Chapter V: Front Matter (5)

Mr. TROUP said the gentleman from the Mississippi Territory had totally mistaken his object. It was not procrastination that he wanted, but a mature consideration of the question, whether on this day or on this day fortnight. When he had considered the ordinance as a compact equally sacred with the constitution of the United States, and as unalterable without the consent of the parties to it, it was then that he considered this a question of such great and signal importance that he wished time for deliberation. And when he said this, he expressed the opinion of a man than whom no man in the country was more deeply read in its constitution--St. George Tucker--who had described it as a compact unalterable, but with the consent of both parties. The gentleman would take away from the Territorial Governors the power to prorogue and dissolve the Assemblies. What would then be the state of the Territorial Legislatures? They would (said Mr. T.) be as completely independent of the General Government as the General Government is, I hope, of Great Britain at this moment. Retain the qualified veto, and take away the power to prorogue and dissolve, and what will be the consequence? The moment a misunderstanding takes place between the Legislature and Executive, legislation is at an end; and where legislation ends, revolution begins, and there is an end of government.

Mr. POINDEXTER said, at the suggestion of several gentlemen, he should consent to a reference of the bill to a committee, as he did not wish now to hasten the discussion. But the gentleman was mistaken if he supposed that taking away the power to prorogue, would deprive the Governors of their veto on laws. The Governors had an unqualified veto on the acts of the Legislature. The gentleman said, (observed Mr. P.,) that take away the power of prorogation, and if a misunderstanding arise between the Governor and the Legislature, there is an end of legislation. That is now the fact. If there be any misunderstanding between them, the Governor sends the Legislature home; and I agree with the gentleman from Georgia, "where legislation ends, revolution begins." In this situation, I wish to take some power from the Governor and place it in the people, which would render the Government more congenial to the spirit of the constitution and of the people of the United States. But I waive discussion and consent to reference.

The bill was made the order of the day for to-morrow.

THURSDAY, November 17.

Another member, to wit, DENNIS SMELT, from Georgia, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

_Foreign Relations._

Mr. MACON said, already had many resolutions been submitted to the consideration of the House on the subject of our foreign relations, and the embargo; some for a total and some for a partial repeal of it. As none of the motions had met his entire approbation, and as he considered this as one of the most important questions that could come before the House, he wished to submit to the House two or three propositions; which he wished to take a course different from that which had been given to the others on the same subject.

I have been astonished (said Mr. M.) to see so many resolutions on the subject of the embargo, and none contemplating its entire continuance. Is the American nation ready to bow the neck? Are we ready to submit to be taxed by Great Britain and France, as if we were their colonies? Where is that spirit which for this reason separated us from the nations of Europe? Where is that spirit which enforced a simple resolution of the old Congress, not then binding upon the people, as a law from Heaven? Is it extinct? Is it lost to this nation? Has the love of gain superseded every other motive in the breasts of Americans? Shall the majority govern, or shall a few wicked and abandoned men drive this nation from the ground it has taken? Is it come to this, that a law constitutionally enacted, even after a formal decision in favor of its constitutionality, cannot be enforced? Shall the nation give way to an opposition of a few, and those the most profligate part of the community? I think the stand we took last year was a proper one; and I am for taking every measure for enabling the nation to maintain it. Just as our measure is beginning to operate, just as provisions are becoming scarce in the West Indies and elsewhere, notwithstanding the evasions of our law, we are called upon to repeal it. I should not have made this motion at this time, had it not been for the petition just presented. When I stand here, sir, charged by a part of the community with being one of "the enemies of the people," notwithstanding I am willing to commit the petition, treating it with that respect which I conceive to be due from us to the prayer of any portion of the people, I wish my sentiments on this subject to be seen.

A proclamation has been issued by one of the belligerents since the passage of our embargo law, sir. Look at it. What says it? Clearance or no clearance, we will receive any neutral vessel into our ports; and, in speaking of neutrals, recollect that there is no nation in the civilized world that has a claim to the title, except ourselves. This proclamation then tells our citizens, "Evade the laws of your country, and we will receive and protect you." This is the plain English of it.

If the mad powers of Europe had entered into compact to injure us as much as they could, they could not have taken a more direct course to it. I consider them both alike, and the measures I would take would place them both on the same footing. I have made my resolutions as general as possible, to give all latitude to the committee.

Mr. M. then read his resolutions as follows:

"_Resolved_, That the committee appointed on that part of the
President's Message which relates to our foreign relations, be
instructed to inquire into the expediency of excluding by law
from the ports, harbors, and waters of the United States, all
armed ships and vessels belonging to any of the belligerent
powers having in force orders or decrees violating the lawful
commerce of the United States as a nation.

"_Resolved_, That the same committee be instructed to inquire
into the expediency of prohibiting by law the admission into
the ports, harbors, and waters of the United States, any
ship or vessel belonging to or coming from any place in the
possession of any of the above-mentioned powers, and also the
importation of any goods, wares, and merchandise, the growth,
produce and manufacture of the dominions of any of the said
powers.

