Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 4 (of 16) (part 5 of 8)

Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 4 (of 16) (part 5 of 8)

JOHN SMITH and OBADIAH GERMAN, from New York.

JOHN CONDIT and JOHN LAMBERT, from New Jersey.

ANDREW GREGG and MICHAEL LEIB, from Pennsylvania.

OUTERBRIDGE HORSEY, from Delaware.

SAMUEL SMITH and PHILIP REED, from Maryland.

WILLIAM B. GILES, from Virginia.

JESSE FRANKLIN, from North Carolina.

JOHN GAILLARD and JOHN TAYLOR, from South Carolina.

WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD and CHARLES TAIT, from Georgia.

JOHN POPE, from Kentucky.

JOSEPH ANDERSON, from Tennessee.

THOMAS WORTHINGTON, from Ohio.

GEORGE M. BIBB, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Kentucky, for the term of six years, commencing on the 4th day of March last; George W. Campbell, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Tennessee, in place of Jenkin Whiteside, resigned; JEREMIAH B. HOWELL, appointed a Senator, for the term of six years, commencing on the fourth day of March last, by the Legislature of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations; JOSEPH B. VARNUM, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Massachusetts, for the term of six years, commencing on the fourth day of March last; respectively produced their credentials, which were read, and the oath prescribed by law was administered to them, and they took their seats in the Senate.

The oath was also administered to Messrs. CONDIT, CRAWFORD, GILES, GILMAN, and TAYLOR, their credentials having been read and filed during the last session.

Ordered, That the Secretary acquaint the House of Representatives that a quorum of the Senate is assembled and ready to proceed to business.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that a quorum of the House of Representatives is assembled, and have elected HENRY CLAY, Esq., one of the Representatives from the State of Kentucky, their Speaker, and are ready to proceed to business. They have appointed a committee on their part, 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 that he may be pleased to make to them.

The Senate concurred in the appointment of a joint committee on their part, agreeably to the resolution last mentioned; and Messrs. ANDERSON and GAILLARD were appointed the committee.

The Senate then adjourned.

TUESDAY, November 5.

RICHARD BRENT, from the State of Virginia, attended.

Annual Message.

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

_Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:

In calling you together sooner than a separation from your homes would otherwise have been required, I yielded to considerations drawn from the posture of our foreign affairs; and in fixing the present, for the time of your meeting, regard was had to the probability of further developments of the policy of the belligerent powers towards this country, which might the more unite the National Councils in the measures to be pursued.

At the close of the last session of Congress, it was hoped that the successive confirmations of the extinction of the French decrees, so far as they violated our neutral commerce, would have induced the Government of Great Britain to repeal its Orders in Council, and thereby authorize a removal of the existing obstructions to her commerce with the United States.

Instead of this reasonable step towards satisfaction and friendship between the two nations, the Orders were, at a moment when least to have been expected, put into more rigorous execution; and it was communicated through the British Envoy just arrived, that, whilst the revocation of the edicts of France, as officially made known to the British Government, was denied to have taken place, it was an indispensable condition of the repeal of the British Orders that commerce should be restored to a footing that would admit the productions and manufactures of Great Britain, when owned by neutrals, into markets shut against them by her enemy; the United States being given to understand that, in the mean time, a continuance of their non-importation act would lead to measures of retaliation.

At a later date, it has indeed appeared that a communication to the British Government, of fresh evidence of the repeal of the French decrees against our neutral trade, was followed by an intimation that it had been transmitted to the British Plenipotentiary here, in order that it might receive full consideration in the depending discussions. This communication appears not to have been received; but the transmission of it hitherto, instead of founding on it an actual repeal of the orders, or assurances that the repeal would ensue, will not permit us to rely on any effective change in the British Cabinet. To be ready to meet with cordiality satisfactory proofs of such a change, and to proceed, in the mean time, in adapting our measures to the views which have been disclosed through that Minister, will best consult our whole duty.

In the friendly spirit of those disclosures, indemnity and redress for other wrongs have continued to be withheld; and our coasts, and the mouths of our harbors, have again witnessed scenes not less derogatory to the dearest of our national rights, than vexatious to the regular course of our trade.

Among the occurrences produced by the conduct of British ships of war hovering on our coasts, was an encounter between one of them and the American frigate commanded by Captain Rodgers, rendered unavoidable on the part of the latter, by a fire, commenced without cause, by the former; whose commander is therefore alone chargeable with the blood unfortunately shed in maintaining the honor of the American flag. The proceedings of a court of inquiry, requested by Captain Rodgers, are communicated, together with the correspondence relating to the occurrence between the Secretary of State and His Britannic Majesty's Envoy. To these are added the several correspondences which have passed on the subject of the British Orders in Council; and to both, the correspondence relating to the Floridas, in which Congress will be made acquainted with the interposition which the Government of Great Britain has thought proper to make against the proceeding of the United States.

The justice and fairness which have been evinced on the part of the United States towards France, both before and since the revocation of her decrees, authorized an expectation that her Government would have followed up that measure by all such others as were due to our reasonable claims, as well as dictated by its amicable professions. No proof, however, is yet given of an intention to repair the other wrongs done to the United States, and particularly to restore the great amount of American property seized and condemned under edicts which, though not affecting our neutral relations, and therefore not entering into questions between the United States and other belligerents, were, nevertheless, founded in such unjust principles that the reparation ought to have been prompt and ample.

In addition to this and other demands of strict right on that nation, the United States have much reason to be dissatisfied with the rigorous and unexpected restrictions to which their trade with the French dominions has been subjected; and which, if not discontinued, will require at least corresponding restrictions on importations from France into the United States.

On all those subjects, our Minister Plenipotentiary, lately sent to Paris, has carried with him the necessary instructions; the result of which will be communicated to you, and by ascertaining the ulterior policy of the French Government towards the United States, will enable you to adapt to it that of the United States towards France.

Our other foreign relations remain without unfavorable changes. With Russia they are on the best footing of friendship. The ports of Sweden have afforded proofs of friendly dispositions towards our commerce in the Councils of that nation also. And the information from our special Minister to Denmark, shows that the mission had been attended with valuable effects to our citizens, whose property had been so extensively violated and endangered by cruisers under the Danish flag.

Under the ominous indications which commanded attention, it became a duty to exert the means committed to the Executive department in providing for the general security. The works of defence on our maritime frontier have accordingly been prosecuted with an activity leaving little to be added for the completion of the most important ones; and, as particularly suited for co-operation in emergencies, a portion of the gunboats have, in particular harbors, been ordered into use. The ships of war before in commission, with the addition of a frigate, have been chiefly employed as a cruising guard to the rights of our coast. And such a disposition has been made of our land forces, as was thought to promise the services most appropriate and important. In this disposition is included a force, consisting of regulars and militia, embodied in the Indiana Territory, and marched towards our Northwestern frontier. This measure was made requisite by the several murders and depredations committed by Indians, but more especially by the menacing preparations and aspect of a combination of them on the Wabash, under the influence and direction of a fanatic of the Shawanese tribe. With these exceptions, the Indian tribes retain their peaceable dispositions towards us, and their usual pursuits.

I must now add that the period is arrived which claims from the Legislative guardians of the national rights a system of more ample provisions for maintaining them. Notwithstanding the scrupulous justice, the protracted moderation, and the multiplied efforts, on the part of the United States, to substitute for the accumulating dangers to the peace of the two countries, all the mutual advantages of re-established friendship and confidence, we have seen that the British Cabinet perseveres, not only in withholding a remedy for other wrongs, so long and so loudly calling for it, but in the execution, brought home to the threshold of our territory, of measures which, under existing circumstances, have the character, as well as the effect, of war on our lawful commerce.

With this evidence of hostile inflexibility, in trampling on rights which no independent nation can relinquish, Congress will feel the duty of putting the United States into an armor and an attitude demanded by the crisis, and corresponding with the national spirit and expectations.

I recommend, accordingly, that adequate provision be made for filling the ranks and prolonging the enlistments of the regular troops; for an auxiliary force, to be engaged for a more limited term; for the acceptance of volunteer corps, whose patriotic ardor may court a participation in urgent services; for detachments, as they may be wanted, of other portions of the militia; and for such a preparation of the great body as will proportion its usefulness to its intrinsic capacities. Nor can the occasion fail to remind you of the importance of those military seminaries which, in every event, will form a valuable and frugal part of our Military Establishment.

The manufacture of cannon and small arms has proceeded with due success; and the stock and resources of all the necessary munitions are adequate to emergencies. It will not be inexpedient, however, for Congress to authorize an enlargement of them.

Your attention will, of course, be drawn to such provisions on the subject of our naval force as may be required for the services to which it may be best adapted. I submit to Congress the seasonableness also of an authority to augment the stock of such materials as are imperishable in their nature, or may not at once be attainable.

In contemplating the scenes which distinguish this momentous epoch, and estimating their claims to our attention, it is impossible to overlook those developing themselves among the great communities which occupy the Southern portion of our hemisphere, and extend into our neighborhood. An enlarged philanthropy, and an enlightened forecast, concur in imposing on the national Councils an obligation to take a deep interest in their destinies, to cherish reciprocal sentiments of good will, to regard the progress of events, and not to be unprepared for whatever order of things may be ultimately established.

Under another aspect of our situation, the early attention of Congress will be due to the expediency of further guards against evasions and infractions of our commercial laws. The practice of smuggling, which is odious every where, and particularly criminal in free Governments, where the laws being made by all for the good of all, a fraud is committed on every individual as well as on the State, attains its utmost guilt when it blends, with a pursuit of ignominious gain, a treacherous subserviency in the transgressors to a foreign policy, adverse to that of their own country. It is then that the virtuous indignation of the public should be enabled to manifest itself through the regular animadversions of the most competent laws.

To secure greater respect to our mercantile flag, and to the honest interests which it covers, it is expedient also that it be made punishable in our citizens to accept licenses from foreign Governments for a trade unlawfully interdicted by them to other American citizens; or to trade under false colors or papers of any sort.

A prohibition is equally called for against the acceptance, by our citizens, of special licenses to be used in a trade with the United States; and against the admission into particular ports of the United States of vessels from foreign countries authorized to trade with particular ports only.

Although other subjects will press more immediately on your deliberations, a portion of them cannot but be well bestowed on the just and sound policy of securing to our manufactures the success they have attained, and are still attaining, in some degree, under the impulse of causes not permanent; and to our navigation the fair extent of which it is at present abridged by the unequal regulations of foreign Governments.

Besides the reasonableness of saving our manufacturers from sacrifices which a change of circumstances might bring on them, the national interest requires that, with respect to such articles at least as belong to our defence and our primary wants, we should not be left in unnecessary dependence on external supplies. And whilst foreign Governments adhere to the existing discriminations in their ports against our navigation, and an equality or lesser discrimination is enjoyed by their navigation in our ports, the effect cannot be mistaken, because it has been seriously felt by our shipping interests; and in proportion as this takes place, the advantages of an independent conveyance of our products to foreign markets, and of a growing body of mariners, trained by their occupation for the service of their country in times of danger, must be diminished.

The receipts into the Treasury during the year ending on the thirtieth of September last, have exceeded thirteen millions and a half of dollars, and have enabled us to defray the current expenses, including the interest on the public debt, and to reimburse more than five millions of dollars of the principal, without recurring to the loan authorized by the act of the last session. The temporary loan obtained in the latter end of the year one thousand eight hundred and ten, has also been reimbursed, and is not included in that amount.

The decrease of revenue arising from the situation of our commerce and the extraordinary expenses which have and may become necessary, must be taken into view, in making commensurate provisions for the ensuing year. And I recommend to your consideration the propriety of insuring a sufficiency of annual revenue, at least to defray the ordinary expenses of Government, and to pay the interest on the public debt, including that on new loans which may be authorized.

I cannot close this communication without expressing my deep sense of the crisis in which you are assembled, my confidence in a wise and honorable result to your deliberations, and assurances of the faithful zeal with which my co-operating duties will be discharged; invoking, at the same time, the blessing of Heaven on our beloved country, and on all the means that may be employed in vindicating its rights and advancing its welfare.

JAMES MADISON.

WASHINGTON, November 5, 1811.

WEDNESDAY, November 6.

JAMES LLOYD, from the State of Massachusetts, took his seat in the Senate.

FRIDAY, November 8.

On motion, by Mr. SMITH, of Maryland,

Resolved, That Mountjoy Bayly, Doorkeeper and Sergeant-at-Arms to the Senate, be, and he is hereby, authorized to employ one assistant and two horses, for the purpose of performing such services as are usually required by the Doorkeeper to the Senate, and that the sum of twenty-eight dollars be allowed him weekly for that purpose, to commence with, and remain during the session and for twenty days after.

MONDAY, November 11.

JAMES TURNER, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of North Carolina, for the term of six years, commencing on the 4th day of March last, produced his credentials; which were read, and the oath prescribed by law was administered to him, and he took his seat in the Senate.

TUESDAY, November 12.

ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, from the State of Ohio, took his seat in the Senate.

THURSDAY, November 14.

Reparation for the attack on the frigate Chesapeake.

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

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

I communicate to Congress copies of a correspondence between the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Great Britain and the Secretary of State, relative to the aggressions committed by a British ship of war on the United States frigate Chesapeake, by which it will be seen that that subject of difference between the two countries is terminated by an offer of reparation, which has been acceded to.

JAMES MADISON.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13, 1811.

The Message and papers therein referred to were read, and ordered to lie on the table.

FRIDAY, November 22.

JONATHAN ROBINSON, from the State of Vermont, took his seat in the Senate.

MONDAY, November 25.

WILLIAM HUNTER, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in place of Christopher Grant Champlin, resigned, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the Senate.

FRIDAY, November 29.

The oath prescribed by law was administered to Mr. BAYARD, his credentials having been read and filed during the last session.

THURSDAY, December 19.

Battle of Tippecanoe.

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

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

I lay before Congress two letters received from Governor Harrison, of the Indiana Territory, reporting the particulars and the issue of the expedition under his command, of which notice was taken in my communication of November 5th.

While it is deeply lamented that so many valuable lives have been lost in the action which took place on the 7th ultimo, Congress will see, with satisfaction, the dauntless spirit and fortitude victoriously displayed by every description of the troops engaged, as well as the collected firmness which distinguished their commander, on an occasion requiring the utmost exertions of valor and discipline.

It may reasonably be expected that the good effects of this critical defeat and dispersion of a combination of savages, which appears to have been spreading to a greater extent, will be experienced not only in a cessation of the murders and depredations committed on our frontier, but in the prevention of any hostile incursions otherwise to have been apprehended.

The families of those brave and patriotic citizens who have fallen in this severe conflict, will doubtless engage the favorable attention of Congress.

JAMES MADISON.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 1811.

The Message and letters referred to were read, and ordered to lie on the table.

FRIDAY, December 20.

Mr. GILMAN, from the committee, reported the bill to raise, for a limited time, an additional military force, correctly engrossed; and the bill was read the third time, and the blanks filled. On the question, Shall this bill pass? it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 26, nays 4, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Bradley, Campbell of Ohio, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Cutts, Franklin, Gaillard, German, Gilman, Gregg, Horsey, Howell, Leib, Lloyd, Pope, Reed, Robinson, Smith of New York, Tait, Taylor, Turner, Varnum, and Worthington.

NAYS.--Messrs. Dana, Goodrich, Hunter, and Lambert.

Rangers for the Frontier.

The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the bill authorizing the President of the United States to raise certain companies of spies or rangers for the protection of the frontier of the United States; and the bill was amended; and the President reported it to the House accordingly.

On the question, Shall this bill be engrossed and read a third time as amended? it was determined in the affirmative.

TUESDAY, December 24.

Hudson River and Lake Ontario Canal.

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

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

I communicate to Congress copies of an act of the Legislature of New York, relating to a canal from the great Lakes to Hudson's River. In making the communication, I consult the respect due to that State in whose behalf the commissioners appointed by the act have placed it in my hands for the purpose.

The utility of canal navigation is universally admitted. It is not less certain, that scarcely any country offers more extensive opportunities for that branch of improvements than the United States; and none, perhaps, inducements equally persuasive to make the most of them. The particular undertaking contemplated by the State of New York, which marks an honorable spirit of enterprise, and comprises objects of national as well as more limited importance, will recall the attention of Congress to the signal advantages to be derived to the United States from a general system of internal communication and conveyance; and suggest to their consideration whatever steps may be proper, on their part, towards its introduction and accomplishment. As some of those advantages have an intimate connection with arrangements and exertions for the general security, it is at a period calling for these that the merits of such a system will be seen in the strongest lights.

JAMES MADISON.

WASHINGTON, December 23, 1811.

The Message and documents therein referred to were read; and referred to the committee last mentioned, to consider and report thereon.

FRIDAY, December 27.

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

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

I lay before Congress copies of resolutions entered into by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, which have been transmitted to me, with that view, by the Governor of that State, in pursuance of one of the said resolutions.

JAMES MADISON.

WASHINGTON, December 27, 1811.

Oliver Evans' claim for different applications of Steam Power.

Mr. LEIB presented the memorial of Oliver Evans, stating that the memorialist verily believes himself to be the original proposer of steam-boats and steam-wagons in the United States, (Doctor Franklin only excepted;) and that he conceives his patent, dated February 14, 1804, secured to him the right to use his engine for boats, mills, and land carriages, and praying to be left in full possession of those rights, for reasons stated at large in the memorial; which was read, and ordered to lie on the table.

MONDAY, December 30.

Burning of the Richmond, Va., Theatre.

Mr. BRADLEY submitted the following motion for consideration:

Resolved, That the members of this House will wear crape on the left arm for one month, in testimony of the national respect and sorrow for the unfortunate persons who perished in the city of Richmond, in Virginia, on the night of the 26th of the present month.

TUESDAY, December 31.

Mr. BRADLEY called up the motion made yesterday on the subject; and, on his motion, it was amended and agreed to as follows:

Resolved, That the members of this House will wear crape on the left arm for one month, in testimony of the condolence and sorrow of the Senate for the calamitous event by which the Chief Magistrate of the State of Virginia, and so many of her citizens, perished by fire, in the city of Richmond, on the night of the 26th of the present month.

THURSDAY, January 16, 1812.

Hostile policy of Great Britain.

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

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

I communicate to Congress a letter from the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Great Britain to the Secretary of State, with the answer of the latter.

The continued evidence afforded in this correspondence, of the hostile policy of the British Government against our national rights, strengthens the considerations recommending and urging the preparation of adequate means for maintaining them.

JAMES MADISON.

WASHINGTON, January 16, 1812.

The Message and documents enclosed were read, and referred to the committee to whom was referred, on the 8th of November last, so much of the Message of the President of the United States as concerns the relations between the United States and France and Great Britain, to consider and report thereon; and five hundred copies thereof ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate.

FRIDAY, January 17.

_Incorporation of a Mining Company in Upper Louisiana._

Mr. BRADLEY, from the committee appointed on the petition of Moses Austin and John R. Jones, reported a bill to incorporate Moses Austin, John Rice Jones, Henry Austin, and others, into a company, by the name of the Louisiana Lead Company; and the bill was read, and passed to the second reading.

WEDNESDAY, January 29.

The bill establishing a land office was read the second time.

Additional Military Force.

The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill, entitled "An act authorizing the President of the United States to accept and organize certain volunteer military corps," together with the amendments reported thereto by the select committee.

Mr. GILES rose and opposed at length the bill as it came from the House, reserving to himself the privilege of acting on the proposed amendment according to the result of further reflections. He believed the bill would be productive of no practical efficacy. It proposed a force which could not be raised; and if raised, from the short period of its service, in the event of serious hostilities, would be utterly incompetent to effect the objects of those hostilities. The bill would be inoperative, because, in the States of Massachusetts and Vermont, (and he presumed in other States,) no power or provision existed by which these volunteers could be commissioned, so as to perform the contemplated service; and if the Government were deprived of the volunteers in Massachusetts and Vermont, he did not know where they could obtain volunteers for the object which he believed all branches of the Government had in view. He presumed that the system of volunteers was the favorite system of the Government; and this he inferred from their having recommended to the other House the raising of ten thousand regulars only, and from the Message of the President, sent in after both Houses had passed the bill for raising twenty-five thousand regulars, and communicating the correspondence between Mr. Foster and Mr. Monroe, as a ground for urging Congress to persevere in the preparations they were engaged in making. The President must, therefore, have deemed a volunteer force essential for the contemplated service. And here he observed he thought, if his correspondence with the British Envoy, which afforded evidence of "continued hostility" towards us, furnished matter of sufficient importance to press upon Congress the utility of hastening their measures of preparation, that the other business of the Department of State might have been allowed to repose long enough for a reply to have been made to Mr. Foster, before nearly a month had elapsed after the date of his letter. He did not advert to this circumstance from any want of respect to this Government: he should always treat them with the highest respect. He should prefer the reduction of the number of the volunteers to twenty-five thousand, rather than the retention of the fifty thousand, because it would increase the momentum of actual force, and decrease the expenses, about which so much has been said. Surely, he said, he did not mean that it would not increase the momentum of force proposed by the other House, but that proposed by the Executive. The Executive had asked for ten thousand regulars, and fifty thousand volunteers--in all, sixty thousand men. The other House had agreed to give him eighty-five thousand. The proposed amendment would, therefore, bring the quantum of force down nearly to the Executive requisition. But the bill proposed a force which would be utterly inefficient, as all other volunteer bills had been. The returns under the thirty thousand volunteer law, passed two or three years ago, were so few, that the Secretary of War did not register them. He asked, how efficient could that species of force be, of which the Chief Magistrate did not think it worth while to have a record kept? It was only a formidable display of armies on paper--a tender of services--which only produced very handsome replies from the President. He did not censure the Secretary of War or the President; very far from it; the defect had been in the law. He begged gentlemen to look seriously at the subject. If a war should ensue, it must be a serious one. The responsibility attached to Congress of placing an adequate force in the hands of the President for the war. But if they passed a law which would give the President only a nominal force, totally incompetent to effect any desirable object, he, for one, should be unwilling to take any share of responsibility on himself.

THURSDAY, February 27.

Increase of the Navy.

The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill entitled "An act concerning the Naval Establishment," together with the amendments reported thereto by the select committee.

Mr. LLOYD.--Mr. President, the amendments proposed by the committee to whom this bill has been referred, having been gone through with, I now beg leave to offer a new one, by an additional section to the following effect:

"Be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, authorized to cause to be built as speedily as may be, on the most approved model, ---- frigates, not exceeding thirty-six guns each; and that a sum not exceeding ---- dollars be, and the same is hereby appropriated for building the said frigates, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated."

It is my intention, sir, to move for twenty new frigates; but the number I have left blank in order, should the Senate be favorably disposed to an increase of the Navy, and disagree with me as to the degree of that increase, they might regulate the number at their pleasure.

Sir, I have been induced to offer this amendment from an impulse of duty towards my more immediate constituents, and also from a sense of the obligation imposed upon me, however feebly I may be able to respond to it, in the honorable station in which I am placed, to endeavor to the extent of my ability to support the dignity, protect the rights, and advance the best interests of the United States. Sir, I trust the amendment under consideration, if adopted, would have a relation, and a favorable relation, to all these objects.

If it be not the determination of the Government to engage in an open, actual, efficient war; to place the nation in such a complete state of preparation as to avert war, from our state of readiness to meet it; then the measures of the present session, those of filling up the existing Military Establishments, and thereby adding to it between six and seven thousand men, that of enlisting a standing army of twenty-five thousand men to serve for five years, unless sooner discharged--of providing for the employment of fifty thousand volunteers, and of holding in readiness one hundred thousand of the militia, would be not only inexcusable, but nearly treasonable; as they would in such case, without any adequate object, impose severe and heavy burdens upon the people of the United States, from which years of the highest degree of prosperity would not relieve them. But, sir, I am bound to believe, that unless redress be obtained, it is the determination of the Government of the United States to enter into an actual, vigorous, real war, or at any rate to put the nation into a perfect State of readiness to commence it, should it be necessary; and in either of these cases, an efficient naval force is as indispensable, nay much more indispensable, than a land force.

In the year 1793, when Great Britain depredated upon your commerce, you had a man at the head of your Government who fought no battles with paper resolutions, nor attempted to wage war with commercial restrictions, although they were then pressed upon him. He caused it to be distinctly and with firmness made known to Great Britain, that if she did not both cease to violate our rights, and make us reparation for the wrongs we had sustained--that young and feeble as we then were, just in the gristle, and stepping from the cradle of infancy, we would try the tug of war with her. What was the consequence? Her depredations were stopped--we made a treaty with her, under which we enjoyed a high degree of prosperity. Our claims were fairly heard, equitably adjudged, and the awards were honorably and punctually paid to the sufferers. In this instance you did something for commerce.

Next came the war with Tripoli--the Barbary States preyed upon our commerce--you determined to resist, and despatched a small squadron to the Mediterranean: this ought to have been considered as the germ of your future maritime greatness: the good conduct and bravery of that squadron, and the self-immolation of some of its officers, spread the renown of your naval prowess to all quarters of the civilized globe. What did you in this instance? At the moment when victory had perched upon your standard--when you might have exhibited the interesting spectacle of the infant Government of the United States holding in subjugation one of the Powers of Barbary, to whom all Europe had been subservient--at this moment when conquest was completely within your grasp--civil agency stepped in--the laurel was torn from the brow of as gallant a chieftain as ever graced the plains of Palestine, and we ignominiously consented to pay a tribute, where we might have imposed one.

After this you had the Berlin decree, the Orders in Council, the Milan decree, the Rambouillet decree, the depredations of Spain, the robberies even of the renegado black chief of St. Domingo, and the unprovoked and still continued plunder of Denmark, a nation of pirates from their origin. What cause of complaint has Denmark, or ever had Denmark, against us? Her most fond and speculative maritime pretensions we have willingly espoused, and yet she continues daily to capture and condemn our vessels and cargoes, and contemptuously tells us that the Government of the United States is too wise to go to war for a few merchant ships. And this we bear from a people as inferior to the United States in all the attributes of national power or greatness, as I am inferior to Hercules. Yes, sir, commerce has been abandoned, else why prohibit your merchants from bringing the property, to a large amount, which they have fairly purchased and paid for, into the ports of our country, else why, by this exclusion, perform the double operation of adding to the resources of the enemy you are going to war with and impoverishing your own citizens.

Yes, sir, commerce has been abandoned, "deserted in her utmost need by those her former bounty fed." Yes, sir, she has been abandoned. She has been left as a wreck upon a strand, or as a derelict upon the waters of the ocean, to be burnt, sunk, or plundered, by any great or puny assailant who could man an oar or load a swivel for her annoyance.

What was the leading object of the adoption of the Federal Constitution in the northern parts of the Union? Most emphatically, it was for the protection of commerce. What was the situation of some branches of our commerce then? And what is it now? Look at the statement which was laid upon our tables about a fortnight past, and taken from the returns of the Treasury. What effect has it had upon our fisheries, which were so nobly and successfully contended for by the American Commissioners who settled the Treaty of 1783; which for a time suspended that Treaty; and which, both the duplicity and intrigue of France and the interest of England strove to deprive us of--of our fisheries, which were then considered, and still ought to be considered, as a main sinew of our strength, and a nursery for our seamen?

MONDAY, March 2.

Increase of the Navy.

Mr. CRAWFORD.--The honorable gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. LLOYD) thinks that nothing has been done by the Government for commerce, whilst commerce has done every thing for the nation; that commerce has paid into the public Treasury $200,000,000. If it is contended that this sum has been paid exclusively by commerce, nothing can be more incorrect. The money collected from imposts and duties is paid by the consumer of merchandise upon which the duties are imposed. It is collected immediately from the merchant, and ultimately from the nation. The only money paid into the Treasury which can justly be placed to the exclusive credit of commerce, is the sum retained by the Government upon debentures, which is only 7-10ths of one per cent. upon goods paying a duty of twenty per cent. ad valorem, and has never amounted to $400,000 in any one year. The export of foreign productions from the United States in the year 1807, exceeded $59,000,000, and the sum paid into the Treasury that year on account of drawbacks was about $390,000, which is the greatest amount received from that source of revenue since the organization of the Government.

The duty upon tonnage, like the duty imposed on merchandise, is paid by the consumer or grower of the cargoes transported by the ship-holders, of whom this duty is immediately collected. The ultimate payment of this duty by the grower or consumer will depend upon the relative demand for, and supply of the articles in the market to which they are exported. If the demand for the article is greater than the quantity in the market, it is paid by the consumer; if the supply exceeds the demand, it is paid by the grower, in the form of a reduction of the price of the article equal to the duty imposed.

Who are the most interested in commerce, the growers of the articles, the exchange and transportation of which constitute commerce, or the factors and freighters employed in the exchange and transportation of those articles? Can any man doubt for one moment that the growers, the rightful owners of the articles to be exchanged, are more deeply interested in commerce than the merchant and ship-holder, who only make a profit from the sale and transportation of the articles exchanged? If the profit they derive from commerce should be so enormous as to exceed the original value of those articles in the hands of the growers, still it can be demonstrated that the interest of the latter is more vitally affected by a prosperous or adverse state of commerce, than that of the merchant or ship-holder. The merchant will be regulated in the price which he gives to the grower, by the state of the market and the price of transportation to the market. Let the price be what it may in foreign markets, the merchant is regulated by it, and can only be affected by sudden changes in those markets which may be prejudicial or advantageous to him. It is a matter of small moment to him whether the articles in which he deals bring a high or low price in the market to which they are sent, if that price is not variable, because he will regulate the price he gives for them by the price which he can obtain. But the price which those articles will bring in the market to which they are sent, is all-important to the grower, because it will regulate the price which he is to receive for them beyond the power of his control. Every circumstance which tends to destroy competition and reduce the number of markets to which our produce is sent, vitally affects the interest of the grower. The planter, the farmer, is, therefore, more deeply interested in the prosperity of that commerce which finds a market for the annual surplus productions of his industry, than the merchant or ship-holder. This direct commerce is indispensable to the internal growth and improvement of the country, and to the comfort and happiness of the people, and more so to the people of the Southern and Western States than any other part of the United States. Sir, we are not so grossly ignorant as to mistake our interest in this matter. We know that, without commerce, without a market for the surplus productions of our labor, we should be deprived of many of those articles which long habit has made necessary to our ease and comfort. If, then, we are not grossly ignorant of our true interest, nothing can be more unfounded than the accusation of the gentleman from New York, (Mr. GERMAN.) The charge must be the result of ignorance or prejudice. Mr. C. said he would not follow the example of that gentleman by saying, "perhaps this prejudice might be an honest prejudice." No, he would not insult the feelings of that gentleman; he would not question his veracity or integrity by stating hypothetically, "that perhaps his opinions were honest." Whilst he repelled this unfounded charge in the manner which its nature imperiously demanded, he had no hesitation in admitting that the opinions of that gentleman, whether the result of prejudice or of ignorance, were strictly honest. Mr. C. said there was no man in the nation more friendly to that commerce which he had described than he was, and that no part of the nation cherished it with more ardor than that which he in part had the honor to represent on this floor. But, sir, there is a commerce which has been prosecuted to a very great extent by the commercial capitalists of the United States, for the prosperity of which the agricultural part of the nation do not feel the same solicitude.

In the year 1807, the United States exported upwards of $59,000,000 of foreign productions. This commerce has no connection with or dependence upon the annual surplus productions of the country, which is the only commerce that essentially promotes domestic industry and multiplies the domestic comforts of the great mass of the people. This commerce, which is the legitimate offspring of war, and expires with the first dawning of peace, is prosecuted principally by our commercial cities to the east and north of the Potomac. The landholders, the country people, the great mass of agriculturists in the United States, never had, and never can have any direct interest in it. The farmer of the Eastern and Middle States, and the planter of the Southern and Western States, stand in the same relation to this commerce. Whether it be prosperous or adverse, is a matter of small concern to them, and nothing but an effort of pure, disinterested patriotism could induce them to jeopardize the peace and happiness of the nation, and stake the prosperity of the direct commerce of the country, for the protection of this mushroom commerce.

The use proposed to be made of these frigates, if built, certainly meets my approbation. The idea of protecting our commerce by a naval force, which has been pressed with so much vehemence by some of our navy gentlemen, is worse than visionary. A navy can injure commerce, but cannot afford it protection, unless it annihilates the naval force of the adverse nation. Unless, therefore, we have the means of creating and supporting a naval force able to contend successfully with the British navy for the empire of the seas, we must abandon all idea of protecting our commerce against that nation. Great Britain, with her thousand ships of war, is unable to protect her commerce even in sight of her own coasts. According to my understanding of the views of the honorable gentlemen, these thirty frigates are to be employed in destroying the commerce of the enemy, and not in fighting her public armed vessels. They are in fact to be national privateers. In this point of view, the proposition to cashier the officer who should strike the American flag seems to be at war with the nature of their employment. They are to direct their efforts to the destruction of merchant vessels, and to avoid collision with the ships of war. It is to be apprehended that men, whose duty it is to avoid serious conflicts with the enemy, will grow timid from habit, and will resist but feebly when inevitably forced into them. The character of the naval officers of the United States makes a regulation of this kind wholly unnecessary. Their enterprise, their courage, and intrepidity, are too well established to require a regulation of such severity. As then the gentleman does not intend to dispute the sovereignty even of our own seas with our expected enemy with this naval force, but intends to employ it in the destruction of merchant vessels, an increase of that force appears to me to be wholly unnecessary and impolitic. Individual enterprise, directed by individual interest, will more effectually destroy the commerce of the enemy, than any number of frigates in the power of this Government to build and employ. The Baltimore Federal Republican states that a French privateer in the Atlantic Ocean has captured about thirty merchant vessels, and that the impression made by this single privateer was so serious that thirteen vessels, several of which were frigates, were employed in cruising for her. The truth of this statement may be relied on, because that paper is not in the habit of exaggerating French successes, or of aggravating British sufferings. But it is said that, although our privateers were successful at the commencement of the Revolutionary War, before the conclusion of that contest they were entirely destroyed. Admitting the fact to be true, it does not necessarily follow that such will be the result of the war now in contemplation. After the first years of that contest, the British forces were in possession of the principal ports and harbors of the United States, which made it extremely hazardous for our privateers to approach our own coasts, or enter our own harbors. It is expected that our situation will be very different in the event of war at this time. Instead of possessing the principal ports of the United States, we expect to expel them from the whole of their continental possessions in our neighborhood. If this should be the result of the war, their means of annoying our commerce, and of destroying our privateers, will be greatly diminished, and their power of protecting their commerce from the depredations of our privateers will suffer an equal diminution.

MONDAY, March 9.

British Intrigues to dismember the Union.

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

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

I lay before Congress copies of certain documents which remain in the Department of State. They prove that, at a recent period, whilst the United States, notwithstanding the wrongs sustained by them, ceased not to observe the laws of peace and neutrality towards Great Britain, and in the midst of amicable professions and negotiations on the part of the British Government, through its public Minister here, a secret agent of that Government was employed in certain States, more especially at the seat of Government in Massachusetts, in fomenting disaffection to the constituted authorities of the nation, and in intrigues with the disaffected, for the purpose of bringing about resistance to the laws, and eventually, in concert with a British force, of destroying the Union, and forming the eastern part thereof into a political connection with Great Britain.

In addition to the effect which the discovery of such a procedure ought to have on the public councils, it will not fail to render more dear to the hearts of all good citizens that happy Union of these States, which, under Divine Providence, is the guaranty of their liberties, their safety, their tranquillity, and their prosperity.

JAMES MADISON.

MARCH 9, 1812.

The Message and documents therein referred to were read, and one thousand copies of the Message and documents ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate; and on motion of Mr. CAMPBELL of Tennessee, a committee was appointed to examine the documents above referred to, and designate such as may be necessary to be printed.

Messrs. CAMPBELL of Tennessee, BRENT, and BAYARD, were appointed the committee.

Mr. LLOYD submitted the following motion for consideration:

Resolved, That the Secretary of State be directed to lay before the Senate the names of any and all persons in the United States, and especially in the State of Massachusetts, who have in any way or manner whatever entered into, or most remotely countenanced, the project or the views, for the execution or attainment of which John Henry was, in the year 1809, employed by Sir James Craig, then Governor General of the British provinces in North America, and which have this day been communicated to the Senate of the United States.

FRIDAY, March 13.

Answer to Mr. Lloyd's inquiry.

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

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate a report of the Secretary of State, complying with their resolution of the 10th instant.

JAMES MADISON.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, March 12, 1812.

The Secretary of State, to whom was referred the resolution of the Senate of the 10th instant, has the honor to report, that this department is not in possession of any names of persons in the United States, who have, in any way or manner whatever, entered into or countenanced the project or the views, for the execution or attainment of which, John Henry was, in the year 1809, employed by Sir James Craig; the said John Henry having named no persons or person as being concerned in the said project or views referred to in the documents laid before Congress on the 9th instant. Which is respectfully submitted.

JAMES MONROE.

The Message and report were read, and one thousand copies thereof ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate.

WEDNESDAY, March 18.

_Incorporation of a Mining Company in Upper Louisiana._

The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill to incorporate Moses Austin, John Rice Jones, Henry Austin, and others, into a company, by the name of the Louisiana Lead Company; and the bill having been further amended, the President reported it to the House accordingly.

On the question, Shall this bill be engrossed and read a third time as amended? it was determined in the affirmative.

TUESDAY, March 24.

In the absence of the VICE PRESIDENT, on motion of Mr. LLOYD, the Senate proceeded to the choice of a President pro tempore, as the constitution provides, and WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD was elected.

THURSDAY, March 26.

Incorporation of Lead Mine Company.

The engrossed bill to incorporate Moses Austin, John Rice Jones, Henry Austin, and others, into a company, by the name of the Louisiana Lead Company, was read the third time.

On the question, Shall this bill pass? it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 14, nays 12, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bradley, Condit, Crawford, Dana, German, Goodrich, Gregg, Howell, Hunter, Smith of New York, Tait, Taylor, and Worthington.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bayard, Franklin, Giles, Horsey, Lambert, Leib, Lloyd, Reed, Smith of Maryland, Turner, and Varnum.

So it was Resolved, That this bill pass, and that the title thereof be, "An act to incorporate Moses Austin, John Rice Jones, Henry Austin, and others, into a company, by the name of the Louisiana Lead Company."

WEDNESDAY, April 1.

_Erection of the Territory of Orleans into a State._

The amendments to the bill, entitled "An act for the admission of the State of Louisiana into the Union, and to extend the laws of the United States to the said State," having been reported by the committee correctly engrossed, the bill was read a third time as amended, and, by unanimous consent, was further amended, by striking out, in the ninth section and second line, the word "next," and inserting the words "one thousand eight hundred and twelve."

Resolved, That this bill pass with amendments.

The bill giving further time for registering claims to land in the eastern district of the Territory of Orleans having been reported by the committee correctly engrossed, was read a third time, and passed.

The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill to enlarge the limits of the State of Louisiana; and, no amendment having been offered, on the question, Shall this bill be engrossed and read a third time? it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 21, nays 8, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bayard, Bibb, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Cutts, Gaillard, Giles, Gregg, Horsey, Howell, Leib, Pope, Smith of Maryland, Smith of New York, Tait, Taylor, Turner, Varnum, and Worthington.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bradley, Franklin, German, Gilman, Goodrich, Lambert, Lloyd, and Reed.

Temporary Embargo.

The following confidential Message was received from the President of the United States:

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

Considering it as expedient, under existing circumstances and prospects, that a general embargo be laid on all vessels now in port, or hereafter arriving, for the period of sixty days, I recommend the immediate passage of a law to that effect.

JAMES MADISON.

APRIL 1, 1812.

The Message was read; and on motion, by Mr. BAYARD, that the injunction of secrecy be taken off respecting the Message last read, it was determined in the negative--yeas 11, nays 21, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bayard, Dana, German, Gilman, Goodrich, Gregg, Horsey, Hunter, Lambert, Lloyd, and Reed.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Bradley, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Cutts, Franklin, Gaillard, Giles, Howell, Leib, Pope, Robinson, Smith of Maryland, Smith of New York, Tait, Taylor, Turner, Varnum, and Worthington.

Resolved, That the Message be referred to a select committee, to consist of five members, to consider and report thereon by bill or otherwise.

Ordered, That Messrs. CAMPBELL of Tennessee, TAYLOR, GERMAN, POPE, and BAYARD, be the committee.

FRIDAY, April 3.

Temporary Embargo.

The amendments to the bill, entitled "An act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States for a limited time," having been reported by the committee correctly engrossed, the bill was read the third time.

On motion, by Mr. LEIB, it was agreed to fill the blank with the word "ninety."

On the question, Shall this bill pass as amended? it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 20, nays 13, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Brent, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Cutts, Franklin, Gaillard, Gregg, Howell, Leib, Pope, Robinson, Smith of New York, Tait, Taylor, Turner, Varnum, and Worthington.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bayard, Bradley, Dana, German, Giles, Gilman, Goodrich, Horsey, Hunter, Lambert, Lloyd, Reed, and Smith of Maryland.

SATURDAY, April 4.

On motion, by Mr. CAMPBELL, of Tennessee, the galleries were cleared, and the doors of the Senate Chamber closed.

A message from the House of Representatives, by their committee, Messrs. CALHOUN and WILLIAMS--Mr. CALHOUN, chairman:

Mr. President: The House of Representatives concur in the amendment of the Senate to the bill, entitled "An act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, for a limited time."

FRIDAY, April 10.

Executive Veto.--Returned Bill.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the bill which passed the two Houses of Congress at the present session, entitled "An act providing for the trial of all causes pending in the respective district courts of the United States, in case of the absence or disability of the judges thereof," and presented to the President of the United States for his approbation, has been returned by the President of the United States, with the following objections:

"Because the additional services imposed by the bill on the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, are to be performed by them rather in the quality of other judges of other courts, namely, judges of the district courts, than in the quality of justices of the Supreme Court. They are to hold the said district courts, and to do and perform all acts relating to the said courts which are by law required of the district judges. The bill, therefore, virtually appoints, for the time, the justices of the Supreme Court to other distinct offices, to which, if compatible with their original offices, they ought to be appointed by another than the legislative authority, in pursuance of legislative provisions authorizing the appointments.

"Because the appeal allowed by law from the decision of the district courts to the circuit courts, while it corroborates the construction which regards a judge of the one court, as clothed with a new office, by being constituted a judge of the other, submits for correction erroneous judgments, not to superior or other judges, but to the erring individual himself, acting as sole judge in the appellate court.

"Because the additional services to be required may, by distances of place, and by the casualties contemplated by the bill, become disproportionate to the strength and health of the justices who are to perform them, the additional services being, moreover, entitled to no additional compensation, nor the additional expenses incurred, to reimbursement. In this view, the bill appears to be contrary to equity, as well as a precedent for modifications and extensions of judicial services, encroaching on the constitutional tenure of judicial offices.

"Because, by referring to the President of the United States questions of disability in the district judges, and of the unreasonableness of delaying the suits or causes pending in the district courts, and leaving it with him in such cases to require the justices of the Supreme Court to perform additional services, the bill introduces an unsuitable relation of members of the judiciary department to a discretionary authority of the Executive department.

"JAMES MADISON."

And the House of Representatives, where the bill originated, have taken the question in the constitutional way, and have resolved that this bill do not pass.

FRIDAY, April 17.

Temporary Non-Exportation.

On motion, by Mr. DANA, the injunction of secrecy was removed respecting the proceedings on the "Act to prohibit the exportation of specie, goods, wares, and merchandise, for a limited time."

[The proceedings are as follow:]

THURSDAY, April 9, 1812.

The following confidential message was received from the House of Representatives, by their committee, Mr. SMILIE and Mr. PLEASANTS--Mr. SMILIE, chairman:

Mr. President: The House of Representatives have passed a bill, entitled "An act to prohibit the exportation of specie, goods, wares, and merchandise, for a limited time;" in which bill they ask the concurrence of the Senate.

The bill was read, and, on motion, by Mr. CAMPBELL of Tennessee, that the bill be now read the second time by unanimous consent, it was objected to as against the rule.

Ordered, That the bill pass to a second reading.

FRIDAY, April 10.

The bill from the House of Representatives, entitled "An act to prohibit the exportation of specie, goods, wares, and merchandise, for a limited time," was read the second time, and referred to a select committee, to consider and report thereon; and Messrs. CAMPBELL of Tennessee, BRADLEY, and TAYLOR, were appointed the committee.

Mr. CAMPBELL of Tennessee, from the committee, reported the bill last mentioned with an amendment. Whereupon, the bill was resumed, and considered as in Committee of the Whole, together with the amendment reported thereto by the select committee; and having agreed to the amendment, the President reported the bill to the House accordingly.

On motion, by Mr. GOODRICH, that the further consideration of the bill be postponed until to-morrow, and that it be printed under an injunction of secrecy, for the use of the Senate, it was determined in the negative.

On the question, Shall the bill pass to the third reading as amended? it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 16, nays 12, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Brent, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Gaillard, Gregg, Howell, Leib, Pope, Smith of New York, Tait, Taylor, Turner, and Varnum.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bradley, Dana, German, Giles, Gilman, Goodrich, Horsey, Hunter, Lambert, Lloyd, Reed, and Smith of Maryland.

FRIDAY, April 17.

Mississippi Territory.

Mr. TAYLOR, from the committee to whom was referred on the 17th of March, the bill, entitled "An act to enable the people of the Mississippi Territory to form a constitution and State Government, and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States;" and on the 6th instant, the bill to carry into effect the provisions of the eighth section of the act regulating the grants of land, and providing for the disposal of the lands of the United States south of the State of Tennessee, reported that the said bills be severally postponed to the first Monday in December next.

The report is as follows:

That in considering the subject referred to them, they could not avoid being struck with the immense size of the Territory proposed to be erected into a State, a size disproportionate to the size of any of the largest States which now compose our confederation.

It embraces, in its present form, and without any extension, to the Gulf of Mexico, (as is proposed in the bill referred to us,) nearly six and a half degrees of geographical longitude, and four entire degrees of latitude, and affords an area of twice the surface of the State of Pennsylvania.

Your committee are strongly impressed with the propriety and expediency of dividing the said Territory, so as to form of the same two States, whenever the population, within the limits of each section, shall render it just and proper; and they respectfully submit to the Senate the following divisional line, between the western and eastern sections of the said Territory, viz: up the Mobile river, to the point nearest its source, which falls on the eleventh degree of west longitude from the city of Washington; thence a course due north until the line intersects the waters of Bear Creek; thence down the said creek to its confluence with the Tennessee River; thence down the said river to the northern boundary line of the said Territory. By a view of the map of this country it will appear that the above divisional line will divide the Territory into nearly two equal parts, and it has, for the most part, a delineation by nature.

By the 5th section of the 1st article of the treaty of cession from the State of Georgia the United States are bound to erect the said Territory into one State. It has, however, been suggested that the State of Georgia would not, upon a proper representation, withhold her consent to the proposed division.

To the end, therefore, that an opportunity may be afforded to the State of Georgia to express this consent, by a legislative act of the said State, as they shall think proper, your committee recommend that the said bill shall be postponed to the first Monday in December next.

MONDAY, April 20.

Death of the Vice President.

The PRESIDENT addressed the Senate as follows:

"GENTLEMEN: Upon me devolves the painful duty of announcing to the Senate the death of our venerable fellow-citizen, GEORGE CLINTON, Vice President of the United States.

"By this afflictive dispensation of Divine Providence the Senate is deprived of a President rendered dear to each of its members by the dignity and impartiality with which he has so long presided over their deliberations; and the nation bereaved of one of the brightest luminaries of its glorious Revolution."

The Senate being informed of the decease of their distinguished fellow-citizen, GEORGE CLINTON, Vice President of the United States, do

Resolve, That a committee be appointed, jointly with such as may be appointed on the part of the House of Representatives, to consider and report measures proper to manifest the public respect for the memory of the deceased, and expressive of the deep regret of the Congress of the United States on the loss of a citizen so highly respected and revered.

Ordered, That Messrs. SMITH of New York, SMITH of Maryland, GERMAN, GILMAN, and BRADLEY, be the committee.

Ordered, That the Secretary carry this resolution to the House of Representatives.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House concur in the resolution of the Senate for the appointment of a joint committee "to consider and report measures proper to manifest the public respect for the memory of the Vice President of the United States," deceased, and have appointed a committee on their part.

TUESDAY, April 21.

On motion of Mr. SMITH of New York,

Resolved unanimously, That, from an unfeigned respect to the late GEORGE CLINTON, Vice President of the United States, and President of the Senate, the Chair of the President of the Senate be shrouded with black during the present session; and, as a further testimony of respect for the memory of the deceased, the members of the Senate will go into mourning and wear a black crape round the left arm for thirty days.

FRIDAY, April 24.

Recess of Congress.

Mr. BRADLEY, from the joint committee of the two Houses appointed on the subject of a recess, reported the business that demands the immediate attention of Congress, and the following resolution:

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, during the present session of Congress, the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, on the 29th day of April instant, adjourn their respective Houses to Monday, the 18th day of May next, then to meet at the same place in which the two Houses are now sitting.

On motion, by Mr. BRADLEY, the resolution was twice read by unanimous consent; and, on motion by Mr. POPE, amended, by striking out the words "eighteenth day of May next."

On the question, Shall this resolution be engrossed, and read a third time as amended, it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 18, nays 13.

SATURDAY, April 25.

Recess of Congress.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the resolution for a recess of Congress from the 29th inst. to the ---- day of ---- next.

Mr. POPE moved to fill the blank with the 4th Monday in June. The most distant day would probably accommodate the greatest number of members; and this day would be sufficiently early to take measures necessary on the expiration of the embargo.

Mr. ANDERSON said he had supposed the day fixed upon by the committee, viz: the 18th of May, would have been the day. He did not himself feel the necessity of any adjournment; but, if it must take place, it ought either to be for a short time, or for so long a time as equally to accommodate all. If it were to be for a short time, it would be merely for relaxation; if for a longer time, as was now proposed, he feared it would be considered as indicative of an intention to pause in the course of measures they had commenced, and produce an impression abroad, among the people, which was much to be deprecated.

Mr. POPE said he was in favor of such a time being fixed on as should accommodate the greatest number of the members. As to the effect of an adjournment on the public mind, he imagined that the difference between a recess of twenty or thirty days would be very unimportant.

Mr. G. W. CAMPBELL said it seemed to him something like bribing the members to obtain votes, to talk about lengthening the time so as to accommodate the greatest number of members. He could not conceive it consistent with the honor of the country that they should decide the question of adjournment on the mere ground of personal convenience; he considered the only question to be, whether a recess would have a good or bad effect on the public service. He had on a former occasion stated his objection to this step, that it would produce an ill effect on the public mind. Many misrepresentations have been already made to induce the public to believe you are not in earnest. An adjournment for any length of time would seem like deserting our posts, and will put the seal on this belief. Under this view, he must vote against the adjournment; but the longer was the recess, the worse would be the effect on the public mind. He should, therefore, vote for the shortest day.

Mr. BRADLEY said he could not see that the proposed recess would be deserting their posts at all. The nation knew that the Government could not go to war without soldiers; and sitting here would certainly not restore peace. Congress had adopted many war measures, the execution of which they had put into the hands of the Executive; they had also authorized a loan of eleven millions. And while these measures were going on, could Congress, by staying here constantly, add to the number of men, or expedite the loan? If an enemy were to invade us, without any government at all, they would be promptly resisted. But, if we are going to war to redress grievances, to revenge injuries received, we should choose our own time. If we begin war before we have an army, it is bringing the nation to the last stage of degradation, not to consider at all the sufferings and losses which would be in such cases sustained. It would be a great error to attempt to put this country, by a forced vote of Congress, into war. You cannot lead this country to war as the butcher leads his flock to the slaughter-house. This is a government of opinion; the public sentiment will not be driven, but must be followed. Congress have certainly done as much for the present as they can. I wish to see the effect of the measures they have taken. The Executive is clothed with all the necessary powers to make preparation for war; and if the nation will not abide by us and support the measures of Congress, it is vain to say we can force the people into a war. I believe the people will be better satisfied with a recess than with our sitting here from day to day without doing any thing material, and there is nothing material at this moment to do. They are not irrational; they know that Congress have been in session six months; they must also foresee that when we come to war, the Council of the Nation must be perpetually in session; they will, therefore, not be dissatisfied at a short recess. If war be actually to take place at the expiration of the embargo, this, of all others, is the time for relaxation.

