SEVENTH CONGRESS.—SECOND SESSION. (continued 2)

If I were called upon to prescribe a course of policy most important for this country to pursue, it would be to avoid European connections and wars. The time must arrive when we will have to contend with some of the great powers of Europe, but let that period be put off as long as possible. It is our interest and our duty to cultivate peace, with sincerity and good faith. As a young nation, pursuing industry in every channel, and adventuring commerce in every sea, it is highly important that we should not only have a pacific character, but that we should really deserve it. If we manifest an unwarrantable ambition, and a rage for conquest, we unite all the great powers of Europe against us. The security of all the European possessions in our vicinity will eternally depend, not upon their strength, but upon our moderation and justice. Look at the Canadas—at the Spanish territories to the South—at the British, Spanish, French, Danish, and Dutch West India islands—at the vast countries to the West, as far as where the Pacific rolls its waves; consider well the eventful consequences that would result if we were possessed by a spirit of conquest; consider well the impression which a manifestation of that spirit will make upon those who would be affected by it. If we are to rush at once into the territory of a neighboring nation, with fire and sword, for the misconduct of a subordinate officer, will not our national character be greatly injured? Will we not be classed with the robbers and destroyers of mankind? Will not the nations of Europe perceive in this conduct the germ of a lofty spirit and an enterprising ambition which will level them to the earth, when age has matured our strength and expanded our powers of annoyance, unless they combine to cripple us in our infancy? May not the consequences be, that we must look out for a naval force to protect our commerce; that a close alliance will result; that we will be thrown at once into the ocean of European politics, where every wave that rolls, and every wind that blows, will agitate our bark? Is this a desirable state of things? Will the people of this country be seduced into it by all the colorings of rhetoric, and all the arts of sophistry—by vehement appeals to their pride, and artful addresses to their cupidity? No, sir. Three-fourths of the American people (I assert it boldly, and without fear of contradiction) are opposed to this measure. And would you take up arms with a millstone hanging around your neck? How would you bear up, not only against the force of the enemy, but against the irresistible current of public opinion? The thing, sir, is impossible; the measure is worse than madness; it is wicked beyond the powers of description.

It is in vain for the mover to oppose these weighty considerations by menacing us with an insurrection in the Western States, that may eventuate in their seizure of New Orleans without the authority of Government; their throwing themselves into the arms of a foreign power; or in a dissolution of the Union. Such threats are doubly improper—improper as they respect the persons to whom they are addressed, because we are not to be deterred from the performance of our duty by menaces of any kind, from whatever quarter they may proceed; and it is no less improper to represent our Western brethren as a lawless, unprincipled banditti, who would at once release themselves from the wholesome restraints of law and order; forego the sweets of liberty, and either renounce the blessings of self-government, or, like Goths and Vandals, pour down with the irresistible force of a torrent upon the countries below, and carry havoc and desolation in their train. A separation by a mountain, and a different outlet into the Atlantic, cannot create any natural collision between the Atlantic and Western States; on the contrary, they are bound together by a community of interests, and a similarity of language and manners—by the ties of consanguinity and friendship, and a sameness of principles. There is no reflecting and well-principled man in this country who can view the severance of the States without horror, and who does not consider it as a Pandora's box, which will overwhelm us with every calamity; and it has struck me with not a little astonishment that, on the agitation of almost every great political question, we should be menaced with this evil. Last session, when a bill repealing a Judiciary act was under consideration, we were told that the Eastern States would withdraw themselves from the Union, if it should obtain; and we are now informed that, if we do not accede to the proposition before us, the Western States will hoist the standard of revolt and dismember the empire. Sir, these threats are calculated to produce the evils they predict, and they may possibly approximate the spirit they pretend to warn us against. They are at all times unnecessary, at all times improper, at all times mischievous, and ought never to be mentioned within these walls.

Mr. J. Jackson, of Georgia.—Coming from a State, at the extreme of the Union in the South, and excepting the States immediately interested in the navigation of the Mississippi, the most concerned, on the present occasion, of any in the Union, he hoped it would not be deemed improper in him to offer his sentiments on the resolution before the Senate; for, sir, no event can affect the settlers on the Mississippi, no change of masters can take place there, without the shock being felt on the frontiers of Georgia. The nation which holds New Orleans must eventually possess the Floridas, and Georgia cannot remain an indifferent spectator; in case of war, the blow struck on that river will be vibrated on the Saint Mary's, and the attack on the one will be seconded by an attack on the other.

The gentlemen from Kentucky and Tennessee have not those fears expressed by the gentleman from Pennsylvania; they have declared their citizens satisfied with negotiation in the first place, and the conduct pursued by the Executive. He could say the same, as respects the citizens of the State he represents, and begged leave to read a letter on the subject, from a respectable gentleman of Georgia, applauding the appointment of Mr. Monroe. [He here read a letter expressing the approbation generally expressed at the nomination.]

That there has been an indignity offered to the United States by the Spanish Government of New Orleans, he should not deny; so far, he joined the gentlemen on the other side, as not only to declare that sense of it, but to assert that the withdrawing the right of deposit, given under the fourth article of our treaty with Spain, concluded at San Lorenzo el Real, prior to the pointing out another place for that purpose, is such a violation of our right, and such an insult to the dignity of the nation, as ought not to be put up with in silence. We ought, we are bound to demand a restoration of that right, and to secure it to our Western citizens, let the risk be what it may, if it even extends to life and fortune. He cordially agreed with the gentleman who had preceded him, (Mr. Mason,) that it is a momentous subject; but could not consent to go at once to war, without trying, in the first place, every peaceable mode to obtain redress.

The first part of the resolution declares, that the United States have an indisputable right to the free navigation of the river Mississippi, and to a convenient place of deposit for their produce and merchandise, in the island of New Orleans. Now, sir, the former part of this resolution is not affected by any proceedings of the Spanish Government. You are as perfectly in possession of the right as you ever were; your vessels are at this moment freely navigating that river; you have not heard of a single interruption; you have not learnt that the Spaniards, so far from interrupting that navigation, have ever doubted your right. Why then, sir, resolve on the assertion of rights which are not questioned, but of which you are completely in possession! He could compare it to no other case than that of a man in private life, in peaceable possession of his house, resolving on and publishing his own right to it, and thereby rousing the suspicions of his neighbors to doubt the title to it. Passing over the latter division of the first resolution, and which he acknowledged to be the fact, let us consider the second proposition, "That the late infraction of such their unquestionable right, is an aggression hostile to their honor and interest." Sir, after a declaration of this kind, can you retract? You cannot; it is in fact a declaration of war itself. Many of the courts of Europe would consider it so, and have engaged in war for less cause of offence than this resolution contains. You pronounce at once, without knowing whether the proceedings at New Orleans were sanctioned by the Court of Spain, that that nation is in a state of hostility against your honor and interest, which declaration, coupled with the following resolution, "That it does not consist with the dignity or safety of this Union to hold a right so important by a tenure so uncertain," is a direct insult to that nation. But if war is not to be found in those resolutions, is it not in the fifth resolution, "That the President be authorized to take immediate possession of such place or places in the said island, or the adjacent territories, as he may deem fit or convenient." Is this not war? If it be not, he knew not what war was! And now let us inquire, if we should be justified in adopting those measures, on the grounds of public or private justice, or the laws of nations.

Sir, the going to war has always been considered, even among barbarous nations, a most serious thing; and it has not been undertaken without the most serious deliberation. It was a practice among the Romans, prior to undertaking a war, to consult the faciales on the justice of it; and, after it had been declared just, to refer it to the Senate, to judge of the policy of it; and unless the justice and the policy were both accorded in, the war was not undertaken. If this was the case then among barbarous nations, shall we, who call ourselves a civilized nation, not well weigh the justice and the policy of going to war, before we undertake it?

As to national honor and dignity, he believed we have all a proper sense of it, and he would be one of the last on this floor to put up with insult and indignity from any nation; but, as much as we had heard of it, he did not think we ought, without negotiation, to resent every injury by war. In many cases, national honor is only a convertible term for national interest; and he begged leave to relate an anecdote of a celebrated soldier on this head. After the failure of the attempted storm of Savannah, in the year 1779, Count D'Estaing, who was wounded in the attack, and lay in that situation about five miles from Savannah, was visited by Governor Rutledge and other gentlemen of South Carolina and Georgia. The Governor having perceived some movements in camp indicative of a retrogade motion, told the Count that his own honor and the honor of France were concerned in his remaining and taking the city. The Count very mildly replied, "Gentlemen, if my honor is to be lost by not taking the city, it is lost already; but I deem my honor to consist in the honor of my country, and that honor is my country's interest!" The time of operation in the West Indies was arrived, and the Count re-embarked his troops.