"_Resolved_, That the same committee be instructed to inquire
into the expediency of amending the act laying an embargo, and
the several acts supplementary and additional thereto."

On the subject of the first of these resolutions (said Mr. M.) it might be proper to interdict the entrance of all armed vessels, although I have confined the interdiction to the belligerents. A certain time might be fixed on which the second should go into operation.

I have thought proper, sir, to bring forward all these resolutions together to show my own opinion on what ought to be done. It is time for those who think the embargo a lawful and proper measure, to come forward and declare it. No other person having as yet thought proper to do it, I have now done it. I believe the embargo was right; that it was right to pass laws to enforce it; and believing this, I feel no hesitation in avowing it. Time has been when the impressment of our seamen was cried out against by a large majority of Congress. Now the cry is, that we will not let them go out and be taken. For if they go out they must be taken. Neither of the two great powers of Europe have shown the least disposition to relax their measures; neither I hope shall we. I believe we have but three alternatives--_war_, _embargo_, or _submission_. The last I discard; this nation never would submit; nor are there many people in it that would. That is out of the question; then, the only question is, whether in the present state of the world, the embargo or war is the best for us? Arm your merchantmen, as has been proposed, send them out, and you have war directly? If we are to have war, I should rather have it openly, and let the nation know that we mean it. I am for the embargo yet. I am told flour is from thirty to fifty dollars a barrel in the West Indies; I am also told that wheat is fourteen shillings sterling a bushel in England. This must have an effect, if adhered to, through Spain and Portugal. France, if she carries her armies into that country, cannot support them. Nor can Spain support her own armies, and at the same time those Great Britain sends there; for where war is waged, almost all agriculture is destroyed; and it only requires firmness in us to force them both by this measure to acknowledge our rights. If I am mistaken in my opinion, I wish that measure to be adopted which may best maintain our rights and independence.

It is not the embargo which causes the pressure on the people. No, sir, it is the orders and decrees of England and France. Take a license from England, and you may trade, but on no other terms. Let an officer of the British fleet visit your vessel, and France will condemn it. These are the things which destroy commerce. The country in which I live feels the measure as much as any; there are agriculturists, and their crops remain unsold; and if they will do without the principal, and resist imposition by withholding their produce, those who make a profit by the freight of our produce, may afford to lose that profit. Can any man tell what would be the consequence of war, in these times? In common war some regard is had to the laws of nations by belligerents, and they fight each other. In the present war the belligerents disregard the laws of nations, and fight every one but one another.

Mr. QUINCY said he wished the last resolution to be separated from the first, as the House would be committed by its adoption. Not that he wished to avoid a discussion of that subject, for he wished for nothing so much as that the House would permit them to go into a discussion of the subject in Committee of the Whole. [Mr. MACON consented that the last resolution should lie on the table.] Mr. Q. said he wished to press a discussion on the subject of the embargo; for such was the state of public opinion in the Northern part of the Union, that but one general sentiment prevailed, that the embargo would be immediately raised. Instead of postponing the subject from day to day, he only wished it to come before the House that gentlemen might understand one other, and put an end to the doubts that now existed.

The first and second resolutions offered by Mr. MACON were agreed to without a division. The third was ordered to lie on the table--yeas 78.

FRIDAY, November 18.

_Territorial Governments.--Ordinance of 1787._

On motion of Mr. POINDEXTER, the House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, on the bill concerning Territorial Governments.

The bill having been read--

Mr. BIBB said, that if the House were now called upon for the first time to pass an ordinance for the government of the Territories of the United States, he should attach very little importance to the decision of the present question. But he considered it not now an abstract question of expediency, but as one of great moment, from the circumstances with which it was connected. He denied the right of the House to pass the bill; and if they had not the right, it was surely unnecessary to argue the question on the ground of policy. It would be recollected that the Mississippi Territory was formerly the property of the State of Georgia, and ceded by that State to the United States on certain conditions, _one of which was that the ordinance for the government of the Territory Northwest of the Ohio should be the basis of the government of the Mississippi Territory_.[2] If this, said he, be one of the conditions of a compact between the United States and Georgia, surely the United States have no right to infringe it without the consent of Georgia; and I, as one of her Representatives, formally protest against the passage of this bill. It may be said that Georgia is very little interested in the abstract question, whether the Governor should or should not have the power of prorogation; but, if a right exists to alter one part of the ordinance without the consent of Georgia, it certainly implies a power to alter it in every part.

