Chapter M: Gayoso De Lemos (6)

Mr. ROWAN.--The pressure and weight of the embargo should not have influence in deciding this question. It seems that the feelings of gentlemen are interested in it. The gentleman from Massachusetts wishes to be relieved from it. As you regard civil liberty and the rights of individuals, take it off before you go, sit till you will take it off, or go away and come back to do it. Do not be influenced by sympathy for the people suffering under the pressure of the embargo to make a sacrifice of the rights of these very people under color of sympathy for whom you are about to pursue this course. These evils may not be the immediate consequence of this course, but you are not less responsible for it from the remoteness of its consequence. We are answerable for all the proceedings of future Legislatures upon this precedent. That is the misfortune of it. We cannot see what consequences are attached to it. It may be improved upon by our successors further and further, till it is impossible for them to retrace their steps; and it is in that point of view that I am strongly opposed to the vestiture of this power. Is it possible that, in this early state of our Government, this thing should be deliberately done? We know very well the popularity of our first President, when the first precedent of this kind was set. It is unfortunate for the happiness and well-being of society, that there sometimes are men whose opinions have such a weight as to overturn deliberation. We need no longer deem so extravagant the custom of ostracism, which banished every man whose popularity and influence was too great. Strip this question of men, and resort to the constitution, and it will be impossible to sustain the bill. Even its advocates do not deny that it is unconstitutional. It is not to be found in the fountain of our power; they go back to precedent for authority to pass it, and the resort to precedent is itself one of the strongest arguments against it. They do not find a specific delegation to us of authority to transfer our power. The true ground is abandoned, and those materials resorted to, as a substitute for argument, which have always ruined republican governments--precedent and feeling. Judgment is silenced by feeling, and then precedent is called in to aid the overthrow of principle. Instead of looking into the constitution, and deriving our authority from the fountain, we agree that others shall have thought for us. Here are precedents; the persons who formed them were republicans; no doubt they examined the constitution; we will confide in them, and bottom our decision on their opinion. The first attribute of freedom is to act for yourself; and when others think for you, you evince that you are ready to be governed by them--for, if others think for you, and act for you, you have little else than vassalage left.

I am opposed to the bill, then, upon principle. I will join heartily in any constitutional mode of repealing the law. I would say to the gentlemen who passed the embargo law, “I have no doubt that you meant to serve the country by passing it; upon you rests the responsibility; and I will act with you to repeal it in any way which shall be constitutional.”

There is a provision in this bill which is more dangerous still. It not only belongs to Congress to regulate commerce, but to declare war. Pass this bill, and the Executive has it in his power to declare war--for he is to take off the embargo when, in his judgment, the interests of the nation require it; and then, under such restrictions as his judgment shall dictate, determine with which of the powers of Europe he will go to war, or whether with both--for he may so exercise the power which you shall give him as not to leave it optional in the nation whether it will declare war or not. Our honor may be assailed in such a manner in consequence of it, as not to leave us at liberty to inquire whether properly or not. The power, if given at all, should be confined to a total repeal, and not put it in the power of the President to say with whom we shall be embroiled. How do gentlemen reason? I have not heard any reasoning, though I have heard it said, and, no doubt, a course of reasoning might have served to prove it, that this bill only confers Executive power. What did Congress more when they laid the embargo than that which they now authorize the Executive to do--to legislate upon existing circumstances and probable events? He is to exercise his judgment, whether the embargo shall be suspended upon ratification of a treaty of peace, suspension of hostilities, &c., and the modification of the suspension rests with him. If this be not legislation, I am at a loss to know what is. Enforcing a law constitutes an Executive duty; but not exercising a judgment upon the circumstances which form the basis of a law, and then acting upon it. The Executive cannot combine in himself two powers which the constitution declares shall be forever separate. Reason and the constitution direct that the Executive and legislative departments shall be kept separate and distinct.

Being young in legislation, I may learn to repose upon the opinion of others, and not be governed by own interpretation of the constitution; I have not as yet, however, learned it, and must be governed by my own understanding.

Mr. LYON moved that the committee now rise. Negatived--58 to 13.

The question was then taken on Mr. RANDOLPH’s amendment, and negatived--ayes 14.

Mr. LEWIS moved to amend the bill so as to repeal the embargo from and after the passing of this bill.

