, commenced by a
déclaration divesting the inhabitants of Florida of the rights, privi-
leges and immunities of American citizens, to which they were
entitled by the operation of Law and the faith of Treaties, Go-
vernor Jackson proceeds to disclose, in the subsequent enactments,
the laudable object of this forced interpretation, -
By the first section, he ordained that Registers should be opened
throughout thc Territory by the Mayor of St. Augustine, and other
persons appointed to this duty, for the purpose of inserting the
NAMEs, Ages, and occupations, of the inhabitants who were desirous
of profiting by the 6th article of the Treaty. - y
The third section provides that the inhabitants omitting or ne-
glecting to register their names, “shall not be entitled to the rights,
* privileges, and inhnualities of citizens of the United States; but
“shall, to all intents and purposes, be considered as FobeignERs,
“ and subject to the laws of the United States in relation to Aliens.”
The fourth section provides that the “ IIEads of Families,” de-
sirous of profiting by the provisions of this Ordinance, shall cause to
be registered the names of the FREE MALE MEMBERs of THEIR FAMI-
Ligs: (their children, apprentices, &c.)
The fifth section provides for the issuing of certificates of the re-
gistry or enrollment of the inhabitants, for the purpose, among
other things, of giving them “the secuRify which citizenship will
afford them abroad.” A. ~
The sixth section prescribes the FEEs, or, to speak more proper-
ly, the Taxes, demanded of the People, for the privilege of enroll-
ment and the security of citizenship, viz:
For each certificate of citizenship, rwo Dollars : one of which
was to be paid to the Secretary, appointed by Governor Jack-
son ; and one to the Clerk.' '.
#or each NAME, enrolled or registered, whether of an Inhabitunt,
of a Head of a Family, of an apprentice, or of a child, one
woºdas, payable to the person appointed by Governor Jack-
son to open the registers. *
26 t
* # A , * -
And, to secure the due payment of these FEEs or Taxes, the in-
habitants were subjected to disfranchisement of the right of citizen-
ship, and to the rigorous provisions of the law with regard to sus-
pected Aliens in time of war. - - - , , ,
If all must be surprised at an interpretation. of a treaty, by a
Republican Governor, reducing the inhabitants of Florida to a state
of abject degradation, and subjecting their liberty, their property,
and their lives, to his uncontrolled power, how must that surprise
be mingled with indignation, when"we view the odious features of
this revolting ordinance. To give utterance to this indignation is
not our purpose; and to convey an adequate idea of the tyranny and
inhumanity which it displays exceeds our feeble efforts. . Resigning
this task to an ābler pen, we shall confine our remarks to its leading
traits, which, whilst arresting the attention of the most careless ob-
server, will secure the reprobation of the wise and good.
The first trait that we shall notice is an InconsistEncy in the con-
struction of the Treaty, which could never have been committed by
a vigorous and perspicacious mind. The preamble assumes the
principle that the inhabitants could only enjoy the rights, privileges,
and immunities of citizens at some future period, to wit: “ on the
entrance of the ceded Territories into the Union.” But the enact-
ments of the third and fifth sections declare that the inhabitants should
be admitted to the rights, privileges, and immunities of citizens at
once, to wit: on conforming to the regulations of the Ordinance, and
paying the sums demanded as the condition of rights and immu-
nities conferred The only means of escape from this glaring in-
consistency is the admission, that, in the estimation of Governor
Jackson, the imperative provisions of a treaty, declared to be the
supreme law by the Constitution he had sworn to support, might yet
be modified or annulled by the opposing provisions of his Ordinance.
. The next characteristic of this Législative act, is either PaoFound
Ignorance of the Laws of Nations, or an entire contempt for the
first principles of JUSTICE. -
By the treaty of cession, the Sovereignty of the Union was ex-
tended over Florida; the connexion between Spain and that Pro-
vince was severed ; and, if Laws and Compacts had power to
transfer the allegiance of the inhabitants from the mother country
to our own, they had becoine, at the time of transfer, Citizens of the
United States. But either from inexcusable inattention to these ob-
vious principles, or habitual disregard to the Laws of Nations, Go-
vernor Jackson considered the inhabitants as ForeignERs, and as-
sumed the power to remove them as Aliens, unless they conformed.
to his regulations, and paid the tribute which he thought proper to
prescribe. º . .
Had Governor Jackson manifested only IGNortance of THE LAws
of NATions, his ardent supporters might have found a palliation in
his early education and military habits. But he manifested also an
ignorance which, in an American citizen, can admit of neither ex-
cuse nor palliation—an ignorance of THE Constitution AND THE
‘Laws of his country. After regarding the population of Florida
as Foreigners, liable to removal under laws applicable only to Aliens,
he undertook to pass an act, entitled “An ordinance provieing For
27.
The NATURALization of the inhabitants of the ceded Territory,” and
to prescribe the rules by conforming to which they should thereaf-
ter be regarded as American citizens. * Now, is there a citizen, na-
tive or naturalized, who does not know, that to Congress alone the
Constitution has given the power to pass uniform aules upon the
subject of naturalization; that when these rules were established,
the combined States of the Union had no longer the right to im-
pair their force. or increase their number; and that, in attempting
to legislate in , a case. exclusively confided to the Legislature of the
Union, Governor Jackson betrayed an ignorance without a paral-
lel, or committed an act of usurpation portending danger to the
Republic if ever, again, invested with power. ge
But the inconsistency and ignorance, or usurpation, discerhible in
this ordinance, are not more remarkable than the INJustice of its
requirements, and the severity of its inflictions.—Its injustice is
displayed in the fees demanded indiscriminately from the rich and poor.
Operating as a capitation taz, it is liable to the objections which have
rendered that tax the odium of every free community. In one re-
spect, indeed, it was still more to be detested. It required from the
head of every family an additional dollar for every male chuld or
apprentice, and thus, in a majority of cases, subjected the poor to
burdens even greater than the rich. While thus unjust in its re-
quirements, it was still more severe in its inflictions. The neglect
or omission, in an inhabitant, to cause his own name, or the names of
his child, or of his apprentice, or of any free male inmate of his
family, to be registered, was made a punishable offence. And what
was the punishment 2 Was it simply fine and imprisonment No.—
Had it been by fine, sweeping away the whole of his possessions;
or by imprisonment, protracted to the latest hour of his life, it would
have been comparatively mild. He was made to forfeit, by that
single act, the rights, privileges, and immunities of an American citi-
. .zen—more to be prized than life itself. Degraded from the rank of
freemen ; subjected in peace to regulations applied to aliens and ‘to
spies in time of war" expelled from the bosom of the society he
loved; separated from the friends of his youth and of his age ; pre-
sented with the alternative of being, himself, the conductor of his
family into banishment, or of rending the ties which bound them to
him; he was doomed to wander into distant climes in search of a
country, a habitation, and a home; pursued, wherever he might go,
by the stigma of imputed criminality—and transmitting to his off-
spring the remembrance of his wrongs and the inheritance of his
disgrace. * . . ; * ~g • ,
But to these prominent features of inconsistency, ignorance, injus-
tice, and severity, was also added a Rapacity seldom equalled in the
career of heartless tyranny. As the price of a certificate of citizen-
ship, intrinsically worthless; incapable of granting what was not alrea-
dy secured by treaty; and stamped, upon its face, with usurpation
and deception, every inhabitant of Florida was compelled to pay
* 4
THREE DOLLARS, viz: a. *
*
One Dollah to the Mayor, or other person appointed to open
* . . . . Registers. . . " . e
One Doukan to the Secretary of the Territory ; and,
ONE. DoilAR to the Mayor's Clerk.
• *
28
. . . . * * * * * * * > . .
Nor was this all. The Head of every family was required; in ad-
dition, to pay- f . . . . . . .
One Dollar for registering the name of EAch MAEE anember of
his family.
The inhabitants were thus subjected to the payment of a fee, or
capitation tax, of from 3 to 10 or even 20 dollars, upon each, accord.
ing to the number of the male members of their families; and, in
return, were permitted to receive the nighty boon of spurious cer-
tificates; of citizenship, pretending to naturalize those who were
either already naturalized by the treaty itself, or could only be
naturalized by a law of Congress. *
It would be an insult to the common sense of mankind to dwell
upon an Ordinance like this; for which the participator in the act
can find no apology, and the partiality of friendship will not venture
an excuse (a).