Now, sir, is it not our duty to consult our country's interest, before we take this rash step, which we cannot recall? Peace is the interest of all republics, and war their destruction; it loads and fetters them with debt, and entangles not only the present race, but posterity. Peace, sir, has been the ruling policy of the United States throughout all her career. If we show the citizens that we are not willing to go to war, and load them with taxes, they will all be with us, when a necessity for war arrives. What, sir, was the policy of America, from the commencement of the Revolution? At that day, did we hastily go to war? No; we tried every peaceable means to avoid it, and those means induced a unanimity in the people.

At the commencement many States were exceedingly divided, in some a majority were against us; yet, seeing the moderation and justice of our measures, and the rashness and tyranny of the British cabinet, they came over to our side, and became the most zealous among us. At the present moment, sir, the people are averse to war, they are satisfied with the steps of the Executive, they wish negotiation. If you adopt these resolutions, they will be still divided; if you negotiate, and fail in that negotiation—if you cannot obtain a redress of the injury which they feel as well as you, they will go all lengths with you, and be prepared for any event; you will have this advantage, you will be unanimous, and America united is a match for the world. In such a case, sir, every man will be anxious to march, he would go himself if called on, and whether the sluggish Spaniard or the French grenadier commands New Orleans, it must fall; they will not be able to resist the brave and numerous hosts of our Western brethren, who are so much interested in the injury complained of. He was himself of opinion that New Orleans must belong to the United States; it must come to us in the course of human events, although not at the present day; for he did not wish to use force to obtain it, if we could get a redress of injury; yet it will naturally fall into our hands by gradual but inevitable causes, as sure and certain as manufactures arise from increased population and the plentiful products of agriculture and commerce. But let it be noticed, that if New Orleans by a refusal of justice falls into our hands by force, the Floridas, as sure as fate, fall with it. Good faith forbids encroachment on a pacific ally; but if hostility shows itself against us, interest demands it; Georgia in such case could not do without it. God and nature have destined New Orleans and the Floridas to belong to this great and rising empire. As natural bounds to the South, are the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Mississippi, and the world at some future day cannot hold them from us.

Thursday, February 24.

Mississippi Question.

Agreeably to the order of the day, the Senate resumed the consideration of the resolutions respecting the indisputable right of the United States to the free navigation of the Mississippi, together with the proposed amendments thereto.

Mr. Wells, of Delaware, said,—Gentlemen have persuaded themselves that the conduct of the Intendant is not authorized by the Spanish or French Government; but what reason have they assigned us in support of this opinion? They tell us of the friendly assurances received from the Minister of His Catholic Majesty resident near our Government; and they place considerable stress upon the circumstance of the Governor of New Orleans disapproving of what the Intendant has done. I will not stop to speak of the imprudence of reposing themselves upon the assurances of a Minister, perhaps expressly instructed to mislead them. But why have they trusted to the imaginary collision of sentiment between the Governor and Intendant of New Orleans? Do not gentlemen know that our Government is in possession of testimony, demonstrating beyond all kind of doubt, that this is not the fact? Have they not seen the letter of the Governor of New Orleans to the Governor of the Mississippi Territory? In this letter I learn that the Governor comes out and acknowledges his co-operation with the Intendant, justifies the breach of the treaty, and declares that these instruments cease their binding force the moment it suits the interest of either party to break through them. Alas! the history of the world furnishes us too many evidences of this melancholy truth. But this is the first time that any nation has had the hardihood to avow it. No, sir, even Carthage herself, who became proverbial for her disregard of treaties, never attained to a point so profligate. If I am incorrect in my statement, honorable gentlemen, who have easier access to the sources of official information than is permitted to us, will set me right. Why has this document been so sedulously kept from the public eye? Why it should be even now so carefully locked up, is a mystery not for me to unravel.

I see no other course for us to pursue than that pointed out by the resolutions. Our interests, our honor, and our safety, require it to be adopted. I am aware that the alarm of war will be rung through the country. I know full well the pains that will be taken to impress an opinion upon our fellow-citizens that we are the friends of war. This we cannot help: the danger with which our country is threatened, will not permit us to shrink from the discharge of our duty, let the consequences to ourselves be what they may. Let me ask you with my honorable friend from New Jersey, (Mr. Dayton,) what stronger evidence can we give you of the sincerity of our intentions than the resolutions themselves? So far from cramping, or diminishing the power of gentlemen opposed to us, in a crisis like the present, we only offer to strengthen their own hands. Had the advice of an honorable gentleman near me (Mr. Morris) been listened to, when you were disbanding your army, this crisis would not have happened. Had you then posted at the Natchez, as he recommended, a thousand soldiers, the navigation of the Mississippi would not now have been interrupted. He foretold you what would happen, and his prediction has been literally fulfilled.

There is but one fault I find with these resolutions, which is, they do not go far enough. If I could obtain a second, I would move an amendment explicitly authorizing the taking possession of both the Floridas as well as the island of New Orleans. In one respect I entirely accord with the honorable gentleman from Georgia, (Mr. Jackson,) and I admire the manly and decisive tone in which he has spoken upon this subject. We both agree that the Floridas must be attached to the United States; but we differ in point of time. The violent aggression committed upon our rights, and the extent of the danger with which we are threatened, in my humble opinion, would amply justify our taking possession of them immediately. Look at the relative situation of Georgia, the Mississippi Territory, and the Floridas, and it will require very little of the spirit of prophecy to foretell that we shall, ere long, be compelled to possess ourselves of them in our own defence.

Mr. Gouverneur Morris.—Mr. President, my object is peace. I could assign many reasons to show that this declaration is sincere. But can it be necessary to give this Senate any other assurance than my word? Notwithstanding the acerbity of temper which results from party strife, gentlemen will believe me on my word. I will not pretend, like my honorable colleague, (Mr. Clinton,) to describe to you the waste, the ravages, and the horrors of war. I have not the same harmonious periods, nor the same musical tones; neither shall I boast of Christian charity, nor attempt to display that ingenuous glow of benevolence so decorous to the cheek of youth, which gave a vivid tint to every sentence he uttered; and was, if possible, as impressive even as his eloquence. But, though we possess not the same pomp of words, our hearts are not insensible to the woes of humanity. We can feel for the misery of plundered towns, the conflagration of defenceless villages, and the devastation of cultured fields. Turning from these features of general distress, we can enter the abodes of private affliction, and behold the widow weeping, as she traces, in the pledges of connubial affection, the resemblance of him whom she has lost for ever. We see the aged matron bending over the ashes of her son. He was her darling; for he was generous and brave, and therefore his spirit led him to the field in defence of his country. We can observe another oppressed with unutterable anguish: condemned to conceal her affection; forced to hide that passion which is at once the torment and delight of life; she learns that those eyes which beamed with sentiment, are closed in death; and his lip, the ruby harbinger of joy, lies pale and cold, the miserable appendage of a mangled corpse. Hard, hard indeed, must be that heart which can be insensible to scenes like these, and bold the man who dare present to the Almighty Father a conscience crimsoned with the blood of his children.

Yes, sir, we wish for peace; but how is that blessing to be preserved? I shall here repeat a sentiment I have often had occasion to express. In my opinion, there is nothing worth fighting for, but national honor; for in the national honor is involved the national independence. I know that a State may find itself in such unpropitious circumstances, that prudence may force a wise government to conceal the sense of indignity. But the insult should be engraven on tablets of brass, with a pencil of steel. And when that time and chance, which happen to all, shall bring forward the favorable moment, then let the avenging arm strike him. It is by avowing and maintaining this stern principle of honor, that peace can be preserved. But let it not be supposed that any thing I say has the slightest allusion to the injuries sustained from France, while suffering in the pangs of her Revolution. As soon should I upbraid a sick man for what he might have done in the paroxysms of disease. Nor is this a new sentiment; it was felt and avowed at the time when these wrongs were heaped on us, and I appeal for the proof to the files of your Secretary of State. The destinies of France were then in the hands of monsters. By the decree of Heaven she was broken on the wheel, in the face of the world, to warn mankind of her folly and madness. But these scenes have passed away. On the throne of the Bourbons is now seated the first of the Gallic Cæsars. At the head of that gallant nation is the great—the greatest—man of the present age. It becomes us well to consider his situation. The things he has achieved, compel him to the achievement of things more great. In his vast career, we must soon become objects to command attention. We too, in our turn, must contend or submit. By submission we may indeed have peace, alike precarious and ignominious. But is this the peace which we ought to seek? Will this satisfy the just expectation of our country? No. Let us have peace permanent, secure, and, if I may use the term, independent. Peace which depends, not on the pity of others, but on our own force. Let us have the only peace worth having, a peace consistent with honor.

