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* 5*" V - FOJLITICAI,: * WASHINGTON, August, 1840. . Sir?I have received your letter, asking mo, for yourself, and in behalf the citizens | % of Martin county, North Carolina, to give you abatement of the case of Lieutenant Hooe of the Navy, with my views upon the subject; a request with which I do not hesitate to comply. It appears from the official report of the ? r . i. _ Tvr ? rase made "by the secretary 01 me ?uvy u? Congress, that Lieutenant Hooe was tried l?y a rourt martial upon several charges, portions of which were for causing several persons to be flogged on board of the Uni^ ted States ship Vandalia, in disregard of the internal regulations of said ship, and in direct violation of the act for the better government of the navy ; that he was acquitted upon a portion of the charges, and -convicted upon the residue; that in the course of his trial two colored seamen belonging to the crew of the vessel on board of which he was serving, were offered as . A witnesses to substantiate a portion of the charges ; that they were objected to by\ / .-Lieutenant flooe, but admitted by the' r .court, a majority of which was composetF ; of Southern officers; that the proceedings of the court martial were referred by the *T ? .l- -v.-?^ ?r Wee ret ary 01 me 11 aw, 111 I1IC AUO&liVO VI' the Attorney General, to the Attorney for thi% District, a native of a slaveholding State, and subsequently to the Attorney General himself, for their opinion in regard to the objection which had been made on the. trial as to the competency of the colored witnesses ; that these gentlemen united in the opinion thai inasmuch as the testimony given by those witnesses wq^ not material to the question of the guilt or innocence of Lieutenant Ilooe, in respect to the charges upon which he had been convic ted, (that question having been decided > v upon Mother testimony,) the objection rais. ed to their competency onght to have no < influence with the Secretary in passing upon the finding of the court; that the .?entenre of the court, bv which Lieutenant Hooe wasdirected 44 to be dismissed from the West India squadron, after having been reprimanded in general orders by the Secretary of the Navy," was thereupon approved by the Secretary ; and that, upon an appeal to me by Lieut. Hnoe, I declined to interfere with the decision. The simple questions presented by these proceedings, was whether the admission of illegal evidence (assuming it to be so) to substantiate parts only of the charges, ought to be allowed to invalidate the finding of the court in regard to those charges which were established to the satisfaction 9 of the court by other and unquestioned ev- j idenee ; in other words, whether Lieut. J Hooe ought to be suffered to avoid the consequences of conviction upon proof admitted to be legal, and deemed to be suffi ^ cient, because trie puouc prubecuivi _m-| tempted to sustain other charges against; him by proof which the accused claimed to; be illegal. The court martial thought not j ?'the, law officers of the Government thought not?the Secretary of the Navy .. thought not?and I sustained their united ; opinion. No principle is better establish> ed in courts of law than that a new trial will never be granted on the ground of the introduction of illegal testimony, when the verdict complained of is fully sustained by proof to which there was no objection ; the common sense and justice of which rule will be at once obvious to every ingenious mind. This disposes .of the c?s/5 of Lieutenant Hooe, as far as it was passed upon either by the Navy Department or myself. But ii does not, as you w ill perceive, touch the question as.,to the legality of permitting free blacks to testify against white ^..persoqs in navoj courts martial. It is ob, "Wou^Iy not so much the individual case, asthe geheral principle, which has excited your,attention, and it is therefore due to you to give a wider view of the subject. < By your State laws, blacks are prohibited i from testifying against white men. You very naturally, as well from that consideration as from your own fceliugs, look with repugnance upon their admission as witnesses before the Federal tribunals. The < first question is, whether the law, as it ' now stands, authorizes their admission; ?nd if it does, the next is, whether the law ought to be, and how it can be," changed. % There is no act of Congress which prohib- 1 its the admission of colored persons as witnesses in courts martial. It is believthat the practice of permitting them to testify, has been uniform, and I have not r found that the question has ever before been