26TH CONG.........2ND SESS.

BY BLAIR & RIVES.

CONGRESS.

MONDAY, December 7, 1840.

This being the day set apart by the Constitution for the meeting of Congress, the following Senators appeared in their seats:

Messrs. ALLEN, BENTON, BUCHANAN, CRITTEN. DEN, FULTON, HUNTINGDON, LINN, LUMPKIN, PORter, Prentiss, SMITH of la, Sturgeon, Tappan, WALL, WRIGHT, YOUNG.

At 12 o'clock, the SECRETARY, in the absence of the presiding officer, called the Senate to order, and there being no quorum prezent,

On motion of Mr. WRIGHT, the Senate adjourned until to-morrow at 12 o'clock.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

At 12 o'clock, the SPEAKER called the House to order.

The CLERK then called the roll by States, when the following gentlemen answered to their names,

viz:

MAINE.-Messrs. Hugh J. Anderson, Nathan Clifford, Benjamin Randall, and Albert Smith.

NEW HAMPSHIRE.-Messrs. Charles G. Atherton, Ira A. Eastman, and Jared W. Williams.

MASSACHUSETTS.-Messrs. John Quincy Adams, Osmyn Baker, Levi Lincoln, William Parmenter, and Henry Williams.

RHODE ISLAND.-Messrs. Robert B. Cranston and Joseph L. Tillinghast.

CONNECTICUT.-Messrs. Thomas B Osborne and Joseph Trumbull.

VERMONT.-Messrs. Horace Everett, Hiland Hall, William Slade, and John S.nith.

NEW YORK.-Messrs. David P. Brewster, Amasa Dana, Nehemiah H. Earl, John Ely, John Fine, Francis Granger, Augustus C. Hand, Thomas B. Jackson, Charles Johnston, Nathaniel Jones, Gouverneur Kemble, James Monroe, Luther C. Peck, John H. Prentiss, David Russell, Theron R. Strong, and Peter J. Wagner.

NEW JERSEY.-Messrs. Joseph F. Randolph and Peter D. Vroom.

PENNSYLVANIA.-Messrs. William Beatty, James Cooper, Edward Davies, Joseph Fornance, Thomas Henry, Enos Hook, George M. Keim, Isaac Leet, Samuel W. Morris, George McCulloch, William Simonton, George W. Toland, and David D. Wagener.

MARYLAND-Mr. Daniel Jenifer.

VIRGINIA.-Messrs. Robert Craig, George W. Hopkins, Robt. M. T. Hunter, Speaker, William Lucas, Green B. Samuels, Lewis Steenrod, and John Taliaferro.

NORTH CAROLINA.-Messrs. Kenneth Rayner and Lewis Williams.

SOUTH CAROLINA.-Mr. Thomas D. Sumpter. KENTUCKY.-Messrs. Linn Boyd, Willis Green, Richard Hawes, and Joseph R. Underwood.

TENNESSEE-Messrs. John Bell, Julius W. Blackwell, John W. Crockett, Cave Johnson, Abraham McClellan, Harvey M Watterson, and Christopher H. Williams.

Omo.-Messrs. William Key Bond, Alexander Duncan, Patrick G. Goode, John Hastings, Daniel P Leadbetter, Samson Mason, William Medill, Calvary Morris, Isaac Parrish, Joseph Ridgway, and George Sweney.

INDIANA.-Messrs. John W. Davis, George H. Proffit, James Rariden, and Thomas Smith. ILLINOIS.-Mr. Zadok Casey. MISSOURI.-Mr. John Miller.

The following gentlemen elected to fill the vacancies occasioned by the resignation and death of former members, were then announced and seve rally took the usual oath; viz:

-WEEKLY

Mr. CHARLES MCCLURE, of Pennsylvania.
ROBERT C. WINTHROP, of Massachusetts.
JEREMIAH MORROW, of Ohio.
HENRY S. LANE, of Indiana.

WILLIAM W. BOARDMAN, of Connecticut.
NICHOLAS B. DoE, of New York.
JOHN B. THOMPSON, of Kentucky.
The SPEAKER then counted the House, and there
being no quorum,

At ten minutes past twelve, on motion of Mr. LEWIS WILLIAMS,

The House adjourned.