Before I consider the existing state of things, let me notice what gentlemen have said in relation to it. The honorable member from Kentucky has told us, that indeed there is a right arrested, but whether by authority or not is equivocal. He says the representative of Spain verily believes it to be an unauthorized act. My honorable colleague informs us there has been a clashing between the Governor and Intendant. He says we are told by the Spanish Minister it was unauthorized. Notwithstanding these assurances, however, my honorable colleague has, it seems, some doubts; but nevertheless he presumes innocence, for my colleague is charitable. The honorable member from Maryland goes further. He tells us the Minister of Spain says, the Intendant had no such authority, and the Minister of France, too, says there is no such authority. Sir, I have all possible respect for those gentlemen, and every proper confidence in what they may think proper to communicate. I believe the Spanish Minister has the best imaginable disposition to preserve peace; being indeed the express purpose for which he was sent among us. I believe it to be an object near to his heart, and which has a strong hold upon his affections. I respect the warmth and benevolence of his feelings, but he must pardon me that I am deficient in courtly compliment; I am a republican, and cannot commit the interests of my country to the goodness of his heart.

What is the state of things? There has been a cession of the island of New Orleans and of Louisiana to France. Whether the Floridas have also been ceded is not yet certain. It has been said, as from authority, and I think it probable. Now, sir, let us note the time and the manner of this cession. It was at or immediately after the treaty of Lunéville, at the first moment when France could take up a distant object of attention. But had Spain a right to make this cession without our consent? Gentlemen have taken it for granted that she had. But I deny the position. No nation has a right to give to another a dangerous neighbor without her consent. This is not like the case of private citizens, for there, when a man is injured, he can resort to the tribunals for redress; and yet, even there, to dispose of property to one who is a bad neighbor is always considered as an act of unkindness. But as between nations, who can redress themselves only by war, such transfer is in itself an aggression. He who renders me insecure; he who hazards my peace, and exposes me to imminent danger, commits an act of hostility against me, and gives me the rights consequent on that act. Suppose Great Britain should give to Algiers one of the Bahamas, and contribute thereby to establish a nest of pirates near your coasts, would you not consider it as an aggression? Suppose, during the late war, you had conveyed to France a tract of land along Hudson's River, and the northern route by the Lakes into Canada, would not Britain have considered and treated it as an act of direct hostility? It is among the first limitations to the exercise of the rights of property, that we must so use our own as not to injure another; and it is under the immediate sense of this restriction that nations are bound to act toward each other.

But it is not this transfer alone. There are circumstances both in the time and in the manner of it which deserve attention. A gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Wright) has told you, that all treaties ought to be published and proclaimed for the information of other nations. I ask, was this a public treaty? No. Was official notice of it given to the Government of this country? Was it announced to the President of the United States, in the usual forms of civility between nations who duly respect each other? It was not. Let gentlemen contradict me if they can. They will say perhaps that it was the omission only of a vain and idle ceremony. Ignorance may indeed pretend that such communication is an empty compliment, which, established without use, may be omitted without offence. But this is not so. If these be ceremonies, they are not vain, but of serious import, and are founded on strong reason. He who means me well acts without disguise. Had this transaction been intended fairly, it would have been told frankly. But it was secret because it was hostile. The First Consul, in the moment of terminating his differences with you, sought the means of future influence and control. He found and secured a pivot for that immense lever, by which, with potent arm, he means to subvert your civil and political institutions. Thus, the beginning was made in deep hostility. Conceived in such principles, it presaged no good. Its bodings were evil, and evil have been its fruits. We heard of it during the last session of Congress, but to this hour we have not heard of any formal and regular communication from those by whom it was made. Has the King of Spain, has the First Consul of France, no means of making such communication to the President of the United States? Yes, sir, we have a Minister in Spain; we have a Minister in France. Nothing was easier, and yet nothing has been done. Our First Magistrate has been treated with contempt; and through him our country has been insulted.

With that meek and peaceful spirit now so strongly recommended, we submitted to this insult, and what followed? That which might have been expected; a violation of our treaty. An open and direct violation by a public officer of the Spanish Government. This is not the case cited from one of the books. It is not a wrong done by a private citizen, which might, for that reason, be of doubtful nature. No; it is by a public officer,—that officer, in whose particular department it was to cause the faithful observance of the treaty which he has violated. We are told indeed that there was a clashing of opinion between the Governor and the Intendant. But what have we to do with their domestic broils? The injury is done, we feel it. Let the fault be whose it may, the suffering is ours. But, say gentlemen, the Spanish Minister has interfered to correct this irregular procedure. Sir, if the Intendant was amenable to the Minister, why did he not inform him of the step he was about to take, that the President of the United States might seasonably have been apprised of his intention, and given the proper notice to our fellow-citizens? Why has he first learnt this offensive act from those who suffer by it? Why is he thus held up to contempt and derision? If the Intendant is to be controlled by the Minister, would he have taken a step so important without his advice? Common sense will say no. But, the bitter cup of humiliation was not yet full. Smarting under the lash of the Intendant, the Minister soothes you with assurances, and sends advice-boats to announce your forbearance. But while they are on their way, new injury and new insult are added. The Intendant, as if determined to try the extent of your meekness, forbids to your citizens all communication with those who inhabit the shores of the Mississippi. Though they should be starving, the Spaniard is made criminal who should give them food. Fortunately, the waters of the river are potable, or else we should be precluded from the common benefits of nature, the common bounty of heaven. What then, I ask, is the amount of this savage conduct? Sir, it is war. Open and direct war. And yet gentlemen recommend peace, and forbid us to take up the gauntlet of defiance. Will gentlemen sit here and shut their eyes to the state and condition of their country? I shall not reply to what has been said respecting depredations on commerce, but confine myself to objects of which there can be no shadow of doubt. Here is a vast country given away, and not without danger to us. Has a nation a right to put these States in a dangerous situation? No, sir. And yet it has been done, not only without our consent previous to the grant, but without observing the common forms of civility after it was made. Is that wonderful man who presides over the destinies of France, ignorant or unmindful of these forms? See what was done the other day. He directed his Minister to communicate to the Elector of Bavaria, his intended movements in Switzerland, and their object. He knew the Elector had a right to expect that information, although the greater part of Swabia lies between his dominions and Switzerland. And this right is founded on the broad principles already mentioned.

Having thus considered the effect of this cession upon the United States, in a general point of view, let us now examine it more particularly, as it regards the greater divisions of our country, the Western, the Southern, the Middle, and the Eastern States. I fear, sir, I shall detain you longer than I intended, certainly longer than the light of day will last, notwithstanding my effort to comprise what I have to say in the smallest compass. As to the Western States, the effects will be remote and immediate. Those more remote may be examined under the twofold aspect of peace and war. In peace they will suffer the diminution of price for their produce. The advantage of supplying the French, Dutch, and Spanish colonies, may at first sight lead to a different opinion; but when the port of New Orleans is shut to all but French ships, there will no longer be that competition which now exists, and which always results in the highest price that commodities can bear. The French merchants have neither the large capital, nor have they the steady temper and persevering industry which foster commerce. Their invariable object in trade, is to acquire sudden wealth by large profit; and if that cannot be done, they abandon the pursuit for some new project. Certain of the market, and certain of the increasing supply, they will prescribe the price, both to those who cultivate, and to those who consume. Such will be the effect in peace.

In a war with Great Britain, the attention of her fleets to cut off supplies from her enemies, must necessarily affect the price of produce in a still greater degree; and in a war with France it will bear no price at all, until New Orleans shall be wrested from their grasp. Add to this the danger and the devastation from the troops of that country, aided by innumerable hosts of savages from the Western wilds. Such being the evident effects to be produced in times not far remote, the present evil follows from the anticipation of them. The price of land must be reduced, from the certainty that its produce will become less valuable. The flood of emigration to those fertile regions must cease to flow. The debts incurred in the hope of advantageous sales, must remain unpaid. The distress of the debtor must then recoil on his creditor, and, from the common relations of society, become general.

