Chapter M: Gayoso De Lemos (2)

The principal object of my going down was to take charge, by
order of General Wilkinson, of the money which you have now in
deposit for him, which is shown by the letters which he wrote
to the governors of this province and of Natchez; but, at my
arrival, the money had been already sent off in one of His
Majesty’s galleys, for this place, which I learned from the
Baron de Carondelet, the Intendant, and Don Andres de Armesto.
I repeatedly treated on this business with the two last of
these persons, urging forcibly the necessity of sending sugar,
coffee, and powder, to New Madrid, to form a cargo to take to
Kentucky with Wilkinson’s money, hiding, by this means, the
true intention of the voyage, and giving it the appearance
of a commercial speculation. All this Wilkinson had before
represented as indispensable for many reasons, particularly in
order to avoid a misfortune similar to that which had already
occurred. At last the Secretary told me that the barge in
which Mr. Aaron Gregg, the American officer, was to go up, was
destined for this service, and that as for the crew, he would
permit me to choose among the Creoles, residents in this post,
those who might appear to me most worthy of confidence, so that
I left New Orleans with the belief that at my return to this
post I should find every thing disposed conformable to what I
have just related. On arrival at Greenville, informed General
Wilkinson of the steps which had no doubt had been taken, from
whence has resulted, that he, like myself, was impressed with
the belief that all the measures for executing this service
with success had been taken. I cannot communicate all the
motives why Wilkinson has not given me an order in writing;
but one of them was, that he did not know the sum of money
which you had to deliver to his order, the Governors not having
written a word to him on the subject, the Secretary only saying
that his money was deposited in New Madrid, without expressing
the sum. In the letters in cipher, from General Wilkinson for
the governors, which are here enclosed, he tells them that he
has sent me to bring the aforesaid money, informing you that
the No. 1 is for the Governor General of the Province, and the
No. 2 for Don Manuel Gayoso. I will add that General Wilkinson,
when I represented to him that on presenting myself without
his order in writing, some difficulty might arise, authorized
me, if the case required it, to write an order that you should
deliver his money, specifying the sum there might be, signing
it in his name, and giving you a receipt therefor. I cannot
omit that the commission of General Wilkinson was so sudden,
so urgent, that it was extended even to limiting my return to
my destination by the first of August, of which I advise you
that you may endeavor not to delay the service. I believe that
the Governor General is not ignorant of the embarrassments of
General Wilkinson, nor can he be ignorant that, for a long time
past, he has been expecting this money, the delay of which
has been the cause of much trouble to him, involving him in
great difficulties; and I can assure you, confidently, that he
will be very much disgusted with any delays in the expedition,
which might be productive of serious injury. As for the mode
of carrying the money, it is evident that to take it openly
would be too scandalous a thing, if I were not to say that it
would be madness. The unhappy result of the expedition of the
unfortunate Henry Owen ought to serve as a beacon in order
not to lose ourselves on the same rock, and to make us take
another course less dangerous. I would wish you to put a bag of
one thousand dollars in a barrel of coffee or sugar, so that
although the difference of the respective gravity, between
silver, sugar, and coffee be very great, the quantity being
so small, it will not be easily known. It will likewise be
prudent to carry some barrels without money in order to sell
them before arriving at Cincinnati, if it should so happen that
any one should offer to buy these goods, because not to sell
them when it might be done to advantage would excite suspicion;
and to complete the disguise it would be well to take a certain
quantity of powder and rum. If these dispositions should appear
defective, I beg you to make such changes as may be to your
mind. God preserve you many years.

No. 2.

Translation of a letter from Don Thomas Portell to Mr. Thomas
Power, dated

NEW MADRID, June 29, 1796.

Having well considered the contents of your letter of this
day, I mention that I agree in every thing to the whole of
the reflections you place before me; although at first sight
it appears that I ought to wait the decision of the Governor
General, as he prescribes to me in his official letter of the
20th of January of the present year, and of which I enclose you
a copy, which you request of me. The circumstances which you
expose are such, that they leave me nothing more to do than to
tell you to forward me a memorandum of the number of pounds
of coffee, sugar, barrels in which to fill the powder and rum
you desire for your expedition, because, as soon as I receive
it, I will get it ready as you desire, informing you that for
the merchandise you must sign me an acknowledgment of having
received it, and for the money a receipt as attorney of General
Wilkinson.

