Chapter 3 No.3

Van Allen, John E., Representative from New York, 455, 527, 604.

Van Cortlandt, Philip, Representative from New York, 455, 527, 604.

Van Gaasbeck, Peter, Representative from New York, 458, 528.

Van Rensselaer, Jeremiah, Representative from New York, 58.

Van Rensselaer, Stephen, Representative from New York, 175, 260.

Varnum, Joseph B., Representative from Massachusetts, 204;

on the pay of the Speaker, 639.

Venable, Abraham, Representative from Virginia, 388, 455, 528, 604;

on the attendance of the Secretary of War, 390, on the President's speech, 538;

on the Pennsylvania insurgents, 552;

on amending naturalization laws, 556;

on the resolutions relative to intruders on Indian lands, 584, 586;

on the military and naval appropriation, 764;

on the sense of the House relative to the British treaty, 752.

Vermont-Vote for President in 1793, 385.

Vessels.-Registering and clearing bills, on, 129.

Vice President, ordered to sign the answer to Washington's inaugural, in behalf of the Senate, 13;

takes the oath, 15;

compensation of, 17, 120;

fixed, 123;

his term of office, when commenced, 171;

letter to the Mayor of New York, 174;

vote for in 1789, 10;

do. in 1793, 385.

Vining, John, Representative from Delaware, 51, 175, 259, 315, 442, 520, 591;

proposes the organization of a Home Department, 85;

further remarks, 86;

on the President's power to remove officers, 87;

moves the organization of a Domestic Department, 94;

on the President's power of removal, 104;

on the compensation of members of Congress, &c., 116;

further remarks, 119, 132;

introduces a resolution for a Home Department, 127;

remarks on, 127;

further remarks, 128;

on the form of amending the constitution, 134;

on the location of a seat of Government, 150;

on the banks of the Delaware for do., 161;

on a seat of Government, 245;

further remarks, 248;

on interference of excise officers in elections, 271;

on the commitment of a bill for a Bank of the United States, 274;

speech on the bank, 305;

on the ratio of representation, 326.

Virginia.-Vote for President in 1789, 10, 385;

county lands, report on, 129.

Virginia Legislature.-Offers ten miles square to United

States for a seat of Government, 76.

Vote, on limiting the time for the operation of the impost bill, 84;

on the President's power of removal, 90;

on striking out Susquehanna and inserting Potomac for the seat of Government, 159;

on motion for discrimination among public creditors, 228;

note, on do. 288;

on Quaker memorial, 238.

Votes, Electoral.-Counted in the presence of Senate and House in 1789, 10;

do. 385.

W

Wadsworth, Jeremiah, Representative from Connecticut, 21, 175, 255, 315, 455, 555;

appointed on committee to draft bill on tonnage duties, 57;

urges reduction of duty on molasses, 70;

on a Board of Treasury or Superintendent of Finance, 92;

on the right of instructions, 144;

on deliberation in fixing the seat of Government, 155;

further remarks, 160;

on discrimination among the public creditors, 220;

on the post office bill, 332;

on the petition of Catharine Greene, 339;

on the reduction of the army, 401;

further remarks, 407, 414;

on the pay of soldiers, 460, 466;

against the embargo laws, 499;

urges increased duty on coal in foreign vessels, 506;

on duties on manufactured tobacco and refined sugar, 509;

on the advance of money to France, 514;

on the rage against nobility, 561;

on defence of the frontiers, 570;

on the trial of intruders upon the Indians, 584;

on the protection of settlers, 587.

Wadsworth, Peleg, Representative from Massachusetts, 456, 527, 609.

Walker, Francis, Representative from Virginia, 455, 527.

Walker, John, appointed Senator by Governor of Virginia, 251.

Walton, George, Senator from Georgia, 591.

Ward, Artemas, Representative from Massachusetts, 315, 388, 455, 527.

War Department.-See Executive Departments.

Washington, George, elected President in 1789, 10;

votes for as President in 1789, 10;

do. 1793, 385;

proceedings at his inauguration, 12;

do. inaugural address, 12;

reply to the answer of the Senate to the inaugural address, 15;

day of his inauguration, Note, 46;

resolution for an equestrian statue, 330;

birthday-motion to adjourn, 638;

considered, 638;

motion lost, 638.

Watts, John, Representative from New York, 455, 527.

Wayne, Anthony, Representative from Georgia, 317;

on the petition of Catharine Greene, 335;

further remarks, 337.

Ways and Means, proposition to appoint a committee, 128.

Western Lands.-See Public Lands.

Wheaton, Joseph, appointed sergeant-at-arms, 315.

White, Alexander, Representative from Virginia, 21, 175, 255, 315, 388;

on committee to report a bill regulating oaths, 22;

advocates delay in fixing scale of duties on imports, 23;

further remarks, 25;

on duty on hemp, 37;

opposes duty on salt, 41;

report from Committee of Elections, 41;

presents resolution of Virginia Legislature, offering ten miles square to United States for seat of Government, 76;

thinks appropriation bills are limited by the constitution, 77;

further remarks, 81;

sustains the power of the President to remove certain officers, 88;

on the power of the President to remove Secretary of State, 102;

further remarks, 105;

opposes discrimination in the pay of members of the two Houses, 124;

on compensation of President, 119;

further remarks, 120;

on compensation of Vice President, 121;

on a Home Department, 127;

on amendments of the Senate to House bill on seat of Government, 165;

on admission of reporters of the press, 180;

on the constitutional power of Congress respecting naturalization, 186;

on discrimination among the public creditors, 217;

on report of committee on Quaker memorial, 229;

on a seat of Government, 242;

further remarks, 248;

on vacancy in the Presidency, 267;

on the meeting of the Electoral College, 333;

moves to strike out of bill all relative to vacancy of President, 334;

on the bill for the encouragement of the cod fisheries, 351.

White, Rev. Bishop, elected chaplain of the Senate, 380.

White, James, delegate from territory south of Ohio River, 528.

Whitney, Charles, arrested with Robert Randall, 611;

examination of, 613.

Widows and Orphans, a bill making compensation to certain, considered, 410.

Williams, Benjamin, Representative from North Carolina, 455, 546;

on a salary for members of Congress, 636;

on post-roads, 637;

on the rights of the House relative to treaties, 680;

on the execution of the British treaty, 720;

on the army establishment, 759.

Williams, John, Representative from New York, 604.

Williamson, Hugh, Representative from North Carolina, 255, 315, 388;

on answer to President's message, 257;

further remarks, 257;

on selection of land by settlers, 260;

on vacancy in the Presidency, 267;

on the commitment of the bill for a Bank of the United States, 273;

on resignation of William Pinkney, 329;

on the bill for the encouragement of the cod fisheries, 357;

on the emblems on American coins, 371;

on the resolution that the Secretary of the Treasury and at War attend the House, and report relative to defeat of St. Clair, 390;

against attendance of Secretary of War, 392;

on discharging committee on defeat of St. Clair, 394;

on protection of American commerce, 395;

on reduction of the army, 400;

further remarks, 414.

