Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 2 (of 16) (part 5 of 8)

Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 2 (of 16) (part 5 of 8)

New Hampshire.--John Langdon, S. Livermore. Vermont.--Nathaniel Chipman, Elijah Paine. Massachusetts.--Samuel Dexter, Benjamin Goodhue. Rhode Island.--Theodore Foster, Ray Greene. Connecticut.--James Hillhouse, Uriah Tracy. New York.--John Laurance, J. Watson. New Jersey.--Jonathan Dayton, James Schureman. Pennsylvania.--William Bingham, James Ross. Delaware.--Henry Lattimer, William H. Willes. Maryland.--John E. Howard, James Lloyd. Virginia.--Stevens T. Mason, Wilson C. Nicholas. North Carolina.--Timothy Bloodworth, Jesse Franklin. South Carolina--Charles Pinckney, Jacob Read. Georgia.--A. Baldwin, James Gunn. Tennessee.--Joseph Anderson, William Cocke. Kentucky.--John Brown, Humphrey Marshall.

REPRESENTATIVES.

New Hampshire.--Abiel Foster, Jonathan Freeman, William Gordon, James Sheafe.

Vermont.--Matthew Lyon, Lewis R. Morris.

Massachusetts.--Bailey Bartlett, Phanuel Bishop, Silas Lee, Levi Lincoln, Samuel Lyman, Harrison G. Otis, John Read, T. Sedgwick, Samuel Sewall, George Thatcher, Joseph B. Varnum, P. Wadsworth, Lemuel Williams.

Rhode Island.--John Brown, C. G. Champlin.

Connecticut.--Jonathan Brace, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, William Edmond, C. Goodrich, Elizur Goodrich, Roger Griswold.

New York.--Theodore Bailey, John Bird, William Cooper, Lucas Elmendorph, Henry Glenn, E. Livingston, Jonas Platt, John Smith, John Thompson, Philip Van Cortlandt.

New Jersey.--John Condit, Franklin Davenport, James H. Imlay, Aaron Kitchell, James Linn.

Pennsylvania.--Robert Brown, Albert Gallatin, Andrew Gregg, John A. Hanna, Thomas Hartley, Joseph Heister, John W. Kittera, Michael Leib, Peter Muhlenberg, John Smilie, Richard Thomas, Robert Wain, Henry Woods.

Delaware.--James A. Bayard.

Maryland.--George Baer, Gabriel Christie, William Craik, John Dennis, George Dent, Joseph H. Nicholson, Samuel Smith, John C. Thomas.

Virginia.--Samuel J. Cabell, Matthew Clay, John Dawson, John Eggleston, Thomas Evans, Samuel Goode, Edwin Gray, David Holmes, John Geo. Jackson, Henry Lee, John Marshall, Anthony New, John Nicholas, Robert Page, Josiah Parker, Levin Powell, John Randolph, Abram Trigg, John Trigg.

North Carolina.--Willis Alston, Joseph Dixon, William B. Grove, Archibald Henderson, William H. Hill, Nathaniel Macon, Richard D. Spaight, Richard Stanford, David Stone, Robert Williams.

South Carolina.--R. G. Harper, Benj. Huger, Abraham Nott, Thomas Pinckney, John Rutledge, Thomas Sumter.

Georgia.--James Jones, Benjamin Taliaferro.

Tennessee.--William C. C. Claiborne.

Kentucky.--Thomas T. Davis, John Fowler.

PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE.

MONDAY, December 2, 1799.

The first session of the sixth Congress, conformably to the constitution, commenced this day, and the Senate assembled, in their Chamber, at the city of Philadelphia.

PRESENT:

JOHN LANGDON, from New Hampshire.

BENJAMIN GOODHUE, from Massachusetts.

THEODORE FOSTER, from Rhode Island.

JAMES HILLHOUSE and URIAH TRACY, from Connecticut.

JOHN LAURANCE and JAMES WATSON, from New York.

WILLIAM BINGHAM, from Pennsylvania.

HUMPHREY MARSHALL, from Kentucky.

JACOB READ, from South Carolina.

JAMES GUNN, from Georgia.

JOSEPH ANDERSON, appointed a Senator by the State of Tennessee, for the remainder of the term for which their late Senator, ANDREW JACKSON, was appointed; ABRAHAM BALDWIN, appointed a Senator by the State of Georgia; JOHN BROWN, appointed a Senator by the State of Kentucky; SAMUEL DEXTER, appointed a Senator by the State of Massachusetts; SAMUEL LIVERMORE, appointed a Senator by the State of New Hampshire; and WILLIAM HILL WELLS, appointed a Senator by the State of Delaware; severally produced their credentials, and took their seats in the Senate.

The VICE PRESIDENT being absent, the Senate proceeded to the election of a President pro tempore, as the constitution provides, and SAMUEL LIVERMORE was chosen.

Ordered, That Mr. READ administer the oath required by law to the President of the Senate pro tempore.

The PRESIDENT administered the oath, as the law prescribes, to Messrs. ANDERSON, BALDWIN, BROWN, DEXTER, and WELLS.

Ordered, That the Secretary wait upon the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and acquaint him that a quorum of the Senate is assembled, and that, in the absence of the VICE PRESIDENT, they have elected SAMUEL LIVERMORE, President of the Senate pro tempore.

Ordered, That the Secretary acquaint the House of Representatives that a quorum of the Senate is assembled and ready to proceed to business, and that, in the absence of the VICE PRESIDENT, they have elected SAMUEL LIVERMORE, President of the Senate pro tempore.

Resolved, That each Senator be supplied, during the present session, with three such newspapers, printed in any of the States, as he may choose, provided, that the same be furnished at the rate usual for the annual charge of such papers.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that a quorum of the House is assembled, and have elected THEODORE SEDGWICK their Speaker.

Ordered, That Messrs. READ and BINGHAM, be a committee on the part of the Senate, together with such committee as the House of Representatives may appoint on their part, to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and notify him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communications that he may be pleased to make to them.

The PRESIDENT communicated a letter signed John Trumbull, presenting to the Senate of the United States impressions of two prints of the American Revolution, which he had lately caused to be published; and the letter was read.

Ordered, That it lie on the table.

The Senate adjourned to 11 o'clock to-morrow morning.

TUESDAY, December 3.

WILLIAM COCKE, appointed a Senator by the State of Tennessee, and JAMES SCHUREMAN, appointed a Senator by the State of New Jersey, in the room of John Rutherfurd, resigned, severally produced their credentials, were qualified, and took their seats in the Senate.

HENRY LATIMER, from the State of Delaware, and JAMES ROSS, from the State of Pennsylvania, severally attended.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that a quorum of the House is assembled, and have appointed a joint committee on their part, together with such committee as the Senate may appoint on theirs, to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and notify him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communications that he may be pleased to make to them.

Mr. READ reported from the joint committee appointed for the purpose, that they had waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and had notified him that a quorum of the two Houses of Congress are assembled; and that the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, acquainted the committee, that he would meet the two Houses, this day, at 12 o'clock, in the Chamber of the House of Representatives.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House are now ready to meet the Senate, in the Chamber of that House, to receive such communications as the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES shall be pleased to make to them.

Whereupon the Senate repaired to the Chamber of the House of Representatives, for the purpose above expressed.

The Senate then returned to their own Chamber, and a copy of the Speech of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, this day addressed to both Houses of Congress, was read:

Gentlemen of the Senate, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

It is with peculiar satisfaction that I meet the sixth Congress of the United States of America. Coming from all parts of the Union, at this critical and interesting period, the members must be fully possessed of the sentiments and wishes of our constituents.

The flattering prospects of abundance, from the labors of the people, by land and by sea; the prosperity of our extended commerce, notwithstanding interruptions occasioned by the belligerent state of a great part of the world; the return of health, industry, and trade, to those cities which have lately been afflicted with disease; and the various and inestimable advantages, civil and religious, which, secured under our happy frame of Government, are continued to us unimpaired, demand, of the whole American people, sincere thanks to a benevolent Deity, for the merciful dispensations of his providence.

But, while these numerous blessings are recollected, it is a painful duty to advert to the ungrateful return which has been made for them, by some of the people in certain counties of Pennsylvania, where, seduced by the arts and misrepresentations of designing men, they have openly resisted the law directing the valuation of houses and lands. Such defiance was given to the civil authority as rendered hopeless all further attempts, by judicial process, to enforce the execution of the law; and it became necessary to direct a military force to be employed, consisting of some companies of regular troops, volunteers, and militia, by whose zeal and activity, in co-operation with the judicial power, order and submission were restored, and many of the offenders arrested. Of these, some have been convicted of misdemeanors, and others, charged with various crimes, remain to be tried.

To give due effect to the civil administration of Government, and to ensure a just execution of the laws, a revision and amendment of the judiciary system is indispensably necessary. In this extensive country it cannot but happen that numerous questions respecting the interpretation of the laws, and the rights and duties of officers and citizens, must arise. On the one hand, the laws should be executed: on the other, individuals should be guarded from oppression. Neither of these objects is sufficiently assured under the present organization of the Judicial Department. I therefore earnestly recommend the subject to your serious consideration.

Persevering in the pacific and humane policy which had been invariably professed and sincerely pursued by the Executive authority of the United States, when indications were made on the part of the French Republic, of a disposition to accommodate the existing differences between the two countries, I felt it to be my duty to prepare for meeting their advances, by a nomination of ministers upon certain conditions, which the honor of our country dictated, and which its moderation had given a right to prescribe. The assurances which were required of the French Government, previous to the departure of our Envoys, have been given through their Minister of Foreign Relations, and I have directed them to proceed on their mission to Paris.[45] They have full power to conclude a treaty, subject to the constitutional advice and consent of the Senate. The characters of these gentlemen are sure pledges to their country that nothing incompatible with its honor or interest, nothing inconsistent with our obligations of good faith or friendship to any other nation, will be stipulated.

It appearing probable, from the information I received, that our commercial intercourse with some ports in the island of St. Domingo might safely be renewed, I took such steps as seemed to me expedient to ascertain that point. The result being satisfactory, I then, in conformity with the act of Congress on the subject, directed the restraints and prohibitions of that intercourse to be discontinued, on terms which were made known by proclamation. Since the renewal of this intercourse, our citizens, trading to those ports, with their property, have been duly respected, and privateering from those ports has ceased.

The act of Congress relative to the seat of the Government of the United States, requiring that, on the first Monday of December next, it should be transferred from Philadelphia to the district chosen for its permanent seat, it is proper for me to inform you that the Commissioners appointed to provide suitable buildings for the accommodation of Congress and of the President, and for the public offices of the Government, have made a report of the state of the buildings designed for those purposes in the city of Washington; from which they conclude that the removal of the seat of Government to that place, at the time required, will be practicable, and the accommodations satisfactory. Their report will be laid before you.

At a period like the present, when momentous changes are occurring, and every hour is preparing new and great events in the political world, when a spirit of war is prevalent in almost every nation with whose affairs the interests of the United States have any connection, unsafe and precarious would be our situation were we to neglect the means of maintaining our just rights. The result of the mission to France is uncertain; but, however it may terminate, a steady perseverance in a system of national defence, commensurate with our resources and the situation of our country, is an obvious dictate of wisdom; for, remotely as we are placed from the belligerent nations, and desirous as we are, by doing justice to all, to avoid offence to any, nothing short of the power of repelling aggressions will secure to our country a rational prospect of escaping the calamities of war, or national degradation. As to myself, it is my anxious desire so to execute the trust reposed in me, as to render the people of the United States prosperous and happy. I rely, with entire confidence, on your co-operation in objects equally your care; and that our mutual labors will serve to increase and confirm union among our fellow-citizens, and an unshaken attachment to our Government.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, December 3, 1799.

Ordered, That Messrs. ROSS, READ, and TRACY, be a committee to report the draft of an Address to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, in answer to his Speech this day to both Houses.

Ordered, That the Speech of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, this day communicated to both Houses of Congress, be printed for the use of the Senate.

Resolved, That two Chaplains of different denominations, be appointed to Congress for the present session, one by each House, who shall interchange weekly.

The Senate proceeded to the appointment of a Chaplain to Congress on their part, and the Right Reverend Bishop WHITE was unanimously elected.

THURSDAY, December 5.

JONATHAN DAYTON, appointed a Senator by the State of New Jersey, and RAY GREENE, appointed a Senator by the State of Rhode Island, severally produced their credentials, were qualified, and took their seats in the Senate.

MONDAY, December 9.

ELIJAH PAINE, from the State of Vermont, attended.

The Senate proceeded to consider the report of the committee of the draft of an Address in answer to the Speech of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES to both Houses of Congress, at the opening of the session; which, being read in paragraphs, was adopted, as follows:

To the President of the United States:

Accept, sir, the respectful acknowledgments of the Senate of the United States, for your Speech delivered to both Houses of Congress at the opening of the present session.

While we devoutly join you in offering our thanks to Almighty God, for the return of health to our cities, and for the general prosperity of the country, we cannot refrain from lamenting that the arts and calumnies of factious, designing men, have excited open rebellion a second time in Pennsylvania; and thereby compelled the employment of military force to aid the civil authority in the execution of the laws. We rejoice that your vigilance, energy, and well-timed exertions, have crushed so daring an opposition, and prevented the spreading of such treasonable combinations. The promptitude and zeal displayed by the troops called to suppress this insurrection, deserve our highest commendation and praise, and afford a pleasing proof of the spirit and alacrity with which our fellow-citizens are ready to maintain the authority of our excellent Government.

Knowing, as we do, that the United States are sincerely anxious for a fair and liberal execution of the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, entered into with Great Britain, we learn, with regret, that the progress of adjustment has been interrupted, by a difference of opinion among the commissioners. We hope, however, that the justice, the moderation, and the obvious interests of both parties, will lead to satisfactory explanations, and that the business will then go forward to an amicable close of all differences and demands between the two countries. We are fully persuaded that the Legislature of the United States will cheerfully enable you to realize your assurances of performing, on our part, all engagements under our treaties, with punctuality, and the most scrupulous good faith.

When we reflect upon the uncertainty of the result of the late mission to France, and upon the uncommon nature, extent, and aspect, of the war now raging in Europe--which affects materially our relations with the powers at war, and which has changed the condition of their colonies in our neighborhood--we are of opinion, with you, that it would be neither wise nor safe to relax our measures of defence, or to lessen any of our preparations to repel aggression.

Our inquiries and attention shall be carefully directed to the various other important subjects which you have recommended to our consideration; and from our experience of your past administration, we anticipate, with the highest confidence, your strenuous co-operation in all measures which have a tendency to promote and extend our national interests and happiness.

SAMUEL LIVERMORE,

President of the Senate, pro tempore.

Ordered, That the committee who prepared the Address, wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and desire him to acquaint the Senate at what time and place it will be most convenient for him that it should be presented.

Mr. ROSS reported, from the committee, that they had waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and that he would receive the Address of the Senate to-morrow, at 12 o'clock, at his own house.

Whereupon, Resolved, That the Senate will, to-morrow, at 12 o'clock, wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES accordingly.

TUESDAY, December 10.

Agreeably to the resolution of yesterday, the Senate waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and the President of the Senate, in their name, presented the Address then agreed to.

To which the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES made the following reply:

Gentlemen of the Senate:

I thank you for this Address. I wish you all possible success and satisfaction in your deliberations on the means which have a tendency to promote and extend our national interests and happiness; and I assure you that, in all your measures directed to those great objects, you may, at all times, rely with the highest confidence on my cordial co-operation.

The praise of the Senate, so judiciously conferred on the promptitude and zeal of the troops, called to suppress the insurrection, as it falls from so high authority, must make a deep impression, both as a terror to the disobedient, and an encouragement of such as do well.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, December 10, 1799.

The Senate returned to their own Chamber, and proceeded to the consideration of Executive business.

WEDNESDAY, December 11.

NATHANIEL CHIPMAN, from the State of Vermont, attended.

THURSDAY, December 12.

JAMES LLOYD, from the State of Maryland, attended.

TUESDAY, December 17.

Mr. TRACY, from the committee to whom was referred the letter signed John Trumbull, of 20th September, 1798, reported a resolution, which was adopted, as follows:

Resolved, That the Senate of the United States accept the prints presented by John Trumbull, Esq., and that their President be requested to inform him, that while they respect the delicacy which dictated the manner of offering this elegant present, they consider their country honored by the genius of one of her sons, by whom these prints are happily designed, to perpetuate two memorable scenes in her progress to independence, and to preserve in lively recollection the names and virtues of heroes who fell in her defence.

THURSDAY, December 19.

The following Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

Gentlemen of the Senate, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

The letter herewith transmitted will inform you that it has pleased Divine Providence to remove from this life our excellent fellow-citizen GEORGE WASHINGTON, by the purity of his character, and a long series of services to his country, rendered illustrious through the world. It remains for an affectionate and grateful people, in whose hearts he can never die, to pay suitable honors to his memory.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, December 19, 1799.

The Message and letter were read and ordered to lie for consideration.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House having received intelligence of the death of their highly-valued fellow-citizen, General GEORGE WASHINGTON, and sharing the universal grief this distressing event must produce, have resolved that a joint committee be appointed, to report measures suitable to the occasion, and expressive of the profound sorrow with which Congress is penetrated on the loss of a citizen, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen; and, having appointed a committee on their part, desire the concurrence of the Senate.

The Senate proceeded to consider the foregoing resolution of the House of Representatives; whereupon,

Resolved, That they do concur therein, and that Messrs. DAYTON, BINGHAM, DEXTER, GUNN, LAURANCE, TRACY, and READ, be the committee on the part of the Senate.

Resolved, That the Senate will wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, to condole with him on the distressing event of the death of General GEORGE WASHINGTON; and that a committee be appointed to prepare, for that occasion, an Address to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, expressive of the deep regret of the Senate; and that this committee consist of Messrs. DEXTER, ROSS, and READ.

Resolved, That the chairs in the Senate Chamber be covered, and the room hung with black, and that each member, and the officers of the Senate, go into mourning, by the usual mode of wearing a crape round the left arm, during the session.

MONDAY, December 23.

TIMOTHY BLOODWORTH, from the State of North Carolina, and JOHN E. HOWARD, from the State of Maryland, severally attended.

Mr. DEXTER, from the committee appointed for the purpose on the 18th instant, reported the draft of an Address to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, on the death of General GEORGE WASHINGTON; which being read in paragraphs, was adopted, as follows:

To the President of the United States:

The Senate of the United States respectfully take leave, sir, to express to you their deep regret for the loss their country sustains in the death of General GEORGE WASHINGTON.

This event, so distressing to all our fellow-citizens, must be peculiarly heavy to you, who have long been associated with him in deeds of patriotism. Permit us, sir, to mingle our tears with yours; on this occasion it is manly to weep. To lose such a man, at such a crisis, is no common calamity to the world. Our Country mourns her Father. The Almighty Disposer of human events has taken from us our greatest benefactor and ornament. It becomes us to submit with reverence to Him who "maketh darkness his pavilion."

With patriotic pride, we review the life of our WASHINGTON, and compare him with those of other countries, who have been pre-eminent in fame. Ancient and modern names are diminished before him. Greatness and guilt have too often been allied; but his fame is whiter than it is brilliant. The destroyers of nations stood abashed at the majesty of his virtues. It reproved the intemperance of their ambition, and darkened the splendor of victory. The scene is closed, and we are no longer anxious lest misfortune should sully his glory; he has travelled on to the end of his journey, and carried with him an increasing weight of honor; he has deposited it safely, where misfortune cannot tarnish it, where malice cannot blast it. Favored of heaven, he departed without exhibiting the weakness of humanity. Magnanimous in death, the darkness of the grave could not obscure his brightness.

Such was the man whom we deplore. Thanks to God! his glory is consummated; WASHINGTON yet lives--on earth in his spotless example--his spirit is in heaven.

Let his countrymen consecrate the memory of the heroic General, the patriotic Statesman, and the virtuous Sage; let them teach their children never to forget that the fruit of his labors and his example are their inheritance.

SAMUEL LIVERMORE,

President of the Senate, pro tempore.

Ordered, That the committee who prepared the Address, wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and desire him to acquaint the Senate at what time and place it will be most convenient for him that it should be presented.

Mr. DEXTER reported, from the committee, that they had waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and that he had acquainted them that he would receive the Address of the Senate immediately, at his own house.

Whereupon, the Senate waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and the PRESIDENT of the Senate, in their name, presented the Address this day agreed to.

To which the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES made the following reply:

Gentlemen of the Senate:

I receive with the most respectful and affectionate sentiments, in this impressive address, the obliging expressions of your regard for the loss our country has sustained in the death of her most esteemed, beloved, and admired citizen.

In the multitude of my thoughts and recollections on this melancholy event, you will permit me only to say, that I have seen him in the days of adversity in some of the scenes of his deepest distress and most trying perplexities; I have also attended him in his highest elevation, and most prosperous felicity, with uniform admiration of his wisdom, moderation, and constancy.

Among all our original associates in that memorable League of the Continent in 1774, which first expressed the sovereign will of a free nation in America, he was the only one remaining in the General Government. Although, with a constitution more enfeebled than his, at an age when he thought it necessary to prepare for retirement, I feel myself alone, bereaved of my last brother, yet I derive a strong consolation from the unanimous disposition which appears, in all ages and classes, to mingle their sorrows with mine, on this common calamity to the world.

The life of our WASHINGTON cannot suffer by a comparison with those of other countries who have been most celebrated and exalted by fame. The attributes and decorations of royalty could have only served to eclipse the majesty of those virtues which made him, from being a modest citizen, a more resplendent luminary. Misfortune, had he lived, could hereafter have sullied his glory only with those superficial minds, who, believing that characters and actions are marked by success alone, rarely deserve to enjoy it. Malice could never blast his honor, and envy made him a singular exception to her universal rule. For himself, he had lived enough to life, and to glory. For his fellow-citizens, if their prayers could have been answered, he would have been immortal. For me, his departure is at a most unfortunate moment. Trusting, however, in the wise and righteous dominion of Providence over the passions of men, and the results of their councils and actions, as well as over their lives, nothing remains for me but humble resignation.

His example is now complete, and it will teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, citizens, and men, not only in the present age, but in future generations, as long as our history shall be read. If a Trajan found a Pliny, a Marcus Aurelius can never want biographers, eulogists, or historians.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, December 23, 1799.

The Senate returned to their own Chamber.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the joint committee appointed on the part of the House of Representatives, on the 19th instant, on the receipt of the intelligence of the death of General GEORGE WASHINGTON, having made report to that House, they have agreed to sundry resolutions thereupon, in which they desire the concurrence of the Senate.

Mr. DAYTON, from the joint committee appointed the 19th instant, on the part of the Senate, on the receipt of the intelligence of the death of General GEORGE WASHINGTON, reported in part, and the report was agreed to. Whereupon,

The Senate took into consideration the resolutions of the House of Representatives, of this day, on the report of the joint committee on the subject above mentioned, and which resolutions are as follows:

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That a marble monument be erected by the United States in the Capitol, at the City of Washington; and that the family of General WASHINGTON be requested to permit his body to be deposited under it; and that the monument be so designed as to commemorate the great events of his military and political life.

And be it further resolved, That there be a funeral procession from Congress Hall to the German Lutheran Church, in honor of the memory of General GEORGE WASHINGTON, on Thursday, the 26th instant; and that an oration be prepared at the request of Congress, to be delivered before both Houses on that day; and that the President of the Senate, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, be desired to request one of the members of Congress to prepare and deliver the same.

And be it further resolved, That it be recommended to the people of the United States to wear crape on the left arm, as mourning, for thirty days.

And be it further resolved, That the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES be requested to direct a copy of these resolutions to be transmitted to Mrs. WASHINGTON, assuring her of the profound respect Congress will ever bear to her person and character; of their condolence on the late afflicting dispensation of Providence, and entreating her assent to the interment of the remains of General GEORGE WASHINGTON, in the manner expressed in the first resolution.

Resolved, That the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES be requested to issue a proclamation, notifying to the people throughout the United States, the recommendation contained in the third resolution.

Resolved, unanimously, That the Senate do concur in the aforesaid resolutions.

THURSDAY, December 26.

In conformity to the resolve of the 23d instant, the Senate went in procession to the German Lutheran Church, where was delivered an oration in honor of the memory of General GEORGE WASHINGTON. After which, they returned to their own Chamber, and adjourned.

FRIDAY, December 27.

Resolved, That the thanks of the Senate be communicated, through their President, to General HENRY LEE, for the eloquent and impressive oration to the memory of General GEORGE WASHINGTON, which he prepared and delivered at the request of Congress.

Resolved, That the Secretary be directed to apply to General LEE for a copy of the same.

MONDAY, December 30.

THOMAS JEFFERSON, Vice President of the United States, and President of the Senate, attended.

JESSE FRANKLIN, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of North Carolina, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the Senate.

The VICE PRESIDENT laid before the Senate a letter signed John Cleves Symmes, stating the reasons why Congress should be induced to receive of him the purchase money for certain public lands at the contract price; and the letter was read.

Mr. LIVERMORE laid before the Senate a letter signed Henry Lee, in answer to their vote of thanks of the 27th instant, and request of a copy of his oration; which was read.

Mr. DAYTON, from the joint committee appointed the 19th instant, on the intelligence of the death of General GEORGE WASHINGTON, made a further report, in part, and it was agreed that the consideration thereof be postponed.

TUESDAY, December 31.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House have passed "Resolutions directing further measures in honor of the memory of General George Washington," in which they desire the concurrence of the Senate.

The resolutions were read, as follows:

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it be recommended to the people of the United States to assemble on the 22d day of February next, in such numbers and manner as may be convenient, publicly to testify their grief for the death of General GEORGE WASHINGTON, by suitable eulogies, orations, and discourses, or by public prayers.

And be it further resolved, That the PRESIDENT be requested to issue a proclamation for the purpose of carrying the foregoing resolution into effect.

Whereupon, Resolved, That the Senate do concur in the said resolution.

FRIDAY, January 3, 1800.

WILSON CARY NICHOLAS, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Virginia, to supply the vacancy occasioned by the death of Henry Tazewell, Esq., produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the Senate.

TUESDAY, January 7.

STEPHENS THOMPSON MASON, from the State of Virginia, attended.

WEDNESDAY, January 8.

The following Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

Gentlemen of the Senate, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

In compliance with the request in one of the resolutions of Congress, of the 21st of December last, I transmitted a copy of those resolutions, by my Secretary, Mr. Shaw, to Mrs. WASHINGTON, assuring her of the profound respect Congress will ever bear to her person and character; of their condolence in the late afflicting dispensation of Providence; and entreating her assent to the interment of the remains of General GEORGE WASHINGTON, in the manner expressed in the first resolution. As the sentiments of that virtuous lady, not less beloved by this nation than she is at present greatly afflicted, can never be so well expressed as in her own words, I transmit to Congress her original letter.

It would be an attempt of too much delicacy to make any comments upon it; but there can be no doubt that the nation at large, as well as all the branches of the Government, will be highly gratified by any arrangement which may diminish the sacrifice she makes of her individual feelings.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, January 8, 1800.

The letter is as follows:

SIR: While I feel with keenest anguish the late dispensation of Divine Providence, I cannot be insensible to the mournful tributes of respect and veneration which are paid to the memory of my dear deceased husband; and, as his best services, and most anxious wishes, were always devoted to the welfare and happiness of his country, to know that they were truly appreciated and gratefully remembered, affords no inconsiderable consolation.

Taught by the great example which I have so long had before me, never to oppose my private wishes to the public will, I must consent to the request made by Congress, which you have had the goodness to transmit to me; and, in doing this, I need not, I cannot, say what a sacrifice of individual feeling I make to a sense of public duty.

With grateful acknowledgments, and unfeigned thanks, for the personal respect and evidences of condolence, expressed by Congress and yourself, I remain, very respectfully, sir, your most obedient, humble servant.

MARTHA WASHINGTON.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Ordered, That the Message and letter be referred to the joint committee appointed on the 19th December last, to report suitable measures in honor of the memory of General GEORGE WASHINGTON, deceased.

THURSDAY, January 23.

CHARLES PINCKNEY, appointed a Senator by the State of South Carolina, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the Senate.

Disputed Presidential Elections.

On motion, of Mr. Ross, that it be

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to consider whether any, and what, provisions ought to be made by law for deciding disputed elections of President and Vice President of the United States, and for determining the legality or illegality of the votes given for those officers in the different States:

A motion was made to amend the motion by adding, "and that the committee be authorized to report by bill or otherwise."

Mr. BROWN, of Kentucky, was of opinion that this was a subject on which Congress had no right to legislate. When the constitution undertook to make provisions on a subject, if they were found incomplete, or defective, they must be remedied by recommending an amendment to the constitution. He wished the gentleman who had made this motion would pay further attention to the subject, and believed he would find that if any thing was to be done it must be done by proposing an amendment to the constitution.

Mr. Ross said, that the constitution had certainly made no provision on this subject. It only directed that after the votes were received, &c., the President of the Senate should, in the presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives, open the certificates, and the votes should be counted. Suppose, said he, persons should claim to be Electors, who had never been properly appointed, should their vote be received? Suppose they should vote for a person to be President who had not the age required by the constitution, or who had not been long enough a citizen of the United States, or for two persons who were both citizens of the same State--such cases might happen and were very likely to happen, and is there no remedy? What a situation would the country be in if such a case was to happen! He thought it their duty to make provision for it, and he believed a law was sufficient.

Mr. C. PINCKNEY, of South Carolina, thought it a very dangerous practice to endeavor to amend the constitution by making laws for the purpose. The constitution was a sacred deposit, put into their hands; they ought to take great care not to violate or destroy the essential provisions made by that instrument. He remembered very well that in the Federal Convention great care was used to provide for the election of the President of the United States, independently of Congress; to take the business as far as possible out of their hands. The votes are to be given by Electors appointed for that express purpose, the Electors are to be appointed by each State, and the whole direction as to the manner Of their appointment is given to the State Legislatures. Nothing was more clear to him than that Congress had no right to meddle with it at all; as the whole was intrusted to the State Legislatures, they must make provision for all questions arising on the occasion.

Mr. DEXTER, of Massachusetts, did not feel himself at all in doubt as to the right of the Legislature to make such provisions on this subject as appeared to be necessary. It was directed by the constitution that a President should be appointed, that he should be of not less than thirty-five years of age, that he should have been at least fourteen years a citizen of the United States, &c. The proceedings in the election of a President may be defective in all these particulars, and can it be supposed that there is no way to correct them? The constitution is not silent on this head; among the powers given to Congress in the 5th section is this, "to pass all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof." The law now proposed appears to be necessary to carry into effect the power of appointing the President; it is, therefore, clearly constitutional.

Mr. LIVERMORE, of New Hampshire never felt less doubt on any subject than the one now under consideration: the constitution has given many directions as to the appointment of the President, some of which he read. It is possible (said Mr. L.) that gentlemen can suppose all these may be violated and disregarded, and yet that it is nobody's business to interpose and make provision to prevent it? He trusted the honorable Senate would agree to the resolution to appoint a committee for that purpose.

Mr. BALDWIN, of Georgia, expressed his regret that the mover of this resolution had not thought proper to bring forward a subject so new and important, in the form commonly used in parliamentary assemblies, by a single proposition, viz: "that it is expedient that further provision be made respecting disputed votes for President and Vice President of the United States." It was manifest from the debate that several different questions had been under consideration at the same time, and different gentlemen were in fact directing their remarks to different questions.

The first question was, the one he had just mentioned, whether there was so great a defect in the present provisions, which exist on this subject, as to render further provisions necessary?

The second is, if further provisions are necessary, must they be made by amendment to the constitution? or,

Thirdly, whether they can be made by law?

He must say for himself, that he did not agree that the present provisions on this subject were so defective and absurd as had been represented. His general respect for those who had gone before him in this House, and especially for the venerable assembly of the most experienced statesmen of the country by whom the constitution had been formed, forbade him to entertain the belief that the subject, which is the strong feature that characterizes this as an Elective Government, could have been till now so entirely out of sight and neglected. Gentlemen appeared to him, from their observations, to forget that the constitution in directing Electors to be appointed throughout the United States equal to the whole number of the Senators and Representatives in Congress, for the express purpose of intrusting this constitutional branch of power to them, had provided for the existence of as respectable a body as Congress, and in whom the constitution on this business has more confidence than in Congress. Experience had proved that a more venerable selection of characters could not be made in this country than usually composed that electoral body. And what are the questions which can arise on the subject intrusted to them to which they are incompetent, or to which Congress is so much more competent? The questions which present themselves seem to be:

1. Those which relate to the elections, returns, and qualifications, of their own members. Shall these be taken away from that body, and submitted to the superior decision and control of Congress, without a particle of authority for it from the constitution?

2. The legality or constitutionality of the different steps of their own proceedings, as, whether they vote for two persons both of the same State; whether they receive votes for a person under thirty-five years of age, or one who has not been fourteen years a citizen of the United States, &c. It is true they, as well as any other constitutional branch of this Government acting under that instrument, may be guilty of taking unconstitutional or corrupt steps, but they do it at their peril. Suppose either of the other branches of the Government, the Executive, or the Judiciary, or even Congress, should be guilty of taking steps which are unconstitutional, to whom is it submitted, or who has control over it, except by impeachment? The constitution seems to have equal confidence in all the branches on their own proper ground, and for either to arrogate superiority, or a claim to greater confidence, shows them in particular to be unworthy of it, as it is in itself directly unconstitutional.

3. The authentication of their own acts. This would seem to be as complete in them, as in either of the other branches of the Government. Their own authentication of their act finishes the business intrusted to them. It is true this must be judged of by the persons who are concerned in carrying it into execution; as in all laws and official acts under this Government, they to whom they are directed, and who are to be bound by them, must judge, and judge at their peril, whether they are duly authenticated or whether they are only a forgery.

If this be the just view of the subject, (and he could see no other which did not involve inextricable difficulties,) it leaves no possible question for the Senators and Representatives, when met together to count the votes agreeably to the constitution, but to judge of the authentication of the act of the Electors, and then to proceed and count the votes as directed. If this body of the Electors of all the States had been directed by the constitution to assemble in one place, instead of being formed into different Electoral colleges, he took it for granted none of the questions on which this resolution has been brought forward, would have occurred; every one would have acknowledged that they were to be settled in that assembly. It having been deemed more safe by the constitution to form them into different Electoral colleges, to be assembled in the several States, does not at all alter the nature or distinctness of their powers, or subject them any more to the control of the other departments of the Government.

He observed further on the other points to which gentlemen had spoken, that if such radical and important changes were to be made on this subject, as seemed to be in contemplation under this resolution, he thought they must be made by proposing an amendment to the constitution to that effect; and that they could not be made by law, without violating the constitution. He did not agree with the gentleman from Massachusetts, (Mr. DEXTER,) that the clause at the close of the 8th section of the constitution, which gives to Congress power to pass all laws necessary and proper to carry into effect the foregoing powers of that section, and all other powers vested by the constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof, could be extended to this case: that speaks of the use of the powers vested by the constitution--this resolution relates to the formation of a competent and essential part of the Government itself: that speaks of the movements of the Government after it is organized--this relates to the organization of the Executive branch, and is therefore clearly a constitutional work, and to be done, if at all, in the manner pointed out by the constitution, by proposing an article of amendment to the constitution on that subject. His own opinion, however, was, what he had before stated, that the provisions on this subject were already sufficient; that all the questions which had been suggested were as safely left to the decision of the assemblies of Electors, as of any body of men that could be devised; and that the members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives, when met together in one room, should receive the act of the Electors as they would the act of any other constitutional branch of the Government, to judge only of its authentication, and then to proceed to count the votes, as directed in the second article of the constitution.

The further consideration of the subject was postponed.

FRIDAY, January 24.

Disputed Presidential Elections.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the motion made yesterday, that a committee be appointed to consider whether any, and what, provisions ought to be made by law for deciding disputed elections of President and Vice President of the United States, and for determining the legality or illegality of the votes given for those officers in the different States, and that the committee be authorized to report by bill or otherwise; and the motion as amended was adopted; and,

Ordered, That Messrs. ROSS, LAURANCE, DEXTER, PINCKNEY, and LIVERMORE, be the committee.

THURSDAY, February 20.

Disputed Presidential Elections.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the bill prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of President and Vice President of the United States.

On motion to strike out of the first section of the bill the following words:

Together with the Chief Justice of the United States, or if he be absent from the Seat of Government or unable to attend, then with the next senior Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, who may be present and able to attend.

It passed in the negative--yeas 11, nays 19, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Marshall, Mason, Nicholas, and Pinckney.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, Dexter, Foster, Greene, Gunn, Hillhouse, Howard, Latimer, Laurance, Livermore, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, Watson, and Wells.

On motion to strike out these words from the 1st section: "to choose by ballot in each House six members," and in lieu thereof to insert "to draw by lot in each House ---- members:"

It was determined in the negative--yeas 9, nays 18, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, Langdon, Marshall, Mason, and Nicholas.

NAYS.--Messrs. Chipman, Dayton, Dexter, Foster, Franklin, Goodhue, Greene, Gunn, Hillhouse, Latimer, Laurance, Livermore, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

Ordered, That the further consideration of the bill be postponed.

FRIDAY, February 21.

Eulogium on General Washington.

Resolved, That the Senate will, to-morrow, at half past 12 o'clock, meet at the Senate Chamber, and from thence walk in procession to the German Calvinist Church in Race street, to hear the eulogium pronounced on the character of General WASHINGTON.

MONDAY, February 24.

Disputed Presidential Elections.

The Senate resumed the second reading of the bill prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of President and Vice President of the United States.

On motion, to amend the bill, section 5th, line 7th, so as to provide that the proceedings of the committee be held in public, by striking out the words "with closed doors," and inserting, "in the Chamber of the House of Representatives, with open doors," in lieu thereof:

It passed in the negative--yeas 8, nays 16, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Mason, and Nicholas.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bingham, Chipman, Foster, Goodhue, Greene, Hillhouse, Howard, Latimer, Laurance, Livermore, Marshall, Paine, Read, Ross, Tracy, and Wells.

And, after progress, the further consideration of the bill was postponed.

WEDNESDAY, February 26.

Breach of Privilege.

DUANE AND THE AURORA.

A motion was made, by Mr. TRACY, that it be

Resolved, That the Committee of Privileges be, and they are hereby, directed to inquire who is the editor of the newspaper printed in the city of Philadelphia, called the General Advertiser, or Aurora, and by what means the editor became possessed of the copy of a bill prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of President and Vice President of the United States, which was printed in the aforesaid newspaper, published Wednesday morning, the 19th instant, February, and by what authority he published the same; and by what authority the editor published in the same paper that the honorable Mr. Pinckney, a Senator from South Carolina, and a member of the committee who brought before the Senate the bill aforesaid, had never been consulted on the subject. And generally to inquire the origin of sundry assertions in the same paper, respecting the Senate of the United States, and the members thereof, in their official capacity, and why the same were published; and make report to the Senate. And that the said committee have power to send for persons, papers, and records, relating to the subject committed to them.

Ordered, That this motion lie for consideration.

The Senate resumed the second reading of the bill prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of the President and Vice President of the United States; and after progress, adjourned.

WEDNESDAY, March 5.

Breach of Privilege.

The Senate took into consideration the motion made on the 26th of February last, that an inquiry be had relative to a publication in a newspaper called the "Aurora," on the 19th of the said month; and agreed to insert after these words: "and by what authority he published the same," line 7th, the words "as having passed the Senate."

Mr. COCKE said, he would not suffer a measure of this kind to pass through the Senate, while he had the honor of a seat in that body, without manifesting the most determined opposition. What did the gentleman mean by avoiding the general principle? did he mean to get the consent of the Senate, acting in the character of an inquest, to an acknowledgment that the editor of the Aurora had been guilty of a crime, without any inquiry whether the publication in itself was criminal, or whether if it was criminal, the Senate, as an independent and a single branch of the Legislature, had of itself the power to define the crime and inflict the punishment? He could not consent to an admission of this kind; the constitution gave them no such authority; the privileges of the House and of the members did not extend beyond the walls of the Chamber in which they were sitting, in cases of comment upon their official proceedings. He had held these opinions from the time the motion was first laid before the House, and thought that the consequences which would result from pursuing the subject, would be more dangerous to the honor and dignity of the Senate, which it was meant to defend, than all the attacks which all the public newspapers could make during their existence, inasmuch as an actual assumption of power was far more detrimental to their character than any unfounded charge of tyranny could be. He believed that the more the subject was agitated the more would be the clamor against the Senate, and in the end they would be forced to abandon the measure for want of ability to carry it through; he therefore concluded it would be best to give it up in the first instance, and save both their own time and the public money. He would move to postpone the consideration of the motion till the first Monday in December next.

Mr. TRACY did not wish to hurry on the decision, but as the resolution had been several days upon the table, he believed the House might now decide on the propriety of referring the business to the Committee of Privileges, as this procedure would not be final; or, if the House was not ready to vote immediately, the discussion might proceed and time would be given for coming to the conclusion.

Mr. C. PINCKNEY.--This subject involves the important questions, What are the privileges of Congress, and how far are they defined by the constitution; and what is the liberty of the press, as it respects those privileges? These are subjects of great consequence, and such as I suppose the House will touch with much caution. My name having been mentioned in the body of the original motion, I feel myself particularly called upon to deliver my sentiments fully, as well with respect to the manner in which it is mentioned, as to the limitations of the constitution, and what ought, in my judgment, to be the conduct of the Senate, on this very interesting occasion.

In considering, first, what are the privileges of Congress, and how far they are defined by the constitution, I am naturally led into a repetition of arguments I have found myself too frequently obliged to use on this floor; that is, to entreat the House to recollect the nature of our federal system; that all powers not expressly and specifically delegated to Congress, are reserved to the States and people: and particularly to remember, that where any powers are so expressly defined as the privileges of Congress are, that it is our duty very carefully to consider the consequences, before we take a step that may, by subsequent or cool reflection, be found to exceed them; that the privileges of Congress, as limited by the constitution, have been very deliberately considered by men whose opinions were not swayed by party, and whose impartial situation gave the best opportunity of judging; that having before them the example of the unlimited privileges of the British Parliament, and colonial assemblies, or councils, assuming to themselves the right of such privileges; that knowing the consequences of undefined powers, and being well aware what privileges were necessary to prevent an interruption of the undisturbed situation a member should enjoy, during the time he is engaged on public affairs, after much thought they had defined them in the manner fixed by the constitution. No man, who is a friend to order, will justify what properly deserves to be termed the licentiousness of the press. When, instead of candidly reviewing the arguments or public conduct of a member of the Legislature, or officer of the Government, it meanly descends to private scandal, instead of being defended, it should be met with contempt and disdain. Abuse is the price that public men, and frequently those of the most ability, are obliged to pay; and it is seldom, in countries where the press is free, and strong political parties are known to exist, that it is much noticed. Men of elevated minds, who feel themselves strong in the powers of reasoning, will always yield to their feeble opponents the miserable resort of abuse; it is the surest test of imbecility, and the public, who generally think right, seldom hesitate to suppose it equally the proof of weakness and of malice.

I shall consider this subject from its importance, and the peculiar manner in which it has been introduced, as open to such animadversions as are within the rules of order and are consistent with decorum. I shall probably advance doctrines that will be termed as extraordinary here, but it shall be done with the good manners I have ever considered as the criterion of good breeding, and which self-respect will forbid my violating. It is the first question respecting the privileges of the Senate that I have ever been present at, and, as it involves the liberty of the press, it is only necessary for me to mention these subjects, to show the House the propriety of our well-examining every line of the resolution on your table, before we adopt it.

I feel myself particularly called upon to give my opinion fully on this subject, because my name is inserted in the body of the resolution, and, to those unacquainted with the circumstances, it might have the appearance of being done at my request; whereas it was not only done without my knowledge, but is contrary to my wish, and opinion of the power of the House, and of the mode in which such inquiries should be conducted; that even if the House had the power, the remarks and information contained in the paper are not sufficiently important to attract its notice, particularly as they had been completely silent on the abuse of the Senate in the Gazette of the United States, respecting the stopping of the enlistments for the army; that the inquiry might lead to steps not within the defined privileges of the Senate, and that, as these may involve the liberty of the press, and the right of a citizen to publish the debates and public acts of this House, those who were opposed to what they might consider unconstitutional restrictions, ought to meet the question at the threshold, and contest it in every stage. I shall therefore feel it peculiarly my duty to do so, and, after having stated to you my objections to any interference at all on this subject, to move the postponement of the resolution, or to amend it in some way that shall place on the journals my opinions of the extent of your privileges, and reasons for objecting to the mode of inquiry proposed by the gentleman from Connecticut.

In examining the constitution we find, that to prevent any attempt being made on the part of either branch of Congress to define their own privileges, and exercise the same, as occasion or circumstances may, in their opinions, require, and to remove all doubt as to the extent and exercise of the privileges they are to enjoy, the constitution has positively and expressly limited and defined the same, by declaring--

"That each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members; that they may compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties, as each House may provide; that they may determine the rules of their proceedings, punish the members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member. That the members of both Houses shall, in all cases, except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the attendance at their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same, and, for any debate or speech in either House, shall not be questioned in any other place."

This is all that is said on the subject of privilege; and surely no words can be more explicit, nor any subject more clearly defined. The powers they are to exercise, and the persons and cases they are to operate upon, are all distinctly marked and named; nor is there a word or a sentence in the whole that can by any possible construction be made to mean that for any libels or printed attack on the public conduct or opinions of either House of Congress, or of any of its members, that their privilege shall extend to ordering the persons charged with the offence before them, and imprisoning them at their will. The constitution wisely determined, that they should possess all the powers necessary to their formation, and the undisturbed order of their proceedings, and the safety of their members from arrest, during their attendance, and going to, and returning from Congress; but it at the same time recollected, that it is the nature of our Government to invite examinations of public measures, that it is the duty of our citizens to make these inquiries, to watch over the proceedings of our public bodies, and if they find them departing from the constitution, or exceeding their authority, instantly to announce it. That our constitution supposes no man, or body of men, to be infallible, but considers them all as mere men, and subject to all the passions, and frailties, and crimes, that men generally are, and accordingly provides for the trial of such as ought to be tried, and leaves the members of the Legislature, for their proceedings, to be amenable to their constituents and to public opinion; it however particularly guards the right of the citizens to investigate their measures; and in case of a false or libellous attack, it intends, if the power of collecting juries is fairly exercised, to provide a just and impartial tribunal to decide between them, to act upon oath, and who ought not to be the particular friends or enemies of either. On this subject I shall hereafter more fully remark, and at present take some little notice of an observation that has been made, and which, with the subject of privileges, should be considered as preliminary to those that are necessary on the liberty of the press. It is, that if Congress possessed the power contemplated by this resolution, it was their duty to pass some legislative act respecting it, declaring the manner in which it should be executed, and designating the officer or officers who were to do so; that the people would then know the manner in which offenders were to be summoned or apprehended, or brought before them; but this should have been done when no particular case had occurred, and was before them, and that no proceeding of privileges in any case like the present, ought to be had until such act was passed, and the mode of proceedings clearly ascertained; that if the power was given by the constitution, until Congress had legislated upon it, in the manner above mentioned, it was extremely improper for either branch to attempt to exercise it; that a judiciary department was erected by the constitution, but that Congress was obliged to legislate upon it, and detail its duties, and provide for the appointment of officers to execute them, before the powers of that department could be properly exercised: and that if Congress possessed the power some gentlemen contend for on this point, they must previously legislate on it in the same manner. On this subject there can be no doubt of the propriety of this objection, if Congress possessed the power; and their never having passed such a law is a strong proof, that whatever opinions either branches may have entertained, that both did not suppose they possessed this power, or certainly they would have legislated upon it. If they did not doubt, or were not sure they did not possess this authority, why did they not legislate on it at the time they did on all such other parts of their privileges and powers as they conceived they had authority to act on. They (that is, Congress) passed an act on the subject of the election of members of the House of Representatives, of which that House are the sole judges; each House detailed, in a particular manner, their rules and modes of proceeding--this was all that was necessary to be detailed. The remainder of the clause respecting privileges is so express on the subjects of privilege from arrest, government of members, and expulsion, that every civil officer in the United States, and every man who has the least knowledge, cannot misunderstand them. I assert, that it was the design of the constitution, and that not only its spirit, but letter, warrant me in the assertion, that it never was intended to give Congress, or either branch, any but specified, and those very limited, privileges indeed. They well knew how oppressively the power of undefined privileges had been exercised in Great Britain, and were determined no such authority should ever be exercised here. They knew that in free countries very few privileges were necessary to the undisturbed exercise of legislative duties, and those few only they determined that Congress should possess; they never meant that the body who ought to be the purest, and the least in want of shelter from the operation of laws equally affecting all their fellow-citizens, should be able to avoid them; they therefore not only intended, but did confine their privileges within the narrow limits mentioned in the constitution. And here, sir, let me ask, are not these privileges all that are necessary? They have complete authority to keep order and decorum within their own chamber, to clear the galleries if an audience are unruly, and to punish their own members, to take care that no arrests, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace, shall keep their members from their duty, and for all libellous attacks or misrepresentations the laws are open to them; and if unjustly attacked, no doubt the juries of their countrymen, who are interested to preserve the dignity and independence of their Legislature, will give them the most ample satisfaction. But it is said, "each branch must possess this power to punish for breach of privileges, which they must judge of as circumstances may arise and require; that every legislative body, or branch of one, possesses an inherent right to protect itself, which must be exercised as their discretion directs, because it may frequently be necessary to exercise it immediately, when the public safety would make it impossible to wait for reference to other bodies, or tribunals," and, "that if a man was approaching to knock you down, it would be absurd, instead of defending yourself, to deliberate whether you were authorized to do so; that you must act instantly, as the occasion demands; and that as each individual in society possesses this inherent right to protect himself, so does each branch of the Legislature." This, as far I have been able to collect, is the sum of the reasoning on this subject; and it is said to be strengthened by the practice and proceedings of the British Parliament, and the Colonial Legislatures, before the Revolution, and most of the State Legislatures since, and is now universally received as the true doctrine on this subject.