In order that the barge may be ready, and as you may want it,
I have written an official letter to the Lieutenant-colonel
Vincente Folch, that he may send it as soon as possible,
because as nothing was said to me of what you have now
mentioned respecting it, Mr. Francis Langlois asked it of me
for an affair of service, and took it loaded with corn to the
Fort of San Fernando, and it has not been returned, although
I have required it, thinking it might be wanted here; Don
Vincente Folch having answered me, that if I had not orders to
keep it, there were none to return it.

The two letters in cipher remain in my hands, which I shall
forward by the first safe opportunity, with the distinction
you point out, No. 1 to the Governor General, and No. 2 to the
Governor of Natchez.

As for packing the money and arranging the barrels, as soon as
they are ready, between you and myself, all this may be done
without any one else acquiring a knowledge of it. God preserve
you many years.

No. 3.

Instructions from Gen. Wilkinson to Thomas Power.

To proceed to Galliopolis: to make application and propositions
to the leading characters there to induce them to move to
New Madrid, with all the French of that settlement; to urge
this point in such measure as to attract the attention of the
public officers there, whose report to the Executive will
immediately follow, and will account for his frequent missions
to that place: to return as rapidly as possible; to load with
flour and proceed without a moment’s delay to New Orleans; in
the route to see Newman, and to enter on the subject of his
desertion; to inform him of the facts which have transpired,
and the opinions prevalent; to urge his return, as the request
of all his friends; to assure him of safety, and of such reward
as he may demand; also that being pardoned for the imputed
offence, no further process can lie against him for the same;
that the oath which he was suborned to take, being made while
in duress, is in itself a nullity, and cannot be offered in
crimation of him; it will be necessary that he should take down
his examination, founded on the interrogations furnished him;
and if they prove material to the crimination of Wane and his
associates, then he must embark N----n under a fictitious name
at New Orleans for Philadelphia; and having arrived there, must
lodge him in some retired place, and call upon me, under cover
of the night, for further advice. You will hear of me at ----.
If N----n cannot be prevailed upon to return under dispositions
favorable to my views, then let his declaration on oath be
circumstantially taken to all the points enumerated in the
interrogations, in the presence of Dr. Flowers, Colonel Bruin,
Daniel Clark, or any three or four of the most notorious, and
of the most respectable Americans of the Natchez district. Let
these gentlemen certify to two copies, and to the original,
and let them be transmitted to me through different channels.
P. to take charge of the original. Mr. P. must take with him
credentials from the Government of Louisiana, acquitting him of
any political connection or agency injurious or hostile to the
interests of the United States. He must carry to Philadelphia
testimonials of his family and character, addressed to as many
of the native respectable merchants of that city as possible:
these may be readily procured from New Orleans and the Havana.

It is indispensable that P. should meet me in Philadelphia; for
the rest let him rely on my friendship and address. To collect
from Bradford every information respecting the Pittsburg
insurrection, which may be employed, should it be found
necessary, to disgrace certain persons: to bear no paper about
him which carries my name upon it.

No. 4.

Employ the six hundred and forty dollars, _avec le cargaison_,
to pay expenses and lay in a cargo of best flour _pour la
ville_, where it will help to reimburse. In making your
settlement, take care to secure me the six hundred and forty
dollars advanced, and bring them with you. I have urged
peremptorily the necessity of your presence at the metropolis.
Bring me N----n, if, upon examination, you find his presence of
more consequence than his deposition, when taken as directed.
I believe he was caused to desert by O’Hara: probe him to that
point. You are to bring me papers, but my name is not to be
written or spoken. You must do the needful below to detect and
expose past treachery or indiscretion, and to prevent either
in future. I have referred particularly on this head. I shall
expect you impatiently. Should I continue where I am I shall
wish you near me. If I cross the water, you are to accompany:
bring every credential of family and fortune to repulse the
insinuations of ----. Trust something to my address, and put
faith in my honor and affections to the grave.

No. 5.

Letter from Thomas Power to the Baron de Carondelet, dated

NEW ORLEANS, May 9, 1797.

Enclosed your Excellency will receive the documents relative
to my last confidential expedition, made by your Excellency’s
order, on the Ohio, of which I have already given you a
narrative, as well verbal as in writing. The remarks which
follow will serve for its elucidation.