Mr. POINDEXTER said he would state the reasons for which he had introduced the bill, and which would, he hoped, insure it the sanction of the committee. I will, in the first place, said Mr. P., advert to that part of the ordinance which is proposed to be amended by the bill under consideration. In the ordinance for the government of the Northwestern Territory will be found this article: "The Governor shall have power to prorogue and dissolve the General Assembly, when, in his opinion, it shall be expedient." The bill proposes to take away this power, as being arbitrary and oppressive in the extreme, and incompatible with the Constitution of the United States. This ordinance was passed previous to the adoption of the Federal Constitution, and if it had been the subject of consideration subsequent to its adoption, this provision had never been inserted, giving to Governors of Territories a power paramount to any power possessed by the President of the United States. Take away this power and a Governor will still have left the power of negativing all acts, so that none can pass without his assent; and, being the agent of the General Government, he would give consent to no law incompatible with the interests of the United States.

It has been said that the ordinance cannot be altered without the common consent of the parties to it, and that the State of Georgia must be called upon to give its assent before the Congress can alter it. There are two parts of this ordinance; the first contains the form of government, and the second several articles of compact which are declared unalterable but with common consent. After reciting the form of government, the ordinance says:

"The following articles shall be considered as articles of
compact between the original States and the people of the
States in the said Territory, and forever remain unalterable,
unless by common consent, to wit."

[Here follow six articles.] The ordinance declares that which follows the declaration to be unalterable, but by common consent; it follows of consequence that that which precedes the declaration is alterable. Independent of this reasoning, which cannot be refuted, at every session since we have been a Territory, there have been laws passed altering the ordinance in some shape or other. For example, the ordinance requires two judges to hold a court; and, in a variety of instances, Congress has legislated with respect to the form of government of the Territory. I had supposed that the articles of agreement between the United States and Georgia had become obsolete, with respect to the imagined necessity of the consent of Georgia to legislation on the subject of the Territory. It was urged at the last session with all the eloquence which the gentlemen from Georgia are in so great a degree possessed, and disregarded; for it was decided by both Houses that the United States had a right to rule the Territory without the consent of Georgia.

The Constitution of the United States says that Congress shall "have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States." Can an agreement arising from the exercise of this power, supersede the right of exercising the power expressly delegated by the constitution itself? Certainly not.

On the ground of policy I presume that there is no gentleman who will contend that the power of which I wish to deprive the Governors, ought to be retained. The gentleman from Georgia himself says, that if he were about to frame an original ordinance, he would not think of such a power. As the opinion of Judge Tucker has been referred to on one subject, I will refer to it on the subject of prerogative. Let it be recollected, that the power to prorogue and dissolve is one of the highest prerogatives of the King of England: that it crept into the governments of his colonies, and thence into this ordinance, previous to the adoption of the constitution. It now remains for the United States to say, whether they will copy after Great Britain, and because it is a high prerogative, give the Governors of the Territories of the United States the same powers as she gives to her Territorial Governors. I trust it will be expunged.

"The title 'prerogative,' it is presumed, was annihilated in
America with the Kingly Government." "This definition (of
prerogative) is enough to make a citizen of the United States
shudder at the recollection that he was born under a government
in which such doctrines were received as catholic," &c.

This is the opinion of Judge Tucker. Is not this sufficient to induce us to take away from Governors this prerogative? Is not this feature modelled after the feature in the Government of England? Certainly; and that it is transferred from her Colonial Government, I can show by the present ordinance for the government of Canada, [to which Mr. P. referred.] It is the same principle, and we have copied it.

I will not object to retain this power, if any gentleman can show any advantage to be gained by it. I will suppose an extreme case; that any of the Territories designed to commit treason, and the Legislature were to pass an act giving it their sanction; (and they have shown less treasonable disposition than some of the elder States, if we may judge from occurrences of a few years past)--could not the Governor put his negative on this law? There could be no such law without his consent. It is therefore entirely unnecessary, in any possible case, to give the Governor the arbitrary power of dissolving the Legislature.

There is a special reason which has operated upon my mind as forcibly as the general reason in favor of the bill on the table. In the Territory which I have the honor to represent, we have been nearly twelve months without any Legislature. The Governor thought proper to dissolve the Assembly without any reason given, for the ordinance does not bind him to assign reasons for his acts. Within a few days, a new Council has been chosen, which may again be dissolved as soon as it meets, and the Territory again left without a Legislature, and no reason assigned for the procedure. Is it possible that this Government will sanction such arbitrary practices? If it does, it will be the first case since the Revolution in which such a procedure has been sanctioned. I beg leave to refer gentlemen to the glorious year 1776. I beg them to revert to that instrument, in which all the sins of our political father, George III., were delineated, and they will find that one of the charges against him was that he permitted his Governors to dissolve the Legislatures from time to time. Are we prepared to ingraft these arbitrary principles into our constitution, and cherish them when practised in so arbitrary a manner? Instead of this ordinance being passed with deliberation, it must have passed originally _sub silentio_, and been adopted for all the new Territories without any discussion at all; for, if the principle had been investigated, it would never have been enacted into a law. In the Declaration of Independence it is stated that "he (George III.) has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people." Here we see that, at that day, we complained of the arbitrary exercise of power, and I hope that, at this day, we shall give it a death-blow. If any gentleman wishes to retain it, let him show a single possible case in which it can properly be exercised--never, but to gratify the ambition or caprice of an individual. The people elect Representatives and send them to legislate; if they do not please the Governor, he can say, "gentlemen, go to your homes--I dissolve you." Can there be any necessity for this? But I will not detain the House longer, except to express a hope that the committee will not rise, unless it be to report the bill.