The question on the insertion of the eighth day of June as the day of reassembling of the two Houses, was decided as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bradley, Condit, Crawford, Dana, German, Gilman, Goodrich, Gregg, Horsey, Hunter, Lambert, Lloyd, Pope, Reed, Robinson, Smith of New York, Turner, and Worthington--18.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Brent, Campbell of Tennessee, Cutts, Gaillard, Giles, Howell, Leib, Smith of Maryland, Tait, Taylor, and Varnum--13.

So the motion was carried.

WEDNESDAY, April 29.

Maritime Defence.

Mr. POPE asked and obtained leave to bring in a bill more effectually to protect the commerce and coasts of the United States; and the bill was read, and passed to the second reading.

TUESDAY, June 9.

Rhode Island Resolutions.

Mr. HUNTER presented the resolutions of the Legislature of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, instructing their Senators and Representatives in Congress, to use their endeavors to avert the evils of war, to put our maritime frontier in a state of defence, and for the repeal of the embargo and restrictive system; and the resolutions were read.

New York Memorial.

Mr. SMITH of New York, presented the following petition of sundry inhabitants, merchants, and others, of the city of New York, praying that the embargo and non-importation laws be continued as a substitute for war against Great Britain:

To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, the memorial of the subscribers, merchants, and others, inhabitants of the city of New York, respectfully showeth:

That your memorialists feel, in common with the rest of their fellow-citizens, an anxious solicitude for the honor and interest of their country, and an equal determination to assert and maintain them.

That your memorialists believe that a continuation of the restrictive measures now in operation will produce all the benefits while it prevents the calamities of war. That when the British Ministry become convinced that a trade with the United States cannot be renewed, but by the repeal of the Orders in Council, the distress of their merchants and manufacturers, &c., their inability to support their armies in Spain and Portugal, will probably compel them to that measure.

Your memorialists beg leave to remark, that such effects are even now visible; and it may be reasonably hoped that a continuance of the embargo and non-importation laws a few months beyond the fourth day of July next, will effect a complete and bloodless triumph of our rights.

Your memorialists therefore respectfully solicit of your honorable body the passage of a law continuing the embargo, and giving to the President of the United States power to discontinue the whole of the restrictive system on the rescinding of the British Orders in Council.

The conduct of France in burning our ships, in sequestrating our property entering her ports, expecting protection in consequence of the promised repeal of the Berlin and Milan decrees, and the delay in completing a treaty with the American Minister, has excited great sensation, and we hope and trust will call forth from your honorable body such retaliatory measures as may be best calculated to procure justice.

John Jacob Astor Samuel Adams Howland & Grinnell E. Slosson Israel Gibbs Isaac Clason John Slidell John K. Townsend Andrew Ogden & Co. Thomas Storm Amos Butler Ebenezer Burrill Isaac Heyer Ralph Bulkley Samuel Bell John F. Delaplaine Peter Stagg David Taylor Abraham Smith Thomas H. Smith, jr. Andrew Foster Jacob Barker William Lovett William Edgar, jr. Samuel Stillwell Jacob P. Giraud John Hone John Kane Amasa Jackson William J. Robinson Joseph Strong Abraham S. Hallet Joshua Jones Frederick Giraud, jr. Robert Roberts John Crookes

William Adee John T. Lawrence Joseph W. Totten Isaac Schermerhorn Alexander Ruden Joseph Otis Lewis Hartman Garret Storm George Bement S. A. Rich Hugh McCormick John Depeyster Gilbert Haight James Lovett Leffert Lefferts Augustus Wyncoop John W. Gale Thomas Rich Samuel Marshall Elbert Herring.

After the memorial had been read,

Mr. TAYLOR said, that the respectability of the subscribers to a petition presented to this body, and the importance of the matter therein contained, had, on various occasions, been used as inducements to us to give such petition a respectful disposition in the course of our proceedings. He recollected a case in point. It was the case of the petition of an eminent merchant of Massachusetts, presented by an honorable Senator from that State, and which at the suggestion of that honorable gentleman was, by the Senate, ordered to be printed. He was of opinion that the petition just read ought not to be treated with less attention. That he had seen the petition, and had inquired into the character of its subscribers--and had been informed that the fifty-eight signers to it were among the most respectable, wealthy, and intelligent merchants of the city of New York. There are to be found in that list the names of two presidents of banks; three presidents of insurance companies; thirteen directors of banks: besides other names of pre-eminent standing in the mercantile world. They had all united in the sentiments contained in the petition, notwithstanding that there existed among them a difference in political opinions--for he understood that of the petitioners forty-two were federal and sixteen republican. Mr. T. added, that he considered some of the sentiments contained in the petition as of the highest importance. He hailed it as an auspicious occurrence, that these honorable merchants, in praying that the evils of war might be averted from them and from the nation, had nevertheless held fast to the principle of resistance to the aggressions and unhallowed conduct of Great Britain towards our nation--and had exercised the candor and firmness to bear testimony to the efficiency of the restrictive system for obtaining a redress of our wrongs, and of course to the integrity and honor of those who had imposed this system for that purpose. He hoped that the example of these petitioners would tend to counteract those strenuous and unremitting exertions of passion, prejudice, and party feeling, which had attempted to stamp upon the majority in Congress the foul and unjust censure of being enemies to commerce. That, however unfashionable and obstinate it might appear, he still believed that the embargo and non-importation laws, if faithfully executed, were capable of reaching farther than our cannon. We were at this very time tendering an urgent argument, to be felt by each city, village and hamlet in England. This touching to the quick the vital interests of that empire, would demonstrate to the people at least the folly and absurdity of the Orders in Council. The ordeal of the twenty weeks of scarcity, which the people of that unhappy country are undergoing, to relieve which, but for the madness and folly of their rulers, every yard of American canvas would be spread to the gales: the thousands of starving manufacturers thrown out of employ for want of our custom, which custom, but for the injustice of their masters, we were willing to give, now feel the efficiency of the restrictive system. These matter-of-fact arguments want no sophistry nor long speeches to give them weight. But Great Britain is proud, and will never yield to this sort of pressure. Hunger has no law. Where was her pride during the last year when she exported to her enemy on the continent more than eleven millions of pounds sterling for provisions; and meanly truckling to her enemy, consented to buy the privilege of laying out her guineas for bread; and actually submitted on the compulsion of Napoleon to buy the wines, brandies, and silks of France, which she did not want! This restrictive system, when commenced under the former embargo law, encountered every opposition among ourselves, which selfish avarice, which passion and party rage could suggest; and so successful were its assailants that while it was operating with its fullest effects, (which the prices current of that day will show,) some of its greatest champions in the National Legislature abandoned it--yes, sir, in the tide of victory they threw down their arms. How were the mighty fallen, and the shield of the mighty vilely cast away! The disavowal of Erskine's arrangement was the consequence of this retreat. But it may be said that the sentiments in their petition were extorted by the apprehension of a greater evil--war. In all our trials, those who had not predetermined to submit to Great Britain must have anticipated this alternative. Let those who by their acrimony, sneers, and scoffs, have thrown away this chief defence of our nation, be held responsible for the compulsion they have imposed on us to take this dire alternative. He said that although he was unwilling to abate a single pang which we might legally inflict upon our enemy, and might at the proper time oppose any thing like the swap proposed of one system for another, when we had the power and the right to impose upon our enemy both the one and the other, he nevertheless thought the petition was deserving of the attention which he now moved it should receive. He moved that the petition should be printed.

The motion was agreed to; and the Senate then adjourned.

THURSDAY, June 11.

General Wilkinson's Accounts.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the resolution reported by the committee on the memorial of General James Wilkinson, which is as follows:

Resolved, That the proper accounting officer of the Department of War be directed, in the settlement of General Wilkinson's account, to place to his credit the sum of four thousand and thirty-six dollars seventy-seven cents.

And the resolution was agreed to, and recommitted to the original committee, with instruction to bring in a bill accordingly.

FRIDAY, June 12.

Massachusetts Memorial.

Mr. LLOYD presented a resolution of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, passed June 2d, instant, expressing their opinion "that an offensive war against Great Britain, under the present circumstances of this country, would be in the highest degree impolitic, unnecessary, and ruinous;" also, a memorial of the said House of Representatives, passed by a majority of one hundred and sixty-six, on the same subject; and the resolution and memorial were read, and ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate.

They are as follows:

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS:

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

June 2, 1812.

Resolved, As the opinion of this House, that an offensive war against Great Britain, under the present circumstances of this country, would be in the highest degree impolitic, unnecessary, and ruinous; that the great body of the people of this Commonwealth are decidedly opposed to this measure, which they do not believe to be demanded by the honor or interests of the nation; and that a committee be appointed to prepare a respectful petition to be presented to Congress, praying them to arrest a calamity so greatly to be deprecated, and, by the removal of commercial restrictions, to restore, so far as depends on them, the benefits of trade and navigation, which are indispensable to the prosperity and comfort of the people of this Commonwealth.

TIMOTHY BIGELOW, Speaker.

THURSDAY, JUNE 18.

Injunction of Secrecy on War Measures removed.

The injunction of secrecy thereon having been removed, on motion, by Mr. ANDERSON, twelve hundred copies of the confidential Message of the President of the United States of the first of June instant, were ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate.

Certain confidential proceedings of the Senate, since first June, are as follow, the injunction of secrecy having been removed:

MONDAY, June 1, 1812.

A confidential Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, as follows:

[For this Message, see the Supplemental Journal of the Proceedings of the House of Representatives, under the date of June 1, 1812, post.]

FRIDAY, June 5.

Declaration of War against Great Britain.

A confidential Message was received from the House of Representatives, by Messrs. MACON and FINDLAY, two of their members--Mr. MACON, chairman:

Mr. President: The House of Representatives have passed a bill, entitled "An act declaring War between Great Britain and her Dependencies, and the United States and their Territories;" in which they ask the concurrence of the Senate; and request that the bill be considered confidentially.

An act declaring War between Great Britain and her Dependencies, and the United States and their Territories.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That war be and the same is hereby declared to exist between Great Britain and her Dependencies, and the United States and their Territories; and that the President of the United States is hereby authorized to use the whole land and naval force of the United States to carry the same into effect; and to issue to private armed vessels of the United States commissions or letters of marque and general reprisal, in such form as he shall think proper, and under the seal of the United States, against the vessels, goods, and effects of the Government of Great Britain, of its subjects, and of all persons inhabiting within any of its territories or possessions.

On motion, the bill was twice read by unanimous consent; and, on motion by Mr. Leib, it was referred to the committee appointed the 1st instant, on the confidential Message of the President of the United States of the same date, to consider and report thereon.

TUESDAY, June 9.

On motion by Mr. ANDERSON, the bill entitled "An act declaring War between Great Britain and her Dependencies, and the United States and their Territories," was considered as in Committee of the Whole. Mr. GAILLARD was requested to take the Chair; and, after debate, a motion was made by Mr. GREGG, that the bill be recommitted, for further amendment, to the committee who have under consideration the Message of the President of the United States of the 1st June. And, after debate, the President resumed the Chair, and the Senate adjourned.

WEDNESDAY, June 10.

Mr. GAILLARD was requested to take the Chair.

The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the bill, entitled "An act declaring War between Great Britain and her Dependencies, and the United States and their Territories."

Mr. GREGG, by permission, amended his motion for recommitting the bill to the committee appointed on the confidential Message of the President of the United States, of the 1st of June, as follows:

Resolved, That the bill entitled "An act declaring War between Great Britain and her Dependencies, and the United States and their Territories," be recommitted to the committee to whom was committed the Message of the President, of the 1st instant, with instructions to modify and amend the same, in such manner that the President of the United States shall have power to authorize the public armed ships and vessels of the United States to make reprisals upon the public and private ships and vessels, goods, and merchandise, belonging to the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or to the subjects thereof; and also to grant letters of marque and reprisal, under suitable regulations, to be provided in the bill, to private armed ships and vessels to make like reprisals.

THURSDAY, June 11.

Mr. GAILLARD was requested to take the Chair.

On motion by Mr. ANDERSON, the bill from the House of Representatives, entitled "An act declaring war between Great Britain and her Dependencies, and the United States and their Territories," was resumed, and considered as in Committee of the Whole, together with the motion yesterday submitted by Mr. GREGG; and on the question to agree to the motion, it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 17, nays 13, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bayard, Condit, Dana, German, Giles, Gilman, Goodrich, Gregg, Horsey, Howell, Hunter, Lambert, Leib, Lloyd, Reid, Smith of New York, and Worthington.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Campbell of Tennessee, Crawford, Cutts, Franklin, Gaillard, Pope, Smith of Maryland, Tait, Taylor, Turner, and Varnum.

Whereupon, Mr. CRAWFORD resumed the Chair; and, on motion by Mr. Anderson, it was ordered that the committee to whom this bill is recommitted have leave to sit immediately.

FRIDAY, June 12.

Reprisals on British Commerce.

Mr. ANDERSON, from the committee to whom was recommitted the bill, entitled "An act declaring War between Great Britain and her Dependencies, and the United States and their Territories," with instructions to modify and amend the same, in such manner that the President shall have the power to authorize the public armed ships and vessels of the United States to make reprisals upon the public and private ships and vessels, goods, and merchandise, belonging to the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and to the subjects thereof; and also to grant letters of marque and reprisal, under suitable regulations, to be provided in the bill, to private ships and vessels to make reprisals, agreeably to said instructions.

SATURDAY, June 13.

Declaration of War.

Mr. GAILLARD was requested to take the Chair; and on motion, by Mr. ANDERSON, the consideration of the bill, entitled "An act declaring war between Great Britain and her Dependencies, and the United States and their Territories," was resumed, as in Committee of the Whole; and having agreed to sundry amendments, the President resumed the Chair; and Mr. GAILLARD reported the bill with amendments, which were considered in Senate and agreed to.

A motion was made by Mr. GERMAN, to postpone the further consideration of the bill to the first Monday in November next.

Mr. GERMAN addressed the Chair as follows:

Mr. President: I made the motion to postpone the consideration of the bill now before us, from a conviction that it will be extremely injurious to the country to pass it at this time. I feel, sir, that the State I have the honor to represent has a peculiar interest in the event of this question; and I also feel the weight of the interest which the nation at large has at stake, in the event of the passage of this bill. I therefore consider it a duty I owe my constituents, to use every reasonable exertion in my power to prevent the object of that bill, until the country is better prepared to carry it into effect.

As I presume the war, if declared, is intended to be an offensive one, I will, to establish the propriety of my motion, take a general view of the situation of this country; of its means to carry on offensive operations, as well as to defend itself, and of the situation and relative strength also of the country we are required to make war upon.

I am ready to allow, Mr. President, that both Great Britain and France have given us abundant cause for war; on this occasion, therefore, I shall dispense with using any argument which might serve to show, that if we were even in a state of preparation, and possessed the means of insuring a favorable issue, it would be bad policy for this country, at the present time, to enter into war with Great Britain, although perhaps many weighty reasons might be adduced in support of such argument.

I will first call the attention of the Senate to the ability and strength of the nation we are about, by this bill, to declare war against. Gentlemen ought to recollect, that Great Britain has been almost constantly engaged in war for twenty years past against one of the most powerful nations that ever existed; and for a considerable part of that time, the energies of her enemy have been directed by war's favorite genius--NAPOLEON, who has succeeded in uniting nearly the whole force of the Continent of Europe against her: against that very nation which we are about to assail; and what has been the effect? Is Great Britain less powerful now, than she was twenty years ago? No, sir, this constant warfare has increased her powers instead of diminishing them. At the commencement of the war, France was nearly her equal on the ocean, and several other nations of Europe maintained a powerful naval force. But what is their situation at present? Has not Great Britain driven them all from the ocean? And does she not remain sole mistress? I ask gentlemen, if her ability to carry on a distant war by land or sea, has diminished? The answer must be that it has increased with her navy, and extended with her dominion. Great Britain now commands the strength and resources of most of the West India Islands, and many of the islands in the Indian Ocean. She controls the destinies of more than thirty millions of people on the Continent of Asia. And she has, at this time, or will have, if we engage in a war with her, the exclusive benefit of the trade of the world; and under these circumstances possesses the ability to carry on a war in distant countries across the ocean, beyond any nation ever heard of.

These considerations, Mr. President, lead me to the view of our situation and means of defence, and of our ability to carry immediate war into the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada. I will first consider the situation of our maritime frontier, beginning at New Orleans, and examine the situation of that place. We learn from the War Office that there is little rising of one hundred regular troops stationed near the city for its defence. Now I will ask any gentleman if that paltry force is sufficient for that object; and if it will not be in the power of the British to take possession of that city within sixty days after your declaration of war against them? If gentlemen calculate on the goodness and forbearance of the enemy, I think they will be deceived. Great Britain is a wily, active nation. She has been trained to war. She will not measure her steps and movements by ours; if we are not prepared to defend our seaports, she will not wait until we are; and should she get possession of New Orleans, it will cost much blood and treasure to dislodge her. Passing northerly along our coast, let us see what is the situation of our most valuable cities. Charleston and Norfolk, as well as many other places of less consequence, are found exposed to maritime attacks. And when we reach the city of New York (the nation's great emporium of trade) do we, on viewing its situation, and strength of the public works for its defence, find it in a perfect state of security? No, sir, unless the greatest part of your frigates are stationed there, to aid your fortifications, and gunboats, it will fall a prey to the enemy. It can be assailed by a small fleet, with every prospect of success. The only resistance they would meet with would be in passing the fortifications on Staten Island, and perhaps a few shots from Bedlow's and Ellis's Islands. They might soon place themselves abreast the works at the upper end of the city, the weakest of them all. And I have no doubt two seventy-fours might silence this work in twenty or thirty minutes. They would then meet with no other resistance than from travelling guns on the shore and from the docks. The result would probably be, that the city would be set on fire, or a contribution extorted from its inhabitants. I will now pass on to Rhode Island. Does the prospect of security there flatter us? No, sir. I am told by competent judges that nothing short of a force of from three to five thousand men can defend that island. Boston, it is said, can be defended, and is, perhaps, the only secure place of considerable consequence on the seaboard. In viewing the situation along the province of Maine, and our northern frontier up the river St. Lawrence, and the Lakes to Fort Malden, and from thence to the Mississippi, do we not find almost every point and place where there are inhabitants, subject to the incursions of the enemy? Have they not more troops on and near the line than we have? Yes, sir, they have ten to our one, and a militia which the Government of Canada have been fully vigilant in training. I understand that ever since the prospect of war began to thicken in the political horizon, they have trained their militia three or four times a month, and have paid them daily wages for their services. Not so, sir, with our militia--they have, it is true, been called into the public service to do the duty of regular troops; and what is now their situation? Sixteen hundred of the militia of the State of New York have been ordered into public service, on the frontiers of that State, and have, as I am informed, marched to their place of destination. There we find exhibiting a spectacle that would wound the feelings of the most callous man--without hats, without blankets to cover them, without camp-kettles to cook the miserable provisions furnished them by the Government contractors or any one necessary for camp equipage. Their officers with the utmost difficulty preventing their marching home for self-preservation. Here, Mr. President, I wish to call the attention of the Senate to the propriety and constitutionality of calling out this detachment of militia at a time when no enemy menaced an invasion. The constitution only authorizes the General Government to call out the militia to suppress insurrection, enforce the laws, and repel invasion. And I would ask whether either of these events had happened when this corps of militia were ordered out? No. It is well known that no such emergency existed. But they have this miserable consolation, that they are to receive six dollars and two-thirds a month for their services, finding their own clothes, arms and accoutrements. I do not mention these things with a wish to discourage the militia from serving their country when necessary, nor do I believe defending them in their constitutional rights will have that effect, for I am fully aware that there is no class of citizens more patriotic or willing to defend their country than they are, and will be so found when the safety of it shall really demand their services.

I will now resume the consideration of our situation upon the Lakes to Detroit and Fort Malden. Here it must be remembered that the British command the Lakes. We are told that Governor Hull is marching to the defence of Detroit with twelve hundred militia from the State of Ohio, together with four hundred regular troops, formed and disciplined for action by the brave Colonel Boyd. These troops, I hope, will be better supplied and provided for than those on the frontier of New York. It is whispered by some of the favorites who are suffered to know the projects of our Government, that the British have sent a part of their regular troops, together with a number of Indians, from Fort Malden to Fort Erie, near the Falls of Niagara; and this is taken as certain evidence of the weakness of the garrison at Fort Malden, and that that fort may consequently be surprised and taken by Governor Hull with little difficulty. Now, I draw the exact contrary conclusion from this circumstance; for the British must have known that Governor Hull was on his march to Detroit; and if they had been weak at Fort Malden they never would have detached part of their force and sent it to the aid of Fort Erie. But presuming they had not heard of Governor Hull's march, and that they had left that fort comparatively defenceless, they will assuredly learn it soon enough to have the detachment return by water before Governor Hull can reach Malden. And if in the attempt to take Fort Malden, Governor Hull should meet with a defeat, the consequences will be alarming; for no reinforcement can be sent him, nor any assistance afforded soon enough to prevent a disastrous termination of the expedition. In that case the British, with a partial aid from the Indians, might cross the river and take possession of Detroit; and if they should then obtain the assistance of the Indians generally, it will be in their power to drive in all the frontier settlements of Ohio; and there can be little doubt when this war is once commenced that nearly all the Indians will flock to the British standard.

MONDAY, June 15.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the bill, entitled "An act declaring War between Great Britain and her Dependencies, and the United States and their Territories," together with the motion made by Mr. GERMAN to postpone the further consideration thereof until the first Monday in November next:

And on the question to agree to the motion, it was determined in the negative--yeas 10, nays 22, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bayard, Dana, German, Gilman, Goodrich, Horsey, Hunter, Lambert, Lloyd, and Reed.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Brent, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Cutts, Franklin, Gaillard, Giles, Gregg, Howell, Leib, Pope, Robinson, Smith of Maryland, Smith of New York, Tait, Taylor Turner, Varnum, and Worthington.

On motion, by Mr. LEIB, to amend the bill, as follows:

[The amendment was to authorize privateering both against Great Britain and France.]

On the question. Shall this bill pass to a third reading as amended? it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 19, nays 13, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Brent, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Cutts, Franklin, Gaillard, Giles, Gregg, Leib, Robinson, Smith of Maryland, Smith of New York, Tait, Taylor, Turner, and Varnum.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bayard, Dana, German, Gilman, Goodrich, Horsey, Howell, Hunter, Lambert, Lloyd, Pope, Reed, and Worthington.

TUESDAY, June 16.

Declaration of War.

The amendments to the bill from the House of Representatives, entitled "An act declaring War between Great Britain and her Dependencies, and the United States and their Territories," were reported by the committee correctly engrossed.

Mr. BAYARD moved to postpone the further consideration of the bill to the thirty-first day of October next.

The motion did not oppose or deny the sufficiency of the causes, or the policy of the war. It went only to affirm what he trusted the course of his observations would render very evident, that this was not a time at which war ought to be declared.

He indulged a confidence, that upon so great an occasion the Senate would not be impelled to act by any little passions, nor by any considerations which did not arise out of an extended and distinct view of the interests of the country. It is not enough that we have cause of war; we must see that we are prepared, and in a condition to make war. You do not go to war for the benefit of your enemy, but your own advantage; not to give proofs of a vain and heedless courage, but to assert your rights and redress your wrongs. If you commence hostilities before you are prepared to strike a blow, and while your cities, your territory, and your property on the ocean, are exposed to the mercy of a Government possessing vast resources of war, what can you expect but to add new distresses, defeat, and disgrace to the wrongs of which you complain? It is a strange motive for war--a wish to gratify the rapacity, to swell the triumphs, and to increase the insolence of the enemy.

Mr. B. said, that neither the Government nor the people had expected, or were prepared for war. Even at this moment, the general opinion abroad was, that there would be no war, the mercantile and trading world had continued to act upon that opinion. Nor could people be persuaded that an unarmed nation was about to attack a nation armed cap-a-pie. No man had laid out his account for this war, and every one would be taken by surprise and unprepared for its shock.

You have at this moment an immense property abroad, a great portion of it in England, and part floating on the ocean and hastening to your ports. The postponement proposed might save a great portion of this property, and bring home the seamen now absent from the country. Gentlemen would remember the number of ships which left our ports on the eve of an embargo. These vessels had not had time to perform their voyages, and the greater part of them were still abroad. He knew that some members had no commiseration for the merchant who had dared to escape the embargo, and who had disregarded the salutary precautions, designed, as it was said, for his security. But he did not think it surprising, nor culpable, that those whose property consisted in ships, should be averse to seeing them rotting at the wharves, and even disposed to incur risks to find employment for them abroad.

Even, however, if it should be thought that the merchants had acted with indiscretion and folly, it is the part of a parental Government, such as this ought always to be, not to punish the citizens for their misfortunes, but to guard them against the effect of their errors. Besides, a loss of individual property was a loss to the State, as the public strength was derived from individual resources.

He stated that the question of war had been doubtful till the present moment. He did not believe that the President himself expected war at the opening of the session, nor for a long time after. A menacing language was held out; but the hopes of an accommodation were far from being abandoned. Much was expected from the Prince Regent's accession to his full powers. A change of Ministry was not doubted, and it was thought that in the change of men, there would have been found such a change of principles and measures, that the differences between the two Governments might be compromised and settled. This expectation was protracted till it became plainly evident that the Prince did not intend to change his father's Ministers, nor to depart from their principles or measures. When this discovery was made, the Administration had proceeded too far to recede.

Desperate as the course was which now alone remained to be pursued, they supposed they were obliged to advance or become the object of reproach and scorn both to friends and foes. This necessity they had brought upon themselves, but it was too late to consider whether the condition might have been avoided; they were pledged in this state of events to attempt to extort from Great Britain by force the concession of those points which their arguments had failed in persuading her to yield. He had no doubt but that, some months past, the Cabinet had seriously determined upon resorting to hostilities. But the concurrence of Congress was to be obtained, and whether a majority of both Houses could be brought to take the daring and hazardous step, no man in or out of the Government, without the gift of prophecy, could have predicted.

The public mind had been so repeatedly distracted and deceived by boisterous speeches, and bold but ephemeral resolutions, that it had sunk into a state of apathy, and was no longer excited even by the sound of war echoed in the ministerial paper from the proceedings of Government. When the bill before us was first brought up from the other House, it was the opinion of very few that it would obtain the support of a majority of this body; and, even now, it was likely to pass, not because it was approved by a majority, but of the differences of opinion which existed among gentlemen as to other courses which had been proposed.

If, with the light and information possessed in this body as to the views and designs of the Cabinet and of Congress, it has been doubtful among ourselves whether the Government would resort to war, how was it to be known by our merchants, or any other class of society unacquainted with the intentions and secret proceedings of those exercising the powers of the Government, that the nation would be wantonly plunged into a sudden war?

He had heard it said, that the embargo was a sufficient notice of the design of the Government to resort to hostilities upon its expiration, and that the people must be infatuated, who, after such warning, were not apprised of the approaching crisis. But it is too recently and deeply in our recollection to be forgotten, that this is not the first embargo we have experienced, and which, though of longer duration, we saw pass away without being followed by war.

The language held there, as to people out of doors who have doubted of the war, is retorted by the public voice with equal confidence and on better grounds. They rely upon your integrity and wisdom, and say that Congress cannot be so infatuated, destitute as they are of the means of aggression or defence, to draw upon themselves a war with one of the most powerful and formidable nations on the globe. If a war with Great Britain be thought unavoidable, yet, as she leaves to us the time of commencing it, surely we ought to select that time when the first shock shall be least disastrous, and can best be resisted. Why should we hurry into a war from which nothing but calamity can be expected? There is no danger that the redress of our wrongs, or the assertion of our rights, will be barred by the limitation of time. No time has existed for years past when we had less cause to complain of the conduct of Great Britain. Her vessels of war had all been withdrawn from our coast, as he presumed, in order to avoid collisions and hostility. If the war be suspended till November, the Government and the people will both be better prepared to sustain it. He was not a friend to the restrictive system, but with a choice out of evils, he should prefer the embargo to war. Postpone the war, and we will submit to the embargo till November. This will furnish time for the return of your ships and seamen; and if, at the same time, you will abandon the non-importation act, you will replenish your Treasury with at least twelve millions of dollars, and restore to your citizens sixty millions now abroad, and in danger of being lost. It appeared to him that the course which had been pursued was the most preposterous imaginable. For eighteen months past, we had been sending our property out of the country, and not suffering it to return; and, while contemplating a war with Great Britain, we saw our effects to an immense amount accumulating in that kingdom, liable at any moment, to fall a prey to the Government, and to be employed in support of the war against us. He asked, why rush with this precipitancy into the war? Are you provided with means to annoy the enemy, or to defend yourselves? Have you an army or navy which can make any impression? Are your exposed towns fortified and garrisoned? Was any nation ever less prepared for war? It would require the whole military force that you now possess to constitute an adequate defence for New Orleans, New York, and Newport. It is very well known that the General who will command at New Orleans has declared to the Government, that he will not be answerable for the security of the place with less force than ten thousand men, which is equal to all the effective troops yet raised. It would be natural to suppose that no Government would declare war till it was prepared to attack its enemy. In peace we require no defence, and shall we declare war in order to defend ourselves? But what blow are you prepared to strike? Were you able in the summer to recruit your army of twenty-five thousand men, could it be employed in any service in the course of this year? A soldier is not made in a day. The authority of a foreign officer, now in this country, of the highest military reputation, he had heard frequently cited, that it required at least fourteen months to form a soldier of a recruit. This remark applied to France, where the officers have generally received a military education, and where there are so many models to imitate, and so many instructors to teach. But here the officer is to form as well as the soldier. The officer has to learn his lesson first, before he can prescribe the task of the soldier. You may possibly have a herd of men, but you can have no army to lead into service this season; and if this herd be led against disciplined troops, you can expect nothing but defeat and disgrace.

But you have not got, nor can you get the men during the present year. These are not the days of Cadmus. It will require great patience and industry, and a considerable length of time, to collect twenty-five thousand men. Have you the least prospect, if you declare war, of attacking Canada this season? It is impossible that you can do it with effect. You will be sufficiently occupied in defending your frontiers against the savages.

It is not on land then that you expect immediately to assail your enemy. Is it on the ocean that the impression is to be made? You have twenty vessels of war--Britain upwards of a thousand. What will avail the activity or gallantry of your officers and seamen against such disparity of force? Your little Navy must fall immediately, or be driven from the ocean. Some gentlemen indulge great expectations from privateers; but has Great Britain any unarmed or unprotected trade which they can attack? Privateers have no other object than plunder and booty. They avoid armed vessels--and, defended as is the British commerce in every part of the world by her great naval force, it is little to be expected that privateering will be attended with much success or encouragement. But while we are searching for the means of annoying the commerce of Britain, does it become us to overlook at this moment the condition of our own? A valuable part of the trade from beyond the Cape of Good Hope has not yet arrived. Of the numberless vessels which sailed upon the eve of the embargo, few have returned. Your merchant vessels are without convoy and utterly defenceless. Your condition, therefore, is, that with more commerce exposed, your adversary will possess greater means of annoyance, and the consequence must be, that we shall lose infinitely more than we can expect to gain.

Under such circumstances, what should hurry us into the war? Are gentlemen afraid if they wait till November the world will not last long enough to afford them time to gratify in war their mighty resentment against Britain? He believed, as he hoped, that there was no honorable gentleman on the floor who would not live long enough to have a complete surfeit of the war, though it should be postponed for a few months.

The question on postponement was determined in the negative--yeas 11, nays 21.

On motion, by Mr. BAYARD, to postpone the further consideration of the bill to the third day of July next, it was determined in the negative--yeas 9, nays 23.

On motion by Mr. BAYARD, to postpone the further consideration of the bill to Monday next, it was determined in the negative--yeas 15, nays 17.

On motion, that the Senate adjourn, it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 18, nays 14.

So the Senate adjourned to 11 o'clock to-morrow.

THURSDAY, June 18.

On motion, by Mr. Varnum,

Resolved, That the injunction of secrecy, in relation to the confidential Message of the President of the United States of the first instant, and also in relation to the private and confidential proceedings of the Senate since that date, be removed.

[End of the confidential proceedings.]

FRIDAY, June 26.

Treasury Notes.

The amendment to the bill, entitled "An act authorizing the issuing of Treasury Notes," was reported by the committee correctly engrossed, and the bill was read a third time as amended.

On the question, Shall this bill pass as amended? it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 23, nays 8, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Bradley, Brent, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Cutts, Franklin, Gaillard, Giles, Gregg, Howell, Lambert, Leib, Reed, Robinson, Smith of New York, Tait, Taylor, Turner, Varnum, and Worthington.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bayard, Dana, German, Gilman, Goodrich, Hunter, Lloyd, and Pope.

SUNDAY, July 5.

Volunteers Bill.

The amendment to the bill, entitled "An act supplementary to the act, entitled 'An act authorizing the President of the United States to accept and organize certain volunteer military corps,'" having been reported by the committee correctly engrossed, the bill was read a third time as amended.

On the question, Shall this bill pass as amended? it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 14, nays 6, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Brent, Condit, Crawford, Franklin, Gaillard, Giles, Howell, Robinson, Smith of New York, Tait, Taylor, and Varnum.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bayard, Gilman, Goodrich, Leib, Lloyd, and Smith of Maryland.

So it was resolved, that this bill pass with an amendment.

MONDAY, July 6, 6 o'clock, p.m.

Recess of Congress, and adjournment.

The Senate proceeded to consider the resolution from the House of Representatives for the appointment of a joint committee to wait on the President of the United States, and notify him of the intended recess, and concurred therein, and Messrs. ROBINSON and ANDERSON were appointed a committee on the part of the Senate.

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

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate copies and extracts of documents in the archives of the Department of State, falling within the purview of their resolution of the fourth instant, on the subject of British impressments from American vessels. The information, though voluminous, might have been enlarged with more time for research and preparation. In some instances it might, at the same time, have been abridged, but for the difficulty of separating the matter extraneous to the immediate object of the resolution.

JULY 6, 1812.

JAMES MADISON.

The Message and documents were read, and ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate, that the House, having finished the business before them, are about to adjourn.

Mr. ROBINSON, from the committee, reported that they had waited on the President of the United States, who informed them that he had no further communications to make to the two Houses of Congress.

Ordered: That the Secretary inform the House of Representatives that the Senate, having finished the legislative business before them, are about to adjourn.

Agreeably to the joint resolution, the PRESIDENT then adjourned the Senate, to meet on the first Monday in November next.

Executive Proceedings.

[Confidential.]

SATURDAY, June 20, 1812.

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. HARPER and Mr. FISK, two of their members--Mr. HARPER, chairman.

Mr. President: The House of Representatives have passed a "resolution authorizing the President of the United States to issue a proclamation to the inhabitants of the British American Continental Provinces," in which they request the concurrence of the Senate.

The resolution was read, as follows:

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That in case it shall be deemed necessary, in order to vindicate the just rights, or to secure the safety of the United States, to invade the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, or either of them, the President of the United States be, and he hereby is authorized and empowered to issue a proclamation, addressed to the inhabitants of said provinces, assuring them, in the name of the people of these States, that in case the said provinces, or any of them, shall come into the possession of this Government, the inhabitants of such province or provinces shall be secured and protected in the full enjoyment of their lives, liberty, property, and religion, in as full and ample manner as the same are secured to the people of the United States by their constitutions; and that the said proclamation be promulgated and circulated, in the manner which, in the opinion of the President, shall be best calculated to give it general publicity.

Ordered, That the resolution pass to a second reading.

FRIDAY, June 26.

Occupation of the Floridas.

A message from the House of Representatives by Messrs. MITCHILL and HALL, two of their members.

Mr. President: The House of Representatives have passed a bill, entitled "An act authorizing the President to take possession of a tract of country lying south of the Mississippi Territory and of the State of Georgia, and for other purposes," in which they request the concurrence of the Senate, and that the bill be considered confidentially.

The bill last brought up for concurrence was read, as follows:

"An Act authorizing the President to take possession of a tract of country lying south of the Mississippi Territory and of the State of Georgia, and for other purposes.

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled: That the President be, and he is hereby authorized to occupy and hold, the whole or any part of East Florida, including Amelia Island, and also those parts of West Florida which are not now in possession and under the jurisdiction of the United States.

"SEC. 2. And be it further enacted: That, for the purpose of occupying and holding the country aforesaid, and of affording protection to the inhabitants, under the authority of the United States, the President may employ such parts of the military and naval force of the United States as he may deem necessary.

"SEC. 3. And be it further enacted: That, for defraying the necessary expenses, one hundred thousand dollars are hereby appropriated, to be paid out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and to be applied to the purposes aforesaid, under the direction of the President.

"SEC. 4. And be it further enacted: That, until further provision shall be made by Congress, the President shall be, and he hereby is empowered to establish within the country he may acquire by this act, a temporary government, the civil and military authorities of which shall be vested in such person and persons as he may appoint, and be exercised in such manner as he may direct: Provided: That he shall take due care for the preservation of social order, and for securing to the inhabitants the enjoyment of their personal rights, their religion, and their property: And provided, also: That the section of country herein designated, that is situated to the Eastward of the river Perdido, may be the subject of further negotiation."

Ordered: That it pass to a second reading.

THURSDAY, July 2.

Agreeably to the order of the day, the bill, entitled "An act authorizing the President to take possession of a tract of country lying south of the Mississippi Territory and of the State of Georgia, and for other purposes," was resumed, and considered as in Committee of the Whole; and Mr. GAILLARD was requested to take the Chair.

On motion by Mr. CRAWFORD, he was permitted to amend his motion, made yesterday, as follows:

"And be it further enacted: That if the United States, in the prosecution of the present war against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, should obtain possession of the British provinces in North America, or either of them, that the President of the United States be, and he is hereby authorized and empowered to establish within the same a temporary government; and the military, civil, and judicial powers thereof, shall be vested in such person and persons, and be exercised in such manner as he may direct, for the protection and maintenance of the inhabitants of such province or provinces, in the full enjoyment of their property, liberty, and religion: Provided: That the principles upon which such temporary government shall be established, shall form no obstacle to the restoration of peace between the two nations."

And, on motion to agree to the amendment, it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 20, nays 10, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Bradley, Brent, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Cutts, Franklin, Gaillard, Giles, Howell, Leib, Pope, Robinson, Tait, Taylor, Turner, Varnum, and Worthington.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bayard, German, Gilman, Goodrich, Horsey, Hunter, Lambert, Lloyd, Smith of Maryland, and Smith of New York.

On motion, by Mr. TAIT, to amend the bill as follows:

"And be it further enacted: That this act be not printed or published, unless directed by the President of the United States; any law or usage to the contrary notwithstanding."

On the question to agree to this amendment, it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 23, nays 7, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bayard, Bibb, Bradley, Brent, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Cutts, Franklin, Gaillard, Giles, Howell, Leib, Pope, Robinson, Smith of Maryland, Smith of New York, Tait, Taylor, Turner, Varnum, and Worthington.

NAYS.--Messrs. German, Gilman, Goodrich, Horsey, Hunter, Lambert, and Lloyd.

The President resumed the Chair, and Mr. GAILLARD reported the bill, amended.

On the question: Shall this bill pass to a third reading, as amended? it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 15, nays 13, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Brent, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Gaillard, Howell, Leib, Robinson, Tait, Taylor, Turner, Varnum, and Worthington.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bayard, Dana, Franklin, German, Gilman, Goodrich, Horsey, Hunter, Lambert, Lloyd, Pope, Smith of Maryland, and Smith of New York.

FRIDAY, July 3.

The amendments to the bill, entitled "An act authorizing the President to take possession of a tract of country lying south of the Mississippi Territory and of the State of Georgia, and for other purposes," were reported by the committee correctly engrossed; and the bill was read the third time, as amended.

On motion, by Mr. BAYARD, to postpone the further consideration thereof to the first Monday in November next; it was determined in the negative--yeas 14, nays 16, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bayard, Bradley, Dana, German, Giles, Gilman, Goodrich, Horsey, Hunter, Lambert, Lloyd, Pope, Smith of Maryland, and Smith of New York.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Brent, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Franklin, Gaillard, Howell, Leib, Robinson, Tait, Taylor, Turner, Varnum, and Worthington.

On the question, Shall this bill pass as amended? it was determined in the negative--yeas 14, nays 16, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Bibb, Brent, Campbell of Tennessee, Condit, Crawford, Franklin, Gaillard, Robinson, Tait, Taylor, Turner, Varnum, and Worthington.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bayard, Bradley, Dana, German, Giles, Gilman, Goodrich, Horsey, Howell, Hunter, Lambert, Leib, Lloyd, Pope, Smith of Maryland, and Smith of New York.

So it was Resolved, That the Senate do not concur in the said bill.

FOOTNOTES:

[12] LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE SENATE.

New Hampshire.--Nicholas Gilman, Charles Cutts. Massachusetts.--Joseph B. Varnum, James Lloyd. Rhode Island.--Jeremiah B. Howell, William Hunter. Connecticut.--Chauncey Goodrich, Samuel W. Dana. Vermont.--Stephen R. Bradley, Jonathan Robinson. New York.--John Smith, Obadiah German. New Jersey.--John Condit, John Lambert. Pennsylvania.--Andrew Gregg, Michael Leib. Delaware.--Outerbridge Horsey, James A. Bayard. Maryland.--Samuel Smith, Philip Reed. Virginia.--William B. Giles, Richard Brent. North Carolina.--Jesse Franklin, James Turner. South Carolina.--John Gaillard, John Taylor. Georgia.--William H. Crawford, Charles Tait. Kentucky.--John Pope, George M. Bibb. Tennessee.--Joseph Anderson, George W. Campbell. Ohio.--Thomas Worthington, Alexander Campbell.

TWELFTH CONGRESS.--FIRST SESSION.

PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES

IN

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.[13]

MONDAY, November 4, 1811.

This being the day appointed by a proclamation of the President of the United States, of the twenty-fourth day of July last, for the meeting of Congress, the following members of the House of Representatives appeared, produced their credentials, and took their seats, to wit:

From New Hampshire--Josiah Bartlett, Samuel Dinsmoor, Obed Hall, John A. Harper, and George Sullivan.

From Massachusetts--Ezekiel Bacon, Abijah Bigelow, Elijah Brigham, William Ely, Isaiah L. Green, Josiah Quincy, William Reed, Ebenezer Seaver, Samuel Taggart, Peleg Tallman, Charles Turner, junior, Laban Wheaton, and Leonard White.

From Rhode Island--Richard Jackson, junior.

From Connecticut--Epaphroditus Champion, John Davenport, junior, Lyman Law, Jonathan O. Mosely, Timothy Pitkin, junior, Lewis B. Sturges, and Benjamin Tallmadge.

From Vermont--Martin Chittenden, James Fisk, Samuel Shaw, and William Strong.

From New York--Daniel Avery, Harmanus Bleecker, Thomas B. Cooke, James Emott, Asa Fitch, Thomas R. Gold, Robert Le Roy Livingston, Arunah Metcalf, Samuel L. Mitchill, Benjamin Pond, Peter B. Porter, Ebenezer Sage, Thomas Sammons, Silas Stow, Uri Tracy, and Pierre Van Cortlandt, junior.

From New Jersey--Adam Boyd, Lewis Condit, Jacob Hufty, James Morgan, and Thomas Newbold.

From Pennsylvania--William Anderson, David Bard, Robert Brown, William Crawford, Roger Davis, William Findlay, John M. Hyneman, Joseph Lefevre, Aaron Lyle, James Milnor, William Piper, Jonathan Roberts, William Rodman, Adam Seybert, John Smilie, George Smith, and Robert Whitehill.

From Delaware--Henry M. Ridgely.

From Maryland--Stevenson Archer, Joseph Kent, Peter Little, Alexander McKim, Samuel Ringgold, and Robert Wright.

From Virginia--Burwell Bassett, James Breckenridge, William A. Burwell, Matthew Clay, John Dawson, Peterson Goodwyn, Aylett Hawes, John P. Hungerford, Joseph Lewis, junior, William McCoy, Hugh Nelson, Thomas Newton, James Pleasants, junior, John Randolph, John Roane, Daniel Sheffey, John Smith, and Thomas Wilson.

From North Carolina--Willis Alston, William Blackledge, Thomas Blount, William R. King, Nathaniel Macon, Joseph Pearson, Israel Pickens, and Richard Stanford.

From South Carolina--William Butler, Langdon Cheves, Elias Earle, William Lowndes, Thomas Moore, and David R. Williams.

From Georgia--William W. Bibb, Howell Cobb, Bolling Hall, and George M. Troup.

From Kentucky--Henry Clay, Joseph Desha, Richard M. Johnson, Samuel McKee, Anthony New, and Stephen Ormsby.

From Tennessee--Felix Grundy, and John Rhea.

From Ohio--Jeremiah Morrow.

From Mississippi Territory--George Poindexter, Delegate.

From Indiana Territory--Jonathan Jennings, Delegate.

And a quorum, consisting of a majority of the whole number of Members, being present, the House proceeded, by ballot, to the choice of a Speaker; and, upon examining the ballots, it appeared that HENRY CLAY, one of the Representatives for the State of Kentucky, was duly elected; Whereupon,

Mr. CLAY was conducted to the Speaker's chair, and 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 to him by Mr. FINDLAY, one of the members for the State of Pennsylvania; after which, he made his acknowledgments to the House, in the following words:

"GENTLEMEN: In coming to the station which you have done me the honor to assign me--an honor for which you will be pleased to accept my thanks--I obey rather your commands than my own inclination. I am sensible of the imperfections which I bring along with me, and a consciousness of these would deter me from attempting a discharge of the duties of the Chair, did I not rely, confidently, upon your generous support.

Should the rare and delicate occasion present itself, when your Speaker shall be called upon to check or control the wanderings or intemperance in debate, your justice will, I hope, ascribe to its interposition the motives only of public good and a regard to the dignity of the House. And in all instances, be assured, gentlemen, that I shall, with infinite pleasure, afford every facility in my power to the despatch of public business, in the most agreeable manner."

The oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States was then administered, by the SPEAKER, to all the other members present.

GEORGE POINDEXTER, and JONATHAN JENNINGS, having also appeared, and produced their credentials as the delegates from the Mississippi and Indiana Territories of the United States, the oath was administered to them by the Speaker.

The House proceeded, by ballot, to the choice of a Clerk, and, upon examining the ballots, it appeared that PATRICK MAGRUDER was duly elected, and the oath, together with the oath of office, administered by the Speaker to the Clerk.

THOMAS DUNN was then re-elected Sergeant-at-Arms, and THOMAS CLAXTON, Doorkeeper, without opposition. BENJAMIN BURCH was also chosen Assistant Doorkeeper.

The usual messages were interchanged with the Senate on the subject of their being formed and ready to proceed to business.

Mr. MITCHILL and Mr. PITKIN were appointed a committee on the part of the House, jointly with the committee appointed on the part of the Senate, to wait on the President of the United States, and inform him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communications he may be pleased to make to them.

Mr. MITCHILL, from the joint committee appointed to wait on the President of the United States, reported that the committee had performed the service assigned to them, and that the President answered, that he would make a communication to Congress to-morrow at twelve o'clock.

TUESDAY, November 5.

Several other members, to wit, ABNER LACOCK, from Pennsylvania; JOHN BAKER, from Virginia; and RICHARD WYNN from South Carolina, appeared, produced their credentials, were qualified, and took their seats.

On motion of Mr. NEWTON, the Clerk of the House was directed to procure newspapers from any number of offices that the members may elect, provided that the expense do not exceed the amount of three daily papers.

A Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, by Mr. EDWARD COLES; his Secretary, who delivered the same and withdrew. [For which see Senate proceedings of this date, ante page 401.]

The Message having been read, and the documents accompanying it in part, an adjournment was called for, and carried.

WEDNESDAY, November 6.

Two other members, to wit: MESHACK FRANKLIN, from North Carolina, and JOHN C. CALHOUN, from South Carolina, produced their credentials, were qualified, and took their seats.

THURSDAY, November 7.

Another member, to wit, LEMUEL SAWYER, from North Carolina, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat.

FRIDAY, November 8.

Another member, to wit, JOHN SEVIER, from Tennessee, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat.

MONDAY, November 11.

Several other members, to wit: WILLIAM WIDGERY, from Massachusetts; GEORGE C. MAXWELL, from New Jersey; and PHILIP B. KEY, and PHILIP STUART, from Maryland, appeared, produced their credentials, were qualified, and took their seats.

TUESDAY, November 12.

Select Committees.

All the select committees which were thought necessary, being appointed, it was determined that the first, on Foreign Relations, should consist of nine members; the committee on the Spanish colonies and Navy concerns, to consist of seven members; and those on manufacturing cannon and Indian affairs, to consist of five members.

The resolutions, as amended, are in the following words:

1. Resolved, That so much of the President's Message as relates to the subject of our foreign relations, be referred to a select committee.

2. Resolved, That so much of the President's Message as relates to filling the ranks and prolonging the enlistments of the regular troops, and to an auxiliary force; to the acceptance of volunteer corps; to detachments of militia, and to such a preparation of the great body as will proportion its usefulness to its intrinsic capacity, be referred to a select committee.

3. Resolved, That those parts of the Message of the President which relates to the Naval force of the United States, and to the defence of our maritime frontier, be referred to a select committee.

4. Resolved, That so much of the President's Message as relates to the revenue and the provisions necessary for the service of the ensuing year, be referred lo the Committee of Ways and Means.

5. Resolved, That so much of the President's Message as relates to the evasion and infraction of our commercial laws, be referred to the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures.

6. Resolved, That so much of the President's Message as relates to foreign trading licenses, and to the protection of manufactures and navigation, be referred to the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures.

7. Resolved, That so much of the President's Message as relates to the Spanish American colonies, be referred to a select committee.

8. Resolved, That so much of the said Message as relates to the manufacture of cannon and small arms, and the providing munitions of war, be referred to a select committee.

9. Resolved, That so much of the said Message as relates to Indian affairs, be referred to a select committee.

Mr. Porter, Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Grundy, Mr. Smilie, Mr. Randolph, Mr. Harper, Mr. Key, Mr. Desha, and Mr. Seaver, were appointed the committee on the first resolution.

Mr. Williams, Mr. Wright, Mr. Macon, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Stow, Mr. Maxwell, and Mr. Tallmadge, were appointed the committee on the second resolution.

Mr. Cheves, Mr. Newton, Mr. Milnor, Mr. Quincy, Mr. Cooke, Mr. McKim, and Mr. Fisk, were appointed the committee on the third resolution.

Mr. Mitchill, Mr. Bibb, Mr. Blackledge, Mr. Taggart, Mr. Champion, Mr. Butler, and Mr. Shaw, were appointed the committee on the seventh resolution.

Mr. Seybert, Mr. Little, Mr. Goodwyn, Mr. Tracy, and Mr. Sturges, were appointed the committee on the eighth resolution.

Mr. McKee, Mr. Sevier, Mr. Morrow, Mr. Sheffey, and Mr. Brown, were appointed the committee on the ninth resolution.

And then, on motion the House adjourned until to-morrow.

WEDNESDAY, November 13.

Another member, to wit, THOMAS GHOLSON, from Virginia, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat.

Matthew Lyon's Claim for refunding his Fine under the Sedition Act.

The SPEAKER presented a memorial of Matthew Lyon, of Kentucky, stating that, whilst a member of the House of Representatives of the United States, from the State of Vermont, he was illegally tried and found guilty, under a charge of sedition, and fined the sum of one thousand dollars, and imprisoned twelve months, and praying that the said fine may be repaid, with interest, together with his pay as a member of Congress, which was withheld during his confinement.

The petition being read,

Mr. NEW moved that it be referred, with the accompanying documents, to the Committee of Claims.

Mr. BASSETT was opposed to this reference. If the petitioner had any claim upon the United States, it must be on the ground that the law under which he was convicted was unconstitutional. A claim of this kind could not be recognized by that committee. He thought, therefore, it would be more proper to refer this petition to a select committee. This was desirable, also, from the consideration that the Committee of Claims is generally overburdened with business.

Mr. NEW said, it having been represented to him that it would be most proper to refer the petition to a select committee, he would so change his motion.

