Mr. Shields. My honorable friend, the Senator from Mississippi, (Mr. Foote,) introduced his motion without my knowledge or consent. I now most respectfully request him to withdraw that motion.

Mr. Foote. With great pleasure, if it is the desire of the honorable Senator. It is certainly true that I made the motion without consulting him on the subject.

Mr. Shields. The motion to postpone having been withdrawn, I now, with permission of this honorable body, tender my resignation. The letter tendering the resignation was conveyed by a page to the Secretary's desk.

Mr. Webster. It cannot be read, sir. I now move to amend the resolution by adding the words suggested by the Senator from South

Carolina.

Mr. Hale. I hope the letter of resignation will be read.

Mr. Webster. It cannot be read, sir.

Mr. Cass. Is it in order to move to lay the resolution on the table?

The Vice President. It is in order.

Mr. Cass. Then I make that motion. Mr. Webster. I call for the yeas and nays, sir.

The yeas and nays were ordered. Mr. Webster. I suppose the object of the Senator from Michigan, in moving to lay the resolution on the table, is to lay the report on the table also.

The Vice President. That will be its effect, as I understand it.

The yeas and nays were then taken, and resulted as follows:

Mr. Foote desired the resolution to be read as it would stand if the amendment were adopted. The Secretary read as follows:

Resolved, That the election of James Shields to be a Senator of the United States was void, he not having been a citizen of the United States the term of years required as a qualification to be a Senator of the United States at the commencement of the term for which he was elected.

After a very lengthened discussion between Mr. Foote, Mr. Douglas, and Mr. Underwood, in favor of receiving the resignation, and Mr. Webster, Mr. Berrien, and Mr. Butler, against it, the further consideration of the subject was adjourned till the next day.

Upon which, Mr. Hale asked for the reading of the communication from General Shields. It was read by the Secretary, as follows:

SENATE CHAMBER, March 14th, 1849. MR. PRESIDENT: From the time that my right to a seat in this body became a subject of inquiry and investigation, I determined to abstain from entering into any contest in rela

tion to that right, and to submit unhesitatingly to the action of the Senate. As there is now a prospect of debate and contest on this resolution, I will relieve the Senate by tendering my resignation and referring the matter back to my constituents. I therefore hereby tender my resignation. JAMES SHIELDS.

Mr. Hale then moved that the Chair be instructed to inform the Executive of Illinois that Gen. Shields had resigned his seat in the Senate of the United States.

The further consideration of which was also postponed to the following day.

The discussion was resumed on the 15th of

March, with heightened vigor, upon which occasion Mr. Foote, in a lengthened and most energetic speech, compared the persecutions to which General Shields had been subjected, to those endured by our Saviour, and also to those of Marcus Manlius, surnamed Capitolinus, whom the ungrateful Romans, notwithstanding his heroic defense of the Capitol, had condemned to be cast down the Tarpeian Rock.

Mr. Foote warned the Senators, in the first instance, to take heed that they suffer not some

portion of the curse under which the Jewish nation had been groaning for so many centuries; and, in the second, that a pestilence promptly followed the ingratitude of the Romans, and which was attributed by most men to the displeasure of the gods at the punish

ment inflicted on Manlius.

The question being taken upon the amendment, (Mr. Calhoun's,) it was adopted.

Mr. Douglas then moved to amend by striking out all after the word "resolved," and inserting the following: "That the Vice President be requested to notify the Executive of Ilinois that the Hon. James Shields has resigned his seat in this body." And upon that motion he asked for the yeas and nays.

They were ordered. The result was as follows:

Yeas-Messrs. Cass, Chase, Douglas, Downs, Fitzpatrick, Foote, Jones, Rusk, Soule, Sturgeon, Underwood, and Yulee-12.

Nays-Messrs. Atchison, Badger, Baldwin, Bell, Berrien, Borland, Bradbury, Bright, Butler, Calhoun, Clarke, Cooper, Corwin, Davis, of Massachusetts, Davis, of Mississippi, Dawson, Dickinson, Greene, Hamlin, Hunter, Mangum, Mason, Miller, Morton, Phelps, Seward, Smith, Spruance, Upham, Wales, Walker, and Webster-32.

