was the third of July; he then eagerly expressed his desire that he might be permitted to live yet a little while, to breathe the air of the fiftieth anniversary. The wish was granted-the Almighty hand sustained him up to the very moment when his wish was complete. He then expired at ten minutes before one o'clock, on the fourth of July, 1826; within the same hour at which he affixed his name to the Declaration of Independence fifty years before, leaving an undying lustre upon his name.

SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE,

DECEMBER 15, 1802.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:

When we assemble together, fellow-citizens, to consider the state of our beloved country, our just attentions are first drawn to those pleasing circumstances which mark the goodness of that Being from whose favor they flow, and the large measure of thankfulness we owe for his bounty. Another year has come round, and finds us still blessed with peace and friendship abroad; law, order, and religion at home; good affection and harmony with our Indian neighbors; our burdens lightened, yet our income sufficient for the public wants, and the produce of the year great beyond example. These, fellowcitizens, are the circumstances under which we meet; and we remark with special satisfaction those which, under the smile of Providence, result from the skill, industry, and order of our citizens, managing their own affairs in their own way, and for their own use, unembarrassed by too much regulations, unoppressed by fiscal exactions.

On the restoration of peace in Europe, that portion of the general carrying trade which had fallen to our share 12

VOL. II.

during the war, was abridged by the returning competition of the belligerent powers. This was to be expected, and was just. But, in addition, we find in some parts of Europe monopolizing discriminations, which, in the form of duties, tend effectually to prohibit the carrying thither our own produce in our own vessels. From existing amities, and a spirit of justice, it is hoped that friendly discussion will produce a fair and adequate reciprocity. But should false calculations of interest defeat our hope, it rests with the legislature to decide whether they will meet inequalities abroad with countervailing inequalities at home, or provide for the evil in any other way.

It is with satisfaction I lay before you an act of the British parliament, anticipating this subject so far as to authorize a mutual abolition of the duties and countervailing duties, permitted under the treaty of 1794. It shows, on their part, a spirit of justice and friendly accommodation, which it is our duty and our interest to cultivate with all nations. Whether this would produce a due equality in the navigation between the two countries, is a subject for your consideration.

Another circumstance which claims attention, as directly affecting the very source of our navigation, is the defect or the evasion of the law providing for the return of seamen, and particularly of those belonging to vessels sold abroad. Numbers of them, discharged in foreign ports, have been thrown on the hands of our consuls, who, to rescue them from the dangers into which their distresses might plunge them, and save them to their country, have found it necessary, in some cases, to return them at the public charge.

The cession of the Spanish province of Louisiana to France, which took place in the course of the late war, will, if carried into effect, make a change in the aspect of our foreign relations, which will doubtless have just weight in any deliberations of the legislature connected with that subject.

There was reason, not long since, to apprehend that the warfare in which we were engaged with Tripoli might be taken up by some others of the Barbary powers. reinforcement, therefore, was immediately ordered to the

A

vessels already there. Subsequent information, however, has removed these apprehensions for the present. To secure our commerce in that sea with the smallest force competent, we have supposed it best to watch strictly the harbor of Tripoli. Still, however, the shallowness of their coast, and the want of smaller vessels on our part, has permitted some cruisers to escape unobserved; and to one of these an American vessel unfortunately fell a prey. The captain, one American seaman, and two others of color, remain prisoners with them, unless exchanged under an agreement formerly made with the bashaw, to whom, on the faith of that, some of his captive subjects had been restored.

The convention with the state of Georgia has been ratified by their legislature, and a purchase from the Creeks has been consequently made, of a part of the Talahasse country. In this purchase has been also comprehended a part of the lands within the fork of Oconee and Oakmulgee rivers. The particulars of the contract will be laid before Congress as soon as they shall be in

a state for communication.