I left New Madrid with ten oarsmen and a patron; the provisions
which were delivered to the crew were, biscuit for a month;
meat for a month; rum for fifteen days.

To disguise, as far as possible, the true object of the
expedition, we had hired the people under the same conditions
as are common in commercial voyages, so that the monthly
rations allowed by the King did not even last fifteen days. The
reason why I issued to the crew two extraordinary allowances of
liquor daily, counting from the day we left Red Bank until our
arrival at the falls of Ohio, was to encourage them to row with
vigor, that Lieutenant Steel, whom I thought in pursuit of me,
might not again take me, because, had I fallen into his hands a
second time, I was lost. As respects the one hundred and fifty
dollars, for the horse which I bought to make the journey from
Frankfort to Cincinnati, and the expenses which accrued on
this journey, they were indispensable for a double motive: to
carry my complaint against Steel, for having offered so great
an insult to our flag, and to give advice of my arrival to the
American General, Mr. James Wilkinson, that he might take the
necessary measures. I have to add that, the motive which has
induced me to dispose of the merchandise which I received of J.
and A. Hunt, in exchange for the coffee and sugar, was to give
credit to the opinion which I myself had raised, that I had
come to purchase horses to take to Natchez, in order to better
the breed in that district. Besides this, as the occurrence
with Steel had awakened suspicions, excited apprehensions,
and attracted the attention of the inhabitants of the Western
country, all had their eyes directed on me, so that I found
myself obliged to do something which should please them, that
it might serve me as a safe conduct to quit those parts, which
by the this means I happily effected. The mare, of which
statement No. 1 makes mention, was lost on my arrival at New
Madrid in the woods, where she died of thirst, the excessive
frosts having entirely frozen up the waters. The stud-horse I
delivered on going down to Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, but he
returned him to me a short time since, and I have him carefully
kept until your Excellency is pleased to make some disposition
respecting him. Of the sum of $9,640, which I was to deliver to
Mr. James Wilkinson, I have only delivered him nine thousand,
having retained the six hundred and forty dollars to avoid the
unfortunate result with which I was threatened, and likewise to
provide what was necessary for the crew during the voyage. The
following are the documents which are enclosed:

No. 1. The account sale of the merchandise, laden, &c.

No. 2. Account of the expenses for the crew.

No. 3. Account and expenditure of the six hundred and forty
dollars.

No. 4. Statement which shows in what manner the merchandise has
been made use of.

No. 5. Statement which shows what is due to me.

No. 6. Invoice of J. and A. Hunt.

All which are accompanied with the obligation of Mr. N. Welch
for one hundred and five dollars, and the two receipts of
Mr. Boyd, the one for four hundred and sixty-six dollars and
two-thirds, for the value of a horse; the other for two hundred
dollars, for the value of a mare. The balance which appears in
my favor, according to the statements Nos. 3 and 4, as well as
the account of my monthly pay for fourteen months, I beg your
Excellency will be pleased to direct that it should be remitted
to me, or delivered to Mr. Philip Nolan, to whom I have given
advice on the subject.

Mr. James Wilkinson, in the instructions which he has given me,
directs that I should present to your Excellency the account of
the expenses to which the six hundred and forty dollars have
been applied, (and I have done so in the statement No. 3,) that
he may be reimbursed said amount. The instruction says, “in
making your settlement take care to secure me the six hundred
and forty dollars advanced, and bring them with you.” Although
he charged me to take them to him to the United States, I am
of opinion that no one is better suited to remit them than
Mr. Philip Nolan, as your Excellency has now resolved that I
should remain in this province; your Excellency will please to
suffer me to assure you that in every particular I have acted
with prudence, with honor, and the disinterestedness of an
honest man, as well as with the zeal and fidelity which the
King’s service requires, and with the vigilance and activity,
[here there is a line unintelligible.] I deserve nothing and
expect nothing for having fulfilled the obligations of a good
subject to His Majesty, unless your Excellency will be pleased
to procure me opportunities of displaying the inclination I
feel of sacrificing myself for the prosperity of my country and
glory of my Sovereign.

God preserve your Excellency many years.

THOMAS POWER.

No. 6.

Answer to the foregoing, dated

NEW ORLEANS, May 28, 1797.

There remain in my hands the six documents relative to the
account of the last expedition which you made on the Ohio, and
which you enclosed to me in your official letter of the 9th
instant, and they are as follows:

No. 1. Account sales of the effects laden at New Madrid.