Mr. RANDOLPH said that this motion of his colleague’s went pretty directly to the root of the evil. There had been a variety of propositions before the committee. For myself, I have no hesitation in saying, that if we must grant a discretion to the President of the United States, I should wish that discretion, so far as it relates to the suspension of the embargo, to be as ample as possible; for, if the constitution is to be violated, the greatest good attending that violation should flow from it, if indeed good can flow from the violation of the constitution. But I think that benefits have flowed from constitutional violations, and why should they not again? Our body politic is not of so tender a nature as to die outright even of so violent an assault as this; there are stamina in it which will ultimately restore it to its wonted vigor. I understand that the gentleman from Virginia who makes this motion, does it from the apprehension that an idea will go forth that he is not in favor of raising the embargo, although he voted against it originally. I conceived it impossible that such an idea should go forth. Is it possible that those who voted against laying the embargo can now be insensible to its pressure? What is the operation of the embargo, and what will be the operation of this confidence which we are about to repose in the Executive of the United States? Why, when the embargo was laid, there were those who made money on it, because they got earlier intelligence of it than their fellow citizens; and now, when the embargo is in operation, there are those who do not suffer under it. I have it from good information, that at least 100,000 barrels of flour have been shipped from Baltimore alone since it was laid. It may be recollected, that the gentleman from Maryland, who, the other day, gave us so able an illustration of the question, urged as an argument against it, that the embargo operated unequally. I should be sorry to put myself on a par with that gentleman in any knowledge, much less could I assume to possess a better knowledge of his own district than he himself possesses; but I believe it has been said by a gentleman said to be possessed of commercial knowledge, that many thousand barrels of flour had been shipped from that gentleman’s district alone through Baltimore. I was in hopes that this reply would have been made before, because, coming from the quarter whence it must have come, it would have operated as an argument to estimate the value of this measure on the West India Islands; and it is evident, that nothing but an evasion of this kind would keep up the price, low as it is--for, when I single out Baltimore, I have no doubt the same game is going on elsewhere--at Eastern Point and Passamaquoddy particularly. The operation of the embargo is to furnish rogues with an opportunity of getting rich at the expense of honest men. The man who is hardy enough to give bond and leave his security in the lurch, can make great returns; whereas the honest merchant and planter are suffering at home, and bearing the burden. It is for the benefit of the dishonest trader--for the planter is out of the question, as he cannot be a partner in the act which contravenes the law of the land. Is this all the operation of the embargo? No; for I will tell you another operation it has; that while the sheriff is hunting the citizen from bailiwick to bailiwick with a writ, his produce lying on his hands worth nothing, your shaving gentry--accommodation men, five per cent. per month men--are making fifty or sixty per cent. by usury; or making still more by usury of a worse sort--buying the property of their neighbor at less than one-half its value: and well they may afford to appropriate their money to such profitable uses, supposing character, morals, religion, honor, and every thing dear to man, trodden under foot by Mammon. Are these alone the effects which result from the embargo? No, sir; you are teaching your merchants, on whose fidelity, on whose sacred observation of an oath, when the course of events returns to its natural channel, your whole revenue depends; you are putting them to school, and must expect to take the consequences of their education. You are, by the pressure of the embargo, which is almost too strong for human nature, laying calculations and snares in the way, teaching them to disregard their oath for the sake of profit; and do you expect your commerce to return to its natural channel without smuggling? You may take all your Navy, and gunboats into the bargain, with all which you cannot stop them. Those men who now export so many barrels of flour from our markets, will not pay the high duties on wines and groceries when they can avoid it by evasion of the laws; for they will have learned the art of evading laws; they will have taken their degrees in the school of the embargo. This is the necessary result. You lay temptations before them too strong for their virtue to resist, and then, having cast your daughters into a brothel, you expect them to come out pure and uncontaminated. It is out of the question, and I venture to predict that the effect of this measure upon our imposts and our morals too, sir, will be felt when not one man in this assembly shall be alive. Every arrival from the West Indies tells you of the cargoes of flour daily carried in, until it becomes a point of honor not to tell of one another.

Mr. LEWIS’s amendment was then negatived--ayes 22.

The bill having been reported to the House by the Committee of the Whole, the House then proceeded to consider it, and several motions made to amend it, all of which were rejected.

The bill was then ordered to a third reading--ayes 56, noes 27. To-morrow being named for the day, was lost--yeas 28. It was then ordered to be read this evening, without a division. And having been read a third time,

The question was then taken (half-past ten) by yeas and nays--yeas 60, nays 36, as follows:

YEAS.--Lemuel J. Alston, Willis Alston, jun., Ezekiel
Bacon, David Bard, Joseph Barker, Burwell Bassett, William
Blackledge, John Blake, junior, Adam Boyd, Robert Brown,
William A. Burwell, William Butler, Joseph Calhoun, George
W. Campbell, Matthew Clay, Howell Cobb, Richard Cutts, John
Dawson, Josiah Deane, Daniel M. Durell, John W. Eppes, William
Findlay, James Fisk, Peterson Goodwyn, Isaiah L. Green, J.
Heister, James Holland, David Holmes, Daniel Ilsley, Richard
M. Johnson, William Kirkpatrick, John Lambert, Robert Marion,
William McCreery, John Montgomery, Nicholas R. Moore, Jeremiah
Morrow, John Morrow, Thomas Newbold, Thomas Newton, Wilson
C. Nicholas, John Porter, John Pugh, Jacob Richards, Matthias
Richards, Samuel Riker, James Sloan, Dennis Smelt, John Smilie,
Jedediah K. Smith, Henry Southard, Clement Storer, George M.
Troup, James I. Van Allen, Daniel C. Verplanck, Jesse Wharton,
Isaac Wilbour, Alexander Wilson, James Witherell, and Richard
Wynn.