Mr. TROUP said he would state, in as few words as he could, his objections to the passage of the bill. It was only the day before yesterday that this bill had been introduced into the House, proposing to alter one part of the ordinance. To-day, a petition came from another territory to alter another part of it. Before they adjourned, it was ten thousand to one that not a remnant of the ordinance would be left, with their good will.

I have before stated it as my opinion, said he, that the articles of the ordinance are a compact between the people of the States and of the territories, unalterable but with the consent of both parties. With the permission of the House, I will read the opinion of Judge Tucker on this subject:

"Congress, under the former confederation, passed an ordinance
July 13, 1787, for the government of the territory of the
United States northwest of the Ohio, which contained, among
other things, six articles, which were to be considered as
articles of compact between the original States and the people
and States of said territory, and to remain unalterable, except
by common consent. These articles appear to have been confirmed
by the sixth article of the constitution, which declares,
that all debts contracted and engagements entered into,
before the adoption of the constitution, shall be as valid
against the United States under the constitution as under the
Confederation."

In this case there are not only two but three parties to the articles--the United States, the State of Georgia, and the people of the Territories. You will recollect, as my colleague properly stated to you, that the right of soil and jurisdiction of this territory was originally in the people of Georgia. Of course Georgia had power to prescribe for the territory what form of government she pleased, provided it was republican. By the articles of cession, the right of soil and jurisdiction was ceded to the people of the United States, _on the express condition that the articles of the ordinance should form the government of the Mississippi Territory, and that they should not be governed otherwise_. The inference inevitably is, that the State of Georgia would not have ceded but upon the express condition; and this inference is the more inevitable, inasmuch as, in this clause, Georgia has made an express exception to a particular article in the ordinance;[3] from which, I say that Georgia intended that no other alteration should be made.

What was the policy of the ordinance, and what the object of its framers? Why, assuredly, to render the governments of the Territories dependent on the Government of the United States. And how was it to be effected? By making the Territorial Legislature in a great degree dependent on the Governor, and him absolutely dependent on the Federal Executive. The moment we make the Legislature of a Territory independent of its Executive, we make it independent of the Federal Government.

And again, as my colleague has correctly told you, if you have a right to repeal one part of the ordinance, you have a right to repeal another part, and so overturn the whole system at a blow. If so, what will be the effect on the articles of cession and agreement between you and Georgia? I will tell you. By the articles of cession you reserve to yourself the right of disposing of the territory; you also agree to pay Georgia one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars out of the product of the first sales of the land. Suppose you transferred to the independent Legislature of the Mississippi Territory the right to dispose of this Territory, what security has Georgia for the payment of her one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars? Moreover, I feel every disposition to treat with respect the people of the Mississippi Territory, and particularly as I perceive that they approve of that course of our Government, in which I most heartily concur; yet I must say that a large majority of the people have a landed interest distinct from that of the Government of the United States. Take away from the Governor his power to prorogue and dissolve, leave him the veto, and there will soon be collision. The Legislature passes an act; the Governor puts his veto on it. The Legislature stands out, and the Governor will not yield, and eventually you may, perhaps, have to decide the question of territorial property by the sword. Recollect, that upward of six thousand people have gone over in the present year, with every apparent intention to force a settlement against your interest and that of Georgia. I am very glad that the military have received orders to disperse them. I trust that they will be dispersed, and that every man who stands forth in resistance will be put to the sword.

But the gentleman from Mississippi Territory is certainly mistaken as to one point. He seems to consider the Constitution of the United States as giving to the people of the Territories the same rights as the people of the States. _It is a mistaken idea, neither warranted by the letter or spirit of the constitution._ For although the constitution has declared that the people of one State are entitled to all the rights and privileges of another, yet it has not declared that the people of the Territories have the same rights as the people of the States. In another part of the constitution it is, indeed, expressly declared that Congress shall make all laws for the disposal of the Territories; but there is a salvo, that all acts done and contracts made previous to the adoption of the constitution, shall be as binding as if done afterward. The articles of the ordinance were enacted previously, and are consequently binding under the constitution. It cannot be controverted, that they were wisely adopted, and have been salutary in their operation. They were framed by the Congress of '87, composed of men whose integrity was incorruptible, and judgment almost infallible. These articles, from that time to this, have remained unaltered, and carried the Territories through difficulties, almost insuperable, to prosperity. And now, for the first or second time, an alteration is proposed, the consequence of which cannot be foreseen, without any evidence that it is either necessary or expedient.