brougbi up for decision. Indeed, I did not perceive that, except bv the accu-.., ed, the illegality of their admission is even now objected to in any quarter. The offi... cars constituting the court, a large majority of whom were Southern gentlemen, of highly respectable standing, cognizant of all their rights, and, in no sense, liable to the imputation of being indisposed to sus thin them, did not, it appears, nes'taie, as 10* tlie legality of the testimony. The 'District Attorney, Mr. Key, declares the witnesses to have been competent as the law now stands. The Judiciary Commit-! ' tee?composed of professional gentlemen, j at least a majority of whom could not be! suspected of a disposition to screen the Department or Executive from responsibility, if They had sanctioned an illegal act? are silent upon the subject, and the very resolutions even by which the case of Lieq' tenant fj'ooe was brought before Congress,although denouncing the proceedings with great vehemence, do not, I believe, alledge that the admission of these witnesses was illegal, v The matter rests upon very simple grounds. The able men who framed *7 % - f ?-*- ? fjhe judiciary: act of 1-769, wisely adapted it, as far as ptacticatile, as many of thcro had assisted in doing' with the Constitution j itself* 4nd as thev <litl with most of the eari ly and fundamental acts of the GovernI ment, to the peculiar condition of the dif Cerent States composirfg the confederacy in respect to their local laws and domestic institutions. It was to the end. provided 44 that the laws of the several States, ex-1 cepl where the Constitution, treaties, or statutes, of the United States, shall otherwise require or provide, shall be~regarded as rules of decision in trials at common law in the courts of the United ?iates, in cases wheie they apply." Tlie consc-i quences of this provision in respect to this particular question is, that when the Federal courts sit in a State where, by its own laws, colored persons are prohibited from testifying against white persons, they are excluded in those courl3 ; and when the Stale laws admit them in the State courts, | they are admitted in the Federal courts also. Such has been the uniform practice under the act, and all excitement upon the subject has been by that means avoided. Biit this applies only to the judicial tribunals of the country. The law of courts martial has not been framed with so much care. Their proceedings have been exelu sively regulated by acts of Uongress wun. out refereuce to State laws or State usagesThose acts have never prohibited the introduction of colored persons as witnesses ; and hence their frequent admission in that capacity, particularly in naval courts martial, some of them almost invariably forming a portion of every ship's crew. If it be wrong to admit them, the fault is in the law, and the remedy is to be found only in its alteration. It is surely not necessary that I should say to you, sir, that this cannot be accomplished by me. Were I either to disregard the law as it stands, wheu a case for doing so was presented, or to attempt to change its operation, there would indeed be cause for complaint and denunciation. But whilst I have not the constitutional power to alter the law, I have J no hesitation in saying that I have not been oktn 'ttconvor n sufficient reason why the rule which prevails with the consent and approbation of all in the judicial, should not be extended to the military tribunals of the country. The legisjation of Congress necessary to accomplish that object would be very simple, it being only necessary to provide that the rules in regard to the admission of witnesses in this particular, should be the 6ame in both classes of courts. Some special enactments in regard to courts martial held at sea, and out of the jurisdiction of any State, might be necessary, but could easily be adjusted. It is thus seen that efforts designed to be useful in the matter should be directed to Congress, and'not to the Executive. I am,sir, very respectfully, ' Your $b*dient servant, M. VAN BUREN. ' To Mr. Eugene Burras, Jamestown, Martin county, IS. U. From the Charleston Mercury. We gave a sketch the other nay of the proceeding* of the Whigs in Congress on the case of Lieut. Hooe, sufficient perhaps to set our readers right as to that disgraceful attempt to impose on the people. But the following extract, which is the conclusion of a review of the subject by Mr. Kendal in a letter addressed to the Hon. John M. Botts, is so full, pointed and overwhelming an exposure of the miserable trick, that we cannot forbear to lay it before our readers. If Mr. Botts has any soul, it must have made terrible efforts to hide itself unrler*this richly merited chastisement. I turn now to an examination of your own conduct in relation to* this matter. You are a member of the Legislative Department of the Government; as such, yon i.