Willis, Francis, Representative from Georgia, 315, 388.

Wines, all other, discrimination opposed, 32; duty on, 32.

Wingate, Paine, Senator from New Hampshire, 9, 168, 251, 309, 380.

Winn, Richard, Representative from South Carolina, 457, 528, 614.

Winston, Joseph, Representative from North Carolina, 457, 528.

Wool Cards, duty on, 41;

state of manufacture, 41.

Wynkoop, Henry, Representative from Pennsylvania, 21, 175, 255.

Y

Yeas and Nays on contested election of Wm. Smith, 99;

on the bill organizing the State Department, 108;

on embracing all the proposed amendments of the constitution in one report, 145;

on fixing the seat of Government on the Potomac, 161; on Wilmington for the seat of Government, 161;

on Potomac, Susquehanna, or Delaware, instead of east bank of Susquehanna, 162;

Delaware instead of do., 162;

banks instead of east bank, 162;

on inserting, or Maryland, after "Pennsylvania," 162;

on Wilmington, instead of "city of New York," 163;

on "Philadelphia," instead of "New York," 163;

on proviso of Mr. Gale, 163;

on resolution for the appointment of Commissioners to fix the site for a seat of Government, 163;

on the bill to establish a seat of Government, 164;

on postponing consideration of amended bill relative to seat of Government, 166;

on the proviso of Mr. Madison relative to a seat of Government, 167;

in Senate on resolution relative to unfinished business, 171;

in Senate, on bill for non-intercourse with Rhode Island, 172;

on commitment of Pennsylvania memorial, 211;

on Quaker memorial, 238;

on motion to strike out "Potomac," and insert Delaware for seat of Government, 249;

on motion to strike out "Potomac," and insert Germantown, 249;

to strike out "Potomac," and insert Baltimore, 249;

on the passage of the bill fixing a seat of Government, 249;

on motion to strike out a clause of excise bill, 272;

on its passage, 272;

on the bill for a Bank of the United States, 308;

on the resolution respecting ratio of representation, 328;

on motion to amend by striking out second section of bill for the protection of the frontiers, 349;

on the bill for the encouragement of the cod fisheries, &c., 369;

on the resolutions relative to the courtesies of France, 370;

on receding from the amendment relative to the stamp of American coins, 373;

on the apportionment bill after it was vetoed, 374;

on its subsequent passage, 377;

on motion to strike out clause of the army reduction bill, 416;

on agreement of the House in said motion, 416;

on the passage of the bill relative to fugitives from justice, 417;

on the third resolution relative to the official conduct of the Secretary of the Treasury, 438;

on the fourth resolution, &c., 438;

on the fifth resolution, &c., 438;

on the sixth resolution, &c., 438;

on the seventh resolution, 439;

on the question relating to, &c., 440;

on amendment of constitution in the Senate, excluding bank officers from Congress, 446;

relative to the interest of the United States in the bank, 446;

on Senate resolution relative to open doors, 448;

on the eligibility of Albert Gallatin, 452; on postponing consideration of the commerce of the United States, 473;

on the bill making preparations for the Algerine war, 482;

on the resolutions of non-intercourse with Great Britain, 498;

on continuing the embargo, 502;

on the reference of the indemnity resolutions to the committee on sequestration of British debts, 505;

on motion to reject the bill laying duties on tobacco and sugar, 511;

on the bill to augment the army, 511;

on amendment to raise a force for protection of south-west frontiers, 519;

on striking out certain words in the answer to the President's speech, 540;

on the indemnification of the sufferers by the Pennsylvania insurgents, 553;

on the resolution relative to Indian lands in North Carolina, 582;

on resolutions relative to intruders on Indian lands, 589;

in Senate on agreeing to answer of President's speech, 596;

in Senate on resolutions relative to French flag, 601;

in Senate, relative to the admission of Tennessee, 602, 603;

on the resolution relative to the treaty with Great Britain, 692;

on the resolutions relative to the refusal of the President to furnish papers on the British treaty, 702;

on the resolution expressive of the sense of the House on the British treaty, 753;

on the resolution of the House relative to the execution of the British treaty, 753;

note, 754;

on the resolution that some law should be passed by Congress recognizing Tennessee as a State before its admission, 759;

on the claim of Catharine Greene, 762.

END OF VOL. I.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Of this talent, Mr. Gales has lately given a most remarkable instance, in drawing out from notes which had remained as lost for near forty years, a most important speech of Mr. Randolph, delivered shortly before the late war with Great Britain, and in relation to the then condition of public affairs, both with Great Britain and the Emperor Napoleon the First. Mr. Gales had taken down the speech: the notes of it got into the bottom of a trunk, and lay there till a year ago, when Mr. Gales, searching high and low for matter for the Annals, chanced to find them; and immediately drew out the full speech with the freshness and vigor of a morning report of a previous day's debate.

[2] In the first five years of the existence of the Federal Government, there was no publication of debates in the Senate, that body having sat with closed doors, in its legislative as well as in its executive capacity, until the 20th of February, 1794. Until that time there will be no Senate debates to be abridged; but the proceedings of the body were fully kept in journals, and selections from these proceedings will afford much curious and instructive information to the student of American political history, as showing the manner in which the founders of the government put it into operation, their views in relation to important points, and the changes which the constitution of the Senate has undergone.

[3] A list of the Senators and Representatives who composed the First Congress is inserted at page 20.

[4] his address being in the nature of an Inaugural, and confined to general recommendations, only the beginning and the ending, so characteristic of the father of his country, have been given.

[5] These entries in relation to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs show the early method of communicating with the Secretaries, being called before the Senate to give explanations and bring papers-a method now superseded by reports. The early Senators lamented the change, believing the old way to be the best for getting the information that was wanted, and also the best security against the appointment of incompetent Secretaries.

[6] Another instance of the early practice of the government. The President consults the Senate beforehand upon the negotiation of Indian treaties, and sends the Secretary at War in person to give the necessary explanations: this mode of consulting the Senate since so far departed from that that body has no knowledge of the treaty until sent in for ratification.

[7] This message of President Washington is a strong instance of his deference for the Senate, thus giving up upon its objection the nomination of a citizen which he knew to be fit and meritorious. It was also a strong instance of the deference of the Senate to the Senators of the State interested in the nomination, Col. Fishbourn having been rejected simply because the Georgia Senators preferred another.

