Chapter IV: Front Matter (4)

By adopting a non-intercourse antecedent to a state of war, our own stock of supplies becomes exhausted, the British merchants have time and notice given them to collect, or alienate, by assignment, their debts in this country. A warning is given them to buckle on their armor; their good disposition towards us is not only changed, but embittered, and the very persons who, in the one case, might possibly prevent a war, or be instrumental in effecting the restoration of peace, would, in the other, probably be among the most willing to rush into the contest, from the impulse of temper, and from the conviction that their own circumstances would not be deteriorated by its consequences.

A non-intercourse would also be attended with great hazard and disadvantage. It would be as well understood by others as by ourselves; it could alone be considered as the precursor of war; and the blow would be struck, not when we were prepared, but when our opponents were ready for the contest; and should this bill go into operation, it is very possible that during the ensuing summer, some of our cities may exhibit heaps of ruins and of ashes, before expresses could convene at the seat of Government even the heads of our departments.

Another evil would arise, and that a permanent one; whether a non-intercourse eventuated in war or peace, it would materially and adversely affect both the habits of the people and the revenue of the State. Many of the articles which are now imported from Great Britain are indispensable for our comfort, and some of them for our existence. The people cannot do without them: the consequence must be, that, instead of being regularly imported, the articles will be smuggled into this country, and thereby the price not only becomes greatly enhanced to the consumer, but the duties are wholly lost to the Government.

Hitherto, the revenue of the United States, arising from impost, has been collected with a degree of integrity and punctuality highly honorable and unexampled in the history of commercial nations. This successful collection of duties has not however been effected by the employment of swarms of revenue officers, spies, and informers, as in other countries; it has been infinitely more effectually secured, by an honorable pride of character, and that sentiment of affection which was naturally excited in the hearts of freemen towards the Government of their choice, and a Government under which, in the main, they have experienced much prosperity. But barriers of this description, like other high-toned sentiments of the mind, being once broken down, can with difficulty be restored, and the chance of materially impairing this, in reality, "cheap defence of nations," should, in my opinion, of itself, afford a sufficient reason for the rejection of all measures of doubtful policy.

In a country nearly surrounded by, and everywhere intersected with navigable waters, encompassed by a frontier beyond the ability of ten Bonapartean armies to guard, and inhabited by a race of men unrivalled for hardihood and enterprise, and at present in a state of poverty, the temptation of great prices will be irresistible--for there is no truism in morals or philosophy better established than the commercial axiom, that demand will ultimately furnish a supply.

There are, undoubtedly, periods in the history of a nation, in which a contest would be both honorable and indispensable, but it should ever be the result of great deliberation, and in an extended republic, perhaps, of necessity. That government is most wise and most patriotic, which so conducts the affairs of the nation over which it presides, as to produce the greatest ultimate good; and when a nation is attacked at the same time by two assailants, it is no reflection on its honor or its bravery, to select its opponent; and on principles of reciprocity, independently of those of interest, the first aggressor would undoubtedly be entitled to the first notice.

Who then has been the first aggressor? I answer, France. The Berlin Decree is in a great measure the cause of our present difficulties. In justification of France in doing this, I know gentlemen resort to the convention between Russia and Great Britain in 1793, to prohibit a supply of grain to France; but this is by no means sufficient justification to France, even without referring to a decree to the same effect issued in May of the same year by France, while she was ignorant of the secret stipulation between Russia and Great Britain.

For a long period, and among most of the maritime nations of Europe, the right of inhibiting a supply of provisions to an enemy, was tacitly acquiesced in, or expressly admitted. This practice existed even so long ago as the Mithridatic war, and has probably been followed up, without an interval at any one time of fifty years, from the commencement of the Christian era to the present day. This attempt, therefore, of Great Britain to injure France, formed no excuse for France to attempt to injure Great Britain by violating the commerce of the United States.

On the 31st of December, 1806, the British Government formally notified the American Government, that Great Britain would consider an acquiescence in the Berlin Decree on the part of neutral nations, as giving to her (Great Britain) the right to retaliate in the same way against France.

Had the American Government, at this period, manfully and explicitly made known its determination to support our rights at all hazards, I have no belief that our present difficulties would ever have existed.

In May succeeding, advices were received of French privateers, under this decree, depredating upon American vessels in the West Indies; and during the same month the ship Horizon, in distress, was thrown by the act of God on the French coast, and was seized under the same authority.

In November, 1807, the British, in conformity with their notice, issued their retaliating order. A prior Order in Council of January, 1807, had been issued, but this only affected vessels trading between different ports of France, or between ports of France and her allies; a trade always obnoxious to suspicion, and one which during war must ever be expected in a great degree to be restricted, and which is also interdicted by a standing law of the French Government, passed in 1778, and confirmed by the present Emperor.

Then followed in succession, on the part of France, the Milan and Bayonne decrees. The last of which dooms an American vessel to condemnation from the exercise of a right universally acknowledged to belong to belligerents, and one which the neutral has no possibility of preventing, that of being spoken with by an enemy cruiser, which from her superior sailing there was no possibility of avoiding. In point of principle, this is the most outrageous violation of neutral rights ever known, and this, too, took place under the existence of a treaty made within a few years by the same person who issued these very decrees. While with Great Britain we have no treaty, and whose orders are expressly bottomed upon and limited in duration by the French decrees, and issued after having given twelve months' notice of her intention to oppose them in this way, and the Orders in Council are even as yet not co-extensive in principle with the French decrees.