What will be the effect on the Southern States? Georgia, Carolina, and the Mississippi Territory are exposed to invasion from the Floridas and New Orleans. There are circumstances in that portion of America which render the invasion easy, and the defence difficult. Pensacola, though the climate be warm, is among the healthiest spots on earth. Not only a large garrison, but an army may remain there without hazard. At Pensacola and St. Augustine, forces may be assembled to operate in that season of the year, when the morasses which separate them from our southern frontier no longer breathe pestilence. By what are those armies to be opposed? Will you call the militia from the North to assist their Southern brethren? They are too remote. Will you secure their seasonable aid, bring them early to the fields they are ordered to defend? They must perish. The climate, more fatal than the sword, will destroy them before they see their foe. The country adjoining to our Southern frontier is now in possession of the most numerous tribes of savages we are acquainted with. The access to it from New Orleans and the Floridas is easy and immediate. The toys and gewgaws manufactured in France, will be scattered in abundance, to win their affections, and seduce them from their present connection. The talents of the French to gain the good will of the savages is well known, and the disposition of those uncultured men for war, is equally notorious. Here then is a powerful instrument of destruction, which may be used against you with ruinous effect. Besides, what is the population of the Southern States? Do you not tremble when you look at it? Have we not within these few days passed a law to prevent the importation of certain dangerous characters? What will hinder them from arriving in the Floridas, and what can guard the approach from thence to our Southern frontier? These pernicious emissaries may stimulate with a prospect of freedom the miserable men who now toil without hope. They may excite them to imitate a fatal example, and to act over those scenes which fill our minds with horror. When the train shall be laid; when the conspiracy shall be ripe; when the armies of France shall reach your frontier, the firing of the first musket will be a signal for general carnage and conflagration. If you will not see your danger now, the time must soon arrive when you shall feel it. The Southern States being exposed to such imminent danger, their Representatives may be made to know, that a vote given in Congress shall realize the worst apprehensions. You will then feel their danger even on this floor.

Let us now consider the consequence of the cession we complain of, to other nations, and this we may do generally, and then more especially as to those who have a direct and immediate interest in the transaction. In a general view, the first prominent feature is the colossal power of France. Dangerous to Europe and to the world, what will be the effect of a great increase of that power? Look at Europe! One half of it is blotted from the list of empire. Austria, Russia, Prussia, and Britain, are the only powers remaining, except Sweden and Denmark, and they are paralyzed. Where is Italy, Switzerland, Flanders, and all Germany west of the Rhine? Gone; swallowed up in the empire of the Gauls. Holland, Spain, Portugal, reduced to a state of submission and dependence. What is the situation of the powers that remain? Austria is cut off from Italy, the great object of her ambition for more than three centuries; long the rival of France, long balancing with the Bourbons the fate of Europe, she must now submit, and tacitly acknowledge to the world the superiority of her foe, and her own humiliation. Prussia, under the auspices of the Great Frederick, was at the head of a Germanic league to balance the imperial power. Though united with Austria for a moment in the hollow league of the coalition, she has, like Austria, been actuated by a blind jealousy, and favoring the operations of France for the ruin of her rival, expected to share largely in the general spoil. In this fond hope she is disappointed; she now sees the power of France at her door. There is not a fortress from the Rhine to the Baltic, except Magdeburgh, which the First Consul may leave on his left. The fertile plains near Leipsic contain the magazines for his armies when he shall think proper to march to Berlin. Westphalia and Lower Saxony are open on the side of Flanders and Holland. The Maine presents him a military road to the borders of Bohemia. By the Necker he approaches Ulm, and establishes himself on the Danube.[71] These rivers enable him to take the vast resources of his wide domain to the point where he may wish to employ them. Menacing at pleasure his neighbors, he is himself secured by a line of fortresses along his whole frontier. Switzerland, which was the only feeble point of his defence, and which separated his Gallic and Italian dominions, has lately been subjected. The voice you now hear, warned the Swiss of their fate more than eight years ago. The idea seemed then extravagant; but realized, it appears but as a necessary incident. Russia is deprived of her influence in Germany, and thereby of a principal instrument by which her policy might operate on the great powers of the South. The Germanic body is indeed in the hand of the First Consul. Three new Electors along the Rhine are under the mouths of his cannon. They dare not speak. Speak! None dare speak. They dare not think any thing inconsistent with his wishes. Even at their courtly feasts they sit like Damocles, destruction suspended over their heads by a single hair. Would you know the sentiment of England? Look at the debates. In the two Houses of Parliament they speak their fears. Such being the general sentiment of Europe, can it be supposed that they will view without anxiety a new extension of that power and dominion, the object of their hatred and apprehension?

Will it be said that there is a security to the freedom of mankind from the moderation with which this enormous power is to be exercised? Vain delusion! This power is not the result of accident. At the moment when France dethroned her sovereign, it was easy to foresee that a contest must ensue in which her existence would be staked against the empire of the world. If not conquered by surrounding princes, (and the hope of such conquest, unless by the aid of her own citizens, was idle,) her numerous armies acquiring discipline must eventually conquer. She had the advantages of situation, and those which result from union, opposed to councils uncertain and selfish. It was easy also to foresee that, in the same progress of events, some fortunate soldier would seat himself on the vacant throne; for the idea of a French Republic was always a ridiculous chimera. Buonaparte has placed himself at the head of that nation by deeds which cast a lustre on his name. In his splendid career he must proceed. When he ceases to act he will cease to reign. Whenever in any plan he fails, that moment he falls. He is condemned to magnificence. To him are forbidden the harmonies and the charities of social life. He commands a noble and gallant nation, passionately fond of glory. That nation stimulates him to glorious enterprise, and, because they are generous and brave, they ensure his success. Thus the same principle presents at once the object and the means. Impelled by imperious circumstances, he rules in Europe, and he will rule here also, unless by vigorous exertion you set a bound to his power.

I have trespassed on your patience more than I wished, although, from the lateness of the hour, much has been omitted of what I ought to have said. I have endeavored to show that, under the existing circumstances, we are now actually at war, and have no choice but manly resistance or vile submission. That the possession of this country by France is dangerous to other nations, but fatal to us. That it forms a natural and necessary part of our empire; that, to use the strong language of the gentleman near me, it is joined to us by the hand of the Almighty, and that we have no hope of obtaining it by treaty. If, indeed, there be any such hope, it must be by adopting the resolutions offered by my honorable friend. Sir, I wish for peace—I wish the negotiation may succeed, and therefore I strongly urge you to adopt those resolutions. But though you should adopt them, they alone will not ensure success. I have no hesitation in saying that you ought to have taken possession of New Orleans and the Floridas the instant your treaty was violated. You ought to do it now. Your rights are invaded—confidence in negotiation is vain; there is therefore no alternative but force. You are exposed to imminent present danger. You have the prospect of great future advantage. You are justified by the clearest principles of right. You are urged by the strongest motives of policy. You are commanded by every sentiment of national dignity. Look at the conduct of America in her infant years, when there was no actual invasion of right, but only a claim to invade. She resisted the claim; she spurned the insult. Did we then hesitate? Did we then wait for foreign alliance? No; animated with the spirit, warmed with the soul of freedom, we threw our oaths of allegiance in the face of our sovereign, and committed our fortunes and our fate to the God of battles. We then were subjects. We had not then attained to the dignity of an independent Republic. We then had no rank among the nations of the earth. But we had the spirit which deserved that elevated station. And now that we have gained it, shall we fall from our honor?

Sir, I repeat to you that I wish for peace—real, lasting, honorable peace. To obtain and secure this blessing, let us by a bold and decisive conduct convince the Powers of Europe that we are determined to defend our rights; that we will not submit to insult; that we will not bear degradation. This is the conduct which becomes a generous people. This conduct will command the respect of the world. Nay, sir, it may rouse all Europe to a proper sense of their situation. They see that the balance of power on which their liberties depend, is, if not destroyed, in extreme danger. They know that the dominion of France has been extended by the sword over millions who groan in the servitude of their new masters. These unwilling subjects are ripe for revolt. The empire of the Gauls is not like that of Rome, secured by political institutions. It may yet be broken. But whatever may be the conduct of others, let us act as becomes ourselves. I cannot believe with my honorable colleague, that three-fourths of America are opposed to vigorous measures. I cannot believe that they will meanly refuse to pay the sums needful to vindicate their honor and support their independence. Sir, this is a libel on the people of America. They will disdain submission to the proudest sovereign on earth. They have not lost the spirit of seventy-six. But, sir, if they are so base as to barter their rights for gold, if they are so vile that they will not defend their honor, they are unworthy of the rank they enjoy, and it is no matter how soon they are parcelled out among better masters.

