[DECEMBER, 1846. upon an equal footing with the original States, and with such other provisions and conditions as said constitution and form of State government, but shall not be presented for admittance until the same shall be accepted and ratified by the qualified electors of this Territory." The Journal of yesterday was read and ap- may be provided for by the convention framing proved. Report of Secretary of Treasury. The VICE PRESIDENT laid before the Senate the annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the state of the finances. Mr. SPEIGHT remarked that the report was probably a lengthened one, and its reading would occupy a large portion of time. Unless, therefore, any Senator desired it should be read, he would move to dispense with the reading. No Senator desiring the report to be read, the motion was agreed to. Printing of the Report. On motion of Mr. SPEIGHT, it was Ordered, That the report be printed; and that five thousand copies in addition to the usual number be printed for the use of the Senate. Mr. DODGE appealed to Mr. BRODHEAD to allow him to present the constitution of the State of Iowa, and have it referred; and Mr. BRODHEAD having yielded the floor Mr. DODGE presented the constitution and form of State government adopted by a convention of delegates assembled in Iowa City, on the 18th day of May, A. D. 1846, in pursuance of the provisions of the act of the Territorial Assembly, approved January 17, 1846. Mr. D. read from the law the following section: “SEC. 8. That said constitution and form of State government shall, if ratified at the election specifed in the 5th section of this act, be presented to the Congress of the United States at the next ensuing session thereof, for admittance into the Union Mr. D. said, accompanying the constitution now presented, would be found a letter from the Secretary of the Territory, transmitting a copy of the proclamation of the Governor, declaring the adoption of the constitution by a majority of the qualified electors at the time and in the manner prescribed in the law calling the convention. Mr. D. said that the vote on the constitution was had on the first Monday in August, the third day of the month, and that Congress had adjourned on the tenth of August. It was therefore impossible to know the result of the vote upon the question of the adoption or rejection of the constitution during the last session; indeed, it was not certainly known in the Territory until some time in September. The 6th section of the 13th article of the constitution provides that "the first general election under this constitution shall be held at such time as the Governor of the Territory, by proclamation, may appoint, within three months after its adoption, for the election of a Goyernor, two members of Congress," &c. Under this provision of the constitution the Territorial Governor issued his proclamation for an election, which took place on the 26th of October last. One of the members elected to this House was in the city, and ready to take his seat as soon as an act or joint resolution could be passed admitting the State. Mr. D. had seized the earliest moment afforded him, after the appointment of the committees, to present the constitution of his State, and the evidence of its ratification by the people. At the last session an act was passed prescribing the constitution of the State of Iowa, &c. The constitution and the act of Congress referred to were in perfect harmony-the boundaries in each being the same. Mr. D. said he would call the attention of the Committee on Territories, to whom he should move to refer the subject, to the necessity of speedy action on their part, so that the complete admission of Iowa might be consummated at the earliest day practicable. The constitution was then referred to the Committee on Territories. IN SENATE. WEDNESDAY, December 16. Return of Santa Anna to Mexico. Mr. BARROW submitted the following resolu tion for consideration : Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to inform the Senate, if any officer or agent was sent by him or by his direction to Havana, to advise, procure, or in any manner pro DECEMBER, 1846.] Admission of Iowa into the Union. [29TH CONG. mote the return of Santa Anna to Mexico; and if | fest, and it should not exist without the knowlso, who was the officer or agent, what were his instructions, and, when was he sent on such a mission; also that he inform the Senate by what means, and through what channel, Santa Anna was informed that an order was issued to the com mander of our naval forces in the Gulf directing said commander not to obstruct his (Santa Anna's return to Mexico; and also that he transmit to the Senate copies of any correspondence in possession of the Government relative to the terms or conditions on which Santa Anna was permitted to pass through our blockading squadron, or in any manner relating to the subject of Santa Anna's return to Mexico. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. MONDAY, December 21. Admission of Iowa into the Union. The pending question was on the engrossment of the bill. Mr. DOUGLAS, from the Committee on Territories, explained its provisions. The first section merely declared that the State, having complied with the conditions required by a law of Congress passed last session for her admission, was admitted into the Union. The second section re-enacted the same provisions which had been contained in the bill passed last year, which was supplemental to a former law. The people of the State having refused to accept the boundaries prescribed in the law of last session, it was deemed to follow that the law admitting the State with those boundaries of course fell with them; and it became necessary that the enactments should be revived and applied to the State as bounded in the present bill. Mr. SIMS, of South Carolina, observed that before the bill should be ordered to its third reading, he wished to call the attention of the Delegate from Iowa to a clause contained in the tenth article of the State constitution, set forth in the bill, taken in connection with one of the sections of the law of 1841. According to the present bill, the donation from the United States of five hundred thousand acres of public land to each new State to be admitted into the Union should, when received, be applied to purposes of education; but, by the law of 1841, it was required that these lands should be applied to purposes of internal improve ment. Mr. S. thought it proper to bring before Congress and before the Delegate from Iowa this discrepancy, with a view to obviate doubt or difficulty hereafter from the idea that it had escaped notice. Mr. S. approved of the alteration, and had no doubt it would be the duty of the land officers to govern themselves by the provision of the present law as modifying that of the law of 1841. The discrepancy was mani edge and notice of the House, so that if the new application of the land fund was to be made, it should be done with the knowledge and approbation of Congress. Mr. DODGE said it was very true that the constitution approved by the people of Iowa did make that application of the proceeds of the public lands received from the United States which had been stated by the gentleman from South Carolina; but Mr. SIMS here said, before the gentleman proceeded, he wished it distinctly to be understood by that gentleman, by the House, and the country, that he was in favor of the admission of Iowa with her constitution thus modified. He approved of the change entirely; he had referred to it not by way of objection to her reception, but merely because he thought it due to all parties that the fact should be known and understood. Mr. DODGE proceeded to say that the people of Iowa, in accepting the constitution in its present form, considered the five hundred thousand acres of land received from the General Government as a paternal gift which they had a right to apply in any manner they might deem most conducive to their own good. They supposed that the trust had been applied to a proper and praiseworthy object, and that this House would concur in that opinion. They regarded it as the gift of a parent to the child, and that the recipient might lawfully apply it to any proper purpose. He trusted that no difficulty would grow out of the fact which had been brought to the notice of the House. Mr. DOUGLAS stated that all that had been done under the first law had been rendered null and of no effect by the people's refusal of their first constitution. The boundaries were then altered by a second law; these the people had agreed to; and, under this last law they came, presented their constitution, and asked to be admitted into the Union. This was the first time they had asked it; and, if admitted, they would be admitted by the present law. And this brought him to notico the objection of the gentleman from South Carolina. Mr. SIMS said he again protested against its being understood that he was opposed to the bill. He had raised no objection to it: he should, on the contrary, vote for the admission of the State under the constitution as it stood: all he desired was, that the true state of the fact should be clearly understood. Mr. DOUGLAS, resuming, said the gentleman seemed to have got hold of the old constitution of 1845. It was possible the same article might be in the present constitution, but if it was he was not aware of it: if it was wrong, he was willing it should be altered As to the second section of the bill, it was necessary, in order to establish Federal courts within the new 2D SESS.] The Writings of Alexander Hamilton. [DECEMBER, 1846. State. The provision of the former law to that | such volumes shall be octavo, and substantially effect having become inoperative, the same had been inserted in the present bill. Mr. DODGE said it was only necessary to state what had been the understanding of the people of Iowa in this matter. They supposed that when the former constitution was rejected, the act proposing the rejected boundaries fell of course, for it was on condition of their acceptance, and this they refused. A second convention, therefore, was held in January, 1846, under the law