The object of the Ordinance is but too apparent. It formed a
part of a system by which the few were to be enriched and the many
impoverished. It was but the thin disguise of a deeply laid design
to swell the amount of contribution, extorted from a distant, unpro-
tected and, therefore, oppressed community. i
To prevent mistake, and notice a remark which fell from the
liberal, though abdsed, opponents of General Jackson, we here dis-
claim the intention of ascribing to him the enacting of a law from
considerations purely mercenary. We never supposed that, either
in this Ordinance, or in the one by which the Taxes in St. Au-
gustine were sanctioned, he could have been impelled by the gro-
velling views of an ordinary mind, or by motives directly opposed
to his ruling passion. But affinities exist in the laws of moral action,
as well as in the laws of physical nature. Some criminality must
rest upon the man who sees the midnight robber lurking around the
chamber of unprotected youth, without feeling the desire, or making
an effort, to sound the alarm; or stands by, silent and inactive, while
another; clothed with his mantle, pierces the posom of his helpless
ward. If the People are plundered under the forms of law, what mat-
ters it to them whether the Legislator, by whom it was enacted, yield-
ed, from weakness, to the importunities of needy adventurers, attach-
ed to his fortunes, and ready to assume the profitable task of enlighten-
ing his mind and directing his conscience ; or was impelled by the
sordid desire of “sharing the spoil.” What was the object for
which Caesar, violating the majesty of the people, and threatening
their Tribune with death, opened against law the Treasury of Rome':
Posterity acquits him of the meanness of Jivarice, while LIBERTY
mourns his ruthless ambition, and History records the extent of his
Largesses. (b) And even Catiline, the profligate, criminal, yet am-
bitious Catiline, was liberal of his donations, (c) without enjoying,
perhaps, the opportunity, presented in modern times, of being liberal
at the pāblic expense. HENRY.
(a) “It is not my intention to undertake a defence of the ordinances, but to
explain their history and origin.” * H. M. Bhagºraidar.
(b) Caesar, dando, ignoscendo ; Cato nihil largiundo glorian adeptus est.
& ** * k SALLUST. "
(c) Nam, uti cujusque studium ex ætate flagrabat aliis seorta priebere, alii
canes, atque equos mercari: postremo neuue sumptui parcere, dum ilios obnoxi,
ois fidesque sibi faceret, 4. . . . - SALigºt,
AN EXAMINATION
OF THE
orvr1. Anxrn IsTharron
down assos JAossos
... , Xu ſºlorida.
e
[From the National Intelligencer, Thursday, Sept. 4, 1828.]
The Acts of General Andrew Jackson as a Legislator.
No. VIII.
Quamvis enim demersæ sint, leges alicujus opibus, quamvis timefacta Libertas,
emérgunt tamen haec aliquando aut judiciis tacitis, aut occultis de honore suf-
fragiis. e *. we [Cic. de Off.
Although Libratz has been subdued by bold usurpation, and the Laws been
overwhelmed by superior force, the silent judgment of the public, or the open
decision at the polls, will not fail to avenge their violated majesty, and restore
them, once more, to their pristine dignity. - *
The Three ORDINANCEs to which we have adverted, although
forming but half the number that Governor Jackson has given. to
the world, will, perhaps, be received by his supporters as speci-
mens of Legislative talents, while they furnish his opponents with
incontestible proofs of unfitness for the station to which he aspires.
Without pursuing, however, an investigation which, at every
step, accumulates matter for sober reflection, it is now our object
to recapitulate the features already presented to public view.
In ordinance No. 1. we have seen him delegating to a depen-
dent City Council of his own appointment, an unlimited power to
Lay and collect Taxes, although prohibited, himself, from the
exercise of the taxing power by the express letter of his Commission:
We have seen him assuming the directory of the consciences of
men, invading the sanctuary of religious faith, and ordaining that
his bouncil should have Power to make “ANY REGULATIons on the
due observance of the Sabbath, WHICH THEY MAY DEEM
PROPER:”
We have seen him converting an act of Humanity and Hospitali-
ty into a punishable offence; restricting the right of barter and sale;
and prohibiting all within the pale of his authority, “from FUR-
* NISHING, or selling, any liquor, or ardent spirit, whatever, to
“any sotºnea in the service of the United States of America.”
We have seen him exercising an absolute control over the pro-
perty of individuals; divesting citizens of its enjoyment without
providing a just compensation; and extending the old and established
limits of St. Augustine, for the avowed purpose of “placing under
“ the IMMEDIAre contaol of the Mayor and Council, ALL the
“fountains and springs from which the inhabitants are supplied with
A*, water.” * - ?
And, as if these enumerated powers were not sufficiently ample,
we have seen him conferring upon the same Council, by a general
grant, “Ait-THE Powers necessary To The good-goveanment of
* rigº równ.” -
In Oasinance No. 4, we have seen him assuming, by his own
Legislative act, the highest judicial powers, rendering the Judicial
30 * *
Department dependent on his will ; vesting CRIMINAL JURIS.
DICTION in County Courts, composed of Justices of the
PEACE, of his own appointment, removable at his pleisure; pro-
viding, however, with commendable prudence, that no execution
should take place, upon their judgments, without his warrant ;
granting to these tourts the novel power of unlimited tânation;
abolishing the right of Jury Trial—thus virtually abrogating, the
Freedom of the Press; and plainly violating the venerated maxims
of judicious legislation, which recommend a separation of the
Legislative, Executive and Judicial powers, as the only preserva-
tive of Freedom.
In ORDINAnce No. 3 we have seen him divesting the inhabitants
of Florida, by construction, of the rights, privileges, and immuni-
ties of American citizens, to which they were entitled by the faith
of treaties; we have seen him tendering the restoration of these
rights and immunities, upon the payment of certain fees, operating
as a degrading tribute, or still more degrading capitation tax, claim-
ed as an equivalent for security afforded, or liberty conferred : we
have seen him demanding, as the price of spurious certificătes of
citizenship, absolutely worthless, because absolutely void, not less
than Three Dollars in any case, and an additional dollar, not in
proportion to property assessed, but for every apprentice maintained,
and every MALE child begotten. To add another trait to this sys-
tem of unequalled extortion, we have seen him. USURPING the
power exclusively confided to Congress by the Constitution he had
sworn to support, establishing Rules of NATuRALIZATION unknown
to the law, and enforcing his new regulations by the proclaimed
punishment of banishment or exile.
The effect of these Ordinances upon the inhabitants of Florida
may be imagined, but cannot be described. They had cherished
the belief that the successful Soldier would have guarded their
property and preserved their rights. Hope inclined them to expect
that his combined civil and military powers would have been ex-
erted, not to oppress, but to protect; not to pillage, but defend ;
not to subvert their valued institutions, under which they had lived
in security and peace, or to engraft new abuses upon old corrup-
tions, but to reform what experience might show to be defective ;
to retain what the general voice might approve; and rear the insti-
tutions of an infant State upon the basis of wise and equitable laws.
Moved by these cheering anticipations, they were ready to receive
him as a friend, and obey him as a father. But how great and sud-
den was the change . The very day after the execution of the
Treaty, and the exchange of Flags, the promulgation of the Ordiº
nances aroused them from the dream of anticipated freedom, and
Presented to their view the spectacle of free-born , citizens
in chains. The convulsion of Nature could not have struck them
with greater dismay than the taxes imposed, the tribute demanded,
and the principles maintained. But dismay gave way to unmingled
abhorrence, when, in the same ordinances, they beheld his open
contempt for the sacred principles of the Constitution; his eager
prostration of the cherished maxims of Freedom; his glaring vio-
lation of rights secured by Treaty ; and his daring usurpation of
Supreme Judicial and Legislative Powers. Directing their attention
to the Form of Government which his Wisdom devised, they disco-
* 3:
vered the concentration in one reason of all the Powers of the
State; the subversion of every Law, principle, and usage, that
could restrain his will; the introduction of uncertain Laws and
Suintmary punishments; and the bold and artful erection of a hideous
Despotism rivalling that of the successors of Tamerlane, and more
complete than the Despotism of Bonaparte in his proudest days: a
Despotism in which the Writs of a self styled “Chancellor and
Judge” were served by “Officens of the GUARD,” and the de-
cisions of the Bench were enforced by a Band of Soldiery, equipped
for Slaughter. [A.] A Despotism of which FEAR was the efficient
agent and controlling principle ; and which required only time for
its consolidation, and victims for its fury, to be worthy of a place
by the side of that which the glowing genius of Tacitus has left for
the contemplation and warning of future times. If, from the form
of Government, they lookedº the character of the Individual who
had engrossed its powers, they saw that a Despotism, so appalling,
was grasped by one insensible to fear; unchecked by principle;
prone to substitute his will for Law, and, in the exercise of that
will, impelled by a disposition vindictive, cruel, and relentless;
swayed by passions as easily excited as they were ungovernable in
their course; jealous of all, but most jealous of those who, stand-
ing erect in conscious virtue, refused the tribute of cringing adula-
tion; sometimes moved, like the undulating willow, by the baleful
influences around him ; at other times hastening to his object with the
rapidity and thoughtlessness of the Mountain Cataract. But if, turning
from general views, they scrutinized the acts of his short but stormyad.