[8] These proceedings of President Washington and the Senate, in fixing on the mode of communication between them when treaties were to be formed, or appointments to be made, was their interpretation of the clause in the constitution which requires the advice and consent of the Senate on such occasions. Their interpretation was (according to the obvious meaning of language) that the advice and consent should be obtained beforehand; and the practice was in conformity to that interpretation, as will be seen in the proceedings of the next day, when the President and Secretary at War attended the Senate, and the President gave in a statement of facts, which, in his opinion, rendered treaties with the Southern Indian tribes necessary, and asked the advice and consent of the Senate upon their formation. These proceedings will be read with interest by all who study the working of our government, and observe the changes which its practice has undergone. The change has been great in the mode of obtaining this advice and consent, and greatly to the prejudice of the free and independent action of the Senate in such cases. Instead of consultation and concurrence beforehand, as the words of the constitution imply, and as the practice under Washington required (even to the minute provisions of an Indian treaty), the most important, and even unusual and extraordinary treaties, and with foreign powers, have come to be negotiated (oftentimes) without even the knowledge of the Senate, concealed from it until concluded, and then laid before the body for ratification, as an administration measure-the ratification to be pressed under all the influences of an executive measure, and upon all the considerations of inconvenience and danger to attend the rejection of a measure executively concluded with a foreign power. Under such circumstances treaties are often ratified, and appointments often confirmed, under a moral duress of the Senate, the weight of the executive and the inconveniences of rejection leaving no chance for the free action of the body. President Polk revived the Washingtonian mode of consulting the Senate, in the formation of the Oregon Treaty in 1846, asking the advice of the Senate beforehand on the point of establishing the boundary line with Great Britain on the parallel of 49 degrees; whereof the secret as well as the public history may be seen in the "Thirty Years' View," under the proper year. The personal attendance of the President and Secretaries being found to be inconvenient, that part of the mode of communication was dispensed with in Washington's time.

[9] The question in relation to North Carolina arose out of the circumstance that she had not then accepted the Federal Constitution, and was not at that time a member of the Union.

[10] North Carolina was not represented in the first Session of this Congress, not having at that time accepted the Constitution.

[11] Rhode Island, for the same cause, did not appear till the third Session.

[12] Mr. Bland deceased during the second recess of Congress, and was succeeded at the third Session by William B. Giles.

[13] See notes to list of Senators.

[14] Ibid.

[15] For a list of the Representatives in the first Congress, see p. 20.

[16] For this list see the Senate Journal.

[17] This scale of duties, thus offered by the Continental Congress of 1783, and agreed to by the States, after proposing small specific duties on a few enumerated articles, (wines, spirits, teas, coffee, cocoa, molasses, sugars and pepper,) proposed an ad valorem duty of five per centum upon all other goods, computed on the value of the article at the time and place of importation.

[18] In bringing forward the measure for imposing impost and tonnage duties, Mr. Madison proceeded in the approved parliamentary form, of first discussing and agreeing upon the provisions of the measure, and then appointing a committee to bring in a bill according to what had been agreed upon. Long experience had proved that to be the safest mode of legislation, giving full scope to the whole intelligence of the House, before the measure had taken a form which it might be difficult to alter, as is always the case when a committee brings in a detailed bill, (without previous instructions from the House,) and which, as an act of a committee, and as a matured plan, (though done by a few,) has an authority which resists alteration, and renders amendments, at the instance of a member, most difficult to obtain. This wise and safe practice, of settling the provisions of a bill beforehand, has been nearly abandoned by our Congress-to the great prejudice of beneficial legislation.

[19] Not additional. The enumerated articles were not to be subject to the ad valorem duty of five per centum.

[20] The delegates from that State were gone to meet the Vice-President, who was expected in town this day.

[21] The members of the two Houses of Congress began to assemble on the 4th day of March, but a quorum did not appear in the House of Representatives until the 1st of April, nor in the Senate until the 6th of that month. The organization of the two Houses necessarily preceded the inauguration of the President, which took place on the 30th of April. Some of the ceremonies observed on that occasion, and for some time afterwards, have since been discontinued: as, the proclamation for the long life of the President-his repairing to church to attend divine service, accompanied by the two Houses-his re-conducting to his own house by a committee of the two Houses-the answer to the inaugural address by each House.

[22] In this measure of the tonnage duties the House, as in the case of the impost duties, (and in fact in all other cases in which a law was wanted,) first settled the provisions of the bill in discussing the propositions on which it was to be founded, and then directed a committee to bring in a bill accordingly: but the bill, when brought in, still open to debate and amendment. This was the safe mode of legislation, approved by long experience in the British Parliament, and still more commended by the evils which have grown out of its abandonment in our Congress.

[23] The legislative and diplomatic history of the United States affords abundant evidence of the wisdom of the objection taken in this debate against the indefinite duration of public acts. To repeal such laws, or to terminate such treaties, is almost impossible. Besides the difficulty of getting the three legislative branches to agree at the same time upon the repeal, or the termination, an interest grows up under the measure which becomes identified with its existence, and works for its perpetuity; and when it has been continued for some years, and the temporary circumstances in which it originated have been forgotten, it becomes invested with the sanctity of age, and finds protection in the spirit which dreads change as innovation. Of this character, two acts of Congress, and two conventions with foreign powers, may be mentioned as samples of many in our history, to wit: 1. The Factory system of supplying the Indians with cheap goods through Government agents, established as a temporary experimental measure for three years, &c., under Washington, and which was soon found to be working badly both for the Indians and for the Government, and yet which could not be got rid of for thirty years! nor until after the whole capital had disappeared.

2. The salt tax, and the fishing bounties and allowances founded upon it, revived as a temporary war-tax during the late war with Great Britain in 1812, and now continued forty years after the war has been finished! successfully resisting all attempts at repeal, while burthening the people with an odious tax, and enabling the fishing interest to take some $300,000 annually (near five millions up to this time) out of the public treasury, most of it unduly. Of treaties may be considered as instances the convention with Great Britain for the joint occupation of the Columbia, where the stipulated right of each party to terminate it at pleasure upon a year's notice, could not be exercised for twenty years! and then, with alarms of war and great disturbance to the country. And also the convention of 1842, with the same power for keeping up each a squadron on the coast of Africa, (for the suppression of the slave trade,) for five years; and until either party should give notice for its abrogation. The five years have been out three times over! yet the notice cannot be given; and a temporary measure becomes permanent through an illusory limitation.

[24] The preamble to this act, and the speeches in favor of it, have been greatly relied upon in support of a protective tariff, but without reason, as the speeches themselves, and the rate of duties established, fully show. Every speech showed revenue to be the object of every proposed duty-protection to domestic industry being an incident to result from the accomplishment of that object, and from such moderate duties as were then imposed-the ad valorems being five per centum, 7-1/2 and 12-1/2; and only a single class going as high as fifteen per centum, and that class confined to an article of luxury, to wit: imported pleasure carriages. The specific duties were on the like moderate scale; yet these moderate duties, thus laid for revenue, gave all the protection which was then asked, and to the satisfaction of every part of the Union, and cannot be quoted as any argument for the protective system which so much disturbed the country.

