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oppo ition to all the eloquence of nature, we were to whi per in the ear of the princely criminal, that .he had gold, and power, and do- minion ; and that though his crimes were manifold and great, he mi.,.ht still elude the pm1i hment which his villany de erved, if he would give us gold to pay our public debt; if he would enlarge our national boundary, and elevate us in the scale of political dignity; I ask in the name of common honesty, what would ho the judgment of mankind upon such a transaction f What could it be less, than that we had dimmed the lustre of our national escutcheon, by sa-crificing principle for peace, and honor, for a temporary good. And now I wonId rncst re pectfully a k the quei:rtion; in what e - sential particular doe thi imaginary case differ from the real one under consideration Y ·who i Santa Anna but the Nero of the present day 1 Is he not the foe to all virtue? Has he not stabbed at public liberty 1 Has he not rioted in human gore; ravaged realms; violated treaties· and stands he not now before us as im·ader of our country, and the cold-blooded butcherer of our friends and brethren? ,Yhy hesitate then to consign him to that punishment which his deeds de- mand 7 By negociating with him for his life and liberty, do we not in effect publish to the world, that our abhorrence of crime is subordinate to our attachment to intere t; and that we are willing to stifle the course of justice and forego a just resentment, for certain political advantages, which it were just as easy to win by our arms, and which I fear, after all negotiation, we shall still have to purchase and main- tain b;v onr valour. Poor ,Yorth that nolitical dignity which is bou,.,ht at the price of honor. I am certain that there is not a gallant on o.f ·chivalry, whose faithful sabre played like a meteor on the plains of San Jacinto, but who will feel that his trusty blade drank the blood of the foe in vain, when he hears that the prime object of vengeance has been permitted to purchase his life and depart the land in liberly and peace. It will be useless to talk to him about national Indepen- dence, and national domain, so long as the bone of his murdered brethren lie bleachin,., on the prairies unrevenged. Treble the ble - ings proposC'd to be l!ained by thi neg-otiati.on will be considered n. poor and valaele , when weighed again t that proud and high re ent- mcnt which the oldier feels for wrongs receiYed. In the day of battle the animating cry was "Alamo." And why T Because it was known that the slaughterer of the Alamo was then in the field. It wa hini they sought. It wa not again t the poor and degraded in trn- mcnts of his tyranny that ,n• warrod. 'rhl'~' fell, ii is true, before onr avengin, strokes like irra . before the reaper' sickle, but it wa onlr because they tood in the way of our march to the audacious foloch. Through a fore. t of lances, and a storm of canil ter, we rn. bed upon the hold off<>ncll'r: anrl the re_joicing spirits of the OEORGIA BAT- T .ALIO. r hailed their hour of vengeance come; when lo! a frigic1 figure hy the nam<> of policy rise. hctw en the victim and the nYenging hlow, and shields the murderer with a piece of parchment and a little senling wax. · 'I he gJ"cnt difficulty in dealing with om prisoner n his crime dc- scr\'e, ari. C'. as I h:n·c nlrcndy intimated, from th faet, that educa- tion will not pennit 11. to trip him of his ill-got honors and view him
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