The population of every new country must necessarily be composed of a heterogeneous mixture of various tempers, characters, and interests. In a population thus composed, it would be highly ridiculous to expect that love of order and obedience to law would always predominate. Therefore the old Congress wisely reserved to itself the right to control them; to give the Governor power, when a Legislature became disorderly, to dissolve them; and for the exercise of this power he is accountable to the General Government.

The gentleman from Mississippi wishes us not to treat the Territories as children, whose wild extravagances may require correcting by the indulgent hand of their parents, but as the equals of the States, without any other reason than that which he states to be the situation of the people of his Territory. They will next wish us to admit them into the Union before their population will authorize it; tell us that that Territory does not grow fast enough, and we must demolish the system for their convenience.

Mr. T. adverted to the representation made by Mr. POINDEXTER, of the state of things now existing in the Mississippi Territory. If such were the situation of the Territory, and Mr. T. said he sincerely regretted it, he could put the gentleman in a way of settling the dispute in a regular and constitutional way, and which would be the most prudent and advisable. Certainly, in this dispute, one of the parties must be right and the other wrong. They had nothing to do but prefer their complaints before the proper authority, and, if they were there substantiated, they would obtain redress of their wrongs. If, on the contrary, the people were wrong and the Governor right, the wisdom of this part of the ordinance would be proved beyond question.

Mr. POINDEXTER observed that the gentleman from Georgia had set out with telling the House that if the Legislature were made independent of the Governor, they could pass any law they pleased respecting land titles. The gentleman could not have looked at the ordinance, for there was an express provision that the Legislature should "never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil," &c. Independent of this, it is control sufficient if the Governor have a veto on the laws. The gentleman has told you, said Mr. P., that these articles are unalterable but with common consent. When up before, I read that part which is unalterable. It is the articles of ordinance and not the form of government; and to this Judge Tucker refers when he speaks of it. The gentleman has said, that the situation of the people would not be bettered by taking away the power, if the veto were left. In my opinion it would be ameliorated. Let the Governor retain his veto, but let them remain in session, and pass laws, that the General Government may see whether such laws are worthy of rejection or of approbation. Now, if the Governor discovers them about to pass a law or do an act he does not like, he sends them home. Lop off a little of this Executive power, and let the Legislature pass laws which he may negative, and the General Government will have an opportunity of seeing that the Governor will not consent to proper laws. Trust your Executive and distrust the people, and you sap the foundation of the Government. Whatever leads to the conclusion that the people are always wrong and the Executive right, strikes at the root of republican institutions.

The gentleman has spoken of the wildness and extravagance of the people of the Mississippi Territory. Does he recollect the invasion of the Spaniards two years ago? That, at a few days' notice, at the requisition of the Commander-in-chief, a detachment of two hundred and fifty militia were sixty miles on their march? When an arch traitor from the East designed to sever the Union, the people of the Territory, without call, assembled near the city of Natchez, and arrested the traitor. These proceedings cannot be exceeded even by the spirit or prudence of the State of Georgia. I hope the indignation of this House will be displayed at these insinuations against the motives of people who have manifested the greatest patriotism. In respect to the late measures of the General Government, no people feel them more severely than the people of Mississippi, and no people better support them. There may be symptoms of wildness and extravagance, but they show a submission to the laws and measures of the Union.

The gentleman talks of tender parents. If he considers the State of Georgia as one of our tender parents, I protest against it. Although she be one of our parents, there has been no proposition ever made on this floor, for the good of the Territory, which has not met the opposition of that State. But these are subjects on which I will not dwell.

The gentleman has stated that a number of people have gone over to the Mississippi Territory to settle lands, against the express provisions of the law. That, under the pretext of a purchase from an Indian, named Double Head, people have gone over to settle lands, is true; but from where? From Georgia. They are citizens of Georgia; people nurtured by this tender parent into a state of manhood, and unwilling to participate longer in the tender cares of the State of Georgia. They have been, very properly, ordered to be driven off by military force, because they have infringed a law of the United States. But these things do not touch the present question. I now propose to take away a power which has been, by mistake, incorporated into the constitution of a free people.

Mr. BIB said that the State of Georgia had never undertaken to legislate for the Mississippi Territory; but there was a compact existing between the United States and Georgia, and he called upon the United States to adhere to it. They dared not violate it, except they could violate the most solemn compact--the constitution.

Mr. TROUP observed that it had been said this power of the Governor was a badge of slavery copied from the British Constitution. That in many things they had been copied too far, he agreed; but as to this prerogative, it was no such badge of slavery, and was found not only in the articles of the ordinance, but in the constitutions of various States, qualified in a greater or less degree. Mr. T. quoted the constitutions of New York and Massachusetts, both which States had been considered republican. Massachusetts, to be sure, was a little wavering now, but he hoped she had not quite gone over to the enemy yet. These constitutions gave a qualified prerogative to the Governor of the State.

The committee now rose--58 to 36.

Mr. TROUP moved that the further consideration of the bill be postponed indefinitely--[equivalent to rejection.]

