The Works of Daniel Webster, Volume 1Webster, Daniel
History
The Works of Daniel Webster, Volume 1
Webster, Daniel
United States -- Politics and government -- 1815-1861
So urgent is the pressure on the public mind of the successive events
which demand attention each as it presents itself, that the formidable
difficulties growing out of the destruction of the "Caroline" and the
arrest of McLeod are already fading from recollection. They formed, in
reality, a crisis of a most serious and delicate character. A glance at
the correspondence of the two governments at Washington and London
sufficiently shows this to be the case. The violation of the territory
of the United States in the destruction of the "Caroline," however
unwarrantable the conduct of the "sympathizers" which provoked it,
became, from the moment the British government assumed the
responsibility of the act, an incident of the gravest character. On the
other hand, the inability of the government of the United States to
extricate McLeod from the risks of a capital trial in a State court,
although the government of England demanded his liberation on the ground
that he was acting under the legal orders of his superior, presented a
difficulty in the working of our system equally novel and important.
Other cases had arisen in which important constitutional principles had
failed to take effect, for want of the requisite legislative provisions.
It is believed that this was the first time in which a difficulty of
this kind had presented itself in our foreign relations. A more
threatening one can scarcely be imagined. In addition to the
embarrassment occasioned by the refusal of the executive and judiciary
of New York to yield to the representations of the general government,
the violent interference of the mob presented new difficulties of the
most deplorable character. If McLeod had been executed, it is not too
much to say, that war would at once have ensued. His acquittal averted
this impending danger. The conciliatory spirit cannot be too warmly
commended with which, on the one hand, the proper reparation was made by
Lord Ashburton for the violation of the American territory, and, on the
other hand, Congress, by the passage of an appropriate law, provided an
effectual legislative remedy for any future similar case. They show with
what simplicity and ease the greatest evils may be averted, and the most
desirable ends achieved, by statesmen and governments animated by a
sincere desire to promote the welfare of those who have placed power in
their hands, not for selfish, party purposes, but for the public good.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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