[25] This call to order, and enforcement of it, for so slight a deviation from the point in debate, is a striking illustration of the business habits of our early Congresses, and accounts for the reason (inter alia) why the debates of that early time were so pithy, pointed, sententious, instructive and beautiful.

[26] It is presumable he alluded to Mr. Gerry, a member of a Committee of Congress, appointed to superintend the Treasury.

[27] The questions of contested elections, generally depending upon personal and temporary circumstances, are usually omitted in this abridgment; but where they rise higher and reach the principles of Government, or connect themselves with the national history, then they become questions of general and permanent interest, adding to the stock of political knowledge; and as such are entitled to historical commemoration. Upon this view of such questions the debate on the contested election of William Smith, of South Carolina, is here given; and that on the contested election of Albert Gallatin, and some others, will be given hereafter.

[28] This remark of Mr. Madison shows the true reason for instituting the previous question, which was to prevent debate in cases in which there ought not to be any; cases in which it was necessary to guard the House against improper discussion. What a departure from that reason has since taken place in the House of Representatives! for the Senate has, thus far, been shielded from the introduction of that question and its consequent abuse.

[29] It was afterwards renewed and carried, and in that form the amendments were made, twelve in number, and form additional articles to the constitution, leaving the text of that instrument unaltered, but controlled by the amendment where they differ, as in the twelfth amendment.

[30] By taking the hour of 5 o'clock for the funeral, the adjournment of the two Houses, and the loss of a day was obviated, while becoming respect was shown to the memory of the deceased member.

[31] Having found a personal attendance on such occasions inconvenient, President Washington adopted the form of a written message in asking the advice and consent of the Senate to the formation of the treaties which he judged to be necessary. Mr. Polk followed this form in consulting the Senate on the Oregon treaty of 1846.

[32] The galleries were unusually crowded.

[33] The committee reported in favor of a residence of two years, and with that provision the bill was passed.

[34] Estimated at twenty-one millions of dollars, and distributed among the States thus:

New Hampshire, $300,000

Massachusetts, 4,000,000

Rhode Island, 200,000

Connecticut, 1,600,000

New York, 1,200,000

New Jersey, 800,000

Pennsylvania, 2,200,000

Delaware, 200,000

Maryland, 800,000

Virginia, 3,200,000

North Carolina, 2,200,000

South Carolina, 4,000,000

Georgia, 300,000

------

$21,000,000

[35] The motion of Mr. Madison was lost, and with it the largest door was opened to the pillage of original creditors, the plunder of the public Treasury and the corruption of Congress which the history of any Government has ever seen. The immediate mischief was some thirty millions: it was only the beginning. Assignees of claims have since been the great suitors to Congress-purchasing for a trifle, and upon speculation-pursuing the recovery by indirect means-taking no denial-and gaining in the end what was scouted at the start. It has given rise to a new profession-a new industrial pursuit, still more industrious by night than by day-hunting up claims, pressing them upon Congress; and by organization, skill, perseverance, appliances, and seductions carrying through the most unfounded demands. By the common law a chose in action (an executory contract) was not assignable; and the whole experience of our Government from the assumption of the State debts, and funding of the revolutionary certificates in 1790 down to the present day, shows that the interest of the original creditor, the safety of the Treasury, and the purity of Congress require this wise common law principle to be applied to all claims upon the Government.

[36] These proceedings put an end to abolition petitions in Congress. The Society of which Dr. Franklin was president was purely philanthropic in its character, and having got the answer to their petition, "that Congress had no right to interfere in the emancipation of slaves, or their treatment in any of the States," acquiesced in the decision and did not repeat their application.

[37] This measure became combined with the Assumption Bill. Each had failed by small majorities: both were afterwards passed. There was a strong sectional party for each, but not a majority. The Eastern and Middle States were for the assumption-the Southern States against it: these latter were for the Potomac for the seat of Government-the former for the Susquehannah. The discontent was extreme on each side at losing its favorite measure. At last the two measures were combined. Two members from the Potomac who had voted against the assumption, agreed to change their votes: a few from the Eastern and Middle States who had voted against the Potomac, agreed to change in its favor; and so the two measures were passed. Mr. Jefferson gives this account of it, omitting his strictures: "This measure (the assumption) produced the most bitter and angry contest ever known in Congress, before or since the union of the States. I arrived in the midst of it: but a stranger to the ground, a stranger to the actors in it, so long absent as to have lost all familiarity with the subject, and as yet unaware of its object, I took no concern in it. The great and trying question, however, was lost in the House of Representatives. So high were the feuds excited on this subject that, on its rejection, business was suspended. Congress met and adjourned from day to day without doing any thing, the parties being too much out of temper to do business together. The Eastern members threatened secession and dissolution. Hamilton was in despair. As I was going to the President's one day, I met him in the street. He walked me backwards and forwards before the President's door for half an hour. He painted pathetically the temper into which the Legislature had been wrought-the disgust of those who were called the creditor States-the danger of the secession of their members, and of the separation of the States. He observed that the members of the administration ought to act in concert-that though this question was not of my department, yet a common duty should make it a common concern-that the President was the centre on which all administrative questions ultimately rested, and that all of us should rally around him, and support, with joint efforts, measures approved by him; and that the question having been lost by a small majority only, it was probable that an appeal from me to the judgment and discretion of some of my friends, might effect change in the vote, and the machine of government, now suspended, might be again set in motion. I told him that I was really a stranger to the whole subject; that not having yet informed myself of the system of finances adopted, I knew not how far this was a necessary sequence; that undoubtedly, if its rejection endangered a dissolution of our Union at this incipient stage, I should deem that the most unfortunate of all consequences, to avert which all partial and temporary evils should be yielded. I proposed to him, however, to dine with me the next day, and I would invite another friend or two, bring them into conference together, and I thought it impossible that reasonable men, consulting together coolly, could fail, by some mutual sacrifices of opinion, to form a compromise which would save the Union. The discussion took place. I could take no part in it but an exhortatory one, because I was a stranger to the circumstances which should govern it. But it was finally agreed, that whatever importance had been attached to the rejection of this proposition, the preservation of the Union, and of concord among the States, was more important, and that therefore it would be better that the vote of rejection should be rescinded-to effect which some members should change their votes. But it was observed that this pill would be peculiarly bitter to the Southern States, and that some concomitant measure should be adopted to sweeten it a little to them. There had before been propositions to fix the seat of Government either at Philadelphia, or at Georgetown on the Potomac; and it was thought that by giving it to Philadelphia for ten years, and to Georgetown permanently afterwards, this might, as an anodyne, calm in some degree the ferment which might be excited by the other measure alone: so two of the Potomac members (White and Lee, but the former with a revulsion of stomach almost convulsive) agreed to change their votes; and Hamilton undertook to carry the other point."

[38] Could the extent to which the evil has since been carried, have been foreseen at the time, the state of the vote might have been very different.

[39] Topics of temporary interest omitted.