I have, in taking this brief view, confined myself exclusively to the decrees and orders of the two Governments, without adverting to other causes of complaint on either side. I consider myself as warranted in doing this, from the American Government having explicitly taken this ground, and made known that, on the removal of the decrees and orders, it would, on our part, remove the embargo, and restore the accustomed intercourse between the two countries.

From this consideration of the subject, it irresistibly follows, that France was the first aggressor on us, in issuing her decrees--that in point of principle, they are much more outrageous violations of right than the British Orders in Council--that the latter originate from, and co-exist only with the former, and that France should of consequence be the first object of our vengeance.

The effects of a war with one or the other nation, would be as distinctly perceptible. With France it would make no difference to us. For as long as she continues her decrees, commerce with her could not be prosecuted--no man would be mad enough while her coast is lined, and the ocean covered with British cruisers, to send his vessel to France, where she would meet with certain condemnation for being even seen and spoken with by a British frigate. With France, therefore, the actual difference arising from passing this bill, and declaring a non-intercourse, would be next to nothing.

With Great Britain the effects would be reversed. No one now doubts her ability or disposition to carry her orders into effect, nor her preparation to extend the theatre of war. If we commenced war upon France, as she would be the common enemy of both nations, there is no doubt in my mind that our differences with Great Britain would be favorably settled, that the commerce of the world, excepting as it respects France and her allies, would be again open to us, and that a trade, which has hitherto employed nearly seventy millions of our capital, might be again accessible to the industry and enterprise of our citizens.

Reverse this picture, admitting that you have a war with Great Britain, what will be its consequences? If your citizens are united, you can capture Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick; when you have effected this, what remains next to be done? You have reached the _ne plus ultra_ of your ability. Thenceforward your ports are hermetically sealed. Privateering, from the convoy system adopted by Great Britain, could not be successfully prosecuted; no food for enterprise remains, and thus you would remain, five, ten, or fifteen years, as the case might be, until the wisdom and good sense of the nation predominated over its passion, when an accommodation would be made with Great Britain, following her example with regard to her West India conquests, restoring the captured provinces, enriched by American population and industry, and giving us perhaps a treaty still less favorable than the much execrated instrument of 1794, which, bad as it was said to be, has proved a _cornucopia_ of wealth to our country, if it produced nothing less than a thirteen years' peace, and which, to my view, is vastly preferable to its abortive successor of the year eighteen hundred and six.

The question was now taken on the passage of the bill, and determined in the affirmative--yeas 21, nays 12, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Condit, Franklin, Gaillard, Giles,
Gregg, Howland, Kitchel, Leib, Mathewson, Meigs, Milledge,
Mitchill, Moore, Pope, Robinson, Smith of Maryland, Smith of
New York, Smith of Tennessee, Thruston, and Tiffin.

NAYS.--Messrs. Bayard, Crawford, Gilman, Goodrich, Hillhouse,
Lloyd, Parker, Pickering, Reed, Sumter, Turner, and White.

So it was resolved that this bill pass, and that the title thereof be, "An act to interdict the commercial intercourse between the United States and Great Britain and France, and their dependencies, and for other purposes."

FRIDAY, February 24.

_Additional Duties._

The bill, entitled "An act for imposing additional duties upon all goods, wares, and merchandise, imported from any foreign port or place," was read the third time as amended.

Mr. LLOYD moved to postpone the further consideration of this bill until the first Monday in June next; and addressed the chair as follows:

Mr. President: After the observations which I have before made, sir, on this bill, and the detailed consideration which was given to it yesterday, I should not again rise, were the subject not a commercial, and an exceedingly important one; nor is it now my intention to make more than a few remarks, and these the Senate will probably think entitled to more than usual respect, when I inform them they will principally be, neither my own, nor wholly accordant with my opinions.

This bill can only be advocated upon the ground that a war is about to ensue, and that, to prepare the public Treasury to sustain the prosecution of such war, this proposed duty is necessary. My purpose is to cite some authorities to show that neither the one nor the other is either expected or necessary; and the authorities I shall adduce to prove this, are those to which the Senate is accustomed to pay the highest respect.

[Here Mr. Lloyd quoted from Mr. Gallatin's Treasury reports, to
show that he deemed loans preferable to taxes if war ensued,
and that there was revenue enough until the next winter.]

Now, sir, it is clear, from the showing even of this honorable gentleman whose calculations are received with so much respect here, that whether there is peace, war, or embargo, our resources are yet abundant to carry us on, at least until the next winter; and as we are to meet again in three months, it follows that the present undigested project must be worse than useless.

To all this mass of evidence and authority against both the necessity and policy of laying this duty, I have only to add a few observations to show that it will, in its operation, be both unequal and unjust.

It is well known that permanent duties, except on their first imposition, are paid by the consumer; but whenever duties are to be of short duration, as in the present instance, or until the stocks of merchandise prior to the assessment of the duty are run off, the price does not rise in ratio with the duty, and that, of consequence, the whole, or part of the duty, is thus much of loss to the merchant. This, in a degree, cannot be avoided, nor is it even a subject of complaint, where due notice has been given of the intention to lay the duty; but if it be imposed without notice, or giving time for preparation, then the interest of the merchant is sacrificed.

The basis of all commerce is calculation; what calculation can be found for distant enterprises when the data are perpetually shifting? If a merchant rests on the stability of the laws of the Government, and sends away his vessel, and on her return finds a new duty of 50 per cent. imposed, which, for the circumstance of it, the consumer does not pay, his whole calculations are defeated, and he pockets a loss instead of a profit for his industry.