That it is the doctrine and practice of the British Parliament, I will allow; but it was because the doctrines there held are utterly inadmissible in a free Government; and to prevent any influence from them, and their precedents, and the improper practice of the Colonial and State Legislatures, that this limitation of the privileges of Congress was here purposely introduced. Will any man undertake to say, that the privilege of the Parliament of Great Britain ought to be that of the Congress of this country? Do you suppose that all their members, and their property, and even their servants, should be protected from arrests during the whole time they are elected for, many of them for twenty years together, or during their lives? Would it be thought safe in this country that a small majority of a small body, or single branch of a Legislature, should claim and exercise the authority, whenever they please, to send and seize any man in your community, however important, and confine him in a loathsome dungeon, for six months together, merely because he has differed with them in politics, and criticised, as he had a right to do, on their legislative acts? Is it a pleasant sight to our citizens, to see sergeants-at-arms, with their rods, inquisitorially seizing freemen, and dragging them to your bar, and there exhibiting them as criminals, or spectacles to crowded audiences, merely because they thought they had a right to attack, by argument, proceedings which appeared to them unconstitutional? Can you have the most distant idea, that your constitution could have intended thus for ever to shut the door of inquiry, and make it so penal and dangerous to your citizens that none of them will dare to venture it? Is it possible for any man to read the constitution with attention, and then suppose that such could have been its design? So far from being so, I do assert that great pains were taken specially to guard against the exercise of any such power, and I have no doubt that the Congress of 1798 must have been of this opinion, or else why did they pass the 2d section of the sedition law? Why did they (improperly in my opinion, because it ought to belong to the State judicials)--why did they make the crime of writing, uttering, publishing, or printing any libel against the President, or either branch of Congress, triable, and punishable, in the federal courts, if either branch possessed this power themselves? If they have the right to punish libels, or false, or malicious attacks, why include them in this act? Their power extends over the whole of the Union, and can reach any inhabitant, in any State. Is it not therefore clear, that by giving this authority to the federal judges, to try and punish for written or printed attacks on either branch of Congress, that the Congress of 1798 did not suppose, for attacks of this kind, made in the papers, there was any other mode of punishment than by a trial, where the person charged would have the benefit of trial by jury? Surely this must have been their opinion, or they would not have had two different modes of trial and punishment for the same offence. They never would have erected a new jurisdiction to include a crime, when one sufficiently strong and energetic existed already; but to prove this still more clearly, let us inquire, why the constitution should have been so attentive to each branch of Congress, so jealous of their privileges, and have shown so little to the President of the United States in this respect. Why should the individual members of either branch, or either branch itself, have more privileges than him? He is himself, as far as his qualified negative goes, a branch of the Legislature; he is, besides, your Executive, he is the sword of the law, and does he possess any privileges like these? If a man meets him walking alone in the streets and insults him, or if one of ruffian manners should enter his house, and even abuse him there, has your President any privileges like these? Can he commit and imprison without a trial? No, sir, he must resort to the laws for satisfaction, where the person charged with the outrage will be heard, and where each party will have justice done them, by men who ought to be so impartially summoned as that no undue bias will be found, when they come to decide. No privilege of this kind was intended for your Executive, nor any except that which I have mentioned for your Legislature. The Convention which formed the constitution well knew that this was an important point, and no subject had been more abused than privilege. They therefore determined to set the example, in merely limiting privilege to what was necessary, and no more. Look into the constitutions of all the States which have been formed since the federal constitution, and see if they have not done the same. The Constitution of South Carolina is remarkably explicit and limited on this subject: It says, "that each House may punish by imprisonment, during its sitting, any person not a member, who shall be guilty of disrespect to the House, by any disorderly or contemptuous behavior in its presence, or who, during the time of its sitting, shall threaten harm to the body or estate of any member, for any thing said in either House; or who shall assault any of them therefor; or who shall assault or arrest any witness or other person, ordered to attend the House, in his going to or returning therefrom; or who shall rescue any person arrested by order of the House." These are all privileges, except privilege from arrest or seizure of estate, mentioned in that constitution; and the slightest inspection at once shows, that except for disrespect or contemptuous conduct, in its presence, or threatening or assaulting a member for his conduct in the House, that no other authority is given to punish--not a word is said about libels, or attacks by writing or printing, on their conduct. It is well known that our constitution intended the press to be free; to be the means of communicating the acts of the Government, and of commenting on them where necessary; that it supposes that majorities will sometimes exist, who may wish to overstep the boundaries they ought not to pass; and, therefore, it provides for them, in the hands of the people, this wholesome correction of the press, which those who resort to must use at their peril. If they use it properly, animadvert with propriety, and really point out defects or usurpations in the Government, the people will applaud their zeal, and the laws will support them in their exertions; but if they falsely or maliciously misrepresent, the law will become the avenger of the Government, and unprejudiced juries be the means of punishing calumniators. This is the true footing upon which legislative privilege should be put in every Government, and it is the one on which it is now placed in the United States. By this you give sufficient power to punish, for any improper thing done in their presence, which may disturb the order of either House, or violate the decorum of their proceedings; and for any supposed slanderous attack, the tenderness with which you ought to touch the constitutional right of the public to inquire into public affairs, and the delicate subject of trial by jury, will always necessarily oblige you to recur to the latter for redress and satisfaction.

If it was proper, on subjects like this, to refer to British precedents, I could mention a recent one, which is exactly in point; and shows, that even in the English House of Commons, the doctrine I contend for prevails; it is, that in all cases of libels against either House, the remedy must be by prosecution by the Attorney General, and trial by jury. In Stockdale's case, Doctor Logan published charges against the House of Commons, in which he stated, in a variety of ways, that they had been guilty of great cruelty to Mr. Hastings, Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox, and all sides of the House agreed that it was a libel; but, instead of ordering him before the House, they entered into resolutions directing the Attorney General to prosecute. It appears to me so clear, that for all libels or attacks on either branch of the Legislature, in writing or in print, the mode must be by prosecution, that I do not know it is necessary to trouble you at this time with any further reasoning on that head; I will therefore only mention one more, and then conclude this part of my subject: it is, that from the nature of our Government, where our PRESIDENT is elective, and obliged to attend to public opinion, even if he wishes to do so, he will never venture on those bold measures, which hereditary Executives sometimes attempt. If, then, there should be some men, whose political talents he is afraid of, or whose inquiries into his administration give him uneasiness, an Executive, instead of venturing on any such measure himself, if he can obtain a majority in either branch, will easily discover some mode of having this man's political iniquities construed into breaches of privilege; and, under cover of his friends' influence, immure and silence, during a whole session, and for half a year, a man, whose arguments were perhaps unanswerable, and whose system may be the one which your councils may the next year adopt. I am far from supposing that we are yet so much advanced in the arts and intrigues of older Governments as to make this probable at present; it is not however impossible, and must be guarded against.

The next question is, that of the liberty of the press, as applying to these defined privileges; and as it is the first time this sacred subject has been before either House on a question of privilege, I shall expect your indulgence in making some remarks on it. I shall be very short; for however fruitful the subject is, yet so much has been said of it elsewhere, and you must be so well acquainted with it, that it will be necessary for me barely to state some general principles, as they apply to the question before you. I feel a pride in saying that in no country has the press ever been as free as in United America; however clouded or interrupted this freedom has, in my opinion, lately been, I entertain a hope that in a few months all its shackles will be removed, and that the emotions they have occasioned in the public mind will for ever forbid its being thus fettered again. To no subject have I ever more carefully applied, than what ought in a well regulated Government to be the freedom of the press. I well know that where the press is not free, liberty is but a name, and Government a mockery. I have therefore endeavored to form, in my own mind, what ought to be the true standard of the freedom of the press with us; and I have no doubt that it consists in this: That the printing press shall be free to every person who undertakes to examine the proceedings of the Legislature, or any branch of the Government, and no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereof; that the free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the most invaluable rights of man; and every citizen may freely speak, write, and print, on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty; that in prosecutions for the publication of papers investigating the official conduct of officers, or men in a public capacity, or where the matter published is proper for public information, the truth thereof may be given in evidence; and in all indictments for libels the Jury shall have a right to determine the law, and the fact, under the direction of the court, as in other cases. This is the situation in which the Constitution of Pennsylvania has placed the press; and it is the true and safe one, upon which it ought to be placed in every free Government. Here the right to investigate the conduct of the Legislature, and of official men, is not only recognized and established, but the constitution seems to require it as a duty, from the citizens. It says to them, these are men periodically delegated by you to manage your public concerns--to you, and you alone, they are accountable for their conduct; nor can you know whether it is meritorious, or otherwise, but by having the right to examine into it, and by freely and frequently exercising that right. And would it not be the strangest thing in the world, when the constitution not only establishes the right, but calls upon the citizens to exercise it with alertness, and by no means to neglect it, that if they should happen to displease a branch of the Legislature, whose conduct they have censured, that they should be delivered immediately into the power of this branch, to be dealt with as they please; that the men they had accused, and whom they had, by the constitution, a right to accuse, should become their judges? Would not this be a most extraordinary doctrine? Would it not involve an inconsistency, that ought not certainly to be chargeable upon the framers of the constitution? In private cases of slander, or defamation, would you suffer the person abused, or any near connection of his, or person interested in the event of the suit, to be on the jury? Certainly not. How much more glaringly improper then would it be, in cases of a public nature, where the acts of a legislative branch are censured, and where the charge has been openly and honorably brought forward, to commit the person who produced it, at once, to the power of the body whose acts he has condemned! Let us suppose, that in the exercise of this invaluable right, some disinterested and independent man, urged by the most honorable and patriotic motives, should conceive a branch of the Legislature overstepping the bounds of the constitution, and going into measures destructive of our rights, or injurious to our interests; that this man should be an important member of your community, of known integrity and independence of situation and character, that he should have no private ends of his own to answer, or any thing in view but the public good; that he has embarked in the investigation at the entreaty of a numerous and respectable part of the community, who wished the public mind to be so fairly and fully possessed of facts, and reasonings on them, as to be able, at the next election, to determine with precision and fairness on the conduct of their Legislature; under these circumstances would it be proper to deliver this man into the power of a body whom he has charged with misbehavior, or a departure from constitutional principles? Or would it not be more fair, would it not wear more the appearance of impartiality in case an examination was necessary into the nature of his charges, or the manner in which he has made them, and the expressions he has used, to have a distinct and unprejudiced body, a jury acting under oath, to decide between them? As far as I know any thing of the principles of natural justice, I should suppose there was no question on the subject, and no other opinion ought to be entertained, and that without it there can be no such liberty of the press, or freedom of inquiry, as the constitution intends.

And here, sir, let it be asked, why should a Government that means well, or is confident in its uprightness and ability, ever fear the press? It should be to them a source of great pleasure, in reflecting that they had so excellent a mode of diffusing a knowledge of their acts, well knowing, if they were unjustly attacked, it gave them the most ample means of defence; and that if it became immoderate and licentious, the laws were always sufficiently energetic to punish it. How many individuals when attacked or slandered, have rejoiced that such a defence has been afforded them; and how indispensable is its free investigation to the removal of doubts which sometimes crowd about the characters of public bodies, or men, and which it is necessary to remove! Public bodies are public property; and so indeed are public men; who have in any degree rendered themselves conspicuous by their exertions: few of these, if ever there was one, can expect to be without personal enemies; these will be in proportion to the talents of the man they dislike, and his consequence with the people. Men who engage in public life, or are members of legislative bodies, must expect to be exposed to anonymous, and sometimes avowed attacks, on their principles and opinions. Their best shield will be an upright and able conduct. The best informed will sometimes err; but when their intentions are pure, an enlightened nation will easily discover it, and pardon the mistake. With the shield of conscious rectitude, a Government can never dread the press. It is only in States where the happiness of the people is not the end of Government, or where an individual or a few possess the whole authority, that the press is not agreeable to them. Hence, in despotisms, it is generally odious to the sovereign, and strictly limited. We have, however, found, even among them, a latitude which proves that in the most despotic countries, where the sovereign is conscious of using his power for the good of the people, he fears not the slanders of the malicious. It is remarked of Frederic of Prussia, that few princes were more libelled by their subjects; but that in no country were libels more disregarded: that few, if any, instances ever occurred of his endeavoring to discover the authors, or to crush, by punishment, the spirit of inquiry which literary pursuits had diffused among his subjects. A more remarkable instance is, that of the Empress of Russia; in giving her directions respecting libels, she says, "great care ought to be taken how we extend this crime; representing to ourselves the danger of debasing the human mind by restraint and oppression, which can produce nothing but ignorance, and must cramp and depress the rising efforts of genius." I did not expect to have been obliged ever to have introduced on this floor, Frederic or the Empress, as examples on the subject of the press. The love of liberty, or a wish to countenance the spirit of political inquiry, was not certainly among the reasons for allowing this latitude; but they at once discovered, that if they wished to govern an enlightened people, the spirit of inquiry must be unshackled, and an extensive range given to literary productions. Among the ancients we find Tiberius, and Trajan, and Titus, allowing absolute liberty of speech and writing, suppressing the laws against seditious words and writings, and punishing informers. But the most remarkable instances we have, that freedom of speech and writing are essential to the liberty and greatness of a people, are those of Athens and Rome, when republics: in speaking of them, a celebrated writer says, "that democracy is the nurse of genius, and the greatest encourager of sublimity." The fact is evident from these republics. In Greece, Athens was most democratical, and a state of the greatest liberty; and hence it was, according to Paterculus, "that eloquence flourished in greater force and plenty in that city alone than in all Greece besides; insomuch, (says he,) although the bodies of the people were dispersed into other cities, yet you would think their souls and their genius to have been pent up within the precincts of Athens." So the city of Rome was not only the seat of liberty and empire, but of true wit and exalted genius. The Roman power outlived, it is true, for a considerable time, its liberty, but the freedom of speech and writing was gone, and wit and genius could not long survive them.

How applicable, sir, are these instances, and how incumbent on us is it, if we mean to keep this country a Republic, to cherish the freedom of the press, to remember that without it seldom any thing great or noble can be produced, that to shackle it is to chain the mind, and stifle the seeds of every thing that is generous and amiable! That, in the words of a celebrated divine, "reason and freedom are our own, and given to continue so; we are to use, but cannot resign them, without rebelling against Him who gave them; that to invade them is to encroach on the privileges we receive from God, and traverse the designs of Infinite Goodness." We should remember the danger of precedents, and be careful, as this is the first discussion we have had on this subject, not to establish improper ones, or lay a foundation for that debasement of the mind, which always follows the depression of the press.

It is important here to remind you of the anxiety of the State Legislatures in insisting upon the doors of the Senate being thrown open, and their legislative proceedings exposed, like the other branch, to public view. It was done unquestionably with the intent, that minutes of your debates should be taken, and all your proceedings subject to the inspection of such of our citizens as choose to attend; but as, from the distance, very few of the States could have citizens attending, the great object certainly must have been to have notes taken of the debates, and printed in the gazettes; that through that channel information may be transmitted to every part of the Union, and thus the States become, in the best manner they are able, judges of the talents, as well as conduct and opinions of their members. That this is of infinite importance, in a representative government, no man will deny; but if a printer is to be seized, and dragged to your bar, and perhaps imprisoned for a mistake, that a law has passed when it is only its second reading, or that a member of a committee was not summoned to attend the meeting of the committee, when he was, and did attend, or for any mistake of this kind, I ask you what printer or reporter will take your debates? Who will venture on it; because, where will you draw the line? Will you require that each reporter shall give every word and observation with exactness, and that the smallest deviation from what was said on the orders or proceedings of the House, shall subject him to the odium, and perhaps expense, of a trial at your bar, which must accrue if he has counsel? If this is the case, no reporter will certainly attempt to take your debates, and your doors may just as well be shut again. But, say gentlemen, it is not only for those assertions which you have mentioned, but for the preceding and accompanying observations respecting the views and proceedings of the Senate, and of the members of that body in their official capacity, for which we think this examination requisite. I have already said, in the commencement of my argument, that no man can justify the licentiousness of the press, and that it is perhaps to be lamented that so much invective is used in the papers on both sides of the question; but that as most of these observations are on things that did not happen in the Senate room, and many of them are stated to have occurred near two years ago, and that as much more violent abuse against the Senate was published in the Federal paper styled the Gazette of the United States, on the 13th day of February, and no notice has been taken of it, that it was best, upon this occasion, to suffer the present to pass unnoticed likewise: that it is astonishing the honorable mover from Connecticut, who seems to feel so much for the dignity and character of the Senate on this occasion, did not, on that of the abuse which was heaped on it for consenting to stop the enlistment for the army, have similar feelings; and that as he consented to suffer those animadversions to pass, it would certainly be doing no great violence to his feelings to deal with the present in the same way: that perhaps the best mode to lessen the importance of a paper was, not to treat its observations with either too much notice or severity; that in politics, as in religion, persecution seldom made converts; that if I ever had the inclination to raise the importance of a press, and bring it into celebrity and notice, I would wish it persecuted, for I never saw a press in a free Government persecuted but it rose immediately. Attack a press for its political publications, you instantly convince the people that it is dreaded, and must be of great importance, and attract their attention. We can never forget the memorable cases of Sacheveral and Wilkes, or how much the English nation was agitated by them, and we ought to be convinced, that in every country having the least semblance of freedom, the same consequences will always flow from the same measures.

I request of you again to consider the importance of the question, how far, in the case of libels, or attacks in the papers, for their political opinions, any single branch ought to possess the power, perhaps in a moment of passion and resentment, to decide on what is to affect the personal liberty of a citizen? Whether it is consistent with the nature of our Government, that a single branch, without check or control, should become judges in their own case? Whether any citizen charged with a crime, for which he may be punished by the temporary loss of liberty, is not entitled, by the constitution, to "a speedy trial by an impartial jury?" And, whether to deny it, in this instance, would not be to interfere with that provision of the constitution? For my own part, I have no doubt of it; and, feeling as I always do, most jealous for the character of this branch, I am apprehensive, should we proceed in this measure, it may occasion unpleasant observations. Some of its enemies may perhaps say, that no power is so arbitrary as that of the unlimited authority of a single branch, acting in its own cause, revenging its own affronts, and deciding, perhaps more by its own passions and feelings, than by the justice of the case: that a power of this kind is worse than a despotism; because there the despot is in some measure checked by his individual responsibility; for the act being the official act of the body, is that sort of protection under which an individual despot cannot shelter himself from the public odium--should the measure be oppressive, he must alone meet the general censure, which, thus concentrated, strikes with force; but when divided among a number, must in a great measure lose its effect. That, in every view of the subject, we must be convinced that for libels, or printed attacks, on either branch, the constitution must have intended to give the person charged the right of trial by a jury, so collected that a cool and unprejudiced examination might take place, and justice be done to all parties; that this I had shown to be the case, in the instance I had mentioned, in the House of Commons of Great Britain; and we surely would not wish the press should be more free, or the freedom of inquiry into legislative conduct, more unshackled in England than with us. Look, sir, into the abuse that is daily poured by the papers of that country upon their Parliament and Administration, and upon Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox, and all their leading members; and yet we see no proceedings of this kind. Indeed, if we were to believe Montesquieu, and the writers since him, it is to the freedom of the press alone England owes the portion of liberty she enjoys--it is the ladder by which she rose, and that which she will struggle most to preserve. I devoutly hope she will always keep it, and that we shall likewise maintain it for ever in its utmost purity.

Mr. P. concluded by adding, that if the Senate went into a consideration of his motion, instead of that of the gentleman from Connecticut, (Mr. TRACY,) they would probably avoid that part of the discussion which would be least agreeable, as the subject would be clear from that locality and personality which attached to the first, and a decision would take place without any reference to this or that particular printer; but if the gentleman would postpone the question, Mr. P. consented to let his motion lie on the table, with a view to its being printed for the use of the members, that so both propositions might be compared and considered with more attention than could be done in any other way.

Mr. COCKE declared that the object which he had in view was nothing more nor less than to rid the House of the business altogether. He was not inclined to appoint any special time for the discussion, as the worthy gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. PINCKNEY) had requested. He had no idea that it was supposed he had the saving or exoneration of any printer in view; he had no such thing; but he wished to save the reputation of this body, which he thought was placed in jeopardy by the Connecticut motion. Here it is proposed to inquire and examine of and into this, that, and the other--to bring one printer here, and generally all persons and papers, who and whatever, just as your committee may think fit. Suppose this power is doubted? Suppose the persons deny your power--how are your committee to enforce their mandates? Suppose your courts of law claim cognizance as a case of libel, are you to have two prosecutions and two trials for the same offence? Surely, surely, your committee will have to retire from the untenable ground, and the defeat will recoil with disgrace upon those of us who attempt to assume powers neither constitutional in themselves, nor just, even if they were constitutional. You can call upon somebody--but who?--to inquire who is the editor of the Aurora. You are to inquire how he became possessed of a certain bill which he published; what kind of an inquiry is this? How he procured the sight of a bill, while it was pending in Senate. Why, is there any crime in printing a minute of our transactions? Your bills are printed by your own order, for your use, and for the information of the other House; two hundred copies or more are circulated without any injunction of secrecy; they are sent off into every State of the Union; and are you going to make inquiry how the editor of the Aurora got to see one of them? Why, are not your gallery doors open, and cannot a bill which has been read in public be possibly remembered, at least, cannot it be taken down in short-hand? and will you punish every man who shall repeat, print, or publish what is made public on this floor? Suppose the editor of the Aurora declines to inform your committee of the mode through which he obtains his information; he says it is convenient and useful to him, but his prior engagements do not permit him to divulge it to you; will you punish him for contempt? But suppose you possessed of the physical power necessary to procure the information you require by an application of the torture; while you are straining his muscles and dislocating his joints, what becomes of the grand palladium of American freedom? Where is the liberty of the press, which is secured to the citizens of the Union against Federal usurpation? The constitution declares that you shall not infringe upon the liberty of the press; and a power expressly denied to the whole Government, a single branch may not assume.

Here Mr. C. was called to order by

Mr. BINGHAM, of Pennsylvania, who inquired what the liberty of the press had to do on a question of postponement? He believed, while the motion for postponement was under consideration, all debate on the merits of the main question to be out of order.

It was contended to be in order to object on a postponement generally to the original motion, for an argument tending to defeat the original motion is reason for a general postponement.

Mr. COCKE proceeded, and said he was glad to find that the freedom of debate in this House was not to be destroyed, though it might be interrupted; and he hoped that the freedom of the press would never be subverted while the Government of the country rested upon the Republican principle of representation. He admitted there were a great many ill-natured things said by many of our American presses, but that should never induce him to run the risk of destroying the most valuable and effectual bulwark for maintaining us free and independent, by using an instrument more fit to cut down the trunk of a tree, than to prune it of its tendril luxuriances. What was the engine now brought out against this freedom--an engine possessed of all the powers necessary to ensure its success? A printer is to be charged, is to be tried, judged of, and executed, by a body he has offended. Where will you find men of nerve that will risk certain ruin? Such may arise when the press is in danger. It was under these impressions that he wished to get rid of the business altogether.

Mr. TRACY, of Connecticut, did not wish to press the business; indeed his conduct had manifested this intention, for the original motion had been suffered to lie on the table a longer term than usual before it was called up, but even now when it was called up he did not wish to hurry it through. He should not refuse a moderate delay, but he hoped the motion from Tennessee would not prevail, as it went to destroy the object without any further consideration. In answer to what fell from the gentleman from Tennessee, he would say, that the objections he had made did not all of them apply, and if there was any which did apply, amendments could be made so as to conform them to the sense of the Senate. He wished gentlemen would attend to the words of the resolution, and they would find that they did not carry them beyond what was prudent, mild, and proper. The committee are desired to inquire who is the editor of the Aurora; this will appear to be a proper inquiry, for the person is not publicly known; the imprint declares the paper to be published for the heirs of Benjamin Franklin Bache, but we do not know who are the heirs. The gentleman has told us it is no crime to publish the doings of this body; agreed, but is it nothing to publish untruths respecting the official conduct of the members of this body? is it no crime to publish a bill while before this House? But are printers at liberty to tell lies about our transactions? The Aurora says, that the bill which it published had passed the Senate; this every member knows to be contrary to the fact. The bill has not even to the present moment passed this body, it is still on your table liable to recommitment, amendment, or rejection. Asking the editor how he came to print this falsehood, does not go to examine into the private mode by which conveyance of intelligence is made to that office; there can be no real intelligence, it being a falsehood. But suppose we have no power over this editor, because the press is free; suppose we cannot punish him for his slander, calumny, and falsehood, perhaps the inquiry may lead us to discover some persons whom we can punish; will it be said that the constitution is an impediment in our way to punish one of our own members, if he should be found guilty of abusing the confidence of his situation? At least we can exercise the power of removing one of our officers, if we should convict him of a secret league to transmit intelligence which is confidentially intrusted to his care.

He did not mean to insinuate that any improper mode was used in conveying this intelligence; it might appear that the whole circumstance was a mere unintentional error; if so he should not go farther; but yet the printer could hardly have made the subsequent mistake in relation to the gentleman from South Carolina, in declaring that he had never been consulted by the committee on Mr. Ross's bill; there was something in this calculated to produce an effect upon the public mind. He insinuates that the business of the Senate is done in caucuses, into which the gentleman was not permitted to enter; for if he had, it is supposed he might have detected and defeated the mischiefs which are working against the public welfare. This is an abandoned slander, as is well known to every member of the House, for Mr. PINCKNEY did attend not one meeting only, as the editor of the Aurora squeezed out some days subsequent to his first licentious publication, but he did attend every meeting, as he has candidly and honorably avowed in his place.

The gentlemen had declared themselves the champions of the press; but surely gentlemen will not advocate such liberty as this--the liberty of publishing nothing but lies and falsehood. If by the liberty of the press is meant the publication of truth and just political information, it was proper to be supported; but he was desirous of maintaining, along with the liberty of the press, the liberty of the citizens, and the security of the Government; he was not for sacrificing these latter objects to the licentiousness of the press. He was not inclined to enter into a newspaper controversy to maintain the dignity and reputation of the Senate, nor did he think that gentlemen appreciated their own standing in society when they referred the individual members of this body to such a mode of defence against the shafts of calumny which a daring editor might hurl against them individually.

Mr. BLOODWORTH, of North Carolina, doubted the power of the Senate to take cognizance of the conduct of members in communicating with their constituents, much less to punish them for publishing circumstances respecting which no injunction of secrecy had been imposed. He, however, assured the Senate that he had not given the editor of the Aurora any information on the subject before them, or indeed on any other, for the editor was a stranger to him; nor did he know that he ever called, at that printing office more than once or twice in his life. He hoped that the business would be postponed for the present, and he should have no objection to its being taken up at a future day, when gentlemen might be better prepared to meet it.

Mr. PAINE, of Vermont, declared himself against the postponement, nor did he think that the motion of Mr. PINCKNEY was so inconsistent with the motion before the House as to render a postponement necessary; he thought the committee might inquire, and although the gentleman would stop, by his proposition, from proceeding in case it turned out to be a fabrication of the editor of the Aurora, yet if it should be found not a fabrication of his, but that of a member or an officer of the House, it was admitted they might progress, without infringing the sacred liberty of the press. Suppose that some person in the gallery should have furnished the spurious matter--and that may possibly be the case--will the sacred liberty of the press be violated if we order the doorkeeper to turn him out, and refuse him access in future? He thought the resolutions might be amended so as to give greater satisfaction than they do at present; for his own part he was not willing to declare all at present which they contained. He thought the business would be simplified if the committee were directed to consider and report what measures would be proper to adopt in respect to a publication containing various untruths of the proceedings of the Senate, and if the question of postponement was lost he meant to move several amendments for that purpose.

Mr. MASON, of Virginia, had no objection to meet the question at the present moment, but he thought it of such importance, both to the Senate and the citizens of the United States, that it should be taken up and discussed in a solemn and serious manner; not hastily and lightly, as some gentlemen seemed to think who were opposed to the postponement for a few days; if, however, the opposition to the postponement was persisted in, he had no doubt but the subject would prove itself well worth a discussion of several days, and that the ultimate decision would not be made till a period more remote than that moved for by his friend from South Carolina. He therefore recommended to gentlemen to explore well the ground which the motion of the gentleman from Connecticut had taken, and consider seriously of the consequences to which they would be led in pursuing their object. What was to be the course of their proceeding? What were the embarrassments likely to arise therein? He called the House to view the delicacy of the situation in which they would be involved while defining their newly discovered privileges and subverting the old acknowledged privileges of the liberty of the press; he said the delicacy of their situation, because he considered it a delicate one, for he was far from believing that the privileges of the Senate were as unlimited as the gentleman from Connecticut contended they were; if so, and they proceed to touch the liberty of the press, which they may discover in the end to be secured against the invasion, they will be compelled to retrace every step they are now taking, which will neither redound to their honor nor discernment. They should be careful how they expose themselves to popular scrutiny in cases respecting their own power, for the public mind had been already considerably agitated, at what many conceived to be an unconstitutional exercise of power. If, session after session, attempts were made to fetter the freedom of the press, the people of the United States would watch with anxious regard every movement of this body. A measure which originated in the Senate, and was subsequently acceded to by the other branch of the Legislature, had been just ground of alarm. It is no wonder that they watch our bills as well as our laws, for it must be recollected by many of the gentlemen who hear me, that the bill called the Sedition Bill was first introduced here, and that, instead of being what it afterwards became, it was a bill more particularly to define treason and sedition. The good sense of the House, during the time it was upon the table and undergoing a political dissection, cut off from it many of those monstrous excrescences which at first disfigured it, and at last trimmed it into a shapely form; but after all it was removed below stairs in a condition not fit to meet the eye of our constituents--even obliged to undergo a decapitation; the head or the title of it was struck off, and instead of being a bill defining treason--which is a thing totally out of our power, the constitution having declared in what alone treason should consist--instead of being denominated a bill against sedition, it took the obnoxious head of being a bill to amend the law for punishing certain crimes against the United States.

Mr. ANDERSON, of Tennessee, did not rise with an intention of entering into the merits of the general question, as to the extent of the privileges of the Senate, which he conceived to be of great moment, but merely to remark, as gentlemen alleged that the public mind was already agitated on the subject, the postponement would tend to increase the degree of agitation, which he conceived it was the wish of gentlemen on both sides to have allayed as soon as possible. He therefore concluded that it would be better to go on with the business and come as soon as possible to a decision. One gentleman had said it ought to go to the judicial courts, and that the Attorney General should be directed to prosecute: well, then, that gentleman should give his consent to send the business to a committee, in order to inquire whether the case would warrant this interference.

Mr. READ, of South Carolina, would not oppose the motion of his honorable colleague for a postponement, if he had required it on his own account, or if its being negatived would prevent him from bringing forward the preamble and resolution he had read in his place, and at a proper time of having them discussed; but neither of these circumstances were urged; therefore, as his colleague neither required time for preparation nor would be prevented from offering and supporting the intended amendment, he should vote against the postponement.

Mr. DAYTON had the highest confidence in the honor of the gentleman from South Carolina, (Mr. PINCKNEY,) and he never suffered himself to doubt of the truth of the declaration which had been made. He thought the resolutions might be varied so as to get rid of the idea which the gentleman objected to, in respect to the motion having been brought forward at his instance; and might be amended as suggested by the gentleman from Vermont, (Mr. PAINE,) so as to reconcile it still more to the sentiments of the Senate. This being his view of the subject, he wished the business to proceed, and should therefore vote against the postponement.

The question on postponing till Tuesday next, was now put, and the yeas and nays being called, stood yeas 9, nays 19, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Mason, Nicholas, and Pinckney.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, Foster, Goodhue, Greene, Gunn, Hillhouse, Laurance, Livermore, Lloyd, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, Watson and Wells.

So the motion was lost.

Mr. NICHOLAS, of Virginia, wished to ask for information. Was it intended by this resolution to charge the committee with inquiring into a breach of privilege as it respected the majority of this body? For the resolution itself furnished no correct idea on this point. He wished also to know whether it was intended that the Senate should declare that the publication was a breach of privilege?

Mr. TRACY, of Connecticut, said that if the gentleman wished for information from him, he would endeavor to give it. He conceived it would be better to pursue the mode of inquiry in the first instance, through the intervention of a committee, and not make at once a decision whether the publication was or was not a breach of privilege; and further, that the committee should report to the Senate what other matters were the proper subjects for the Senate's inquiry. He would not undertake to say at this time whether there was a breach of privilege at all, or whether that breach was in respect to a majority of the House, or of the privilege of a single member.

Mr. MARSHALL, of Kentucky, was of opinion that if the subject itself was a proper one to be inquired into, then the mode was well devised, and one liable to few or no objections; but there was another circumstance to which he begged permission to call the attention of the Senate. He observed that the resolution pointed only to one object, and that was the publications in the Aurora; he did not think this went far enough, if it was intended to be any thing more than a party manoeuvre. If gentlemen meant to defend the honor of this body, they should avoid any thing like partiality, and direct their inquiry to all breaches of privilege, by publications in newspapers, let their publishers be whom they might. Believing that the gentlemen were serious in the present undertaking, he wished them to give it the appearance of impartiality without which it would reflect disgrace on their proceedings. Gentlemen have complained of the slander and calumny thrown upon them by the publications in the Aurora, but, however detestable they might be, he held in his hand one still more vile and flagrant. He would read it, and then move to amend the resolution before the House by adding that the committee be directed to inquire who is the editor of the United States Gazette, and by what authority he published in that paper the following paragraphs.

It passed in the negative--yeas 11, nays 16, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Lloyd, Marshall, Mason, Nicholas, and Pinckney.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, Foster, Greene, Gunn, Hillhouse, Laurance, Livermore, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, Watson, and Wells.

The Judiciary.

Agreeably to notice given yesterday, Mr. PINCKNEY had leave to bring in a bill to amend the act entitled "An act to establish the Judicial Courts of the United States"; which was read and ordered to the second reading.

On introducing the above bill Mr. PINCKNEY addressed the chair as follows:

Mr. PRESIDENT: When I first had the honor of addressing you on this subject it appeared to me necessary to move an amendment to the constitution; on reflection, however, I am since convinced that the more regular and expeditious mode would be to move an amendment to the law establishing the Judicial Courts of the United States--by this means the law may be passed during the present session, and we shall the more readily obtain the limitation we contend for.

As the Judiciary is among the most important departments in our Government, as it reaches every situation in society--neither the rich, the honored, nor the humble, being without its influence or above its control--as it is the department to which not only the lives and fortunes, but the characters of our citizens are peculiarly intrusted, it becomes us to be extremely careful that the Judges should not only be able and honest men, but independent in their situation. Our constitution has in some degree secured their independence by giving them permanent salaries, and rendering them ineligible to the Legislature; but in vain will we consider them independent, in vain may we suppose their opinion beyond the control or interference of the Executive, until we have determined it shall not be in his power to give them additional offices and emoluments, while Judges; until, in short, we confine them wholly to their duties as Judges, and teach them to believe that in the execution of the laws they should consider themselves as little obliged to please the President, or to fear his disapprobation, as that of any other man in the Government. This can only be done by preventing them accepting other offices, while they continue as Judges, and thus depriving him of the power of heaping upon them additional favors and emoluments.

It is an established maxim, and I hope will for ever remain so, that the Legislature and Judiciary should be as distinct as the nature of our Government will admit; that is, that the same men shall not, in a deliberative capacity, agree to measures which they shall afterwards have a right to explain and decide upon in a judicial one. The reason is obvious; that the Judges should, in a calm and unprejudiced manner, explain what the law literally is, and not what it ought to be; that they should not be allowed to carry upon the bench those passions and prejudices which too frequently prevail in the adoption and formation of legislative acts and treaties, and which never fail to give an irresistible bias to the opinions of a Judge who has been concerned in making them. The truth of this reasoning is now so generally conceded, that there is not a man who knows any thing of government that will attempt to controvert it; the constitutions of all the States have sanctioned it, and if the opinions of the Federal Convention ought to have weight, they so strongly insisted upon it as even to refuse, after repeated trials, associating the Judges with the President in the exercise of his revisionary power; indeed a gentleman high in office, and who held both situations at the same time as Judge and Envoy, is himself decidedly of this opinion, for in his charge to the Eastern juries he has these expressions:

"Wise and virtuous men have thought and reasoned very differently respecting Government; but in this they have at length very unanimously agreed, viz: "that its powers should be divided into three distinct independent departments, the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. But how to constitute and balance them so as best to guard against abuse and fluctuation, and preserve the constitution from encroachments, are points on which there continues to be a great diversity of opinions, and on which we all have as yet much to learn. The Constitution of the United States has therefore instituted these departments, and much pains have been taken so to form and define them, as that they may operate as checks one upon the other, and keep each within its proper limits: it being universally agreed to be of the last importance to a free people, that those who are vested with Legislative, Executive, and Judicial powers should rest satisfied with their respective portions of power; and neither encroach on the provinces of each other, nor suffer themselves or the others to intermeddle with the rights reserved by the constitution to the people.""

If, then, there can be no doubt of its propriety when applied to a Judge, in ordinary cases, how much more forcibly does it apply to an Envoy who concludes a treaty, which when ratified is to become the supreme law of the land; how strongly must the negotiation of so important and in many instances so difficult a business, be impressed on his mind! He will no doubt retain the journals of his proceedings and opinions, and perfectly recollect the progress and termination of every proposal which was compromised or rejected. It must be difficult for him to forget the attempts to which ministers are sometimes liable in condescending where their object is honorable; he will remember what his opinions were upon particular points; and, whether they were successful or not, his general character may be that of not very easily yielding them. In short, it is impossible for him to be that cool and unbiased interpreter of the treaty which he otherwise might have been, had he not been concerned in concluding it.

The constitution contemplates an independent Judiciary. The public, therefore, will expect and have a right to demand, upon a questions, a fair and impartial trial by Judges, whose minds are open to conviction, and unprejudiced by party opinions; by men who have not been concerned in forming a law or treaty, but who are totally unfettered by the recollection of what passed at the negotiation, or what might have been wished or expected by either party, as judges, candidly and impartially to determine upon every question that may come before them.

These reasons are certainly sufficient to convince any one that this provision is necessary to the independence of the Judges, and the pure and unbiased exposition of the laws: that unless it is done, their independence is a visionary and unfounded thing. That if the President can hold out to the Judges the temptation of being Envoys, or of giving them other offices, and that he still can continue them as Judges, that on any question in which the President or his friends, or the Government may be concerned, it might have a tendency to influence them in opinion; that it was not frequently to be expected they would be unmindful from whom they received the present appointments, or so entirely indifferent to their own, or the advancement of their families as not sometimes to recollect that from the same source other and greater emoluments might in future be derived; that ingratitude was not often the vice of public officers while their patron continued in power; that on subjects where his character, his feelings, or the public opinion of his acts were in question, our Judges might reasonably be expected not to be charged with apathy or inattention; and that the true way to assert the dignity of the President and the honor and independence of the Judges, was to place it out of the power of the one to offer, and the other to accept additional favors.

That a Judge ought never to be absent from the United States, or be drawn from his official situation and leave an undue proportion of its duties to be performed by the remainder of the bench; that the number of Judges were exactly proportioned to the duties they were to perform; that to withdraw one and be incapable of supplying the vacancy, was not only to require the inexecution of the laws in some parts of the Union, but to invidiously harass the other, while a favorite or possibly too complying a Judge was sent to gratify his curiosity or indulge his taste on some agreeable or easy mission.

That no man ought to hold two offices under the same Government, particularly where they were important; that most of the States had regulations to prevent this, and that nothing more contributed to the extravagance of a Government or the corruption and immorality of its citizens, than the power to heap many lucrative and perhaps useless offices on the same person; that it had a tendency to make them servile, to render them the tools and sycophants of men in power, and to degrade the character of office.

That in case of the impeachment of the President of the United States, the Chief Justice was to preside, and there was no provision in the constitution to supply the vacancy; therefore, if an impeachment was to take place in his absence, it must remain undecided until the Chief Justice could be sent for; that this, if recollected by the Executive, should of itself have been an insuperable objection--in point of propriety, it always is so, but in point of delicacy it ought most strongly to have been so, because, here the President, is the officer, and indeed the only one, who is implicated in the possibility of its inconvenience arising from absence of the Chief Justice. It is true it is to be presumed that the man who is elected by his countrymen to administer the important office of President, will be always so wise and virtuous as to make it very unlikely an impeachment of him should take place--the thing, however, is possible. In times of difficulty where opinions run high, and where those opinions are strongly divided between numerous and powerful parties, it is impossible to foretell what may happen. No man is said to be wise at all times, and our own experience and intercourse with the world must convince us that there are moments of enthusiasm, or of heat, or surprise, when the most cautious men are not quite so prudent as others. I will therefore ask, and do it with great deference, as the President is the only officer on whose trial the Chief Justice is to preside, or on whose impeachment his absence would be a public inconvenience, is it not perhaps presuming too far on his own infallibility or incapacity to err, to send the only officer to a distant country, without whose presence, in case of an impeachment, a court could not be formed to try him? I ask it with deference, and am sure these observations must have escaped the Executive, or the Chief Justice never would have been sent.

To evince the absolute necessity of some provision being made, it is to be observed that, as the law stands now, a Judge might not only accept any other appointment from the Executive of the Union, but he may accept them from the individual States, or, what is still more dangerous, from a foreign power, and thus become the minion of the one or the tool of the other, as circumstances or his own interest may prompt him. Few men will deny the necessity of some provision here, and that the present is an unwise and degrading situation for a national Judiciary. Most of the States have carefully guarded their tribunals against a danger of this kind. The State of South Carolina, to which I belong, is remarkably express on this subject. Aware of the necessity of an independent judiciary, her constitution, in speaking of that department, has these words: "nor shall the Judges, hold any other office of profit or trust under this State, the United States, or any other power," a prohibition not more complete or full than ought to exist in the case of the Federal Judges.

A strange doctrine has lately been circulated, which it is my duty to remark on--it is, that this bill is to be considered as a reflection on the President for nominating a Chief Justice, and the Senate for having confirmed it, and that the Senate, by agreeing to it, will join in the censure.[46] Being always ready to approve, and to praise what is meritorious, it is with great reluctance I can ever be brought to censure--I have no such intention at present. I can readily believe that many of the inconveniences I have mentioned may have escaped the President in the recent nomination. It is here I have always disliked it. I believe the general sentiment to be against it; but, be that as it may, no such reason ought ever to have weight in this House. If the thing is right, if it is now considered as proper for us to say, that the Judges must stay at home, and be confined to their judicial duties, and hold no other offices while Judges, we should do it, and not consider whether it is pleasing or otherwise to the President; he must understand public business too well to consider it in the nature of a reflection. We every day alter existing laws and regulations, without considering such changes as reflections on a preceding Legislature or President, and I should be sorry to suppose, that, while a bill was under discussion, the fear of displeasing the Executive should ever be used as a reason for its rejection. He has always a right to give his opinion in the exercise of his revisionary authority, and when he does, we will deliberately and respectfully attend to it. One remark more, and I shall no longer trespass on the patience of the House: it is, that a reason has been given for leaving the President at liberty to send a Judge on any delicate or difficult mission, which I do not conceive reputable either to the political or literary character of our country--it is said the Judges may be the most able and qualified men the President can find, and that being prevented from sending one of them, he may sometimes be obliged to send inferior and less important characters, and that the public interest might suffer. How far the present or any former supreme bench may justify the observation it is not for us to say, but never will I suppose that among a people so numerous and enlightened, so alive to their country's welfare, and hundreds, perhaps thousands of whom are so devoted to public business, can only six men be found capable of discharging any political duties that Government might require; the idea is too degrading to our national character to be entertained for a moment. For these reasons I have thought it my duty to introduce this bill, and I trust it will pass and become a law.

SATURDAY, March 8.

Breach of Privilege.

And, on motion to agree to the original motion as amended, it passed in the affirmative--yeas 19, nays 8, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Chipman, Dayton, Foster, Goodhue, Greene, Hillhouse, Latimer, Laurance, Livermore, Lloyd, Marshall, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, Watson, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Baldwin, Bloodworth, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Mason, Nicholas, and Pinckney.

So it was

Resolved, That the Committee of Privileges be, and they are hereby, directed to consider and report what measures it will be proper for the Senate to adopt, in relation to a publication in the newspaper, printed in the city of Philadelphia, on Wednesday morning the 19th of February, 1800, called the General Advertiser, or Aurora; in which it is asserted, that the bill prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of PRESIDENT and VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES had passed the Senate, when in fact it had not passed; in which it is also asserted, that the honorable Mr. Pinckney, a Senator from the State of South Carolina, and a member of the committee who brought before the Senate the bill aforesaid, had never been consulted on the subject; whereas, in fact, he was present at each meeting of the committee; and, generally, to report what measures ought to be adopted in relation to sundry expressions contained in said paper, respecting the Senate of the United States, and the members thereof, in their official capacity.

TUESDAY, March 18.

Breach of Privilege.

The Senate took into consideration the report of the Committee of Privileges, on the measures that will be necessary to adopt in relation to a publication in the newspaper, printed in the city of Philadelphia, on Wednesday morning, the 19th of February last, called the General Advertiser, or Aurora; and,

On motion to adopt the first resolution reported, it was agreed to divide the motion, and that the question should be taken on the following words:

Resolved, That the said publication contains assertions, and pretended information, respecting the Senate, and the Committee of the Senate, and their proceedings, which are false, defamatory, scandalous, and malicious; tending to defame the Senate of the United States, and to bring them into contempt and disrepute, and to excite against them the hatred of the good people of the United States.

And on the question, to adopt this part of the resolution, reported by the committee, it passed in the affirmative--yeas 20, nays 8, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bingham, Brown, Chipman, Dayton, Dexter, Foster, Goodhue, Greene, Gunn, Hillhouse, Laurance, Livermore, Lloyd, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Baldwin, Bloodworth, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Marshall, Mason, and Nicholas.

WEDNESDAY, March 19.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the report of the Committee of Privileges, on the measures proper to adopt in relation to a publication in the newspaper called the Aurora, of the 19th of February last; and it was agreed to amend the second member of the first resolution reported, as follows: "and that the said publication is a high breach of the privileges of this House;" and, on the question to agree thereto, as amended, it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 17, nays 11, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bingham, Chipman, Dexter, Foster, Goodhue, Greene, Gunn, Hillhouse, Laurance, Livermore, Lloyd, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Marshall, Mason, Nicholas, and Pinckney.

THURSDAY, March 20.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the report of the Committee of Privileges, on the measures proper to be adopted in relation to a publication of the 19th of February last, in the newspaper called the Aurora; and it was agreed to fill the blanks in the second resolution reported, with the words "Monday 24th, twelve o'clock," and, at the close of the resolution, with the words "twenty-second;" and,

On motion, to adopt this part of the report, as follows:

Resolved, That William Duane, now residing in the city of Philadelphia, the editor of the said newspaper called the General Advertiser, or Aurora, be, and he is hereby, ordered to attend at the bar of this House, on Monday, the 24th day of March inst., at 12 o'clock, at which time he will have an opportunity to make any proper defence for his conduct, in publishing the aforesaid false, defamatory, scandalous, and malicious assertions, and pretended information; and the Senate will then proceed to take further order on the subject; and a copy of this and the foregoing resolution, under the authentication of the Secretary of the Senate of the United States, and attested as a true copy by James Mathers, Sergeant-at-Arms for the said Senate, and left by the said Sergeant-at-Arms with the said William Duane, or at the office of the Aurora, on or before the twenty-second day of March instant, shall be deemed sufficient notice for the said Duane to attend in obedience to this resolution:

It passed in the affirmative--yeas 18, nays 10, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, Dexter, Foster, Goodhue, Greene, Gunn, Hillhouse, Laurance, Livermore, Lloyd, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Marshall, Mason, Nicholas, and Pinckney.

So the report of the committee was adopted, as follows:

Whereas, on the 19th day of February, now last past, the Senate of the United States, being in session, in the city of Philadelphia, the following publication was made in the newspaper, printed in the said city of Philadelphia, called the General Advertiser, or Aurora, viz:

"In our paper of the 27th ult. we noticed the introduction of a measure into the Senate of the United States, by Mr. Ross, calculated to influence and affect the approaching Presidential election, and to frustrate, in a particular manner, the wishes and interests of the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

"We this day lay before the public a copy of that bill as it has passed the Senate.

"Some curious facts are connected with this measure, and the people of the Union at large are intermediately, and the people of this State immediately interested to consider the movements, the mode of operation, and the effects.

"We noticed a few days ago the caucuses (or secret consultations) held in the Senate Chamber. An attempt was made in an evening paper to give a counteraction (for these people are admirable at the system of intrigue) to the development of the Aurora, and to call those meetings jacobinical; we must cordially assent to the jacobinism of those meetings--they were in the perfect spirit of a jacobinical conclave.

"The plain facts we stated are, however, unquestionable; but we have additional information to give on the subject of those meetings. We stated, that intrigues for the Presidential election were among the objects; we now state it as a fact that cannot be disputed upon fair ground, that the bill we this day present was discussed at the caucus on Wednesday evening last.

"It is worthy of remark how this bill grew into existence.

"The opponents of independence and republican Government, who supported Mr. Ross in the contest against Governor McKean, are well known by the indecency, the slander, and the falsehood of the measures they pursued--and it is well known that they are all devoted to the Federal party, which we dissected on Monday. Mr. Ross proposed this bill in the Federal Senate, (how consistently with the decency of his friends will be seen;) a committee of five was appointed to prepare a bill on the subject: on this committee, Mr. Pinckney, of South Carolina, was appointed. On Thursday morning last (the caucus held the preceding evening) Mr. Ross informed Mr. Pinckney that the committee had drawn up a bill on the subject, when in fact Mr. Pinckney had never been consulted on the subject, though a member of the committee! The bill was introduced and passed as below.

"On this occasion it may not be impertinent to introduce an anecdote which will illustrate the nature of caucuses, and show that our popular Government may, in the hands of a faction, be as completely abused as the French Constitution has been, by the self-created Consuls:

"In the summer session of 1798, when Federal thunder and violence were belched from the pestiferous lungs of more than one despotic minion, a caucus was held at the house of Mr. Bingham, in this city. It was composed of members of the Senate, and there were present seventeen members. The Senate consisting of thirty-two members, this number was of course a majority, and the session was a full one.

"Prior to deliberation on the measures of war, navy, army, democratic proscription, &c., it was proposed, and agreed to, that all the members present should solemnly pledge themselves to act firmly upon the measures to be agreed upon by the majority of the persons present at the caucus.

"The measures were perfectly in the high tone of that extraordinary session. But upon a division of the caucus it was found that they were divided, nine against eight. This majority, however, held the minority to their engagement, and the whole seventeen voted in Senate upon all the measures discussed at the caucus.