NAYS.--William W. Bibb, Thomas Blount, Epaphroditus Champion,
John Culpepper, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, jun., William
Ely, Francis Gardner, James M. Garnett, Charles Goldsborough,
John Harris, William Hoge, John G. Jackson, Walter Jones,
Philip B. Key, Joseph Lewis, junior, Edward Lloyd, Matthew
Lyon, Nathaniel Macon, Josiah Masters, William Milnor, Daniel
Montgomery, jun., Jonathan O. Mosely, Timothy Pitkin, jun.,
Josiah Quincy, John Randolph, John Rhea of Tennessee, John
Rowan, Samuel Smith, Richard Stanford, Lewis B. Sturges,
Samuel Taggart, Benjamin Tallmadge, John Taylor, Abram Trigg,
Archibald Van Horn, Killian K. Van Rensselaer, and David R.
Williams.

Mr. RANDOLPH then moved to strike out of the bill the words “under certain conditions;” for nothing could be more certain than that the bill contained no certainty.--Negatived without a division.

_Ordered_, That the Clerk of the House do carry the said bill to the Senate, and inform them that it has passed the House without amendment.

On motion, the House then adjourned.

WEDNESDAY, April 20.

_Judge Innes._

On motion of Mr. ROWAN, the House took up for consideration the report of the committee appointed to inquire into the conduct of Harry Innes--56 to 26.

Mr. SMILIE moved that the report be committed to a Committee of the Whole, with a view to let it lie over until the next session. The select committee in considering the testimony before them, which consisted of those documents before the House, had thought they did not contain sufficient matter on which to ground an impeachment; at the same time that they felt a disposition to pursue the inquiry if other testimony could be had, which did not appear possible to be had during the present session. A postponement of the subject would give an opportunity to procure testimony _pro_ and _con_.

Mr. ROWAN was opposed to commitment, as he thought it could answer no purpose but to delay a decision. For himself he was of opinion that the documents already before the House were abundantly sufficient for the conviction of Judge Innes; at least sufficient on which to ground an impeachment. It certainly was not for the interest of the community, if this man were guilty, that he should be continued in the exercise of his high authorities longer than could be avoided, and therefore, in justice to the United States, and to the people of Kentucky, an early decision should be had.

Mr. R. then took a view of the testimony contained in the report of the committee of the Legislature of Kentucky in the case of Judge Sebastian, on which he dwelt at some length, stating more than one fact proved by it, which he thought would of itself be a sufficient ground for removal from office of a judge of the United States.

Nothing could be gained, he said, by sending the subject to a committee. The people of Kentucky were alive to the subject. They had manifested their anxiety in regard to it, and their attachment to the Union by sending forward to this body a solemn resolution expressive of their desire for a full inquiry, and on this subject he thought the zeal of the State should not outstrip that of the nation. This commitment and consequent postponement would be a manifest disregard of the act of an honorable State, to whom the House should not show disrespect. He concluded by hoping that Kentucky would be permitted to have a judge who was truly an American; one who could not tamper with the enemies of his country, and about whom should be such an atmosphere of repulsion as to prevent him from being selected as a fit object for corruption. Such a judge as this Kentucky wanted.

Mr. SMILIE said neither his respect for the State of Kentucky, nor yet any suspicious circumstances, should affect his feelings; he wanted testimony to satisfy his mind of the guilt of the man. None but legal testimony could be received on trial for impeachment, and such he wished to see before he voted for commencing an impeachment. Setting all other considerations aside, the House had now but four days to sit, and it would occupy the whole of that time at least to discuss the subject, were it now to be decided.

Mr. TAYLOR had been one of the select committee, and in the minority on the report which they agreed upon. Whatever might be the opinion of the committee, he thought the House were bound, from the respectable source from which the subject had been presented, to act upon it during the present session. With respect to the evidence necessary to prove a misdemeanor, it was not necessary that they should put their finger on the statute book to find the offence, for common sense would decide it. A judge of the United States had been dismissed from office for drunkenness, much less a misdemeanor than conferring with the agent of a foreign Government for purposes injurious to his country. It was said that Judge Innes had, instead of being as he ought to have been the preserver of peace in the community, suffered a foreign agent to make communications to him, and then to pass quietly out of his jurisdiction. The House had now ground sufficient to commence a process of impeachment, for the simple oath of a person saying that he has good cause to believe such an one guilty of any offence was sufficient ground for a judge to commence a prosecution against the person accused, and so also good ground of suspicion was sufficient for the institution of an impeachment or incipient process in this case. He thought, therefore, that there was no occasion for commitment, as it was moved with a view to postpone the subject.