No. 2. Another of the expenses of the crew.

No. 3. Account of the expenditure of the six hundred and forty
dollars.

No. 4. Statement which shows how the merchandise has been
employed.

No. 5. Statement which shows the balances due to you, &c.

No. 6. Original invoice of J. & A. Hunt.

On account of it there will be delivered to you one thousand
dollars, that you may make preparations for your journey in the
new commission which I intrust to your care.

It is necessary to see how you can get rid of the horse with
the least possible loss, as well as to recover the debt of
Nicholas Welch, or have it recovered, for which purpose I
enclose you his obligation; and likewise the proceeds of
the merchandise, which, to the amount of three hundred and
fifty-three dollars, you delivered to Don Pedro Derbigny, in
order to give an account to the Court without these balances,
which cause trouble and appear speculations, when they are no
more than the effect of necessity, and the difficulty which
these commissions cause in places where there are no resources,
when you have to deceive the vigilance of spies.

As you finish these matters, and as soon as your present
commission is fulfilled, you will give me advice.

God preserve you many years.

BARON DE CARONDELET.

To THOMAS POWER.

THURSDAY, January 28.

Mr. SOUTHARD, one of the members for the State of New Jersey, informed the House of the death of his colleague, Mr. EZRA DARBY, late one of the members of this House: Whereupon, the House came to the following resolutions:

_Resolved_, That a committee be appointed to take order
for superintending the funeral of EZRA DARBY, Esq., late a
Representative from the State of New Jersey.

_Resolved, unanimously_, That the members of this House will
testify their respect for the memory of EZRA DARBY, Esq., late
one of their body, by wearing crape on the left arm for one
month.

_Resolved, unanimously_, That the members of this House will
attend the funeral of EZRA DARBY, Esq., on to-morrow at twelve
o’clock.

_Resolved, unanimously_, That a message be sent to the Senate,
to notify them of the death of EZRA DARBY, late a member of
this House, and that his funeral will take place on to-morrow,
at twelve o’clock; and that the Clerk of this House do go with
the said message.

_Ordered_, That Mr. SOUTHARD, Mr. MASTERS, Mr. PORTER, Mr. HELMS, Mr. NEWBOLD, and Mr. LAMBERT, be appointed a committee, pursuant to the first resolution.

SATURDAY, January 30.

_Removal of Federal Judges on the Address of Congress._

Mr. G. W. CAMPBELL.--It has always been my opinion that in a free Government like ours, every department ought to be responsible for its conduct. The Constitution of the United States was evidently framed on this principle, and the preservation and security of the rights and liberties of the citizens and the due execution of the laws will be found to rest, in a great degree, on rendering public agents sufficiently and practically responsible for their conduct to the nation. That this is not the case with the Judiciary of the United States has been proved by experience. Your judges once appointed are independent of the Executive, the Legislature, and the people, and may be said to hold their offices for life. They are removable only on conviction by impeachment of high crimes and misdemeanors, and this mode of proceeding has been found in practice totally inefficient, and not to answer the purpose for which it was intended--that of rendering your judges duly responsible for their conduct. They may therefore be considered as independent of the rest of the nation, (and they seem to think so themselves,) as if this provision in the constitution, relative to impeachment, did not exist. No matter how erroneous their opinions--how dangerous to the public weal--how subversive of the interest of the people--how directly opposed to the laws of your country; yet, as it is neither a high crime nor misdemeanor to hold erroneous opinions, which they seem conscientiously to believe, they cannot be removed by impeachment--they are independent of the rest of the nation.

This subject has attracted the attention of the people in most of the States. The Legislatures of several States have passed resolutions declaring the necessity of amending the Federal Constitution, so as to render the judges, in practice as well as in theory, responsible for their conduct. The most numerous branch of the Legislature of the State which I have the honor to represent in part, have declared their opinion in favor of such amendment. In order, therefore, to bring this subject before the House, that the sense of the National Legislature may be ascertained thereon, I submit the following resolution:

_Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America, in Congress assembled, two-thirds of
both Houses concurring therein_, That the following amendment
to the Constitution of the United States be proposed to the
Legislatures of the several States, which, when ratified by
the Legislatures of three-fourths of the said States, shall
be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said
constitution: The Judges of both the Supreme and Superior
Courts of the United States shall, after the ---- day of ----,
be removed from office by the President of the United States,
on the joint address of both Houses of Congress requesting the
same, three-fifths of each House concurring in such address.

