SPEECH OF THOMAS ADDIS EMMET. IN THE TRIAL OF WILLIAM S. SMITH, FOR MISDEMEANORS, IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. FOR THE NEW YORK DISTRICT, 1806.* GENTLEMEN OF THE JURY, I ASSUME it as a fact which cannot be denied, and which is clearly to be inferred from the manner of conducting these proceedings, as well as from the parties who appear against the defendant, that this is emphatically a state prosecution. Impressed with a conviction of that fact, I did not think, at the commencement of this court, that it would have become my duty, during its sitting, to address a jury; for when the defendant came forward and averred upon oath, that he had acted with the knowledge and approbation of the executive; when he threw down the gauntlet of investigation on that point; when he indicated, as the witnesses, by whom he meant to prove his assertion, the very heads of departments themselves: when he made the utmost exertions to procure their attendance, and avowed his intention of appealing to their oaths, I confess I believed that the public prosecutor would not have deemed it conducive to the * The indictment against Mr. Smith charged him with being concerned in preparing a military expedition, or enterprise, which was set on foot in the city of New York, and was intended to be carried on against the dominions of Spain in South America, although the United States and Spain were at peace. It is sufficient here to observe, that the expedition, referred to, is generally known under the name of" Miranda's Expedition."-COMPILER. I honor of his cause, or the exalted character of the executive government, to urge on the trial of this state prosecution, till those witnesses, whose presence we have not been able to procure, and whose absence is attributed, without contradiction, and upon oath, to that very executive, had come in and deposed as to the facts alleged in the defendant's affidavit. thought that the magnitude of those considerations would have overpowered the littleness of legal discussions; and that this cause would have been postponed by common consent, until it could be brought forward with all its circumstances; and a jury, and the world at large, enabled to form a correct judgment of the nature and justice of this prosecution. But it has been thought advisable to pursue a different line of conduct. We are forced on to trial, without the benefit of our whole means of defence; our witnesses are wilfully absent; our testimony is maimed and mutilated; we are tied and bound, and cast into the furnace; but still we hope that you, like the angel of God, will walk with us through the fire. You, gentlemen, are taken from the mass of your fellow-citizens; it is therefore natural to apprehend that you may be influenced by those prejudices and misconceptions, which have been disseminated through the community; and it becomes my duty to endeavor to remove them. Against general Miranda, and the object of his expedition, I have heard and read some malignant calumnies, which only could have originated with mean and mercenary beings, who never yet sacrificed a selfish feeling to a public principle; whose hearts never sympathized with the sufferings of a slave; nor swelled with the mighty hope of delivering a nation. The district attorney, in his opening address to you, did not permit himself to adopt those calumnies in their entire extent; he is incapable of doing so, for his sentiments are liberal, and his manners mild. Sufficient, however, fell from him, to give to them somewhat of color and countenance, and to enlist your passions and prejudices against general Miranda, and all concerned in his expedition, among whom he charges the defendant with being one. In particular, I remember, he termed Miranda a fugitive on the face of the earth, and characterized the object of the expedition, as something audacious, novel and dangerous. It has often struck me, gentlemen, as matter of curious observation, how speedily new nations, like new made nobility and emperors, acquire the cant and jargon of their station. Let me exemplify this observation, by remarking, that here, within the United States, which scarcely thirty years ago were colonies, engaged in a bloody struggle for the purpose of shaking off their dependence on the parent state, the attempt to free a colony from the oppressive yoke of its mother country, is called" audacious, novel and dangerous." It is true, general Miranda's attempt is daring, and if you will, audacious: but wherefore is it novel and dangerous. Because he, a private individual, unaided by the public succor of any state, attempts to liberate South America? Thrasybulus! expeller of the thirty tyrants! restorer of Athenian freedom! wherefore are you named with honor in the records of history? Because, while a fugitive and an exile, you collected together a band of brave adventurers, who confided in your integrity and talents-because, without the acknowledged assistance of any state or nation, with no commission but what you derived from patriotism, liberty and justice, you marched with your chosen friends, and overthrew the tyranny of Sparta, in the land that gave you birth. Nor are Argos and Thebes censured for having afforded you refuge, countenance and protection. Nor is Ismenias, then at the head of the Thebean government, accused of having departed from the duties of his station, because he obeyed the impulse of benevolence and compassion towards an oppressed people, and gave that private assistance which he could not publicly avow. Of general Miranda it is true that he has been a wanderer from court to court. like Hannibal, suppli cating assistance for his country. He served in Florida, as your ally, during your revolutionary war; and there, from becoming interested in your contest, from contemplating the prospects that were opened to you by the possession of independence, he first conceived the project of emancipating South America. From your own altar of liberty, he caught the holy flame, which has since inextinguishably burned within his bosom; which has driven him from his home, his family, his social circle and domestic endearments; which has marked and checkered his past life with misery and misfortunes; but which I hope will hereafter make him the illustrious instrument of redeeming from bondage a noble country, highly favored by nature, but desolated by man-a wretched country, in which the blessings of heaven wither before the touch of tyranny. When the armies of France seemed to be the vanguard of liberty in Europe, we find Miranda among her most distinguished generals. From the rulers of that republic he received promises and assurances of assistance for his long meditated project; but alas, gentlemen, the promises and assurances of governors and rulers are only calculated to deceive those who confide in them to their ruin! Spain having made peace with France, asked for the sacrifice of Miranda; and it seems, gentlemen, that when two nations are at peace, if one of them asks from the other for the sacrifice of an individual, the demand is irresistible. Miranda was dragged before a revolutionary tribunal; but that body, composed on somewhat of jury principles, feeling, as I hope every thing partaking of the nature of a jury always will feel, indignation at being made the instrument of such an abomination, loosed and liberated the devoted victim. From France he passed over into England; But to his country turned with ceaseless pain, In England, had general Miranda consented to a transfer of dominion over his country, and to its being subjected to the British crown, he might have arrived to the highest military honors and fortune: but this man, who is accused of being a political intriguer, rejected with disgust the proposals of that intriguing cabinet, and took refuge in America," the world's best hope." Here, having soon perceived the clouds which were gathering in our hemisphere, he fondly hoped that the storm would roll towards the Andes, and that the thunder of heaven was at length about to burst upon Spanish domination. With what assurances or promises, with what hopes or expectations he left our shores, it is not, perhaps, permitted to me to assert; but if his object be to give happiness to the wretched, and liberty to the slave, may he fulfil for his country the oment that is contained in his name-a name that surely indicates no common destiny. For in whatever clime the contest is to be carried on; whoever shall be the oppressor of the oppressed-may the Almighty Lord of Hosts strengthen the arms of those that fight for the freedom of their native land! May he guide them in their counsels, assist them in their difficulties, comfort them in their distresses, and give them victory in their battles! Respecting the character of the defendant, colonel Smith, it is surely unnecessary, gentlemen, for me to trouble you with many words. He is an old revolutionary officer, that fought under the eyes, and lived in the family of the illustrious Washington, whose honorable certificates he bears, as the monuments of his fame. The war for independence, that kindled in him and general Miranda the same love of liberty, by its consequences, connected them in the strictest friendship. It is, therefore, natural to suppose, that colonel Smith may have become acquainted with many of the secret wishes and views of Miranda; but for whatever part he may have taken, if, in truth, he has taken any part in promoting the expedition of which you have heard so much, and whatever may |