Mr. RANDOLPH had no doubt it would be recollected, that at the first session of Congress under the administration of the present President, the session which met in May, 1809, a committee was raised "to inquire whether any and what prosecutions had been instituted before the courts of the United States for libels at common law, and to report such provisions as in their opinion may be necessary for securing the freedom of speech and of the press." Congress adjourned after a short session in June. The chairman of that committee was directed to address letters to the clerks of the several courts in which such prosecutions had been commenced. To some of these letters answers were received after the adjournment. These answers received in the recess (all except one, which the chairman had found amongst his private papers since the meeting of the present session) were transmitted to the clerk of this House, in whose possession it is presumed they now are. The chairman of that committee, at the two succeeding sessions, was, by the visitation of God, and from circumstances without his control, for the first time since he had the honor of a seat on this floor, prevented from attending to his duty till the sessions had considerably advanced, otherwise he would have felt it obligatory on him to have called the attention of Congress to this subject. It was his intention, at the present session, without knowing any thing of this petition, to have called the attention of the House to it, amongst others, at an early day. He thought it behooved this House, as the guardian of the public purse and public weal, to take care that the stream of public justice be preserved pure and free from pollution; and whether persons have suffered by prosecutions under the sedition law, or under the common law of England--not the common law of the United States, as modified by the laws of the United States in their corporate capacity--he was for affording them relief. He wished to see if any of our citizens had received injury from prosecutions of this kind; and, if they had to redress the wrong by such a prospective measure as may prevent a recurrence of similar mischief.

It seems idle, said Mr. R., for any man to undertake, by statute, to do that which the great charter of our confederation has endeavored to do in vain. It is, it appears, impossible to prevent men, heated by party, and seeking only the gratification of their own passions, from trampling in the dust the charter which we have sworn to support; for though our constitution has said, in the broadest terms which our language knows, that the freedom of speech and of the press shall not be abridged, men have been found so lost to all sense of their country's good, as to pass the act, commonly called the sedition act, and to send out our judges to dispense, not law, but politics from the bench. It would seem idle to attempt to prevent, by statutory provisions, similar abuses. But though, formed as we are, we cannot attain perfection, we ought, in imitation of a divine example, to aspire to it, and endeavor to preserve in purity the great Magna Charta of our country.

This subject, Mr. R. said, might appear frivolous to others. He knew that men, intent on worldly things, with their snouts grovelling in the mud, who hold every thing but sordid pelf, and still more disgraceful office, as dross and dust, would not think it worth while to attend to things of this kind. Nor did he wish to set himself up for a political Pharisee, and thank God that he was not as other men are.

Mr. R. moved to amend the reference, by adding to it the following:

"With instructions to inquire whether any, and what, prosecutions have been instituted before the courts of the United States for libels, under the sedition law or the common law, and by what authority; and to make such provisions as they may deem necessary for securing the freedom of speech and of the press."

Mr. R. hoped this amendment would be agreed to; for, said he, it is evident that when we came into power, when we succeeded to our predecessors, proper measures were not taken for purifying the violent temper of the day--for preventing the recurrence of prosecutions of this kind. He recollected having heard, at the close of the administration of the second President of the United States, one of the most beautiful pieces of declamation, from a gentleman from South Carolina, which he had ever heard, in which he conjured the House to re-enact the sedition act, because, said he, we are about to surrender the Government into the hands of men in whom we have no confidence, and I wish to retain this law as our shelter, because, by this, if we are prosecuted for a libel, we can give the truth in evidence. Mr. R. said he listened to the gentleman, but he thought he was talking for talking's sake. He did not believe that himself believed a word of what he said. Mr. R. did not suppose that a prosecution at common law, for a libel, could take place under a republican administration. He thought the gentleman was making the best apology he could for the sedition law, and that he was glad to find himself in a minority on his motion for continuing it. But, said he, experience teacheth. I find it possible even for the Pharisees themselves sometimes to slide, sometimes to fall. He thought it due to our country, and to ourselves, that whatever abuses exist, without stopping to inquire whether the sufferer be a Catholic or a Protestant, a Federalist, a Democrat, or a monarchy man, to redress the wrong. What would be said in a court of justice in a case of murder? It would not be thought worth while to inquire what was the offender's politics, or whether honest or the contrary. He considered honest men as of right politics. It unfortunately happens, said he, that some men make up in zeal what they know themselves to be deficient in honor and honesty.

The amendment was agreed to and the petition referred to a committee of seven, consisting of Mr. NEW, Mr. RANDOLPH, Mr. WRIGHT, Mr. TROUP, Mr. WHITEHILL, Mr. MOSELY, and Mr. COOKE.

THURSDAY, November 14.

Another member, to wit, JOHN CLOPTON, from Virginia, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat.

FRIDAY, November 15.

Indian Affairs.

Mr. RHEA proposed the following resolution for adoption:

"Resolved, That the Committee on Indian Affairs be instructed to inquire into the expediency of extending the laws of the United States over those parts of the States and Territories of the United States, to which the Indian title is not extinguished, in such manner as that all white persons residing within any of the said parts of the United States may and shall be liable to the operation of those laws."

Mr. R. added, that if the petitions which had this morning been presented by the gentleman from North Carolina had been read, the necessity of taking some measure similar to the one which he proposed, would have been evident to every member of the House, as the Indian countries are become an asylum for persons guilty of every enormity.

Mr. PICKENS stated, that if any doubt existed as to the propriety of passing this resolution, he would call for the reading of the petitions which he had presented.

Mr. WRIGHT had some doubts whether the laws of the United States did not at present extend to cases of this kind, and wished the resolution to lie on the table until the subject could be looked into.

Mr. BIBB said, a case had lately occurred in the State of Georgia, which showed the necessity of some farther provision on this subject. A murder of a most atrocious kind had been committed within the Indian country; the parties were taken near the spot, and brought before the federal authority in Georgia; and upon a question of jurisdiction, the judges decided that the court had no authority in the case. In a similar instance, the offenders were brought before the State authorities, which determined in the same way, and the offenders, of course, were in both cases discharged.

Mr. GRUNDY was of opinion that the United States courts had, at present, complete jurisdiction of all criminal cases which might arise within the Indian boundary, the case cited by the gentleman from Georgia notwithstanding; but he supposed the object of this resolution was to supply the defects of the law at present in civil cases.

Mr. POINDEXTER had no doubt but the courts of the United States had jurisdiction of criminal offences, committed within the Indian boundary. Congress, at their first session, made provision for the punishment of offenders charged with murder, piracy, &c., committed on the high seas or without the territory of the United States. But the difficulty suggested by the gentleman from Tennessee existed. Persons who have committed petty offences and debtors go over to the Indian territory, where the law cannot reach them. He doubted whether the resolution was calculated to reach this object, and therefore wished it to lie on the table that it might be amended.

Mr. RHEA hoped he might be permitted to judge for himself whether the resolution which he had offered was calculated to accomplish the object which he had in view. His colleague had intimated that the laws, at present, extend to criminal offences, though the gentleman from Georgia had stated a case in which the judges had determined otherwise. This shows, at least, that the law wants revision, not only with respect to criminal, but civil matters. He had drawn the resolution in the most general terms.

Mr. BIBB could not conceive how the judges of the Federal Court, in the case he had cited, could have decided as they did with the law which had been referred to before them. Perhaps it might have arisen from a clause of the constitution, which directs that jurors shall be drawn from the district where the offence is committed.

The resolution was laid on the table.

Domestic Manufactures.

Mr. RHEA called up for consideration the resolution which he laid upon the table yesterday, proposing an additional duty on coarse hemp and flax.

The resolution was considered, and, on motion, the words "and cotton," were added to it, by consent of the mover.

Mr. GRUNDY observed, that several detached resolutions for the encouragement of domestic manufactures had been offered to the House. He wished the adoption of a proposition which should include all the manufactures of the country. He hoped the present motion might lie on the table for a few days, until such a proposition could be prepared. It is, said he, an object of great magnitude, when we consider the vast sums of money which have lately been vested in establishments of this kind; and the present is a favorable moment for adopting some measures to give our manufactures countenance and support.

Mr. RHEA could not agree to the proposed postponement. He should never obtain his object, if he were to agree to one postponement after another. His colleague could, at any time, submit his proposition, without hindering the progress of the one he had introduced.

After some conversation as to the propriety of discussing this proposition in the House,

The SPEAKER decided, that though there is a rule of the House which says that all propositions for laying a tax shall be discussed in Committee of the Whole; this resolution, in his opinion, did not come within that rule, as it was merely an instruction to a committee to inquire into the expediency of laying an additional tax.

The motion, for laying the proposition on the table, was carried, 51 to 47.

American Seamen.

Mr. MILNOR rose, and observed there was no topic more important than the protection of American seamen, and yet he believed it would be acknowledged by all who have given consideration to the subject, that our laws on this subject are materially defective. The object of these laws ought to be twofold; in the first place, for the protection of bona fide American citizens, and secondly, for the prevention of the abuse of those protections by citizens of other countries not entitled to them. It will be recollected, that the act for relief of American seamen makes it the duty of the collectors to furnish certificates of citizenship in the manner therein directed; but, owing to an error of Congress, no manner is prescribed; and, of course, the collectors have been left to accept of such proof as they deemed sufficient, or to act under the directions of the Secretary of the Treasury, which, in most instances, is an unsafe way of proceeding. The penal laws of the United States provide no punishment for the crime of perjury in these cases. A recent instance, Mr. M. said, had occurred in the district which he represented. An Italian, not twenty days in the country, appeared before a notary public, claiming the rights of an American seaman. He made the necessary oaths, and produced a sponsor who swore that he was born in Baltimore. The tongue of the man detected the falsehood. The collector, with that attention to his duty for which he is so remarkable, had both seaman and sponsor apprehended. The attorney for the district looked into the case, and found the crime of perjury to be, the falsely taking an oath according to the laws of the United States; but, as the law was defective, as above stated, the offence was not perjury. The Attorney-General confirmed this opinion. The offenders, therefore, escaped punishment. He believed other amendments might be usefully made to the law on this subject. He concluded by offering the following resolution for adoption, which was agreed to:

"Resolved, That a committee be appointed to inquire and report whether any, and what amendments are necessary to the laws of the United States relating to the protection of American seamen; and that the committee have leave to report by bill or otherwise."

Mr. MILNOR, Mr. LITTLE, Mr. REED, Mr. BASSETT, and Mr. PITKIN, were appointed the committee.

MONDAY, November 18

Expenditure of Public Money.

Mr. RANDOLPH asked for the consideration of the resolution which he laid on the table some days ago, directing the appointment of a committee to inquire into the expenditure of public money; which, being agreed to, Mr. R. trusted there would be no difference of opinion as to the propriety of agreeing to this resolution. But, before the vote was taken, he would state to the House, by way of explanation, the result of a former inquiry. At the first session of the 11th Congress, a report of a committee was made, in part, on this subject. [This report Mr. R. read. It states that, owing to the shortness of the session, complete information on the subject could not be obtained.] As the session lasted but six weeks, the committee had no reason to complain that the information required was not obtained. An expectation was entertained that it would be given at the next session. But the committee have reason to complain that the information which was given was altogether different from that which was asked. This was represented to the departments, and a more satisfactory report was promised at the ensuing session. Mr. R. said, the course pursued at the first session, under the present President, had been the same which was adopted at the close of Mr. Adams's Administration. At the following session of Congress, the person who was appointed chairman of the committee of the first session, was unable to attend; but it was a gratification to him to find, that the subject was taken up by an honorable colleague of his, to whom the State of Virginia had been more than once indebted for the luminous reports on her fiscal concerns; but nothing was effected. To show how different the information received was, from that asked for, Mr. R. proposed to read a short letter. The object of the committee was, to know in what way the Pursers of the Navy received their money, and what was the amount of their emoluments. The answer they received, stated "that the advances made to Pursers are by warrants drawn on the Treasury, sometimes by Navy agents," &c. We inquired, said he, what were their emoluments, other than those allowed by law? Answer: "they arise from a certain percentage upon slops detailed to the seamen." It may not be amiss, said Mr. R., to inform country gentlemen that, by slops, are meant ready-made clothing, &c. It was scarcely possible to have given a more evasive answer. We asked, What were the emoluments? They answer, "a certain percentage fixed by the department;" but what that per cent. was, the committee was left to find out by instinct. It had been understood that large sums of money were advanced to these Pursers, who laid it out in slops, which they retailed to the seamen at an advance, in some instances, of twenty per cent.! This was a fact, Mr. R. said, which ought to be looked into. It was essential to the reputation of the Government, essential to its honor, indispensable to the fair fame of those who administer the finances of the United States, that abuses, such as these, should be probed to the quick, to show to the world that, if we cannot govern the great beasts, the mammoths of the forest, we can, at least, poison the rats. And whose money, asked Mr. R., is this? It is the people's money; it comes from the pockets of the people of the United States. When he spoke of this abuse of public money, he wished no gentleman to understand him as speaking of the abuse under this, that, or the other President of the United States. He considered them all as of one description of people; and it was not less necessary to guard against abuses in a country where the President is elected by the people, than in a country where he is put over them. He would dare to question the infallibility of all, and look upon all with jealousy and distrust. He wished not, however, to be charged with that mistaken opposition to the Government, which determines to exhibit abuses for the sake of doing so; or with shutting his eyes to the abuses of Thomas, while they are open to the abuses of John. Mr. R. said he had no interest distinct from the interest of his country. With respect to princes and potentates, the only favor he had to ask of them was, that they would keep their hands out of his pocket and off his person, and, to use a homely phrase, "if they would let him alone, he would let them alone."

Under these circumstances, Mr. R. asked the House if it were not necessary for a committee to be appointed to probe into this business? He wished to state, before he sat down, that he had learnt, soon after the present Secretary of the Navy came into office, the percentage of the Pursers was reduced from twenty to four or five per cent.

The resolution was unanimously agreed to, and a committee of seven appointed, as follows: Messrs. RANDOLPH, GOLD, MCKIM, ROBERTS, JOHNSON, LAW, and WIDGERY.

TUESDAY, November 19.

Territory of Louisiana.

On motion of Mr. RHEA, the House went into a Committee of the Whole, on the bill for the government of the Territory of Louisiana. The bill being read by paragraphs, Mr. FISK moved to strike out the words in the fifth section of the bill, which makes it necessary for persons to be in possession of a freehold to have a right to vote. This motion was opposed by Mr. RANDOLPH, on principle, in a speech of considerable length, in which he advocated the freehold qualification for voters. The motion was opposed also by Mr. RHEA, as unnecessary for the attainment of the mover's object; as he stated the qualification for voters was twofold--one was the possession of a freehold, the other a residence of a year previous to the time of election.

Mr. POINDEXTER made a motion, which superseded that of the gentleman from Vermont, to strike out all that part of the section which defined the qualification of voters, and insert, "every free white male citizen residing in the said Territory, who shall have attained the age of twenty-one years, and paid a tax."

This amendment was debated till the usual hour of adjournment, when the committee rose without taking the question, and obtained leave to sit again.

This debate, though protracted to considerable length, embraced a very narrow question, viz: whether it is better to require voters to hold freehold property, or to suffer every man to possess the privilege of voting who has arrived to the age of twenty-one years. As already stated, Mr. RANDOLPH took the first ground, and introduced the practice of Virginia to show that it was attended with the best effects. Mr. FISK, Mr. WRIGHT, Mr. SMILIE, and Mr. POINDEXTER, took the opposite side of the question. They argued that life and liberty are superior to property--that these are dearer to the poor man than all the property of the rich. Mr. WRIGHT said, that the State of Maryland had tried the property qualification for voting, had found it attended with bad effects, and had now abandoned it. It was formerly required that a voter should be possessed of property to the value of thirty pounds; so that if a man possessed a horse of that value, he was entitled to a vote; but if the horse happened to die before the election, he lost his privilege, which was placing the right in the horse instead of the man. As to freehold qualifications, they were evaded too by deeds made for the occasion, which were afterwards cancelled.

Mr. RANDOLPH, in combating the principle of universal suffrage, said that it was impossible for the gentleman himself, (alluding to Mr. SMILIE,) or any piping-hot member from a Jacobin club--for any disciple of Tom Paine or of the Devil--to carry this principle of equality to its full extent; for even they must exclude from its operation minors and females. He also took occasion to pronounce a strong philippic against foreigners having any part in the Government. Mr. SMILIE, in his reply, paid a tribute of respect to the memory of Paine, on account of his valuable political writings, which had been considered as highly serviceable in the Revolution, and which would always be esteemed wherever the rights of man are understood, and reminded him of the foreigners who had assisted in fighting our Revolutionary battles. Mr. RANDOLPH justified his allusion to Paine; said he was sorry the gentleman had not recollected his "Age of Reason," as well as his "Rights of Man;" and as to any services which he rendered by his writings, he thought little of them. The heroes engaged in that great cause did not need the assistance of an English staymaker. In reply, Mr. SMILIE said, he never interfered with a man's religious opinion; that was a private concern, which lay between God and a man's own conscience; and as to the profession of Paine, that, he apprehended, would never lessen the value of his writings.

WEDNESDAY, November 20.

Another member, to wit, ARCHIBALD MCBRYDE, from North Carolina, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat.

THURSDAY, November 21.

Another member, to wit, ELISHA R. POTTER, from Rhode Island, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat.

Additional Duties.

On motion of Mr. RHEA, the House took up for consideration the resolution which he had submitted some days ago, proposing to instruct the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures to inquire into the expediency of laying an additional duty on coarse manufactures of hemp, flax, and cotton.

This resolution produced a long desultory debate, which occupied the House the whole of the day, without coming to any decision upon it.

Mr. STANFORD, on the ground that the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures had already this subject under consideration, moved an indefinite postponement of the resolution.

This motion was negatived, 58 to 48.

Mr. KING proposed an amendment. He expressed himself friendly to the resolution of the gentleman from Tennessee, and to the encouragement of domestic manufactures generally. His amendment was in the following words:

"And also into the expediency of laying a duty on the importation of salt, with authority to report by bill or otherwise."

Mr. K. observed, that this was an article of general consumption, and its manufacture ought to be encouraged; as it was known what difficulties this country had experienced, and might again experience, when placed in a situation in which a sufficiency of salt could not be obtained. He hoped, therefore, his amendment would be agreed to.

Mr. SMILIE was afraid the House was getting into a practice that would produce great trouble and confusion, by departing from the usual and settled mode of proceeding. It had always been deemed irregular, when a subject was committed, to bring it forward in the House before the committee made its report. Look at our situation, said he. A gentleman proposes a tax on manufactures of cotton, another on salt. Every gentleman has his favorite manufacture which he wishes encouraged, so that an armful of resolutions will be thrown into the hands of this committee. Mr. S. said he was friendly to the manufactures of our country, and was willing to give them every aid; but he did not wish, in doing this, to break through established rules. If gentlemen would suspend their remarks on the subject until the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures make their report, they will then have a fair opportunity of delivering their sentiments fully, and of supporting such particular manufactures as they may deem of most importance to the country. He hoped that neither the amendment nor the resolution would be agreed to.

Mr. ALSTON considered the gentleman from Pennsylvania mistaken as to the rule and practice of the House. If the doctrine which he maintains were correct, gentlemen might be defeated in effecting the objects which they have in view. It was only to refer a subject to a committee; and if a majority of that committee were unfriendly, and either failed to report, or reported inimically, the friends of the measure might be defeated, though there were a majority in the House in its favor. It was a common practice, Mr. A. said, to refer a subject generally to a committee, and afterwards instruct them, by resolution, as to particular branches of the subject.

Mr. NEWTON (the Chairman of the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures) said, the subject of manufactures was considered as being generally before them, and he knew it to be the intention of the committee to take up the matter comprehensively; and if any gentleman shall think proper to give them information respecting any particular manufacture, either orally or in writing, they will be glad to receive it. Mr. N. thought the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. ALSTON) was mistaken, when he said that a committee had the power of defeating the purposes of members; because, whenever a report was made, it was in the power of a majority of the House to amend it, and make it just what they please.

Mr. QUINCY was in favor of the amendment offered by the gentleman from North Carolina, (Mr. KING,) and thanked him for bringing it forward. Some of his constituents, men who lived on the sandbanks of the country, were deeply interested in the manufacture of salt, and had been nearly ruined by the repeal of the duty on that article. He was friendly to a duty on salt, as it was more equal and less felt in the payment than any other, and he had always thought it strange that the duty had been repealed.

Mr. MACON thought the proposition to tax this necessary of life, at a time when it is probable we may find a difficulty in procuring it in sufficient quantity, was very ill-timed. The repeal of this duty had been called strange. He thought it would have been more strange had Congress continued the duty when the Treasury was not in need of the money arising from it. If there was any thing strange in the business, it was that there should have been any opposition to the repeal. Mr. M. agreed with the remark made by a gentleman from Massachusetts some days ago, that taxes, to be just, ought to be equal. Would a tax on salt, he asked, be equal? It certainly would not. People on the seacoast would not feel it. Their cattle would refuse it, if given to them. The interior of the country, the people from East to West, would have to bear the weight of this tax. But the gentleman from Massachusetts says the repealing of this duty ruined his constituents, who live on the sandbanks of the country. He would not consent, however, to tax the people of his part of the country, living on sandhills, to support that gentleman's sandbank constituents.

But this duty, it is said, is to be laid to encourage manufactures. Why this great cry about domestic manufactures? He thought they had already sufficient encouragement from the present situation of things. The President had recommended the subject to the consideration of the House, and he had no doubt the committee, to whom it had been referred, would do what is proper on the subject. Mr. M. wished to know for what purpose this additional duty is wanted. If, said he, it be wanted for going to war, let us know it. For his part, he had heard so much about war formerly, that he hardly thought we should get at it now.

Mr. M. said on a former occasion, when the country was in a situation something like the present, a gentleman from Virginia was so alarmed lest salt sufficient could not be had, that he proposed a bounty on its importation. What, said Mr. M., will be the effect of a proposition for taxing salt in the country? He had no doubt that, in the Southern States, it would immediately raise the price of the article at Petersburg and Fayetteville. On this account, he hoped, if the House did not mean to lay a tax on salt, that the proposition would be immediately discarded. For himself, he would sooner consent to a land or poll tax than a tax on salt.

Mr. SMILIE moved a postponement of the resolution until the first Monday in February next.

This motion was debated at some length. Some who wished to vote for it, wished the proposition for a tax on salt to be disconnected with the original proposition.

FRIDAY, November 22.

Another member, to wit, EDWIN GRAY, from Virginia, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat.

Apportionment of Representatives.

On motion of Mr. DAWSON, the House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, on the bill for apportioning the Representatives among the several States, according to the third enumeration.

The bill having been read, the question on filling the blanks occurred. The first was in relation to the number of inhabitants for each Representative; when

Mr. DAWSON observed, that he was instructed by the committee who directed him to report this bill, to propose filling the blank with the words forty thousand; but he should himself vote against filling the blank with this number, because it would deprive the State of Rhode Island of one-half of her present Representatives; it would deprive Connecticut and Maryland each of one member, and Virginia of two. He should, therefore, be in favor of filling the blank with 37,000, as this number would not deprive any State of a Representative, and it would only increase the present number of Representatives from 142 to 180.

Mr. DAWSON then moved, that the said blank be filled with the words "thirty-seven thousand;" and the question thereon being taken, was resolved in the affirmative--yeas 102, nays 18.

Mr. DAWSON moved to fill the other blanks in the bill, as follows: New Hampshire, five members; Massachusetts, eighteen; Vermont, five; Rhode Island, two; Connecticut, seven; New York, twenty-five; New Jersey, six; Pennsylvania, twenty-one; Delaware, one; Maryland, nine; Virginia, twenty-two; North Carolina, thirteen; South Carolina, nine; Georgia, five; Kentucky, ten; Ohio, six; and Tennessee, six.

The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, and the House adjourned.

MONDAY, December 2.

JOHN TALIAFERRO, who has been declared entitled to a seat in this House, as one of the members for Virginia, in the place of John P. Hungerford, who has been declared not entitled to a seat in this House, appeared, was qualified, and took his seat.

FRIDAY, December 6.

Mr. EMOTT presented a petition of Harrison and Lewis, of the city of New York, merchants, praying permission to import from the British West India Islands, goods to the amount of debts owing to them by certain inhabitants in said islands.--Referred to the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures.

Mr. SMILIE presented a memorial of the President and Managers of the Union Canal Company of Pennsylvania, praying the aid and patronage of the General Government in accomplishing the extensive and useful works in which they are engaged; which was read, and referred to a select committee.

Messrs. SMILIE, RIDGELY, RINGGOLD, BAKER, and BLEECKER, were appointed the committee.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate insist on their amendments, disagreed to by this House, to the bill "for the apportionment of Representatives among the several States according to the third enumeration;" agree to the proposed conference, and have appointed managers on their part at the same.

Foreign Relations.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, to which Committee of the Whole was committed the report of the Committee on Foreign Relations, made some days ago.

The report having been read--

Mr. PORTER said that the House were probably expecting from the Committee of Foreign Relations some explanations of their views in reporting the resolutions now under consideration, in addition to the general exposition of them contained in the report itself. The committee themselves felt that such explanations were due, inasmuch as they had only reported in part, and had intimated their intention to follow up these resolutions, should they be adopted, by the recommendation of ulterior measures.

The committee, Mr. P. said, after examining the various documents accompanying the President's Message, were satisfied, as he presumed every member of the House was, that all hopes of accommodating our differences with Great Britain by negotiation must be abandoned. When they looked at the correspondence between the two Governments; when they observed the miserable shifts and evasions (for they were entitled to no better appellation) to which Great Britain resorted to excuse the violations of our maritime rights, it was impossible not to perceive that her conduct towards us was not regulated even by her own sense of justice, but solely by a regard to the probable extent of our forbearance. The last six years had been marked by a series of progressive encroachments on our rights; and the principles by which she publicly upheld her aggressions, were as mutable as her conduct. We had seen her one year advancing doctrines, which the year before she had reprobated. He had seen her one day capturing our vessels under pretexts, which on the preceding day she would have been ashamed or afraid to avow. Indeed, said Mr. P., she seems to have been constantly and carefully feeling our pulse, to ascertain what potions we would bear; and if we go on submitting to one indignity after another, it will not be long before we shall see British subjects, not only taking our property in our harbors, but trampling on our persons in the streets of our cities.

Having become convinced that all hopes from further negotiation were idle, the committee, Mr. P. said, were led to the consideration of another question, which was--whether the maritime rights which Great Britain is violating were such as we ought to support at the hazard and expense of a war? And he believed he was correct in stating that the committee was unanimously of the opinion that they were. The committee thought that the Orders in Council, so far as they go to interrupt our direct trade, that is, the carrying of the productions of this country to a market in the ports of friendly nations, and returning with the proceeds of them--ought to be resisted by war. How far we ought to go in support of what is commonly called the carrying trade, although the question was agitated in the committee, no definitive opinion was expressed. It was not deemed necessary, at this time, to express such an opinion, inasmuch as the injury we sustain by the inhibition of this trade is merged in the greater one to our direct trade.

The Orders in Council, Mr. P. said, of which there seemed now to be no prospect of a speedy repeal--certainly none during the continuance of the present war--authorized the capture of our vessels bound to and from ports where British commerce is not favorably received; and as that nation is at war with most of the civilized world, the effect was (as he understood from those who had much better information on the subject than he could pretend to) to cut up, at once, about three-fourths of our best and most profitable commerce. It was impossible that the mercantile or agricultural interests of the United States, which on the question of a right to the direct trade could never be separated, could submit to such impositions. It was his opinion, that going upon the ground of a mere pecuniary calculation, a calculation of profits and loss, it would be for our interest to go to war to remove the Orders in Council, rather than submit to them, even during the term of their probable continuance.

But there was another point of view in which the subject presented itself to the committee, and that was as regarded the character of the country. We were a young nation, and he hoped we cherished a little pride and spirit, as well as a great deal of justice and moderation. Our situation was not unlike that of a young man just entering into life, and who, if he tamely submitted to one cool, deliberate, intentional indignity, might safely calculate to be kicked and cuffed for the whole of the remainder of his life; or, if he should afterwards undertake to retrieve his character, must do it at ten times the expense which it would have cost him at first to support it. We should clearly understand and define those rights which as a nation we ought to support, and we should support them at every hazard. If there be any such thing as rights between nations, surely the people of the United States, occupying the half of a continent, have a right to navigate the seas, without being molested by the inhabitants of the little island of Great Britain.

It was under these views of the subject that the committee did not hesitate to give it as their opinion, that we ought to go to war in opposition to the Orders in Council. But as to the extent of the war and the time when it should be commenced, there would of course be some diversity of sentiment in the House, as there was, at first, in the committee.

That we can contend with Great Britain openly and even handed on the element where she injures us, it would be folly to pretend. Were it even in our power to build a navy which should be able to cope with her, no man who has any regard for the happiness of the people of this country would venture to advise such a measure. All the fame and glory which the British navy has acquired at sea, have been dearly paid for in the sufferings and misery of that ill-fated people at home--sufferings occasioned in a great measure by the expense of that stupendous establishment. But without such a navy the United States could make a serious impression upon Great Britain, even at sea. We could have, within six months after a declaration of war, hundreds of privateers in every part of the ocean. We could harass, if not destroy, the vast and profitable commerce which she is constantly carrying on to every part of this continent. We could destroy her fisheries to the north; we could depredate upon her commerce to the West India Islands, which is passing by our doors; we could annoy her trade along the coast of South America; we could even carry the war to her own shores in Europe.

Mr. P. said he had risen merely for the purpose of explaining to the House the opinion and views of the committee in relation to the resolutions now to be discussed, and he should be satisfied if he had been so fortunate as to succeed.

The question was then taken on the first resolution for filling the ranks of the present army, &c., and carried.

SATURDAY, December 7.

Territorial Government in Upper Louisiana.

Mr. PLEASANTS presented a remonstrance and petition of sundry inhabitants of St. Louis, in the Territory of Louisiana, stating the many injuries and inconveniences which would result from a change in their form of government, and praying that no alteration may be made in their said form of government.--Referred to the Committee of the Whole on the bill providing for the government of the said Territory.

MONDAY, December 9.

Foreign Relations.

The House resumed the consideration of the report of the Committee of Foreign Relations.

The question being on the agreement to the second resolution, authorizing the raising an additional regular force--

Mr. GRUNDY, as a member of the committee stated his impression that this was the vital part of the report; and although he had no desire to prolong debate, invited those who were opposed to the report now to come forward and state their objections to it.

Mr. RANDOLPH said he was an old-fashioned politician. In the days of terror, we shrunk at standing armies; and what is the object now--defence? Who? Freemen who would not defend themselves. He would ask, if seven millions of Americans were to be protected in their lives and liberties by ten thousand vagabonds who were fit food for gunpowder? It would be necessary to know the ulterior views of the committee on this point. It would be proper, before a vote was taken on this resolution, to know for what purpose these additional troops were wanted. The House ought not to commit itself on a question of such magnitude without detailed information. He was as much opposed to raising standing armies now, as he had been in the reign of terror. He had seen too much of the corruptions attendant on those establishments, in the course of the investigation in which he was engaged, not to disclaim all share in the creation of them. The people of the United States could defend themselves, if necessary, and had no idea of resting their defence on mercenaries, picked up from brothels and tippling houses--pickpockets who have escaped from Newgate, &c., and sought refuge in this asylum of oppressed humanity. He contended that this resolution contained an unconstitutional proposition, and that the standing army now in the service of the United States was maintained in the very teeth of that part of the constitution which declares that no money for the support of a standing army should be appropriated for more than two years. He again called for information as to the object of the army now proposed to be raised; declaring, that, if the President should say they were necessary for the protection of New Orleans, to be employed against the Indians, or to repel incursions from Canada, (although this seemed not to be much thought of,) he should not refuse to grant them. He declared the report to be a negative position, which could not be combated except to disadvantage. He wished to know the constitutional resources of the committee, and expressed a hope that the remarks he had made would draw out the talents of that body.

Mr. GRUNDY.--I did not expect that the gentleman from Virginia would have made any inquiries into the motives or objects of that committee of which he himself was a member. He, sir, attended faithfully to his duty, and witnessed every step the committee took. He also saw the report before it was made to this House, and must have heard the exposition of our ulterior measures, as explained by our Chairman. Why, then, sir, shall he now affect not to understand us? Our object, by those who will listen, shall not be misunderstood. And, Mr. Speaker, as I have no political secrets, I feel no hesitation in declaring to you, to this House, and to the nation, the view I have taken of the subject. But before I do this, it is due to the committee that an explanation of their conduct should take place.

So soon as the Committee on our Foreign Relations was appointed, we were forcibly impressed with the serious and highly responsible station you had assigned us; to that committee, consisting of nine members only, were not only the eyes of this House but of the nation turned; and from us, in this, the most troubled season our world has ever known, was it expected that a course of measures would be recommended, calculated to protect the interests of seven millions of people. Under this impression, Mr. Speaker, we deemed it a duty to take time for deliberation; we thought it better to encounter the charge of having acted in a tardy and dilatory way, than to take a rash step, by which this nation might be plunged into difficulties, from which it could not be easily extricated. We therefore took the necessary time to weigh the arguments both for and against the measures we have recommended; and, as far as we were able, we surveyed the consequences which were to follow from the course we proposed. We foresaw, Mr. Speaker, that our countrymen were to fall in the meditated conflict, and that American blood was to stream afresh. Nor were we unmindful of the expenditure of public treasure. And, sir, what cost me more reflection than every thing else, was the new test to which we are to put this Government. We are about to ascertain by actual experiment how far our Republican institutions are calculated to stand the shock of war, and whether, after foreign danger disappeared, we can again assume our peaceful attitude, without endangering the liberties of the people.

Against these considerations, weighty in themselves, your committee felt themselves constrained to decide, influenced by existing circumstances of a character too imperious to be resisted: these I will enumerate before I sit down. My business at present is to address a particular portion of the members of this House--I mean, sir, the Republican members--and although what I am about to say might be deemed impolitic on ordinary subjects of legislation, yet, at this time and on this occasion, it would be criminal to conceal a single thought which might influence their determination. We should now, Mr. Speaker, forget little party animosities, we should mingle minds freely, and, as far as we are able, commune with the understandings of each other; and, the decision once made, let us become one people, and present an undivided front to the enemies of our country.

Republicans should never forget that some years ago a set of men of different politics held the reins of this Government, and drove the car of State; they were charged with being friendly to standing armies in times of peace, and favorable to expensive establishments; not for the purpose of opposing foreign enemies, but to encourage Executive patronage, and to bring these forces to operate upon the people themselves. These measures alarmed the Republicans; they remonstrated, they clamored, they appealed to the people, and by a national sentence, the men then in power were taken down from their high places, and Republican men were put in their seats.

If your minds are resolved on war, you are consistent, you are right, you are still Republicans; but if you are not resolved, pause and reflect, for should this resolution pass, and you then become faint-hearted, remember that you have abandoned your old principles, and trod in the paths of your predecessors.

According to my view of this subject, Mr. Speaker, we now stand on the bank; one movement more, the Rubicon is passed, we are in Italy, and we must march to Rome.

As a member of the committee, I feel no hesitation in saying, that if there be a member here, not determined to go with us to the extent of our measures, I prefer now to take my leave of him, rather than be deserted when the clouds darken, and the storm thickens upon us.

This admonition I owed to candor--I have paid it, not because I doubted; my purpose is settled, my mind reposes upon it. I may be in an error. If I am, I hope my country will forgive me. From my God I shall never need it, because he knows the purity of my motives.

What, Mr. Speaker, are we now called on to decide? It is whether we will resist by force the attempt made by that Government, to subject our maritime rights to the arbitrary and capricious rule of her will; for my part I am not prepared to say that this country shall submit to have her commerce interdicted or regulated by any foreign nation. Sir, I prefer war to submission.

Over and above these unjust pretensions of the British Government, for many years past they have been in the practice of impressing our seamen from merchant vessels; this unjust and lawless invasion of personal liberty, calls loudly for the interposition of this Government. To those better acquainted with the facts in relation to it, I leave it to fill up the picture. My mind is irresistibly drawn to the West.

Although others may not strongly feel the bearing which the late transactions in that quarter have on this subject, upon my mind they have great influence. It cannot be believed by any man who will reflect that the savage tribes, uninfluenced by other powers, would think of making war on the United States. They understand too well their own weakness, and our strength. They have already felt the weight of our arms; they know they hold the very soil on which they live as tenants at sufferance. How, then, sir, are we to account for their late conduct? In one way only; some powerful nation must have intrigued with them and turned their peaceful disposition towards us into hostilities. Great Britain alone has intercourse with those northern tribes; I therefore infer, that if British gold has not been employed, their baubles and trinkets, and the promise of support, and a place of refuge if necessary, have had their effect.

If I am right in this conjecture, war is not to commence by sea or land, it is already begun; and some of the richest blood of our country has already been shed. Yes, Mr. Speaker, in one individual has fallen, the honest man, the orator and the soldier.[14] That he loved his country none can doubt--he died to preserve its honor and its fame--I mean the late commander of the cavalry; you, sir, who have often I measured your strength with his in forensic debate, can attest that he in a good degree was the pride of the western country, and Kentucky claimed him as a favorite son. For his loss, with those who fell by his side, the whole western country is ready to march; they only wait for our permission; and, sir, war once declared, I pledge myself for my people--they will avenge the death of their brethren.

TUESDAY, December 10.

Another member, to wit, JAMES COCHRAN, from North Carolina, appeared and took his seat.

Spanish American Colonies.

Mr. MITCHILL, from the committee appointed on that part of the President's Message which relates to the Spanish American Colonies, made a report, in part, thereon; which was read and referred to a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union. The report is as follows:

The committee to whom was referred so much of the President's Message as relates to the Spanish American colonies, have, in obedience to the order of the House, deliberately considered the subject before them, and directed a report, in part, to be submitted to the consideration of the House, in the form of a public declaration, as follows:

Whereas several of the American Spanish provinces have represented to the United States that it has been found expedient for them to associate and form Federal Governments upon the elective and representative plan, and to declare themselves free and independent--Therefore be it

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That they behold with friendly interest, the establishment of independent sovereignties by the Spanish provinces in America, consequent upon the actual state of the monarchy to which they belonged; that as neighbors and inhabitants of the same hemisphere the United States feel great solicitude for their welfare; and that when those provinces shall have attained the condition of nations, by the just exercise of their rights, the Senate and House of Representatives will unite with the Executive, in establishing with them as sovereign and independent States, such amicable relations and commercial intercourse as may require their Legislative authority.

Foreign Relations.

The order of the day being called for, the SPEAKER observed, that the gentleman from Virginia on the right of the Chair was entitled to the floor.

Mr. RANDOLPH rose. He expressed his sense of the motive which had induced the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. GRUNDY) to move the adjournment, yesterday, and of the politeness of the House in granting it; at the same time declaring that in point of fact he had little cause to be thankful for the favor, well intended as he knew it to have been--since he felt himself even less capable of proceeding with his argument, than he had been on the preceding day.

It was a question, as it had been presented to the House, of peace or war. In that light it had been argued; in no other light could he consider it, after the declaration made by members of the Committee of Foreign Relations. Without intending any disrespect to the Chair, he must be permitted to say that if the decision yesterday was correct, "That it was not in order to advance any arguments against the resolution, drawn from topics before other committees of the House," the whole debate, nay, the report itself on which they were acting, was disorderly; since the increase of the military force was a subject at that time in agitation by the select committee raised on that branch of the President's Message. But it was impossible that the discussion of a question broad as the wide ocean of our foreign concerns--involving every consideration of interest, of right, of happiness and of safety at home--touching in every point, all that was dear to freemen, "their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor!"--could be tied down by the narrow rules of technical routine. The Committee of Foreign Relations had indeed decided that the subject of arming the militia (which he had pressed upon them as indispensable to the public security) did not come within the scope of their authority. On what ground, he had been and still was unable to see, they had felt themselves authorized (when that subject was before another committee) to recommend the raising of standing armies, with a view (as had been declared) of immediate war--a war not of defence, but of conquest, of aggrandizement, of ambition; a war foreign to the interests of this country, to the interests of humanity itself.

He knew not how gentlemen, calling themselves republicans, could advocate such a war. What was their doctrine in 1798-'9, when the command of the army--that highest of all possible trusts in any Government, be the form what it may--was reposed in the bosom of the Father of his Country, the sanctuary of a nation's love, the only hope that never came in vain! When other worthies of the Revolution--Hamilton, Pinckney, and the younger Washington--men of tried patriotism, of approved conduct and valor, of untarnished honor, held subordinate command under him! Republicans were then unwilling to trust a standing army, even to his hands who had given proof that he was above all human temptation. Where now is the Revolutionary hero to whom you are about to confide this sacred trust? To whom will you confide the charge of leading the flower of our youth to the Heights of Abraham? Will you find him in the person of an acquitted felon? What! then you were unwilling to vote an army where such men as had been named held high command! when WASHINGTON himself was at the head--did you then show such reluctance, feel such scruples; and are you now nothing loth, fearless of every consequence? Will you say that your provocations were less then than now? When your direct commerce was interdicted--your Ambassadors hooted with derision from the French Court--tribute demanded--actual war waged upon you!

Those who opposed the army then were indeed denounced as the partisans of France; as the same men--some of them at least--are now held up as the advocates of England; those firm and undeviating Republicans who then dared, and now dare, to cling to the ark of the constitution, to defend it even at the expense of their fame, rather than surrender themselves to the wild projects of mad ambition! There was a fatality attending plenitude of power. Soon or late some mania seizes upon its possessors--they fall from the dizzy height through the giddiness of their own heads. Like a vast estate, heaped up by the labor and industry of one man, which seldom survives the third generation--power, gained by patient assiduity, by a faithful and regular discharge of its attendant duties, soon gets above its own origin. Intoxicated with their own greatness the Federal party fell. Will not the same causes produce the same effects now as then? Sir, you may raise this army, you may build up this vast structure of patronage, this mighty apparatus of favoritism; but--"lay not the flattering unction to your souls"--you will never live to enjoy the succession. You sign your political death warrant.

Mr. R. here adverted to the provocation to hostilities from shutting up the Mississippi by Spain in 1803--but more fully to the conduct of the House in 1805-'6, under the strongest of all imaginable provocatives to war; the actual invasion of our country. He read various passages from the President's public Message of December 3, 1805.

Mr. R. said that the peculiar situation of the frontier, at that time insulted, had alone induced the committee to recommend the raising of regular troops. It was too remote from the population of the country for the militia to act, in repelling and chastising Spanish incursion. New Orleans and its dependencies were separated by a vast extent of wilderness from the settlements of the old United States; filled with a disloyal and turbulent people, alien to our institutions, language and manners, and disaffected towards our Government. Little reliance could be placed upon them, and it was plain, that if "it was the intention of Spain to advance on our possessions until she should be repulsed by an opposing force," that force must be a regular army, unless we were disposed to abandon all the country south of Tennessee. That if "the protection of our citizens and the spirit and the honor of our country required that force should be interposed," nothing remained but for the Legislature to grant the only practicable means, or to shrink from the most sacred of all its duties--to abandon the soil and its inhabitants to the tender mercies of hostile invaders.

Yet this report, moderate as it was, had been deemed of too strong a character by the House. It was rejected: and, at the motion of a gentleman from Massachusetts, (Mr. BIDWELL,)--who had since taken a great fancy also to Canada,[15] and marched off thither, in advance of the committee of Foreign Relations--"$2,000,000, were appropriated towards" (not in full of) "any extraordinary expense which might be incurred in the intercourse between the United States and foreign nations:" in other words, to buy off, at Paris, Spanish aggressions at home.

Was this fact given in evidence of our impartiality towards the belligerents?--that to the insults and injuries and actual invasion of one of them we opposed not bullets, but dollars; that to Spanish invasion we opposed money, whilst for British aggression on the high seas we had arms; offensive war? But Spain was then shielded, as well as instigated, by a greater power. Hence our respect for her. Had we at that time acted as we ought to have done in defence of rights, of the natale solum itself, we should (he felt confident) have avoided that series of insult, disgrace, and injury, which had been poured out upon us in long unbroken succession. We would not then raise a small regular force for a country where the militia could not act, to defend our own Territory; now, we are willing to levy a great army, for great it must be, to accomplish the proposed object, for a war of conquest and ambition--and this, too, at the very entrance of the "Northern Hive," of the strongest part of the Union.

An insinuation had fallen from the gentleman from Tennessee, (Mr. GRUNDY,) that the late massacre of our brethren on the Wabash had been instigated by the British Government. Has the President given any such information? has the gentleman received any such, even informally, from any officer of this Government? Is it so believed by the Administration? He had cause to think the contrary to be the fact; that such was not their opinion. This insinuation was of the grossest kind--a presumption the most rash, the most unjustifiable. Show but good ground for it, he would give up the question at the threshold--he was ready to march to Canada. It was indeed well calculated to excite the feelings of the Western people particularly, who were not quite so tenderly attached to our red brethren as some modern philosophers; but it was destitute of any foundation, beyond mere surmise and suspicion. What would be thought, if, without any proof whatsoever, a member should rise in his place and tell us, that the massacre in Savannah, a massacre perpetrated by civilized savages, with French commissions in their pockets, was excited by the French Government? There was an easy and natural solution of the late transaction on the Wabash, in the well-known character of the aboriginal savage of North America, without resorting to any such mere conjectural estimate. He was sorry to say, that for this signal calamity and disgrace the House was, in part, at least, answerable. Session after session, their table had been piled up with Indian treaties, for which the appropriations had been voted as a matter of course, without examination. Advantage had been taken of the spirit of the Indians, broken by the war which ended in the Treaty of Greenville. Under the ascendency then acquired over them, they had been pent up by subsequent treaties into nooks straitened in their quarters by a blind cupidity, seeking to extinguish their title to immense wildernesses, for which (possessing, as we do already, more land than we can sell or use) we shall not have occasion, for half a century to come. It was our own thirst for territory, our own want of moderation, that had driven these sons of nature to desperation, of which we felt the effects.

Mr. R., although not personally acquainted with the late Colonel Daviess, felt, he was persuaded, as deep and serious regret for his loss as the gentleman from Tennessee himself. He knew him only through the representation of a friend of the deceased, (Mr. ROWAN,) some time a member of that House; a man, who, for native force of intellect, manliness of character, and high sense of honor, was not inferior to any that had ever sat there. With him he sympathized in the severest calamity that could befall a man of his cast of character. Would to God they were both then on the floor! From his personal knowledge of the one, he felt confident that he would have his support--and he believed (judging of him from the representation of their common friend) of the other also.

He could but smile at the liberality of the gentleman, in giving Canada to New York, in order to strengthen the Northern balance of power, while at the same time he forewarned her that the Western scale must preponderate. Mr. R. said that he could almost fancy that he saw the Capitol in motion towards the falls of Ohio--after a short sojourn taking its flight to the Mississippi, and finally alighting on Darien; which, when the gentleman's dreams are realized, will be a most eligible seat of government for the new Republic (or Empire) of the two Americas! But it seemed that "in 1808 we talked and acted foolishly," and to give some color of consistency to that folly, we must now commit a greater. Really he could not conceive of a weaker reason offered in support of a present measure, than the justification of a former folly. He hoped we should act a wiser part--take warning by our follies, since we had become sensible of them, and resolve to talk and act foolishly no more. It was indeed high time to give over such preposterous language and proceedings.

This war of conquest, a war for the acquisition of territory and subjects, is to be a new commentary on the doctrine that Republics are destitute of ambition--that they are addicted to peace, wedded to the happiness and safety of the great body of their people. But it seems this is to be a holiday campaign--there is to be no expense of blood, or treasure, on our part--Canada is to conquer herself--she is to be subdued by the principles of fraternity. The people of that country are first to be seduced from their allegiance, and converted into traitors, as preparatory to the making them good citizens. Although he must acknowledge that some of our flaming patriots were thus manufactured, he did not think the process would hold good with a whole community. It was a dangerous experiment. We were to succeed in the French mode by the system of fraternization--all is French! but how dreadfully it might be retorted on the Southern and Western slaveholding States. He detested this subornation of treason. No--if he must have them, let them fall by the valor of our arms, by fair, legitimate conquest; not become the victims of treacherous seduction.

He was not surprised at the war spirit which was manifesting itself in gentlemen from the South. In the year 1805-'6, in a struggle for the carrying trade of belligerent colonial produce, this country has been most unwisely brought into collision with the great powers of Europe. By a series of most impolitic and ruinous measures,[16] utterly incomprehensible to every rational, sober-minded man, the Southern planters, by their own votes, had succeeded in knocking down the price of cotton to seven cents, and of tobacco (a few choice crops excepted) to nothing--and in raising the price of blankets, (of which a few would not be amiss in a Canadian campaign,) coarse woollens, and every article of first necessity, three or four hundred per cent. And now that, by our own acts, we have brought ourselves into this unprecedented condition, we must get out of it in any way, but by an acknowledgment of our own want of wisdom and forecast. But is war the true remedy? Who will profit by it? Speculators--a few lucky merchants, who draw prizes in the lottery--commissaries and contractors. Who must suffer by it? The people. It is their blood, their taxes, that must flow to support it.

But gentlemen avowed that they would not go to war for the carrying trade--that is, for any other but the direct export and import trade--that which carries our native products abroad, and brings back the return cargo; and yet they stickle for our commercial rights, and will go to war for them! He wished to know, in point of principle, what difference gentlemen could point out between the abandonment of this or of that maritime right? Do gentlemen assume the lofty port and tone of chivalrous redressers of maritime wrongs, and declare their readiness to surrender every other maritime right provided they may remain unmolested in the exercise of the humble privilege of carrying their own produce abroad, and bringing back a return cargo? Do you make this declaration to the enemy at the outset? Do you state the minimum with which you will be contented, and put it in her power to close with your proposal at her option; give her the basis of a treaty ruinous and disgraceful beyond example and expression? and this, too, after having turned up your nose in disdain at the treaties of Mr. Jay and Mr. Monroe! Will you say to England, "end the war when you please, give us the direct trade in our own produce, we are content?" But what will the merchants of Salem, and Boston, and New York, and Philadelphia, and Baltimore, the men of Marblehead and Cape Cod, say to this? Will they join in a war professing to have for its object what they would consider (and justly too) as the sacrifice of their maritime rights, yet affecting to be a war for the protection of commerce?

He was gratified to find gentlemen acknowledging the demoralizing and destructive consequences of the non-importation law--confessing the truth of all that its opponents foretold when it was enacted. And will you plunge yourselves in war, because you have passed a foolish and ruinous law, and are ashamed to repeal it? "But our good friend the French Emperor stands in the way of its repeal," and as we cannot go too far in making sacrifices to him, who has given such demonstration of his love for the Americans, we must, in point of fact, become parties to his war. "Who can be so cruel as to refuse him this favor?" His imagination shrunk from the miseries of such a connection. He called upon the House to reflect whether they were not about to abandon all reclamation for the unparalleled outrages, "insults and injuries" of the French Government, to give up our claim for plundered millions; and asked what reparation or atonement they could expect to obtain in hours of future dalliance, after they should have made a tender of their person to this great deflowerer of the virginity of republics. We had by our own wise (he would not say wise-acre) measures, so increased the trade and wealth of Montreal and Quebec, that at last we began to cast a wishful eye at Canada. Having done so much towards its improvement by the exercise of "our restrictive energies," we began to think the laborer worthy of his hire, and to put in claim for our portion. Suppose it ours, are we any nearer to our point? As his Minister said to the King of Epirus, "may we not as well take our bottle of wine before as after this exploit?" Go! march to Canada! leave the broad bosom of the Chesapeake and her hundred tributary rivers--the whole line of seacoast from Machias to St. Mary's unprotected! You have taken Quebec--have you conquered England? Will you seek for the deep foundations of her power in the frozen deserts of Labrador?

"Her march is on the mountain wave, Her home is on the deep!"

Will you call upon her to leave your ports and harbors untouched, only just till you can return from Canada to defend them? The coast is to be left defenceless, whilst men of the interior are revelling in conquest and spoil. But grant for a moment, for mere argument's sake, that in Canada you touched the sinews of her strength, instead of removing a clog upon her resources--an encumbrance, but one, which, from a spirit of honor, she will vigorously defend. In what situation would you then place some of the best men of the nation? As Chatham and Burke, and the whole band of her patriots, prayed for her defeat in 1776, so must some of the truest friends to their country deprecate the success of our arms against the only power that holds in check the arch-enemy of mankind.