Mr. FISK was averse to a hasty decision on this subject. He was by no means convinced of the guilt of Judge Innes; for although the Legislature of a State had declared an opinion on the subject, States as well as individuals might err, and it did not become this body to found its decisions on popular prejudice or reports, but to examine impartially.

Mr. F. then went over the evidence contained in Judge Innes’s deposition in the case of Judge Sebastian. It did not appear, he said, that Judge Innes had personal knowledge of the facts which he stated in his deposition, but from common report, for they were notorious in Kentucky, and were known in Massachusetts at the same time. He said he wished, as much as the gentleman from Kentucky, to see our judicial springs pure; but he wished not to oppress when there was no hope of conviction, nor to harass when there was no hope of punishing.

MONDAY, April 25.

_General Wilkinson._

Mr. CLARK said it would be recollected by the House, that he had some time since been directed to make a statement in relation to General Wilkinson. He now held in his hand a correspondence with the Spanish Government, which he would lay upon the table, as it went to substantiate the facts contained in that statement.

These papers were read, and consist chiefly of memoranda in the handwriting of Philip Nolan, and purporting to be instructions from General Wilkinson to Thomas Power, and of answers from Thomas Power.

Mr. RANDOLPH moved that they be printed.

Mr. SMILIE opposed the printing, as, if it were indeed testimony, this House was not the tribunal to decide upon it.

Mr. RANDOLPH said it was certain, that from the noise in the House, or some other cause, the papers as read could not be understood. They appeared to embrace a correspondence of Philip Nolan, said to be the agent of General Wilkinson, with Power, and in the course of them there was a recommendation that General W.’s handwriting should not be used. He presumed that gentlemen felt more interested in these than in the papers every day laid on their table and printed.

Mr. SMILIE said they had had enough of this business of denunciation, and he wished no more of it. He was willing that the papers should be sent to the court of inquiry, but he would go no further.

Mr. RANDOLPH called for the yeas and nays on the motion for printing.

Mr. RHEA supported the motion for printing.

The question was then taken by yeas and nays on printing, and carried, 52 to 30.

On motion of Mr. KELLY,

_Resolved_, That the papers and information relative to the
conduct of General James Wilkinson, which have been this
day communicated to this House by DANIEL CLARK, Esq., be
transmitted to the President of the United States.

_Five o’clock, P. M._

_Non-Importation._

The bill from the Senate to authorize the President, under certain contingencies, to suspend the non-importation law, having been called up, and a motion having been made to postpone it indefinitely,

Mr. NEWTON begged the House to consider one moment before they postponed this bill. They had already passed a law authorizing the President of the United States to suspend the operation of the embargo law, in the event of a general peace, or such accommodation to neutrals as should render the commerce of the United States safe. Now, in the event of that law being suspended, it might also be proper to suspend this.

Mr. NELSON said he should never vote for the repeal or suspension of this law. He hoped to see the time when it should become a permanent regulation; he would not yield to any of the powers of Europe, and he wished to be independent of them. There were many things now imported from Europe which could as well be made in our own country. If they could be as well made, he considered it sound policy to give a preference to our own manufactures, and so far to prohibit theirs as to effect a preference of our own. Whether in this principle I am right or wrong, said he, I am certainly right in this: That at this late period of the session it is impossible to discuss such a question as this, and therefore I wish the motion to prevail.

Mr. BURWELL said he would add but a single observation to those of the gentlemen just sat down. He was in favor of postponing the bill indefinitely, because he wished it to be understood that we have a right to make all regulations we please respecting our commerce, or trade, or aught else, without consulting the dispositions of any power whatever. He wished it to be understood here and elsewhere, and therefore he was in favor of postponement of this bill.

Mr. MARION said he was one of those who originally voted for the non-importation law, and he had never repented his vote; but he voted for it under a firm persuasion that it would go into operation. It had been afterwards suspended because there was a negotiation pending and a prospect of accommodation; but if it were the determination never to suffer it to go into operation, he had much rather see it repealed. If it were to be kept in suspension, hung up like a rod _in terrorem_, it would merit ridicule. What cause could there be for suspending it at present? Any negotiation pending? He believed not. If it were the understanding of a majority that the bill should not go into operation, he hoped they would propose a repeal of it.