Commerce is very probably as well understood in England as any where. In that country new duties on imports are imposed with great caution; whenever contemplated, the subject is generally a long time under consideration, sometimes hanging over from one session to another. The Ministry make it a point frequently to consult committees of merchants from most of the principal seaports in the kingdom. The result is, the subject is well considered; and, when the duties are imposed, they are submitted to with cordiality and cheerfulness. Mr. Pitt, in the latter part of his life, always adopted this mode. He did not think it condescension to consult merchants on subjects with which they were better acquainted than himself. In the early part of his administration, I have understood, he rashly imposed some additional and heavy duties on imported merchandise; the consequence was, the revenue diminished, and smuggling increased. With his characteristic vigor he determined to stop it, and lined the coast with luggers, revenue cutters, and frigates; still the revenue did not increase. He consulted the merchants--they told him the articles were taxed beyond their bearing; he manfully retraced his steps, and took off the additional duty--and immediately smuggling did not pay its cost--his luggers, cutters, and frigates, became useless, and the revenue advanced to its ancient standard. This is one among many memorable instances that might be adduced to show that an unwise augmentation of duties is very far from producing an increase of revenue.

There is another view of the subject on which I shall say a few words. This new duty will operate as a bounty to monopolizers, forestallers, and speculators. Gentlemen are not aware of the avidity with which mercantile men have regarded the proceedings of this session. I am told that, within half an hour after the question was taken, about a fortnight since, in the other House, ten expresses started for different parts of the United States. It is notorious that English and West India goods, and most articles of foreign merchandise in the United States, have been bought up by speculators; it is now in the hands of a few persons; by passing this law, you discourage new importations, and enable the present holders to grind the poor, by extorting high prices for the articles they hold, from a want of competition in the market. From all these views of the subject, and from the sentiments I have quoted from the President, Mr. Gallatin, and General Smith, it is apparent that this measure is unwise, unnecessary, and impolitic.

I am unwilling, sir, to take up the time of the Senate; but, however unavailing may be the efforts of my friends and myself, I wish to have it recorded that I was neither ignorant of the very injurious operation of this bill upon my constituents, nor unwilling to endeavor to prevent it. I therefore ask the indulgence of the Senate, that the ayes and noes may be taken when this question is decided.

And on the question, it was determined in the negative--yeas 10, nays 19, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bayard, Bradley, Gilman, Hillhouse, Lloyd,
Mitchill, Parker, Pickering, Reed, and White.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Condit, Crawford, Franklin, Gaillard,
Gregg, Howland, Kitchel, Leib, Meigs, Milledge, Moore, Pope,
Smith of Maryland, Smith of New York, Smith of Tennessee,
Sumter, Thruston, and Turner.

On motion, by Mr. SMITH, of Maryland, the further consideration of the bill was postponed to Monday next.

FRIDAY, March 3.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House disagree to the first and fourth amendment of the Senate to the bill, entitled "An act further to amend the several acts for the establishment and regulation of the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments, and making appropriations for the support of the Military Establishment and the Navy of the United States for the year 1809;" and they agree to the other amendments to the said bill.

_Oath of Office to the President elect._

The PRESIDENT communicated to the Senate the following letter from the President elect of the United States:

CITY OF WASHINGTON, March 2, 1809.

SIR: I beg leave, through you, to inform the honorable the
Senate of the United States, that I propose to take the oath
which the constitution prescribes to the President of the
United States, before he enters on the execution of his office,
on Saturday the 4th instant, at twelve o'clock, in the Chamber
of the House of Representatives.

I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, sir, your
most obedient and most humble servant,

JAMES MADISON.

The Hon. JOHN MILLEDGE,

_President pro tempore of the Senate_.

_Five o'clock in the Evening._

_Adjournment._

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

_Ordered_, That the Secretary notify the House of Representatives that the Senate having finished the business before them, are about to adjourn.

The Secretary having performed that duty, the Senate adjourned without day.

EXTRA SESSION.

_The President of the United States_

_to ----, Senator for the State of ----_:

Certain matters touching the public good requiring that the
Senate should be convened on Saturday, the fourth day of March
next, you are desired to attend at the Senate Chamber, in the
city of Washington, on that day; then and there to deliberate
on such communications as shall be made to you.

TH. JEFFERSON.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 30, 1808.

SATURDAY, March 4.

In conformity with the summons from the President of the United States, the Senate assembled in the Chamber of the House of Representatives.

PRESENT:

JOHN MILLEDGE, from the State of Georgia, President _pro
tempore_.

NICHOLAS GILMAN, and NAHUM PARKER, from New Hampshire.

TIMOTHY PICKERING, from Massachusetts.

CHAUNCEY GOODRICH, from Connecticut.

ELISHA MATHEWSON, from Rhode Island.

STEPHEN R. BRADLEY, from Vermont.

JOHN SMITH, from New York.

AARON KITCHEL, from New Jersey.

ANDREW GREGG, from Pennsylvania.

JAMES A. BAYARD, from Delaware.

PHILIP REED, from Maryland.

WILLIAM B. GILES, from Virginia.

JAMES TURNER, and JESSE FRANKLIN, from North Carolina.

THOMAS SUMTER, and JOHN GAILLARD, from South Carolina.

WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD, from Georgia.

BUCKNER THRUSTON, and JOHN POPE, from Kentucky.

DANIEL SMITH, from Tennessee.

EDWARD TIFFIN, from Ohio.

JOHN LAMBERT, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of New Jersey for six years, and SAMUEL SMITH, appointed a Senator by the Executive of the State of Maryland, attended, and their credentials were read.