-.i ? >:>!,? C-.tntrrPca was in session. uau a iigut, Tiiuv vvi>6*r? ? y to take all proper measures to procure a change of the law. In your capacity as legislator, you offered on the 12th June last, the following preamble and rcslution, viz. " And whereas the introduction of negroes and private servants of the proscutors as witnesses, to testify against the characters of gentlemen of the navy in the service of their country, is a practice, though sanctioned by the President of the United States, ll.at will not be justified, and ought not to be tolerated by Southern men, or 'Northern men with Southern principles,' and, if not arrested, must operate a sn ruinous injury to the navy, to the humiliation of its officers, and to the infi nile discredit 01 me uovernmem; 14 Resolved" therefore, That the Secretary of the Navy be required to communicate to tjiis House a copy of the proceedings.of the court martial held for the trial of Lieutenant George Ilooe, that his wrongs may be promptly redressed, and the evils complained of corrected without delay," You appeared very eager here to correct the alleged mischief; you desired promptly to redress the wrongs of Lieulena it Ilooe, and 44 correct the evils complained of without delay." The hollowness of this pretence was shown by you on the spot; for when the House refused to dispense with the rnle to let in your resolution, you were reported to have used the following largunge, which I believe you have never denied, viz: 44 Mr. Botts said his object was attained; he was satisfied; he had got the facts be-, * -a ?... n lore ine country. So, while Mr.'Bolt's lesilution was fierce for promptly redressing the wrongs of Lieut' Hooe, and correcting the evils complained of without delay, Mr. Botts himself declared that his only object was *" * *+& * -r * s r r ; f +. ' . .t is 'rS " "s-S* j" to gets the fuels before the country;" that " his object woe attained;" that " he was satisfied!" A worthy legislator, this! Theje I wdre " wrongs" to be " redressed," and 44 evils" to be " corrected," and yet he was 44 satisfied" to let the 14 wrongs" go unredressed, and the 4* evils" uncorrected, his nnlir nhioot Unn In mnkfi them nublic! V WWJVV' MV,,,6 a Was this consistent with your duty as a legislator, a man? Yel, your deqjaralion was undoubtedly sincere, and your resolution pointing to prompt redress and correction without delay, a disreputable shum and humbug, as not only your words, but your subsequent conduct, conclusively proved. The first step was to throw a pai tial statement of the case, concealing the main facts and the grounds of the President's decision, in vast quantities over the Southern States, with the purpose of inducing the people to believe that the President recognises principles which he abhors and was aiding a faction which finds its only political allies iu J. M. Botts and his associates. The next day Mr. Wise, on your behalf, offered a resolution, simply calling for the 'papers in the case, which was adopted without opposition. On the 24lh June, you moved to sus * - - I c. - n.mnnoo i\f Yl!ll/ll1?l penu nit: ruifs iui me ... the papers, then in the hands of the Speaker, brought before the House, in which you were gratified. It is stated in the published reports that you interrupted the reading of the papers, declaring that they were not what you expected, and evinced much disappointment and chagrin. Mr. Thompson, a Democrat, (not Mr. Botts,) moved to refer the report to the Judiciary Committee. The reading of the papers accompanying the report not having been completed within the morning hour, Mr. Dromgoole the next day moved to dispense with the rules for the purpose of resuming it; but your honest reformers had enough of it, and voted against a dispensation. On the 27th June, Mr. Chapman of Alabama moved to dispense with the rule for the purpose of taking up these papers; but your political associates again voted against it, and the motion was defeated, as '--J ?