"Thus it is seen that a secret self-appointed meeting of seventeen persons dictated laws to the United States, and not only that nine of that seventeen had the full command and power over the consciences and votes of the other eight, but that nine possessed, by the turpitude of the eight, actually all the power which the constitution declares shall be vested in the majority only. In other words, a minority of nine members of the Senate ruled the other twenty-three members.

"It is easily conceivable, as in the recent changes in France, that this spirit of caucusing may be conducted in progression down to two or three persons; thus three leading characters may agree to act upon measures approved by any two of them; these three may add two others, and they would be a majority of five: and those adding four others would be a majority of nine; and this nine possess all the power of a majority of twenty-three!

"Yet such is the way we are treated by those who call themselves Federalists.

"The following bill is an offspring of this spirit of faction secretly working; and it will be found to be in perfect accord with the outrageous proceedings of the same party in our State Legislature, who are bent on depriving this State of its share in an election that may involve the fate of the country and posterity."

Resolved, That the said publication contains assertions and pretended information, respecting the Senate, and the Committee of the Senate and their proceedings, which are false, defamatory, scandalous, and malicious, tending to defame the Senate of the United States, and to bring them into contempt and disrepute, and to excite against them the hatred of the good people of the United States: and that the said publication is a high breach of the privileges of this House.

Resolved, That William Duane, now residing in the city of Philadelphia, the editor of the said newspaper called the General Advertiser, or Aurora, be, and he is hereby, ordered to attend at the bar of this House on Monday, the 24th day of March, inst., at 12 o'clock, at which time he will have opportunity to make any proper defence for his conduct, in publishing the aforesaid false, defamatory, scandalous, and malicious, assertions and pretended information; and the Senate will then proceed to take further order on the subject: and a copy of this and the foregoing resolution, under the authentication of the Secretary of the Senate of the United States, and attested as a true copy by James Mathers, Sergeant-at-Arms for the said Senate, and left by the said Sergeant-at-Arms with the said William Duane, or at the office of the Aurora, on or before the twenty-second day of March, instant, shall be deemed sufficient notice for the said Duane to attend in obedience to this resolution.

SATURDAY, March 22.

Mr. DAYTON, from the Committee of Privileges, to whom it was referred to prepare and lay before the Senate a form of proceedings in the case of William Duane, reported in part; which report was read, amended, and agreed to, as follows:

When William Duane shall present himself at the bar of the House, in obedience to the order of the 20th inst., the President of the Senate is to address him as follows:

1st. William Duane:

You stand charged by the Senate of the United States, as editor of the newspaper called the General Advertiser, or Aurora, of having published in the same, on the 19th of February, now last past, false, scandalous, defamatory, and malicious assertions, and pretended information, respecting the said Senate and Committee of the Senate, and their proceedings, tending to defame the Senate of the United States, and to bring them into contempt and disrepute, and to excite against them the hatred of the good people of the United States; and therein to have been guilty of a high breach of the privileges of this House.

Then the Secretary shall read the resolutions of the Senate, passed the 20th instant, with the preamble; after which the President is to proceed as follows, viz:

1st. Have you any thing to say in excuse or extenuation for said publication?

2dly. If he shall make no answer, the Sergeant-at-Arms shall take him into custody, and retire with him from the Senate Chamber until the Senate shall be ready for a decision, at which time the Sergeant-at-Arms shall again set him at the bar of the House, and the President of the Senate is to pronounce to him the decision.

3dly. If he shall answer, he is to continue at the bar of the House until the testimony (if any be adduced) shall be closed, and he shall retire while the Senate are deliberating on the case; and when a decision is agreed upon, the said Duane, being notified of the time by the Sergeant-at-Arms, verbally, or by a written notice left at his office, shall appear at the bar of the House, and the President of the Senate is to pronounce to him the decision.

MONDAY, March 24.

The VICE PRESIDENT communicated a letter, signed William Duane, requesting to be heard by counsel, and have process awarded to compel the attendance of witnesses in his behalf, on the summons served on him the 22d inst., for a high breach of the privileges of the Senate; which letter was read.

A motion was made that William Duane be permitted to be heard by counsel, agreeably to his request; and, after debate, the said William Duane appeared at the bar of the House, agreeably to the summons of the 22d instant; a return thereon having been made in the words following:

CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, March 21, 1800.

Then I, the subscriber, Sergeant-at-Arms for the Senate of the United States, left a true and attested copy of the within at the office of the Aurora.

JAMES MATHERS.

And the charge against the said William Duane having been read, he repeated his request to be heard by counsel.

On which he was ordered to withdraw, and a motion was made as follows:

Resolved, That, William Duane be permitted to be heard by counsel, he having appeared, agreeably to the order of the Senate, and requested that he might be heard by counsel.

On which a motion was made to strike out all the motion subsequent to the word "Duane," and insert:

Having appeared at the bar of the Senate and requested to be heard by counsel, on the charge against him for a breach of privileges of the Senate, he be allowed the assistance of counsel while personally attending at the bar of the Senate; who may be heard in denial of any facts charged against said Duane, or in excuse and extenuation of his offence.

And it was agreed to divide the motion, and that the question be taken on striking out; which passed in the affirmative--yeas 18, nays 11, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, Dexter, Foster, Goodhue, Greene, Hillhouse, Latimer, Laurance, Livermore, Lloyd, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Marshall, Mason, Nicholas, and Pinckney.

A motion was made to amend the amendment by striking out these words "he be allowed the assistance of counsel while personally attending the bar of the Senate; who may be heard in denial of any facts charged against said Duane, or in excuse and extenuation of his offence;" and to insert "he be permitted to have assistance of counsel for his defence;" and it was agreed to divide the motion, and that the question should be taken on striking out, which passed in the negative--yeas 10, nays 18, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Marshall, Mason, and Nicholas.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, Dexter, Foster, Goodhue, Greene, Hillhouse, Latimer, Laurance, Livermore, Lloyd, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

And, on the question to agree to the original amendment, it passed in the affirmative--yeas 21, nays 8, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Baldwin, Bingham, Bloodworth, Chipman, Dayton, Dexter, Foster, Franklin, Goodhue, Greene, Hillhouse, Latimer, Laurance, Livermore, Lloyd, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Brown, Cocke, Langdon, Marshall, Mason, Nicholas, and Pinckney.

And the question being taken on the motion as amended, it was

Resolved, That William Duane having appeared at the bar of the Senate, and requested to be heard by counsel, on the charge against him for a breach of privileges of the Senate, he be allowed the assistance of counsel while personally attending at the bar of the Senate, who may be heard in denial of any facts charged against said Duane, or in excuse and extenuation of his offence.

A motion was made that it be an instruction to the Committee of Privileges to report in what manner witnesses shall be compelled to attend the Senate in support of the charge against William Duane, and in his defence against that charge.

And, after debate, the further consideration thereof was postponed.

Resolved, That a copy of the resolution last agreed to be sent to William Duane, and at the same time, he be ordered to attend at the bar of this House at 12 o'clock, on Wednesday next.

WEDNESDAY, March 26.

The VICE PRESIDENT communicated a letter signed William Duane, stating that he had received "an authenticated copy of the resolution of Monday last in his case," and enclosing certain papers stated to be a correspondence between him and his intended counsel, marked A, B, and C, and that he finds himself "deprived of all professional assistance under the restrictions which the Senate have thought fit to adopt. He therefore thinks himself bound, by the most sacred duties, to decline any further voluntary attendance upon that body, and to leave them to pursue such measures in this case, as in their wisdom they may deem meet;" and the letter was read.

On motion that the papers referred to in the letter be read, it passed in the negative.

On motion, the Senate took into consideration the report of the Committee of Privileges, who were ordered to prepare and lay before the Senate a form of proceedings in the case of William Duane; and, after debate,

The order of the day was called for.

Ordered, That the Sergeant-at-Arms, at the bar of the House, do call William Duane. And the said William Duane did not appear. Whereupon,

Resolved, That as William Duane has not appeared at the bar of this House, in obedience to the order of the 24th instant, and has addressed a letter to the President of the Senate, which has been read this morning, in which he refuses any further attendance, his letter be referred to the Committee of Privileges, to consider and report thereon.

On motion, the Senate resumed the consideration of the report of the Committee of Privileges of the 25th instant. And on the question to agree to the first resolution, amended as follows:

Resolved, That all testimony shall be taken by the Committee of Privileges, who are hereby authorized to send for persons, papers, and records, and compel the attendance of witnesses which may become requisite for the execution of their commission:

It passed in the affirmative--yeas 18, nays 11, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, Dexter, Foster, Goodhue, Greene, Hillhouse, Latimer, Laurance, Livermore, Lloyd, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Marshall, Mason, Nicholas, and Pinckney.

On motion, the 4th resolution was adopted, as follows:

Resolved, That all testimony taken by said committee shall be reported to the Senate, and kept on file by the Secretary.

And having agreed to postpone the other resolutions reported, the Senate adjourned.

THURSDAY, March 27.

Mr. DAYTON, from the Committee of Privileges, to whom was referred the letter of William Duane, on the 26th instant, made report, as follows:

Resolved, That William Duane, editor of the General Advertiser, or Aurora, having neglected and refused to appear at the bar of this House, at 12 o'clock, on the 26th day of March instant, pursuant to the order of the 24th instant, of which order he had been duly notified; and having sent the following letter to the President of the Senate, which has been communicated to the Senate, viz:

"To the President of the Senate:

"SIR: I beg of you to lay before the Senate this acknowledgment of my having received an authenticated copy of their resolutions on Monday last, in my case. Copies of those resolutions I transmitted to Messrs. Dallas and Cooper, my intended counsel, soliciting their professional aid; a copy of my letter is enclosed marked A. Their answers I have also the pleasure to enclose, marked B and C. I find myself, in consequence of these answers, deprived of all professional assistance, under the restrictions which the Senate have thought fit to adopt. I therefore think myself bound by the most sacred duties to decline any further voluntary attendance upon that body, and leave them to pursue such measures in this case, as, in their wisdom, they may deem meet. I am, sir with perfect respect,

"WM. DUANE."

is guilty of a contempt of said order, and of this House, and that, for said contempt, he, the said Wm. Duane, be taken into the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms attending this House, to be kept subject to the further orders of the Senate.

On motion to agree to this first resolution reported, it passed in the affirmative--yeas 16, nays 12, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Dayton, Dexter, Foster, Goodhue, Greene, Hillhouse, Latimer, Laurance, Livermore, Lloyd, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Marshall, Mason, Nicholas, and Pinckney.

On motion to strike out these words from the second resolution reported: "And all marshals, deputy marshals, and civil officers of the United States, and every other person, are hereby required to be aiding and assisting to you in the execution thereof:" it passed in the negative--yeas 10, nays 19, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Mason, Nicholas, and Pinckney.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, Dexter, Foster, Goodhue, Greene, Hillhouse, Latimer, Laurance, Livermore, Lloyd, Marshall, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

The second resolution reported was read as follows:

Resolved, That a warrant issue signed by the President of the Senate, in the following form, viz:

UNITED STATES, } The 27th day of March, 1800.} SS.

Whereas the Senate of the United States, on the 18th day of March, 1800, then being in session in the city of Philadelphia, did resolve that a publication in the General Advertiser, or Aurora, a newspaper printed in the said city of Philadelphia, on Wednesday, the 19th day of February, then last past, contained assertions and pretended information respecting the Senate, and Committee of the Senate, and their proceedings, which were false, defamatory, scandalous, and malicious, tending to defame the Senate of the United States, and to bring them into contempt and disrepute, and to excite against them the hatred of the good people of the United States; and that the said publication was a high breach of the privileges of the House.

And whereas the Senate did then further resolve and order, that the said William Duane, resident in the said city, and editor of said newspaper, should appear at the bar of the House, on Monday, the 24th day of March, instant, that he might then have opportunity to make any proper defence for his conduct in publishing the aforesaid false, defamatory, scandalous, and malicious assertions and pretended information.

And whereas the said William Duane did appear on said day at the bar of the House, pursuant to said order, and requested counsel; and the Senate, by their resolution of the 24th day of March, instant,

Resolved, That William Duane, having appeared at the bar of the Senate, and requested to be heard by counsel on the charge against him for a breach of privileges of the Senate, he be allowed the assistance of counsel while personally attending at the bar of the Senate, who might be heard in denial of any facts charged against said Duane, or in excuse and extenuation of his offence, and that the said William Duane should attend at the bar of the Senate on Wednesday, then next, at 12 o'clock, of which the said Duane had due notice.

And whereas said William Duane, in contempt of the said last mentioned order, did neglect and refuse to appear at the bar of the said Senate, at the time specified therein; and the Senate of the United States, on the 27th day of March, instant, did thereupon resolve that the said William Duane was guilty of a contempt of said order and of the Senate, and that for said contempt he, the said William, should be taken into custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms attending the Senate, to be kept for their further orders. All which appears by the journals of the Senate of the United States, now in session in the said city of Philadelphia.

These are, therefore, to require you, James Mathers, Sergeant-at-Arms for the Senate of the United States, forthwith to take into your custody the body of the said William Duane, now resident in the said city of Philadelphia, and him safely to keep, subject to the further order of the Senate; and all marshals, deputy marshals, and civil officers, of the United States, and every other person, are hereby required to be aiding and assisting to you in the execution thereof; for which it shall be your sufficient warrant.

Given under my hand, this 27th day of March, 1800.

THOMAS JEFFERSON, President of the Senate of the U. S.

On motion to agree to this resolution as reported, it passed in the affirmative--yeas 18, nays 11, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, Dexter, Foster, Goodhue, Greene, Hillhouse, Latimer, Laurance, Livermore, Lloyd, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Marshall, Mason, Nicholas, and Pinckney.

So the report of the committee was adopted.

MONDAY, March 31.

Respect to Mrs. Washington.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House have passed a bill, entitled "An act to extend the privilege of franking letters and packages to Martha Washington."

TUESDAY, April 1.

The bill, sent from the House of Representatives entitled "An act to extend the privilege of franking letters and packages to Martha Washington," was read the second time; and, by unanimous consent, it was read the third time and passed.

TUESDAY, April 8.

The bill for the defence of the merchant vessels of the United States was read the second time, and referred to Messrs. GOODHUE, NICHOLAS, and TRACY, to consider and report thereon to the Senate.

The bill "for the removal and accommodation of the Government of the United States" was read the second time and referred to Messrs. ROSS, LLOYD, and HILLHOUSE, to consider and report thereon to the Senate.

The bill to repeal the "Act laying duties on mills and implements employed in the manufacture of snuff," was read the second time, and referred to Messrs. BINGHAM, LIVERMORE, and LAURANCE, to consider and report thereon to the Senate.

The bill permitting the exportation of some gunpowder, also a number of muskets and cutlasses, was read the second time and ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. CHIPMAN, from the committee to whom was referred on the 12th March last, to inquire what amendments are necessary in the act to establish the Judicial Courts of the United States, reported a bill on the subject; which was read and ordered to the second reading.

The Senate took into consideration the report of the committee on the petition of Thomas Burling and others, inhabitants of the Mississippi Territory; and the report was adopted.

TUESDAY, April 29.

Judiciary--Its better Organization.

The Senate took into consideration the report of the committee on the bill to amend the act to establish the Judicial Courts of the United States; the first clause of which is as follows:

Strike out the whole of the bill after the word "serve," in third line, and insert "in the Courts of the United States, shall be designated by lot, or otherwise, in each State or district respectively, according to the mode of forming juries, to serve in the highest courts of law therein, now practised; so far as the same shall render such designation practicable by the Courts and Marshals of the United States."

On motion to strike out all that follows the word "otherwise," in the fourth line of the report, for the purpose of inserting the following:

"Summoned or procured in each State respectively, according to the mode directed and prescribed by the laws of each State respectively, so far as such laws shall render the same practicable by the Courts or Marshals of the United States; and where the State mode cannot be used in the Courts of the United States, the Marshal attending such Courts shall, every day the Court sits, summon a sufficient number of persons to attend the Court that day, that out of them may be impannelled sufficient juries for the trial of all causes (except cases punishable with death) depending in such Courts; and if any person so summoned shall fail to attend the Court accordingly, he shall be fined eight dollars, to the use of the United States:"

A division of the motion was called for, and the question was taken on striking out, which passed in the negative--yeas 9, nays 16, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Marshall, Mason, and Nicholas.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bingham, Dayton, Dexter, Foster, Goodhue, Greene, Gunn, Hillhouse, Howard, Latimer, Livermore, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

And it was agreed, that the bill pass to the third reading as amended.[47]

WEDNESDAY, May 14.

The VICE PRESIDENT having, by letter, intimated his desire to be excused from further attendance, as it would probably be the last day of the session, the Senate proceeded to the choice of a President pro tempore, as the constitution provides, and URIAH TRACY was duly elected.

Mississippi Slave Act.

The bill entitled "An act to permit, in certain cases, the bringing of slaves into the Mississippi Territory," was read the third time. On the question to agree to the final passage thereof, it passed in the negative--yeas 5, nays 14, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Cocke, Marshall, Pinckney, and Read.

NAYS.--Messrs. Baldwin, Bingham, Bloodworth, Brown, Dayton, Foster, Franklin, Greene, Hillhouse, Laurance, Livermore, Mason, Morris, and Ross.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House disagree to the amendment of the Senate to the bill regulating the grants of land for the refugees from the British provinces of Canada and Nova Scotia.

The Senate considered the resolution of the House of Representatives on the amendment of the Senate to the bill last mentioned.

Resolved, That they adhere to their amendment.

Mr. Ross, from the committee on the bill making grants of lands to the inhabitants of Vincennes, and Illinois country, reported the bill without amendment, and it was agreed to postpone the bill to the next session of Congress.

Adjournment.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that they have appointed a committee on their part, with such as the Senate may join, to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and notify him that, unless he hath any further communications to make to the two Houses of Congress, they are ready to adjourn; and they desire the appointment of a committee on the part of the Senate.

The Senate agreed to the resolution of the House of Representatives appointing a committee, jointly with such as the Senate may appoint, to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and notify him of the proposed adjournment of the two Houses of Congress; and it was ordered that Messrs. BINGHAM and WELLS be the committee on the part of the Senate.

Mr. BINGHAM reported, from the joint committee last mentioned, that the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES had no further communication to make to Congress at this time than his best wishes for their safe return to their respective places of abode.

On motion that it be

Resolved, That the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES be requested to instruct the proper law officer to commence and carry on a prosecution against William Duane, editor of the newspaper called the Aurora, for certain false, defamatory, scandalous, and malicious publications, in the said newspaper, on the 19th of February last past, tending to defame the Senate of the United States, and to bring them into contempt and disrepute, and to excite against them the hatred of the good people of the United States:

It passed in the affirmative--yeas 13, nays 4, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bingham, Dayton, Foster, Greene, Gunn, Latimer, Laurance, Livermore, Morris, Read, Ross, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, Franklin.

Ordered, That the Secretary lay an attested copy of the foregoing resolution before the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Resolved, That the thanks of the Senate of the United States be presented to the Commissioners of the city and county of Philadelphia, for the convenient and elegant accommodations furnished by them for the use of the Senate, during the residence of the National Government in the city; and that the President of the Senate be requested to convey this resolution in a letter to the said Commissioners.

The PRESIDENT, agreeably to the joint resolution of the 12th instant, adjourned the Senate, to meet again on the third Monday of November next, as the law provides.

SIXTH CONGRESS.--FIRST SESSION.

PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES

IN

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

MONDAY, December 2, 1799.

This being the constitutional day for the annual meeting of Congress, the following members of the House of Representatives appeared, produced their credentials, and took their seats, viz:

From New Hampshire.--ABIEL FOSTER, JONATHAN FREEMAN, and WILLIAM GORDON.

From Massachusetts.--BAILEY BARTLETT, PHANUEL BISHOP, DWIGHT FOSTER, HARRISON G. OTIS, SILAS LEE, SAMUEL LYMAN, JOHN REED, SAMUEL SEWALL, THEODORE SEDGWICK, WILLIAM SHEPARD, GEORGE THATCHER, JOSEPH B. VARNUM, PELEG WADSWORTH, and LEMUEL WILLIAMS.

From Connecticut.--JONATHAN BRACE, SAMUEL W. DANA, JOHN DAVENPORT, WILLIAM EDMOND, CHAUNCEY GOODRICH, ELIZUR GOODRICH, and ROGER GRISWOLD.

From Rhode Island.--JOHN BROWN, and CHRISTOPHER G. CHAMPLIN.

From Vermont.--MATTHEW LYON, and LEWIS R. MORRIS.

From New York.--THEODORUS BAILEY, JOHN BIRD, WILLIAM COOPER, LUCAS ELMENDORPH, HENRY GLENN, EDWARD LIVINGSTON, JONAS PLATT, JOHN THOMPSON, and PHILIP VAN CORTLANDT.

From New Jersey.--JOHN CONDIT, FRANKLIN DAVENPORT, JAMES H. IMLAY, AARON KITCHELL, and JAMES LINN.

From Pennsylvania.--ROBERT BROWN, ANDREW GREGG, ALBERT GALLATIN, JOHN A. HANNA, JOSEPH HEISTER, JOHN WILKES KITTERA, MICHAEL LEIB, PETER MUHLENBERG, JOHN SMILIE, RICHARD THOMAS, ROBERT WALN, and HENRY WOODS.

From Maryland.--GEORGE BAER, WILLIAM CRAIK, GABRIEL CHRISTIE, GEORGE DENT, JOSEPH H. NICHOLSON, SAMUEL SMITH, and JOHN CHEW THOMAS.

From Virginia.--JOHN DAWSON, THOMAS EVANS, DAVID HOLMES, GEORGE JACKSON, JOHN MARSHALL, JOHN NICHOLAS, ANTHONY NEW, LEVEN POWELL, JOHN RANDOLPH, ABRAM TRIGG, and JOHN TRIGG.

From North Carolina.--WILLIS ALSTON, JOSEPH DICKSON, ARCHIBALD HENDERSON, WILLIAM H. HILL, NATHANIEL MACON, RICHARD STANFORD, and DAVID STONE.

From South Carolina.--ROBERT GOODLOE HARPER, ABRAHAM NOTT, JOHN RUTLEDGE, Jr., and THOMAS SUMTER.

From Georgia.--JAMES JONES, BENJAMIN TALIAFERRO.

From Tennessee.--WILLIAM CHARLES COLE CLAIBORNE.

A quorum of the whole number of members being present, the House proceeded to the election of a SPEAKER; when, on counting the ballots, the tellers reported that Mr. SEDGWICK had 42 votes; Mr. MACON, 27; Mr. DENT, 13; Mr. RUTLEDGE, 2; Mr. SUMTER, 1.

That the whole number of votes was 85, and the rules of the House requiring a majority of the members present to constitute a choice, neither of the above gentlemen were elected.

The House then proceeded to a second trial; when Mr. SEDGWICK had 44 votes; Mr. MACON, 38; Mr. DENT, 3; Mr. RUTLEDGE, 1.

Whereupon Mr. SEDGWICK was declared duly elected, and conducted to the chair accordingly.

Mr. SEDGWICK, upon taking the chair, addressed the House in the following words:

"GENTLEMEN: Although I am conscious of a deficiency of the talents which are desirable to discharge with usefulness and dignity the important duties of the high station to which I am raised, by the generous regard of the enlightened and virtuous representatives of my country, yet, reposing myself on the energy of their candid support, I will not shrink from the attempt.

"Accept, I pray you, gentlemen, my grateful acknowledgment of the honor you are pleased to confer; and, with it, an assurance, that no consideration shall seduce me to deviate, in the least degree, from a direct line of impartial integrity."

A message was received from the Senate, informing the House that, a sufficient number of members appearing to form a quorum, they had proceeded to the choice of a President pro tempore, when Hon. SAMUEL LIVERMORE was elected.

The House proceeded to the choice of a Clerk; when it appeared JONATHAN W. CONDY had 47 votes, JOHN BECKLEY, 39.

Whereupon Mr. CONDY was declared by the SPEAKER to be duly elected.

Ordered, That a message be sent to the Senate, to inform that body of the election of the Hon. THEODORE SEDGWICK, as SPEAKER of the House of Representatives.

On motion of Mr. MACON, the House proceeded to the choice of a Sergeant-at-Arms, Doorkeeper, and Assistant Doorkeeper; when JOSEPH WHEATON, THOMAS CLAXTON, and THOMAS DUNN, were unanimously elected.

The oath to support the Constitution of the United States, as prescribed by the act, entitled "An act to regulate the time and manner of administering certain oaths," was administered by Mr. RUTLEDGE, one of the Representatives for the State of South Carolina, to the SPEAKER, and then the same oath or affirmation was administered by Mr. SPEAKER to each of the members present.

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON having also appeared, as a Representative for the territory of the United States north-west of the river Ohio, the said oath was administered to him by Mr. SPEAKER.

The same affirmation, together with the affirmation of office prescribed by the said recited act, were also administered by Mr. SPEAKER to the Clerk.

A message was received from the Senate, informing the House, that they had passed a resolution, appointing a joint committee to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and inform him that Congress had met and were ready to receive any communications he might think proper to make; and, in case of concurrence, that Messrs. READ and BINGHAM were appointed a committee on behalf of the Senate.

The House concurred in the resolution, and Messrs. MARSHALL, RUTLEDGE, and SEWALL, were appointed to wait on the PRESIDENT, in conjunction with the committee from the SENATE.

The following letter was read by the Speaker.

72 WELBECK-STREET, LONDON, September 20, 1798.

SIR: I beg leave, through you, to offer to the House of Representatives of the United States, impressions of the two prints of the American Revolution, which I have lately caused to be published.[48]

The importance of the events, and the illustrious characters of the two great men to whose memory they are particularly devoted, give to these works their best claim to your notice; and the patriotism of my countrymen, I trust, will give them a kinder reception than their intrinsic merit might entitle me to hope.

With great respect, I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,

JNO. TRUMBULL.

The SPEAKER of the House of Reps. U. S.

Resolved, That the rules and orders of proceeding established by the late House of Representatives, shall be deemed and taken to be the rules and orders of proceeding to be observed in this House, until a revision or alteration of the same shall take place.

Resolved, That each member be furnished with three newspapers, printed in this city, during the session, at the expense of this House.

Mr. MARSHALL, from the joint committee appointed to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, reported, that they had performed that service; and that the PRESIDENT had appointed to-morrow forenoon, 12 o'clock, to meet both Houses in the Representatives' Chamber.

The House then adjourned, till to-morrow morning at eleven o'clock.

TUESDAY, December 3.

JAMES A. BAYARD, from Delaware, appeared produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

President's Speech.

Ordered, That a message be sent to the Senate to inform them that this House is now ready to attend them in receiving the communication from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, agreeably to his notification to both Houses yesterday.

The Senate attended and took seats in the House; when, both Houses being assembled, the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES came into the Representatives' Chamber, and addressed them as follows. (For the Speech, see Senate proceedings, ante.)

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES then withdrew and the two Houses separated.

A copy of the Speech being delivered by the PRESIDENT to the SPEAKER, and read by the Clerk, it was ordered, that it be committed to a Committee of the whole House to-morrow.

WEDNESDAY, December 4.

Mr. LIVINGSTON said he conceived some notice ought to be taken of the letter received from Mr. TRUMBULL, and therefore moved that it be referred to a select committee. Agreed to, and Messrs. LIVINGSTON, TALIAFERRO, and HILL, were appointed.

The President's Speech.

The House went into a Committee of the Whole on the PRESIDENT'S Speech, Mr. RUTLEDGE in the chair. The Speech having been read,

Mr. MARSHALL moved the following resolution, which was agreed to by the committee, viz:

Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee, that a respectful Address ought to be presented by the House of Representatives to the President of the United States, in answer to his Speech to both Houses of Congress, on the opening of the present session, containing assurances that this House will duly attend to the important objects recommended by him to their consideration.

The committee rose, and the resolution having been agreed to by the House, Messrs. MARSHALL, RUTLEDGE, SEWALL, LIVINGSTON, and NICHOLAS, were appointed a committee to draft the Address.

FRIDAY, December 6.

Mr. MARSHALL, from the committee appointed to draft an Address in answer to the Speech of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, at the commencement of the present session, reported the same, which was committed to a Committee of the Whole on Monday next, and ordered to be printed.

Mr. LIVINGSTON, from the committee to whom was referred the letter of Mr. Trumbull, reported the following resolution, which was adopted by the House:

"Resolved, That the two elegant prints offered by Mr. Trumbull, be accepted; and that the Speaker be instructed to write an answer, expressive of the pleasure with which this House has observed his genius and talents exerted in the patriotic task of celebrating the events which led to his country's independence, and dedicated to the memory of those heroes who fell in its defence."

MONDAY, December 9.

JOSIAH PARKER and ROBERT PAGE, from Virginia, appeared, produced their credentials, were qualified, and took their seats.

Address to the President.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, on the Address to be presented to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES in answer to his Speech to both Houses, at the commencement of the present session.

Mr. GREGG moved, that the words distinguished by italics, in the third and fourth lines of the second paragraph of the Address, be struck out, and that the words "act in" be inserted in their stead; which produced a short debate, and was finally negatived.

The committee then rose, and the Address was reported without amendment; and was agreed to by the House, in the words following, viz:

To the President of the United States:

SIR: While the House of Representatives contemplate the flattering prospects of abundance from the labors of the people, by land and by sea, the prosperity of our extended commerce, notwithstanding the interruptions occasioned by the belligerent state of a great part of the world, the return of health, industry and trade, to those cities which have lately been afflicted with disease, and the various and inestimable advantages, civil and religious, which, secured under our happy frame of Government, are continued to us unimpaired, we cannot fail to offer up to the benevolent Deity our sincere thanks for these the merciful dispensations of his protecting Providence.

That any portion of the people of America should permit themselves, amid such numerous blessings, to be seduced by the arts and misrepresentations of designing men into an open resistance of a law of the United States, cannot be heard without deep and serious regret. Under a constitution where the public burdens can only be imposed by the people themselves, for their own benefit, and to promote their own objects, a hope might well have been indulged that the general interest would have been too well understood, and the general welfare too highly prized, to have produced in any of our citizens a disposition to hazard so much felicity, by the criminal effort of a part, to oppose with lawless violence the will of the whole. While we lament that depravity which could produce a defiance of the civil authority, and render indispensable the aid of the military force of the nation, real consolation is to be derived from the promptness and fidelity with which that aid was afforded. That zealous and active co-operation with the judicial power, of the volunteers and militia called into service, which has restored order and submission to the laws, is a pleasing evidence of the attachment of out fellow-citizens to their own free Government, and of the truly patriotic alacrity with which they will support it.

To give due effect to the civil administration of Government, and to ensure a just execution of the laws, are objects of such real magnitude as to secure proper attention to your recommendation of a revision and amendment of the judiciary system.

Highly approving, as we do, the pacific and humane policy which has been invariably professed and sincerely pursued by the Executive authority of the United States, a policy which our best interests enjoined and of which honor has permitted the observance, we consider as the most unequivocal proof of your inflexible perseverance in the same well chosen system, your preparation to meet the first indications on the part of the French Republic, of a disposition to accommodate the existing differences between the two countries, by a nomination of Ministers on certain conditions, which the honor of our country unquestionably dictated, and which its moderation had certainly given it a right to prescribe. When the assurances thus required of the French Government, previous to the departure of our Envoys, had been given through their Minister of Foreign Relations, the direction that they should proceed on their mission, was, on your part, a completion of the measure, and manifests the sincerity with which it was commenced. We offer up our fervent prayers to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for the success of their embassy, and that it may be productive of peace and happiness to our common country. The uniform tenor of your conduct, through a life useful to your fellow-citizens and honorable to yourself, gives a sure pledge of the sincerity with which the avowed objects of the negotiation will be pursued on your part, and we earnestly pray that similar dispositions may be displayed on the part of France. The differences which unfortunately subsist between the two nations, cannot fail, in that event, to be happily terminated. To produce this end, to all so desirable, firmness, moderation, and union at home, constitute, we are persuaded, the surest means. The character of the gentlemen you have deputed, and still more, the character of the Government which deputes them, are safe pledges to their country, that nothing incompatible with its honor or interest, nothing inconsistent with our obligations of good faith or friendship to any other nation, will be stipulated.

We learn, with pleasure, that our citizens, with their property, trading to those ports of St. Domingo with which commercial intercourse has been renewed, have been duly respected, and that privateering from those ports has ceased.

With you, we sincerely regret that the execution of the sixth article of the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, with Great Britain, an article produced by a mutual spirit of amity and justice, should have been unavoidably interrupted. We doubt not the same spirit of amity, and the same sense of justice in which it originated, will lead to satisfactory explanations; and we hear with approbation that our Minister at London will be immediately instructed to obtain them. While the engagements which America has contracted by her treaty with Great Britain, ought to be fulfilled with that scrupulous punctuality and good faith to which our Government has ever so tenaciously adhered, yet no motive exists to induce, and every principle forbids us to adopt a construction which might extend them beyond the instrument by which they are created. We cherish the hope that the Government of Great Britain will disclaim such extension, and by cordially uniting with that of the United States for the removal of all difficulties, will soon enable the boards appointed under the sixth and seventh articles of our treaty with that nation, to proceed, and bring the business committed to them respectively to a satisfactory conclusion.

The buildings for the accommodation of Congress, and of the President, and for the public offices of the Government at its permanent seat, being in such a state as to admit of a removal to that District by the time prescribed by the act of Congress, no obstacle, it is presumed, will exist to a compliance with the law.

With you, sir, we deem the present period critical and momentous. The important changes which are occurring, the new and great events which are every hour preparing in the political world, the spirit of war which is prevalent in almost every nation with whose affairs the interests of the United States have any connection, demonstrate how unsafe and precarious would be our situation, should we neglect the means of maintaining our just rights. Respecting, as we have ever done, the rights of others, America estimates too correctly the value of her own, and has received evidence too complete that they are only to be preserved by her own vigilance, ever to permit herself to be seduced by a love of ease, or by other considerations, into that deadly disregard of the means of self-defence, which could only result from a carelessness as criminal as it would be fatal concerning the future destinies of our growing Republic. The result of the mission to France is, indeed, sir, uncertain. It depends not on America alone. The most pacific temper will not always ensure peace. We should therefore exhibit a system of conduct as indiscreet as it would be new in the history of the world, if we considered the negotiation happily terminated because we have attempted to commence it, and peace restored because we wish its restoration. But, sir, however this mission may terminate, a steady perseverance in a system of national defence, commensurate with our resources and the situation of our country, is an obvious dictate of duty. Experience, the parent of wisdom, and the great instructor of nations, has established the truth of your position, that, remotely as we are placed from the belligerent nations, and desirous as we are, by doing justice to all, to avoid offence to any, yet nothing short of the power of repelling aggressions will secure to our country a rational prospect of escaping the calamities of war or national degradation.

In the progress of the session, we shall take into our serious consideration the various and important matters recommended to our attention.

A life devoted to the service of your country, talents and integrity which have so justly acquired and so long retained the confidence and affection of your fellow-citizens, attest the sincerity of your declaration, that it is your anxious desire so to execute the trust reposed in you as to render the people of the United States prosperous and happy.

Resolved, That the SPEAKER, attended by the House, do present the said Address.

Messrs. MARSHALL, RUTLEDGE, and SEWALL, were appointed a committee to wait on the PRESIDENT, to know when and where he would be ready to receive the Address; and having performed that service, reported, that the PRESIDENT had appointed to-morrow, two o'clock, for that purpose, at his own house.

Delegate from North-west Territory.

Ordered, That the credentials of WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, who has appeared as a Delegate from the territory of the United States north-west of the river Ohio, be referred to the Committee of Elections; and that they be directed to report whether the Territory is entitled to elect a Delegate who may have a seat in this House.

TUESDAY, December 10.

MATTHEW CLAY, from Virginia, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

Address to the President.

The hour having arrived which the PRESIDENT had appointed, Mr. SPEAKER, attended by the members present, proceeded to the President's house, to present him their Address in answer to his Speech at the opening of the present session; and having returned, the PRESIDENT'S reply thereto was read, as follows:

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

This very respectful address from the Representatives of the people of the United States at their first assembly, after a fresh election, under the strong impression of the public opinion and national sense, at this interesting and singular crisis of our public affairs, has excited my sensibility, and receives my sincere and grateful acknowledgments.

As long as we can maintain, with harmony and affection, the honor of our country, consistently with its peace, externally and internally, while that is attainable, or in war, when that becomes necessary, assert its real independence and sovereignty, and support the constitutional energies and dignity of its government, we may be perfectly sure, under the smiles of Divine Providence, that we shall effectually promote and extend our national interests and happiness.

The applause of the Senate and House of Representatives, so justly bestowed upon the volunteers and militia, for their zealous and active co-operation with the judicial power, which has restored order and submission to the laws, as it comes with peculiar weight and propriety from the Legislature, cannot fail to have an extensive and permanent effect, for the support of Government, upon all those ingenuous minds who receive delight from the approving and animating voice of their country.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, December 10.

And then the House adjourned till to-morrow morning, 11 o'clock.

WEDNESDAY, December 11.

HENRY LEE, from Virginia, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

The Direct Tax Law.

Mr. HARPER said, that a difficulty had arisen in the State of Pennsylvania, relative to the execution of the law "for the valuation of lands and dwelling-houses, and for the enumeration of slaves, within the United States," which the Commissioners for that State did not conceive themselves competent to decide upon; that the Commissioners had referred the case to the Secretary of the Treasury, whose opinion it was, that they were possessed of sufficient power to obviate the difficulties complained of; but the Commissioners, on again taking the subject into consideration, were still of opinion they were unable to act without legislative aid, and therefore had made application to the Committee of Ways and Means, who, Mr. H. said, had directed him to move for leave to bring in a bill, further to amend the act entitled "An act to provide for the valuation of lands and dwelling-houses, and for the enumeration of slaves within the United States," which was granted.

Franking Privilege to W. H. Harrison.

Mr. HARPER laid the following resolution on the table.

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to prepare and bring in a bill, extending the privilege of franking to W. H. Harrison, a delegate from the territory of the United States north-west of the river Ohio, and making provision for his compensation.

Mr. H. said, that according to law, that gentleman had the right only of speaking and giving his opinion upon any question before the House, but was not entitled to a vote, or any other privilege; but as the privileges of a member had been extended on a former occasion to a delegate from the South-western Territory, he had no doubt they would be granted on the present.

MONDAY, December 16.

THOMAS HARTLEY, from Pennsylvania, and JOSEPH EGGLESTON, from Virginia, appeared, produced their credentials, were qualified, and took their seats in the House.

WEDNESDAY, December 18.

Death of General Washington.

Mr. MARSHALL, in a voice that bespoke the anguish of his mind, and a countenance expressive of the deepest regret, rose, and delivered himself as follows:

Mr. Speaker: Information has just been received, that our illustrious fellow-citizen, the Commander-in-Chief of the American Army, and the late President of the United States, is no more!

Though this distressing intelligence is not certain, there is too much reason to believe its truth. After receiving information of this national calamity, so heavy and so afflicting, the House of Representatives can be but ill fitted for public business. I move you, therefore, they adjourn.

The motion was unanimously agreed to; and then the House adjourned till to-morrow morning, 11 o'clock.

THURSDAY, December 19.

SAMUEL GOODE, from Virginia, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

Death of General Washington.

Mr. MARSHALL addressed the Chair as follows:

Mr. Speaker: The melancholy event which was yesterday announced with doubt, has been rendered but too certain. Our WASHINGTON is no more! The Hero, the Sage, and the Patriot of America--the man on whom in times of danger every eye was turned and all hopes were placed--lives now only in his own great actions, and in the hearts of an affectionate and afflicted people.

If, sir, it had even not been usual openly to testify respect for the memory of those whom Heaven had selected as its instruments for dispensing good to men, yet such has been the uncommon worth, and such the extraordinary incidents which have marked the life of him whose loss we all deplore, that the whole American nation, impelled by the same feelings, would call with one voice for a public manifestation of that sorrow which is so deep and so universal.

More than any other individual, and as much as to any one individual was possible, has he contributed to found this our wide-spreading empire, and to give to the Western world its independence and its freedom.

Having effected the great object for which he was placed at the head of our armies, we have seen him converting the sword into the ploughshare, and voluntarily sinking the soldier in the citizen.

When the debility of our federal system had become manifest, and the bonds which connected the parts of this vast continent were dissolving, we have seen him the Chief of those patriots who formed for us a constitution, which, by preserving the Union, will, I trust, substantiate and perpetuate those blessings our Revolution had promised to bestow.

In obedience to the general voice of his country, calling on him to preside over a great people, we have seen him once more quit the retirement he loved, and in a season more stormy and tempestuous than war itself, with calm and wise determination, pursue the true interests of the nation, and contribute, more than any other could contribute, to the establishment of that system of policy which will, I trust, yet preserve our peace, our honor, and our independence.

Having been twice unanimously chosen the Chief Magistrate of a free people, we see him at a time when his re-election, with the universal suffrage, could not have been doubted, affording to the world a rare instance of moderation, by withdrawing from his high station to the peaceful walks of private life.

However the public confidence may change, and the public affections fluctuate with respect to others, yet with respect to him they have in war and in peace, in public and in private life, been as steady as his own firm mind, and as constant as his own exalted virtues.

Let us then, Mr. Speaker, pay the last tribute of respect and affection to our departed friend--let the Grand Council of the nation display those sentiments which the nation feels.

For this purpose I hold in my hand some resolutions, which I will take the liberty to offer to the House.

Mr. MARSHALL having handed them in at the table, they were read, and unanimously agreed to by the House, in the words following, to wit:

The House of Representatives of the United States, having received intelligence of the death of their highly valued fellow-citizen, GEORGE WASHINGTON, General of the Armies of the United States, and sharing the universal grief this distressing event must produce, unanimously resolve:

1. That this House will wait on the President of the United States, in condolence of this national calamity.

2. That the Speaker's chair be shrouded with black, and that the members and officers of the House wear mourning, during the session.

3. That a joint committee of both Houses be appointed to report measures suitable to the occasion, and expressive of the profound sorrow with which Congress is penetrated on the loss of a citizen, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.

4. That when this House adjourn, it will adjourn until Monday next.

Ordered, That Mr. MARSHALL and Mr. SMITH be appointed a committee to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, to know when and where he will receive this House for the purpose expressed in the first resolution.

Ordered, That Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. CRAIK, Mr. HENRY LEE, Mr. EGGLESTON, Mr. SMITH, Mr. STONE, Mr. RUTLEDGE, Mr. ABIEL FOSTER, Mr. MUHLENBERG, Mr. VAN CORTLANDT, MR. DWIGHT FOSTER, Mr. FRANKLIN DAVENPORT, Mr. CLAIBORNE, Mr. MORRIS, Mr. JOHN BROWN, and Mr. TALIAFERRO, be a committee, jointly with such committee as may be appointed on the part of the Senate, for the purpose expressed in the third resolution.

Ordered, That the Clerk of this House do acquaint the Senate therewith.

A Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, which, together with the letter accompanying the same, was read and referred to the committee last appointed, and is as follows:

Gentlemen of the Senate, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

The letter herewith transmitted, will inform you that it has pleased Divine Providence to remove from this life our excellent fellow-citizen, GEORGE WASHINGTON, by the purity of his character, and a long series of services to his country, rendered illustrious through the world. It remains for an affectionate and grateful people, in whose hearts he can never die, to pay suitable honor to his memory.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, Dec. 19, 1799.

"MOUNT VERNON, Dec. 15, 1799.

"SIR: It is with inexpressible grief that I have to announce to you the death of the great and good General WASHINGTON. He died last evening, between ten and eleven o'clock, after a short illness of about twenty hours. His disorder was an inflammatory sore throat, which proceeded from a cold, of which he made but little complaint on Friday. On Saturday morning, about three o'clock, he became ill. Doctor Craik attended him in the morning, and Doctor Dick, of Alexandria, and Doctor Brown, of Port Tobacco, were soon after called in. Every medical assistance was offered, but without the desired effect. His last scene corresponded with the whole tenor of his life; not a groan, nor a complaint, escaped him in extreme distress. With perfect resignation, and in full possession of his reason, he closed his well spent life.

"I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient and very humble servant,

"TOBIAS LEAR.

"The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES."

Mr. MARSHALL, from the committee appointed to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, to know when and where it will be convenient for him to receive this House in condolence of the national calamity, reported that the committee had, according to order, performed that service, and that the PRESIDENT signified to them it would be convenient for him to receive this House at one o'clock this afternoon, at his own house.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate have agreed to the resolution passed by the House of Representatives for the appointment of a joint committee of both Houses to report measures suitable to the occasion, and expressive of the profound sorrow with which Congress is penetrated on the loss of a citizen, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen; and have appointed Mr. DAYTON, Mr. BINGHAM, Mr. DEXTER, Mr. GUNN, Mr. LAURANCE, and Mr. TRACY, a committee on their part.

The SPEAKER, attended by the House, then withdraw to the house of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, when Mr. SPEAKER addressed the PRESIDENT as follows:

SIR: The House of Representatives, penetrated with a sense of the irreparable loss sustained by the nation in the death of that great and good man, the illustrious and beloved WASHINGTON, wait on you, sir, to express their condolence on this melancholy and distressing event.

To which the PRESIDENT replied as follows:

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

I receive, with great respect and affection, the condolence of the House of Representatives, on the melancholy and affecting event, in the death of the most illustrious and beloved personage which this country ever produced. I sympathize with you, with the nation, and with good men through the world, in this irreparable loss sustained by us all.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, Dec. 19, 1799.

MONDAY, December 23.

THOMAS T. DAVIS, from Kentucky; ROBERT WILLIAMS, from North Carolina; and JOHN DENNIS, from Maryland; appeared, produced their credentials, were qualified, and took their seats in the House.

Respect to the Memory of General Washington.

Mr. MARSHALL, from the joint committee appointed to report what testimony of respect ought to be paid to the memory of the man first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, made a report in part, which he delivered in at the table, where it was twice read, and unanimously agreed to, in the words following, to wit:

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That a marble monument be erected by the United States, in the capitol, in the city of Washington, and that the family of General WASHINGTON be requested to permit his body to be deposited under it; and that the monument be so designed as to commemorate the great events of his military and political life.

And be it further resolved, That there be a funeral procession from Congress Hall to the German Lutheran Church, in honor of the memory of General GEORGE WASHINGTON, on Thursday, the 26th instant, and that an oration be prepared at the request of Congress, to be delivered before both Houses on that day, and that the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives be desired to request one of the members of Congress to prepare and deliver the same.

And be it further resolved, That it be recommended to the people of the United States to wear crape on the left arm, as mourning for thirty days.

And be it further resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to direct a copy of these resolutions to be transmitted to Mrs. WASHINGTON, assuring her of the profound respect Congress will ever bear to her person and character; of their condolence on the late afflicting dispensation of Providence; and entreating her assent to the interment of the remains of General GEORGE WASHINGTON, in the manner expressed in the first resolution.

And be it further resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to issue a proclamation, notifying to the people throughout the United States the recommendation contained in the third resolution.

Ordered, That the Clerk of this House do carry the said resolutions to the Senate, and desire their concurrence.

Previous to the question being put upon the first resolution, Mr. H. LEE of Virginia, rose, and addressed the Chair as follows:

Mr. Speaker: In executing the task assigned to the committee, it will be observed much remains to be done; so far as they have gone, and as far as they may go, one hope is cherished, that whatever is done, will be unanimously adopted.

This will be most pleasing to our constituents, and most honorable to the character we all honor. Out of a wish to execute in the best manner the direction of the House, a difference of opinion will naturally prevail. This difference of opinion, however commendable, upon ascertaining the mode of public mourning, ought to be suppressed when we come to act; for unanimity then is, as I before stated, most to be wished for, whether the feelings of our constituents, or our intentions, on the celebrity which all desire to give to the high occasion, govern.

A message was received from the Senate, announcing their concurrence in the report of the joint committee made this day; and then the House adjourned till to-morrow morning.

TUESDAY, December 24.

Respect to the Memory of General Washington.

The SPEAKER informed the House that, conformably to the resolution of Congress, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives had requested Major General HENRY LEE, one of the Representatives from the State of Virginia, to prepare and deliver a funeral oration before both Houses, on Thursday, the twenty-sixth instant, in honor of the memory of GEORGE WASHINGTON, late General of the Armies of the United States; and that Mr. LEE had been pleased to accept of the appointment.

And, on motion, the House adjourned.

THURSDAY, December 26.

This being the day appointed by the resolution of Congress for the funeral procession in honor of the memory of GEORGE WASHINGTON, late General of the Armies of the United States, the House proceeded to the German Lutheran Church, where they attended the funeral oration, prepared and delivered on the occasion by Major General LEE, one of the members of this House for the State of Virginia.

The House, having returned, adjourned until to-morrow morning.

FRIDAY, December 27.

JOHN FOWLER, from Kentucky, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

Respect to the Memory of General Washington.

On a motion made and seconded that the House do come to the following resolution, to wit:

"The House of Representatives of the United States, highly gratified with the manner in which Mr. LEE has performed the service assigned to him under the resolution desiring the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives to request one of the members of Congress to prepare and deliver a funeral oration on the death of GEORGE WASHINGTON; and desirous of communicating to their fellow-citizens, through the medium of the press those sentiments of respect for the character, of gratitude for the services, and of grief for the death of that illustrious personage, which, felt by all, have on this melancholy occasion been so well expressed:

"Resolved, That the Speaker present the thanks of this House to Mr. LEE, for the oration delivered by him to both Houses of Congress on Thursday, the twenty-sixth instant; and request that he will permit a copy thereof to be taken for publication:"

The question was taken that the House do agree to the same, and unanimously resolved in the affirmative.

MONDAY, December 30.

Respect to the Memory of General Washington.

The SPEAKER informed the House that, in pursuance of the resolution of Friday last, he had addressed to Major General HENRY LEE, one of the members for the State of Virginia, the following letter:

"PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 27, 1799.

"DEAR SIR: The enclosed resolutions, which unanimously passed the House of Representatives this day, will make known to you how highly they have been gratified with the manner in which you have performed the service assigned to you, in preparing and delivering a funeral oration on the death of General WASHINGTON. That our constituents may participate in the gratification we have received, from your having so well expressed those sentiments of respect for the character, of gratitude for the services, and of grief for the death of that illustrious personage, I flatter myself you will not hesitate to comply with the request of the House, by furnishing a copy of your oration, to be taken for publication.