[40] At this commencement of the second Congress, being in the third year of Washington's administration, and when the finances had been brought to order and system by General Hamilton, and the machinery of government put into fair and full operation, a proper point presents itself to look at the expenses of the new Government, both as a fact at the time, and as a point of comparison in the future. In the annual speech which the President delivered to the two Houses, he congratulated Congress on the adequacy of the revenues which had been provided, and on the prospect that no new burthens would be required to be laid upon the people. This was a gratifying announcement, and makes it desirable to see what was the revenue at that time, and to what objects applied. The first inquiry is answered by a recurrence to the two tariff acts which had been passed-one at the first, the other at the second session of the first Congress. The first act had produced near two millions of dollars, which, though five times beyond what was necessary for the support of the Government, was not sufficient for the demands of the public debt and the Indian war raging in the North-west. An augmentation of the duties became necessary, and was accomplished in the second act, but still on a scale of moderation. The ad valorems were 5 per centum, 7-1/2, 10, 12-1/2, 15; but in counting their product, only the two first may be considered, as the mass of the importations fell under those rates; to wit, above 16 millions under the two first, and less than one million under the three last; so that the 5 and the 7-1/2 ad valorems may be considered as the effective duties, and the actual levy upon the imports. The list of specific duties was enlarged in the second bill, (the Secretary of the Treasury wisely saying that the experience of the world showed that duties upon quantities, ascertainable by weight and measure, were the only ones capable of safe and cheap collection, and therefore to be preferred as far as possible.) and their rate increased, but still in moderate proportion. The produce of the whole was about 3-1/2 millions, which was nearly nine times as much as the support of the Government required, leaving nearly eight parts out of nine to go to the public debt, the Indian war, and other extraordinary objects. This important statement requires to be verified, which is done by referring to General Hamilton's estimate of appropriations at the commencement of this first session of the second Congress; to wit, CIVIL LIST, comprehending compensation to the President and Vice President-the Departments of State, Treasury and War-the Board of Commissioners-the government of the North-western Territory-the Judiciary-the two Houses of Congress-contingencies incident to the civil list: in all $328,653.00; to which was afterwards added $87,000 for diplomatic intercourse, increasing the amount of the annual estimate to $415,000. The public debt, the Indian war, and other extraordinaries took all the rest, amounting to about three millions; so that this small revenue, produced by such moderate duties upon the small importation of that day, sufficed for the support of the Government, for carrying on an Indian war as far off, (the distance measured by time and cost of march and transportation,) and with Indians far more formidable than any now in the world; and also for the interest of the public debt. This is a result for statesmen to consider, and to bring into comparison with the present state of things; and the reflection may be, that with the same spirit of economy which, then prevailed, the same knowledge of the objects for which the Federal Government was created, and the same determination to confine its action to those objects, the same moderate rate of duties on the large importations of this day would be entirely sufficient, both for the support of the Government and for all extraordinary objects. The cost of collecting the revenue in that early period also presents a point for retrospect and comparison; it was then about 3 and 1/3 per cent., and according to the principle of such collections, should become less in proportion to the larger amount collected. On the contrary, the increase has been inordinate! and is, perhaps, now hardly ascertainable, but cutting deep into the national income.

[41] The case of Pennsylvania goes far to sustain this view. The policy of William Penn was that of justice and humanity to the Indians, and his colony was long exempt from its calamity of savage hostility. It had been settled seventy years-from 1680 to 1753-before an Indian killed one of its inhabitants, and then in consequence of a disturbance in a neighboring province. Such an exemption, for so long a time, and while all the other colonies were involved in Indian wars from their early settlement, while so honorable to Penn's government and to the inoffensive manners of the inhabitants, goes far to show that the Indians were manageable by good treatment, and that, although savage, their savageism was not of a kind to resist the effects of justice and kindness.

[42] This speech, of Cornplanter, the famous chief of the Seneca tribe, (one of the Six Nations,) does not appear in the debates, having been confidentially read to the House; but it is found in the State papers of the time, and is, as the allusions to it implied, a plea in behalf of the Indians against the wrongs of the whites. Intrusion upon their lands, fraudulent purchases, and killing unoffending Indians, are the subjects of complaint. The speech opens with a characteristic appeal to Washington.

"Father: The voice of the Seneca nation speaks to you, the great councillor in whose heart the wise men of all the Thirteen Fires (Thirteen United States) have placed their wisdom. It may be very small in your ears, and we therefore entreat you to hearken with attention: for we are about to speak of things which are to us very great. When your army entered the country of the Six Nations, we called you the town destroyer; and to this day, when that name is heard, our women look behind them and turn pale, and our children cling close to the necks of their mothers. Our councillors and warriors are men, and cannot be afraid; but their hearts are grieved with the fears of our women and children, and desire it to be buried so deep as to be heard no more. When you gave us peace, we called you Father, because you promised to secure us in the possession of our lands. Do this, and, so long as the lands shall remain, that beloved name will live in the heart of every Seneca."

Then followed a complaint for wrongs done them in their lands; to which Washington replied that that wrong was done before the new Government was established and the management of Indian affairs given up to it; but that they would now be protected. This reply fell short of his expectations, and the Cornplanter rejoined:

"Father: Your speech written on the great paper, is to us like the first light of the morning to a sick man, whose pulse beats too strongly in his temples, and prevents him from sleep. He sees it and rejoices, but is not cured."

Of killing and robbing their people he said:

"Three men and one woman have been killed at Big Beaver Creek, and they were good people, and some of the white people will testify this. Twenty-seven men came from another State, and murdered these men in the Quaker State where they had come to trade, and took away all the horses, and all the goods they had purchased from the traders."

The President answers to this complaint that he is very angry to hear of this murder and robbery-that he will have it inquired into, and will comfort the friends and relations of the persons who were killed, and make them compensation for the horses and property taken; and do all in his power to bring the murderers to justice, and that he will consider the crime as bad, exactly, as if committed against so many white people, and will use the same endeavors to bring them to punishment. Satisfied with the assurances which the President gave them, the Cornplanter, and the other chiefs with him, took a formal and affectionate leave in writing; in which they say:

"Father: No Seneca ever goes from the fire of his friend until he has said to him 'I am going.' We therefore now tell you, that we are setting out for our own country. Father: We thank you from our hearts, that we now know there is a country we may call our own, and on which we may lie down in peace. We see that there will be peace between your children and our children, and our hearts are very glad."

On arriving at Pittsburg on their way home, for these interviews with Washington took place in Philadelphia, these children of the forest with a native sentiment of graceful politeness, wrote back to him to let him know how they were getting along, the whole expressed in two brief sentences.

"Through the whole Quaker State, as we came up the road, we were treated well, and they took good care of us until we came here. One misfortune happened only, that one of our wagons is not yet arrived here, the one we first engaged, and with the goods you presented to us."

They always speak affectionately of the Quaker State, and in one of the speeches to President Washington, having occasion to mention a promise made to them by the State, said:

"The Quaker State will do what it promises."