- -i:??,;<h two-nnras are requircu iu uts^cuac the rules On the 30th June, the rules were dispensed with and the papers taken up, the question being on Mr. Thompson's motion to refer them to the Committee on the Judiciary. And what was now the course of the Hon. John M. Bolls! Did he press the reference, that the committee might make a speedy report, 44 promptly" redressing the 44 throngs" of Lieut. Hooe, and correcting the evils complained of without delay?" Not at all. lie wanted the case to go to a select committee; he raised one question of order after another; and finally moved to lay the whole subject on the table! And in this motion he was sustained by the rotes of fifty nine of his Whig and Abolition associates, and not a single Democrat!! The papers were then ? - - " ?. ? ? .i? l. I reierreu 10 me uonimiuue u? mr juuiuury. Now this committee consisted of five Harrison reformers tnd four "Democrats, viz; Messrs. Sergeant of Pennsylvania, Hoffman of New York, Mason of Ohio, Stanly of North Carolina, and Barnard of New York on one side, and Messrs. Crary of Michigan, Turney of Tennessee, Samuels of Virginia, and Colquitt, of Georgia, on the other. 1 Well, methinks I hear the honest reader say, the Whig majority of this committee forthwith reported a bill "promptly to redress the wrongs of Lieutenant Hoop, and correct the evils complained of without delay." Good sir, you are greatly mistaken. This was the last thing intended by the movers in the business. They had accomplished their object as Mr. Butts originally declared, by bringing a partial and unjust statement before the public. To redress wrongs and correct evils was no part of their electioneering scheme! Time passed, and the session drew to wards its close: bat no report came trom the committee. On the 13th of July, Mr. Chapman of Alabama, for the purpose of blinging the subject before the House prior to the adjournment, moved the following resolution, viz: Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary to whicli was referred the easel of Lieutenant Hooe, be required to report forthwith to this House, who are legal witnesses under the existing laws, before courts martial in the navy of the United States; and further to report who shall hereafter be examined as witnesses in trials before such courts. Upon a motion to suspend the rules for the purpose of taking up this resolution, John M Bolts, who was so eager for prompt redress of wrongs and correction of evils, with sixty of his Whig and Abolition associates, was found in the negative, and the motion failed, though, it is believed, every Democrat in the House voted for it. * The next day Mr. Chapman offered the following resolution, viz: " Resolved, That the Judiciary Committee, having charge of the case of Lirut Hooe, do forthwith report a bill to this House, prohibiting the enlistment of negroes or colored persons in the service of the navy or army of the United States." On a motion to suspend the rules for the! purpose of acting on this resolution, John M. Bolts, with seventy .two of his AVhig Abolition associates, voted in the negative, and the motion failed. And this committee never did report. It was well understood, that the Democrats upon it were willing to unite in a| report excluding negroes from the navy,| and adopting the same rules as to their 4 i #> .v *. t " * v. ** : admissibility as witnesses as arc prescribed by lair for the civil courts; but they could find no co-operaHoii in their Whig colleagues North or South?Even Mr. Stanly lefuscd to join them in redressing ihe wrongs and correcting the evils which had so highly excited your profound grief and honest indignation!! The reason for this shrinking and evading all action npon a subject which you had so eagerly introduced, embraces matter of solemn consideration with all honest men in- the South. It is to be found in the existing political alliance between the whigs and abolitionists! You and your Whig associates of the South dared not bring this question to an issue in the House of Representatives, lest it should do harm to the prospects of this unwholy coalition in the impending contest. Already the high spirit of the South is made to cower to the mad fanatics; already, under tl.is influence, her Whig representatives in Congress shuffle and equivocate upon questions involving her feelings and her honor; already, the fatal effects of this unnatural, unprincipled, and blasting coalition begin to be felt in the legislation of Congress!! ' And what is the South to expect when this coalition has placed in the Presidential Phnir n mnn o'lin will VPtO no bill which Congress may pass? What is she to expect when half the Executive offices are filled with Abolitionists, and that faction having prostrated the Democracy of the North with the aid of the Whigs of the South, shall fake possession of the Capitol, and, with an Executive Committee, aided by the funds of a thousand Abolition societies, scatter over the land their pamphlets and pictures, their invocations to blind fanaicism, and their appeals to the senses and passions of the untaught