"Allow me, while performing this pleasing task of official duty in communicating an act of the Representatives of the people, so just to you and so honorable to themselves, to embrace the opportunity to declare that I am, personally, with great esteem and sincere regard, dear sir, your friend and obedient servant,

"THEODORE SEDGWICK.

"The Hon. Maj. Gen. LEE."

To which Mr. LEE had replied as follows:

"FRANKLIN COURT, Dec. 28, 1799.

"DEAR SIR: I owe to the goodness of the House of Representatives the honor which their resolutions confer on my humble efforts to execute their wish.

"I can never disobey their will, and therefore will furnish a copy of the oration delivered on the late afflicting occasion, much as I had flattered myself with a different disposition of it.

"Sincerely reciprocating the personal considerations with which you honor me, I am, very respectfully, sir, your friend and obedient servant,

"HENRY LEE.

"The SPEAKER of the House of Reps."

Mr. MARSHALL, from the joint committee appointed to consider and report what measures ought to be adopted in honor of the memory of General WASHINGTON, made another report in part, which was unanimously agreed to by the House, in the words following, to wit:

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled, That it be recommended to the people of the United States to assemble on the twenty-second day of February next, in such numbers and manner as may be convenient, publicly to testify their grief for the death of General GEORGE WASHINGTON, by suitable eulogies, orations, and discourses, or by public prayers.

And be it further resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to recommend the same, by a proclamation for that purpose.

Ordered, That the Clerk of this House do carry the said resolutions to the Senate, and desire their concurrence.

THURSDAY, January 2, 1800.

RICHARD DOBBS SPAIGHT, from North Carolina, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat.

Petition of Free Blacks.

Mr. WALN presented a petition of Absalom Jones and others, free men of color, of the city and county of Philadelphia, praying for a revision of the laws of the United States relative to the slave trade; of the act relative to fugitives from justice; and for the adoption of such measures as shall in due course emancipate the whole of their brethren from their present situation; which he moved to have referred to the committee appointed to inquire whether any and what alterations ought to be made in the existing law prohibiting the slave trade from the United States to any foreign place or country.

The petitioners, after mentioning their sense of the bounties of Providence in their freedom, and the happiness they felt under such a form of Government, represent that they cannot but be impressed with the hardships under which numbers of their color labored, who they conceived equal objects of representation and attention with themselves or others under the constitution. That the solemn compact, the constitution, was violated by the trade of kidnapping, carried on by the people of some of the Southern States on the shores of Maryland and Delaware, by which numbers were hurried into holes and cellars, torn from their families and transported to Georgia, and there inhumanly exposed to sale, which was degrading to the dignified nature of man. That by these and other measures injurious to the human species, there were 700,000 blacks now in slavery in these States. They stated their application to Congress to be, not for the immediate emancipation of the whole, knowing that their degraded state and want of education would render that measure improper, but they ask an amelioration of their hard situation. They prayed that the act called the fugitive bill, which was very severe on that race of people, might be considered; also that the African slave trade might be put a stop to.

Mr. WALN moved its reference to the committee appointed to prohibit carrying on the slave trade to any foreign place or country.

Mr. RUTLEDGE thought any reference at all very improper; he hoped it would be laid on the table, and with a view never to be called up hereafter. Petitions of this sort had repeatedly come before the House, only with the difference of transfer of hands. When the Congress sat at New York, they spent much time and attention on the subject, but no sooner had it been decided that nothing could be done, than the same scenes were acted over again by repeatedly petitioning. Those gentlemen who used to come forward, to be sure, had not avowedly come forward again, but had now put it into the hands of the black gentlemen. They now tell the House these people are in slavery--I thank God they are! if they were not, dreadful would be the consequences. They say they are not represented. To be sure a great number of them are not. Farther, they say they are sent to the Southern States. Who can prevent that? Persons possessing slaves have a right to send them there if they choose. They tell you that they are brought from Africa. This matter is in a train to be prevented, the subject being now in the hands of a committee. Already had too much of this new-fangled French philosophy of liberty and equality found its way and was too apparent among these gentlemen in the Southern States, by which nothing would do but their liberty. This appeared to be the intention of the petition, but he supposed the people of the Eastern States had felt as much in having them among them as those of the Southern States in losing them, and therefore he believed gentlemen from those parts would vote with them. However, he considered this subject very improper and unconstitutional to discuss, and, from the ill effects it might produce, should say no more.

Mr. WALN thought the gentleman mistaken as to the nature of the petition; it related but two grievances: one was the operation of the fugitive act, by which free men were carried and sold into slavery, and the other was the slave trade. He did not wish to enter into general principles, because he conceived it as improper as any gentleman, but he could see no good reason why the petition might not be committed; every petition presented to the House ought to receive that attention, and a rejection of the present without examination could have no good effect.

Mr. SMILIE was much surprised at the opposition of the gentleman from South Carolina to the reference. To be sure a great part of what these people asked, as far as he was acquainted with it, was out of their power to grant, but there was much of the petition which was within the power of the House. So far as they had power, he considered it the duty of the House to attend and grant relief. He could wish to drop some ideas on the situation of those people, but felt a contrary impulse from motives of prudence. However, he must consider them as a part of the human species, equally capable of suffering and enjoying with others, and equally objects of attention, and therefore they had a claim to be heard.

Mr. OTIS hoped the petition would not be committed; he had never seen a petition presented under a more dangerous and unpleasant aspect. It appeared to be subscribed by a number of individuals who were incapable of writing their names, or of reading the petition, and, a fortiori, of digesting the principles of it. It therefore was a petition of certain men made out by other men, who ought to have come forward themselves, but had forborne. To encourage a measure of the kind would have an irritating tendency, and must be mischievous to America very soon. It would teach them the art of assembling together, debating, and the like, and would soon, if encouraged, extend from one end of the Union to the other. A great part of the petition was improper, and the other part entirely unnecessary. No particular object or evils were pointed out in the fugitive law, but the truth was, they wanted a repeal of the law. Although, he thanked God he had no slaves, nor ever wished to possess any, yet he thought the subject ought not to be meddled with by the General Government, and if any grievances existed, they were properly and only objects of legislation in the several States. It was the duty, and he thought the interest of the States, while they were kept in servitude, to ameliorate their situation as much as consisted with security. He thought those who did not possess that species of property had better leave the regulation of it to those who were cursed with it. However, it was unjust to intermeddle with it to the injury of the possessors.

Mr. H. LEE observed that gentlemen were sent to that House to preserve the rights of the people and the rights of property. That property which the people of the Southern States possess consisted of slaves, and therefore Congress had no authority but to protect it, and not take measures to deprive the citizens of it. He said he held himself not second to any gentleman in a genuine attachment to the rights of humanity, but he could not believe that great ends would be answered by the reference of the petition, but much evil might accrue. It contained sentiments which he thought it would be highly improper so far to encourage. One object prayed for in this petition was now in the hands of a committee; let that committee report respecting the Guinea trade, let it be entirely obliterated; to that he would agree with all his heart, but he hoped the House would never intermeddle with the property of any of the citizens. Instead of voting with the worthy member who wished it to lie on the table, he would have it returned to the gentleman who presented it, as the only effectual means of checking an injurious practice.

Mr. RUTLEDGE, in addition to his former arguments, observed, that so improper was it to consider this subject that some of the States would never have adopted the federal form of Government if it had not been secured to them that Congress would never legislate on the subject of slavery. Inasmuch, therefore, as it might rouse the jealousy and fears of those States, the least attention paid to it might do mischief.

Mr. THATCHER said that gentlemen generally set out wrong, on this subject, and leave off about half right; they debated till they were almost tired, and then the petition was not to be committed. If Congress had not power to legislate on the African trade, then why did they say it was with a committee? If they had power, where was the impropriety of referring, at least that part which could be considered? Would any gentleman say that it was policy not to legislate about 700,000 enemies in the very body of the United States? While they were slaves they were enemies. He declared a greater evil than the very principle could not exist; it was a cancer of immense magnitude, that would some time destroy the body politic, except a proper legislation should prevent the evil. It must come before the House sooner or later. Then why postpone it? It was true the Eastern States were now suffering from the streams which issued from this great and dangerous fountain, but the evil ought to be stopped, ere it become too strong.

Mr. BROWN, of Rhode Island, said he was in hopes that every member belonging to the Northern States would have seen by this time the impropriety of encouraging slaves to come from the Southern States to reside as vagabonds and thieves among them, and have been tired of the bad policy. No subject surely was so likely to cause a division of the States as that respecting slaves. He did not hold a slave in the world, he said, but he was as much for supporting the rights and property of those who did, as though he was a slave owner. He considered this as much personal property as a farm or a ship, which was incontestably so. He went into a view of the federal compact, to argue the impropriety of legislating on the subject. This petition, he said, did not come from the blacks, but from a combination of people who had troubled Congress for many years past, and he feared never would cease. He did not fear the power of the 700,000 enemies that the gentleman had pointed out, since there were five millions to withstand them: they could at any time subdue them. He begged that the gentleman, who put the petition on the table, might be desired to take it back again. He was sorry to see the commitment supported by two such worthy members of the House, both good Federalists. [A laugh.]

Mr. WALN contended, that at least the House had the power of legislating on the state of free blacks as well as other people, and on the slave trade, much of which was still carrying on from Rhode Island, Boston and Pennsylvania. This ought to be looked into. He denied that any idea had ever entered his mind on presenting the petition either to debate on the subject, or to will an emancipation of the slaves. Gentlemen from the Southern States appeared to lament there were so many among them, but their conduct was very contrary to their declaration.

Mr. HILL thought if any evil existed under any law now in force, a committee ought to be appointed, to examine into and correct it: but he hoped the petition would not be committed. It was to be lamented that this kind of property did exist; but it did exist, and was sanctioned by the constitution. That being the case, the House ought to set their faces against any innovations on it, either directly or indirectly.

Mr. DENNIS rose, he said, principally because he conceived the petition implicated the justice of the States of Maryland and Delaware, respecting the abominable practice of kidnapping. In justice to the State he represented, he must say that none of this evil was attributable to that State, because they had enacted extremely penal laws to stop it. He wished the petition to lie on the table, because the objects of it appeared to be extremely multifarious, and he believed but few members knew its contents, from the different opinions they had advanced. He wished them to have an opportunity of examining it.

Mr. RANDOLPH hoped that the conduct of the House would be so decided as to deter the petitioners, or any persons acting for them, from ever presenting one of a similar nature hereafter. The effects must be extremely injurious. He did wish that the conduct of the House would have been so indignant as to have passed it over without discussion. He should not, therefore, say any thing that would tend to encourage that discussion. The constitution had put it out of the power of the House to do any thing in it, and therefore he hoped the motion for a reference would be lost by a decided majority, and this be the last time the business of the House would be entered upon, and the interest and feelings of the Southern States be put in jeopardy, by similar applications.

Mr. CHRISTIE said the gentleman was mistaken, if he thought it would be the last time, for a certain society had thought it their duty to present petitions of this nature to Congress every year since he was acquainted with it; but he hoped this, which came from that source, but through other hands, would have the fate of all the rest, and go under the table instead of upon it. As to the fugitive law, he would wish it to be taken up, and if no other member moved it, he should; but not for the purpose of repeal or weakening, but to make it stronger. There was now a fine laid upon any person who should harbor a black, knowing him or her to be a slave; he wished the provision should be that the persons harboring should know that he or she was not a slave. He mentioned the great desire of his State to prevent kidnapping, for which their laws were very severe.

Mr. HARPER had hoped that the House so well understood this subject, as to the people who instigated the petitioners to come forward, who well knew that nothing could be done by Congress, as to decide on it instantly. This was the act of a religious body of people whose fanaticism leads them to think it a bounden duty to come to the House every year, though they now come in a different name. By this measure they had discharged their duty; all that now remained was for the House to discharge theirs. He hoped, from the present time, they should merely let the petition be read and pass it over in silence--for he expected that society would continue presenting petitions. The obvious tendency of agitating this question would only be to create discontent in a class of people whom it was out of the power of the Legislature to change the situation of. He called upon gentlemen to say whether a temper of revolt was not more perceptible in that quarter? It was; and what was the cause of it but that they were not let alone by those people; but if others would disturb them, he hoped at least that House would cease to do it.

Mr. DANA said if the petition before the House contained nothing but a farago of the French metaphysics of liberty and equality, he should think that it was likely to produce some of the dreadful scenes of St. Domingo. Or if he believed it was only the effects of a religious fanaticism in a set of men who thought they were doing their duty, though he thought the subject quite out of the power of Congress, he might be disposed to think it quite wrong. But when he perceived a petition, addressed in language which was very decent, and which expressly declared that the petitioners did not wish the House to do what was inconsistent with the constitution, but only asked an amelioration of the severities under which people of their color labored, he thought it ought to be received and committed. He did not think the gentleman who presented it ought to withdraw it, nor was he the least culpable, but executed a duty he conceived him bound to.

Mr. JONES said the petition threw so much aspersion upon the State he represented (Georgia) that he must think it his duty to rise. Why was that State to be selected out from all others? However, he should follow the petition in its parts, in order to show that the petitioners actually had asked what it was not in the power of the House to legislate upon--emancipation. It was said to merely affect the slave trade.

First, the petitioners contemplated that those people (the slaves) ought to be represented, "with us and the rest of the citizens of the United States." Then they speak of the Federal compact, in which they consider those people as interested in common with others, under these words: "we, the people of the United States of America," &c. I would ask gentlemen whether, with all their philanthropy, they would wish to see those people sitting by their sides deliberating in the councils of the nation? He presumed not. They go on farther and say, "We do not ask for the immediate emancipation of all, but we ask you to prepare the way for the oppressed to go free, that every yoke might be broken, thus keeping up the principle to do unto others as you would they should do unto you." The words need only be read to convince every man what is the tendency of their request. The gentleman farther says that 700,000 men are in bondage. I ask him how he would remedy this evil as he calls it? but I do not think it is any evil; would he have these people turned out in the United States to ravage, murder, and commit every species of crime? I believe it might have been happy for the United States if these people had never been introduced amongst us, but I do believe that they have been immensely benefited by coming amongst us. It was the British Government that transmitted them down to us when in a colonized state; but being here, and being the property of individuals, after obtaining our common liberty, and forming our Federal compact, property and safety were guaranteed to every individual and State in the confederation. How then can this House meddle with that part of our property? The General Government has no power over it. With respect to that part of the petition which said that these people were crowded into cellars and transported to Georgia, Mr. J. informed the House that the importation to that State by sea had been prohibited; none had come there by sea for many years, and offenders against that law were fined £100 sterling for each individual thus introduced. He hoped the petition would be treated with the contempt it merited, and thrown under the table.

Mr. RUTLEDGE rose to move that the question might be decided by yeas and nays. It was a practice he generally was against, and scarcely ever moved, but he considered this of importance sufficient to demand it. It was a question in which the interests of a great number of people in this country were involved. He had no doubt it would be lost by a very great majority, and he thought it would have a good effect to be recorded by how vast a majority it would be lost. He thought it would be some consolation to his constituents, when he returned home, to say how few of the House of Representatives were the supporters of this dangerous petition.

Mr. WALN said if he had known that this petition would have caused so much alarm, he certainly should have desired the petitioners not to present it; but if they had still thought it necessary and been desirous of it, he should, as he then thought it within the power of legislation, and still thought so, have presented it. He thought it his duty, whenever any individual conceived himself injured by a law, to receive his petition, and he thought himself in no wise implicated in the manner, form, or subject of the petition, or answerable for it as containing his opinions. If it should be supposed that the assertions in the petition were unfounded, or bore too hard on a certain State, the only way to ascertain that fact was by referring to a committee, that the necessary inquiries might be reported. He again declared his disapprobation at this subject undergoing any discussion, nor would it have taken place had not the gentleman from South Carolina commenced it.

Mr. PLATT conceived that every thing which was brought before that House ought to be committed, unless there was manifest indecency in the language, or it should appear that the relief prayed for could not be granted consistently with the power of the House. In his opinion, except one of these two causes prevented, it unquestionably ought to be thus disposed of. As for indecency of expression, he could perceive none, either in the petition, or in the arguments of the gentlemen who advocated its reference. A third reason indeed might be mentioned, which was, that the persons whose names were signed did not give consent to the petition and therefore it was not their act. Neither of these reasons was proved to have existed.

Although, agreeably to the constitution, Congress could not make any laws to prevent the emigration or importation of any persons whom the several States should, at the adoption thereof think proper to admit, yet Congress could, and had made laws relative to fugitives from justice and previous to the year 1800. It was this law they prayed the amelioration of, and that the power of persons over their slaves might be limited, and that the law might be so amended as to prevent its violation. It was for that, and not for the general abolition of slavery they prayed, and surely they ought to be heard; their prayer ought to be committed for that purpose.

He disclaimed the least desire, but an abhorrence, of any principle that would rob persons of their property, but at the same time he was not such a dupe to words as to be of the opinion held up by a gentleman, that because the French had used the words "reason" and "philosophy" he should discard them, and with them humanity.

Mr. THATCHER thought that to make use of the incapacity of these people to read or write, as an argument against committing their petition, must arise out of prejudice in his colleague against the general object, or he surely never would have resorted to such pitiful, and he might say, mean, virulent remarks. [Mr. T. was here called to order.] This was certainly a "new-fangled doctrine." But the reason why they could not write was because of the degraded state of their minds for want of education; many of them, perhaps, in their youth were in slavery.

The gentleman from Georgia had objected to the reference because the petition contained a system of facts which he said was not true? He (Mr. T.) believed they were true, and thus the dispute was in issue. How was this to be ascertained but by inquiry? If the State of Georgia should prove themselves innocent of that black stain, it would be to their honor. But no, said the gentlemen, "We will not have it examined into, because it will make us out to be as black as the petitioners themselves?"

Mr. EDMOND observed that the gentleman from South Carolina had called for the yeas and nays for a particular purpose, to wit, that it should be seen how few voted for this intermeddling with the property of the people in the Southern States. Mr. E. said he should vote for the reference, and as that opinion would be attached to his conduct, his reasons ought to accompany his vote. He should be as far from wishing to affect the property of the citizens as any gentleman, much less should he wish to affect the constitution. This appeared to him to be a very respectful petition; it mattered not whether the people were black or white; the petition only was to be regarded, and not the color of the persons, who, representing their grievances, asked for such a relief as the constitution could afford them. Surely then, every measure ought to be adopted to alleviate their sufferings. Was it consistent that the House, instead of a reasonable and patient attention, should come forward and treat this complaint with an inattention which passion only could dictate? Was contempt the way to recommend attachment to the Government? This ferment and scorn could not be necessary, but he was sure it was highly improper and inconsistent.

Mr. GALLATIN said that in his opinion there were many parts of the petition exceptionable, but not being so much acquainted with it as might be necessary to form a decision, he could not say whether or not it was in the power of the House to legislate on it. However, seeing this much in the situation with other petitions, he felt disposed, and should vote for its reference. If it should appear improper for Congress to legislate on it, then the committee would so report. He said he was not satisfied that there was no grievance to which the House could apply a remedy; he thought there was such a part. He remembered a petition from Delaware once on one of the complaints, that of kidnapping free negroes; therefore, he conceived it was truth, and could be no insult to the States of Delaware and Maryland to mention it. If so, surely an effectual remedy ought to be applied. In the former State he believed they had made the punishment death, and yet the evil was not prevented, if the complaints of the petitioners were true.

Mr. WALN then withdrew his former motion, and moved "that so much of the petition as related to the slave trade carried on from any part of the United States to any foreign place or country; and so much of the said petition as respected fugitives from justice, or escaped from their masters, be referred to the committee appointed on the 12th day of December last on the subject of the slave trade."

Mr. RUTLEDGE appealed to the Chair to know whether the motion was in order.

Mr. SPEAKER said, perhaps, that was the only deliberative body in the world where a motion, having been made, seconded, and debated, could be withdrawn by either the mover or seconder. But it had been a practice in that House so to do, and there was no rule against it. The motion was therefore perfectly agreeable to order.

Mr. RUTLEDGE then moved an adjournment, which was carried--yeas 47, nays 35.

FRIDAY, January 3.

BENJAMIN HUGER, from South Carolina, appeared, was qualified, and took his seat.

Petition of Free Blacks.

The House resumed the unfinished business of yesterday, on the resolution for referring certain parts of the petition of Absalom Jones and others, when

Mr. RUTLEDGE rose to explain his reasons for moving the adjournment yesterday, as not having arisen from a desire of protracting the debate, but because he conceived the Chair misunderstood him on the point of order. When he submitted the question of order to the Chair, it appeared from the decision to be the Speaker's opinion that the question was, whether a member had a right to withdraw a motion in that situation or not. He knew that right to exist, but he doubted of the competency of the House to refer parts of a petition, and not the whole. In his opinion it ought not to be referred, or, if so, the whole ought to be referred generally. He mentioned a petition which was last session presented from Northampton County, praying the repeal of the alien and sedition laws, but in their general zeal in the pursuance of those objects severally, other laws were found fault with, particularly those relating to measures of defence. These were thought to be improper for a reference; on which a motion was made to refer a part, but it was then thought the petition could not be divided. He submitted to the gentleman from Pennsylvania a very easy mode of acquiring the object, which was by withdrawing the petition and advising the petitioners to present one conformable to the decision, and within the constitutional power of the House. Gentlemen were mistaken in saying that petitions of this kind came annually. The session before last the subject was referred to a committee, who made a suitable report upon it, and in order to prevent the continual debate, it was resolved to be a proper object of Judicial, and not of Legislative cognizance. This brought the matter to such an understanding that he hoped he would have heard no more of it. It appeared to have had the good effect of preventing any application during the sitting of last session.

The SPEAKER said the question of order, as now explained by the member from South Carolina, was not understood by the Chair. From all the examination and the fruits of inquiry which the Chair had since acquired, it appeared not to be unusual to refer parts of a subject, for parts of the PRESIDENT'S Speech had been referred; also, parts of petitions had frequently been referred; on which account the opinion of the Chair at present, unless an appeal should be made to the House, was, that the motion of the gentleman from Pennsylvania was perfectly in order.

Mr. WALN said it would have been very agreeable to him that the question should have been taken on the motion first made to the House; but, on hearing the warmth with which it was contested, and willing to remove the jealousy of several gentlemen in the House, he thought it best to alter the motion to their wishes.

It had been suggested that to withdraw the petition for its modification, would be an easy way to acquire the object. He thought it entirely unnecessary to withdraw it in this stage of business. Although he could have wished the words objected to had never been inserted, yet he was not prepared to say that the petitioners had no right to use them. It appeared that these people's sentiments accorded with those of the gentlemen who opposed the reference. They wished to obtain a removal of this great evil when proper: those gentlemen called it an evil which they could wish to get rid of, but they think it cannot be done. Mr. W. said he should not have objected to a resolution importing that it would be improper to legislate on the subject of slavery, but so far as relates to the bad traffic, and the practice of kidnapping, they ought to be examined by a committee. On these accounts he was not authorized, nor was he inclined to withdraw the petition.

He was in hopes the gentleman from South Carolina would not have desisted from his motion for calling the yeas and nays; that gentleman wished the House to show the world that this petition was so irritating and alarming as to merit universal contempt and abhorrence. He believed this gentleman was mistaken as to the small number he supposed would vote for its commitment, and therefore wished he would renew the motion on the question as modified.

Mr. GOODE then observed that as a public discussion had taken place upon this subject--one from which he thought Congress precluded by the constitution, and one which materially affected the interest and perhaps the safety of a great portion of the United States, and particularly of his constituents, he thought it his duty not only to give his negative in the usual manner, but to call for the pointed disapprobation of the House, and proposed to amend the resolution by adding the following words:

"And that the parts of the said petition which invite Congress to legislate upon subjects from which the General Government is precluded by the constitution, have a tendency to create disquiet and jealousy, and ought therefore to receive the pointed disapprobation of this House."

Mr. THATCHER said it was the first time that he had ever known any petition or part of a petition receive the "pointed disapprobation of the House" by a resolution, even though the object of it was not within the power of the House. Several petitions had been received upon which the House had no power. He referred to the petition of John Churchman, in December 1791, praying the patronage of Government to facilitate his discovery of the longitude, by enabling him to undertake a voyage to Baffin's Bay. It was reported that great inconvenience operated to prevent the grant prayed for, and no money was allowed, yet no member moved a censure upon the petitioner. Was it a desirable object to do away a great evil? It was professed to be the wish of several gentlemen to eradicate it. No gentleman in the House but appeared desirous of embracing it with all his heart. These people only wished the evil destroyed, but did not point out the form. He was willing, for the sake of argument, to admit that slavery did exist and was sanctioned by the laws and constitution of the United States; he did not believe the fact, but as some other gentlemen did, he would admit it for the present. Surely it would be desirable that this great evil should be destroyed, if it could be done without injury, nay, with advantage, to the possessors. Did the petition go any farther than this? It did not. The second person in the Government of the United States had devised a means to procure this object, as also had a certain learned professor. If it was therefore the desire, as avowed, of those gentlemen, and an equitable means had been devised to acquire it, would the reference of a petition which made that request be improper, or would it be impolitic in gentlemen to examine these plans, and if eligible bring about their execution? Certainly not. Even if a certain sum of money was wanting, he did not believe the House would refuse to appropriate it. Who would withhold a few dollars from his purse to facilitate it? Then, while such are the propositions, a petition in behalf of its accomplishment ought to be heard; if it be not, it must fix a national indignity and stigma which ages of good actions could never wipe away.

Mr. DANA was not of the opinion of a number of gentlemen, that the House ought to express its indignation against these petitions. The indignation of that House ought to be limited to certain objects; it might be expressed against an offending nation, but he much doubted whether it became it to express that high sensation against any individuals. He thought no circumstance could occur which called for such condescension, and therefore he could not approve of words so strongly expressed upon an occasion comparatively so trivial. If the gentleman from Virginia would so convey his ideas as to express the impropriety of those subjects for the consideration of this House, he was willing to agree with him.

Mr. RUTLEDGE thought it a little extraordinary that when gentlemen from some parts of the Union were positively assured that very serious, nay, dreadful effects, must be the inevitable consequence of their discussion on this subject, they still would persist. He used strong words, he said, because no others would be appropriate. Gentlemen recommended the subject to be calmly argued. Would gentlemen feel calm if measures were taken to destroy most of their property? Would calmness be consistent if entering wedges were prepared to ruin the property of whole estates? If ever it was justifiable to be warm on any subject in the House, it surely was on an occasion like the present, when imminent danger was in view. Yes, we deem this as an entering wedge to an inevitable loss of our property, if persisted in. It appeared by the gentleman's arguments that he had just been reading the opinions of his brother philosopher, Brissot.

Three emissaries from St. Domingo appeared in the hall of the Convention, demanding the emancipation of their species from slavery. The Convention were told it would operate as an entering wedge that would go to the destruction of property, and the loss of one of the finest islands in the world; that it would be murderous in the extreme; that it would open scenes which had never been practised since the destruction of Carthage; that a whole rich country would be buried in blood; that thousands would instantly be reduced to abject penury; that the first towns in that fine island would be reduced to a heap of ashes. But those gentlemen said no, it cannot be, all our desires originate in philanthropy--we wish to do good! But, sir, we have lived to see these dreadful scenes. These horrid effects have succeeded what was conceived once to be trifling. Most important consequences may be the result, although gentlemen little apprehend it. But we know the situation of things there, although they do not, and knowing we deprecate it. There have been emissaries amongst us in the Southern States; they have begun their war upon us; an actual organization has commenced; we have had them meeting in their club rooms, and debating on that subject, and determinations have been made. It might be wrong in me to mention these things, because many of those people can read and write, and will be informed of what I am now saying, which they think I did not know, but knowing, I am determined to make use of.

Sir, I do believe that persons have been sent from France to feel the pulse of this country, to know whether these are the proper engines to make use of: these people have been talked to; they have been tampered with, and this is going on. They now will see that the argument has been agitated in the Legislature; that the subject of emancipation has been discussed. Is not this extremely wrong, when gentlemen are told how much it puts our property at hazard. Although these people are unable to do any harm, yet the work will be done by gentlemen in this House, they must be answerable for the mischief.

Before I had the honor of a seat in this House, one question which was agitated by the people was, how do the General Legislature regard this species of property? I said, our brethren in the Northern States are willing to leave this business entirely to us who possess it--they will not intermeddle. I did hope that they never would take the lead in any arguments of this dangerous tendency. But, as gentlemen have gone into this business, I find I am compelled to use arguments which otherwise ought not to be mentioned.

I recollect that gentlemen in France used arguments like the gentleman from Massachusetts: "We can indemnify these proprietors." But how did they do it, or how can it be done?--Not at all. Farther, we were told these things would take place, we need not be alarmed; it was inevitable; that it was reasonable and unavoidable. Sir, it never will take place. There is one alternative which will save us from it, but that alternative I deprecate very much; that is, that we are able to take care of ourselves, and if driven to it, we will take care of ourselves.

Mr. JONES had hoped that the decision of Congress when sitting at New York would have put a final stop to any future applications, and the councils of the United States would have been troubled no farther with them. It was justly and wisely proved that it was a difficulty unfit for Congress to attempt, on account of the extremely different local circumstances and species of property possessed by the Northern and Southern members, who were all met in one convention. However, he must do justice to the candor of some gentlemen from the North, who had vindicated their right to this property. Mr. J. did not think there was any more probability of discovering an eligible and just mode of acquiring the object of emancipation, than there was in the case referred by the gentleman to Mr. Churchman's discovery of longitude. All researches into these attempts were illusory, and both alike impracticable at this time, if ever they would be. However, he was certain that the honorable gentleman's manner of treating the subject would give rise to a just jealousy in those parts of the United States whose property consisted only in slaves. As to the State he represented, as he before said, a very heavy penalty was the fine on each slave imported, and killing, maiming, or ill-treating them was punished severely by the whites. He could not think but the arguments of some gentlemen must originate from improper motives.

Mr. EDMOND could not conceive any danger from committing this petition, whatever alarms some gentlemen had apprehended. But as gentlemen apprehended so much danger from committing certain parts of the petition, he would be willing to quiet these alarms, and do every thing reasonable by expressing an idea that Congress would not legislate upon what belonged not to them. The amendment at first proposed, he professed himself much opposed to, upon the ground that the House were about to express a pointed disapprobation towards the petitioners, which he conceived wrong, because no censure could be due where a petition was respectfully addressed. But as now modified he had no objection to adopt the amendment; not that he conceived it important, but because it tended to quiet the minds of some gentlemen in the House.

Mr. WALN again said, that it was not his intention to advocate the emancipation of slaves, but only to ameliorate their state. He therefore would cheerfully consent to the amendment as amended.

Consent being given by the mover to incorporate the amendment with the original resolution, it was now all before the House in the form of one resolution.

Mr. THATCHER said, as an abstract proposition, he should have no objection; he thought the House ought to give no countenance to any thing that it could not legislate on by the constitution; but as he did not believe the petition contained any such proposition, he must adhere to his former sentiments, and could not consent to the incorporation of the words. As amended, he disliked it much less than before, but he did not like it as connected with the first motion.

Mr. J. BROWN asked whether it was in order for a gentleman to speak five or six times.

Mr. THATCHER said he had spoken but once on this question. The gentleman from Rhode Island need not be afraid, for he was not now going to say much about slavery, which was the nearest to his heart. Mr. T. was fully of the opinion that the House had a right to take up the subject, and give it a full, free, and deliberate discussion, but this did not appear to be the general opinion. As he was opposed to the motion, as amended, he was willing his name should appear against it, even though no other gentleman should think fit to vote with him.

Mr. GALLATIN conceived that there certainly were parts of the petition over which that House had no power, for though the petitioners did not pray for emancipation to be completed immediately, yet they anticipated that it would some time be done, and their prayer included a wish that the House would take a preparatory step. As to the amendment, although he did not like the wording of it altogether, he had no objection to the principle, and therefore should vote for it; for he thought it right to say that it was improper for the House to legislate on the subject. What was not specifically acknowledged by the constitution, in his opinion, carried with it a doubt upon which the Legislature ought not to enter.

Mr. THATCHER called for a division of the question.

Mr. NICHOLAS, on this, expressed some embarrassment as to giving his vote, on which he moved to strike out the latter part. The same appeared to pervade the minds of several gentlemen.

Mr. WALN, therefore, to relieve the House from the situation, withdrew his acquiescence to the amendment, so as to leave the questions distinct. The yeas and nays had been several times moved during the embarrassed state of the House, but were only taken once, to wit, on the amendment to the proposition:

"And that the parts of the said petition which invite Congress to legislate upon subjects from which the General Government is precluded by the constitution, have a tendency to create disquiet and jealousy, and ought therefore to receive no encouragement or countenance from this House."

The question was taken, that the House do agree to the same, and resolved in the affirmative--yeas 85, nay 1, as follows:

YEAS.--Willis Alston, George Baer, Theodorus Bailey, Bailey Bartlett, James A. Bayard, John Bird, Phanuel Bishop, Jonathan Brace, John Brown, Robert Brown, Christopher G. Champlin, Gabriel Christie, Matthew Clay, William C. C. Claiborne, John Condit, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, Franklin Davenport, Thomas T. Davis, John Dawson, John Dennis, George Dent, William Edmond, Joseph Eggleston, Lucas Elmendorph, Thomas Evans, Abiel Foster, Dwight Foster, John Fowler, Jonathan Freeman, Albert Gallatin, Henry Glenn, Samuel Goode, Chauncey Goodrich, Elizur Goodrich, William Gordon, Edwin Gray, Andrew Gregg, Roger Griswold, William Barry Grove, John A. Hanna, Robert Goodloe Harper, Joseph Heister, Archibald Henderson, William H. Hill, David Holmes, Benjamin Huger, James H. Imlay, George Jackson, James Jones, Aaron Kitchell, Henry Lee, Nathaniel Macon, John Marshall, Lewis R. Morris, Anthony New, John Nicholas, Joseph H. Nicholson, Abraham Nott, Harrison G. Otis, Robert Page, Josiah Parker, Jonas Platt, Leven Powell, John Randolph, John Read, John Rutledge, junior, Samuel Sewall, William Shepard, Richard Stanford, David Stone, Thomas Sumter, Benjamin Taliaferro, John Chew Thomas, Richard Thomas, John Thompson, Abram Trigg, Philip Van Cortlandt, Peleg Wadsworth, Robert Waln, Robert Williams, Lemuel Williams, and Henry Woods.

NAY.--George Thatcher.

And then the main question, to agree to the said motion, as amended, being taken, it was resolved in the affirmative.

TUESDAY, January 7.

JAMES SHEAFE, of New Hampshire, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

FRIDAY, February 7.

Case of Jonathan Robbins.

The following Message and documents were received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, which were read, and ordered to lie on the table:

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

In consequence of your request to me, conveyed in your resolution of the fourth of this month, I directed the Secretary of State to lay before me copies of the papers intended. These copies, together with his report, I now transmit to the House of Representatives, for the consideration of the members.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, Feb. 7, 1800.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, February 6, 1800.

The Secretary of State has prepared, as directed, and now respectfully submits to the President of the United States, copies of the papers which probably were contemplated by the House of Representatives, in their resolve of the 4th instant; although no requisition, as the resolve supposes, has ever been received, nor any communication made to the Judge of the District Court of South Carolina, concerning any man by the name of Jonathan Robbins. But by the proceedings before that Judge, as they have been published, it appears that a seaman named Thomas Nash, the subject of the British Minister's requisition, did assume the name of Jonathan Robbins, and make oath "that he was a native of the State of Connecticut, and born in Danbury, in that State." The Secretary, therefore, besides the copy of the requisition, and the copies of his letter to the Judge of the District Court of South Carolina, and of the Judge's answer, has prepared, and herewith encloses, copies of the certificates of the selectmen and town clerk of Danbury, and extracts of letters from Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, satisfactorily proving that the Thomas Nash, calling himself Jonathan Robbins, who, on the requisition of the British Minister, was delivered by the Judge aforesaid, with the assent of the President of the United States, was not an American citizen, but a native Irishman, who to his other crimes added perjury, in the hope, thereby, to escape the punishment due to piracy and murder. The original certificates of the selectmen and townclerk of Danbury are in the Secretary's possession; and he has compared the extract of Admiral Parker's letter to Mr. Liston with the original, and the extract of the Admiral's letter to the British Consul at Charleston, with the passage as recited in the Consul's original letter to Mr. Liston.

All which is respectfully submitted.

TIMOTHY PICKERING.

Copy of a note from Robert Liston, Esq., Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty, to Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State of the United States.

PHILADELPHIA, May 23, 1799.

R. Liston presents his respects to Col. Pickering, Secretary of State. A seaman of the name of Thomas Nash having been committed to jail in Charleston, South Carolina, at the instance of His Majesty's Consul there, on suspicion of his having been an accomplice in the piracy and murder committed on board His Majesty's ship Hermione, and information of the circumstance having been transmitted to Vice Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, a cutter was despatched to Charleston, with an officer on board to whom the man was well known, in order that his person might be identified, and that he should be carried to the West Indies for trial. But on the application of the Consul for the restoration of Nash, in conformity to the treaty of 1794, Judge Bee and the Federal Attorney were of opinion that he could not with propriety be delivered up, without a previous requisition on my part made to the Executive Government of the United States. May I therefore request, sir, that you will be pleased to lay this matter before the President, and procure his orders that the said Thomas Nash be delivered up to justice.

Letter from the Secretary of State to Judge Bee.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Philadelphia, June 3, 1799.

SIR: Mr. Liston, the Minister of His Britannic Majesty has requested, that Thomas Nash, who was a seaman on board the British frigate Hermione, and who, he is informed, is now a prisoner in the jail of Charleston, should be delivered up. I have stated the matter to the President of the United States. He considers an offence committed on board a public ship of war, on the high seas, to have been committed within the jurisdiction of the nation to whom the ship belongs. Nash is charged, it is understood, with piracy and murder, committed by him on board the above mentioned British frigate, on the high seas, and consequently within the jurisdiction of His Britannic Majesty; and therefore, by the 27th article of the Treaty of Amity with Great Britain, Nash ought to be delivered up, as requested by the British Minister, provided such evidence of his criminality be produced as, by the laws of the United States or of South Carolina, would justify his apprehension and commitment for trial, if the offence had been committed within the jurisdiction of the United States. The President has in consequence thereof authorized me to communicate to you "his advice and request" that Thomas Nash may be delivered up to the Consul or other agent of Great Britain, who shall appear to receive him. I have the honor to be, &c.

TIMOTHY PICKERING.

Hon. THOMAS BEE,

Judge of the District of South Carolina.

Letter from Thomas Bee, Esq., to the Secretary of State, dated Charleston, South Carolina, July 1st, 1799.

In compliance with the request of the President of the United States as stated in your favor of the 3d. ult., I gave notice to the British Consul that at the sitting of the district court on this day I should order Thomas Nash, the prisoner charged with having committed murder and piracy on board the British frigate Hermione, on such strong evidence of his criminality as justified his apprehension and commitment for trial, to be brought before me on habeas corpus, in order to his being delivered over agreeably to the 27th article of the Treaty of Amity with Great Britain. The Consul attended in court and requested that the prisoner should remain in jail until he had a convenient opportunity of sending him away. I have therefore directed that he remain in prison, until the Consul shall find it convenient to remove him. I have the honor to be, with great respect, your most obedient servant,

THOMAS BEE, District Judge of South Carolina. Hon. T. PICKERING, Secretary of State.

* * * * *

DANBURY, Sept. 16, 1799.

We, the subscribers, selectmen of the town of Danbury, in the State of Connecticut, certify that we have always been the inhabitants of said town, and are from forty-five to fifty-seven years of age, and have never known an inhabitant of this town by the name of Jonathan or Nathan Robbins, and that there has not been, nor now is any family known by the name of Robbins within the limits of said town.

Certified, per

ELI MYGOT. EBEN BENEDICT. JUSTUS BARNUM. BEN. HICHCOK.

* * * * *

DANBURY, Sept 10, 1799.

The subscriber, late town clerk for the town of Danbury, in the State of Connecticut, certifies that he kept the town records twenty-five years, viz: from the year 1771 until the year 1796; that he is now fifty-six years of age, and that he never knew any person by the name of Robbins, born or residing in the said town of Danbury, during that term of twenty-five years, before or since.

MAJOR TAYLOR.

* * * * *

Extract of a letter from Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, to Robert Liston, Esq., Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of his Britannic Majesty to the United States, dated

PORT ROYAL HARBOR, "Jamaica, Sept. 9, 1799.

"I have had the honor of receiving duplicates of your Excellency's letters, numbered 10, 11, 12, and, in answer thereto, acquaint you that in consequence of Nash, one of the ringleaders in the mutiny, murders, &c., on board the Hermione, being delivered up by the United States to me, he has been tried at a court martial, and sentenced to suffer death, and afterwards hung in chains, which sentence has been put into execution. He acknowledged himself to be an Irishman."

* * * * *

Extract of a letter from Benjamin Moodie, Esq., Consul of his Britannic Majesty at Charleston, South Carolina, to Robert Liston, Esq., Envoy of his said Majesty to the United States, dated

NOVEMBER 19, 1799.

In consequence of many obstacles I had to encounter in obtaining the delivery of Thomas Nash, late of His Majesty's ship Hermione, and of the numerous publications to the northward and in this place, I wrote to Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, requesting he would be good enough to send me minutes of the court martial, to which he answered under date 13th September: "I am to acquaint you that Nash has been executed agreeably to a court martial, and that he confessed himself to be an Irishman; and it further appears, by the Hermione's books, that he was born at Waterford; on the 21st December, 1792, entered a volunteer on board the Dover, received £3 bounty money, and was removed to the Hermione, 28th of January, 1793. And with respect to transmitting the minutes of his trial, that is not in my power, but rests with the Lords of the Admiralty only."

MONDAY, February 10.

Amy Dardin's Claim for the Horse Romulus.

The petition of Amy Dardin was called up, and after some opposition, on account of a former reference and decision, was referred to the Committee of Claims.

THURSDAY, February 13.

Military Interference in Elections.

Mr. LEIB called up for consideration the following resolution, which he laid on the table on the 4th instant, viz:

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to bring in a bill making provision for the removal of the regular troops of the United States which may be stationed where an election is held, and that such removal shall take place at least two days previous to such election, and to a distance not less than two miles.

Mr. OTIS moved to amend the resolution by striking out the words in italic, in the second line, and inserting "inquire into the expediency of."

A long debate ensued on this motion, in which it was conceded, on all sides, that the resolution was too definite, and left nothing in the power of the committee to act on, except merely bringing in a bill conformable to it. If excesses had been committed by the military at elections, and they were guilty of improper interference, it seemed to be the wish of every member that some provision should be made to guard against them in future; but they were unwilling to say what that provision should be, until an inquiry were made into the facts stated. The removal of the troops to the distance mentioned, was also particularly objected to, as it might leave fortifications, arsenals, and military stores, for two or three days, entirely unprotected.

Mr. LEIB at length withdrew his original proposition, and submitted the following, which was adopted without objection, viz:

"Resolved, That a committee be appointed to prepare and report a bill, containing such legislative provisions as may be judged expedient, either for removing any military force of the United States, from any place of holding elections, or for preventing their interference in such elections."

Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. LEIB and Mr. OTIS, were appointed the committee.

Amendment to the Constitution.

Mr. LIVINGSTON laid the following joint resolution on the table:

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the following article be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be valid as a part of the said constitution, viz:

No Judge of any Court of the United States shall, during his continuance in office, or within six months after he may have resigned the same, be appointed to any other than a judiciary office, under the United States.

MONDAY, February 17.

Case of Jonathan Robbins.

Mr. RUTLEDGE said, he had expected that some order would have been taken on the Message of the President, before this time, by the gentleman who called for it; but as he had been disappointed, he would now give notice to the honorable member from New York that he would call for some order upon the Message to-morrow.

Mr. LIVINGSTON said, the gentleman had momentarily anticipated him; he meant to have moved for a reference to a Committee of the whole House this morning, with an intention to introduce certain resolutions, and he would now make that motion.

The question on commitment was put and carried--yeas 50, nays 43; and was made the order of the day for Friday.

Mr. BAYARD then laid the following resolution on the table, which was read and referred to the above committee, viz:

Resolved, That the conduct of the Executive Government of the United States, in relation to the requisition made by his Britannic Majesty's Minister, of the delivery up to justice of Thomas Nash, otherwise called Jonathan Robbins, upon the charge of murder, committed on board of the Hermione British frigate, which said Nash had sought an asylum within the United States, was conformable to the duty of the Government, and to the obligations of good faith stipulated in the 27th article of the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, made with Great Britain.

THURSDAY, February 20.

Case of Jonathan Robbins.

Mr. LIVINGSTON proposed the following resolutions:

"Resolved, That it appears to this House that a person, calling himself Jonathan Robbins, and claiming to be a citizen of the United States, impressed on board a British ship-of-war, was committed for trial in one of the courts of the United States for the alleged crime of piracy and murder, committed on the high seas, on board the British frigate Hermione: That a requisition being, subsequent to such commitment, made by the British Minister to the Executive of the United States, for the delivery of the said person (under the name of Thomas Nash) as a fugitive, under the 27th article of the Treaty with Great Britain, the President of the United States did, by a letter written from the Department of State to the Judge who committed the said person for trial, officially declare his opinion to the said Judge that he 'considered an offence committed on board a public ship of war on the high seas to have been committed within the jurisdiction of the nation to whom the ship belongs;' and, in consequence of such opinion and instruction, did advise and request the said Judge to deliver up the person so claimed to the agent of Great Britain, who should appear to receive him, provided only that the stipulated evidence of his criminality should be produced. That in compliance with such advice and request of the President of the United States, the said person so committed for trial was, by the Judge of the District of South Carolina, without any presentment or trial by jury, or any investigation of his claim to be a citizen of the United States, delivered up to an officer of his Britannic Majesty, and afterwards tried by a court martial, and executed on a charge of mutiny and murder.

"Resolved, That inasmuch as the Constitution of the United States declares that the Judiciary Power shall extend to all questions arising under the Constitution, laws, and treaties, of the United States, and to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction: and, also, that the trial of all crimes (except in cases of impeachment) shall be by jury; and that such trial shall be held in the State where such crime shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, then at such place or places as Congress may by law have directed; and inasmuch as it is directed by law that the offence of murder committed on the high seas shall be deemed to be piracy and murder, and that 'all crimes committed on the high seas, or in any place out of the jurisdiction of any particular State, shall be tried in the district where the offender is apprehended, or into which he may be first brought:' therefore the several questions, whether the alleged crime of piracy and murder was committed within the exclusive jurisdiction of Great Britain; whether it comes within the purview of the said twenty-seventh article; and whether a person stating that he was an American citizen, and had committed the act of which he was accused in attempting to regain his liberty from illegal imprisonment, ought to be delivered up, without any investigation of his claims to citizenship, or inquiry into the facts alleged in his defence, are all matters exclusively of judicial inquiry as arising from treaties, laws, constitutional provisions, and cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction.

"Resolved, That the decision of those questions by the President of the United States, against the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States, in a case where those courts had already assumed and exercised jurisdiction: and his advice and request to the Judge of the district court that the person thus charged should be delivered up, provided only such evidence of his criminality should be produced as would justify his apprehension and commitment for trial, are a dangerous interference of the Executive with Judicial decisions; and that the compliance with such advice and request on the part of the Judge of the District Court of South Carolina, is a sacrifice of the Constitutional independence of the Judicial power, and exposes the administration thereof to suspicion and reproach."

The question of reference to the Committee of the Whole was taken and carried--yeas 55.

The House then adjourned.

FRIDAY, February 21.

Eulogium on the Character of Washington.

A message was received from the Senate informing the House that the Senate had this day come to the following resolution, viz:

"Resolved, That the Senate will to-morrow, at half past 12 o'clock, meet in the Senate Chamber, and from thence walk in procession to the church in Race street, to hear the eulogium to be pronounced on the character of General Washington."

Ordered to lie on the table.

The SPEAKER said he was requested, by a member of the Catholic church, to inform the House that seats were provided for the accommodation of such members as would please to attend to hear the delivery of the oration to-morrow.

Mr. RUTLEDGE said, before the receipt of the message from the Senate, he had intended to move that when the House adjourn they do adjourn till Monday; but the Senate having informed the House that they intended to walk in procession, he conceived this House ought to come to a similar resolution, and moved the following:

"Resolved, That the House of Representatives will meet to-morrow, at half-past 12 o'clock, at their Chamber, and from thence walk in procession to the church in Race street, to hear the eulogium there to be pronounced on the character of General Washington."

It was objected to this resolution, that it had not been contemplated this House would walk in procession, no arrangement having been made for that purpose; and that as it might be the wish of several members to attend the oration at the Catholic Church in preference to the one in Race street, it ought to be left to their own option.

The question on the resolution was put and negatived--yeas 40, nays 43.

MONDAY, February 24.

Western Lands.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the report made the 18th instant, by the committee appointed to inquire whether any, and, if any, what, alterations are necessary in the laws providing for the sale of the lands of the United States north-west of the Ohio; and, after some time spent therein, the committee rose and reported several resolutions thereupon; which were severally twice read, and agreed to by the House, as follows:

Resolved, That all the townships directed to be sold, either in quarter townships or in tracts of one mile square, by the act "providing for the sale of the lands of the United States, in the Territory north-west of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky River," shall be subdivided into half sections, containing, as nearly as may be, three hundred and twenty acres each: the additional expense of surveying to be paid by the purchaser, at the rate of three dollars per tract.

Resolved, That all the said lands shall be offered for sale at public sale, in tracts of three hundred and twenty acres as above directed: Provided, That the same shall not be sold under the price of two dollars per acre, and that the sale shall be at the following places, to wit:

All the lands contained in the seven first ranges of townships, and north of the same, shall be offered for sale at Pittsburg.

All the lands contained in the eight next ranges of townships, shall be offered for sale at Marietta.

All the lands lying west of the fifteen first ranges of townships, and east of the Sciota River, shall be offered for sale at Chillicothe.

All the lands lying below the Great Miami shall be offered for sale at Cincinnati.

Resolved, That one or more land offices shall be opened in the North-western Territory, and that every person be permitted to locate and purchase, at the rate of two dollars per acre, one or more of the half sections that shall not have been sold at public sale.

Resolved, That the payments for lands purchased either at public or private sale, may be made as heretofore in public securities, and shall be made in the following manner, and under the following conditions, viz:

1st. At the time of purchase, every purchaser shall deposit one-twentieth part of the amount of purchase-money; to be forfeited, if, within three months, one-fourth of the purchase-money, including the said twentieth part, is not paid.