Mr. EPPES said it appeared that the question of suspension of the non-importation act was very different from that of a suspension of the embargo. The former was a measure of coercion on Great Britain, and whether it had that effect or not, he believed at the time the law was passed that the only way which we could operate on that power was by commercial restrictions; and he felt now free to declare, that if ample reparation were made for the outrage on the Chesapeake, if the decrees were withdrawn and every injury redressed, that he would hold on upon the non-importation act so long as the impressment of our seamen remained. Whenever you take off this, said he, you have nothing to enforce your rights as to impressment, nor as to that system of commercial pillage which has been adopted by Great Britain. We know that the embargo was imposed as a measure of safety. It was to give us time to make preparation to meet the event. If the decrees which produced the embargo are withdrawn, the embargo may be withdrawn with propriety. But let me ask any gentleman whether he believes that any circumstances which produced the non-importation act will be removed? Whether they believe that Great Britain will give up her system of impressing seamen? If he does, let him look at the course she has adopted. After appointing a Minister to negotiate with you, she has issued a proclamation, establishing the right of impressment on its broadest footing. Shortly after, it was declared by the King, at the opening of Parliament, to be one of those rights which never could nor ever would be admitted. I was originally in favor of the non-importation law, and I am still so. If gentlemen take into consideration all the circumstances which produced the law, I will venture to say that there is not a man in the House originally in favor of it who can now vote for its suspension. It has never yet been fairly in operation. It is now indeed a law of the land, but its operation is virtually suspended by the embargo. I am in favor of its going into operation, and never will consent to its suspension till its intended effect be fulfilled, or the experiment is made.

The question of indefinite postponement was carried--58 to 29.

_Home Manufactures._

Mr. BIBB said, that notwithstanding the difference of opinion which had taken place occasionally between the members of this House during the present session, on questions of policy, he was pleased to perceive that no difference of sentiment existed in regard to the injuries done us by foreign nations. He believed that but one spirit actuated the people of the United States--that they were attached to their country, and to their country alone. He wished not only by professions, but by practice, to show foreign nations that we can live without them. He therefore offered the following resolution:

_Resolved_, That the members of the House of Representatives
will appear at their next meeting clothed in the manufactures
of their own country.

Mr. MACON would never agree to a resolution which they could not enforce. Congress have nothing to do with this subject. He could not conceive what effect this resolution could have. If it was intended as a pledge, he was not willing to give it; if to have force, he denied their authority to enforce it.

Mr. RHEA said, if the House adopted the resolution, he should pay no regard to it. He would appear in what clothing he chose, this resolution to the contrary notwithstanding.

Mr. EPPES admitted that the resolution could have no force; it was intended to express the feelings of the House. He should rejoice to see every member of the House and every man in the nation, clothed entirely in the manufactures of this country. It would establish an independence of the best kind. The proposition was a valuable one, and he wished to God that the ladies could be placed in a situation to adopt a similar resolution. If he were to appear in the manufactures of his own State, he must be confined to a homely garb; but if the resolution passed, he would, before the next season, have cloth manufactured for his use in his own family. Mr. E. calculated that a million of men in the United States wore broadcloth coats, and if they were all manufactured in this country the saving would be immense.

Mr. MACON did not conceive it fair that those who like him had no wives at home to make them coats, should not only be reproached for their misfortune, but pointed at as sinners. He had during this session bought himself a suit, but he was not able to obtain American manufacture. His friend from Maryland (Mr. NELSON) had procured him a hat, and that was all that he could obtain of American manufacture. As to the ladies, if they were to legislate on the subject he did not believe that the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. EPPES,) fond as he is of the ladies, would persuade one in the House, or in the nation, to agree to such a resolution. Had I a wife, I should be willing to see her dressed to her own satisfaction. The ladies have a right to dress as they please, and he did not care who knew it. The gentleman from Virginia reminded him of a neighbor who used often to say, O, how rich we might be, if it was not for the expense of eating and clothing!

Mr. BIBB said he had hoped that the resolution would be at once adopted unanimously. He did not wish to provoke debate, and therefore withdrew his resolution.

_Adjournment._

Mr. G. W. CAMPBELL, from the committee appointed on the part of this House, jointly with a committee appointed on the part of the Senate, to wait on the President of the United States and inform him of the proposed adjournment of Congress, reported that the committee had performed that service, and that the President had signified to them that he had no further communication to make to Congress during the present session.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate, having completed the legislative business before them, are now ready to adjourn.

_Ordered_, That a message be sent to the Senate to acquaint them that this House, having finished the business before them, are now about to adjourn until the day appointed by law for the next meeting of Congress; and that the Clerk of this House do go with the said message.

The Clerk accordingly went with the said message, and, being returned, Mr. SPEAKER adjourned the House until the first Monday in November next.

FOOTNOTES

[1] This paragraph is entitled to the careful consideration of all who aspire to a practical knowledge of the principles of our Government, and an intimate acquaintance with its early working. Louisiana had been ceded to the United States by the French Government: the treaty for the cession was now to be submitted for the ratification and the legislation which were necessary to carry it into effect: and the President sets out with showing that he had legislative authority for what he had done--that the sanction of Congress had been given to the acquisition beforehand--before the negotiation had been instituted. It was Congress--the legislative authority--which had given that previous sanction, held so vital by Mr. Jefferson: and, notwithstanding that previous sanction, the treaty, after ratification by the Senate, was to be submitted to the legislative power, for the exercise of their functions, as to those conditions which the constitution had vested in Congress. What these functions were, in the understanding of Mr. Jefferson’s political school, was to give, or refuse the appropriation according to the dictates of their own discretion, uncontrolled by the treaty stipulation.