JAMES LLOYD, junior, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Massachusetts, attended, stating that he was elected, but not in possession of his credentials.

JOSEPH ANDERSON, from the State of Tennessee; RICHARD BRENT, from the State of Virginia; JAMES HILLHOUSE, from the State of Connecticut; MICHAEL LEIB, from the State of Pennsylvania; RETURN J. MEIGS, from the State of Ohio; JONATHAN ROBINSON, from the State of Vermont; SAMUEL WHITE, from the State of Delaware, severally attended.

The oath required by law was administered to the Senators above mentioned, in the six years' class, respectively, except to MR. BRENT.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES attended, and communicated the following

ADDRESS:

Unwilling to depart from examples of the most revered
authority, I avail myself of the occasion now presented, to
express the profound impression made on me by the call of my
country to the station, to the duties of which I am about to
pledge myself by the most solemn of sanctions. So distinguished
a mark of confidence, proceeding from the deliberate and
tranquil suffrage of a free and virtuous nation, would, under
any circumstances, have commanded my gratitude and devotion,
as well as filled me with an awful sense of the trust to be
assumed. Under the various circumstances which give peculiar
solemnity to the existing period, I feel that both the honor
and the responsibility allotted to me are inexpressibly
enhanced.

The present situation of the world is, indeed, without a
parallel, and that of our own country full of difficulties. The
pressure of these, too, is the more severely felt, because they
have fallen upon us at a moment when the national prosperity
being at a height not before attained, the contrast, resulting
from the change, has been rendered the more striking. Under
the benign influence of our Republican institutions, and the
maintenance of peace with all nations, whilst so many of them
were engaged in bloody and wasteful wars, the fruits of a just
policy were enjoyed in an unrivalled growth of our faculties
and resources. Proofs of this were seen in the improvements
of agriculture; in the successful enterprises of commerce; in
the progress of manufactures and useful arts; in the increase
of the public revenue, and the use made of it in reducing the
public debt; and in the valuable works and establishments every
where multiplying over the face of our land.

It is a precious reflection that the transition from this
prosperous condition of our country, to the scene which has
for some time been distressing us, is not chargeable on any
unwarrantable views, nor, as I trust, on any involuntary errors
in the public councils. Indulging no passions which trespass
on the rights or the repose of other nations, it has been the
true glory of the United States to cultivate peace by observing
justice; and to entitle themselves to the respect of the
nations at war, by fulfilling their neutral obligations with
the most scrupulous impartiality. If there be candor in the
world, the truth of these assertions will not be questioned;
posterity, at least, will do justice to them.

This unexceptionable course could not avail against the
injustice and violence of the belligerent powers. In their
rage against each other, or impelled by more direct motives,
principles of retaliation have been introduced, equally
contrary to universal reason and acknowledged law. How long
their arbitrary edicts will be continued, in spite of the
demonstrations that not even a pretext for them has been given
by the United States, and of the fair and liberal attempt to
induce a revocation of them, cannot be anticipated. Assuring
myself, that, under every vicissitude, the determined spirit
and united councils of the nation will be safeguards to its
honor and its essential interests, I repair to the post
assigned me with no other discouragement than what springs from
my own inadequacy to its high duties. If I do not sink under
the weight of this deep conviction, it is because I find some
support in a consciousness of the purposes, and a confidence in
the principles which I bring with me into this arduous service.

To cherish peace and friendly intercourse with all nations
having correspondent dispositions; to maintain sincere
neutrality towards belligerent nations; to prefer, in all
cases, amicable discussion and reasonable accommodation of
differences, to a decision of them by an appeal to arms;
to exclude foreign intrigues and foreign partialities, so
degrading to all countries, and so baneful to free ones; to
foster a spirit of independence, too just to invade the rights
of others, too proud to surrender our own, too liberal to
indulge unworthy prejudices ourselves, and too elevated not
to look down upon them in others; to hold the union of the
States as the basis of their peace and happiness; to support
the constitution, which is the cement of the Union, as well in
its limitations as in its authorities; to respect the rights
and authorities reserved to the States and to the people, as
equally incorporated with, and essential to the success of, the
general system; to avoid the slightest interference with the
rights of conscience or the functions of religion, so wisely
exempted from civil jurisdiction; to preserve, in their full
energy, the other salutary provisions in behalf of private
and personal rights, and of the freedom of the press; to
observe economy in public expenditures; to liberate the public
resources by an honorable discharge of the public debts; to
keep within the requisite limits a standing military force,
always remembering that an armed and trained militia is the
firmest bulwark of Republics; that without standing armies
their liberty can never be in danger, nor with large ones
safe; to promote, by authorized means, improvements friendly
to agriculture, to manufactures, and to external as well as
internal commerce; to favor, in like manner, the advancement
of science and the diffusion of information, as the best
aliment to true liberty; to carry on the benevolent plans which
have been so meritoriously applied to the conversion of our
aboriginal neighbors from the degradation and wretchedness of
savage life, to a participation of the improvements of which
the human mind and manners are susceptible in a civilized
state;--as far as sentiments and intentions such as these can
aid the fulfilment of my duty, they will be a resource which
cannot fail me.

It is my good fortune, moreover, to have the path in which
I am to tread lighted by examples of illustrious services,
successfully rendered in the most trying difficulties, by
those who have marched before me. Of those of my immediate
predecessor it might least become me here to speak. I may,
however, be pardoned for not suppressing the sympathy with
which my heart is full, in the rich reward he enjoys in the
benedictions of a beloved country, gratefully bestowed for
exalted talents, zealously devoted, through a long career, to
the advancement of its highest interest and happiness.