2d. One-fourth of the purchase-money to be paid as aforesaid, within three months, and the other three-fourths in three equal payments, within two, three, and four years, respectively, after the date of the purchase.

3d. No interest to be charged in case of punctual payment; but interest at the rate of six per cent. a year, to be charged from the date of purchase, on any part of the purchase-money which shall not have been paid at the time, respectively, when the same shall have become due.

4th. A discount at the rate of eight per cent. a year, to be allowed on any of the three last payments, which shall be paid before the same shall have become due.

5th. If any tract shall not be completely paid for within one year after the date of the last payment, the tract to be sold in such manner as shall be provided by law; and after paying the balance due to the United States, including interest, the surplus, if any, to be returned to the original purchaser.

Ordered, That a bill or bills be brought in, pursuant to the said resolutions; and that Mr. HARRISON, Mr. BRACE, Mr. GORDON, Mr. DAVIS, Mr. LYMAN, and Mr. GALLATIN, do prepare and bring in the same.

TUESDAY, February 25.

Case of Jonathan Robbins.

The House having resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the Message of the PRESIDENT respecting Jonathan Robbins, a short debate took place whether the committee should take up the business of the resolution first proposed by Mr. BAYARD, or those subsequently offered by Mr. LIVINGSTON. Mr. BAYARD seemed inclined to withdraw his motion, but the committee seeming of opinion that both resolutions were within their jurisdiction, and that they might proceed on either, the question was taken whether the committee would proceed on the resolutions of Mr. LIVINGSTON and carried in the affirmative.[49] Messrs. BAYARD, RUTLEDGE, OTIS, &c., voting in favor of the question, and Messrs. LIVINGSTON, NICHOLAS, &c., against it.

Mr. LIVINGSTON then entered upon an argument in support of the resolutions which he had some days before submitted to the House, and which now were taken up. Soon after he began the discussion, he was proceeding to read a deposition of Jonathan Robbins, and certificates accompanying the same, to prove himself a citizen of the United States, in which the deponent swore, before the court of South Carolina, that he was born at Danbury in the State of Connecticut, and that he was impressed from on board the American brig Betsey, by the crew of the British frigate, about two years before, where he was detained contrary to his will until the mutiny occurred.

Mr. BAYARD opposed the reference to a fact so incompetently authenticated as the report of a case upon newspaper testimony, especially when, if it had been the desire of the gentleman to have introduced it as evidence, it was extremely easy to have procured the record of the court before he proceeded on his allegations. If such evidence as this was to be admitted, other and perhaps more important evidence might next be introduced to impose on the committee. Besides, it certainly must be looked upon as ex parte evidence, which it was impossible to repel. Mr. B. submitted to the Chair whether it would be in order to admit any fresh evidence to support the resolutions, when all the documents which had been asked for, and which had come to the knowledge of the Executive, had been submitted to the House.

Mr. GALLATIN, on the question of order, contended for the admission: this document, he said, was referred to as authentic, in his letter. He says, "That, by the proceedings before that judge, (Bee,) as they have been published, it appears that a seaman named Thomas Nash did assume the name of Jonathan Robbins, and make oath that he was a native of the State of Connecticut," &c. Certainly it cannot be deemed improper to refer to the identical document there mentioned. If it was proper for the Secretary of State to make the allusion, the House could take it up under the same idea. He did not think it was introduced as evidence before the committee.

Mr. DANA said he was very sorry the gentleman had been interrupted; he could not think of admitting it as evidence, but the gentleman might read it as part of his speech, which perhaps might otherwise have a chasm in it.

Mr. LIVINGSTON said he did wish to read this paper as part of his speech; and he believed it a very material part, because it was a justification of a point which he wished to establish; he wished to show the committee that Jonathan Robbins claimed to be an American citizen, and that he said he was impressed. This he swore to in court; and that he did so, he hoped would be admitted. He said he only introduced it with this view. Surely he could not be so far mistaken in his law knowledge as to be thought to have said that the culprit could be evidence in his own behalf. If he did say he was a citizen, then the matter, upon examination, must appear more serious than gentlemen would be willing to think.

Mr. BAYARD had no doubt but it was the gentleman's intention to impress the force of the facts contained in that paper upon the minds of that committee; and to suppose it would have no impression would be absurd. It would afterwards be said that this man was admitted to be an impressed American citizen, and that he was praiseworthy in committing what would then be called the homicide. The decision of the committee would be much affected, he said, by the kind of evidence which was adduced. If this was admitted, it would be impossible to ascertain the extent of the principle. Other depositions may be produced--indeed, he had no doubt but the gentleman could get proof to any point which he might think it material to ascertain. In saying this, he did not mean to insinuate that any improper steps would be taken by that gentleman, but there were volunteers enough to be found who would step forward in order to answer a party purpose, and make oath of any thing.

Mr. LIVINGSTON supposed he should increase the astonishment of gentlemen still more when he declared that he did not believe a word of the affidavit; but he believed Nash was an Irishman, and that he entered on board and committed all the crimes charged to him. It was clear that this affidavit could not be evidence. In admitting this, he believed he did not surrender one point of the resolutions; he should prove that all which he wished to ascertain was that such claim was made to the court.

Mr. BAYARD asked where could be the necessity of proving a fact which every member of the House was willing to admit. All acknowledged that Nash claimed to be an American citizen; but perhaps the wish of the gentleman was to have additional light on this subject, on which account he introduced the deposition. But, Mr. B. said, he was willing only to proceed upon what the House knew from the documents before them, and not take a step on precarious ground. It must be well known what the gentleman wanted to get this admission for; he no doubt wished to prove that, upon his own mere suggestion, he was an American citizen, and that he was impressed--he was entitled to a trial by jury in this country, and on that account the act of sending him away was unconstitutional. This would lead to an extensive field of argument. If there was any necessity for more evidence, or to call witnesses to the bar of the House, let proper measures be taken to procure them, but let them not come forward in any other way.

Mr. DANA read the resolution first offered to the House for a call for papers relative to Jonathan Robbins; this was answered, he said, by the Secretary of State, that no requisition or proceedings had been had in that name; but he presumed allusion was made to the case of Thomas Nash, concerning whom proceedings were had in the District Court of South Carolina; in that way, and that only, the Secretary made reference to the printed report. In this blundering way, Mr. D. said, the business was begun. [He was called to order.] In addition to this, he said, the proceedings of gentlemen were erroneous; but, notwithstanding that, Mr. D. said, he would gratify the feelings of the gentleman, as far as his vote would go, for him to read it, but only as part of his speech. No doubt he wished to support some point of his argument by it, and in that view he had a right to read it; but that it was evidence, he denied.

The CHAIRMAN having stated his reasons, concluded with an opinion that the member could not proceed to read the affidavit.

Mr. GALLATIN appealed to the committee from the decision of the Chair; when there appeared 39 in favor of the decision, and 48 against it.

At this point the committee rose, and had leave to sit again.

WEDNESDAY, February 26.

Case of Jonathan Robbins.

Mr. DAVIS moved that the Committee of the whole House be discharged from the further consideration of the resolutions proposed by Mr. LIVINGSTON and Mr. BAYARD, on the affair of Jonathan Robbins. The small progress, Mr. D. said, which was made yesterday in the discussion, fully convinced his mind that nothing at all would be done in it; besides, were he convinced that the subject would be impartially conducted, he did not know of any possible good that could arise from the adoption of the resolutions. If there had been any error in the proceedings of the Executive, he conceived that error would correct itself. If there was an improper interference, he was certain it could not have arisen from improper motives, and therefore he sincerely hoped he should not be called upon to give an opinion on the subject. Nor, on the other hand, was he at all prepared to compliment the Executive, or any officer of the Government, for having done what he thought to be right. If he had done right, it was his duty. He did not think it of any great importance; but, most assuredly, if the argument was extended, it would be made a case of much importance. It was better, however, to let the case of Jonathan Robbins sleep in the Committee of the Whole, where it then was. He was not prepared to criminate, nor was he prepared to applaud.

Mr. RANDOLPH said, that no gentleman had a higher respect for the motives of the gentleman from Kentucky than himself; but, however disagreeable it might be, he must differ from him in his present opinion. He really hoped the gentleman would reconsider the motion he had made, and not stop the gentleman from New York in this early stage of the business. If there were any defects in the papers, and their authenticity was questionable, it must not arise from the gentleman from New York, but from those whose duty it was to furnish all the facts relative to the subject. He was obliged to read a printed paper, because those with whom the authoritative copies are, have not thought proper to furnish the House with them. He hoped, if a stop was put to the proceedings, it would not be to discharge the committee, but to call for authentic copies of all the papers within the reach of the Government. It must be acknowledged that the man whose case the House are considering did put in his claims to citizenship, and to the protection of his country on that account. If that acknowledgment is refused on account of the paper which has been produced being a newspaper, reference must be made to what is within the reach of the House--more authentic papers.

Mr. H. LEE considered the motion would have the complete effect any gentleman could wish whose desire it was to reprobate the conduct of the Administration of our Government. How could the motion be necessary--how be useful? If they were to ask more evidence, said Mr. L., I would vote for it to be produced; they have brought the subject before the House--let us see it in the purest colors which it can be placed in. We are ready to meet them here; we are willing they should have every evidence that can be obtained to elucidate their charge; but let not the Executive be hung up to reproach without a trial; let not suspicion be encouraged, which must have all the effects of a substantiated charge. I wish them to go on with the discussion, that all the truth may be disclosed, and every fair light be given which the case will bear; for now the people of the United States have their eyes fixed upon our proceedings on this important question.

Mr. MACON was in favor of the motion. If the Committee of the Whole was not to be discharged, he hoped at least the subject would be postponed till the public business of the session was over; there were many public bills, he said, that must be passed. The House was called upon to judge with almost no testimony, and yet upon this uncertain ground, perhaps a whole week might be spent of the most precious time of the House; for if the House was to rise at the time proposed, the loss of this time would certainly be felt.

As to the impression it would leave on the minds of the people, they had as many facts to judge from as the House, and they certainly would form an opinion, whether the House did so, or not. Gentlemen were very much mistaken, he said, if they undertook to lead the people; they would think, and they would show what their judgment was when a proper time came for that purpose. The time the people would take to show their approbation or disapprobation of the measures of the Administration was at elections, and then they would do it.

Mr. DANA was against the postponement of the subject, or the rising of the committee. It was to be recollected that the business had assumed its present shape only in consequence of the zeal of the gentleman from New York, and his coadjutors, to censure the Executive. On the 7th of February, it was committed to the whole House; contrary to the opinion of a number of gentlemen, who wished the facts investigated by a select committee; thirteen days then elapsed before he had prepared his resolutions--resolutions not calculated to make an inquiry into the conduct of the Executive, but expressive of the most pungent censure upon his conduct. These resolutions were produced upon the papers which, at the desire of those gentlemen, were submitted to the House. The only question then, is, Do the papers upon which those resolutions are predicated warrant the censure contained in them, or not?--It certainly would be a high reproach to the very idea of a public inquisition to admit more evidence upon those grounds. Still, however, let gentlemen go on in their heterogeneous proceedings, the House would have the wisdom justly to appreciate the various attempts made to clear themselves of a predicament in which their over-arduous attempts to censure had thrown them.

Mr. LIVINGSTON conceived it his duty to answer the observations of the gentleman from Connecticut, (Mr. DANA,) as to the resolutions being founded upon the facts then before the House. He did not think the facts were precisely sufficient to warrant every idea contained in the resolutions. When the original call for papers was agreed to by the House, he had hoped that something more authentic than newspaper testimony would have been referred to by the Executive; and upon that he was now compelled to act, if at all. The gentleman has said that my zeal and that of my coadjutors, to censure the Executive, has brought us into this situation. Who, sir, I would ask the gentleman, are my coadjutors? That gentleman himself was my coadjutor, and every gentleman in the House, because the resolution was adopted. The House directed the inquiry, and every gentleman must therefore take the burden, in part, with me.

Mr. CRAIK said, that very early in this business he thought the House were entering into it very improperly, either having nothing at all to do with it, or else taking wrong measures, if they had; he thought then, and was yet of opinion, that if the object was to impeach the President, measures ought to have been taken accordingly. He never did look upon the House of Representatives as having either the power to censure or to approbate the conduct of the Executive, and, therefore, he equally disapproved of the resolutions of the gentlemen from New York and Delaware; and, upon that ground, he felt strongly inclined to vote with the gentleman from Kentucky for giving the whole subject the go by, and getting clear of it by any possible means.

Mr. HARPER agreed with the gentleman, that it would be folly for the House to spend time in useless discussion, which could lead to no decision; but, viewing this resolution as he did, he must conclude it of more importance; he thought it the direct road to an impeachment of the President of the United States, and, if so, surely it must appear important. The resolution declared, in express terms, that the Executive had exercised unconstitutional powers--one of the most dangerous crimes that he could commit. If he had so exercised his power, the inevitable consequence must be, that the President of the United States must be impeached by this House. Then, how could any gentleman say this was a trifling question, and one with which the House had nothing at all to do? Certainly no question can be more important.

Mr. RUTLEDGE regretted that he could not join with his friend from Maryland, (Mr. CRAIK,) in thinking this consideration useless; he believed the attention of the people had been called to view this subject, and they were anxiously looking for a decision in some way. Neither did he think, with his honorable friend, that the House had nothing to do with it, because no impeachment could grow out of it. It was impossible to say what the gentleman meditated in his resolutions, but one thing was certain, if the gentleman has wished to promote an impeachment, he could not have taken a more direct means for it, if the resolutions should be carried.

Mr. KITCHELL thought no good could arise from the investigation of this subject, because he did not know what was to be done in it, let the decision be what it might. The gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. HARPER) wished to have an opportunity of showing that every part of the resolution was built on false ground. Every gentleman in the House was not so fond of speaking nor of hearing as was that gentleman, and he hoped, merely on that account, that the House would not spend time on what (in his opinion) could not possibly lead to impeachment. What effect could a discussion have, but to show the world that there were parties in the House, and to raise a rancorous disposition? He did not know what there was in the resolution that could lead to an impeachment, nor did he know what the House, in their censorial capacity, had to do but to impeach. He believed it out of the power of the House to applaud. In short, he did not think they had any thing to do with it.

Mr. NICHOLAS hoped the discussion would proceed. Although there might not be sufficient ground on which to impeach the Executive, he could not agree that, therefore, no inquiry ought to be made into his conduct; there might be an error in his conduct, and yet no impeachment be necessary to be raised out of it; and, if so, it would be extremely wrong to suffer it to go out to the world without a decision, after the subject had once been taken up by the House. Where there might be no bad intention or wicked design, the action might be of a dangerous tendency, and proper to be inquired into, in order to express an opinion thereupon. Mr. N. said he was well pleased that his opinion, that the motion ought to be negatived, accorded with that of the gentleman from South Carolina, because it would afford him an opportunity of showing what he said he could show.

Mr. BAYARD had no doubt of the competency of the House either to impeach, to censure, or to approbate the conduct of the Executive, and of course both the resolutions were in their power.

Several gentlemen had intimated that the authentic evidence and the whole of the documents were not before the House, and that the Executive Department was to blame for the deficiency. It appeared that the gentleman himself had forgotten the import of his resolution; it called for such documents as might be in possession of the Department of State. Now, what could possibly be in possession of that Department? The President of the United States had his duties to perform, and the judge of the district his duties; each had their separate documents; and, as neither interfered with the other, therefore, it could not be expected to be in the power of the President to furnish the papers belonging to the courts of South Carolina, any further than they came within the joint duties of both. Agreeably to treaty, the British Consul made a requisition for the person; a copy of this, and the several letters and instructions, were sent to the House, but it was not in the power of the Executive to order the judge to furnish him with a record of the proceedings; he was not bound to furnish it if the President had called for it, and no doubt he had furnished the House with every paper in his possession.

Mr. OTIS said, when first the motion was made by the gentleman from Kentucky, he felt for a moment inclined to lean to it; the motives of that gentleman appeared to be so candid and liberal, that, for the moment, Mr. O. confessed, his feelings got the better of his reason. But a short reflection induced him to change an opinion thus hastily formed, and he felt satisfied that to vote with him, would be to display, in the conduct of gentlemen who wished to support the Administration of this country, worse than censure. He joined that gentleman in regret that it had gone so far, but certainly it was a subject of the most irritating nature possible: a charge the most serious; a breach of law by the Executive Magistrate, who is bound to support it and see it carried into effect. It is certainly a charge of much importance, and however disagreeable it might feel to him, Mr. O. said, he must vote that every argument should be used that could possibly tend to substantiate the charge, that nothing of truth might be hidden.

Mr. O. said he did not know to what points the evidence required by the gentleman from New York could apply, except it was to that of his being an American citizen, and of his being impressed. An affidavit was produced to prove these facts, but it would be found from an examination of the documents that nothing relating to those points was in the office of the Department of State; for the date of the affidavit of Robbins is the 25th of July, but the order of the Secretary of State bears date the 5th of June, so that no papers as to his claim can be in the possession of that department. Mr. O. thought the documents before the House contained every thing that was important to the point.

Mr. CRAIK was sorry that gentlemen who advocated this motion should be charged with an opposition to the administration of Government; he believed his conduct had heretofore evinced a different line of conduct. He still denied that the mode taken by the resolution could lead to impeachment. It certainly did contain a very great censure, and one which the House had no authority to inflict.

Mr. GALLATIN considered the motion to be grounded on two ideas; that there was not sufficient foundation for the House to act upon, and therefore that it was necessary to discharge the committee, or postpone the subject for want of further evidence.

It is clear, said Mr. G., that the evidence is not sufficient to impeach the District Judge of South Carolina. If an impeachment of him was the object, it would be impossible to carry it forward without an authoritative copy of the record of the court; but if there was no intention to impeach, he did not think there was any material evidence wanted in order to decide upon the resolution, since it only meant an implication of censure upon the Executive and the District Judge, and not impeachment.

Mr. G. agreed there was at first sight some weight in the sentiment expressed by the gentleman from Maryland, (Mr. CRAIK,) that the House had only a power to impeach but not to censure; but certainly, when it was considered that an act might be committed without any ill motive, and yet the act be injurious, it could not be the subject of impeachment, but it might be of censure. The same act committed with a criminal motive would be impeachable, which without it would be of a nature not to admit of it.

Again: Mr. G. thought that though the House might have ground whereupon to censure, they ought not, at any time; but they had exercised that power. They had in a number of cases approved of the conduct of the President, and if the act of approbation had been done, they surely had as much power to disapprove and censure.

The question was then taken on the motion to discharge the Committee of the Whole from the further consideration, and negatived--yeas 14, nays 76.

THURSDAY, February 27.

Another member, to wit, JOHN SMITH, from New York, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat.

Case of Jonathan Robbins.

Mr. DAVIS said, as the House had yesterday thought proper to negative a proposition to discharge the Committee of the Whole from the further consideration of the business, and as one great motive for that motion was the incompetency of evidence before the House, and as he knew it was in the power of the House to procure that evidence by a proper application, he hoped gentlemen would now indulge him in the adoption of the following, which he moved, viz:

Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to direct the proper officer to lay before this House a copy of the proceedings of the court held in the district of South Carolina, in the case of Thomas Nash, calling himself Jonathan Robbins.

Mr. BAYARD said, if he was persuaded, or if the gentleman could convince him that there was any particular evidence in the hands of any officer that would tend to throw such light as to give the least explanation to the case, he certainly would be willing to accord with the resolution; but he believed every necessary fact was before the House, and this had been acknowledged by several gentlemen. If the object was to prove that Nash was an American citizen, and that he was impressed, that could not be necessary as it respected the resolutions of the gentleman from New York, for that gentleman himself had acknowledged that he believed no such thing, but that the whole claim was falsehood. Would the gentleman, then, inform the House what point he wished to ascertain, or in what he expected additional proof? He wished information, farther, who was the "proper officer" to whom reference was expected to be made. There are but two officers at all in view, one is the Secretary of State, the other the District Judge of South Carolina; the gentleman could not suppose that the Judge would be able to transmit the records of that court previous to the adjournment of the House; and if it could be obtained, no evidence to the point could be expected from him. If, on the other hand, it was meant to call on the Secretary of State, it was not to be expected, from the nature of the case, that any more documents were in his hands than those already furnished; he had given copies of the correspondence and requisition, which, it might be fairly inferred, from the nature of his office, was all of which he could be possessed. But if any gentleman doubted this fact, he could apply to the office of the Secretary of State, from whom he could procure whatever was in his possession.

If it was the intention of the House to close this very disagreeable business in the present session, they must negative the resolution and let the discussion go forward. The gentleman who brought forward the resolution ought to have been provided with every document that was necessary to support the charges, before he suffered them to appear. However, he did not think but the gentleman who proposed the resolutions thought his grounds were quite sufficient to support them.

Mr. NICHOLAS said he always believed that the testimony was incomplete, but when he heard a gentleman get up and mention particular testimony which he considered so important that without it he should not know how to vote, whatever, Mr. N. said, might have been his former satisfaction as to the establishment of the points, he certainly must now be inclined to grant gentlemen every point of evidence that they should think necessary, if within the reach of the House.

One particular piece of testimony had been mentioned, viz: that the man had filed an affidavit that he was an American citizen and was impressed on board a British man-of-war. Could any gentleman pretend to say that no inference might be drawn from this source and the concomitant facts? The gentleman from New York, to be sure, had declared his satisfaction with the facts that had been produced to the House, but did the gentleman from Delaware know that this was the case with any other gentleman in the House? That gentleman's conclusions and impressions were not to be taken as the opinions of others, nor were others obliged to be satisfied because he was; and therefore to couple others in a measure to which they were not privy, and to ascribe opinions to them which they had not expressed, was at least unfair.

Mr. DANA thought this a most extraordinary resolution indeed? Was the President of the United States the clerk of the court, to keep the records of it? What had the President to do with the proceedings of that court? It was certainly a total departure from all the forms of judicial proceedings to suppose a thing of the kind. The gentlemen must certainly have mistaken the situation held by the President, or they would never have made such a vast departure from order and propriety of proceeding. The President is not the public accuser; he is not to be called upon for papers with which he has nothing to do. When he found gentlemen outraging every thing that belonged to judicial propriety; when he found them stumbling into error after error, and departing totally from all jurisprudential propriety, Mr. D. said, he could not avoid rising to oppose it.

Mr. LIVINGSTON said he did hope that this motion would not have been brought forward; but as he meant to vote in favor of it, after having declared his satisfaction with the documents, as sufficient to support his resolutions, he should be accused of advocating a question of which he had before spoken apparently differently, unless he should now give his reasons; and lest he should be accused of a desire to keep alive a calumny against the President of the United States, an effect which had been stated, he took opportunity to answer the insinuation by saying that he as much abhorred so mean a principle as any gentleman in the House.

Mr. MARSHALL said, it was with no inconsiderable regret that he perceived so much of the time of the House, which ought to be devoted to more beneficial purposes, employed in preliminary discussion. He thought that it was impossible the House could agree to a postponement, which the motion under consideration must cause when it was reflected how much time must be employed in procuring those papers--it could not take less than a month; for they could only be found, he would presume to say in the Court of the District of South Carolina: it was therefore scarcely to be expected that they could be obtained until just before the rising of the House, a period, if they arrived before the House rose, too late for their consideration.

Mr. BAYARD said he could not distinguish between the present motion and one yesterday negatived, because it must operate as a discharge upon the Committee of the whole House. There could be no doubt but the Secretary of State had furnished all the papers relative to the business in his possession--indeed, he could assuredly say so. He said he held in his hand a letter from the Secretary of State, in answer to one from an honorable member of the House inquiring whether there were any more documents in his office; he answered that he had no certified copy whatever but those which he had furnished the President with, from whom they came to the House. Gentlemen must then perceive that the mere operation of this resolution was an absolute and inevitable postponement of the business till another session. Many gentlemen, who were yesterday ashamed to vote for a postponement, would now have a plausible cover for their vote by calling for additional proof, to accomplish the object of the resolution of yesterday; and thus he feared it would have many advocates, but, however specious the pretext, he hoped it would not be carried.

Mr. RUTLEDGE conceived this motion to be the same as to postpone the business. Further information was wanted, and that information could alone come from South Carolina. He wished the gentleman from Kentucky would read the resolution before he pressed his motion: he would find that the District Judge was not charged; no, it was only a charge against the Executive; there was not a word of irregularity of proceeding in the Court, but the Executive was seriously charged.

Mr. DAVIS explained. He said his objects were to have the record in order to see whether Robbins did produce a certificate that he was an American citizen; to see a copy of the warrant by which he was committed; and thirdly, to know what stratagem or what proceedings were used to take him out of the cognizance of the Court, where he must have remained, if the President had not interfered. These things he wished to ascertain, but that would be impossible without the court record.

Mr. RUTLEDGE said, he conceived this to be the object, but he by no means thought that the gentleman would be satisfied on these points, were he to be possessed of the record. The gentleman might inquire the reasons for the Executive and Judicial conduct being as it was, but perhaps he would not receive the information. Every gentleman in the House would unite their vote to procure all the testimony within their reach, so as to enable the House to prosecute the business. We know, said Mr. R., what monstrous clamor has been raised about this business; we know that great pains have been taken to make the people believe that their fellow-citizen has been torn from his country; that he has been impressed into a foreign service; that the treaty has been violated; that their fellow-citizen has been taken to a foreign country, and there been tried in a summary manner and executed. We have been told for months past that this business would be inquired into; we wish not to avoid it; we will by all means in our power assist it; we have done it. Some time since papers were asked for, we agreed with gentlemen that they should be furnished; it was done, and they are now on your table. They have been there many days; so that gentlemen had sufficient time, long before this, to have known whether they were satisfied or not. The gentleman himself who brought forward the resolutions affected to be satisfied, but, in compliance with the wish of his friends, he now wishes to postpone it. We want to bring the matter to a decision, and so far as we can accommodate gentlemen and avoid delay we will do it.

Mr. NICHOLSON rose to correct what he considered a mistake in the gentleman last up, (Mr. RUTLEDGE,) when he said that the Executive only was implicated in the resolutions; he conceived that the District Judge of South Carolina was implicated, and that the papers of that court were necessary to examine the conduct of that judge. He read the resolution, and contended that his deduction was accurate. Mr. N. said he wanted to know whether the District Judge of South Carolina had committed this man for trial; this would appear or be disproved by the warrant.

That the President of the United States was not to be considered as the servant of that House, he was willing to admit, but he did not think that the President might, with propriety, apply to the judge of the district for the documents of the court; and he did not believe that the President would object to make the application. However, the object he presumed was to procure the papers, no matter from whom; that being the object, he hoped the mover of the resolution would withdraw it, in order to accommodate it more to the feelings of some members in the House, by adopting something like the following:

Resolved, That the Speaker of the House of Representatives be requested to procure, from the Clerk of the District Court of South Carolina, copies, under seal, of the proceedings of that court, together with the evidence produced in the case relative to the requisition for Thomas Nash, alias Jonathan Robbins, who was delivered to His Britannic Majesty's Consul.

Mr. DAVIS withdrew his resolution, and Mr. NICHOLAS moved the substitute, which was now before the House.

Mr. HARPER moved a postponement of this resolution to this day week. The object of the resolution which was before the Committee of the Whole was twofold--a charge on the President, and a charge on the District Judge. So much as related to the President of the United States, it was manifest that the testimony called for by this resolution could have no effect whatever upon him, because he left the whole to the judge. The President went no further than to declare that if it should appear that the acts committed by this man came within the purview of the British Treaty, the man ought to be delivered up conformably to that stipulation.

Mr. NICHOLAS thought, with the gentleman last up, that if the only inquiry was as to the conduct of the President, or if the inquiry was only to respect the judge, the papers might be dispensed with; but it was otherwise--the conduct of both was called forth to view by the resolutions, but how far the conduct of either may be reprehensible, depended on the testimony which might appear before the House. It was impossible to say what the President had done until the documents should be seen. If gentlemen refused the inquiry being made of the court in South Carolina, they, by that act, made the President answerable for every part of the facts, which he believed they would not pretend to do. He really believed it extremely important to know what steps had been taken in this very serious business, to know whether the man was in course for trial, and whether the President had acted in the hasty and premature manner which was stated, in delivering him up.

Mr. GALLATIN could not help observing the disposition which gentlemen evinced of placing the opinions and sensations expressed by one gentleman to the account of others. To take a fair view of the resolutions, what did they amount to? Nothing more than the deductions which one man had drawn from the message sent to this House by the Executive: these deductions, in the form of a resolution, he had submitted to the consideration of the Committee of the Whole. Now, except it could be proved that that gentleman had made all the deductions of and acted for every gentleman, there could be no ground for saying that every gentleman would be satisfied, without the evidence which might be collected from the records of the District Court of South Carolina. Was any gentleman in the House bound to be satisfied, with the gentleman from New York, that all the facts necessary to be known were furnished? Was every gentleman in the House bound to confine himself solely to the resolutions before the House? Certainly not. It could not be denied that the evidence now required was essential to a full investigation of the conduct of the judge, who was the principal agent of the Executive in this case.

Mr. H. LEE hoped that the gentleman from South Carolina would withdraw his motion. He would mention some reasons which would induce him to vote differently from gentlemen with whom he usually had the honor to vote. Considering this a question of very great importance, not only to the American people, and to the reputation of the House, but also to the highly respectable character presiding over our Government, he trusted the House would, in its whole process, be led by principles so fair and candid, as not to leave the least room for a charge of derogation from its own dignity or of the great subject it was discussing.

He would vote for the motion calling for the papers, but he would do it with an expectation that it would not postpone the discussion of the business so far as related to the conduct of the President of the United States. It appeared that the conduct of the President, as charged, was fully before the House; there could be no difficulty therefore to proceed on it; but, as far as respected the judge, Mr. L. trusted the record of the court would be sent, for he thought it but fair to gratify gentlemen who considered there was any material evidence wanting.

Mr. VARNUM would vote for the resolution proposed; he thought it was doubtful whether the President had acted with propriety or not; but he believed if there had been any incidental impropriety of conduct, it was never done with an evil design, nor with a view to interfere with any other department of the Government; but certainly to deny this evidence, which several gentlemen had stated to be necessary to assist them in making up their minds, would stamp a censure on the conduct of those officers as great as that contained in the resolution. He thought the gentleman from New York had a right to bring the subject to the view of the House. If he saw any proceeding which to him appeared dangerous, it was his duty to commence an investigation. No man ought to flinch from what he thought right. The only way to give public satisfaction, in a matter that had so much engaged public attention, was to give all the evidence which could be procured, and let the matter be investigated to the bottom; and, most assuredly, the only way effectually to clear the characters implicated, if they were innocent, was to leave no doubt as to the desire of the House to scrutinize their conduct. But, certainly, the very great reluctance which gentlemen showed to procure all the evidence, and, after all, their denial of it, must leave a suspicion bordering much on guilt.

Mr. BAYARD rose, in answer to Mr. GALLATIN and others, and observed, that, with respect to Nash calling himself an American citizen before that court, (an object which it was desired to prove by this call for evidence,) they were asked to admit the fact. Mr. B. asked, would these gentlemen admit that Nash was guilty of the dreadful murders committed on board the British frigate? Would they admit that he falsely made the claim? However, he had no disposition to rest on that point. Another fact, however, which it was required to admit was as to the jurisdiction of the court of the United States upon the case. Mr. B. denied this, and repeated the former arguments in proof of his opinion. He insisted that the whole arrest and proceeding was had at the instance of the British Consul and Minister, in proof of which he quoted their letters. The record, he said, could not possibly dispense any light to this fact; the record would only give the warrant and some of the depositions first taken before the judge; but as to the court being designated where the case was to be tried, he contended that it was not usual to insert it in the warrant--he never saw one so drawn. It was possible that Nash was committed with a view to be delivered up to the British, before the letter was received by the judge from the President; and it was very reasonable that the whole previous business was at the instigation of the British agent, but it was impossible to prove that jurisdiction had attached before the letter directing the delivery to be made was received.

Mr. JONES said, that finding himself, from the vote he was about to give, implicated in the charge made by the gentleman from Delaware, (Mr. BAYARD,) that gentlemen who were yesterday ashamed to vote for the proposition to discharge the committee from further consideration of the subject, in general and express terms, because it would imply a distrust of the sufficiency of the ground on which to support the principles of the resolutions, were now disposed to effect the same object by a decision which would, in fact, go to evade the question during the present session, he felt himself impelled, by a respect for his own conduct, to explain the motives which would govern his vote on the present question. He considered the case which had been called into view by the proposition of the gentleman from New York, (Mr. LIVINGSTON,) as one that involved in it the dearest interests and deepest concerns of the people of the United States. The gentleman from Delaware (Mr. BAYARD) and the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. DANA) had indulged themselves in the most violent invectives and unnecessary abuse against the unfortunate, the obscure, and insignificant character, now dead, who was the subject of this proposition. On this topic they had exercised all their powers of passionate declamation. If this was a grateful theme for the employment of their talents, he did not envy them the enjoyment of it. How that kind of argument would apply to the question, he left to the House to determine.

For his part, Mr. J. said, he deemed it totally immaterial whether the man was, as they had declared, an Irishman or not; whether he was a Turk, a Hottentot, or a native-born American, if he claimed to be an American citizen, and produced a certificate in due form, under the signature of a proper officer, of his citizenship, and that claim was slighted by the judge, or declared immaterial, and the fact not inquired into of his being a citizen, then he conceived the safety of the citizens of America to be equally put in jeopardy, as if the man had been born and raised in Charleston, in the circle of the judge's own acquaintance. If, he asked, a dagger aimed at my breast by an assassin in the dark, should by mistake or impetuosity pierce the bosom of another, would not the discovery of such an attempt awaken alarm, and demand a precaution for my future safety? Certainly it would. So in this case, if this man claimed to be a citizen, and wore about him the legal voucher of that claim, and if he was told in the presence of American citizens, "it is of no importance whether you are, or are not a citizen, that is a point of no concern in the case," notwithstanding it may afterwards be found he was no citizen, yet would it equally involve the safety of every true citizen who might fall into similar circumstances. We may congratulate ourselves that it has not fallen on a fellow-citizen, but we ought still to improve the lesson this case has presented. Mr. J. hoped that it would be improved, and that, at least, legislative provisions would be made to prevent this decision from operating on a citizen, if such a case should occur in future.

The question was then taken on the motion of Mr. HARPER, to postpone the consideration of the motion of Mr. NICHOLSON, for a call of the record of the District Court of South Carolina, for one week, and negatived--yeas 32, nays 63.

The question then recurred upon adopting the resolutions.

Mr. MARSHALL spoke at length against it. He contended there was no prospect of coming to a decision of the original question this session, if this were adopted; and asked if the character of the President of the United States ought to be held up in the suspicious view in which the resolution placed it, until the next session of Congress? He hoped not. It seemed to him that a postponement amounted to a declaration to the people of America that there was much cause for suspicion, and that additional evidences were wanted to substantiate it.

Mr. NICHOLAS replied to Mr. M., and contended that the whole truth of the case was to come out of the additional testimony now asked for.

An adjournment was then called for, and negatived--yeas 30.

Mr. RANDOLPH spoke in favor of the resolution, and in answer to Mr. MARSHALL.

The question was then taken that the House do agree to the motion first proposed, and passed in the negative--yeas 44, nays 57.

And then the House adjourned.

FRIDAY, February 28.

Mr. HARPER moved a postponement of the order of the day on the business of Jonathan Robbins, until Monday. He did not conceive much progress would be made this day, and as there was much private business on hand it could not be gone through with. If the business be taken up on Monday it can be regularly gone through with without intermission.

The motion was agreed to.

MONDAY, March 3.

Lake Superior Lands.

Mr. COOPER observed that a navy was considered an object of great importance, as was also our extended commerce, and neither of these could be carried on to any profit without a very liberal use of copper. That article could not be purchased at present at less than half a dollar a pound, but by attention to an object which was within our own power it might be had at a very low price. From these considerations he laid on the table the following resolution:

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to bring in a bill authorizing the President of the United States to appoint an agent to purchase of the Indians that tract of land on the south side of Lake Superior, which shall include the great copper bed.

Mr. C. said, as this invaluable copper mine was well known by individuals, it no doubt would soon become an object of speculation, but wishing to make it of public utility, as it must become if purchased, he hoped the proposition would be adopted.

Jonathan Robbins.

The House then resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the Message of the President respecting Jonathan Robbins, when Mr. LIVINGSTON spoke about three hours in support of the resolutions he some time since submitted to the House on that subject.

Mr. BAYARD was proceeding to follow Mr. L. when a member moved the committee to rise and ask leave to sit again. Mr. B. objected: he said he was prepared to proceed if the House would have patience at that late hour to hear him. Several members expressed a desire that he might proceed, which he was doing, when the SPEAKER hoped the gentleman would give way to a motion for the committee to rise; he had no doubt of his friend being prepared for the discussion, but from the length the answer must necessarily take, the House certainly would be fatigued much before he would conclude. The motion was made and carried.

During Mr. LIVINGSTON'S observations he introduced a copy of the record of the Circuit Court in New Jersey, where three men were tried and acquitted on the charge of piracy, and one of them for murder, on board of the same frigate and at the same time. This record, on motion of Mr. RUTLEDGE, was ordered to be printed.

Mr. NICHOLAS, not being able to account to his satisfaction for the obvious change of conduct in our Executive in this recited instance and the one now under the consideration of the House (though precisely the same in facts) any other way than by supposing that a correspondence on the subject had occurred between the Executive of the United States and the British Government; though he expressed himself to be extremely unwilling, yet he thought it his duty to move that the President be requested to furnish it to the House.

An adjournment was immediately called and carried.

WEDNESDAY, March 5.

The House then resolved itself into a committee on the Message, when Mr. BAYARD proceeded, in answer to Mr. LIVINGSTON, in which he spoke about three hours.[50] The committee then rose, and obtained leave to sit again.

THURSDAY, March 6.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate had passed the bill, entitled "An act declaring the assent of Congress to certain acts of the States of Maryland and Georgia," with an amendment; to which they desire the concurrence of this House.

Jonathan Robbins.

The House went into Committee of the Whole on the Message of the PRESIDENT, in the case of Jonathan Robbins, when Mr. NICHOLAS spoke about three hours[51] in favor of the resolutions introduced by Mr. LIVINGSTON, which were negatived--yeas 34, nays 58.

Some discussion then took place on taking up the resolution presented by Mr. BAYARD, which was also with the Committee of the whole House. The committee at length rose without entering upon it, and reported their disagreement to the resolutions proposed by Mr. LIVINGSTON; and the question whether the committee should have leave to sit again was taken by yeas and nays, and carried--yeas 59, nays 38.

The question was then before the House to agree to the report of the committee in their disagreement with the resolutions.

Mr. GALLATIN rose, and entered generally into the argument, in a speech of about two hours, after which the House adjourned.[52]

FRIDAY, March 7.

Jonathan Robbins.

The House took up the unfinished business of yesterday, and the question, Will the House agree with the Committee of the Whole in their disagreement to Mr. LIVINGSTON'S resolutions? being under consideration,

Mr. MARSHALL said, that believing, as he did most seriously, that in a Government constituted like that of the United States, much of the public happiness depended, not only on its being rightly administered, but on the measures of Administration being rightly understood--on rescuing public opinion from those numerous prejudices with which so many causes might combine to surround it, he could not but have been highly gratified with the very eloquent, and what was still more valuable, the very able and very correct argument which had been delivered by the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. BAYARD) against the resolutions now under consideration. He had not expected that the effect of this argument would be universal; but he had cherished the hope, and in this he had not been disappointed, that it would be very extensive. He did not flatter himself with being able to shed much new light on the subject; but, as the argument in opposition to the resolutions had been assailed with considerable ability by gentlemen of great talents, he trusted the House would not think the time misapplied which would be devoted to the re-establishment of the principles contained in that argument, and to the refutation of those advanced in opposition to it. In endeavoring to do this, he should notice the observations in support of the resolutions, not in the precise order in which they were made; but as they applied to the different points he deemed it necessary to maintain, in order to demonstrate, that the conduct of the Executive of the United States could not justly be charged with the errors imputed to it by the resolutions.

His first proposition, he said, was that the case of Thomas Nash, as stated to the President, was completely within the 27th article of the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, entered into between the United States of America and Great Britain.

He read the article, and then observed: The casus foederis of this article occurs, when a person, having committed murder or forgery within the jurisdiction of one of the contracting parties, and having sought an asylum in the country of the other, is charged with the crime, and his delivery demanded, on such proof of his guilt as, according to the laws of the place where he shall be found, would justify his apprehension and commitment for trial, if the offence had there been committed.

The case stated is, that Thomas Nash, having committed murder on board of a British frigate, navigating the high seas under a commission from His Britannic Majesty, had sought an asylum within the United States; on this case his delivery was demanded by the Minister of the King of Great Britain.

It is manifest that the case stated, if supported by proof, is within the letter of the article, provided a murder committed in a British frigate, on the high seas, be committed within the jurisdiction of that nation. That such a murder is within their jurisdiction, has been fully shown by the gentleman from Delaware. The principle is, that the jurisdiction of a nation extends to the whole of its territory, and to its own citizens in every part of the world. The laws of a nation are rightfully obligatory on its own citizens in every situation where those laws are really extended to them. This principle is founded on the nature of civil union. It is supported every where by public opinion, and is recognized by writers on the laws of nations. Rutherforth, in his second volume, page 180, says: "The jurisdiction which a civil society has over the persons of its members, affects them immediately, whether they are within its territories or not."

This general principle is especially true, and is particularly recognized, with respect to the fleets of a nation on the high seas. To punish offences committed in its fleets, is the practice of every nation in the universe; and consequently the opinion of the world is, that a fleet at sea is within the jurisdiction of the nation to which it belongs. Rutherforth, vol. ii. p. 491, says: "there can be no doubt about the jurisdiction of a nation over the persons which compose its fleets, when they are out at sea, whether they are sailing upon it or are stationed in any particular part of it."

The gentleman from Pennsylvania, (Mr. GALLATIN,) though he has not directly controverted this doctrine, has sought to weaken it by observing that the jurisdiction of a nation at sea could not be complete even in its own vessels; and in support of this position he urged the admitted practice of submitting to search for contraband--a practice not tolerated on land, within the territory of a neutral power. The rule is as stated; but is founded on a principle which does not affect the jurisdiction of a nation over its citizens or subjects in its ships. The principle is, that in the sea itself no nation has any jurisdiction. All may equally exercise their rights, and consequently the right of a belligerent power to prevent aid being given to his enemy, is not restrained by any superior right of a neutral in the place. But, if this argument possessed any force, it would not apply to national ships-of-war, since the usage of nations does not permit them to be searched.

According to the practice of the world, then, and the opinions of writers on the law of nations, the murder committed on board the British frigate navigating the high seas, was a murder committed within the jurisdiction of the British nation.

Although such a murder is plainly within the letter of the article, it has been contended not to be within its just construction; because at sea all nations have a common jurisdiction, and the article correctly construed, will not embrace a case of concurrent jurisdiction.

It is deemed unnecessary to controvert this construction, because the proposition, that the United States had no jurisdiction over the murder committed by Thomas Nash, is believed to be completely demonstrable.

It is not true that all nations have jurisdiction over all offences committed at sea. On the contrary, no nation has any jurisdiction at sea, but over its own citizens or vessels, or offences against itself. This principle is laid down in 2 Ruth. 488, 491.

The American Government has, on a very solemn occasion, avowed the same principle. The first Minister of the French Republic asserted and exercised powers of so extraordinary a nature, as unavoidably to produce a controversy with the United States. The situation in which the Government then found itself was such as necessarily to occasion a very serious and mature consideration of the opinions it should adopt. Of consequence, the opinions then declared deserve great respect. In the case alluded to, Mr. Genet had asserted the right of fitting out privateers in the American ports, and of manning them with American citizens, in order to cruise against nations with whom America was at peace. In reasoning against this extravagant claim, the then Secretary of State, in his letter of the 17th of June, 1793, says:

"For our citizens then to commit murders and depredations on the members of nations at peace with us, or to combine to do it, appeared to the Executive, and to those whom they consulted, as much against the laws of the land as to murder or rob, or combine to murder or rob its own citizens; and as much to require punishment, if done within their limits, where they have a territorial jurisdiction, or on the high seas, where they have a personal jurisdiction, that is to say, one which reaches their own citizens only; this being an appropriate part of each nation, on an element where all have a common jurisdiction."

The well considered opinion, then, of the American Government on this subject is, that the jurisdiction of a nation at sea is "personal," reaching its "own citizens only;" and that this is the "appropriate part of each nation" on that element.

This is precisely the opinion maintained by the opposers of the resolutions. If the jurisdiction of America at sea be personal, reaching its own citizens only; if this be its appropriate part, then the jurisdiction of the nation cannot extend to a murder committed by a British sailor, on board a British frigate navigating the high seas under a commission from His Britannic Majesty.

As a further illustration of the principle contended for, suppose a contract made at sea, and a suit instituted for the recovery of money which might be due thereon. By the laws of what nation would the contract be governed? The principle is general that a personal contract follows the person, but is governed by the law of the place where it is formed. By what law then would such a contract be governed? If all nations had jurisdiction over the place, then the laws of all nations would equally influence the contract; but certainly no man will hesitate to admit that such a contract ought to be decided according to the laws of that nation to which the vessel or contracting parties might belong.

Suppose a duel, attended with death, in the fleet of a foreign nation, or in any vessel which returned safe to port, could it be pretended that any government on earth, other than that to which the fleet or vessel belonged, had jurisdiction in the case; or that the offender could be tried by the laws or tribunals of any other nation whatever?

Suppose a private theft by one mariner, from another, and the vessel to perform its voyage and return in safety, would it be contended that all nations have equal cognizance of the crime, and are equally authorized to punish it?

If there be this common jurisdiction at sea, why not punish desertion from one belligerent power to another, or correspondence with the enemy, or any other crime which may be perpetrated? A common jurisdiction over all offences at sea, in whatever vessel committed, would involve the power of punishing the offences which have been stated. Yet all gentlemen will disclaim this power. It follows, then, that no such common jurisdiction exists.

In truth the right of every nation to punish is limited, in its nature, to offences against the nation inflicting the punishment. This principle is believed to be universally true. It comprehends every possible violation of its laws on its own territory, and it extends to violations committed elsewhere by persons it has a right to bind. It extends also to general piracy.

A pirate, under the law of nations, is an enemy of the human race. Being the enemy of all, he is liable to be punished by all. Any act which denotes this universal hostility, is an act of piracy.

Not only an actual robbery, therefore, but cruising on the high seas without commission, and with intent to rob, is piracy. This is an offence against all and every nation, and is therefore alike punishable by all. But an offence which in its nature affects only a particular nation, is only punishable by that nation.

It is by confounding general piracy with piracy by statute, that indistinct ideas have been produced, respecting the power to punish offences committed on the high seas.

A statute may make any offence piracy, committed within the jurisdiction of the nation passing the statute, and such offence will be punishable by that nation. But piracy under the law of nations, which alone is punishable by all nations, can only consist in an act which is an offence against all. No particular nation can increase or diminish the list of offences thus punishable.

It has been observed by his colleague, (Mr. NICHOLAS,) for the purpose of showing that the distinction taken on this subject by the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. BAYARD) was inaccurate, that any vessel robbed on the high seas could be the property only of a single nation, and being only an offence against that nation, could be, on the principle taken by the opposers of the resolutions, no offence against the law of nations; but in this his colleague had not accurately considered the principle. As a man who turns out to rob on the highway, and forces from a stranger his purse with a pistol at his bosom, is not the particular enemy of that stranger, but alike the enemy of every man who carries a purse, so those who without a commission rob on the high seas, manifest a temper hostile to all nations, and therefore become the enemies of all. The same inducements which occasion the robbery of one vessel, exist to occasion the robbery of others, and therefore the single offence is an offence against the whole community of nations, manifests a temper hostile to all, is the commencement of an attack on all, and is consequently, of right, punishable by all.

His colleague had also contended that all the offences at sea, punishable by the British statutes from which the act of Congress was in a great degree copied, were piracies at common law, or by the law of nations, and as murder is among these, consequently murder was an act of piracy by the law of nations, and therefore punishable by every nation. In support of this position he had cited 1 Hawk. P. C. 267. 271-3, Inst. 112, and 1 Woodeson, 140.

The amount of these cases is, that no new offence is made piracy by the statutes; but that a different tribunal is created for their trial, which is guided by a different rule from that which governed previous to those statutes. Therefore, on an indictment for piracy, it is still necessary to prove an offence which was piracy before the statutes. He drew from these authorities a very different conclusion from that which had been drawn by his colleague. To show the correctness of his conclusion, it was necessary to observe, that the statute did not indeed change the nature of piracy, since it only transferred the trial of the crime to a different tribunal, where different rules of decision prevailed; but having done this, other crimes committed on the high seas, which were not piracy, were made punishable by the same tribunal; but certainly this municipal regulation could not be considered as proving that those offences were, before, piracy by the law of nations. [Mr. NICHOLAS insisted that the law was not correctly stated, whereupon Mr. MARSHALL called for 3 Inst. and read the statute:]

"All treasons, felonies, robberies, murders, and confederacies, committed in or upon the seas, &c., shall be inquired, tried, heard, determined and judged in such shires, &c., in like form and condition as if any such offence had been committed on the land," &c. "And such as shall be convicted, &c., shall have and suffer such pains of death, &c., as if they had been attainted of any treason, felony, robbery, or other the said offences done upon the land."

This statute, it is certain, does not change the nature of piracy; but all treasons, felonies, robberies, murders, and confederacies, committed in or upon the sea, are not declared to have been, nor are they piracies. If a man be indicted as a pirate, the offence must be shown to have been piracy before the statute; but if he be indicted for treason, felony, robbery, murder, or confederacy, committed at sea, whether such offence was or was not a piracy, he shall be punished in like manner as if he had committed the same offence on land. The passage cited from 1 Woodeson, 140, is a full authority to this point. Having stated that offences committed at sea were formerly triable before the Lord High Admiral, according to the course of the Roman civil law, Woodeson says:

"But, by the statutes 27 H. 8. c. 4, and 28 H. 8. c. 15, all treasons, felonies, piracies, and other crimes committed on the sea, or where the admiral has jurisdiction, shall be tried in the realm as if done on land. But the statutes referred to affect only the manner of the trial as far as respects piracy. The nature of the offence is not changed. Whether a charge amount to piracy or not, must still depend on the law of nations, except where, in the case of British subjects, express acts of Parliament have declared that the crimes therein specified shall be adjudged piracy, or shall be liable to the same mode of trial and degree of punishment."