The question was then taken on the resolution as amended, and it was adopted without a division.

Mr. Webster moved that a copy of the resolution, certified by the Secretary, be transmitted by the Vice President to the Executive of Illinois.

The motion was agreed to.

RECIPROCITY AND EQUALITY IN THE NAVIGATION LAWS, BETWEEN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES.

On the 12th of March, Mr. Webster offered the following resolution:

Resolved, "That the President of the United States be requested, if in his judgment not in compatible with the public interests, to transmit to the Senate any instructions which may have been given to the Minister of the United States, in London, offering a further extension of reciprocity and equality in the laws of navigation; and more especially such instructions, if any, as contemplate the opening of the coasting trade of the United States to the ships and vessels of other nations."

Mr. Webster said that he offered this resolution in consequence of information received by the very latest arrival from England. In the advices by the last steamer, at Halifax, and transmitted by telegraph, it was stated that Mr. Labouchere, the President of the Board of Trade in England, "has again brought forward the Government proposal, for the modification of the navigation laws; and Mr. Bancroft, the United States Minister, had stated, that to whatever extent in liberality the British Parliament may be disposed to legislate in this matter, he is ready and willing to sign a convention immediately, based upon the most complete reciprocity, so as to open the entire coasting trade of the two countries to the vessels of both nations." His object, for the present, was only an inquiry. He supposed that if it were the pleasure of the Senate to adopt the resolution, it might be answered before they finally adjourned. But if there were not an opportunity to receive an answer during the session of the Senate, one part of his purpose would, at least, be accomplished, that of drawing the attention of the country to this most important subject. He did not intend to pronounce any opinion for the present, but he must confess that he was a little startled to find that the American Minister, now remaining in England, had, at the present moment, and under existing cir cumstances, offered to act immediately on a proposition for a convention to throw open the whole coasting trade of the United States freely, and without discrimination, to British vessels.

He had only two things to suggest for the present consideration of the Senate and the country. The one, that if we enter into this reciprocity with Great Britain, and open to her ships the whole coasting trade of the United States, we are bound, of course, to do the same thing to the powers of the North of Europe, and to admit the ships and vessels of Bremen and other of the chief navigating states and countries of that part of the world to the same privileges.

Before this question should be decided, it

would be well for us to be brought to a consideration of the experience we have had, since we opened the trade between ourselves and certain powers of Europe and certain powers of America to the ships and vessels of third parties. And it will become us to see how far the interference of ships and vessels of the northern part of Europe, for example in the trade between the United States and Brazil, has lessened or increased the interests of ships owned in the United States, and all those concerned in navigation.

Another thing to be considered was, how infinitely small is the coasting trade proper, between the ports of England and her European dominions, compared with the coasting trade of the United States. Why, the coasting trade of the United States employs the greater part of the tonnage of the United States; and that trade, as it is, and is to be hereafter, will employ our shipping in voyages, some of which will be the longest prosecuted on the globe. They will be voyages from the Atlantic cities, on the north and northeastern coast, around Cape Horn, to Oregon and California. If any proposition, as it seems has been suggested, should be adopted by the government of the United States, it would follow that all the products or manufactures of the United States, might be freely carried in British or other foreign ships, from Boston and New York, not only to New Orleans, but round the Cape to our own ports on the Pacific, as freely as they might be carried in our own vessels.

Mr. Webster wound up his remarks by observing that it was not then his intention to discuss the grave and great question connected with the subject, but merely to ascertain whether it was true that our Minister in England had been authorized to enter into a convention which would uproot, substantially, the principles of our navigation laws as they have existed for sixty years. The subject, he repeated, well deserved the attention of the country. The resolution was agreed to.

PROHIBITION TO FOREIGN IMMIGRANTS TO WORK THE MINES OR PLACERS IN CALIFORNIA.

The following Proclamation was issued by General Smith, at Panama, to the amazement of the numerous foreigners there assembled.

PANAMA, Jan. 19th, 1849. To Wm. Nelson, Esq., U. S. Consul, Panama.