Mr. R. declared that the committee had out-stripped the Executive. In designating the power against whom this force was to be employed--as had most unadvisably been done in the preamble or manifesto with which the resolutions were prefaced--they had not consulted the views of the Executive; that designation was equivalent to an abandonment of all our claims on the French Government. No sooner was the report laid on the table, than the vultures were flocking round their prey, the carcass of a great Military Establishment--men of tainted reputation, of broken fortunes (if they ever had any) and of battered constitutions, "choice spirits, tired of the dull pursuits of civil life," were seeking after agencies and commissions; willing to doze in gross stupidity over the public fire; to light the public candle at both ends. Honorable men undoubtedly there were ready to serve their country, but what man of spirit, or of self-respect, would accept a commission in the present army?

The gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. GRUNDY) had addressed himself, yesterday, exclusively to the "Republicans of this House." Mr. R. knew not whether he might consider himself as entitled to any part of the benefit of the honorable gentleman's discourse. It belonged not, however, to that gentleman to decide. If we must have an exposition of the doctrines of Republicanism, he should receive it from the fathers of the Church, and not from the junior apprentices of the law. He should appeal to his worthy friends from Carolina, (Messrs. MACON and STANFORD,) "men with whom he had measured his strength," by whose side he had fought during the reign of terror, for it was indeed an hour of corruption, of oppression, of pollution. It was not at all to his taste, that sort of Republicanism which was supported on this side of the Atlantic by the father of the sedition law, John Adams, and by Peter Porcupine on the other. Republicanism! of John Adams! and William Cobbett! Par nobile fratrum, now united as in 1798, whom the cruel walls of Newgate alone keep from flying to each other's embrace--but whom, in sentiment it is impossible to divide! Gallant crusaders in the holy cause of Republicanism! Such "Republicanism does indeed mean any thing or nothing."

Our people will not submit to be taxed for this war of conquest and dominion. The Government of the United States was not calculated to wage offensive foreign war--it was instituted for the common defence and general welfare; and whosoever should embark in a war of offence, would put it to a test which it was by no means calculated to endure. Make it out that Great Britain had instigated the Indians on the late occasion, and he was ready for battle; but not for dominion. He was unwilling, however, under present circumstances, to take Canada, at the risk of the constitution--to embark in common cause with France and be dragged at the wheels of the car of some Burr or Bonaparte. For a gentleman from Tennessee or Genesee, or Lake Champlain, there may be some prospect of advantage. Their hemp would bear a great price by the exclusion of foreign supply. In that too the great importers were deeply interested. The upper country on the Hudson and the Lakes would be enriched by the supplies for the troops, which they alone could furnish. They would have the exclusive market: to say nothing of the increased preponderance from the acquisition of Canada and that section of the Union, which the Southern and Western States had already felt so severely in the apportionment bill.

Mr. R. adverted to the defenceless state of our seaports, and particularly of the Chesapeake. A single spot only, on both shores, might be considered in tolerable security--from the nature of the port and the strength of the population--and that spot unhappily governed the whole State of Maryland. His friend, the late Governor of Maryland, (Mr. LLOYD,) at the very time he was bringing his warlike resolutions before the Legislature of the State, was liable, on any night, to be taken out of his bed, and carried off with his family, by the most contemptible picaroon. Such was the situation of many a family in Maryland and lower Virginia.

Mr. R. dwelt on the danger arising from the black population. He said he would touch this subject as tenderly as possible--it was with reluctance that he touched it at all--but in cases of great emergency, the State physician must not be deterred by a sickly, hysterical humanity, from probing the wound of his patient--he must not be withheld by a fastidious and mistaken humanity from representing his true situation to his friends, or even to the sick man himself, where the occasion called for it. What was the situation of the slaveholding States? During the war of the Revolution, so fixed were their habits of subordination, that when the whole southern country was overrun by the enemy, who invited them to desert, no fear was ever entertained of an insurrection of the slaves. During the war of seven years, with our country in possession of the enemy, no such danger was ever apprehended. But should we therefore be unobservant spectators of the process of society, within the last twenty years--of the silent and powerful change wrought by time and chance, upon its composition and temper? When the fountains of the great deep of abomination were broken up, even the poor slaves had not escaped the general deluge. The French Revolution had polluted even them. Nay, there had not been wanting men in that House, witness their Legislative Legendre, the butcher who once held a seat there, to preach upon that floor these imprescriptible rights to a crowded audience of blacks in the galleries--teaching them that they are equal to there masters; in other words, advising them to cut their throats. Similar doctrines were disseminated by peddlers from New England and elsewhere, throughout the southern country--and masters have been found so infatuated, as by their lives and conversation, by a general contempt of order, morality, and religion, unthinkingly to cherish these seeds of self-destruction to them and their families. What was the consequence? Within the last ten years, repeated alarms of insurrection among the slaves--some of them awful indeed. From the spreading of this infernal doctrine, the whole southern country had been thrown into a state of insecurity. Men dead to the operation of moral causes, had taken away from the poor slave his habits of loyalty and obedience to his master, which lightened his servitude by a double operation; beguiling his own cares and disarming his master's suspicions and severity; and now, like true empirics in politics, you are called upon to trust to the mere physical strength of the fetter which holds him in bondage. You have deprived him of all moral restraint, you have tempted him to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, just enough to perfect him in wickedness; you have opened his eyes to his nakedness; you have armed his nature against the hand that has fed, that has clothed him, that has cherished him in sickness; that hand, which before he became a pupil of your school, he had been accustomed to press with respectful affection. You have done all this--and then show him the gibbet and the wheel, as incentives to a sullen, repugnant obedience. God forbid, sir, that the Southern States should ever see an enemy on their shores, with these infernal principles of French fraternity in the van! While talking of taking Canada, some of us were shuddering for our own safety at home. He spoke from facts, when he said that the night-bell never tolled for fire in Richmond that the mother did not hug her infant more closely to her bosom. He had been a witness of some of the alarms in the capital of Virginia.

Mr. R. then proceeded to notice the unjust and illiberal imputation of British attachments, against certain characters in this country, sometimes insinuated in that House, but openly avowed out of it. Against whom were these charges brought? Against men, who in the war of the Revolution were in the councils of the nation, or fighting the battles of your country. And by whom were they made? By runaways, chiefly from the British dominions, since the breaking out of the French troubles. He indignantly said--it is insufferable. It cannot be borne. It must, and ought, with severity, be put down in this House, and, out of it, to meet the lie direct. We have no fellow feeling for the suffering and oppressed Spaniards! Yet even them we do not reprobate. Strange! that we should have no objection to any people or Government, civilized or savage, in the whole world. The great Autocrat of all the Russias receives the homage of our high consideration. The Dey of Algiers and his Divan of Pirates are very civil, good sort of people, with whom we find no difficulty in maintaining the relations of peace and amity--"Turks, Jews, and Infidels;" Mellimelli, or the Little Turtle; barbarians and savages of every clime and color, are welcome to our arms. With chiefs of banditti, negro or mulatto, we can treat and can trade. Name, however, but England, and all our antipathies are up in arms against her. Against whom? Against those whose blood runs in our veins; in common with whom we claim Shakspeare, and Newton, and Chatham, for our countrymen; whose form of government is the freest on earth, our own only excepted; from whom every valuable principle of our own institutions has been borrowed--representation, jury trial, voting the supplies, writ of habeas corpus--our whole civil and criminal jurisprudence--against our fellow Protestants identified in blood, in language, in religion with ourselves. In what school did the worthies of our land, the Washingtons, Henrys, Hancocks, Franklins, Rutledges of America learn those principles of civil liberty which were so nobly asserted by their wisdom and valor? And American resistance to British usurpation had not been more warmly cherished by these great men and their compatriots; not more by Washington, Hancock, and Henry, than by Chatham and his illustrious associates in the British Parliament. It ought to be remembered, too, that the heart of the English people was with us. It was a selfish and corrupt Ministry, and their servile tools, to whom we were not more opposed than they were. He trusted that none such might ever exist among us--for tools will never be wanting to subserve the purposes, however ruinous or wicked, of Kings and Ministers of State.

He acknowledged the influence of a Shakspeare and Milton upon his imagination, of a Locke upon his understanding, of a Sidney upon his political principles, of a Chatham upon qualities which, would to God! he possessed in common with that illustrious man--of a Tillotson, a Sherlock, and a Porteus, upon his religion. This was a British influence which he could never shake off. He allowed much to the just and honest prejudices growing out of the Revolution. But by whom had they been suppressed when they ran counter to the interests of his country? By Washington. By whom, would you listen to them, are they most keenly felt? By felons escaped from the jails of Paris, Newgate, and Kilmainham, since the breaking out of the French Revolution--who, in this abused and insulted country, have set up for political teachers, and whose disciples give no other proof of their progress in Republicanism, except a blind devotion to the most ruthless military despotism that the world ever saw. These are the patriots, who scruple not to brand with the epithet of tory the men (looking towards the seat of Col. STUART) by whose blood your liberties have been cemented. These are they, who hold in so keen remembrance the outrages of the British armies, from which many of them were deserters. Ask these self-styled patriots where they were during the American war, (for they are for the most part old enough to have borne arms,) and you strike them dumb--their lips are closed in eternal silence. If it were allowable to entertain partialities, every consideration of blood, language, religion, and interest, would incline us towards England; and yet, shall they be alone extended to France and her ruler, whom we are bound to believe a chastening God suffers as the scourge of a guilty world! On all other nations he tramples--he holds them in contempt--England alone he hates; he would, but he cannot despise her--fear cannot despise. And shall we disparage our ancestors?--shall we bastardize ourselves by placing them even below the brigands of St. Domingo? with whom Mr. Adams had negotiated a sort of treaty, for which he ought to have been and would have been impeached, if the people had not previously passed sentence of disqualification for their service upon him. This antipathy to all that is English must be French.

But the outrages and injuries of England, bred up in the principles of the Revolution, he could never palliate, much less defend them. He well remembered flying with his mother, and her new-born child, from Arnold and Phillips--and how they had been driven by Tarleton and other British pandoors from pillar to post, while her husband was fighting the battles of his country. The impression was indelible on his memory--and yet (like his worthy old neighbor, who added seven buck-shot to every cartridge at the battle of Guilford, and drew a fine sight at his man) he must be content to be called a tory by a patriot of the last importation. Let us not get rid of one evil (supposing it to be possible) at the expense of a greater--mutatis mutandis. Suppose France in possession of the British naval power--and to her the trident must pass should England be unable to wield it--what would be your condition? What would be the situation of your seaports and their seafaring inhabitants? Ask Hamburg, Lubec. Ask Savannah. What, sir! when their privateers are pent up in our harbors by the British bull-dogs, when they receive at our hands every rite of hospitality, from which their enemy is excluded, when they capture within our own waters, interdicted to British armed ships, American vessels; when such is their deportment towards you, under such circumstances, what could you expect if they were the uncontrolled lords of the ocean? Had those privateers at Savannah borne British commissions, or had your shipments of cotton, tobacco, ashes, and what not, to London and Liverpool, been confiscated, and the proceeds poured into the English Exchequer--my life upon it! you would never have listened to any miserable wire-drawn distinctions between "orders and decrees affecting our neutral rights," and "municipal decrees," confiscating in mass your whole property. You would have had instant war! The whole land would have blazed out in war.

And shall republicans become the instruments of him who had effaced the title of Attila to the "Scourge of God!" Yet even Attila, in the falling fortunes of civilization, had, no doubt, his advocates, his tools, his minions, his parasites in the very countries that he overran--sons of that soil whereon his horse had trod; where grass could never after grow. If perfectly fresh, Mr. RANDOLPH said (instead of being as he was--his memory clouded, his intellect stupefied, his strength and spirits exhausted) he could not give utterance to that strong detestation which he felt towards (above all other works of the creation) such characters as Zingis, Tamerlane, Kouli-Khan, or Bonaparte. His instincts involuntarily revolted at their bare idea. Malefactors of the human race, who ground down man to a mere machine of their impious and bloody ambition. Yet, under all the accumulated wrongs, and insults, and robberies of the last of these chieftains, are we not in point of fact about to become a party to his views, a partner in his wars?

But before this miserable force of ten thousand men was raised to take Canada, he begged them to look at the state of defence at home--to count the cost of the enterprise before it was set on foot, not when it might be too late--when the best blood of the country should be spilt, and naught but empty coffers left to pay the cost. Are the bounty lands to be given in Canada? It might lessen his repugnance to that part of the system, to granting these lands, not to those miserable wretches who sell themselves to slavery for a few dollars and a glass of gin, but in fact to the clerks in our offices, some of whom, with an income of fifteen hundred or two thousand dollars, lived at the rate of four or five thousand, and yet grew rich--who perhaps at that moment were making out blank assignments for these land rights.

He would beseech the House, before they ran their heads against this post, Quebec, to count the cost. His word for it, Virginia planters would not be taxed to support such a war--a war which must aggravate their present distresses; in which they had not the remotest interest. Where is the Montgomery, or even the Arnold, or the Burr, who is to march to Point Levi?

He called upon those professing to be republicans to make good the promises held out by their republican predecessors when they came into power--promises which, for years afterwards, they had honestly, faithfully fulfilled. We had vaunted of paying off the national debt, of retrenching useless establishments; and yet had now become as infatuated with standing armies, loans, taxes, navies, and war, as ever were the Essex Junto. What republicanism is this?

WEDNESDAY, December 11.

Foreign Relations.

The House resumed the consideration of the report of the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Mr. RICHARD M. JOHNSON said he rose to thank the committee for the report which was offered to the House, and the resolutions which were recommended; though the measures fell short of his wishes, and, he believed, of public expectation. The ulterior measures, however, promised by the committee satisfied his mind, and he should give the report his warm support. The chairman had given the views of the committee. The expulsion of the British from their North American possessions, and granting letters of marque and reprisal against Great Britain are contemplated. Look at the Message of the President. At a moment least to be expected, when France had ceased to violate our neutral rights, and the olive branch was tendered to Great Britain, her orders in council were put into a more rigorous execution. Not satisfied with refusing a redress for wrongs committed on our coasts and in the mouths of our harbors, our trade is annoyed, and our national rights invaded; and, to close the scene of insolence and injury, regardless of our moderation and our justice, she has brought home to the "threshold of our territory," measures of actual war. As the love of peace has so long produced forbearance on our part, while commercial cupidity has increased the disposition to plunder on the part of Great Britain, I feel rejoiced that the hour of resistance is at hand, and that the President, in whom the people has so much confidence, has warned us of the perils that await them, and has exhorted us to put on the armor of defence, to gird on the sword, and assume the manly and bold attitude of war. He recommends filling up the ranks of the present military establishment, and to lengthen the term of service; to raise an auxiliary force for a more limited time; to authorize the acceptance of volunteers, and provide for calling out detachments of militia as circumstances may require. For the first time since my entrance into this body, there now seems to be but one opinion with a great majority--that with Great Britain war is inevitable; that the hopes of the sanguine as to a returning sense of British justice have expired; that the prophecies of the discerning have failed; and, that her infernal system has driven us to the brink of a second revolution, as important as the first. Upon the Wabash, through the influence of British agents, and within our territorial sea by the British navy, the war has already commenced. Thus, the folly, the power, and the tyranny of Great Britain, have taken from us the last alternative of longer forbearance.

Mr. J. said we must now oppose the farther encroachments of Great Britain by war, or formally annul the Declaration of our Independence, and acknowledge ourselves her devoted colonies. The people whom I represent will not hesitate which of the two courses to choose; and, if we are involved in war, to maintain our dearest rights, and to preserve our independence, I pledge myself to this House, and my constituents to this nation, that they will not be wanting in valor, nor in their proportion of men and money to prosecute the war with effect. Before we relinquish the conflict, I wish to see Great Britain renounce the piratical system of paper blockade; to liberate our captured seamen on board her ships of war; relinquish the practice of impressment on board our merchant vessels; to repeal her Orders in Council; and cease, in every other respect, to violate our neutral rights; to treat us as an independent people. The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. RANDOLPH) has objected to the destination of this auxiliary force--the occupation of the Canadas, and the other British possessions upon our borders where our laws are violated, the Indians stimulated to murder our citizens, and where there is a British monopoly of the peltry and fur trade. I should not wish to extend the boundary of the United States by war if Great Britain would leave us to the quiet enjoyment of independence; but, considering her deadly and implacable enmity, and her continued hostility, I shall never die contented until I see her expulsion from North America, and her territories incorporated with the United States. It is strange that the gentleman would pause before refusing this force, if destined to keep the negroes in subordination--who are not in a state of insurrection as I understand--and he will absolutely refuse to vote this force to defend us against the lawless aggressions of Great Britain--a nation in whose favor he had said so much.

But, he has a dislike to the Canadian French, French blood is hateful to him. I have no doubt but the Canadian French are as good citizens as the Canadian English, or the refugee tories of the Revolution; nor have I any doubt but a great majority of that vast community are sound in their morals and in their politics, and would make worthy members of the United States.

But, open the sacred pages of the Journals of the Congress of 1774-'75--that Congress which commenced, and conducted to victory, the American Revolution. Upon the pages of the first volume (from page 54 to 100) we will find letters addressed to the inhabitants of Canada and the province of Quebec, containing the language of affectionate respect, and, in the warmth of patriotism, inviting them to unite against British tyranny, to make the cause of quarrel common, and to enter into the union of the States on the principles of equality. The encroachments of Great Britain are depicted in the most vivid colors, and then they say "we shall consider the violation of your rights a violation of our own, and you are invited to accede to the confederacy of the States." Thus, the patriots of the Revolution styled the inhabitants of the British provinces friends and fellow-sufferers in 1774: although then but a handful of men compared to their present numbers, and only ten years had elapsed from their first incorporation with the British dominions; and nothing but the want of physical power and means prevented their independence in 1776. The misfortunes of our arms at Quebec, and in that quarter, are well known. These overtures of the Old Congress did not stop here. After the Articles of Confederation had been adopted, the door was left open for the reception of the Canadas, and the hope was not lost until British arms riveted the chains of slavery upon them, which at that time could not be broken. Now, sir, these people are more enlightened, they have a great American population among them, and they have correct ideas of liberty and independence, and only want an opportunity to throw off the yoke of their taskmakers.

Let us not think so meanly of the human character and the human mind. We are in pursuit of happiness, and we place a great value upon liberty as the means of happiness. What, then, let me ask, has changed the character of those people, that they are to be despised? What new order of things has disqualified them for the enjoyment of liberty? Has any malediction of Heaven doomed them to perpetual vassalage? Or, will the gentleman from Virginia pretend to more wisdom and more patriotism than the constellation of patriots who conducted the infant Republic through the Revolution? In point of territorial limit, the map will prove its importance. The waters of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi interlock in a number of places, and the great Disposer of Human Events intended those two rivers should belong to the same people.

But it has been denied that British influence had any agency in the late dreadful conflict and massacre upon the Wabash; and this is said to vindicate the British nation from so foul a charge. Sir, look to the book of the Revolution. See the Indian savages in Burgoyne's army urged on every occasion to use the scalping-knife and tomahawk--not in battle, but against old men and women, and children; in the night, when they were taught to believe an Omniscient eye could not see their guilty deeds; and thus hardened in iniquity, they perpetrated the same deeds by the light of the sun, when no arm was found to oppose or protect. And when this crying sin was opposed by Lord Chatham, in the House of Lords, the employment of these Indians was justified by a speech from one of the Ministry. Thus we see how the principles of honor, of humanity, of Christianity, were violated and justified in the face of the world. Therefore, I can have no doubt of the influence of British agents in keeping up Indian hostility to the people of the United States, independent of the strong proofs on this occasion; and, I hope it will not be pretended that these agents are too moral or too religious to do the infamous deed. So much for the expulsion of Great Britain from her dominions in North America, and their incorporation into the United States of America.

The gentleman from Virginia says we are identified with the British in religion, in blood, in language, and deeply laments our hatred to that country, who can boast of so many illustrious characters. This deep-rooted enmity to Great Britain arises from her insidious policy, the offspring of her perfidious conduct towards the United States. Her disposition is unfriendly; her enmity is implacable; she sickens at our prosperity and happiness. If obligations of friendship do exist, why does Great Britain rend those ties asunder, and open the bleeding wounds of former conflicts? Or does the obligation of friendship exist on the part of the United States alone? I have never thought that the ties of religion, of blood, of language, and of commerce, would justify or sanctify insult and injury--on the contrary, that a premeditated wrong from the hand of a friend created more sensibility, and deserved the greater chastisement and the higher execration. What would you think of a man, to whom you were bound by the most sacred ties, who would plunder you of your substance, aim a deadly blow at your honor, and in the hour of confidence endeavor to bury a dagger in your bosom? Would you, sir, proclaim to the world your affection for this miscreant of society, after this conduct, and endeavor to interest your audience with the ties of kindred that bound you to each other? So let it be with nations, and there will be neither surprise nor lamentation that we execrate a Government so hostile to our independence--for it is from the Government that we meet with such multiplied injury, and to that object is our hatred directed. As to individuals of merit, whether British or French, I presume no person would accuse the people of the United States of such hatred to them, or of despising individuals, who might not be instrumental in the maritime despotism which we feel; and this accounts for the veneration we have for Sidney and Russell, statesmen of whom the gentleman has spoken; they are fatal examples why we should love the British Government. The records of that Government are now stained with the blood of these martyrs in freedom's cause, as vilely as with the blood of American citizens; and certainly we shall not be called upon to love equally the murderer and the victim. For God's sake let us not again be told of the ties of religion, of laws, of blood, and of customs, which bind the two nations together, with a view to extort our love for the English Government, and more especially when the same gentleman has acknowledged that we have ample cause of war against that nation--let us not be told of the freedom of that corrupt Government whose hands are washed alike in the blood of her own illustrious statesmen, for a manly opposition to tyranny, and the citizens of every other clime. But I would inquire into this love for the British Government and British institutions, in the gross, without any discrimination. Why love her rulers? Why kiss the rod of iron which inflicts the stripes without a cause? When all admit we have just cause of war, such attachments are dangerous, and encourage encroachment. I will venture to say, that our hatred of the British Government is not commensurate with her depredations and her outrages on our rights, or we should have waged a deadly war against her many years past. The subject of foreign attachments and British hatred has been examined at considerable length. I did not intend to begin that discussion, but I will pursue it, and though I make no charge of British attachments, I will, at all times, at every hazard, defend the Administration and the Republican party against the charge of foreign partialities--French or Spanish, or any other kind, when applied to the measures of our Government. This foreign influence is a dangerous enemy; we should destroy the means of its circulation among us--like the fatal tunic, it destroys where it touches. It is insidious, invisible, and takes advantage of the most unsuspecting hours of social intercourse. I would not deny the good will of France nor of Great Britain to have an undue influence among us. But Great Britain alone has the means of this influence to an extent dangerous to the United States. It has been said that Great Britain was fighting the battles of the world--that she stands against universal dominion threatened by the arch-fiend of mankind. I should be sorry if our independence depended upon the power of Great Britain. If, however, she would act the part of a friendly power towards the United States, I should never wish to deprive her of power, of wealth, of honor, of prosperity. But if her energies are to be directed against the liberties of this free and happy people, against my native country, I should not drop a tear if the fast-anchored isle would sink into the waves, provided the innocent inhabitants could escape the deluge and find an asylum in a more favorable soil. And as to the power of France, I fear it as little as any other power; I would oppose her aggressions, under any circumstances, as soon as I would British outrages.

The ties of religion, of language, of blood, as it regards Great Britain, are dangerous ties to this country, with her present hostile disposition--instead of pledges of friendship they are used to paralyze the strength of the United States in relation to her aggressions. There are other ties equally efficacious. The number of her commercial traders within our limits, her agents, &c., the vast British capital employed in our commerce and our moneyed institutions, connected with her language, ancestry, customs, habits, and laws. These are formidable means for estranging the affections of many from our republican institutions, and producing partialities for Great Britain. Now I shall attend to the charge of partiality in our measures towards France. It is an insinuation not founded in fact, and can only exist in the imagination of those who may insinuate it. We are not driven to mere declarations--the truth of the assertion is bottomed upon the statute records of the United States; and we appeal to the character of every measure relative to foreign relations, since the adoption of the embargo, in consequence of the violation of neutral rights upon the high seas. The direct object of the Berlin and Milan decrees was the ruin of all trade to British ports--and the object of the Orders in Council was the destruction of all commerce to French ports and ports from which the British flag was excluded.

The gentleman from Virginia has called the military regular forces mercenaries. If by this appellation any reproach or degradation is intended, its justice and propriety is denied. In times like the present, when dangers thicken upon us, at the moment when we are compelled by most wanton tyranny upon the high seas, and upon land may be added, to abandon our peaceful habits for the din of arms, officers and soldiers in this country are governed by the noble feelings of patriotism and of valor. The history of the world may be ransacked; other nations may be brought in review before us, and examples of greater heroism cannot be quoted, than shall be performed in battle by our officers and soldiers, military and naval and marine. The deeds of their ancestors would be before them; glory would animate their bosoms, and love of country would nerve the heart to deeds of mighty fame. If, therefore, there should not be a diminution of respect for those who entertain an opinion so degrading to our army, it should at least be understood that such opinions do not lessen the confidence due to those who faithfully serve their country, and who would lay down their life for it. This reflection brings to memory the late memorable conflict upon the Wabash. Governor Harrison pitched his tents near the Prophet's town; and although this fanatic and his followers collected, and the American forces were anxious to finish the work by an open and daylight engagement, if there was a necessity to resort to arms, their impetuous valor was easily stayed, when they were informed that the white flag of peace was to be hoisted next morning, and the effusion of blood was to be spared. But in the silent watches of the night, relieved from the fatigues of valor, and slumbering under the perfidious promises of the savages, who were infuriated and made drunk by British traders, dreaming of the tender smile of a mother, and the fond embraces of affectionate wives, and of prattling children upon their knees, on their return from the fatigues of a campaign!--the destroyers came with the silent instruments of death, the war club, the scalping knife, the tomahawk, and the bow and arrow; with these they penetrate into the heart of our forces--they enter the tents of our officers--many close their eyes in death--it was a trying moment for the rest of our heroes, but they were equal to the dreadful occasion. The American forces flew to arms; they rallied at the voice of their officers, and soon checked the work of death. The savages were successively and successfully charged and driven until daylight, when they disappeared like the mist of morning. In this dreadful conflict many were killed and wounded on both sides; and the volunteers and the regiment under Colonel Boyd acted and fought with equal bravery and to their immortal honor. The volunteers from Kentucky were men of valor and worth--young men of hopeful prospects, and married men of reputation and intelligence, governed by no mercenary views--honor prompted them to serve their country. Some of these fallen heroes were my acquaintances, my friends: one not the least conspicuous lived in my district--Colonel Owens; Colonel Daviess, a neighbor. You, Mr. Speaker, know the worth of some of these men; and I regret that you are not in my place to speak their praise. So long as the records of this transaction remain, the 9th of November will not be forgotten, and time shall only brighten the fame of the deeds of our army, and a tear shall be shed for those who have fallen. But the loss will not be felt by the public alone: the friends of their social hours will regret their loss; the widow will mourn her disconsolate situation; the orphan shall cry for the return of his father in vain; and the mother carry her sorrow to the grave. Let this ornamented hall be clothed with the symbols of mourning, although our army proved victorious in war; and to their memory let a monument be erected in the hearts of a grateful country.

Mr. WRIGHT.--Mr. Speaker, I must beg the indulgence of the House while I deliver my opinion on the subject now under consideration, the most important that has been submitted to the Congress of the United States. I, sir, shall take the liberty of varying the question from the honorable member from Virginia, (Mr. RANDOLPH,) who yesterday considered it a question of peace or war. I shall consider it as a question of war or submission, dire alternatives, of which, however, I trust no honest American can hesitate in choosing, when the question is correctly stated and distinctly understood. The gentleman from Virginia contends that it is a dispute about the carrying trade, brought on us by the cupidity of the American merchants, in which the farmer and planter have little interest; that he will not consent to tax his constituents to carry on a war for it; that the enemy is invulnerable on the "mountain wave," the element of our wrongs, but should they violate the "natale solum," he would point all the energies of the nation and avenge the wrong. Was that gentleman stricken on the nose by a man so tall that he could not reach his nose, I strongly incline to think his manly pride would not permit him to decline the conflict. Sir, the honorable member is incorrect in his premises, and, of course, in his conclusions. I will endeavor to convince him of this, and shall be gratified if I can enlist his talents on the side of a bleeding country. Sir, the violations of the commercial rights of which we complain do not only embrace the carrying trade, properly so called, but also the carrying of the products of our own soil, the fruits of our own industry; these, although injurious only to our property, are just causes of war. But, sir, the impressment of our native seamen is a stroke at the vitals of liberty itself, and although it does not touch the "natale solum," yet it enslaves the "nativos filios"--the native sons of America; and, in the ratio that liberty is preferable to property, ought to enlist the patriotic feelings of that honorable member, and make his bosom burn with that holy fire that inspired the patriots of the Revolution.

Sir, the carrying trade--by which I mean the carrying articles, the growth, produce, or manufacture of a foreign clime--except articles contraband of war--is as much the right of the American people as the carrying the products of their own soil, and is not only secured by the law of nations, but by the positive provisions of the British Treaty. To us, sir, it is an all-important right. We import from the West Indies, annually, property to the amount of forty millions of dollars, for which we pay in the products of our own soil; of this, ten millions only are consumed in the United States, and the surplus thirty millions are exported to foreign countries, on which the American merchant pays three per cent. on the duties to the United States, obtains the profits on the freight of thirty millions of dollars, and furnishes a market for American productions to the same amount. The honorable gentleman from Virginia said, that that little spot in Maryland, Baltimore, which was well fortified and secure from an attack, had unbounded influence; "that the lords of Baltimore" governed the Representatives of Maryland in their votes on this subject. No, sir, every district of Maryland solemnly protests against submission to any foreign power, and I have no doubt will approve the votes of their members on this floor, "to prepare for war," or for war itself, rather than submission. Baltimore, by the industry and commercial enterprise of her citizens, has grown out of the sea into a great commercial city, has diffused the benefits of commerce into every section of the State, by making a great demand for the products of our soil and industry, and a consequent increase of price, whereby every foot of land in Maryland is made more valuable, and whereby the interest of every part of the State is identified with theirs; for this she is justly entitled to our respect. But, sir, she has no occasion to infuse her patriotic fire--so pre-eminent in the case of the Chesapeake--into the Representatives of Maryland. They know the wishes of their constituents, and will most certainly obey them.

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Virginia has declared that, if he could believe that the late massacre of the troops, in the attack on Governor Harrison by the Indians, under the Prophet, was the effect of British agency, he would unite with us, heart and hand, and personally assist to avenge the bloody deed. I feel a confidence, that if the gentleman will attend to the circumstances of this case, and take a retrospective view of the conduct of the British Government, he will feel no doubt of the fact. I will take the liberty of pointing the gentleman's attention to some of the prominent features of that government, which will go far in establishing that fact. When Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, in 1775, found it necessary to quit the seat of government, and go on board the fleet for safety from the Revolutionary vengeance of the patriots of Virginia--at a period, too, when the Americans were suing for justice by their humble petitions to the King and Parliament; and when that Chatham, the gentleman from Virginia has so highly extolled, was the advocate of our violated rights--Dunmore issued a proclamation inviting the negroes to his standard; to cut the throats of their masters; and promised them a pardon. This fact I know, from having presented that proclamation to a court at Northampton in Virginia, to induce them to commute the punishment of death, passed on some of the victims of his perfidy, to working in the mines; which they did. I will next remind the gentleman of the speech of Lord Dorchester to the Indians after the peace, in which he advises them to use the tomahawk and scalping-knife, whereby numbers of the inhabitants of the frontiers, of all ages, sexes, and conditions, were sacrificed. This was the cause of the Indian war that shortly after took place. This fact was attested by the newspapers of the day, which had universal credit.

These cases go to prove that the principles that ought to govern civilized nations, have, at all times, been totally disregarded by the officers and agents of that Government. After these cases, we shall feel little hesitation in believing there was a British agency in the case of the massacre by the Prophet's troops on Governor Harrison's detachment, when the circumstances relied on are duly considered. At the late great council with Governor Harrison, the chiefs of many tribes were convened, all of whom, except Tecumseh, the Prophet's brother, in their speeches avowed their friendly dispositions, and their devotion to peace with the United States. Tecumseh, who, with a number of his tribe, came from Fort Malden, in Canada, declared his hostile intentions against the United States, left the council with that avowed intention, and returned again to Fort Malden. Shortly after this, the Shawanees assembled a large body in arms in the Indiana Territory, under the Prophet, and committed the assault on the troops of Governor Harrison, though they have paid for their temerity. This, I trust, connected as it is with the immorality and extraordinary pretensions of that Government at this crisis, will satisfy, not only the gentleman from Virginia, but this House, of a British agency in the case.

Mr. Speaker, I regret that the gentleman from Virginia should ascribe to gentlemen of the West, a disposition for war, with a view to raise the price of their hemp; or to the gentlemen of the North, with a view to raise the price of their beef and flour. These, sir, are selfish motives, and such I cannot for a moment believe will be taken into consideration; they will, with every other section of the Union, unite in deciding it on its merits.; they will count the wrongs we have sustained; they will reflect that the honor, the interest, and the very independence of the United States, is directly attacked; they will, as guardians of the nation's rights, agreeably to the advice of the Administration, "put the United States into an armor and an attitude demanded by the crisis, and correspondent with the national spirit and expectations;" they will prepare to chastise the wrongs of the British Cabinet, which the President tells us, "have the character as well as the effect of war, on our commercial rights, which no independent nation can relinquish." They will decide with the President, the Executive organ of the nation's will, "that these wrongs are no longer to be endured." They will decide with the Committee of Foreign Relations, "that forbearance longer to repel these wrongs has ceased to be a virtue," and, I hope they will decide with me, that submission is a crime; and, sir, if they will examine a document on that table, I mean the returns of the twelfth Congress, and compare them with the eleventh, they will find nearly one-half of the eleventh Congress removed. This, sir, may correctly be considered as the sentence of the nation against the doctrine of submission; it is certainly an expression of the nation's will, in a language not to be misunderstood, and too serious in its application not to be respected. We have also, sir, the expression of Maryland, through her Senate, who unanimously approved the spirited resolutions introduced by the late Governor, who did not suffer his exposed situation, so alarming in the opinion of the gentleman from Virginia, to deter him from doing his duty. We have also, sir, the resolutions of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, an honest test of their non-submission principles. Mr. Speaker, I cannot forbear the remark that, while the gentleman from Virginia ascribes to the West and to the North interested motives, he confesses that the situation of the blacks in the State he represents, impressed as they are with the new French principles of liberty, and their desire for the fraternal hug, are seriously to be feared; that these new principles have been taught them by the peddlers from the East, who, while they sell their trinkets, inculcate these doctrines. He suffers his fears for the State he represents, in the event of a war, on account of the blacks, to interest him; and had he not told us that, if the "natale solum" was touched, or that, if there was a British agency in the late attack on Governor Harrison, he would go to war, I should have been ready to conclude that, as the state of the blacks would be a permanent objection, no cause could occur that would induce him to go to war.

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Virginia says he expects to be charged with being under British influence; however, he disregarded it. I assure him I shall not be one of his accusers; I believe him governed by himself, and influenced by pure American motives, and that, if he saw the subject as I do, his bosom would burn with the same sacred fire to avenge our wrongs; and were I to hear him charged in his absence with British influence, I should repel it, notwithstanding he has told us, in a prideful manner, that he had descended from British ancestors; that, from a Shakspeare he had formed his taste, from a Locke, his mind, from a Chatham, his politics, from a Sydney his patriotism, from a Tillotson his religion. Mr. Speaker, had I been that honorable member, I should have boasted a nobler line of ancestry; I should have claimed my descent from the beardless Powhatan, and the immortal Pocahontas; and I should have taken as models, from my own State, a Henry for my eloquence, a Jefferson for my politics, a Washington for my patriotism, and a Madison, or rather the Oracles of Revolution, for my religion. But, sir, I am myself so much a Roman, that I can truly say, in their language,

"_Aut genus aut proavos, aut qua non fecimus ipse, vix ea nostra voco_."

"Honor and shame from no condition rise, Act well your part, there all the honor lies."

Sir, the charge of foreign influence, and the recrimination of one political party by the other, are unpleasant things. I should rejoice to see the curtain of oblivion drawn over them, and all uniting under the nobler distinction of American.

THURSDAY, December 12.

Foreign Relations.

The House resumed the consideration of the report of the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Mr. CALHOUN.--Mr. Speaker: I understood the opinion of the Committee of Foreign Relations differently from what the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. RANDOLPH) has stated to be his impression. I certainly understood that committee as recommending the measures now before the House as a preparation for war; and such in fact was its express resolve, agreed to, I believe, by every member except that gentleman. I do not attribute any wilful misstatement to him, but consider it the effect of inadvertency or mistake. Indeed, the report could mean nothing but war or empty menace. I hope no member of this House is in favor of the latter. A bullying, menacing system has every thing to condemn and nothing to recommend it; in expense, it is almost as considerable as war; it excites contempt abroad, and destroys confidence at home. Menaces are serious things; and, if we expect any good from them, they ought to be resorted to with as much caution and seriousness as war itself, and should, if not successful, be invariably followed by it. It was not the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. GRUNDY) that made this a war question. The resolve contemplates an additional regular force; a measure confessedly improper but as a preparation for war, but undoubtedly necessary in that event. Sir, I am not insensible of the weighty importance of this question, for the first time submitted to this House, as a redress of our long list of complaints against one of the belligerents; but, according to my mode of thinking on this subject, however serious the question, whenever I am on its affirmative side, my conviction must be strong and unalterable. War, in this country, ought never to be resorted to but when it is clearly justifiable and necessary; so much so, as not to require the aid of logic to convince our reason, nor the ardor of eloquence to inflame our passions. There are many reasons why this country should never resort to it but for causes the most urgent and necessary. It is sufficient that, under a Government like ours, none but such will justify it in the eye of the nation; and were I not satisfied that such is the present case, I certainly would be no advocate of the proposition now before the House.

Sir, I might prove the war, should it ensue, justifiable, by the express admission of the gentleman from Virginia; and necessary, by facts undoubted and universally admitted, such as that gentleman did not pretend to controvert. The extent, duration, and character of the injuries received; the failure of those peaceful means heretofore resorted to for the redress of our wrongs, is my proof that it is necessary. Why should I mention the impressment of our seamen; depredation on every branch of our commerce, including the direct export trade, continued for years, and made under laws which professedly undertake to regulate our trade with other nations; negotiation resorted to time after time, till it is become hopeless; the restrictive system persisted in to avoid war, and in the vain expectation of returning justice? The evil still grows, and in each succeeding year swells in extent and pretension beyond the preceding. The question, even in the opinion and admission of our opponents, is reduced to this single point--which shall we do, abandon or defend our own commercial and maritime rights, and the personal liberties of our citizens employed in exercising them? These rights are essentially attacked, and war is the only means of redress. The gentleman from Virginia has suggested none--unless we consider the whole of his speech as recommending patient and resigned submission as the best remedy. Sir, which alternative this House ought to embrace, it is not for me to say. I hope the decision is made already, by a higher authority than the voice of any man. It is not for the human tongue to instill the sense of independence and honor. This is the work of nature--a generous nature, that disdains tame submission to wrongs.

This part of the subject is so imposing, as to enforce silence even on the gentleman from Virginia. He dared not to deny his country's wrongs, or vindicate the conduct of her enemy.

Only one point of that gentleman's argument had any, the most remote, relation to this point. He would not say we had not a good cause of war, but insisted that it was our duty to define that cause. If he means that this House ought, at this stage of the proceeding, or any other, to enumerate such violations of our rights as we are willing to contend for, he prescribes a course which neither good sense nor the usage of nations warrants. When we contend, let us contend for all our rights; the doubtful and the certain, the unimportant and essential. It is as easy to struggle, or even more so, for the whole as a part. At the termination of the contest, secure all that our wisdom and valor and the fortune of the war will permit. This is the dictate of common sense; such also is the usage of nations. The single instance alluded to, the endeavor of Mr. Fox to compel Mr. Pitt to define the object of the war against France, will not support the gentleman from Virginia in his position. That was an extraordinary war for an extraordinary purpose, and could not be governed by the usual rules. It was not for conquest, or for redress of inquiry, but to impose a Government on France, which she refused to receive; an object so detestable, that an avowal dare not be made. Sir, here I might rest the question. The affirmative of the proposition is established. I cannot but advert, however, to the complaint of the gentleman from Virginia the first time he was up on this question. He said he found himself reduced to the necessity of supporting the negative side of the question, before the affirmative was established. Let me tell that gentleman, that there is no hardship in his case. It is not every affirmative that ought to be proved. Were I to affirm the House is now in session, would it be reasonable to ask for proof? He who would deny its truth, on him would be the proof of so extraordinary a negative. How, then, could the gentleman, after his admissions, with the facts before him and the nation, complain? The causes are such as to warrant, or rather make it indispensable in any nation not absolutely dependent to defend its rights by force. Let him, then, show the reasons why we ought not so to defend ourselves. On him, then, is the burden of proof. This he has attempted; he has endeavored to support his negative. Before I proceed to answer the gentleman particularly, let me call the attention of the House to one circumstance: that is, that almost the whole of his arguments consisted of an enumeration of evils always incident to war, however just and necessary; and that, if they have any force, it is calculated to produce unqualified submission to every species of insult and injury. I do not feel myself bound to answer arguments of the above description; and if I should touch on them, it will be only incidentally, and not for the purpose of serious refutation. The first argument of the gentleman which I shall notice, is the unprepared state of the country. Whatever weight this argument might have, in a question of immediate war, it surely has little in that of preparation for it. If our country is unprepared, let us remedy the evil as soon as possible. Let the gentleman submit his plan; and, if a reasonable one, I doubt not it will be supported by the House. But, sir, let us admit the fact and the whole force of the argument, I ask whose is the fault? Who has been a member for many years past, and has seen the defenceless state of his country even near home, under his own eyes, without a single endeavor to remedy so serious an evil? Let him not say "I have acted in a minority." It is no less the duty of the minority than a majority to endeavor to serve our country. For that purpose we are sent here, and not for that of opposition. We are next told of the expenses of the war, and that people will not pay taxes. Why not? Is it a want of capacity? What, with one million tons of shipping, a trade of near $100,000,000, manufactures of $150,000,000, and agriculture of thrice that amount, shall we be told the country wants capacity to raise and support ten thousand or fifteen thousand additional regulars? No; it has the ability, that is admitted; but will it not have the disposition? Is not the course a just and necessary one? Shall we, then, utter this libel on the nation? Where will proof be found of a fact so disgraceful? It is said, in the history of the country twelve or fifteen years ago. The case is not parallel. The ability of the country is greatly increased since. The object of that tax was unpopular. But on this, as well as my memory and almost infant observation at that time serve me, the objection was not to the tax, or its amount, but the mode of collection. The eye of the nation was frightened by the number of officers; its love of liberty shocked with the multiplicity of regulations. We, in the vile spirit of imitation, copied from the most oppressive part of European laws on that subject, and imposed on a young and virtuous nation all the severe provisions made necessary by corruption and long growing chicane. If taxes should become necessary, I do not hesitate to say the people will pay cheerfully. It is for their Government and their cause, and would be their interest and duty to pay. But it may be, and I believe was said, that the nation will not pay taxes, because the rights violated are not worth defending, or that the defence will cost more than the profit. Sir, I here enter my solemn protest against this low and "calculating avarice" entering this hall of legislation. It is only fit for shops and counting-houses, and ought not to disgrace the seat of sovereignty by its squalid and vile appearance. Whenever it touches sovereign power, the nation is ruined. It is too short-sighted to defend itself. It is an unpromising spirit, always ready to yield a part to save the balance. It is too timid to have in itself the laws of self-preservation. It is never safe but under the shield of honor. Sir, I only know of one principle to make a nation great, to produce in this country not the form but real spirit of union, and that is, to protect every citizen in the lawful pursuit of his business. He will then feel that he is backed by the Government; that its arm is his arms; and will rejoice in its increased strength and prosperity. Protection and patriotism are reciprocal. This is the road that all great nations have trod. Sir, I am not versed in this calculating policy; and will not, therefore pretend to estimate in dollars and cents the value of national independence, or national affection. I cannot dare to measure, in shillings and pence, the misery, the stripes, and the slavery of our impressed seamen; nor even to value our shipping, commercial, and agricultural losses, under the Orders in Council and the British system of blockade. I hope I have not condemned any prudent estimate of the means of a country, before it enters on a war. This is wisdom, the other folly. Sir, the gentleman from Virginia has not failed to touch on the calamity of war; that fruitful source of declamation, by which pity becomes the advocate of cowardice; but I know not what we have to do with that subject. If the gentleman desires to repress the gallant ardor of our countrymen by such topics, let me inform him, that true courage regards only the cause--that it is just and necessary--and that it despises the pain and danger of war. If he really wishes to promote the cause of humanity, let his eloquence be addressed to Lord Wellesley or Mr. Percival, and not the American Congress. Tell them, if they persist in such daring insult and injury to a neutral nation, that, however inclined to peace, it will be bound in honor and interest to resist; that their patience and benevolence, however great, will be exhausted; that the calamity of war will ensue; and that they, in the opinion of wounded humanity, will be answerable for all its devastation and misery. Let melting pity, and regard to the interest of humanity, stay the hand of injustice, and, my life on it, the gentleman will not find it difficult to call off his country from the bloody scenes of war.

We are next told of the danger of war! I believe we are all ready to acknowledge its hazard and accidents; but I cannot think we have any extraordinary danger to contend with, at least so much as to warrant an acquiescence in the injuries we have received. On the contrary, I believe no war can be less dangerous to internal peace, or national existence. But, we are told of the black population of the South. As far as the gentleman from Virginia speaks of his own personal knowledge, I will not pretend to contradict him; I only regret that such is the dreadful state of his particular part of the country. Of the Southern section, I too have some personal knowledge, and can say that, in South Carolina, no such fears in any part are felt. But, sir, admit the gentleman's statement; will a war with Great Britain increase the danger? Will the country be less able to repress insurrection? Had we any thing to fear from that quarter, which I sincerely disbelieve, in my opinion, the precise time of the greatest safety is during a war in which we have no fear of invasion--then the country is most on its guard; our militia the best prepared; and standing force the greatest. Even in our Revolution no attempts were made by that portion of our population; and, however the gentleman may frighten himself with the disorganizing effects of French principles, I cannot think our ignorant blacks have felt much of their baneful influence. I dare say more than one-half of them never heard of the French Revolution. But, as great, as is the danger from our slaves, the gentleman's fears end not there--the standing army is not less terrible to him. Sir, I think a regular force, raised for a period of actual hostilities, cannot be called a standing army. There is a just distinction between such a force, and one raised as a peace establishment. Whatever may be the composition of the latter, I hope the former will consist of some of the best materials of the country. The ardent patriotism of our young men, and the reasonable bounty in land which is proposed to be given, will impel them to join their country's standard and to fight her battles; they will not forget the citizen in the soldier, and, in obeying their officer, learn to contemn their constitution. In our officers and soldiers we will find patriotism no less pure and ardent than in the private citizen; but, if they should be depraved, as represented, what have we to fear from twenty-five or thirty thousand regulars? Where will be the boasted militia of the gentleman? Can one million of militia be overpowered by thirty thousand regulars? If so, how can we rely on them against a foe invading our country? Sir, I have no such contemptuous idea of our militia--their untaught bravery is sufficient to crush all foreign and internal attempts on their country's liberties. But we have not yet come to the end of the chapter of dangers. The gentleman's imagination, so fruitful on this subject, conceives that our constitution is not calculated for war, and that it cannot stand its rude shock. This is rather extraordinary--we must depend upon the pity or contempt of other nations, for our existence. The constitution, it seems, has failed in its essential part, "to provide for the common defence." No, says the gentleman from Virginia, it is competent for a defensive, but not an offensive war. It is not necessary for me to expose the error of this opinion. Why make the distinction in this instance? Will he pretend to say, that this is an offensive war; a war of conquest? Yes, the gentleman has dared to make this assertion; and for reasons no less extraordinary than the assertion itself. He says, our rights are violated on the ocean, and that these violations affect our shipping, and commercial rights, to which the Canadas have no relation. The doctrine of retaliation has been much abused of late by an unnatural extension; we have now to witness a new abuse. The gentleman from Virginia has limited it down to a point. By his system, if you receive a blow on the breast, you dare not return it on the head, you are obliged to measure and return it on the precise point on which it was received. If you do not proceed with mathematical accuracy, it ceases to be just self-defence; it becomes an unprovoked attack. In speaking of Canada, the gentleman from Virginia introduced the name of Montgomery with much feeling and interest. Sir, there is danger in that name to the gentleman's argument. It is sacred to heroism! It is indignant of submission! This calls my memory back to the time of our Revolution; to the Congress of '74 and '75. Supposing a speaker of that day had risen and urged all the arguments which we have heard on this subject; had told that Congress, "your contest is about the right of laying a tax; and that the attempt on Canada had nothing to do with it: that the war would be expensive; that danger and devastation would overspread our country, and that the power of Great Britain was irresistible." With what sentiment, think you, would such doctrines have been received? Happy for us, they had no force at that period of our country's glory. Had they been then acted on, this Hall would never have witnessed a great nation convened to deliberate for the general good; a mighty empire, with prouder prospects than any nation the sun ever shone on, would not have risen in the West. No; we would have been vile, subjected colonies; governed by that imperious rod which Great Britain holds over her distant provinces.

Mr. DESHA said--Mr. Speaker, the report of the Committee on Foreign Relations, of which the resolution now under consideration forms a part, is not what I thought would have been the most advisable to adopt, in order to meet the emergency; not that I was for immediate war, as we are unprepared for that event; but, sir, in addition to the force recommended, and authorizing the arming the merchant vessels, I was for adopting the convoy system. But, sir, as the report is of a character different from the temporizing policy heretofore pursued, and one, if not decisive in itself, which will lead to something decisive; and as I am now perfectly satisfied that it is the intention of the Government to follow it up by ulterior measures, calculated to prove the necessity of these preparatory steps, and as union, under existing circumstances, is all-important, as one of the committee, I am bound to give it my support.

Sir, discovering no disposition on the part of Britain to relax in her Orders in Council, to cease her oppression, or to make restitution for the damages we have sustained; but, on the contrary, a manifest disposition to persist in her lawless aggressions, it therefore becomes necessary not to depend any longer on countervailing restrictive systems, but to adopt something of a character more energetic, and more congenial to the wishes of the American people. Sir, while I thought there was the most distant probability of obtaining justice by peace measures, I was an advocate for peace; but, sir, when I see not the least prospect of a revocation of her destructive Orders in Council, of the releasement of our impressed countrymen, a relinquishment of the principle of impressment, nor restitution for damages, I am for assuming a war attitude--consequently shall vote for the report of the committee, because I believe the force there contemplated will be an efficient force, and adequate to the purposes intended, to wit, the subjugation of the British North American Provinces.

Sir, to enumerate the aggressions committed on our rights by Britain, the depredations on our commerce, the murder and impressment of our countrymen, and the indignities offered our flag, would be taking up your time unnecessarily--particularly, sir, as those enormities must be recent in the mind of every member present; and as it is time to lay aside the war of words and proceed to actions, I shall not detain you long with any remarks of mine.

Sir, remonstrances against atrocities have been made in vain; experience has taught us nothing can be expected from negotiations. We have been negotiating for fifteen or twenty years, at an enormous expense, say nearly half a million of dollars, and the causes of which we complained have regularly increased; insult has been heaped upon injury, we have suffered ourselves to be buffeted, kicked, and treated with all kind of indignities with impunity. Yes, sir, insult has been the result of all late attempts at negotiation; for instance, sir, Mr. Roset was sent for no other purpose than to gull the Government, and because Erskine was disposed to do us justice in part, he was recalled and disgraced. The conduct of the Copenhagen gentleman, Mr. Jackson, demonstrated that he was sent for the purpose of bullying the Government. And pray, Mr. Speaker, what has Mr. Foster been sent for? why, sir, in my opinion, for no other purpose than to operate as an opiate on the Government; to lull us to sleep. As a proof of which, about the commencement of the session, a session convened by proclamation, which was naturally calculated to agitate the public mind, he comes forward with offers of reparation as he calls them, but which in my estimation is no more than a patch, calculated to cover one corner of the wound the nation received, in that wanton and dastardly outrage, the attack on the Chesapeake; but, sir, in his soporifics I trust he will be disappointed. I have no hesitation in saying, that when the letters from this Minister to our Government are examined by the people, that independent of the arrogance bordering on insolence, in which they are couched, so characteristic of that nation, they will have a different effect from that of conciliation; the illiberal and disingenuous demands made preliminary to the revocation of the Orders in Council, will have a tendency to rouse the public mind; they will be looked on with an indignant frown by all real Americans.

