The Sun.
London, England, 1828-01-02 00:00:00

SCOTCH SEQUESTRATION.

John Gall and Company:, Aberdeen, cabinet-makers,
Jan. 14 and 31, at twelve, at the Court-house, Aberdeen.

UNITED STATES.

MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT OF TIIE UNITED STATES,

COMMUNICATED TO BOTH HOUSES, AT THE COMMENCE.

MENT OF THE FIRST SESSION OF THE TWENTIETH CON

CRESS.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Unite,
States.

FELLOW CITIZENS OF THE SENATE,

AND OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES :
A revolution 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-
stituents. In that interval the never-slumbering eye of
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-citizen, in the full enjoy-
ment of all their rights, and in the free exercise of all their
faculties, to pursue the impulse of their nature, and the
obligation of their duty, in the improvement of their owe
condition. The productions of the soil, the exchanges
commerce, the vivifying labours of human industry, have
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 suns 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 vet with painful
exceptions, a foretaste of that blessed period of promise,
when the lion shall lie down with the lamb, and wars shah
be no more. 'lO preserve, to improve, and to perpetuatt.
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 periodica'
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 relations 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 cfJuly,
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 Proclamation is-
sued on the 19th day of March last, publishing this Con.-
vention, is herewith communicated to Congress. The
suns 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 distribution of the 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 la;
gratulation to ourselves, but has 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
snore glorious than any field of blood can ever bestow.
The Conventions of 3d July, 181.5, and of 20th Octo-
ber, 1818, will expire by their own limitation on the 20th
of October, 1828. These have regulated the direct coin-
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 h-
belly 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;
nos- ean it be reconciled to the nature of man, or to the
primary laws of human society, that eny traffic should
long be willingly pursued, of which all the advantages arc
on one side, and all the burdens ea the other. Treaties of
Commerce have been found, by excierience, to be among
the most effective instruments for promoting peace and
harmony between nations whose interests, exclusively eon
sidered on either side, are brought into frequent collisions
by competition. In framing such treaties, it is the dnty
of each party, not simply to urge with unyielding pertina-
city that which suits its own interest, but to concede libe-
rally to that whirls 1, 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

