[SEAL.]
Given at the city of Washington, the 16th day of November, 1814, and of
the Independence of the United States the thirty-eighth.
JAMES MADISON.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Among the many evils produced by the wars which with little intermission
have afflicted Europe and extended their ravages into other quarters
of the globe for a period exceeding twenty years, the dispersion or a
considerable portion of the inhabitants of different countries in sorrow
and in want has not been the least injurious to human happiness nor the
least severe in the trial of human virtue.
It had been long ascertained that many foreigners, flying from the
dangers of their own home, and that some citizens, forgetful of their
duty, had cooperated in forming an establishment on the island of
Barrataria, near the mouth of the river Mississippi, for the purposes
of a clandestine and lawless trade. The Government of the United States
caused the establishment to be broken up and destroyed, and having
obtained the means of designating the offenders of every description,
it only remained to answer the demands of justice by inflicting an
exemplary punishment.
But it has since been represented that the offenders have manifested a
sincere penitence; that they have abandoned the prosecution of the worse
cause for the support of the best, and particularly that they have
exhibited in the defense of New Orleans unequivocal traits of courage
and fidelity.
Pages:
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180