Sir, we have been constantly annoyed, assaulted openly and insidiously; we have been plundered, oppressed, and insulted; we thought it preferable to forbear while forbearance was possible, than to plunge into the evils of war, to redress the evil of plunder and partial and dastard-like courage; we judged it better to abandon the wealth which the afflictions of the world held out to the avidity of commercial speculation, and consequently withdrew from the ocean, by the adoption of the embargo--a measure of all others the best calculated to meet the then emergency, and which would, I have no hesitation in saying, have produced the desired effect if we had have had firmness enough to have adhered to it, and virtue and patriotism enough to have enforced it. But, sir, partyism was our ruin; it proved that we had as much to fear from our domestic enemies as our foreign foes, and apparently the greatest evil we had to apprehend was in falling a victim to our own political dissensions, occasioned by the deeply-laid plans of our deadly foe, Britain. Sir, during embargo times our domestic enemies, encouraged by a proclamation issued under the authority of the King of England--I say, sir, those minions of royalty concentrating in the East, talked of the violation of laws as a virtue, they demoralized the community by raising the floodgates of civil disorder; they gave absolution to felons, and invited the commission of crimes by the omission of duty. But, sir, the day of retribution is (I trust) not far distant, when those among us who to gain the favor of our enemy have betrayed their country, will sink into insignificance and contempt; the wages of iniquity will not shield them from due infamy.

Mr. TROUP rose to make an effort to put an end to the debate; a debate in which the great mass of the House were enlisted on one side, against the solitary gentleman from Virginia (Mr. RANDOLPH) on the other; and declared that he would call for the previous question if it was persevered in.

Mr. MACON considered the present, from the turn the debate had taken, the most important question which had come before the National Government for many years past, because it was evidently discussed as a war question, though the real question before the House, if adopted, did not declare war. It was not now a question by what means or by whose measures the nation was brought into its present situation; it must, however, be satisfactory to all, that the Administration has done every thing that could have been expected, to avoid the present crisis, and to keep the nation at peace. If the British Government would cease to violate our neutral and national rights, our difficulties would be at an end. It was no longer a question about the colonial carrying trade--that was at an end; because Great Britain might now be considered as possessing all the West India Islands, and as we have now neither sugar nor coffee to carry, she has determined to execute with rigor her unjust orders against our carrying the productions of our own soil to any market except her own, or that of her allies. This is attacking the best interests of the country; indeed, it is taking the profits of both planter and merchant. Hence, none of our exports bring a price by which we can live, except flour; and that would be no better than any other article of export, was it not that Great Britain and her allies, Spain and Portugal, want it for the support of their armies; it is their wants, and the great difficulty of getting their wants supplied anywhere else, that keeps up the price of wheat.

Notwithstanding these were his sentiments, he thought it would be going too far to consent, by the vote he was about to give, that he pledged himself to vote for any measure which the Committee of Foreign Relations might hereafter bring forward, when he did not intend to vote for all the resolutions contained in the report which was now under consideration. Our affairs must now command the serious attention of every man in the nation. We must either prepare to maintain the right to carry our produce to what market we please, or to be content without a market; to attempt another negotiation would be useless; every effort has been made in that way that could be made. Indeed, no one has yet said that he wished another. He was as desirous of peace as he ever was; and if any plan shall be proposed by which the peace of the country can be preserved, and the right to export our native produce maintained, he should still prefer it to war; but if no such plan can be devised, he was willing to go to war for that right. He was also willing to declare the points to the nation for which we went to war, and rather than not succeed, he would carry it on for fifty years, and longer if necessary. He felt no hesitation in declaring, that he would not go to war to encourage the nation, or any part of it, to become manufacturers, (and it may not be amiss to observe that, from the day that this report was laid on the table, we have heard nothing about manufactures;) nor would he go to war for the purpose of building a navy. He mentioned this, because he had heard a good deal said of late about increasing the fleet and building seventy-fours. If, therefore, it was to be a war either to encourage manufactures or to build a fleet, he should be opposed to it; he would rather remain as we are awhile longer, bad as our situation is, than to stick these two set-fasts to the back of the nation, neither of which it could ever get clear of. A peace in Europe might free us from our present embarrassments, but from the other, once established, we can never expect to get free.

He could not agree with the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. TROUP) that the House ought now, by the previous question, to put an end to the debate; on the contrary, he wished every member might have full time to deliver his sentiments on this great question; for his part, he wished to hear the opinions of those who lived on the Eastern frontier; he was gratified that several of the members of the Western had favored the committee with theirs. He expressed this wish, because the part of the country which he represented was in the middle country, about the same distance from the mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, in no danger of being surprised or injured by any plundering party; but if the House was to do that which the gentleman from Georgia seemed to desire, it would do no good; because if our object be to invade Canada, it can scarcely be expected that this could be done with our utmost exertions by regular troops, hereafter to be raised, sooner than June or July. Hitherto, our proceedings have been carried on not only with good humor, but with great urbanity also; to stop the debate, might have a tendency to change this, which no one would regret more than the gentleman himself. Before we raise an army, and provide it with every thing necessary for marching, we have much to do. We have now no Washington to command, and since the days of Joshua, I have read of no such man; such men do not appear every century, and a thousand years will hardly produce one. It is quite probable, except the Commander-in-chief, as good or better appointments may be now made, than were made at the beginning of the Revolution; because there are now more men of experience in the country than there were at that time; and, also, because the men of talents and experience are much better known to the National Government now than they then were; besides the selection of officers, the wagons, carts, and provisions, are to purchase, and almost every other article necessary for a marching army. It may not be improper here to remark, that this is not a Government of confidence; and that, before we go too far, we ought, by some means or other, to know who is to command the army. There cannot be much difficulty in this, especially as every department of the Government seems willing to raise a force adequate to the purpose for which it is wanted. And here, sir, permit me to say, that I hope this is to be no party war, but a national war, in which every person in the nation may have a fair chance to participate in the honor and glory to be acquired in the field of battle, and in defence of the rights of his country. Such a war, if war we shall have, can alone, in my judgment, obtain the end for which we mean to contend, without any disgrace.

FRIDAY, December 13.

Foreign Relations.

The House resumed the consideration of the report of the Committee of Foreign Relations.

Mr. DAWSON.--When we are about to take a step, to assume an attitude which must change all our foreign relations, and may produce a change in our political character, it becomes us to summon all our wisdom--to collect all our moderation and firmness, and to unite all our energies and exertions. It becomes us to be "neither rash nor diffident," or, to use the language of one of the greatest men who ever lived in the tide of times, "Immoderate valor swells into a fault, and fear admitted into public councils betrays like treason." Such, sir, is the situation of the United States at this moment. We are about to take such a step--every sentiment therefore which can be offered demands its proportion of public attention, and renders that apology from me unnecessary, which, on any other occasion, common propriety would justify.

After the select Committee on our Foreign Relations had made their report, it seemed to me to be their particular duty to give to this House a full exposition of their present and ulterior views and objects, and of those of the Administration, as far as they had ascertained them, founded on the information which, it is presumed, they possessed. For this I waited with patience, and have listened with attention and with pleasure--it has been given with promptness, with ability, and with candor; and with that perspicuity which frees the mind from all doubt as to the course which, in their judgment, we ought to pursue. And it now rests with us, sir, to determine whether we shall sanction their recommendation--whether we shall adopt those measures necessary and preparatory to a war in which it is probable our country will be engaged. Sir, in the course of my political life, it has been my duty to meet and to decide on some of the most important questions which have been agitated in our public councils, and deeply involving the best interests of our country; these duties I have performed with fidelity and without fear, and I pledge myself never to depart from that line of conduct; and, sir, at no period of my life, nor upon any occasion, have I met any question with more serious deliberation and more undaunted firmness than I do the present.

For several years past I have been an advocate for the adoption of every measure, the object of which was to place our country in a complete state of defence, and prepare us to meet any state of things. I have thought, and do think that preparatory and vigorous measures are best calculated to maintain the dignity and secure the peace and happiness of our country--that to be prepared to meet danger is the best way to avert it. These preparations have not been carried to the extent which I have wished--and yet, sir, I am far from thinking that my country is in that feeble state which some gentlemen seem willing to represent it. I feel myself authorized to state, that we have all the necessaries; all the implements; all the munitions necessary for a three years' close war against any force which any power can send to this continent.

All that we want, are men. No, sir, pardon the expression--all which we want is an expression of the will of the nation. Let this House, let the constituted authorities declare that will--let them declare "the Republic to be in danger," and thousands and tens of thousands of our fellow-citizens will rally round the standard of their country, resolved to support her rights, avenge her wrongs, or perish in her ruin. Yes, sir, should that awful moment ever arrive, which may Heaven avert!--should we be forced into a war in the defence of our just rights, I trust and believe that there is not a man in the nation, whose situation will permit, who will not be ready to march at his country's call. No man more devoutly prays for peace than I do; no man deprecates large standing armies in the time of peace more than I do. I consider them the bane of society and the danger of republics; but, sir, as peace, honorable peace, is not always at our command, they must be resorted to in time of war.

Mr. NELSON protested against the doctrine that in the vote he was about to give he should pledge himself to the support of whatever ulterior measures the Committee of Foreign Relations might choose to adopt. He was sensible that he should hazard the censure of his associates in the Republican cause by the observations he proposed to submit. Nay, his Republican friends might have the audacity to denounce him as an apostate, but the people had intrusted him with their dearest rights and interests, and he was resolved to pursue these according to his best judgment, regardless of the strictures of friends, and of the contumacious abuse of the press. Proscription should have no influence on his conduct. And hence he must express his astonishment at those gentlemen who had threatened the House with the previous question, when they themselves admitted the vast importance of the subject under discussion. Tacitus informs us that even the semi-barbarian Germans, when war was to be decided on, took two several occasions to debate upon it--one, when they were in the full possession of their natural faculties; and, second, when they were excited by extravagant circumstances. But in these enlightened days it seems that we are to decide this all-important question without debate! He begged gentlemen to divest themselves of passion. It was not a time to bow to the influence of improper feelings. They ought calmly and coolly to meet the subject. They were to decide upon a question which was of no momentary nature. If they did go to war, it would be a lasting war; and he agreed with the gentleman from Georgia, (Mr. TROUP,) that if war-speeches were necessary to bring the House to the sticking point, it was much too soon to begin war.

He proposed to consider these resolutions as a measure of hostility, according to the views of its advocates, and then as a measure of defensive preparations, agreeable to the spirit of Executive recommendation, which was favorable to peace. What were the objects of the war? To establish our neutral rights, to exempt our seamen from imprisonment, the repeal of the Orders in Council, and of the blockades, and the security of the American flag. What would be the effects of war, the tocsin of which was for the first time sounded through the land? Our country had been blessed by Providence with more than thirty years of peace and plenty. The habits of the people were pacific. The trifling hostilities with England were of no consequence. But now the yeomanry of the country were to be called to arms as if our own territory were to be invaded. He sympathized with the sufferings of his impressed and incarcerated fellow-citizens; but would a territorial war exempt them from impressment? Would it establish our neutral rights? Certainly not. The way to enforce these rights was by a great maritime force, which the nation were incompetent to raise and support.

But the advocates of immediate war said that if they could not obtain their objects by direct hostility on the ocean, they could do it by a succedaneum--by the exercise of the lex talionis in an indirect way. After issuing letters of marque, they would resort to the invasion of the enemies' territorial provinces. He contended that this would be inefficacious, and maintained that to convert our merchants into privateers would be to turn them loose upon the seas as highway robbers. They would not be competent to carry on a war in this way. They would have abandoned their peaceful pursuits; they would accept a fraternal embrace of French subjects; fight side by side with them, and submit themselves to the will of the French Emperor. However scrupulous gentlemen might now be, when the hour of danger came they would accept the alliance of France. The national interests would be identified with those of the European continent. We should adopt the continental system, in which our liberties and independence would be jeopardized.

He deprecated the invasion of Canada as an act of foreign conquest. We could not suppose that Great Britain would slumber over our occupation of it, and where should we find a stationary force able to keep possession of it as a conquered province? Admit it as a sister into the Union, we dare not abandon it at the peace, and therefore we could not give it back for the restoration of our maritime rights. But suppose that Great Britain should be brought to her knees, (and this was all the most valiant of us would ask,) what have we to expect, if the power and the commerce of England should be thrown into the arms of France, from the high, the mighty, the imperial Napoleon? Would he respect us more than England would? They both follow their own interest, as we ought to follow ours. What would be the effect of this war upon ourselves?

He feared a war, not from a puerile fear of its expenses or of death, but from a manly dread of the consequences of this war, which must last as long as England had a ship at sea, or a man to man it. It must link us to the destinies of continental Europe; it would place us under complete foreign influence and foreign dominion; it would change our political institutions. The sages who framed the constitution, and illumined it by their commentaries, had predicted that it would not suit to stand the shock of war. The Republic would be ruined by war. We do not want courage. The Revolution had shown proofs of the greatest valor ever exhibited by human nature. But few circumstances besides invasion would justify war. It would strengthen the Executive arm at the expense of the Legislature. The Chief Magistrate would have to carry on the war. He would, upon the plea of necessity, change our appropriations from one object to another. The constitution would be sapped. The legislative power would be destroyed. He cared not for the prices of cotton and tobacco as compared with the constitution. War would introduce a slavish subordination among the people. They would lose their republican simplicity and their republican independence. They would neglect their homespun for the military plume and the gilded epaulette. Their morals would become depraved. Love of idleness, extravagance, and neglect of the dull pursuits of common life, would take place. The desire would again prevail of acquiring large fortunes by aid of invasion, at the expense of the war-worn soldier whose fruits would be taken away for a mere song, as they had been at the close of the Revolution. Cupidity would be introduced, and pervade the public mind.

I have made these remarks, Mr. Speaker, to repel the declarations of gentlemen, that to vote for this resolution would pledge me to embark in war. If war is necessary, I would not shrink from it, big as it is with calamity and ruin. It will be the duty of Government to obviate some of its evils.

I am in hopes, too, sir, that I have been so fortunate as to check the intemperance of the youth of my country. They will excuse me. I trust we may not be led away by the ardor of youth or of old age. I shall vote for the increase of the regular force, to go hand in hand with my friends, even in a war, if necessary and just. I have not made this speech to prove that I am against war.

Mr. FINDLAY said he had frequently observed members, after a question had undergone a very tedious discussion, say that if the yeas and nays had not been called they would not have spoken on the question, but these having been called, they must assign the reasons for their votes. He did not approve of that principle, because if it was to be reduced to practice every member would speak to every such question, and there would be no end of the debate. However, on this question, though he thought it had been sufficiently discussed, yet he deemed it proper to express a few thoughts, not so much to give the reasons for the vote he designed to give, as to explain the principles on which he designed to give his vote. He designed to vote for the resolution before the House, but not surely for the same reasons or with the same determined views that some honorable members have expressed. He would not dwell on the tyrannies and robberies of either the more ancient or modern despots or Governments, of the old world, but confine himself to such as had a direct relation to the question depending before the House.

That the aggressions and bad faith of the British Government, and the recommendations of the Executive, were the foundation of the resolutions before the House, was admitted by all that have spoken on the question. In order to be understood he would take a concise retrospect of our relations with Britain since nearly the commencement of the present Government of the United States.

During the First Congress an Indian war was commenced on our western frontier, and conducted as usual with savage ferocity; but, believing that it only resulted from the combination of a few tribes, our defensive measures at first were weak, and our first attempts unfortunate. But it soon became such a tedious and expensive war as to require for several years the exertion of all our resources. It had at last a fortunate conclusion; but during its progress our Government and the citizens were fully convinced that the Indians were encouraged and supported by the British Government.

We all knew that for several years past Indian councils have been convened by British agents, who influenced them by presents, and employed them as emissaries to excite the peaceable Indians in our own territories to go to war against our new and dispersed settlements. It would be infidelity to doubt the truth of the Indians having received their arms, &c., from British agents, and though these British allies have got a check in the late engagement, yet it also has cost us dear. We have no ground to conclude that the danger is over; revenge is the predominant passion of savages, and though we have not such unequivocal proofs of the British in the present instance exciting the Indians to war, and supplying them for that purpose, as we had in 1793, when President WASHINGTON received a copy of Lord Dorchester's speech to the Indian tribes, encouraging them to war against our settlements, and promising them a co-operation of the British force--the copy of which gracious speech several members yet in Congress saw at that time, and every member has heard of it--through a kind Providence that co-operation was prevented by the defeat of the British armies in Europe. Though we have not at present such explicit proofs that the Indians at present are acting as British allies, yet we have as much proof as the nature of the case can afford, and it would be very unwise if we did not act accordingly.

From the above view of the subject, if we had no other cause, I deduce the expediency of increasing our regular force agreeable to the recommendation of the President and of our committee. I think more has been said about taking Canada than was necessary. It is true, that during the same Indian war, it was the opinion of our most sage politicians that we never could be secure against Indian war till we had possession of Canada, and by that means have it in our power to cut off the communication between foreign nations and the Indians on our frontiers and in our own territory. They said that neither our revenue, our credit or population would at that time justify the attempt; but that we were rapidly increasing in population and all other resources, while the nations of Europe are wasting their own strength, but the time was fast approaching when we must repel national insults or surrender our independence. This was said particularly with respect to the impressment of our seamen. At the commencement of this outrage, never committed by any other nation but Britain, the public mind was very sensibly affected by it, but time and the frequent repetition of the injury seems to have rendered the public feelings callous. This put him in mind of what he had sometimes observed, that when the savages scalped a few families on the frontier, the whole country was terribly alarmed, but that after the savage butchery had continued and extended itself for some time, the sensibility seemed to abate. This had been evidently the effect of the continued impressment of our seamen.

Mr. ROBERTS observed he should offer no apology for rising so late in this discussion, as the short time for which he was about to ask attention would not justify it. The eloquence and talents which had been so abundantly exhibited on this occasion, would not admit of more than a concise expression of his opinion, without subjecting him, justly, to the charge of presumption. When the report now under consideration came first before the House, I was, said he, of the number of those who were disposed to decide upon it without debate. I have frequently been in the minority on the question of adjournment, from a wish to reach the question on the resolutions. Under these impressions I confess I viewed the challenge, or rather the invitation, given by the gentleman from Tennessee, (Mr. GRUNDY,) "to debate this subject now, if it was to be debated at all," more as the impulse of an ingenuous mind, preferring, on all occasions, an open course, than the dictates of prudence or necessity. Nor was it till after the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. MACON) had invited and urged discussion, that I became disposed to join in opinion with them, the correctness of which the debate of this day has very much strengthened.

By the adoption of this report, we are entering on a system of operations of the utmost national moment; the effects of which the wisest amongst us cannot fully foresee, and on which we have no choice but to act. The discussion has already elicited opinions, which it is well to know exist; and the more so, since some of them admit the holders to vote for the report, while they allow them to be adverse to the measures which are necessarily to follow it. A little time may be well spent in comparing sentiments in this stage of the business, as it may be conducive to celerity of movement in the sequel, and give more certain effect to the measures which must ultimately be followed.

Every political community must, of necessity, possess rights, which it may enjoy independently of, and in common with, every other. One of those rights is an uncontrolled jurisdiction over its own territory. It has long ago been found necessary for nations to settle by convention on the great scale where the limits of territory shall cease, and where the high seas shall commence. This convention, or law, has determined that the ships of neutrals shall be a part of the national territory; so long as they are careful to preserve a pacific character. Through the intervention of vessels navigating the high seas, nations in amity are enabled to overcome the want of proximity, and all the purposes of trade and commercial intercourse may thereby be extended, as well to the inhabitants of the remotest corners of the earth, as to those only divided by a geometrical line. An attempt to interrupt this intercourse by a third nation, is so serious an act of hostility and wrong, as not only always to justify, but to demand, resistance. The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. RANDOLPH) has said the Government would not, on a former occasion, go to war, when their trade, which consisted in carrying the produce of one foreign country to another, was annoyed and cut up; and why not, he says, be pacific now, as well as then? While I agree that our national rights extend to both alike, admitting, however, every Government to make her own municipal regulations, I must be allowed to consider our direct export and import trade much better worth contending for, than what has been denominated our carrying trade. The cultivators and owners of the soil have never shown any disposition to fight for the latter trade; and for a very plain and consistent reason. War is sure to bring on its train of evils and expense; and where it is obvious that these will amount to more than the loss of the exercise of a right in its nature of but transitory use and minor interest, a free people may with propriety refuse to hazard them for its support. It is not for such a people to war for a speculative right or an empty name. The carrying trade, it must be owned, was profitable in exercise, but it was a profit that could be given up without vital prejudice to the national interests. Not so with our fair export trade. To yield this would be absolute recolonization. It must not only affect us in the great resources of national strength, but it must break the spirit of our citizens, and make them infidels in the principle of self-government. It would, at the same time, add means and facilities to the aggressing nation to multiply her outrages. Give up the export trade to Great Britain, and you will next be required to give up the coasting trade, and to admit her navigation act to as complete operation in our bays and harbors, as it now has round the limited shores of the British isles. The spirit of commercial monopoly she has so pertinaciously manifested, proves that her ambition craves more than her means can aspire to. The wrongs she has long been and still is committing towards these States, have assumed a character that imperiously calls for a resistance, made by all for the benefit of all.

I cannot with some gentlemen doubt the sufficiency of this Government to conduct a war. However congenial a state of peace may be to a Republic, the Constitution of the United States must have been framed with a view to war as well as peace. The members of the grand convention had almost all been active characters in the Revolutionary war. On the subject of war they were certainly more than mere theorists. Honest apprehensions have, too, been entertained in times back of the Government being too strong; I think, however, that we may look with well-grounded confidence for complete sufficiency in it; without being alarmed at the reverse of the picture. While the power of declaring war is vested in Congress; while levies and supplies are within its control; while a check on the appointing powers is vested in the Senate, and a periodical termination of the President's office exists; the Executive arm, though sufficiently untrammelled for necessary and useful command, is effectually paralyzed as to the exercise of power to affect or change the free features of the Government; unless indeed the representation should become utterly corrupt, an event no one can believe possible. I feel much satisfaction at this moment in seeing a man at the head of the Government who had a conspicuous concern in framing the constitution, and whose official duties have since closely connected him with the administration of Government under it. In the Message out of which the report before you has sprung, not the slightest doubt is discoverable of the efficiency of our institutions to sustain us under every exigency that may overtake us. My own reflections on this subject (and they have neither been light nor transitory) have neither served to alarm nor intimidate. I repose in safety on the saving maxim, "never to despair of the Republic."

Mr. MCKEE.--Mr. Speaker, I rise to address the House, at this late hour of the debate, with reluctance; but the importance of the question must be my apology.

Some gentlemen, in felicitating themselves on account of the temper of the House, evidenced by the determination to adopt vigorous measures against England, have expressed a regret that measures of a similar character had not been resorted to long since.

In this sentiment I cannot agree. In reviewing past times, we cannot but perceive that it has been the desire of the Government to avoid being involved in the war with which Europe has been so long desolated, and by dealing out justice to the belligerents, respectively, with an impartial hand, to preserve our neutrality, permitting our citizens peacefully to pursue their private avocations, reaping the rich harvest arising from our neutral commerce.

This was certainly a wise policy, and the distinguished success with which it was attended is a clear evidence of its wisdom and propriety. Why, then, should it be condemned? Have any people ever acquired individual wealth with so much rapidity; or have any been more happy in the enjoyment of domestic tranquillity than the people of the United States? None. The wish of the late and the present Administrations was to continue this state of happy prosperity as long as it was practicable, by making acts of wrong and vexation of a minor sort, growing out of the violence of the times, the subject of negotiation, rather than a cause of war. And, is this course of policy now to be condemned, and regrets entered up that we have not been at war years ago?

At the opening of the session of Congress, in December, 1809, after the disavowal of Erskine's arrangement, when our relations with England assumed a more unfavorable aspect than at the close of the summer session, the Committee on Foreign Relations, with a desire to preserve our neutrality, presented to the House a measure usually termed Macon's bill, No. 1; a measure which it is now known was approved by the Administration, and had the sanction even of a higher authority, (if such there be.) This measure was calculated in its operation to present serious difficulties to those nations by whom the rights of our neutral flag were disregarded; and, at the same time, it left open to the enterprise of our citizens those channels of trade, not included within the scope of the orders and decrees of the belligerents, as they then stood; a commerce as extensive and valuable as we can expect to enjoy in times of general peace. It was, however, opposed, and successfully, too, by war speeches. It fell, and by its fall the Administration were driven from their ground, and the hopes of maintaining much longer the neutrality of the United States also fell with it. This unfortunate event was succeeded by the act of May, 1810. By this act, the belligerents were invited, in a new form, to withdraw their orders and decrees; promising, on our part, in case either of them should accept the invitation thus given to both, to put in force the non-importation sections of the non-intercourse law against the party persevering in their orders or decrees for three months after their adversary had accepted the invitation thus given. The law of May, 1810, was enacted with a hope that the terms thereby offered to the belligerents, respectively, would induce the one or the other to accept them, and withdraw their orders or decrees. And an expectation was also entertained, that if one of the parties could be induced to relinquish their orders or decrees, the other party would follow the example; and, if this just expectation should be met by a perseverance of either of the parties in their orders or decrees, after their adversary had accepted the invitation thus given, it would test the sincerity of the various and repeated declarations made by them, respectively, that their orders and decrees, affecting our commerce, were reluctantly issued in their own just defence.

Those also who preferred war to the preservation of our neutrality, and by whom Macon's bill was rejected, would be relieved from the embarrassment of going to war with two of the most powerful nations in the world, or of selecting which of the two should be made our enemy, at a time when we had just cause of war against both. The fixed and determined hostility of one of the parties towards the United States would be (as it certainly now is) most clearly proved; and thereby our measures of hostility rendered the more necessary, and more likely to receive the unanimous approbation of the American people.

My opinion, therefore, is, that it was wise to preserve our neutrality as long as possible, making an appeal to force the last reluctant resort; and, inasmuch as the majority of Congress, in 1809, resolved to change the peaceful character of this country, the intervening period has been employed in a last effort to avert the calamities of war; the result of which has relieved this Government from any liability to the charge of partiality to either of the belligerents, by compelling one of them, by their own act, to present themselves as the object of our just hostility.

Mr. STANFORD said, as the resolution before the House contemplated an additional army, and from the avowal of its friends, involved in it the question of peace or war, he felt the desire to assign the reasons of his vote upon so important a subject. He was the more disposed to do so as he should probably find himself in a very small minority upon the question. He was not flattered, he said, with using arguments which would convince others; but for himself he felt their force strong enough to fix his mind against the measure. If he were to vote, he said, for the proposed army, he should vote inconsistently with all his former opinions and principles upon the subject, and he never could think of acting a part inconsistent with himself, and that more especially when all his experience had gone to confirm his first impressions, his honest prejudices against standing armies. Such establishments had always proved the bane of free Governments, and he could not see how we were to get along with them, and remain, as he believed we were, the freest and happiest people upon earth.

But, sir, we are told war is to be declared in certain events, and that the army proposed is to invade and take the Canadas. We are then to pass out of the limits of the United States and wage a war of the foreign offensive kind! If such was the contemplated use of this army when raised, he was still the more opposed to the measure. He was against the war itself, and the policy of it, and could by no means yield his vote to bring it about. That there were sufficient cause of war, he was ready to acknowledge, and he was not disposed in any the least degree to palliate the offences of Great Britain, or that of any of the other belligerents, committed on the persons and property of our citizens. All of them had deserved war at our hands, but we had at no time since the commencement of our present Government seen it our interest or policy to give into it, in the open and declared form, nor that of any other form, except that of a quasi character which happened under Mr. Adams's administration. The question never had been whether we had or had not cause of war, but whether the true interest of the United States did not, under all circumstances, call aloud upon us to cherish peace, and to avoid war and its evils as the last of the alternatives before us; and this, said Mr. S., he would be able to show was the Republican doctrine, as well in the old minority times as since that minority grew into a majority.

The gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. GRUNDY) had made a direct appeal to the Republican party, and endeavored to rally and unite them in this, to them at least, new doctrine of war. If the appeal of the gentleman had any reference to him, he would beg leave to deny some of his positions. He had himself had some small share to act in the political scenes of '98-9, and he was glad to find from the gentleman's declaration that he had joined in the "clamor" of the day, to pull down the then Federal Administration for the unjustifiable war which they had gone into with France. Mr. S. said he knew he had joined in it most heartily. He believed he then acted right in all he did to supersede that Administration, and he still believed he was right. The best interests of the country forbade the war, and so the people determined, when ultimately they came to decide the question. That party thus ousted by the public voice, the present Republican majority was brought in upon their own professions of better principles, the love of peace and economy. But now, forgetting our old professions under a French crisis, we had raised the cry of war under a British one, and nothing short of it was to save our honor. Mr. S. declared if there was any difference in the causes of war then and now, he thought it turned most decidedly in favor of the former period, since the more intolerable outrage in the case of the Chesapeake had been at length atoned for. What were the facts? French decrees existed at that time against your rightful commerce--he spoke of the arrêttes or decrees of the French directory--these had the same practical effect on our maritime neutral rights that the British orders have now. French cruisers waylaid the mouths of your harbors, and captured your vessels; and the first successful act of the United States after the quasi-war commenced, was, the taking of one of these cruisers in the mouth of one of our harbors.

But, said Mr. S., the gentleman from South Carolina, (Mr. CALHOUN,) tells us it is a principle of honor in a nation, as in an individual, to resist a first insult. If such doctrine is to be admitted, when should we have had a moment's peace? From one or the other belligerents of Europe, since their late wars commenced, we have never been without just complaints against them for some violation of our neutral rights, and of course must have taken an early share in their wars. The truth is, we cannot liken, nor will the similitude hold good between an individual's honor, or his sensibility to it, and that of a nation's. A single impressment or capture may be well admitted to form a ground of reprisal and war; but we should have been a ruined country long ere now, if, under the existing circumstances of the world, and belligerent Europe, we had yielded to this quickness of sensibility, and had gone to war for a first and single instance of aggression from either of the belligerents. The same gentleman argues that every thing now calls upon us to make a stand; that there was no danger to our liberties in a standing army of twenty or thirty thousand men, and that all admitted there was justifiable cause of war, and he believed it had now become necessary. This was declaiming, Mr. S. said, very handsomely upon the subject of war, he would agree; and he very well recollected we had heard the same doctrines precisely, and he thought he might be permitted to say, a strain of declamation, at least equally handsome, upon the same subject, and from the same State, in 1798-'9.[17] Mr. S. contended as the then doctrines of war, (and it must be admitted the causes of it were also alike in their character,) it was fair to expect that in due time public opinion would come to be the same in both cases.

But, Mr. S. said, he could not perceive how the present, of all others, had become the necessary and accepted time for war with Great Britain. The attack on the Chesapeake frigate had been lately atoned for, to the satisfaction of our Government; and, he trusted, had not been so done as to aggravate the crisis of affairs between the two countries. If calculated to do so, our Government could not have received it. The impressment of our seamen was a just complaint against the British Government; but it commenced under the Administration of General WASHINGTON, and no one would say he was less sensible to national honor and independence than ourselves. Under all the circumstances of that cause of complaint, he did not think it a cause sufficient for him to depart from the neutral ground he had assumed; nor was the annoyance of our commerce less vexatious in his time than since. In like manner, under Mr. Adams's Administration, the same complaints existed, though in that of the latter, not, perhaps, to the same degree; and, under the eight years of Mr. Jefferson's Administration, the same state of things continued, certainly with an increased degree of violence, to which was also added the more aggravating insult upon the Chesapeake. Mr Jefferson had never been suspected of partiality for Great Britain, and then, indeed, the accepted time had come for a war with that Government; all parties were united, and pledged themselves to support him in the war. The pulse of the nation beat high for it. But he felt, because he knew, that peace was the best interest of his country, and forbore to call Congress together. He had always admired the man; but, upon that occasion, he felt more than a sentiment of admiration toward him. When, at length, wrongs had thus accumulated, and called for some system of counteraction and resistance till negotiation could be farther tried, the embargo was resorted to in preference to war; and, when that was done away, a system of non-intercourse was substituted, and to that again succeeded the present alternative law of the same kind; the non-importation system which has grown out of this with Great Britain has not been tried one whole year yet. If gentlemen will have it that this is the accepted time for war, how has it happened that we have not had it before? Our Councils may be presumed to have been as sensible to aggression, and as patriotic to redress it, as we now are.

But, Mr. Speaker, said Mr. S., opposed as he was to the idea of the United States becoming one of the belligerent nations--to the linking our destinies with those of the European Powers; to the taking any share in their present conflicts, if his country once determined upon it, he would not then hesitate to vote any force, or other means to bring it to as speedy and as happy an issue as possible: until then he should preserve his own consistency; and contribute in no way to bring about that state of things which, he believed, would prove most ruinous to his country.

Mr. KING.--Mr. Speaker, I should not have troubled this House with any remarks of mine, had it not been for the observations which have just fallen from my colleague from North Carolina. I shall not attempt, sir, to follow that gentleman in the history which he has given of the progress of party in this country, but shall content myself with stating, that, in our sentiments, we entirely differ; his is the doctrine of submission; yes, sir, the most abject submission; mine, I trust, is not. I am in favor of the resolution now on your table. I am aware, sir, of the many important considerations which will naturally suggest themselves to the mind of every real friend of his country, when he views the consequences which may result from the adoption of the measure now contemplated. When, sir, the habits of a nation, ingrafted, as it were, in its very nature, are about to be departed from; when the destinies of the country are about to be launched on an untried ocean, and when the doubt is about to be solved, whether our Republican Government is alike calculated to support us through the trials and difficulties of war, and guide us in safety down the gentle current of peace, I am aware, sir, that we should pause and ponder well the subject; that we should divest ourselves of those warm feelings which most generally take possession of our minds on viewing the unjust prostration of the rights of our country. Sir, that interest which I feel, in common with others, on the decision of a question of such magnitude and importance, will, I trust, induce this House to bear with me a moment, while, in a few words, I explain the motives by which I am actuated in giving my decided approbation to the resolution now under consideration. If, sir, I were merely to turn my attention to the local situation of that portion of the country which I have the honor particularly to represent; its extensive and exposed seacoasts, combined with its present commercial advantages; I should, without hesitation, give my vote to the proposed measure. But, sir, as in my individual capacity, I feel at all times willing to make not only pecuniary sacrifices, but to expose my person in vindicating the rights and interests of my country, in my Representative capacity, I will undertake to say, that my constituents will do no less. Sir, the demon Avarice, which benumbs every warm emotion of the soul, has not yet gained the ascendency in the South: the love of country animates every breast, and burns with inextinguishable ardor. Sir, they feel in common, I trust, with a great majority of every portion of this Union, the degradation of our country, in submitting for a moment longer to the dishonorable terms proposed directly or indirectly by the British Government. Mr. Speaker, I hold it to be correct, that, in discussing a subject of such importance, a view of the various matters necessarily connected with it, will not be considered irrelevant: but, sir, I will not weary the patience of this House with a detail of injuries, unparalleled in the history of former times, wantonly inflicted on a nation which manifested to the whole world her sincere desire to support the neutral stand which had been taken at the earliest period of her Government, and most tenaciously adhered to. We have carefully avoided, Mr. Speaker, any participation in that system of politics which has convulsed and distracted the European world. We have restricted ourselves in the full enjoyment of our rights, lest by strictly enforcing them, we might produce a collision with any nation, however little her conduct might be guided by the principles of equity. Sir, we have borne with injury, until, in the language of your committee, forbearance has ceased to be a virtue. We have remonstrated, we have appealed to the justice, to the interest, of the two great contending powers of Europe; every effort proved abortive; our calls for justice were drowned in the declaration that their measures were merely retaliatory, and not intended to interfere with neutral rights; thus, sir, the matter rested, when specific propositions were submitted to each. Yes, sir, by an act which has placed the impartiality of our country beyond the reach of suspicion, we demanded of each the revocation of her obnoxious edicts as the only means of preserving our friendship. We all know what has been the consequence: France has met our advances, has embraced our propositions. Great Britain not only refuses a repeal on her part, but, while she affects to lament the effects produced on neutral rights, takes the most effectual methods to render them perpetual. Sir, blindness and ignorance itself can no longer be deceived by British policy.

We have been told, sir, that this will be a war for the support of the carrying trade; let me here remark, and I wish to be distinctly understood, as avowing my determination never to give a vote, so long as I have the honor of a seat on this floor, which will involve this country in a war, for the recovery or support of this extraneous species of commerce. I believe I shall not be incorrect when I assert, that nine-tenths of this country never did and never will derive the smallest benefit from it. But, sir, the right to carry in our own ships the produce of our own country to any quarter, not thereby violating the laws of nations, or contravening legitimate municipal regulations, is one which I never will yield; for, sir, in doing so, we paralyze the industry of our citizens; we give a fatal blow to the best interests of our country. Yes, sir, we yield the principle, we invite to further encroachments. Our country, sir, is agricultural, but so intimately blended with commerce, that the one cannot long exist unaided by the other. Sir, I will not yield an inch of ground, when, by so doing, I destroy an essential right of my country--or sap the foundation of that independence cemented by the blood of our fathers. We were told by a gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. RANDOLPH,) a few days since, that we have sufficient cause for war. I ask you, then, sir, why do we hesitate? Shall we always yield? Shall we always shrink from the contest? The adoption of this resolution is the touchstone--by it we rise or fall. We have been asked, Mr. Speaker, why not lay upon your table a proposition to go to war? It is there, sir; it is contained in this resolution; the moment we give it our sanction we declare our fixed resolve to render effective the force contemplated to be raised. Yes, sir, unless Great Britain manifests a disposition speedily to do us justice--by her acts, sir, not by her words. The gentleman from Virginia calls upon the Representatives of the seacoasts, of the slaveholding States, and asks if they are willing to say to England "we intend to go to war with you." Does the gentleman mean to excite our fears for the loss of our property? As one of the many on this floor who stand in the situation mentioned by that gentleman, I step forth to declare for myself and my constituents, that, when loss of national honor is placed in the scale, and attempted to be balanced by pecuniary interest, we will, without hesitation, kick the beam. But, sir, we are now contending for the restoration of our rights, the deprivation of which strikes at the very foundations of our prosperity. Sir, to us, it matters little whether our cities tumble into ruin by desertion for want of employment, by poverty produced by British wrongs and aggression, or, in vindicating the cause of our country, fall by a quicker process. Sir, I have no fear of invasion, and, therefore, have no fears arising from the black population, which strikes with so much horror on the sensitive mind of the gentleman from Virginia. For my country, Mr. Speaker, I lament its existence; I view it as the bane, the curse of the land, and most sincerely, sir, do I wish that a second Moses could take them by the hand, and lead them in safety to a distant land, where their cries would never more strike on the ear of sympathy.

We have been told, sir, that this will be a war of aggrandizement, a war of conquest. I am as little disposed to extend the territory as any other individual of this House. I know that dissimilar interests must and will prevail from a too great extension of our dominion. But, sir, we will not here enter into a discussion, whether an accession of country would or would not conduce to the interests of the Government. Sir, this will be a war forced upon us; we cannot, under existing circumstances, avoid it. To wound our enemy in the most vulnerable part should only be considered. Sir, I trust, if our differences with Great Britain are not speedily adjusted, (of which, indeed, I have no expectation,) we shall take Canada. Yes, sir, by force; by valor; not by seduction, as the gentleman from Virginia expresses it. I have no reliance on their friendship--I hope it will not be calculated on. Sir, I am not deterred from the firm purposes of my mind, by the predictions of the gentleman from Virginia. I have no fears, sir, that the people of our country will desert their Government while asserting the rights of the country; and I must believe, that gentleman's assertion to the contrary notwithstanding, that Virginia will not be the last to afford supplies.

Mr. BOYD.--Mr. Speaker, I should not have risen, on the present occasion, had not the honorable Committee of Foreign Relations requested all those that did not intend to vote for such ulterior measures as they might hereafter find necessary to bring forward, would not vote for the present resolutions, as they were a part of a system that might eventuate in war, &c. From those observations, I feel myself, and those that I in part have the honor to represent, called on to say how far I will go, and how far I will not go. Sir, when we talk about war, we ought to know for what we are going to wage it, and to see that the means are commensurate to the end. Let it not be thought by this that I have any apology to make for Great Britain, or her manifold wrongs. I have none. I say, perish the heart, the head and the tongue, that will attempt her justification or apology? No, sir, they are a nation of pirates, and have committed many wrongs on us; and it becomes us to look for our remedy, and how it is to be obtained. We are told that these resolutions are a part of a war measure. I do not receive them as such, but as preparatory to what may happen or become necessary. But, for argument sake, suppose it so, and that we are to have war--your army raised, and ready to march to the Canadas; with how many are you going to take them? In my opinion, not less than fifty thousand men will be required. Suppose the English should be driven out of Spain and Portugal, (which may by this time be the case, or it may soon be so,) what number of troops can she send to reinforce her possessions and meet you? But, say some gentlemen, American blood has been spilt, and we must avenge it. How is that to be done? For gallons will you spill torrents; or am I to understand that we shall have war without bloodshed? Sir, let those that think so turn their attention to the Revolutionary war--the Sugarhouse in New York, the Prevost, the Prison-ship, the Wallabout, Fort Washington, White Plains, Princeton, Trenton, Monmouth, Brandywine, Guildford, and many other places. New Jersey has had her full share of the fighting--other States the benefit; and if we have war again, we shall have our share of fighting--others the loaves and fishes. But, sir, I will not complain: we obtained our liberty, and I am willing to support it in the best possible manner. But here another question arises. You go to war for the right to export our surplus produce--tobacco, cotton, flour, with many other articles. Let me ask, what will be your export while that war continues? Will you have any? I think not. But I will suppose that you could export without interruption; would the whole of the exportable produce pay for the war during the continuance of it? No, it would not. Sir, it would take less money from the Government to pay for it, and make a fire of it. Nearly thirty years have elapsed since the Revolutionary war, and that war not half paid for. Is not the war-worn soldier calling on us every day with his demands? You are about to drain your Treasury, borrow money, enlarge your pension list, build additional hospitals, increase our national debt, not to be extinguished or paid off, but to be a lasting burden on the people. But, say the honorable committee, our honor requires it. It is well; I honor the spirit and magnanimity of the committee, and have no doubt of their courage and zeal for our country's rights. But, sir, you must take young men for action--old men for counsel. It is an easy matter to go to law or war, but it is a hard matter to get out of it. The gentleman from Maryland, (Mr. WRIGHT,) in defending the character of the soldier, has given us a quotation, viz:

"Honor and shame from no condition rise, Act well your part, there all the honor lies."

I will give him another, from the same authority, viz:

"A wit's a feather, a chiefs a rod;[18] An honest man's the noblest work of God."

But, apart from this, let us suppose war, and admit that it will be successful, so far as proposed--the British driven from the Canadas and Halifax, and their trade intercepted for years to an extensive amount--what then has she to hope or fear from us? Nothing. Will she then respect our rights? No. But I will suppose that we force her to a treaty of amity and commerce, acknowledging our rights to the utmost of our wishes; how long will she keep it? Not an hour longer than suits her convenience or interest. There is no trust to be put in her compacts. Witness Erskine's arrangement. I say, keep on your restrictions; keep the country in peace, if possible, under all your privations, and they are many. Has not our country increased in wealth and population, in a superior degree to any country on earth? Are we not at this moment in the enjoyment of peace and plenty at home--every man under his own vine and fig-tree, and none to make him afraid--with complete protection for person and property? Yes. But our merchants must be protected--they have a right to our protection, say some--it is the merchant that gives life and spring to agriculture. I deny it. It is the planter--the cultivator--that is the foundation on which every other branch of our associated population depends; and it is the surplus of his productions that makes the merchant, and his profits that make the banks. You have made many laws for their protection; they have disobeyed them all, and will disobey them. Have they not told you, continually, to let them alone; that they knew their own business best? Sir, before I would engage in a war, to which I could not see a prospect of a favorable issue, I would let them alone. Sir, the President is made, by the constitution, the treaty-making power; he is also to give us the state of the Union. He is the Executive. He has given us the state of the Union, and made his requisitions; and if I give him what he asks, I give him enough; and that I am willing to give, and more, when he shall require it. But I am not to be forced further yet. It appears to me that the honorable committee has a mind to Gideonize us--rejecting the fearful and faint-hearted. Will they prove us by the waters, and reject all such as will not lap as the dog lappeth? For, sir, they have told us that all that did not intend to vote for such ulterior measures as they might have occasion hereafter to bring forward, ought not to vote for the resolutions. Now, sir, it remains for me to tell them and the House, that I will not leave the ranks of my country. I will vote for the resolutions, and consider myself at liberty to vote hereafter as the nature of the case may require, and my conscience shall direct. I have no more to say at this time.

MONDAY, December 16.

Foreign Relations.

The House then resumed the consideration of the unfinished business, being the report of the Committee of Foreign Relations.

Mr. RANDOLPH said that he could not express his deep sense of the politeness of the House, except by the regret he felt at the very poor return which they were about to receive for their indulgence. He lamented that it was not in his power to thank, in the name of all the old Republicans of 1798 and 1799, his worthy friend from North Carolina, (Mr. STANFORD,) for the sound, sensible, pertinent, and constitutional speech, which he had delivered the other day against this resolution. But he feared, if a writ were to issue against that old party--as had been facetiously said, in another body, of our valiant Army--it would be impossible for a constable with a search warrant to find it. There must be a return of non est inventus. Death, resignation, and desertion had thinned their ranks. They had disappeared. New men and new doctrines had succeeded. He was astonished at the frailty of some memories; or rather, at their aptness to remember to forget every thing but what subserved their present purposes.

The nation had been brought into its present alarming and unprecedented situation by means in nowise unaccountable--by steps as direct and successive as Hogarth's celebrated series of prints, "The Rake's Progress," beginning at the gaming table and ending in a jail, or in bedlam. Our difficulties began to show themselves in 1805 and 1806, when a wise man from the East (Bidwell) was sent to govern the American House of Commons, in quality of manager. With what degree of fidelity he had discharged this duty, we might judge from that which he had since displayed in far inferior trusts. We had commenced our system somewhat on the plan of Catharine of Russia, when she lent her nominal aid to the coalition; we had dealt even more profusely than she in manifestoes; we began, under the instigation of mercantile cupidity, to contend by proclamations and resolutions for the empire of the ocean. But, instead of confining ourselves as she had done to this bloodless warfare, we must copy the wise example of her successors, and after our battle of Friedland, he supposed, we also should have our peace of Tilsit. He gave the little minority praise for having kept the Administration in check, under the salutary restraint of a rigorous examination of their acts--although the Administration had run away with the credit of wishing to take a strong attitude, and had thrown the blame of thwarting their measures on the opposition. That opposition had been composed of all sects and persuasions; but he now perceived that the greater part of them (the Federalists) had gone over to the Court party, for a very obvious reason--because they foresee at the end of the journey, Mr. Speaker, that your defeat will secure their triumph. I wish the gentlemen on my left (the majority) joy of their new travelling companions.

The gentleman from Maryland had expressed surprise at Mr. RANDOLPH'S manner of speaking of our origin from an English stock. Could that gentleman repose his head upon his pillow without returning thanks to God that he was descended from English parentage? Whence but from that origin came all the blessings of life, so far as political privileges are concerned? To what is it owing that we are at this moment deliberating under the forms of a free representative government? Suppose we had been colonies of any other European nation--compare our condition with that of the Spanish, Portuguese, or French settlements in America? To what was our superiority owing? To our Anglo-Saxon race. Suppose we had descended from those nations--from the last, especially, which stood self-condemned, on her own confession, as incapable of free government, hugging her chains, glorying in her shame, priding herself in the slave's last poor distinction, the splendor of her tyrant master? Had we sprung from the loins of Frenchmen, (he shuddered at the thought!) where would have been that proud spirit of resistance to Ministerial encroachment on our rights and liberties, which achieved our independence? We should have submitted to the tea tax, the stamp act, and the whole train of Grenville and North ministerial oppression. That which we lifted our hands against in determined scorn, would have been deemed an indulgence. Look at the province of New Spain, or Mexico, as it is, not with strict propriety, called. With a physical force greatly superior to ours in 1776, she had not dared to burst the chains of Spanish despotism, divided, weakened, almost extinct as was the Spanish monarchy. Mr. R. adverted to historical documents to show that America ought to be proud of her Anglo-Saxon descent. We were vastly particular about the breed of our horses, cattle, and sheep, but careless of the breed of human nature. And yet to our Anglo-Saxon origin we owed our resistance to British tyranny. Who were the members of our first Congress? From Massachusetts, Samuel Adams, (and t'other Adams too,) Robert Treat Paine, not Tom. From Connecticut, Roger Sherman, a man of the most profound political wisdom. From New York, James Duane, John Jay. From New Jersey, William Livingston. From Pennsylvania, Thomas Mifflin. From Delaware, Cæsar Rodney, Thomas McKean. From Maryland, William Paca. From Virginia, Peyton Randolph, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Edmund Pendleton. From South Carolina, Henry Middleton, John Rutledge, Christopher Gadsden, Edward Rutledge. In what school had these illustrious men formed those noble principles of civil liberty asserted by their eloquence and maintained by their arms? Among the grievances stated in their remonstrance to the King, a "standing army" met us at the threshold. It was curious to see in that list of wrongs, so many that had since been self-inflicted by us.

It had been asked, why was the country unprepared for defence? Was he expected to answer this question? The Administration and their overwhelming majorities must answer it. They had wantoned in the plenitude of their power. Who could say them nay? Was it Mr. RANDOLPH'S fault that the gentleman from South Carolina had never, in the course of his extensive experience, heard of a proposition to arm the whole body of the militia? which had been damned with a faint appropriation of two hundred thousand dollars, when millions were lavished upon miserable oyster boats. The Clerk of the Senate could not forbear a sneer when he read the title of the bill, at the recollection of the means to enforce it. Mr. R. had proposed himself an annual million until the work should be accomplished. He would forever stand up for the militia. It was not in the scoffs of the epaulette gentry, who, for any service they have seen, are the rawest militia, to degrade them in his eyes. Who were they? Ourselves--the country. Arm them and you are safe, beyond the possibility of danger. Yearly did the standing army sweep off the money, while the militia received empty praise. He would rather see the thing reversed. But there will forever be a Court and Country party. The standing army is the devoted creature of the Court. It must forever be so. Can we wonder that it should be cherished by its master? He spoke of a mercenary soldier in terms of the strongest abhorrence. He would ever uphold the militia; and he detested standing armies, as the profligate instruments of despotism, as the bloodhounds of hell. They would support any and every existing Government. In all history he remembered only one instance of their deserting their Government and taking part with the people; and that was when the Duke of Orleans had bribed the army of the last of the Bourbon Kings. A mercenary soldier was disgusting to our senses; was odious and detestable to the eye of reason, republicanism and religion. Yet, that "mere machine of murder," rude as it is, was the manufacturer of all the Cæsars, and Cromwells, and Bonapartes, of the earth; consecrated by a people's curse, not loud but deep, to the infernal gods. As from the filth of the kennel and common sewer, spread the pestilence that carried havoc through a great city, so from this squalid, outcast, homeless wretch sprung the scourge of military despotism. And yet we are told that there was no danger from an army of 30,000 or 40,000 men. With 5,000 Cæsar had passed the Rubicon. With 22,000 he fought the battle of Pharsalia, which rendered him master of the world. To come to later times--what number had Bonaparte, when, deserting his companions in arms, he returned a solitary fugitive from Egypt, to overturn that Government, which if it had possessed one particle of energy, if it had been possible for the civil authority to cope with military power, would have cashiered him for having ruined one of the best-appointed fleets and armies that ever sailed from a European port? Well might the father of political wisdom (Lord Chatham) say to the Parliament of England, "entrench yourselves in parchment to the teeth, the sword will find a passage to the vitals of the constitution." As good a Republican as ever sat on that floor, (Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun,) had dissolved his political friendship with the Earl of Sunderland, when he found him supporting an army; and the event justified his sagacity. Cromwell, the affected patron of liberty, always encouraged the army. We know the consequence. It was a fundamental principle of free Government that a Legislature which would preserve its liberty must avoid that canker, a standing army. Are we to forget, as chimerical, our notions of this institution, which we imbibed from our very cradles, which are imprinted on our Bills of Rights and Constitutions, which we avowed under the reign of John Adams? Are they to be scourged out of us by the birch of the unfledged political pedagogues of the day? If he were the enemy of this Government, could he reconcile it to his principles, he would follow the example set him in another quarter, and say to the majority, go to your inevitable destruction! He likened the people under this joint operation of the two parties, Ministerial and Federal, to the poor client between two lawyers, or the cloth between the tailor's shears.