ministration, they would find him at one time ſº imprisoning a Diplo-
matic Agent, entitled to immunity by the Law of Nations, for an alleg-
ed contempt of his usurped Authority; thereby subjecting his country
to ignominious concessions, or to the dangers of a foreign war: At
another, [C] directing the Military violation of the Domestic Sanctu-
Aay, and the forcible seizure of papers, which, by the solemn compact
of competent authority, were to remain subject to the decision of the
respective Governments: At another, [D] trampling under foot the
Judicial Authority in the person of a Judge, holding a commission
from his country, whom he barely permitted, as an act of lenity,
to escape imprisonment or death ; and from whom he extorted de-
grading apologies for having dared to issue a writ, the Safeguard of
Liberty, the right of every American Citizen, however humble,
and not less the right of an incarcerated Agent of a friendly Power:
At another, [E] issuing a Lettre de Cáchet, in the form of a Procla-
mation, culled from the instructive precedents of Tyrannical Go-
vernments, commanding eight individuals to leave the Province, upon
three days’ notice, under the penalty of “ being dealt with according
[a] to law,” lodged only in his breast, and interpreted at pleasure;
and this for the alleged offence of having published, anonymously, in
a public paper, a temperate exposition of a false interpretation,
actually committed by the acting Interpreter, and afterwards con-
fessed by the Interpreter himself. [E. e.] At another, [F] ºrdering
... the arrest and protracted imprisonment of Williers and Guillemard,
for the imputed crime of returning, as private individuals, for the
sole purpose of rescuing their property from waste, and animating
the expiring hopes of the companions of their bosoms, when visited
32
by disease, and flung, by their absence, on the humanity of the
public : At another, [G] degrading his elevated station, by having
recourse on common occasions, and even in the deliberate diséharge
of official correspondence, to the lowest epithets of personal abuse:
...And at another, [H] when bound to silence every voice but that of
Reason, Humanity, and Law, polluting the ermine ºf Justice,
which, before, he had abused, if not usurped, by exhibiting, in
his person, the intemperance of passion and vindictiveness ºf ºge:
and teaching the surrounding throng to DEFY THE MAJESTY
OF HEAVEN, by the Boldness of IMPIETY. º
Whether, then, the inhabitants of Florida regarded the exactions
of the Ordinances; the despotic principles of the Government ; the
character of the individual who had usurped its powers; or the se-
ries of acts by which his administration was distinguished: all tended
to awaken feelings of merited abhofrénce.
At first, the voice of execration was heard in murumurs. It be-
came more audible upon the refusal of ancient, native, and respèc-
table magistrates to hold commissions requiring their participation
in the execution of ordinances which they condemned as patriots,
and deplored as men. , 8ounding louder, and deeper, as it pervaded
the Provinces of Florida, it grew more full and strong as it passed
the limits of despotic sway, re-echoed from the hills and mountains
of our great Confederacy, and reached the seat of national legisla-
tion. Then, the Representatives of Virginia had hearts to feel, and
tongues to describe, and discernment to spy, even in the offing, the
danger arising from the bold assumption of ungranted power. The
existence of despotic Government, in a distant Province, flared before
their fancies like a frightful vision. The illegal, cruel, protracted in-
carceration of Williers and Guillemand excited, as soon as known, a
burst of generous indignation. The American public were informed,
that, even here, where liberty had fixed her chosen habitation, free-
men could be found who were banished for no crime, arrested without
cause, and punished without trial. Anticipating the vote of the Nation-
al Legislature, the Executive of the Union issued, in haste, a per-
emptory Order, [[,] commonding the immediate liberation of these
victims of oppression. But a more important act still remained for
the Legislature to accomplish. Scarcely had time enough elapsed
to execute this ORDER, when the ORDINANCEs of Gov. Jack-
son, preceded by rumors that a peaceful People” were goaded
by tyranny to insurrection, were submitted to their view. At their
perusal, surprise, grief, and indignation, contended for supremacy:
Surprise, at the ignorance displayed; grief that an American Ge-
neral, withering the laurels he had won, should have tarnished by
his acts the honor of his country; indignation at the bold invasion
of Legislative powers, with which they were exclusively entrusted.
Not a whisper was raised in their behalf. Friendship would have
averted, if possible, the vote of condemnation; but even the wor-
shippers of military supremacy did not dare to encounter the firms
demand of Justice and humanity. The Ordinances were amaulled
without a dissenting vote. Some atonement was made to violated
law by the restoration of sums illegally extorted. To guard, more
effectually, against future abuse, a law was enacted, providing that
* General Jackson, in his parting address, gives his voluntary testimonial,
that they were a People “peaceable, obedient, and orderly.”
33
taxes on persons or property, within the limits of Florida, should
thereafter receive the previous sanction of an act of Congress.f
And...thus...ſell, by an act of legitimate authority, a system of
USURPATION, INJUSTICE, and RAPACity, 'revolting to the
feelings of the American People, and which patriots had hoped
would never be indigenous to the American soil. -
HENRY.
•º
$ºſo" ſlºg A Nº D II. LUSTRATIOºſs.
... [A]
The Forms of WRITs And Judicial PRocess, in a “Jacksonian Com-
* - monwealth.” " -
ORDER TO COL. BROOKE.
“PENsacola, Aug. 22, 1821,
“SIR You will furnish an OFricer, Sergeant, Corporal, and twenty
MEN, and direct the officer to call on me by half past 8 o'clock, Enight] for opp-
mRs. They will have their arms and accoutrements complete, and Twervi.
ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION.
- Respectfully, your obedient servant,
t ANDREW JACKSON,
* ... " Governer of the Floridas, &c.
Col. G. M. BRookie, Commander 4th Infantry. * -- **
.*
©
ORDER TO LT, MOUNTZ. .
* , a wº. “Pºssicola, Aug. 22, 1821.
“SIR : Should Col. Calava and his steward refuse to deliver the documents,
which will be required of them by Colonel Butler and Dr. Bronaugh, and on the
report of Colonel Butler to you, of their refusal, you will immediately take the
said Colonel Calava and his steward Fullarat, into custody, and bring them be-
fore me, to answer such INTERRogatokies As ARE REau Ikra BY THE-cIR-
GUMISTANCES ATTENDING THE CASE.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
ANDREW JACKSON.
“Lt. Mountz, Officer of THE GUARD.” -
“To Capt. DADE, Qificer of the day : ºf g
“You win take into your custody, and safely keep, Don Jose Calava and his
steward Fullarat, until the. documents and papers recited in the order for the
arrest of Domingo Sousa are produced, and delivered unto H. M. Brackenridge,
Alcalde of the city of Pensacola. h w
“Given under my hand, this 22d day of Aug. 1821. ^ -
* ANDREW JACKSON, k
“. Governor of the Floridas.”
* EA, a.)
The Desrorism of Governon Jackson described.
Judge Fromentin to the Secretary of State.
… ." . ** PEN'sAcola, SEPT. 21, 1821.
*...*Sir: My situation, and the situation of the country, becomes more and
more pºseriars every day. When, after receiving my commission, on the
very day **hich the pretended county court, created by General Jackson, ad-
. . . . . . ; * ~, *
.# *: establishment of a.Territorial Government, March 8
*
* .*
ºt -
34
journed, I wrote you that things of course should remain in statu quo. * * * *
• * * But the evil is making every day such rapid progrèss, that i am seriously
alarmed at the immeuse number of suits, both civil and criminari, which are
every day tried here, coram non judice. The county court holds adjourned $23-
sions every month, and the General is engaged in hearing trials himself more Of
less every day. What his views are I cannot tell. But I feel serious arisiety when
I see him from the BExch, which he has usurped, pressing indiscriminately into
his service truth and untaurh, fair and UNFAIR. * * * * * * * -*
“I was flattered, a few weeks ago, with the hope of being-able at last to
make an effort to put an end to this horrid starr or things. * * * * * But,
upon reflection, what wilt it [a commission for tº deputy marshal) avail the pub-
lic or me? • * * * * * * * I can exercise no jurisdiction. The portion of
the army here, is under the order of General Jackson. The posse comitatus
would be inefficient. If my life was the only sacrifice to be risked; the laws
should be obeyed. But under our Government of Laws and Freedom (in Flori-
da] the most revolting system of Inquisition prerails; and I am compelled to
desire, as preferable to what exists here now, even the DEsporism of Algiers, Tu-
nis or JMorocco. This place re echoes with the most out RAGEous and IMPious
vocIFERAtions, and that, too, From A PLACE GALLED A BENCH of JUSTICE,
against every body who will dare to question the supremacy of the Governor.
I am credibly informed that commissions have been, or are to be, sent to N'Ew
ORLEANs, IN GRDER to wind out, by depositions there, the names of the wri-
ters here, whose description of the scenes which häve taken place at Pensacola,
dees not exactly tally with the account given by the General and his friends. I
white-You with A Rope aou No Mr N Eck.” I can afford protection to no-
body here, much less to myself. I have the honor, &c. * - - - -, *w
** - ELIG. FROMENTIN.
** wºmmºn
Judge Fromentin to the Secretary of State. I e
“Pensacola, Oct. 28, 1821.
* The Constitution of the United States ; the laws of Congress; the Com-
missions of the President; are all trampled under foot. The Revolution is coin-
plete; and the Jacksoniant Commonwealth is actually spewed into existence,
“General Jackson has now crossed the Rubicon. The country was invaded,
conquered. Whether the usurper be a foreigner, or an officer of the Common-
wealth, does not alter the question, except so far only, that, in the present in-
stance, it makes the usuapra MoRE GUILTY.”