slave? Who then, shall hare the heart or the courage to vindicate the rights of the South? When the Northern Democrat, who fearlessly and honestly stands by the Constitution, and resists every effort to violate the faith pledged in it, and the compromises on which it was founded, shall be put down by Southern votes, who, in the North, will dare to raise his voice for the South hereafter! What successful resistance canthcre be to an influence already so powerful as to bring to a pause the representatives of C?11% ?1<a /Iaam nf f'nnnrt?nca lncf IJ1C OUUUI UII liftC liV/U A Ui VVII^I vu^i ?VW? they should offend the fell spirit of Abolition? The signs of the times are indeed portentous. Politicians, whose sole object is self, are crying "all is well" to the people of the South, while they are sleeping in a volcano. That they may awake in time to escape the cataract of fire, which is preparing to roll down upon them, is the earnest prayer of one whose warmest aspirations are for the peace, prosperity, and perpetual union of his beloved country. AMOS KENDALL. ? .1 Tiie Presidential Campaign*.?Shade of Washington ! hide us from the present contest that is now raging throughout our land. Save us from the degredation that overspreads this once proud and enlightened country. Have we become so low. that abuse and foulerv occupies our every thought. Iu what light do we appear with the ieflecling portion of mankind. A people, as we arc, to whom the world looks with jealous eye, having now two candidates for the Presidential Chair, and each represented by an opposite party, as belonging to the lowest order of beings.? Can this be true ? Shall either of them fill the proudest seat in the world with such a character attached to them ? If true, farewell to our boasted liberty ; farewell to Republicanism. We, however hope, and do feel for the better, and cannot belicre, that either of these candidates' ore half so bad as 4hey are represented. We then, should have more regard for the standing of our country, and a little better feeling about the matter, because we are a free people, and nations yet in bondage, look to us as a model by which to shape their course. Then let intelligence, and Imnoct -nriilo rti, nvt-av with this demorali zing influence, and if we conscientiously believe these men to be such as are held up to our view, then throw them away and procuie better ones, for we certainly have as pure and as enlightened patriots nptr, as in the days of our infancy. \\c are of the opinion, that when the citizens of these United States stoop as low as to hold forth such unbecoming arguments as they now do, against their honest opponents, we fear that the blood which our forefathers shed for our liberty, is degraded by ungrateful sons, and that they need but a bold chieftain to lead war and deso-l lation. We fear the consequences. Hamburg Journal. Go it while you're youno.?A bright little fellow, about six or seven years old, | was clinging to the steps of one of the bathing houses at the Prairie Cottage the other afternoon, very anxious to swim, but afraid to let go of the latter. Suddenly an old man, from the platform above, made a plunge over the boy's head into the wa- 1 ter, and when his bald crown and grey 1 hairs came up above the surface, the little fellow, with admirable and humorous naivete, sung out ' Go it, my boy, go it while you're young !" The effect was irresistible, and the bathers were nearly all choked with the water they swallowed tfhile laughing.-?Picayune. The Hon. William Slade, (ihe Abolitionist,) has been nominated, (says the Log Cabin of Albany,) for reelection to Congress by the Whigs of the Second District, Vermont. There is not a doubt of his success by full 3,000 majority. ^ 1 . ' ? V- '/ ' . r . k . -* *' ' f . ;; From the Biblical Recorded TO ALL 80UTBERN BAPTIST*. We now give it-as our decided opinion that the time has fully come when all f*J Southern Baptists should stand erect. So jd long as the question at issue with abolitionists was allowed to be a debateableone, we were clearly for discussion. And although our brethren received, in the mean time, at the hands of abolitionists, little else than abuse, denunciation, and? wrath, still we were decidedly in favor of endurance?hoping that time and forbearance ( might possibly do what truth and reason were manifestly incompetent to effect.? But now, since the abolitionists have in effect proclaimed their sentence of non-fellowship with the South, and have- thereby put an end to all honorable or equitable discussion on the subject at issue, it is full ^ time for the Baptists at the South to lake v their position accordingly. Beyond