He was glad to hear from his venerable friend that this was not to be a party war. When the last additional force bill was raised, to which this was about to be superadded, it was an indispensable preliminary to an appointment, to sign, or to promise to sign, the thirty-nine articles of the creed of the reigning political church. But now the political millennium was at hand--already had John Adams and Citizen Genet laid down, like the lion and the lamb, in the same fold. And if they were not joined by their fellow-laborer in Newgate, it was his keeper's fault, not that of his inclination. Citizen Genet, now an American patriot of the first order, who extols "our WASHINGTON;" the champion of the laws of nations; the vindicator of American rights against foreign (and, of course, French) aggression! He was glad to hear that it was not to be a war for the protection of manufactures. To domestic manufactures, in the true sense of the term, he had always been, and ever should be, a friend; he had taken a pride in clothing himself in them until it was attempted to be made a political test. He abhorred tests of all sorts, political and religious, and never would submit to them. He was sick of this cant of patriotism, which extended to a man's victuals, drink, and clothes. He had, from a sort of obstinacy that belonged to him, laid aside the external use of these manufactures; but he was their firm friend, and of the manufacturers also. They were no new things to him; no Merino hobby of the day; he had known them from his infancy. He had been almost tempted to believe, from the similarity of character and avocations, that Hector had a Virginian wife; that Lucretia herself--for she had displayed the spirit of a Virginian matron--was a Virginian lady. Where were they found? Spinning among their handmaids! What was the occupation of a Virginian wife--her highest ambition? To attend to her domestic and household cares; to dispense medicine and food to the sick; to minister to the comfort of her family, her servants, and her poor neighbors, where she had any. At the sight of such a woman his heart bowed down, and did her reverence. Compare with such a being your gad-about card-players. Mr. RANDOLPH said that if the Empress Queen had presented herself decked in the spoils of a ravaged world, at the late exhibition, in contrast with our American matrons, bearing the triumphs of their own ingenuity and industry, we should have looked upon her, and all her splendor, with scorn and contempt in our hearts, although, from politeness to the sex, as gentlemen, we should have suppressed the sentiment.

He could not conclude without noticing the parallel attempted to be drawn by the gentleman from South Carolina, Mr, CALHOUN--not quite indeed after the manner of Plutarch--between himself and an illustrious statesman, (Lord Chatham.) The gentleman had been pleased to say, that at the mention of his name, Mr. RANDOLPH'S heart had seemed to smite him. It had indeed smitten him: from a sensation which he trusted that gentleman might never feel: against which he seemed well secured. It was a consciousness of his own unworthiness to sustain the high duties imposed upon him by his country, which the recollection of that great man's name had, at the moment, called up. He felt humbled in the contemplation of his worth. Would to God! he possessed some portion of his powers; that he could borrow his eagle-eye, his withering look, the unrivalled majesty of his manner, the magic of his voice, at once the music and the thunder of the spheres, to rouse the House to a sense of their country's danger. In one respect, however, he might boast that he possessed some qualities in common with that immortal statesman. He might assert as lofty a spirit, as unyielding an adherence to the deliberate convictions of his own understanding, as Lord Chatham himself; who, because he set his face against corruption, and had the art of making every coward scoundrel in the nation his foe--concentrating upon himself the "rays of royal indignation, which might illumine but could not consume him;" who, because with intuitive glance he penetrated, resolved and combined every interest of his country, and each design of her enemies, and reached his object "by the flashes of his mind, which, like those of his eye, might be felt but could not be followed," was by the plodding, purblind, groping politicians of the day, attempted to be held up as an empty declaimer, a theatrical gesticulator. Gentlemen must not expect him to quit the anchorage of his own judgment in order to pursue the ignes fatui that wander about Goose Creek.[19] Mr. Speaker, my heart is full--the recollection of that matchless orator and statesman has filled me with unspeakable feelings. To excite them there was no need of the cruel and insulting comparison which the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. CALHOUN) had attempted to draw between that gigantic statesman and the pigmy who now addresses you.

The question was now taken on concurring with the Committee of the Whole in their agreement to the second resolution, which is in the following words:

"That an additional force of ---- thousand regular troops ought to be immediately raised, to serve for three years; and that a bounty in lands ought to be given to encourage enlistment."

And carried as follows:

YEAS.--Willis Alston, jr., William Anderson, Stevenson Archer, Daniel Avery, Ezekiel Bacon, John Baker, David Bard, Josiah Bartlett, Burwell Bassett, William W. Bibb, William Blackledge, Harmanus Bleecker, Thomas Blount, Adam Boyd, James Breckenridge, Robert Brown, William A. Burwell, William Butler, John C. Calhoun, Langdon Cheves, James Cochran, John Clopton, Thomas B. Cooke, Lewis Condit, William Crawford, Roger Davis, John Dawson, Joseph Desha, Samuel Dinsmoor, Elias Earle, James Emott, William Findlay, James Fisk, Asa Fitch, Meshack Franklin, Thomas Gholson, Thomas R. Gold, Charles Goldsborough, Peterson Goodwyn, Isaiah L. Green, Felix Grundy, Bolling Hall, Obed Hall, John A. Harper, Aylett Hawes, Jacob Hufty, John M. Hyneman, Richard M. Johnson, Joseph Kent, Philip B. Key, William R. King, Abner Lacock, Joseph Lefever, Peter Little, Robert Le Roy Livingston, William Lowndes, Aaron Lyle, Nathaniel Macon, George C. Maxwell, Thomas Moore, Archibald McBryde, William McCoy, Samuel McKee, Alexander McKim, Arunah Metcalf, James Milnor, Samuel L. Mitchill, James Morgan, Jeremiah Morrow, Hugh Nelson, Anthony New, Thomas Newbold, Thomas Newton, Stephen Ormsby, William Paulding, jr., Israel Pickens, William Piper, Benjamin Pond, Peter B. Porter, Josiah Quincy, William Reed, Henry M. Ridgely, Samuel Ringgold, John Rhea, John Roane, Jonathan Roberts, William Rodman, Ebenezer Sage, Thomas Sammons, Ebenezer Seaver, John Sevier, Adam Seybert, Samuel Shaw, John Smilie, George Smith, John Smith, Silas Stow, William Strong, George Sullivan, Peter Tallman, Uri Tracy, George M. Troup, Charles Turner, jr., Pierre Van Cortlandt, jr., Robert Whitehall, David R. Williams, William Widgery, Thomas Wilson, Robert Wright, and Richard Wynn--110.

NAYS.--Abijah Bigelow, Elijah Brigham, Epaphroditus Champion, Martin Chittenden, John Davenport, jr., William Ely, Edwin Gray, Richard Jackson, jr., Lyman Law, Joseph Lewis, jr., Jonathan O. Mosely, Joseph Pearson, Timothy Pitkin, jr., Elisha R. Potter, John Randolph, Daniel Sheffey, Richard Stanford, Lewis B. Sturges, Samuel Taggart, Benjamin Tallmadge, Laban Wheaton, and Leonard White--22.

The question was then taken on the third resolution, in the following words:

"That it is expedient to authorize the President, under proper regulations, to accept the service of any number of volunteers, not exceeding fifty thousand; to be organized, trained, and held in readiness to act on such service as the exigencies of the Government may require."

And carried: yeas 113--nays 16.

The question was next taken on the fourth resolution, in the following words:

"That the President be authorized to order out from time to time such detachments of the militia, as in his opinion the public service may require."

And carried: yeas 120--nays 8.

The question was then taken on the fifth resolution, in the words following:

"That all the vessels not now in service belonging to the Navy, and worthy of repair, be immediately fitted up and put in commission."

And carried: yeas 111--nays 15.

The question was put from the Chair on the sixth resolution, in these words:

"6. That it is expedient to permit our merchant vessels, owned exclusively by resident citizens, and commanded and navigated solely by citizens, to arm under proper regulations, to be prescribed by law, in self-defence, against all unlawful proceedings towards them on the high seas."

When the resolution was, on motion, ordered to lie on the table.

The three first resolutions, for filling up the present establishment, for raising an additional number of regulars, and authorizing the acceptance of volunteers' services, were referred to the committee who reported them, with instructions to bring in bills in pursuance thereof.

TUESDAY, December 17.

Mississippi Territory--Ordinance of 1787.

Mr. POINDEXTER, from the committee to whom the said report was committed, reported the same with an amendment; which was read, and referred to the Committee of the Whole on Monday next. The report is as follows:

The committee, to whom was referred the memorial of the Legislative Council and House of Representatives of the Mississippi Territory, and the petition of sundry citizens thereof, praying to be admitted into the Union of the United States on an equal footing with the original States; and also the petition of the inhabitants of West Florida, setting forth their desire to be annexed to said Territory, for reasons therein contained, have had these subjects under consideration, and beg leave to submit the following report:

That there has existed in the Mississippi Territory a temporary government, founded on the ordinance for the government of the Territory Northwest of the river Ohio, since the eleventh day of April, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight. That, although this ordinance has undergone some modifications, extending, in a limited degree, the rights and privileges of the citizens, it still contains provisions incompatible with political liberty, and unfavorable to a due and impartial administration of justice, in the redress of private wrongs and injuries. The Chief Executive Magistrate is charged with the execution of the laws; is commander-in-chief of the militia; has the sole power of appointment to offices, civil and military, within the Territory, and the removal of these officers at pleasure; is vested with an unqualified veto on all bills passed by the other co-ordinate branches of the Legislature; and is, moreover, clothed with the odious and arbitrary authority to prorogue and dissolve the General Assembly whenever, in his opinion, it shall be expedient. These high and regal prerogatives, constituting some of the most obvious characteristics which distinguish an absolute monarchy from the constitution of a free State, are confided to the discretionary exercise of a Governor, who is neither chosen by, nor responsible to, the people. He is often a total stranger to the local interests and circumstances of the country over which he possesses such unlimited control, and is accountable only for malconduct or corruption in office to the President of the United States. The only security which exists against the frequent and wanton abuse of these powers is to be found in the mild and conciliatory disposition uniformly manifested by the General Government towards its territories. But experience has shown that, in all colonial governments, officers situated at a remote distance from the tribunal to which they are responsible, too frequently "feel power and forget right;" and, by eluding the vigilance of rigid investigation, are enabled to practise acts of oppression with impunity.

The above summary of Executive powers, so opposite in their nature to those principles which form the basis of the Federal Constitution, and which are transfused through the constitution of the several States, is sufficient to show that the people are deprived of all participation in the choice of those who administer the laws, and that public functionaries are rendered independent of the community whose interests are confided to their management and discretion. These restrictions on the rights of the people can be justified only by the most evident necessity, resulting from peculiar and unavoidable circumstances. Your committee, therefore, consider it an act both of strict justice and sound policy to advance the respective territories of the United States to the grade of a separate commonwealth, whenever they shall contain the number of inhabitants necessary to entitle them, under the ratio established by law, to a Representative in the Congress of the United States. On the subject of population, there exists no difficulty, whether the territory be taken in connection with West Florida or with its present limits. From the official returns of the census, taken during the summer of the past year, it appears that there were, in the Mississippi Territory, the number of forty thousand three hundred and fifty-two souls. This enumeration, it is alleged, fell considerably short of the actual population of the Territory at that time; and, without casting the most remote censure on the officers who were employed in that service, such a suggestion is strongly supported by the vast extent of country over which the settlements are dispersed. It also appears to your committee that the progressive emigration from the old States to this section of the Union, added to the length of time which it will require to form a constitution, and put the same in operation, afford satisfactory pledges that, anterior to the final admission of the Territory to the rights of State sovereignty, the number of its inhabitants will amount to at least sixty thousand, whereby they will possess the unqualified right, in conformity with articles of cession and agreement between the United States and Georgia, to be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States.

Your committee cannot forbear to express their decided opinion, that, where no constitutional difficulty occurs, the formation of new States on the southern extremity of the United States ought not to be delayed.

Under these impressions, your committee submit the following resolution:

Resolved, That it is expedient to admit all that tract of country, bounded north by a line drawn due east from the river Yazoo, where it unites with the Mississippi, to the river Chatahouchy, and down said river to the thirty-first degree of latitude; thence, along said degree of latitude, to a point opposite the river Perdido; thence to the confluence of said last mentioned river, with the Gulf of Mexico; and thence, in a direct line through the middle of the Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, to the junction of the Iberville with the river Mississippi, and up said river to the above-mentioned river Yazoo, into the Union of the United States, on an equal footing with the original States.

WEDNESDAY, December 18.

Mr. RHEA presented petitions from Louisiana Territory, in favor of the second grade of Government.--Referred.

Battle on the Wabash.

Mr. ORMSBY moved the following resolution:

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to inquire whether any, and if any, what provision ought to be made by law for paying the officers and soldiers of the militia who served under Governor Harrison, in the late expedition against the Indians on the Wabash, to compensate them for the loss of horses, and for the relief of the widows and orphans of those who fell in the action of the seventh November last; and that they have leave to report by bill or otherwise.

The said resolution was read, and ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. MCKEE moved the following resolution:

Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to cause to be laid before this House such information as may be in the possession of the Government, and proper to be communicated, on the following points:

1. Any evidence tending to show whether any and what agency the subjects, either public or private, of any foreign power, may have had in exciting the Indians on the Western frontier to hostility against the United States;

2. The evidence of hostility towards the United States, on the part of the Shawanee Prophet and his adherents, anterior to the commencement of the late campaign against them, under the command of Governor Harrison;

3. The orders and authority vested in Governor Harrison by the United States, under which the late expedition against the Indians was carried on; and such other information relating to the subject, as, in the opinion of the President, may be proper to be communicated to this House.

The resolution was read, and ordered to lie on the table.

THURSDAY, December 19.

Battle of Tippecanoe.

A Message was received from the President of the United States, transmitting two letters received from Governor Harrison, of the Indiana Territory, reporting the particulars of the issue of the expedition under his command on the Wabash. The Message and letters were read, and referred to Mr. MCKEE, Mr. SEVIER, Mr. BRECKENRIDGE, Mr. MORROW, Mr. ALSTON, Mr. LEFEVRE, and Mr. MAXWELL, to consider and report thereon to the House.

Foreign Relations.

The House resumed the consideration of the sixth resolution, reported by the Committee of Foreign Relations, in the following words:

"6. That it is expedient to permit our merchant vessels, owned exclusively by resident citizens, to arm, under proper regulations, to be prescribed by law, in self-defence, against all unlawful proceedings towards them on the high seas."

Mr. ARCHER.--The sixth resolution of the Committee of Foreign Relations being now on its passage, I must express my sorrow that I am compelled to obtrude my humble observations upon the fatigued patience of the House, and the more exhausted patience of the nation. As I shall vote against the resolution, I feel it to be my indispensable duty to detail to the House the reasons by which my vote shall be actuated. Many honorable members may, perhaps, conceive that it would be more proper for me to reserve my remarks for the bill, when it shall be reported; but, sir, I have ever held it to be my sacred duty to oppose, even in its incipient state, every measure which may be hostile to the rights, or dangerous to the interests of my country, lest, by not seeming to oppose, my conduct should be construed into an encouragement of such a measure.

For what purpose, sir, let me ask, have we adopted the resolution preceding this? Was it for the purpose of destroying the Government? Was it that the members of that Army should sheath their swords in the bowels of the liberties of their country? Who will impute to this body so disgraceful a motive? Are you about to raise a standing army, not for the purpose of making preparations for war, but with a view of intimidating Great Britain to recede from her unjust infractions of our neutral rights? Do not think that she will be intimidated by any preparations which you can make, however formidable they may be. She knows, too well, your conduct heretofore, to believe you are in earnest. She knows that, many years ago, you resolved to resist, but that this honorable determination terminated in an empty resolution. She knows, too well, that you have been, heretofore, prodigal in words, and parsimonious in spirited action. I do not set myself up for a prophet; but, mark me, if it be not true, that Great Britain will not do you justice till you carry the war out of this hall into the heart of her colonial territories.

Under the firmest conviction, then, as I am, that war between the United States and Great Britain--if we have any respect for our honor as a nation--will be an event of inevitable consequence, I have in vain searched for the reasons which would induce us to authorize our merchant vessels to arm against all unlawful molestations on the high seas. As the resolution is, in its nature, general, every man must see, on the contrary, the dangers necessarily attendant upon the adoption of such a measure. You are now on the very verge of war, and you should, therefore, be careful not to multiply your enemies. You may, by passing this resolution, make France your enemy. You may enlist Denmark and other powers of Europe against you. This is an event which would be deeply deprecated; and, that it should happen, is nothing improbable; for your merchants, armed as they will be, in defence of their commerce, may select the nation who is to be your enemy. If they are molested in their commerce, whether lawful or unlawful, they will be disposed to resist. At any rate, they will be the judges of the juncture when their interests may call for the interposition of force, and will exercise that force according to their own whims and caprices. They sail on the ocean clothed with national authority, and for their actions, whether lawful or unlawful, you will be compelled to answer. Sir, I respect the highly honorable occupation of a merchant, but am not disposed to carry that respect so far as to give my sanction to the adoption of a measure which may jeopardize the peace, and endanger the interests of my country. If this resolution were to authorize an arming against Great Britain alone, this argument would have no effect; but as it has a view to a general arming against all nations, this reasoning is conclusive on my mind, and must operate in the same way upon all men who will give the subject a dispassionate consideration. The consequences of such a measure are plain and obvious. Now, let us examine whether there exists any reason sufficiently powerful to outweigh these considerations.

What is the object, and the only one too, as stated by the honorable chairman of the Committee of Foreign Relations, (Mr. PORTER,) for the adoption of this measure? Your vessels will be armed and prepared for privateering the moment war shall be declared. Why, sir, do you think the merchants will believe that you really intend to go to war? And, if they doubt upon this subject, do you suppose they will be so regardless of their own interests as to expend their capital in fitting out privateers, when no absolute certainty exists that war is your object, or your serious intention? It would, certainly, be an object of no inconsiderable moment to have privateers prepared to harass and disturb the commerce of Great Britain in the event of war. If this be your object, you are taking a very improper course to obtain it. If such be your object, take some decided and energetic step which will convince even the incredulous that you will resort to the sword to obtain justice, and your end will soon be effected. But, do not depress the hopes of the nation by sanctioning this tame, imbecile, and temporizing system.

What is the spirit that breathes in the five resolutions which have been adopted--resolutions which were in entire accordance with my feelings? Is it not a spirit of war? Do they not bear a hostile aspect? Are they not calculated to induce Great Britain to believe that forbearance on our part has terminated, and that we are resolved, unless she speedily extend to us full and ample justice, to decide the contest by the sword? Have you any thing to hope, by operating upon the minds of the rulers of that nation, a conviction that you are boasting no longer? If you do entertain such a hope, I pray you, do not adopt this measure--a measure which will show her the fluctuation of our opinions, and the repugnancy of our plans; a measure which will lull to sleep her fears of war, and convince her not only of your indecision, but of your timidity to unsheath your sword in defence of rights clear and undisputed, and in avenging injuries too glaring for the dignity and honor of a nation to submit to. Are the wishes of this nation to be unattended to? Ought we not to relieve its anxieties? Or, are we to tantalize their hopes with energy in one law and imbecility in another? Are the merchants to be told we will protect their commerce? By what? By granting them a right which nature has already given to them? Is commerce to be protected by abridging the natural rights of the people? Is this measure no abridgment of their rights? Does it not confine the legality of arming to resident citizens alone? Look at the measure as you please, it is a dead letter. Is this the period of all others to be selected to incorporate unmeaning laws in the body of your statute book? Do not satirize, by such an act, the manly sensibility of the people. Do not paralyze the national arm. No; let us do justice to the nation by the adoption of such measures as will renovate the depressed spirits of our constituents; which will prevent them from falling into that destructive and deadly languor which this resolution is calculated to produce.

The question was then taken to concur with the Committee of the whole House on the state of the Union in their agreement to the said sixth resolution, as reported by the Committee on Foreign Relations; and resolved in the affirmative--yeas 97, nays 22.

SATURDAY, December 21.

Statutes of Limitation.

Mr. GHOLSON, from the Committee of Claims, who were instructed by a resolution of the House of the 11th ultimo, to inquire into the expediency of repealing or suspending the various acts of limitation, so far as they operate to bar the payment of certain descriptions of claims, made a report thereon.--Referred to the Committee of the Whole on the report of the Committee of Claims on the petition of Rees Nanna and others. The report is as follows:

That they have bestowed on the resolution that full consideration to which it was entitled. They felt, on the one hand, sincere solicitude to devise some just and adequate method of satisfying the claims in question; while, on the other, they were forcibly struck with the unavoidable scenes of speculation and fraud which would ensue the repeal or suspension of any of the acts of limitation, whereby those claims are barred. If the old soldier, his widow, or his orphan, were alone to be benefited by such suspension, your committee would not hesitate to recommend it. Past experience, however, hath evidently shown that similar legislative indulgences have enured almost exclusively to the advantage of the unprincipled speculator, and those who avail themselves of the ignorance and subsist upon the misfortunes of others. We have innumerable examples of the truth of this position, in the consequences that resulted not only from the various suspensions of these acts which have hitherto taken place, but more especially from the adoption of the Funding System. It is deemed unnecessary to enlarge upon the consequences; they are too well known.

Although a communication received from the Treasury at a former session holds out an opinion that there are in the possession of that Department sufficient checks and guards to protect the United States from imposition and fraud in the payment of a certain part of those claims, the committee are differently impressed. They have seen a transcript from the books of the Treasury, published to the world, exhibiting the names of a certain class of claimants; and to suppose that a facility of this kind, thus offered to speculative artifice and management, would not be seized upon and used by the speculator to impose upon Government, is to suppose a thing contrary to all experience. The committee feel themselves by no means able to draw a line of distinction between a just claim liquidated and a just one unliquidated; and to attempt the invidious task of distinction in point of merit, where there can be no difference, and to open the statutes of limitation in order to relieve a part or a few favorite classes of claims, does not comport, in the view of your committee, with any principle of fairness, or with that equal system of distributive justice which ought to be dispensed toward all. When they take a retrospective view of the subject, and find that most of those statutes were first passed in the times and under the patriot counsels of the old Congress, and that the more general one which took effect in 1794 was passed under the Administration of General Washington, who was himself the chief of soldiers as he was the chief of their patrons and friends in every station; but he was equally the friend of his country, and gave that act the sanction of his name, as founded, at least, in a policy of general justice and right, which the Government had been at length obliged to resort to and maintain in self-defence; that every Congress since has invariably adhered to the general policy of those laws; and, after the lapse of so many years, when the difficulty of doing justice has increased with the increase of time, and when a partial repeal would but tend to increase the discontent and dissatisfaction of every class of claimants which should remain unprovided for, the committee cannot, from any view they have been able to take of the subject, recommend the repeal or suspension of any of those statutes. They would, therefore, beg leave to submit the following resolution:

Resolved, That it is not expedient to repeal or suspend any of the acts of limitation, whereby the aforesaid descriptions of claims are barred.[20]

The report was ordered to lie on the table.

MONDAY, December 23.

Rules and Orders--Previous Question.

The House resumed the consideration of the unfinished business of Saturday. The amendment proposed by Mr. NELSON being again read, as follows:

"That when the previous question is ordered to be taken, upon the main question being put, every member, who has not already spoken, shall have liberty to speak once:"

Mr. GOLD said the amendment now offered to the rules of the House, secures to every member the right of speaking at least once on every question before the House. The liberty of speech, and freedom of debate, are sacred by the constitution; and to refuse all debate, to deny us the privilege of speaking at all, on the most important questions of peace and war, is a subversion of the first principles of the constitution. And what is to justify this measure of imposing silence? It is said, the right of debate has been abused. Let gentlemen beware how, for an occasional abuse of a right, they take away--destroy the right itself. What right, in the whole charter of our rights, has not at some time been abused? Man is frail, and why should not, at times of public agitation and concussion of parties, abuses arise? debate become angry and be prolonged? And for this, is the principle to be adopted, that the right shall be forever suppressed and destroyed?--the principle that absolute silence shall be imposed on a minority? Sir, Philip, the tyrant of Macedon, disliked the freedom of speech and debate in Athens: it annoyed him; for this cause, Demosthenes was pursued to the altar, where he expired. The principle contended for by the majority (supposed abuse) will be found to justify the most odious usurpations recorded in history; liberty is abused, and chains are forged to restrain it.

Gentlemen of the majority insist, that the rule will not be abused; that the majority will not execute the rule arbitrarily. The amendment, now offered to the rules, stipulates only for liberty to each member to speak once. Now, sir, if this be denied, and the rule is ever executed, the abuse is inevitable, it is necessarily involved in the very execution of the rule.

Neither the journals of our State Legislatures nor the laws of the Parliament of Great Britain afford examples for thus arbitrarily proceeding. Debate is admitted in the British Parliament on the previous question; our rules exclude it on both the previous and main question. Beside, sir, I need only refer gentlemen to the manual of parliamentary law, from the hand of the third President of the United States, to show that the previous question was confined to subjects of delicacy, which a due regard to the interests of the State or its Government forbade to be agitated. How much, sir, has this question been perverted from its proper province, to silence all debate and force the question, the passage of the law! Such measures are dangerous to freedom, and afford, in evil times, the most fatal examples.

Mr. SMILIE said he was a friend to freedom of debate, but that there was a difference between this, and that abuse of it when you cannot get a decision without an exertion of physical strength. This has been our case several times. The rule now proposed to be altered is the old rule, and is only restored. We very well know, that a debate has been often prolonged merely to prevent a decision. We have been kept till ten and twelve o'clock at night, and sometimes till daylight. It is an inconvenience which he at his time of life had seriously felt. There can be no evil from the rule as now established. The responsibility of the majority is such to the people, that, if they should abuse it, as the minority have their privilege, the people will correct it, when the minority shall fairly state it to them. He said the majority were also responsible to the people to transact the public business.

Mr. STANFORD, in reply to Mr. SMILIE, said he did not think it proper to give this dispensing power to the majority, if they by the constitution did not possess it, as he contended they did not. He said we have heard of a sedition law, and the reign of terror. The bill, when first introduced for that law, went to prevent freedom of speech. This rule, in his opinion, much more deserved the character of a "Gag-law," than the Sedition law did.

Mr. WRIGHT mentioned the great abuses of this privilege of the minority the last winter. He said, if we don't establish a written, decent rule, we must have a common law rule, such as they have in the British House of Commons, to shuffle and put down, when the abuse of this privilege becomes enormous.

Mr. QUINCY.--Mr. Speaker, I do not regard this question in the light in which some of its advocates, as well as its opponents, have considered it; as a mere contest for power between the majority and the minority. It is of a higher character. It affects the essential principles of civil liberty, and saps its hopes at its very foundation. I rejoice that the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. NELSON) has limited his proposition, so as to preclude any mistake concerning the object of it. We are not now advocating an unrestrained privilege of debate. The inquiry is, shall a main question ever be taken in this deliberative body, until every member, who has not already spoken, shall have had an opportunity, if he wishes to avail himself of it, to speak at least once upon the question? The ground taken by those who oppose the proposition, is that of necessity and convenience. These are the very points, which, in a free country, ought most vigilantly to be guarded. For it is here that the spirit of despotism always lies in ambush. Under the cover of necessity, or convenience, it steals upon the liberties of a people, and never fails, sooner or later, to make them its prey.

It is not to be denied, that the subject is in some respects difficult to manage, with any hope of convincing. There is a state of feeling, both within this House and out of it, very unpropitious to an impartial debate. In this House it is argued as a question concerning who shall have the power, a majority, or a minority. And as it is agreed, on all hands, that, in the exercise of the power, abuse may happen, the present majority, like all other majorities, have a prevailing inclination to reserve, in their own hands, the exclusive privilege of abuse. And without doors, the subject is of less difficulty. For, of late years, the popular ear has been so vexed with speech upon speech, wind upon wind, the public patience has been so exhausted, in hunting up the solitary grain of sense, hidden in the bushels of chaff, that it is ready to submit to any limitation of a privilege, which subjects it to so irksome a labor. The people are almost ready to exclaim, "do what you will with the liberty of speech, provided you will save us from that fresh of words, with which we are periodically inundated."

Now, this is the very state of the public mind in which the corruption of essential principles commences. Through apparent necessity, or temporary convenience, or disgust at abuse, the popular sentiment is made to acquiesce in the introduction of doctrines vitally inconsistent with the perpetuity of liberty.

I ask the House to consider what is that principle of civil liberty, which is amalgamated and identified with the very existence of a legislative body. In what does it consist? And what is its character? It consists in the right of deliberation. And its character is, that it belongs not to the body, but the individual members constituting the body. The body has the power to control and to regulate its exercise. But it has not the power to take away that right altogether, by the operation of any general principle. An individual member may render himself unworthy of the privilege. He may be set down; he may be denied the right, because he has abused it. But whenever a legislative body assumes to itself the power of stopping, at its will, all debate, at any stage of deliberation, it assumes a power wholly inconsistent with the essential right of deliberation, and totally destructive of that principle of civil liberty which exists, and is identified with the exercise of that right.

The right of every individual member is, in fact, the right of his constituents. He is but their Representative. It is in their majesty, that he appears. It is their right that he reflects. The right of being heard by their Representative is the inherent and absolute right of the people. Now, it is in the essential character of such a right, that it exists, independent, and in despite of any man, or body of men, whatsoever. It is absurd to say, that any right is independent, which depends upon the will of another. It is absurd to say, that any right is absolute, which is wholly relative to the inclination of another; which lasts only as long as he chooses, and terminates at his nod. Now, whether this power be exercised by one, or many, it matters not. The principle of civil liberty is gone, when the inherent and absolute nature of the right is gone.

Apply this reasoning to the case before us. It is impossible to conceal the fact, that as our rules and orders stand, independent of the proposition now offered as an amendment, it is in the power of a majority to preclude all debate, upon any question, and force every member of the House to vote, upon any proposition, without giving him the opportunity of explaining his own reasons, or stating the interests of his constituents. This is undeniable. Is it not, then, plain and conclusive, that, as our rules and orders now stand, according to recent construction, every member of this House holds his right of speaking, not on the principle of his constituents, whose Representative he is, but upon the will of the majority of this House? For that which another may at any time take away from me, I hold not by my own right, but at his will. Can any thing be more obviously at variance with the spirit of the constitution and the first principles of civil liberty?

Let not any man say this power will not be abused. In the nature of things it must be abused. This is the favorite argument of every despotism, and, of course, will not fail to be urged when it is about to plant itself in the very temple of liberty.

I have chosen to consider this subject in relation to the right of the whole body, and of one of its individual members, rather than to that of a majority and minority. The right to speak is an individual right. Limit it as you please, consistent with a single exercise of that right. But when this is taken away, or, which is precisely the same thing so far as it respects the principle of civil liberty, when it is in the power of one or many, at its sovereign will and pleasure, to take it away, there is no longer any right. We have our tenure of speech as the slave has his--at the will of a master.

But it is said that the Legislature must sometimes "act," and that individuals, by an abuse of this liberty of speech, prevent the whole body from "acting." All I say is, limit the exercise of the right as you please, only do not assume to yourselves the power of taking away the whole right, at your pleasure.

It is in this doctrine, of "the necessity of acting," that lies the whole mystery of that error which we are now combating. Strictly speaking, a Legislative body never "acts." Its province is to deliberate and decide. "Action" is, alone, correctly attributable to the Executive. And it will be found, that all the cases in which this necessity of "action" has been urged, have been cases in which the Legislative body has departed from its appropriate duties of deliberation and decision, and descended to be an instrument, or engine, of the Executive. I hesitate not to say, that this position may be proved by almost every instance in which this necessity of action has been urged. It was an Executive haste to its own purposes, which prevailed upon the Legislative body to deny, to its own members, their privileges.

It has been asserted, that "if this amendment passes, this will be the only deliberative body in the world which cannot stop debate." On the other hand I assert, that if this amendment does not pass, this will be the only deliberative body in the world, pretending to be free, in which it is in the power of a majority to force a decision, without any deliberation. It is not true that, in the British Parliament, the previous question stops debate and forces decision on the main question without deliberation. The previous question there, if decided in the negative, suppresses debate, by postponing the main question. And until 1807, the practice and rules of this House permitted debate of the main question, after an affirmative decision of a previous question. Whoever undertakes to examine the subject will find it as I have stated.

It is not true, that this power ever was, or ever can be necessary, in a Legislative body. In every case in which the previous question, according to recent construction, has been pressed upon the House, it will be found that there was no National or State necessity for an immediate decision. That is to say, in every instance it will be found, that it was of no sort of public importance whether the main question were taken on this day, on the next, or on a third day. Always the question might have been taken in a reasonable time; and every individual member, who chose to speak, might have had the privilege, if he pleased, of speaking, at least once. As far as I observed, all these pretences of necessity have been easily resolvable into party cunning. The subject was one difficult to maintain. It had popular bearings, which it suited not the pleasure of the majority to have investigated. They pressed the minority to instant decision, by refusing adjournment. And as it happens in all such cases, reaction is equal to action. The minority were put upon their mettle, and they put to trial the mettle of the majority.

It is undoubtedly true, that this power may be sometimes convenient. And this is the whole strength of the argument of those who oppose this proposition. The weak and aged members of the majority have been kept all night from their slumbers, by a hale and sturdy minority; which slumbers they might, by the way, at any moment have enjoyed, if that very majority had yielded the point of adjournment. And is this reason of convenience sufficient, in the estimation of this House, to justify it, in depriving this people, in the person of their Representatives, of the essential right of speaking upon this floor? Is this a justification for such an atrocious and exorbitant grasp at power? Our patriotism, nowadays, can submit to no sacrifices. We are not content with sleeping, if we please, every day in our seats, unless we can sleep also every night of the session in our feather beds. And these feather-bed patriots, as I understand, are all agog for a march into Canada; and, if we believe them, are desirous of nothing so much as showing how those can meet privation and watchfulness in the field, who think of nothing but comfort and sleep upon this floor.

I know there is another argument urged in favor of the assumption of this power by the majority, and that is, the haste and clatter which always attend the end of a session. Let our session be long or short, the event is, in this respect, always nearly the same. What with speeches and postponements, and laying down one piece of business half finished, and taking up another, the latter end of a session is a political chaos. The work of this and the other House, and that of the Palace into the bargain, is in fact sometimes to be washed up, in a night--and the members of all branches are knee-deep and shoulder-deep in the suds. Now, this shows the necessity, not of this unlimited power of the previous question, but of conducting public business with more prospective intelligence. The House is just like all other spendthrifts. It first wastes what is its own, and then seeks how it may make up its deficiency out of the property of other people. We pillage the public liberty, in order to compensate for legislative negligence.

I have often been puzzled to imagine a necessity, which could even apologize for such an assumption of power as the majority, by this new construction of the previous question, are attempting; and, until lately, I did not believe that it could possibly exist. The only case, in which there seemed to me to be an apology for resorting to it, was, the other day, when the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. TROUP) threatened to call the previous question upon the majority themselves. I admired both his manner and the occasion on which he introduced that idea. And really there was something like a necessity. If I understood the view of that honorable gentleman, it was, that he thought there was not fighting matter to spare in the stomachs of the majority; and he threatened them with the previous question, lest, peradventure, the whole war spirit should ooze away through the mouth. In this there was both discretion and patriotism.

Mr. BRIGHAM said, that although he was forward in life, he was but of yesterday of this House, and that the rules and orders were not familiar with him. But he exceedingly regretted that this House, in their wisdom, ever found it expedient or proper to adopt a rule to deprive a minority, or an individual member of this House, of the freedom of debate, the freedom of speech, a privilege so much boasted of in this land of liberty. He observed that he had his rights in common with the other members of the House, and that he had his duties to perform. He was not ambitious to become a public speaker, nor would he say that he supposed he could speak to the edification or satisfaction of the House. But should he, on great questions, be denied the privilege of speaking? Suppose the question of peace or war should assume the aspect of solemnity, and it should become necessary and important that this House be made acquainted with the circumstances and disposition of the citizens of the several sections of the country--and suppose a member who is not much accustomed to speaking, silently sits until those gentlemen who are in the habit, and are fond of speaking, shall have exhausted themselves in debate--shall he, in that case, be denied the right of speaking--shall he be deprived of his constitutional privileges and his constituents of the right of representation on the floor of this House?

He said that he was bound by the oath of God to support the constitution, and to promote the welfare of his country; but, if his mouth is stopped, how can he execute his trust or perform his vows? For this House by a rule to interdict the freedom of speech, is an assumption of power, and a violation of right. He hoped, that the rule under consideration would be modified, and that the proposed amendment would be adopted. He wished that each individual member might be permitted to exercise his right of speaking to any question before the House, at least once, if he chooses.

Mr. NELSON spoke in favor of the amendment. He said he had no hesitation in declaring, that whenever right and expediency shall come in competition, that he should prefer right. He remarked, that the constitution secured the freedom of speech to the citizen. And are we, he asked, to be deprived of it when we come to this House--when we enter this temple of liberty? The attempt is not to suspend merely, but to destroy this right, and because we have experienced some inconvenience from this exercise. He agreed with the gentleman from Massachusetts, (Mr. QUINCY,) that if the House would do their duty, and get the business along in the early part of the session, we should never be in the dilemma the House were in, the last session of Congress; and that an inconvenience was a very poor reason for destroying this right of offering our sentiments. He would rather recommend the turning out of doors a member who should become troublesome in speaking too long, than to suffer him to stay in the House and prevent his uttering his sentiments. Even expulsion would not be a greater infringement of his right. The right of the people is the right of their Representatives to speak, deliberate, and decide. As to the plea of necessity, he protested against it as the plea of tyrants.

Mr. ALSTON, of North Carolina, expressed his astonishment, that the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. NELSON) had assumed the ground he had. He said, there were two parties in this House; and asked, is it ever known how a question will be decided, until it is taken?

Mr. BASSETT said, if a stranger was present, and should hear this debate, he would suppose that the question was now for the first time brought forward for the establishment of the rule, against which so much had been said, when it is well known that it has always been the practice.

Mr. PITKIN said, the amendment now under consideration was proposed in consequence of a decision of the House, at the close of the last session, that when the previous question was decided in the affirmative, there could be no debate on the main question; the amendment, if adopted, allows a member, who has not previously spoken, to speak at least once on the main question, before he is called upon to give his vote upon it.

The principle adopted by the majority, during the last days of the last session, and now supported in the House, is this, that a majority, who may happen to be present, at any time, have it in their power, by means of a previous question, as it is called, to prevent all debate on every question before the House, however important it may be; to seal up the lips of every member, and compel him to vote upon the question without an opportunity of expressing his sentiments upon it, or explaining the reasons of his vote. This, Mr. Speaker, is a principle to which I never have, and to which I never will give my assent. What, sir, let me ask, and where is the rule under which the majority claim to exercise this enormous power--the power of imposing silence upon any member, on this floor?

The rule, under which this power is claimed, is in the following words: "The previous question shall be in this form: Shall the main question be now put?" It shall only be admitted when demanded by five members; and, until it is decided, shall preclude all amendment and further debate of the main question, and that "on a previous question there shall be no debate." By a new construction, which a majority of the House thought proper to give to this rule, at the close of the last session, all debate may be prohibited on any question; for five members alone can demand the previous question, and then, of course, all debate must cease, until a decision be had on that question, and if the previous question be decided in the affirmative, by this new construction of the rule, there can be no debate or amendment of the main question. Thus, sir, unless the amendment now proposed be adopted, if a proposition for a declaration of war against Great Britain, or any other nation, should be laid upon your table to-morrow, it will be in the power of a majority of the House, and that majority may consist of less than forty members, to impose silence upon every member of this House; and we must be compelled to vote on a proposition so interesting to the prosperity, happiness, and perhaps the final destiny of this country, without the poor privilege (if we might choose so to do) of raising our voices against it. But, sir, the opponents of the amendment say, that the construction given to the rule the last session, was in conformity with the universal practice of the House, from the establishment of the Government, except in two or three instances.

I deny, sir, that this has been the practice, and I believe I may venture to assert, without fear of contradiction, that no such power has ever been exercised over the members of this House, since its organization, until the last session. I have, sir, examined the journals, with some attention, and have not been able to find a solitary instance of the kind. On the contrary, many cases are to be found when the previous question has been decided in the affirmative, and that, immediately after the main question has not only been amended but has been debated. And here, sir, permit me to observe, that the rule itself, with respect to the previous question, was adopted the first session of the First Congress, and has ever since remained precisely in the same form; and no construction was ever given to it, so as to prevent debate on the main question, until the last session.

Permit me to refer the House to the Journal of the first session of the Third Congress, for the proof of what I have stated. During this session, the difficulties then subsisting between this country and Great Britain, became the subject of discussion, and a proposition for prohibiting all intercourse with Great Britain, in case justice was not done us, was then submitted to the House, and the previous question was called upon it, and decided in the affirmative, after which the subject was not only postponed, but, as appears by the Journal, was both amended and debated. It appears also from the Journal in 1795, that a proposition was amended after an affirmative decision of the previous question. In the year 1798, when a resolution was before the House for publishing the instructions to, and the despatches from our Ministers to the French Republic, the previous question was moved and determined in the affirmative; and it appears by the Journal that immediately after such decision, on the same day, debate was had on the main question.

But, sir, to come to our own times: on the 15th of December, 1807, a construction was given to the rule, after mature deliberation, by a large majority of the House, that the main question might be debated, after an affirmative decision of the previous question. This was done on an appeal from the decision of the Speaker, "that after the previous question is called for and determined in the affirmative, it precludes all debate on the main question." The House reversed the decision of the Chair by 103 to 14. A similar decision took place on the 2d of December, 1803, in the House--101 to 18. And, sir, I have been unable to find a single decision of the House to the contrary, from the first organization of the Government until the close of the last session. Indeed, sir, the words of the rule itself, show that the construction, which had so long prevailed, was the only true construction which could be given to it. The words are, and until it (viz: the previous question) is decided, "shall preclude all amendment and further debate on the main question." By which it is evident, that amendment and debate of the main question is only precluded, until the previous question is decided, but that after such decision, it was not precluded.

The gentleman from New York, (Mr. GOLD,) and the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. NELSON,) have truly stated that the previous question was taken from the rules of the British Parliament, and they have likewise stated the reason of its introduction into that body. It was, sir, to prevent debate in the House of Commons upon questions of a delicate nature with respect to high personages, &c. Yes, sir, it was introduced there to enable the Ministry to prevent the Commons from opening their lips on subjects relating to the Royal Family and the great men of the realm. But, sir, we have gone further than the Ministry and their majorities, despotic and tyrannical as they have been, have ever dared to go in Parliament. For even there members are now, and always have been, permitted to debate on the previous question; but which members on this floor are not now permitted to do. Mr. Speaker, the nature of our Government forbids that the majority should have the power to prohibit all debate on questions which may come before this House. We have not, as yet, I trust, any high personages in this country about whom it would be indelicate or improper for the members on this floor to speak; and let me ask what subject of national importance can be proposed for adoption, on which a member should be deprived of the privilege of speaking at least once before he gives his vote? Nay, sir, let me ask gentlemen whether this House has a right to compel me, or any other member, to vote on any question, without giving me an opportunity of explaining my reason for that vote. I deny, sir, that they have this right; as a member of this body, I claim the privilege of delivering my sentiments, or what I may consider the sentiments of my constituents, on any subject, before I give my vote upon it. I claim it not, sir, for myself personally, but I claim it in the capacity of a Representative of a free people, sent here, not like a member of the French Council of Five Hundred, for the purpose of voting merely, but for the purpose of deliberating on subjects of high concern to their peace, their prosperity, their happiness. For what, sir, are we assembled here under a constitution the purest in the world? Is it not for the purpose of promoting "the general welfare" of the nation which we represent? And how is this to be done, except by a free communication of our sentiments to each other, on the various plans which may be proposed for that object? The peace, the honor, and interest of this country is confided to our care, and while we are here deliberating on the best means of preserving the one or securing and promoting the other, the constitution has very wisely thrown around us a shield of complete indemnity--"for any speech or debate in this House," we are "not to be questioned in any other place." Will then the majority claim the right of depriving a member of this privilege of speech, a privilege not only thus secured to him by the constitution itself, but for the due exercise of which he is not to be questioned elsewhere? But, sir, those who oppose the amendment say that the construction is founded in necessity; that individual members have abused the privilege of speech; that they have heretofore, and probably will again, make long speeches merely for the purpose of delay, and of embarrassing the proceedings of the House; and that therefore the majority must have it in their power to stop debate, whenever they think proper, and that this power will always be exercised with a sound discretion.

I deny, sir, that any such necessity exists; it is a plea easily made, but generally difficult and in this case impossible to be supported. Why has it so happened that this necessity has never existed until the last session of Congress? Was it then for the first time, that a division of sentiment appeared on this floor? were parties never before heard of in this country? Were not parties arrayed against each other in 1796 on the subject of the British Treaty, and in 1798-'9, on the question of a war with France? Were not the disputes in this House, in those times, as long and as bitter as they have ever been since? Those were times, which have been so often quoted in this House as hard, and unconstitutional; times when the reign of terror prevailed, when corrupt majorities, as has been often said on this floor, passed alien and sedition laws. And, yet, sir, with all the political sins which have been heaped upon those majorities, the sin of having taken away the privilege of speech on this floor never has been, and as I have proved from the journals, never can be laid to their charge. This House, by the constitution, has the power to "determine the rules of its proceedings;" and in making those rules, it has the right of regulating, but not of entirely preventing debate.

It would indeed be a strange anomaly in politics, as well as in law, that under a general power of making rules of proceeding, we should make a rule to prevent all proceedings whatever. Gentlemen may as well assume the power of preventing a member from voting, as they now do that of preventing him from speaking. I am willing to agree, sir, that the privilege of debate, on this floor, may have been and will again be abused; that on particular subjects individual members have spoken much longer than was necessary, and I may add, also, with much less sense than a majority might have wished; and in some instances they may have prolonged their speeches, merely for the purposes of delay. But, sir, will you deprive a member of the right of speaking at all, because he is unable to convey his ideas in few words, or because he may have very few or no ideas to convey? Or because some may have spoken merely to delay the proceedings of the House, will you make a general rule, by which a member may be wholly deprived of the right of speaking? If indeed, sir, evils do arise in consequence of the liberty of speech in this house, if the business of the nation does not progress with as much rapidity as in countries under the control of an individual; they are evils which flow from the very nature of our Government, from that freedom which we so highly prize, and from that very constitution which we have sworn to support. So long as we are men we shall be imperfect, we shall bring with us on this floor different views, different ideas on political as well as on other subjects; and it would be strange indeed if, on the various topics of national importance brought before us for discussion, we should not at times come into strong collision with each other.

The question on the amendment was determined in the negative--yeas 36, nays 76.

Mr. STANFORD moved to amend the rules by adding to the end of the paragraph relating to priority of business, the words "but no question of consideration shall be required upon an original motion;" which was also determined in the negative--yeas 30, nays 68.

On motion of Mr. WILLIAMS the said rules were amended by striking out the word "five," in the paragraph prescribing the manner in which the previous question shall be taken, and inserting the words "one-fifth of the."

The question was then taken to concur in the said rules as amended, and determined in the affirmative.[21]

FRIDAY, December 27.

Mr. NELSON presented a petition of sundry inhabitants of the Territory of Louisiana, praying that the second grade of Territorial government may be extended to the inhabitants of said Territory.

MONDAY, December 30.

Burning of the Richmond Theatre.

Soon after the Journal was read,

Mr. DAWSON rose and addressed the chair. The lowness of his voice, owing to recent indisposition prevented his being heard distinctly; but his observations were nearly as follows:

Mr. Speaker--Virginia, my parent State, has long to mourn the loss of some of her most valuable sons and estimable daughters, who on the night of the 26th of the present month, met their untimely end.[22]

Among those who perished in the flames, in the metropolis of that State, on that sad night, were the Chief Magistrate of the State, and a gentleman[23] well known to many of us, and who, for years, held an honorable station in this House. Some of the most valuable and prominent characters in their professions, and others who promised ere long to be ornaments to their country. With these, sir, was the rising offspring[24] of one of our present most valuable members, and many other amiable and virtuous women who adorned and improved society.

These, sir, with many others, have fallen victims to that unrelenting element, notwithstanding the bold and generous efforts which were made to save them.

Their ashes are now mingled with the dust, and their spirits have ascended to Heaven.

It is to us a great national calamity.

I well know, that on such occasions grief, although keen, is unavailing--that the decrees of fate are irrevocable and ought to be submitted to with humility. In order, however, to testify the respect and sorrow which this nation feels for the deceased, and to prove that we sympathize with the afflicted, without further comment on this painful subject, I beg leave to offer the following resolution:

Resolved, That the members of this House will wear crape on the left arm for one month, in testimony of the respect and sorrow which they feel for those unfortunate persons who perished in the fire in the city of Richmond, in Virginia, on the night of the 26th of the present month.

This resolution was unanimously adopted.

TUESDAY, January 7, 1812.

Statute of Limitations.

On motion of Mr. GHOLSON, the House resolved itself into a committee, on a report of the Committee of Claims on the subject of excepting certain claims from the act of limitations. The report of the committee being read, which concluded with a resolve that it is inexpedient to open the act of limitations for the claims in question:

Mr. GHOLSON hoped the committee would not agree to this report. Information had been received from the Treasury Department, stating in a distinct and unequivocal manner, that all this description of claims (which were all liquidated claims, such as indents of interest, certificates, &c.,) might be allowed by the Government, without danger of fraud or imposition; and, said Mr. G., if justice can be extended to this description of claimants, without danger, why should it be deferred? Only one solitary reason had been offered--that the persons really entitled to these claims upon Government might not get the money. He hoped this would not be sufficient to prevent Congress from doing what was just on the occasion.

Mr. CLAY (the Speaker) hoped the committee would disagree to this resolution. It appears that the officers of the Treasury are of opinion that provision may be made for this description of claims without that danger of fraud, which might possibly arise from a total repeal of the statute of limitations; that their whole amount does not exceed $300,000, and the probability is, that one-fifth will never be applied for, should they be authorized to be paid. What, said Mr. C, is this statute of limitations, which, whenever mentioned in this House, seems to make everybody tremble? It is a general rule prescribed by the Government for the direction of its accounting officers in order to exclude unjust claims. What are statutes of limitation as applicable to individual cases? A rule under which individuals claim protection whenever they choose to do so, and when, from the lapse of time, or loss of evidence, they would be injured, were they not to take this advantage. But in these statutes of limitation there are always exceptions in favor of cases of disability, infancy, coverture, insanity, absence beyond sea, &c. But what is the course which an individual would take who found himself protected by a statute of limitation? He would examine the justice of the claim brought against him; if the claim were just, if he had been deprived of no evidence by the delay, if as able to pay it as if it had been presented at an earlier day, he will not hesitate to discharge the claim, and scorn to take advantage of the statute. And, said Mr. O., shall the Government be less willing to discharge its just debts than an honest individual? Shall we turn a deaf ear to the claims of individuals upon Government because of this statute? He trusted not. The Committee of Claims ought to examine the merit of every claim which comes before it, and if it be just, decide in its favor. But what, said Mr. C, has been the history of claims for four or five years past? When a solitary claim was presented the House would say, we cannot legislate upon individual cases. They occupy too much of our time. The claim is put aside. The same individual some time after, appears in company with others. We then say there are too many of these claims--their amount is too large, and the Treasury too poor--that there are a great many other claims equally well founded--that justice cannot be done to them all. Sometimes there is a division between the two Houses. This House passes a bill in favor of some particular claim--the other tells you they will not legislate for particular cases; that if they act, they wish to take up the subject generally. Mr. C. said it was his wish, both in his public and private character, as far as possible, to do justice; he therefore hoped the course proposed by the Chairman of the Committee of Claims would be agreed to.