This resolution was referred to a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union.

MONDAY, February 1.

Another member, to wit, GEORGE CLINTON, junior, from New York, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

MONDAY, February 22.

_Captain Pike._

Mr. J. MONTGOMERY observed, that to Captains Lewis and Clarke, who had explored the Western country, a compensation had been made; he held in his hand a similar resolution for remunerating Captain Pike for the important services he had rendered on an almost similar expedition, which he proposed, as follows:

_Resolved_, That a committee be appointed to inquire what
compensation ought to be made to Captain Pike and his
companions for their services in exploring the Mississippi
River, and in their late expedition to the sources of the
Osage, Arkansas, and La Platte Rivers, together with their tour
through New Spain; and that they have leave to report by bill
or otherwise.

Mr. MARION objected to the phraseology of the resolution, as sanctioning a general principle, to which he was not prepared to assent. The resolution did not go to inquire if any compensation, but what compensation, should be given; thus taking it for granted that some remuneration should be made. Mr. M. wished it to be so modified as to inquire “if any, and, if any, what,” compensation should be granted.

Mr. MONTGOMERY acceding to this alteration, the resolution was adopted.

WEDNESDAY, February 24.

_Removal of Judges upon Address from Congress._

Mr. WHITEHILL presented the resolutions of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, requesting their members in Congress to use their endeavors to procure an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, so that the Judges of the United States should hold their offices for a term of years, and be liable to removal by the President, on the joint address of a majority of both Houses of Congress; and that, on trials by impeachment, a majority of the Senate should be competent to conviction.

Mr. BARD moved to refer the resolutions to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union.

Mr. DANA opposed the motion. The resolutions were only instructions to the Pennsylvania delegation. This House had nothing to do with them.

After a debate of about two hours, the question was taken and carried--yeas 82, nays 27.

MONDAY, April 4.

A new member, to wit, ADAM BOYD, returned to serve in this House as a Representative for the State of New Jersey, in the room of EZRA DARBY, deceased, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

TUESDAY, April 12.

_Frauds in Land Warrants._

Mr. RANDOLPH rose to give notice that he meant to bring forward a motion on a subject of considerable public interest, and in which in his opinion the honor of the Government of the United States was materially implicated. He held in his hand an application from a veteran soldier on the subject of his bounty land, and who had sent him a power of attorney to act for him--a man of unimpeachable character, and who had not been at the seat of Government since it was established--his name William Bryan. I found, said Mr. R., that his warrant, No. 9--, has been drawn and fraudulently located; I say fraudulently, because I am well assured that the party has not received any advantage from the warrant, and there is the strongest evidence of fraud. His warrant has been drawn and located, by whom I cannot discover; my researches were completely baffled by the memorable fire, which it is presumable owed its origin to a desire to cover frauds of this nature. I was referred from the War Office to the Treasury Office; for the only chance of finding out who had acted as attorney in fact for this old man, was, that the warrant ought to have been returned and on file there. On going there I found that the space on the record which the warrant ought to have occupied, was blank; and that no such warrant exists on the Treasury files. I believe this is far from being a solitary case, but that the cases are numerous, and many of those who have honestly earned a title to public land have been in this way defrauded, and the land sold to speculators who have reaped the benefit of it. I therefore give notice that I shall at a future day move for an inquiry into this subject.

_Suspension of the Embargo._

The House then resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, 55 to 20, on the resolution offered by Mr. G. W. CAMPBELL, declaring that the President of the United States ought, in the event of certain contingencies occurring during the recess of Congress, to be authorized to suspend the operation of the embargo.

Mr. G. W. CAMPBELL said he would state to the House, in a very brief manner, some of the reasons which induced him to bring forward this resolution.