***
*
* }
[B.] ;
The outrage upon Calava, related by himself, and complained of by
* Spain. º 5'-
“A while after, ſsays Col. Calava] without further preliminaries, A PARTY
or TRoops, with the Commissioners, Assau I.T.ED THE housic, breaking the
fence, although the door was open ; entered my apartments; surrounded my
bed with drawn bayonets; removed the mosquito net; made me set up ; ſhe was
sick, J and demanded the papers, or they would use their ARMs against MY PER-
som. * * * * * * * I represented to them that now, since my person was not
secure as a freeman, and in a free country, in the asylum of my house, and in
the dead of the night; and that what ought to be preserved to my nation, was
not respected in my official situation and character, I laid these things before
their government, and took refuge under their laws.” # * * * * * * * *
*** * Jº, ** *3 . '
* The judge was prophetic In nine days after the date of this letti, <as has
been seen, the Governor without knowledge, charges him (not to his fice, but
in a letter) with ing others to rebellion and treason: and in a short time
w
:*
*fter (Nov.13) says that his conduct ought to “stimulate the proper ăuthority, .
(i. e. himself) to apply the most spºrnº and Erricient assrox.
What an escape from the “Tiger's?" fangs! Y.
→r
* [Note by J udge. Froumentin J “Since the taking porºsion of Pensacola,
all the playbills were headed. “ JACKgosian commonwealTH.'. I send
one enélosed.” * . . . . . . . p -4
*
35
Calava, was thus compelled, at the dead of night, to leave a sick
bed, for the Purpose of answering “ Interrogatºries required by cir-
eunistance.” The sequel was worthy of this beginning. Let him
again be heard. t * , . . .
“I requested him, (Governor Jackson) to permit me to answer in writing.
He granted it readily. I set myself to write a regular protest, that I might go on
tº answer afterwards. I had hardly began when Don Andréw Jackson rook
the Paper FROM ME, and with much violence and Furnous erstuhrs spoke
for some time. " º te
-> “Don A. Jackson drew from other papers, one which was already written ;
it contained the order for committing me to prison. * * * * *
“I was carried off to prison at twelve at night, and my steward with me. I
left my house open, with three or four soldiers, United States' troops, in it. I
left my private papers, official correspondence, and what was under my charge
officially, without any account, at the discretion of Don A. Jackson. The keys
9f my trunks and money chests were not removed. At two o'clock in the morn-
*g a £ough was spread ſof ine, by a respectable citizen of the United States and
my officers; fur by Don A. Jackson I was permitted to throw myself (sick as I
was) upon the bricks of the prison.
“To this faithful narrative I have sworn upon my honor.”
The following extract from the Remonstrance of the Spanish
Chargé to the Secretary of State, dated October 6, 1821, will show
the sensibility of Spain to this indignity and wrong:
“Colonel Calava, considered as a private individual, was in Florida under
the protection of the Civil Laws, which secure property and persons. As the
Federal Constitution, so also the present Spanish Constitution, guaranty these
laws of protection. Both Constitutions separate the Judicial power from the
Executive. wº
“If Calava be considered, as in fact he was, a Commusary of his Catholic
JMajesty. he remained in Florida under the protection which the laws of the coun-
tries, (the most sacred) and the law of nations, grant. * *
“The scandalous proceeding of General Jackson, is wholly without example,
and my Government cannot but view it as a grievous offence committed against
Spain.” - i
[C.]
THE MILITARY violation of the Domestic SANctuary, and the forci-
ble seizure of public and PRIVATE pupers.
It is generally known, that certain papers, claimed both by the
American and the Spanish Commissioner, were, by compact, to re-
main, without removal, in the possession of the Escribano, until the
decision of the respective Governments—(See State Papers, 17th
Cong. 1st Sess. Vol. 2, Doc. 86, page 20.) f
Hu violation of this compact, made by competent authority, the pa-
pers were seized by the authority and instructions of Goverior Jack:
son, under circumstances of peculiar aggravation. According to the
report of the American Commissioners themselves, they preceed-
ed to the house of Governor Coppinger, forced the door of his of.
fice, without the pretence of having any other than a military sanc-
, tion, and carried away six unexamined boxes of papers found there-
in. Few persons can be found so insensible to the claims of justice
as to justify the whole procedure. The manner in which it was
viewed by Spain, will appear from the following extract from the
remonstrance of her Ministen : .
f Don Joaquin de Anduaga to the Secretary of State. “
º !. “22d Nov. 1821.
*śra : \By your note of the 13th August-last, to my predecessor, you were
pleased to acquaint him that copies of the correspondence between Don Jose
36
€oppinger, Governor and Commissary, &c.; and Col. Butler, Commissary, &c.
had been received $º & * $º {k * : * * 4.2
“The harmony and good understanding which prevailed is very praiseworthy.
tº " ſº tº $ 4. * *
“By the aforementioned correspondence, it appears that doubts had arisen
whether the artillery, and certain archives, ought or ought not to be delivered
over to the United States; and that you will have seen it clearly and definitive-
by settled between Messrs. Coppinger and Butler that both should remain in St.
Augustine : the former in deposite, in the possession of the Anglo-American
Commissary, and the latter in the state in which they were, and without the
possibility of their being carried to the Havana, until the determination of both
Governments, in a certain time, should arrive. At the departure of Col. Butler,
from the said city, after the delivery had been effected, he wrote officially to Col.
Coppinger, that he should have to transact his business with Capt. Bell, who
succeeded him ; and without doubt, from the copies of his correspondence with
Col. Coppinger, you will have observed that, on various subjects which occurr-
ed, we considered him (and interchanged letters with him, recognizing him) still
in the quality of Spanish Commissary.
“On the arrival of Mr. Worthington, who came to St. Augustine, to supply
the place of Capt. Bell, the aspect of affairs was changed. [An incident occur-
red relative to a Spanish Agent, which gave rise to a correspondence between
them.] Col. Coppinger waited for the answer to the protest which he had made
to Mr. Worthington, upon the incident above mentioned; when, without any
previous notice, or any other cause, the offence was committed which is related
in the subjoined protests of Col. Coppinger, and of the Secretary.” ,
“That the American Governuţent had no right to demand any paper from
Col. Coppinger, is evident from the receipt of the delivery, given to him by Col.
Butler, on the 10th of July last, which is given for the delivery of what the trea-
ty stipulated ; and which declares expressly, that the doubt relative to the artil-
lery and certain documents was left to the determination of both Governments.
“That the Commissaries, Coppinger and Butler, had agreed, in virtue of their
respective powers, that the archives in question should remain in the state in
which they were, appears from the correspondence of both.
“What reason, then, what pretext, what excuse, can General Jackson and
his officers give, for a crime so unheard of?”
“From all that I have explained, and from the accompanying documents, it
results- ºr
“l. That his Catholic Majesty has been insulted in the person of his Commis-
sary (Gov. Coppinger) in the most scandalous manner. * * .
“2. That Gov. Jackson has broken, without giving any reason for it, an agree-
ment signed by his own officers.
“3. That, in the spoliation, or rather plunder, committed in the House of
Col. Coppinger, the law of nations, and all the known laws of civilized coun-.
tries, have been trampled upon ; inasmuch as he was the Commissary of a for-
eign Power; and inasmuch as, without summons or notice, without accusation,
trial, or sentence, the Doors of his Hous E HAVE BEEN BRoken, and he has
not only been Ron BED of his family and private papers, always sacred, but of
those which, being the correspondence of office, and reserved with his Govern-
ment, belong to his Catholic Majesty. & {} º: Q & Q
To be brief, I at present demand, in his Royal name—
*1. That the Government of the United States show, in an authentic manner,. .
its disapprobation of the insults offered to the Spanish Commissary.
“2. That the authors of them be punished as they deserve.
“3. That all the papers, &c. without distinction, be restored, &c. .
“That the Government of the United States satisfy Spain, and Don Jose Cop-
pinger, for the damages and injuries which they have sustained by the injustice
of the American Authorities in the Floridas. 4.
“No doubt but the President will acknowledge the justice of this remon-
strance; and I flatter flayself that he will be pleased to give, without delay, to a
monarch who has given such proofs of his friendship for the United States, a sat-
isfactibú which his and that of the Spanish nation, demands. . s
“I repeat the sentiments of my most distinguished consideration,
- * - . JOAQUIN DE ANDUAGA,”
* * º
37
*º- . . . [b] . . . . %,
The Degradation of a Judge; and his Judicial Authority subverted
% and usurped. . . . * * *
The respect shown to the Judiciary Department by Gov. Jack-
son, will conspicuously appear from the following: sº-
. “To the Hosjöbar Frementin: *
-*. A # * *PENs Acola, 23n Aug. 1821.
“Sufi : Your writ of Habeas Córpus, demanding the body of Don Jose Cal-
ava, has been received and referred to His Excellency the Governor, Andrew
Jackson, by whose order, he was confined, and who still directs that he be de-
rained in confinement, until released by his orders.
* 1 have the honor, &c.
t r
!
f
P. WAGER,
* ~ * Captain, and Officer of the Day.”