eef, 'eseeeee
management, to obtain Tat the weaknesle-
e-orignorance 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-
cieles 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-
=dant importance to both, which have been found, in a
long experience of years, mutually advantageous, should not
be lightly cancelled or discontinued. Two conventions for
contiheing in force those above-mentioned have been con-
cluded between flit Plenipotentiaries of the two Govern-
ments, on the 6th August last, and will be forthwith laid
before the Senate for the ceettise of their constitutional
authority concerning thew.
In the execution of the Treaties of Peace of Novem-
ber, 1782, and September, 1783, between the United
States and Great Britain, and which terminated the war
of our Independence, a liue of boundary was drawn as+
the demarcation of territory between the two countries,
extending over near twenty degrees of latitude, at. 4
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 lest
war it-ith Great Britain, four of these questions pressed
themselves tipeet the consideration of the negotiators of
the Treaty of Gheet, het without the means of conclud-
ing a definitive arraeeetneet concerning them They
were referred to three separate eommissions, consisting
of two'Cominissioners, 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 Governents ; , au/ thatesthe reports should
finally be teferted to the decieion of a Sovereign, the
common friend of both. Of these Commissions, two
have already terminated their sessions and investiga-
tions, one by entire, and the ether by partial agreement.
The Commissioners of the fifth article of the Treaty of
Ghent have finally disagreed, and made their conflicting
reports to their own Governments. But front tlaae re-
ports a great difficulty has occurred is making up a ques-
tion to be decided by the Arbitrator. This purpose has,
however, been effected by a foerth Convention, eon-
eluded at London by the Plenipotentiaries of the two
Governments on the 29th of September last. It will be
submitted, together with the others, to the consideration
of the Senate.
While these questions have been pending, incidents have
occurred of conflicting pretension., and of dangerous cha-
racter upon the territory itself in dispute between the twee
nations. By a common understanding between the Go-
vernments it was agreed that no efterciee of exclusive juris-
diction by either party, while the negotiation was pending,
should change the state of the question of right to be defi-
nitively settled. Such collision has nevertheless recently
taken place, by occurrences, the precise character of which
has not yet been ascertained. A communication from the
Governor of the State of Maine, with accompanying docu-
ments, and
,a correspondence between the Secretary of
State and the Minister of Great Britain, on this subject,
are now communicated. Measures have been taken to as-
certain the state of the fats more correctly by the employ-
ment of a special agent to visit the spot where the alleged
outrages have occurred, the result of whose enquiries,
when received, willhe transmitted to Congress.
While so many eof the subjects of interest to the
friendly relations between two countries have been so far
adjusted, it is matter of regret that their views respecting
the commercial intercourse between the United Stems and
the British Colonial possessions have not equally approxi-
mated to a friendly agreement.
At the commencement of the last Session of Congress,
they were informed of the sudden and unexpected era:fu-
sion-by the British Government, of access, in vessels of
the United States, to all their colonial ports, except those
immediately bordering upon their own territories, In the
amicable discussions which have succeeded the adoption
of this measure, which, as it affected harshly the interests
of the United States, became a subject of expostulation on
our part, the principles upon which its justification he i
been placed have been of a diversified character. It lies
been at once ascribed to a mere recurrence to the old long
established principle of colonial monopoly, and at the eame
time to a feeling of resentment because the offers of an Act
of Parliament, opening the colonial ports upon certain
conditions, bad not been grasped at' with sufficient eager-
ness by an instantaneous -conformity to them. At a sub-
sequent period it has been intimated that the new exclu-
sion was in resentment because a prior Act of Parliament
of 1822, opening certain colonial ports under heavy and
burdensome restrictions to vessels of the United States,
had not been reciprocated by an admission of British ves-
sels from the colonies, and their cargoes, without any re-
striction or discrimination whatever. But, be the motive
for the interdiction what it may, the British Government
have manifested no disposition, either by negociation or by
corresponding legislative enactments, to recede from it, and
we have been given distinctly to understand, that neither
of the bills which were under the consideration of Congress
at their last Session, would have been deemed sufficient in
their concessions, to have been rewarded by any relaxation
from the British interdict. It is one of the inconveniences
inseparably connected with the attempt to adjust by reci-
procal legislation interests of this nature, that neither party
can know what would be satisfactory to the other ; and
that after enacting a statute for the avowed awl sincere
purpose of conciliation, it will generally be found utterly
inadequate to the expectations of the other pltrty, and will
terminate in mutual disappointment.
The session of Congress having terminated withotet
act upon the subject, a Proclamation was issued on the
17th of March last, conformably to the provisions of the
6th section of the Act of Ist March, 1823, declaring the
fact that the trade and intercourse authorized by the British
Act of Parliament, of 24th June, 1822, between the United
States and the British enumerated Colonial Ports, had
been by the subsequent Acts of Parliament of the sth July,
1825, and the Order of Council of 27th July, 1826, pro-
hibited. The effect of this Proclamation, by the terms of
the Act under which it was issued, has been, that every
provision of the Act concerning Navigation, of 18th April,
1810, and of the Act supplementary thereto of the 15th
May, 1820, revived, and is in full force. Such, then, is
the present condition of the trade, that useful as it is to both
parties, it can, with a single momentary exception, be car-
ried on directly by the vessels of neither. That exception
itself is found in a Proclamation of the Governor of the
Island of St. Christopher, and of the Virgin Islands, invi-
ting, for three months, from the 28th of August last, the
importation of the articles of the produce of the United
States, which constitute their export portion of this trade,
in the vessels of all nations. That period having already
expired, the state of mutual interdiction has again taken
place. The British Government have not only declined
negociation upon this subject, but, by the principle they
have assumed with reference to it, have precluded even the
means of negotiation. It becomes ill the self-respect of the
United States, either to solicit gratuitous favours, or to ac-
cept as the grant of a favour that for Which an ample
equivalent is exacted. It remains to be determined by the
respective Governments, whether the trade shall lie opened
by acts of reciprocical legislation. It is in the mean time
satisfactory to show, that apart from the inconveniences re-
sulting from ti disturbance of the usual channels of trade,
no loss has been sustained by the commerce, the navigation,
or the Revenue of the United States, and none of magni-
tude is to be apprehended from this existing state of mutual
interdict.