This passage proves not only that all offences at sea are not piracies by the law of nations, but also that all indictments for piracy must depend on the law of nations, "except where, in the case of British subjects, express acts of Parliament" have changed the law. Why do not these "express acts of Parliament" change the law as to others than "British subjects?" The words are general, "all treasons, felonies, &c." Why are they confined in construction to British subjects? The answer is a plain one: The jurisdiction of the nation is confined to its territory and to its own subjects.

The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. GALLATIN) abandons, and very properly abandons, this untenable ground. He admits that no nation has a right to punish offences against another nation, and that the United States can only punish offences against their own laws and the law of nations. He admits, too, that if there had only been a mutiny (and consequently if there had only been a murder) on board the Hermione, that the American courts could have taken no cognizance of the crime. Yet mutiny is punishable as piracy by the law of both nations. That gentleman contends that the act committed by Nash was piracy, according to the law of nations. He supports his position by insisting that the offence may be constituted by the commission of a single act: that unauthorized robbery on the high seas is this act, and that the crew having seized the vessel, and being out of the protection of any nation, were pirates.

It is true that the offence may be completed by a single act; but it depends on the nature of that act. If it be such as manifests generally hostility against the world--an intention to rob generally, then it is piracy; but if it be merely a mutiny and murder in a vessel, for the purpose of delivering it up to the enemy, it seems to be an offence against a single nation and not to be piracy. The sole object of the crew might be to go over to the enemy, or to free themselves from the tyranny experienced on board a ship-of-war, and not to rob generally.

But, should it even be true that running away with a vessel to deliver her up to an enemy was an act of general piracy, punishable by all nations, yet the mutiny and murder was a distinct offence. Had the attempt to seize the vessel failed, after the commission of the murder, then, according to the argument of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, the American courts could have taken no cognizance of the crime. Whatever then might have been the law respecting the piracy, of the murder there was no jurisdiction. For the murder, not the piracy, Nash was delivered up. Murder, and not piracy, is comprehended in the 27th article of the treaty between the two nations. Had he been tried then and acquitted on an indictment for the piracy, he must still have been delivered up for the murder, of which the court could have no jurisdiction. It is certain that an acquittal of the piracy would not have discharged the murder; and, therefore, in the so much relied on trials at Trenton, a separate indictment for murder was filed after an indictment for piracy. Since, then, if acquitted for piracy, he must have been delivered to the British Government on the charge of murder, the President of the United States might, very properly, without prosecuting for the piracy, direct him to be delivered up on the murder.

All the gentlemen who have spoken in support of the resolutions, have contended that the case of Thomas Nash is within the purview of the act of Congress, which relates to this subject, and is by that act made punishable in the American courts. That is, that the act of Congress designed to punish crimes committed on board a British frigate. Nothing can be more completely demonstrable than the untruth of this proposition.

It has already been shown that the legislative jurisdiction of a nation extends only to its own territory, and to its own citizens, wherever they may be. Any general expression in a legislative act must, necessarily, be restrained to objects within the jurisdiction of the Legislature passing the act. Of consequence an act of Congress can only be construed to apply to the territory of the United States, comprehending every person within it, and to the citizens of the United States.

But, independent of this undeniable truth, the act itself affords complete testimony of its intention and extent. (See Laws of the United States, vol. i. p. 10.) The title is: "An act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States." Not against Britain, France, or the world, but singly "against the United States."

The first section relates to treason, and its objects are, "any person or persons owing allegiance to the United States." This description comprehends only the citizens of the United States, and such others as may be on its territory or in its service.

The second section relates to misprision of treason; and declares, without limitation, that any person or persons, having knowledge of any treason, and not communicating the same, shall be guilty of that crime. Here then is an instance of that limited description of persons in one section, and of that general description in another, which has been relied on to support the construction contended for by the friends of the resolutions. But will it be pretended that a person can commit misprision of treason who cannot commit treason itself? That he would be punishable for concealing a treason who could not be punished for plotting it? Or, can it be supposed that the act designed to punish an Englishman or a Frenchman, who, residing in his own country, should have knowledge of treasons against the United States, and should not cross the Atlantic to reveal them?

The same observations apply to the sixth section, which makes any "person or persons" guilty of misprision of felony, who, having knowledge of murder or other offences enumerated in that section, should conceal them. It is impossible to apply this to a foreigner, in a foreign land, or to any person not owing allegiance to the United States.

The eighth section, which is supposed to comprehend the case, after declaring that if any "person or persons" shall commit murder on the high seas, he shall be punishable with death, proceeds to say, that if any captain or mariner shall piratically run away with a ship or vessel, or yield her up voluntarily to a pirate, or if any seaman shall lay violent hands on his commander, to prevent his fighting, or shall make a revolt in the ship, every such offender shall be adjudged a pirate and a felon.

The persons who are the objects of this section of the act are all described in general terms, which might embrace the subjects of all nations. But is it to be supposed that, if in an engagement between an English and a French ship-of-war, the crew of the one or the other should lay violent hands on the captain and force him to strike, that this would be an offence against the act of Congress, punishable in the courts of the United States? On this extended construction of the general terms of the section, not only the crew of one of the foreign vessels forcing their captain to surrender to another, would incur the penalties of the act, but, if in the late action between the gallant Truxton and the French frigate, the crew of that frigate had compelled the captain to surrender, while he was unwilling to do so, they would have been indictable as felons in the courts of the United States. But surely the act of Congress admits of no such extravagant construction.

His colleague, Mr. M. said, had cited and particularly relied on the ninth section of the act; that section declares, that if a citizen shall commit any of the enumerated piracies, or any acts of hostility, on the high seas, against the United States, under color of a commission from any foreign Prince or State, he shall be adjudged a pirate, felon, and robber, and shall suffer death.

This section is only a positive extension of the act to a case which might otherwise have escaped punishment. It takes away the protection of a foreign commission from an American citizen, who, on the high seas, robs his countrymen. This is no exception from any preceding part of the law, because there is no part which relates to the conduct of vessels commissioned by a foreign power; it only proves that, in the opinion of the Legislature, the penalties of the act could not, without this express provision, have been incurred by a citizen holding a foreign commission.

It is most certain, then, that the act of Congress does not comprehend the case of a murder committed on board a foreign ship-of-war.

The gentleman from New York has cited 2 Woodeson, 428, to show that the courts of England extend their jurisdiction to piracies committed by the subjects of foreign nations.

This has not been doubted. The case from Woodeson is a case of robberies committed on the high seas by a vessel without authority. There are ordinary acts of piracy which, as has been already stated, being offences against all nations, are punishable by all. The case from 2 Woodeson, and the note cited from the same book by the gentleman from Delaware, are strong authorities against the doctrines contended for by the friends of the resolutions.

It has also been contended that the question of jurisdiction was decided at Trenton, by receiving indictments against persons there arraigned for the same offence, and by retaining them for trial after the return of the habeas corpus.

Every person in the slightest degree acquainted with judicial proceedings, knows that an indictment is no evidence of jurisdiction; and that, in criminal cases, the question of jurisdiction will seldom be made but by arrest of judgment after conviction.

The proceedings, after the return of the habeas corpus, only prove that the case was not such a case as to induce the Judge immediately to decide against his jurisdiction. The question was not free from doubt, and, therefore, might very properly be postponed until its decision should become necessary.

It has been argued by the gentleman from New York, that the form of the indictment is, itself, evidence of a power in the court to try the case. Every word of that indictment, said the gentleman, gives the lie to a denial of the jurisdiction of the court.

It would be assuming a very extraordinary principle, indeed, to say that words inserted in an indictment for the express purpose of assuming the jurisdiction of a court, should be admitted to prove that jurisdiction. The question certainly depended on the nature of the fact, and not on the description of the fact. But as an indictment must necessarily contain formal words in order to be supported, and as forms often denote what a case must substantially be to authorize a court to take cognizance of it, some words in the indictments at Trenton ought to be noticed. The indictments charge the persons to have been within the peace, and murder to have been committed against the peace, of the United States. These are necessary averments, and, to give the court jurisdiction, the fact ought to have accorded with them. But who will say that the crew of a British frigate on the high seas, are within the peace of the United States? or a murder committed on board such a frigate, against the peace of any other than the British Government?

It is, then, demonstrated that the murder with which Thomas Nash was charged, was not committed within the jurisdiction of the United States, and, consequently, that the case stated was completely within the letter and the spirit of the twenty-seventh article of the treaty between the two nations. If the necessary evidence was produced, he ought to have been delivered up to justice. It was an act to which the American nation was bound by a most solemn compact. To have tried him for the murder would have been mere mockery. To have condemned and executed him, the court having no jurisdiction, would have been murder. To have acquitted and discharged him would have been a breach of faith, and a violation of national duty.

But it has been contended that, although Thomas Nash ought to have been delivered up to the British Minister, on the requisition made by him in the name of his Government, yet, the interference of the President was improper.

This, Mr. M. said, led to his second proposition, which was:

That the case was a case for Executive and not Judicial decision. He admitted implicitly the division of powers, stated by the gentleman from New York, and that it was the duty of each department to resist the encroachments of the others.

This being established, the inquiry was, to what department was the power in question allotted?

The gentleman from New York had relied on the second section of the third article of the constitution, which enumerates the cases to which the Judicial power of the United States extends, as expressly including that now under consideration. Before he examined that section, it would not be improper to notice a very material misstatement of it made in the resolutions, offered by the gentleman from New York. By the constitution, the Judicial power of the United States is extended to all cases in law and equity, arising under the constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States; but the resolutions declare that Judicial power to extend to all questions arising under the constitution, treaties, and laws of the United States. The difference between the constitution and resolutions was material and apparent. A case in law or equity was a term well understood, and of limited signification. It was a controversy between parties which had taken a shape for judicial decision. If the Judicial power extended to every question under the constitution, it would involve almost every subject proper for Legislative discussion and decision; if, to every question under the laws and treaties of the United States, it would involve almost every subject on which the Executive could act. The division of power which the gentleman had stated, could exist no longer, and the other departments would be swallowed up by the Judiciary. But it was apparent that the resolutions had essentially misrepresented the constitution. He did not charge the gentleman from New York with intentional misrepresentation; he would not attribute to him such an artifice in any case, much less in a case where detection was so easy and so certain. Yet this substantial departure from the constitution, in resolutions affecting substantially to unite it, was not less worthy of remark for being unintentional. It manifested the course of reasoning by which the gentleman had himself been misled, and his judgment betrayed into the opinions those resolutions expressed. By extending the Judicial power to all cases in law and equity, the constitution had never been understood to confer on that department any political power whatever. To come within this description, a question must assume a legal form for forensic litigation and judicial decision. There must be parties to come into court, who can be reached by its process, and bound by its power; whose rights admit of ultimate decision by a tribunal to which they are bound to submit.

A case in law or equity proper for judicial decision may arise under a treaty, where the rights of individuals acquired or secured by a treaty are to be asserted or defended in court. As under the fourth or sixth article of the treaty of peace with Great Britain, or under those articles of our late treaties with France, Prussia, and other nations, which secure to the subjects of those nations their property within the United States; or, as would be an article, which, instead of stipulating to deliver up an offender, should stipulate his punishment, provided the case was punishable by the laws and in the courts of the United States. But the Judicial power cannot extend to political compacts; as the establishment of the boundary line between the American and British dominions; the case of the late guarantee in our treaty with France, or the case of the delivery of a murderer under the twenty-seventh article of our present treaty with Britain.

The gentleman from New York has asked, triumphantly asked, what power exists in our courts to deliver up an individual to a foreign Government? Permit me, said Mr. M., but not triumphantly, to retort the question. By what authority can any court render such a judgment? What power does a court possess to seize any individual and determine that he shall be adjudged by a foreign tribunal? Surely our courts possess no such power, yet they must possess it, if this article of the treaty is to be executed by the courts.

Gentlemen have cited and relied on that clause in the constitution, which enables Congress to define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations; together with an act of Congress declaring the punishment of those offences; as transferring the whole subject to the courts. But that clause can never be construed to make to the Government a grant of power, which the people making it do not themselves possess. It has already been shown that the people of the United States have no jurisdiction over offences committed on board a foreign ship against a foreign nation. Of consequence, in framing a Government for themselves, they cannot have passed this jurisdiction to that Government. The law, therefore, cannot act upon the case. But this clause of the constitution cannot be considered, and need not be considered, as affecting acts which are piracy under the law of nations. As the judicial power of the United States extends to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, and piracy under the law of nations is of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, punishable by every nation, the judicial power of the United States of course extends to it. On this principle the Courts of Admiralty under the Confederation took cognizance of piracy, although there was no express power in Congress to define and punish the offence.

But the extension of the judicial power of the United States to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction must necessarily be understood with some limitation. All cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction which, from their nature, are triable in the United States, are submitted to the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States.

There are cases of piracy by the law of nations, and cases within the legislative jurisdiction of the nation; the people of America possessed no other power over the subject, and could consequently transfer no other to their courts; and it has already been proved that a murder committed on board a foreign ship-of-war is not comprehended within this description.

The Consular Convention with France, has also been relied on, as proving the act of delivering up an individual to a foreign power to be in its nature Judicial and not Executive.

The ninth article of that Convention authorizes the Consuls and Vice Consuls of either nation to cause to be arrested all deserters from their vessel, "for which purpose the said Consuls and Vice Consuls shall address themselves to the courts, judges, and officers competent."

This article of the Convention does not, like the 27th article of the treaty with Britain, stipulate a national act, to be performed on the demand of a nation; it only authorizes a foreign Minister to cause an act to be done, and prescribes the course he is to pursue. The contract itself is, that the act shall be performed by the agency of the foreign Consul, through the medium of the courts; but this affords no evidence that a contract of a very different nature is to be performed in the same manner.

It is said that the then President of the United States declared the incompetency of the courts, judges, and officers, to execute this contract without an act of the Legislature. But the then President made no such declaration.

He has said that some legislative provision is requisite to carry the stipulations of the Convention into full effect. This, however, is by no means declaring the incompetency of a department to perform an act stipulated by treaty, until the legislative authority shall direct its performance.

It has been contended that the conduct of the Executive on former occasions, similar to this in principle, has been such as to evince an opinion, even in that department, that the case in question is proper for the decision of the courts.

The fact adduced to support this argument is the determination of the late President on the case of prizes made within the jurisdiction of the United States, or by privateers fitted out in their ports.

The nation was bound to deliver up those prizes in like manner as the nation is now bound to deliver up an individual demanded under the 27th article of the treaty with Britain. The duty was the same, and devolved on the same department.

In quoting the decision of the Executive on that case, the gentleman from New York has taken occasion to bestow a high encomium on the late President; and to consider his conduct as furnishing an example worthy the imitation of his successor. It must be the cause of much delight to the real friends of that great man; to those who supported his Administration while in office from a conviction of its wisdom and its virtue, to hear the unqualified praise which is now bestowed on it by those who had been supposed to possess different opinions. If the measure now under consideration shall be found, on examination, to be the same in principle with that which has been cited, by its opponents, as a fit precedent for it, then may the friends of the gentleman now in office indulge the hope, that when he, like his predecessor, shall be no more, his conduct too may be quoted as an example for the government of his successors.

The evidence relied on to prove the opinion of the then Executive on the case, consists of two letters from the Secretary of State, the one of the 29th of June, 1793, to Mr. Genet, and the other of the 16th of August, 1793, to Mr. Morris.

In the letter to Mr. Genet, the Secretary says, that the claimant having filed his libel against the ship William, in the Court of Admiralty, there was no power which could take the vessel out of court until it had decided against its own jurisdiction; that having so decided, the complaint is lodged with the Executive, and he asks for evidence, to enable that department to consider and decide finally on the subject.

It will be difficult to find in this letter an Executive opinion, that the case was not a case for Executive decision. The contrary is clearly avowed. It is true, that when an individual, claiming the property as his, had asserted that claim in court, the Executive acknowledges in itself a want of power to dismiss or decide upon the claim thus pending in court. But this argues no opinion of a want of power in itself to decide upon the case, if, instead of being carried before a court as an individual claim, it is brought before the Executive as a national demand. A private suit instituted by an individual, asserting his claim to property, can only be controlled by that individual. The Executive can give no direction concerning it. But a public prosecution carried on in the name of the United States can, without impropriety, be dismissed at the will of the Government. The opinion, therefore, given in this letter, is unquestionably correct; but it is certainly misunderstood, when it is considered as being an opinion that the question was not in its nature a question for Executive decision.

In the letter to Mr. Morris, the Secretary asserts the principle, that vessels taken within our jurisdiction ought to be restored, but says, it is yet unsettled whether the act of restoration is to be performed by the Executive or Judicial Department. The principle, then, according to this letter, is not submitted to the court--whether a vessel captured within a given distance of the American coast, was or was not captured within the jurisdiction of the United States, was a question not to be determined by the courts, but by the Executive. The doubt expressed is not what tribunal shall settle the principle, but what tribunal shall settle the fact. In this respect, a doubt might exist in the case of prizes, which could not exist in the case of a man. Individuals on each side claimed the property, and therefore their rights could be brought into court, and there contested as a case in law or equity. The demand of a man made by a nation stands on different principles.

Having noticed the particular letters cited by the gentleman from New York, permit me now, said Mr. M., to ask the attention of the House to the whole course of Executive conduct on this interesting subject.

It is first mentioned in a letter from the Secretary of State to Mr. Genet, of the 25th of June, 1793. In that letter, the Secretary states a consultation between himself and the Secretaries of the Treasury and War, (the President being absent,) in which (so well were they assured of the President's way of thinking in those cases) it was determined that the vessels should be detained in the custody of the Consuls, in the ports, until the Government of the United States shall be able to inquire into and decide on the fact.

In his letter of the 12th of July, 1793, the Secretary writes, the President has determined to refer the questions concerning prizes "to persons learned in the laws," and he requests that certain vessels enumerated in the letter should not depart "until his ultimate determination shall be made known."

In his letter of the 7th of August, 1793, the Secretary informs Mr. Genet that the President considers the United States as bound "to effectuate the restoration of, or to make compensation for, prizes which shall have been made of any of the parties at war with France, subsequent to the 5th day of June last, by privateers fitted out of our ports." That it is consequently expected that Mr. Genet will cause restitution of such prizes to be made, and that the United States "will cause restitution" to be made "of all such prizes as shall be hereafter brought within their ports by any of the said privateers."

In his letter of the 10th of November, 1793, the Secretary informs Mr. Genet, that for the purpose of obtaining testimony to ascertain the fact of capture within the jurisdiction of the United States, the Governors of the several States were requested, on receiving any such claim, immediately to notify thereof the Attorneys of their several districts, whose duty it would be to give notice "to the principal agent of both parties, and also to the Consuls of the nations interested; and to recommend to them to appoint by mutual consent arbiters to decide whether the capture was made within the jurisdiction of the United States, as stated in my letter of the 8th inst., according to whose award the Governor may proceed to deliver the vessel to the one or the other party." "If either party refuse to name arbiters, then the Attorney is to take depositions on notice, which he is to transmit for the information and decision of the President." "This prompt procedure is the more to be insisted on, as it will enable the President, by an immediate delivery of the vessel and cargo to the party having title, to prevent the injuries consequent on long delay."

In his letter of the 22d of November, 1793, the Secretary repeats, in substance, his letter of the 12th of July and 7th of August, and says that the determination to deliver up certain vessels, involved the brig Jane, of Dublin, the brig Lovely Lass, and the brig Prince William Henry. He concludes with saying: "I have it in charge to inquire of you, sir, whether these three brigs have been given up according to the determination of the President, and if they have not, to repeat the requisition that they may be given up to their former owners."

Ultimately it was settled that the fact should be investigated in the courts, but the decision was regulated by the principles established by the Executive Department.

The decision, then, on the case of vessels captured within the American jurisdiction, by privateers fitted out of the American ports, which the gentleman from New York has cited with such merited approbation; which he has declared to stand on the same principles with those which ought to have governed the case of Thomas Nash; and which deserves the more respect, because the Government of the United States was then so circumstanced as to assure us that no opinion was lightly taken up, and no resolution formed but on mature consideration; this decision, quoted as a precedent and pronounced to be right, is found, on fair and full examination, to be precisely and unequivocally the same with that which was made in the case under consideration. It is a full authority to show that, in the opinion always held by the American Government, a case like that of Thomas Nash is a case for Executive and not Judicial decision.

The clause in the constitution which declares that "the trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury," has also been relied on as operating on the case, and transferring the decision on a demand for the delivery of an individual from the Executive to the Judicial Department.

But certainly this clause in the Constitution of the United States cannot be thought obligatory on, and for the benefit of, the whole world. It is not designed to secure the rights of the people of Europe and Asia, or to direct and control proceedings against criminals throughout the universe. It can then be designed only to guide the proceedings of our own courts, and to prescribe the mode of punishing offences committed against the Government of the United States, and to which the jurisdiction of the nation may rightfully extend.

It has already been shown that the courts of the United States were incapable of trying the crime for which Thomas Nash was delivered up to justice. The question to be determined was, not how his crime should be tried and punished, but whether he should be delivered up to a foreign tribunal, which was alone capable of trying and punishing him. A provision for the trial of crimes in the courts of the United States is clearly not a provision for the performance of a national compact for the surrender to a foreign Government of an offender against that Government.

The clause of the constitution declaring that the trial of all crimes shall be by jury, has never even been construed to extend to the trial of crimes committed in the land and naval forces of the United States. Had such a construction prevailed, it would most probably have prostrated the constitution itself, with the liberties and the independence of the nation, before the first disciplined invader who should approach our shores. Necessity would have imperiously demanded the review and amendment of so unwise a provision. If, then, this clause does not extend to offences committed in the fleets and armies of the United States, how can it be construed to extend to offences committed in the fleets and armies of Britain or of France, or of the Ottoman or Russian Empires?

The same argument applies to the observations on the seventh article of the amendments to the constitution. That article relates only to trials in the courts of the United States, and not to the performance of a contract for the delivery of a murderer not triable in those courts.

In this part of the argument, the gentleman from New York has presented a dilemma, of a very wonderful structure indeed. He says that the offence of Thomas Nash was either a crime or not a crime. If it was a crime, the constitutional mode of punishment ought to have been observed; if it was not a crime, he ought not to have been delivered up to a foreign Government, where his punishment was inevitable.

It had escaped the observation of that gentleman, that if the murder committed by Thomas Nash was a crime, yet it was not a crime provided for by the constitution, or triable in the courts of the United States; and that if it was not a crime, yet it is the precise case in which his surrender was stipulated by treaty. Of this extraordinary dilemma, then, the gentleman from New York is, himself, perfectly at liberty to retain either horn. He has chosen to consider it as a crime, and says it has been made a crime by treaty, and is punished by sending the offender out of the country.

The gentleman is incorrect in every part of his statement. Murder on board a British frigate is not a crime created by treaty. It would have been a crime of precisely the same magnitude had the treaty never been formed. It is not punished by sending the offender out of the United States. The experience of this unfortunate criminal, who was hung and gibbeted, evinced to him that the punishment of his crime was of a much more serious nature than mere banishment from the United States.

The gentleman from Pennsylvania and the gentleman from Virginia have both contended that this was a case proper for the decision of the courts, because points of law occurred, and points of law must have been decided in its determination.

The points of law which must have been decided, are stated by the gentleman from Pennsylvania to be, first, a question whether the offence was committed within the British jurisdiction; and, secondly, whether the crime charged was comprehended within the treaty.

It is true, sir, these points of law must have occurred, and must have been decided; but it by no means follows that they could only have been decided in court. A variety of legal questions must present themselves in the performance of every part of Executive duty, but these questions are not therefore to be decided in court. Whether a patent for land shall issue or not is always a question of law, but not a question which must necessarily be carried into court. The gentleman from Pennsylvania seems to have permitted himself to have been misled by the misrepresentation of the constitution, made in the resolutions of the gentleman from New York; and, in consequence of being so misled, his observations have the appearance of endeavoring to fit the constitution to his arguments, instead of adapting his arguments to the constitution.

When the gentleman has proved that these are questions of law, and that they must have been decided by the President, he has not advanced a single step towards proving that they were improper for Executive decision. The question whether vessels captured within three miles of the American coast, or by privateers fitted out in the American ports, were legally captured or not, and whether the American Government was bound to restore them, if in its power, were questions of law; but they were questions of political law, proper to be decided, and they were decided by the Executive, and not by the courts.

The casus foederis of the guarantee was a question of law, but no man could have hazarded the opinion that such a question must be carried into court, and can only be there decided. So the casus foederis, under the twenty-seventh article of the treaty with Great Britain, is a question of law, but of political law. The question to be decided is, whether the particular case proposed be one in which the nation has bound itself to act, and this is a question depending on principles never submitted to courts.

If a murder should be committed within the United States, and the murderer should seek an asylum in Britain, the question whether the casus foederis of the twenty-seventh article had occurred, so that his delivery ought to be demanded, would be a question of law, but no man would say it was a question which ought to be decided in the courts.

When, therefore, the gentleman from Pennsylvania has established, that in delivering up Thomas Nash, points of law were decided by the President, he has established a position which in no degree whatever aids his argument.

The case was in its nature a national demand made upon the nation. The parties were the two nations. They cannot come into court to litigate their claims, nor can a court decide on them. Of consequence, the demand is not a case for judicial cognizance.

The President is the sole organ of the nation in its external relations, and its sole representative with foreign nations. Of consequence, the demand of a foreign nation can only be made on him.

He possesses the whole Executive power. He holds and directs the force of the nation. Of consequence, any act to be performed by the force of the nation is to be performed through him.

He is charged to execute the laws. A treaty is declared to be a law. He must then execute a treaty, where he, and he alone, possesses the means of executing it.

The treaty, which is a law, enjoins the performance of a particular object. The person who is to perform this object is marked out by the constitution, since the person is named who conducts the foreign intercourse, and is to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. The means by which it is to be performed, the force of the nation, are in the hands of this person. Ought not this person to perform the object, although the particular mode of using the means has not been prescribed? Congress, unquestionably, may prescribe the mode, and Congress may devolve on others the whole execution of the contract; but, till this be done, it seems the duty of the Executive Department to execute the contract by any means it possesses.

The gentleman from Pennsylvania contends that, although this should be properly an Executive duty, yet it cannot be performed until Congress shall direct the mode of performance. He says that, although the jurisdiction of the courts is extended by the constitution to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, yet if the courts had been created without any express assignment of jurisdiction, they could not have taken cognizance of cases expressly allotted to them by the constitution. The Executive, he says, can, no more than courts, supply a legislative omission.

It is not admitted that, in the case stated, courts could not have taken jurisdiction. The contrary is believed to have been the correct opinion. And although the Executive cannot supply a total Legislative omission, yet it is not admitted or believed that there is such a total omission in this case.

The treaty, stipulating that a murderer shall be delivered up to justice, is as obligatory as an act of Congress making the same declaration. If, then, there was an act of Congress in the words of the treaty, declaring that a person who had committed murder within the jurisdiction of Britain, and sought an asylum within the territory of the United States, should be delivered up by the United States, on the demand of His Britannic Majesty, and such evidence of his criminality, as would have justified his commitment for trial, had the offence been here committed; could the President, who is bound to execute the laws, have justified the refusal to deliver up the criminal, by saying, that the Legislature had totally omitted to provide for the case.

The Executive is not only the constitutional department, but seems to be the proper department to which the power in question may most wisely and most safely be confided.

The department which is intrusted with the whole foreign intercourse of the nation, with the negotiation of all its treaties, with the power of demanding a reciprocal performance of the article, which is accountable to the nation for the violation of its engagements with foreign nations, and for the consequences resulting from such violation, seems the proper department to be intrusted with the execution of a national contract like that under consideration.

If, at any time, policy may temper the strict execution of the contract, where may that political discretion be placed so safely as in the department whose duty it is to understand precisely the state of the political intercourse and connection between the United States and foreign nations, to understand the manner in which the particular stipulation is explained and performed by foreign nations, and to understand completely the state of the Union?

This department, too, independent of judicial aid, which may, perhaps, in some instances, be called in, is furnished with a great law officer, whose duty it is to understand and to advise when the casus foederis occurs. And if the President should cause to be arrested under the treaty an individual who was so circumstanced as not to be properly the object of such an arrest, he may perhaps bring the question of the legality of his arrest before a judge, by a writ of habeas corpus.

It is then demonstrated, that, according to the principles of the American Government, the question whether the nation has or has not bound itself to deliver up any individual, charged with having committed murder or forgery within the jurisdiction of Britain, is a question the power to decide which rests alone with the Executive Department.

It remains to inquire whether, in exercising this power, and in performing the duty it enjoins, the President has committed an unauthorized and dangerous interference with judicial decisions.

That Thomas Nash was committed originally at the instance of the British Consul at Charleston, not for trial in the American courts, but for the purpose of being delivered up to justice in conformity with the treaty between the two nations, has been already so ably argued by the gentleman from Delaware, that nothing further can be added to that point. He would therefore, Mr. MARSHALL said, consider the case as if Nash had been delivered up instead of having been committed for trial. Admitting even this to have been the fact, the conclusions which have been drawn from it were by no means warranted.

Gentlemen had considered it as an offence against judicial authority, and a violation of judicial rights, to withdraw from their sentence a criminal against whom a prosecution had been commenced. They had treated the subject as if it was the privilege of courts to condemn to death the guilty wretch arraigned at their bar, and that to intercept the judgment was to violate the privilege. Nothing can be more incorrect than this view of the case. It is not the privilege, it is the sad duty of courts to administer criminal judgment. It is a duty to be performed at the demand of the nation, and with which the nation has a right to dispense. If judgment of death is to be pronounced, it must be at the prosecution of the nation, and the nation may at will stop that prosecution. In this respect the President expresses constitutionally the will of the nation; and may rightfully, as was done in the case at Trenton, enter a nolle prosequi, or direct that the criminal be prosecuted no farther. This is no interference with judicial decisions, nor any invasion of the province of a court. It is the exercise of an indubitable and a constitutional power. Had the President directed the Judge of Charleston to decide for or against his own jurisdiction, to condemn or acquit the prisoner, this would have been a dangerous interference with judicial decisions, and ought to have been resisted. But no such direction has been given, nor any such decision been required. If the President determined that Thomas Nash ought to have been delivered up to the British Government for a murder committed on board a British frigate, provided evidence of the fact was adduced, it was a question which duty obliged him to determine, and which he determined rightly. If, in consequence of this determination, he arrested the proceedings of a court on a national prosecution, he had a right to arrest and to stop them, and the exercise of this right was a necessary consequence of the determination of the principal question. In conforming to this decision, the court has left open the question of its jurisdiction. Should another prosecution of the same sort be commenced, which should not be suspended but continued by the Executive, the case of Thomas Nash would not bind as a precedent against the jurisdiction of the court. If it should even prove that, in the opinion of the Executive, a murder committed on board a foreign fleet was not within the jurisdiction of the court, it would prove nothing more; and though this opinion might rightfully induce the Executive to exercise his power over the prosecution, yet if the prosecution was continued, it would have no influence with the court in deciding on its jurisdiction.

Taking the fact, then, even to be as the gentlemen in support of the resolutions would state it, the fact cannot avail them.

It is to be remembered, too, that in the case stated to the President, the Judge himself appears to have considered it as proper for Executive decision, and to have wished that decision. The President and Judge seem to have entertained, on this subject, the same opinion, and in consequence of the opinion of the Judge, the application was made to the President.

It has then been demonstrated--

1st. That the case of Thomas Nash, as stated to the President, was completely within the twenty-seventh article of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain.

2d. That this question was proper for Executive, and not for Judicial decision; and,

3d. That in deciding it, the President is not chargeable with an interference with judicial decisions.

After trespassing so long, Mr. MARSHALL said, on the patience of the House, in arguing what had appeared to him to be the material points growing out of the resolutions, he regretted the necessity of detaining them still longer for the purpose of noticing an observation which appeared not to be considered by the gentleman who made it as belonging to the argument.

The subject introduced by this observation, however, was so calculated to interest the public feelings, that he must be excused for stating his opinion on it.

The gentleman from Pennsylvania had said that an impressed American seaman, who should commit homicide for the purpose of liberating himself from the vessel in which he was confined, ought not to be given up as a murderer. In this, Mr. M. said, he concurred entirely with that gentleman. He believed the opinion to be unquestionably correct, as were the reasons that gentleman had given in support of it. He had never heard any American avow a contrary sentiment, nor did he believe a contrary sentiment could find a place in the bosom of an American. He could not pretend, and did not pretend to know the opinion of the Executive on this subject, because he had never heard the opinions of that department; but he felt the most perfect conviction, founded on the general conduct of the Government, that it could never surrender an impressed American to the nation which, in making the impressment, had committed a national injury.

This belief was in no degree shaken by the conduct of the Executive in this particular case.

In his own mind, it was a sufficient defence of the President from an imputation of this kind, that the fact of Thomas Nash being an impressed American, was obviously not contemplated by him in the decision he made on the principles of the case. Consequently, if a new circumstance occurred, which would essentially change the case decided by the President, the Judge ought not to have acted under that decision, but the new circumstance ought to have been stated. Satisfactory as this defence might appear, he should not resort to it, because to some it might seem a subterfuge. He defended the conduct of the President on other and still stronger ground.

The President had decided that a murder committed on board a British frigate on the high seas, was within the jurisdiction of that nation, and consequently within the twenty-seventh article of its treaty with the United States. He therefore directed Thomas Nash to be delivered to the British Minister, if satisfactory evidence of the murder should be adduced. The sufficiency of the evidence was submitted entirely to the Judge.

If Thomas Nash had committed a murder, the decision was that he should be surrendered to the British Minister; but if he had not committed a murder, he was not to be surrendered.

Had Thomas Nash been an impressed American, the homicide on board the Hermione would, most certainly, not have been a murder.

The act of impressing an American, is an act of lawless violence. The confinement on board a vessel, is a continuation of the violence, and an additional outrage. Death committed within the United States, in resisting such violence, would not have been murder, and the person giving the wound could not have been treated as a murderer. Thomas Nash was only to have been delivered up to justice on such evidence as, had the fact been committed within the United States, would have been sufficient to have induced his commitment and trial for murder. Of consequence, the decision of the President was so expressed, as to exclude the case of an impressed American liberating himself by homicide. He concluded with observing, that he had already too long availed himself of the indulgence of the House, to venture farther on that indulgence by recapitulating or reinforcing the arguments which had already been urged.

When Mr. MARSHALL had concluded, Mr. DANA rose and spoke against the resolutions.

An adjournment was then called for and carried--yeas 50, nays 48.

SATURDAY, March 8.

Case of Jonathan Robbins.

The House resumed the consideration of the report made on Thursday last, by the Committee of the whole House, to whom was referred the Message of the President of the United States, of the seventh ultimo, containing their disagreement to the motion referred to them on the twentieth ultimo; and the said motion being read, in the words following, to wit:

(See ante--Mr. LIVINGSTON'S resolution, February 20.)[53]

Mr. NICHOLAS spoke in answer to Mr. MARSHALL.

The question was then taken that the House do agree with the Committee of the Whole in their disagreement to the same, and resolved in the affirmative--yeas 61, nays 35, as follows:

YEAS.--Willis Alston, George Baer, Bailey Bartlett, James A. Bayard, John Bird, John Brown, William Cooper, William Craik, John Davenport, Franklin Davenport, Thomas T. Davis, John Dennis, George Dent, Joseph Dickson, William Edmond, Thomas Evans, Abiel Foster, Dwight Foster, Jonathan Freeman, Henry Glenn, Samuel Goode, Chauncey Goodrich, Elizur Goodrich, William Gordon, Edwin Gray, Roger Griswold, William Barry Grove, Robert Goodloe Harper, Archibald Henderson, William H. Hill, James H. Imlay, James Jones, John Wilkes Kittera, Henry Lee, Silas Lee, Samuel Lyman, James Linn, John Marshall, Abraham Nott, Harrison G. Otis, Robert Page, Josiah Parker, Thomas Pinckney, Jonas Platt, Leven Powell, John Read, John Rutledge, jr., Samuel Sewall, James Sheafe, William Shepard, Richard Dobbs Spaight, David Stone, Benjamin Taliaferro, George Thatcher, John Chew Thomas, Richard Thomas, Joseph B. Varnum, Peleg Wadsworth, Robert Waln, Lemuel Williams, and Henry Woods.

NAYS.--Theodorus Bailey, Phanuel Bishop, Robert Brown, Samuel J. Cabell, Gabriel Christie, Matthew Clay, John Condit, Joseph Eggleston, Lucas Elmendorph, John Fowler, Albert Gallatin, Andrew Gregg, John A. Hanna, Joseph Heister, David Holmes, George Jackson, Aaron Kitchell, Michael Leib, Matthew Lyon, Edward Livingston, Nathaniel Macon, Peter Muhlenberg, Anthony New, John Nicholas, Joseph H. Nicholson, John Randolph, John Smilie, John Smith, Samuel Smith, Thomas Sumter, John Thompson, Abram Trigg, John Trigg, Philip Van Cortlandt, and Robert Williams.

A motion was made to adjourn. Mr. MACON hoped the House would sit and decide the resolution proposed by the gentleman from Delaware, so as to have done with the business, and not to enter on another week with it; however, 54 rising for the adjournment, it was carried.

MONDAY, March 10.

Case of Jonathan Robbins.

Mr. BAYARD moved that the Committee of the whole House, to whom was referred the Message of the President, relative to Thomas Nash, alias Jonathan Robbins, and a resolution submitted by himself to the House, approbating the conduct of the President, and referred to that committee, be discharged from the further consideration thereof.

A long debate arose upon this motion, in which Messrs. RANDOLPH, DAVIS, JONES, NICHOLAS, LIVINGSTON, and EGGLESTON, spoke against it--and Messrs. BAYARD, BIRD, OTIS, KITTERA, VARNUM, RUTLEDGE, EDMOND, SHEPARD, and H. LEE, in favor of it; when the question was taken by yeas and nays, and carried in the affirmative--yeas 62, nays 35.

MONDAY, March 17.

Medal to Captain Truxton.

Mr. PARKER observed that information had been received of a very gallant action having occurred between a frigate of the United States of 38 guns, commanded by Commodore Truxton, and a French vessel of 52 guns, which was extremely bloody, but valiant on the part of the United States commander. It was not usual to grant emoluments on account of any particular gallant action, to our officers, but to give approbation was common and consistent. In other countries, he said, monuments had been erected to commemorate such splendid victories.

As a testimonial of the regard of Congress for the officers who so bravely supported the flag of the United States, and to encourage similar acts of bravery, he would propose the following resolution:

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled, That a golden medal, emblematical of the late action between the United States frigate Constellation of 38 guns, and the French ship-of-war La Vengeance of 52 guns, be purchased under the Secretary of the Navy, and be presented to Captain Thomas Truxton, in testimony of the high sense entertained by Congress of his gallantry and good conduct in the above engagement, wherein an example was exhibited by the captain, officers, sailors, and marines, honorable to the American name, and instructive to its rising Navy.

The resolution was ordered to lie on the table.

TUESDAY, March 18.

Officers and Crew of the Constellation.

Mr. PARKER moved that the unfinished business be postponed for the purpose of taking up the resolution which he yesterday laid on the table, relative to the captain, officers, and crew of the Constellation; when

Mr. NICHOLSON said he wished it might not be taken into consideration until some official information was received upon the subject from the Secretary of the Navy, upon which resolutions can be grounded. In his opinion, the resolution of the gentleman did not go far enough. It had been said, that a young officer had voluntarily lost his life, rather than shrink from his duty, which he thought ought to be noticed. He was in favor of giving his approbation of the conduct of the officers and crew in more general terms than the resolution on the table contemplated.

After some observations from Messrs. CHAMPLIN and HARPER, who were of the same opinion,

Mr. PARKER said, he did not suppose a doubt could exist upon this subject sufficient to require any further information than had been received through the medium of the newspapers. He had seen a letter in the possession of the Secretary of the Navy, from Captain Baker, of the Delaware, who had every opportunity of knowing the situation of the enemy's frigate, was in the same harbor, and, being a nautical man, was of course able to give a correct opinion on her then situation, and the evident marks of the bravery of her antagonist with whom she contended--this was sufficient to satisfy his mind.

If, said Mr. P., gentlemen think the resolution does not go far enough, there is no one who will more cheerfully concur in offering other testimonies of approbation, than myself. With respect to the young officer,[54] whose gallantry and good conduct had been so highly spoken of, it was his intention to have brought forward a resolution for setting up his bust in a niche of the Capitol of the city of Washington.

Mr. P. concluded with observing that he had no objection to call for information from the Secretary of the Navy, and would therefore withdraw his motion.

Mr. PARKER then moved that the House come to the following resolution, viz:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Navy be requested to lay before this House any information he may possess, respecting the engagement which lately took place in the West Indies between the United States frigate Constellation and a French ship-of-war; and, also, respecting the conduct of James Jarvis, a midshipman on board the said frigate.

Mr. SMITH moved to strike out the words in italics, which created considerable debate; when

Mr. BIRD proposed to insert in lieu thereof, the following words: "And also upon the conduct of any officer or other person on board said frigate, who may have particularly signalized himself in the said action;" which Mr. B. supposed would meet the intention of the mover, and be less liable to objection than the words proposed to be stricken out.

Mr. PARKER having consented to the modification, the resolution was agreed to.

WEDNESDAY, March 19.

Military Academy, &c.

Mr. OTIS, from the Committee of Defence, reported a bill for establishing a Military Academy, and for better organizing the corps of Engineers and Artillerists.

The bill was proceeding to be read, when Mr. OTIS suggested that as this bill contained much the same in detail as a report on the subject made by the Secretary of War, with which every gentleman was acquainted, he supposed the reading would not be necessary.

Mr. MACON said he should have no objection to its being read a first time, though he did not think it necessary; but he would give notice that it was his intention to move that the bill be rejected. He mentioned his reasons to be the expense of the measure generally, which it was an improper time to incur.

The bill having been read, he made the motion.

Mr. OTIS and Mr. CHAMPLIN answered. Mr. VARNUM supported the motion, which was at length negatived, 49 to 42; and the bill was referred to a Committee of the whole House.

THURSDAY, March 20.

Removal of Seat of Government.

Mr. OTIS observed that it appeared to be the general opinion that the seat of Government would be removed to the Federal City, and that Congress would commence their next session at that place; and as some preliminary measures were necessary to be made previous thereto; and as it would be reposing too much power in the Commissioners who now act there to rely entirely on their reports; and as some measures must be reported and adopted before the end of the present session, he laid on the table the following resolution:

"Resolved, That a committee be appointed to consider what measures are expedient for Congress to adopt, preparatory to the removal of the seat of Government, with leave to report by bill or otherwise."

Amy Dardin's Case.

The House went into a committee on the report of the Committee of Claims on the petition of Amy Dardin, which was that the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. Being taken up in the House, the propriety and impropriety of granting it was again contended, when there appeared in favor of the report 42, against it 42. The SPEAKER decided in the affirmative, so that the claim was not admitted.

FRIDAY, March 21.

Action of the Frigate Constellation.

The SPEAKER laid before the House a report from the Secretary of the Navy, in compliance with the instructions of the House, respecting the engagement which occurred between the frigate Constellation and a French ship-of-war. The report enclosed a letter from Captain Truxton, detailing the action, and also extracts of letters from the American Consul at Curaçoa, and one from the American agent at St. Kitts, respecting the disabled state of the French ship La Vengeur. As to any particular specimen of valor, the Secretary received no information; but that all the officers and men had acted with the most unexampled bravery and decorum was attested by the captain, whose good management was evinced by the singular success of the action. The Secretary mentions the singular bravery of James Jarvis, a Midshipman, who preferred death to quitting his post.

On motion of Mr. H. LEE, this report, together with a resolution proposed some days since by Mr. PARKER, was referred to the Naval Committee.

MONDAY, March 26.

Medal to Captain Truxton.

Mr. PARKER, from the Naval Committee, reported the following resolutions:

"Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be requested to present to Captain Thomas Truxton, a golden medal, emblematical of the late action between the United States frigate Constellation, of 38 guns, and the French ship-of-war La Vengeur, of 54 guns, in testimony of the high sense entertained by Congress of his gallantry and good conduct in the above engagement, wherein an example was exhibited by the captain, officers, sailors, and marines, honorable to the American name, and instructive to its rising navy.

"Resolved, That the conduct of James Jarvis, a midshipman in said frigate, who gloriously preferred certain death to an abandonment of his post, is deserving of the highest praise; and that the loss of so promising an officer is a subject of national regret."

The House then proceeded to the consideration of these resolutions; the first of which being under consideration,

Mr. RANDOLPH said, that inasmuch as he could not give his assent to these resolutions, he felt impressed with the propriety of stating the reasons which would govern his vote.

It was not with any intention to detract from the deserved reputation which had been so nobly earned by the captain, officers, and crew of the Constellation; still less to withhold the well-earned applause due to that gallant youth who had sacrificed his life in the prosecution of his duty. It was to the first of these resolutions, only, that he should deny his concurrence. He should do this, unless the gentlemen of the Naval Committee should show to him that it was the duty of the commander of the Constellation to persist in the chase, and compel to action a ship of such superior force. This conduct was, in his opinion, rash; and, when the situation of the United States and France was taken into consideration, it was peculiarly unadvisable. Our Commissioners were at this time in the capital of that country negotiating peace. How did the pursuit of this ship--the forcing her into an action, which ended in the crippling of both vessels--comport with that protection which was to be afforded to our commerce by the Constellation?

Mr. R. said that his duty obliged him to act upon his own opinion; and, however singular it may appear, he should vote against the first resolution, unless the gentleman who brought it forward would make it appear that it was the duty of Captain Truxton to compel the Vengeance to come to action, when he knew her to be of such superior force. The second resolution met his most hearty approbation.

Mr. PARKER said, what the present state of things between the two countries might be, in the opinion of his colleague, he could not say; but Mr. P. conceived it was no other than it was at the time Congress passed a bill which prescribed the conduct of our naval commanders. In that bill they were authorized to take or destroy all French armed vessels: under these orders Captain Truxton left this country, and, in obedience to instructions to that effect, he pursued and engaged this vessel, which, though of superior force, he had beaten. Had he not attacked her, it is most probable she would have proceeded against our commerce. The law having been passed by Congress, if the President of the United States had not given orders conformably thereto, he would have been subject to impeachment. He, therefore, presumed it to be his duty; and, most certainly, such orders being given to the commanders, they were bound to conform to them. Mr. P. thought that this and greater approbation ought to be expressed by Congress for conduct so brave and unprecedented. In some countries monuments had been raised, but this was unnecessary, though merited. Our naval exertions were very recent and confined, but an instance of extraordinary valor having occurred it ought to be honorably and suitably noticed.

Mr. NICHOLAS said, however he might agree with his colleague (Mr. RANDOLPH) in a desire that no conduct should be encouraged that would tend to aggravate France in the present situation of things, he could not agree with him in his present sentiments. While we were in a state of actual, though not of declared war, Mr. N. thought it was naturally to be expected that our commanders would act in their complete military character, when our ships were arrayed for battle, and power given to act up to the full rigor which the laws of honor and of war would warrant. In the conduct of the captain, as well as the crew, Mr. N. said, he saw nothing but what was extremely laudable, and highly meriting approbation.

Mr. LYON said he rose to request the division of the question on the resolutions. He was disposed to vote for the latter resolution, and not for the former.

The SPEAKER declared they would be divided, and that the question before the House was on the agreeing to the first resolution.

Mr. LYON observed that he had voted for the equipment of the three frigates under an impression that they would be employed solely for the protection of the commerce of this country: but now he found himself called upon to give thanks or praise to the commander of one of those frigates, and for what? for going out of the station assigned to him, as the most proper for the protection of the trading vessels of this country, in chase of a ship-of-war of much superior force; and for reducing the ship under his command, as well as that of his opponent, to a mere wreck. Mr. L. said he had seen nothing in the orders which had been published directing him to do this, nor did he think policy or prudence dictated the measure. Let all our naval commanders be excited to follow this example; let them play or fight each of them their vessel against a French vessel-of-war of superior force in the same way, and our naval force is crippled, while the French will scarcely feel their loss; then our commerce would be wholly at their mercy. Besides these considerations, what is there to defend that commerce, on the station left destitute by the Constellation, while she is refitting. For his part he was as glad and proud as any gentleman that our officers, and our sailors, and our marines, had behaved gallantly and done themselves and their country honor, in the late action, but he did not feel himself bound, under existing circumstances, to give distinguished praise to the conduct which produced it; he should therefore vote against the resolution.

Mr. J. BROWN would vote for this resolution for the very reason which some gentlemen urged for voting against it. He thought the very fact of chasing a ship of superior force, and forcing her to an action which had been attended with success, was a commendable act. This to him would be the only inducement for paying so high a mark of national respect. If it had been an attack upon a vessel of inferior force, he should not think it worth notice. The objection was partly on account of the French ship being of superior force; surely this would rather be a reason why we should have vessels of greater force than we have now; therefore he hoped the worthy member would suffer that brave officer to go to sea next time with a 74-gun ship under his command, when he would doubtless bring the enemy to a good account.

The yeas and nays were called on this resolution and carried--yeas 87, nays 4, as follows:

YEAS.--Willis Alston, George Baer, Bailey Bartlett, John Bird, Phanuel Bishop, Jonathan Brace, John Brown, Robert Brown, Samuel J. Cabell, Christopher G. Champlin, William C. C. Claiborne, John Condit, William Cooper, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, Thomas T. Davis, John Dawson, John Dennis, George Dent, Joseph Dickson, William Edmond, Joseph Eggleston, Lucas Elmendorph, Thomas Evans, Abiel Foster, Dwight Foster, John Fowler, Jonathan Freeman, Albert Gallatin, Henry Glenn, Samuel Goode, Chauncey Goodrich, Elizur Goodrich, William Gordon, Edwin Gray, Roger Griswold, John A. Hanna, Robert Goodloe Harper, Thomas Hartley, Archibald Henderson, William H. Hill, David Holmes, Benjamin Huger, James H. Imlay, James Jones, Aaron Kitchell, John Wilkes Kittera, Henry Lee, Silas Lee, Michael Leib, Samuel Lyman, James Linn, Nathaniel Macon, John Marshall, Peter Muhlenberg, Anthony New, John Nicholas, Joseph H. Nicholson, Abraham Nott, Harrison G. Otis, Josiah Parker, Thomas Pinckney, Jonas Platt, Leven Powell, John Read, John Rutledge, jr., Samuel Sewall, James Sheafe, William Shepard, John Smilie, John Smith, Samuel Smith, Richard Stanford, David Stone, Benjamin Taliaferro, George Thatcher, John Chew Thomas, John Thompson, Abram Trigg, John Trigg, Philip Van Cortlandt, Joseph B. Varnum, Peleg Wadsworth, Robert Waln, Robert Williams, Lemuel Williams, and Henry Woods.