[43] Mr. Jefferson, Secretary of State, in his Report on the fisheries.

[44] Letters of the Secretary of War and Quartermaster General.

[45] For an authorized establishment of 5,120 men, of all arms, the actual establishment being about 3,600. It would be curious to compare the army expenses of that day with those of this day, and the comparative care with which Congress looked into these expenses at the two different periods. The United States were engaged in Indian wars then as now, and upon a theatre (time and cost of getting to it considered) as far off as our Indian wars are at present; for, the distance estimated in that way, is less now to California than it was then to the Miami of the Lakes: yet a cost of something like $200 a head was considered extravagant, and such as to call upon Congress for an inquiry.

[46] The bill came down from the Senate where debates were not published, and seems to have passed the House without debate, and almost without division, there being but seven votes against it, and two of these (Messrs. Mercer and Parker) from slave States. Nor does it appear to what part of the bill they objected, whether to the part in relation to fugitives from justice, or to those who fled from service, for both classes of fugitives were comprehended in the same bill. It was passed on a message from President Washington, founded on a communication from the Governor of Pennsylvania in relation to a fugitive from justice who had taken refuge in Virginia, and because it was necessary to have an act of Congress to give effect to the rendition clause in the constitution. There was but little necessity in those times, nor for long after, for an act of Congress to authorize the recovery of fugitive slaves. The laws of the free States, and still more the force of public opinion, were the owners' best safeguards. Public opinion was against the abduction of slaves; and if any one was seduced from his owner, it was done furtively and secretly, without show or force, and as any other moral offence would be committed. State laws favored the owner, and to a greater extent than the act of Congress did, or could. In Pennsylvania there was an act (it was passed in 1780, and only repealed in 1847) discriminating between the traveller and sojourner, and the permanent resident, allowing the former to remain six months in the State before his slaves would become subject to the emancipation laws; and, in the case of a federal government officer, allowing as much more time as his duties required him to remain. New York had the same act, only varying in time, which was nine months. While these two acts were in force, and supported by public opinion, the traveller and sojourner was safe with his slaves in those States, and the same in the other free States. There was no trouble about fugitive slaves in those times. This act of 1793 did not grow out of any such trouble, but out of the case of a fugitive from justice. It was that case which brought the subject before Congress; and, in the act that was passed, the case of fugitives from justice was first provided for, the first and second sections of the act being given to that branch of the subject, and the third and fourth to the other-all brief and plain, and executable without expense or fuss. In the case of a slave the owner was allowed to seize him wherever he saw him, by day or by night, Sundays or week-days, just as if he was in his own State, and a penalty of $500 attached to any person who resisted or obstructed him in this seizure. The only authority he wanted was after the seizure, and to justify the carrying back, and for that purpose, the affidavit of the owner, or his agent was sufficient. This act was perfect, except in relying upon State officers, as well as federal officers to execute it, these State officers not being subject to the federal law, and being forbid to act after slavery became a subject of political agitation.

[47] This was a party election, and as such conducted on both sides. Marshall, in his Life of Washington, says of it: "By each party a candidate for the chair was brought forward; and Mr. Muhlenberg, who was supported by the opposition, was elected by a majority of ten votes against Mr. Sedgwick whom the Federalists supported."

[48] The debate on this subject was one of the most elaborate, and most replete with knowledge of commercial principles and statistics, which our Congress has furnished. It grew out of the clause in the constitution which gave Congress power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and gives the interpretation of that clause by its authors, which was wholly different in its nature, as well as distinct in its grant, from the power to lay and collect duties on imports. The latter was to raise revenue: the former to coerce nations into reciprocity of liberal trade with us by making a discrimination in the trade of nations to the disadvantage of the nations which refused to come into reciprocal arrangements with us. The discrimination proposed by Mr. Madison was 5 per centum, and was levelled against Britain, and was only defeated by five votes. In this great debate, as in that upon the Bank of the United States, the genius of Hamilton and Jefferson were pitted against each other, each having made opposite reports on each question, which were the magazines from which the opposing speakers in Congress chiefly armed themselves-Mr. Madison being the chief exponent of the Jeffersonian side, and Mr. William Smith, of South Carolina, that of General Hamilton. It is curious that while this power to regulate foreign commerce by Congress, was one of the chief causes for forming the Federal Government, yet it has never been exercised by Congress, and seems to be a power overlooked, or confounded with that to lay duties and imposts for revenue. Though not yet exercised, it is a power which has found need for its exercise, and will find it again. Our immense commerce, if all articles are taxed even moderately, will produce far more revenue than the economical and fair administration of the Government would require: a large part of it would be left free, as after the payment of the public debt in President Jackson's time; and as may be again after the extinction of the public debt, and the introduction of economy into the expenditures. A moderate duty on two-thirds of the importations may then be sufficient for the expenditures of the Government, leaving (say) one-third to go upon the free list. Now the nations which receive the chief benefit of that large free importation ought to reciprocate the favor by taking something free, or at a moderate duty, from us. "Free commerce is not to be given in exchange for burthens and impositions;" and that was the principle of Mr. Madison's resolutions, which were barely defeated, and that by the influence of the mercantile class engaged in commerce with Great Britain. A full view of this subject is given in the first volume of the Thirty Years' View, in giving an account of the effort of the author to revive Mr. Madison's plan.

[49] It is grateful to behold the immense progress which the humanity of nations has made. Great Britain is no longer subject to the imputation of exciting pirates and savages against us. She has long since ceased to instigate Indian hostilities, and long ago joined us in humbling Algiers. Far from stimulating barbarian war, she even interposes to save us from civilized war with great nations-witness the proffered mediation of William the Fourth to settle the difficulty between France and the United States, in General Jackson's time: a beautiful instance of old animosity extinct under time, and former evil deeds succeeded by works of kindness and respect.

[50] This seventh, article stipulated indemnity to the owners of the deported slaves.

[51] Mr. Jefferson resigned his place of Secretary of State at the end of this session, and was succeeded by Mr. Edmund Randolph, of Virginia. Of the resignation and character of Mr. Jefferson, Marshall thus speaks: "This gentleman withdrew from political station at a moment when he stood particularly high in the esteem of his countrymen. His fixed opposition to the financial schemes which had been proposed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and approved by the Legislative and Executive Departments of the Government; his ardent and undisguised attachment to the revolutionary party in France; the dispositions which he was declared to possess in regard to Great Britain; and the popularity of his opinions respecting the Constitution of the United States; had devoted to him that immense party whose sentiments were supposed to comport with his on most or all of these interesting subjects. To the opposite party he had, of course, become particularly unacceptable. But the publication of his correspondence with the French minister, Genet, dissipated much of the prejudice which had been excited against him. He had, in that correspondence, maintained, with great ability, the opinions embraced by the Federalists on those points of difference which had arisen between the two Republics, and which, having become universally the subjects of discussion, had in some measure dissipated those topics on which parties had previously divided."