passed in 1845. The eighth section of that law showed the necessity of a new act. By the former act the proclamation of the President of the United States was required in this act no such requirement was contained. bound in leather, and not less than five hundred pages each, and shall be compiled by some suitable person, at the expense of Mrs. Hamilton, and to be by her selected and chosen, with the ap proval of the Committee on the Library; and that the writings of General Hamilton which are of a such five volumes shall embrace substantially all public and important character." The question being on ordering the bill to be engrossed for a third reading Mr. CHALMERS Suggested that the bill should be passed over informally, the chairman of the Committee on the Library, (Mr. PEARCE,) who reported the bill, not being in his seat. Mr. TURNEY called for the yeas and nays on the engrossment. Mr. SIMS entirely concurred with the gentleMr. CHALMERS again rose and said he had man from Ohio (Mr. THURMAN) as to the effect desired, as the Senator from Maryland who of all trusts imposed upon States, but he wholly reported this bill was not in his seat this morndissented from the inference that it was there-ing, that the bill might be passed over infore indifferent whether they were expressed in the State constitution or not. This amounted to saying that Congress never would trust a State, because no State was trustworthy. On the contrary, he thought States eminently worthy of trust, because whatever their legal inefficacy, they created a moral obligation which he hoped no State would disregard. Mr. THURMAN disclaimed having meant to insinuate any thing to the contrary. He admitted trusts created a moral obligation on a State; but it was moral only, and never could be enforced. And he meant to say that he would not limit the State constitution without sufficient reason. "That the Treasurer of the United States be, and be is hereby, directed to pay to Elizabeth Hamilton, widow of Alexander Hamilton, out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of twenty thousand dollars, whenever the said Elizabeth Hamilton shall deliver to the librarian of Congress one thousand copies of each of the five volumes which she proposes to publish of the writings of General Hamilton, and shall also deliver to said librarian the entire manuscripts, to be deposited and remain forever among the archives of the Government: Provided, always, That formally. If too late, however, for a postponement, or the Senate was unwilling to postpone, he desired to make a few remarks in explanation. At the last session, this subject was fully examined by the committee which reported this bill, and it passed the Senate by a large majority. The works which were proposed to be published were furnished to the committee at that time for examination, and he became satisfied of their very great importance in regard to the subject of which they treat. They relate to all the important transactions during the revolutionary war, and to many subjects and occurrences subsequent to that war, when General Hamilton was Secretary of the Treas ury, He could conceive of no papers more valuable or more desirable to preserve with the archives of the country than those which were offered to them by Mrs. Hamilton. The cost of these papers was not more than they were really worth; and he thought it would be becoming in, nay, that it was the duty of this Government, to obtain possession of these documents, over and above any disposition they might feel to render to the widow of so distinguished a man so small a service. He should feel that the Senate, in rejecting this bill, was not only doing an injustice to the widow of Alexander Hamilton, but was not fulfilling its duty to the Government. He hoped the bill would pass, as at the last session, by a large majority. Mr. SEMPLE had voted for this bill at the last session, and should do so again; still, he would not object to the postponement of this bill to next week, if desired by Senators, until the Senator from Maryland should return to his seat. He believed these books would be valuable to the country, and therefore he hoped the bill would pass. bill to be engrossed for a third reading, and it The question was then taken on ordering the was decided in the affirmative, as follows: YEAS.-Messrs. Archer, Atchinson, Badger, Bagby, Chalmers, John M. Clayton, Thomas Clay DECEMBER, 1846.] Yulee-26. ton, Corwin, Crittenden, Davis, Evans, Greene, | leagues of the other House of Congress, and a Huntington, Jarnagin, Johnson of Louisiana, Man- similar resolution will now be offered on this gum, Morehead, Phelps, Semple, Sevier, Simmons, melancholy occasion. In less than three years, Speight, Sturgeon, Upham, Woodbridge, and two Senators and two Representatives in Congress from the same State have been gathered to their fathers. The death of my late colleague was the most unexpected; for he was not only in the vigor of life, but he possessed a strong constitution. NAYS.