Not content with refusing to comply with the authority of Law,
Gov. Jackson determined upon making an ExAMple of the Judge, be-
cause he presumed to obey what he conceived its dictates ; and
therefore, “forthwith,” issued the following citation:
“Eligius Fromentin, Esq. willforthwith be and appear before me, to show cause
why he has attempted to interſere with my authority, as Governor of the Flori-
das, exercising the powers of the Captain General and Intendant of the Island of
Cuba, over the said Province, and of the Governors over the said Provinces respec-
tively, in my judicial capacity, as SUPREME JUDGE OVER THE SAME,
and as CHANCELLOR THEREOF, having committed certain individuals,
charged with a combination to secrete and carry out of the Territories ceded to
the United States, the evidence of individual. right to property within the said
Territories, which has been secured to such individuals, under the 2d article of
the Treaty with Spain, and in open contempt of the ORDERs and DEGREEs
made by me. And that the said Eligius Frementin, Esquire, be, and appear
before me, at my office, at five o’clock, P. M. at Pensacola, to make known the -
above cause, and to abide by and perform such order and decree as the under-
signed may of right deem proper to make, of and concerning the same. sº
Given under my hand, at Pensacola, this 23d of August, 1821.
Af ANDREW JACKSON,
& Governor, &c.
“To Col. George Walton, Secretary of W. F. to make known and execute the
above; and to furnish a copy of the above, if required, returning the original,
and in writing making known he has executed the same. A. J.”
Soon after this citation, but not at the time prescribed, the Judge
called upon the Governor. The result of the interview is thus given
by the latter: , !
“When Judge F. appeared before me, in obedience to the citation served up-.
on him, and made what I conceived to be a sufficient apology for interfering with .
iny jurisdiction, by issuing the writ of Habeas Corpus. And having explicitly
and positively promised that he would not again do any act to impede the ener-
cise of my PRERogATIVEs, I was willing that the affair should here be put to
rest.” - *
The Judge reports the interview in the following manner:
“The conversation was .. all on one side, not unmixed with threats, of
what, he said, he had a right to do, for my having dared to interfere with his au-
thority.” t - . . . *
“Much more was said by the ºº:::::::: the extent of his powers, and
the happy selection made of him by the President; the whole consisting of the
most extrayagant raaissa or himself, and the most savage and unmisarried
ºte ºf Col. Callava [then in prični and of myself—[State Papers, 1st Sess.
17th Cong. Vol. 3, Doe. 42, page, 163.j ' ' , - . . . . .” - r .
In a letter from the Governor to the Judge: dated Pensacola, 3d
September, 1821, he says
38 .
“I have barely to add, that I recommend to you to keep. within-your legal
jurisdiction and powers. When you do this, yourFº shall be support-
ed. But, when you attempt to transcend them, and interfers with my legitimate
powers, recollect the admonitions ſ gave you when before ms the 24th ºlt. and
attend to them, or you will be treated and punished as you may deserve.”
It is due to the memory of a former Senator of the United States,
to present in his own words, extracted from his letter to the Secretary
of State, his reason, or excuse, for, this extorted apology: -
- “Such were the circumstances in which I ſound myself placed, when summon-
ed, in the name of the law to appear before General Jackson... * * * I confess
it :—I have no court AGE AGAINST THE HANG MAN. I knew that resistance
was vain; and that it would be construed as rebellion, and perhaps treason.”
The judge in this conjecture displays no common sagacity. Gov-
ernor Jackson, as will appear from the extracts, which follow, ac- .
cused him without his knowledge, and upon suspicion of exciting
American citizens and others to the commission of these very
crimes; and expressed his willingness to resort to a very summary
punishment.
[E.] *
Persons proscribed and banished by Gov. Jackson, on suspicion, and
without trial.
The Lettre de Cáchet, or “proclamation,” issued by Governor Jack-
son, reciting the frivolous ground upon which certain Spanish offi-
cers were ordered into exile, will be ſound, by future Historians, in
“State papers,” 17 Cong. 1 Sess. Vol. 3, Doc. 42, page 41. Its last
paragraph, however, deserves the attention of the curious, even of
the present day. It reads as follows:
“This is, therefore, to MAKE KNowN to the said officers, to withdraw them-
“selves, as they ought heretofore to have done, from the Floridas, agreeably to
“the said 7th Article, on or before the 3d day of October next; after which day,
“if they, or any of them, shall be found within the Floridas, all officers, civil and
“military, are hereby required to srrest and secure them, so that they may be
“brought before me, to be dealt with according to law, for contempt and disobe-
“dience of this my proclamation.
“Given at Pensacola, this 29th day of September, 1821, and of the Indepen-
** dence of the United States the 46th. *
“ANDREW JACKSON, Governor of the Floridas, &c.
“By the Governor :
“Groag E WALTon, Secretary W. F.”
{
ſ E. e.]
The following was the offensive paper, for the alleged publica-
tion of which in a newspaper eight men were banished, without the
form of trial : $
“In speaking of Colonel Calava's appearance before General Jackson, H. B.
[H. M. Brackenridge] ought to have stated that none of the interrogatories and
highly offensive accusations of the General were faithfully interpreted to Colo-
nel Calava, any more than the replies of the latter to the former. It was,
therefore, out of the power of our Chief, not knowing what was said to him, to
make the auditory understand how innocent he was of the foul charges with
which his unsullied honor was endeavoured to be stained. Such, in sum, are
the observations we had to make on the statement of H. B. [H. M. Bracken-
ridge] and we hope that he and the public will be convinced, that we acted
fromio principle of pusilianimity; that iſ, on the one hand, we shuddered at the
violent proceedings exercised against our Superior, we knew, also, what was
due to a Government which is on the most friendly footing with our own.
“We are, &c. *s. •
“The Spanish Officers resident in this place.”
*,
39
When giving an ex (sua) parte account of this very transaction,
H. M. Brackenridge, the laterpreter, says:
** Much was said, by way of enforting the question, on the one side, (i. e. by
Gov. Jackson) and of the objections, on the other, (i. e. by Galava to answer-
ing, all of which I did not consider myself ealled on to explain ; and, in fact, it
was not possible. There was considerable warmth on both sides, and there was
frequently not sufficient intercut between what was said, to enable me to convey
more than the substance of what was thus spoken by way of arguments while
- much of it consisted of repetitions
“Colonel Callava (he continues) repeated what he said before, that he
could not deliver the papers unless demanded of him as Countmissioner or late
Governor; that they could not be in his hands as a private individual; enforc-
ing the same positions, with a variety of other reasons, and of which I interpre-
ted as such as I could. He said that he could be tried only by a tribunal “de Resi
dentia,” which at first I did not exactly comprehend, until explained by JMr In-
nerarity,” &c. &c.
“The conversation was warm on both sides; And some Expkessions was E
sort EMED BY ME in th E INTERPRETAtion.”
Mr. Brackenridge represents his Governor and Patron as repri-
manding HIM for his omissions or mistakes, with—“Why, then, Sir,
were you not nore cautious * uttered in a strong tone of voice.”
State papers, 17 Cong. 1 Sess. Vol. 3, Doc. 42, page 86–7.
[F.
Imprisonment without Trial, and punishment without offence.
“To CAPT. Wilson, the Officer of the day :
“You are hereby commanded, forthwith, to apprehend and bring beſore me,
at the Executive Chambers, Marcos de Williers and Armaido Guillemard, that
they may be dealt with according to law, for the contempt and disobedience of
a certain proclamation issued by his Excellency General Andrew Jackson, on
the 29th day of Sept. 1821, requiring the said Marcos de Williers and Arnaldo
Guillemard to withdraw themselves from the Floridas.
“Given under my hand, &c. this 2nd day of January, 1822, &c.”
GEO. WALTON,
* . . Secretary and acting Governor of W. F.
“By the acting Governor,
“Samuel Fax, Private Secretary.”
(Extract) From Col. Wallon to Gov. Jackson, dated
* PENSA colá, JANUARY 7.
“A few days ago, two of the Spanish officers, Col. Maicos de Villiers, gem-
erally called. Col. Coulon, and Arqaldo Guillemard, arrived here in a vessel
from Havanna. * * * When arrested, by my order, and brought before me,
they declared they had come with the intention of asking permission to attend,
in person, to the settlement of their private affairs, and the removal of their fam-
ilies. They solemnly declared, that they had not returned in 'defiance of the
proclamation, which they had promptly obeyed,and that they were ready to submit
themselves to any order which should be taken in their case. For the present,
I ordered them into confinement; but, the Calabowse being in no condition to
receive them, for, excepting the Officers' Room, it has no fire place, and as Cou-
lon is a very old man, and his wife at this time Extremely ill, I thought it
best to confine them in their own houses. The situation of old Coulon was
such, that it would have been cruel to confine him in the Dungron with the
common MALEFAcroas, and I could not, with propriety, make a distinctiou
with respect to Guillemard. They then presented the enclosed memorial, throw-
ing themselves on the mercy of the Governor.” ºr
The Deputy Governor then proceeds to state, that his instructions
did not allºw the exercise of greater lenity; and he apologizes, ap-
parently, for not having committed them to the Dungeon with corn-
mon malefactors, by observing that
(40
y ©
**,
*This course was not adopted by me, until after eonsultation with Colonels
Fenwick, Glinch, Major Binkins, and Judge Brackenridgé, who all concurred
in the opinion that this was, under all circumstances, the most er.”
The following is extracted from the memorial of t imprisoned
officers, enclosed in the preceding letter: . .
