ALABAMA CLAIMS. 137 
the Arguments for the United States. Thus it is that 
he falls into the mistake of asserting a false construc. 
tion of an Act of Congress, by having a mutilated 
text before him, quoting a part of a sentence, which 
may or may not justify his construction, and sup- 
pressing the context and the sequent words of the 
same sentence, which clearly contradict his construc- 
tion. Acting on his own theory of blind prejudice, 
we should be compelled to assume that on this occa- 
sion he perpetrates a deed of deliberate bad faith, 
with intention to practice on the “supposed credulity 
and ignorance” of the people of Great Britain. 
Why did the British Arbitrator put together such 
a mass of angry, irrelevant, confused, and contradict- 
ory declamation against the American Government, 
and denunciation of its Agent and Counsel? To vin- 
dicate the honor of British statesmen, Sir Alexander 
declares, in a speech at a banquet in London [ Novem. 
ber 4th], against unjust charges coming from the 
American Government. But that should have been 
done by speech or otherwise, as Str Alexander Cock- 
burn professedly, and in England, and not under the 
false pretense of an Arbitrator at Geneva. And vi- 
olent denunciation of our Case or Arguments consti- 
tutes no answer to our charges. And in such vituper: 
ation of the American Agent and Counsel, Sir Alexan- 
der not only throws off all pretense of judicial charac- 
ter, and assumes the tone of a mere advocate, but he 
acts the part of an advocate in temper and manner 
such as the proper Counsel of the British Govern- 
ment could not have descended to. Indeed, the 
