cherish it with feelings of profound respect, and the deepest gratitude. For the last six years it has been your pleasure that the arduous duties of this chair should be assigned to me. This whole period of service has, as you well know, gentlemen, been distinguished by events well calculated to render this station one of more than ordinary labor and responsibility. I have zealously and faithfully endeavored to meet this responsibility, and I hope I shall not be deemed arrogant when I say, that I feel a proud consciousness that the duties of this high trust have been discharged by me with a single eye to the character and dignity of this House, the interest of my country, and my own honor. That I have often erred, I most readily admit; but they have been errors of rule and principle, not caprice or passion; and if there has been any apparent rigor or harshness in the Chair, you will do me the justice to believe that it was unintentional and indiscriminate. [MARCH, 1833. and the safety and security of the Union itself threatened. May we not all now hope that the causes of excitement are hourly subsiding and passing off? That peace and harmony and brotherly affection will soon shed their holy, calm, and blessed influences around us; and that our beloved country will again become united, peaceful, and happy ? In assuming this station, some years ago, I took the liberty of then expressing to the House a senti ment which I had long cherished, and which I now seize this fit occasion of repeating from this chair. It is this: that our confederated republic can only safely exist under the influence of wise, equal, and just laws; by the ties of common interests and brotherly affection; a spirit of mutual forbearance and moderation, (collectively and individually,) and by cherishing a devotion to that liberty and Union secured to us by the blood of our common fathers. These are the stable foundations upon which our liberties and free institutions can alone rest; and God grant they may be eternal. This, gentlemen, in all human probability, is the moment of separa tion with many, very many of us, forever. Is there one individual present to whose bosom a final separation from those with whom he has been so I have no injuries to complain of, and no mem-long and intimately associated, will not cast a painful ory for them, if they existed, and I shall part with you all this night in the spirit of peace and good will. If, gentlemen, in moments of excitement and commotion, any thing unkind has occurred between myself and the individual members of the House, let me assure you it has long since passed from my memory, and been forgiven and forgotten. Before we separate, gentlemen, will you pardon me for a moment in offering a single suggestion? Our councils of late have been greatly divided, and their harmony and peace disturbed. Our country has been deeply and painfully excited, and bitter pang? If there be, I confess I envy not his feelings. You will carry with you, gentlemen, my cordial and best wishes for your individual prosperity and happiness, and I pray you to receive this my most affectionate, and, possibly, last farewell. The SPEAKER then adjourned the House sine die. DECEMBER, 1833] Proceedings. [SENATE. TWENTY-THIRD CONGRESS.-FIRST SESSION. BEGUN AT THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 2, 1833. PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE.* Executive Government for the Twelfth Presidential Term commencing 4th March, 1833, and ending 3d March, 1837. ANDREW JACKSON, of Tennessee, President. MARTIN VAN BUREN, of New York, Vice President. Secretaries of State.-EDWARD LIVINGSTON, Of Secretary of War.-LEWIS CASs, of Ohio. [Ap Louisiana. [Appointed in the previous term.]-pointed in the previous term.] Secretaries of the Treasury.-Louis MCLANE, of Delaware. [Appointed in the previous term.] WILLIAM J. DUANE, of Pennsylvania. [Appointed 29th May, 1833, in recess of the Senate.] ROGER B. TANEY, of Maryland. [Appointed 23d September, 1833.-LEVI WOODBURY, of New Hampshire. [Nominated and confirmed 27th June, 1834.] Secretaries of the Navy.-LEVI WOODBURY, of New Hampshire. [Appointed in the previous term, and resigned 30th June, 1834.]-MAHLON DICKERSON, of New Jersey. [Nominated and confirmed 30th June, 1834.] Postmaster General.—WILLIAM T. BARRY, of Kentucky. [Appointed in the previous Administration.]-AMOS KENDALL, of Kentucky. [Appointed 1st May, 1835, in recess of the Senate. [Nomination confirmed 15th March, 1836.] MONDAY, December 2, 1833. At 12 o'clock, the PRESIDENT pro tem., the Hon. HUGH L. WHITE, of Tennessee, in the absence of the Vice President (Martin Van BUREN, Esq.) called the Senate to order. The CHAIR presented the credentials of ELISHA R. POTTER, elected a Senator from Rhode Island, for which State ASHER ROBBINS had been previously elected, and had, in pursuance of such election, taken his seat in the Senate; LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE SENATE. Maine.-Peleg Sprague, Ether Shepley. New Hampshire.-Samuel Bell, Isaac Hill. Connecticut.