of national rights, with a security against wars of injustice, of ambition, and of vain glory, in the fundamental provision which subjects all questions of war to the will of the nation itself, which is to pay its costs and feel its calamities. Nor is it less a peculiar felicity of this Constitution, so dear to us all, that it is found to be capable, without losing its vital energies, of expanding itself over a spacious territory, with the increase and expansion of the community for whose benefit it was established.

And may I not be allowed to add to this gratifying spectacle, that I shall read in the character of the American people, in their devotion to true liberty, and to the Constitution which is its palladium, sure presages, that the destined career of my country will exhibit a government pursuing the public good as its sole object, and regulating its means by the great principles consecrated in its charter, and by those moral principles to which they are so well allied: A government which watches over the purity of elections, the freedom of speech and of the press, the trial by jury, and the equal interdict against encroachments and compacts between religion and the state; which maintains inviolably the maxims of public faith, the security of persons and property, and encourages, in every authorized mode, that general diffusion of knowledge which guarantees to public liberty its permanency, and to those who possess the blessing, the true enjoyment of it: A government which avoids intrusions on the internal repose of other nations, and repels them from its own; which does justice to all nations with a readiness equal to the firmness with which it requires justice from them; and which, whilst it refines its domestic code from every ingredient not congenial with the precepts of an enlightened age, and the

sentiments of a virtuous people, seeks, by appeals to reason, and by its liberal examples. to infuse, into the law which governs the civilized world, a spirit which may diminish the frequency, or circumscribe the calamitics of war, and meliorate the social and beneficent relations of peace: A govern ment, in a word, whose conduct, within and without, may bespeak the most noble of all ambitions— that of promoting peace on earth, and good will

to man.

These contemplations, sweetening the remnant of my days, will animate my prayers for the happiness of my beloved country, and a perpetuity of the institutions under which it is enjoyed. JAMES MADISON.

December 3d, 1816.

Ordered, That the said Message be committed to the committee of the whole House on the state of the Union, and that 5.000 copies thereof be printed for the use of the Members of Congress.

A message from the Senate by Mr. Cutts, their Secretary:

Mr. Speaker-The Senate have passed a resolution for the appointment of a joint committee, to have the application of the money appropriated for the use of the library, and have appointed the said committee on their part. The Senate have also passed a resolution for the appointment of a joint committee for Eurolled Bills, and have appointed Mr. Ruggles on their part.

The said resolutions were severally read and agreed to by the House: And

Mr. Taylor, of New-York, Mr. Hopkinson, and Tucker, were appointed of the library committee on the part of this House: And

Mr. Crawford and Mr. Taul were appointed of the committee of Enrolled Bills.

Ordered, That the Clerk acquaint the Senate therewith.

The following resolution was submitted by Mr. Hugh Nelson:

Resolved, That the committee on the Judiciary be instructed to report a bill to repeal the act, entitled "An act to change the mode of compensation to the Members of the Senate and House of Representatives and the Delegates from Territories," passed March 19, 1816.

The question was taken-" Will the House now consider this resolution?" and determined in the negative.

On motion of Mr. Lowndes,

Resolved, That the House do now proceed to the appointment of the standing committees, pursuant to the rules and orders of the House: Whereupon,

A committee of Ways and Means was appointed consisting of Mr. Lowndes, Mr. Smith, Md. Mr. Moseley, Mr. Burwell, Mr. Wilkin, Mr. Gaston, and Mr. Henderson.

A committee of Elections was appointed, consisting of Mr. Taylor, N. Y. Mr. Pickering, Mr. Kerr, Va. Mr. Hahn, Mr. Vose, Mr. Law, Mr. Thomas.

A committee of Commerce and Manufactures was appointed, consisting of Mr. Newton, Mr. Savage, Mr. Hulbert, Mr. Parris, Mr. Milnor, Mr. Mason, and Mr. Forney.

A committee of Claims was appointed, consisting of Mr. Yancey, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Goodwyn, Mr. Davenport, Mr. Lyle, Mr. Hardin, and Mr. Lyon.

A committee for the District of Columbia was appointed, consisting of Mr. Tucker, Mr. Lewis,

Mr. Irwin, Pa. Mr. Wendover, Mr. Herbert, Mr. Taylor, S. C. and Mr. Peter

A committee on the Public Lands was appointed, consisting of Mr. Robertson, Mr. McLean, Mr. King, Mr. Sturges, Mr. Harrison, Mr. Williams,

and Mr. Hendricks.

A committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads was appointed, consisting of Mr. Inghan, Mr. Cannon, Mr. Breckenridge, Mr. Avery, Mr. Carr, Mass. Mr. Caldwell, and Mr. Noyes.

A committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims was appointed, consisting of Mr. Chappell, Mr. Reynolds, Mr. Stuart, Mr. Southard, Mr. Wilcox, Mr. Wheaton, and Mr. Crocheron.

A committee of Public Expenditures was appointed, consisting of Mr. Pickens, Mr. Barbour, Mr. Hamond, Mr. Champion, Mr. Schenck, Mr. Thomas Wilson, and Mr. Jeremiah Nelson.

A committee on the Judiciary was appointed, consisting of Mr Hugh Ne'son, Mr. Wilde, Mr. Hopkinson, Mr. Wright, Mr. Ormsby, Mr. Webster, and Mr. Love.

A committee of Accounts was appointed, consisting of Mr. Little, Mr. Reed, and Mr. Edwards. A committee of Revisal and Unfinished Business was appointed. consisting of Mr. Condict, Mr. Bradbury, and Mr. William Maclay.

A committee on Private Land Claims was appointed, consisting of Mr. Sharp, Mr. Clark, N. C. Mr. Telfair, Mr. Atherton, and Mr. Huger.

And then the House adjourned until twelve o'clock to-morrow.

WEDNESDAY, December 4th, 1816.

Two other members, to wit, from New-York, Samuel R. Betts, and from Pennsylvania, Hugh Glasgow, appeared and took their seats.

A new member also appeared, to wit, from Virginia, Thomas M. Nelson, in the room of Thomas Gholson, deceased, who produced his credentials and took his seat; the oath to support the Constitution of the United States being first administered to him by Mr. Speaker.

On motion of Mr. Grosvenor,

Ordered, That the petition of Elias Parks, presented on the 13th of February, 1816, be referred to the Committee of Claims.

Mr. Yancey presented a petition of Nathaniel Williams, who is confined in prison in the county of Rockingham, in the State of North-Carolina, at the suit of the United States, praying to be released from his confinement.

Ordered, That the said petition be referred to Mr. Yancey, Mr. Bryan, Mr. Rice, Mr. Smith, of Virginia, and Mr. Parris.

The House resolved itself into a committee of the whole on the state of the Union; and after some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Hugh Nelson reported that the committee had, according to order, had the state of the Union under consideration, and come to several resolutions thereon, which he delivered in at the Clerk's table, where they were again read and severally concurred in by the House, and are as follows:

1. Resolved, That so much of the Message of the President of the United States as relates to the subject of Foreign Affairs, and to our commercial intercourse with British colonial ports, be referred to a select committee.

2. Resolved, That so much of the President's Message as relates to Military Affairs, be referred to a select committee.

3. Resolved, That so much of the President's