certain events to waste and desolation. Our attitude is highly interesting as relates to other powers, and particularly to our southern neighbors. We have duties to perform with respect to all to which we must be faithful. To every kind of danger we should pay the most vigilant and unceasing attention, remove the cause where it may be practicable, and be prepared to meet it when inevitable. Against foreign danger the policy of the Government seems to be already settled. The events of the late war admonished us to make our maritime frontier impregnable by a well-digested chain of fortifications, and to give efficient protection to our commerce by augmenting our Navy to a certain extent, which has been steadily pursued, and which it is incumbent upon us to complete as soon as circumstances will permit. In the event of war it is on the maritime frontier that we shall be assailed. It is in that quarter, therefore, that we should be prepared to meet the attack. It is there that our whole force will be called into action to prevent the destruction of our towns and the desolation and pillage of the interior. To give full effect to this policy great improvements will be indispensable. Access to those works by every practicable communication should be made easy and in every direction. The intercourse between every part of our Union should also be promoted and facilitated by the exercise of those powers which may comport with a faithful regard to the great principles of our Constitution. With respect to internal causes, those great principles point out with equal certainty the policy to be pursued. Resting on the people as our Governments do, State and National, with well-defined powers, it is of the highest importance that they severally keep within the limits prescribed to them. Fulfilling that sacred duty, it is of equal importance that the movement between them be harmonious, and in case of any disagreement, should any such occur, a calm appeal be made to the people, and that their voice be heard and promptly obeyed. Both Governments being instituted for the common good, we can not fail to prosper while those who made them are attentive to the conduct of their representatives and control their measures. the pursuit of these great objects let a generous spirit and national views and feelings be indulged, and let every part recollect that by cherishing that spirit and improving the condition of the others in what relates to their welfare the general interest will not only be promoted, but the local advantage be reciprocated by all. In I can not conclude this communication, the last of the kind which I shall have to make, without recollecting with great sensibility and heartfelt gratitude the many instances of the public confidence and the generous support which I have received from my fellow-citizens in the various trusts with which I have been honored. Having commenced my service in early youth, and continued it since with few and short intervals, I have witnessed the great difficulties to which our Union has been exposed, and admired the virtue and intelligence with which they have been surmounted. From the present prosperous and happy state I derive a gratification which I can not express. That these blessings may be preserved and perpetuated will be the object of my fervent and unceasing prayers to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. JAMES MONROE. SPECIAL MESSAGES. To the House of Representatives of the United States: Agreeably to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 13th of May last, requesting the President to cause to be made and submitted to the House on the first day of the next [present] session of Congress a full and complete statement of the exact number of lots belonging to the United States in the city of Washington which have been sold by the public agents for that purpose; when sold, by whom, to whom, and for what price each lot was purchased; what part of the purchase money has been paid, the amount due, and by whom due, and when payable; whether the debts are well secured, and whether the money received has been applied, to what purposes, and by whom, I herewith transmit a report and statements from the Commissioner of Public Buildings, which will afford the information required. JAMES MONROE. DECEMBER 13, 1824. To the House of Representatives of the United States: In compliance with an act of Congress which originated in the House * of Representatives, passed the 26th of May, 1824, "to authorize the President of the United States to enter into certain negotiations relative to lands located under Virginia military land warrants, lying between Ludlow's and Roberts's lines, in the State of Ohio," I herewith transmit a report, with accompanying documents, from the Commissioner of the General Land Office, shewing the measures which have been taken under the provisions of the aforesaid act. JAMES MONROE. WASHINGTON, December 13, 1824. The PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE PRO TEMPORE: I transmit to the Senate a convention, negotiated and signed by Samuel D. Heap, acting consul of the United States, on the part of the United States, and Mahmoud Bashaw, Bey of Tunis, on the 24th day of February last, together with copies of Mr. Heap's correspondence appertaining to the negotiation of the same, for the constitutional consideration of the Senate with regard to its ratification. JAMES MONROE. WASHINGTON, December 13, 1824. The PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES PRO TEMPORE: I transmit to the Senate the convention, signed by the plenipotentiaries of the United States and of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia at St. Petersburg on the 5th (17th) of April last, referred to in my message to both Houses of Congress, together with the documents appertaining to the negotiation of the same, for the constitutional consideration of the Senate with regard to its ratification. JAMES MONROE. WASHINGTON, December 23, 1824. To the House of Representatives of the United States: Agreeably to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th instant, requesting the President to lay before the House a copy of the instructions under which the articles of a treaty with the Cherokee Indians were formed by Daniel Smith and R. J. Meigs, acting as commissioners of the United States, at Telico on the 24th October, 1804, with copies of all the correspondence or other documents relating to that instrument in either of the Executive Departments, with a statement of the causes which prevented an earlier decision upon it, I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of War, with the documents referred to in it. JAMES MONROE. WASHINGTON, December 23, 1824. To the House of Representatives of the United States: I herewith transmit to the House a report from the Secretary of State, with copies of the correspondence with the Government of France requested by the resolution of the House of the 26th May last. JAMES MONROE. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, The Secretary of State, to whom has been referred a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 26th of May last, requesting that the President of the United States would lay before that House at the then next session, as early as the public interest would permit, the correspondence which might be held with the Government of France prior to that time on the subject of injuries sustained by citizens of the United States since the year 1806, has the honor of reporting to the President copies of the documents requested by that resolution. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. [Extract of a letter from Mr. Adams (No. 1) to Mr. Sheldon, dated Department of State, Washington, August 13, 1823.] I have had the honor of receiving your dispatches Nos. 1 and 2, the latter dated the 10th of June. Mr. Gallatin arrived with his family at New York on the 24th of that month. I inclose herewith copies of the recent correspondence between the Count de Menou, the chargé d'affaires of France, and this Department on various subjects highly interesting to the relations between the two countries. With regard to the Count's note of the 11th of July, the President received with great satisfaction the testimonial of the Viscount de Chateaubriand to the candor and ability with which Mr. Gallatin has performed the duties of his official station in France. The proposal to renew the negotiation in behalf of the well-founded claims of our citizens upon the French Government in connection with a claim on the part of France to special privileges in the ports of Louisiana, which, after a very full discussion, had in the views of this Government been proved utterly groundless, could neither be accepted nor considered as evidence of the same conciliatory spirit. The claims of our citizens are for mere justice; they are for reparation of unquestionable wrongs-for indemnity or restitution of property taken from them or destroyed without shadow or color of right. The claim under the eighth article of the Louisiana convention has nothing to rest upon but a forced construction of the terms of the stipulation, which the American Government considered, and have invariably considered, as totally without foundation. These are elements not to be coupled together in the same negotiation, and while we yet trust to the final sense of justice of France for the adjustment of the righteous claims of our citizens, we still hope that their unquestionable character will ultimately secure to them a consideration unencumbered with other discussions. You will respectfully make this representation to the Viscount de Chateaubriand, with the assurance of the readiness of this Government to discuss the question upon the Louisiana convention further if desired by France, but of our final conviction that it is not to be blended with the claims of our citizens for mere justice. Count de Menou to Mr. Adams. [Translation.] LEGATION OF FRANCE TO THE UNITED STATES, The Honorable SECRETARY OF STATE: I esteem myself happy, sir, in conveying to you such sentiments toward the representative of the United States in France, and I should have thought that I had but imperfectly apprehended the design of the Viscount de Chateaubriand had I neglected to communicate them to the Federal Government. The minister for foreign affairs reminds me also on this occasion that Mr. Gallatin having frequently laid before him claims of Americans against the French Government, he had shown himself disposed to enter upon a general negotiation, in which they should be comprehended with claims of French citizens against the Federal Government at the same time with the arrangement relative to the execution of the eighth article of the treaty of Louisiana. The object of his excellency was to arrive at a speedy and friendly disposition of all difficulties that might subsist between the two powers, well assured that France and the United States would be found to have the same views of justice and conciliation. His excellency regrets that Mr. Gallatin, who, he says, "has convinced him how pleasing and advantageous it is to negotiate with a statesman who exhibits candor and ability in his discussions,” did not receive from his Government during his stay in France the necessary powers for this double negotiation. But he informs me that the Government of His Majesty remains always disposed to open it, either with Mr. Gallatin should he return with these powers, or with Mr. Sheldon if the Federal Government should think proper to confer them on him. I greatly desire, sir, to see these propositions acceded to by the Federal Government and to be able to reply to his excellency, as he expresses his wish that an arrangement putting an end to every subject of discussion might soon be expected. I pray the Secretary of State to receive the renewed assurance of my high consideration. The chargé d'affaires of France near the United States, MENOU. Mr. Adams to Count de Menou. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, The COUNT DE MENOU, Chargé d'Affaires from France. SIR: Your letter of the 11th of last month has been submitted to the consideration of the President of the United States, by whom I am directed to express the high satisfaction that he has felt at the manner in which His Excellency the Viscount de Chateaubriand has noticed in his correspondence with you the temporary absence of Mr. Gallatin from France and the terms of regard and esteem with which he notices the character and conduct of that minister. The anxious desire of the President for the promotion of the good understanding between the United States and France could not be more gratified than by the testimonial of His Most Christian Majesty's Government to the good faith and ability with which the minister of the United States at his Court has performed his official duties. With regard to the assurance of His Excellency the Viscount de Chateaubriand's disposition to enter upon a negotiation with Mr. Gallatin in the event of his return to France, or with Mr. Sheldon during his absence, concerning the claims of citizens of the United States on the Government of France in connection with an arrangement concerning the eighth article of the Louisiana treaty, I am directed to observe that those subjects rest upon grounds so totally different that the Government of the United States can not consent to connect them together in negotiation. The claims of the citizens of the United States upon the French Government have been of many years' standing, often represented by successive ministers of the United States, and particularly by Mr. Gallatin during a residence of seven years, with a perspicuity of statement and a force of evidence which could leave to the Government of the United States no desire but that they should have been received with friendly attention and no regret but that they should have proved ineffectual. The justice of these claims has never been denied by France, and while the United States are still compelled to wait for their adjustment, similar and less forceful claims of the subjects of other nations have been freely admitted and liquidated. A long and protracted discussion has already taken place between the two Governments in relation to the claim of France under the eighth article of the Louisiana convention, the result of which has been a thorough conviction on the part of the American Government that the claim has no foundation in the treaty whatever. The |