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only repugnant to the inild principles of the 'Christian religion , but a violation of those great principles of moral rectitude which distinguish the American character . Retaliation , in the United States , has always been confined to specified acts of * cruelty . It is not believed that any attempt has ever been made to retaliate for charges
so general as those exhibited against Arbuthnot and Atiibrister , viz . * Inciting * the Indians to war , During the revolutionary war , only two cases occurred of persons seized fur purposes of retaliation ,
neither of whom was executed . The case of Asg'Hi , seized on account of the murder of Huddy ; and Governor Hamilton of Vineennes , for specific acts of cruelty also . Hamilton was confined for a short time
with rigour , aud afterwards released . Darius' the late war , marked with some cases of culd-bli » oded massacre on the part of our enemy , particularly the one at the river Raisin , no such measure as retaliation was resorted : to . " The principle assumed by the Comniandiiisr General—that Arbuthnot and
Ambrister , by uniting in war against the United States , while we were at peace with Great Britain , ' became outlaws and pirates * and liable to suffer death , is not recognized in any code of national law . Nothing can be found-in the history of
civilized nations which recognizes such a principle , except a decree of the Executive Directory of Fiance , during their short career of folly and madness , whicli declares , that neutrals found on board enemies' ships should be considered and treated as pirates . 6
C The committee forbear to make any other remarks on the violation of the usual and accustomed forms in the punishment and conviction of Arbuthnot and Ambrister , except that even despots claiming to exerci . Ne absolute power cannot , with propriety , violate their own rules . " Having detailed a court martial , for the purpose of trying the prisoners , the Commanding General , by his own authority , set aside the sentence of the court , aad substituted for that sentence his own
arbitrary will . In trials involving the life of an individual , a strict adherence to form is in ordinary cases considered the best security against oppression and injustice . A departure from these forms is calculated to inflict a wound on the national
character , and tarnish the laurels so justly acquired by the Commanding General by his foruier victories . " It is to be hoped , that the wisdom of the Senate will correct the intemperance of
the House of liepresentalives : for if General Jackson go uncensured , we may proflounce that there already obtains , in the - tilled States that military ascendancy which has always given the death-blow to Republican liberty .
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Italy . State of the ^ Herculaneum M . SS . — Sir Humphry Davy has made a " Report 011 the State of the Manuscripts of Papyrus , found at Herculaneum / ' dated Rome , Feb . 12 , 181 D . [ Published in the "Quarterly Journal / 7 No . XIII ] He has subjected fragments of the M . SS . to a chemical examination . He finds that they have not been acted on by fire . And he has
discovered a method of unrollingthem without injuring the characters or destroying " the texture of the M . SS . The number of M . SS ., and of fragments originally brought to the Museum , he says , amounted to 1 , 696 ; of tliese , 88 have been unrolled and found in si legible state 3 319 more hare been operated upon , and , more or .
less , unrolled , and found not to be legible 5 24 have been presented to foreign potentates . . Amongst the 1 , 265 that remain , by far the greatest number consists of small fragments , or of mutilated or crushed M . SS ., in which the folds are so irregular as to offer little hopes of separating them so as to form connected leaves } from 80 to 120 are in a state which presents a great probability of success . Sir Humphry estimates that , by employing an enlightened Greek scholar to direct the undertaking , one person to superintend the chemical part of the operation , and from 15 to 20 persons for the purpose of performing the mechanical labour of unrolling * and copying , in less than 12
months , and at an expense not exceeding £ 2 , 500 ., or £ 3 , 000 ., every thing worth preserving- in the collection would be known . Of the 88 M . SS . alreadv unrolled , with the exception of a few fragments , in which some lines of Latin poetry have been found , the great body consists of
works of Greek philosophers or sophists ; 9 are of Epicurus , 32 bear the name or Philodemus , 3 of Demetrius , and 1 each of Colofes , Polystratus , Carniades and Chrysippus ; and the subjects of these
works , and the works of which the names of the authors are unknown , are either natural or moral philosophy , medicine , criticism and general observations on the arts , life and manners . It is possible that some of the celebrated Ioii 0 * -Iost woj * ks of
antiquity may still be buried in this collection j but the probability is , that it consists entirely of the works of the Greek sophists and of Roman poets , who were their admirers . When it is recollected , however , that Lucretius was an Epicurean , a hope must arise with regard to the Latin works :
but unfortunately , the wretched and mutilated appearance which they exhibit , ( they are in a much worse condition than the Greek works ) renders this hope extremely feeble , for no powers of chemistry can supply lost characters , or restore what is mechanically destroyed . Mh
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intelligence . —* Voreign + Italy . 279
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1819, page 279, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1771/page/67/
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