With the other maritime and commercial Nations of
Europe, our intercourse continuer with little variation.
Since the cessation, by the Convention of the 24th of June,
1822, of all discriminating duties upon the vessels of the
United States and of France, in either country, our trade
with that nation has increased and is increasing. A dispo-
sition on the part of France has been manifested to renew
that negotiation ; and, in acceding to the proposal, we
have expressed the wish that it might be extended to other
objects, upon which a good understanding between the
parties would be beneficial to the interests of both. The

yreafkreiente,ddiyasiint
Hee:its:et:cc:qua:
__ ---
norigin
raonf
eetlieispcoolietricaal lwriethlatitohnes 6 between the
u htletii. iit:idl
eSpetaattie_s
,enee. The memory of it is interwoven with that of ouc
arduous struggle for nationalreco
has occasionally been since that time, it can by us nerer be
forgotten ; and we should hail with exultation the moment
which should indicate a
tl spirit, on the part of France. A fresh effort has recently
been made by the Minister of the United States residing at
Paof Paris, to
toe obtain
a consideration of the just claims of
citizens United States, to the reparation of wrongs
long since committed, many of them frankly acknowledged,
and all of them entitled, upon every principle of justice, to
a candid examination. The proposal last made to the
French Government has been to refer the subject, which
has formed an obstacle to this consideration, to the deter-
mination of a Sovereign, the common friend of b,•th. To
this offer no definitive answer has yet been received ; hut
the gallant and honourable spirit which has at all times
been the pride and glory of France, will not ultimately
permit the demands of innocent sufferers to be exth,