-Gideon Tomlinson, Nathan Smith. New Jersey.-Theodore Frelinghuysen, S. L. Southard. *In the case marked with an (*) the seat was claimed by both of the gentlemen named. VOL. XII-13 and also a certificate that the election of the said ASHER ROBBINS was null and void; which documents were read. The CHAIR then stated the fact of Mr. ROBBINS having been returned as elected, and his credentials read at the last session, and left it to the Senate to determine on the course to be pursued as to the qualifying of either of those gentlemen. Mr. POINDEXTER rose and said, that it was not Maryland.-Ezekiel F. Chambers, Joseph Kent. Ohio.-Thomas Ewing, Thomas Morris. Louisiana.-G. A. Waggaman, Alexander Porter. Missouri.-Thomas H. Benton, Lewis F. Linn. SENATE.] Message of the President of the United States. bered some of his oldest friends and acquaintances. So it had been in other parts of the country; but, amidst all this desolation, there had occurred no instance of individual loss more afflicting to him, nor more to be lamented on the public account, than that of the Senator from Louisiana. [DECEMBER, 1833. his intention to offer any opinion on the merits | had traversed his neighborhood, and swept off of the course which had been adopted by the many valuable citizens, among whom he numState of Rhode Island, but merely to say, that it seemed to him to be a matter of course that the Senator first elected, and whose credentials were presented at the last session of the Senate, should be permitted to approach the chair and take the oath; and that the other gentleman, who contests the election of Mr. ROBBINS, should present his credentials either to the Committee on Elections, or the Committee on the Judiciary, and that the Senate should afterwards receive the report of that committee, and determine which of the gentlemen is duly elected. But he was not prepared at this time to question the election of the gentleman whose credentials were before the Senate at the last session, until a committee of the Senate should have decided that he was not fairly elected. He was not prepared at present to offer an opinion on these points, but he thought that the Senator in his seat should approach and take the oath. He then moved that Mr. ROBBINS do take the customary oath. Mr. CLAY Suggested the propriety of making the collateral motion, that the credentials of Mr. POTTER be laid on the table. On motion of Mr. POINDEXTER, it was then ordered that the credentials of Mr. POTTER do lie on the table. Mr. ROBBINS then took the oath. Death of Senator Buckner. Mr. BENTON, of Missouri, submitted a resolution proposing the usual mourning in honor of the memory of Hon. R. A. BUCKNER, late a Senator from Missouri; which was read and agreed to. With feelings oppressed with pain, he rose to ask the Senate to adopt a resolution similar to that which had just been agreed to, in reference to the late Senator JOHNSTON. No man in the country had attended more ardently and more faithfully to his public duties, or had brought to their discharge a more clear, enlightened, and determined judgment. No man ever more happily united blandness and affability with firmness and decision. None could be more true and faithful to friends, nor more courteous and respectful towards opponents. This expression, he hoped, would be permitted from a heart which had bled profusely when the tidings of this afflicting event reached him, amidst the wrecks which the pestilence had scattered around him. He had not expected to be called on to offer this resolution, but he trusted that it would be received, and unanimously agreed to. Mr. C. then submitted his resolution, which was unanimously agreed to. TUESDAY, December 3. The annual Message was received from the President of the United States, which was read, as follows: Fellow-citizens of the Senate to you, of legislating for their common welfare, it gives me pleasure to congratulate you upon the favor of Divine Providence, health is again restored happy condition of our beloved country. By the to us: peace reigns within our borders: abundance crowns the labors of our fields: commerce and domestic industry flourish and increase: and individual happiness rewards the private virtue and enterprise of our citizens. and House of Representatives : Death of Senator Josias Stoddard Johnston. On your assembling to perform the high trusts Mr. CLAY then rose and said, that the adop-which the people of the United States have confided tion of this resolution reminded him of a severe loss which the public and he himself had sustained since the last session, and concerning which he did not now deem himself qualified to speak. He felt regret that the gentleman had not been able yet to take his seat, on whom it would more properly have devolved to submit the motion which he now proposed to offer. He desired to call the attention of the Senate to the melancholy death of a member of this body, who had been summoned away since they last met together, under circumstances of the most distressing nature. He was a man who possessed the rare quality of