It will be recollected, said he, that the causes which induced the passage of the law, imposing an embargo, were the orders of council by Great Britain, and the decrees by France, which went in a great degree to cut off and destroy the whole commerce of the United States. In case those causes should be removed, I presume it will be thought necessary that there should be a power vested somewhere to withdraw the embargo occasioned by those orders and decrees. As therefore it is believed that we shall not be much longer in session, and it is at least possible that these orders and decrees may be removed, that Great Britain may revoke her orders of council or change them so as not to affect our commerce, and that France may revoke her decrees or change them so as to render our commerce secure, it is all-important that a power should be vested somewhere to give the people such relief as would be justified by this state of things. Suppose it were the case that any alteration should take place when Congress were not in session, some weeks, nay, some months must pass before Congress could be in session and a law pass for removing the embargo; the consequence of which would be that the country would suffer the pressure of the embargo for weeks or months longer than would be necessary; and I presume no member of the House will say that it would be proper to continue longer than necessary the pressure which the embargo must make upon them. There is I presume at least some reason to believe that the belligerent powers themselves are beginning to see their own interests injured. We see, by the latest accounts from Great Britain, that propositions are made in Parliament for revoking her orders. Should this take place, it is presumable that we also should revoke our regulations. This measure would also have a good effect in turning the attention of the people to the real source whence their present inconveniences flow; they will be taught to look to those circumstances which produced the embargo, a change of which would justify its removal. This would be a consideration of some importance. The mind of the public would be kept alive by the expectation that every day may bring the news which would induce Government to revoke the embargo, which no doubt bears hard upon the agricultural as well as commercial interests of the country.

The resolution as it now stands seems to me to embrace the principal grounds upon which we ought to authorize the Executive to suspend the operation of the law in question. If a general peace or suspension of hostilities take place in Europe, it would seem that there would be no danger from a suspension of the interdiction of our own vessels from sailing; but if no such event takes place, in the event of such alterations as shall exclude American commerce from the operation of the orders and decrees of the belligerents, it will be proper that the embargo should be suspended, they being the grounds on which the measure was adopted. You must vest a power somewhere to ascertain whether such change take place or not. You cannot precisely determine the fact which shall authorize suspension; for were you to say that in case of a revocation of the decrees of France or England the embargo shall cease, you give a vast advantage to those nations--for they may revoke them to-day and reinstate them to-morrow, as their interests may dictate. It is therefore necessary to vest a power somewhere to ascertain not only the revocation, but a reasonable assurance that they will not be renewed. For this purpose it is essentially necessary that the President should be authorized to determine the changes which shall render our commerce safe, by the assurances which may be given that they will not again resort to similar measures. This I mention only as my general object; as to the expressions in the resolution I am not tenacious of them; and in any modification of them which shall promote the public good I shall certainly acquiesce. I have no object but one; that the public may see that we have not left our posts till we had done every thing in our power to relieve them from the distress of measures adopted by us and rendered necessary by the conduct of other nations.

I conceive this to be more important to the people on the seacoasts than to the people in the Western country. To the Western country a few weeks or months protraction of the interdiction, in the fall of the year, could not be of much importance; yet it would seem to me that in the commercial cities and towns, in the Atlantic States, a few days or weeks, much more so a few months’ which might occur before Congress could convene, would be very important; and they would feel much uneasiness if, knowing such changes had taken place as would warrant the removal of the embargo, they were compelled to lie under its pressure until Congress could meet to revoke it. It cannot be expected, after the President shall determine to call Congress, that they can be convened here in less than three months. Such a resolution as this therefore would be beneficial to the commercial interest.

WEDNESDAY, April 13.

_Suspension of the Embargo._

The House then went into a Committee of the Whole on the resolution.

Mr. LOVE said, to a proposition having for its object the removal of the embargo, at the first moment the public interests would permit, he had presumed there would have been no objection made either on that floor or by any man in the nation. In this presumption, said Mr. L., I am extremely sorry to be disappointed, and more especially so as the mode of opposition calls for a reply from those who have been the advocates of the system of policy pursued by the Government, during the embarrassing crisis it has been compelled to encounter.

The proposition before the committee is so familiar to those who have been long in the habits of legislation, from the frequent exercise of the general principle on which it rests, that nothing not already obvious to the minds of the greater part of this honorable body, I am sure, can be said in support of it. In the observations therefore, sir, which I shall trouble the committee with, it will not be necessary to say more than shall be proper in answer, only, to the objections which have been made at this time, to the exercise of the power contemplated by the resolution.

I have heard no argument yet urged against the right of delegating in any situation, or under any circumstances, the exercise of special powers which are acknowledged to be vested in a more general view essentially in the Legislature. The argument, if urged to such an extent, would evidently defeat itself, and go to destroy the operations of this or any other Government deriving the source of its authority from a Legislature. Our constitution has enjoined many duties on Congress, which without a delegation of the powers thus vested in it, could never be effected. An objection to the resolution under discussion on so broad a ground, would have been too obviously untenable. The question has not been thus directly met; but in opposition to the constitutionality of the delegation of power contemplated, a distinction has been taken between the authority which should be given to suspend a law, already in operation, and one which has not yet commenced its operation.