-Messrs. Allen, Ashley, Atherton, Breese, Bright, Butler, Calhoun, Dix, Fairfield, Niles, Turney, and Westcott-12. On motion of Mr. SPEIGHT, the bill was read a third time, and, by unanimous consent, was passed. On motion of Mr. CHALMERS, the title of the bill was changed to "A bill to purchase the Papers of the late Alexander Hamilton." The ways of Providence are indeed inscrutable. It may with truth be said, that "whilst in life we are in death." Of Mr. BARROW's early history I know but little. He was a native of Tennessee, and was, I am told, about forty-five years of age. His family and connections are of the highest respectability, and have been long distinguished for their talents and patriotism. After having ap-law, and was admitted to the bar in Tennessee completed his education, Mr. BARROW studied Mr. ROBERT TOOMBS, of Georgia, appeared and took his seat. IN SENATE. WEDNESDAY, December 30. On motion of Mr. HUNTINGTON, the reading of the Journal was dispensed with; whenMr. JOHNSON, of Louisiana, rose and addressed the Senate as follows: Mr. President: Louisiana has to mourn the loss of another of her distinguished sons! It is with unfeigned sorrow I announce to the Senate the death of my late friend and colleague, the Hon. ALEXANDER BARROW, who died at Baltimore yesterday morning at five o'clock, after a short and violent attack of illness, which would not yield to the best medical skill. All the relief that medical science and skill could accomplish was applied in vain. He left this city on the 24th instant, on a short visit to Baltimore, apparently in perfect health, and I only heard of his illness the day before his death. Indeed, so sudden and unexpected was the shock produced by the annunciation of the sad event yesterday, that I cannot yet hardly realize the fact, and do not feel sufficiently composed to do justice to the memory of the deceased in the few remarks I propose to make. The deep anxiety felt here not only by the members of both Houses of Congress, but by all classes of the community, when his dangerous situation became known through the telegraph, is now dispelled by the melancholy gloom spread over the whole city. It is, indeed, but too true that ALEXANDER BARROW, the pure patriot and enlightened statesman, is no more. immediately after which, I believe, he removed to Louisiana, where he pursued his profession for some time with success; and, had he remained at the bar, would have attained the highest distinction. Being independent in his circumstances, and fond of agricultural pursuits, after a few years' practice, he retired from the bar, and became a successful planter, and has since devoted his attention mainly to the cultivation of the earth. Mr. BARROW served, however, repeatedly in the Legislature of Louisiana with reputation, and was regarded as a distinguished member; and he received from the people of the State many other proofs of their highest respect and confidence. His election to the Senate of the United States, under circumstances the most flattering, is the best evidence of the high estimation in which he was held by the people of his adopted State, by whom his character and services will ever be held in grateful remembrance. The news of his death will produce throughout the State, as it has produced here, the deepest emotions of sorrow. Mr. BARROW was distinguished for his bland and courteous manners, for his frank and manly deportment, and for his many generous and noble traits of character. No man, in fact, had more sincere and devoted friends whilst living, and no one has died more lamented. He performed his duties here with zeal and ability, and, at the same time, in the most frank and conciliatory spirit; and I am sure that it is no exaggeration to say, that in his intercourse with his brother Senators, his deportment on all occasions was such as to command the respect and confidence of every member of this body. He has now closed his earthly career, but he has gone, I hope, to a better and happier world. Three years have not passed away since Mr. Although he expired far from his home, and BARROW announced in appropriate and eloquent from the cherished partner of his bosom, it terms the death of his late distinguished col- must be a source of some consolation to her, league; and since then it has devolved on me and to her orphan children, to learn that he to present the ordinary resolutions as a mark was surrounded at that awful moment by deof respect to the memory of two of my col-voted friends, from whom he received every [DECEMBER, 1846. attention which friendship could bestow, and that he died as he had lived, without fear and without reproach, relying upon the mercy of his Redeemer. And what shall be said of their bereavement? There is a silence which is more expressive than language. We forbear, in humble submission to the will of Heaven-guished the entire life of our deceased brother in grateful recollection, that "He who strikes has power to heal." he has so well presented; but, in contemplating the rich and full portrait of the high qualities of the head and heart which he has presented, suffer me to look for an instant to the source, the fountain, from which flowed the full