Friday, February 25.

Mississippi Question.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the resolutions respecting the indisputable right of the United States to the free navigation of the Mississippi, together with the proposed amendment thereto.

Mr. Anderson (of Tennessee) said he rose with much diffidence, after the very able discussion which the subject had already undergone; after so many men distinguished among the first in our country had treated it with so much ability, he could not expect to furnish many new facts or observations on the subject. But coming from that part of the country which is particularly interested in the discussion, he felt himself particularly bound to offer a few remarks, which some erroneous statements that had fallen in debate, from the gentleman from Delaware, (Mr. White,) particularly called for. He would, while he was up, endeavor to add a few observations on the resolutions.

The first of the resolutions appeared to him to be introduced merely with a view to involve the members who were opposed to hostile measures in a dilemma. It was the assertion of a truth which no one would deny, but it was connected with other resolutions or assertions, which must from propriety bring the whole under a negative vote. Taking the naked proposition that we have a right to the place of deposit, we all agree; that it has been suspended, we are equally agreed; but there we stop; by prefacing their resolutions with these truths, they expect either to induce us to vote for other things repugnant to our judgment, or afford room for the imputation of wrong motives and clamor abroad. But we are not to be led astray in this way, nor are the people of this country to be so deceived. On the first organization of the Government, the most earnest attention was directed to that river; and it is now as much an object of the care of Government as at any period since we have been an independent people. Gentlemen have not, therefore, represented the matter with that candor which the seriousness of the subject demanded. The navigation of the Mississippi has not been infringed on the present occasion, though the arguments of all, and the assertions of some, went to the extreme on that point. The river, he repeated, was and continues to be open, and he could not discover the utility of our declaring our right to the free navigation when we are in full unmolested possession of the right. He could indeed discover something beside utility; he could see a design nowise founded. The gentlemen expected with them the votes of the Western members; they expected to play upon our passions, and to place us between the danger of unpopularity and the sense of personal feeling, in a case of a critical nature. But gentlemen would find themselves mistaken to the utmost; though he felt himself, in common with other Western members, responsible to his constituents, yet he would on all occasions where the sense of right impressed itself strongly on him, risk popularity to do right. On this occasion he saw no danger of his popularity, because, although he was aware that the people whom he represented were dissatisfied, they respected their Government and themselves too much to countenance any means that were not honorable and just, to obtain the deposit right.

The resolutions called upon us to declare the deprivation of the right of deposit to be hostile to our honor and interests. On this there were a variety of opinions; and it appears to be agreed (for it was not contradicted by any) that the act of an individual unauthorized cannot be either a cause of war, or the act of the government of which he is an officer. No gentleman has positively declared the act to be authorized by Spain. We have the best evidence that the case will admit of, that it has not been authorized. As the act of an individual, therefore, it cannot affect the honor of this country. That her interests are affected is agreed on all hands; but then the due course of proceeding has been adopted, and redress is to be expected. If it should be denied us, we have our remedy, and it is then that it will become a point of honor. But now, as had been well said by his friend from Georgia, (Mr. Jackson,) if we were to rashly declare the act of the individual contrary to our national honor, we could not retrograde; and if Spain should not do us justice, he trusted that we should then take our strong ground, and not give way a step. This would be the effect. Gentlemen do not know the American character—they underrate it: there is not that levity in it which gentlemen suppose, capable of being lightly led astray. The character of America is fixed, and when real necessity calls for their exertions, the people will require no artificial excitement.

From time to time, he had heard in that House and in other places, the most wanton and cruel aspersions cast upon the people of the Western country. He knew not how gentlemen could reconcile their pretensions of regard for the Western people with the odious imputations which were constantly cast upon their attachment. The whole of the opposition appeared to concur in their illiberality towards the Western people, at the very moment they were professing so much zeal for their good. The late President of the United States had in the most unwarrantable manner told him, that the Western people were ready to hold out their hands to the first foreigner that should offer them an alliance; the same sentiment is echoed here, only in different terms. But such vile imputations attach not to the Western people, but to those who employed them. The Western people are Americans, who wasted the spring-tide and summer of their days in the cause of their country; men who, having spent their patrimony in establishing their country's independence, travelled to the wilderness, to seek a homestead for themselves and children. Was it honorable, was it consistent with those labored efforts for their good, which we are told actuate gentlemen, to calumniate them in so unworthy a fashion? Gentlemen appear by their gestures to deny that they have been guilty of this calumny. But my charge against them is not of that evasive or double character which they deal in; the words they have used I have taken down—they are; "The French would draw the Western people into an alliance," "The Western people would be influenced by the insidious emissaries of France," "Corruption would find its way among them, and be transferred even to that floor." Is this not calumny of the darkest hue? Is this the way in which six hundred thousand men are to be stigmatized? Men, a greater proportion of whom are soldiers who fought for the independence of America, than ever was to be found in the whole State (Delaware) to which the gentleman belongs.

During twelve years, eight of which one of the first men the world ever saw, or perhaps ever will see, presided over our affairs, the policy of pacific negotiation prevailed in our councils; a policy somewhat more hostile in its aspect was attempted by his successor, but still negotiation succeeded negotiation, and success attended perseverance. In the early stages of our existence, before we were yet a nation, it is indeed true that we drank of the cup of humiliation, even to the dregs; it was the natural effect of our dependent situation; of the prejudices that bound us, and from which great violence was necessary, and was employed to detach us. Such humiliation would not befit us now; no motives exist to demand or justify it: we were then a part of another nation, and connected with another Government; we began by petition in the terms of abjectness and humility, which are incidental to subjects of monarchs; which are always necessary, in order to conceal the spirit and the presumption, of which monarchs are always jealous in their subjects; but abject as we appeared, the very temper and phrase of humility deceived our oppressor into a belief that we were too lowly to entertain the manly temper of resistance against oppression. Yet our precursory and reiterated humility did not unnerve our arms nor subdue our minds, when it became necessary to fling off the trammels of oppression. The result, we now enjoy. When that very power from which we had detached ourselves, refused to carry her treaty into execution, did we then go to war? She held several of our fortresses; we were entitled by every right of nature, and the usage of nations, to seize upon them; not like the right of deposit, a privilege enjoyed on the territory of another, but fortresses held, and in military array on our own territory. Did we then make war? No, we negotiated; and when another power subsequently attacked us, we pursued the same course with the like success. The gentleman (Mr. Ross) has told us that when President Washington came into office, he would not have negotiated for the Mississippi, had he not found the negotiation already begun. The gentleman has not told us upon what authority he states this, or how he came to possess the knowledge of a fact of which all others are ignorant; a fact, too, contradictory of his practice through life, and of the principles of that legacy which he left to his country.

Mr. S. T. Mason, said, that if he were to consult the state of his health, he should not trouble the Senate with any remarks on the resolutions before them. But he had heard in the course of debate, certain observations, such strange and paradoxical arguments; insinuations and assertions of such a nature as ought not to be passed unnoticed. Doubtful whether his strength would sustain him through the whole scope which in better health he should take, he would endeavor to limit his arguments to a few of the most prominent particulars, which excited his attention, and to the delivery of his reasons for preferring the substitute propositions of his friend from Kentucky, (Mr. Breckenridge,) to the original resolutions of the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

He had heard, in the debate, many professions of confidence in the Executive. He was very glad to hear such unusual expressions from that quarter. However, it was entitled to its due weight—what that was he would not inquire; but this he would say, that this unexpected ebullition of confidence went very much farther than he should be disposed to carry his confidence in any man or any President whatever. Gentlemen tell us that they are willing to intrust to the Executive the power of going to war, or not, at his discretion. Wonderful indeed is this sudden disposition to confidence? Why do not gentlemen give away that which they have some authority or right to bestow? Who gave them the power to vest in any other authority than in Congress the right of declaring war? The framers of this constitution had too much experience to intrust such a power to any individual; they early and wisely foresaw, that though there might be men too virtuous to abuse such a power, that it ought not to be intrusted to any; and nugatory would be the authority of the Senate, if we could assume the right of transferring our constitutional functions to any man or set of men. It was a stretch of confidence which he would not trust to any President that ever lived, or that will live. He could not as one, without treason to the constitution, consent ever to relinquish the right of declaring war to any man, or men, beside Congress.