this ' point, forbearance can no longer be es- "" teemed a virtue?nor can it be productive of any practicable utility. Southern Baptists have now but a single alternative. They must either tamely surrender their rights, their independence, and their self respect, or they puist meet their opponents on equal ground, and declare an end to all discussion, all christian fellowship, and all religious co-operation. The former, we arc assured, our brethren at the South will never do. The laiter then they trill be compelled to do. We therefore gire it as an opinion, deliberately formed and steadfastly maintained, that our Conventions, Associations, Churches, &c. through all the South, should lose no time, in announcing to the world the ground on which they intend to stand, touching all abolitionists, and.all abolition .principles and proceedings. Under existing circumstances we are aware of no practicable melhod'by which our northern brethren, who are not aboli- . tionists, can occupy neutral or common ground. If thev hold to the abolitionists. they thereby in effect exclude their southern brethren ; and if, on ih" other hand> ^ they mean to adhere to their southern v brethren, they must of course ;break fellowship with the abolitionists. This places 4 our moderate brethren of the IJorth in a jj position of peculiar delicacy and'respopsi- ? bility. Much of the peace and harmony and efficiency of the denomination-?not to say much ol the prosperity of the church of Christ, must depend on their decision. As we have said on a former occasion, we trust that their decision may be such as > may be dictated from above, and such as may harmonize with the best interests of Christ's kingdom on earth. Respecting our northern brethren who arc not abolitionists, wc would therefore recommend that no action offfny kind be taken at present. They should bo allowed I time to reflect, to deliberate, and to take counsel in relation to the new and perplexing position into w'hich thoy bare been thrown by the recent action^of the Ultraists. But if, after having' had an ample opportunity for action, we should find them* still in lenerue willi the almlitionintK. it wilt then be fuir to conclude thai they hare deliberately taken their position. In that case, we of tlie Sooth shall have no alternative but to declare a general rule of nonintercourse, and to organize for ourselves ! such institutions for missionary and other purposes, a? our circumstances shall require. This will he an awful state of things. It will be not only the rending in twain of the 8 iplist denomination in this eoantry; hut it will be the dissolution of one of the great bonds by which the South and the North are held together. The verj* thought ' ^ of such a separation awakens the most Jj fearful forebodings. Still itisa matter in re- ^ lation to which Southern Baptists hav: now no longer a voice, and of course ran share no responsibility. The queslioivis left entirely with the moderate Baptists of the North, and if they in thefr wisdom shall consider it expedient to incur so great an evil for the purpose of conciliating or retaining in fellowship a few misguided fanatics. it must be so. Iw any event, we of the South, however paiiifol to our feelings, must prepare ourselves to meet the exigency. The Southern Patriot say?, " the Banks in Charleston, lately known as the suspended, have since resumption, curtailed their circulation 20 per cciit." if this is not a mistake, it is au outrage upon eyen decency. Resumption was an implied pledge, that they could redeem their notes according to law, and continue the accommodations granted, while in a state of suspension. This .pledge is forfeited, and the Banks purehase a restora'tion to credit, at the cost of the community. These things Gj require looking into, and if the Legislature 1 will but boldly lift the curtain, and examine the minutes of the several ^oards, enmp silKTIilnr r?v?lnlinna will tin ma/tp or we will be greatly mist^en. We cannot understand why, the whole State should be put into "vises and screws" that ? the stockholders of the Banks may not receive smaller dividends. Why sacrifices should be all on one side, is above our comprehension, tut we hope it is not beyond that of the congregated wisdom of the State?the Legislature.?Georgetown American. Very Gf.ytp.pt X lnrlv nf fashion stepped into a shop not. long since, and asked the keeper if he had any matrimonial baskets, she being too polite to say cradle. A gentleman was asked yesterday whether he did not think Harrison would be > our next President. "Read his name backwards," was the reply. [No sirrah? i -r * : // g. . ; . | " ?' -1 " V I