SENATE.

TUESDAY, December 8, 1840.

At 12 o'clock, the Hon. W. R. KING, President pro tempore, called the Senate to order, and it being ascertained that there was not a quorum present, On motion of Mr. SMITH of Indiana, the Senate adjourned until to-morrow at 12 o'clock.

In addition to those whose names were given yesterday, we noticed the following Senators in altendance: Mcssrs. CLAY of Kentucky, KING, MERRICK, NORVELL, and ROBINSON.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

After the journal of yesterday had been read, and it appearing therefrom that the House had adjourned for want of a quorum,

The SPEAKER directed the Clerk to call over the names of the absentees; which being done, the following gentlemen responded, viz:

FROM MASSACHUSETTS.-Messrs. George N. Briggs and William B. Calhoun. CONNECTICUT.-Messrs. Truman Thomas W. Williams.

Smith and

VERMONT.-Mr. Isaac Fletcher. NEW YORK.-Messrs. Daniel D. Barnard,Thomas C. Crittenden, John C. Clark, Millard Fillmore, Seth M. Gates, Gouverneur Kemble, Meredith Mallory, Richard P. Marvin, Charles F. Mitchell, James De La Montanya, and Edward Rodgers.

NEW JERSEY.-Mr. Joseph Kille. PENNSYLVANIA.-Messrs. John Davis, John Galbraith, James Gerry, Albert G. Marchand, Charles Naylor, Peter Newhard, and John Sergeant.

MARYLAND.-Messrs. Solomon Hillen, Francis Thomas, and Philip F. Thomas.

VIRGINIA-Andrew Beirne, John Hill, and Joseph Johnson.

NORTH CAROLINA -Messrs. William Montgomery and Charles Shepard.

SOUTH CAROLINA -Messrs. Sampson H. Bu'ler and John K. Griffin.

KENTUCKY.-Messrs. Landaff W. Andrews, Garret Davis, Pailip Triplett, and John White.

TENNESSEE.-Messrs. Aaron V. Brown, William B. Campbell, Meredith P. Gentry, and Hopkins L. Turney.

OnD.-Messrs. Jonathan Taylor and John B.

Weller. LOUISIANA

Mr. Thomas W. Chinn. INDIANA.-Messrs. John Carr and William W.

VOLUME 9.........No. 1.

PRICE $1 PER SESSION.

On motion of Mr. TALIAFERRO, it was Resolved, That a committee be appointed on the part of this House, to join such committee as may be appointed on the part of the Senate, to wait on the President of the United States, and inform him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and that Congress is now ready to receive any communication he may be pleased to make.

Whereupon, Mr. TALIAFERRO and Mr. CAVE JOHNSON were appointed the said committee on the part of the House.

Mr. TALIAFERRO also offered the following:

Ordered, That a message be sent to the Senate, informing that body that a quorum of the House of Representatives is assembled, and that the House is ready to proceed to business.

ABOLITION OF SLAVERY.

Mr. ADAMS gave notice that he would on tomorrow move to rescind the 21st rule of the House adopted on the 28th of January last; which is as follows:

"No petition, memorial, resolution, or other pa per praying the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, or any State or Territory, or the slave trade between the States or Territories of the United States, in which it now exists, shall be received by this House, or entertained in any way whatever."

Mr. CASEY observed, that he had just learned there was no quorum present in the Senate; and, as there would probably be none to day, he would move that the House adjourn. And, at half-past twelve, p. m. The House adjourned.

The Hon. WILLIE P. MANGUM elected by the Legislature of North Carolina a Senator from tha

State, for the unexpired term occasioned by the resignation of the Hon. BEDFORD BROWN, appeared, was qualified, and took his seat in the Senate.

Mr. FULTON submitted the following resolution, which was considered and agreed to:

Resolved, That a message be sent to the House of Representatives, informing that body that a quorum of the Senate is assembled, and that they are ready to proceed to business.

A message was received from the House of Representatives, sating that a quorum of that body was assembled, and were ready to proceed to business.