In order to remove every ground of difference possible with our Indian neighbors, I have proceeded in the work of settling with them, and marking the boundaries between us. That with the Choctaw nation is fixed in one part, and will be through the whole within a short time. The country to which their title had been extinguished before the revolution is sufficient to receive a very respectable population, which Congress will probably see the expediency of encouraging, so soon as the limits shall be declared. We are to view this position as an outpost of the United States, surrounded by strong neighbors, and distant from its support. And how far that monopoly, which prevents population, should be guarded against, and actual habitation made a condition of the continuance of title, will be for your consideration. A prompt settlement too of all existing rights and claims within this territory, presents itself as a preliminary operation.

In that part of the Indiana territory which includes Vincennes, the lines settled with the neighboring tribes

fix the extinction of their title at a breadth of twentyfour leagues from east to west, and about the same length, parallel with and including the Wabash. They have also ceded a tract of four miles square, including the Salt Springs, near the mouth of that river.

In the department of finance, it is with pleasure I inform you that the receipts of external duties, for the last twelve months have exceeded those of any former year, and that the ratio of increase has been also greater than usual. This has enabled us to answer all the regular exigencies of government, to pay from the treasury, within one year, upwards of eight millions of dollars principal and interest, of the public debt, exclusive of upwards of one million paid by the sale of bank stock, and making in the whole a reduction of nearly five millions and a half of principal, and to have now in the treasury four millions and a half of dollars, which are in a course of application to the further discharge of debt and current demands. Experience too, so far, authorizes us to believe, if no extraordinary event supervenes, and the expenses which will be actually incurred shall not be greater than were contemplated by Congress at their last session, that we shall not be disappointed in the expectations then formed. But nevertheless, as the effect of peace on the amount of duties is not yet fully ascertained, it is the more necessary to practise every useful economy, and to incur no expense which may be avoided without prejudice.

The collection of internal taxes having been completed in some of the states, the officers employed in it are of course out of commission. In others they will be so shortly; but in a few, where the arrangements for the direct tax had been retarded, it will still be some time before the system is closed. It has not yet been thought necessary to employ the agent authorized by an act of the last session, for transacting business in Europe relative to debts and loans. Nor have we used the power, confided by the same act, of prolonging the foreign debt by re-loans, and of redeeming, instead thereof, an equal sum of the domestic debt. Should, however, the difficulties of remittance on so large a scale render it neces

sary at any time, the power shall be executed, and the money thus unemployed abroad shall, in conformity with that law, be faithfully applied here in an equivalent extinction of domestic debt. When effects so salutary result from the plans you have already sanctioned, when merely by avoiding false objects of expense, we are able, without a direct tax, without internal taxes, and without borrowing, to make large and effectual payments towards the discharge of our public debt, and the emancipation of our posterity from that moral canker, it is an encouragement, fellow-citizens, of the highest order, to proceed as we have begun in substituting economy for taxation, and in pursuing what is useful for a nation placed as we are, rather than what is practised by others under different circumstances. And whensoever we are destined to meet events which shall call forth all the energies of our countrymen, we have the firmest reliance on those energies, and the comfort of leaving for calls like these the extraordinary resources of loans and internal taxes. In the mean time, by payments of the principal of our debt, we are liberating, annually, portions of the external taxes, and forming from them a growing fund, still fur ther to lessen the necessity of recurring to extraordinary

resources.

The usual accounts of receipts and expenditures for the last year, with an estimate of the expenses of the ensuing one, will be laid before you by the secretary of the treasury.

No change being deemed necessary in our military establishment, an estimate of its expenses for the ensuing year, on its present footing, as also of the sums to be employed in fortifications and other projects within that department, has been prepared by the secretary of war, and will make a part of the general estimates which will be presented to you.

Considering that our regular troops are employed for local purposes, and that our militia is our general reliance for great and sudden emergencies, you will doubtless think this institution worthy of a review, and give it those improvements of which you find it susceptible. Estimates for the naval department, prepared by the 12*