“To his Excellency Geo WALTon, Governor, &c &e. “... "
The memorial of Marcos de Villiers and Arnaldo Guilleniard, respectfully
represents: J
“That your memorialists, with othel Spanish officers, were, by the proclama-
tion of his Excellency Andrew Jackson, Governor, &c. issued 29th Sept. order-
ed to quit the Floridas within three days thereafter. That your memorialists,
in obedience, withdrew to the Island of Cuba. That, after being there some time,
they found themselves compelled to return by the situation of their private affairs,
and the illness of a part of their families. That, in doing so, no disrespect was
Tintended to the constituted authorities. That, although Spanish officers, they
and their families have been inhabitants of this country for many years, and are
owners of real and personal property here, to a considerable amount. That
your memorialists are desirous to remove with their families, to the Spanish do.
miniºns, and that, unless permitted to remain and superintend, in person, these
neccessary arrangements, they will be exposed to a serious loss and injury.
“Your memorialists therefore pray that, taking the circumstances into consid-
eration, and especially their solemn declaration that they return not as Spanish
officers, but as private individuals, on private business, and with every disposi-
tion to obey and respect the existing authorities, they may be permitted to re-
main for the purpose of settling their affairs, and making the necessary arrange-
ments for the removal of their families.
. . * g i MARCOS DE VILLIERS.
** * ARNALDO GUILLEMARD.
*
January 3, 1822.”
• This memorial is thus described and enforced by the Deputy him-
self, in the letter enclosing it: t
“After these concessions, and the humble manner in which they sue to be
permitted to remain, I was well convinced that you would have grauted them
the indulgence they prayed for.”
But the Deputy was mistaken. Governor Jackson was obdurate.
On the 31st January, he enclosed the memorial to the Government
at Washington, intimating strongly the propriety of continuing their
iº. e º © *
he temper with which this imprisonment was viewed by Spain,
may be seen from the following extract from a remonstrance; con-
cerning their expulsion ; the whole of which deserves the attentive
perusal of every American who values the peace or honor of his
country. ... "
The Minister of Spain, to the Secretary of State, dated
& 18th Novembra, 1821.
“SIR : General Jackson, not satisfied with the outrages which he practised
against Col. Calava, on the 29th of Sept, last, has published in Pensacola, a
roclamation, in which, on the most frivolous pretexts, he has ordered that D.
W. de Williers, D. Bernado Prato, &c. &c. all in the service of his Catholic
*: should quit the above named city on or before the 3d day of Oct. fol-
* . {} $, § ( ; • , s , e, , , s ,
*If General Jackson, ań Commissary for receiving the Floridas, believed it
his duty to fulfil, to the letter, the 7th article of the treaty, how deficient was he
in that duty in permitting those officers to remain in the Province more than a
month after the expiration of the six stipulated. His consent and 'silence, dur-
ing this time, afford evident proof that his opinion was, that the treaty was in
no way infringed by the remaining of eight Individuals after that time had elaps-
ed; and, in truth, it being the spirit of the said 7th artiele; to secure to the U. '
States the peaceablé possession of these Territories, it is difficult to imagins:
how so small a number of subjects could ejidanger it. Besides, if the procla-
41
sº t •k,
mation had for its object the fulfilment of the article, why was it confined to the
eight off by name, and not extended to all these who were likewise in both
Floridasºa. * . . . . * . . . • . . "
* {} • ' ', e. , ſº º º e ,
“With regard to the writing which he cites, the officers were free to conside:
themselves at liberty to publish it, since they could not but have been persuaded .
that they were in a country where the liberty of the press was their Justrica-
TION FOR DOING IT. * • .
“In vain will it be pretended that the object of his writing is to arouse the
minds of the inhabitants. It only relates what took place before them all, and
what has since been publicly confessed by one of the agents of Governor Jack-
son himself [H. M Brackenridge.] There is no doubt, in fact, that the hearts
of the Floridans were overwhelmed with sorrow and pain to see those out RAGEs
committed against one who had so long been their superior, and had known
Åow to gain their affection. No doubt but that, seeing the violences committed
against him, and against those whe were, a few days before, their fellow coun-
trymen, they were alarmed the more, because they believed they were passing
under the pleasant yoke of a Power the asylum of liberty and justice; and yet
had witnesséd proeeedings seldom practised in the most despolic countries. But
who ought to bear the reproach of effects so natural 2 He who chused, or they
who deplored them 2
“l believe I have answered the accusations contained in the proclamation,
But in order to make the irregularity of General Jackson's proceedings mone
evident, I will grant, for a moment, that these accusations are certain and prov-
ed. I will admit the officers have been deserving of the chastisement and dis-
honor which they have suffered. But, yet, nobody will deny, that, before it was
inflicted, they ought to have been cited before the proper tribunal, heard the
chargés, and allowed both liberty and time for their defence. These are funda-
mental principles of the laws of Spain, of the United States, and of every, civiliz-
ed country. Yet, what has been the conduct of General Jackson 2 Without
giving them the least information, he publishes, in a language foreign to them, a
proclamation earpelling them from the Province, giving them, scarcely time to ar-
rapge their affairs, and authorizing all officers, civil and military, to apprehend
them and bring them before him ; ; ; - • *
“I forbear making reflections upon a fact of such a nature, and it would be
doing an injury, sir, to your sense of justice, to dwell on its odiousness.
“In fine, either General Jackson has expelled the above mentioned officers
because he believed them criminal, and in this case he ought to have had them
judged according to the laws, or he thought proper to do it as a political ,
measure; in which case he ought to have executed it as the relations between
the two countries demand, either by giving them notice in writing, or verbally,
with that urbanity which a person of his grade ought never to forget. In place
of this he was wanting either to the laws, or to the respect which was due to the
officers and subjects of a Power friendly to his Government. I consequently
feel it to be my duty to request that you will have the goodness to lay this note
before the President; not doubting that he will give his Catholic Majesty the
satisfaction which the above mentioned conduct of Gov. Jackson demands.
* * “Whereupon, I renew, &c. &c. . .
\ - “JOAQUIN DE ANDUAGA.”
, , -9-
s... [G] * - – tº
Proofs of vulgar epithets and personal invective.
The instances of departure from that propriety of language which
is becoming in all, and more especially in those who, according to
Cicero, are clothed with the dignity of the State, are so numerous
as to subject us to the necessity of giving a few examples, as speci-
mens of the rest. *
, * * Gov. Jaekson to Judge Frometin.
'* . . . . . " * . . “Pensacola, Sept. 3, 1821.
, “Sin : I have this moment received your tecond note of this day. The first
treated my astonishment, it is true, but the second my indignation,and contempt :
ſer I did not suppose, antil your note now before me furnished conclusive evidence,
that you were capable of stating a wilful and deliberate falseood.” .
* \
- 42
Gov. Jackson to the Secretary of State. * *-*.

t PENSA colla, Ayg. 1821.
“I have reason to believe that Calava would not have presumièd tº ſave stood
out in contempt of my Order; but that he would have delivered the papers, had
he not been urged to this obstinate resistance by some of our AMERICAN CIT-
IZENS. \
By the influence and acts of this man [Innerarity] and as some have it by his
cold, the final attempt was inade secretly to carry away the papers.
“I have to regret that [the conduct of] seme of our officers, on this occasion,
was highly reprehensible, and that, in particular of Judge Frometin, unaccounta-
ble, indecorous and unjustifiable.
** He §. did not know that opposition BY FoRCE had been threat-
ened by Calava, and his Spanish Officers to my authority, aided, as they had a
right to believe, by some of my Qftcers”—[referring to Fromentin, and implicat-
ing more.]
“The conduct of the JUDGE was such an act of indecorum and contempt of my
authority, displayed such ignorance of his duty, to say the least of it, as caused
me to notify him to appear before me, and show cause why he had attempted this
improper interference with me, in the exercise of my Judicial Powers. This you
will discover, I put down, as it ought to have been ; and the LEcture I gave
the Judge, when he came before me, will, I trust, for the future, cause him to
obey the spirit of his commission, &c. *.
* I enclose a copy of the paper he calls a writ of Habeas Corpus, &c. If it
be not sufficuent to strike him from the roll of Judges, I must say that igno-
rance of the law is no objection against any one's holding a Judicial station.
# * ANDREW JACKSON, Governor, &c."
Governor Jaekson to the Secretary of State.
“SEPTEMBER 30, 1821.
“The moment they attack with their gross falsehoods the dignity of the Court,
and Its OFFICERs, it became my duty to act with promptitude. -
* I enclose for You R in For MATIon, and that of the PREsin ENT, MY op1N-
1on, and that of my legal associate (1) on the question [extent] of My Jupi-
cIAL JURISDiction and powers.” [i. e. on the extent of his own usurpations.]
Gov. Jackson to the Secretary of State.
“Nov. 13, 1821.
“This exposé furnishes a satisfactory view of the whole ground in dispute,
and incontestibly proves that Judge Fromentin has been guilty of wilfully and
wickedly fabricating the most palpable falsehoods. The evidence of such un-
blushing depravity and corruption should be placed in the possession of the
President, &c. When an Officer of such high responsibility, under the Federal
Governement, manifests such BASEN Ess and obliquity of heart, it ought to stim-
ulate the proper authority to apply the most speedy and efficient remedy (Quere.
hang or shoot without trial *l
“I can assure you, that so far as I have been enabled to collect an expres.
sion of public sentiment relative to the conduct of Judge Fromentia, it has evi-
dently rendered him so odious and contemptible, that his name is only mention-
ed, in genteel circles, to be deprecated and despised. It is considered so flagrant
and flagitious a departure fruin Justice and propriety, as seriously to affect his
standing. h ~ , e.