Mr. POINDEXTER calling for the yeas and nays on the motion, it was decided--yeas 57, nays 52, as follows:

YEAS.--Lemuel J. Alston, Willis Alston, jun., Ezekiel Bacon,
David Bard, William W. Bibb, William Blackledge, John Blake,
junior, Adam Boyd, Robert Brown, Joseph Calhoun, John
Campbell, Martin Chittenden, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport,
jun., William Ely, William Findlay, Francis Gardner, Charles
Goldsborough, Edwin Gray, John Heister, William Hoge, Richard
S. Jackson, Robert Jenkins, Walter Jones, James Kelly, William
Kirkpatrick, John Lambert, Joseph Lewis, jun., Robert Marion,
William McCreery, William Milnor, Nicholas R. Moore, Jonathan
O. Mosely, Gurdon S. Mumford, Wilson C. Nicholas, Timothy
Pitkin, junior, John Porter, Josiah Quincy, John Randolph,
Matthias Richards, Samuel Riker, John Russell, Dennis Smelt,
Henry Southard, William Stedman, Lewis B. Sturges, Peter Swart,
Samuel Taggart, Benjamin Tallmadge, John Taylor, George M.
Troup, Jabez Upham, James I. Van Allen, Daniel C. Verplanck,
Robert Whitehill, David R. Williams, and Nathan Wilson.

NAYS.--Joseph Barker, Burwell Bassett, William A. Burwell,
William Butler, Matthew Clay, John Clopton, John Culpeper,
John Dawson, Josiah Deane, Joseph Desha, Daniel M. Durell,
James Elliot, John W. Eppes, James Fisk, Meshack Franklin,
Thomas Gholson, jun., Peterson Goodwyn, Isaiah L. Green, John
Harris, William Helms, James Holland, David Holmes, Benjamin
Howard, Daniel Isley, Richard M. Johnson, Nathaniel Macon,
Daniel Montgomery, junior, John Montgomery, Jeremiah Morrow,
John Morrow, Roger Nelson, Thomas Newbold, Thomas Newton,
John Pugh, John Rea of Pennsylvania, John Rhea of Tennessee,
Jacob Richards, Benjamin Say, Ebenezer Seaver, Samuel Shaw,
James Sloan, John Smilie, Jedediah K. Smith, John Smith,
Samuel Smith, Richard Stanford, Clement Storer, John Thompson,
Archibald Van Home, Jesse Wharton, Isaac Wilbour, and Alexander
Wilson.

So the bill was postponed indefinitely.

MONDAY, November 21.

Another member, to wit, JOHN BOYLE, from Kentucky, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

_Naturalized British Subjects._

Mr. HOWARD presented a petition of sundry inhabitants of the State of Kentucky, stating that the King of Great Britain having, by his proclamation of the sixteenth of October, one thousand eight hundred and seven, claimed the allegiance of all persons who may have been born in his dominions, and were not inhabitants of the United States of America at the period of their Revolution, and disregarding the laws of naturalization in other countries, hath authorized the impressment into his service of his pretended subjects, and treated as traitors such as may have taken up arms against him in the service of their adopted country; the petitioners being, at the present time, precluded from the privilege of following commercial pursuits on the high seas in safety, therefore pray that such measures be adopted by Congress as may effectually resist the unjust assumption of power claimed and exercised by a foreign nation; and pledging themselves to support with their lives and fortunes whatever steps may be taken, or acts passed, by the General Government, for the welfare of the Union.--Referred to Mr. HOWARD, Mr. JOHN MORROW, and Mr. HARRIS, to examine the matter thereof, and report their opinion thereupon to the House.

_Miranda's Expedition._

Mr. LOVE, from the committee to whom was referred, on the sixteenth instant, the petition of thirty-six citizens of the United States now confined at Carthagena, in South America, under sentence of slavery, made a report thereon; which was read, and ordered to be referred to a Committee of the whole House to-morrow.

The report is as follows:

That it appears, from the statement of the petitioners, that,
in February, 1806, they sailed from New York on board the
Leander, a ship owned by Samuel G. Ogden, the command of which
was, after getting to sea, assumed by General Miranda.

That, from New York, the said ship sailed to Jacmel, where
the said Miranda procured two schooners, on board which the
petitioners were placed, which, together with the Leander,
sailed, under the command of Miranda, about the last of March,
in the same year, for the northern parts of South America, and
arrived on the coast of Terra Firma in the latter part of April
following.

That, upon their arrival on the said coast, the two schooners,
on board which the petitioners were embarked, were captured by
two Spanish armed vessels; the ship Leander, with Miranda on
board, having made her escape.

That the petitioners, together with ten others, were convicted
by a Spanish tribunal, at Porto Cabello, of the crime of
piracy, from the circumstances of suspicion which attached to
their situation, and not from any act of that kind committed
on the high seas; that the ten others above mentioned were
sentenced to death, and the petitioners some to eight, others
to ten years' slavery, which they now are suffering; some
chained together, others closely confined under heavy irons and
a guard, destined to other places and to similar punishment.