I listened, sir, with every possible attention to the argument made on this distinction. I am obliged to say there was no reason intelligible to my mind, offered in support of it. I will content myself therefore with expressing the opinion that the circumstance of a postponed or present operation, cannot make a difference in the principle. In both cases the authority which delegates the agency is the same, it is the act of every branch of the Legislature, and there can be no distinction which would not apply to one equally with the other. It may in the manner of its exercise be assimilated to the powers of a Legislature to repeal a law already in existence, in contradistinction to the power of repealing one, the operation of which had been suspended. If such a position could be sustained (as a proper inference from our constitution) it would be vain; for if the Legislature have the right of repealing a law, they might in the same breath that they would repeal this, enact another which should provide in a manner so far in conformity with the practice acknowledged to be correct, as to be entirely exempt from the objection urged on the ground of this distinction.

When I compare the limited nature of the power now proposed to be delegated, with those almost unbounded trusts which it has been the constant practice of the Legislature to confide in the Executive Department, I cannot help feeling at a loss to account for the present opposition on any grounds of consistency. Those delegations of authority have not been confined in practice to either of the political parties which have at different times given a tone to the Government. The gentleman from Tennessee, who has introduced the resolution, has mentioned several instances in which this has been done; permit me to add others, in which it appears to me the principle has been carried further than in the present case.

By the constitution, the power of borrowing money is in express terms _exclusively_ vested in Congress. Yet this has been only exercised by a delegation of it, from the commencement of the Government till the time has ceased when it was necessary to exercise it. I hope, sir, it may never be necessary to do it again; but if it should, I ask gentlemen how it will be effected but by the intervention of an agency, although the words of the constitution permit _Congress only_ “to borrow money on the credit of the United States.”

Other powers of great importance, solely confided to Congress, have been delegated, and not as now contemplated, in a restricted and limited degree, but in terms of the broadest and most absolute discretion; many instances have occurred of this in constant succession ever since the revolution, in political opinion, which has taken place in the Legislature of the Union; for scarcely were the Republicans warm in their seats before they made a delegation of the power to the President, more unlimited in principle and more dangerous in practice than that now advocated, for suspending the operation of the embargo law. In 1802 he was authorized to organize a military corps. In February, 1803, he was authorized to cause to be built several vessels of war, if the exigencies of the service should require it. In 1804 the same powers were repeated, and many others, equally dangerous and equally necessary, were delegated both these years. In March, 1805, he was authorized to permit or interdict at pleasure foreign vessels from coming into our ports. Compare the discretion either in extent or importance vested by those laws, with that now contemplated, and on the ground of precedent we are more than justified; even in the present session we have delegated the power of suspending or continuing a law, now certainly in operation, by authorizing the President to build and equip, or not, at his discretion, a number of gunboats, or he may, under the influence of the like discretion, for ever desist from the execution of it.

If this body is supposed to act under the regular impulse of any political principles, it appears to me, sir, that the numerous precedents to be found in our statutory code ought to have an effect. In those which I have mentioned, and many others which have been enumerated by the gentleman from Tennessee, the President was vested with the right, _ad libitum_, to continue, suspend, or terminate the operation of a law. In the present one the discretion is limited to the contingencies of peace in Europe, a suspension of hostilities, or such conduct and assurances on the part of the belligerents who have invaded our commercial rights, as will enable our vessels to pass with our produce in safety to a foreign market.

Let us now examine, sir, the other constitutional objection made by the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. RANDOLPH,) that Congress have not the power to lay an embargo. If indeed this novel position be correct, the question is at an end, and the people of the United States would be justified in the resistance the argument invites. I had indeed understood the gentleman, as others near me did, to found his idea of the unconstitutionality of this embargo, on the circumstance of the laws imposing it being unlimited as to time. He defined an embargo to mean an inhibition for a limited time, and this unlimited nature of the present embargo was dwelt on by him with peculiar emphasis; but when a gentleman from Kentucky, (Mr. JOHNSON,) who followed him, had ably exposed the fallacy of this distinction, and completely sent the argument home to its author, the distinction was abandoned by explanation. I understand the explanation of the gentleman; but as the object in pressing the unlimited quality of this embargo on the sensibility of the nation, cannot be mistaken, I have too, sir, for reasons alike obvious, thought it proper to mention it.