making a favorable impression on all persons who knew him, and who never failed, on acquaintance, to conciliate the esteem both of friends and of opponents; for whenever he fought, he fought manfully, but always afterwards cherished the kindest feelings towards those who had been his adversaries. During the last summer, perhaps all the members of the Senate had had reason to regret some bereavements, and none more than himself. In the course of it, a pestilential disease Our condition abroad is no less honorable than it is prosperous at home. Seeking nothing that is not right, and determined to submit to nothing that is wrong, but desiring honest friendships and liberal intercourse with all nations, the United States have gained throughout the world the confidence and respect which are due to a policy so just, and so congenial to the character of the American people, and to the spirit of their institutions. In bringing to your notice the particular state of to inform you that they are in a condition which our foreign affairs, it affords me high gratification promises the continuance of friendship with all nations. With Great Britain the interesting question of our North-eastern boundary remains still undecided. A negotiation, however, upon that subject, has been DECEMBER, 1833.] Message of the President of the United States. [SENATE. renewed since the close of the last Congress, and a | receiving the instalment, was officially made known proposition has been submitted to the British Government, with the view of establishing, in conform ity with the resolution of the Senate, the line designated by the treaty of 1783. Though no definitive answer has been received, it may be daily looked for, and I entertain a hope that the overture may ultimately lead to a satisfactory adjustment of this important matter. to the French Government by the American chargé d'affaires at Paris, pursuant to instructions from the Department of State. The bill, however, though not presented for payment until the 23d day of March, was not paid, and for the reason assigned by the French minister of Finance, that no appropriation had been made by the French Chambers. It is not known to me that, up to that period, any and although a communication was subsequently made to the Chambers by direction of the King, recommending that the necessary provision should be made for carrying the convention into effect, it was at an advanced period of the session, and the subject was finally postponed until the next meeting of the Chambers. I have the satisfaction to inform you that a ne-appropriation had been required of the Chambers; gotiation which, by desire of the House of Representatives, was opened, some years ago, with the British Government, for the erection of light-houses on the Bahamas, has been successful. Those works, when completed, together with those which the United States have constructed on the western side of the Gulf of Florida, will contribute essentially to the safety of navigation in that sea. This joint Notwithstanding it has been supposed by the participation in establishments interesting to hu- French ministry that the financial stipulations of manity and beneficial to commerce, is worthy of the treaty cannot be carried into effect without an two enlightened nations, and indicates feelings which appropriation by the Chambers, it appears to me to cannot fail to have a happy influence upon their po- be not only consistent with the character of France, litical relations. It is gratifying to the friends of but due to the character of both Governments, as both to perceive that the intercourse between the well as to the rights of our citizens, to treat the two people is becoming daily more extensive, and convention, made and ratified in proper form, as that sentiments of mutual good will have grown up, pledging the good faith of the French Government befitting their common origin, justifying the hope for its execution, and as imposing upon each dethat, by wise counsels on each side, not only unset-partment an obligation to fulfil it; and I have retled questions may be satisfactorily terminated, but ceived assurances through our chargé d'affaires at new causes of misunderstanding prevented. Paris, and the French minister plenipotentiary at Washington, and more recently through the minister of the United States at Paris, that the delay has not proceeded from any indisposition on the part of the King and his ministers to fulfil the treaty, and that measures will be presented at the next meeting of the Chambers, and with a reasonable hope of success, to obtain the necessary appropriation. Notwithstanding that I continue to receive the most amicable assurances from the Government of France, and that in all other respects the most friendly relations exist between the United States and that Government, it is to be regretted that the stipulations of the convention concluded on the 4th of July, 1831, remain, in some important parts, unfulfilled. It is necessary to state, however, that the documents, except certain lists of vessels