The petitioners state that they were entrapped into the service
of the said Miranda, on the said expedition, by assurances made
at the time of their engagements, that they were to be employed
in the service of the United States, and under the authority
of the Government. For the truth of their statement, and a
confirmation of the charges they make against certain persons
of having thus deceived and betrayed them into an involuntary
co-operation in the design of fitting out an armament against
a nation in amity with the United States, they refer to the
testimony of several persons, said to be inhabitants of the
city of New York, and to have had proposals made to them
similar to those by which the petitioners were induced to
engage on board the Leander.

The petitioners also state that no opportunity was offered
them of escaping from the service of the said Miranda and his
associates; that they were restrained under the most rigorous
discipline, and at Jacmel, the only place where an opportunity
of escape might have been probable, they were strictly guarded
to prevent it. For the truth of this they refer to certain
captains of vessels then at Jacmel belonging to the ports of
Philadelphia and Baltimore.

The committee further report that the foregoing statements of
the petitioners are unaccompanied by any competent testimony
in support of them, and, at the same time, are uncontradicted
by any opposing circumstances; they are of opinion that a very
strong probability of the petitioners not having been guilty
of the crime of wilfully engaging in the unlawful expedition
of Miranda attends their application: first, because the
petitioners have made a detailed statement of facts relative
to the deception practised on them, referring to such species
of evidence as to render their contradiction easy, if not
founded in truth, and thus lessen their claim on their country,
and diminish their hopes of liberation: second, because it is
presumed they were proven to the Spanish tribunal before which
they were convicted to have been offenders in a secondary
degree, those who were proven to have been more heinously
guilty having been sentenced to suffer death.

The committee, however, are of opinion that, should the
petitioners have been guilty of a crime against the United
States by a voluntary or otherwise culpable infraction of its
laws, the dictates of humanity no less than the principles
of justice, ought to influence the Legislature of the United
States to adopt the proper means of restoring them to their
country, in order that they may expiate the offence by a
punishment suited to but not transcending the magnitude of
their crime.

The committee, therefore, beg leave to submit the following
resolution for the consideration of the House.

_Resolved_, That the President of the United States be
requested to adopt the most immediate and efficacious means
in his power to obtain from the Viceroy of Grenada, in
South America, or other proper authority, the liberation
of thirty-six American citizens, condemned on a charge of
piracy, and now held in slavery in the vaults of St. Clara, in
Carthagena, and that the sum of ---- dollars be appropriated
for that purpose.

TUESDAY, November 22.

Two other members, to wit: from New York, PHILIP VAN CORTLANDT, and from South Carolina, RICHARD WYNN, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

_Additional Revenue Cutters._

Mr. NEWTON called for the order of the day on the bill authorizing the President to employ twelve additional revenue cutters.

The House having resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole,

Mr. NEWTON rose to state that the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures had understood, from the proper authorities, there was a necessity for the proper execution of the revenue laws, that the force under the direction of the Treasury Department should be considerably increased.

Mr. DANA inquired whether any written information touching the necessity there might be for twelve revenue cutters had been received by the committee--any letter from the Secretary of the Treasury? He thought it was necessary, if so, that it should be submitted to the House.

Mr. NEWTON replied that there had been no written communication from the proper Department to the committee. They had not thought it essential, having also understood that the Secretary of the Treasury was particularly occupied. However, he had taken the shortest method, by waiting upon the Secretary himself, and had received the information before alluded to. He had understood that the probable expense of each cutter would be about $10,000, or $120,000 for the whole, each cutter to carry about twenty men.

Mr. QUINCY thought that the correct mode of proceeding would require other than mere verbal information. Respect for themselves should induce gentlemen not to act without official communication upon the subject. They could not, upon any other conditions, agree to so great an augmentation of the force under the direction of the Treasury Department. There had, heretofore, been but ten cutters employed. There were never more than ten when commerce was at its height and the revenue flourishing. But now, the House was called upon to vote twelve additional cutters, when we are without revenue, without commerce, and there is no information of an official nature before the House upon which it might act.

Mr. NEWTON could not see that it was of any consequence to the House, whether there had been a written communication to it upon the subject, so that the information came through the proper organ, from the proper authority. It was necessary, in times of difficulty like the present, to act with spirit and promptitude. The laws should be executed with the greatest strictness; and it was always wise to take time by the forelock.

Mr. BLACKLEDGE said that the expense of building the cutters would be defrayed by the detection of goods attempted to be smuggled. There had already been many condemnations. They were taking place every day. And it was to support the laws that these cutters had been called for.

On the motion of Mr. NEWTON, that the committee rise and report the bill, it was carried--yeas 47, nays 46.

THURSDAY, November 24.

Another member, to wit, BARENT GARDENIER, from New York, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

MONDAY, November 28.

Another member, to wit, MATTHEW LYON, from Kentucky, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

_Foreign Relations._

On the motion of Mr. CAMPBELL, the House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, on the report of the committee on the subject of our foreign relations.