[2] _Boundaries of the Province of Louisiana, as contained in a paper communicated by Mr. Jefferson to Congress._

The precise boundaries of Louisiana, westward of the Mississippi, though very extensive, are at present involved in some obscurity. Data are equally wanting to assign with precision its northern extent. From the source of the Mississippi, it is bounded eastwardly, by the middle of the channel of that river, to the thirty-first degree of latitude; thence, it is asserted, upon very strong grounds, that, according to its limits, when formerly possessed by France, it stretches to the east as far, at least, as the river Perdido, which runs into the bay of Mexico, eastward of the river Mobile.

It may be consistent with the view of these notes to remark, that Louisiana, including the Mobile settlements, was discovered and peopled by the French, whose monarchs made several grants of its trade, in particular to Mr. Crozat, in 1712, and some years afterwards, with his acquiescence, to the well-known company projected by Mr. Law. This company was relinquished in the year 1731. By a secret convention, on the 3d November, 1762, the French Government ceded so much of the province as lies beyond the Mississippi, as well as the island of New Orleans, to Spain; and, by the treaty of peace which followed in 1763, the whole territory of France and Spain, eastward of the middle of the Mississippi, to the Iberville, thence, through the middle of that river and the lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain to the sea, was ceded to Great Britain. Spain having conquered the Floridas from Great Britain, during our Revolutionary war, they were confirmed to her by the Treaty of Peace of 1784. By the Treaty of St. Ildefonso, of the 1st of October, 1800, His Catholic Majesty promises and engages on his part to cede back to the French Republic, six months after the full and entire execution of the conditions and stipulations therein contained, relative to the Duke of Parma, “the colony or province of Louisiana, with the same extent that it actually has in the hands of Spain, that it had when France possessed it, and such as it ought to be after the treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other States.” This treaty was confirmed and enforced by that of Madrid, of the 21st of March, 1801. From France it passed to us by the Treaty of the 30th of April last, with a reference to the above clause as descriptive of the limits ceded.

[3] The bill thus passed was in these words:

“That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby,
authorized to take possession of, and occupy the territories
ceded by France to the United States, by the treaty concluded
at Paris on the thirteenth day of April last, between the two
nations, and that he may for that purpose, and in order to
maintain in the said territories the authority of the United
States, employ any part of the army or navy of the United
States, and of the force authorized by an act passed the third
day of March last, entitled “An act directing a detachment from
the militia of the United States, and for erecting certain
arsenals,” which he may deem necessary; and so much of the sum
appropriated by the said act as may be necessary, is hereby
appropriated for the purpose of carrying this act into effect;
to be applied under the direction of the President of the
United States.

“SEC. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That until the expiration
of the present session of Congress, unless provision for the
temporary government of the said territories be sooner made
by Congress, all the military, civil, and judicial powers
exercised by the officers of the existing government of the
same, shall be vested in such person and persons, and shall be
exercised in such manner, as the President of the United States
shall direct, for maintaining and protecting the inhabitants of
Louisiana in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and
religion.”

From the terms of this act, and especially of the second section, it is seen that the Spanish system of government was continued in the ceded territory after it became the property of the United States, and that the military, the civil, and judicial powers of the Spanish Intendants (for France never took possession of the country except to deliver it to the United States), were transferred by law to such persons as the President should appoint. The powers of the Spanish Intendants, as all know, were an emanation of the despotic power of the kings of Spain, and wholly incompatible with our constitution--a very clear declaration of Congress that the constitution did not extend to the territory, and that its inhabitants could claim no rights under it: and this declaration was in consonance with all the previous acts for the government of territories, all of which were inconsistent with the constitution.

[4] The practice of pronouncing eulogiums on deceased members, adjourning the two houses, and attending the funeral in procession, had not then been adopted. A mourning for thirty days (which was the length of time which the children of Israel wept for the death of Moses in the Valley of Moab), was the simple and expressive sign of respect.

[5] The following is the act:

That the act of Congress passed on the fourth of April, one thousand eight hundred, entitled “An act to establish a uniform system of Bankruptcy throughout the United States,” shall be, and the same is hereby, repealed: _Provided, nevertheless_, That the repeal of the said act shall in no wise affect the execution of any commission of bankruptcy which may have been issued prior to the passing of this act, but every such commission may and shall be proceeded on and fully executed as though this act had not passed.