The resolution recommended by the report was negatived, 54 to 31: and a resolution offered by Mr. GOLD, recommending a provision by law for these claims, after some objections from Mr. ALSTON, was agreed to, 39 to 36.

WEDNESDAY, January 8.

Battle of Tippecanoe.

Mr. MCKEE, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the Message of the President, transmitting two letters from Governor Harrison, reporting the particulars and issue of the expedition under his command against the hostile Indians on the Wabash River, and the memorials of the Legislature of the Indiana Territory, and the officers and soldiers who served in the said expedition, presented the twenty-fourth ultimo, made a report thereon; which was read and committed to a Committee of the Whole to-morrow. The report is as follows:

The committee to whom was referred the Message of the President of the United States, transmitting two letters from Governor Harrison, of the Indiana Territory, reporting the particulars and the issue of the expedition under his command against the hostile Indians on the Wabash, and to whom was also referred the memorial of the General Assembly of the Indiana Territory, and the memorial of the officers and soldiers of the militia of Knox county, in the Indiana Territory, who served in the late campaign under the command of Governor Harrison, report:

That they have had the several matters to them referred under their consideration, and have given to them that attention which their importance seems to merit.

It appears to the committee, that the troops under the command of Governor Harrison may very properly be termed raw troops: very few of the officers, and almost none of the men, had ever been in actual service; and a considerable portion of them had been only a few weeks withdrawn from the pursuits of civil life. The attack made on this quickly-assembled army by the hostile Indians on the Wabash, when viewed, either as it relates to the nature of the enemy, the time, or the violence with which the attack was made, cannot but be considered of such a character as would have severely tested the collected firmness of the most able and experienced troops. This attack, violent and unexpected as it seems to have been, was repelled by the troops under the command of Governor Harrison, with a gallantry and good conduct worthy of future imitation. The whole transaction, in the opinion of the committee, presents to the American people a new proof that the dauntless spirit of our ancestors, by whom the war of the Revolution was so ably and successfully maintained, has not been diminished by more than thirty years of almost uninterrupted peace, but that it has been handed down, unimpaired, to their posterity.

In estimating the claims of the army on the Government of the United States, it is worthy of remark, that the nature of the country, as well as of the enemy to be encountered, subjected the army to many extreme hardships, and equal dangers, where every thing was hazarded, and but little could be gained, except the regard of their country.

The volunteers and militia (to whose claims the memorials referred to the committee particularly relate) were in actual service but a short time, for which alone they are entitled to pay by law; the compensation, therefore, to which they are entitled, is not at all commensurate to the services rendered, and the dangers incurred. Besides, many of the officers and men who fell, or were wounded, in the battle of the 7th November, 1811, were purchasers of the public lands, for which they were indebted to the United States; which debt falls due in a short time, and the penalty of forfeiture will be incurred if the debt is not paid. It would be unjust to inflict a penalty so severe on the disconsolate widows and orphans of those officers and soldiers of the volunteers and militia, who, in common with their brother officers and soldiers of the regular troops, fell in their country's cause, in a manner so distinguished, that nothing was wanting but a great occasion, interesting to the feelings of the American people, to have crowned their names with unfading laurels.

As an evidence, therefore, of the regard due to the bravery and ability displayed by the troops under the command of Governor Harrison, in the battle of the 7th November, 1811, as well as to relieve the representatives of those who were killed in the action, from the pecuniary losses incurred in consequence thereof, the committee respectfully submit the following resolutions:

1. Resolved, That one month's pay ought to be allowed, in addition to the common allowance, to the officers, (according to the rank which they held,) the non-commissioned officers and privates of the regulars, volunteers, and militia, and to the legal representatives of those who were killed or have since died of their wounds, composing the army under the command of Gov. Harrison, in the late campaign on the Wabash.

2. Resolved, That five years' half-pay ought to be allowed to the legal representatives of the officers, (according to the rank which they held,) the non-commissioned officers, and privates, of the volunteers and militia who were killed in the battle of the 7th November, 1811, or who have since died of their wounds.

3. Resolved, That provision ought to be made by law to place on the pension list the officers, (according to the rank which they held,) the non-commissioned officers, and soldiers, of the volunteers and militia who served in the late campaign on the Wabash, under the command of Governor Harrison, and who have been wounded or disabled in the said campaign.

4. Resolved, That provision ought to be made by law to pay for the horses and other property of individuals lost in, or in consequence of, the said battle.

5. Resolved, That the further time of ---- years ought to be allowed to the officers and soldiers who were wounded, and to the legal representatives of those who were killed, in the said battle, to complete the payments due or which may fall due to the United States on any purchases of the public lands made by them before the said battle.

THURSDAY, January 9.

Ursuline Nuns at New Orleans.

The petition which the Speaker laid before the House yesterday, from the Ursuline nuns at New Orleans, was enclosed to him and recommended by Governor Claiborne. It prayed for an exchange of the military hospital for some lots which they hold in that city better calculated for a hospital. After the petition was read,

Mr. DAWSON observed that he had received a letter from Governor Claiborne relative to that petition, and in confirmation of the facts therein stated. This community of nuns is a most respectable and useful member of society, the whole of their temporal cares being directed to the education of female youth. They are that community which some years ago presented a most elegant address to the then President of the United States, and received from him an equally elegant answer.

I am well assured that the lots which they wish to exchange are more valuable, and better suited for the erection of a hospital than those on which the hospital now stands. I therefore move that the petition and accompanying papers be referred to a select committee, who will no doubt converse with the Secretary of War on the subject.

This was agreed to, and Mr. DAWSON, Mr. LOWNDES, and Mr. MACON, were appointed the committee.

FRIDAY, January 17.

Quartermaster's Department.

The bill from the Senate "for the establishment of a Quartermaster's Department" came up on its third reading.

Mr. ALSTON said, if the House would pay attention to the duty of the Purveyor of Public Supplies, and examine the powers given to the Quartermaster General in this bill, it would appear evident that there was no necessity for both offices, and it certainly was not the wish of the House to erect two great departments to perform the same duties. He could perceive no way in which one officer was to be a check upon the other. He liked the bill as it came from the Senate better than as amended, as he saw no necessity for retaining the office of Purveyor.

Mr. TALLMADGE observed, that the great object of this bill, and the only one which made it necessary, was to provide for a Quartermaster General's Department, instead of military agents, as employed at present. There never was such an officer in the staff department in the Revolutionary war. The late Secretary of War, as well as the present, were in favor of this change. The military agents, without much responsibility, had nearly controlled the whole War Department. An attempt was made two years ago to effect this change, but it then failed. The office of Purveyor of Public Supplies was instituted long before that of Military Agent. The duties of the Quartermaster General and Purveyor are very different. The former is a highly respectable and confidential officer; he is next in consequence to the Commander-in-chief, with whom he has frequent communication. Every movement of the Army is first communicated to him. He ought to be a military character. It is his duty to receive and deliver out the necessary supplies for the Army, and to attend to its movements. The duties of the Purveyor is to purchase, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, arms, clothing, hospital stores, and every other article necessary for the Army. So that there is not the least similarity between the two officers; one being the purchasing, the other the distributing officer. If the office of Purveyor were to be done away, the Quartermaster General would have to employ a deputy or agent to make these purchases, which would be putting too much in the power of a subordinate officer, and would do away that check which will exist if the Purveyor be continued, as the purchaser and distributor of the supplies would be in the same person. The Purveyor is also the purchaser of goods for the Indian department.

Mr. WILLIAMS rose to prevent any person from falling into the mistake which the gentleman from North Carolina appeared to have done, by making remarks applicable to the printed bill (a part of which had been struck out and other parts amended) instead of the bill read from the Chair. He deemed it unnecessary to add any thing in reply to what had been so well said by the gentleman from Connecticut.

Mr. ALSTON said he had attended to the bill as read, and not to the printed bill; and insisted that, from the provisions of the bill, the Secretary of War might direct the Purveyor and Quartermaster to purchase the same articles. If the bill was what the gentleman from Connecticut had stated it to be, he should not have objected to it; but it was not.

Mr. QUINCY had doubts whether both these officers were necessary. There was no such officer as Purveyor of Public Supplies during the Revolutionary war. If it were found hereafter that another besides the Quartermaster General was necessary, he could be appointed. There ought certainly to be a responsibility attached to the purchase of supplies, and this might be placed in the Head of the War Department or Quartermaster General. He had not sufficient light on the subject, to say that both these officers are necessary. He was in favor of the bill as it came from the Senate.

Mr. BLOUNT said, that though there was not a Purveyor of Public Supplies during the Revolutionary war, there was a Clothier, who did much the same business. If we are going to war, said Mr. B., he did not see how we could do without a Quartermaster General; and it would be improper for him to become the purchaser of supplies, which it is the duty of the Purveyor to purchase, because, as had already been stated, there would be no check in the business. There must be propriety in keeping the offices distinct.

Mr. MACON observed, it was impossible to go to war without a Quartermaster General; for there is no man has so much to do about an army as this officer. There was always more difficulty in settling the Quartermaster General's accounts than any other. The only instance in which a Quartermaster General has to purchase supplies, is when, by some miscarriage or accident, the supplies from the Commissary or Purveyor do not arrive in season. It is necessary that such a power should be vested in this officer, to be used on such extraordinary occasions. As had been stated by his colleague, though there was no Purveyor during the Revolution, there were clothiers or agents employed in different situations, which answered the purpose. The qualifications necessary for the Quartermaster General and Purveyor are very different; the one ought to be a soldier, the other a merchant.

The bill passed by a large majority.

Naval Establishment.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill concerning the Naval Establishment.

Mr. CHEVES, the Chairman of the Navy Committee, moved to fill the blank in the first section of the bill with "four hundred and eighty thousand dollars," and said he believed it to be his duty at this time, to disclose to the Committee of the Whole the views and motives of the select committee in reporting the bill. Mr. C. said, I consider this subject as one of the most important that can be brought before this House; as a great question, involving, to a considerable extent, the fate of a species of national defence the most essential and necessary to the interests of this country. I know, said Mr. C., how many and how strong are the prejudices, how numerous and how deeply laid are the errors which I have to encounter in the discussion of this question; errors and prejudices the more formidable, as they come recommended by the virtues, and shielded by the estimable motives of those who indulged them. I have been told that this subject is unpopular, and it has been not indistinctly hinted, that those who become the zealous advocates of the bill will not advance by their exertions the personal estimation in which they may be held by their political associates. I will not do my political friends the injustice to believe that these exertions will diminish their confidence; but, could I think otherwise, I hope I shall never be diverted from a faithful discharge of my duty by considerations of this kind. I wish to lead no man, and I am determined not to be blindly led by any man. In acting with a party, I do so, because I adopt their leading principles and politics as the best, and because I believe, from the nature of free Government, it is necessary so to act to give efficiency to the exertions of any individual; but I do not feel myself, therefore, bound to renounce my deliberate opinions on all the great interests of the nation, or to take no independent part in the exertions of the party to which I belong. I sincerely believe that, if this infant Naval Establishment be either abandoned or put down, the party who now form the majority in this House, and in the country, may run great risk of becoming the minority, not only within these walls, but in the nation.

It has been said, by a strong and lively figure of rhetoric, that this country is a great land animal, which should not venture into the water. But if you look at its broad high back, the Alleghanies, and its great sides swelling to the east and to the west, where do you find its immense limbs terminate? Not on some great plain which has been formed for their reception, but in two great oceans, the Pacific on the one side, and the Atlantic on the other. The figure explains the true interests of the country, in the inseparable union and necessary dependence of agriculture and commerce. The God of Nature did not give to the United States a coast of two thousand miles in extent, not to be used. No; it was intended by this bounty to make us a great commercial people; and shall we ungratefully reject the enjoyment of his unexampled beneficence? No, it has not and will not be neglected. A great portion of our people exist but upon the ocean and its fruits. It has been eloquently, and not less truly than eloquently, said, that "the ocean is their farm," and it must and will be protected. But how is this protection to be afforded? I will endeavor to prove that it can be done, and done most cheaply and effectually by a naval force; and if I succeed in this, I shall hope for the concurrence of the committee. No proposition appears to me more true or more obvious, than that it is only by a naval force that our commerce and our neutral rights on the ocean can be protected. We are now going to war for the protection of these rights; but in what way, and under what circumstances? The mode is altogether accidental, and not founded on the permanent relations or means of the country. It is not my intention to condemn the course which has been taken. It has had my hearty concurrence, and my zealous, though feeble, support. I hope it may be altogether effectual; and I believe it will inflict a wound which will be felt with poignancy. But it is, notwithstanding, partial and accidental; for, if Great Britain had not the Canadas on our borders, how could we attack or resist her, armed as we are? If we possess ourselves of the Canadas, and this we shall certainly do in the event of war, how and where shall we then continue the war without a naval force? We shall suffer the evils of war, without inflicting any of them on the enemy. We cannot send our regulars or our volunteers on the ocean. Does it not then result, inevitably, as the dictate of common prudence, that we should, as soon as possible, commence our naval preparations? The Naval Establishment of the United States has been heretofore so much neglected, that it is at present in a state of lamentable depression; and the question now is, whether we will suffer it to go down entirely, or attempt to raise it up to some degree of respectability. Some gentlemen say, "if you had asked for no more than the reparation of the frigates in ordinary, we might have granted your request." But, for myself, I would not thank any gentleman for this concession. The select committee conceived it to be their duty to bring the question fully before the House in the shape in which they have exposed it. Not to ask merely what it would do to assist by naval co-operation, in the first efforts of the contemplated struggle, but principally what it would do towards establishing and perpetuating a respectable naval force for the protection of those important rights of the people, which are, and must continue, exposed upon the ocean. Their determination was plainly, candidly, and boldly to speak to the House, and through it to the nation, on this great question, and leave its fate to the wisdom of the one and the good sense of the other.

That a respectable Naval Establishment affords the only effectual means of causing our commercial rights to be respected, will, as a general proposition, be denied by few persons, if any. But its adoption by us is deemed improper by those who oppose it, on the grounds of the enormous expense which, it is said, the establishment will necessitate, and the inability of the nation, by any force which it can provide, to resist, with effect, the immense naval power of Great Britain. Is it not surprising that so much prejudice should exist against this establishment on account of its expensiveness, when it is ascertained that, during the whole eighteen years of its existence, from 1794 to 1811, inclusive, it has cost the Government only $27,175,695? I am afraid I shall be tedious, because the only way in which I hope to bring conviction home to the minds of the House, is by entering, with minuteness and precision, into a dry detail of figures and statements; but the necessity of the case must be my apology for the course which I shall take. If the House shall have full confidence in my statements, much will be gained to the argument; for it will be difficult, if not impossible, for the hearer to follow me through an examination of these details, as the argument proceeds. For this confidence, therefore, I will venture to hope. I believe the statements on which I rely to be accurate, as far as accuracy is material to the discussion. I will state them with candor, and, when I have concluded, I will put them into the hands of gentlemen who may wish to examine them for their own satisfaction, or to refute them. The average annual expense of this establishment, so much censured for its wasteful and improvident management, has but little exceeded $1,500,000, which is not much more than twice the amount of the usual annual appropriation for our economical Civil List. It has been generally supposed that it has been much more expensive than the Military Establishment, but I will show that this is not really the case. The expense of the Military Establishment, from 1791 to 1811, inclusive, has been $37,541,669, giving an annual average of $1,700,000, or $200,000 per annum more than that of the Navy. It thus appears that, in the gross amount, as well as in the annual expenditure, the Army has been more expensive than the Navy. Compare, too, the services of the Army with those of the Navy, and it will be found that those of the latter have been most useful and most honorable to the nation. I know of no service of this character which the Army has performed, except the defeat of the Indians by General Wayne, and the late gallant affair on the Wabash. The Navy, in the contest with France in 1798, were victorious wherever it encountered an enemy, and probably laid the foundation of the subsequent accommodation with that nation. In the Mediterranean, its exploits gave a name to the country throughout Europe; humbled, in an unexampled manner, the piratical and barbarous foe, and crowned itself with a reputation for intrepidity and heroism, which had not been exceeded by the exploits of any nation, and which must go down to a distant posterity. I mean not, by this comparison, to say any thing injurious to the Army, but only to declare that preference to which I think the naval services of the country are entitled. Admitting, if it be desired, that the Navy has heretofore occasioned an expense not warranted by its force or its services; and I cannot deny but that, from a variety of causes, the expense may have been unnecessarily great; an argument cannot thence be fairly drawn against its future use--the contrary is the fair conclusion. Past errors lay the foundation of future improvement. It was thus the greatest orator, and one of the greatest statesmen of antiquity, reasoned. The great Athenian orator, when rousing his countrymen, by his impetuous eloquence, to resist the ambition of Philip, declared that it was on their past misconduct that he built his highest hopes; for, said he, "were we thus distressed, in spite of every vigorous effort which the honor of our State demanded, there were then no hope of recovery." So may we reason in this case; for had these extraordinary expenses been the result of good economy, then, indeed, would their diminution be hopeless; but, as they have proceeded from a wasteful or unskilful expenditure, the remedy will be found in a reform of the abuse; to effect this reform, is the duty of Congress. But it has not only been less expensive than the Army, but it may be proved, as the committee have declared in their report, that "a naval force within due limits and under proper regulations, will constitute the cheapest defence of the nation." This will be partly proved by a comparison between the expense of the permanent fortifications of our maritime frontier and that of an adequate naval defence. The experience of modern naval warfare has proved that no fortifications can prevent the passage of ships of war. The present fortifications of our maritime frontier, though they are more numerous and better than they have been at any other period in our history, cannot prevent an inconsiderable naval force from laying many of our towns in ashes. Indeed, it is believed that no fortifications which can be erected will afford a complete protection against such attacks, while their expense would be oppressive to the nation. The city of New York alone, if completely fortified, would require a further expenditure of three millions of dollars, and a garrison of ten thousand men, and then might be laid in ashes by four or five seventy-fours. But we have a coast of two thousand miles to protect, the expense of which could not be borne by the nation. A better defence would be furnished by such a naval force as would give you a mastery in the American seas, and at home much less expense.

The superior cheapness of naval defence seems to me to be satisfactorily established, and I am next to prove that the force proposed--I mean twelve seventy-fours and twenty frigates--are sufficient to protect us in our own seas, and defend our ports and harbors against the naval power of Great Britain. The first evidence that is offered in support of this proposition, is the opinion of naval men; and if the representations of any man may be relied upon with confidence, so far, at least, as that they are not founded in deception, I believe those of a sailor may be. By naval men, I have been assured that this force is adequate to the object proposed. It is impossible for me to state with accuracy, or in a manner calculated to give a due impression of them, all the reasons which they offer in support of their opinion, but among them are those detailed in the report of the select committee. Indeed, they advance the opinion, and support it with reasons, the error of which, if they be erroneous, I am unable to discover, that it will require the enemy to employ a triple force to put himself on a footing of equality with that of the United States. Their reasons are, as nearly as I can state them, these: there must be stationed on our coast, at any given time, an equal force; this force cannot be fitted out, unless with great disadvantage to the service in point of expense, and in respect to the health of the crew, for much more than three months' service. An equal force must be put in requisition and kept in readiness to relieve that on the station. But, as all the equipments of the enemy must be made in Europe, the force destined to relieve the first must be despatched by the time the first may be supposed to have arrived on our coast, because it will be necessary, at a period as early as the arrival of the second, for the first to return; but the first could not proceed to Europe, be equipped, and return to relieve the second in time; and therefore a third equivalent force is necessary, and thus three times the force of the United States must be employed by the enemy to place himself on a footing of equality with it. History may be resorted to, with confidence, to prove that neither Great Britain, nor any other nation, has ever been able to station, for any length of time, in distant seas, a force equal to that which, in the opinion of naval men, is sufficient to accomplish the objects proposed by the committee--the dominion of the American seas, and the defence of our ports and harbors. There is one fact which, above all others, shows the inability of Great Britain to keep a large fleet on our coast. From the frozen regions of the North to the Isthmus of Darien, she has not a port fit for naval equipment or repair, except Halifax; and if, as the opponents of the Navy seem to think certain, and I hope their opinions may be realized, we shall, in the event of war, deprive her of that, she will be without the means of repairing a disabled vessel in our seas. Under such circumstances, any thing but temporary service would be utterly impracticable.

But, said Mr. C., on the subject of the British naval force, there is great misconception. The high-sounding number of a thousand ships appals the mind, and an examination of its actual force, and the numerous requisitions which are made upon it, is usually rejected as an idle labor. Let this examination be made, and at least some part of the terror which it excites will vanish. Of the eight hundred and thirty-three ships which Great Britain had in commission in 1801, and she never had more, it is believed there were only three hundred and eighty-three that exceeded the size and capacity of the large privateers that will probably be fitted out by the citizens of the United States, in the event of war. Of this last number, there were one hundred and forty-two of sixty-four guns, and above; twenty-two between fifty and sixty guns; one hundred and fifty-six between thirty-two and forty-four; and sixty-three between twenty and thirty guns. The remainder of the vessels in commission consisted of one hundred and seventy-four sloops, one hundred and forty-one gun-vessels, and one hundred and thirty hired vessels. These hired vessels are small vessels, of from four to ten guns, which, it is believed, are only employed for revenue purposes. This review and enumeration, I have no doubt, proves the actual force of the navy of Great Britain, however great it really is, to be much inferior to the impression almost universally received, from the high-sounding boast of her thousand ships. Nor has the actual force of the British navy been more misconceived than the application of it. The common impression is, that the Government can direct to any given point almost an unlimited number of ships. But if this delusive impression be removed, it will be found that, notwithstanding the greatness of the force, the points to which it must be destined are so numerous and dispersed as to put it all in requisition. This I will prove by reference to the distribution of her fleets in 1801. [Here Mr. C. read a statement of the force and distribution of the British fleet at that time.] From which of these stations, said Mr. C., could she have spared, with safety and prudence, a portion of the force employed? Could she, from all, have stationed and continued in our seas a force which would have been equal, under the disadvantages which have been pointed out, to twelve seventy-fours and twenty frigates? How much less would she have been able to have furnished a force which would be superior to a naval armament whose expense should equal that of the military preparations of the present year? But it may be said, that the ships which Great Britain has in ordinary would be more than equal to any increase which any circumstances would require. This might be true, were her seamen unlimited in numbers, and her pecuniary resources inexhaustible; but both are limited, and so must be her naval armament. To fit out vessels which she has in ordinary, would require, within a few thousand, all the seamen in her merchant service, and such an addition to her annual expenditure, as the nation neither would nor could bear. The true object of inquiry to ascertain her efficient power is, what number of vessels is she practically able to keep in commission, and the answer may be received in a shape the most unfavorable to my argument, yet confirmatory of it, in the example of 1801, the year which I have selected for illustration, when it is confidently believed her equipment was greater, combining force and numbers, than at any other period of her history.

But, while it is contended by some that it will not be in the power of the nation to establish an effective naval force, there are others who are opposed to it, lest we become too great a naval power. They fear that our fleets will cover the ocean, and seeking victory on all the opposite shores of the Atlantic, involve the nation in oppressive expenses, and in wanton and habitual wars. Such objects are certainly not contemplated by the report of the committee; nor can such events possibly happen, as long as we remain a free people. The committee have recommended such a navy as will give to the United States an ascendency in the American seas, and protect their ports and harbors. The people will never bear the establishment of a greater force than these objects require. The reasons which forbid Great Britain, or any other European power, to station large fleets on our seas, will equally forbid us to cross the Atlantic, or go into distant seas, for the purpose of frequent or habitual wars.

But a navy is said to be anti-republican, because it was opposed by the Republicans in 1798. I apprehend, however, that it was then objected to, not because it was anti-republican in itself, but because the Republicans of that time believed it was to be employed for improper objects; because, while it was unnecessary at the time, it was of such a nature as only fitted it for the time, because it was part of a system which embraced unnecessary armies and unnecessary taxes and loans, to continue a war beyond the just objects of war--a war which, to use the language of the day, was to be waged by every man, woman, and child, in the nation, to which we are opposed.

We are told, also, that navies have ruined every nation that has employed them; and England, and Holland, and Venice, and other nations, have been mentioned as examples. The vast debt of Great Britain is declared to be among the pernicious fruits of her Naval Establishment. This I deny. Her debt has grown out of her profuse subsidies, and her absurd wars on the land. Though the ruin, which is supposed to threaten England, is attributed to her navy, it is obvious that her navy alone has saved and still saves her from ruin. Without it she must, long since, have yielded to the power of France her independence and her liberties. We are told that the same wealth which she has expended in supporting her navies would have been employed more profitably for the nation in the improvement of its agriculture and manufactures, and in the establishment of canals and roads, and other internal improvements. But experience is better than theory. Let us compare England with nations which have no navies, or comparatively inconsiderable navies. The nations of the Continent of Europe are without such overgrown and ruinous Naval Establishments, but do you there find the highest improvements in agriculture, the most flourishing manufactures, or the best roads and canals? No, it is in this nation, that has been ruined by her navy, that you find all these improvements most perfect and most extended. I mean not either to be the panegyrist of England; but these truths may be declared for our instruction, without suppressing the feelings excited by the wrongs she has done us. England has not, then, I conclude, been destroyed or impoverished, but preserved and enriched, by her navy. Was Holland ruined by her navy? No; surrounded by the great powers of the continent, with a population not exceeding 2,000,000 of souls, she protected and secured her independence for more than a century, against her powerful neighbors, by means of her commercial riches, which were cherished and defended by her naval power. Did Venice owe her decline, or fall, to her navy? While the neighboring Italian States were subdued, year after year changing their masters and their tyrants, she long continued to ride triumphantly amidst the storm, independent, and, in a great degree, free. It was her naval and commercial power which made her rich and great, and secured her existence as a State so long. Look even at the little Republic of Genoa, whose inhabitants, but for its commerce and its navy, would scarcely ever have possessed "a local habitation," or "a name!" But I must have exhausted the patience of the House, I will therefore conclude the observations which I proposed to make on the general merits of the question.

SATURDAY, January 18.

Naval Establishment.

The House then resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, on the Navy bill; when Mr. CHEVES finished his speech in favor of the bill, as given in full in preceding pages.

Mr. SEYBERT.--I rise under a pressure of more than ordinary embarrassment--prudence on one hand bids me shrink from the task which I am about to undertake; whilst on the other hand, a conscious duty impels me to engage in the consideration of the question now before the honorable committee. My friend from South Carolina (Mr. CHEVES) says this question is all important to this nation; in this I perfectly coincide with him, and therefore cannot rest satisfied with a mere vote on this occasion. Sir, it is not my intention to follow the gentleman from South Carolina through all the windings of the labyrinth into which he has ventured to penetrate. I will not pretend to chase reason on the wing.

I will not particularly follow the gentleman in his comparison of the Army and Naval Establishments of the United States. He has stated to us that the Army has cost this nation much more than the Navy; he concludes we ought to be equally liberal in our appropriations for both these purposes. Sir, I perceive no reason in this assertion. Some gentlemen on the other side of the House may say, that we have been lavish in our appropriations for an army; even admitting that in this respect we have been liberal to extravagance, it surely cannot be inferred that we should make ourselves doubly guilty of this charge. I will agree to make appropriations for the establishing a navy for the United States. The gentleman from South Carolina has told us, that when the war which we are about to wage, shall be over, our Army will leave us. Sir, I am happy to hear that on such an event the military will be readily disbanded--a dread of the contrary gave much uneasiness to many a few days since--this is just what we wish should take place. On the other hand, said he, "your proud Navy," will remain. It is for this, with many other reasons, why I am opposed to a navy. I wish he could have proved to us, that with the end of the war the Navy would also leave us; perhaps I should then agree with him in favor of its establishment: though the "proud Navy" will remain with us, he has neglected to tell us at what rate of expense.

Sir, the gentleman from South Carolina says many oppose a navy, because they deem it an anti-republican institution. On this head, I shall remark but little: I will only ask if it is to remain with us in times of peace with its numerous train of officers, may it not become a powerful engine in the hands of an ambitious Executive?

Sir, it was thought proper to make the foregoing remarks as preliminary to the subject. The question of a Naval Establishment for the United States more especially concerns those who inhabit commercial districts. As one of these I am much interested. Many persons maintain, that a naval system of defence is indispensably necessary to a nation, whose seaboard extends more than 1,500 miles, with a shipping interest amounting to 1,300,000 tons--in this respect, ranking the second of modern nations. The argument is as specious as it is plausible; it is liable to many, and in my opinion, to insuperable objections. The proposition before us will be considered as leading to a permanent Naval Establishment. This course is warranted by the report of the Secretary of the Navy as well as by the mode which was pursued by my friend from South Carolina. I shall not hesitate to declare my decided opposition to such an establishment, and will proceed to state the objections whereon my opinion is grounded. Sir, I deem it inexpedient to commence a permanent Naval Establishment at this time. We are quite unprepared for it--we are in want of all the necessary materials; though we have been told that our forests abound in all the necessary timber, it was said little of this material was to be found in our dockyards. The gentleman from South Carolina has told us, that a sufficiency of seasoned timber, to build four seventy-fours, was now on hand, and that the proper authority deemed it advisable to be used for frigates. Sir, this timber is a portion of that which was purchased some years since, for the purpose of building six seventy-fours. It now appears, that of this timber as much as was sufficient for two of these vessels, has been employed to build smaller vessels or gunboats, I presume. This is all a piece with our pretended economy. This mode of proceeding will not answer, sir. We are in the wrong from the commencement of our Navy. I do not wish it to be understood that I have decided a navy will never be a proper mode of defence for this nation--but whenever it shall be determined on, we should begin right; this can only be done by following those nations who have had most experience on the subject. Our first step should be to store away the proper timber. This should be done in times when we can best afford it--in times when our market is glutted--in times when labor can be commanded at fair prices--at a period when we enjoy peace, and surely not when we are about to engage in a war. We have heretofore paid the highest price for every article; we have given double wages for labor; and instances might be mentioned, when the workmen were transported in stage coaches, at an enormous expense, from our large seaport towns to the navy yard of this city. Contracts for timber were made in haste and at a very advanced price. As soon as it was obtained, it was put together, and in a few months we saw it floating in the form of a ship of war--rotten ships, I may say, sir, for I believe without exception in the frigates which were built by the United States, the more important parts decayed and were rotten in two, three, or four years. In many instances the expense for repairs was equal to the original cost. A single frigate, the Constitution, has cost for repairs, from October, 1802, to March, 1809, the enormous sum of $302,582 21, or upwards of $43,000 per annum for seven years in succession.

Let us view this subject in a more extended sense--I mean as regards our commerce generally--we shall still have cause to entertain the opinion which we first adopted. We cannot protect our commerce on the ocean. Our ships have vexed every sea--we trade to all parts of the world; of course, to protect our commerce, our ships of war must abandon our coasts and encounter all the force of the enemy or those of Europe. The ports we have in view are European. If your frigates, for convenience and safety, are to cruise only on your coasts, what will be the fate of the millions which are embarked beyond the Cape of Good Hope? By this management surely you cannot afford it protection. France, Spain, and Holland, when combined and backed by an armed neutrality in the north of Europe, could not secure their commerce. The fleets of Great Britain now sail triumphant over every wave of the deep. The Russians have a navy far superior to that which it is proposed we shall establish, and they cannot protect their trade in the confined limits of the Baltic. They count fifty or sixty sail-of-the-line, besides many frigates and smaller vessels.

Sir, the expenses which are incurred by a Naval Establishment, far exceed the profits which arise from the commerce which it is intended to protect. This proposition is warranted by the experience of Great Britain, the most commercial nation of modern times. In the year 1798, the total imports and exports of Great Britain amounted to £94,952,000. For the same year the expenditure for her navy amounted to £13,654,013, or about one-seventh of the total imports and exports, or fourteen per cent. on the total capital employed in commerce. What regular trade can yield such profits on the outward and inward cargoes? To me this is a secret. In the year 1799 Mr. Pitt computed the profits on the commerce of Great Britain at £12,000,000, or one and a half millions less than the expenses for her navy the preceding year!

Sir, the expenses which are necessarily connected with a Naval Establishment, constitute a very serious objection to it. At this time, the annual expenditures for the British navy amount to nearly £17,000,000, or $80,000,000. Every succeeding year brings with it an increase of expenditures. This has been the result year after year since the commencement of the institution. Our prospects will be the more evident when we take a view of the expenses which have been already incurred for the infantile establishment of our country; we shall be led to the same conclusions. The American navy was commenced in the year 1794, and by the end of the year 1811, the expenditures amounted to $27,456,979--a sum much greater than the one-half of the public debt on the 1st of January, 1812. This would have been much better applied, had it been placed with the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. I will ask the gentleman from South Carolina, what has the nation benefited for this enormous expenditure? What would have been the amount expended, had this engine been Herculean, with Admirals of the Red, White and Blue squadrons, with numerous dock and navy-yards, placemen, &c.? For we shall gradually advance to all this, if we do not stop short at this time. For the benefits of such appendages, I will refer you to a statement made to this House, the last session, concerning the navy-yards belonging to the United States; especially to the details of the expenditures of that connected with this city. The document I refer to, was laid before this House on the 25th February, 1811. It will inform you, sir, that the value of the work done from the 1st of January to the 31st of December, 1810, was $73,947 52. The commandant confesses, in his returns made to the Secretary, that this work, in many instances, is rated twenty per cent. above the prices paid in other places. The salaries in this same yard, for the same year, (1810,) amounted to $95,637 64-1/4. So that the pay for the salaries and the wages at this navy-yard, exceeded the value of the articles manufactured, even when rated far above the fair prices, in amount $21,790 12-1/4! This establishment is under the immediate eye of the Government; we might suppose every attention was paid to economy; if so, who will desire further proofs of the advantages of a navy!

Sir, I further object to a navy, because it will be the means of exciting many wars, which, without the establishment, may be honorably avoided. It is said, nations are involved in war, in proportion to the extent of their navies; and some assert (Brougham) that a perpetual war is one of the two modes which are necessary to support a powerful naval establishment. Sir, a naval establishment will create a new and a dangerous interest in our country. Nothing is more common than to be told, that such are the wishes of the naval interest of Great Britain, and that this or that war must be entered into to gratify them. For my part, sir, I shall be very sorry indeed, if ever the period arrives in the United States, when any particular interest or community shall direct the Government, whether it be naval, agricultural, manufacturing, or commercial--the general welfare should be the sole great ruling principle in the National Councils.

Sir, I am deterred, when I consider the fate of all those nations who at different periods have been famous for their navies. The naval strength of the Hanseatic League was such, two centuries past, as to excite terror on the part of England. These, sir, distant free cities, are now the appendages of mighty France, and have no political existence. Who has not heard of the once formidable fleets of Venice and Genoa? At one time England was indebted to the latter for officers to command her ships of war--alas! these republics are now consigned to oblivion. Denmark was at one time the mistress of the ocean; by means of her fleets she often invaded England, and held her in a state of subjection. The Danes heretofore burned London, Paris, and other great cities--they are now controlled by France, and they have had their Copenhagen defeat. Holland, with her Van Tromps, and De Ruyters, occupied the British Channel at pleasure; this power defeated the navies of England and France. Where is Holland now? Incorporated as a part of the French empire. Spain boasted her invincible armadas; Elizabeth of England, by nature haughty, proud, and ambitious, trembled at the very mention of them, until they were dispersed and destroyed by storms at sea; Spain is now the vassal of France. Not very long since the navy of France sailed triumphant along the British coast, looked into Portsmouth harbor, and taunted British spirit. I ask you, sir, where is the strength of which these nations formerly boasted? All are inoperative, and dread the gigantic power of the British navy--they are in part sick in dry docks, or are blockaded in their ports.

Mr. Chairman, Great Britain, though at this time triumphant in every sea, if she persists in her expensive naval establishment, with her present debt of £800,000,000, which was chiefly created for her navy--Great Britain, sir, I say, with all this, must sink under the heavy pressure. She will hereafter derive very little satisfaction from her brilliant victories on the 1st of June off Cape St. Vincent, Camperdown, Aboukir, and Trafalgar.

Shall I be pardoned, sir, when I fear our vessels will only tend to swell the present catalogue of the British navy? Of the 1,042 vessels which she possessed in July, 1811, one hundred and nine were captured from the French, forty-six from the Danes, twenty-five from the Spaniards, twenty-four from the Dutch, and three from the Italians; making a total of two hundred and seven captured ships, or one-fifth of her whole navy.

Small ships are proper for the service of the United States--by their agency we shall be able to annoy the convoys of an enemy. The privateers which were fitted out in every port during our Revolutionary war, destroyed much of the British commerce, even in the British and Irish Channels, whilst the frigates which were built by the Government did little or nothing--but two of them remained at the conclusion of the contest. The enemy will not watch your small vessels; they may enter all your small inlets, where heavy vessels cannot venture to approach them; and, at the conclusion of the war, they may be sold for the merchant service. I shall not follow the gentleman in his remarks on the bill before the committee; I shall vote against it, though it is my present intention to appropriate the sums requisite for the repairing and equipping our present ships of war. I will go no further. I tell you, sir, naval victories in the end would prove fatal to the United States; the consequences which have uniformly followed in other countries must take place here. If the United States shall determine to augment their navy, so as to rival those of Europe, the public debt will become permanent; direct taxes will be perpetual; the paupers of the country will be increased; the nation will be bankrupt; and, I fear, the tragedy will end in a revolution.

Mr. MCKEE rose, with deference, to perform a duty which he owed to his constituents, by delivering his sentiments on the very important subject before the committee, though he confessed himself very inadequate to do justice to it. He deemed the question of great magnitude; as he feared, if we were to proceed to build up a large naval establishment, it would affect the destinies of this nation to the latest posterity.

The gentleman from South Carolina has said, that he has great prejudices to encounter. Mr. MCKEE would have thought that the deliberate opinion of a majority of Congress, expressed upon more than one occasion, was entitled to a more respectful term than prejudices. Those decisions proceeded from the honest convictions of some of the best friends of the country.

Mr. McK. denied this doctrine, that "it is demonstrably clear that this nation is inevitably destined to be a naval power;" and he believed that, if the attempt were made to make it such, it would prove the destruction of our happy constitution. He would proceed to show on what ground he supported the opinion that the maintenance of a permanent naval establishment would prove ruinous to this country. For this purpose, he should be under the necessity of submitting some calculations to the House; for, though he had heard a course of this kind condemned, as fit only for the counting-house of the merchant, he considered it as the most conducive to correct legislation. It is certainly a matter of just calculation, when we are called upon to establish a permanent navy, to show that such an institution would cost more than any advantages to be derived from it would compensate.

[Here the Speaker went into detailed statements, taken from the authentic reports of the Navy Department, showing the enormous expense of building our ships, and the enormous expense of repairs; the great expense of manning and equipping them, and the pay of officers idle at home while the ship was rotting which cost so much, and which, at the time it was built, it was morally certain would have nothing to do until it rotted.]

Mr. McK. had said, this nation was not destined, under the present constitution, to be a great naval power; and he maintained that the statements which he had exhibited--and which he believed, for the purposes of argument, would be found substantially correct, when tested by experience--went conclusively to show that the expenses of the naval establishment of ten frigates and twelve seventy-four gun ships, now proposed to be built, could not be supported without permanent internal taxes, and a constant increase of the public debt and annual expenditure. And if the system was gone into, to the extent contemplated by the gentleman from South Carolina, (Mr. CHEVES,) of building forty frigates and twenty-five seventy-four gunships, which he admitted would be necessary to relieve the naval establishment from comparative inefficiency, the annual expenses of the Government with such a system (as already shown) would be more than $25,000,000, which would rapidly increase the public burdens, and entail on this country that fatal system which has almost ruined the British Empire.

The gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. CHEVES) takes it for granted that our commerce can be effectually protected by a navy; and assuming this fact, he proceeds to show that every portion of the American people are equally interested in the building a navy, because all are more or less interested in protecting commerce.

But, the fact is, that navies have never been considered as adequate to the complete protection of commerce. Look, said he, at the situation of the Old World, in times, to them, more prosperous than the present! What is the fact? Holland, with almost no navy, possessed an extensive and profitable commerce; and Spain, about the same period, with a large and powerful fleet, had no commerce.

But the situation of Europe is, in all respects, different from ours. The Governments of Europe are surrounded by rival powers, who are mostly engaged in war with each other, while we are happily far removed from them all, and have no neighbors to annoy us. Therefore, arguments drawn from the Old World are wholly inapplicable to this country, because their situation and form of Government are altogether unlike ours. And when we turn our eyes from foreign Governments to our own, we find that no people since Adam were ever more prosperous or more happy than the American people have been for the eight or ten years previous to the year 1808. Private fortunes have been accumulated with unequalled ease and rapidity; commerce has prospered beyond example; agriculture has flourished; and the revenue abundant, beyond the wants of the Government. And did this state of prosperity exist at a time when your commerce was protected by vessels of war? No; but at a time when your navy was out of use; and in proportion to the increase of your naval expenditure, in the same proportion has your commerce decreased. The protection of commerce is the only ostensible object for which navies are created, while power and conquest are the main objects. Show me, said Mr. McK., a nation possessed of a large navy, and I will show you a nation always at war. When has England been at peace with all the world, since she became a great naval power? Such instances in British history were so rare, and of such short duration, (if they existed at all,) that he could not answer the question; and he believed it would be difficult for the ingenuity of the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. CHEVES) to answer it. It is true, that England, the greatest naval power in the world, is also the most commercial; and it was not to be doubted that her commerce received aid from her navy, though it owed its extent principally to the industry and consequent wealth of the nation. But England has other and far more important objects to effect by her navy than that of protecting commerce. Her insular situation renders it necessary for her protection, and she keeps it up for the purposes of war and dominion. England would destroy her navy to-morrow, if the protection of commerce was her only object; because it cannot be denied that the expense of keeping up her navy exceeds the profits of that commerce which it is said to protect. Navies, therefore, must be considered as instruments of power, rather than as the means of protecting commerce. They are the vile offspring of those nations where the power and grandeur of the Government is every thing, and the people are nothing but slaves!

Mr. McK. having stated that a navy was an instrument of power, rather than a means of protecting commerce, in order to show that this opinion was not a mere vagary of his own imagination, but the deliberate opinion of some of the wisest men of this country, most solemnly pronounced, he would beg leave to read a document, which he hoped would have weight with some gentlemen of the committee. It is taken from the celebrated instructions of the Virginia Legislature, of 1801, to their Senators in Congress, and is said to have come from the pen of the present Chief Magistrate of the United States; and he believed he could venture to say, that no Legislature ever possessed more talents than were drawn together into the Virginia Assembly on that occasion. After having noticed other subjects, in speaking of the navy, they say:

"With respect to the Navy, it may be proper to remind you, that, whatever may be the proposed object of its establishment, or whatever may be the prospect of temporary advantages resulting therefrom, it is demonstrated by the experience of all nations who have ventured far into naval policy, that such prospect is ultimately delusive; and that a navy has ever, in practice, been known more as an instrument of power, a source of expense, and an occasion of collisions and wars with other nations, than as an instrument of defence, of economy, or of protection to commerce. Nor is there any nation, in the judgment of the General Assembly, to whose circumstances this remark is more applicable than to the United States."

#/ These opinions may, now, however, be considered as old-fashioned; but being himself an old-fashioned man, he confessed he was more pleased with them than with the new political doctrines preached by the gentleman from South Carolina, (Mr. CHEVES) to the House and the nation. It might, however, possibly be the fact, that he (Mr. McK.) was wrong, and only indulged ancient prejudices, and the gentleman from South Carolina right; and if such were the case, he could only say, in his own defence, that, under the influence of those old doctrines, the American people had enjoyed a state of prosperity and happiness unparalleled in the history of man--a state of prosperity which he feared he would never see equalled. He looked back on those days of happy prosperity with the same feelings of mournful regret with which he looked back to the days of his youth, fearing that they, like the days of his youth, would never again return--especially if the Navy mania should prevail.

Establish a navy, said Mr. McK. and this country may bid farewell to peace; because you thereby organize a class of society who are interested in creating and keeping up wars and contention. Officers in the Navy and Army are mere cyphers in society in times of peace, and are only respectable in time of war, when wealth and fame may await their exertions. They are, therefore, interested in keeping up a state of war; and being invested with the management of an instrument of war, it is to be expected that it will be used in some degree to answer their own purposes? No man who will reflect for a moment, but must be satisfied that the disgraceful and lawless conduct of the British naval officers on our coast originated in a desire on their part to bring on a war with this country, in which they looked forward to large dividends of prize money; and these acts were contrary to the wish and expectation of Great Britain; in one instance the act was disavowed; and it may be asked why were the officers not punished who acted contrary to the wishes of the Government? The answer is obvious; because the influence of the Navy in England is so predominant that the Government are afraid to touch the subject, and the consequence is, that the Government are compelled to bear the odium of acts which they disapprove; and the same cause which has produced this effect in England, if permitted to operate, will produce a similar effect in this country.

Our little Navy has already contributed much towards the irritation which exists between this country and England; and under any other President than Mr. Jefferson, it would have brought on a war in 1807. And what real benefit has resulted from it to the Government? Has a picaroon or a buccaneer ever been chastised by them? If they have, he had no recollection of the case; he had seen indeed paragraphs in the newspapers mentioning that the frigate President, or some one of the vessels, had sailed from the navy-yard to Norfolk, from thence to New York, and finally arrived safe at Boston; but for what purpose he was totally ignorant, unless, indeed, it was to sail back again, and furnish the materials for a new article for the newspapers; and for these eminent services, the American people have already paid about $30,000,000.

TUESDAY, January 21.

Naval Establishment.

The House again resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill concerning the Naval Establishment.

Mr. JOHNSON said: I do not know, sir, why I should regret the discussion of any subject in this place, when I recollect that each member is under the same obligations of duty and responsibility. It has been said that no member would be thanked for his vote in favor of this bill--and, fearless of censure, I shall oppose this attempt to lay the foundation, and to pledge the property of the people for naval systems, as ruinous to the finances of the country, as it will be destructive to the peace of the nation. After every effort in my power, I could not suppress the sensation of sorrow, that Congress should be distracted with a subject that would justly excite alarm throughout the nation, even in the hours of profound tranquillity. I have looked to the Treasury reports, and I see a national debt of about fifty millions of dollars. I look to the aggressions of England, and I find we have been driven to the necessity of creating a great and expensive military force to avenge our wrongs and to expel the enemy from her North American colonies. I look to the arguments of the advocates of this pernicious system, and they acknowledge that we are driven to the brink of a war that will require loans and taxes, and end in a new debt of at least fifty millions of dollars--and under these circumstances, when we are upon the heels of a second revolution, when the people are likely to be most pressed for the ways and means to carry on the war with vigor and certain success, the ruinous system of a great navy is pressed upon us. Upon the return of a second peace, when the British possessions shall be incorporated into the Union, and our army disbanded--when commerce shall be restored, and a surplus of revenue in the Treasury--after meeting the demands of the Government, with more propriety might the question be presented for consideration. I believe, sir, since the political reformation in 1801, the question of building a navy had never been before presented directly to the consideration of Congress. When Mr. Jefferson, that illustrious character, presided over the destinies of the United States, why was not this navy-building proposed? Then we had a revenue of fifteen millions of dollars annually, and a surplus in the Treasury. No, sir, such a system had been put down too recently--the struggles against a navy in '98-9 were not forgotten. I deny the capacity of the United States to maintain a navy without oppression to the great mass of the community in the persons of tax-gatherers; and if a great navy could be maintained, it would be more than useless--it would be dangerous to the peace and tranquillity of this nation. I was in favor of repairing and putting into service the whole of our naval force, consisting of one hundred and sixty-two gunboats and upwards of fifteen frigates and smaller war vessels; because this naval force, united with our fortifications, would give security to our coasts and harbors, protect our coasting trade, and would be important in the present crisis to co-operate with privateers and individual enterprise against the commerce and plunder of Great Britain. But this is not the object of the bill. It contemplates and embraces a navy to protect our commerce in distant seas as well as at home, and which cannot cost less than twenty or thirty millions to accomplish; and, when built, would entail upon the Government of the United States the annual expense of fifteen millions of dollars,[25] equal to the amount of our whole revenue in the most prosperous years of commerce under the administration of Mr. Jefferson, and double the amount of our present financial income. It is the system, as well as the expense, that I object to; and while I am ready as any man to keep a small naval force, to be confined to the protection of our maritime frontiers, as well as I am to keep up a small land force, to protect our territorial frontiers, I will not vote one cent for a system of naval force which is destined to keep foreign nations in check in distant seas, and destined to entail upon this happy Government perpetual taxes and a perpetually-increasing national debt. The people will not support such a Naval Establishment--they have the corrective in their hands; and build this fleet of twenty seventy-fours and forty frigates, and the people will in their turn put them down. But, sir, we are told that we are a commercial people, and that you cannot restrain a spirit of enterprise in our citizens which is limited only by the polar snows to the North and the icy mountains to the South. No person has attempted to damp that gallant spirit, that mercantile enterprise--such adventurous voyages have been fostered and cherished by every means in the power of the Government. But, sir, has this unparalleled enterprise, this gallant spirit, been carried on by a navy? Such a thing has never been thought of, which proves that this question of a navy has no connection with this commercial enterprise; and the existence of one without the other, is positive proof of the fact. But it is also said, that agriculture and commerce are twin sisters, and the learned gentleman from New York (Mr. MITCHILL) will not allow a more distant connection. I have no objection to such a union, and I did expect that it would have been demonstrated what was the real relationship between these twin sisters and a permanent navy; whether it is that of cousin-german, brother or husband. As these subjects have not been identified, I must be permitted to say that there is no connection--unless under the disguise of protection, the navy would be the destroyer both of commerce and agriculture--by taxes upon the one and constant war upon the theatre of the other. The advocates of a navy need not expect to cover the deformity and danger of the system by telling the people they are friends to the protection of commerce--and that those who oppose it are ready to relinquish our rights upon the ocean. No, sir, this will not do. They will ask if our commerce, as great as it has been, was ever protected by a navy. They will look at the expenditure of the public money--they will see twenty-nine millions of dollars expended upon our present Naval Establishment; and though they may not complain of that prodigal waste of public money upon so small a naval force, they will look to the effects produced by this power, and they will refuse to augment it, until, indeed, the Peace Establishment shall require augmentation. The people will look to the votes of this House, and they will see the opposers of a navy willing at this moment to avenge the depredation upon our commerce and neutral rights by actual hostility. I am not prepared to give up our rights, whether upon the ocean or upon land, whether commercial or personal; but I may differ in the means of avenging these wrongs, and vindicating those rights, and I shall ever differ from those who wish a navy to ride triumphant in distant seas, and, under a pretext of protection to commerce, doom the nation to galling burdens too intolerable to be borne. But we are told, sir, that this question partakes of the character of a self-evident proposition. Indeed, sir, and in what respect is it entitled to this definition of self-evident? Unless, indeed, from every consideration of history, experience and reason, it is evident that a navy is an engine of power and ambition, calculated to embroil a nation in quarrels and wars, and to fix permanent wretchedness upon the industrious class of the people. When we look to the delegation from each State, we find a difference in sentiment upon this subject, whether lying on the seaboard or distant from it.

The chairman of the Naval Committee has attempted to make us believe that a navy is the anchor of our hopes, and I dare venture to say, his eloquent colleague (Mr. WILLIAMS) will in due time denounce it as the most abominable system--always employed in the fell purposes of outrage, plunder, war, and death. The same division of sentiment exists in Massachusetts as to this destructive and expensive establishment. And, sir, let me not omit to mention, the sentiments of the Republicans of '98-9 were not only entitled to the love and confidence of the people, but worthy of our imitation. Nor will I omit the resolutions of the Virginia Legislature in opposition to a navy, when they remonstrated against measures which they considered ruinous to the freedom of the United States--nor is my respect for those opinions lessened, although many Republicans in Congress at this time, and men of talents, have become great advocates for a navy, and I will put it to the people whose opinions are entitled to their approbation, whether a navy beyond the peace establishment is ruinous, or the rock of our safety.