stream of generous and noble actions which distinSenator. I speak of the heart-the noble heart -of ALEXANDER BARROW. Honor, courage, The character of the deceased was indeed, patriotism, friendship, generosity-fidelity to sir, of the highest order As a Senator, a citi- his friend and his country-the social affections zen, and a gentleman-indeed, in all the rela--devotion to the wife of his bosom, and the tions of public and private life-he was children of their love: all-all, were there! esteemed and beloved. As a patriot, a firm and never, not once, did any cold, or selfish, and uncompromising friend of his country and or timid calculation come from his manly of her constitution, he had no superior. Brave, head to check or balk the noble impulses of his ardent, and chivalrous in his temperament, and generous heart. A quick, clear, and strong devoted to the principles of civil and religious judgment found nothing to restrain in these liberty, had he lived in the days of the early impulses; and in all the wide circle of his pubstruggles for English freedom, he would have lic and private relations-in all the words and bled by the side of Hampden in the field, or acts of his life-it was the heart that moved died with Sidney on the scaffold. Yet, sir- first; and always so true to honor that judg"His life was gentle, ment had nothing to do but to approve the impulsion. From that fountain flowed the stream of the actions of his life; and now what we ing-is, that such a fountain, so unexpectedly, all deplore-what so many will join in deplorin the full tide of its flow, should have been so suddenly dried up. He was one of the younger members of this body, and in all the hope and vigor of meridian manhood. Time was ripening and maturing his faculties. He seemed to have a right to look forward to many years of usefulness to his country and to his family. With qualities evidently fitted for the field as well as for the Senate, a brilliant future was before him, ready, as I know he was, to serve his country in any way that honor and duty should require. And the elements so mixed in him, And say to all the world, THIS WAS A MAN."" Mr. BENTON said: In rising, Mr. President, to second the motion for paying to the memory of our deceased brother Senator the last honors of this body, I feel myself to be obeying the impulses of an hereditary friendship, as well as conforming to the practice of the Senate. Forty years ago, when coming to the bar at Nashville, it was my good fortune to enjoy the friendship of the father of the deceased, then an inhabitant of Nashville, and one of its most respected citizens. The deceased was then too young to be noted amongst the rest of the family. The pursuits of life soon carried us far apart, and long after, and for the first time to know each other, we met on this floor. We met not as strangers, but as friends-friends of early and hereditary recollections; and all our intercourse since-every incident and every word of our lives, public and private-has gone to strengthen and confirm the feelings under which we met, and to perpetuate with the son the friendship which had existed with the father. Up to the last moments of his presence in this chamber-up to the last moment that I saw him-our meetings and partings were the cordial greetings of hereditary friendship; and now, not only as one of the elder Senators, but as the early and family friend of the deceased, I come forward to second the motion for the honors to his memory. The Senator from Louisiana (Mr. JOHNSON) has performed the office of duty and of friendship to his deceased friend and colleague. Justly, truly, and feelingly has he performed it. With deep and heartfelt emotion he has portrayed the virtues, and sketched the qualities, which constituted the manly and lofty character of ALEXANDER BARROW. He has given us a picture as faithful as it is honorable, and it does not become me to dilate upon what Mr. BREESE next arose, and spoke as follows: Mr. President: It is not in my power to add any thing to the eulogies already so eloquently pronounced by the more particular friends of the deceased, in the beautiful language of sincerity and truth. Be it my humble purpose to fling but one flower upon his grave-to add but one slight tribute, among more valued offerings, to his acknowledged worth; a tribute, sir, although slight, perhaps not altogether valueless, coming as it does from a political opponent as ardent and as decided in the support of his principles as he whom we all mourn was known to be in the cause he espoused. It was not my fortune, Mr. President, to know intimately the deceased until after the close of the last long and laborious session of Congress. We met in our journey to our distant homes, at the Falls of Niagara, and proceeded thence through our vast ocean lakes quite to Illinoishe pursuing his way by the rivers to his, and I overland my route to my home. In this intercourse, so cordial and friendly as it was, there of his character, winning my regard, and adwere daily developed the most amiable points vancing us speedily from mere acquaintances |