[6] This act, as passed, asserted full power in Congress to legislate upon slavery in the Territories without regard to the constitution, or any of its provisions in relation to the States, or the rights of the States within themselves, or between each other. Thus: 1. It prohibited the foreign importation of slaves into the Territory at once, which, with respect to a State, could not be done before 1808. 2. It prohibited the domestic importation of any slave into the Territory which had been imported from abroad since the year 1798. 3. It prohibited the carrying of any slave whatever into the Territory, except by a citizen of the United States removing into it for actual settlement, and being at the time the _bona fide_ owner of such slave. These were three provisions which could not be adopted towards the States; and for their violation a fine was incurred by the importer, and freedom attached to the slave--penalties which Congress could prescribe within no State.

The following is the section containing these prohibitions and penalties:

“SEC. 10. It shall not be lawful for any person or persons
to import or bring into the said Territory, from any port or
place without the limits of the United States, or cause or
procure to be so imported or brought, or knowingly to aid or
assist in importing or bringing any slave or slaves. And every
person so offending, and being thereof convicted before any
court within said Territory, having competent jurisdiction,
shall forfeit and pay for each and every slave so imported
or brought, the sum of three hundred dollars; one moiety for
the use of the United States, and the other moiety for the
use of the person or persons who shall sue for the same; and
every slave so imported or brought, shall thereupon become
entitled to and receive his or her freedom. It shall not be
lawful for any person or persons to import or bring into the
said Territory, from any port or place within the limits of
the United States, or to cause or procure to be so imported
or brought, or knowingly to aid or assist in so importing or
bringing any slave or slaves, which shall have been imported
since the first day of May, one thousand seven hundred and
ninety-eight, into any port or place within the limits of the
United States, or which may hereafter be so imported from any
port or place without the limits of the United States; and
every person so offending and being thereof convicted before
any court within said Territory, having competent jurisdiction,
shall forfeit and pay for each and every slave so imported
or brought from without the United States, the sum of three
hundred dollars, one moiety for the use of the United States,
and the other moiety for the use of the person or persons who
shall sue for the same; and no slave or slaves shall directly
or indirectly be introduced into said Territory, except by a
citizen of the United States removing into said Territory for
actual settlement, and being at the time of such removal _bona
fide_ owner of such slave or slaves; and every slave imported
or brought into the said Territory, contrary to the provisions
of this act, shall thereupon be entitled to, and receive his or
her freedom.”

This section applied to Lower Louisiana, called the Territory of Orleans. No provision on the subject of slavery was made in the act for the government of Upper Louisiana, afterwards called the Territory of Missouri. And thus, by legislating fully on the subject in one Territory, and not at all in the other, Congress asserted its right to do as it pleased with slavery in such places, uncontrolled by any power but its own will.

[7] At the time of passing the second bankrupt act in 1841--that is to say, after the lapse of forty years--it was shown that there was still property of bankrupts in the hands of assignees, the estate being so administered as to pay expenses, yielding nothing to the creditors, and leaving nothing to the debtors.

[8] There are three grades of Territorial government, all based upon the idea of pupillage in the Territory, and of sovereignty and guardianship in the Federal Government. The first grade, as in the case of mere children, allowed the inhabitants no voice in their own government: a Governor and Judges, appointed by the Federal Government, adopted laws from the codes of the States, and executed them. The second grade, as in the case of children advancing towards the years of discretion, (to whom a father allows some latitude of will,) admitted the inhabitants to some share in their government, by giving them a Council composed of their own citizens, (but appointed by the President,) to act with the Judges in adopting the laws. The third grade, as in the case of children arrived at the years of discretion, but not yet of full age, allowed them a Territorial Legislature, consisting of a House of Representatives, elected by themselves, a Council appointed by the President, and liberty to originate and enact laws; but all their acts as in those of the two other grades, subject to the approbation of Congress. From this grade the Territory, on attaining the population which would give a right to one Representative in Congress, would pass into the class of States, on an equal footing in all respects with the other States, and entitled of _right_ to all the benefits of the federal constitution. Before this transition, the Territories had no _rights_ under the constitution. They were governed independently of the constitution, and contrary to it. They had no benefits from it, except such as Congress, in its discretion, chose to extend to them. They were governed as property: the soil, as a sovereign owner would govern his property; the inhabitants, as a father would take care of his children, looking to their ultimate equality with himself, and preparing them to enjoy that equality as soon as prepared for it. It was this graduated form of Territorial government, in its three regular degrees, to which Mr. Macon was so much attached. It was devised by the “Old Congress,” as he called it--the Congress of the confederation--and received its features from the organizing mind of Mr. Jefferson when he was a member of that Congress in 1784. Neither under the Articles of the Confederation, nor under the Federal Constitution, had the Territories had any _rights_: they were governed as property according to the will of Congress, uncontrolled by any authority, except the limitations and conditions expressed in the deeds of cession from the States, or in the treaties with foreign powers by which they were ceded. All this is abundantly evident in all the legislation of Congress upon the subject, and in none more so than in the government of Lower Louisiana.

