The Sun.
London, England, 1828-01-01 00:00:00

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SECOND EDIT lON
SUN OFFICE, Half-past Fout.

8.1- EXPRESS.

MESSAGE

nx THE

PRESIDEIT or THE UNITED STATES,

COMMUNICATED TO BOTH HOUSES,
At the comnie:-.cement of tht First Session o:
the TWehtieth Congress.

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

FELLOW CITIZENS OF THE 58fiAtS,
AND t?}' Litt Musa OF REPRESENTATIVES:--
A roVoltition.of the seasons has nearly been completed
since the Representatives of the People and States of this
Union were last assembled at this place, to deliberate and
to act upon the common important interests of their con-
stituentt. In that interval the never-slumbering eye' of a
wise and beneficent Providence has continued his guardian
care over the welfare of our beloved country.' The bless-
ing of health has continued generally to prevail through-
out the land. The blessing of peace with our brethren of
the human race; 'has been enjoyed without interruption ;
internal quiet has left our fellow-citizens in the full enjoy-
ment of all their rights, and in the free exercise of all their
factiltics, to pursue the impulse of their nature, and the
obligation of their duty, in the improvement of their own
condition. The productions of the soil, the exchanges of
commerce, the vivifying labours of human industry, hare
combined to mingle in our cup a portion of enjoyment as
large and liberal as the indulgence of heaven has perhaps
ever granted to the imperfect state of man upon earth ;
and as the purest of human felicity consists in its partici-
pation with others, it is no small addition to the sum of
our national happiness, at this time, that peace and pros-
perity prevail to a degree seldom experienced over the whole
habitable globe ; presenting, though as yet with painful
exceptions, a foretaste of that blessed period of promise,
when the lion shall lie down with the lamb, and wars shall
be no more. 'I o preserve, to improve, and to perpetuate
the sources, and to direct, in their most effective chan-
nels, the streams which contribute to the public weal, is
'the purpose for which government was instituted. Objects
of deep importance to the welfare of the Union are con-
stantly recurring, to 'demand the attention of the Federal
Legislature; and they call with accumulated interest, at
the first meeting of the two Houses, after their periodical
renovation. To present to' their consideration from time
to time, subjects in which the -interests of the nation are
most deeply involved, and for the regulation of which the
legislative will is alone competent, is a duty prescribed by
the Constitution, to the performance of which the first
meeting of the new Congress is a period eminently Appro-
priate, and which is now my purpose to discharge.:
Our relation of friendship with the other nations of the
earth, political and commercial, have been preserved un-
impaired_; and the opportunities to improve them have
been cultivated with anxious and unremitting attention.—
A negociation upon subjects of high and delicate interest
with the Government of Great Britain, has terminated in
the adjustment of some of the questions at issue upon satis-
factory terms, and the postponement of others for future
discussion and agreement. The purposes of the Conven-
tion-concluded at St. Petersburgh on the 12th day ofJuly,
1822, under the mediation of the late Emperor Alexander,
have been carried into effect by a' subsequent Convention,
concluded at London on the 13th of November, 1826, the
ratifications of which were exchanged at that place on the
6th day of February last. A copy of the Proclamatiou
sued on the 19th day of March last, publishing this Con-
vention, is herewith communicated to Qingresi. The
sum of twelve hundred and four thousand nine hundred and
sixty dollars, therein stipulated to be paid to the claimants
of indemnity, under the first article of the Treaty of Ghent;
has been duly received, and the commission instituted con-
formably to the-act:of-Congress of the 2d of March last, for
the slistribution.uf qte indemnity to the persons entitled to
receive it, are now in session, and approaching the con-
summation of their labours. This final disposal of one of
the most painful topics of collision between the United
States and Great Britain, not only affords an occasion of
gratulation to ourselves,. but ha had the happiest effect in
promoting a friendly disposition, and in softening asperities
upon other subjects of discussion. Nor ought it to pass
without the tribute of a frank and cordial acknowledgment
of the magnanimity with which an honourable nation, by
the reparation of their own wrongs, achieves a triumph
more glorious than any field of blood can ever bestow.