We are told that negotiation is not the course which is proper for us to pursue. But to this he should reply, that such was the usage of all civilized nations; and, however gentlemen might attempt to whittle away the strong ground taken by his friend from New York, he had shown, in a manner not to be shaken, that negotiation before a resort to the last scourge of nations, is the course most consistent with good policy, as well as with universal practice. The gentleman from Pennsylvania had indeed told us that Great Britain had departed from that practice; unfortunately for Great Britain and the gentleman's argument, he told us, at the same time, that she had sustained a most serious injury by her injustice and precipitation. She went to war to seek retribution, and after fighting a while, she left off, and forgot to ask the retribution for which she went to war! And this is the example held up for our imitation; because Great Britain violated the law of nations, we are called upon to do so too! We are told also that Great Britain commenced war during our Revolution, against the Dutch, without any previous notification; that she did the same in the late war with France, and in both cases seized on the ships in her harbors; that is, like a professional bully, she struck first, and then told them she would fight them—and this is the gracious example held up to us.

The merits of the different propositions consisted in this, that by the amendments we propose to seek the recourse of pacific nations—to follow up our own uniform practice; we pursue, in fact, the ordinary and rational course. The first resolutions go at once to the point of war. This was openly and fairly acknowledged by the gentleman from New York (Mr. G. Morris.) The gentleman from Pennsylvania, (Mr. Ross,) indeed, told us that it is not war—it was only going and taking peaceable possession of New Orleans! He did not before think the gentleman felt so little respect for the Senate, or estimated their understandings so much inferior to his own, as to call such a measure an act of peace! How did the gentleman mean to go, and how take peaceable possession? Would he march at the head of the posse comitatus? No! he would march at the head of fifty thousand militia, and he would send forth the whole naval and regular force, armed and provided with military stores. He would enter their island, set fire to their warehouses, and bombard their city, desolate their farms and plantations, and having swept all their habitations away, after wading through streams of blood, he would tell those who had escaped destruction, we do not come here to make war on you—we are a very moderate, tender-hearted kind of neighbors, and are come here barely to take peaceable possession of your territory! Why, sir, this is too naked not to be an insult to the understanding of a child!

But the gentleman from New York (Mr. Morris) did not trifle with the Senate in such a style; he threw off the mask at once, and in a downright manly way, fairly told us that he liked war—that it was his favorite mode of negotiating between nations; that war gave dignity to the species—that it drew forth the most noble energies of humanity! That gentleman scorned to tell us that he wished to take peaceable possession. No! He could not snivel; his vast genius spurned huckstering; his mighty soul would not bear to be locked up in a petty warehouse at New Orleans; he was for war, terrible, glorious havoc! He tells you plainly, that you are not only to recover your rights, but, you must remove your neighbors from their possessions, and repel those to whom they may transfer the soil; that Buonaparte's ambition is insatiable; that he will throw in colonies of Frenchmen, who will settle on your frontier for thousands of miles round about, (when he comes there;) and he does not forget to tell you of the imminent dangers which threaten our good old friends the English. He tells you that New Orleans is the lock and you must seize upon the key, and shut the door against this terrible Buonaparte, or he will come with his legions, and, as Gulliver served the Lilliputians, wash you off the map. Not content, in his great care for your honor and glory, as a statesman and a warrior, he turns prophet to oblige you—your safety in the present year or the next, does not satisfy him—his vast mind, untrammelled by the ordinary progressions of chronology, looks over ages to come with a faculty bordering on omniscience, and conjures us to come forward and regulate the decrees of Providence at ten thousand years distance.

We have been told that Spain had no right to cede Louisiana to France; that she had ceded to us the privilege of deposit, and had therefore no right to cede her territory without our consent! Are gentlemen disposed to wage war in support of this principle? Because she has given us a little privilege—a mere indulgence on her territory—is she thereby constrained from doing any thing for ever with her immense possessions? No doubt, if the gentleman (Mr. Morris) were to be the negotiator on this occasion, he would say: "You mean to cede New Orleans; no, gentlemen, I beg your pardon, you cannot cede that, for we want it ourselves; and as to the Floridas, it would be very indiscreet to cede that, as, in all human probability, we shall want that also in less than five hundred years from this day; and then, as to Louisiana, you surely could not think of that, for in something less than a thousand years, in the natural order of things, our population will progress towards that place also."

If Spain has ceded those countries to France, the cession has been made with all the encumbrances and obligations to which it is subject by previous compact with us. Whether Buonaparte will execute these obligations with good faith, he could not say; but to say that Spain has no right to cede, is a bold assertion indeed. The people of America will not go along with such doctrines, for they lead to ruin alone. We are also told, that the power of the Chief Consul is so great, that he puts up and pulls down all the nations of the Old World at discretion, and that he can do so with us. Yet we are told by the wonderful statesman, who gives us this awful information, that we must go to war with this maker and destroyer of Governments. If, after the unceasing pursuit of empire and conquest, which is thus presented to us, we take possession of his territory, from the gentleman's own declarations, what are we to expect, only that this wonderful man, who never abandons an object—who thinks his own and the nation's honor pledged to go through whatever he undertakes—will next attack us? Does the gentleman think that this terrible picture, which his warm imagination has drawn, is a conclusive argument for proceeding to that war which he recommends?

The Senate, Mr. President, at this moment, presents a very extraordinary aspect; and by those not acquainted with our political affairs, it would appear a political phenomenon. Here we see a number of people from the Eastern States and the seaboard, filled with the most extreme solicitude for the interest and rights of the Western and inland States; while the representatives of the Western people themselves appear to know nothing of this great danger, and to feel a full confidence in their Government. The former declaring that the Western people are all ready for revolt and open to seduction; the latter ignorant of any such disposition, and indignant at the disgrace which is thrown on their character. In their great loving-kindness for the Western people, those new friends of theirs tell them that they are a simple people, who do not know what is good for them, and that they will kindly undertake to do this for them. From the contiguous States of South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, (those States from which the gentleman from Pennsylvania, by his resolutions, proposes to draw the militia,) every member of this House is opposed to war; but from the East, (and one can scarcely refrain from laughing, to hear of the all-important representatives of the State of Delaware in particular,) such is the passion for the wonderful, or the absurd, there prevails the liveliest sensibility for the Western country!

Mr. Nicholas said,—When the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Ross) opened his war project, his resentment appeared to be confined wholly to Spain; his sole object the securing the navigation of the Mississippi, and our right to a convenient place of deposit on that river. We were told by that gentleman, that we are bound to go to war for this right, which God and nature had given the Western people. What are we to understand by this right, given by God and nature? Surely not the right of deposit, for that was given by treaty; and as to the right of navigation, that has been neither suspended nor brought into question. But we are told by the same gentleman, that the possession of New Orleans is necessary to our complete security. Leaving to the gentleman's own conscience to settle the question as to the morality of taking that place, because it would be convenient, he would inform him that the possession of it will not give us complete security. The island of Cuba, from its position, and the excellence of its harbors, commands the Gulf of Mexico as completely as New Orleans does the river Mississippi, and to give that complete security that he requires of the President, the island of Cuba must likewise be taken possession of. It has been shown that the measures proposed by the gentleman from Pennsylvania, and he would again demonstrate it, if it was necessary, are calculated to bring upon the Western country all the mischiefs that gentleman has depicted as resulting to them from a loss of the navigation of the river Mississippi. If we are driven to war to assert our rights, the Western people must make up their minds to bear that loss during the war; for without a naval superiority, which we have not and cannot obtain, or the possession of Cuba, we shall not be able to avail ourselves of the navigation to any useful purpose. Although we may take possession of the Floridas and New Orleans, it is from a conviction of its pernicious effects upon the Western country, as well as other reasons, that he was averse to appealing to arms as long as there is a prospect of attaining our object in another way.

The gentleman from New York, finding the weight of argument against him, and that a resort to arms would not be justifiable upon the ground taken by his friends, with a boldness and promptitude that characterizes veteran politicians, has not only assigned new and different causes for war, but new objects, and a new and more powerful enemy to cope with. He no doubt felt the force of the arguments that have been used to show the improbability that Spain would authorize an act that would produce a rupture with this country, at the moment that she was parting with Louisiana, and when she could not possibly derive any advantage from the wrong that she could do us by that act; and at a time when we knew from unquestionable evidence that it is the desire of Spain to cultivate a good understanding with this country. He could give no credit to the suggestion, that the First Consul had required Spain to take that step. He knew that character too well to believe that he would attempt to throw a responsibility upon others, for his measures, nor indeed could it be shown that the First Consul would be in any way benefited by it; he knows the American character too well to believe that any of the reasons that have been assigned by his friends who have preceded him in this argument, would form a justification for a declaration of war, without a previous demand for a redress of the wrongs that we have sustained. He knows that our countrymen, with a courage and perseverance that does promise success in any war, are at all times ready when it is necessary to assert their rights with arms, but that they will not be employed in wars of ambition or conquest; and above all, he sees the folly of going to war with Spain, and taking from her a country that we should be obliged in honor and justice to give up to the French, perhaps the instant after we had taken possession of it; for if France would reinstate us in the rights and privileges that we hold under our new treaty with Spain, I demand of the gentleman from New York, if he would wish this country to hold possession against France; and if he would, upon what ground he would justify it?