[52] The ratification of the Treaty, with the exception of the 12th article, was by the following vote: Yeas-Messrs. Bingham, Bradford, Cabot, Ellsworth, Foster, Frelinghuysen, Gunn, Henry, King, Latimer, Livermore, Marshall, Paine, Potts, Read, Ross, Rutherford, Strong, Trumbull, and Vining-20. Nays-Messrs. Bloodworth, Brown, Burr, Butler, Jackson, Langdon, Martin, Mason, Robinson, and Tazewell-10. This excepted article related to the direct trade with the British West Indies; and the recommendation added to the clause of ratification was with a view to obtain the full enjoyment of that trade. This was in the year 1795, and the object of the recommendation was not obtained until above thirty years thereafter, and under the administration of General Jackson.

[53] This recommendation to treat further for obtaining indemnity for the slaves carried off by the British during the Revolution, remained without effect, and all claim to that indemnification was relinquished by the treaty of 1796. But the same deportation of slaves took place in the war of 1812, followed by the same stipulation for indemnity in the treaty which closed that war, which was contained in the treaty which closed the war of the Revolution; and attended by the same refusal to comply with it. It was not until after twelve years of further negotiation, and under the administration of Mr. John Quincy Adams, and under the arbitrament of the Emperor Alexander, of Russia, that indemnity for these deported slaves of 1812 was received.

[54] This was the first instance of any heated debate in answering an address from Washington. It became a party discussion on some points, especially in relation to what was said of the Democratic societies. Marshall says of it: "A very eloquent and animated debate ensued, which terminated in the Committee of the Whole by striking out the words, "self-created societies"-47 voting for, and 45 against expunging them." The question was renewed in the House; and the Chairman of the committee being opposed in sentiment to the Speaker, who was now placed in the chair, the majority was precisely changed, and the words were reinstated. This was a victory for the Administration, but soon lost, the next being in favor of the opposition.

[55] He resigned accordingly, no further investigation being moved with respect to him. Recording the event, Marshall says: "Seldom has any minister excited in a higher, or more extensive degree than General Hamilton, the opposite passions of love and hate. His talents were of a grade too exalted not to receive from all the tribute of profound respect; and his integrity and honor as a man, not less than his official rectitude, though slandered at a distance, were admitted to be superior to reproach by those enemies who knew him."

[56] A celebrated painter who died in 1554. Speaking of this artist, Henry the Eighth once said, "Out of seven ploughmen I can make seven Lords, but out of seven Lords I cannot make even one Holbein."

[57] Col. Timothy Pickering, in place of Gen. Knox, resigned.

[58] The distinction was invidious, and soon fell under the ban of public opinion; but the mode of making it was commendable, and freed the Senators voting for the increase from the imputation of a personal motive.

[59] This was nominally a private petition, but in reality a question between the State of North Carolina and the Federal Government in relation to their relative rights over Indian lands within the chartered limits of the State.

[60] This was the first discussion with open doors, except on the contested election of Mr. Gallatin.

[61] This was the first formal opposition to the mode of answering the President's Speech at the opening of the Sessions of Congress, though many members had from the first been repugnant to it as being too close an imitation of the British mode of opening the Sessions of Parliament by an Address from the sovereign in person, an answer to it, and the presentation of the answer by the House in a body.

[62] Description of the Flag.-It is tricolor, made of the richest silk, and highly ornamented with allegorical paintings. In the middle, a cock is represented, the emblem of France, standing on a thunderbolt. At two corners, diagonally opposite, are represented two bombshells bursting; at the other two corners, other military emblems. Round the whole is a rich border of oak leaves, alternately yellow and green; the first shaded with brown and heightened with gold; the latter shaded with black and relieved with silver; in this border are entwined warlike musical instruments. The edge is ornamented with a rich gold fringe. The staff is covered with black velvet, crowned with a golden pike, and enriched with the tricolor cravatte and a pair of tassels worked in gold, and the three national colors. The flag is to be deposited in the archives of the United States.

[63] Counsel for the prisoner.

[64] Of all the members who opposed this trading establishment from the commencement, Mr. Macon was the only one that remained in Congress until it was abolished in 1822.

[65] This motion, going to the destruction of the Mint itself, brought up an incidental debate on the right of Congress to withhold appropriations for the support of existing establishments-which is the only part of the debate on the bill which retains a surviving interest.

[66] This being the last year of Washington's administration, it presents a proper occasion for seeing what the support of the Government then cost, both as an inquiry pertinent in itself, and as furnishing a point of comparison for the future. This is shown in the introductory clause to the appropriations, stating, "That for defraying the expenditure of the civil list of the United States for the year 1796, together with the incidental and contingent expenses of the several departments and officers thereof, there be appropriated a sum not exceeding $530,392 85 cents." The objects to which this expenditure went, were, 1. Salary to President and Vice President. 2. Compensation to the members of Congress, with all the incidental expenses of that body. 3. The federal judiciary, with all its contingent expenses. 4. The Executive departments, with all their subordinate offices and expenses of every kind. 5. The Mint establishment. 6. The light-house establishment. 7. North-western and South-western territorial governments; with a few other small objects. For each of these items a specific sum was appropriated, of which, the appropriations for Congress were, for the pay of the members and all the officers and attendants, (estimated for a session of six months,) $193,460; and the expenses, fuel, stationery, printing, and all other contingencies of the two Houses, were $11,500. For diplomatic intercourse, $40,000.

[67] And proved to be so in this case, though it required thirty years' experience to show it. When the system was brought to a close in 1822, it was found that the whole capital was gone.

[68] This was the first attempt to pay members of Congress as salaried officers.

[69] This resolution would seem to embody Mr. Madison's interpretation of the clause in the constitution which authorizes Congress to establish post roads.

[70] This explanatory note was written by Mr. Gales, editor of the Annals of Congress, who has rendered a valuable service to the student of political history in bringing these two great debates, each by itself, into a single and connected form. They are the groundwork of high constitutional knowledge; and, whether for the intrinsic importance of their matter, the close acquaintance of the speakers with their subject, or as fine specimens of parliamentary debating, they stand forth as debates of the first class which our congressional history has afforded. Marshall, in his history, says of them: "Never had a greater display been made of argument, of eloquence, and of passion; and never had a subject been discussed in which all classes of their fellow-citizens took a deeper interest." The first debate related to the Treaty-making power, and how far the House of Representatives had the right to refuse assent to a treaty which required an appropriation of money, or which regulated commerce, or which required the exercise of any other power specifically granted to Congress. The second applied to the execution of the commercial Treaty of 1794, with Great Britain; one party contending that the Congress was bound to make the appropriation to carry it into effect-the other denying the obligation and claiming the right of a discretionary power. The two debates were upon kindred subjects, and before the House at the same time, yet kept distinct, in the discussion, neither sliding into the other, and one finished before the other began; such was the closeness with which members then adhered to the subject, even in Committee of the Whole, and which gave to these early debates of our Congress so much point and power, and so much attraction to the hearer then and to the reader now. An abridgment can only present a part of these great debates, which cover above 300 pages of the Annals of Congress; but the whole argument will be seen on both sides, as the pith and marrow of each main speech will be given.