;' 6
t

guished in the extent ';consciousness of the poWel' les 'reject can judge traria 'experience, may be expected to continue
them.
through the course of the ensuing year. ln the .oean-
A new Treaty of Amity, Navigation, an romtnerce has tit% an alleviation from the burthen of the phletie debt
been concluded with the Kingdom of Sweden, Which 'Witt will in the three years, haVe bees effected to the amount
be suktnitted to the Senate for Their advice with regard to of nearly 16 MilliOnae 4.tdi the charge of annual interest
is ratification. At a more recent date, a Mieieter Pleni- i will have littes reduced upwards of one million. But,
teeecentiary from the Hanseatic Repnblits of Hamburg:l, amp the maxims of political economy which the stewards
übeek, and Bremen, has been 'received, charged with r. of the public monies should tie atifferawihonteurgent nee
. . .
alee,al mission for the Hegel-station of a Treaty of Amity cessity to be transcended, is tea of keeteng '.he expenthe
st am
cod Commerce between that ancient and renowased league tures of the year svithira the limits of its receipts. The
and the United States. 'This negotiation be accordingly appiarpriatic»ta. •':.'r 'the two last years, including the yearly-
been
commenced, and is now in anntese, the result of i r I%.,iiiiioos of the ',inking fund, hare each equalled the
which, if successful, will be elm subro/tted 'to'tlie Se'nita. roe promised revenue of the ensuing year. While we foresee
their consideration. with confidence that the public coffers will be replenished
e.
Since the accession of the Emperbr ks•tfliolas to the Im- front the receipts, as fast as they will be drained by the 'eerie! throne of all the Russia!, 'thes•criendlydispositions to- expenditures, equal in anasunt to those ef the sauteed
wards the United States, so constantly manifested by his year, it should not he ter:ea-en thet they could 111 suffer
predecessor, have contiosted unabated ; end have recently , the exhaustion of tar& distitirsemente.
been testified by the appointment of a Minister Pleitipetene The condition of the Army, and all the liranch'es of the
tiary to reside at this place.—Front the interest taken by ramie service under the suPerintonlehFc Of the SeeretarY of
this Sovereign in behslf of the suffering Greeks, and from War, will be seen by time tepor:t froth that Officer, end the
the spirit with which others of the Great European 'documents with Which it it aeamorhpanied.
Powers are co-operating with him, the friends of freedom During the eautee of the last summer, a detachment of
and of humanity may indulge the hope that they will ob- the lemny has been usefully and successfully called to per-
tain relief from that most unequal ef conflicts, which they Term their appropriate ditties. At the moment when the
have so long and so gallantly sustained ; that they wet en- Commissioners appointed for carrying into eeecution certain
aey the blessing of self-government; whirls, by their suffer- I provisions of the Treaty of Aiwa ! ftth., ltit.•s, With various
i-me.s in the ca,,,e 'of liberty, they nave to tamely earned ; tribes of the Noetteeatetern Indians, were about to arrive at
arel that their independence will be eeeured by those liberal the apeoanatei place of meeting, the unprovoked murder of
instiottion of which their corer:try furnished the earliest eeeeral citizens, and other acts of unequivocal hostility coot-
, and in the history of mankind, and wbich have cceas mitted by a pArty of the Winnebago tribe, one of those ass
secreted to immortal retnembrauce the very soil fee Which I sociated in the Treaty, followed by the indications of
they are now again profusely pouring -feeds their blood. I. menacing character, among other triftea t!' the Sallie region,
The sympathies with which the People tsntl Government m rendered necessary an itourediate display of the defensive
of the united States have so ward? indulged with t heir I arid protective forte Of the Union in that quarter. It was
eause hare been acknowledged ley their Government in a eecotelinglr exhibited by the immediate and concerted
fetter of thanks, which I here 'received from their illertri- ous President, a translation of which is now conamunieated of the Territory of Michigan, and competent. levies of
to Congress, the Rarresermtatives of that Nation to whom militia under their authority ; taith a Corps of seven bun-
this tribute of gratitude was intended tes lw.. paid, anti to deed men of United States troops under the command of
whom it was jusely due.
General Atisittaali, who, at the call of Governor Cass, im-
in the American hemisphere the cause of freedom and In- medf.ately repaired to the scene of danger, from their
dependence has continued Les prevail ; and if signalized by 'Station at St. Louis. Their presence dispelled the alarm?,
none of those splendid triumphs which had crowned With of our fellow-citizens on those borders and overawed 'Mb
glery some of the preceding years, it Ine only been I hostile purposes of the Indians. The eterpeti-at6rs of the
!guns the banishment of all external force against which l murders were surrendered to the authority and operation
the struggle had been maintained. 'The shout of victory lof our lawse and evety- 'appearance of purposed hostility
has beset superceded by the expulsion of the enemy over from those indlah tribes has subsided.
wherre it could have beets achieved. Our friendly wishee
-
and cordial good- Although the present organization of the Army, and the
ogood-seta?, which have constantly followed the a,. dininietration of its various branches of service, are, upon
liern nations of America in all the vicissitudes of their
the whole, satisfactory, they are yet susceptible of hltich
War of Independence, are succeeded by a solicitude, equally
ardent and cordial, that by the wisdomimprovement in particulars, some of width have been here-
anal purity of their
tofore submitted to the consideration of Congress, and
institutione; they may secure to themselves the choicer,: others are now first presented :n the Report of the Secretary
aaessinge of social order, and the best rewards of virtuous
liberty-.Dieclaiming alike ell right and all intention of of War.
The etpediency of providing for additional numbers of
intrrferine in those concerns which it is the prerogative of
" 'officers in the two corps ofEngineers will, in seine dagree,
hail with joy every indication of their prosperity, of t
their independence to regulate as to them shall see fit, we
depend upon the number and extent of the objects of na-
heir
tional importance upon which congress may think it pro-
harmony, of their persevering and inflexible homage to
per that surreys elsoitld be made, conformably to the Act
thane principles of freedom and of equal tight', which are
alone suited to the genius and temper of the American
of the 30th Of April, 1824. Of the surveys which before
nations. It has been therefore with some concern that we
the last Session ofCongress, had been made under the au-
have observed indications of intestine divisions in some of
thorit Act,
reports were made :
the Republics of the South, and appearances of less union
1. "v of that
Of the Board Improvement, oh the Clic-
of Internal
with one another, than we believe to be the interest of all. sapeake and Ohio canal.