But the source to which I look for the aids which alone can
supply my deficiencies, is in the well-tried intelligence and
virtue of my fellow-citizens, and in the counsels of those
representing them in the other departments associated in the
care of the national interests. In these my confidence will,
under every difficulty, be best placed, next to that which
we have all been encouraged to feel in the guardianship and
guidance of that Almighty Being whose power regulates the
destiny of nations, whose blessings have been so conspicuously
dispensed to this rising Republic, and to whom we are bound
to address our devout gratitude for the past, as well as our
fervent supplications and best hopes for the future.

After which, the oath prescribed by law was administered to the _President of the United States_, by the Chief Justice.

The President of the United States then retired, and the Senate repaired to their own chamber.

_Ordered_, That Messrs. ANDERSON and BAYARD be a committee to wait on the President of the United States, and notify him that the Senate are ready to receive any communications that he may be pleased to make to them.

MONDAY, March 6.

FRANCIS MALBONE, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Rhode Island, for six years, commencing on the 4th instant, attended, and produced his credentials, which were read.

The credentials of RICHARD BRENT, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Virginia, for six years, commencing on the 4th instant, were read.

The oath required by law was administered to Messrs. BRENT and MALBONE, respectively.

On motion, by Mr. ROBINSON,

_Resolved_, That the Secretary of the Senate be authorized to pay, out of the contingent fund of this House, to George Thomas, Walter Reynolds, and Tobias Simpson, the sum of fifty dollars each, in addition to their annual compensation.

Mr. ANDERSON reported, from the committee, that they had waited on the President of the United States, who informed them that he should this day make a communication to the Senate.

Soon after, a communication was received from the President of the United States, submitting sundry nominations to office, which were mostly confirmed.

TUESDAY, March 7.

_Adjournment._

After the consideration of Executive business, Messrs. BAYARD and REED were appointed a committee to wait on the President of the United States, and notify him that, unless he may have any further communications to make to them, the Senate are ready to adjourn.

Mr. BAYARD reported, from the committee, that they had waited upon the President of the United States, who informed them that he had no further communications to make to them. Whereupon,

The Senate adjourned without day.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Missing line.

TENTH CONGRESS.--SECOND SESSION.

PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES

IN

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

MONDAY, November 7, 1808.

This being the day appointed by law for the meeting of the present session, the following members of the House of Representatives appeared, and took their seats, to wit:

_From New Hampshire_--Daniel M. Durell, Francis Gardner,
Jedediah K. Smith, and Clement Storer.

_From Massachusetts_--Ezekiel Bacon, Joseph Barker, Orchard
Cook, Richard Cutts, Josiah Deane, William Ely, Isaiah L.
Green, Daniel Ilsley, Edward St. Loe Livermore, Josiah Quincy,
Ebenezer Seaver, William Stedman, Jabez Upham, and Joseph B.
Varnum, (the Speaker.)

_From Rhode Island_--Isaac Wilbour.

_From Connecticut_--Epaphroditus Champion, Samuel W. Dana, John
Davenport, jr., Jonathan O. Mosely, Timothy Pitkin, jr., Lewis
B. Sturges, and Benjamin Tallmadge.

_From Vermont_--Martin Chittenden, James Elliot, and James Fisk.

_From New York_--John Blake, jr., John Harris, Reuben
Humphreys, William Kirkpatrick, Gurdon S. Mumford, Samuel
Riker, John Russell, Peter Swart, John Thompson, James I. Van
Allen, Killian K. Van Rensselaer, and Daniel C. Verplanck.

_From New Jersey_--Adam Boyd, William Helms, John Lambert,
Thomas Newbold, James Sloan, and Henry Southard.

_From Pennsylvania_--David Bard, Robert Brown, William Findlay,
John Heister, William Hoge, William Milnor, Daniel Montgomery,
jr., John Porter, John Pugh, John Rea, Matthias Richards, John
Smilie, Samuel Smith, and Robert Whitehill.

_From Maryland_--Charles Goldsborough, William McCreery, John
Montgomery, Nicholas R. Moore, and Archibald Van Horne.

_From Virginia_--Burwell Bassett, William A. Burwell, John
Clopton, John Dawson, John W. Eppes, James M. Garnett, Peterson
Goodwyn, Edwin Gray, David Holmes, John G. Jackson, Joseph
Lewis, jr., John Love, John Morrow, Thomas Newton, John Smith,
Abram Trigg, and Alexander Wilson.

_From Kentucky_--Joseph Desha, Benjamin Howard, and Richard M.
Johnson.

_From North Carolina_--Willis Alston, jr., William Blackledge,
Thomas Blount, John Culpeper, Nathaniel Macon, Lemuel Sawyer,
and Richard Stanford.

_From Tennessee_--George W. Campbell, John Rhea, and Jesse
Wharton.

_From South Carolina_--Lemuel J. Alston, William Butler,
Joseph Calhoun, John Taylor, and David R. Williams.

_From Georgia_--William W. Bibb, and George M. Troup.

_From Ohio_--Jeremiah Morrow.

_From the Mississippi Territory_--George Poindexter, Delegate.

Two new members, to wit: NATHAN WILSON, returned to serve in this House as a member for New York, in the room of David Thomas, who hath resigned his seat, and THOMAS GHOLSON, jr., returned to serve as a member from Virginia, in the room of John Claiborne, deceased, appeared, produced their credentials, and took their seats in the House.