“Situated as Judge Fromentin was, I did not believe that he would have had
the hardihuod and temerity to revive this transaction. [The Judge was in his
power.} Good sense, as well as his best policy, would have dictated a different
procedure.” †- “ſ
“After his concessions, &c. it could not have been expected that the most
abandoned and preſtigate could have denied the facts,. &c. &c. The man who
could thus prostitute his signature, &c. evinces an effrontery- almost without a
parallel, and a destitution of principle, very incompatible with the character of
one selected to administer the Laws. I regret to say that he has displayed a
-want of honesty, and candor only becoming an ArostāTE PRIºst, and which
is enough to suffuse the cheek of depravity, itself with a blush "
(1) A mere instrument, appointed by himself. ' P.
43
Gov. Jacksºn to the Secretary of State.
... ' * , ! Sr.PTEMBER 30, 1821.
“It will not do to permit a band' [eight ! !] of Spanish Officers, to keep the
public mind in a state of excitement and alarm, and, thereby, weaken, that al-
iegiance of the Creoles of the country to the General Government, which is en-
joined by my proclamation; and which I have every reason to believe they were
disposed to yield, had it not been for the undue influence of these turbulent men,
moved by others who work unsu:rn.
“Instead of Judge Fromentin aiding me in the administration of the Govern-
ment, I have strong reasons for believing he is Exciting the course that has been
pursued by these Spanish Officers.”
We see from the above, the peculi AR DELICACY with which
Gov. Jackseo has been accustomed to write of individuals, in his
official correspondence, heaping upon them gross Epithets, with-
out their knowledge; catering slanders from genteel circles for the
instruction of his Government ; accusing upon RUMouft, Calava of
having been corrupted by the Gold of Inuerarity ; Innerarity of hav-
ing been impelled by fraudulent intentions; Spanish Q/icers of plot-
ting mutiny and insurrection ; American citizens of conspiracy with
Creoles in insurrectionary movements; “others” of working at the
plot unseen; and Fromentin of exciting the whole to REBELLIon and
TREASQN.
The following will exhibit the peculiar moderation and excellent
temper with which he might be expected to conduct a correspondence
with a friendly Power, which it would not be politic to provoke to
Wºłº,
Gov. Jackson to the Secretary of State. * , N
Nov. 22d, 1821.
[Containing a reply to the temperate remonstrance of Mr Salamon, the Chargé,
and acting Minister of Spain.] • *
“Mr. Salamon (the Chargé) as well as Col. Calava (former Governor) has
asserted what, in this respect, is not the fact. The language of Mr. Salamon,
throughout, is exceptionable and Insolent.
“The misrepresentation of which he, (Gov. Calava) complains, will be ex-
plained (by the documents submitted to you) to be falsehood, invented and pro-
pagated by himself. Indeed, his protest throughout is a tissue of wilful and cor-
rupt misrepresentations and Falsehoods; and being sworn to, are absolute and
premeditated PERJURIES. &
[The candid inquirer, who will take the trouble to sift the testi-
mony, will find that these denunciations were not only unbecoming
his station, but unmerited.] i ºr
[H]
His TEMPER on the Bench.
Judge Brackenridge, formerly his Secretary, protegé, and interpre-
ter, now his friend and advocate, thus describes his conduct when an
interesting trial was pending, and a witness was under examination: '
“This onservation [of Mr. Brackenridge's, merely explanatory of his in-
terpretation] drew from the Governor [Jackson] an Expression on Dispºsa-
suits. In a sºrhome rose of voice he asked, “why then, sir, were you [Mr.
Brackenridge] net more edutious *—words which only proceeded from the IR-
arration or rºls woment. *
The representation by Mr. Brackenridge, having been intended
as a defence, is sufficiently descriptive. That of Col. Calava par-
takes less of the submissive courtier. Let him be heard :
44 . . . . .
r º
**

“Don Andrew Jackson proceeded to speak for a considerable time, looking at
the peºple, but speaking Fuguously and in the couſterºnets of the hy;stander,
I perceived fear and surprise, caused by what he ...tº ºf . . . .
“I had hardly began to write, agreeably to permission, wh , Andrew
Jackson took the paper [snatched, he says subsequently) from beforeie, and with
much violence and rubious oxstuars spoke for some time.” . . * * *
Colonel Calava, after relating the proceedings which terminated.
in the Order for his imprisonment; proceeds : **.
“I begged the interpreter to ask him ff he did not shudder with horror at in-
sulting me, and pronounced a solemn protest at his proceedings. The interpre-
ter informed him; and he replied, that he had no account to give but to his
Government; AMD HE Toll, Miº I Might Paotest seroRE God, himself! ?”
The Declaration “ of many respectable witnesses,” signed by
Marcos de Williers and thirteen others, the most of whom were after- .
wards proscribed and banished, corroborates the statement of Calava.
“The Governor, Don Andrew Jackson, with turbulent and violent aetions, with
disjointed reasonings, Blows on the TABLE, his Mouth roaming, and Pesses-
sED with 'The runies, told the Commissary to deliver the papers as a private
individual.
* * * * • Ǻ * * * sº
“The Governor, Don Andrew Jackson, Furious, did not permit the interpre-
ter to translate what the Commissary answered ; that the by standers, as it ap-
pears, might not understand it. wº e
“Lastly, the Governor, Don Andrew Jackson, after having insulted the Span-
ish Commissary with ATRocious words, took out an order, already written;
it contained the order for his imprisonment.
. “The Spanish Commissary said he obeyed, but protrst EP solemnly against
the violations of juslice. º
“The Governor, Don A. Jackson, answered that it was of little importance
to him; that he might even protest errone God himself ; ; "
*
[1]
Order for the liberation of Williers and Guillemard.
The Secretary of State to JMr. Walton.
Department of State,
Washington, 22d February, 1822.
Sir : I have received from General Jackson a letter, enclosing an extract of
yours to him, of the 7th Jan. last, relating to the case of the two Spanish Offi-
gers Marcos de Williers and Arnold Guillemard, under arrest at their houses,
for returning to Pensacola, in disobedience to the proclamation of General Jack:
$QDe ^ -
As it appears by their memorial that they returned for the settlement of their
private affairs, and the eare of their families, and that they pledge themselves
to pay due respect to the laws and the constituted authorities of the Territory,
the PREsuperT DIRECTs ME to instract you to pischange Thrum. FROM AR-
Brest, and permit them to remain there. º * +
I have the honor, &c. *. •
JOHN QUINCY. ADAMS.
&
Gr
Gro. WALton, Esq.
*-
2.
. Secretary and acting Governor of West Florida.
- 4 + ºr • &. * *
* Aft
* AN EXAMINATION
as” ~ . . ' of the * * * * * =
CIVIL ADMINISTRATION
GO VE R.WO R. J.A. C. KSO.W.
& *n florida.
-Y *r-
iFrom the National Intelligencer, Tuesday, September 23, 1828.]
The Acts of General-Andrew Jackson as a Legislator.
* º No. IX.—(Concluded.) - 4
* *
ar
N ań qui injusje impetum in queñpiam facit, aut irá, aut aliquá perturbatione
incitatus, is quasi manus videtur affere socio. *y
He who, impelled by anger, revenge, rivalry, or ambition, injures the person,
or violates the rights, of a single citizen, raises his hand against the social edi.
fice, and deserves to be regarded as a public enemy. *.
FELLow-Citizens : At the eve of an election the most important
of any that has occurred since the commencement of your Govern-
ment, destined to elevate, to the highest civil office, either the expe-
rienced statesman or the ardent soldier; decisive of the policy, per-
haps the liberty of your county;-I have exercised a right common
to all, and canvassed the pretentions of the military leader whose
thoughtless followers are clamorous in his behalf. His therit or dé-
merit: his competency to discharge the civil trust to which he as-
pires; and the fatal consequences which might ensue from his elec-
tion ; are subjects forced on your attention, demanding cautious en-
quiry and deliberate examination. •
Uninfluenced by motives of personal hostility or party rancour,
with a single eye to the peace and happiness of our country, I have
endeavored to aid your inquiries, and exhibit Facts upon which
your judgment can be ſormed. It has been my object to present,
for your reflection, an impartial review of the acts of General Jack-
son when called to the discharge of an Executive Trust, at that au-
spicious period of life when the faculties of his mind could have
suffered no material decay, and additional years, without augment-
ing his wisdom, or subduing his pasgions, could only increase the
infirmities oftemper. I have carried you to Florida; traced his civil
career; compared his Republican profession with his Despotic
practice; and presented the outline of a “Commenwealth,” of which
he was sole Governor, ſº.º. and Judge—an anom-
aly in the annals of Legislation, the ſegitimate offspring of military
habit and sycophantic zeal; devised by the Chief, and moulded into
form by the creatures of his will ; disclosing principles of Govern-
ment gonsolatory to the enemies, of freedom, and fruitful in examples
that kings and tyrants need not scorn to imitate. º
With this outline before you, imperfect indeed, but sketched with
a scrupulous regard to truth, let me intreatyou to examine the chºr-
actirºad claſſes of this arbitrary soldier, not by the demands of his
•wn vaulting aidbition, ever rising superior to Executive control.