NAYS.--George Jackson, Matthew Lyon, John Randolph, and Thomas Sumter.

The other resolution was adopted unanimously.

MONDAY, March 31.

Lake Superior Copper Mines.

The House, according to the order of the day, again resolved itself into a Committee of the whole House on the report of the committee appointed, on the 5th instant, to inquire into the expediency of authorizing the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES to appoint an agent to purchase of the Indians a tract of land on the south side of Lake Superior, which shall include the great copper bed; and, after some time spent therein, the committee rose and reported a resolution thereupon; which was twice read, and agreed to by the House, as follows:

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be authorized to employ an agent, who shall be instructed to collect all material information relative to the copper mines on the south side of Lake Superior, and to ascertain whether the Indian title to such lands as might be required for the use of the United States, in case they should deem it expedient to work the said mines, be yet subsisting; and, if so, the terms on which the same can be extinguished: And that the said agent be instructed to make report to the President, in such time as the information he may collect may be laid before Congress at their next session.

Ordered, That the Clerk of this House do carry the said resolution to the Senate, and desire their concurrence.

WEDNESDAY, April 2.

Removal of the Seat of Government.

The House then resolved itself into a committee on the bill to make further progress for the removal and accommodation of the Government of the United States.

A motion was then made to fill a blank for the accommodation of the household of the President, about which considerable conversation occurred; when Mr. RUTLEDGE moved that the committee rise, in order that time may be given for learning the amount of money wanting for this object, and because he supposed the Chairman of the committee, who was absent, might be able to give that information. The motion was afterwards withdrawn, but renewed by the SPEAKER, and at length carried.

THURSDAY, April 3.

Lands given in satisfaction of Judgments.

Mr. HARPER observed that in some of the States lands were received in satisfaction of judgments, which also was the case in such places where the United States were plaintiffs. To remedy what he conceived an evil, he laid on the table the following resolution:

"Resolved, That a committee be appointed to inquire and report, by bill or otherwise, whether any, and what, further provisions are necessary to be made relative to the sales of real estate delivered to the United States in satisfaction of judgments against persons indebted thereto."

Three members were appointed.

FRIDAY, April 4.

Removal of the Seat of Government.

The House then went into Committee of the Whole on the bill for the removal and accommodation of the Government of the United States.

Mr. HARPER proposed to amend the act so as that the sum to accommodate the household of the President of the United States with furniture, in addition to what was now in possession of the President, should not operate until after the third of March next. This he did, he said, in consequence of some constitutional doubts which he had expressed. The constitution declaring that the salary of the President should receive no addition nor diminution during his being in office. This was concurred in.

The question then was, what sum should be allowed for that purpose; $20,000, $15,000, and $10,000, were severally named.

Mr. RANDOLPH, considering the principle itself unconstitutional, moved, in order to defeat the section altogether, (it having been amended and being out of order to move its being stricken out,) to insert the sum of $500. These different sums called forth a lengthy debate. The sum of $20,000 was negatived--45 to 39. That of $15,000 was carried--yeas 44, nays 42.

The bill being gone through, was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading on Monday.

FRIDAY, April 18.

Disputed Elections of President, &c.

Mr. NICHOLSON called for the order of the day on the bill prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of President and Vice President of the United States.

Mr. HARPER moved that it be postponed till Monday.

Mr. NICHOLSON, after expressing his abhorrence of the principles contained in the bill, then moved that it be postponed till the first Monday in December next.

Messrs. HARPER, DANA, RUTLEDGE, and MARSHALL, opposed this motion; and Messrs. S. SMITH, GALLATIN, RANDOLPH, NICHOLSON, and NICHOLAS, supported it.

The question was taken by yeas and nays, and decided in the negative--yeas 48, nays 52.

Mr. HARPER'S motion for postponement till Monday, was then agreed to--ayes 54.

MONDAY, April 21.

Admirals in the Navy.

Mr. PARKER, from the Naval Committee, reported a bill for the appointment of admirals for the navy.

[This bill provides for the appointment of one Vice Admiral and four Rear Admirals, and arranges the fleet into squadrons.]

It was read a first time, and on the question for the second reading, it was carried--37 to 31. Having been read a second time, Mr. GALLATIN moved its postponement till the first Monday in December next.

The SPEAKER said the question was, whether it should be committed or not? The question for commitment was carried, 37 to 32. The question was then to make it the order of the day for the first Monday in December next.

Mr. EGGLESTON hoped it would be postponed. He said it would be agreed upon to suspend the building of the 74's for the present year; in addition to this our difference with France would most probably be soon adjusted. Another reason was, it would incur an addition of expense, which it would be improper to go into, having recently agreed to borrow $3,500,000. He was really surprised to hear such a bill proposed; he scarcely could think his colleague sincere.

Mr. PARKER said that the building of the 74's was not suspended, but it was thought advisable not to hurry their building. He stated a number of conveniences that would attend the new arrangement; that the whole expense would not be more than $10,000, but owing to the advantages, he believed it would be a real saving. He did not think there could be any certainty of a peace, from the revolutionary disposition of France; but even if it was certain that peace would be made with that nation, it was not certain that the combined powers would not renew their hostilities. He wished this measure to be adopted, even if it was at the expense of the army. The return of peace would render the army nugatory, except just enough for the garrisons; the whole of the army expenses, he said, was upwards of four millions, but the whole sum expended on the navy (really a more efficient defence and advantage) was little more than two millions. He wished our naval defence to be nurtured and rendered respectable, for which the squadron arrangements and appointments of suitable commanders were necessary.

Mr. CHAMPLIN also spoke in favor of the bill, and in favor of its commitment for an earlier day.

Mr. CLAIBORNE could not think the gentleman (Mr. PARKER) sincere in his professions that the army was not necessary, when he perceived that every motion to reduce the army, which by other gentlemen was thought absolutely necessary, had as uniformly been opposed by that gentleman. Mr. C. said he did not look forward to a period when the navy as well as the army would be unnecessary. This appointment might take place at any time when there should be necessity of it; and, therefore, as it was not pretended the 74's could be built before the next session, it would then be time enough to think of voting these officers.

The SPEAKER said that it was unknown in the Parliamentary proceedings of any country that the merits of a bill were discussed on a motion for postponement; he must therefore say that any discussion on the bill was out of order, and that gentlemen must confine themselves merely on the question of the day this bill should be made the order for.

Mr. HARPER stated some of the inconveniences that must attend gentlemen who brought in, or would wish to support a bill being presented, recommending its provision by a motion to postpone; he conceived the bill a valuable one, and wished for an opportunity of endeavoring to convince the House of that fact, but he was precluded by the decision of the Chair, he must therefore beg leave to appeal from the decision.

The question was put, "Is the decision of the Chair right?" and carried--yeas 65.

Mr. SMITH said he should vote for this bill being the order for December next, but if the 74's were then ordered to proceed, he should vote for this bill, if then proposed.

The yeas and nays were taken on the question, "Shall this bill be postponed till the first Monday in December next?" and decided in the negative--yeas 44, nays 45, as follows:

YEAS.--Willis Alston, Theodorus Bailey, Phanuel Bishop, Robert Brown, Samuel J. Cabell, Matthew Clay, William C. C. Claiborne, John Condit, Thomas T. Davis, John Dawson, Joseph Eggleston, Lucas Elmendorph, John Fowler, Albert Gallatin, Andrew Gregg, William Barry Grove, John A. Hanna, Joseph Heister, David Holmes, George Jackson, James Jones, Michael Leib, Matthew Lyon, James Linn, Nathaniel Macon, Peter Muhlenberg, Anthony New, John Nicholas, Joseph H. Nicholson, Abraham Nott, John Randolph, John Smilie, John Smith, Samuel Smith, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Richard Stanford, David Stone, Thomas Sumter, Benjamin Taliaferro, John Thompson, Abram Trigg, John Trigg, Joseph B. Varnum, and Robert Williams.

NAYS.--George Baer, Bailey Bartlett, James A. Bayard, Jonathan Brace, John Brown, Christopher G. Champlin, William Cooper, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, Franklin Davenport, John Dennis, George Dent, Joseph Dickson, William Edmond, Thomas Evans, Abiel Foster, Dwight Foster, Jonathan Freeman, Henry Glenn, Chauncey Goodrich, Elizur Goodrich, Roger Griswold, Robert Goodloe Harper, Benjamin Huger, James H. Imlay, Henry Lee, Silas Lee, Samuel Lyman, Lewis R. Morris, Robert Page, Josiah Parker, Thomas Pinckney, Jonas Platt, Leven Powell, John Read, John Rutledge, jun., Samuel Sewall, James Sheafe, William Shepard, George Thatcher, John Chew Thomas, Richard Thomas, Robert Waln, Lemuel Williams, and Henry Woods.

The bill was then made the order for to-morrow.

FRIDAY, April 25.

Congress Library.

Mr. DENNIS said that by the act passed the present session, further to provide for the removal and accommodation of the Government of the United States, a sum not exceeding $5,000 was appropriated for the purpose of procuring a Library. In order to carry that provision into execution, he would move the following resolution:

"Resolved, That ---- be a committee, jointly with such committee as may be appointed on the part of the Senate, for the purpose of making out a catalogue of books, and adopting the best mode of procuring a Library, at the city of Washington; and for adopting a system of rules and regulations relative thereto."

This motion was agreed to, and Messrs. WALN, EVANS, and POWELL, appointed.

SATURDAY, April 26.

Slave Trade.

The House resolved itself into a committee on the bill from the Senate, in addition to the act, entitled "An act prohibiting the carrying on the slave trade from the United States to any foreign place or country."

Mr. J. BROWN said, when the motion was first laid on the table, he thought it improper to prevent the citizens of the United States enjoying the benefits of a trade enjoyed by all the European nations. He really was in hopes that the good sense of the select committee would have permitted them to have seen the policy of realizing the act in question. Many members of the House, he observed, knew how the former act was passed; they knew that Congress was drilled into it by certain persons who would not take no for an answer. It was well known that the Abolition Society, otherwise the Society of Friends, as they were called, were very troublesome until they got that act passed. It was also well known that those people did not do much to support the Government, but that they did as much as they could to stop the measures of the Government, and particularly our defensive system, on which our national security depended.

Mr. NICHOLAS asked whether it was in order to abuse any class of citizens in this manner, and particularly since no motion was before the committee?

The CHAIRMAN said he conceived the gentleman to be in order, since he supposed he was about to make a motion affecting the principle of the bill.

Mr. BROWN resumed. He was only speaking, agreeably to his information, how this bill came originally into existence. He was certain that this nation having an act against the slave trade, did not prevent the exportation of a slave from Africa. He believed we might as well, therefore, enjoy that trade, as to leave it wholly to others. It was the law of that country to export those whom they held in slavery--who were as much slaves there as those who were slaves in this country--and with as much right. The very idea of making a law against this trade, which all other nations enjoyed, and which was allowed to be very profitable, was ill policy. He would further say that it was wrong, when considered in a moral point of view, since, by the operation of the trade, the very people themselves much bettered their condition. It ought to be a matter of national policy, since it would bring in a good revenue to our Treasury. It was not pleasing to him, Mr. B. said, to pay an interest of 8 per cent. for our loan: rather than borrow money, he would wish to be paying off some of our old standing debt, which could be done by increasing our commerce, or rendering it free. He wished it to be free as the wind that blew--from one end of the world to the other. As he observed before, he believed not one more slave would be exported from Africa, while our merchants and our revenue would enjoy the benefit.

Mr. B. said, our distilleries and manufactories were all lying idle for want of an extended commerce. He had been well informed that on those coasts New England rum was much preferred to the best Jamaica spirits, and would fetch a better price. Why should it not be sent there, and a profitable return be made? Why should a heavy fine and imprisonment be made the penalty for carrying on a trade so advantageous?

But, he observed, if it was thought advisable that the old act should continue, he would wish it could be made to meet the purpose altogether, and prevent the system of slavery entirely, so that equal advantages might be given to all the inhabitants of the Union; without this, it would, as it ever had been, remain a great disadvantage. He therefore moved that the committee rise, in order to postpone the bill. He believed the House would be better prepared to meet it in a few days.

Mr. NICHOLAS seconded the motion, not but that he was prepared to decide on it, but that there might be opportunity given to express an opinion. He really could not understand the gentleman, when he said that our people being employed in that trade would not add nor diminish the number exported. This was certainly a wrong calculation. These people were enslaved for their masters, or to supply some foreign market. Certainly if the number of purchasers were increased, the number of slaves would be increased. Surely the gentleman would not wish them brought into the United States when he talked of their condition being improved; this was a fact, to be sure, but would it be policy so to do?

But another and an important point was touched upon--that he would wish the law to be made to meet another object, if it was determined to prohibit the trade in this country. As a Southern man, Mr. N. said, he would observe that he was placed in a most unfortunate situation, indeed, in being obliged, in common with other people of those States, to keep men in a state of slavery: but he had the consolation to inform the House, that he believed the people of the Southern States were wiping off the stain entailed upon them by their predecessors, in endeavoring to ameliorate the situation of that race of people as much as possible. This appeared to be an increasing disposition. He hoped the gentleman would have an opportunity to produce all his arguments on this subject, in his endeavors either to get the law repealed or to strengthen it, agreeably to his wish, in order that he might be satisfied that he would not find an advocate in the House.

Mr. D. FOSTER spoke against the committee rising.

Several sections of the bill were then gone through with, when the committee rose, and obtained leave to sit again.

MONDAY, April 28.

The Slave Trade.

Mr. RUTLEDGE moved that the Committee of the Whole, to whom were referred the bill for preventing the carrying on the slave trade, &c., be discharged from further consideration thereof. He conceived it to be one of the most defective bills that ever was before Congress, because the object intended was in nowise provided for, or utterly impracticable.

Mr. BAYARD was of the same opinion. He had taken some pains to examine the bill, but was obliged to conclude it extremely imperfect. The objects of the former bill, and which was intended to be improved, were, to prevent the citizens of the United States having any right in vessels so employed; and also to prevent the citizens of the United States being employed on board any such vessels. He trusted that a great majority of the members of the House would be in favor of those principles, and effectually promote them. It would indeed be extremely dishonorable in a country like this, to affirm such a trade, so contrary to all those principles held dear in the United States, and which ought to be promoted. His desire was, that a bill should be constructed upon the true principles of the intent of Congress: so far he thought they might go, but no farther. To be sure, as the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. J. BROWN) observed, the Government could derive revenue from the encouragement of this trade, but he thought a more dishonorable item of revenue could not be established.

The committee was discharged.

Mr. BAYARD then moved that the bill should be referred to a select committee.

Mr. RUTLEDGE hoped this would not be agreed to; he was not disposed at this late day of the session to take up any new business that was not of urgency. He thought it was perfectly unnecessary to make a new act upon the subject; he believed the former act did every thing that was necessary or practicable to be done. What more could be wanted than that persons engaged in this traffic should forfeit their ships and pay a fine, besides, in many instances, imprisonment of the person offending? Surely that was all the occasion required. The different States which had heretofore imported those people into the United States had established the policy not to import any more; but in addition to this willing restriction, the Federal Government thought proper to prevent the trade being carried on, by our ships, to those countries which did suffer their importation. This was going very far indeed, but so far it was thought proper to go, to furnish a peace-offering to those philanthropists whose urgency was great to accomplish the general destruction of the trade. However, the activity of the people of the four New England States first engaged them in this profitable traffic; their produce would bring a good price on the African coast, and why they might not enjoy the profit of it as well as the English he could not conceive. He believed it to be impossible effectually to prevent it. Some gentlemen, indeed, had talked of authorizing our cruisers to seize vessels of this kind, but, suppose they were confiscated, what was to be done with their cargoes? They could not be brought into the United States. Where could they be carried? It was not consistent with the policy of the West India Islands to suffer them to land there, since it was their practice to keep these people in bondage, and they did not want, nor could they suffer free men to inundate those colonies. He knew of no place where they could be landed but St. Domingo, and as these people would not have been of those who had procured the freedom of slaves there--were not of those who had spread devastation and murder throughout that island, it was probable they would spurn them from their shores. What then was to be done with them? Surely no gentleman would wish them to be drowned, and it would be as absurd to think of sending them back to Sierra Leone! These difficulties he thought insuperable.

Mr. WALN hoped the bill would be committed, and that the provisions of it would be made effectual to its object. As for the people of Pennsylvania, he believed he could say they were unanimously in favor of the trade being put an end to most completely; which was in nowise done by the law now in force, nor by the bill now proposed. He said it was well known, that great grievances did exist for want of the due execution of the law, and much greater than were generally known, and hence it was that no more was heard of it from the people on this subject. He had been well informed that great evasions had taken place, and that this unlawful trade was becoming more and more in use. In the last year he believed that near forty vessels entered the West Indies with this illicit species of commerce. In some parts of the United States, he had been well informed, it was become so popular, that if a vessel was seized and sold, it was impossible to get any person to bid for her, and therefore the owner was enabled to repurchase her at a very low price indeed. It would be much better to repeal the old law, and open the trade, than to suffer the law to continue when nearly a nullity. But this he believed was not the disposition of the House; he believed the House could carry the principle into effect, and he was sure that a very great majority of the American people would wish them to do it.

The motion for recommitment was carried by a very large majority, and three members appointed.

Military Academy, &c.

Mr. EGGLESTON said, since he found the House so much disposed to prepare for the close of the session by postponing unnecessary business, he would move that the bill for establishing a Military Academy, and for the better organization of the corps of Artillerists and Engineers, be postponed till the first Monday in December next.

After some observations against the motion, by Messrs. PARKER, CHAMPLIN, and H. LEE, and in favor of it by Messrs. EGGLESTON and SHEPARD, it was carried--yeas 64, nays 23.

Treaty with Great Britain.

The House went into a committee on the bill for the execution of the 27th article of the Treaty with Great Britain.

A motion of Mr. NICHOLAS was under consideration, that no person whose case was cognizable in any of our courts should be delivered up. This caused a lengthy debate; it was advocated by Messrs. S. SMITH, NICHOLSON, and GALLATIN, and opposed by Messrs. BAYARD, DANA, and DENNIS. It was negatived 45 to 42. After which the committee rose, obtained leave to sit again, and the House adjourned.

TUESDAY, April 29.

An engrossed bill to promote the manufacture of sheet copper within the United States, by incorporating a company for carrying on the same, was read the third time, and passed.

THURSDAY, May 1.

Appropriation for holding Indian Treaties.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the whole House on the report of the committee to whom was referred, on the seventh of March last, the petition of William Hill and others, and, after some time spent therein, the committee rose and reported two resolutions thereupon; which were severally twice read, and agreed to by the House, as follows:

Resolved, That the sum of ---- dollars ought to be appropriated by law to defray the expenses of such treaty or treaties as the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES may deem it expedient to hold with any nation or nations of Indians south-west of the river Ohio.

Resolved, That provision ought to be made by law, authorizing and enabling all persons who, under the laws of North Carolina, and in conformity to the regulations and provisions thereof, have entered, surveyed, located, or obtained, grants of any of the lands ceded by the said State to the United States, in such manner as would have vested a good title under the said State of North Carolina, if such cession had not been made, to enter upon, occupy, and possess, the same, or to remove thereto their location from such lands, the titles whereto shall not be extinguished, whenever, and as soon as the Indian title or claim to a sufficient portion of the said land shall be extinguished, under the authority of the United States; and to possess and enjoy the same in as full and ample manner as if the same had been derived from, or under, the United States.

Ordered, That a bill or bills be brought in, pursuant to the first resolution; and that Mr. PINCKNEY, Mr. CHAUNCEY GOODRICH, Mr. HENDERSON, Mr. NICHOLAS, and Mr. THATCHER, do prepare and bring in the same.

SATURDAY, May 3.

Slave Trade.

The House went into committee on the bill to prohibit carrying on the slave trade to any foreign country. The committee rose and reported the bill. On the question, when it should be read a third time, it was carried for to-day. On the question for its passing, a long and warm debate ensued.

Several attempts were made to postpone its passing, but to no effect. At length the question was taken--yeas 67, nays 5, as follows:

YEAS.--Willis Alston, George Baer, Theodorus Bailey, Bailey Bartlett, James A. Bayard, Phanuel Bishop, Jonathan Brace, Robert Brown, Samuel J. Cabell, Matthew Clay, William C. C. Claiborne, John Condit, William Cooper, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, Franklin Davenport, John Dennis, William Edmond, Joseph Eggleston, Thomas Evans, Abiel Foster, Dwight Foster, Albert Gallatin, Henry Glenn, Chauncey Goodrich, Elizur Goodrich, Edwin Gray, Andrew Gregg, Roger Griswold, William Barry Grove, John A. Hanna, Robert Goodloe Harper, Thomas Hartley, Joseph Heister, William H. Hill, David Holmes, James H. Imlay, Aaron Kitchell, Silas Lee, Michael Leib, Samuel Lyman, Nathaniel Macon, Lewis R. Morris, Peter Muhlenberg, John Nicholas, Abraham Nott, Robert Page, Thomas Pinckney, Jonas Platt, Leven Powell, John Read, Samuel Sewall, William Shepard, John Smilie, John Smith, David Stone, Thomas Sumter, George Thatcher, John Chew Thomas, John Thompson, Abram Trigg, John Trigg, Joseph B. Varnum, Peleg Wadsworth, Robert Waln, and Robert Williams.

NAYS.--John Brown, George Dent, Joseph Dickson, Benjamin Huger, and John Rutledge, jr.

And the House adjourned.

TUESDAY, May 6.

Additional Revenue.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the further report of the Committee of Ways and Means, on the subject of the revenue; when the first resolution, laying an additional duty of twenty per centum on wines, after being amended, on motion of Mr. GRISWOLD, to read as follows, was adopted:

"Resolved, That it is expedient to lay an additional duty of twenty per centum on the amount of the present duty upon wines imported into the United States, and to vary the scale of duties in such manner as to comport with the plan of the Secretary of the Treasury."

The second resolution was agreed to without debate as follows:

"Resolved, That it is expedient to lay an additional duty of two and a half per centum ad valorem on such goods, wares, and merchandise, imported into the United States, as are now subject to a duty of ten per centum ad valorem."

The third resolution was opposed by Messrs. HARPER and S. SMITH, and supported by Mr. GRISWOLD; after which the committee rose, and obtained leave to sit again.

WEDNESDAY, May 7.

A message from the Senate informed the House, that they have concurred in the amendments of this House, to the bill relative to the slave trade with several amendments, to which they desire the concurrence of the House; also, that the Senate insist on some of their amendments disagreed to by this House, to the bill supplementary to an act for an amicable settlement of limits within the State of Georgia, and for establishing a government in the Mississippi Territory.

Additional Army.

Mr. HARPER said, that by the terms of enlistment of the additional army, they were engaged to serve for three years, or until an amicable adjustment of the differences existing between the United States and France; from which circumstance, the President was precluded, even if he knew the preliminaries of peace to be adjusted, from disbanding it until a treaty should be actually concluded and ratified by the two Governments--whereby the troops would be kept for perhaps six months in service unnecessarily. The Navy and other parts of our defensive system, were upon a different footing. He wished the Army to be placed on a similar one, and therefore moved the following resolution:

"Resolved, That it is expedient to authorize the President of the United States to discharge the additional army thereof, as soon as the state of things between the United States and the French Republic will warrant the measure."

The resolution was agreed to, and referred to the Committee of the whole House, to whom was committed the bill from the Senate, to suspend part of the act entitled "An act to augment the Army of the United States."

Additional Revenue.

The House again resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the further report of the Committee of Ways and Means on the subject of revenue; and the tax on drawbacks being under consideration, Mr. GRISWOLD and Mr. HARPER again spoke for and against the motion. Mr. NICHOLAS, Mr. HUGER, and Mr. RANDOLPH, also spoke against the motion; after which the question was taken and negatived, only 23 votes being in favor of it.

The third resolution, to lay an additional duty of one half per cent. per pound on brown sugar and coffee imported into the United States was opposed by Mr. GRISWOLD, who doubted much the propriety of laying an additional duty on coffee, and therefore moved to strike out that article. The motion was opposed by Mr. HARPER, and advocated by Mr. SEWALL, who was of opinion that this article was frequently smuggled, and was apprehensive it would be more so, if an additional duty were laid, and therefore would injure the revenue.

The motion was carried--yeas 38, nays 21.

The question on the resolution as amended, was, after some debate, put and carried--yeas 45, nays 28.

The fourth resolution reported, to retain two and a half per centum on all drawbacks allowed for goods re-exported from the United States, in addition to the sums heretofore directed to be retained by law, and also on the whole of the additional duty on goods imported in foreign ships or vessels, was agreed to without debate. The committee then rose, and, upon the question, Will the House concur with the committee in their agreement to the resolution laying an additional duty on sugar? the yeas and nays were called for, and taken--54 to 28.

The other resolutions, as amended, were also agreed to, and the Committee of Ways and Means directed to bring in a bill or bills conformable thereto.

THURSDAY, May 8.

Memory of Washington.

Mr. H. LEE, from the select committee appointed to consider what measures it would be proper for Congress to adopt for paying suitable respect to the memory of the man first in peace, first in war, and first in the hearts of his countrymen--the deceased General WASHINGTON--made a report, recommending the adoption of the following resolutions:

"Resolved, That the resolution of Congress passed in the year 1783, respecting an equestrian statue of General WASHINGTON, be carried into immediate execution, and that the statue be placed in the centre of an area to be formed in front of the Capitol.

"Resolved, That a marble monument be erected by the United States in the Capitol at the city of Washington, in honor of General WASHINGTON, to commemorate his services, and to express the regrets of the American people for their irreparable loss.

"Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to give such directions as may appear to him proper, to carry the preceding resolutions into effect; and that for the present, the sum of $100,000 be appropriated for these purposes."

The resolutions were referred to a Committee of the whole House, and immediately taken into consideration; when

Mr. HARPER moved to amend the first resolution, by inserting that a mausoleum be erected for General WASHINGTON, in the city of Washington, instead of the statue proposed, which was carried; the other resolutions were negatived, of course.

The committee then rose, and the resolution, as amended by Mr. HARPER, was agreed to by the House, and a bill ordered to be brought in pursuant thereto.

FRIDAY, May 9.

The Treasury Department.

The House went into a committee on the act supplementary to the act entitled "An act to establish the Treasury Department."

The committee rose and reported the bill--which provided that the Secretary of the Treasury should lay before Congress, at the commencement of every session, a report on the subject of finance together with such plans for improving the revenue as may occur to him.

Mr. GALLATIN and Mr. NICHOLAS opposed the passing of the bill, on constitutional principles. They observed, that as all money bills were to originate in the House of Representatives, the Senate had no right to propose any bill by which that provision was changed; nor could the Secretary of the Treasury, upon the same ground, propose any thing that should originate any money bill. Heretofore, it had been usual, when information was wanting by the House, to call for it from that department, and the same could be done again.

It was contended by Mr. GRISWOLD and Mr. HARPER, that it was not a power to report a bill, but merely the state of our finances, which, for want of due notice, had heretofore been delayed, so as to throw all the most important business upon the close of the session, whereas, by a leisurely and mature examination, the Secretary of the Treasury would be enabled to make a timely and complete report.

The bill passed to its third reading--43 to 39.

Memory of Washington.

Mr. EVANS, from the committee appointed for that purpose, reported a bill for erecting a mausoleum for GEORGE WASHINGTON, in the city of Washington.

The bill provided that it should be one hundred feet square at the base, and of a proportionate height.

Mr. EGGLESTON wished to hear the estimated price.

Mr. HARPER said he had an estimate from Mr. Latrobe, of Philadelphia, who was the architect employed on the Pennsylvania Bank, the estimate of which had rather been over the actual expense; the estimate was that a pyramid of one hundred feet at the bottom, with nineteen steps, having a chamber thirty feet square, made of granite, to be taken from the Potomac, with a marble sarcophagus in the centre, and four marble pillars on the outside, besides other proportionate ornaments, would amount to $62,500. He hoped no objection would be made to the price, since it could not occur on any future occasion, as another WASHINGTON would never die.

Mr. NICHOLAS thought every sense of respect would be as well signified by a building of less dimensions, and it would be considerable less expense; he moved to strike out one hundred and insert sixty. After some debate, this was negatived.

The bill was then ordered to be engrossed for its third reading.

Meeting of Congress.

A bill was received from the Senate appointing the time and directing the place of the next meeting of Congress, which provided that the two Houses should meet at the city of Washington on the third Monday in November next.

The House went into committee thereupon, which was reported. On the question for its third reading, it was carried--yeas 32, nays 32. The SPEAKER voted in the affirmative, and it was ordered to a third reading to-morrow.

SATURDAY, May 10.

Memory of Washington.

The bill for erecting a mausoleum for GEORGE WASHINGTON, in the city of Washington, was read a third time; and upon the question, shall the bill pass?

Mr. KITCHELL called the yeas and nays upon it, and proceeded to give his reasons why he would vote against the bill. He was followed by Mr. HARPER in favor of it, and Mr. RANDOLPH against it; when the question was taken, and the bill passed--yeas 54, nays 19, as follows:

YEAS.--Willis Alston, Bailey Bartlett, James A. Bayard, Jonathan Brace, John Brown, Gabriel Christie, William C. C. Claiborne, William Craik, Samuel W. Dana, Franklin Davenport, Thomas T. Davis, John Dawson, George Dent, Joseph Dickson, Thomas Evans, Abiel Foster, Albert Gallatin, Henry Glenn, Chauncey Goodrich, Elizur Goodrich, Edwin Gray, Roger Griswold, John A. Hanna, Robert Goodloe Harper, David Holmes, Benjamin Huger, James H. Imlay, James Jones, John Wilkes Kittera, Henry Lee, Silas Lee, Edward Livingston, Lewis R. Morris, Peter Muhlenberg, Abraham Nott, Robert Page, Jonas Platt, Leven Powell, John Read, John Rutledge, jun., Samuel Sewall, James Sheafe, John Smith, Samuel Smith, Richard Dobbs Spaight, George Thatcher, John C. Thomas, Richard Thomas, Abram Trigg, Philip Van Cortlandt, Peleg Wadsworth, Robert Waln, Lemuel Williams, and Henry Woods.

NAYS.--Theodorus Bailey, Robert Brown, Matthew Clay, John Condit, John Davenport, George Jackson, Aaron Kitchell, Michael Leib, James Linn, Nathaniel Macon, Anthony New, John Nicholas, John Randolph, William Shepard, John Smilie, Thomas Sumter, John Thompson, John Trigg, and Joseph B. Varnum.

Next Meeting of Congress.

The bill from the Senate appointing the time and directing the place of the next meeting of Congress, was read a third time; when

Mr. BAYARD moved that it be recommitted to a Committee of the whole House, for the purpose of altering the time of commencing the session. After some debate, the motion was negatived.

The question was then put, shall the bill pass? and resolved in the affirmative--yeas 41, nays 35. The next meeting of Congress will of course take place on the third Monday in November next.

Imprisonment for Debt.

The bill making further provision for the relief of persons imprisoned for debts due the United States, was taken up in committee, agreed to, and upon the question shall the bill be engrossed for a third reading, it passed in the affirmative--yeas 36, nays 25. The bill was subsequently read the third time and passed--yeas 39, nays 27.

[By this bill no person indebted to the United States can be discharged from prison, unless he shall have suffered two years imprisonment.]

Elections of President.

A message was received from the Senate informing the House that the Senate adhere to their disagreement to the amendments to the bill prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of President and Vice President of the United States, made by this House, and subsequently insisted on, Whereupon,

Mr. HARPER moved that this House do also adhere to their disagreement to recede; which was carried, and the bill, consequently, is lost.

MONDAY, May 12.

On motion of Mr. NICHOLAS, the House rescinded a resolution to adjourn the two Houses this day, and a resolution was adopted that the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House should adjourn both Houses to-morrow. The Senate amended it by proposing Wednesday. On the question of concurrence, it was carried, 40 to 24.

A message from the Senate, informed the House that the Senate agree to the resolution for postponing the time of adjournment of the two Houses, with an amendment; to which they desire the concurrence of this House.

The House proceeded to consider the amendment proposed by the Senate to the resolution for postponing the time of adjournment: Whereupon,

Resolved, that this House doth agree to the said amendment.

WEDNESDAY, May 14.

Canadian Refugees.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate have passed a bill regulating the grants of land to the Canada and Nova Scotia refugees, with amendments.

The amendments were taken into consideration, and opposed by Mr. GALLATIN, who said the object of the Senate was to give the refugees land worth ten cents an acre, instead of good land worth one dollar per acre, as proposed by this House; rather than do this, he would give them nothing.

Mr. LIVINGSTON was of the same opinion, and hoped the House would not concur. These people had waited eighteen years, and he thought it extremely hard they should now be put off in this manner.

The amendments were unanimously rejected.

A message from the Senate informed the House that they adhered to the amendment; whereupon,

Mr. GALLATIN moved that the further consideration of the bill be postponed till the third Monday in November next, which was carried.

After receiving several messages from the PRESIDENT, notifying the signing of various bills, there appearing no further business before the House, on motion of Mr. C. GOODRICH a resolution for the appointment of a joint committee to wait on the PRESIDENT, and inform him of the proposed recess, was adopted, and was concurred in by the Senate.

Mr. C. GOODRICH, from the Joint Committee, reported that they had performed that service, and that the PRESIDENT informed them he had no other communication to make, except his good wishes for their health and happiness, and that he wished them a pleasant journey to their respective homes.

A message having been sent to the Senate to inform them this House was ready to adjourn, after a few minutes a motion was made for that purpose, and carried; when

The SPEAKER, after taking an affectionate farewell of the members, and expressing his wish for their safe return and happiness, during the recess, adjourned the House till the third Monday in November next, to meet in the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia.

SIXTH CONGRESS.--SECOND SESSION.

BEGUN AT THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, NOVEMBER 17, 1800.[55]

PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE.

MONDAY, November 17, 1800.

In pursuance of the law of the last session, the second session of the sixth Congress commenced this day, at the city of Washington, and the Senate assembled, in their Chamber, at the Capitol.

Present:

JOHN LANGDON and SAMUEL LIVERMORE, from New Hampshire.

DWIGHT FOSTER, from Massachusetts.

JAMES HILLHOUSE and URIAH TRACY, from Connecticut.

THEODORE FOSTER, from Rhode Island.

NATHANIEL CHIPMAN, from Vermont.

JAMES SCHUREMAN, from New Jersey.

WILLIAM HILL WELLS, from Delaware.

JOHN E. HOWARD, from Maryland.

STEPHENS THOMPSON MASON, from Virginia.

JOHN BROWN, from Kentucky.

JOSEPH ANDERSON and WILLIAM COCKE, from Tennessee.

ABRAHAM BALDWIN, from Georgia.

The number of members present not being sufficient to constitute a quorum, the Senate adjourned to 11 o'clock to-morrow morning.

TUESDAY, November 18.

The number of members present not being sufficient to constitute a quorum, the Senate adjourned.

WEDNESDAY, November 19.

There being no quorum, the Senate adjourned.

THURSDAY, November 20.

There being no quorum present, the Senate adjourned.

FRIDAY, November 21.

TIMOTHY BLOODWORTH, from the State of North Carolina; HUMPHREY MARSHALL, from the State of Kentucky; and GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, from the State of New York, severally attended.

The credentials of DWIGHT FOSTER, appointed a Senator by the State of Massachusetts, in place of Samuel Dexter, resigned, were read, and he took his seat in the Senate.

The VICE PRESIDENT being absent, the Senate proceeded to the election of a President, pro tempore, as the constitution provides, and JOHN E. HOWARD was chosen.

The PRESIDENT administered the oath prescribed by law to Mr. FOSTER.

Ordered, that the Secretary wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and acquaint him that a quorum of the Senate is assembled, and that, in the absence of the Vice President, they have elected JOHN E. HOWARD, President of the Senate, pro tempore.

Ordered, That the Secretary acquaint the House of Representatives that a quorum of the Senate is assembled and ready to proceed to business; and that, in the absence of the Vice President, they have elected JOHN E. HOWARD President of the Senate, pro tempore.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that a quorum of the House is assembled, and they have appointed a committee on their part, together with such committee as the Senate may appoint, to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and notify him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communications that he may be pleased to make them.

Resolved, That the Senate concur in the resolution last recited, and that Messrs. WELLS and TRACY be the committee on the part of the Senate.

Mr. WELLS reported, from the joint committee last mentioned, that they had waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; and that he acquainted the committee that he would meet the two Houses of Congress, at 12 o'clock to-morrow, in the Senate Chamber.

SATURDAY, November 22.

Ordered, That the Secretary notify the House of Representatives, that the Senate are ready to meet them in their Chamber, for the purpose of receiving the communications from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

The House of Representatives having accordingly taken the seats assigned them, the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES came into the Senate Chamber, and addressed both Houses of Congress as follows:

Gentlemen of the Senate, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

Immediately after the adjournment of Congress at their last session in Philadelphia, I gave directions, in compliance with the laws, for the removal of the public offices, records, and property. These directions have been executed, and the public officers have since resided and conducted the ordinary business of the Government in this place.

I congratulate the people of the United States on the assembling of Congress at the permanent seat of their Government; and I congratulate you, gentlemen, on the prospect of a residence not to be changed. Although there is cause to apprehend that accommodations are not now so complete as might be wished, yet there is great reason to believe that this inconvenience will cease with the present session.

It would be unbecoming the Representatives of this nation to assemble, for the first time, in this solemn temple, without looking up to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and imploring his blessing.

May this Territory be the residence of virtue and happiness! In this city may that piety and virtue, that wisdom and magnanimity, that constancy and self-government which adorned the great character whose name it bears, be for ever held in veneration! Here, and throughout our country, may simple manners, pure morals, and true religion flourish for ever!

It is with you, gentlemen, to consider whether the local powers over the District of Columbia, vested by the constitution in the Congress of the United States, shall be immediately exercised. If, in your opinion, this important trust ought now to be executed, you cannot fail, while performing it, to take into view the future probable situation of the Territory for the happiness of which you are about to provide. You will consider it as the Capital of a great nation, advancing, with unexampled rapidity, in arts, in commerce, in wealth, and in population; and possessing, within itself, those energies and resources which, if not thrown away, or lamentably misdirected, will secure to it a long course of prosperity and self-government.

In compliance with a law of the last session of Congress, the officers and soldiers of the temporary army have been discharged. It affords real pleasure to recollect the honorable testimony they gave of the patriotic motives which brought them into the service of their country, by the readiness and regularity with which they returned to the station of private citizens.

It is, in every point of view, of such primary importance to carry the laws into prompt and faithful execution, and to render that part of the administration of justice which the constitution and laws devolve on the federal courts, as convenient to the people as may consist with their present circumstances, that I cannot omit once more to recommend to your serious consideration the judiciary system of the United States. No subject is more interesting than this to the public happiness, and to none can those improvements which may have been suggested by experience be more beneficially applied.

A Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the King of Prussia has been concluded and ratified. The ratifications have been exchanged, and I have directed the treaty to be promulgated by proclamation.

The difficulties which suspended the execution of the sixth article of our Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, with Great Britain, have not yet been removed. The negotiation on this subject is still pending. As it must be for the interest and honor of both nations to adjust this difference with good faith, I indulge confidently the expectation that the sincere endeavors of the Government of the United States to bring it to an amicable termination will not be disappointed.

The Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary from the United States to France were received by the First Consul with the respect due to their character; and three persons with equal powers were appointed to treat with them.[56] Although, at the date of the last official intelligence, the negotiation had not terminated, yet it is to be hoped that our efforts to effect an accommodation will at length meet with a success proportioned to the sincerity with which they have been so often repeated.

While our best endeavors for the preservation of harmony with all nations will continue to be used, the experience of the world, our own experience, admonish us of the insecurity of trusting too confidently to their success. We cannot, without committing a dangerous imprudence, abandon those measures of self-protection which are adapted to our situation, and to which, notwithstanding our pacific policy, the violence and injustice of others may again compel us to resort. While our vast extent of sea-coast, the commercial and agricultural habits of our people, the great capital they will continue to trust on the ocean, suggest the system of defence which will be most beneficial to ourselves, our distance from Europe, and our resources for maritime strength, will enable us to employ it with effect. Seasonable and systematic arrangements, so far as our resources will justify, for a navy, adapted to defensive war, and which may, in case of necessity, be quickly brought into use, seem to be as much recommended by a wise and true economy as by a just regard for our future tranquillity, for the safety of our shores, and for the protection of our property committed to the ocean.

The present Navy of the United States, called suddenly into existence by a great national exigency, has raised us in our own esteem; and, by the protection afforded to our commerce, has effected, to the extent of our expectations, the objects for which it was created.

In connection with a navy ought to be contemplated the fortification of some of our principal seaports and harbors. A variety of considerations, which will readily suggest themselves, urge an attention to this measure of precaution. To give security to our principal ports, considerable sums have already been expended, but the works remain incomplete. It is for Congress to determine whether additional appropriations shall be made, in order to render competent to the intended purposes the fortifications which have been commenced.

The manufacture of arms within the United States still invites the attention of the national Legislature. At a considerable expense to the public this manufacture has been brought to such a state of maturity as, with continued encouragement, will supersede the necessity of future importations from foreign countries.

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

I shall direct the estimates of the appropriations necessary for the ensuing year, together with an account of the public revenue and expenditure, to a late period, to be laid before you. I observe, with much satisfaction, the product of the revenue during the present year has been more considerable than during any former equal period. This result affords conclusive evidence of the great resources of this country, and of the wisdom and efficiency of the measures which have been adopted by Congress for the protection of commerce and preservation of public credit.

Gentlemen of the Senate, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

As one of the grand community of nations, our attention is irresistibly drawn to the important scenes which surround us. If they have exhibited an uncommon portion of calamity, it is the province of humanity to deplore, and of wisdom to avoid, the causes which may have produced it. If, turning our eyes homeward, we find reason to rejoice at the prospect which presents itself; if we perceive the interior of our country prosperous, free, and happy; if all enjoy in safety, under the protection of laws emanating only from the general will, the fruits of their own labor, we ought to fortify and cling to those institutions which have been the source of such real felicity; and resist, with unabating perseverance, the progress of those dangerous innovations which may diminish their influence.

To your patriotism, gentlemen, has been confided the honorable duty of guarding the public interests; and, while the past is to your country a sure pledge that it will be faithfully discharged, permit me to assure you that your labors to promote the general happiness will receive from me the most zealous co-operation.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, Nov. 22, 1800.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES having retired, the two Houses separated.

Ordered, That Messrs. TRACY, MORRIS, and BALDWIN, be a committee to report the draft of an Address to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, in answer to his Speech this day to both Houses.

It was further ordered that the Speech be printed for the use of the Senate.

MONDAY, November 24.

JONATHAN DAYTON, from the State of New Jersey, attended.

Mr. TRACY, from the committee appointed to draft an Address in answer to the Speech of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES to both Houses of Congress, at the opening of the session, made a report, which was read, and ordered to lie for consideration.

TUESDAY, November 25.

WILSON CARY NICHOLAS, from the State of Virginia, attended.

The Senate took into consideration the report of the committee of the draft of an Address in answer to the Speech of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES to both Houses of Congress, at the opening of the session; which, being read in paragraphs, and amended, was adopted, as follows:

To the President of the United States:

SIR: Impressed with the important truth that the hearts of rulers and people are in the hand of the Almighty, the Senate of the United States most cordially join in your invocations for appropriate blessings upon the Government and people of this Union.

We meet you, sir, and the other branch of the national Legislature in the city which is honored by the name of our late hero and sage, the illustrious WASHINGTON, with sensations and emotions which exceed our power of description.

While we congratulate ourselves on the convention of the Legislature at the permanent seat of Government, and ardently hope that permanence and stability may be communicated as well to the Government itself as to its seat, our minds are irresistibly led to deplore the death of him who bore so honorable and efficient a part in the establishment of both. Great indeed would have been our gratification if his sum of earthly happiness had been completed by seeing the Government thus peaceably convened at this place; but we derive consolation from a belief that the moment in which we were destined to experience the loss we deplore, was fixed by that Being whose counsels cannot err; and from a hope that, since in this seat of Government, which bears his name, his earthly remains will be deposited, the members of Congress, and all who inhabit the city, with these memorials before them, will retain his virtues in lively recollection, and make his patriotism, morals, and piety, models for imitation. And permit us to add, sir, that it is not among the least of our consolations that you, who have been his companion and friend from the dawning of our national existence, and trained in the same school of exertion to effect our independence, are still preserved by a gracious Providence in health and activity to exercise the functions of Chief Magistrate.

The question whether the legal powers over the District of Columbia, vested by the constitution in the Congress of the United States, shall be immediately exercised, is of great importance, and in deliberating upon it, we shall naturally be led to weigh the attending circumstances and every probable consequence of the measures which may be proposed.

The several subjects for Legislative consideration, contained in your Speech to both Houses of Congress, shall receive from the Senate all the attention which they can give, when contemplating those objects, both in respect to their national importance, and the additional weight that is given them by your recommendation.

We deprecate, with you, sir, all spirit of innovation, from whatever quarter it may arise, which may impair the sacred bond that connects the different parts of this empire; and we trust, that, under the protection of Divine Providence, the wisdom and virtue of the citizens of the United States will deliver our national compact unimpaired to a grateful posterity.

From past experience, it is impossible for the Senate of the United States to doubt of your zealous co-operation with the Legislature in every effort to promote the general happiness and tranquillity of the Union.

Accept, sir, our warmest wishes for your health and happiness.

JOHN E. HOWARD, President of the Senate, pro tempore.

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and desire him to acquaint the Senate at what time and place it will be convenient for him that the Address of the Senate, in answer to his Speech to both Houses of Congress at the opening of the session, shall be presented; and that Messrs. TRACY, MORRIS, and BALDWIN, be this committee.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House have resolved, that two Chaplains be appointed to Congress, for the present session, one by each House, to interchange weekly; in which they desire the concurrence of the Senate.

The Senate took into consideration the resolution last mentioned; and

Resolved, That they do concur therein with the following amendment: after the word "Chaplains," insert "of different denominations."

WEDNESDAY, November 26.

Mr. TRACY reported, from the committee yesterday appointed for the purpose, that they had waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and that he would receive the Address of the Senate this day, at 12 o'clock, at his own house.

Whereupon, the Senate waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES accordingly: and the President of the Senate, in their name, presented the Address yesterday agreed to.

To which the PRESIDENT made the following reply:

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Senate:

For this excellent Address, so respectful to the memory of my illustrious predecessor, which I receive from the Senate of the United States, at this time, and in this place, with peculiar satisfaction, I pray you to accept of my unfeigned acknowledgments. With you, I ardently hope, that permanence and stability will be communicated as well to the Government itself, as to its beautiful and commodious seat. With you I deplore the death of that hero and sage who bore so honorable and efficient a part in the establishment of both. Great indeed would have been my gratification, if his sum of earthly happiness had been completed by seeing the Government thus peaceably convened at this place, himself at its head. But, while we submit to the decision of Heaven, whose councils are inscrutable to us, we cannot but hope, that the members of Congress, the officers of Government, and all who inhabit the city or the country, will retain his virtues in lively recollection, and make his patriotism, morals, and piety, models for imitation.

I thank you, gentlemen, for your assurance that the several subjects for legislative consideration, recommended in my communication to both Houses, shall receive from the Senate a deliberate and candid attention.

With you, gentlemen, I sincerely deprecate all spirit of innovation which may weaken the sacred bond that connects the different parts of this nation and Government; and with you I trust, that, under the protection of Divine Providence, the wisdom and virtue of our citizens will deliver our national compact unimpaired to a free, prosperous, happy, and grateful posterity. To this end it is my fervent prayer, that, in this city, the fountains of wisdom may be always open, and the streams of eloquence for ever flow. Here may the youth of this extensive country for ever look up without disappointment, not only to the monuments and memorials of the dead, but to the examples of the living, in the members of Congress and officers of Government, for finished models of all those virtues, graces, talents, and accomplishments, which constitute the dignity of human nature, and lay the only foundation for the prosperity or duration of empires.

JOHN ADAMS.

CITY OF WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 1800.

The Senate returned to their own Chamber; and the reply of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES having been read, adjourned.

FRIDAY, November 28.

THOMAS JEFFERSON, Vice President of the United States, and President of the Senate, attended.

MONDAY, December 1.

JESSE FRANKLIN, from the State of North Carolina, attended.

The VICE PRESIDENT communicated a letter from JAMES LLOYD, a Senator from the State of Maryland, resigning his seat in the Senate; which was read.

TUESDAY, December 2.

JACOB READ, from the State of South Carolina, and JAMES GUNN, from the State of Georgia, severally attended.

THURSDAY, December 4.

RAY GREENE, from the State of Rhode Island, and ELIJAH PAINE, from the State of Vermont, severally attended.

MONDAY, December 15.

WILLIAM HINDMAN, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Maryland, for the remainder of the term for which JAMES LLOYD was elected, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the Senate.

FRIDAY, December 19.

JONATHAN MASON, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Massachusetts, in place of BENJAMIN GOODHUE, resigned, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the Senate.

MONDAY, January 5, 1801.

Mississippi Territorial Laws.

The following Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

Gentlemen of the Senate, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

I transmit to both Houses of Congress, for their information and consideration, copies of laws enacted by the Governor and Judges of the Mississippi Territory, from the 30th of June until the 31st of December, A. D. 1799.[57]

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, Jan. 1, 1801.

The Message was read and ordered to lie for consideration.

WEDNESDAY, January 7.

The Senate took into consideration the report of the committee to whom was referred so much of the PRESIDENT'S Speech as relates to the exercise of the local powers over the District of Columbia, vested by the constitution in the Congress of the United States; which is,

"That, by the cession of the several States of Virginia and Maryland, and the acceptance thereof by Congress, the said District has become the permanent Seat of the Government of the United States;

"That the powers of the said States to legislate within said District have wholly ceased;

"And that the sole power of legislation over the same is thereupon exclusively vested in Congress."