The first resolution, in the following words, having been read:

_Resolved_, That the United States cannot, without a sacrifice
of their rights, honor, and independence, submit to the late
edicts of Great Britain and France:

Mr. CAMPBELL opened the debate. He said that ill health had hitherto prevented and might hereafter prevent him from giving that attention to the subject which the all-important crisis would seem to require; it was, however, his duty to bring the subject before the House. The committee having in their report presented to the House the view in which they had considered the subject referred to them, and the reasons generally which induced them to present these resolutions to the House, he said it was not his intention at this time to enter into a discussion of their merits. Those reasons had been deemed sufficient by the committee to justify them in presenting these resolutions to the House; and as the objections to this, if any there were, could not be foreseen, he would not attempt to anticipate them. According to the view which he himself had taken of the first resolution, it could require no discussion, it was too clear to require demonstration, and too self-evident to need proof of its propriety. It might indeed seem to require an apology from the committee for presenting a proposition which every American must long since have determined for himself. When the question had been first presented to his consideration, it had appeared to him that it was totally superfluous, and to be doing little more than announcing to the world that the United States were still independent; but on further consideration, it had been deemed by the select committee of some importance that in the present critical situation of the United States, they should fix on some point at which all would meet. After a perusal of the documents laid before the House at the opening of the session, Mr. C. said it had been supposed that no one would hesitate in declaring his indignation at the flagrant violations and encroachments on our rights by the belligerent powers, while it had been supposed that some difference of opinion might exist as to the mode of resistance. After it was once determined that they would not submit, that they would repel aggression, it had been supposed that they might, with greater probability of unanimity, discuss the course proper to be pursued. With a view to this the committee had presented this resolution to the House. It was expected that all would unite in it and prove to the world that the Representatives of every portion of the American people were determined to maintain their rights, for the belligerent powers really seemed to suppose that the American people had forgotten them, and had therefore assumed the right of prescribing the course of conduct which we should pursue. To submit to regulations of foreign powers, which limited the conduct of the American people, and prescribed the rules by which they were to be governed, which pointed out the very ports to which they should or should not go, which fixed the tribute or tax which they should pay, would be not only to abandon their dignity and honor, but to surrender, shamefully surrender our independence. Mr. C. said he would not take up the time of the committee in showing that the Orders of Council of Great Britain and the Decrees of France, were, on the part of those nations, an assumption of power to give laws to this country, in direct violation of our neutral rights, and an encroachment on our sovereignty. This would require no argument. The real question is, said he, shall we govern ourselves or be controlled by the will of others; shall we become tributary or not, shall we submit or be independent? And to the committee he cheerfully left the decision of this question.

Mr. MUMFORD next addressed the Committee of the Whole. He observed, that although he had the honor of being one of the Committee of Foreign Relations, who framed the report under consideration, he dissented from that report in some respects. We had now arrived at a momentous crisis in the affairs of our country, and he hoped the House would deliberate with that firmness and moderation which became the Representatives of the free and independent people they had the honor to represent on this all interesting concern. However they might differ on smaller points of minor importance, yet when the best interest of the country was at stake, he hoped they would unite in some mode to secure our rights and promote the interests of the United States. The proposition which he had the honor to move a few days ago, was consonant in some degree to the instructions offered by our Ministers to Great Britain and France, offering to remove the embargo in relation to either that should rescind their obnoxious decrees. Neither of them having receded, Mr. M. said he would continue the embargo in relation to them both. Nay, further, he would inflict the severest penalties on any one who should receive a license or voluntarily pay tribute to either of them. He considered them both alike. He wished to see the country placed in a complete posture of defence; but he could not see any good reason why we should not trade with those nations who were willing to receive us on friendly terms, and to trade with us on the principles of reciprocity and mutual interests. This would not compromit the honor of the nation. Even admitting that it might possibly lead to war, which he doubted, he was convinced that the citizens of this country would rise _en masse_ in support of that commerce which neither France nor England had any right to interdict. He did presume, with all the zeal of some gentlemen for irritating measures, it was not seriously contemplated to declare war against all mankind; he was for having at least a few friends in case of need. What was our situation now? The President of the United States had told them, after speaking of France and England, that "our relations with the other powers of Europe had undergone no material change since the last session." This being the case, our commerce was open with them all except France and Great Britain and their dependencies.

Mr. QUINCY.--Mr. Chairman, I am not, in general, a friend to abstract legislation. Ostentatious declaration of general principles is so often the resort of weakness and of ignorance, it is so frequently the subterfuge of men who are willing to amuse, or who mean to delude the people, that it is with great reluctance I yield to such a course my sanction.

If, however, a formal denunciation of a determination to perform one of the most common and undeniable of national duties, be deemed by a majority of this House essential to their character, or to the attainment of public confidence, I am willing to admit that the one now offered is as unexceptionable as any it would be likely to propose.