!
*



46
(1.) or invading the sanctuary of deliberate legislation; (2) still
fess by the alluring promises of interested adherents; but by the
warnings of unerring Experience, * ºr .
were you to consult that faithful Monitress, she would tell you
to judge of the future by the past. Leading you, once more, to the
plains of Florida, she would ask you to point, if possible, to a single
act in any department of his government, indicative of that mental or
moral supériority, which can constitute the only claim to the suffra-
ges of freemen. She would ask, in vain, for evidence of his enlight-
ened forecast, his deliberate wisdom, his republican virtue ; quali-
ties essential to the Executive Magistrate who shall lead you onward
in the paths of Liberty and Peace. t 3.
If we can admit so extravagant a supposition as that the laurelled
Hero, who first decides and then deliberates, could have listened to
any other voice than that of adulation or ambition, may I be allowed,
my countrymen, to imagine that, at the moment of his departure.
from Florida, when, intoxicated with the luscious draught of uncon-
trolled authority, he resolved “to aim for the Presideney of the
Union”—ExPERIENCE, with capacious 'intellect, and noble mein,
addressed him in terms like these : • , w
“Your course, in Florida, as a Legislator, a Governor, and a
Judge, has been fatal to your reputation, and disastrous to those
whom you claimed as ‘subjects.” At the very threshold of your
Administration you mistook the foundation of real glory.—
Fame, it is true, had preceded your approach ; but it was the fame
of the successful soldier, gainéd by the clangor of arms, the shrieks
of the dying, the carnage of battle, and the tears of Orphans; divided
by associates in arms; sullied by insensibility to human suffering,
mistaken for firmness; by love of conquest, concealed by the mask
of pretended patriotism ; by pride and ambition, bearing the port
of heroic courage, ; by violations of law, for which an assumed ae-
cessity may be always urged as a convenient pretext; and, by injus-
tice and cruelty, which the poor and unfriended are doomed to expe-
rience, and the rich and powerful are prone to forget. Satisfied
with the tinsel reputation which crimes may purchase ; elated with
... . * * *
-či). In 1817, General Jackson injoined upon the Officers, within his Military
ivision, to refuse the Obedience to Orders emanating from the President of the
United States, unless communicated, and therefore sanctioned, by General Jacks
son himself; an act of insubordination and mutiny dangerous in proportion to
the elevation of its source.
The same contempt of Executive Authority was disclosed in his parting Ad-
dress to the Inhabitants of Pensacola in 1821. He commanded the Acting Gov-
ernors, and Civil Officers, of Floridºo obey, in his absence, no instructions but
his own. º t
The letter of Gen. Scott, and the Speech of Mr. Colors, of New York, are
valuable Commentaries, upon these instructive incidents.
(?) It is evident’that the secure deliberations of a legislative body," depend
upon the freedom from restraint or intimidation, of every individual composing
it. The proceedings of a Legislature may be as effectually overawed by silence
ing a member, with threats of violence, as by turning the Legislature out of
doors by a regiment ºf soldiers. The former was attempted by General Jack-
son': the last was effected by Cromwell. It is honorable to Pennsylvania that:
she possessed, in General L.Acock, a Senator willing to exposé his life'in the dis-
charge of the duty which he owed to his state, the Senate, and the Unión.
: 47
that species of ability which, in every age, hat been devoted to the
"destruction, as well assaſety of a Swate; you ventured on the task
of ruling a Province. The consequence was such as the wise ſpre-
saw. Kou garried into civil government, to which you were unac-
customed, the principles of the camp—the only theatre of your
fame; addressed the fears, and not the affections of the People;
commanded freemen, who acknowledged no superior but the law ;
and sanctioned by your Edicts the plunder of those whose proper-
ty and rights it was your duty to protect.
“Instead of associating your name with Laws, indicative of Wis-
dón and Virtue; moulding the manners of an infant People; reform-
ing abuses, if abuses could be found ; thus diffusing, through every
rank, peace, security, liberty, and content, and transmitting your
name to future generations as a Benefactor of mankind : you threw
the burden, but not the responsibility, of Legislation upon incompe-
tent, needy, and dependent followers, willing to gratify pride by en-
larging your power, and converting that power, great as it became,
into an engine by which their prodigality was indulged, their ava-
rice sated, and the People oppressed.
“Instead of exhibiting in your acts moderation in the exercise of
limited authority; justice to deserve the public confidence; and
wisdom to secure tranquillity and peace : your Administration has
displayed a continued violation of humanity and law ; and, in your
decisions from the bench, you have evinced an ignorance, disrepu-
table even to a soldier by profession.
“Instead of presenting in your person an instructive example of
the milder virtues, beneficial to the rising generation, and affording
proof of a cultivated mind : you have degraded your elevated station
by descending to personal abuse ; enforced Civil authority, against
a single individual, by a file of Soldiery; and disclosed, on common
occasions, a haste, intemperance, and fury, which made you an ob-
ject of momentary dread, and left no hope of future reformation.
“Instead of furnishing a model of a ‘Commonwealth,’ in which
the Legislative talents of the Ruler were conspicuous in the happi-
hess of the People; where Liberty was protected by known and
equitable Laws; whence future Legislators unight derive instructive
examples in the science of Government, calling forth the admira-
fions of strangers and the applause of your country: you have been
seen, as a Legislator, enacting for a City, the police regulations of
a Camp ; as a Judge interpreting laws unknown to the public, or
framed for the occasion ; as a Governor, assuming absoluteºontrol
over property, liberty, and life. The result of your ºrts has
been the sudden creation of a hideous despotism in theºidst of
Freedom, striking terror into those around you-filling Congress
with “amazement'—and instructive only as it may show the destruc-
tive tendency of military talent, when perverted or misapplied.
“The consequences of these errors are visible in yourself and
manifest in all around you. The admiration with which you were
received, has been succeeded by distrust: Your ability, magnified
by the eclat attendant on success, has been found, upon trial, to be
Purely military : Your failings, which many desired to extenuate,
and all were willing to conceal, have been brought, reläctantly,

48
before the public gaze : Florida, once the abode of seeurity and
peace, has been filled, by your presence, with fiery, contending,.
and malignant passions'. Its citizens, once rejoicing in ‘happiness,
now enslaved by your construction of their rights, impoverished by
taxes, and goaded to insurrection, endeavor to forget that they
sprung from freemen, and find their only consolation in the hope
that the soil on which you tread may soon be relieved from the in-
cumbent weight of intolerable oppression. Wherever you go, con-
sternation precede you. Your temporary absence will be viewed
as the timely intermission of a raging pestilence; your resignation—
as the greatest good that jº. could send. The
Congress that repealed your Ordinances, restored your taxes, and
exerted their power to obliterate the traces of your Government,
will be embalmed in the affections of future ages : The day which
terminates your Civil Administration, preserved in History and in
Song, will be hailed as the Dawn of Liberty in Florida : While
the evidence of malversation and misrule, impressed upon the
Records of the Land, and descending from age to age, shall efface
the glory of a single military achievement, and stain the page on
which it is recorded.” . * *
Such might have been the language of Experience, when addres-
sing the Governor of Florida; if we can suppose, for a moment, that
his impatience would have tolerated the justice of reproof.
Directing, now, her penetrating glauce to you, might she not ac-
cost you, my fellow citizens; in terms like these :
“Freemen of America : What are the Rocks upon which former
Republics have been wrecked ? Devotion to Military Glory—At-
tachment to Individuals—too favorable an Estimate of human Vir-
tue—lethargic indifference to the first inroad upon the rights of per-
son—and a proneness to overlook even aggravated crimes when
associated with splendid qualities and personal address. And will
you sacrifice, thus early, the principles which conducted your sires
through the perils of a Revolution ; and bind your fortunes to the
Military Car fated to conduct its followers to war and desolation?
Will you place, with suicidal hand, the civic wreath upon the brow
of one who has habitually resisted your will, by the violation of your
T Law ; or give encouragement and strength to future usurpation by
rewarding the past ! Will you inflame Ambition, at the expense of
peace, by lavishing on soldiers by profession the highest rewards of
Civil office 7 Or can you be so lost to the strongest instinct of na-
ture as to confide the Executive Power of the Union into the hands
of one Jºho, adopting already the fundamental maxim of the great
}.}of Roman Liberty, has put a price upon the head of those
who will not join his party, and threatened the proscription of all
who side with Freedom and their Country P. The choice is for you :
The good or evil must rest on your posterity. But be assured that
so long as ye regard the Truths of History; or the warnings of Ex-
PERIENCE, the power to command will be withheld from him who
has never been willing to obey: nor willye elevate to supreme Ex-
ecutive authority any individual, whatever his merit, who has, in n
single instance, deprived the humblest citizen of his right, or know-
ingly transgressed the Constitution of his country.” Henry.