And a quorum, consisting of a majority of the whole number, being present, a message was received from the Senate, informing the House that a quorum of the Senate is assembled, and ready to proceed to business; the Senate have appointed a committee on their part, jointly with such committee as may be appointed on the part of this House, to wait on the President of the United States, and inform him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communications he may be pleased to make to them.

The oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States was then administered to Mr. NATHAN WILSON and Mr. GHOLSON, by Mr. SPEAKER, according to law.

_Ordered_, That a message be sent to the Senate to inform them that a quorum of this House is assembled, and ready to proceed to business; and that the Clerk of this House do go with the said message.

The House proceeded to consider the resolution of the Senate for the appointment of a joint committee of the two Houses to wait on the President of the United States and inform him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communication he may be pleased to make to them: Whereupon, the House agreed to the said resolution; and Mr. MACON, Mr. QUINCY, and Mr. MCCREERY, were appointed the committee on their part.

Mr. MACON, from the joint committee appointed to wait on the President of the United States, and inform him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, reported that the committee had performed that service; and that the President signified to them he would make a communication, in writing, to this House, to-morrow at twelve o'clock, by way of Message.

TUESDAY, November 8.

Several other members, to wit: from Pennsylvania, JACOB RICHARDS; from Virginia, MATTHEW CLAY, and WALTER JONES; and from South Carolina, ROBERT MARION, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

A new member, to wit, SAMUEL SHAW, returned to serve in this House as a member from the State of Vermont, in the room of James Witherell, who has resigned his seat, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate have resolved that two Chaplains, of different denominations, be appointed to Congress for the present session, who shall interchange weekly; to which they desire the concurrence of the House.

The House proceeded to consider the foregoing resolution of the Senate, and it was agreed to.

The SPEAKER laid before the House a letter from the Governor of the State Of Pennsylvania, enclosing a letter to him from JOSEPH CLAY, the Representative for the district composed of the city and county of Philadelphia, and county of Delaware, in the said State, containing his resignation of a seat in this House; also a proclamation of the said Governor, and a certificate of the election of BENJAMIN SAY, to serve as a member for the said district and State, in the room of the said Joseph Clay; which were read, and referred to the Committee of Elections.

WEDNESDAY, November 9.

Another member, to wit, ROBERT JENKINS, from Pennsylvania, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

The House proceeded in the reading of the documents accompanying the President's Message; which being concluded, on motion of Mr. DAWSON, they were referred, together with the Message, to a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, and ordered to be printed.

On the question as to the number to be printed, it was moved by Mr. FISK, and seconded by Mr. DANA, that ten thousand copies be printed. Negatived by a considerable majority.

Five thousand copies were then ordered to be printed.

The House was then cleared and the doors closed for the purpose of reading the confidential part of the President's Message.

THURSDAY, November 10.

Several other members, to wit: from Virginia, WILSON CARY NICHOLAS and JOHN RANDOLPH; and from North Carolina, JAMES HOLLAND, appeared and took their seats in the House.

The House then proceeded, by ballot, to the appointment of a Chaplain to Congress, for the present session, on the part of the House; and upon examining the ballots, a majority of the votes of the whole House was found in favor of the Rev. OBADIAH BROWN.

FRIDAY, November 11.

Two other members, to wit: from Massachusetts, SAMUEL TAGGART; and from Maryland, JOHN CAMPBELL, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

A new member, to wit, RICHARD S. JACKSON, returned to serve in this House, as a member for the State of Rhode Island, in the room of Nehemiah Knight, deceased, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

MONDAY, November 14.

Several other members, to wit: from New York, JOSIAH MASTERS; from Maryland, PHILIP B. KEY; and from North Carolina, THOMAS KENAN, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

TUESDAY, November 15.

Another member, to wit, JAMES KELLY, from Pennsylvania, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

WEDNESDAY, November 16.

Another member, to wit, ROGER NELSON, from Maryland, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

A new member, to wit, BENJAMIN SAY, returned to serve in this House as a member from the State of Pennsylvania, in the room of Joseph Clay, who has resigned his seat, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

_Miranda's Expedition._

Mr. MCCREERY presented the petition of thirty-six American citizens, confined at Carthagena, in South America, under the sentence of slavery. The petition was read as follows:

VAULTS OF ST. CLARA, CARTHAGENA, September 16, 1808.

_To the honorable the Congress of the United States of America,
in Congress assembled_:

The petition of thirty-six American citizens confined at
Carthagena, South America, under sentence of slavery, humbly
showeth:

That we, your petitioners, were brought from New York in
the armed ship Leander, Thomas Lewis, commander, on the 2d
of February, 1806, together with a number of others, mostly
inhabitants of that State and city, under the most specious
engagements of their country; to establish which, they beg
leave to state that Colonel William Smith, then Surveyor of
the port of New York, William Armstrong, Daniel D. Durning,
and John Fink, butcher, of the city of New York, declared they
were authorized to enlist a number of men to go to New Orleans,
to serve as guards to the United States mails, and a number
of others as mechanics. Some backwardness on the part of your
petitioners to engage being discovered by William Smith, he
read passages from letters to prove his authority, and several
paragraphs from newspapers to convince them of the validity
of their engagements. William Armstrong and Daniel D. Durning
were appointed to command them, and were to accompany them to
the city of Washington, where they were to receive clothing and
accoutrements, and thence to New Orleans. The ship Leander,
owned by Samuel G. Ogden, and formerly in the St. Domingo
trade, was procured for the conveyance of your petitioners
to the city of Washington, for which purpose she was hauled
down to the watering place, where your petitioners went on
board her the 1st day of February, 1806, and the next day (the
2d) the ship put to sea. Shortly after, Miranda, under the
name of Martin, and a number of persons hitherto unknown to
your petitioners, appeared on board, in the character of his
officers; which, for the first time, awakened strong suspicions
in the breasts of your petitioners that they had been entrapped
into the power of wicked and designing men, and that, too,
when retreat was impracticable. From New York your petitioners
were carried to Jacmel, in the island of St. Domingo, where
they were exercised in military duty, under the most arbitrary
stretch of power, by Miranda and his officers. At Jacmel
several attempts to escape proved abortive, from the vigilance
of our oppressors, they having procured guards to be stationed
in all the passes leading from Jacmel to other parts of the
island, where your petitioners might expect to receive aid and
protection from their countrymen. At Jacmel two schooners were
hired, on board of which your petitioners were sent, under the
care of a number of officers, whose wariness still remained
unabated; and on the 27th March, 1806, the ship, accompanied by
the two schooners, proceeded towards the coast of Terra Firma,
where, after touching at the island of Aruba for refreshments,
she arrived on the 28th of April, when two armed vessels hove
in sight, which after some manoeuvring the ship engaged but
soon ran away, leaving the two schooners to be captured. They
were carried into Porto Cabello, where your petitioners were
proceeded against as pirates, a number of warlike implements
being found on board, which were placed there without the
knowledge of your petitioners. And on the 12th July following,
the process against us closed at Caraccas, sentencing ten, whom
they considered to be criminally engaged, to be hanged and
beheaded, and the remainder (your petitioners) to eight and ten
years' slavery on the public works at Omoa, Bocca Chica, and
the island of Porto Rico. Your petitioners were all sent to
this place, where those sent to Bocca Chica were put to work,
chained two-and-two, and the residue, in double irons and close
confinement, strongly guarded, waiting for an opportunity to
be sent to their respective places. Upon several occasions
your petitioners were told by William Armstrong, Thomas Lewis,
and others, that they were sent out by the Government of the
United States. To prove to the satisfaction of your honorable
body the truth of the above statement, your petitioners beg
you will examine Robert Laverty, John Stagg, John Ritter,
Matthew Morgan, Richard Platt, Adam Ten Brook, and John Miller,
of New York, who were under the same engagements with your
petitioners. Francis White and Thomas McAllister, butchers in
the Bear market, New York; Mr. Brinkerhoff, tavern keeper,
near the Bear market; David Williams, John Garret, and a Mr.
Kemper, weighmaster, whose son was executed at Porto Cabello,
were present when all or most of your petitioners were engaged,
and can prove beyond all doubt that your petitioners could
have had no other idea than that of entering into the service
of the United States. Captain Bomberry, of the ship Mary, of
Baltimore; Captain Israel, of the brig Robert and Mary; Captain
Waldron, of the schooner Victory; and Captain Abbot, of the
brig Charleston Packet, all of Philadelphia, were eye-witnesses
to the tyranny and oppression under which your petitioners
labored while at Jacmel. When the crew of the Bee, one of the
schooners which was chartered by the Leander, refused to go in
her, a number of officers from the ship, with Lewis at their
head, came on board the Bee, and, after beating and cutting
the men with sticks and sabres in the most brutal manner,
dragged them on board the Leander, put them in irons under a
strong guard, and kept them there until the moment of sailing,
when they were sent on board the Bee, with orders to keep near
and to leeward of the ship. Another man, who had effected his
escape from a French privateer, and found his way to Jacmel,
with the hope of getting a passage home in some of his country
vessels, was seized at the instance of Thomas Lewis, commander
of the Leander, and captain under Miranda, thrown into prison,
and compelled to go in the expedition, or to starve in jail.

Your petitioners are confident, that, when your honorable
body becomes thoroughly acquainted with the circumstances of
art and deception which betrayed them into the expedition,
the destination of which they had no knowledge until it was
too late to retreat, you will not only punish such of their
betrayers as are within reach of your power, but will adopt
proper measures to restore your unfortunate petitioners to
liberty and their families. We beg leave to mention that
Jeremiah Powell, who was an officer of high confidence in the
expedition, was pardoned without hesitation by the Spanish
monarch, on the application of his father. Your petitioners
have embraced many opportunities to convey to your honorable
body the prayer of a petition, but, from the length of time
elapsed since they sent off their last, and not hearing of any
measures being adopted in their favor, they fear none ever
arrived; and by the present opportunity several copies of
this petition have been transmitted to gentlemen residing in
different parts of the United States, with the hope that some
of them may arrive safe.

Your petitioners cannot for a moment believe that the United
States will suffer officers under her constitution to kidnap
her citizens into expeditions and services fitted out and
maintained by a foreign outlaw against powers with which she
is at amity and peace, under the specious pretence of engaging
them into the service of their country, without punishing the
aggressors, and using every effort to regain her citizens.
Such is the case of your unfortunate petitioners, who entreat
you as children would a parent, to relieve them from total
destruction, on the brink of which they have been thrown by the
practise of frauds and villanies hitherto unheard of.

A short time since, a British ship of war arrived at this
place, the commander of which, (Edward Kittoe, Esq.,) upon
being applied to by nine of our companions, who declared
themselves to be British-born subjects, and being made
acquainted with the circumstances which led to our capture,
immediately sent on a petition to the Viceroy of this Kingdom
in behalf of us all, but particularly for such as are British
subjects, whom we expect will eventually be liberated. Nothing
but humanity and a strong desire to relieve distress could have
induced Captain Kittoe to this step, who, we are confident, as
much as ourselves, regrets its failure of success, and to whom
we feel every way indebted, and shall ever recollect it with
gratitude and thanks.