The Conventions of 3d July, 1815, and of 20th Octo-
ber, 1818, will expire by their own limitation on the 20th
of October, 1828. These have regulated the direct com-
mercial intercourse between the United States and Great
Britain, upon terms of the most perfect reciprocity : and
they effected a temporary compromise of the respective
rights and claims to territory westward of the Rocky
Mountains. These arrangements have been continued for
an indefinite period of time, after the expiration of the
above-mentioned Conventions :—leaving each party the li-
berty of terminating them, by giving twelve months notice
to the other. The radical principle of all commercial in-
tercourse between independent nations, is the mutual inte-
rest of both parties. It is the vital spirit of trade itself;
nor ran it be reconciled to the nature of Inas, or to the
primary laws of human society, that any traffic should
long he willingly pursued, of which all the advantages are
on one side, and all the burdens on the other. Treaties of
Commerce have been found, by experience, to be among
the moat effective instruments for promoting peace and
harmony between nations whose interests, exclusively con-
sidered on either side, are brought into frequent collisions
by competition. In framing such treaties, it is the duty
of each party, not simply to urge with unyielding pertina-
city that which suits its own interest, but to concede libe-
rally to that which is adapted to the interest of the other.
To accomplish this, little more is generally required than a
simple observance of the rule of reciprocity ; and were it
possible for the statesmen of one nation, by stratagem and
management, to obtain from the weakness or ignorance of
another, an over-reaching treaty, such a compact would
prove an incentive to war rather than a bond of peace. Our
conventions with Great Britain are founded upon the prin-
cirles of reciprocity. The commercial intercourse between
the two countries is greater in magnitude and amount than
between any other two nations of the globe. It is, for all
purposes of benefit or advantage to both, as precious and
in all probability, far more extensive than if the parties
were still constituent parts of one and the same nation.—
Treaties between such States, regulating the intercourse of
peace betwen them, and adjusting interests of such trans-
cendant importance to both, which have been found, in a
long experience, mutually advantageous, should not be
lightly cancelled or discontinued. Two conventions for
continuing in force those above-mentioned have been con-
cluded between the Plenipotentiaries of the two Govern--
ments, on the 6th August last, and will be forthwith laid
before the Senate for the exercise if their constitutional
authority concerning them.
In the execution of the Treaties of Peace of Novem-
ber, 1782, and September, 1758, between the United
States and Great Britain, and which terminated the war
of our Independence, a line of boundary was drawn as
the demarcation of territory between the two countries,
extending over near twenty degrees of latitude, and
ranging over seas, lakes, and mountains, then very im-
perfectly explored, and scarcely opened to the geogra-
phical knowledge of the age. In the progress of dis-
covery and settlement by both parties since that time,
several questions of boundary between their respective
territories have arisen, which have been found of ex-
ceedingly difficult adjustment. At the close of the last
war with Great Britain, four of these questions pressed
themselves upon the consideration of the negotiators of
the Treaty of Ghent, but without the means of conclud-
ing a definitive arrangement concerning them They
were referred to three separate commissions, consisting
of two Commissioners, one appointed by each party, to
examine and decide upon their respective claims. In
the event of disagreement between the Commissioners,
it was provided that they should make reports to their
several Governments ; and that the reports should
finally be referred to the decision of a Sovereign, the
ehoar:nrort friend of both. Of these Commissions, two
already terminated their sessions and investiga-
The
by entire, and the other by partial agreement.
Cope by
of the fifth article of the Treaty of
Ghent
. to
finally disagreed, and made their conflictin
their own Governments. But front these reg.
reports to
ports a great
difficult has occurrrd in making up a ques-
tion to be decided by Arbitrator. This
however, been effected by a foirth Convention, cob has,
Loono
by the Plenipotentiaries of the two
dnonthe 29th of September last. It will be
eGluodyeedrnnalten
submitted, together with the others, to the consideration
of the Senate.
While these questions have been pending, incidents have
occurred of conflicting pretensions, and of dangerous cha-
racterupon the territory itself in dispute between the two
nations. By a common understanding . between the Go-
vernments it was agreed that AO exereivelof exclusireprie-