And, on motion to agree thereto, a motion was made for the previous question, to wit: "Shall the main question be now put?" and which passed in the negative.

The Senate resumed the second reading of the bill concerning the District of Columbia; and, after debate,

Ordered, That it be recommitted to the original committee, further to consider and report thereon.

THURSDAY, January 8.

JOHN ARMSTRONG, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of New York, in place of JOHN LAURANCE, resigned, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the Senate.

MONDAY, January 12.

WILLIAM BINGHAM and JAMES ROSS, from the State of Pennsylvania, severally attended.

THURSDAY, January 15.

Mr. NICHOLAS, from the committee on the bill to erect a mausoleum for GEORGE WASHINGTON, reported amendments; which were read, and ordered to lie for consideration.

TUESDAY, January 20.

The Senate proceeded to the consideration of Executive business.

WEDNESDAY, January 21.

The VICE PRESIDENT communicated a letter from the Commissioners of the City of Washington, addressed to both Houses of Congress requesting the assignment of a room in the Capitol for the temporary accommodation of the Supreme Judicial Court of the United States; which was read.

Resolved, That the Secretary be directed to inform the Commissioners of the City of Washington that the Senate consent to the accommodation of the Supreme Court in one of the committee rooms, as proposed in their letter.

THURSDAY, January 22.

Mausoleum for Washington.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the report of the committee on the bill to erect a mausoleum for GEORGE WASHINGTON; and on motion to agree to the report, and to strike out, after the word "That," immediately following the enacting clause, the whole of the bill, for the purpose of inserting as follows:

"In testimony of the respect and gratitude of the citizens of the United States to GEORGE WASHINGTON, and for carrying into effect the resolution of Congress of the 24th day of December, 1799, to commemorate the great events of his military and political life, there shall be and hereby is appropriated a sum not exceeding ---- thousand dollars, to be paid out of any moneys in the Treasury of the United States, not otherwise appropriated.

"And be it further enacted, That ---- ---- shall be and hereby are, empowered, to fix on a plan and make all contracts and engagements for payment of moneys, not exceeding in the whole the aforesaid sum of ---- dollars; and to adopt all other measures necessary and proper for the due execution of this act, as to them shall seem expedient."

And it was agreed to divide the motion, and that the question be taken on striking out, which passed in the affirmative--yeas 16, nays 12, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, Dayton, T. Foster, D. Foster, Franklin, Hillhouse, Langdon, Marshall, S. T. Mason, Nicholas, and Schureman.

NAYS.--Messrs. Chipman, Greene, Hindman, Howard, Latimer, Livermore, J. Mason, Morris, Paine, Read, Tracy, and Wells.

MONDAY, January 26.

The Senate resumed the second reading of the bill for erecting a mausoleum for GEORGE WASHINGTON; and having agreed to the amendment reported by the committee, and filled up one of the blanks,

Ordered, That this bill pass to third reading as amended.

WEDNESDAY, February 4.

Mausoleum for Washington.

The Senate took into consideration the amendment reported by the committee, on the bill for erecting a mausoleum for GEORGE WASHINGTON; which was agreed to.

And on the final passage of the bill as amended, the question was determined in the affirmative--yeas 20, nays 9, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Chipman, Dayton, T. Foster, Dwight Foster, Franklin, Greene, Hillhouse, Howard, Langdon, Livermore, Marshall, S. T. Mason, Nicholas, Paine, and Schureman.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bingham, Cocke, Gunn, Hindman, Latimer, J. Mason, Morris, Read, and Ross.

So it was Resolved, That this bill pass with amendments.

MONDAY, February 9.

Counting Votes for President of the United States.

On motion, it was

Resolved, That the Senate will be ready to receive the House of Representatives in the Senate Chamber on Wednesday next, at twelve o'clock, for the purpose of being present at the opening and counting the votes for PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. That one person be appointed a teller on the part of the Senate, to make a list of the votes for PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, as they shall be declared: that the result shall be delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall announce the state of the vote, which shall be entered on the journals, and if it shall appear that a choice has been made, agreeably to the constitution, such entry on the journals shall be deemed a sufficient declaration thereof.

Ordered, That the Secretary notify the House of Representatives of this resolution.

TUESDAY, February 10.

On motion that when the two Houses shall proceed to opening and counting the votes for PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, no person shall be admitted into the gallery, it passed in the affirmative--yeas 16, nays 10, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Brown, Chipman, Dayton, T. Foster, Dwight Foster, Hillhouse, Hindman, Latimer, J. Mason, Morris, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Cocke, Franklin, Langdon, Livermore, Marshall, S. T. Mason, and Nicholas.

A message was received from the House of Representatives informing the Senate that they have passed a resolution, which the Clerk was directed to bring to the Senate.

The resolution was read, as follows:

"Resolved, That this House will attend in the Chamber of the Senate on Wednesday next, at 12 o'clock, for the purpose of being present at the opening and counting of the votes for PRESIDENT and VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; that Messrs. RUTLEDGE and NICHOLAS be appointed tellers, to act jointly with the teller appointed on the part of the Senate, to make a list of the votes for PRESIDENT and VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, as they shall be declared; that the result shall be delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall announce the state of the vote, which shall be entered on the journals, and if it shall appear that a choice has been made, agreeably to the constitution, such entry on the journals shall be deemed a sufficient declaration thereof."

Ordered, That Mr. WELLS be a teller on the part of the Senate for the purpose expressed in the above resolution.

WEDNESDAY, February 11.

Ordered, That the Secretary notify the House of Representatives that the Senate is ready to meet them in the Senate Chamber, for the purpose of being present at the opening and counting the votes for PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

The two Houses of Congress accordingly assembled in the Senate Chamber, and the certificates of the Electors of sixteen States were, by the VICE PRESIDENT, opened and delivered to the tellers appointed for the purpose, who, having examined and ascertained the number of votes, presented a list thereof to the VICE PRESIDENT, which was read. (For List see Table on next page.)

Whereupon the VICE PRESIDENT declared that the result of the votes, as delivered by the tellers, was that

THOMAS JEFFERSON, of Va., had 73 AARON BURR, of N. Y., had 73 JOHN ADAMS, of Mass., had 65 CHAS. C. PINCKNEY, of S. C., had 64 JOHN JAY, of N. Y., had 1

---------------+---------+---------+---------+----------+---------+ STATES. |Thomas | Aaron | John |Charles C.| John | |Jefferson| Burr | Adams |Pinckney | Jay. | ---------------+---------+---------+---------+----------+---------+ New Hampshire | - | - | 6 | 6 | | Massachusetts | - | - | 16 | 16 | | Rhode Island | - | - | 4 | 3 | 1 | Connecticut | - | - | 9 | 9 | | Vermont | - | - | 4 | 4 | | New York | 12 | 12 | | | | New Jersey | - | - | 7 | 7 | | Pennsylvania | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | | Delaware | - | - | 3 | 3 | | Maryland | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | | Virginia | 21 | 21 | | | | Kentucky | 4 | 4 | | | | North Carolina | 8 | 8 | 4 | 4 | | Tennessee | 3 | 3 | | | | South Carolina | 8 | 8 | | | | Georgia | 4 | 4 | | | | | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | | 73 | 73 | 65 | 64 | 1 | ---------------+---------+---------+---------+----------+---------+

The whole number of Electors who had voted were one hundred and thirty-eight, of which number THOMAS JEFFERSON and AARON BURR had a majority; but the number of those voting for them being equal, no choice was made by the people; and that, consequently, the remaining duties devolve on the House of Representatives.

On which, the House of Representatives repaired to their own Chamber; and the Senate adjourned.

MONDAY, February 16.

Public Property.

The following Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

Gentlemen of the Senate, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

I wish to know the pleasure of Congress, and request their direction, concerning the disposition of the property of the United States now in my possession; whether I shall deliver it into the hands of the Heads of Departments, or of the Commissioners of the city of Washington, or of a committee of Congress, or to any other persons Congress may appoint, to be delivered into the hands of my successor, or whether I shall present it myself to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES on the 4th of March next. Any of these modes will be agreeable to me.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, Feb. 16, 1801.

The Message was read and ordered to lie on the table.

The VICE PRESIDENT communicated a letter from JAMES SCHUREMAN, a Senator from the State of New Jersey, resigning his seat; which was read.

Resolved, That the VICE PRESIDENT be requested to notify the Executive of the State of New Jersey that JAMES SCHUREMAN hath resigned his seat in the Senate.

WEDNESDAY, February 18.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House have chosen THOMAS JEFFERSON, of Virginia, President of the United States, for the term commencing on the 4th of March next.

On motion, it was

Resolved, That a committee be appointed, to join such committee as may be appointed on the part of the House of Representatives, to consider whether any, and, if any, what measures ought to be adopted for the further accommodation of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, for the term commencing the 4th day of March next, to report by bill, bills, or otherwise; and that Messrs. NICHOLAS, TRACY, and BALDWIN, be the committee on the part of the Senate.

Notification of Election to Aaron Burr.

On motion, it was

Resolved, That the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES be requested to cause to be transmitted to AARON BURR, Esq., of New York, Vice President elect of the United States, notification of his election to that office, and that the President of the Senate do make out and sign a certificate, in the words following, viz:

"BE IT KNOWN, That the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, being convened at the city of Washington, on the second Wednesday in February, A. D. 1801, the underwritten Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate, did, in presence of said Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and count all the votes of the electors for a President; whereupon it appeared that THOMAS JEFFERSON, of Virginia, and AARON BURR, of New York, had a majority of the votes of the electors and an equal number of votes; in consequence of which the House of Representatives proceeded to the choice of a President, and have this day notified to the Senate that THOMAS JEFFERSON has by them been duly chosen President: by all of which it appears that AARON BURR, Esq., of New York, is duly elected, agreeably to the constitution, Vice President of the United States of America.

"In witness thereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this 18th day of February, 1801.

"THOMAS JEFFERSON."

And that the President of the Senate do cause the certificate aforesaid to be laid before the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, with this resolution.

MONDAY, February 23.

Mr. PINCKNEY, a Senator for the State of South Carolina, attended.

THURSDAY, February 26.

The bill to prohibit the Secretary of the Navy from carrying on any business of trade, commerce, or navigation, was read the second time, and referred to Messrs. LANGDON, NICHOLAS, and DAYTON, to consider and report thereon.

SATURDAY, February 28.

Retiring of the Vice President.

The VICE PRESIDENT addressed the Senate as follows:

Gentlemen of the Senate:

To give the usual opportunity of appointing a President, pro tempore, I now propose to retire from the chair of the Senate; and, as the time is near at hand when the relations will cease which have for some time subsisted between this honorable House and myself, I beg leave, before I withdraw, to return them my grateful thanks for all the instances of attention and respect with which they have been pleased to honor me. In the discharge of my functions here, it has been my conscientious endeavor to observe impartial justice, without regard to persons or subjects; and if I have failed of impressing this on the mind of the Senate, it will be to me a circumstance of the deepest regret. I may have erred at times--no doubt I have erred--this is the law of human nature. For honest errors, however, indulgence may be hoped.

I owe to truth and justice, at the same time, to declare, that the habits of order and decorum, which so strongly characterize the proceedings of the Senate, have rendered the umpirage of their President an office of little difficulty; that, in times and on questions which have severely tried the sensibilities of the House, calm and temperate discussion has rarely been disturbed by departures from order.

Should the support which I have received from the Senate, in the performance of my duties here, attend me into the new station to which the public will has transferred me, I shall consider it as commencing under the happiest auspices.

With these expressions of my dutiful regard to the Senate as a body, I ask leave to mingle my particular wishes for the health and happiness of the individuals who compose it, and to tender them my cordial and respectful adieu.

After which the VICE PRESIDENT retired.

Whereupon the Senate proceeded to the election of a President pro tempore, as the constitution provides; and JAMES HILLHOUSE was duly elected.

Ordered, That the Address of the VICE PRESIDENT, made this day, taking leave of the Senate, be referred to a committee, with instruction to prepare and report the draft of an Address in answer thereto; and that Messrs. MORRIS, J. MASON, and DAYTON, be the committee.

MONDAY, March 2.

Answer to the Vice President's Valedictory.

Mr. MORRIS, from the committee appointed the 28th ultimo, on the Address of the VICE PRESIDENT, made, on his taking leave of the Senate, reported an answer thereto, which was read, as follows:

SIR: While we congratulate you on those expressions of the public will, which called you to the first office in the United States, we cannot but lament the loss of that intelligence, attention, and impartiality, with which you have presided over our deliberations. The Senate feel themselves much gratified by the sense you have been pleased to express of their support in the performance of your late duties. Be persuaded that it will never be withheld from a Chief Magistrate, who, in the exercise of his office, shall be influenced by a due regard to the honor and interests of our country.

In the confidence that your official conduct will be directed to these great objects, a confidence derived from past events, we repeat to you, sir, the assurance of our constitutional support in your future administration.

On the motion to strike out these words: "a confidence derived from past events," it passed in the negative--yeas 9, nays 19, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Chipman, Hindman, Howard, Livermore, Paine, Read, Ross, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, Dayton, T. Foster, D. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Gunn, Hillhouse, Marshall, S. T. Mason, J. Mason, Morris, Nicholas, and Pinckney.

And the report was agreed to.

Ordered, That the committee who drafted the answer to the Address, wait on the President elect of the United States, and present it to him.

The PRESIDENT laid before the Senate a letter from the President elect of the United States; which was read, as follows:

WASHINGTON, March 2, 1801.

SIR: I beg leave, through you, to inform the honorable the Senate of the United States, that I propose to take the oath which the constitution prescribes to the President of the United States, before he enters on the execution of his office, on Wednesday, the 4th instant, at 12 o'clock, in the Senate Chamber.

I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,

TH. JEFFERSON.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore of the Senate.

Ordered, That the foregoing letter be referred to Messrs. MORRIS, DAYTON, and ROSS, to report thereon.

Ordered, That the committee who were appointed to take into consideration the letter from the President elect of the United States, of this day, be discharged.

A motion was made as follows:

The President elect of the United States having informed the Senate that he proposes to take the oath which the constitution prescribes to the President of the United States before he enters on the execution of his office, on Wednesday, the 4th instant, at 12 o'clock, in the Senate Chamber:

Ordered, That the Secretary communicate that information to the House of Representatives; that seats be provided for such members of the House of Representatives and such of the public Ministers as may think proper to attend; and that the gallery be opened to the citizens of the United States.

And the motion was agreed to.

TUESDAY, March 3.

Mausoleum for Washington.

The Senate took into consideration the amendments to the amendments on the bill to erect a mausoleum for GEORGE WASHINGTON; and on motion to postpone the further consideration of this bill until the first Monday in December next, it passed in the affirmative--yeas 14, nays 13, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Brown, Cocke, Gunn, Hindman, J. Mason, Morris, Pinckney, Read, Ross, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bloodworth, Chipman, Dayton, T. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Hillhouse, Howard, Langdon, Livermore, Marshall, Nicholas, and Paine.

The bill to prohibit the Secretary of the Navy from being concerned in trade or commerce, was read the third time and passed.

Mr. NICHOLAS, from the committee on the bill providing for a Naval Peace Establishment, reported amendments, which, being agreed to, the bill was read the third time by unanimous consent, and passed.

Mr. MORRIS, from the committee appointed to wait on the President elect of the United States, and present him with the answer of the Senate to his Address on taking leave, communicated his reply, which was read as follows:

GENTLEMEN: I receive with due sensibility the congratulations of the Senate on being called to the first Executive office of our Government; and I accept, with great satisfaction, their assurances of support in whatever regards the honor and interest of our country. Knowing no other object in the discharge of my public duties, their confidence in my future conduct, derived from past events, shall not be disappointed, so far as my judgment may enable me to discern those objects.

The approbation they are so good as to express of my conduct in the chair of the Senate, is highly gratifying to me; and I pray them to accept my humble thanks for these declarations of it.

TH. JEFFERSON.

MARCH, 3, 1801.

TUESDAY EVENING, 6 o'clock.

AARON OGDEN, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of New Jersey, in place of James Schureman, resigned, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the Senate.

Adjournment.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House concur in the resolution of the Senate appointing a joint committee to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and notify him of the proposed adjournment of the two Houses of Congress, and have appointed a committee on their part. And that the House of Representatives, having completed the business before them, are about to adjourn without day.

Mr. READ reported, from the joint committee, that they had waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and that he replied, that he had nothing further to communicate to Congress, except his best wishes for the health and happiness of its members respectively.

The Senate then adjourned without day.

SPECIAL SESSION.

WEDNESDAY, March 4, 1801.

To the Senators of the United States, respectively:

SIR: It appearing to me proper and necessary for the public service, that the Senate of the United States should be convened on Wednesday the 4th of March next, you are desired to attend in the Chamber of the Senate on that day, at 10 o'clock in the forenoon, to receive and act upon any communications which the President of the United States may then lay before you touching their interests, and to do and consider all other things which may be proper and necessary for the public service, for the Senate to do and consider.

JOHN ADAMS, President of the United States.

JANUARY 30, 1801.

In conformity to the summons from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES above recited, the Senate assembled in their Chamber.

PRESENT:

AARON BURR, Vice President of the United States, and President of the Senate.

SAMUEL LIVERMORE, and JAMES SHEAFE, from New Hampshire.

DWIGHT FOSTER, and JONATHAN MASON, from Massachusetts.

THEODORE FOSTER and RAY GREENE, from Rhode Island.

URIAH TRACY and JAMES HILLHOUSE, from Connecticut.

NATHANIEL CHIPMAN, from Vermont.

GOUVERNEUR MORRIS and JOHN ARMSTRONG, from New York.

JONATHAN DAYTON and AARON OGDEN, from New Jersey.

JAMES ROSS and PETER MUHLENBERG, from Pennsylvania.

WILLIAM HILL WELLS and SAMUEL WHITE, from Delaware.

JOHN E. HOWARD, from Maryland.

STEVENS T. MASON and WILSON CARY NICHOLAS, from Virginia.

JOHN BROWN, from Kentucky.

JESSE FRANKLIN and DAVID STONE, from North Carolina.

JOSEPH ANDERSON and WILLIAM COCKE, from Tennessee.

CHARLES PINCKNEY, from South Carolina.

ABRAHAM BALDWIN, from Georgia.

Mr. HILLHOUSE administered the oath of office to the VICE PRESIDENT, who took the chair, and the credentials of the following members were read:

Of Mr. ARMSTRONG, Mr. MUHLENBERG, Mr. SHEAFE, Mr. STONE, Mr. TRACY, and Mr. WHITE.

And the oath of office was administered to Mr. ARMSTRONG, Mr. MUHLENBERG, Mr. SHEAFE, Mr. STONE, and Mr. WHITE, by the VICE PRESIDENT.

Exception being taken to the credentials of the Hon. Mr. TRACY, a Senator from the State of Connecticut, a debate ensued; and, on motion that he be admitted to take the oath required by the constitution, it passed in the affirmative--yeas 13, nays 10, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Chipman, Dayton, Dwight Foster, Hillhouse, Howard, Livermore, J. Mason, Morris, Ogden, Ross, Sheafe, Wells, and White.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Brown, Cocke, S. T. Mason, Muhlenberg, Nicholas, Pinckney, and Stone.

And the oath was accordingly administered to Mr. TRACY by the VICE PRESIDENT.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, attended by the Heads of Departments, the Marshal of the District, his officers and other gentlemen, came into the Senate Chamber and took his seat in the chair usually occupied by the VICE PRESIDENT. The VICE PRESIDENT took a separate seat on the right of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and the Chief Justice of the United States on the left. After a short pause, the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES rose, and addressed the audience as follows:

Friends and fellow-citizens:

Called upon to undertake the duties of the first Executive office of our country, I avail myself of the presence of that portion of my fellow-citizens which is here assembled, to express my grateful thanks for the favor with which they have been pleased to look towards me, to declare a sincere consciousness that the task is above my talents, and that I approach it with those anxious and awful presentiments which the greatness of the charge, and the weakness of my powers, so justly inspire. A rising nation spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their industry, engaged in commerce with nations who feel power and forget right, advancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye; when I contemplate these transcendent objects, and see the honor, the happiness, and the hopes, of this beloved country committed to the issue and the auspices of this day, I shrink from the contemplation, and humble myself before the magnitude of the undertaking. Utterly indeed should I despair, did not the presence of many whom I here see remind me, that, in the other high authorities provided by our constitution, I shall find resources of wisdom, of virtue, and of zeal, on which to rely under all difficulties. To you, then, gentlemen, who are charged with the sovereign functions of legislation, and to those associated with you, I look with encouragement for that guidance and support which may enable us to steer with safety the vessel in which we are all embarked, amidst the conflicting elements of a troubled world.

During the contest of opinion through which we have passed, the animation of discussions and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused to think freely, and to speak and to write what they think; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the constitution, all will of course arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. All too will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression. Let us then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind, let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which, liberty, and even life itself, are but dreary things. And let us reflect, that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little, if we countenance a political intolerance, as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his long lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant and peaceful shore; that this should be more felt and feared by some and less by others; and should divide opinions as to measures of safety; but every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans: we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union, or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated, where reason is left free to combat it. I know indeed that some honest men fear that a Republican Government cannot be strong; that this Government is not strong enough. But would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a Government which has so far kept us free and firm, on the theoretic and visionary fear that this Government, the world's best hope, may, by possibility, want energy to preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest Government on earth. I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

Let us then, with courage and confidence, pursue our own federal and republican principles; our attachment to union and representative government. Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from our actions and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion, professed indeed and practised in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man, acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which, by all its dispensations, proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter; with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens--a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government; and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.

About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend every thing dear and valuable to you, it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and consequently those which ought to shape its Administration. I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political: peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none: the support of the State Governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies: the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet-anchor of our peace at home, and safety abroad: a jealous care of the right of election by the people; a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution, where peaceable remedies are unprovided: absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of Republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism: a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace, and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve them: the supremacy of the civil over the military authority--economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burdened: the honest payment of our debts, and sacred preservation of the public faith: encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid: the diffusion of information, and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason: freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and freedom of person, under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages, and blood of our heroes, have been devoted to their attainment: they should be the creed of our political faith; the text of civic instruction; the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps, and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety.

I repair then, fellow-citizens, to the post you have assigned me. With experience enough in subordinate offices to have seen the difficulties of this, the greatest of all, I have learnt to expect that it will rarely fall to the lot of imperfect man to retire from this station with the reputation and the favor which bring him into it. Without pretensions to that high confidence you reposed in our first and greatest revolutionary character, whose pre-eminent services had entitled him to the first place in his country's love, and destined for him the fairest page in the volume of faithful history, I ask so much confidence only as may give firmness and effect to the legal administration of your affairs. I shall often go wrong through defect of judgment. When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground. I ask your indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional; and your support against the errors of others, who may condemn what they would not, if seen in all its parts. The approbation implied by your suffrage is a great consolation to me for the past; and my future solicitude will be, to retain the good opinion of those who have bestowed it in advance, to conciliate that of others by doing them all the good in my power, and to be instrumental to the happiness and freedom of all.

Relying then on the patronage of your good will, I advance with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better choices it is in your power to make. And may that Infinite Power which rules the destinies of the universe lead our councils to what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity.

The oath of office was then administered to him by the Chief Justice of the United States. After which the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES retired.

The Senate then adjourned till to-morrow.

THURSDAY, March 5.

WILLIAM HINDMAN, appointed a Senator by the State of Maryland, produced his credentials, and the oath of office was administered to him by the VICE PRESIDENT.

Ordered, That Messrs. NICHOLAS and BALDWIN be a committee to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and notify him that the Senate is assembled and ready to receive any communications which he may be pleased to make to them.

The VICE PRESIDENT communicated a letter from RAY GREENE, a Senator from the State of Rhode Island, resigning his seat; which was read.

Resolved, That the VICE PRESIDENT be requested to notify to the Executive of the State of Rhode Island, that RAY GREENE hath resigned his seat in the Senate.

Mr. NICHOLAS reported, from the committee, that they had waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and that he had informed the committee that he would immediately lay a Message before the Senate. The Message was received, containing nominations to fill Executive offices; which, after being considered,

Ordered, That Messrs. NICHOLAS and BALDWIN be a committee to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and notify him, that, unless he has any further communication to make, the Senate are ready to adjourn.

Mr. NICHOLAS reported, from the committee, that they had waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and that he had informed them that he had no further communications to make to the Senate.

Whereupon, the VICE PRESIDENT adjourned the Senate without day.

PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE,

IN SECRET SESSION, WHICH TOOK PLACE ON THE RATIFICATION OF THE CONVENTION WITH THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

TUESDAY, December 16, 1800.

The following Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

Gentlemen of the Senate:

I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration and decision, a convention, both in English and French, between the United States of America and the French Republic, signed at Paris, on the thirtieth day of September last, by the respective Plenipotentiaries of the two Powers. I also transmit to the Senate, three manuscript volumes, containing the journal of our Envoys.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, Dec. 15, 1800.

The Message and convention were read; and after progress in reading the other papers accompanying the Message,

Ordered, That the further reading thereof be postponed.

FRIDAY, December 19.

The Senate proceeded to consider the motion, made yesterday, that the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES be requested to lay before the Senate the instructions given to our late Commissioners to the French Republic; which, being amended, was adopted, as follows:

Resolved, That the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES be requested to lay before the Senate the instructions given to our late Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary to the French Republic.

Ordered, That the Secretary lay this resolution before the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

MONDAY, December 22.

The following Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Gentlemen of the Senate:

In conformity with your request, in your resolution of the 19th of this month, I transmit you the instructions given to our late Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary to the French Republic.

It is my request to the Senate that these instructions may be considered in strict confidence, and returned to me as soon as the Senate shall have made all the use of them they may judge necessary.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, Dec. 22, 1800.

On motion,

Resolved, That all confidential communications made by the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES to the Senate, shall be, by the members thereof, kept inviolably secret; and that all treaties which may hereafter be laid before the Senate, shall also be kept secret, until the Senate shall, by their resolution, take off the injunction of secrecy.

THURSDAY, January 8, 1801.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the convention made on behalf of the United States with the Republic of France.

And the second article having been debated, a question was moved thereon, to wit: "Will the Senate advise and consent to the ratification of this article?"

And the yeas and nays being taken, are as follows--yeas 11, nays 16:

YEAS.--Messrs. Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, T. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Langdon, S. T. Mason, Nicholas, and Paine.

NAYS.--Messrs. Armstrong, Chipman, Dayton, D. Foster, Gunn, Hillhouse, Hindman, Howard, Latimer, Livermore, J. Mason, Morris, Read, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

So it passed in the negative.

And the third article being under consideration, a question was moved and put, "Will the Senate advise and consent to the ratification of this article?"

And the yeas and nays being taken, are as follows--yeas 12, nays 15:

YEAS.--Messrs. Armstrong, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, T. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Gunn, Langdon, S. T. Mason, and Nicholas.

NAYS.--Messrs. Chipman, Dayton, D. Foster, Hillhouse, Hindman, Howard, Latimer, Livermore, J. Mason, Morris, Paine, Read, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

So it passed in the negative.

The Senate proceeded in the consideration of the convention, so far as the fourteenth article; and, after debate,

Ordered, That the further consideration thereof be postponed.

FRIDAY, January 9.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the convention made on behalf of the United States with the Republic of France.

On motion, to advise and consent to the adoption of an additional article, to wit:

"It is further agreed, between the said contracting parties, that nothing in this treaty contained, shall be construed or operate contrary to former and existing treaties with other States or sovereigns."

And, on the question, "Will the Senate advise and consent to the adoption of this article?" it passed unanimously in the affirmative--yeas 27, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Chipman, Cocke, Dayton, D. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Gunn, Hillhouse, Hindman, Howard, Langdon, Latimer, Livermore, S. T. Mason, J. Mason, Morris, Nicholas, Paine, Read, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

On motion, to advise and consent to the adoption of the following additional article, to wit:

"The present convention shall be in full force during the term of ---- years, to be computed from the time of the exchange of the ratifications."

And, after debate,

Ordered, That the further consideration thereof be postponed.

MONDAY, January 12.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the convention made on behalf of the United States with the Republic of France; and

The motion made on the 9th instant, being amended as follows:

The present convention shall be in full force until two years, to be computed from the day of the signature of the preliminary or other articles of peace, which shall conclude the war in which the French nation is now engaged, or for a term not exceeding ---- years, to be computed from the time of the exchange of the ratifications, whichever event shall first happen.

On the question, "Will the Senate advise and consent to the adoption of this article?" it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 25, nay 1, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bingham, Bloodworth, Brown, Chipman, Cocke, Dayton, T. Foster, D. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Hillhouse, Hindman, Howard, Latimer, Livermore, Morris, Nicholas, Paine, Read, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAY.--Mr. Langdon.

THURSDAY, January 15.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the convention made on behalf of the United States with the Republic of France: Whereupon,

The VICE PRESIDENT reported to the House, that the Senate, as in a Committee of the Whole, had had under their consideration the convention, and had gone through the same, and had agreed to sundry modifications, which he proceeded to state to the House, and again to put questions thereon, severally, for confirmation, as follows:

On the question, whether the Senate would advise and consent to the ratification of the second article of the convention? it passed in the negative--yeas 10, nays 15, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Cocke, T. Foster, Franklin, Langdon, Marshall, Nicholas, and Paine.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, D. Foster, Hillhouse, Howard, Latimer, Livermore, J. Mason, Morris, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

On the question whether the Senate would advise and consent to the ratification of the third article of the convention? a motion was made to amend the article, by adding to the end thereof, these words, "or paid for." Whereupon,

A motion was made to amend the amendment by adding thereto the following words: "And so likewise, the merchant ships and vessels which have been taken, and definitively condemned on the one part and the other, shall be restored or paid for."

On the question to agree to the amendment to the amendment, it passed in the negative--yeas 8, nays 20, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. D. Foster, Hillhouse, Howard, Latimer, Livermore, Read, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bingham, Bloodworth, Brown, Chipman, Cocke, Dayton, T. Foster, Franklin, Langdon, Marshall, S. T. Mason, J. Mason, Morris, Nicholas, Paine, Ross, and Schureman.

So the amendment to the amendment was lost.

On the question to agree to the original amendment, to wit: to add the words "or paid for;" it passed in the negative--yeas 7, nays 21, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Brown, Baldwin, Cocke, S. T. Mason, and Nicholas.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bingham, Bloodworth, Chipman, Dayton, T. Foster, D. Foster, Franklin, Hillhouse, Howard, Langdon, Latimer, Livermore, Marshall, J. Mason, Morris, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

So the amendment was lost.

On the question, whether the Senate would advise and consent to the ratification of the third article? it passed in the negative--yeas 13, nays 16, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, T. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Langdon, Marshall, S. T. Mason, and Nicholas.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, D. Foster, Hillhouse, Howard, Latimer, Livermore, J. Mason, Morris, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

On the question, whether the Senate would advise and consent to the adoption of the first additional article, agreed to as in Committee of the Whole, on the 9th instant? it passed unanimously in the affirmative--yeas 28, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bingham, Bloodworth, Brown, Chipman, Cocke, Dayton, T. Foster, D. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Hillhouse, Howard, Langdon, Latimer, Livermore, S. T. Mason, J. Mason, Morris, Nicholas, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

On motion to fill the blank in the second additional article, agreed to as in Committee of the Whole, with the words, "ten years;" it passed in the negative--yeas 9, nays 19, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, T. Foster, Franklin, Langdon, S. T. Mason, and Nicholas.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, D. Foster, Greene, Hillhouse, Howard, Latimer, Livermore, J. Mason, Morris, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

On motion to fill the blank with the words "eight years," it passed unanimously in the affirmative--yeas 28, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bingham, Bloodworth, Brown, Chipman, Cocke, Dayton, T. Foster, D. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Hillhouse, Howard, Langdon, Latimer, Livermore, S. T. Mason, J. Mason, Morris, Nicholas, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

On motion to amend the second additional article agreed to as in Committee of the Whole, by striking out these words, "until two years, to be computed from the day of the signature of the preliminary or other articles of peace, which shall conclude the war in which the French nation is now engaged."

And, on the question, "Shall these words stand?" it passed in the negative--yeas 4, nays 23, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Livermore, Paine, Read, and Tracy.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Chipman, Cocke, Dayton, T. Foster, D. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Hillhouse, Howard, Langdon, Latimer, Marshall, S. T. Mason, J. Mason, Morris, Nicholas, Schureman, and Wells.

And the article having been further amended, by unanimous consent, to read as follows:

"The present convention shall be in full force for the term of eight years, to be computed from the time of the exchange of the ratifications."

On the question, whether the Senate would advise and consent to the said additional article, as amended? it passed in the affirmative--yeas 26, nay 1, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Chipman, Cocke, Dayton, T. Foster, D. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Hillhouse, Howard, Langdon, Latimer, Marshall, S. T. Mason, J. Mason, Morris, Nicholas, Paine, Read, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAY.--Mr. Livermore.

Ordered, That Mr. MORRIS, Mr. NICHOLAS, and Mr. DAYTON, be a committee to reduce the several votes on this treaty into the form of a ratification.

WEDNESDAY, January 21.

The following Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

Gentlemen of the Senate:

In compliance with your request, signified in your resolution of the twentieth day of this month, I transmit you a report, made to me by the Secretary of State, on the same day; a letter of our late Envoys to him on the 4th of October last; an extract of a letter from our Minister Plenipotentiary in London, to him, of the 22d of November last; and an extract of another letter from the Minister to the Secretary, of the 31st of October last.

The reasoning in the letter of our late Envoys to France is so fully supported by the writers on the law of nations, particularly by Vattel, as well as by his great masters, Grotius and Puffendorf, that nothing is left to be desired to settle the point, that if there be a collision between two treaties, made with two different powers, the more ancient has the advantage; for no engagement contrary to it can be entered into in the treaty afterwards made; and if this last be found, in any case, incompatible with the more ancient one, its execution is considered as impossible, because the person promising had not the power of acting contrary to his antecedent engagement. Although our right is very clear to negotiate treaties according to our own ideas of right and justice, honor and good faith, yet it must always be a satisfaction to know that the judgment of other nations with whom we have connection, coincides with ours, and that we have no reason to apprehend that any disagreeable questions and discussions are likely to arise. The letters from Mr. King will, therefore, be read by the Senate, with particular satisfaction.

The inconveniences to public officers and the mischiefs to the public, arising from the publication of the despatches of Ministers abroad, are so numerous, and so obvious, that I request of the Senate that these papers, especially the letters from Mr. King, be considered in close confidence.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, Jan. 21, 1801.

The Message and papers were read, and ordered to lie for consideration.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the report of the committee appointed to reduce the several votes on the convention made on behalf of the United States with the Republic of France, into the form of a ratification, together with the motion made yesterday thereon, to wit: to amend the proviso, by inserting after the word "third," the words "and nineteenth." And, on the question, to agree to the insertion of the words, it was determined in the negative--yeas 6, nays 22, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bingham, Hillhouse, Read, Ross, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Chipman, Cocke, Dayton, T. Foster, D. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Howard, Langdon, Latimer, Livermore, S. T. Mason, J. Mason, Morris, Nicholas, Paine, and Schureman.

Ordered, That the further consideration of the convention, and the report of the committee thereon, be postponed until Friday next.

FRIDAY, January 23.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the report of the committee appointed to reduce the several votes on the convention made on behalf of the United States with the Republic of France, into the form of a ratification, which report is as follows:

Resolved by the Senate of the United States, (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring therein,) That they do consent to and advise the ratification of the convention between the French Republic and the United States of America, made at Paris the eighth day of Vendemaire, of the ninth year of the French Republic, the thirtieth day of September, anno Domini eighteen hundred: Provided, The second and third articles be expunged, and that the following articles be added or inserted:

1st. It is understood that nothing in this convention shall be so construed as to operate contrary to any former and existing treaties between either of the parties and any other State or Sovereign.

2d. It is agreed that the present convention shall be in force for the term of eight years from the time of the exchange of the ratifications.

Whereupon a motion was made to strike out the whole of the proviso; on which it was agreed to divide the question into four parts, viz:

1st. Whether so much as provides that the second article shall be expunged, shall stand?

2d. Whether so much as provides that the third article be expunged, shall stand?

3d. Whether that part shall stand which restrains it from operating against former treaties?

4th. Whether that part shall stand which provides a limitation of time to its duration?

And, on the question on the first division, to wit: Whether so much as provides that the second article shall be expunged, shall stand? it passed in the negative, two-thirds of the Senators present not agreeing thereto--yeas 17, nays 13, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Armstrong, Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, D. Foster, Hillhouse, Hindman, Howard, Latimer, J. Mason, Morris, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, T. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Langdon, Livermore, Marshall, S. T. Mason, and Nicholas.

And on the question on the second division, to wit: Whether so much as provides that the third article shall be expunged, shall stand? it passed in the negative, two-thirds of the Senators present not agreeing thereto--yeas 16, nays 17, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, D. Foster, Hillhouse, Hindman, Howard, Latimer, J. Mason, Morris, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, T. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Langdon, Livermore, Marshall, S. T. Mason, and Nicholas.

And, on the question on the third division, to wit: Whether that part shall stand which restrains it from operating against former treaties? it passed in the negative, two-thirds of the Senators present not agreeing thereto--yeas 17, nays 13, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, D. Foster, Greene, Hillhouse, Hindman, Howard, Latimer, J. Mason, Morris, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, T. Foster, Franklin, Langdon, Livermore, Marshall, S. T. Mason, and Nicholas.

And, on the question on the fourth division, to wit: Whether that part shall stand which provides a limitation of time to its duration? it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 24, nays 6, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Bingham, Bloodworth, Chipman, Cocke, Dayton, D. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Hillhouse, Hindman, Howard, Langdon, Latimer, Livermore, J. Mason, Morris, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Baldwin, Brown, T. Foster, Marshall, S. T. Mason, and Nicholas.

And, on the question to agree to the report of the committee, as amended, it was determined in the negative, two-thirds of the Senators present not agreeing thereto--yeas 16, nays 14, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Chipman, Cocke, T. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Langdon, Livermore, Marshall, S. T. Mason, Nicholas, and Paine.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bingham, Dayton, D. Foster, Hillhouse, Hindman, Howard, Latimer, J. Mason, Morris, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

TUESDAY, February 3.

On motion, it was agreed to reconsider the vote passed the 23d of January, on the report of the committee appointed to reduce the several votes on the convention made on behalf of the United States with the French Republic, into the form of a ratification.

On motion, it was agreed to reconsider the first division of the report, to wit:

"Whether so much as provides that the second article shall be expunged, shall stand?"

And, on the question to agree to this part of the report, it passed in the affirmative--yeas 30, nay 1, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bingham, Bloodworth, Brown, Chipman, Cocke, Dayton, T. Foster, D. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Gunn, Hillhouse, Hindman, Howard, Langdon, Latimer, Livermore, S. T. Mason, J. Mason, Morris, Nicholas, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAY.--Mr. Marshall.

On motion, it was agreed to reconsider the vote of the 23d of January, on the second division of the report, to wit:

"Whether so much as provides that the third article shall be expunged, shall stand?"

And, on the question to agree thereto, it passed in the negative, two-thirds of the Senators present not agreeing thereto--yeas 18, nays 13, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bingham, Chipman, Dayton, D. Foster, Greene, Hillhouse, Hindman, Howard, Latimer, Livermore, J. Mason, Morris, Paine, Read, Ross, Schureman, Tracy, and Wells.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Cocke, T. Foster, Franklin, Gunn, Langdon, Marshall, S. T. Mason, and Nicholas.

On the question to agree to the ratification, as follows:

Resolved by the Senate of the United States, (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring therein,) That they do consent to, and advise the ratification of the convention between the French Republic and the United States of America, made at Paris, the eighth day of Vendemaire, of the ninth year of the French Republic, the thirtieth day of September, anno Domini, eighteen hundred: Provided, The second article be expunged, and that the following article be added or inserted:

It is agreed, that the present convention shall be in force for the term of eight years, from the time of the exchange of the ratifications.

It passed in the affirmative--yeas 22, nays 9, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Armstrong, Baldwin, Bloodworth, Brown, Chipman, Cocke, Dayton, T. Foster, Franklin, Greene, Gunn, Hindman, Howard, Langdon, Latimer, Livermore, Marshall, S. T. Mason, Nicholas, Paine, and Schureman.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bingham, D. Foster, Hillhouse, J. Mason, Morris, Read, Ross, Tracy, and Wells.

Ordered, That the Secretary lay this resolution before the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

FRIDAY, February 20.

The following Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

Gentlemen of the Senate:

I request of the Senate, that the letter and journal of our late Envoys to France, and the copy of their instructions, and other documents relative to that negotiation, may be returned to me, or to the office of State.

JOHN ADAMS.

UNITED STATES, Feb. 20, 1801.

The Message was read: Whereupon,

Ordered, That the papers specified in the Message of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, of this day, be returned to him.

SIXTH CONGRESS.--SECOND SESSION.

PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES

IN

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

MONDAY, November 17, 1800.

This being the day appointed by law for the commencement of the second session of the sixth Congress, the following members of the House of Representatives appeared, and took their seats in the House, to wit:

From New Hampshire.--ABIEL FOSTER, and JONATHAN FREEMAN.

From Massachusetts.--WILLIAM SHEPARD, JNO. READ, JOSEPH B. VARNUM, THEODORE SEDGWICK, (Speaker,) PELEG WADSWORTH, SILAS LEE, and LEMUEL WILLIAMS.

From Connecticut.--JOHN DAVENPORT.

From New York.--JOHN SMITH, PHILIP VAN CORTLANDT, JONAS PLATT, HENRY GLEN, JOHN THOMPSON, and THEODORUS BAILEY.

From Pennsylvania.--MICHAEL LEIB, RICHARD THOMAS, JOSEPH HEISTER, ROBERT BROWN, PETER MUHLENBERG, HENRY WOODS, and JOHN SMILIE.

From Maryland.--GEORGE DENT, GEO. BAER, WILLIAM CRAIK, GABRIEL CHRISTIE, JOHN C. THOMAS, and JOSEPH H. NICHOLSON.

From Virginia.--LEVEN POWELL, JOHN NICHOLAS, ROBERT PAGE, JOHN DAWSON, ANTHONY NEW, GEORGE JACKSON, and DAVID HOLMES.

From North Carolina.--NATHANIEL MACON, RICHARD STANFORD, and WILLIS ALSTON.

From South Carolina.--THOMAS SUMTER, and BENJAMIN HUGER.

From Tennessee.--WILLIAM C. C. CLAIBORNE.

A new member, to wit, JOHN C. SMITH, returned to serve as a member of this House, from the State of Connecticut, in the room of Jonathan Brace, who has resigned his seat, appeared and produced his credentials.

The SPEAKER observed that it had heretofore been the invariable practice of the House to admit new members to take their seats previously to being sworn, though the constitution directed directly the reverse. As there was a new member present, he suggested the propriety of administering the oath to him before he took his seat.

Mr. MACON thought such a step premature. He was of opinion that no inconvenience would arise from delaying to administer the oath until a House was formed, and he thought great caution should attend an innovation opposed to all precedent.

Mr. NICHOLAS asked whether it had heretofore been usual, in the case of a new House, to swear the members before the choice of a Speaker?

The SPEAKER replied that it had not.

Mr. NICHOLAS said, that though, on first thought, he was favorable to administering the oath at the present time, yet this precedent inclined him to think such a step improper.

The SPEAKER waived the question.

The members present not being sufficient to form a quorum, the SPEAKER adjourned the body till to-morrow.

TUESDAY, November 18.

Several other members, to wit: from Connecticut, ELIZUR GOODRICH, WILLIAM EDMOND, and ROGER GRISWOLD; from New York, WILLIAM COOPER and LUCAS ELMENDORPH; from New Jersey, JAMES H. IMLAY and FRANKLIN DAVENPORT; from Pennsylvania, ROBERT WALN; from Maryland, SAMUEL SMITH; from Virginia, HENRY LEE, THOMAS EVANS, and JOHN TRIGG; from North Carolina, RICHARD DOBBS SPAIGHT, and JOSEPH DICKSON; and from Georgia, BENJAMIN TALIAFERRO, appeared and took their seats in the House.

And a quorum, consisting of a majority of the whole number, being present,

The oath to support the Constitution of the United States, as prescribed by the act, entitled "An act to regulate the time and manner of administering certain oaths," was administered by the SPEAKER to JOHN C. SMITH, a new member, who appeared and took his seat in the House yesterday.

Ordered, That a message be sent to the Senate to inform them that a quorum of this House is assembled, and ready to proceed to business; and that the Clerk of this House do go with said message.

WEDNESDAY, November 19.

Several other members, to wit: from Vermont, LEWIS R. MORRIS, and from Virginia, JOSIAH PARKER and JOHN RANDOLPH, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

THURSDAY, November 20.

Two other members, to wit: from Virginia, ABRAM TRIGG, and from Pennsylvania, ANDREW GREGG, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

FRIDAY, November 21.

Several other members, to wit, from Massachusetts, GEORGE THATCHER; from New Jersey, JOHN CONDIT, AARON KITCHELL, and JAMES LINN; from Pennsylvania, JOHN A. HANNA; and from South Carolina, ROBERT GOODLOE HARPER, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

A message from the Senate informed the House that a quorum of the Senate is assembled, and ready to proceed to business, and that, in the absence of the VICE PRESIDENT, they have elected the Hon. JOHN HOWARD, President of the Senate, pro tempore.

Resolved, That Mr. GRISWOLD, Mr. SAMUEL SMITH, and Mr. CRAIK, be a committee, on the part of this House, jointly, with such committee as may be appointed on the part of the Senate, to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and notify him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communications he may think proper to make to them.

Ordered, That the Clerk of this House do acquaint the Senate therewith.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate have appointed a committee jointly, with the committee appointed by this House, to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and notify him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communications he may think proper to make to them.

Mr. GRISWOLD, from the joint committee appointed to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and notify him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communications he may think proper to make to them, reported that the committee had performed that service, and that the PRESIDENT signified to them he would make a communication to both Houses to-morrow at twelve o'clock, in the Senate Chamber.

SATURDAY, November 22.

Two other members, to wit: from North Carolina, ARCHIBALD HENDERSON; and from Virginia, EDWIN GRAY, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

President's Speech.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate are now ready, in the Senate Chamber, to attend this House in receiving the communication from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, agreeably to his notification to both Houses yesterday.

Mr. SPEAKER, attended by the members of this House, then withdrew to the Senate Chamber, for the purpose stated in the Senate's message; and, being returned, Mr. SPEAKER laid before the House a copy of the speech delivered by the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES to both Houses of Congress, in the Senate Chamber. [See Senate proceedings of this date, ante, page 482.]

Ordered, That the said speech be committed to a Committee of the whole House immediately.

The House, accordingly, resolved itself into the said committee; and, after some time spent therein, Mr. SPEAKER resumed the chair, and Mr. HARPER reported that the committee had had the said speech under consideration, and come to a resolution thereupon; which was twice read, and agreed to by the House, as follows:

Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee that a respectful address ought to be presented by the House of Representatives to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, in answer to his speech to both Houses of Congress, at the commencement of the present session, containing assurances that this House will duly attend to the important objects recommended by him to their consideration.

Ordered, That Mr. GRISWOLD, Mr. MACON, Mr. CRAIK, Mr. HENDERSON, and Mr. NICHOLAS, be appointed a committee to prepare an address, pursuant to the said resolution.

Ordered, That the Speech of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES be committed to the Committee of the whole House on the state of the Union.

And then the House adjourned.

MONDAY, November 24.

Several other members, to wit: from Massachusetts, HARRISON G. OTIS, and PHANUEL BISHOP; from Virginia, MATTHEW CLAY; and from North Carolina, DAVID STONE, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

WILLIAM M'MILLAN, returned to serve as a Representative for the Territory of the United States north-west of the Ohio, in the room of William Henry Harrison, who has resigned his seat, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

TUESDAY, November 25.

Another member, to wit, JOHN WILKES KITTERA, from Pennsylvania, appeared, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

A new member, to wit, NATHAN READ, returned to serve as a member of this House from the State of Massachusetts, in the room of Samuel Sewall, who has resigned his seat, appeared, produced his credentials, and took his seat in the House.

WEDNESDAY, November 26.

A new member, to wit, LYTTLETON W. TAZEWELL, returned to serve as a member of the House for the State of Virginia, in the room of John Marshall, who has resigned his seat, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

Address to the President.

The House went into a Committee of the Whole on the reply to the PRESIDENT'S Speech, which was read by paragraphs, and reported to the House without any amendments, as follows:

To JOHN ADAMS, President of the United States:

SIR: The House of Representatives have received with great respect the communication which you have been pleased to make to the two Houses of Congress, at the commencement of the present session.

The final establishment of the seat of National Government which has now taken place within the District of Columbia, is an event of no small importance in the political transactions of our country: and we cordially unite our wishes with yours, that this territory may be the residence of happiness and virtue.

Nor can we, on this occasion, omit to express a hope, that the spirit which animated the great founder of this city, may descend to future generations, and that the wisdom, magnanimity, and steadiness, which marked the events of his public life, may be imitated in all succeeding ages.

A consideration of those powers which have been vested in Congress over the District of Columbia will not escape our attention; nor shall we forget that, in exercising these powers, a regard must be had to those events which will necessarily attend the Capital of America.

The cheerfulness and regularity with which the officers and soldiers of the temporary army have returned to the condition of private citizens, is a testimony clear and conclusive of the purity of those motives which induced them to engage in the public service; and will remain a proof, on all future occasions, that an army of soldiers drawn from the citizens of our country, deserve our confidence and respect.

No subject can be more important than that of the Judiciary, which you have again recommended to our consideration, and it shall receive our early and deliberate attention.

The Constitution of the United States having confided the management of our foreign negotiations to the control of the Executive power, we cheerfully submit to its decisions on this important subject. And in respect to the negotiations now pending with France, we sincerely hope that the final result may prove as fortunate to our country, as the most ardent mind can wish.

So long as a predatory war is carried on against our commerce, we should sacrifice the interests and disappoint the expectations of our constituents, should we, for a moment, relax that system of maritime defence, which has resulted in such beneficial effects. At this period, it is confidently believed that few persons can be found within the United States, who do not admit that a Navy, well organized, must constitute the natural and efficient defence of this country against all foreign hostility.

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