When your petitioners remonstrate against any harsh treatment
of these people, they invariably ask, "Why don't your country
liberate you?--it rests solely with them."

Your petitioners feel confident, from the justness of their
claim to the interference and protection of the constituted
authorities of their country, measures will be adopted to
restore them to liberty; and having no doubt but your honorable
body will afford them that protection which citizens have a
right to claim from their country, your petitioners beg that
your honorable body will convey them an answer, and your
petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, &c.

Robert Saunders, Benjamin Davis, Henry Sperry, Joseph Hickle,
Ellery King, William Long, Daniel Newbury, Wm. Cartwright,
Samuel Tozier, James Hyatt, Abram Head, Robert Stevenson,
Samuel Price, Robert Reins, Hugh Smith, Benjamin Nicholson,
Geo. Ferguson, Wm. Pride, Pompey Grant, David Heckle, Bennett
B. Negus, John Moore, John M. Elliot, Henry Ingersoll, John
Parcels, John Hayes, David Winton, Matthew Buchanan, Alexander
Buchanan, Jas. W. Grant, John Edsall, Thomas Gill, Joseph
Bennett, Phineas Raymond, Peter Nautly, Stephen Burtis.

CARTHAGENA, August 12, 1808.

On my arrival at this place, I was applied to in behalf of the
unfortunate men captured under the orders of General Miranda,
who are under sentence of transportation to the different
public works at Omoa, Porto Rico, &c., among whom are several
British subjects, (whose names are inserted below.) I am well
aware of the enormity of their crime, as I understand they were
taken without colors or papers; but, as a British officer, I
consider it a duty to plead for those in distress, wherever
they may be found; and I trust, from the known lenity of your
Excellency's character, I shall not plead in vain. The men in
question are originally of British descent, and are allied to
my nation by many ties. They have no Consul--no Minister--to
prefer the prayer of their petition to your Excellency, having
been prevented by the war between our nations from making known
their situation to the President of the United States. Suffer
me, therefore to address your Excellency, and beg for their
release, on a solemn promise that they will never be found
again in arms on a similar occasion. As I am the hearer of
welcome tidings to the inhabitants of the province under your
Excellency's command, make me also the hearer of them to the
unhappy sufferers now confined in Carthagena. It is true, I am
unauthorized to make this request in the name of the British
Government for the men in general, but I am convinced the step
will be approved; and if your Excellency will lend a favorable
ear to my petition the circumstance will not pass unnoticed
on their part; at all events, your Excellency will have the
prayer of many individuals for your eternal happiness, and
among them will be found (not the least fervent) those of your
Excellency's most humble servant,

EDWARD KITTOE,
_Com. H. B. M. ship Sabina_.

P. S.--If my request for the liberation of all General
Miranda's men is by your Excellency deemed unreasonable or
improper, I beg to confine it particularly to such as are
British subjects: that is an indispensable duty I owe to them
and my country.

_Names of British subjects under sentence of transportation at
Carthagena._

John Moore, Peter Nautly, John Hayes, Thomas Gill, Joseph Bennett, James Grant, Samuel Tozier, Robert Stevenson, and Hugh Smith, (a boy.)

_Territorial Governments._

ORDINANCE OF 1787.

Mr. POINDEXTER, from the committee appointed on the subject, reported a bill concerning the power of the Territorial Governments. [The object of it is to take away from Governors of the Territories the power of proroguing or dissolving their Legislatures.]

The bill was twice read; and

Mr. POINDEXTER observed, that as the bill must stand or fall on its principle, and could not want amendment, he should wish to dispense with the usual course of reference to a Committee of the Whole, and that it should be engrossed for a third reading.

Mr. TROUP hoped the House would not be precipitated unadvisedly into a decision of a question of this kind; that they would not break in upon a system which had served them so well without maturely deliberating upon it. The ordinance for the government of the Territories he considered as constitutional law, and it should be viewed and treated with as much delicacy as the constitution of the General Government itself. It had served them well, it had nurtured the Territories from infancy to maturity, and he hoped the house would not innovate on the system, but for the most substantial reasons. He therefore wished this bill to take the course of all other business, and go to a Committee of the Whole.

Mr. POINDEXTER said it was not his object to exclude deliberation by his motion; as the day for its third reading might be fixed a fortnight hence, if the gentleman from Georgia wished it. He knew the difficulty of getting up such bills when committed to a Committee of the Whole; he also knew that in a few days the House would be engaged in great national concerns, which would occupy their entire attention to the exclusion of other business of minor importance. The gentlemen seem to think (said Mr. P.) that to leave to the Governors of Territories of the United States powers which are fitted but for the Sovereigns of Europe, is highly decorous; whilst I think they should be spurned from the statute book. The gentleman is mistaken when he says that we should view the ordinances in the same light as the constitution; they are mere statutes. Placed by the constitution under the particular care of Congress as the Territories are, the ordinances enacted for their government are mere statutes, subject to the revision of Congress, as other laws are.

Mr. PITKIN said the ordinances for the government of the Territories had been framed with great deliberation, and should always be considered as a compact between the General Government and its Territories. Whether an alteration could or could not be made without their consent, he would not undertake to say. He thought therefore in this case the usual rule should not be violated, for it was well known that no amendment could be received on the third reading of a bill.