A message was also received from the House of Representatives, stating that they had passed the following joint resolution:

Resolved, That a committee be appointed on the part of this House, to join such committee as may be appointed on the part of the Senate, to wait on the President of the United States, and inform him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and that Congress is now ready receive any communication he may be pleased to make.

And that Mr. TALIAFERRO and Mr. CAVE JOHNSON were appointed the said committee on the part of the House,

On motion of Mr. WRIGHT the message of the House was concurred in; whereupon Messrs. WRIGHT and HUNTINGDON were appointed the committee on the part of the Senate.

Mr. LUMPKIN offered the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

Resolved, That each Senator be supplied during the present session with three such newspapers printed in any of the States as he may choose; provided the same bé furnished at the usual rate for the annual charge for such newspapers; and prouided that, if any Senator shall choose to take any newspaper other than daily papers, he shall be supplied with as many such papers as shall not excced the price of three daily papers.

Mr. SMITH of Indiana offered the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

Resolved, That the 34th rule of the Senate be so far suspended that the presiding officer of the Senate shall appoint, for the present session, the members of all the standing committees, with the exception of the chairman of the Committee on Commerce; and that the Senate shall, previously to such appointment, elect by ballot, the chairman of that committee.

A message was received from the House of Representatives, stating that it had passed a resolution for the election of two Chaplains of different denominations, to officiate alternately in either branch of Congress during the present session, and asking the concurrence of the Senate therein.

Mr. WRIGHT, from the Joint Committee appointed to wait on the President of the United States, and inform him that a quorum of the two Houses had assembled, and were ready to receive any communications he might be pleased to make, reported that they had performed that duty, and that the President had replied that he would immediately make a communication to them in writing.

MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT. The following message from the President of the United States was received by Mr. VAN BUREN, his Private Secretary:

Fellow-citizens of the Senate

and House of Representatives: Our devout gratitude is due to the Supreme Being for having graciously continued to our beloved country, through the vicissitudes of another year, the iuvaluable blessings of health, plenty, and peace. Seldom has this favored land been so generally exempted from the ravages of disease, or the labor of the husbandman more amply rewarded; and never before have our relations with other countries been placed on a more favorable basis than that which they so'happily occupy at this critical conjuncture in the affairs of the world. A rigid and persevering abstinence from all interference with the domestic and political relations of

other States, alike due to the genius and distinctive character of our Government and to the principles by which it is directed; a faithful observance, in the management of our foreign relations, of the practice of speaking plainly, dealing justly, and requiring truth and justice in return, as the best conservatives of the peace of nations; a strict impartiality in our manifestations of friendship, in the commercial privileges we concede, and those we require from others: these, accompanied by a disposition as prompt to maintain, in every emer. gency, our own rights, as we rea from principle averse to the invasion of those of others, have given to our country and Government a standing in the great family of nations, of which we have just cause to be proud, and the advantages of which are experienced by our citizens throughout every portion of the earth to which their enterprising and adventurous spirit may carry them. Few, if any, remain insensible to the value of our friendship, or ignorant of the terms on which it can be acquired, and by which it can alone be preserved.

A series of questions of long standing, diffinult in their adjustment, and important in their consequences, in which the rights of our citizens and the honor of the country were deeply involved, have, in the course of a few years, (the most of them during the succesful administration of my immediate predecessor,) been brought to a satisfactory conclusion; and the most important of those remaining are, I am happy to believe, in a fair way of being speedily and satisfactorily adjus'ed.

With all the powers of the world our relations are those of honorable peace. Since your adjournment, nothing serious has occurred to interrupt or threaten this desirable harmony. If clouds have lowered above the other hemisphere, they have not cast their portentous shadows upon our happy shores. Bound by no entangling alliances, yet linked by a common nature and interest withthe other nations of mankind, our aspirations are for the preservation of peace, in whose solid and civilizing triumphs all may participate with a generous emulation. Yet it behooves us to be prepared for any event, and to be always ready to maintain hose just and enlightened principles of national intercourse, for which this Government has ever contended. In the shock of contending empires, it is only by assuming a resolute bearing, and clothing themselves with defensive armor, that neutral nations can maintain their independent rights.