Among the results of this state of things Inn been that the 2. On the continuance of the National Road front Cum-
Treaties concluded at Panama do not appear to have been
ber
Sland to t.
On the continuance of the National Road from Can-
he tide waters within the district of Columbia,
ratified by the contracting parties, and that the reeetina
of the Congress at Tacubaya has been been inaeanitol;° t ); to Zanesville.
a
poetpthioned. In accepting a the invitaiione tc Ire eepreeented 4
ville.
to OColun thmb ia. e location of the National Road from &nes,
t s Congrees, while mareilestatien Was intended on 5. On the continuation of the same road to the seat of
the part of the United Steeces, of the. Most friendly dispo-
Government in Missouri.
sition towards the Sauthern Republics by whom it had been proposed, it -was bored that it would furnish
an op-
6. On a Post Road from Baltimore to Philadelphia.
portunity for -aria sing all the nations of this hemisplwee 'Y. On a-survey of Kennebec River (in part.)
to the comr-sson ackyrewledgement and adoption of the psin-
8. On a National Road from Washington to Buffalo.
espies, i.o the regulation of their international relations, 9. On the survey of Saugatuck Harbour and River.
10. On a Canal from Lake Pontchaatrain to the Missis-
whiel., would have secured a lasting peace and harmony be-
sippi River.
twe.en them,
and have promoted the cause of mutual brm ee- 11. On ',silence throughout the glebe. But as obstacles appear to
annia Har a survey at Erlgartown, Newburyport, and Ap-
bour.
have arisen to the re-Lemsetnbling of the Congress, one of the
12. On survey of Lake Plaieance Bay, in the Territory
two Ministers conatniesioned on the part of the United
States has returned to the bosom of his country, while the of Michigan.'
Minister charges! with the ordinary mission to Mexico re- And reports are now prepared, and will be submitted
mains authorized to attend at the conferences of the Con-
to Congress :
gress whenever they may be resumed. On surveys of the peninsula of Florida, to ascertain the
practicability of a canal to connect the waters-of the At-
A hope was for a short time entertained, that a Treaty
of Peace actually signed between the Government of Buenos lantic with the Gulf of Mexico, across that peninsula ; and
also of the country between the Bays of Mobile and of
Ayres and. Brazil would supereede all further occasions for
those collisions between belligerent pretensions and neutral Pensacola, with the view of connecting them together by
rights, which are so commonly the result of maritime war, a canal.
and which have unfortunately disturbed the harmony of On surveys of a route for a canal to connect the waters
the relations between the United States and the Brazilian of the James and Great Kenhawa rivers.
On the survey of the Swash in Pimlico Sound, and that
Governments. At their last session, Congress were in-
fanned that some of the naval officers of that Empire had Cape Fear below the town of Wilmington, in North Ca-
advanced to and practisedupon principles in relation to rAna •
blockades and neutral navigation, which, we could not sane- On the survey of the Muscle Shoals, in the Tennessee
tion, and which our commanders found it necessary to re- River, and a route for a Contemplated communication
silt. It appears that they have not been sustained by the between the Hiwussee and Coosa rivers, in the State of
Government of Brazil itself. Some of the vessels captured Alabama,
under the assumed authority of these erroneous principle', either reports of surveys upon objects pointed out by the
have beets restored ; and we trust that our just expectations several acts of Congress of the last and precedingsessimonasm
will be realized, that adequate indemnity will be ina::,e to are in the progress of preparation, and most of them
all citizens of the United States 'who have sufferee:t by the be completed before the close of this session.
All the
unwarranted captures which the Brazilian trataupes theme cers of both Corps of Engineers, with several other persons
selves have pronounced unlawful duly qualified, have been constantly employed upon these
In the diplomatic discussions at 7.1.10 de Janeiro, of these services, from the passage of the Act of SOth April,
wrong); sustained by citizens of 'che United States, and of 1824., to this time. Were no
than
advantage to accrue. to.
others, which seemed as if emanating immediately from the country from. their labours, the fund of. topographical
that Government itself, th_e Charge d'Affaires of the United knowledge which they have
i collected and communicated,
States under an imps wing that his representations in be- that alone would haveheseen a profit to the Union more
hall of the rights an '
as Interests of his countrymen avers totally than adequate to all tbotextrenditures which have been
disregarded am', *ueeleesoleemed it his duty, without waiting devoted to the object; appropriations for the re
for instruea:unme, to terrhinate his official functions, to de- pair and continuation of the Cumberland Road, for the
mind bi.e passports, and return to the United States. This construction of various other Roads, for the removal
moveanent, dictated by an honest zeal for the honour and of obstructions e from the Rivers and Harbours, for
interest of his country, motives which operated exclusively the erection of Light-houses, Beacons, Piers and Buoys,
'ripen the mind of the officer who resorted to it, has not been and for the completion of Canals undertaken by, individual
disapproved by me. The Brazilian Government, however, associations, but needing_
.t e assistance h of means and re-
complained of it as a measure for which no adequate inten- sources rnore comprehensive titan individual enterprise can
tional cause had been given by them ; and upon an explicit m command, :oily he considered rather as treasuire. laid up
benefit of
assurance, through their Charge d'Affaires, 1-siding there, I from the contributions of the pre ent age,
that a successor to the late Representative of the United ; posterity, than as unrequited applications
of permanent
the
otot accruing
jln
for
t
States near that Government, the appointment of whom ' revenue of the nation. .To sfucle objects o
opfertMeaal addition
they desired should be received and treated with time respect pravement to the condition othethectocofourittryo,f
the
people
by
due to his character, andthat indemnity should be promptly to the weahlth. as wedl as to
they mhasi-e been affected, from
I.rafie far all injuries inflicted en citizens of tine United
three whose
toa tfetiorriti
ynilalnions resources
of the annual income of the nation
eetates, or their property, contrary to the laws of nations, a ,
..
by laws enacted at the three most recent sessions of
eemporary commission as Charge d'Atfaires to that country,
Congress beets applied,without intrenching upon the ne-
ordinaryhas been issued, which it is hoped will entirely restore the ngtess
oft_ .
cessities lwithout adding a dollar to the
diplomatic intercourse between the two Govern-debtste Treasury :
ments, :tad the friendly relations between their respectivewithout suspending
even or the community. : .
even the steady and regular discharge of the debts cone
tracted in former days, which, within the three years, have
been diminished by the amount of nearly sixteen millions of
dollars.