[9] The _judicial_ power of the Territory remained as provided for in the 4th section, in judges appointed for four years, and without the right of jury trial in civil cases. The _legislative_ power was vested in a Governor and council appointed by the President, and their acts subject to the approval or disapproval of Congress. The following is the section:

SEC. 4. The legislative powers shall be vested in the Governor,
and in thirteen of the most fit and discreet persons of the
Territory, to be called the Legislative Council, who shall be
appointed annually by the President of the United States from
among those holding real estate therein, and who shall have
resided one year at least in the said Territory, and hold no
office of profit under the Territory or the United States.
The Governor, by and with advice and consent of the said
Legislative Council, or of a majority of them, shall have power
to alter, modify, or repeal the laws which may be in force at
the commencement of this act. Their legislative powers shall
also extend to all the rightful subjects of legislation; but no
law shall be valid which is inconsistent with the Constitution
and laws of the United States, or which shall lay any person
under restraint, burden, or disability, on account of his
religious opinions, professions, or worship; in all which he
shall be free to maintain his own, and not burdened for those
of another. The Governor shall publish throughout the said
Territory all the laws which shall be made, and shall from
time to time report the same to the President of the United
States, to be laid before Congress; which, if disapproved of by
Congress, shall thenceforth be of no force.

[10] The yeas and nays were so nearly the same on every question that one set will answer for the whole.

[11] Of the 21 who voted against this bill, almost the whole were from the non-slaveholding States.

[12] The object of this bill was, not to increase the amount of duty, but to increase the list of specific duties by transferring _ad valorems_ to it as a means of diminishing frauds and the expenses of collection.

[13] This was the whole ceremony. No eulogium was pronounced, nor any adjournment moved, and in the House of Representatives the event was not noticed. And this was the custom at that early time.

[14] This was the commencement of Mr. GAILLARD’s long Senatorial service, terminated only by death, and during which, from vacancies and absences in the Vice Presidential office, he was almost continually President _pro tempore_ of the Senate.

[15] This was after the duel of Col. Burr with General Hamilton, which event probably influenced the negative vote.

[16] A more beautiful or more patriotic address was never delivered. How little could the hearers have supposed that, in three years, the author would be on trial for High Treason.

[17] The interference of the Internal Revenue officers with the politics of the country, was one of the reasons for preferring the system of Custom House Duties to direct taxes; it may be a question whether the concentration of the revenue officers in the Custom Houses, and the vast number which the _ad valorem_ system admits of, may not have given to that evil a more dangerous form.

[18] Roads, rivers, canals--their construction or improvement so long the vexed question of Federal power, have been superseded as national questions by the progress of science, and the force of individual enterprise. Railroads have put an end to that question, and with it, all the old maxims of preparing for war in time. They are the largest, cheapest, and most effective preparation for war, that the world ever saw, being the realization of the whole art of war; to wit: The concentration in the shortest time of the greatest number of troops. By these roads the United States would throw millions of citizen soldiers, if needed, on any one point in a very few days.

[19] We understand, that in correspondence with the Parliamentary practice of England, no chair was, previously to the introduction of Mr. Chase, assigned him; but that an informal intimation was made to him, that, on his requesting it, it would be allowed.

[20] During these proceedings, neither the managers nor the House of Representatives were present.

[21] The argumentative parts of the answer are omitted as being reproduced in the pleadings.

[22] Mr. Jefferson.

[23] These words, used by Mr. Randolph as a quotation,--they were quoted from Lord Chatham,--afterwards (during the Mexican war) were repeated as original in the American Senate.

[24] On the 7th February following, Mr. Granger addressed the annexed explanatory letter to the Speaker:--

WASHINGTON CITY, Feb. 7, 1805.

SIR,--My sole object in addressing to Congress my letter of
the first of the present month was to gain an opportunity of
refuting the charges and insinuations which had been made
against me. The little reflection I could give the subject
induced me to believe that it was proper, in a respectful
manner, to repel the charges publicly, and in the place where
they were made. Nor did it occur to me that the right of an
officer to defend his character depended upon the office he
happened to hold.

If, however, I erred in this, I presume it cannot be wrong,
in defence of my reputation, to address you in your private
character as a gentleman. I will own that I am desirous of
retaining your friendship and confidence. I will own that I
am not indifferent to public opinion, and that I seek the
confidence and esteem of my fellow-citizens by the even tenor
of a well-spent life, and a regular discharge of all the social
duties--not by lessening the esteem and confidence to which
others are entitled.

Various charges have been made against me for the interest I
have in the Georgia grants--for my being an agent of the New
England Company, and for my conduct as such agent. As these
charges have not yet appeared in print, I cannot give that
specific answer which may hereafter become necessary, and for
which I pledge myself to the public, in case such necessity
should exist.

I now take the liberty of stating how I became interested in
the claims, how the agency was accepted, and what has been my
conduct as agent.

First, as to my interest.