The excitement which grew out of the territorial controversy between the United States and Great Britain having in a great measure subsided, it is hoped that a favorable period is approaching for ts final settlement. Both Governments must now be convinced of the dangers with which the question is fraught; and it must be their desire, as it is heir interest, that this perpetual cause of irritation should be removed as speedily as practicable. In my last fannual message you were informed that the proposition for a commission of exploration and survey promised by Great Britain had been received, and that a counter project, including also a provision for the certain and final adjustment of the limits in dispute, was then before the British Government for its consideration. The answer of that Government, accompanied by additional propositions of its own, was received, through its minister here, since your separation. These were promptly considered; such as were deemed correct in principle, and consistent with a due regard to the just rights of the United States and of the State of Maine, concurred in; and the reasons for dissenting from the residue, with an additional suggestion on our part, communicated by the Secretary of State to Mr. Fox. That Minister, not feeling himself sufficiently instructed upon some of the points raised in the discussion, felt it to be his duty to refer the matter to his own Government for its further decision. Having now been for some time under its advisement, a speedy answer may be confidently expected. From the character of the points still in difference, and the undoubted disposition of both parties to bring the matter to an early conclusion, I look with entire confidence to a prompt and satisfactory termination of the negotiation. Three commissioners were

appointed shortly after the adjournment of Congress, under the act of the last session providing for the exploration and survey of the line which separates the States of Maine and New Hampshire from the British Provinces; they have been actively employed until their progress was interrupted by the inclemency of the season, and will resume their labors as soon as practicable in the ensuing year.

It is understood that their respective examinations will throw new light upon the subject in controversy, and serve to remove any erroneous impressions which may have been made elsewhere prejudicial to the rights of the United States. It was, among other reasons, with a view of preventing the embarrassments which, in our peculiar system of government, impede and complicate negotiations involving the territorial rights of a State, that I thought it my dnty, as you have been informed on a previous cccasion, to propose to the British Government, through its Minister at Washington, that early steps should be taken to adjust the points of difference on the line of boundary from the entrance of Lake Super or to the most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods, by the arbitration of a friendly power, in conformity with the seventh article of the treaty of Ghent. No answer has yet been returned by the British Government to this proposition.

With Austria, France, Prussia, Russia, and the remaining powers of Europe, I am happy to inform you our relations continue to be of the most friendly character. With Belgium, a treaty of commerce and navigation, based upon liberal principles of reciprocity and equality, was concluded in March last, and having been ratified by the Belgian Government, will be duly laid before the Senate. It is a subject of congratulation that it providea for the satisfactory adjustment of a long standing question of controversy, thus removing the only obstacle which could obstruct the friendly and mutually advantageous intercourse between the two nations. A messenger has been despatched with the Hanoverian treaty to Berlin, where, according to stipulation, the ratifications are to be exchanged. I am happy to announce to you that, after many delays and difficulties, a treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and Portugal, was concluded and signed at Lisbon on the 26th of August last, by the plenipotentiaries of the two Governments. Its stipulations are founded upon those principles of mutual liberality and advantage which the United States have always sought to make the basis of their intercourse with foreign powers; and it is hoped they will tend to foster and strengthen the commercial intercourse of the two countries.

Under the appropriation of the last session of Congress, an agent has been sent to Germany, for the purpose of promoting the interests of our tobacco trade.

The commissioners appinted under the convention for the adjustment of claims of citizens of the United States upon Mexico having met and organized at Washington, in August last, the papers in the possession of the Government, relating to those claims, were communicated to the board. The claims not embraced by that convention are now the subject of negotiation between the two Governments, through the medium of our Minister at Mexico.

Nothing has occurred to disturb the harmony of our relations with the different Governments of South America. I regret, however, to be obliged to inform you that the claims of our citizens upon the late Republic of Colombia have not yet been satisfied by the separate Governments into which it has been resolved.

The Charge d'Affaires at Brazil having expressed the intention of his Government not to prolong the treaty of 1828, it will cease to be obligatory upon either party on the 12th day of December, 1841, when the extensive commercial intercourse between the United States and that vast empire will no longer be regulated by express stipulations.

It affords me pleasure to communicate to you that the Government of Chili has entered into an agreement to indemnify the claimants in the case of the Macedonian, for American property seized in 1819; and to add, that information has also been