Sir: The laws of the United States inflict the penalty of fine and imprisonment on trespassers on the public lands. As nothing can be more uureasonable or unjust than the conduct pursued by persons not citizens of the United States, who are flocking from all parts to search for and carry off gold from the lands belonging to the United States, in California; and as such conduct is in direct violation of law, it will become my duty, immediately on my arrival there, to put these laws in force, and

to prevent their infraction in future, by punishing, with the penalties provided by law, all those who offend.

As these laws are probably not known to many who are about starting to California, it would be well to make it publicly known that there are such laws in existence, and that they will be, in future, enforced against all persons not citizens of the United States, who shall commit any trespass on the lands of the United States, in California.

Your position, as Consul here, being in communication with our consuls on the coast of South America, affords you the opportunity of making this known most generally, and I will be much obliged to you if you will do it.

With sincere respect, your ob't serv't,
PERSIFER F. SMITH,

Brev. Major General, U. S. A.,

Commanding Pacific Division. We cannot avoid observing upon this document, that it appears to us that the late government of this country has shown itself remiss in not openly avowing their intentions, with regard to foreign immigrants arriving in California. We cannot for a moment imagine that General Smith would have issued such a proclamation had he not received instructions from the Government, authorizing its promulgation. Consequently, the government must have entertained these views previously to the departure of General Smith from Washington. We therefore think that, in common justice to the hosts of alien immigrants who were flocking to the shores of the Pacific, the government was bound to give them the earliest possible notice of its intentions to prevent their working the mines there. This could have been done by a simple notice in the public journals, and it would have produced a better effect, and at the same time have been more decorous than publishing them in Panama. It has been seen by the papers that the people of South America, particularly those of New Grenada and Peru, have felt themselves aggrieved by this interdiction-not that they mean to respect it-for they allege that it is altogether unprecedented and contrary to the laws of nations. As a proof of this, they invite all foreigners to come to their shores and seek for gold; it is the interest of their governments to promote enterprises of that nature. We opine that General Smith will find it very difficult to carry out the threatened interdiction. Perhaps the best method the government of the United States could pursue, if it wishes to derive a fair advantage from the gold found in its new territory, would be to establish a mint there, charging a fair per-centage on the conversion of it into coin, or to levy a duty on its exportation.

COLONEL FREMONT'S EXPEDITION. The published letters from Col. Fremont and his friends left him ascending a mountain, and

within five or six miles of the summit. But this elevation he never reached. A storm came up, which forced him to retreat, and to seek shelter in the valley below. Here, it is said, the snow drifted and accumulated to the depth of thirty or forty feet, and the party lost all their animals, and were compelled to leave their entire outfit. The snow covered the animals and everything else from view, and Col. Fremont and his party were driven to seek safety on the sides of the mountain. In this emergency, Bill Williams, a hardy mountaineer, and two others, volunteered to seek succor from the nearest settlements; and it was arranged that they should return in twenty days. As they failed to do so, however, Col. Fremont, and one or two others, resolved upon attempting to reach Taos; and on the sixth day from their leaving camp they overtook Williams and one of his companions. The other (Mr. King, of the District of Columbia) was represented to have died of exposure and of hunger; and, in the extremity to which they were driven, the survivors were forced to eat a portion of his body. Col. Fremont made his way to Taos, obtained aid, provisions and horses, and then set out in search of his party. But more than one-third of his men had, in the interval of his absence, died from exposure and hunger; and one or two had given out, and were left to die, when he came up with them. The number who thus perished is stated at eleven, of whom we have the names of only three-Mr. Wise, of St. Louis county, and Mr. King and Mr. Preuss, of the District of Columbia. Captain Cathcart, of the English army, was among the survivors. We shall receive to-day, most probably, full accounts, and it is not necessary to go into further detail. Col. Fremont lost his whole outfit-his mules, instruments, baggage, and everything else of value.

On his arrival at Santa Fé he was furnished

with horses by the quartermaster, and with stores by the commissary of the United States; and, after recruiting his party, he again set off for California, taking the route pursued by Col. Cook, in 1847. He and his party have suffered terribly in this expedition, and it will be a warning to others, never to attempt such a journey in midwinter.-New York Herald.