The same observations are, in a great degree, applicable
to the appropriations made for fortifications upon the coasts
and harbours of the United States, for the maintenance of
the Military Academy at West Point, and for the various
objects under the superintendence of the Department of
the Navy. The Report of the Secretary of the Navy, and
those from the subordinate branches of both Military De-
partments, exhibit to Congress, in minute detail, the pre-
sent condition of the public establishments, dependent upon
them ; the execution of the acts of Congress relating to
them, and the views of the officers engaged in the severs!
branches of the service, concerning the improvements
which may tend to their perfection. The fortification
of the Coasts, and the gradual increase and improve-
ment of the Navy, are parts of a great system of national
defence, which has been upwards of ten years in pro-
gress, and which, for a series of years to come, will
continue to claim the constant and persevering pro-
tection awl superintendence of legislative authority.---il
Among the measures which have emanated from these
principles, the Act of the last Session of Congress for the
gradual improvement of the Navy, holds a conspicuous
place. The collection of timber for the future construction
of vessels of war ; the preservation and re-production et
the species of timber peculiarly adapted to that purpose ;
the construction of dry docks for the use of the Navy; the
erection of a Marine Railway for the repair of the public
ships, and the improvement of the Navy Yards for the
preservation of the public property deposited in them, have
all received from the Executive the attention required by
the Act, and will continue to receive it, steadily proceed-
ing towards the execution of its purposes. The estaldinh..
ineut of a Naval Academy, furnishing the means of theo-
retic instruction to the youths who devote their lives to the
service of their country upon the ocean, still solicits the
-sanction of the Legislature. Practical seamanship and
the art of navigation may be acquired upon the cruises
of the squadrons, which, from time to time, are despatch-
ed to distant seas : but a competent knowledge even of the
art of whip-building, the higher mathematics and a.stro-
; the literature which can place our-officers on a
level of polished education with the officers of other mari-
time nations; the knowledge of the laws, municipal and
national, which, in their intercourse with Foreign States
and their Governments, are called into operation; and,
above all, that acquaintance with the principles of honour
and justice, with the higher obligations of morals, and of
general laws, human and divine, which constitute the
great distinction between the warrior patriot, and the li-
censed robber and pirate ; these can he systematically
taught and eminently acquired only in a permanent school,
stationed upon the shore, and provided with the teachers,
the instruments) and the books; conversant with and