captured, condemned, or burnt at sea, proper to facilitate the examination and liquidation of the reclamations comprised in the stipulations of the convention, and which, by the sixth article, France engaged to communicate to the United States by the intermediary of the legation, (though repeatedly applied for by the American chargé d'affaires under instructions from this Government,) have not yet been communicated; and this delay, it is apprehended, will necessarily prevent the completion of the duties assigned to the commissioners within the time at present prescribed by law. By the second article of that convention, it was stipulated that the sum payable to the United States should be paid at Paris, in six annual instalments, into the hands of such person or persons as should be authorized by the Government of the United States to receive it; and by the same article the first instalment was payable on the second day of February, 1833. By the act of Congress of the 13th July, 1832, it was made the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to cause the several instalments, with the interest thereon, to be received from the French Government, and transferred to the United States, in such manner as he may deem best; and by the same act of Congress, the stipulations on the part of the United States, in the convention, The reasons for delaying to communicate these were, in all respects, fulfilled. Not doubting that documents have not been explicitly stated, and this a treaty thus made and ratified by the two Govern- is the more to be regretted as it is not understood ments, and faithfully executed by the United States, that the interposition of the Chambers is in any would be promptly complied with by the other manner required for the delivery of those papers. party, and desiring to avoid the risk and expense Under these circumstances, in a case so imporof intermediate agencies, the Secretary of the tant to the interests of our citizens and to the charTreasury deemed it advisable to receive and trans-acter of our country, and under disappointments so fer the first instalment by means of a draft upon the French minister of Finance. A draft for this purpose was accordingly drawn in favor of the cashier of the Bank of the United States, for the amount accruing to the United States out of the first instalment, and the interest payable with it. This bill was not drawn at Washington until five days after the instalment was payable at Paris, and was accompanied by a special authority from the President, authorizing the cashier, or his assigns, to receive the amount. The mode thus adopted of unexpected, I deemed it my duty, however I might respect the general assurances to which I have adverted, no longer to delay the appointment of a minister plenipotentiary to Paris, but to despatch him in season to communicate the result of his application to the French Government at an early period of your session. I accordingly appointed distinguished citizen for this purpose, who proceeded on his mission in August last, and was presented to the King early in the month of October. He is particularly instructed as to all matters connected SENATE.] Message of the President of the United States. [DECEMBER, 1833. with the present posture of affairs, and I indulge | by Spanish vessels, under the act above mentioned, the hope that, with the representations he is instructed to make, and from the disposition manifested by the King and his ministers in their recent assurances to our minister at Paris, the subject will be early considered and satisfactorily disposed of at the next meeting of the Chambers. is really a discriminating duty, operating to the dis advantage of Spain. Though no complaint has yet been made on the part of Spain, we are not the less bound by the obligations of good faith to remove the discrimination; and I recommend that the act be amended accordingly. As the royal order, above alluded to, includes the ports of the Balearic and Canary Islands, as well as those of Spain, it would seem that the provisions of the act of Conrepayment of such duties as may have been inproperly received, an addition should be made to the sum appropriated at the last session of Congress for refunding discriminating duties. As this subject involves important interests, and has attracted a considerable share of the public attention, I have deemed it proper to make this explicit statement of its actual condition; and shouldgress should be equally extensive, and that, for the I be disappointed in the hope now entertained, the subject will be again brought to the notice of Congress in such a manner as the occasion may require. The friendly relations which have always been maintained between the United States and Russia have been further extended and strengthened by the treaty of navigation and commerce concluded on the 6th of December last, and sanctioned by the Senate before the close of its last session. The ratifications having been since exchanged, the liberal provisions of the treaty are now in full force; and, under the