[71] This course was long followed, no Indian Treaty being held except authorized by an act of Congress, which was the Legislative consent to the grants of money which such Treaties usually contain, and for the payment of which an Act of Congress would be necessary. And in the two great cases of acquiring foreign territory, (Louisiana and Florida,) under Presidents contemporary with the formation of the constitution, and which required large appropriations to carry them into effect, the consent of the Legislative branch of the Government was sought and obtained before the Executive began to act-the law in both cases originating in the House of Representatives as the proper initiatory branch when money was to be paid which the people would have to raise.

[72] Thus the House, by a majority of 25, passed the call upon the President for the papers, and upon the declared ground of a right to judge the Treaty, as it contained a regulation of commerce, and also required an appropriation of money. President Washington received the call in the sense in which it was made, and although he had no objection to furnishing the papers, and had laid them before the Senate, (whence they became public,) yet he deemed it his duty to resist the claim of right asserted by the House, and therefore to refuse the papers-which he did in a closely reasoned Message, an epitome of the arguments used in the House on that side.

[73] It is seen in this answer of President Washington, that he holds the assent of the House to be unnecessary to the validity of any Treaty whatever, which, of course, includes the class contended for by the House, but makes the question broader than the one presented by its limited claim.

[74] In this resolution the House specifies the class of Treaties over which it claims a right of judgment, and limits it to those which involve a matter which has been specially granted to Congress-as an appropriation of money, or the regulation of commerce.

[75] And thus the President and the House were completely at issue-the House having expressly asserted, by a majority of 27, a right to judge, not every Treaty, or Treaties generally, but those which involved the exercise of any power granted by the constitution to itself. Trained in the school of this majority, the author of this Abridgment, as often as the occasion required, has maintained the same right for the House; and especially in the case of the territorial purchase from Mexico in 1854.

[76] Mr. Hillhouse had submitted a resolution in favor of carrying the Treaty into effect, and afterwards Mr. Maclay submitted one, declaring the contrary; and the question was, which should be taken up? Mr. Madison, as a skilful parliamentary tactician, preferred that of Mr. Hillhouse, as putting the burden of the affirmative upon the adversary, always an advantage in the debate, and, in an even vote, always decisive for the negative side.

[77] The following is the letter received by the committee appointed to inquire into the situation of the son of General Lafayette:

[Translation.]

"Ramapagh, (New Jersey,) March 28, 1796.

"Sir: I have just received the honorable resolution which the merits of my father have procured for me. Deign to express to the Representatives of the people of America his gratitude-my youth forbids me yet to speak of mine. Every day recalls to me what he taught me, at every period of his life, so full of vicissitudes, and what he has repeated in a letter, written from the depth of his prison. 'I am convinced (he says) that the goodness of the United States and the tenderness of my paternal friend will need nothing to excite them.

"Arrived in America some months since, I live in the country, in New Jersey, occupied in the pursuits of my education. I have no wants; if I had felt any, I should have answered to the paternal solicitude of the President of the United States, either by confiding them to him, or by accepting his offers. I shall hereafter consider it a duty, to impart them to the House of Representatives, which deigns to inquire into my situation.

"I am as happy as a continual inquietude relative to the object of my first affections will permit. I have found benevolence wherever I have been known, and have often had the satisfaction of hearing those, who were ignorant of my connections, speak of their interest in the fate of my father, express their admiration of, and partake the gratitude I feel, for the generous Dr. Bollman, who has done so much to break his chains.

"It is amid all these motives of emulation, that I shall continue my studies. Every day more convinced of the duties which are imposed by the goodness of Congress, and the names I have the honor to bear.

"GEO. WASHINGTON MOTIER LAFAYETTE.

The Hon. Edward Livingston, Chairman," &c.

[78] This vote of the House to carry the Treaty into effect, was no abandonment of the right it had asserted to judge its merits, and to grant or withhold the appropriation according to its discretion. The discussion sufficiently shows this, and that many members took care to save their votes from any misconstruction on this head. A sense of expediency, and not the force of obligation, carried the vote; and certainly the inducements to let the Treaty stand were very great. Marshall sums them up thus: "If Congress refused to perform the Treaty on the part of the United States, a compliance on the part of Great Britain could not be expected. The posts on the great lakes would still be occupied by British garrisons: no compensation would be made for American vessels illegally captured: the hostile dispositions which had been excited, would be restored with increased aggravation: and that these dispositions must infallibly lead to war, was implicitly believed." The amount to be appropriated was only $90,000, a sum entirely insignificant, and only to be contested on account of the principle its appropriation would involve. Yet the insignificance of the sum, and with all the inducements to let the Treaty stand, and under such a President as Washington, barely saved it from defeat! so jealous was the Democratic party of that day of the rights of Congress, and so determined was the House to remain master of the public purse. Ninety thousand dollars was all the money at stake; but what has since been seen? An Executive offering fifty millions for a slip of territory! and one hundred millions, and afterwards two hundred, for an island! Actually negotiating a Treaty of twenty millions, which the Senate reduced to ten! and all, not only without the sanction, but without the knowledge of the Legislative power. To admit that Congress would be bound to appropriate such sums if the offers had ripened into Treaty stipulations, would be to admit that the President, Senate, and a foreign potentate were masters of the appropriating power; and, of course, of the taxing and borrowing power, and of all the means by which money was to be raised. Even a discretionary power over the appropriation, after the Treaty has been made, is but a slight defence for the treasury, there being always in Congress, as in all public bodies, men to yield to circumstances,-good easy men to be persuaded; timid men to be scared; venal men to be purchased. And out of these classes enough are usually found to turn the scale, when upright men divide upon a large measure. The only safe way is that of consultation beforehand, as practised by Washington in the early part of his Administration, and by the Presidents under whom Louisiana, Florida, and California were acquired.

[79] The claim was renewed continually, and fruitlessly, until the year 1832, when it was allowed, and the horse paid for according to his certificated specie value at the time he was taken in the year 1781-$1,500.

[80] Up to this time and afterwards, until the year 1798, there was no Naval Department, or Secretary of the Navy, and the marine, as well as the land force, was under the charge of the Secretary of War-which accounts for the appropriations of the two branches of the service appearing in the same bill.

[81] The whole sum appropriated for the Military and Naval Establishments of the year, was, $1,318,873-the strength of the army being 3000 men, and the debate is given as an instance of the closeness with which appropriations were scrutinized in the early ages of the Government, and also as showing the expense of maintaining troops in the north-west-then as far off (time and cost considered) as our Pacific possessions now are.