But, sir, as to the power to lay an embargo. The first motives for a union of the States, imply this as indispensable. It would be enough to show it to be a measure of general defence and protection, to give Congress a right to act on the subject; as such, sir, it expressly ranks among the provisions assigned as the great causes for the adoption of the Federal Constitution; for in the preamble to this instrument, the people say, they have adopted it in order “to provide for the common defence and general welfare.”

In the first paragraph of the eighth section of the first article, the same words are repeated; common defence and common protection to the external interest of the United States, are then the peculiar objects of its Government. An embargo under some circumstances is not only a proper but a necessary and indispensable means of common defence and protection; I might say that the present crisis is a strong illustration of such necessity. But if the right to lay an embargo is controverted, I would ask by what means is the Government in time of war, or expected war, under the authority of law to secure the property of its citizens, which it is the business of all Governments to do, towards all who claim under it the protection of their rights? Where is the power lodged, if not in the National Legislature, which shall prohibit your own, or even your enemies’ vessels from leaving your ports, after a declaration of war? Are the States vested with, or do they generally retain the right to lay an embargo? No, sir, they cannot so far enter into the collisions of interests which would follow among each other by preventing the vessels from sailing from the ports of any of them. The effect of doing so would be too obviously an invasion of the general powers of commercial regulation solely intrusted to Congress. Can any man of rational mind suppose, then, that the Government of this country is really so defective in what is not only to common sense an obvious reason, but one of the express objects of its institution?

But to lay an embargo is unconstitutional, because Congress cannot lay an export duty! And it is argued by the same gentleman that the lesser power being thus provided against, the exercise of the greater must of course be included in the prohibition; the minor forming an objection, the major is, _a fortiori_, inadmissible. How easily, sir, is this argument of inference retorted on the gentleman; for, according to a familiar and certainly plain course of reasoning, it would seem, that if the subjects are the same as is said, when the framers of our constitution made an exception of the lesser power, if they had intended also to except the greater, they would not have forgotten it.

The reasons which influenced the framers of that instrument to provide against the power of laying an export duty, were obvious; the provision was adopted in that spirit of mutual accommodation, which was so necessary to the harmony of the whole. It would be difficult, it was easily foreseen, to devise an export duty, which would not bear harder on some of the States than others; it was better therefore not to resort at all to a mode of taxation which would afford so fruitless a source of contention. The policy too of taxing exports was perhaps radically inadmissible; yet I cannot, for my life, discern how an export duty has been drawn into analogy with an embargo.

That the embargo was a curse, and continues to be a most calamitous one to us all, I have heard no one deny; but until now, I have not heard the assertion advanced that our Government, by its conduct, was the author of that curse. Yes, sir, many evils which the injustice of other nations has inflicted on the peace and honor of the United States are acknowledged to be curses of the most irritating and affecting nature; but the gentleman has said more for England and France, than either of them has before said for itself, when he attributes to his own Government the misconduct which has produced those evils. It was scarcely to be expected that any state of internal division or any views of whatever description would have produced on this floor an assertion which has thus put a new argument in the hands of our enemies in justification of their aggressions on us; it is more than our enemies have asserted. We have heard indeed from France and England that their decrees and orders, which make the present voluntary retirement from the seas necessary on our part, were the effect of an unjustifiable attack, which each has attributed in the first instance to the other. Each criminates the other, and not America, with being the author of the peculiar mode of warfare which has proved so destructive to the rights of neutrals. The very language of their orders and decrees assumes this position, and they are all prefaced with the declaration, that their orders are enacted in the spirit of retaliation on each other, and not, sir, for any offence which our Government has been the author of, as the gentleman now tells the American people; for what purpose let the nation judge.

I may surely be permitted to express my surprise and astonishment at this assertion, sir, as it has never before been insinuated, on this floor at least; and as it forms so strong a contrast with the declarations which have been before made by the same gentleman, permit me to recall the gentleman’s attention to his arguments in conclave, and to notice, if it will not be out of order, (which I presume it will not, as all which then took place has since been directed to be published,) the grounds of his opposition to the embargo at that time.