encouragement which they have secured, a flourishing and increasing commerce, yielding its benefits to the enterprise of both nations, affords to each the just recompense of wise measures, and adds new motives for that mutual friendship which the two countries have hitherto cherished towards each other. It affords me peculiar satisfaction to state that the Government of Spain has at length yielded to the justice of the claims which have been so long urged in behalf of our citizens, and has expressed a willingness to provide an indemnification as soon as the proper amount can be agreed upon. Upon this latter point, it is probable that an understand ing had taken place between the minister of the United States and the Spanish Government before the decease of the late King of Spain; and, unless that event may have delayed its completion, there is reason to hope that it may be in my power to announce to you, early in your present session, the conclusion of a convention upon terms not less favorable than those entered into for similar objects with other nations. That act of justice would well accord with the character of Spain, and is due to the United States from their ancient friend. It could not fail to strengthen the sentiments of amity and good-will between the two nations, which it is so much the wish of the United States to cherish, and so truly the interest of both to maintain. By the first section of an act of Congress passed on the 13th July, 1832, the tonnage duty on Spanish ships arriving from the ports of Spain was limited to the duty payable on American vessels in the ports of Spain, previous to the 20th October, 1817, being five cents per ton. That act was intended to give effect, on our side, to an arrangement made with the Spanish Government, by which discriminating duties of tonnage were to be abolished in the ports of the United States and Spain on the vessels of the two nations. Pursuant to that arrangement, which was carried into effect, on the part of Spain, on the 20th of May, 1832, by a royal order dated the 29th April, 1832, American vessels in the ports of Spain have paid five cents per ton, which rate of duty is also paid in those ports by Spanish ships; but, as American vessels pay no tonnage duty in the ports of the United States, the duty of five cents payable in our ports As the arrangement referred to, however, did not embrace the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico, dis criminating duties, to the prejudice of American shipping, continued to be levied there. From the extent of the commerce carried on between the United States and those islands, (particularly the former,) this discrimination causes serious injury to one of those great national interests which it has been considered an essential part of our policy to cherish, and has given rise to complaints on the part of our merchants. Under instructions given to our minister at Madrid, earnest representations have been made by him to the Spanish Government upon this subject, and there is reason to expect, from the friendly disposition which is entertained towards this country, that a beneficial change will be produced. The disadvantage, however, to which our shipping is subjected by the operation of these discriminating duties, requires that they be met by suitable countervailing duties during the present session-power being, at the same time, vested in the President to modify or discontinue them as the discriminating duties on American vessels or their cargoes may be modified or discontinued at those islands. Intimations have been given to the Span ish Government that the United States may be obliged to resort to such measures as are of neces sary self-defence, and there is no reason to appre hend that it would be unfavorably received. The proposed proceedings, if adopted, would not be permitted, however, in any degree to induce a relaxation in the efforts of our minister to effect repeal of this irregularity by friendly negotiation, and it might serve to give force to his represen tations by showing the dangers to which that valuable trade is exposed by the obstructions and burdens which a system of discriminating and countervailing duties necessarily produces. The selection and preparation of the Florida ar chives, for the purpose of being delivered over to the United States, in conformity with the royal order, as mentioned in my last annual message, though in progress, has not yet been completed. This delay has been produced partly by causes which were unavoidable, particularly the prevalence of cholera at Havana; but measures have been taken which it is believed will expedite the delivery of those important records. Congress were informed, at the opening of the last session, that, "owing, as was alleged, to embarrassments in the finances of Portugal, consequent upon the civil war in which that nation was engaged," payment had been made of only one instalment of the amount which the Portuguese Gov ernment had stipulated to pay for indemnifying our citizens for property illegally captured in the block |