RECEPTION OF THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS BY THE PRESIDENT.

On the 12th of March, at one o'clock, pursuant to previous arrangement, the President of the United States, surrounded by his constitutional advisers, received the salutations of the representatives of foreign governments, at Washington, on the occasion of his accession to the chief magistracy.

The whole number of the members of foreign legations present was, we understand, thirtytwo, all in their official costumes.

THE Irish Poor Law is the cause of much discussion, and of considerable difficulty to the government. The distress in that country is still extreme, and the ministry find it no easy task to provide even temporary alleviation. Hitherto, the rate for the relief of the poor in Ireland has been levied on the same principle which prevails in the other parts of the British Empire; each district has had to support its own poor, and by local taxation to provide the means for that purpose. One great object of this distribution is to render it more to the interest of property owners to give employment to their laboring neighbors, and thus secure a return for their outlay, than to pay money for the support of paupers, from whom they derive no benefit; whilst, at the same time, by giving employment, they effect the desirable object of lessening the number of those compelled to submit to the loss of moral independence, engendered by the receipt of alms. The state of Ireland has, however, been such, for some time past, that the poor-rate has been a most unequal burden-some portions of the country having only had to raise a moderate taxation, while the amount of pauperism in other districts has been so great, that it has become impossible for the inhabitants to raise the requisite funds. To remedy this, a proposal is made to impose on less burdened districts a rate, in aid of their more heavily taxed countrymen but to this the former object, in the most vehement manner, declaring that, if a rate in aid is necessary, justice requires it should extend over the whole kingdom, and thus embrace the population of England and Scotland; who, in their turn, answer, that if equality of taxation is to be the principle acted on, it ought to be extended to all descriptions of imposts, and the Irish be charged with the Assessed Taxes and the Income Tax, from which they are now exempt. They also complain that they are already heavily burdened by the swarms of Irish paupers in England and Scotland, for whose support they are compelled to provide.

In the course of a debate on the Irish Poor Law, Sir Robert Peel said, he saw no hope for the permanent improvement of the west of Ireland, except from some comprehensive plan for transferring the land from its present to entirely new proprietors, with new spirits and new feelings, who would have the capital, the ability, and the energy to cultivate the soil properly. He suggested that, for this purpose, the government, through means of a commission,

should get possession of it by purchase, and arrange the distribution to settlers, without regard to religious distinctions. He also expressed his opinion, that there can be no permanent good from grants of money alone, but that the scheme he proposed, carried into effect without violating the rights of property, would lay the foundation for the future prosperity of Ireland.

The bill for the alteration of the navigation laws passed a second reading in the House of Commons, on the 12th March, by a majority of 266 to 210. The smallness of the majority was a cause of great rejoicing to the opponents of the measure. It is not supposed that the bill will pass the House of Lords.

Mr. Cobden, on the 26th February, brought forward the proposition for a reduction of the national expenditure, which he has been for some time past advocating in the Financial Reform Association. He did not propose any very large present reduction-indeed, his speech was exceedingly vague and indefinite on that point -but proposed that a gradual diminution should be effected, until the expenditures were reduced to the amount of those of the year 1835-£44, 420,000, being about ten millions less than the present amount. The increase he attributed chiefly to the augmentation, at various times and in anticipation of difficulties with foreign nations, of the naval and military establishments, while no corresponding decrease had been made on the disappearance of these temporary difficulties; and it was in these branches of the public service only, that he anticipated any large reduction could be made. He justified his taking the year 1835 as a standard, by referring to Pitt, and other ministers, who had selected particular years in founding their estimates after the conclusion of different wars. The Chancellor of the Exchequer stated, in reply, that a large portion of the increase was of a temporary nature, caused by the Caffre and China wars, the necessity of large outlays in the creation of a steam navy, and in improved arms, now adopted by other nations, and without which it would be both cruel and impolitic to send troops or seamen into actual warfare. In the charges for these, considerable reductions had already been made; and the government proposed to reduce the army by 10,000 men, making it 103,000, exclusive of soldiers employed and paid for by the East India Company.

A reduction of expenditure was effected last year, without a reduction of the forces, to