The cession was made to France before the injury done us by the Spanish officer; knowing this, we take the country; upon France demanding it of us, we should be bound by every principle of honor and justice to give her possession, upon her engaging to respect properly our rights. Spain having injured us surely will not justify our committing an outrage of the most injurious and insulting nature upon France. Would conduct like this comport with the gentleman's ideas of national honor, about which we have heard so much in the course of this debate? Can it be, that an act, which, if perpetrated by an individual, would be robbery, can be justifiable in a nation? And can it be justifiable in the eyes of men, who believe there is nothing so precious or important as national honor? Can the usefulness or convenience of any acquisition justify us in taking from another by force what we have no sort of right to?

There were not in America men more attached or more faithful to the Government of the United States than they were; and I will venture to predict, from my knowledge of them, that they will be the last to submit to the yoke of despotism, let it be attempted to be imposed upon them by whom it may. If there is one part of America more interested than any other in preserving the union of these States, and the present Government, it is the Western. Important as the Mississippi is to them, their free intercourse with the Atlantic States is more important—all their imports are received through that channel, and their most valuable exports are sold, and will continue to be so, in the Atlantic States. The same gentleman (Mr. Morris) says, we must line our frontier with custom-house officers, to prevent smuggling. If there is any force in what he says upon this subject, we ought not only to take New Orleans and the Floridas, but Louisiana, and all the British possessions on the continent. Another reason urged with great earnestness by the gentleman from New York, (Mr. Morris,) is, that France, without this acquisition, is too powerful for the peace and security of the rest of the world—that half the nations that lately existed are gone—that those that are left are afraid to act, and nation after nation falling at her nod—that, if France acquires the Floridas and New Orleans, it will put England and Spain completely in her power, giving to those places an importance that they do not merit; and yet that gentleman and his friends have repeatedly asserted that war would not result from our taking immediate possession of those places; indeed, they say, it is the only way to avoid war. At one moment the country is represented as so important as to make the First Consul the sovereign of the world; at the next, we are told that we may take it without any sort of risk, and without a probability that either France or Spain will go to war with us for the recovery of a country so all-important to them. In the language of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, I say, this idle tale may amuse children, but will not satisfy men.

Mr. President, we have nothing to fear from the colony of any European nation on this continent; they ought rather to be considered as a pledge of the good conduct of the mother country towards us; for such possessions must be held only during our pleasure.

Can France, in fifty years, or in a century, establish a colony in any part of the territories now possessed by Spain, that could resist the power of the United States, even at this day, for a single campaign? What has been our progress since the year 1763, in settling our Western country? In forty years, under the most favorable circumstances that a new country could be settled, we have only a population of between five and six hundred thousand souls, and this country is settled by men who knew it perfectly—by men who either carried all their friends with them, or who knew that change of residence would not prevent their frequently seeing and hearing from their nearest relatives. Can it be expected that any country will be peopled as fast, from a nation at the distance of three thousand miles, as our Western country has been? And yet we are taught to be apprehensive of a colony to be landed to-morrow or next day from Europe. Sir, if we are wise and true to ourselves, we have nothing to fear from any nation, or combination of nations, against us. We are too far removed from the theatre of European politics, to be embroiled in them, if we act with common discretion. Friendship with us, is the interest of every commercial and manufacturing nation. Our interest is not to encourage partialities or prejudices towards any, but to treat them all with justice and liberality. He should be sorry to reproach any nation—he would rather suffer former causes of reproach to be buried in oblivion; and he was happy to perceive that prejudices which were incidental to the war that we had been forced into in defence of our liberties, with a nation from which we are principally sprung, were fast wearing off. Those prejudices had been very powerfully revived, soon after our Revolution had established our independence, by the aggressions of that nation, in various ways, more flagrant and atrocious than any thing we have to complain of at this day.

The gentleman from Pennsylvania said that this is not an apposite case; that at that time there was no blockade. It is true there was not a blockade of one of our ports, nor is there now, (the river Mississippi is open for the passage of our boats and vessels,) but we were injured, in a commercial point of view, in a more material manner than we should have been by the blockade of the Delaware or the Chesapeake; for all the countries (except Great Britain) to which it was desirable for us to trade were declared to be in a state of blockade, and all our vessels going to those countries were subject to seizure. Let gentlemen call to mind what was the conduct of our Government at that time. The House of Representatives had the subject under consideration, when the then President appointed an Envoy Extraordinary to demand satisfaction of Great Britain. What was the conduct of the members of the House of Representatives, who were acting upon the subject, before it was known to them that the Executive had taken any measures to obtain satisfaction for the injury sustained? Did they attempt to counteract the Executive? No; they suspended all Legislative discussions and Legislative measures. And even the injuries done us by the actual invasion of our territory, the erection of fortifications within our limits, the withholding the posts that belonged to us by treaty, and the robbery and abuse of our citizens on the high seas, did not provoke us to declare war, nor even to dispossess the invaders of our territory of what actually belonged to us. The Executive proposed to negotiate, and it was thought improper to obstruct it. How gentlemen who approved of the interference of the Executive upon that occasion, can justify their attempt to defeat the efforts of the present Administration to obtain redress for the injury that we now complain of, they must answer to their consciences and their country. Fortunately for the United States, not only the President, but a majority of both Houses of Congress, upon the present occasion, have put themselves in the gap between the pestilence and the people.

If the gentleman from New York had exerted his ingenuity as much to state the grounds upon which an expectation of the complete success of our Envoy might be founded, he would have been at least as usefully employed for his country as he has been in his attempt to show that it will not succeed, and he would have avoided the palpable contradictions of his own arguments that he has run into. The gentleman himself, without intending it, has assigned sufficient reasons why we might expect entire satisfaction. He has said, truly, that America, united, holds the command of the West Indies in her hands. This must be known to all the nations that have colonies there; it must likewise be known to the proprietors of Louisiana and the Floridas, that, circumstanced as we at present are, there will be perpetual sources of contention between them and us. Every thing that has happened as to the Mississippi will be reacted as to the great rivers that head in what is now the Mississippi Territory, and empty themselves into the Gulf of Mexico, after passing through West Florida. In the infancy of the colonies that may be settled in Florida or Louisiana, the mother country can count upon nothing but expense, particularly if they are to be the causes of perpetual quarrels with this country. In twenty years, the population of the United States will be nine or ten millions of people; one-third of that population will probably be on the Western waters. This will give a force in that quarter of the Union equal to that with which we contended with Great Britain; and our united force will be such that no nation at the distance of three thousand miles will be able to contend with us for any object in our neighborhood. These considerations, with a belief that, if we are treated with justice and liberality, we shall never violate the rights of other nations, or suffer ourselves to be involved in the wars that may take place among the great European nations, are arguments that cannot be withstood, if the Governments of France and Spain are in the hands of wise men; for they must see that they have nothing to hope from a contest with us, and that a union of our force with a rival nation would be productive of very serious danger and inconvenience to them.