Leaving the division of sentiment in our country, let us advert to ancient and modern history, and search for examples upon this important subject. And here, sir, I will take this position, and defy history for an example, that no great naval power ever confined their naval strength to the legitimate object of protecting commerce in distant seas. I will refer to Tyre and Sidon, Crete and Rhodes, to Athens and to Carthage. No sooner had these nations ceased to confine their naval strength to their maritime defence at home, to the protection of their seacoast, than they were engaged in plunder, piracy, depredations upon other nations, or involved in wars, which certainly accelerated, if it did not produce, the downfall and destruction of those governments. Peace and tranquillity is not the natural state of a great naval power. A disregard of public law, sacred treaties, and bloodshed, would suit it better; and it has been and ever will be, the consequences of such force. These nations furnish another example and instructive lesson to the present generation--that while their commerce and navy furnished a small part of the people with the luxuries of every country at that time known, the great mass of citizens at home were miserable and oppressed. Their rights neglected, their burdens increased, and their happiness destroyed, while their fleets and external grandeur carried astonishment and terror to distant nations. When a nation puts forth her strength upon the ocean, the interior of the country will be neglected and oppressed with contributions. Ancient history does not furnish a solitary instance of any permanent good, or long continuance of peace arising from a great naval supremacy; such overgrown power, such unnatural strength, must feed upon plunder, at home and abroad. When we come to modern nations we have proof before us of the positions I have taken. We have been told of Holland, as a people existing in a most flourishing state of prosperous commerce without a navy to protect it, and we have been told of Spain as a naval power without commerce to protect. But leaving these examples, let us look at France and Great Britain; we here have examples before our eyes; we need no history; the facts are before us.

Admit that Great Britain, with her thousand vessels, could protect her lawful commerce, let me ask, if her navy has ever been confined to that object; whether it is confined to that object at this time; whether her navy has not fattened upon the spoils of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, and the commerce of neutral nations, making war equally upon friends and enemies. Her navy, triumphant in every sea, is employed in a system of plunder against the world, and, notwithstanding this supremacy, we see her citizens groaning under a national debt of eight hundred millions of pounds sterling, more than all the nations of the universe could pay. We see her upon the precipice of bankruptcy--we see her people, her numerous subjects, loaded with taxes, that would astonish any man who did not know the fact--notwithstanding this, the public debt is daily increasing, and it is now acknowledged by all the world that she is fighting for her existence--victorious at sea and safe at home from invasion, and still her very existence is at stake. Sir, I never wish to see the liberties of my country afloat upon the ocean and staked upon the strength of a navy. Look at France, separated from her enemy by a narrow channel, without vessels to meet the fleets of England on the water, and still she is unable to burn the seaport towns of France or invade the French territories, or in any way to make an impression upon her. Populous and powerful upon land, nothing but the imperial despotism that exists throughout that vast empire, prevents the country from being the most enviable residence upon the globe, except our own favored land. Let not the Congress of the United States therefore stake their existence upon navies, let us not withdraw the protecting hand of Government from the soil; let us not increase the burdens of the people, and weigh them down with a public debt to support external grandeur. Do not by this system destroy the affections and attachments of the solid and honest part of the community, who support the government of the country.

Sir, the report of the Naval Committee has assumed principles as erroneous as they are novel--that the protection of maritime commerce was, above all other objects, the first and the greatest consideration which laid the foundation for the present constitution. There is nothing to warrant such a position; and no reason does exist why our commercial rights should have been better secured than the other various rights and interests embraced by that charter of our independence. In the specific grants of powers, Congress has the authority to regulate commerce with foreign nations, with the several States, and with the Indian tribes; not giving preference in language to foreign over State and domestic commerce. I will admit, sir, that our commercial rights formed one of the primary considerations--not more primary than the rights of agriculture and manufactures, nor the rights of property, the rights of persons, protection from foreign invasion and aggression, or from internal foes. These rights were equally important, and not less the considerations which strengthened the bonds of the Union. And if any consideration had a preference, it arose from considerations of peace and war.

When I look into the preamble of the constitution, which to be sure is no specific grant of power, but is an interpretation of the objects of that great charter of our Union, I find it was to establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence and general welfare, and to secure the blessings of liberty, that the constitution was adopted; and although maritime commerce has only a co-equal right with all others, still, the greatest means and resources of the Government have been directed to its protection. And still it would seem, if we do not ruin the nation by the establishment of a navy, we wish to make encroachments upon commerce, to damp the commercial spirit. And this we are told in the face of facts which appear upon record, and in the face of every expensive war measure now taken and adopted. Sir, in a colonial state, it was a duty upon tea that was the immediate cause of a war, which was bloody indeed, and continued upwards of seven years; a conflict which has no parallel in history as to its beginning and termination. And at this moment, violations of our neutral rights upon the ocean is a primary cause why we are about to wage a second war with Great Britain; and still we are gravely told that we are unwilling to protect commerce, and that we are ready to abandon it, because we will not vote away the substance of the people upon a system of policy which must ruin the nation if not crushed in its infancy. The constitution says, Congress shall have the power to provide and maintain a navy. And this has been read. So has it authorized Congress to raise and support armies, to lay and collect taxes, and declare war; but the constitution does not fix the limit of these powers, and all are liable to abuse. And the convention did not suppose that any Congress would so far abuse these powers as to keep either a standing army in time of peace, which must endanger the liberties of the people, or a permanent navy, that would involve us in continual wars with other nations, and permanent taxes upon the people. A reasonable peace establishment to protect our maritime and territorial frontier, consistent with strict economy, must have been contemplated; and this force, naval and military, we have maintained; and we are as secure as a nation can expect to be from savages or a maritime foe. There would be as much reason why we should keep in pay five hundred thousand regular troops in time of peace, as your twenty vessels of seventy-four guns and your forty frigates, in addition to our present naval force. In every point of view, therefore, a permanent navy is as injurious to the country as a standing army. One will endanger your liberties by conquest, and the other by wars with foreign nations.

But I am asked, how will you contend with a maritime nation, without a navy? Sir, that question is as easily answered as the first. I will ask, how we succeeded in the Revolutionary war? We were without any security upon our seacoast, and still we succeeded. But to be more specific--I would grant letters of marque and reprisal, and authorize privateering. Give scope to individual enterprise, to destroy the commerce of the enemy--which can be done effectually. I would fortify our seaport towns; station our gunboats and frigates along our coast, to protect us at home. And in this way I would in war avenge the infractions of our neutral rights.

Mr. LOWNDES.--Mr. Speaker, in one opinion expressed by the honorable gentleman last up, (Mr. JOHNSON,) I can concur. The constitution was not formed for the exclusive protection of commerce, but for the defence of all the interests of the United States. These are to be protected by the whole force of the nation. If he had adhered throughout his speech to this opinion, the question would have been narrowed to the inquiry, by what means shall commerce be protected? He has asserted the adequacy to this purpose of the naval force which we now possess. This is, indeed, a different view of the subject from that which was taken by his honorable colleague. We were told but yesterday, that the undivided exertions of the United States could not give them a navy large enough to be useful. To-day the five frigates which we have in commission are thought sufficient if properly employed, to redress all our injuries. The death of Pierce might have been revenged, and the disgrace of the Chesapeake obliterated, if these five frigates had been sent a cruising. We did not want force, but spirit to employ it. Can it be necessary gravely to answer these assertions? May I not trust their confutation to that general knowledge of the subject which every member of the House possesses? Must we inquire what number of British vessels have been lately stationed near our coast, or what greater number it is in the power of England to station there?

But, although the honorable gentleman from Kentucky is determined to defend commerce by some method which he will not fully disclose, his arguments like those of my honorable friend from Pennsylvania, appeared designed to show that commerce was not worth defending. After the full discussion of this subject, produced by the report of the Committee of Foreign Relations, and the debates at every stage of the bill for raising an additional army, the House might have supposed that this question was at last dismissed. I hope, however, to be excused for remarking that both these gentlemen have considered the profits of commerce as confined to the merchant. They have forgotten that commerce implies a change of commodities, in which the merchant is only an intermediate agent. He derives, indeed, a profit from the transaction--but so must the seller and the buyer, the grower and the consumer, or they would not engage in it. So must all those who are supported by their own industry in commercial cities--the clerk, the artisan, the common laborer. But my honorable friend from Pennsylvania says that Mr. Pitt estimated the profits of commerce in England at only twelve millions for a year, in which the naval expense was fourteen or sixteen millions. I suppose this estimate to have been made in relation to the income tax, and it obviously must have referred only to the profits of merchants. The profits of merchants may be computed, but no sober financier would attempt to compute the entire profits of commerce. If it be desirable to form, not, indeed, an estimate, but some conception of its importance, let my honorable friend compute the value of New York, where a few square feet of land are an estate, and then compare it with the value of the same extent of ground for the purposes of the plough. But, is it in this nation, and at this time, that it can be supposed that the profits of commerce are confined to the merchant? Your trade was, a few years ago, unrestrained and flourishing--did it not enrich the most distant parts of your country? It has since been plundered and confined. Does not the industry of the country languish? Is not the income of every man impaired? If commerce were destroyed, the mercantile class, indeed, could exist no longer; but the merchant, the rich capitalist, at least, would individually suffer less than any other part of the community, because, while their property would become unproductive, the value of money would rise rather than fall.

The value of commerce, then, has been strangely misunderstood by these gentlemen, who suppose that they have calculated it so very accurately. But whatever may be its value, you have already determined to defend it. Considerations of expense are not, indeed, to be neglected. We must employ, in the prosecution of the war, the cheapest and most efficacious instruments of hostility which we can obtain. But the arguments of the honorable gentlemen on the other side, are almost all of them directed against the war rather than the navy. It would be absurd, say they, to protect commerce by a navy, which should cost more than that commerce is worth. It must yet be more absurd, then, to protect it by an army which costs much more than the navy. In the comparison of the expenses and of the efficiency of an army and navy, instituted by my colleague, there is nothing invidious. The army is acknowledged to be necessary. It has had our votes. But, from the acknowledged propriety of raising the army, was fairly inferred the propriety of employing a navy, if it should be proved to be less expensive in proportion to its probable efficacy. War, and all its operations and all its instruments, must be expensive. It is difficult to determine upon the expediency of employing any of these instruments, except by comparing it with some other. To compute the result of this comparison, the honorable gentlemen on the other side must show, not that it is more expensive to maintain a navy than to be without one--not that it is more expensive to go to war than to remain at peace, (these propositions they, perhaps, have proved,) but that the objects proposed to be attained by the navy may be better or more cheaply attained in some other way. My honorable friend from Pennsylvania, then, in determining not to follow my colleague in the investigation of the comparative expense of different kinds of force, must have determined to avoid the best, and, indeed, the only method of examination from which a just conclusion could be deduced.

The honorable gentleman from Kentucky, however, who spoke yesterday, offered objections to a navy, which, if they were well founded, would supersede all further reasoning and calculation. He opposes a navy now--he will oppose it for ever. It would produce no possible good and all possible evil. It would infallibly destroy the constitution. Will the honorable gentleman tell us why? how? He sees the danger clearly? Will he explain it? An ambitious General might corrupt his army, and seize the Capitol--but will an Admiral reduce us to subjection by bringing his ships up the Potomac? The strongest recommendation of a navy in free Governments has hitherto been supposed to be that it was capable of defending but not of enslaving its country. The honorable gentleman has discovered that this is a vulgar error. A navy is really much more dangerous than an army to public liberty. He voted for the army and expressed no fears for the constitution. But a navy would infallibly terminate in aristocracy and monarchy. All this may be very true. But are we unreasonable in expecting, before we give up the old opinion, to hear some argument in favor of the new one? The honorable gentleman has asserted his propositions very distinctly. We complain only that he has not proved them.

Yet there is a view in which this question of a navy is, indeed, closely connected with the constitution. That constitution was formed by the union of independent States, that the strength of the whole might be employed for the protection of every part. The States were not ignorant of the value of those rights which they surrendered to the General Government, but they expected a compensation for their relinquishment in the increased power which would be employed for their defence. Suppose this expectation disappointed--suppose the harbor of New York blockaded by two seventy-fours? The commerce of that city, which exists only by commerce, destroyed? The protection of the General Government claimed? Your whole navy could not drive these English seventy-fours from their station. Would the brave and enterprising people of New York consent to see their capital emptied of its inhabitants, and their whole country beggared by so contemptible a force? Their own exertions would raise a fleet which would drive off the enemy and restore their city to its owners. But, when a single State shall find herself able to raise a greater fleet than the General Government can or will employ for her defence, can it be expected that she shall consider that Government as essential to her safety--as entitled to her obedience? I repeat that the Federal Constitution was instituted by the States, that the strength of the whole might be combined for the protection of any part which should be attacked. But what is the nature of the defence which one of our large States may be supposed interested to obtain from the General Government? Is it a land force? We can scarcely expect an attack on land, to repel which the militia of New York or Massachusetts would be unequal. Were either of these States attacked, the General Government would protect her by ordering out her own militia. To render the Union permanent, you must render it the interest of all the States, the large as well as the small, to maintain it; you must show them that it will provide, not an army which they can have without it, but what without it they cannot have--an adequate navy.

The honorable gentleman who anticipates the destruction of the constitution, unless we shall neglect one of the great interests which it was intended to protect, considers the English Orders in Council as leaving our institutions firm and untouched. Regulations, the effect of which is to give to a foreign power the complete disposition of the property of a large class of our people, are it seems in their political result innocent. Although every citizen who has property on the ocean become dependent on the English Ministry, become their subject, our liberty and independence are (we are told) unimpaired. But let a navy be raised--let the Government which expects obedience provide protection, and the constitution perishes!

But we have been referred particularly by my honorable friend from Pennsylvania to the experience of the world, as having already decided the question which we are now discussing. It seems that Venice and Genoa, and every other naval power which can be named, have all furnished abundant proof of the ruinous effects which such a force is calculated to produce. Sir, the assertion is new. I do not pretend to an intimate acquaintance with the histories of those nations, but I have hitherto believed that the first great shock which the power of Venice received, was given by the League of Cambray--a league formed to repress her ambition, not of maritime, but of territorial aggrandizement. But, whilst Venice has lost her independence, after maintaining it for five or six centuries, may I ask my honorable friend whether the States of Italy, which were never oppressed by fleets, had enjoyed a longer term of prosperity and freedom? As to Genoa--her naval power, her independence and glory, rose and sunk with the same man--Doria. But Holland, says the gentleman from Kentucky, affords an example of a nation, whose commerce flourished greatly before it had a navy, and decayed while her navy continued powerful. If there ever were a people, whose naval power has been employed to protect and almost to create their commerce, it is the Dutch. They fought their way at the same time to trade in the East Indies and America, and to national independence in Europe. The decay of their trade is to be attributed to the development of the resources of other nations; to the navigation act of England; and the similar measures adopted by other powers. As to France--the period of her greatest financial prosperity probably coincided with that of her greatest naval power; both were due to the administration of Colbert. But the evils of a navy (gentlemen tell us) have been concentrated in the case of England. With all her fleets she is destined soon to lose her independence. The expense of those fleets has crushed the industry of her subjects, and must soon reduce her to national bankruptcy. Let us suppose that these gentlemen, who have been so much mistaken in regard to the past, may be more accurate in their narrative of the future. Still England will have owed to her fleets her redemption from invasion for ages past. While every other considerable nation of Europe has been bankrupt over and over again, she is not yet bankrupt. While nearly every other Government of Europe has been overset, hers yet rides out the storm. Should England fall to-morrow, it should seem impossible to deny that her navy will have prolonged her independence for at least two centuries.

My honorable colleague has calculated the expense of building and maintaining a navy of 12 ships-of-the-line and 20 frigates, and has explained the principles on which his calculations have been founded. The estimate of the gentleman from Pennsylvania can hardly be considered, after the error which has been remarked, as impugning those calculations. I have not myself attempted to estimate the probable expense of maintaining 12 ships-of-the-line and 20 frigates with any precision, but I cannot doubt the fairness of the rule which deduces it from the expense of such a force to England. This is the rule which I understood my colleague to have employed. It has not been disputed in debate; it has been in conversation. Many gentlemen have objected to an estimate of the expenses of a navy during war, in which (as they suppose) no allowance is made for the peculiar expenses which war involves. To have all our ships safe at the end of the contest is observed to be rather a sanguine expectation. But if the rate of expense in the estimate of my colleague were deduced from the rate of English expense during war, these objections must be altogether groundless. Now, it was deduced from the expense which is found sufficient to maintain the English Navy in a state of unimpaired strength during war. The English expense, from which it was inferred, included the charge of docks and navy-yards, of the repair of old ships and of the building of new ones. It included pensions to their officers, and even the support of the prisoners taken from their enemies. I have on my table a detailed account of the English naval expenditure for a year of the last war. The whole amount was about twelve millions and a half, and of this sum fully four millions and a half were applied to what may be considered the contingent expenses of the navy. Now, is there any reason to suppose that the contingent expenses of our navy would be greater in proportion to its force than this? And if not greater, has not an allowance been made for the capture of some of our ships, or, in other words, for the building of new ones? It is true, that from the superiority of English sailors to their present enemies, England loses little by capture, and, it may be supposed, that from the greater frequency and severity of our conflicts when we shall be engaged in war against her, our contingent expenses may be greater in proportion to the number of our ships then hers. But there are many expenses to which she is necessarily subject, from which we shall be exempt. I will instance that resulting from blockading squadrons, and that from repairs in colonial and foreign ports. These can appear inconsiderable to no man who has given his attention in any degree to the subject. Naval men I believe would not contradict me, if I were to state the expense of a ship employed in a strict blockade, and particularly during the winter months, as fully double that of a ship engaged in ordinary service. In fact, England finds the expense too great for her finances, and has been obliged, in some measure, to give up the practice. The other article of expenditure to which I have referred, I shall not attempt to estimate with any precision. It must, however, be obvious to every man, that the ships of war of England must frequently be repaired and refitted in distant countries. In these the most scrupulous fidelity and economy on the part of her officers cannot prevent the expense from being frequently extravagant. The most salutary regulations and most provident instructions on the part of the Administration at home cannot prevent her officers from being sometimes careless and fraudulent. I recollect an instance of the enormous expense involved in the distant services required from the British Navy, which I cannot pretend to state with accuracy, but in which I hope not to be substantially wrong. Sir Home Popham (a distinguished officer in the English Navy) had under his command in the last war two or three frigates in the East Indies. They had left England in good condition, and their repairs for two or three years, and the supply of the different articles of equipment which they occasionally required, exceeded, I believe, the prime cost of the vessels themselves. These two items of expenditure, blockading squadrons, and repairs in distant countries, (to neither of which an American Navy would be liable,) will be acknowledged, I think, to justify the conclusion, that the contingent expenses of the English Navy must be as great in proportion to its force as ours would be in war--and therefore that the rule employed in the calculations of my colleague was correct.

But our resources for the equipment of a navy appear to the honorable gentlemen on the other side, as deficient in respect to men and money. Sailors in this country cannot be obtained in sufficient numbers without impressment. It is not necessary, sir, to inquire whether for the defence of their peculiar rights the services of a marine militia may not be required. There is no reason to doubt our being able to procure the voluntary services of our seamen. If we shall at any time be engaged in a war (like that with France in 1798) which shall leave the greater part of our trade unaffected, the wages of sailors will, indeed, be high, but the number required will be small and the Government can afford high wages. In a war of a different character--against a nation powerful at sea--your sailors will be thrown out of employment and their wages will be necessarily low. But gentlemen object to this reasoning on the supposition that in such a case our sailors would all engage in privateers. The notion that in any war there will be a demand in this country for more than thirty thousand sailors for privateers is surely an extravagant one. But it has been shown by my colleague that in a war which should diminish our trade by one-half, (and a war requiring any great naval exertion would necessarily do this,) thirty or forty thousand seamen may be employed in privateers, and a sufficient number would remain for your public ships. But are not your privateers as much a part of the naval force of the nation as your ships of war? It has been said, indeed, that they are the more useful part. Now, if the Government should believe (what neither sober reflection nor the experience of other nations can permit it to doubt) that this part of your force cannot be in any great degree serviceable unless supported by a fleet--then surely a limitation to its extent, which would be necessary even to the interest of its owners, cannot fairly be objected to. The law just passed for raising twenty-five thousand men, provides, I think, for only one regiment of cavalry. Now, it is very possible that a much larger proportion of the twenty-five thousand men that can be accommodated in this regiment, may choose to go to Canada on horseback. They must be disappointed, and either not go into the army at all, or go into the service which they least desire. No man has hitherto denounced the act as on this account tyrannical and oppressive. Yet this case seems to me a true parallel to the other. In the naval, as in the military service, the interest of the country requires the employment of different sorts of force; and the object may be attained with equal fairness in both services by limiting the amount of the favorite force.

Mr. LAW said: Being in favor of the bill now under consideration, I beg leave to express my sentiments, and state the reasons in support of my opinion; and the only pledge I shall offer to the House, for their attention, is, that I shall not occupy much of their time.

This bill, sir, embraces two objects--one relates to the repairs and equipment of the ships of the United States now out of service--the other contemplates the building of ten additional frigates, and laying the foundation of a new Naval Establishment. The view which I entertain of this subject, does not arise from its connection with that system which grows out of what is called the present crisis, or putting the nation in armor for war, as reported by the Committee of Foreign Relations; but from a conviction, that, as an abstract question or matter of general policy, I deem it for the interest and security of the United States, to begin the establishment of a Navy, to be perpetuated and extended hereafter--and, because I believe it may be accomplished, to the extent at present proposed, from the ordinary means we ought to possess, without adding any new burdens on the citizens. In order to decide whether it is for the interest of the United States we must examine and see how it is connected with the great and essential interest of the country. The basis of our national wealth is agriculture; the real substance of the nation is drawn from the earth. This arises from the great and extensive territory which we possess, thinly settled, low in price, of an excellent soil, capable, from its fertility and variety of climes, of affording produce of every kind, in the greatest abundance. The surplus of all is wanted in other countries, where nature has been less bountiful; and it must be a great while before the labor of our citizens can be diverted extensively into other channels--I mean manufactures. This is a condition in which we ought to rejoice for the causes, which bind us in this necessity, are those which tend to preserve the morals, the happiness, and the independence of the nation. And until our lands are taken up, and population becomes redundant, the basis of our national wealth must be the farming interest. But, sir, in a country so blessed by nature; where the inhabitants have the greatest stimulus to industry, the fruits of their labor secured by just and equal laws; where the property cannot be taken from the owner without his consent, there will be a vast surplus, beyond what the consumption of the country requires. Hence, commerce springs up as the daughter and handmaid of agriculture. Without commerce, agriculture would languish. With it, wealth is consolidated, and industry promoted. It diffuses its benign influence, discoverable in the splendid and delightful improvements, which rejoice the eye of the traveller, throughout the country. And it is as unnatural for the farming interest to oppress the commercial, as it is for the parent to abandon its offspring. They mutually cherish and support each other; and, by natural sympathy, must be affected by the checks and disorders which each may receive. But commerce must be protected. It cannot protect itself against force. Being carried on abroad on the ocean, (for I am speaking of foreign commerce,) it is subject to annoyance, interruption, and hazard. We must pass the common highway of nations to get to a market; and in this route, the weak and defenceless must, and always will be the sport and prey of the strong and violent, whom they meet in the way. From the wretched state of those nations with whom we have intercourse, we, from weakness, must fall victims to their violence. This is an evil which we shall always experience as a neutral, coming in collision with belligerents. Shall we then abandon commerce, or shall we strive to support it? It will be for the interest of the country to support it, if possible; for if we abandon it, the evil will recoil on the agricultural part, who, no longer than foreign commerce is supported, can find a vent for their surplus; and without a vent for the surplus, a bare competency might be endangered. Internal commerce would always fail, for that, being but a stream from foreign commerce, must dry when the fountain from whence it issues fails. Enterprise ceases, and languor and poverty ensue. It is then for the interest of the nation to cherish commerce. But how can this be done? Will a navy have this effect? I think it will. Indeed, if the little navy which was commenced some years ago, had been supported and increased as it might have been without any difficulty, we might, and in all probability should, have avoided our present calamities. We are now the defenceless prey of both France and England; deprived of the common rights of nations and citizens of the world. Will it then be asked, shall we not go to war and fight our way? I have already recorded my negative on the several questions preparatory to that step, and I am decidedly against going to war. We have not the means necessary, and unsuccessful resistance will only make our condition worse. I verily believe, if this nation had fostered our infant navy, from the time it was commenced, and had not, by a strange infatuation, abandoned and neglected it, it would now have been too important to be despised, by either France or England. Our prosperity would have continued. Our strength would have been dreaded, and our friendship courted by both nations. While they have been contending for the mastery, we, with such naval force as we ought to have had, and a strict course of neutrality, might have pursued a lawful and gainful trade. We might have had a perpetual revenue of sixteen millions, instead of the pittance now received at the Treasury. I believe, that with the navy we might have had, and a correct strict neutral course, there would have been neither Berlin and Milan Decrees, nor Orders in Council, to annoy our lawful commerce.

Mr. ROBERTS observed, that there appeared to be a disposition in the committee to take the question on the filling the blank in the first section without further debate. As he could not vote for appropriating $480,000 for the repair of the vessels of war unfit for service, it would perhaps be the most proper time to submit his opinions. I have not, Mr. Chairman, said he been a listless hearer of the very ingenious arguments advanced by gentlemen in favor of the report. He had, however, been so unfortunate as to be more confirmed in his inclination to vote against the bill, from attentively weighing these arguments. The select committee in their report (for they had reported specially as well as by bill) have said, with oracular confidence, that this country is inevitably destined to become a naval power. He had not, with them, become a fatalist. Though he was disposed to claim a high destiny for his country, he did not believe that destiny was yet immutably fixed. He, however, believed the question now to be decided must have an influence on that destiny, that might at an early day, if decided affirmatively, obliterate our happy civil institutions; if negatively, preserve them long the best blessings of posterity. Gentlemen who have advocated a naval establishment, have chosen to consider this bill and report as the furtherance of a system already in existence, and that, however short of their wishes the committee may be disposed to go, they stand prepared to view whatever might be done to augment the naval force as an evidence of assent to their system. Mr. R. said at one time he had inclined to vote for the appropriation of a sum to equip such of the vessels now out of service as might be found worthy of refittal. But on discovering it would be considered as an acknowledgment that a navy was proper in the sense it had been brought into view by the committee, and doubting, on better consideration, whether there was not great likelihood the money would be worse applied in repairing old, than in building new vessels, and feeling a conviction that if these vessels should be deemed worthy of repair, they could not be brought into action in that exigence of war when they could be useful, as in that case land defence must be resorted to, and the consequent expense incurred, he should feel it his duty to vote against this appropriation.

It has been observed that the constitution has invested Congress with power to regulate commerce, to provide and maintain a navy, &c. There is nothing, said Mr. R., imperative in this. It was necessary in a general grant of powers to insert many items to be left to the sound discretion of Congress, to use or not to use. Soon after the Government came into operation, it became a favorite object with one set of politicians to form a navy. On the occasion of our commerce being depredated upon by the Barbary corsairs, the question first came up. It became a matter of deliberation whether a peace should be purchased of them with money and presents; whether some European power should be subsidized to keep a few frigates on that station, or whether a naval force should be equipped for the purpose (as alleged) of enabling the President to negotiate to better effect. The party with whom I have always found it my duty to act, said Mr. R., opposed, on that occasion, the commencement of a navy system, when it was invited under circumstances so specious. They were, however, in the minority. The ships of war were voted--with what effect on the Algerines, he did not stop to inquire. If this opposition to the commencement of a Naval Establishment was wrong in the minority, their successors ought not to follow them; but if it should be found that they were right, the ground ought never to be quitted. The question of increasing the navy was again discussed in the celebrated times of '98-9. The collisions with France had raised the war fever very high. A navy was vociferously contended for as the most efficient means of defence. It was when things were in this state, that the President, in his reply to the Marine Society of Boston, who had with much fervor tendered him their approbation of his measures, hoped to see the wooden walls of America considered as her best defence. Because Athens, when she was invaded by the hosts of Xerxes, had chosen to interpret the oracle that promised her safety in wooden walls, rationally, America must take the same course, however dissimilarly situated. The people of Attica, inhabiting a circumscribed territory, found safety in their fleet, and they could have found it nowhere else. But such cannot be the case with America. Even the hosts of Xerxes could not make it necessary for the American people to quit their territory--the figure would not hold. On this occasion, too, the Republican party consistently opposed a navy; strange blindness and obstinacy, if they were not sustained by reason as well as principle. On this occasion, the supporters of a navy system were a majority in council. For a moment they succeeded with their measures. But the public councils were soon filled by the people with men of other minds, and the question was put to rest.

Gentlemen have considered this subject on its general principles and remote consequences. In this point of view, said Mr. R., it presents a wide field for reflection. The Chairman (Mr. CHEVES) has complained he has had to meet this subject encumbered with much error and many prejudices; among which is the idea that a naval system is prejudicial to civil liberty. The opposers of a navy, with an air of no small triumph, are called upon to show how a system of maritime power would endanger the freedom of our country. It has been said, a military chieftain, by an easy transition, may become a civil ruler, and that the commander of an army has often become a despot, while no such event could happen from a naval commander, as such an office gave no power on terra firma. If we look a little deeper into the subject, we shall find we have as much to fear, and even more, from a naval than a military power. The latter can only be kept in time of war, and for comparatively but short periods; at a time too, when the public spirit is awakened and ready to oppose encroachment. The chair of rule may possibly be gained by a military chief; but an attempt on the public liberty has a much greater chance to fail. Evils of this sort can only take place on very rare contingency; but the ruin of the public liberty can hardly fail to be a consequence of the establishment of a naval power. History proves to us that maritime power has always excited national ambition to a spirit of conquest and plunder. A naval power will seek colonies and ports in distant places. The chance, nay, the certainty, of collisions with other nations, is multiplied, and a corruption of morals is produced, that cannot fail to make the first Government on earth a tyranny, by a course of events that the patriot can neither prevent nor divert to other consequences. A short time after Athens had found safety in her wooden walls, one of her statesmen proposed she should burn the fleets of her neighbors, that she might thereby be rendered mistress of Greece. This project the virtue of the people resisted; but that virtue soon gave way in the expedition to the Cyclades, where her navy committed acts of violence that must indelibly fix the stain of the blackest perfidy and cruelty on the Athenian character. What could be a more unprovoked act of aggression than her crusade against Syracuse, a crime that visited her with a declension of power from which she never recovered? For a nation to believe her destinies fixed, is in a great measure to fix them. Nothing, perhaps, contributed more to make Rome the mistress of the world, than the oracles that promised it. Her heroes and statesmen were stimulated thereby to fulfil her destiny. The maritime supremacy of Britain is, perhaps, owing as much to the belief that she is the destined Queen of the waters, as to any other cause. Though such operations be calculated to bring about astonishing effects, how unfortunate is it when a nation's eyes are thus directed to improper attainments--it becomes a source of incalculable evil. Athens and Rome were the victims of such a policy, as Britain is at this time. I fervently hope, said Mr. R., for a better destiny for our beloved country. Rome and Carthage were both great maritime powers; it was not in Lybia and Italy they began to contend for superiority, but in Sicily and Iberia. The conflicts thence arising brought terror to the gates of Rome, and laid Carthage in ashes. The abuse of maritime power in both those States changed the free features of the government, and left a dreary despotism in their stead. A naval victory secured to the second Cæsar the rule of the mistress of the world. In later times, we have been told, said Mr. R., the declension of maritime States has been due to other causes than their Naval Establishments. In some instances it may have been so. When the strength and power of a State has arisen entirely from the profits of commerce, when that commerce has taken another course, the transitory splendor it has built up has vanished. Venice was an example of this. The commerce of the East caused her to rise out of the circumscribed and marshy Islands at the bottom of the Adriatic, the proud Mistress of the Waves. When the Cape of Good Hope had been doubled by the Portuguese, her commercial advantages failed. She sunk from the conqueror of the Eastern Empire, to a mere city of Italy and Portugal; a narrow territory, by the same commerce, assumed the first rank among the nations of the world. A naval power may serve sometimes to extend commerce to wider limits; but it can by no means control it with certainty to channels through which nature, and often the policy of other nations, bid it to flow. What is the state of British commerce at this time? The rupture of the peace of Amiens did not arise from Britain having received injuries from France after the cessation of hostilities. The new war was a commercial one. The British Cabinet saw, in a state of peace, France would not be unmindful of her commercial interests. The intelligence, the enterprise, and population, and the resources of France, all indicated that she would at least divide successfully the profits of commerce with her rival. The naval power of Britain giving her the command of the sea, she could oppose only with effect the growing commerce of her neighbor in a state of war. This step of British policy imposed on the ruler of France the necessity of changing the channels of commerce. In this way he has aimed a blow at the vitals of her strength, which her tremendous naval power neither enables her to avert nor lessen its force. Her marine puts the trident into her hands, but she can no longer shake the earth. Her monopolizing spirit has sealed the Continent of Europe against her, and interdicted her commerce with America. She has reduced the ocean almost to a desert; and she seems hastening to that destiny which has generally attended her predecessors in naval power through her ambition to rule the waves.

Gentlemen propose to protect commerce on this side the Gulf Stream, yet admit if our vessels are despoiled on the Indian Ocean, we must apply retaliation in the West Indies. The Gulf Stream limitation is at once given up; a new expedition to the Cyclades is in that case to take place. Begin your conquest in the West Indies, and you must increase your navy to acquire and defend them. It is at once an admission that naval power must be used more for ambition than the protection of commerce and our territorial waters. But, what is worse, as you acquire colonies and ships you must create armies. The hands of the Executive, restricted and elective as it is, in the United States, became thence armed with a sceptre formidable indeed, and the more so as it acquires this strength without producing the shock to public feeling which the seizure of power by a military leader will always excite. It has been said, (said Mr. R.,) that the existence of Great Britain hung upon her navy in the contest in which she is now engaged. If her fate hangs suspended by her naval power, she owes her peril to that source. Without her maritime strength, would she have aspired to balance the scales of power on the Continent? Would she have become a party to the infamous conspiracy of Pilnitz? Would she have wantonly plotted the dismemberment of France? Would she have broken the peace of Amiens whence her present dangers arise? Certainly not.

On the article of cost, said Mr. R., it is of little importance whether the army or navy of Great Britain is most burdensome on her finances, though it has been dwelt upon with particular emphasis, nor whether an army be more expensive in every case, than a navy. Armies are a necessary consequence of navies. Has not the British army increased with equal pace with her navy?

The humane mind, said Mr. R., cannot contemplate without pain, that from naval power have flown the most copious streams of human misery. The plunder of half the world, with immense advantages in addition, has not sustained the British navy. A debt has been accumulated that almost baffles the power of figures to estimate. But debt, and a prospect of Government insolvency at home, are of much less account than the wrongs this navy has wrought on the society of nations. And yet it is this Government that is held up to Republican America as a model for imitation.

Need I remind you, said Mr. R., of the millions of victims sacrificed to commercial cupidity on the plains of Hindostan, by means of this navy? A population, thrice as great as that of the British Isles, has been exterminated in this devoted region, within comparatively but a few years, by mercantile rapacity. Colonel Dowe informs us, that the wealth of one of the cities of this wretched country had whetted the avarice of Clive and his associates, and that an offer was made to the Government to pay the public debt for permission to sack it. It was too gross an act of infamy to assent to, and the adventurers obtained their end by other means. A famine and pestilence was substituted for the bayonet, and the spoils of the devoted city glutted the hands of rapine. In this exploit, a shoe-black divided his £200,000. Need I remind you, said Mr. R., that the population of Africa has been drained, to groan out a wretched existence in the West India colonies, to prop up this naval and commercial power, or that the remotest corners of every sea have been visited with the scourge of blood and desolation for the same purpose? On general principles, does not past experience afford sufficient warning to these States to avoid those shoals on which so many nations have been wrecked?

Mr. Chairman, under no view which I have been able to take of this subject, considering it either as the furtherance of a system of naval power, to be expanded with the growing strength of the Union to gigantic size, or that it is a proper time for providing a temporary increase of naval force, can I agree, said Mr. R., to the bill on your table.

When Mr. ROBERTS had concluded, the committee rose, and had leave to sit again.

WEDNESDAY, January 22.

Another member, to wit, WILLIAM M. RICHARDSON, from Massachusetts, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat.

Naval Establishment.

The House again went into a Committee of the Whole on the bill concerning the Navy. The question on filling up the blank in the section which provides for repairing the vessels on hand, with four hundred and eighty thousand dollars, was carried by a large majority.

The next section provides for the building of ---- additional frigates.

Mr. CLAY (the Speaker) rose to present his views on the bill before the committee. He said that as he did not precisely agree in opinion with any gentleman who had spoken, he should take the liberty of detaining the committee a few moments while he offered to their attention some observations. He was highly gratified with the temper and ability with which the discussion had been hitherto conducted. It was honorable to the House, and, he trusted, would continue to be manifested on many future occasions.

On this interesting topic a diversity of opinion has existed almost ever since the adoption of the present Government. On the one hand there appeared to him to have been attempts made to precipitate the nation into all the evils of naval extravagance, which had been productive of so much mischief in other countries; and, on the other, strongly feeling this mischief, there has existed an unreasonable prejudice against providing such a competent naval protection for our commercial and maritime rights as is demanded by their importance, and as the increased resources of the country amply justify.

The attention of Congress has been invited to this subject by the President in his Message delivered at the opening of the session. Indeed, had it been wholly neglected by the Chief Magistrate, from the critical situation of the country, and nature of the rights proposed to be vindicated, it must have pressed itself upon our attention. But, said Mr. C., the President, in his Message, observes: "Your attention will, of course, be drawn to such provisions on the subject of our naval force as may be required for the service to which it is best adapted. I submit to Congress the seasonableness also of an authority to augment the stock of such materials as are imperishable in their nature, or may not at once be attainable." The President, by this recommendation, clearly intimates an opinion that the naval force of this country is capable of producing some effect; and the propriety of laying up imperishable materials was no doubt suggested for the purpose of making additions to the navy, as convenience and exigencies might direct.

It appeared to Mr. C. a little extraordinary that so much, as it seemed to him, unreasonable jealousy should exist against the Naval Establishment. If, said he, we look back to the period of the formation of the constitution, it will be found that no such jealousy was then excited. In placing the physical force of the nation at the disposal of Congress, the Convention manifested much greater apprehension of abuse in the power given to raise armies than in that to provide a navy. In reference to the Navy, Congress is put under no restrictions; but with respect to the Army--that description of force which has been so often employed to subvert the liberties of mankind--they are subjected to limitations, designed to prevent the abuse of this dangerous power. But it was not his intention to detain the committee by a discussion on the comparative utility and safety of these two kinds of force. He would, however, be indulged in saying, that he thought gentlemen had wholly failed in maintaining the position they had assumed, that the fall of maritime powers was attributable to their navies. They have told you, indeed, that Carthage, Genoa, Venice, and other nations, had navies, and, notwithstanding, were finally destroyed. But have they shown, by a train of argument, that their overthrow was, in any degree, ascribable to their maritime greatness? Have they attempted even to show that there exists in the nature of this power a necessary tendency to destroy the nation using it? Assertion is substituted for argument; inferences not authorized by historical facts are arbitrarily drawn; things wholly unconnected with each other are associated together--a very logical mode of reasoning! In the same way he could demonstrate how idle and absurd our attachments are to freedom itself. He might say, for example, that Greece and Rome had forms of free government, and that they no longer exist; and deducing their fall from their devotion to liberty, the conclusion in favor of despotism would very satisfactorily follow! He demanded what there is in the nature and construction of maritime power to excite the fears that have been indulged? Do gentlemen really apprehend that a body of seamen will abandon their proper element, and, placing themselves under an aspiring chief, will erect a throne to his ambition? Will they deign to listen to the voice of history, and learn how chimerical are their apprehensions?

But the source of alarm is in ourselves. Gentlemen fear that if we provide a marine it will produce collisions with foreign nations--plunge us into war, and ultimately overturn the constitution of the country. Sir, if you wish to avoid foreign collision you had better abandon the ocean; surrender all your commerce; give up all your prosperity. It is the thing protected, not the instrument of protection, that involves you in war. Commerce engenders collision, collision war, and war, the argument supposes, leads to despotism. Would the counsels be deemed wise, of that statesman who should recommend that the nation should be unarmed--that the art of war, the martial spirit, and martial exercises, should be prohibited--and that the great body of the people should be taught that national happiness was to be found in perpetual peace alone? No, sir. And yet every argument in favor of a power of protection on land applies, in some degree, to a power of protection on the sea. Undoubtedly a commerce void of naval protection is more exposed to rapacity than a guarded commerce; and if we wish to invite the continuance of the old, or enaction of new unjust edicts, let us refrain from all exertion upon that element where they operate, and where, in the end, they must be resisted.

For his part, Mr. C. said, he did not allow himself to be alarmed by those apprehensions of maritime power which appeared to agitate other gentlemen. In the nature of our Government he beheld abundant security against abuse. He would be unwilling to tax the land to support the rights of the sea, and was for drawing from the sea itself the resources with which its violated freedom should at all times be vindicated. Whilst this principle is adhered to, there will be no danger of running into the folly and extravagance which so much alarms gentlemen; and whenever it is abandoned--whenever Congress shall lay burdensome taxes to augment the Navy beyond what may be authorized by the increased wealth, and demanded by the exigencies of the country, the people will interpose, and, removing their unworthy representatives, apply the appropriate corrective. Mr. C. could not, then, see any just ground of dread in the nature of naval power. It was, on the contrary, free from the evils attendant upon standing armies. And, the genius of our institutions--the great representative principle, in the practical enjoyment of which we are so eminently distinguished--afforded the best guarantee against the ambition and wasteful extravagance of Government.

What maritime strength is it expedient to provide for the United States? In considering this subject, three different degrees of naval power present themselves. In the first place, such a force as would be capable of contending with that which any other nation is able to bring on the ocean--a force that, boldly scouring every sea, would challenge to combat the fleets of other powers, however great. He admitted it was impossible at this time, perhaps it never would be desirable for this country to establish so extensive a Navy. Indeed, he should consider it as madness in the extreme in this Government to attempt to provide a Navy capable to cope with the fleets of Great Britain, wherever they might be met.

The next species of naval power to which he would advert, is that which, without adventuring into distant seas, and keeping generally in our own harbors, and on our coasts, would be competent to beat off any squadron which might be attempted to be permanently stationed in our waters. His friends from South Carolina (Messrs. CHEVES and LOWNDES) had satisfactorily shown that, to effect this object, a force equivalent only to one-third of that which the maintenance of such squadron must require would be sufficient. That if, for example, England should determine to station permanently upon our coast a squadron of twelve ships-of-the-line, it would require for this service thirty-six ships-of-the line, one-third in port repairing, one-third on the passage, and one-third on the station. But that is a force which it has been shown that even England, with her boasted Navy, could not spare for the American service whilst she is engaged in the present contest. Mr. C. said he was desirous of seeing such a force as he had described, that is, about twelve ships-of-the-line and fifteen or twenty frigates, provided for the United States; but, he admitted that it was unattainable in the present situation of the finances of the country. He contended, however, that it was such as Congress ought to set about providing, and he hoped, in less than ten years, to see it actually established. He was far from surveying the vast maritime power of Great Britain with the desponding eye with which other gentlemen beheld it. He could not allow himself to be discouraged at the prospect even of her thousand ships. This country only required resolution, and a proper exertion of its immense resources, to command respect, and to vindicate every essential right. When we consider our remoteness from Europe, the expense, difficulty, and perils, to which any squadron would be exposed, stationed off our coasts, he entertained no doubt that the force to which he referred would insure the command of our own seas. Such a force would avail itself of our extensive seaboard and numerous harbors, everywhere affording asylums to which it could retire for safety from a superior fleet, or from which it could issue for the purpose of annoyance. To the opinion of his colleague, (Mr. MCKEE,) who appeared to think that it was in vain for us to make any struggle on the ocean, he would oppose the sentiments of his distinguished connexion, the heroic Daviess, who fell in the battle of Tippecanoe.

[Here Mr. C. read certain parts of a work written by Colonel Daviess, in which the author attempts to show that, as the aggressions upon our commerce were not committed by fleets, but by single vessels, they could in the same manner be best retaliated; that a force of about twenty or thirty frigates would be capable of inflicting great injury on English commerce by picking up stragglers, cutting off convoys, and seizing upon every moment of supineness; and that such a force, with our seaports and harbors well fortified, and aided by privateers, would be really formidable, and would annoy the British navy and commerce, as the French army was assailed in Egypt, the Persian army in Scythia, and the Roman army in Parthia.][26]

The third description of force worthy of consideration is, that which would be able to prevent any single vessel, of whatever metal, from endangering our whole coasting trade, blocking up our harbors, or laying under contribution our cities; a force competent to punish the insolence of the commander of any single ship, and to preserve in our own jurisdiction the inviolability of our peace and our laws. A force of this kind is entirely within the compass of our means at this time. Is there a reflecting man in the nation who would not charge Congress with a culpable neglect of its duty, if, for the want of such a force, a single ship were to bombard one of our cities? Would not every honorable member of this committee inflict on himself the bitterest reproaches, if, by failing to make an inconsiderable addition to our gallant little Navy, a single British vessel should place New York under contribution? Yes, sir, when the city is in flames, its wretched inhabitants begin to repent of their neglect in not providing engines and water buckets. If, said Mr. C, we are not able to meet the wolves of the forest, shall we put up with the barking of every petty fox that trips across our way? Because we cannot guard against every possible danger, shall we provide against none? He hoped not. He had hardly expected that the instructing but humiliating lesson was so soon to be forgotten which was taught us in the murder of Pierce; the attack on the Chesapeake; and the insult offered in the harbor of Charleston, which the brave old fellow that commanded the fort in vain endeavored to chastise.

It was a rule with Mr. C., when acting either in a public or private character, to attempt nothing more than what there existed a prospect of accomplishing. He was, therefore, not in favor of entering into any mad projects on this subject; but for deliberately and resolutely pursuing what he believed to be within the power of Government. Gentlemen refer to the period of 1798, and we are reminded of the principles maintained by the opposition at that time. He had no doubt of the correctness of that opposition. The naval schemes of that day were premature, not warranted by the resources of the country, and were contemplated for an unnecessary war into which the nation was about to be plunged. He always admired and approved the zeal and ability with which that opposition was conducted by the distinguished gentleman now at the head of the Treasury. But the state of things is totally altered. What was folly in 1798 may be wisdom now. At that time, we had a revenue only of about six millions. Our revenue now, upon a supposition that commerce is restored, is about sixteen millions. The population of the country, too, is greatly increased--nearly doubled--and the wealth of the nation is, perhaps, tripled. While our ability to construct a navy is thus enhanced, the necessity for maritime protection is proportionately augmented. Independent of the extension of our commerce, since the year 1798, we have had an addition of more than five hundred miles to our coast, from the bay of Perdido to the mouth of the Sabine--a weak and defenceless accession, requiring, more than any other part of our maritime frontier, the protecting arm of Government.

FRIDAY, January 24.

Naval Establishment.

The blank in the section for providing a dock yard, was filled with one hundred thousand dollars.

Mr. RHEA moved so to amend the bill as to fix the dock yard in the navy-yard at Washington City; but this motion was negatived by a large majority.

On motion of Mr. CHEVES, the words "central and," were struck out, so as to leave the site of the dock yard to be determined by the Executive.

The committee having gone through the bill, rose and reported it to the House with the amendments. The House took up the bill, and on the question of filling up the blank for repairing the vessels on hand with "four hundred and eighty thousand dollars," it was carried--yeas 90, nays 23.

The question was next put upon agreeing to the report of the committee to strike out the second section of the bill, which contemplated the building of new frigates; when

Mr. WILLIAMS rose and spoke at considerable length. He said the time was very inauspicious for commencing an undertaking of such magnitude as the building a navy, which could be of no use in the approaching contest. He doubted the policy of engaging in the business at all; for navies, he said, had deceived the hopes of every country which had relied upon them; that we could never expect to be able to meet Great Britain on the ocean; that we had fought through the Revolution without a navy; for in that contest, a single privateer had done more than the few ships of war which were in possession of the old Congress; that except we are able to build and equip a navy equal to meet the British at sea, we were better without one, as our ships would probably fall a prey to their superior force; that his greatest objection against a navy was, that it must be kept up in time of peace as well as in war; that when the gentlemen spoke of a navy as cheaper than an army, they could not mean to say that if we had a navy the army could be dispensed with--they could not, for instance, take possession of Canada by a navy; that the building of a navy would burden the people with oppressive taxes; that such an establishment would serve only to increase Executive patronage; that with respect to commerce, the people were willing to give it all the protection in their power, but they could not provide a navy for that purpose.

SATURDAY January 25.

Naval Establishment.

Mr. QUINCY.--Mr. Speaker, I rise to address you, on this occasion, with no affected diffidence, and with many doubts concerning the expediency of taking any part in this debate. On the one hand, the subject has been discussed with a zeal, industry, and talent, which leave but little scope for novelty, either in topic or illustration. On the other hand, arguments from this side of the House, in favor of this question, are received with so natural a jealousy, that I know not whether more may not be lost than gained by so unpropitious a support. Indeed, sir, if this subject had been discussed on narrow or temporary or party principles, I should have been silent. On such ground, I could not condescend to debate--I could not hope to influence. But, the scale of discussion has been enlarged and liberal--relative rather to the general system, than to the particular exigency. In almost every respect, it has been honorable to the House, and auspicious to the prospects of the nation. In such a state of feeling and sentiment, I could not refrain from indulging the hope that suggestions, even from so favorite a quarter, would be received with candor--perhaps with attention. And, when I consider the deep interest which the State from which I have the honor to be a Representative has, according to my apprehension, in the event, I cannot permit the opportunity entirely to pass, without bringing my small tribute of reflection to the general stock of the House.

The object I shall chiefly attempt to enforce, is, the necessity and duty of a systematic protection of our maritime rights, by maritime means. I would call the thoughtful and intelligent men of this House and nation to the contemplation of the essential connection between a naval force, proportionate to the circumstances of our seacoast, the extent of our commerce, and the inherent enterprise of our people; I say, sir, I would call them to the contemplation of the essential connection between such a naval force and the safety, prosperity, and existence, of our Union. In the course of my observations, and as a subsidiary argument, I shall also attempt to show the connection between the adoption of the principle of a systematic maintenance of our maritime rights, by maritime means, and relief from our present national embarrassments.

I confess to you, Mr. Speaker, I never can look--indeed, in my opinion, no American statesman ought ever to look--on any question touching the vital interests of this nation, or of any of its component parts, without keeping at all times in distinct view the nature of our political association, and the character of the independent sovereignties which compose it. Among States, the only sure and permanent bond of union is interest. And the vital interests of States, although they may be sometimes obscured, can never, for a very long time, be misapprehended. The natural protection which the essential interests of the great component parts of our political association require will be sooner or later understood by the States concerned in those interests. If a protection, upon system, be not provided, it is impossible that discontent should not result. And need I tell statesmen, that, when great local discontent is combined in those sections with great physical power, and with acknowledged portions of sovereignty, the inbred ties of nature will be too strong for the artificial ties of parchment compact. Hence it results that the essential interests of the great component parts of our association ought to be the polar lights of all our statesmen--by them they should guide their course. According to the bearings and variations of those lights, should the statesmen of such a country adjust their policy--always bearing in mind two assurances, as fundamental principles of action, which the nature of things teaches, that, although temporary circumstances--party spirit, local rivalries, personal jealousies, suggestions of subordinate interests--may weaken, or even destroy, for a time, the influence of the leading and permanent interests of any great section of the country, yet those interests must ultimately and necessarily predominate, and swallow up all these local, and temporary, and personal, and subordinate considerations; in other words, the minor interests will soon begin to realize the essential connection which exists between their prosperity and the prosperity of those great interests which, in such sections of the country, nature has made predominant; and that no political connection among free States can be lasting, or ought to be, which systematically oppresses, or systematically refuses to protect, the vital interests of any of the sovereignties which compose it.

I have recurred to these general considerations, to introduce and elucidate this principle, which is the basis of my argument, that, as it is the incumbent duty of every nation to protect its essential interests, so it is the most impressive and critical duty of a nation, composed of a voluntary association of vast, powerful, and independent States, to protect the essential interests of all its great component parts. And I add, that this protection must not be formal or fictitious, but that it must be proportionate to the greatness of those interests, and of a nature to give content to the States concerned in their protection.

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