Mr. Dayton said, he lamented exceedingly the indisposition of the honorable member from Virginia, (Mr. Nicholas,) not only because it had compelled him to abridge his arguments, which always entertained, even when they failed to convince, but because to that distraction of mind which sickness often produces, could alone be ascribed the doubts expressed by that member, respecting the views of the advocates of the original resolutions. The difficulty of the opposers of the resolutions, would, he said, have been less, if the gentlemen who supported them had settled among themselves what was their object, and had ascertained with whom we were to make war. To both these points, Mr. D. said, the fullest and clearest answers had been given. Our object, says he, is to obtain a prompt redress of injuries immediately affecting our Western brethren, who look to us for decisive and effectual measures, and have told us that a delay of remedy will be ruinous to them; and our views and wishes are to take possession of the place of deposit guaranteed by treaty, whether it be in the hands of the one nation or the other, and to hold it as a security that the trade of so important a river should not be liable to similar interruptions in future. We are not, as the gentleman from Virginia would insinuate, for rushing into a war, but we are for repelling insults, and insisting upon our rights, even at the risk of one. It was easy to foresee that the opposers of the resolutions offered by the honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania, must resort to other means than fair argument, to justify them in the course which they were about to pursue. Our most precious rights flagrantly violated, treaties perfidiously broken, the outlet or road to market of half a million of our fellow-citizens obstructed, our trade shackled, our country grossly insulted, were facts too notorious, and too outrageous to allow them the least plausible ground of reasoning. Deprived of every other means of attack, they have resorted to that of alarm. They charge us with a thirst for war, and enter into a description of its horrors, as if they supposed that it was in our power to produce, or in theirs to prevent it. That which requires the concurrence of two parties, viz: contract or negotiation, they consider most easy; and war, which may always be produced by one party only, they consider as most difficult. Nay, sir, they do what is more extraordinary and unpardonable, they shut their eyes to the fact that hostility has already been commenced against us. Attacked and insulted as we had been, do we now, asked Mr. D., call for war? Let the resolutions give the answer. They begin with a declaration of certain rights, indisputable in their nature, indispensable in their possession, to the safety, peace, and union of this country. Not a member opposed to us has controverted them, except the honorable gentleman from Maryland, (Mr. Wright.) He denied the truth of all except one of them, and even of a part of that one. His honorable friends from the Western country, who are in the habit of acting with him, cannot thank him for such defence. The formerly well applied words, "Non tali auxilio nec defensoribus istis egent," must be applicable on this occasion, and it may be as well to leave them with each other to settle the question of their rights. But there is one article of the Maryland member's creed which ought not to escape comment, because, if adopted, it would be fatal to the Union. I understood him, said Mr. D., as stating, that inasmuch as the produce which descends the Mississippi bears a proportion of about a twentieth only to the exports of the whole Union, it was not reasonable to expect that the other portion should be endangered to protect that minor part. If maxims like this were to actuate our councils, short indeed would be the duration of our independence. Our enemies would have only to attack us by piecemeal, State by State, to make us an easy prey. The honorable member from Maryland could not hope for even that gloomy consolation which we heard of on a former melancholy occasion. He could not flatter himself that he and his State would be left to be the last victim.

But, Mr. President, every other gentleman appears to admit the truth of the prefatory declaration of rights; they admit, too, that if we cannot be possessed of them otherwise, we must seize on them by force; but they refuse to give the means and the power to the President, in whom they have told us, over and over again, they repose implicit confidence. Is any one of the resolutions too imperative on the President, we will agree so to alter as to make it discretionary, if desired by any gentleman on the other side; for without their leave, we cannot now amend our own resolutions.

It is my consolation, Mr. President, said Mr. D., and it ought to be matter of triumph to my honorable friend, the mover of these resolutions, that, whatever may be their fate, the introduction and discussion of them will have produced no little benefit. They have brought forward gentlemen to pledge themselves, in their speeches, to employ force on failure of negotiation; which, though late, is better than never. They must be allowed the merit, too, of producing the resolutions which they offer as a substitute. These milk-and-water propositions of Mr. Breckenridge will at least serve to show that something should be done, some preparations made; and therefore even to these, feeble as they are, I will agree, if more cannot be carried. But let the relative merits of the two be compared. Ours authorize to call out of those militia nearest to the scene, and most interested in the event, a number not exceeding fifty thousand, and to give them orders to act, when the occasion requires it, in conjunction with the army and navy; theirs authorize an enrolment of eighty thousand, dispersed over the whole Continent, without any authority to act with them, however pressing the danger, nor even to march them out of their own State. Ours authorize the President to take immediate possession of some convenient place of deposit, as guaranteed by treaty, in order to afford immediate vent for the Western produce, and relief to our suffering fellow-citizens, and thereby put it out of the power of a Spanish Intendant, whether acting from caprice, or orders from his Court, to obstruct so important an outlet; theirs give no such authority, but leave to the slow progress and uncertainty of negotiation that remedy, which, to delay, is almost as fatal as to refuse.

The question being at length called for, on the motion of Mr. Breckenridge, for striking out the first section of the resolutions proposed by Mr. Ross, the yeas and nays were required, and stood, 15 to 11, as follows:

Yeas.—Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bradley, Breckenridge, Clinton, Cocke, Ellery, T. Foster, Jackson, Logan, S. T. Mason, Nicholas, Stone, Sumter, and Wright.

Nays.—Messrs. Dayton, Hillhouse, Howard, J. Mason, Morris, Olcott, Plumer, Ross, Tracy, Wells, and White.

On the question for striking out the remaining parts of the resolutions, the question was also taken, and carried by the same votes on each side.

The question being then called for on the adoption of the amendments proposed by Mr. Breckenridge, the yeas and nays were called for, and the votes were as follows:

Yeas.—Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bradley, Breckenridge, Clinton, Cocke, Dayton, Ellery, T. Foster, Hillhouse, Howard, Jackson, Logan, S. T. Mason, J. Mason, Morris, Nicholas, Olcott, Plumer, Ross, Stone, Sumter, Tracy, Wells, and Wright.

Nays.—None.

So it was unanimously

Resolved, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby authorized, whenever he shall judge it expedient, to require of the Executives of the several States to take effectual measures to arm, and equip, according to law, and hold in readiness to march, at a moment's warning, eighty thousand effective militia, officers included.

Resolved, That the President may, if he judges it expedient, authorize the Executives of the several States to accept, as part of the detachment aforesaid, any corps of volunteers who shall continue in service for such time not exceeding —— months, and perform such services as shall be prescribed by law.

Resolved, That —— dollars be appropriated for paying and subsisting such part of the troops aforesaid, whose actual service may be wanted, and for defraying such other expenses as during the recess of Congress the President may deem necessary for the security of the territory of the United States.

Resolved, That —— dollars be appropriated for erecting, at such place or places on the Western waters as the President may judge most proper, one or more arsenals.

After the question was taken,

The resolutions were referred to Messrs. Breckenridge, Jackson, and Sumter, to bring in a bill or bills accordingly.

Wednesday, March 2.

The Vice President being absent, the Senate proceeded to the election of a President, pro tempore, as the constitution provides, and the ballots being collected and counted, the whole number was found to be 18, of which 10 make a majority.

Mr. Bradley had 13, Mr. Morris 3, Mr. Hillhouse 1, and Mr. Logan 1.

Consequently, the Hon. Stephen R. Bradley was elected President of the Senate, pro tempore.

Ordered, That the Secretary wait on the President of the United States, and acquaint him that, in the absence of the Vice President, they have elected the Hon. Stephen R. Bradley President of the Senate, pro tempore.

Ordered, That the Secretary make a like communication to the House of Representatives.

The President communicated the credentials of James Hillhouse, elected by the State of Connecticut a Senator of the United States for six years, commencing with the fourth day of March current; and they were read and ordered to lie on file.

Thursday, March 3.

A message was received from the House of Representatives by Mr. Nicholson and Mr. Randolph, two of the members of said House, in the words following:

"Mr. President: We are commanded, in the name of the House of Representatives and of all the people of the United States, to impeach John Pickering, judge of the district court for the district of New Hampshire, of high crimes and misdemeanors, and to acquaint the Senate that the House of Representatives will, in due time, exhibit particular articles of impeachment against him, and make good the same. We are further commanded to demand that the Senate take order for the appearance of the said John Pickering, to answer to the said impeachment."

Thursday Evening, 6 o'clock.

Mr. Tracy, from the committee appointed on the subject, made the following report, which was adopted, and the House of Representatives notified accordingly:

Whereas the House of Representatives have this day, by two of their members, Messrs. Nicholson and Randolph, at the bar of the Senate, impeached John Pickering, judge of the district court for the district of New Hampshire, of high crimes and misdemeanors, and have acquainted the Senate that the House of Representatives will, in due time, exhibit particular articles of impeachment against him, and make good the same: and have likewise demanded that the Senate take order for the appearance of the said John Pickering to answer to the said impeachment: Therefore,

"Resolved, That the Senate will take proper order thereon, of which due notice shall be given to the House of Representatives."

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate notify the House of Representatives of this resolution.

Adjournment.

Ordered, That Messrs. Wright and Cocke be a committee on the part of the Senate, with such as the House of Representatives may join, to wait on the President of the United States and notify him that, unless he may have any further communications to make to the two Houses of Congress, they are ready to adjourn.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House of Representatives concur in the resolution of the Senate for the appointment of a joint committee to wait on the President of the United States, and notify him of the proposed adjournment of the two Houses of Congress, and have appointed a committee on their part.

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

On motion, the Senate adjourned to the first Monday in November next.